

### Alien Abduction

Terry Compton

Published by Terry Compton at Smashwords.com

Copyright 2011 Terry Compton

Cover images courtesy of NASA & ESA

Covers by Joleene Naylor

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This is a work of fiction. All characters or incidents are a figment of the author's imagination and any resemblance to any incident or any person living or dead is purely coincidental.

### Dedication

I want to dedicate this short story to my wife, Linda and my daughter, Jennifer; both, of whom worked so hard to help me edit, encouraged me and kept me writing.

### Chapter 1

The shriek of the radiation alarms was deafening. The lights were very dim and flickering to almost total darkness, leaving the passage-way difficult to negotiate. There was a smell of fear in the air that the Challeka Traders of Elgebar V--or the 'Bugs' as they were better known--gave off as they were scurrying for escape pods on the lower levels. The other occupants of the Bugs' mother ship were left to fend for themselves as they were not allowed unescorted access to the lower levels. Ron Calvin, Tik Michi and 'Gus' Gusissi Ugde Ghaolh inched their way from the cargo bay which held the ancient space ship to the store room. Unlike the 'Bugs' which could see close to the infrared wave length, these three needed light to see. Tik could see better in the dark than the other two, so she was leading. Tik was walking on all four legs with her tail held in the 'fighting mode' and she was urging them to move as fast as possible. They had a limited time to reach the store room and return to the ancient space ship the 'Galactic Antiquarian' --or Auntie as they had started calling her \-- to make their escape from the mother ship.

The trio had almost reached the turn by the disposal when a Bug scurried by them. Suddenly it paused and whirled around. The Bug was about four feet high and covered from head to toe in a loose-fitting gray hooded robe. The face shield in the hood was almost clear in the dim light but it was still not possible to see its face. The emblems embroidered in the trim around the hood indicated this was one of the low level supervisors. The Bug started to question where the trio was headed. Tik rushed by and the Bug whirled to see what she was doing. Gus stepped past Ron and smashed the Bug's hood with his giant right fist. It drove the hood, along with the Bug's head in it, down to shoulder level. Ron knew the Bug was dead so he stepped up to it and quickly stripped the robe off. He checked for a communicator, stingerray or other useful items as he watched the Bug ricochet off the walls of the corridor. The Bug was dead, but like earthly cockroaches, its body would continue to move for several hours. The trio could see the Bug walking on two legs but using its lower abdomen to balance while the other four limbs were waving in a completely random motion.

Tik hissed at the other two, "Come on! We've got to get a move on. We have a very small window of time to launch without fear of detection."

Ron replied as he stuffed items in his tool pouch, "We're coming. I just want to see if there's anything useful in here. The stuff one Bug had in its' robe saved all of our lives. Did you forget?"

"I didn't forget. You two are just so slow," Tik snapped impatiently.

"Come on," Ron said sharply. "We have to catch that Bug and hide its body. We don't need to stir the other Bugs up right now."

Tik ran up and tripped it. The Bug fell to the floor on its back and its limbs continued to move in random movements. Gus handed the sack of tools to Ron and grabbed the Bug. He dragged it back to the recycling disposal. He quickly picked it up and shoved it in and then returned to his companions.

Gus quietly said, "If we use the lights now, we can make much better time. If we see any Bugs, we'll just have to turn them off. Right now, we need speed more than stealth."

Ron and Tik agreed, so they switched on their hand illuminators and started toward the store room at a trot. They arrived at the room without any further interference. Tik took the comm unit that allowed her to talk to Auntie's computer. She had used a wireless connection to hook that computer into the mother ship's main control computer. She gave a set of commands and Auntie unlocked the store room door. The trio rushed in and checked to see if anyone or anything was still in the huge room. Tik spoke into the comm unit again and two robots arrived, pushing two grav-carts. Tik checked with the computer to see if the food list and other equipment had been loaded into the carts. While the computer double-checked the list, Tik had it program the robots to take orders directly from the trio.

Ron spotted a locked storage area and asked Tik, "Have Auntie check what's stored in here." He saw some items that looked very similar to everything on Auntie.

Tik replied, "Auntie says it is storage for items believed to belong to the Ancient Galactic Ghost. Some of the things have no classification."

"Have Auntie open this. Use the ID of the Bug we just killed," Ron said as he directed one of the grav-carts to the storage area door.

"Is this really necessary? We don't have much time and we still need to get some things from the cargo bay," Gus interjected in his deep guttural voice.

"I don't know. I just have a feeling that there might be something in here that will be the difference in our survival. Tik and I can ride the grav-carts while you trot behind. That should speed things up considerably."

The door opened and Ron stepped in. He waved for Tik to come in and look also. They saw several objects that were obviously from the same makers who had made Auntie. They grabbed those and put them on the grav-cart. They quickly looked over the rest and grabbed some things here and some there. The grav-cart was piled high by the time they were through so they found a net to throw over everything to keep it on. Ron and Tik stepped out of the storage area and shut the door. They ran to the other grav-cart and climbed aboard. Tik ordered the two robots to push the carts out into the passage-way. Once in the passage-way, she ordered them to the cargo bay at full speed. Gus had to trot at a very fast pace to keep up.

When they were a short distance from the cargo bay, Tik slowed the robots down and they proceeded cautiously. The trio opened the door to the cargo bay and peeked inside. So far so good, nothing was moving inside.

Ron tensely said, "Tik, get this stuff on board. Just keep the robots on there to save time. Get everything stowed for take-off. Gus, go get as many of those rockets as you can. Just stow them in our cargo bay for now. I'll have a robot get one of those empty energy canisters and roll it down the passage-way. It will spread enough radio-active material to keep the Bugs or anyone else out of here for several hours. I'll grab our space suits and get them on board too. Tik, how long do we have?"

Tik looked at a dial on the comm unit and said, "We have exactly seventeen minutes until we need to be ready to launch."

"Go. Gus, use a robot to help you if you need to. Leave it on Auntie when you're done," Ron said as he rushed for the robot and the empty energy canister.

Tik hurried the robots and grav-carts up the ramp into the space ship. She directed them to take everything forward in the cargo bay. She used nets to secure everything in place and locked the robots down. She quickly moved to the flight deck to monitor the computer. She started the count-down for the mother ship to use a grav-booster to shove Auntie out into space. She double checked all the settings to make sure they would have enough speed, but not so much that the g-forces would crush everybody inside. Tik checked the cameras in the passage-way and saw that some Bugs on the under side of the mother ship were on a transport. She checked the mother ship computer and saw they had programmed the transport sled to head for their cargo bay and it would be there in less than ten minutes. She used ESP to broadcast this to the other two and received confirmation.

Gus had picked up two of the twelve-foot long rockets and was almost to Auntie when he felt the message in his head. The robot behind him could only carry one of the rockets. The rockets were about a foot in diameter and had a very thin shell on the out side. There were triangular fins on the base of the rocket and smaller steering fins about two-thirds of the way to the top. There was 1-inch diameter nodes evenly spaced around the circumference of the rocket just behind the nose. There were matching nodes just forward of the tail fins. The sides looked like there was a door that would open outward, but no hinges were visible. There was a round six-inch circle in the middle that looked like it could be a port or covered fixture to fill or empty the rockets. Ron had an idea what the rockets were supposed to be used for, but he had not shared that information yet. To save time, Gus set the rockets just inside the ramp. He would take them all down to the hold just before take-off. Gus rushed back to grab two more rockets as the robot stayed right on his heels and grabbed one more. They rushed back to the ship to set them down as they tried for three more. As Gus set his two rockets down, Tik used the computer to up-grade the radiation alarm and shut down most of the ventilation as the lights in the passage-ways went completely dark. There would be no more time for rockets.

Ron programmed the robot to grab the empty energy canister and once it was in the passage-way, it would shut off the energy field keeping the radiation contained. He set the robot to race up and down the passage-way twice with the canister over its head. That would spread the radiation to the max and would slow down any interference until someone was in proper protective gear. He set the robot to head to the main computer room where the control computer was located after the second pass and to move around in there as much as possible until someone shut it down. He needed a little more diversion to buy them some more time.

He hurried to the rack and grabbed Tik's and his space suits. It was a big load, but he didn't have much time. He wanted to just throw them into the space ship, but he couldn't afford any damage. They might need those suits in just a short time. He laid them gingerly on the deck and rushed back to get Gus' suit and his protective gear. He tried to lift it, but it was huge and heavy. He beckoned for a robot and had it lift the suits. The robot carried the suits into the space ship and gently laid them on the deck. Ron guided it to the main door from the passage-way and had it stop right against the door. Since the door opened inward, the robot was an effective door stop. Ron ordered the robot into shut down mode. It would take at least twenty minutes to get it started again and there was nothing left in the cargo bay to move it. He went to a smaller robot and parked it against the smaller personnel door and powered it down also. He then sprinted back to the space ship. He saw that Gus was about finished with the rockets and could take care of the space suits, so he dashed to the flight deck.

As he walked in, he asked, "Tik, what's happening now? Are the Bugs still on the way here? How long before they get here?"

Tik curled her lip in a Mis'stear grin as she replied, "The other creatures that weren't allowed in the lower decks where the escape pods are located, changed their minds. When the alarms went to stage two and the ventilation shut off, they started to swarm toward the lower level. The Bugs turned around and headed for their escape pods. As soon as Gus signals, we can start the count down to shove off out of here."

Ron reached for the ship's comm mic and said, "Gus, is the ramp clear so we can seal it up? You need to find a seat for take-off." He released the talk switch and turned to Tik. "You'd better get settled and belted in. I need you at that computer, not splattered on the rear wall."

"You just take care of yourself, big boy. You have to pilot this thing; and for now, all you can use is compressed air. Gus just said it's alright to close the ramp. I'll take care of that. You get settled in the pilot's seat," Tik said in almost a purr.

