Alcantaran 1: Alien Abduction (56 page)
Late in the evening, the salvage crew brought two of the fighters back to the planet.
They reported that the fighters alone would be worth much more than the deposit they had already put down.
The trio,
Kota
and
Zibo
had to go out and climb into the fighters.
Ron was the only one that really fit into the aircraft.
Everyone else was going to have to have modifications to fit their bodies.
Gus just needed the seat lowered six inches for him to be able to squeeze in.
Kota
and
Zibo
were going to have to change the canopy, also, to accommodate their nine foot frames.
Tik was going to need adjustments to the flight controls so she could reach them.
The salvage crew reported that some of the fighters were a little different but it would take a day or two to get them decontaminated.
They would fly two or three of the different models down and let the group decide which they wanted.
Everybody wanted to fly the fighters, so
Kota
started walking them through the procedures.
Just before dark, they decided they needed to secure the fighters, so Gus went to Auntie to get a portable shield.
They set the shield so they were the only ones that could get through and then they headed back to their space ships for the night.
Zibo
had her cousins and the other crew over for supper and they loved the meal.
They asked where they could get a robot chef and she said they would have to get it from Ron, Tik or Gus.
They said that would be one of the top things on the list for tomorrow.
The next morning after the trio went through their practice routine, they sold three robot chefs.
They had to go to town to order them.
Ron advised the dealer to see about getting a stock of them.
It seemed like they were going to be a popular item.
They did order two more to take with them as trade items.
When they got back to the space port, they had other questions that had to be answered about their leased ships and decisions about the salvage operation that kept them busy almost all day.
Finally that evening, they got back to the fighters.
By dark,
Kota
had finished the orientation on them.
He suggested the trio try the flight simulator on Auntie.
He told them to have Auntie query his ship for this specific fighter.
The trio spent the whole evening practicing on the simulator.
The salvage crew reported to
Kota
that they had found five two-seater fighters.
They would have them decontaminated tomorrow.
The salvage crew reported they were getting more workers each day and within five days would have a preliminary report of what was salvageable and what would be just scrap.
The next day, the trio was up early to take delivery of the five robot chefs.
They took three of them right over to the leased ships and explained a little bit about their operation.
They also explained that the chefs would purchase food stuffs if needed.
Tik suggested they get a copy of
Kota
and
Zibo
's menu, which they could modify to fit their personal nourishment requirements.
She told them that if they had the credit chips, the robot could then go into town to order supplies and have them delivered whenever they were ready.
The cousins and the other crew were delighted and thanked them profusely.
The trio then returned to Auntie to load and secure their new trade robots.
When they finished, they tried on their new dress uniforms.
The sewing room had made a perfect fit for each of them.
They could now look more official in the parade.
Kota
called to tell them there was a surprise on the ramp.
When they went outside, there were five of the two-seater fighters sitting there.
These fighters had a higher canopy and Gus fit into these a lot better.
Kota
and
Zibo
would fit but they had to scrunch down in the seat and weren't really comfortable.
They would still need to modify the canopy and lower the seats.
One of the fighters had been set up for a smaller pilot and Tik would be able to fly it with minimal modifications.
Ron thought he could make the modifications himself.
They decided to take the fighters for a flight.
Tik couldn't fly one so she rode along with Ron.
The fighters were so easy to fly, they practically flew themselves.
The group took a tour of some of the planet and then flew into space to see how they handled there.
They came back to the space port and practiced a little more with the fighters there.
They practiced hovering and then backing.
Ron had an idea of how to carry them on Auntie.
He just needed to make some modifications on the lower cargo bay.
They parked the fighters under the portable shield and had the salvagers take the other two back to the warships.
They quit early that night so they would be rested for the big parade tomorrow.
The next morning, Ron checked out his idea for carrying the fighters in the lower cargo bay and then checked to see how much material he would need.
By then it was time to put on the new uniforms and head for the terminal.
The trio could tell from the expressions on
Kota
's,
Zibo
's, Fu's and the driver's faces, that they approved the new look.
