Alcantaran 1: Alien Abduction (28 page)

Tik was anxious to get back to her research so Ron and Gus went to check out some of the living quarters a little closer to this area.
 
They entered a large suite on the starboard side.
 
They entered what looked like a living room that had couches and chairs.
 
One entire wall was a view screen.
 
Ron thought it was strange that there was no reading material anywhere in the room.
 
They found three bedrooms complete with beds and other furniture.
 
They felt a little guilty looking through everything until they remembered how long that Auntie had sat empty.
 
They looked in the furniture and found a few articles of clothing but not much else.
 
One of the bedrooms had a closet.
 
There were some oddly shaped shoes and one garment.
 
Ron put the shoes next to his and saw that they were close to his size but a little narrower.
 
Gus put his foot next to it and the shoes were dwarfed.

"Well, we know whoever wore these shoes was not a Sandghost.
 
I don't think I wore anything that small even as a baby," Gus stated.

"They look just a little small and narrow for me but I have friends I'm sure could wear them," Ron mentioned.

They continued their search, finding odds and ends of clothing but nothing that would give a clue about what the Alcantarans looked like.
 
One of the bedrooms was larger than the other two and had a small bathroom off to one side.
 
One wall had a view screen and there seemed to be controls for some sort of projector.
 
Ron wondered if it was one of the 3-D viewers.
 
Either the occupants didn't use bedding or they took it with them when they left because the beds were bare.
 
Ron and Gus were satisfied that there was nothing of interest to them here so they decided to look at the galley on this level.

They stepped into the room and saw that it was much like the one they were using up above except this one seemed to be the deluxe version.
 
Theirs was pretty bare with just the basic necessities; whereas, this one had extra appliances and other items that would make it a lot easier to prepare meals.
 
Seeing all of the equipment for fixing food reminded them that they were hungry and it was time to eat.
 
They headed back to Tik to see if she was ready to head up above.
 
She was ready so the three of them took the secret elevator to the upper galley.
 
As they ate, they discussed what they had accomplished today and what the plans were for tomorrow.

The next morning, Tik went back to the computer in the lower comm room.
 
She wanted to start going through the equipment in that room to see how it worked as she was doing the research.
 
Ron and Gus went to the middle cargo bay after they had put on their space suits.
 
As they stepped close to the rear door, Auntie ran through a warning list.
 
They made it through the list and took the miners outside.

Tik went back to the computer in the lower comm room.
 
She wanted to start going through the equipment in that room to see how it worked as she was doing the research.

It didn't take the miners long to fill the carts with ice and they went back in the cargo bay.
 
The miners used their lasers to melt the ice and Ron hooked up the hose to the fittings going to the conservatory.
 
As soon as the miners were through melting the ice, Gus stuck the hose from the pump into the cart.
 
Ron started the pump and they soon had both carts emptied.

They worked all that day getting water in the tank.
 
They had the water tank almost 1/2 full.
 
The next day, they were outside working when Auntie gave a notification alarm.
 
They rushed the miners back into the cargo bay and closed the doors.
 
Ron called Tik to see what the alarm was about.
 
Tik said Auntie could see the rocket and it looked like it had fuel.
 
The detectors couldn't tell exactly how much fuel it was carrying but Tik knew it was more than it had when it went out.
 
The rocket had only been gone about 72 hours but Auntie was estimating it would be back in the next 24 hours.
 
Somehow it was shaving off at least a half a day getting back to them.

The trio immediately decided to send the second rocket that was fueled.
 
Gus used the tractor beam to lift them off of the asteroid again.
 
Ron programmed the rocket while they were being raised.
 
When they were far enough off the asteroid, he fired the rocket.
 
Gus took them back down and reset the shield.
 
Ron and Gus had only taken their helmets off so they decided to push ahead with gathering water.
 
Some time tomorrow, they would find out how much fuel the rocket was carrying.
 
In theory, the Bugs could be there in a day or two, so they needed to have that water and be ready to leave if they had to.

Ron and Gus worked a lot longer than normal trying to get as much water as possible that day.
 
At last they just had to quit.
 
They were both getting tired and tired people make mistakes.
 
A mistake here could cost them a life and might mean the recapture of the others.
 
They checked the fuel in the miners and saw they only had about 3/8 of a tank.
 
If the rocket didn't get back until around noon, the miners would be almost empty.
 
Ron and Gus decided they would watch and at least move the miners inside the ship when they got close to empty.

Nobody talked much that night.
 
They ate and went straight to bed.
 
The next morning everybody was up early.
 
Tik quickly checked all the sensors before she ate.
 
Every day now would bring more pressure.
 
When would the Bugs get here?
 
Ron and Gus hurriedly ate and suited up.
 
They moved the miners outside and started.
 
By 11:00 Auntie's water tanks were 80% full.
 
They decided that was good enough for right now.
 
They parked the miners and climbed out of the space suits.

They headed for the lower flight deck where Tik was at.
 
Tik greeted them as they came in the door, "That rocket is traveling a lot faster on the way back.
 
I wonder if it's burning some of the fuel it collected.
 
It'll be here in about 30 minutes.
 
Maybe we should get up in the air right now."

Ron nodded, "I agree.
 
Tik, can you tell how much fuel yet?"

"I don’t have a way to measure accurately but it’s a lot.
 
What's the plan for the fuel?"

"We need to fuel the other rockets and get them sent off.
 