Ron strapped himself in and started turning on the power to the console. Lights started coming on and he took a deep breath as he said a quick prayer. Ron knew they would need more than just luck to come out of this alive, but all three of them wanted off the Bugs' mother ship. More than that, they wanted a chance to go back to their home planets. Tik tensely reported the ramp was sealed and the thirty second count down was started. Everyone tensed as they waited. Tik sent one last command to the mother ship control computer.

Suddenly, they were slammed deep into their seats. Auntie shot out of the mother ship like a cannon ball fired from a cannon. Within seconds after they cleared, the mother ship picked up speed and jumped into hyper-space. Auntie's engines fired at the same time and only burned for a short time until she had the speed necessary to reach their destination. Auntie continued on its course with minor adjustments from Ron for the next several minutes. They were headed for a blue super-giant star that appeared to be close to becoming a super nova. Auntie only had a few stars in this category in her computer data banks. Ron had no idea how long ago these stars had been plotted, but they had seen information about this one on the mother ship computer.

Right now the star was just a faint dot in their view screen. They had to cruise along on the push they had received from the mother ship and the short burst from Antiquarian's engines for the next three days. The compressed air corrections left no trace and would change the direction enough to make it virtually impossible to trace their direction when they did fire up the motors again. The computer had calculated 5 days as the optimum, but the trio didn't think they could wait that long and had decided on 3 days. The Bugs would have to do everything just right and have a ton of luck to pick up their trail after only 3 days. All power sources that would emit a neutrino trail were shut off or turned to the bare minimum and even the robots in the hold were powered down.

The waiting was the hardest and the minutes seemed to stretch on like hours. The trio didn't know how long it would take the Bugs to clear the radiation from the passage-way, or how long it would take for them to get into the cargo bay. How long would it be before they discovered the missing items from the store room?

Tik had changed access codes to the computer and had changed the back door access that allowed a computer technician to gain control again. Ron was pacing the deck and asked, "How long do you think it will take the Bugs to get back into the computer?"

"Listen, deary, I've told you at least 20 times that I don't know. I'm not sure how good their computer techs are. I know it would take me at least a day to get in and maybe as much as two days. It would only take about a half a day to set new access codes but it will take another two days to retrieve the data for the hyper space jump. Once they have the trajectory they just traveled, it will take two days to turn the mother ship around so they can jump back to here. If they are off just a few decimal places, they can wind up hundreds of thousands of miles from the spot we exited the ship. That's at least five and a half days and it could be two or three times that if the Bugs are pressuring the computer tech," Tik lectured impatiently.

"You did say that to access the back door you'd need to get in the computer room didn't you?" Ron asked.

"There may be other ways I don't know about but that is the fastest way. Why do you ask?" Tik asked.

"Oh, I sent the robot to the computer room with that energy canister after it made two passes up and down the passage-way," Ron answered with a grin. "I thought it might buy us a little more time."

"You're bad. Where in the world did an idea like that come from? I don't know how much it will slow them down but it will greatly increase the odds for a mistake. The Bugs won't go anywhere near there until it is clean but they'll force some poor computer tech to go ahead and work in there. The computer techs will be worried about radiation poison and won't be totally concentrating on what they are doing. They probably won't have the best techs in there either, so with pressure from the Bugs, I can almost guarantee a mistake," Tik replied with a grin that could be mistaken for a snarl if you didn't watch the angle of her ears.

"The Bugs are getting a taste of Earth-style guerrilla warfare. If they were smart, they would just keep going the way we sent them but I suspect they will want this ship and those other artifacts back," Ron smirked.

Gus came into the cockpit just then and said, "Speaking of artifacts, what are we going to do with those rockets? They seem to be empty and I don't know what they use for fuel. We don't have any fusion fuel to spare. Your idea of taking a little bit here and there worked fine. The Bugs never suspected anything but even after two years we didn't wind up with very much."

"I know we don't have very much. See that blue star there? That's our filling station to refuel and those rockets are our gas cans," Ron stated.

Tik asked, "What are filling stations and gas cans?"

"I forget that you don't have an Earth background," Ron chuckled. "On Earth, the energy companies would deliver our fuel to the filling stations. We could refuel our vehicles there or we could put the fuel in gas cans. We had smaller mechanized tools that needed this fuel and it was more practical to use the cans than haul the tools to the filling station."

"I see," said Gus. "Are you sure there is an inhabited planet in that solar system that can supply us with fuel for Auntie? What have the rockets got to do with our getting fuel?"

"I have no idea if there're any planets at all. If there were a planet, how would you pay for fuel? We have a few things we secreted on board but I have no idea how much they want for fuel or how much those things would be worth. The blue star is our destination and I think those rockets will fly to the sun to bring us back fuel," Ron said.

"I hope you're right. The Bugs fired 3 or 4 of those rockets at different stars and the rockets never came back. They were really ticked at loosing them. The rockets were worth a lot of money as artifacts of the Alcantara. This space ship was one of theirs. The Bugs found it in the Burbidge Chain Galaxy in the middle of nowhere. There was no clue how long it had been there, where it came from or what happened to the crew. I think some of these rockets came off of this ship," Tik chimed in.

Gus put in his two cents worth, "Our fuel is limited and if this doesn't work we may not have enough to get out of the solar system. Our water, food and air are limited also. We scavenged what we could but it won't last indefinitely. I need some sand and Tik will need her UV light or we will be back in the same shape that you found us when you were first captured. Do you remember the troubles we had? By the way, how did the Bugs capture you and how did you get the translator unit and the healer unit?"

Ron thought back to that hot July day over two years ago. He started his story, "I was on Earth working in a circuit breaker box. These boxes feed electrical power to the different circuits where electrical appliances are plugged in. I had to work on it with the power on and just as I was ready to stick my screw driver inside there was a big sonic boom with a flash of light. I jumped and stabbed the screw driver right into the main incoming power line. I was being electrocuted when the power suddenly went off. I felt a tingle and felt so numb I couldn't move. I never did lose consciousness and I was aware of being grabbed by several Bugs. I had a tool pouch on and they left it on me. When they loaded me onto the planetary space ship that the Bugs use to fly back and forth to the mother ship, I had enough use of my arms and legs to push against the door jamb just as they lifted me in. I fell right on top of one of our little robed friends. When I landed on top of it, I smashed down with my elbow. I didn't drive its head as far down inside its shoulders as Gus did today but it snapped its neck. It was wearing a robe like they usually do but it had a cape on also. I rolled off the Bug and had just enough movement to grab the cape and roll it under my body. I don't know why I grabbed the cape but it had pockets in it which contained the translator and healer units. All of us are glad now that I did grab the cape. The Bugs didn't even notice that I had the cape. Hmm....I wonder if bright sunlight affects their eye sight? The Bugs didn't miss a beat; they just finished loading me into the planetary ship and brought me to the mother ship. The Bug with the snapped neck followed the rest and it was hours before the stupid thing finally realized it was dead. They are just like some filthy vermin we have on Earth. You can cut off their head and it takes hours for the body to die.

When we got to the mother ship, they threw me into one of the little rooms and left. The tingle I felt was a stun gun and its effect lasted for another couple of hours. I figured out later that because I was grounded in the breaker box, a lot of the stun bled off in the electrical grid. The Bugs estimated I would be out for about eight hours so I had time to examine both units and hide them in my boots before they came back to get me. I folded the cape and stuck it in my tool pouch. I had no idea what the healer was but I figured out what the translator was. As long as the unit was touching my bare skin I could figure out what the writing over the door switch said. When the Bugs came back I understood what they were talking about. I didn't let on that I knew what they were saying; I just tried to see if any of them understood English. I don't think they do; but other Bugs had translators, so they could communicate with me. They took me to the room/cell that you two were in. Tik wasn't a pretty sight and I had no idea about you. I knew you were big and maybe dangerous but I didn't realize how sick you were. How did they get you Gus? How long had you been in there before I got there?"

Gus thought for a minute before he replied, "I was there over a year before you arrived. I lived on the planet Prokne in Coddington's Nebula. Prokne is a desert planet where gravity pull is greater than what is set on Auntie. I was in a group riding and packing our kamaals to Wuxi City. The kamaals are our six legged beast of burden. They can pack several hundred pounds and go for long distances with very little water or food. They are much more practical in the desert than mechanical vehicles. The sand clogs machinery and motors very quickly.

We had goods we hoped to trade for tools and energy cells. My people, the Sand Ghosts, are nomadic and live on the edge of the desert near the mountains but the Jiangau build and live in the few large cities on my planet. There are a few small villages that are trade centers for my people but you have to go to the Jiangau in the cities for the good trades. The Jiangau manufacture the energy cells and tools that we need. We provide the raw materials and other items they need to survive in the cities. With such a small population, this arrangement has worked well for us for centuries.

We were three days from Wuxi City when the Bugs flew over us. They flew so low that the kamaals spooked and ran away. My kamaal threw off its pack and me and then followed the others. We had never seen space ships before and I wasn't sure what had just happened. I picked up the pack and started to track my group. I didn't dare leave the pack because the wind could come up at any time and would bury it so I could never find it. The Bugs needed someone strong enough to lift large objects and move them around. When they saw me pick up the pack, they stunned me. I didn't remember anything until I woke up in a cell on the mother ship. They kept me moving large objects without the proper nourishment until I was so sick I could hardly move myself. That's when you came in. Tik, where and how did they get you?"

Tik told her story, "I'm from the galaxy Melpomene and the planet Vesta IV. My people, the Mis'stears, all seem to have a knack for electronics. We can make about any kind work and computers are my specialty. I don't care who makes them or what different types they use; I can fix them and program them. I don't know how to describe it but I can almost feel what needs to be done. I was working at the space port at Anbang when the Bugs landed with one of their planetary space ships. They asked about a computer technician and the space port directed them to the company I worked for. My company sent me out to work on their computers. I worked several days and had most of their problems cleared up. The last day I went to the space ship thinking I would be finished that day. Just before I was finished, they took off and headed to the mother ship. They grabbed me about six months before you, Ron. Someone on that mother ship owes me a lot of back wages and it sounds like they will owe both of you also."

