Alcantaran 1: Alien Abduction (48 page)

The face of the building around the door had pockmarks and scorches from the blasters.
 
The policeman that Gus had shoved inside came in from securing the area and saw the damage.
 
He turned pale and then had to come to Gus to thank him for saving his life.
 
Word quickly spread among the policemen about how Ron and Gus had put themselves in harms way to protect the two policemen.
 
It took 20 or 30 minutes for things to settle down before detectives could start asking questions and filling out new reports.
 
Tik came in with a grin on her face.
 
As she stepped through the door, Ron felt the low vibrations; he assumed were two space ships taking off.
 
Tik reported that he was right.
 
She said that Auntie would send the ships out close to the remote detector and if she could find any asteroids, she would set them down there.
 
Auntie had also jammed the detectors on the space ship in orbit, so it had no idea what happened to the other space ships.

Ron remembered their driver waiting at the eating place and asked if a policeman could let him know that they were all safe but would be delayed for a while.
 
The police were glad to comply and Ron could see that their 'super hero' status had taken a giant leap.
 
When the questions started, they told the police that Tik had a sixth sense about traps.
 
She thought something was wrong and had rushed out to see.
 
She saw
Kota
and
Zibo
and warned them.
 
She had tried to warn the two police coming in the station but the fireworks started before she could.
 
The trio,
Kota
and
Zibo
gave their statements and the police started giving the two Traders hero status, also.
 
They weren't sure how to take it but the trio just laughed and built them up even more.
 
The trio gave them credit for most of the kills across the street, helping to boost it even more.
 
Kota
and
Zibo
tried to protest, which made them look like really modest heroes.
 
Kota
gave Ron a look which said, 'I'll get you later'.
 
The police finished the reports and asked it the space travelers could come back in the morning to sign the new reports.
 
The sergeant started to ask if they needed an escort and then laughed at himself.
 
The space travelers laughed with him.
 
He urged them to be cautious.
 
He said the two space ships had taken off, but he didn't think their attackers had made it on them.

Kota
and
Zibo
asked if the trio still wanted something to eat.
 
They all replied they did.
 
The trio could see the adrenaline was wearing off and the two Traders were starting to shake.
 
The trio wasn't any better and the Traders could see it in them.
 
Ron said he needed to walk and they would meet them at the eating place.
 
He told them he had invited their driver and the Traders thought that would be fine.
 
Kota
and
Zibo
drove down there and got a table for them.

While they were eating, the driver had to hear the story of what had happened.
 
Ron told the story this time to build up Tik and the two traders.
 
The driver's eyes were shining brightly as he listened to the story.
 
He was sitting in the presence of five genuine heroes.
 
Kota
and
Zibo
kept rolling their eyes when Ron would lay the praises on so thick but they took it with good humor.
 
All of the patrons around them were listening just like they had with the Fu family.
 
Ron suspected the 'word of mouth' telegraph would spread the story faster than any news media ever could.
 
They finished their meal and headed for the parking lot.
 
The trio remembered the last time they had walked out into a parking lot.
 
They were especially wary but nothing happened.
 
Kota
's robot was waiting in the vehicle when they came out.
 
Everyone headed for the space port and the trio made arrangements for the driver to pick them up again tomorrow.
 
Kota
kept his vehicle and was going to drive it in himself.

After they walked through the terminal,
Kota
slowed Ron to have a chat with him.

"Ron, even if you don't affiliate with the Charter, if you had scientists on board studying the Alcantaran relics, the Charter Navy would discourage any more antics like this.
 
They would be waiting out in space to pick up those ships and haul everybody to court."

"That sounds interesting.
 
Let me ask you a question.
 
If we had a contract with you to haul excess goods we couldn't carry, would that give us about the same protection as an affiliation?
 
Suppose we find on the next planet that the machinery we have is a big hit and they want 500 more.
 
We couldn't carry that many but you could in the freighter.
 
Would that sound like something you would do?
 
Would that affiliate us with you enough to offer some protection?" Ron queried.

"I would definitely be interested in hauling something like that.
 
I'll have to check on the protection.
 
I can let you know in the morning when we go to sign the reports."

They both went to their space ships and reported to their partners what had been said.
 
Auntie reported there had been an attempt to establish radio contact with the space ship in orbit but she had relayed it to the terminal radio.
 
The trio thought that was a good idea.
 
The trio went to recharge their weapons before they headed to bed.
 
They were all feeling more confident about their ability to defend themselves now.
 
The personal shields were really a blessing and helped tremendously.
 
All of them would have been seriously injured or killed if they had not had them.
 
Tomorrow they would have to decide how they were going to get off the planet and find out what that other ship was going to do; but for now, the adrenaline was gone and they were worn out.

The next morning after they had eaten, they went to the lower cargo bay to practice.
 
They had decided to wear not only their concealed weapons but the others as well.
 
Ron found special shoulder holsters for them that allowed quick access to the weapons even while sitting.
 
They practiced getting the weapons out of the holster while they were turned off.
 
Ron said they would need a lot more practice before they were 'quick-draw artists'.
 
