Alcantaran 1: Alien Abduction (2 page)

As he walked in, he asked, "Tik, what's happening now?
 
Are the Bugs still on the way here?
 
How long before they get here?"

Tik curled her lip in a Mis'stear grin as she replied, "The other creatures that weren't allowed in the lower decks where the escape pods are located, changed their minds.
 
When the alarms went to stage two and the ventilation shut off, they started to swarm toward the lower level.
 
The Bugs turned around and headed for their escape pods.
 
As soon as Gus signals, we can start the count down to shove off out of here."

Ron reached for the ship's comm mic and said, "Gus, is the ramp clear so we can seal it up?
 
You need to find a seat for take-off."
 
He released the talk switch and turned to Tik.
 
"You'd better get settled and belted in.
 
I need you at that computer, not splattered on the rear wall."

"You just take care of yourself, big boy.
 
You have to pilot this thing; and for now, all you can use is compressed air.
 
Gus just said it's alright to close the ramp.
 
I'll take care of that.
 
You get settled in the pilot's seat," Tik said in almost a purr.

Ron strapped himself in and started turning on the power to the console.
 
Lights started coming on and he took a deep breath as he said a quick prayer.
 
Ron knew they would need more than just luck to come out of this alive, but all three of them wanted off the Bugs' mother ship.
 
More than that, they wanted a chance to go back to their home planets.
 
Tik tensely reported the ramp was sealed and the thirty second count down was started.
 
Everyone tensed as they waited.
 
Tik sent one last command to the mother ship control computer.

Suddenly, they were slammed deep into their seats.
 
Auntie shot out of the mother ship like a cannon ball fired from a cannon.
 
Within seconds after they cleared, the mother ship picked up speed and jumped into hyper-space.
 
Auntie's engines fired at the same time and only burned for a short time until she had the speed necessary to reach their destination.
 
Auntie continued on its course with minor adjustments from Ron for the next several minutes.
 
They were headed for a blue super-giant star that appeared to be close to becoming a super nova.
 
Auntie only had a few stars in this category in her computer data banks.
 
Ron had no idea how long ago these stars had been plotted, but they had seen information about this one on the mother ship computer.

Right now the star was just a faint dot in their view screen.
 
They had to cruise along on the push they had received from the mother ship and the short burst from Antiquarian's engines for the next three days.
 
The compressed air corrections left no trace and would change the direction enough to make it virtually impossible to trace their direction when they did fire up the motors again.
 
The computer had calculated 5 days as the optimum, but the trio didn't think they could wait that long and had decided on 3 days.
 
The Bugs would have to do everything just right and have a ton of luck to pick up their trail after only 3 days.
 
All power sources that would emit a neutrino trail were shut off or turned to the bare minimum and even the robots in the hold were powered down.

The waiting was the hardest and the minutes seemed to stretch on like hours.
 
The trio didn't know how long it would take the Bugs to clear the radiation from the passage-way, or how long it would take for them to get into the cargo bay.
 
How long would it be before they discovered the missing items from the store room?

Tik had changed access codes to the computer and had changed the back door access that allowed a computer technician to gain control again.
 
Ron was pacing the deck and asked, "How long do you think it will take the Bugs to get back into the computer?"

"Listen, deary, I've told you at least 20 times that I don't know.
 
I'm not sure how good their computer techs are.
 
I know it would take me at least a day to get in and maybe as much as two days.
 
It would only take about a half a day to set new access codes but it will take another two days to retrieve the data for the hyper space jump.
 
Once they have the trajectory they just traveled, it will take two days to turn the mother ship around so they can jump back to here.
 
If they are off just a few decimal places, they can wind up hundreds of thousands of miles from the spot we exited the ship.
 
That's at least five and a half days and it could be two or three times that if the Bugs are pressuring the computer tech," Tik lectured impatiently.

"You did say that to access the back door you'd need to get in the computer room didn't you?" Ron asked.

"There may be other ways I don't know about but that is the fastest way.
 
Why do you ask?" Tik asked.

"Oh, I sent the robot to the computer room with that energy canister after it made two passes up and down the passage-way," Ron answered with a grin.
 
"I thought it might buy us a little more time."

"You're bad.
 
Where in the world did an idea like that come from?
 
I don't know how much it will slow them down but it will greatly increase the odds for a mistake.
 
The Bugs won't go anywhere near there until it is clean but they'll force some poor computer tech to go ahead and work in there.
 
The computer techs will be worried about radiation poison and won't be totally concentrating on what they are doing.
 
They probably won't have the best techs in there either, so with pressure from the Bugs, I can almost guarantee a mistake," Tik replied with a grin that could be mistaken for a snarl if you didn't watch the angle of her ears.

"The Bugs are getting a taste of Earth-style guerrilla warfare.
 
If they were smart, they would just keep going the way we sent them but I suspect they will want this ship and those other artifacts back," Ron smirked.

Gus came into the cockpit just then and said, "Speaking of artifacts, what are we going to do with those rockets?
 
They seem to be empty and I don't know what they use for fuel.
 
We don't have any fusion fuel to spare.
 
Your idea of taking a little bit here and there worked fine.
 
The Bugs never suspected anything but even after two years we didn't wind up with very much."

"I know we don't have very much.
 
See that blue star there?
 
That's our filling station to refuel and those rockets are our gas cans," Ron stated.

Tik asked, "What are filling stations and gas cans?"