"Well, this space ship is a down payment on what they owe. I, for one, want to make sure they leave Earth and other planets alone. They need to be taught that they can't kidnap a being every time they have a job they can't do," Ron stated emphatically.

Gus growled, "I agree. How do we teach them to stay off our planets?"

"I don't know. We'll find a way. Right now, we just need to make sure we get away and get fuel for this ship," Ron replied. "We need to get those rockets ready to use, and Tik, you need to check those computers and comm units we patched into the console where the Bugs ripped out the old ones. They seem to be working right now but we need to make sure that all of the computers are talking to one another and everything is secured in place. We'll need those comm units later but, for now, we have to keep complete radio silence. Once you're sure everything is all right maybe you could run checks on the ship's computer memory banks and see if you can find anything the Bugs missed. Gus, we can explore more of the ship with the same thing in mind. There are still some areas we couldn't get into and I don't think the Bugs had any better luck."

Ron and Gus walked to the hold of the space ship and started setting up the rockets. Ron checked the computer and found out what settings they needed and made the necessary adjustments. Gus helped move the rockets when needed and explored more of the space ship. Finally, Ron had everything adjusted to his satisfaction. All they needed to do was fuel up the rockets and load them into the external tubes on the space ship. He joined Gus in exploring areas they couldn't get to while they were on the mother ship.

Tik double-checked all of her installment and redid some of the temporary connections. She agreed with Ron about not wanting something coming loose during a crisis. She made sure the computers themselves were securely fastened into the console. Then she ran diagnostic checks to make sure all the computers were working together. One computer had some quirks she didn't like so she tweaked some of the programming and it worked a lot better. Next she started checking the data bank in the original space ship computer. There were parts of it that had been encrypted and she was certain the Bugs hadn't seen any of those files. She tried several different ways to get into the files but she was not having much luck. After several hours of straining, she had to move away from the computer. She decided to see if she could find Ron and Gus. The space ship was set to warn them if anything approached or if there was any other anomaly so they didn't really need anyone to stay in the flight cockpit.

Tik found Ron and Gus working on a locked door in the level just above the hold. They had Gus' and Ron's computers and had been trying for over an hour to get the door unlocked. Tik looked closely and couldn't see any progress on the computer. They decided to put the computers away for now and to go get something to eat and then get some rest. The last two or three days had been very intense and nerve-wracking and they were all feeling it. As they headed to the dining area, Ron said they needed to tell their story and have the ship's computer record it in case they ever had a chance to use it against the Bugs.

## Chapter 2

Each one of the trio fixed the nourishment their body needed. After they had finished eating they cleaned up the galley and sat down. Tik called to the computer and told it to record their story.

Since Gus had been captured first, he started the tale. Gus woke up feeling confused. The surface he was lying on didn't feel like the desert he had been on. He opened his eyes and looked around at the 10 foot by 12 foot room. The ceiling looked to be about nine feet tall and had a diffused light coming from the center section. The walls were bare, smooth and a pale tan color. He sat up from the large bunk he was lying on and bumped his head on the bunk above him. He smoothed the kilt he was wearing and checked the crossed straps that went over his shoulders. The straps were attached to the belt holding his kilt and his personal pouch. The straps had small pockets that held his personal tools. Besides the personal pouch, he had a knife and a hammer/ax hanging from the belt. All his tools and weapons seemed to be intact and everything was still in his personal pouch. Once he had checked his personal belongings, he looked across the room and saw another stack of bunks. The bunks all had three drawers underneath and when Gus opened the drawers under his bunk, they were empty. He checked the other drawers and they were empty also. The rest of the room was bare except for a door and a small depression in the floor against the wall opposite the door. Gus tried to move the bunks and found they were fastened to the floor. He went to the door to try it but it was locked. Gus grabbed the handle and strained for all he was worth. The door didn't budge. Next he went to the bunks and tried to move them again. He looked closely but couldn't see any thing attaching them to the floor. He paced the room for several minutes but could see no way out or any way to communicate with those outside the door. He went back to the door and pressed his ear to it. He listened intently but could not hear anything. Finally he returned to the bunk and sat down.

The light never varied so Gus had no idea how long he sat there. Suddenly the door swung open and a small creature stepped in. The creature was in a dark gray robe with a hood. The hood was up and there appeared to be a face shield covering the entire opening of the hood. The creature was about four feet tall and the robe went clear to the floor so Gus couldn't see what its feet looked like. The robe had two sleeves on each side of the body and the sleeves were long enough that no hands showed.

Gus stared for a few seconds and then roared loudly, "Who are you? Where am I at?"

The creature stood and stared impassively. The creature saw a Sandghost from the planet Prokne. The Sandghost stood over seven feet tall with very broad shoulders and long thick arms. It had a large barrel-shaped torso. The hands on the ends of the arms were enormous with four fingers and a thumb on each hand. The head was almost a cube with almost square corners like a block of stone that an artist had just started carving. It had the eyes, nose and mouth but it hadn't been rounded like a human head yet. It was very massive, in proportion with the rest of the body. Each leg was bigger around than the creature in the robe. The Sandghost's skin looked like someone had made a giant statue out of sand and then had given it life. The creature didn't know it but Gus weighed over 400 pounds. The creature slowly took all of this in and didn't make a sound.

This infuriated Gus even more and he roared even louder, "Listen, you pile of kamaal waste, I'll split you in two." Gus started to take a step toward the creature.

The creature moved the lower limb on the right side and reached into a fold of the robe. The limb moved quicker than Gus' eye could follow as it pulled a small slender rod with some sort of grip. The creature held the grip in something like a hand with two fingers and a thumb. The fingers looked like they had small suction cups on the ends.

He had barely completed the step when he saw a bluish light on the end of the rod. He dropped to his knees as he felt an excruciatingly intense pain. The pain was so bad he could hardly breathe and he definitely couldn't move. After what seemed an eternity, the pain stopped and he gasped for breath. He was so weak all he could do was kneel there, trying to get air into his body.

"I am Nansha of the Challeka Traders of Elgebar V. Our supreme commander is Zibo ao Te and you are her prisoner. If you do as I say, we may, at our discretion, offer you a chance to purchase your freedom. If you threaten us again, the pain will be worse next time. We have work for you to do to earn your keep. You will follow me now to see where you will work," the small creature said in a quiet voice in Gus' language.

The creature turned and stepped from the room, where it mounted a small disk that sat on the floor. Gus dragged himself to his feet and followed. It was all he could do to put one foot in front of the other but shortly he felt himself returning to normal. The disk rose about six inches off the floor and moved down a large passage-way. Gus followed as best he could until his limbs started moving normally again. As he started moving better, the creature moved the disk faster down the passage-way. Gus thought about attacking the creature again but the memory of the pain was too fresh. He decided to bide his time and would get this creature the first chance he got. Sandghosts were known for their long memory.

The creature led Gus down the passage-way to an elevator and they dropped several levels. When the elevator opened, they moved into another passage-way. There were more of the robed Challekans and several other aliens moving in both directions. The creature led Gus to a doorway that swung open as they moved up to it. When they stepped through, Gus saw a huge room with several of the flying machines that had spooked his kamaal. Gus saw that some of these machines had a ramp down in the back and different species of beings were loading and unloading boxes, bags and equipment. Nansha directed Gus to one of the flying machines where another robed creature was directing the unloading process. Nansha waved toward Gus and then chirped, clicked and rustled to the other robed figure.

The robed Challekan came over to Gus and said, "My name is Sabah. You can start carrying those sacks to the grav-sled over there. I'll be over on that platform observing so don't try anything."

Gus debated in his mind about smashing this creature or doing as it said and looking for a better chance to escape. He decided to comply for now and bide his time. He really didn't want to be zapped with that ray again. He slowly walked up the ramp and grabbed a bag. He carried it to the grav-sled and threw it down. He turned and slowly walked back into the flying machine and repeated the process. When all of the sacks were unloaded, Sabah took Gus to a grav-sled and told him to start loading the boxes in another flying machine. He showed him where to store the boxes and told him to make sure that the stacks were tight and neat. Gus got all of the boxes in the flying machine and then Sabah showed him how to put a net over them and secure them. Another grav-sled arrived and Sabah told Gus to start loading these items next to the boxes he had just secured. Gus noticed that Sabah was supervising about 20 other large alien creatures. Gus didn't see any other Sandghosts but some of the other creatures were as big as he was; however, they didn't seem to think on their own. They acted more like the robots Gus saw occasionally.

Gus didn't know how long he continued to work because there was no way to tell time. There were no clocks and the lights never varied. Finally, Sabah collected all of the creatures in his control and they started walking single file back to the elevator that Gus had come down earlier. Sabah indicated that Gus should fall in at the tail of the line while the robed Challekan brought up the rear on its' disk. The line entered the elevator and Sabah touched the elevator controls to make it move upward. When it came to a stop, the line moved down the passageway to a large hall where the other creatures picked up trays that contained food. When it came Gus' turn, he found a tray with food that he recognized but of such poor quality that ordinarily he wouldn't have eaten it. Now he knew that he had to have nourishment to keep up his strength. Gus looked around and saw several hundred assorted creatures eating in the hall. He noticed that there was very little conversation between the different species. If there were two of a kind sitting together, they might be talking but there was no conversation between different species.

