THE NIGHT THE STARS FELL FIRST CONTACT

At least they were not startled by the arrival of the three aliens this morning, but nevertheless worried by the solemn expression on their faces. Lasko’s hair stood up as if he’d been plugged into an electrical socket.

“Somethings wrong, isn’t it?”

“Yes, Ellen,” Valadon replied. Ellen froze. “We have just been informed there is a fleet of about forty ships on their way to Earth right now, in a few day’s they will be here, I have despatched the same amount of our own fleet to intercept them. But you must inform your government immediately. Their ships are armed.”

Ellen placed her hand on her chest. “Oh my God!”

“But it will expose you! Brian answered.

“It has to be, there is no way out of this, the more armies we have the better.”

“It’s going to cause panic; the people won’t know anything about it if we don’t tell them!” Todd replied anxiously.

Lasko looked up at him with raised eyebrows. “I think they will notice when they see seven-foot lizards armed with sharp teeth and claws like razor blades, heading down the high street!”

“No Todd you have to inform the government now! earth people are good people, but if they know nothing of this, they will think we are here to invade your planet, and, possibly shoot us out of the sky.”

“Valadon; there’s no ’possibly about it.” Kevin turned to look at Brian. “Valadon’s right, we are going to need all the help we can get.”

“I agree,” Brian replied thoughtfully. “I’ll get in touch with the ministry of defence; see if we can go down to see them as soon as possible.”

Valadon nodded his head “You must do this quickly Brian or it will be too late.”

***

Ellen stood in the corner sobbing, Brian went over to her and pulled her into his arms. “It’s ok, it’ll be alright.”

“Nothing will be alright Brian, we may not survive, all this Todd has gone through just to have his life snuffed out by some extra-terrestrial!”

Valadon approached her, he looked concerned. “Ellen do not fear, we WILL defeat them, I want you to talk to your leaders, to keep your people safe. Now SMILE.” He told her. Ellen forced a small smile that only pulled up the corners of her mouth.

“Good,” Valadon said. “Now keep it there.”

After a lot of haggling and pleading they got an appointment at the Ministry of defence in Whitehall. Brian and Kevin were up at three in the morning waiting for Valadon to turn up, he did not want to be late for their appointment which would certainly not go down well and getting from Cornwall to London carried its own challenges. Arriving in a spaceship would have been quicker, they would arrive in minutes if not seconds, but landing a spaceship in the middle of London would definitely carry its own challenges, not to mention an immediate response from the armed forces!

Brian drove into the car park that was only intended for the MOD staff. After leaving a note on the windscreen stating he had an appointment with the minister, they made their way in. Valadon took in all the magnificent architecture of the building remarking, “Beautiful and clever architecture.”

A middle-aged woman sat at the highly polished mahogany desk in the foyer, wearing a whiter-than-white blouse, a black pencil skirt, and black pointed high heels; she wore blue framed glasses that complimented her large dark blue eyes matching the frames. Her fair hair surrounded her attractive features, with a few fringe-like strands laying over her forehead. As she looked up her eyes widened as they stuck on Valadon. Before she could react, Brian said.

“We have an appointment with Paul Mathews, Minister of defence?”

She looked from Valadon to Brian to Kevin. “And you are?”

“Brian Harper and this is Kevin Davis.”

She had used her feet to push herself back from the desk, so now they were talking to her from about four feet away. “And this gentleman is?” she asked gazing intently at his vivid blue eyes as if she were scanning him.

“Oh, his name is Valadon, he is with us, the minister is expecting us.”

She looked at a large brown book in front of her and said. “You can go up, it’s the third door on your left as you come out of the lift.”

She had now got up from her chair and was watching them as they walked towards the lift, fear had settled itself in the pit of her stomach.

As they walked into the minister’s office, a tall man in his early forties greeted them. His dark hair was short just above his collar, and he had brown flecked hazel eyes framed by clear glasses; with a small, neat moustache, he wore a grey pin-striped suit with a plain white shirt and pale grey tie. He smiled and stood up.

“Good morning, you must be Mr Harper?”

“Brian stepped forward and shook his offered hand. ”Yes Sir.”

“I’m Paul Mathews.”

Brian noticed his smile had slipped as he looked at Valadon, he also noticed how different he looked from the television, he looked much younger.