"I forget that you don't have an Earth background," Ron chuckled.
 
"On Earth, the energy companies would deliver our fuel to the filling stations.
 
We could refuel our vehicles there or we could put the fuel in gas cans.
 
We had smaller mechanized tools that needed this fuel and it was more practical to use the cans than haul the tools to the filling station."

"I see," said Gus.
 
"Are you sure there is an inhabited planet in that solar system that can supply us with fuel for Auntie?
 
What have the rockets got to do with our getting fuel?"

"I have no idea if there're any planets at all.
 
If there were a planet, how would you pay for fuel?
 
We have a few things we secreted on board but I have no idea how much they want for fuel or how much those things would be worth.
 
The blue star is our destination and I think those rockets will fly to the sun to bring us back fuel," Ron said.

"I hope you're right.
 
The Bugs fired 3 or 4 of those rockets at different stars and the rockets never came back.
 
They were really ticked at loosing them.
 
The rockets were worth a lot of money as artifacts of the Alcantara.
 
This space ship was one of theirs.
 
The Bugs found it in the Burbidge Chain Galaxy in the middle of nowhere.
 
There was no clue how long it had been there, where it came from or what happened to the crew.
 
I think some of these rockets came off of this ship," Tik chimed in.

Gus put in his two cents worth, "Our fuel is limited and if this doesn't work we may not have enough to get out of the solar system.
 
Our water, food and air are limited also.
 
We scavenged what we could but it won't last indefinitely.
 
I need some sand and Tik will need her UV light or we will be back in the same shape that you found us when you were first captured.
 
Do you remember the troubles we had?
 
By the way, how did the Bugs capture you and how did you get the translator unit and the healer unit?"

Ron thought back to that hot July day over two years ago.
 
He started his story, "I was on Earth working in a circuit breaker box.
 
These boxes feed electrical power to the different circuits where electrical appliances are plugged in.
 
I had to work on it with the power on and just as I was ready to stick my screw driver inside there was a big sonic boom with a flash of light.
 
I jumped and stabbed the screw driver right into the main incoming power line.
 
I was being electrocuted when the power suddenly went off.
 
I felt a tingle and felt so numb I couldn't move.
 
I never did lose consciousness and I was aware of being grabbed by several Bugs.
 
I had a tool pouch on and they left it on me.
 
When they loaded me onto the planetary space ship that the Bugs use to fly back and forth to the mother ship, I had enough use of my arms and legs to push against the door jamb just as they lifted me in.
 
I fell right on top of one of our little robed friends.
 
When I landed on top of it, I smashed down with my elbow.
 
I didn't drive its head as far down inside its shoulders as Gus did today but it snapped its neck.
 
It was wearing a robe like they usually do but it had a cape on also.
 
I rolled off the Bug and had just enough movement to grab the cape and roll it under my body.
 
I don't know why I grabbed the cape but it had pockets in it which contained the translator and healer units.
 
All of us are glad now that I did grab the cape.
 
The Bugs didn't even notice that I had the cape.
 
Hmm….I wonder if bright sunlight affects their eye sight?
 
The Bugs didn't miss a beat; they just finished loading me into the planetary ship and brought me to the mother ship.
 
The Bug with the snapped neck followed the rest and it was hours before the stupid thing finally realized it was dead.
 
They are just like some filthy vermin we have on Earth.
 
You can cut off their head and it takes hours for the body to die.

When we got to the mother ship, they threw me into one of the little rooms and left.
 
The tingle I felt was a stun gun and its effect lasted for another couple of hours.
 
I figured out later that because I was grounded in the breaker box, a lot of the stun bled off in the electrical grid.
 
The Bugs estimated I would be out for about eight hours so I had time to examine both units and hide them in my boots before they came back to get me.
 
I folded the cape and stuck it in my tool pouch.
 
I had no idea what the healer was but I figured out what the translator was.
 
As long as the unit was touching my bare skin I could figure out what the writing over the door switch said.
 
When the Bugs came back I understood what they were talking about.
 
I didn't let on that I knew what they were saying; I just tried to see if any of them understood English.
 
I don't think they do; but other Bugs had translators, so they could communicate with me.
 
They took me to the room/cell that you two were in.
 
Tik wasn't a pretty sight and I had no idea about you.
 
I knew you were big and maybe dangerous but I didn't realize how sick you were.
 
How did they get you Gus?
 
How long had you been in there before I got there?"

Gus thought for a minute before he replied, "I was there over a year before you arrived.
 
I lived on the planet Prokne in Coddington's Nebula.
 
Prokne is a desert planet where gravity pull is greater than what is set on Auntie.
 
I was in a group riding and packing our kamaals to
WuxiCity
.
 
The kamaals are our six legged beast of burden.
 
They can pack several hundred pounds and go for long distances with very little water or food.
 
They are much more practical in the desert than mechanical vehicles.
 
The sand clogs machinery and motors very quickly.

We had goods we hoped to trade for tools and energy cells.
 
My people, the Sand Ghosts, are nomadic and live on the edge of the desert near the mountains but the Jiangau build and live in the few large cities on my planet.
 
There are a few small villages that are trade centers for my people but you have to go to the Jiangau in the cities for the good trades.
 
The Jiangau manufacture the energy cells and tools that we need.
 
We provide the raw materials and other items they need to survive in the cities.
 
With such a small population, this arrangement has worked well for us for centuries.