As soon as the group was through eating, Sabah indicated that Gus should fall back in at the rear of the line. The line left the dining hall and headed down the passage-way. They walked for a little way and Sabah indicated that Gus and three other creatures should enter a room to the side. Gus saw a room just like the one he had awakened in. The other creatures headed to the bunks and lay down. As soon as Gus was in the door, it shut behind him. He turned and tried to open it but found it was locked. Gus paced for awhile but the hard day of work and getting zapped was taking its toll. He approached the open bunk and laid down. One of the creatures got up and walked over to the depression in the floor. Gus saw that the depression was the equivalent of a bathroom. The creature touched a spot on the wall and a water nozzle came out. The creature drank from it and returned to its bunk. Shortly the lights dimmed and Gus drifted off to sleep.

A bell chimed and the lights brightened. Gus awoke with a start and looked quickly around. The other creatures were getting out of their bunks and shuffling toward the door. Gus lay there for a little longer and suddenly the door opened. The other creatures shuffled out and in just a few seconds, Sabah stepped into the door.

"When the bell chimes, you are to line up to go to work. We don't have time to waste and this will be your only warning," Sabah said.

Gus jumped lightly down from the bunk and quickly strode through the door. The line of creatures wasn't far so he hurriedly caught up. They went to the same dining hall as last night and had the same quality of food. Gus ate but he didn't like it. The creatures finished eating, shuffled to the elevator and then proceeded back to the hangar for the planetary flyers. Sabah set everyone to loading and unloading just as they had yesterday. At the end of the day Sabah took everyone back to the dining hall and then to their cell. This was the routine for the next month.

One day Gus stepped in the back of the flying machine to start unloading and he spotted what he guessed were fresh fruits and vegetables. He was a little surprised because he had seen nothing like this during the previous month. Some of the items looked similar to the fruits and vegetables on his planet. They smelled delicious and he couldn't help himself. He carried a load out and put it on the grav-sled. On his next trip in, he snitched a small fruit and ate it. It was wonderful! Gus continued to snitch small fruits and vegetables until he knew he had to quit before he made himself sick. He snitched a few more and hid them in his pouch on his belt. Gus made sure no one saw him. He needed these for himself. There were four other creatures from his line that were helping. One of them finally had a light come into its eyes as it recognized a vegetable similar to ones on its' home planet. It stopped working and started eating the vegetables. The other creatures didn't even pay any attention so Gus just kept carrying. Sabah noticed the creature wasn't working and came into the flying machine to check on it. He screamed and pulled his stingerray and aimed it at the poor hapless creature eating the vegetables. When the blue ray hit the creature, it screamed in agony and dropped to the floor like it was dead. Gus would have helped the poor creature except he saw that Sabah was still agitated and waving the stingerray. He guessed he would be next if he stepped over there and later he found out that he was right. Sabah waved at two of the other creatures and had them drag the disabled one out of the flying machine. They dragged it over close to the wall and left it there. All of the other creatures kept working so Gus did the same but he kept an eye out for Sabah.

A short time later another Challekan glided up on its disk and started talking to Sabah. They were gesturing at the creature lying on the floor in a heap. The laborers had almost 1/2 of the machine unloaded and just as Gus was ready to grab another load, a huge octopod creature leaped from the middle of the pile of fruits and vegetables. The spider-like creature seemed to be covered in long fine hair all over its body and legs. The head had large fangs that had a yellowish liquid ready to drip from them. The creature was over three feet across and moved with incredible speed. The Challekan talking to Sabah had its back to the space ship and didn't have a clue of its impending doom. The octopod creature zipped down the ramp and leaped almost 15 feet right on the back of the robed Challekan. It knocked the Challekan to the deck and rammed those fangs into its shoulder. The Challekan let out an anguished shriek that could be heard all over the hangar. Sabah's disk immediately jumped 15 feet into the air. The octopod creature jumped at Sabah but missed by just a fraction of an inch. The hairy creature leaped to the wall and started rapidly climbing right up it. Sabah pulled his stingerray and fired at the hairy creature but the creature was moving too fast and he missed. The creature went clear to the ceiling and ran upside down across the ceiling. All of the other Challekans had flown their disks midway between the floor and ceiling. There was a cluster of about 10 Challekans in the middle of the hangar and the octopod creature sprinted in their direction. It shot a silky looking strand to the ceiling beyond the cluster and then swung down like Tarzan swinging through the jungle. Several in the cluster pulled stingerrays and fired at the octopod creature. Some hit it but they didn't even seem to phase it. Other shots missed and were ricocheting around the hangar making creatures of all sizes duck for cover. Gus stayed under cover in the planetary flyer as he continued to watch. The octopod creature swung past the cluster and then swung back on the other side. As it went by the cluster of Challekans, it shot out another silky strand. The strand made a loop and went over the entire cluster. On the return swing, the creature shot another strand that looped the cluster of Challekans again. The octopod creature seemed to tighten the loops and jerked all the Challekans off their disks. The strands were sticky and held the Bugs in place twenty five feet off the hangar deck. The creature proceeded to add more loops quickly and then climbed down to the cluster to start biting with its fangs. The Challekans were shrieking in terror and struggling to no avail as the creature bit them all. Alarms started sounding and some armored Challekans armed with blasters flew through the big doors on their disks. They formed a box under the creature and fired the blasters. They hit the creature and Gus could hear the sizzle as the blasters did their damage. Shortly he could smell the burnt flesh and the creature slowly relaxed its grip on the strand and fell to the floor dead. The Challekans blasted it again for good measure and then flew to the back of the flying machine Gus was standing in. They lined up so they could blast anything that came out of the back. Sabah brought the whole line over and ordered everyone to rush with the unloading. The guards stood there at the ready until the last item was unloaded. Once all of the creatures in Gus' line were out, two of the guards went in and searched the flying machine. Sabah ordered Gus and one of the other creatures to drag the octopod creature to the disposal and throw it in. Gus saw that the first Challekan that had been bitten was dead and he figured the ones hanging from the ceiling were also. Sabah and the other Challekans lined everyone up and marched them out of the hangar. They put them back in their cells early that day. The next day when they arrived at the hangar, the bodies of the dead Challekans were gone.

Gus settled back into the monotonous routine again. Whenever he unloaded fresh fruits and vegetables he snitched all he could eat and then loaded his pouch. As long as the Bugs didn't see him and he kept moving, they didn't even seem to notice.

Gus had been captive about seven months when he started to notice that he didn't have the stamina he normally did. This worried him but he didn't know what it was. He did notice that when he carried some sacks and boxes that were dusty, he felt better the next day. He tried to get all of the dusty things he could but it just wasn't enough. His strength started to wane in the ninth month and he had trouble just putting one foot in front of the other. Eventually, he was too sick and weak to even get out of his bunk. Sabah came in and blasted him with the stingerray but he was too sick to even care. The next day two of his bunk mates hauled him to a waiting grav-sled. The sled took him to another part of the mother ship and a robot unloaded him into a bunk in a new cell. A Challekan came in and used a healer unit to check him out. The Bug left and came back shortly with a device that he put next to Gus' arm. There was a poof and Gus felt a sting in his arm. Later that day he felt a little better and the next day a Bug returned and gave him another shot in the arm. After three days of treatment, Gus almost felt like he would live. The next morning a Bug came and ordered Gus to follow. They wound through the mother ship and ascended several levels until finally they arrived at the repair hangar.

The repair hangar was a huge room containing damaged planetary flyers, robots and other space ships the Bugs had traded for, bought or found in space. They repaired what they could and if they didn't need it, they sold or traded it. The space ships and robots that were too damaged were salvaged. Each part that could be useful in another repair or trade was stored in an adjacent room. That room was a giant storage area with shelving covering the entire floor and reaching to the ceiling. Each shelving unit had a special code embedded so a robot could be directed quickly to a specific location. Each part was carefully tagged with a precise description, entered into the computer by a special technician and then stored in a designated spot. This system made it very easy to fill orders or to find parts needed to keep the planetary flyers in service. One of the most important parts of the salvage was to drain all of the usable energy material out of the damaged space ship or robot. This material was measured by the computer technician and then added to the mother ship stock pile until it was needed. Gus was assigned the task of emptying the energy material and putting it in the mother ship stock pile. The Bug directed Gus to a rack containing protective gear. The Bug told Gus to find a suit that fit and get into it. There was a communication device in the helmet and the Bug would teach Gus what to do.

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.

Tik choked down most of her food that night. She ate in a hurry and looked around trying not to be obvious about it. She tried to communicate with the creatures in her line but no one seemed to understand her language. She noticed that all the creatures grouped together were of different species. She guessed this presented a language barrier. She saw all different sizes and shapes of creatures in the dining hall. None of the lines lingered very long. They ate and then went on their way. Tik did notice a nine-foot tall purple creature with funny-looking hair. She was sure it was the same species as the Dar Es Salaam Traders that stopped at her planet. This one seemed to be missing its translator that all the Traders normally wore. Tik would like to get closer to this one. She knew that if it were a Trader, she could at least communicate by sign language. The crippled Bug came to the table and told them to line up. As soon as they were in line, they started for the cells. The other two creatures in Tik's cell went straight to their bunk. Tik tried the door again and then went to her bunk. She took her tool bag to the bunk and opened it up. She took out a mini-computer that she carried to help with programming and to take notes. She started planning how she would lay out her program to get into the mother ship computer. She made notes of the general outline and then put everything away. She lay down and slept better.

The bell went off and Tik jumped up. She was eagerly looking forward to getting to her work station to start checking out the interface between the computers she worked on and the mother ship computer. Tik looked around in the dining hall but didn't see the Trader this morning. She found out that if she wolfed down the food and didn't think about it, she could get it all down. As soon as everyone was through, the crippled Bug took them to the repair room. The routine was the same that day as it had been yesterday but the Bug didn't seem to hover over her as much. When it wasn't at her station, she tested the interface of the computers. By the end of the day, she understood how it worked and she had developed a plan for programming. In the dining hall she tried to communicate with those around her but there was no response. She saw the Trader again; but there was no way to get close to him or to get his attention without attracting attention to herself, so she just observed. When the door swung shut again, Tik tried it again with no luck. She hurried to her bunk and took out her mini-computer. She started writing the code she needed. She arranged it so that she could take small pieces to put in every computer that she worked on. The mini-computer would track where she was at in the code to help her keep things straight. Tik made good progress that night and she knew that she would have the code finished in two more nights. Tik went to sleep very excited about the prospects of getting revenge.