“And who are you?” he asked. “His name is Valadon, this is Kevin Davis and the rest I will have to explain to you.” Brian tried to give him the best easy, comfortable smile he could, but inside he was trembling. It would be hardly NEVER, that you would walk into the war office and tell them our planet was about to be attacked by creatures from another planet! They would either arrest you by armed guards and throw you in prison for taking the mick out of the government, or they would believe you! And he had to convince the minister that he was telling the truth.

“Take a seat, Mr Harper.” He gestured. There were two chairs in front of the desk, so he bought another from the corner of the room.

“Now, you said this was a matter of national security?”

“That’s right, What I’m about to tell you will sound unbelievable Mr Mathews, and I don’t really know the best way to explain it.”

Paul Mathews looked interested but confused.

“Please try…Go on.”

A few months ago, my son was cured of a fatal brain tumour, he had months to live, one night he found a dog in the garden, and that dog cured him. He doesn’t have the tumour anymore.

You can check it out with our Oncologist, I swear I’m telling you the truth.”

Paul Mathews didn’t say anything, his hazel eyes were fixed on Brian, but he could see the sympathy in them.

“Then the dog began to talk, it was amazing, he had taken the tumours away never to return …Lasko, that’s his name, lives with us, he is a kind compassionate animal with the ability to heal and do other things as well. Recently he stopped an armed robbery in the bank in our local high street, he saved people’s lives.”

Brian was still waiting for armed security staff to arrive at any moment. But Paul Mathews sat there looking from one to the other with a clear sign of doubt on his face.

“Mr Mathews, I swear it is true! Mr Davis here.” He pointed to Kevin. “Had a terrible experience, he saw them land in the park, they took him and were going to kill him, luckily for him, he bartered a deal with them.

“He is telling you the truth, sir! I saw them land their spaceship in the park early hours of the morning, it was a Saturday.” Kevin frowned, he couldn’t remember the exact date. “Although I can’t be sure.” Kevin flushed, he worried that he was babbling and had blown it!

Suddenly Paul sat forward, he looked amused and laced both hands together. “Mr Harper, you know how this sounds?”

“Yes, yes of course, as if we are completely mad, a couple of seriously sick nutmegs watching too many sci-fi programmes, but just for the record I am not a sci-fi fan, never have been never will. But we are telling you the truth.”

“And you say ‘they’ who exactly are ‘they’?”

Kevin answered. “Lizards, big scary, scaly, lizards, they are about seven feet tall have scaly skin green eyes and talons sharper than razor blades. They have three fingers on each hand as I said very sharp claws, also they can fly! and they are extremely dangerous!”

Paul Mathew’s hands laced in front of him, wondering whether he was dealing with a bunch of lunatics that had just escaped from the local asylum or they were genuinely telling the truth.

Valadon got up and stood in front of Mathews. “I too am an Alien’ and the dog belongs to us, he was sent here to heal Mr Harper’s son, the boy has amazing values, he deserves another chance. Mr Mathews we are peacekeepers, we are healers, but we are also protectors. The lizards are on their way to destroy your planet and everything in it. They want it for their own, they also want to breed human females with their males to produce hybrid children that have powerful genes so they can become powerful over the universe.” Valadon walked around the desk and Mathews swivelled his chair to follow him.

“I can prove this to you now. Right at this moment, I know you think I look strange to you, that’s because I am of a distinct species. I can demonstrate my power and I can also take you to where we are holding these creatures, but one thing you can be sure of, is, if you do nothing, in a noticeably short while your planet could be destroyed! You need to warn your people and alert your armies or otherwise, it will be too late!”

Paul stood up and looked into Valadon’s eyes and he knew he was telling the truth. “I believe you! I would be mad not to, just for the record I need you to take me to where these creatures are, I have to see for myself.”

Valadon turned to the door with a sweep of his hand. “We will go now, we have a long journey, they are in Cornwall in a secure place. They are going to be shipped back to our planet in a day or two to be punished.”

“Then we will go by helicopter, I need to alert my security Mr. Valadon, I can’t risk my safety.”

“As you wish sir, but no weapons.”

Paul Mathew’s eyes widened in surprise. “Surely you cannot expect me to go with you without protection, I don’t know you people, although I know you are who you say you are; but you are being unreasonable to think I would go with you without protection!”

