The Revenge of Excalibur

Chapter 1

Army boots: stomping, smashing the daisy with the blue center.

Arthur Merlin jerked his head back. Entranced by the fathomless, turquoise eyes of the breathtaking female before him, he’d lost all track of time. He blinked repeatedly, shaking his head, trying to clear his mind. The surrounding noises caught his attention.  The dripping of water into the small, inner cavern lake, the shuffling of equipment being set up, and the echoing of voices off the distant walls.

The image flashed through his mind again, more forcefully. Army boots: squashing, grinding the daisy with the blue center into the cavern floor, until all that remained was small, unidentifiable pieces.

Oh, shit. Major Breckenridge and Alpha Team. He’d forgotten about them.

Arthur respected the major, especially after everything they’d gone through at Heathrow Airport and Lake George.  However, he couldn’t let Daisy fall into their hands. If she did, what would happen to the evil entity trapped inside the legendary Excalibur? Daisy was the only person who controlled it.

A vision of the Shalit escaping its prison caused Arthur to break out in a cold sweat. He’d already had his confrontation with the alien being and lost. If it hadn’t been for Daisy, he’d be dead. Arthur had to find a way to save Daisy and keep the Shalit contained.

He glanced at the tunnel entrance where Major Breckenridge and Dr. Tober were striding purposefully toward him. He peered back down at Daisy. She gazed up at him with such love and trust. His breath caught, heart fluttering as he fell under her spell once more.  He shook his head. No, I can’t let myself get mesmerized again. She’s in danger. I must save her.

Gray eyes over daisy with a blue center and then they disappeared.

*Yes, baby, I’m getting you out of here,* he mentally reassured her.

To where? Daisy needs medical treatment. Who can I trust? The image of Ruth sobbing, clutching her necklace as she fled the cavern flashed through his mind.  Ruth.  Ruth will help us, even though I broke her heart.  She knew about the Shalit, and the need to keep it contained.  Arthur’s heart wrenched with regret.  He hadn’t intended on falling in love either. 

During Vietnam, too many of his friends bled to death in his arms, or they disappeared in showers of blood and gore. Arthur learned the mantra of ‘It don’t mean nothin’,’ and hardened his heart to everyone and everything. Even after the war, those walls stayed firmly in place.

Until he met Ruth. She waltzed into his life, ripping through his shackled heart and liberating the man he’d hidden away. Because of her, he felt love again.

Arthur peered down at the alien woman in his arms. If I’d never met Ruth, would my heart be as open to Daisy? Frustrated, he ran a hand through his hair. He had no way of knowing, but he was starting to feel like a pawn in a game of kismet.

A wrench clattering on the hard cave floor brought Arthur back to his present situation.  It doesn’t matter right now.  I must get Daisy to safety.  I’ll deal with the emotional side of my heart later.

Arthur gathered the injured Daisy into his arms and mentally focused on the beautiful garden behind Ruth’s house in White Water.  Visualizing the bench where he’d stolen his first kiss from Ruth, he BLIPPED!

Arthur stumbled back a few steps. A startled cry escaped his lips.  He fell on his butt as he clutched Daisy tightly to his chest. What the hell? Why am I sitting on a cold, metal floor instead of the stone bench? Where the hell are we? How did we get here?

A second later, a loud clattering drew his attention.  An ornate, silver sword slid from Daisy’s limp hand.  Arthur stared in shock at the sword, then scooched away from it as far as he could.  His heart thundered in his chest as his palms became slippery with sweat.  Why is Excalibur here?  He hadn’t teleported the sword with them. He had no reason to. I’m terrified of the damn thing.

Confused and scared, Arthur peered down at Daisy. Her face paler than usual, she appeared to be unconscious and barely breathing. With concern, he lightly stroked her cheek. What happened to her? She was awake a few minutes ago.

Hearing loud gasps from above him, Arthur looked up.  Three women wearing matching silver uniforms with black piping were aiming weapons at him.  They looked like ray guns from a few sci-fi movies he’d seen. He shook his head in disbelief. Did we end up on a movie set somewhere?

“So, who are you with?” Arthur asked jokingly, “Han Solo, or Darth Vader?” He inspected the threesome further.  They had the same seashell ears Daisy did. Oh, shit. Are those guns real?

The pale women weren’t amused as they frowned down at him. “Earthman, you hold our leader. Place her on the floor and back away, or we will fire and end your Human existence.” The tallest of the three did the demanding in accented English.  Her weapon pointed unwaveringly at Arthur’s forehead.

Even though the ray guns looked like toys to Arthur, he had no idea what they might do to his force-field. Just my luck. I jumped from the frying pan into the fire.

He gently lifted Daisy from his lap and laid her on the cold floor. He scowled at the space women as he slowly stood with raised arms, then backed up a few steps. He glanced over the round, metal room, and his mouth dropped open. Holy shit! We’re in one of the spaceships that escaped from the cavern.

Loud alarms blared, and orange lights flashed from the domed ceiling. A woman sitting at a console swiveled around in her chair, yelling, “Attack! Seven Calen ships have surrounded us. They demand our surrender, and the release of Emeara and the Earthman to them, or they will open fire. What shall we do, Commander Tigget?”