The next morning Tik was so excited that she had trouble wolfing her food down and she thought it tasted terrible. She tried to communicate with those around her with no luck. Tik was ready when she got to her work station. She started implementing her plan with the first computer she repaired. The Bugs seemed happy with her work and now left her alone unless she had a question. It took a month to get all of the code programmed into the mother ship computer. Tik activated the Trojan horse that day.

She could hardly eat that evening. She wanted to get back to her cell to try her new program. Tik skipped her usual task of checking the door and went straight to her bunk instead. She took out her mini-computer and tried her program. She was in! She tried some different things and found out she was blocked from a lot of the mother ship computer. She didn't care. She was in and now could hack into whatever she wanted.

Tik spent another month getting into all levels of the mother ship computer. She started to notice that she didn't have much energy. She was forcing herself to eat everything the Bugs gave her but she still felt listless. She tried each meal to communicate with someone but nothing happened. Once she was into all levels of the mother ship computer, Tik learned the lay out of the mother ship and where the bugs stayed. She found out where her cell and the repair room were located in the mother ship. She found the hangar for the incoming and outgoing planetary ships. She had a lot of information and could wreak havoc on the Bugs but it didn't help her get off the space ship and back to her planet. Tik got into the navigation part of the mother ship computer and found out where they were at. It was a long way from her home planet and she didn't see any way that she could get back there. She continued to work on the mother ship computer and started setting all the equipment and robots on the mother ship to listen to her voice commands and do as she said.

One day she realized that she was getting sicker and weaker. She programmed the mother ship computer to have a robot take her and her tool bag to the dispensary for creatures such as herself. The crippled Bug evidently got his orders from the mother ship computer also because he didn't say a thing as the robot took her away.

At the dispensary, there was a Bug with a healer unit. The Bug checked her out and then gave her an intravenous fluid. The fluid made her feel a lot better in just a short while. The Bug with the healer unit left her alone and she quickly got out her mini-computer to search the mother ship computer for her diagnosis. The diagnosis said she was malnourished and low on certain essential vitamins. The intravenous fluid contained what she needed but the mother ship computer said another medical solution needed to be found because it wasn't cost effective to keep giving intravenous fluids. Tik checked to see if she could drink the fluid but it was only a temporary fix. It would stave off the malnutrition but eventually she would die if her system didn't digest the food properly. Tik told the computer to order the fluid for her as part of her normal diet. Tik had just put up her mini-computer when the healer Bug came back into the room.

The Bug said, "You have been reassigned. I will give you more fluid tonight and in the morning a supervisor will take you to your new job."

"What's the matter with me? Why am I so weak and sick?" Tik asked testily.

"You don't need to know. We will take care of you as long as you do your job," the Bug retorted gruffly.

"Where am I going to be working? Where will I sleep?" Tik asked as a test to see what the Bug knew or would tell.

"Your supervisor will show you all of that tomorrow. For now, relax and I will give you more fluid," the Bug told her like one would tell a child it was time to go to bed.

Tik waited until she was sure the Bug had gone for the night and then checked her mini-computer again. She found out she would be going to the repair hangar to work on computers there and also to input the amount of salvaged fuel that was dumped into the mother ship's stock pile. Tik worked for another hour or so before she put her computer away and went to sleep.

The next morning Tik woke up feeling much better. She still didn't have the strength that she had when she came on the mother ship but she felt she could work something out now. The Bug with the healer unit brought her something to eat and Tik ate everything there. She knew she would have to eat everything to keep her system from starving her to death. Later she would have to research what she needed to keep her system working. She had just finished eating when a Bug with different colored trim on its robe came and told her to follow.

They worked their way through several different passages before they rode an elevator toward the outer skin. Once they got off the elevator, they walked a short distance and entered a huge hangar. There were several planetary flyers, other space ships and some large robots in various stages of repair. Robots and an assortment of varied creatures of differing sizes were swarming over everything. They were taking things apart or putting them back together and it took Tik several minutes to tell which was which. The Bug kept her moving across the hangar to another room. She noticed one space ship towards the rear of the hangar. It looked like it had seen its better days. It was much larger than the planetary flyers the Bugs used and Tik wondered where it came from. Her escort took her to a Bug that appeared to be the overseer in the room.

The new Bug announced, "My name is Wurden. You will be working here entering salvage parts into inventory and weighing, classifying and entering salvaged fuel. You will also send messenger robots to get parts that the technicians will need. I will be here until you are competent to do this alone. Do you understand?"

Tik replied sarcastically, "Yeah, I get it. How do you classify all the different parts? Do you assign them part numbers or just stick them on a shelf somewhere?"

"We classify them according to use category. You will decide which general category the part fits in and the computer will make a final determination. The computer will assign a shelf number and a messenger robot will store the part. There is a camera here that helps the computer identify the parts and what they are used for. The messenger robots that bring the parts here interface with the computer and tell it where the part came from and which ship or large robot it came off of," the Bug declared smugly.

"I see. Do you get a lot of salvage ships? Where do they come from?" Tik asked.

"That is none of your business. Just concern yourself with quickly and properly classifying the parts as they come in. It is critical you weigh, classify and enter proper numbers for the salvaged fuel. There are five grades of fuel and we don't want to mix them," Wurden stated haughtily.

"What happens when you mix them? Do they blow up?" Tik asked innocently.

"It most certainly does not. The mother ship has too many safeguards for that to happen. All it does is to degrade the fuel which makes the ships and equipment use it up faster!" Wurden declared pompously.

Tik held her tongue and went to work. She had trouble guessing what the parts were and how they should be classified. Wurden was very impatient and she still wasn't feeling all that well. Tik was holding her temper but just barely. She was fairly slow and toward the end of the day two messenger robots brought parts and set them on the counter for her to classify. She was concentrating on the computer and didn't notice the large creature encased in the safety gear approaching. The creature moved rather clumsily in the protective gear and when it walked by the counter, it bumped into the robot delivering a part, causing the robot to dump the part right in Tik's lap. Her tight hold on her temper snapped and she leaped on the counter and was ready to attack the robot when she saw the cause of the problem.

She started screaming at the large creature, "You big lummox. Why don't you watch where you are going? You've damaged this robot and almost killed me. Did you do that on purpose?"

The creature just kept walking -- completely ignoring her. It walked into the energy-shielded cubicle for recycling salvage fuel. The robot on the deck couldn't get up, so it lay there thrashing around, trying to find a foot-hold or something. It started making a beeping alarm sound that added to the commotion. Another messenger robot was trying to get to the counter and couldn't get around the one on the deck.

Just then Wurden glided up on his disk and asked, "What is going on here? Why are you standing on the counter instead of entering parts?"

"Just look at that big clumsy ox. He knocked that messenger robot over and knocked this part on top of me. I was almost killed and that thing just keeps shuffling along like it doesn't understand plain old everyday Mis'stear," Tik complained.

"It doesn't understand Mis'stear. It's a Sandghost from the planet Prokne. It has some fuel to weigh, classify and log in. Go tend to it and I will get this robot upright. You are falling behind and need to get more proficient at your job," Wurden stated primly, like he was talking to a small child.

Tik complied but was muttering under her breath the whole time about big clumsy Sandghosts and smart-alecky Bugs. She classified the fuel, logged it in and then went back to her counter. There were two messenger robots waiting and she still had to catalog the part that had been dumped in her lap. She concentrated on her job but kept muttering periodically. Finally the day was over and Wurden came to lead her away to the dining hall and her cell. She was toward the middle of the line but she noticed they stopped to pick up a very large creature that looked like it had been sculpted out of sand. Wurden seemed in a hurry to get them all bedded down so he didn't give Tik much chance to study the large creature.

The large creature sat at the table behind Tik in the dining hall so she just ignored it. She had programmed the mother ship computer to make the fluid with the extra vitamins and minerals as part of her meal. She made sure that she drank every bit of it. She tried her usual gambit of trying to establish communication with no better luck than she had at the other dining hall. As soon as the creatures in her line were through eating, Wurden lined the big sand creature right behind her and started them off down the passageway to the cells. At first Tik was a little nervous about the large creature being behind her. She was afraid it might step on her so she kept close to the creature in front of her.

After several stops and other creatures in the line entering their cells, Tik was the head of the line. Wurden stopped her and a cell door opened. She entered and suddenly she heard a shuffling sound behind her. She wheeled and there was the large sand creature standing in her cell.

Tik yelped at Wurden, "Hey, what's this big dummy doing in my cell?"

Wurden didn't even reply. The cell door swung shut and Tik jumped at it, trying to keep it open. She was too late and the door was securely locked. She tried it anyway and finally admitted there was nothing she could do. She turned to pick a bunk and saw the sand creature shuffling to a bunk that was big enough to fit his huge frame. Tik thought there was something familiar about that walk but just couldn't place it. She picked one of the bunks on the other side of the room and checked out the drawers. They were empty so she picked the lower bunk. She laid her bag on the bunk and then sat down to study the creature.

Suddenly she knew where she had seen that shuffle. She snarled, "You're that big lummox that almost killed me today aren't you?"

