Alcantaran 1: Alien Abduction (5 page)

The Bug took Gus through the entire procedure step by step until Gus was comfortable doing it by himself.
 
He suspected the job was fairly dangerous because he needed protective gear and the Bugs stayed well away when he was draining the energy material, taking it to the computer technician to measure and then dumping it in the stock pile.
 
Gus was glad the job wasn't so tough physically because he still wasn't back to normal.
 
Whenever he was caught up draining the energy material, he helped clean some of the older space junk the Bugs had found.
 
There was always a film of dust on the older pieces and Gus gladly cleaned it off.
 
Every time he cleaned this dust, he felt better for a few days.
 
Gus settled back into a routine of working and watching for a chance to escape… until the day the short, furry computer tech named Tik showed up.

The creature was a small strawberry-blonde furry creature that usually walked on four legs.
 
She stood about 12" at the shoulder when on all four legs but was about 30" tall when she stood on two legs.
 
She mostly walked on the two back legs when she was working on the computers or some other technical work.
 
She had a fluffy tail covered with long feathery hair that was about 1/3 the length of her body.
 
Her fingers curled and she walked on the middle joint of her front paws when on all four.
 
She was armed with very sharp, retractable claws on all four paws -- much like a cat.
 
Her front paws had 3 fingers and an opposable thumb which allowed her to pick up items and use a keyboard.
 
She carried her head high so Gus knew that she was very proud and had an attitude.
 
When she walked on all fours and her tail was straight up, it had a small curl on the end.
 
When her tail was like that, she was in the fighting mode and you had better look out.
 
She had a small canine-shaped head complete with the sharp canine teeth and her ears expressed a lot of the emotions she felt.
 
If they were standing up and cupped a little, it was a sign of curiosity or interest.
 
When her ears were flat against her head, she was in no mood to mess with anybody and she might throw something or even bite.

Tik took up the story from this point.
 
When she felt the planetary ship taking off, she rushed to the door.
 
It was locked and there was no other way out of the computer room.
 
She went to the computer and tried to get into the memory to see if she could open the door.
 
She found out that she was locked out of the computer and she couldn't check anything.
 
She tried the comm unit but there was no response.
 
She gathered up all her tools and put them in the tool bag.
 
She figured a bill and sent it to the home office.
 
She made sure that she charged a big bonus for the test hop and padded her time too.
 
Finally, with nothing else to do, she just sat down and waited.
 
After about a half a day, she felt the planetary ship braking and soon it landed again.
 
She thought that the Bugs had just taken off to test the ship and were returning her to the space port.
 
She was getting ready to give someone a piece of her mind.
 
She would be paid extra for going along on a test hop!
 
She waited and waited for someone to open the door and the longer she waited the angrier she became.

Suddenly the door opened and a Bug glided in on a floating disk.
 
Tik was off the chair in a flash and ran right up to the Bug.

"Listen, you overgrown filth from the sewer, I didn't sign on to do test hops.
 
I hope you know that this will cost you extra!
 
Before anyone from my company sets foot on one of your space ships again, we'll have an armed guard to keep doors open and you jerks on the ground.
 
I hope you have credits to pay the bill," Tik ranted as she grabbed her tool bag.
 
She started to brush past the Bug when it glided in her path.

The Bug said haughtily, "You will follow me.
 
We have need of your services on the mother ship."

Tik jumped with no warning and knocked the Bug off the disk.
 
She trampled right over the top of it and headed out the door.
 
She turned down the passage and headed for the outer door that she had come in earlier.
 
The Bug was making funny sounds and was trying to scramble back into an upright position.

The Bug hollered loudly, "Halt or you will regret it!"

Tik didn't even look back as she said, "Shove it up your nose, you overgrown sewer filth!"

Tik felt the charge coming before she heard it.
 
She tried to jump to the side and almost made it, but the stingerray blast grazed along her side.
 
The pain in her side was excruciating so she dropped the tool bag.
 
She whirled and dragging her one side, she still tried to attack the Bug that had blasted her.
 
The Bug blasted her again and she passed out from the pain.

When she woke up, she was in a room just like the one that Gus had described, except the room and bunks were smaller.
 
Tik felt like she had been hit by one of the taxis at Anbang.
 
It hurt to move but it also hurt to just lie there so Tik checked the drawers and found her tool bag in the drawer under her bunk.
 
There were other items in two of the other drawers.
 
She tried the door but it was locked.
 
Tik checked her tool bag to see if anything was missing but everything was there.
 
She took her bag to the door to see if she could get it open.
 
She messed with it for quite awhile but had no luck.
 
She gathered up her tools and went back to the bunk and lay down.
 
She put her tool bag right beside her for quick access or to grab it and run.

Later the door opened and two small dissimilar creatures filed in carrying a bag.
 
As soon as they were in the room, the door swung shut.
 
The two creatures didn't even pay attention to Tik.
 
They just went directly to their bunks, put the bag in a drawer and then they lay down.
 
Tik tried to engage the two in conversation but they didn't act like they understood anything she tried to say.
 
They weren't interested in any sign language either.
 
Finally, Tik gave up and lay down.
 
It had been a long stressful day and the effects of the stingerray had taken their toll also.
 
Soon Tik fell into a fitful sleep.
 
