Tanya wrapped her hands around the control sticks and pulled them up evenly. The Eagle gave a large burst from its bottom retros that blasted dirt in every direction as it lifted-off vertically. Tanya adjusted the throttle quadrant to compensate for the damage done to the maneuvering rockets by alien projectiles. The Eagle's nose swung around in to the direction where Alan was hopefully still holding off a contingent of alien aggressors.

"Alan!" Sandra shouted into her commlock over the noise of the engines and wind rushing past the open door. Her short black hair fluttered wildly in her face. "Fire another shot up!"

A new yellow ray beam of energy blazed out of the jungle undergrowth just as the Eagle was approaching the very location. Tanya brought the Eagle's nose up to slow it down and then coasted toward the approximate spot where the shot had emanated from. Now just skimming at tree top level they were still more than hundreds of feet above the ground.

From her position looking down over the ledge of the Eagle's floor Sandra guided the Eagle to the right spot. She could make out make out the flashes of light coming from Alan's gun lighting up the jungle darkness.

"I see him! I see him!" Sandra shouted. "More forward! More left...More left! Okay, hold that!"

With the Eagle hovering far above him and blasting the trees tops into swaying violently, Alan waved an arm wildly. Sandra kicked the length of rope out the door, and the end of it fell right next to Alan.

"Get on!" she said uselessly as her voice was easily drowned out by the exterior engine noise.

Alan needed no encouragement anyhow. He leapt upon the rope and was shimmying up it as best he could. He put one ray gun into his belt holster and gave a vigorous thumbs-up signal. He then regrasped the rope with that hand and fired down around himself into the jungle desperately with the other laser grasping hand then holstered that one too. The aliens were not going to let him go so easily. They now fired more shots at the human and some dared to creep closer despite the fury of the rocket thrust blasting down into the jungle.

"Okay Tanya! You can pull up now!" Sandra indicated as she initiated shooting a ring of laser fire around Alan's clambering form.

Tanya eased the control sticks up gently again and the Eagle made a gradual straight-up ascent, but the dangling rope began to smoke from the heat of the exhaust.

"Easy Tanya!" Sandra advised. "The thrusters are burning the rope."

Helena came to the doorway and started pulling on the rope with Sandra as the Eagle once again assumed station-keeping hovering. Together they could barely move it. Commander Koenig unstrapped himself and came over to start pulling too.

"John!" Helena protested but John ignored her as he braced his one good leg upon the floor and tugged with the women. It was hard going.

Sandra poked her head out over the side of the ship to see Alan courageously still trying to shimmy his way up the rope but he still had a way to go. Then a shot from an alien weapon narrowly zinged past Sandra's head and ricocheted through-out cabin of the passenger module setting off several sparks. When the ricocheting stopped Sandra lifter her head off the floor and stuck it out the doorway again.

"Tanya! You've got him above the tree tops! Can you go forward gently? They are still shooting at us...and him."

"Okay!" Tanya acknowledged. She held a control stick steady in one hand while pushing the throttle handle at her side forward. While keeping the Eagle at the same relatively low altitude she gradually nosed it around back toward the clearing they had come from.

Sandra monitored Alan's climbing as the spray of darts from the jungle thinned out as they travelled away from the shooting aliens. Sandra became instantly alarmed as they came over the clearing again.

"Alan!" she shouted in obvious surprise pointing downward.

"What?" a nearly out of breath Alan managed to gasp out over the roar of the retros while still several feet below her.

"Look!" she screamed. "No! Climb! Keep coming! Fast!"

But Alan had to look. Clasping the rope for dear life he looked down to see at least three of the bug eyed multi-armed alien creatures grasping the same rope with him…not far enough below.

"Oh, screw me!" Alan exclaimed.