The creature didn't say a thing. It just sat there staring at her. Tik tried sign language by pointing at herself and then saying 'Tik'. The creature made some kind of noise that wasn't even close to what she was saying. It pointed at itself and made a low guttural sound that Tik couldn't even come close to imitating. Finally she gave up and pulled out her mini-computer. She worked at increasing her access to all parts of the computer for awhile and then started looking at the diagram of the space ship. When the 3-D image of the ship appeared, the sand creature sat up straighter on its bunk. It appeared to be very interested but kept its place on its bunk. Tik was checking out every passageway and committing them to memory. She located all the escape pods and kept looking for any other way to escape. Tik pulled up a view of the incoming hangar and the creature suddenly moved off its bunk and stuck one of those huge fingers right in the 3-D view of the hangar. Tik didn't know if she was being attacked or not so she growled a warning. The creature ignored her and started making those same low guttural noises while pointing at the hangar. She snapped at the finger and bit it. The creature jerked back and went back to its bunk holding its finger in the other hand. Tik studied for a little longer and finally shut everything down and prepared for sleep.

The 'rise and shine' bell went off and Tik jumped from her bunk to get ready. She noticed the large creature had trouble getting up and getting started but it was ready when the door opened. They walked to the dining room and ate in silence. The large creature now sat right next to her. Tik noticed it didn't like the food any better than she did. It appeared interested when she drank her fluid. Tik was the only one that had the special glass of fluid.

They finished the meal and headed toward the repair hangar. Tik did a little better that day and wasn't as far behind. Her cell mate brought another canister of fuel for her to measure and catalog. She watched and to her it seemed the creature didn't feel too good. She saw the outside hangar doors open and an obviously wrecked space ship was pulled in. It was covered in space dust and had large holes in the fuselage. Tik wondered if they would try to fix it or scrap it. The day ended and they went to eat. The large creature had been helping to clean the newly arrived space ship and had space dust all over it. She noticed that it seemed to be feeling better. After they got back in the cell, Tik again pulled out her computer and worked some more. The creature watched her but didn't try to approach her again.

It took her several days to get the hang of classifying the different parts. One of the biggest challenges was figuring out what the technicians needed to repair the different items. After about two weeks, the light came on in her head and things started getting easier and faster. After that, she had time to look around more and to observe the different routines. She noticed her cell mate would start looking weaker until he had a chance to clean some dusty piece of equipment and then it would be better for a few days. Tik knew she was getting weaker but she didn't know what to do. She noticed there seemed to be a big turn over of the workers in this section. She started noting the different creatures and one evening she looked up the personnel in that section. She discovered that all of the foreign creatures had serious health problems and most of the ones that left were marked dead in the records. Suddenly she realized that her, her cell mate and all the others were being worked until they were no longer cost effective to keep alive and then they were left to die. Tik vowed right then to work to avenge those who were already dead and those who were dying right now.

The next morning Tik was feeling pretty weak when she headed to the dining room. It was all she could do to carry her tool bag. Wurden was gliding behind on his disk as usual when they came to a right angle corner. There was some commotion up ahead and the line of workers stopped. Wurden glided up the passageway and around the corner. Tik set her tool bag on the deck and just then a single Bug came to a stop right by her bag. It reached down and grabbed her bag.

Tik reacted instantly. She leaped at the Bug and snarled, "Let go of that, you sewer vermin. That bag belongs to me!"

The Bug pulled harder on the bag and started to lift off on its disk. Tik jumped at its arm holding the bag and did her bite and twist like she had on the first Bug. The Bug's arm came off in her mouth.

The Bug screamed in pain and reached in its robe for the stingerray. As it pulled it out and aimed it at her, Tik saw her cell mate come up behind the Bug. It raised a huge fist and slammed it down on top of the Bug's hood. Tik heard a sickening crunch and the Bug dropped on its back on the disk. It dropped the stingerray and started twitching. It looked like it was trying to walk while it was lying on its back. Tik could smell a sour smell like someone had stepped on a stink bug. Her cell mate grabbed the disk and gave it a fling down the passageway. The disk and the Bug went sailing out of sight. Her cell mate picked up the Bug's arm, broke it into smaller pieces, then stuck both the arm and the stingerray into the tool bag. It carried the bag and pushed Tik back into line. Just then the line started to move and they entered the dining hall. After the meal, her cell mate continued to carry the tool bag until he dropped off to go to work. Tik grabbed the bag and went about her day. Her opinion of her cell mate took a drastic turn. Later that evening when she got back into the cell, she opened the mother ship computer and researched information about Sandghosts. She found out that the voice boxes on the large creatures wouldn't make the higher pitched sounds like she made. She also discovered that they didn't hear all of the higher frequencies. The Sandghosts could make much lower sounds than she could, so Tik decided to start some kind of sign language to communicate with her cell mate.

For the next two weeks they worked on the sign language and establishing communications. The Sandghost carried Tik's tool bag to and from work everyday. At work, he gave it to her to take to her counter and in the evening he laid it on her bunk. Tik grew worse and her fur started falling out in patches. It was getting matted and clumped together in spots. She looked awful. The last two days the Sandghost had carried her back to their cell. Her cell mate's health was up and down depending on how many dirty projects it worked on. On the day of the Sandghosts lowest ebb their routine changed.

## Chapter 3

Ron took up the narrative at this point. The Bugs kind of herded him into the cell. He saw a giant sand man lying on the bunk on the right side and a small furry canine creature that looked like it had the mange or something worse on the other side. The small furry creature snarled, growled and whined at him and the giant sand man moved to a sitting position and muttered some low guttural sound. The two were making some kind of hand signals back and forth and Ron wondered if they were doing some kind of sign language.

Thanks to the translator, Ron knew what both of them had said. The small furry creature said, "Hello there. What do you have wrong that condemns you to this flying Hell?" The sand giant was muttering, "Little creature, don't lose your temper. This creature may not be bad and maybe it can help us."

The two on the bunks were looking at a type of creature neither had ever seen before which walked on two legs. It had blue eyes set in a softer rounder face than the Sandghosts and its arms and legs looked fairly muscular. It was smaller than the Sandghost standing only six feet tall but it moved much easier than the Sandghost. It had reddish hair that was gray on the sides. It also had a short gray beard.

He waved what he hoped was a friendly wave as he stood, trying to decide what to do. He didn't try to speak because he didn't know if the translator would make his words into their language. The small furry creature looked like it had something that might be catching so Ron decided to sleep in the bunk above the sand giant. He slowly and cautiously approached the bunk and took off his tool pouch. He put the tool pouch on the bunk and then climbed up. He was still a little stiff from the stingerray and being 60 years old didn't help his agility. He hoped he didn't look too undignified climbing into the top bunk.

Ron really wanted to pull out his two new-found items and study them. He didn't know what the other two would do so he just waited. The small furry creature pulled out a small box and started working with it. Suddenly a 3-D image of the mother ship appeared. The small creature magnified the image and traced passageways to what appeared to be some type of hangar with smaller space ships. Ron recognized the one that had brought him here.

He couldn't help himself as he shouted, "That's the space ship that brought me here."

Both creatures jumped like he had hit them with an electric prod.

The small creature excitedly asked, "What did you say? How do you know how to speak my language?"

The larger creature was talking at the same time, "You know my language? How is this possible?"

Ron was surprised but saw the cat was out of the bag. He jumped down and faced the two creatures before he said, "Hi, my name is Ron Calvin. I was captured on Earth and brought here against my will. I stole a small unit from those robed vermin that lets me understand your language. I didn't know if it would translate mine. I know it lets me understand the robed creatures."

Both of the creatures tried to speak at the same time. Ron finally had to hold up his hand for silence and then beckoned to the large creature.

"Greetings gentle master Ron Calvin, my name is Gusissi Ugde Ghaolh and I was kidnapped from Prokne. I don't know what this other creature's name is because we haven't been able to establish any communications except basic sign language," the sand creature stated.

"I don't know if I can do justice to your name. Could I call you Gus? Please call me Ron," greeted him as he turned to the small furry creature.

"Ron, my name is Tik Michi; I'm a Mis'stear from Vesta IV. I was working on one of the Bugs planetary flyers when they just took off with me. I'm sure they didn't pay my company for my services either. What kind of health problems do you have to be assigned here?" Tik rattled quickly.

"I'm a diabetic and I need insulin every day. Who are the Bugs?" Ron asked.

"Those robed vermin that kidnapped all of us. They are Challekan Traders of Elgebar V but everyone just calls them Bugs. If you ever see under that robe they are a giant insect. We have some on Vesta IV that are a lot smaller but they infest our sewer system and your abode if you don't keep watch for them," Tik responded with disgust.

"They sound like our cockroaches," Ron said. "Why did you ask if I have health problems?"

"Everyone that lands in this area has some kind of health problem that the Bugs can't fix or don't want to spend the money on. They just use the poor creatures until they can't do anything more or they die," Tik stated peevishly.

Gus asked, "Can you understand what the small creature is saying? What has she been saying?"

"I can understand both of you and evidently you both can understand me. Gus, let me introduce Tik Michi from Vesta IV. She is a Mis'stear and tells me that everyone here has health problems that usually end in death. Do you have health problems?" Ron translated.

"Yes. I don't know what's wrong with me but I get weak even when I eat everything the Bugs have prepared. If I get to work on dusty space ships or equipment, I feel better for a day or two. I haven't worked on anything dusty for four days now so I'm feeling pretty low. How is it possible you know my language?"

Ron told Tik what Gus had said and then answered, "When I was kidnapped, I wasn't fully knocked out and I resisted enough to fall on one of the Bugs that was wearing a cape as well as its robe. The cape had two small devices tucked in pockets on the inside. I hid them in my boots and after the translator touched my skin, I felt a mild tingle like a slight electric shock on my shin. After that I could understand what the Bugs were saying and I could read the things posted by the door. I understood both of you when I walked in but I wasn't sure I could talk to you."

Gus cheerfully remarked, "It sure is good to hear my language from someone besides a Bug. I didn't realize how much I missed it until you started talking."

