Alcantaran 1: Alien Abduction (37 page)

Suddenly she announced, "If I had dslj;dfaslkj spices and two other ingredients, I could fix Wuensche Impossible Pie.
 
Would you oeirurep like me to purchase these ingredients?"

Tik was ready to tear into her right then but Ron answered, "Wait a minute.
 
Dolores, why don't you prepare menus for three meals a day for the three of us?
 
Figure the meals for five days and then explain what you would fix."

"How many calories will each of you need?
 
Do you have preferences?"

Ron told her a couple of the dishes they had eaten so far.
 
He looked at Tik to see if she knew how many calories they were eating.
 
Tik told Dolores how many they had been consuming and Dolores started her quiet hum.
 
Gus walked into the galley as she was figuring and stood waiting to see what would happen next.
 
Soon Dolores announced her menus and Ron asked her to explain what they were made of.
 
Dolores explained what the meals were and the trio thought they sounded good.
 
Ron asked for a list of groceries and Dolores rattled them off with only one spell of gibberish.
 
Ron looked at the other two and they were nodding 'yes' and waving toward the door.
 
Ron instructed Dolores to go purchase the groceries.
 
He told her to get whatever spices or other ingredients she needed to fix the meals.
 
The trio decided they would all accompany Dolores on her first buying trip.
 
They all wanted to see how she did it and how she would pick out ingredients.
 
Ron asked Auntie if she could interface with Dolores and Auntie said Dolores would have to have a couple of modifications first.
 
Tik made a note of it and said she would do it later tonight.
 
Dolores and the trio headed out the rear door and to the grocery store that they had seen just down the road.
 
Ron had Auntie send up the small grav-sled they had used to move the smelting equipment around with.
 
He figured they would need something to pack the groceries back to the ship.

Dolores traveled to and fro in the store picking out different items.
 
Soon she had a shopping cart full.
 
The trio was amazed at her dexterity when she picked the choicest fresh fruits and vegetables.
 
Tik picked up one of the fruits out of the basket and declared it was firm to the touch but had a wonderful aroma.
 
When Dolores was through, she pushed the cart to the checkout line.
 
When everything was rung up, Dolores held her arm under the scanner.
 
She was used to the store reading her scanner and then debiting her owner's account.
 
Ron told her he would pay this time.
 
He took out the money and paid.

They loaded the groceries onto the grav-sled and headed back to the ship.
 
As they headed back to the ship, the trio started discussing storage of the groceries and decided they needed to move to the larger galley on the lower level.
 
The storage area was much larger and they were doing a lot more on the lower level.
 
They decided to move to the living quarters down there also.
 
For appearances, they still entered the upper door of the space ship but they went directly to the lower galley.
 
Tik showed Dolores around and programmed her to use that galley.
 
Dolores started stowing all of the groceries and asked if they wanted her to start the evening meal.
 
Ron said that would be all right.
 
While she was making supper, they all went to the upper living quarters and grabbed their stuff to move below.

They picked the living quarters that Ron and Gus had first checked out.
 
They each took a separate bedroom.
 
Ron didn't know if they would be able to sleep that night because they had been together so long.
 
They moved into the living room and started discussing what trade items they wanted to look for.
 
Auntie pulled up information about other planets and they tried to match what they could buy here to needs on other planets.
 
They finally had a list and then started adding personal things they wanted.
 
Gus wanted another robot that could handle the refueling and could make sure that items they brought in were securely stowed.
 
Ron wanted some of the cloth like they had seen at the sale today and Tik added a couple of things for the conservatory.
 
The thought came up that this all depended on the incoming space ship.
 
Their first priority was getting a stock of food.
 
Tik said she would make the modifications right after supper and Auntie could help Dolores figure menus and supplies they would need to have in stock.
 
They all agreed that they should stock a year's worth of food supplies.
 
Auntie informed them that Dolores had supper ready and they headed to the galley.

Before they even got close, they could smell a tantalizing aroma.
 
Their mouths started to water at the thought of good food.
 
They sat down and Dolores served each one of them.
 
Each plate had portions according to the calories that Tik had given her.
 
The trio started tasting the food.
 
They thought they had died and gone to heaven.
 
The food was superb!
 
Dolores hovered around, asking if the food was too spicy or not spicy enough.
 
She wanted to know if the portions were all right or if she needed to adjust them.
 
She was as fussy and nervous as a new human chef and it amused the trio watching her antics.
 
There were several times that the gibberish popped up; however, they knew they had found a super bargain that day.
 
Even with the gibberish that popped out, they knew they would not get rid of Dolores now.
 
They slowly savored the meal and then had to go back to work.
 
Gus wanted to move the Ag workers and their accessories down by the conservatory and start the other robots making more of the silver trinkets.
 
Tik wanted to make the modifications to Dolores and Ron wanted to check a few more ideas he had about trade.
 
They all did their thing until about an hour before bed time.
 
They met in the lower cargo bay for another round of shooting competition.
 
Gus won that night and they recharged their weapons before they headed to bed.

The next morning they were up extra early.
 
Dolores had their breakfast ready shortly after they got up and hovered over them like a nervous hen watching her new chicks.
 
They were delighted with the meal and planned their day as they ate.
 