Kota
and
Zibo
were resplendent in the Trader dress uniform.
The driver took them to the parade which ended up at a grandstand in the park.
There were thousands of Europaischens from all over the planet there.
The leaders from several nations gave speeches and the entire group was awarded more medals for saving the planet.
They were all more embarrassed than heroic.
They were glad they didn't have to make speeches.
Besides, a simple thank you made them look more heroic anyway.
The day finally drew to a close and Gus declared that this was more tiring than packing cargo off the incoming ships in the Bug's mother ship.
Everyone laughed and agreed.
Some of the Charter Navy ships started leaving that night.
The rest stayed to start transporting POWs to the troop ship.
The next day Ron ordered material and the trio spent four days retrofitting Auntie to haul the fighters.
Zibo
's cousins and the other crew had cleaned the ships and made temporary repairs to the damaged ship.
They did some trading with the locals to help start their trading careers as captains of their own ships.
They left the day before the trio was finished with their retrofit.
Mrs. Fu delivered the covers Ron had ordered and he presented them to Dolores.
He remarked later that you would have thought they had just given her a hero's parade.
The way she carried on about how beautiful they were and thanking them for them was down-right embarrassing.
Mrs. Fu was tickled that Dolores appreciated her work so much.
The day the trio finished the retrofit and loaded the fighters into Auntie, the salvage crew brought a list of weapons on the warships and an electronic copy of all the flight manuals and maintenance manuals for the fighters.
Kota
and
Zibo
picked 16 different weapons to take with them, which were made up of 8 different models.
The trio picked 50 different weapons with 20 different models for Ron and Gus.
Tik had 10 different models that would fit her body.
Kota
made a list to take back to the Trader scientists.
They arranged to receive electronic copies of all the manuals for the weapons also.
The salvage crew said they would deliver them the next afternoon.
The trio and the two Traders decided they would leave the day after they were delivered.
They arranged to go into town and have a farewell dinner with the Fu family and the driver and his family.
It was a night that the Europaischen families remembered for the rest of their lives.
The others enjoyed the evening just as much.
There were some other patrons of the eating establishment who thought it was very memorable as well.
They listened in on the stories of the Traders exploits and then the stories from the trio's home planets.
The driver, his family and the Fu family were all sad to see them leave but understood the nature of their business.
The next morning, the trio was up early.
They secured all the weapons and rechecked everything.
Kota
sent them a copy of the Charter trade rules and regulations.
He also sent an abbreviated copy of the database that all Traders carried.
It gave a lot more information about planets and their inhabitants than the Bug's database.
It also opened up more planets for the trio to trade with.
Kota
and
Zibo
left first.
They were headed for their freighter.
The cousins had hauled their fighters to the same planet where the freighter was being worked on, because they wanted to get permanent repairs done on the damaged space ship.
Kota
and
Zibo
both thanked them again for his rescue and the freighter.
They were especially thankful for the robot chef.
They signed off by telling the trio that they were sure they would be meeting again.
Their paths were intertwined together; and besides, they had a contract to haul all the goods that they would be setting up in their trades.
Ron, Tik and Gus went through their take off check list.
They were headed to Fen Avholog to see if they were cut out to be Traders or if they had just been lucky this time.
Auntie blasted off and they flew into space.
When they were safely away from the planet, Auntie jumped into hyper-space; off to their next adventure, to find the coordinates for their home planets.
####
About the Author
:
He is an Air Force veteran and served in the Air National Guard for several years.
He is currently the owner, chief welder and installer for an ornamental iron business.
He has made several award winning metal creations and is now turning this creativity to writing.
Terry loves to read science fiction, westerns and mystery stories.
Some of his favorite authors are Clive Cussler, Robert Ludlum, Tom Clancy, Andre Norton, Poul Anderson, Robert Heinlein, Louie L'Amour, Zane Grey and Anne McCaffery.
He is currently learning about 'indie' authors who are publishing e-books.
Montana
with his wife and a dog who thinks she is a short furry people.
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