Ron translated for Tik and she agreed. Ron asked Tik, "What was that thing you were looking at? It looked like a diagram of this space ship and that one I pointed out was definitely the one that flew to Earth."

Tik replied, "This is my personal mini-computer. All the Mis'stear kids get them at a young age. I've had several that I wore out. I found out how to tap into the mother ship computer and I have been searching for a way to get off this ship. I'd made up my mind to do something to destroy this ship if it looked like I would die before I got off. I don't want the Bugs to kidnap any more hapless victims."

Gus wanted to know what she had said so Ron said, "Gus come over here and touch this thing. Let's see if it will translate for you."

Gus lumbered over and reached out one finger tentatively. As soon as he touched it, he jumped and jerked back. Ron and Tik had both been bit by electricity and knew the reaction. They both chuckled and Gus tried again. This time the shock was less and he held his huge finger on the unit.

Gus said, "Wow! I wasn't expecting anything like that. How do we know if it works?"

Ron looked at Tik as she said, "It works alright. I understand what you are saying. I don't understand how though, because I don't hear everything you are saying. Part of it is just inside my head."

Ron said, "I noticed that also. When you are touching this, I can understand more of the meaning of your words. It's almost like I learned your language instead of having it translated for me."

Tik struggled to sit up and said, "I want to try it. Could you bring it over here please?"

Ron walked over and sat down on her bunk. He held the translator out for her to touch. Tik was too tired to jump like Gus had but Ron could see she felt a tingle too.

"Well Gus, can you understand me and feel me in your head?" Tik asked.

"Yes to both questions," Gus replied.

Ron commented excitedly, "I don't feel Gus in my head like I did when he was touching the translator. There must be something it does. I want to try something, Tik. I am going to think something, see if you hear it."

Ron concentrated and thought, "I want off this ship and I want to make those Bugs pay for all the indignities I have suffered."

Tik said, "You want off this ship and you want something from the Bugs. I didn't completely understand everything."

Ron said, "I'm going to take my hand off and see if you can still hear what I think."

He concentrated again and shortly Tik said, "I didn't understand but I could feel some hazy ideas. I have to stop now. Doing that seems to drain me like I did a hard days work."

Ron said, "Yeah, I feel the strain too. Maybe after we do it a while, it won't affect us so much. Gus, try it to see if it has the same effect on you."

Gus touched the translator and concentrated. Ron said, "You are glad that you can talk to someone now. You'd like to get off this ship too."

Tik said, "Could I look at the translator and the other unit you have?"

Ron held out the translator and dug the other unit out of his boot. Tik was turning both of them over and peering closely at them. She studied them for several minutes without saying anything and then she handed them back to Ron.

She said, "Both of these units look like they are Alcantaran relics. See the faint tracing on the back and it looks like some kind of language. I wish we had a microscope to get a closer look. I think that second unit is a healer. It looks like the energy charge is gone. I'd be curious to see what would happen if we could charge it. I wonder how we could do that."

Ron reached into his tool pouch and pulled out a small object. He unfolded it and Tik saw that it was a magnifying glass. Ron offered it to her and she studied the healer closer. Ron touched her with the translator and all of the sudden Tik got excited.

She said, "I see the writing and I know what it says. It tells how to hook up and put a charge in. Tomorrow I could charge it up when I go to work. Maybe it could tell us what is wrong with me and Gus. It might even have a solution for our health problems."

Ron saw her tool bag and told her to put it in there if she thought she would be able to protect it. Tik said she would make sure it stayed safe.

Gus came over to the bunk and sat on the floor. All three touched the translator and Ron asked Tik to turn her mini-computer back on. They discussed what Tik and Gus knew about the mother ship and the planetary flyers. Tik said the flyers were too small to make an extended galactic flight. Tik pulled up the inbound hangar and they saw two space ships that might fit their need to take them to their home planets. Tik said she would research more on those ships tomorrow but she was worried about how long it would take to get them ready to fly and how much fuel they might have. Gus asked about the old relic that was sitting in the repair hangar. Tik said a few words to the computer and it brought up an image of the ancient looking ship.

Tik talked again and the computer provided details about the ship. It was an Alcantaran ship that the Bugs found in a distant galaxy when they were exploring new territory to trade in. Their habit of kidnapping inhabitants of planets soon drove them out of certain sectors of a lot of galaxies. The Bugs had found the ancient ship just floating in space with no sign of life on board. They had studied the ship for years but had no clue what had happened to the beings on board the ship. They had no clue even what they looked like. They could have gotten a huge sum of credits by selling the ship to some of the more advanced planets but the Bugs were hoping to discover other Alcantaran planets or ships. They would work on the ancient ship for awhile and then let it sit for months. Some of the computers and other equipment had been removed for study and were stored in the middle of the mother ship. There was a whole section of the ship that had never been opened. The Bugs had tried all kinds of tools and methods but couldn't get it open. According to the records, the Bugs didn't even know if the ancient ship would still fly. They decided they would try for the two space ships in the inbound hangar. They would start studying ways to make sure they had fuel, food and water aboard. Then they would pick a date and plan on escaping.

Tik was getting very tired, so the trio quit for the night to get some rest. Tik and Gus explained that a bell would ring in the morning and they needed to be ready to go eat and go to work. Both wondered what the Bugs would have Ron do. They decided to have Ron try the thought transfer and see how far it would reach.

Tik and Gus lay down and went right to sleep. Ron lay awake wondering at the events that had already taken place. He tossed and turned with sleep coming late in the night. Every noise brought him awake, so by the time the bell went off, he was ready to get up. He felt tired and wondered what his blood sugar was doing. He knew that he would need some insulin shortly but maybe the healer unit could do something. All it needed was for Tik to get it recharged tomorrow.

The bell went off and Gus showed Ron where the water and waste disposal were. Ron washed his face and got ready for the day. Tik was a little better but still looked weak and awful. Gus was worried and it showed on his face. The two had only been together a short time but they had bonded through their shared experiences and hatred of the Bugs. When they were ready, Gus grabbed Tik's tool bag and Ron reached down and picked her up.

Tik quickly protested, "I'm not a child that needs to be carried. I can walk!"

"I know you can but I want you to have all your strength so you can get that healer charged up. You need it and I suspect I'll need it shortly. Gus looks like he could use a shot of it too, so just relax and start planning how you're going to get that charged," Ron ordered as he ignored her protest.

Gus grinned at the exchange and said he agreed. The door swung open and Ron followed Gus out into the passage. He was trying to look around and take in every detail as they walked. When they entered the dining hall, Gus showed him the procedure for food. Ron took his and Tik's over to the table.

When he opened his, he muttered, "I can eat almost anything that doesn't bite me first and even then, given an even break, I'll eat what bites me. This slop is worse than liver and onions with a topping of boiled turnips. I really want to get even with those Bugs now."

The other two almost choked as they tried to hold their laughter and not bring notice to their group. Ron forced himself to eat but he definitely didn't like it. As soon as they were through, Wurden moved them to the repair hangar. He wasn't aware that Ron could understand him because he was muttering to himself.

"I don't know why they saddle me with a new beast. How am I supposed to know what it can do? I wonder how sick it is and how long before it dies. There'll be complaints because my production drops while I try to find work for the beast and then train it to do it. The other beast in its cell looks like it could die at any time. That's a shame because it is a whiz at classifying parts and finding the right part for the repair technicians."

Wurden continued to mutter to himself all the way to the repair hangar. Ron almost wanted to laugh at some of his ranting. The other creatures including Gus dropped off at their work stations. Ron just kept walking and carried Tik over to her work counter. He set her gently on the counter and then waited for the Bug.

Wurden glided up on his disk and asked, "What do you think you are doing? Why are you carrying that beast?"

"Well I just thought I would help her out. She sprained her ankle last night and it hurt her to walk, so I just carried her. Any problems with that?" Ron answered sarcastically.

"How did you know it hurt her to walk?" Wurden demanded suspiciously.

"Why just watch her walk. She limps like crazy," Ron smarted back.

Tik walked across the counter toward her chair. She limped on one hind leg and it took her a long time getting to the chair. After she sat down, she turned to Ron. She had a grin on her face and winked at him.

Wurden didn't know what to do. He had never had any beast so cocky and defiant. He beckoned for Ron to follow and he took him to the middle of the hangar.

He asked, "What skills do you have? Why were you picked from your planet?"

Ron replied, "I think it was because I'm so good looking."

"What?"

"Yeah, I had to watch that on Earth all the time. The women thought I was some kind of movie star," Ron continued pulling the Bug's leg.

"What are you talking about? I just need to know what your skills are," Wurden demanded peevishly.

"Well, I can weld, do electrical and fix most machines. I'd like the highest paying position that's available. What are your starting wages and do I have to join the union?" Ron asked innocently.

"What are you talking about? We pay when we know that you are a valuable beast. At our discretion, we will allow you to earn passage back to the planet you came from. I have no idea what a union is." Wurden exasperatedly snapped. "Come over here and we'll see how you do fixing the engines on those space ships."

Wurden led Ron to a planetary flyer and showed him the engine that needed to be repaired. He showed him how to use the computer to see the illustrated parts break down and the operator's manual. Ron studied the computer for about a half hour and then slowly climbed up to look at the engine. He saw a small hole in the outer skin of the engine but pretended he didn't. He looked inside and saw a small tube that was smashed and a wire broken. He looked around inside the engine for awhile and then he slowly climbed down and went back to the computer. He studied the computer again and then slowly climbed back up to the engine. Ron did this two more times, wasting at least three hours. Wurden was watching him the whole time and muttering under his breath.

Ron waved Wurden over and asked, "What exactly is the problem with this engine? I didn't see anything on the computer that detailed the problems the pilot was having."