After twenty minutes of drawing practice, they switched to shooting practice.
 
They had Auntie set the targets to a faster speed than they had been practicing with.
 
They also walked the length of the cargo bay and had the targets pop up unexpectedly.
 
To make sure they were only hitting their targets, they had Auntie start docking points for hitting someone else's target.
 
After 40 minutes of this, they returned the targets to the armory and reloaded their weapons.

They went to the situation room to see what the ship in orbit was doing.
 
It was still sitting there.
 
Auntie said there were six creatures in it.
 
Ron asked Auntie what the normal procedure would be if the ship was hostile.
 
She replied that normally she would outrun them until they reached deep space.
 
She was vulnerable while she was in atmosphere because she couldn't move as fast as she could in space.
 
One problem right now was the lining on the engines.
 
It was causing a decrease in performance and was dangerous to blast at top power for too long.
 
All of the additional weight from the new trade items was also compounding this problem.
 
It was going to take more thrust to get off the planet.
 
Another problem existed when firing the rail guns in the atmosphere.
 
They couldn't get rid of the heat quick enough and could warp the rails.
 
Once they were in space, they were designed to radiate the heat into the vacuum.

Ron asked about the rail guns and their capability.
 
Auntie told him they would fire 12 rounds per minute at 25,000 feet per second.
 
They fired both a solid projectile and a ball of plasma energy.
 
In the atmosphere, she could hit a 10 foot target at 500 miles every time.
 
Once they were in space, that range was 1500 miles.
 
Occasionally; she could hit the 10 foot target at triple the distance, but she had to have time to set it up and everything else had to be just right.
 
Ron couldn't believe that she could hit something at 1500 miles, let alone 4500.
 
He asked what kind of damage the shots made when they hit a space ship.
 
Auntie said if the shields were up, the plasma balls would rattle everything in the ship.
 
If she got three to four shots timed close together, it would usually knock out engine power and most of the sensors.
 
Basically, it would blind and cripple the ship.
 
If the shield wasn't up, the ship would look like a small nuclear bomb had hit it.
 
The solid projectiles weighed about 10 pounds and would usually punch a hole clear through the ship even with the shield up.
 
If it didn't go through the shield, two or three shots closely spaced would overload the shield and destroy it.

Gus asked, "How many rail guns do you have, Auntie?"

She replied, "There are two of the big ones firing the 10 pound projectiles and four smaller ones that fire 1.5 pound projectiles.
 
The smaller ones fire at 35,000 feet per second but could fire projectiles at the rate of 20 per minute.
 
They are mounted on gimbals that allow them to rotate in different directions.
 
There are two on the top and two on the bottom, guarding the mid-ship area completely.
 
There are very fast motors moving them on the gimbals, so they could guard against small fighter ship attacking.
 
I also have six pulse laser cannons that are very effective up to 300 miles away."

The trio got the idea that anything attacking Auntie was in for a very rude surprise.
 
Unless someone had some very advanced, military-type space ships, they were not too likely to survive.

Knowing they had a formidable ship once they were in space didn't solve the problem of that ship sitting in orbit above them.
 
How much pressure would the engine linings stand?
 
How quick would that ship attack?

"Auntie, how much will your shields withstand?" Ron asked.

"I can take more direct hits than their shields but I'm not sure of their weapons capabilities.
 
It is possible to overload the shields and break them down.
 
I don't know how accurate they are either," she answered.

"What happens if they fire down on us but miss your shield?" Tik asked.

"They will hit the planet somewhere around us.
 
If they have rail guns, there could be a lot of damage -- whether they use plasma balls or solid projectiles.
 
If they use laser cannons, it will be just about as bad."

"We can't let them fire on us as we lift off.
 
We don't want anyone here hurt!" Gus declared emphatically.

The other two agreed.
 
They were interrupted by Auntie telling them that
Kota
and
Zibo
were on their way.
 
It looked like they had some paperwork.
 
Ron said it was probably the paperwork for the sale of the targets.
 
He told Auntie to let them in and to tell them to come on down to the situation room.

Kota
and
Zibo
walked in and the trio saw that the paperwork wasn't the only thing they were bringing.
 
From the looks on their faces, they had some really bad news.

Kota
acted like he didn't know how to break the news and he finally just blurted out, "We just received word that there are several Nodac-Liujia warships on the way here.
 
The Bugs have evidently put a lot of pressure on them to capture Auntie, or destroy her, if they can't have her.
 
They are willing to risk a war with Europaische to accomplish this.
 
I'm afraid our friends here would be the losers of such a conflict.
 
The Charter Navy is on the other side of Nodac-Liujia, so they would be two to four days behind the warships.
 
By then the Nodac-Liujians would have this planet subdued and have evidence planted that said they were attacked first.
 
The Nodac-Liujians and Bugs would move in and our friends here would become their slaves, just like we were on the mother ship.
 
If any Europaische statesmen escaped, they could take their case to the Charter Alliance but it would take years to get a decision.
 
By the time the Navy could come back in here and move those sewer crawlers out, they would have plundered the planet."