“I understand Sir, but you don’t need weapons, you are completely safe, we have our people guarding them, they are securely tethered and have no chance of escaping, I guarantee your safety.”

“Even so I would feel safer with security with me.”

Valadon studied him for a moment, he could see the fear in his eyes.

“Very well sir, but if you use weapons the consequences would be very severe.”

“Fair enough Mr Valadon, I will arrange two security personnel, and I must inform the Prime Minister.”

By the time the helicopter landed near the quarry the sleet had stopped, turning the ground into a suitable skating rink. It was a long walk to the quarry entrance, as they made their way slipping and sliding along the frozen ground.

“Where are they?” Mathews enquired. He looked worried a frown had dimpled his brow, and he was looking like a frozen snowman as he clapped his hands together, stamped his feet and pulled his coat and scarf tighter around him.

“We are here.” Valadon pointed towards the entrance. “They are in the tunnel and secured so you do not need to fear.”

“It’s ok Mr Mathews, just follow us.” Kevin said, “It’s a fair way down. They had this place set up a long time ago, we think this was their base, It has all the markings of a well-used place, their equipment alone would have taken months to install.”

Brian added “And we also think that they had taken people before, you know, people that went missing years ago, and also recently who were never found.”

***

It was starting to get dark, the few last beams of daylight hardly penetrated the entrance. They lit their torches as they walked slowly down the narrow tunnel. Mathews shone his torch up above him to see the tunnel was round, the walls were wet with little threads of water flowing down to form dimpled puddles on the ground. He could smell the dampness and mould omitting from the cave walls and began to realise this cave must have been here for centuries and used for smugglers to bring in illegal goods dating back to the seventeenth century. He certainly didn’t regret bringing armed security with him, this was becoming more terrifying by the minute. Suddenly they came to a bend in the tunnel and beyond that he could see bright lights coming from the end of the tunnel, his heart started to beat faster. A few yards from the light a door opened, and a tall man appeared. At first, Mathews thought it was an ordinary guard but as he drew closer, he realised he was looking at another Alien just like Valadon, same skin tone same hair and those amazing blue eyes.

Zyrian placed his hands together as if he were about to pray and bowed his head. “All is well Master.”

Valadon nodded to him. “We have an earth minister with us, he wants to see the captives.”

“This way,” Zyrian replied.

As they entered the room, it was just like a metal box, Mathews looked around in astonishment. They followed Zyrian through to another room that was completely dark. Zyrian tapped a switch on the wall and the room lit up like a football stadium, and what faced him were five fierce huge lizards all tethered together in a big electric cage with barbed wire across the front and sand on the floor.

Security raised their guns.

“I said NO guns!” Valadon shouted.

“STAND DOWN!” Mathews yelled his voice echoing around the walls. Obviously, they were frightened by the sight of these huge creatures. They lowered their guns and stood as still as statues watching the lizards snarling and hissing. “MY GOD! They are real! You’re sure they can’t escape?”

“Yes, I give you my word they can never get out, the fencing is electric.”

Mathews walked very slowly to the cage keeping a distance. He looked at them, their blue tongues flickering in and out of their mouths. Mathew’s eyes were wide in disbelief he could not begin to imagine the damage these creatures could do, they had nails as sharp as razor blades as Kevin had said. He looked into the green eyes of the lizard nearer to him and they vomited hatred and venom. “Oh my God.” He murmured, the lizard pinned its eyes on him and moved his scaly lips, As he opened his mouth Mathews saw sharp pointed teeth and he shuddered. “You will ALL die.” It hissed. Mathews stepped back; Although he felt rattled by the creature anger stirred inside him.

“Don’t think of making any threats to us…You will be shot!” he replied defensively.

“Don’t go any nearer sir,” Valadon told him. “They could stab you through the fence.” He turned to Zyrian. “Put the electric fence on.” Zyrian nodded and pushed a button to his left and the fence glowed red.

“These creatures can also fly, they are fast and accurate, they are vicious and have no compassion for anyone or anything from a small child to an old sick human, make no mistake about that Sir, you need to evacuate as many humans as you can because, in a day or two, they will be here.”

“As of now, I will declare a state of emergency. Is there anything you need to tell us? And how can you help us?”

“We have our own fleet on its way to intercept them, but a few could get through, that’s why we need your help.”