She woke up every time one of the other creatures turned over or moaned in their sleep.
 
When the bell went off in the morning, Tik almost jumped off the bunk.
 
She went into her defend position, ready to take on whoever or whatever stepped through the door.
 
The two creatures got up, grabbed their bag and lined up at the door.
 
Tik stayed where she was, ready to fight.

The door swung open and the two creatures filed out.
 
Shortly a Bug stepped through the door.

"Grab your tool bag and follow the other workers," the Bug said quietly.

"Why don't you go try to breathe vacuum, you sewer filth!" Tik growled dangerously.

"Come right now!
 
We don't have time for foolishness," the Bug replied, as it started to reach inside its robe.

Tik was ready for trouble and before the Bug could pull its arm out of the robe, she leaped from the bed and in one more leap covered the distance from the bed to the Bug.
 
The Bug pulled the stingerray out of its robe but before it could fire, Tik hit it head on.
 
She knocked it to the ground and grabbed the arm with the stingerray in her mouth.
 
She bit down and twisted at the same time.
 
She felt a satisfactory snap and felt the arm break off.
 
She spit it out and went for the hood.
 
She was trying to get it off and get to the Bug's face when another Bug came up behind and blasted her.
 
The same excruciating pain as yesterday knocked her out and she fell off of the crippled Bug.

When she came to, both Bugs were holding stingerrays on her.
 
The crippled Bug asked, "Are you ready to get your bag and go to work or would you like another dose?"

Tik tried to get to her feet and show the two Bugs how ready she was to work but her body just wouldn't do as she willed.
 
She finally pushed up on her arms but they wouldn't hold her and she crashed back to the floor.
 
After a few seconds she tried again.
 
She wasn't going to give these Bugs the satisfaction of thinking she was beat.
 
This time she pushed up on her arms and stayed.
 
It took another two minutes before she could get her feet under her and stand on all four.
 
She tried to take a step and almost fell again.
 
Her tail was drooping and didn't offer any balance.
 
She took a tiny step and made it so she tried another.
 
Gradually, feeling was returning but she decided to get her tool bag rather than attack.
 
The odds were too great and she just didn't have another charge.
 
She laid her ears back to show that she would cooperate; but the Bugs had better beware, because if she got half a chance she would attack again.

Tik could hardly carry the bag and could barely move to keep up with the other creatures already lined up in the passageway.
 
As she moved, her body started responding better and soon she was close to her old self.
 
The Bugs took them to the dining hall and everyone picked up a tray of food.
 
Tik took hers but didn't like the smell or texture.
 
She knew she was going to have to force herself to eat to keep up strength.
 
She ate about half of the meal and then the Bugs lined them up again.
 
They walked the line to a large room that Tik figured was a repair room.
 
There were robots, tools and all sorts of equipment in various stages of disassembly.
 
The other creatures in the line stopped at work stations on benches lining the center of the room.
 
The Bugs indicated that Tik should sit at the next empty station.

The crippled Bug explained, "You will check out the computers in the robots and other equipment.
 
You are to program these computers to interface with the mother ship computer so the mother ship can control the robots and equipment.
 
We will have someone else check your work, so do not think about sabotaging any of the programs.
 
You have had a sample of our training methods and we can extend the pain a long time before you pass out the next time."

Tik laid her ears back to show her displeasure but she didn't say anything.
 
A large robot brought a disassembled robot to her work station.
 
She ran some diagnostic tests and found a couple of bad parts.
 
She turned to the Bug who had been observing her.

"These parts are bad.
 
I can't make them so where do I get replacements?" Tik said sourly.

"Use that computer terminal to check about replacement parts.
 
If we have them in the mother ship, a messenger will bring them.
 
If we don't have them, the computer will tell you whether to salvage this robot or to send it to storage for later repair when we get the parts," the Bug explained.

Tik checked with the computer and found out there were no replacement parts.
 
The computer wanted to save the robot, so the computer had a messenger robot bring a piece of equipment for Tik to work on and picked up the broken robot to take away to storage.
 
Tik checked out the piece of equipment and found a broken circuit board.
 
She took her time but did repair it.
 
She started reprogramming the equipment under the watchful eye of the crippled Bug.
 
She finished the job and the messenger robot brought some more work.
 
Tik took her time on all of the repairs but she kept busy all day.
 
She figured she could have almost tripled her output if she was being paid; but if she was slave labor, she only would do enough to keep above suspicion.
 
While she was working, Tik started to plan how to sabotage the main computer without anyone being able to trace it back to her.
 
First she needed access to the computer and the ability to make changes.
 
She knew she didn't have time to do a long program or to hack the mother ship computer, so she needed another plan.
 
She knew the mother ship computer would be interfacing with everything she worked on; so if she put a piece of code in everything she worked on, maybe she could set up a Trojan horse that would let her into the mother ship computer.
 
She knew that she was going to have to take some time to plan everything down to the last detail before she started.
 
If the pieces were coming from all the different things she worked on, it would be very difficult for anyone to find.
 
She needed to find out how the mother ship interfaced with the different pieces of equipment and the robots.
 
Her spirits lifted as she knew that she had a chance to strike back at the Bugs -- even if it took some time.
 
Finally the Bug signaled it was time to line up again.
 
The line walked back to the dining hall and everyone received the same garbage they'd had for breakfast.