The tall space woman’s pale lips tightened as she peered down at her leader, lying helpless on the floor.

Daisy’s eyelids slowly fluttered open to regard her best friend. She’d used most of her mental energy to redirect Arthur’s teleportation to this Calen ship. She could not allow the Humans to capture her, or the Excalibur/Shalit would endanger the whole universe. She looked up at her Gray Eyes, the only man powerful enough to save them from the seven Calen ships.

*Tig, you must trust this Human. He is the one foretold by our ancestors.*  Arthur could barely hear Daisy’s faint mental voice.

Commander Tigget glanced back and forth from her leader, and friend, to the Human male.  She never lowered her weapon.

*Tig, if we wish to survive, you must turn the battle over to him,* Daisy ordered in a stronger telepathic voice. *Arthur, we cannot allow ourselves to be taken. We will die before we surrender. You two must join forces, to protect and save us.*

After a slight nod to her leader, Tig holstered her gun and strode to a row of blank screens. She punched a button, and they turned on, displaying seven ships.

These are the aliens that have been watching Earth.  Arthur stared open-mouthed at the classic style of UFOs seen for centuries all over his planet.

Two of the alien women still had their guns aimed at him, so Arthur carefully lowered his arms then knelt next to Daisy.  He cradled her head in his lap and with a trembling hand, wiped the sweat from her brow.  They expect me to save their ship but I have no idea what to do.

Tig nodded at the two space women holding ray guns. “Holster your weapons. Upon our leader’s request, we must trust this Human.” While they complied, she spoke to the woman at the console, “Inform the Commander of the Calen ships that we will never surrender. If they wish to die in battle, we shall accommodate them.”

Waiting for a response from the commander of the opposing fleet, Tig turned to Arthur, hands on hips.  She looked him up and down with cold, blue eyes. “I know not what you can do, if anything, to save us, but you must act fast. If they fire upon us, we are dead.”

Arthur swallowed around the lump in his throat. I’m so out of my element here. Using my powers on Earth is one thing but trying to take down seven spaceships is an entirely different matter. There’s no way my abilities are strong enough. Hell, nobody’s would be.

He rubbed his forehead, overwhelmed. Everything was happening too fast. We’re supposed to be in Ruth’s garden, not in the middle of a crazy space battle. Arthur knelt there, unmoving, not knowing what to do.

Daisy weakly raised her arm, pointing toward the silver sword. *Arthur, all you need do is touch the tip of Excalibur, and you shall destroy the ships. You must hurry.*

Arthur recoiled back in fear. Touch Excalibur? Is she nuts? He still hadn’t fully recovered from the mental contact he had with the Shalit in the cavern. Heaven knows what will happen if I touch the damn thing. No way.

In his mind came an image: a white daisy with a blue center, and over the middle of the flower, a pair of gray eyes floated down. The picture infused Arthur with such warmth and joy, tears of happiness welled in his eyes. A white beam flashed out, touching the daisy, leaving it burnt and wilted.

Okay. Okay. I get the picture. If Arthur didn’t try, Daisy would die. They all would.

He peered down at Daisy.  “I have no idea what’s going on, or how we got here, but I trust you, baby. I’ll destroy the ships for you.”

Taking a deep breath, he prepared himself for the worst kind of pain imaginable. Brows creased in concentration, he focused on the seven Calen ships, then reached out and grabbed the tip of the sword. His eyes widened in surprise.  All he felt was the chill of the steel blade.

“Cigsbah!” Tigget yelled, pointing at the screens. “They have fired upon us, my leader.”

The room became deathly silent as all eyes followed the white beam heading toward their ship. Abruptly, the screens lit up as the seven spacecraft exploded into bright, molten balls of fire. Arthur threw up his arm to shield his eyes from the sudden glare.  How did I destroy those ships? I’m not powerful enough. At least, I don’t think I am.

Cheering and yelling broke out in the small, round room as the crew celebrated their victory. Arthur wasn’t cheering.  That thin, white line continued to advance toward them. He had no idea what it was, but he knew it meant trouble.

Arthur watched the displays. The menacing white line crept closer and closer until it was too close to their ship to be seen on the screens. He braced himself, not knowing what to expect.  The beam breached the hull and entered the room.

Arthur stared, speechless.  The beam traveled soundlessly across the room and grazed his hand where it still gripped the tip of Excalibur. Upon impact, a flash of silver light shot out from the end of the sword. Arthur stared open-mouthed at the deep gouge on the back of his hand. 

What the hell was that? Arthur wondered, terrified. It had infiltrated his force-field. His stomach clenched, while his hand throbbed in pain. I’m no longer invincible, at least, not in space.

Continuing its course, the beam passed through the opposite wall, penetrating the adjacent side of the ship’s hull.

Daisy’s voice screamed into his mind, *Remove us from here, Arthur, before we implode!*

Arthur didn’t need to be told twice. Once again, he focused on Ruth’s garden, wanting to get back home where he knew he was safe. Concentrating on everyone in the room, he BLIPPED!