Battle Out of Time

Burke knew of the ancient Bronze Age and its legend of the dread Minotaur. But he didn't know he was about to become a vital part of it!
An utter dark lay upon the hills outside the palace now, moonless and with clouds drawn heavy all across the Cretan sky.
Wind, too, had come with the night, rising till Burke found himself fearing for the shutters. The lamps flared on their stands with each new gust and draft. Light flickered orange and yellow on Ariadne's lovely face, eddying through the shadows so that the tentacles of the frescoed octopi on the walls seemed to writhe and twist and turn....
Burke laughed without mirth. It was that mad a moment.
And that dangerous.
For while he might find temporary cover here with Ariadne, in these private quarters beyond the Queen's Megaron, death yet bayed at his heels.
Already, bearded King Minos himself no doubt paced some other palace hall—thirsting for Burke blood; raging in jealous fury that any outlander should dare aspire to his lovely daughter.
That slavering Greek lecher, Theseus, too—it was lucky he lay dead drunk there in the corner. Sober, and confronted with a rival, he'd kill just to salve his wounded ego.
And then, as if that were not enough of peril, there was ... the other.
Involuntarily, Burke shuddered.
What chance did a mere human have, pitted against the dark craft of the alien? Where could he hope to find the strength and skill and insight to win over the strange horror from beyond the void?
Yet with Ariadne's life at stake, Earth's whole future in the balance, how could he turn back?