The stranger

Trapped

We entered the cave and cautiously walked with the help of the strong headlamps. The floor was wet and the humidity made me sweat. Turner slowed down and finally lowered his body and remained silent. After some thought he drew a fairly large object from his bag and placed it on the rock. Only then did I realize what it was. A highly explosive TNT bomb along with a remote detonator! "Are you mad? You will bring about the collapse of the cave's roof!" I exclaimed. "Yes but this is the only way to stop them...," he brusquely answered.

After a couple of minutes' walk, I could clearly hear water drops in front of me. There was a small pond there. "Hurry up! We need to shuffle to reach the opposite shore," said Turner in a low voice. I reluctantly waded in the small lake trying not to lose my balance due to the slippery bottom.

While proceeding we heard the voices and saw the strong lights wandering around! "Skolini sate aternas," a loud voice was heard! Unconsciously, we forced our pace and hid behind a rock. We switched the lights off and looked towards them. I could discern five of them holding the laser guns and trying to spot us. They were on the opposite side of the pond and they were reluctant to go further as if the water was a strong barrier.

I remained silent while my heart was beating hard. Suddenly, a rat jumped on my back making me lose my cool and nervously move to get rid of it. I added insult to injury. They must have seen me! "This is just my luck! This is the end of the road. We are doomed," I thought to myself.

"Humans, we do not want to harm you. Just drop your weapons and come to us. You are free to go," a husky voice was heard. "A leopard can't change its spots. Your promises are deceitful. You want me to be your puppet once more!" I shouted.

"Barnadi qusta sotima," one of them said at the top of his lungs and they activated their guns sending laser beams towards our spot. Small pieces of rock fell around us making the whole scene dreadful. Out of nowhere a deafening explosion was heard. Turner has used the detonator! Tons of hard rock detached from the cave's ceiling blocking their way out. The confused aliens forced their way into the water and went towards our position!

"The ball is in our court now. Shoot at them and be precise at your aiming!" Turner shouted at the top of his voice. I grabbed my pistol and pressed the trigger. A clicking sound was heard but nothing more. The gun was jammed. Panic run through me! I looked at Turner who had similar problems with his semi-rifle. The wet environment had caused us great trouble. I thought that luck had marooned us.

It must have been only a minute before they managed to reach us but it seemed ages to me. I was glued to my spot with my mouth half-opened. Only the smash of Turner's rifle butt on the assailant's head woke me up. "Paul, listen to me, we need to get out of here. Get hold of the end of this rope and follow me quickly!" Turner shouted. He stood up and started moving deeper in the cave. We were followed by an unclear number of them and we desperately needed a way to escape.

Another series of laser beams fired at us. After some meters Turner swerved from a course so abruptly that caused me to lose balance and fell down. Before I realized it, he helped me to stand up and nearly dragged me into a steep narrow rocky passage. We had a brisk walk and after a while we were in front of an open gate which my friend fiercely closed behind us. Another hundred meters and I could see the face of the moon. We were out of the cave!

My heart was pounding hard when I heard the roar of a helicopter hovering over our heads with its strong spotlight on. It was obvious that they were on the highest alert because loud voices of the aircrew were heard.

In less than a minute they opened fire towards the ground, which caused a fierce response from the other side. A huge laser beam aimed at the helicopter and in no time it caught fire and started spinning round and round loosing height rapidly. A huge explosion ensued.

The aliens had shot it down possibly killing all its crew. We fell on the ground trying to avoid the flaming pieces of metal which were scattering in all possible directions. In the background I could discern the spaceship gaining height and disappearing in a flash of light. Astonished, I looked Turner deep in his eyes and said in a trembling voice: "From now on we will not be alone pal. Now they can't deny their existence!"