Tik instructed Auntie to help Dolores plan menus and make a list of all the supplies that would be needed for a year.
 
She told her to plan at least a 25% overage in case of guests.

The trio went to the cargo bay to practice with edged weapons for an hour before they met Fu.
 
They were introduced to a new weapon.
 
It was a sonic blade.
 
It operated off of high frequency, high energy sound waves.
 
The blade was adjustable from four inches to twelve inches long.
 
When it was set on high, it could cut through 1/4-inch steel.
 
It would slice a person's arm off with one swipe.
 
There were three different sizes that fit all of their hands.
 
When Ron's blade was in the handle, the unit was only about 5 inches long and 1-1/4 inches square.
 
It was very light weight and it could be set to only operate to his touch.
 
If he dropped it and someone else picked it up, the blade retracted.
 
No one else could use it.
 
They decided they weren't ready to carry that weapon yet, so they returned them to the armory.
 
They headed to the upper level to meet Fu and start their day.

Fu greeted them, "Greetings, space travelers.
 
I hope you had a good nights rest."

The trio replied in the affirmative and Fu asked, "Did you try out the robot chef?
 
How did she work?"

Gus answered, "Last nights meal was the best meal we've had in years.
 
Dolores, that's what we call her, did an amazing job.
 
She had several gibberish incidents but Tik will work more on that later."

"I'm glad to hear she worked out so well for you."

Ron continued, "I think we're ready to start making some purchases.
 
How do most space travelers make their purchases?"

"Most of the space travelers go to the brokers down the road to the east.
 
If you go there, you wouldn't really need my services.
 
I did get it set up for you to visit my sons' school sometime around 10:00, if you still want to go," Fu replied.

Gus replied for the group, "We definitely want to see their school and we don't want to disappoint your boys."

Ron commented, "Maybe we could go see the driver's friend about some of the robots.
 
How far is the school from his place?"

"It's only about 20 minutes away," Fu answered.

"Good.
 
That should give us time to look the robots over and start haggling a little.
 
After we finish at the school, we need to come back here to pick up Dolores.
 
She is going to be shopping for our food supplies.
 
Are you ready?" Ron asked.

They climbed in the vehicle and Ron asked the driver, "We're off to see your friend's robots this morning.
 
We also are going to Fu's sons' school and afterwards, we will be coming back here.
 
If we need to haul the robot chef, do you have a way to do it?"

The driver responded, "Oh, sure.
 
The rear of the vehicle has a special platform which folds out of the trunk.
 
I can haul one robot at a time of her size."

While they were in route to the robots, Auntie called and told them the space ship coming in was not the one that had been near the asteroid.
 
She was still monitoring to try to identify it.
 
This took a lot of pressure off of the trio but they still wanted to get groceries and supplies loaded so they would be ready to take off quickly, if the need arose.
 
The trio started asking Fu and the driver about other space travelers who traded here on Europaische.
 
They found out that there was usually only one to three space ships a month that called here.
 
They discussed some of the different things Fu had seen hauled out to the space ships.

Ron casually commented, "We ran into some queer little characters in robes that seemed like they were awfully sharp in their dealings.
 
We didn't trade with them but just watched some of their trades.
 
Have you ever had anyone like that here?"

Fu and the driver both started muttering vehemently.
 
Fu finally disgustedly answered, "We had some like that.
 
If they are the same ones, they are the Challekan Traders of Elgebar V.
 
They pulled some very shady trades here and then stole some of our processes and tooling for making robots.
 
They also stirred up the trouble with our neighboring country that started our war.
 
There was other trouble but no one could ever prove they had any thing to do with it.
 
Stay away from them because they are bad news!
 
The Charter Alliance Navy started nosing around here and the Bugs, as they are called, left suddenly.
 
They have some allies that still trade around here occasionally but most reputable firms want nothing to do with them."

The driver added ominously, "If they park next to you, put up a shield around any goods that are delivered to your space ship and definitely keep your space ship locked.
 
They have a habit of dropping in and looking around, if you know what I mean."

"Yeah, we've seen some like that.
 
Auntie has a pretty good locking and alarm system," Tik said.

The trio broadcast the thought, "Could the incoming ship be one of their associates?"
 
They hated to seem too nosey about the Bugs, so they just let it ride.

Gus said, "We heard a rumor about a race called the Alcantarans a while ago.
 
Have you ever had any of them land here?"

The driver said he had never heard of them but Fu hesitated for a bit before saying, "I don't think they have landed around here.
 
I know they haven't in the ten years I have worked at the space port.
 
I have heard some of the space travelers mention the name.
 
They talk about them as though they are a lost race that doesn't exist any more.
 
I heard one traveler say that she would like to find an Alcantaran relic, because she could retire as a rich space ship owner instead of flying for wages.
 
I don't know if that is just a space tale or if there is any truth to it.
 
If you like, I could check the computers at work to see if they have any listings for Alcantarans landing here in the past."

"Naw, it was just some rumors we heard and whenever we land on a new planet, we like to check some of them out and to check out our competition.
 
That's why we're interested in who has landed here and what they bought.
 
Maybe they have a secret item that would make us a little more money," Gus dismissed the offer.