Then we need to fuel the miners so we can start gathering oxygen.
 
I guess the rest will go in Auntie's tanks," Ron replied.

"I think we need to fuel the remote sensor and launch it.
 
In two or two and a half days, we will start losing sight of hyper-drive launch point.
 
Right now I don't want to be blind.
 
Maybe Auntie can speed the rockets up once they are filled and we can cut down the time it takes to get them back," Tik said nervously.

"It'll mean we'll have less silver if we leave early.
 
We can't start mining silver until we have the oxygen," Ron stated the obvious.

"If the Bugs come, I'd rather leave without any silver if it means staying free," Gus declared emphatically.

"I agree.
 
If we have fuel and oxygen on board, we'll find something else to make up for the silver," Tik added.

"OK, we fuel the rockets first, the miners and then the remote detector.
 
Anything else, we put into Auntie's tanks," Ron conceded.
 
"Take her up, Gus, and let's get ready to catch a rocket."

Auntie was in contact with the rocket and guided it right into the pod.
 
She asked what Ron wanted to do with the fuel.
 
He told her to fuel the other rockets and then put the remaining fuel in her tanks.
 
Fueling the other rockets took less than a third of what the first rocket had picked up.
 
Ron told Gus and Tik to go fuel the remote detector while he programmed the rockets.
 
They rushed into the cargo bay and started fueling the detector.
 
Ron finished programming the rockets and had Auntie start launching them.
 
Auntie warned that they needed seven minute intervals between launches and Ron told her to go ahead with that.

By the time Ron had all the rockets launched, Gus and Tik had the detector fueled and had run through preliminary checks on the detector's systems.
 
Tik called to Ron and told him they were going to launch the detector.
 
Tik directed the sensor to fly into the airlock and then they drained the air.
 
As soon as it was empty, they opened the outer door and launched the detector.
 
Tik had it programmed to sit in orbit at their current location.
 
It would send information to Auntie when they were behind the star.
 
They returned to the flight deck and Gus set Auntie back down on the asteroid where he reset the shield.

Gus asked, "Where does the air go when we drain the airlock?"

Tik checked with Auntie's computer and found out that the air was pumped back into her tanks and then released when they refilled the airlock.
 
Tik asked, "Why do you ask?"

Gus replied, "We have been trying to figure a way to get the oxygen out of the water and then get it back into Auntie's tanks.
 
What would happen if we mined ice and then had the miners heat it to steam in the airlock?
 
Then, if we had a portable shield over the carts, we could shrink the shield and force the oxygen out.
 
Whatever was left, we could just dump back on the ice field.
 
We could even use two airlocks with one miner in each of them to cut the cycle time."

Ron cried out delightedly, "I like that idea.
 
Auntie says the second rocket will be here tomorrow, so we'll have fuel to push ahead and then, in two days, we'll have all of the rockets back.
 
If the Bugs will just wait two more days, we'll be set to boogie out of here with a fighting chance to survive."

Tik said, "Go for it.
 
I'm going to continue with my research if you two don't need my help."

"We'll be all right.
 
Before you start, send
Kota
's message again.
 
We want to repeat it until we get an answer back that he's been rescued.
 
When you start researching, you need to concentrate on the communication equipment and some of the weapons.
 
We need to fuel them or reload whatever it takes to make them functional.
 
We need to find out what systems will help us to complete our escape.
 
By the time the five rockets get back, in two days, we'll be hidden by the star; but until we are, we need protection," Ron stated emphatically.

Tik decided to start with the communications room and then do the weapons.
 
Ron and Gus returned to the middle cargo bay where they refueled the miners.
 
They suited up and headed outside.
 
They did as Gus suggested and Ron took one miner and Gus the other one.
 
They used the middle and the lower airlocks just to save time moving into the space ship.
 
They were both working at a feverish pitch to get as much oxygen in the tanks as they could.
 
They wanted to look over their shoulders to see if the Bugs were coming but they couldn't see far enough.
 
All they could do was trust the detector to spot the Bugs first.

They worked late again and were up early to start capturing oxygen.
 
They had to quit about 10:00 to retrieve the returning rocket.
 
Ron worked the tractor beam to give Gus a chance to top off the miners fuel.
 
Ron caught the rocket and emptied the fuel into Auntie's tanks.
 
The needle on the tank gauge crept up but it still wasn't in the comfort zone that Ron wanted.
 
They had a lot of equipment and weapons that would need fuel.
 
Ron reprogrammed the rocket and sent it out again.
 
He lowered the space ship and reset the shield.
 
He and Gus returned to their task of filling the oxygen tank.
 
By the end of the day, both of them were pooped.
 
They got the miners inside and started taking their suits off.
 
Auntie sent a warning that the miners weren't secured.
 
Ron and Gus were so tired that they thought about just leaving them; but they had set Auntie's warnings, so they followed her advice.
 
They had just finished locking the final strap when the alarm sounded.

Ron and Gus looked at each other and ran to the secret elevator.
 
Tik was in the armory loading some of the weapons when the alarm sounded.
 
She beat the other two to the lower flight deck, not only because she was closer but she also ran a lot faster than they did.
 
When they arrived in the comm center, Tik had pictures on the view screens.
 
She was checking all of the data the remote sensor was sending.
 
The sensor had picked up a ship approaching the star.
 
It would be here in about 12 days.
 
The detector couldn't tell if the ship was a Bug ship.
 
The space ship was just too far away to get any details.