Mathews turned to Valadon and nodded to the others. “I thank you Mr. Valadon, I am putting my trust in you, and we will join allegiance with you, I will put out a news briefing to warn people about the dangers, this is going to cause panic on a mega scale. The underground stations will be the safest place for the public to go; policed by army personnel. Public transport will be shut down. But how will we know your ships to the lizards?”

“Good question,” Brian replied.

“Our ships have a prominent black stripe on both sides of the aircraft, and the aircraft itself glows white in the dark. Their ships are metallic and have symbols on the side, they are distinctly different in shape theirs are long and oblong while ours are round like discs.”

“I’ll make sure there are no mistakes Mr Valadon.”

“You will see three of our crafts today. They are landing in a field in Cornwall near to the sea to pick up as many humans as possible they will stay on our ship under our protection, now go Sir, go quickly, and get this crisis in hand, the quicker you go, the safer your human race will be.”

Mathews turned to leave, hesitated, and then turned around.

“One thing I would like to ask you; Can we defeat these creatures?”

“I can assure you, Mr Mathews we are stronger than them, we have weapons of mass destruction, we have dealt with them before.”

“So, you know of them?”

“Unfortunately, yes, they live on the far side of our planet, not much vegetation grows there so they trade with us. We exiled them hundreds of years ago because they were aggressive and hostile to our people. We now only trade with them for vegetation grown by our botanists. We do not supply them with animals which to them is a delicacy, we preserve life not destroy it, they have enough bugs to eat which gives them enough protein and vitamins to sustain them. But now they have broken trust and will no longer be tolerated by our people, we think they are going to colonise your planet; you have enough Animals and vegetation here that suits them fine.”

Valadon frowned.

“Well. That is not going to happen!” Mathews replied, his dark eyes narrowing under well-trimmed yet bushy eyebrows.

Valadon bowed his head and crossed his hands over his chest and said. “Today, we form an allegiance, we come together for the peace and protection of our planets, to uphold the law and live in harmony with those around us and beyond.”

Mathews stepped forward and offered his hand. Valadon stared at the offered hand not knowing what to do with it; then raised his right hand and placed his left on his heart. Mathews withdrew his hand and did the same.

“We are now Allies Mr Valadon.” Mathews smiled warmly.

“Allies,” Valadon replied.

They went back to Whitehall to finalise details to a shocked and frightened nation, People started flooding into underground stations, and those who decided to stay in their homes raided the big DIY stores stripping everything bare from the shelves to secure their homes. Food stores were raided until no stocks were left.

Chaos and mayhem tore through the villages like a plague, fights erupted, and order had to be restored by the army.

The details regarding the friendly Alien ships were drawn up in detail and drawings were distributed to all RAF pilots.

When the three huge spaceships landed, people were in awe as they filed into the ships escorted by army personnel.

Ques were building as they waited to board the ramp into the spacecraft. “Come along, hurry please, you have nothing to fear, these people are here to help us.” Army officials told them as they were escorted onto the ramp. Some were a little hesitant others couldn’t wait. Aliens had lined each side of the ramp to welcome people aboard, standing tall and erect, hands held by their sides.

With big arc lights and the colourful lights of the spacecraft, it could have been mistaken for a Christmas bazaar or a huge party gathering, or some massive concert.

“Welcome humans you are safe now.” They were greeted.

The streets were now a ghost town, the only sound you could hear were the waves gently lapping at the shore. There was not one bird in the sky, they sensed the coming danger and headed to safety. But further into the countryside was a flurry of activity, as army trucks lined up to take people to safe shelters and floodlights dazzled the night as the army moved in. RAF fighter jets took to the sky.

Speed was of the essence, there was no time to lose, and everything had to be done at breakneck speed as already the cigar-shaped vessels appeared, firing into the dark skies.

An old airport hangar was used for a shelter as many as ten were located along with empty secure buildings. Underground war shelters were turned into safe houses, with mattresses and blankets, to accommodate about sixty people. Large Army tea urns were set up and portable toilets were installed. People were staggering about dazed, some unable to comprehend what was taking place.

Some people stood at the entrances at a safe distance to watch the extra-terrestrial fight in the skies as more Alien ships were blasted out of the sky.

“Just like the war.” Some older people were saying to wide-eyed frightened children. “Don’t worry, we beat them then and we’ll do it again even though they are from another world.

***