Wurden exasperatedly exclaimed, "It was right there in the computer. Are you sure you know how to fix machinery?"

"Well, this machinery is considerably different than what I'm used to working on but I'm sure I can pick it up after while. I just need to go back to the computer to look up a couple of things again."

Wurden snapped, "Why don't you bring the hand held computer unit right up here so you don't have to waste time going up and down?"

"You didn't tell me anything about a hand held computer. That would definitely make life a lot easier. By the way, how do you get parts?" Ron asked. "I'll be right back as soon as I get that hand held computer."

Wurden fairly growled, "Stay right where you are. I'll go get it and then I can show you how to get parts."

He quickly glided down to the work station and got the hand held computer. When he got back, he demonstrated how to use it and how to order parts. He explained that a messenger robot would bring the part to him. Ron decided to test the system to see how efficient it really was. He ordered the smashed tube, a muffler bearing and double-weight head light fluid. From his vantage point on the engine, he could see Tik at the counter. He heard her squeal from across the hangar as she started in about muffler bearings and double-weight head light fluid. Suddenly she looked over at him and he waved with a big grin. He concentrated and thought 'just send any parts'. Her loud complaining didn't stop so he didn't know if she had received the message or not.

Shortly a messenger robot came with three parts. Ron knew that at least some of the thought transfer worked. He picked up the tube and replaced the smashed tube on the engine. He had to go back to the work station to find the items he needed to make a permanent repair to the wire. As soon as he was done, he used the hand held computer to run a diagnostic check on the engine. He saw that everything was satisfactory but far from optimum. He debated for a few seconds and decided to adjust it for max performance. He was curious to see if it affected the handling of the planetary flyer. He didn't know for sure but suspected the other engine needed to be adjusted to balance the system out. He wondered how many other systems were in the same shape. He knew the space ship in which he hoped to leave the mother ship would have everything adjusted to perfection. He wanted every edge for survival he could get. He took the two extra parts and stowed them at the work station. He would find some use for them later or would get them back to Tik to put back into the inventory.

Wurden was watching and as Ron slowly climbed back down, he glided over. He haughtily asked, "Are you through? What were you doing with the computer there at the last?"

Ron replied, "I needed to see how the muffler bearings were doing. I think they improved the engines performance."

"I see and how do you know about muffler bearings? Our civilization is far advanced compared to yours." Wurden stated officiously.

Ron quipped right back, "You might be more advanced but we invented muffler bearings and have some of the best in the galaxy. Do I take the ship out to test fire the engine?"

Wurden pulled out a personal computer and made notes in it. He was passing information to the mother ship computer. The Bugs were always looking for little items like the best muffler bearings in the galaxy. They would trade for them or steal the idea and make it themselves if they could. Wurden replied in his superior voice, "You will do no such thing. We have competent pilots who will check everything out when the rest of the repairs are made. Come, I will show you your next task."

Ron followed and Wurden assigned him to his next task. Ron found out the translator really helped him to understand the manuals for the different equipment. He could have blazed through a lot of fixes but he deliberately worked at a very slow pace. Finally Wurden started lining everyone up to walk back to the dining hall.

Ron quietly asked Tik, "Did you get the healer recharged? Do you think it will work?

Tik murmured quietly back, "I got it charged. We'll have to take a look tonight back in the cell."

Ron rushed through with his meal -- mostly because he wanted to get back to the cell but also because if he ate fast, he didn't taste as much of the meal. After what seemed like an eternity, the group lined up to head to their cells. As soon as the door closed, Tik had to try it. It was locked as usual so she went to her bunk.

Tik pulled the healer unit out of her bag and a part of a Bugs arm fell out. She disgustedly kicked it off her bunk and said, "I forgot about that being in my bag. Here's the stingerray also." She pulled the stingerray out and two more parts of Bug arm.

Gus came over to her bunk and took the arm parts. He carried them to the waste disposal and shoved them down in it. He watched them disappeared. He came back to the bunk and picked up the stingerray and asked, "What are we going to do with this? Tik, do you know how it works?"

Tik said, "I don't know. Give it to Ron to see if he can figure it out with the translator."

Ron took the stingerray and examined it closely. He saw three different buttons but had no idea what they were for. They appeared to be adjustments for something but he was afraid to make any adjustments until he had an idea what the adjustments did. He laid the stingerray back on the bunk.

Ron touched Tik with the translator and said, "For right now let's see if the healer works. I feel like my blood sugar is dropping."

Tik examined the unit and pressed a couple of buttons. Small lights winked on and blinked several times before becoming a steady green. She pressed the unit to Ron's arm and pressed another button. There was a quiet whine and buzz before the unit went silent. The green lights slowly blinked on and off. In a couple of minutes there was a quiet voice that said Ron's insulin cells were abnormal and right now his blood sugar was low. The unit also said there was foreign substance in his stomach. The unit asked to be put back on his arm. Tik complied and the unit said to push two more buttons. Tik pushed the buttons and Ron felt something on his arm. It wasn't quite a tingle but he knew something was happening. A warm feeling ran up his arm and down to his abdomen. In a few minutes the unit chimed quietly and said the body healing was complete. The foreign substance would be eliminated tomorrow. The lights went back to a steady green.

Tik asked, "How do you feel? Did it do anything?"

Ron replied, "I felt something but I don't know what. A warm feeling went up my arm and then back down to my gut. I think I am feeling better because I don't have the warning signals I usually look for when my blood sugar is low. I knew the food here was bad for you. The unit as much as said I was being poisoned. Now try it on yourself."

Ron smoothed a patch of fur and placed the unit on Tik. She told him which buttons to push and the lights blinked again. The unit made noises for considerably longer before the lights went to a steady green. The unit said that Tik was starving. Her system wasn't digesting the food in her stomach. It also said she had a large amount of foreign substance undigested in her stomach. The unit told which buttons to push and Ron pushed them. Tik felt something because she started and moaned a little. The unit took almost 15 minutes before it chimed and returned to the steady green. Tik appeared to be asleep so Ron gently removed the unit.

Gus whispered, "Did it help you? It looks like it did something for Tik. What was it saying?"

Ron replied in a whisper, "I think it helped me and it did something for Tik. We'll see tomorrow how much good it did. The unit was telling what it found and also that both of us had some foreign substance in our stomachs."

He motioned for Gus to move over so he could be next. Gus sat on the floor and Ron placed the unit on his back between the harness straps. He pressed the diagnostic buttons and the unit did its thing. The unit said that Gus was short on critical vitamins and minerals. It also said he had an undigested foreign substance in his system. Ron pushed the buttons and the machine started on Gus. After about 10 minutes the unit chimed and the lights went to green. Ron accidently touched another button as he took the unit off Gus. The unit said it would recommend that the patient be in contact with sand or dust for at least 15 minutes each day or two hours a week. It said this patient absorbed some of its critical vitamins and minerals through its skin. It said the previous patient needed to have a very strong dose of ultra-violet rays every day for the next month and then needed the UV treatment at least once a week. The patient's system couldn't digest food properly without the UV rays.

Ron and Gus moved back to their bunk and whispered quietly. They were trying to figure out how to get a UV light for Tik and where to install it. They finally decided the work counter would be the best place. They decided to wait until in the morning to ask Tik if she could order something through the mother ship computer. Maybe she could complain about bacteria on the used parts crossing the counter and needed the UV light to kill them.

Ron pulled the cape out of his tool pouch and examined it thoroughly. He noticed some almost hidden buttons next to the hood. Gus was curiously watching as Ron laid the cape across his lap. Ron pushed one of the buttons and poof! His legs and the cape disappeared! Gus almost jumped off the bunk and yelled. Just in time he remembered their sleeping cell mate. Ron touched his legs and could still feel them. He could still feel the touch also, so he knew that his legs were still there. Ron felt around and found the hood on the cape. He picked it up and held it against the bunk. His legs appeared and the bunk disappeared. He held it up toward Gus. Gus kind of shied away from the cape but Ron saw that the parts of Gus covered by the cape disappeared. It looked rather funny seeing the top half of Gus, no middle and then the legs and feet just appeared.

Gus urgently whispered, "What in the world is that? How did your legs disappear and then reappear? Why are you grinning?"

"It's the cape. I could feel my legs under it but neither of us could see my legs. Just now I was holding it up and your middle disappeared. You looked funny with a top, no middle and legs appearing out of nowhere. I wonder if this is another relic of the Alcantarans," Ron answered as he stood up and swung the cape around his shoulders.

Ron's head was floating above his feet and legs but there was nothing in the middle. Gus grinned because he could now see what Ron meant about looking funny. He gingerly reached one of his huge fingers toward the middle. He touched something right where Ron's mid-section should be. There was nothing showing there but he could feel something.

"This could be another tool to help us escape. The only problem is that it won't cover you or me completely. I guess we'll have to find something to stand behind to cover the rest," Ron said as he returned Gus' grin.

Gus said, "It definitely won't cover much of me. About the only one it will completely cover will be Tik. How do you think we will be able to use it?"

"Right now I have no idea. I'll put it back in my pouch and we'll have it when the time comes," Ron said. "Maybe after Tik gets to feeling better, she can use it to go to that store room in the middle of the ship to find two more translators. It would sure help if we could communicate together all the time. We are going to have to be ready to seize any chance we get to make our escape. This thought transfer could really be a big help."

Gus nodded in agreement as he said, "We won't be able to send her on the days she's mad at the Bugs. I've seen her temper and reactions. If she was mad and had that cloak on, there would definitely be damage to the Bugs she met."

Ron grinned his agreement. He had seen a little taste of her temper today when he ordered the muffler bearing. The two whispered just a little longer before they climbed into their bunks. They decided Tik needed to check the computer to see what was being put in their food. She also needed to check on the stingerray to see if the computer had instructions on how to operate them.

As Ron lay on his bunk, he was thinking of movies he had seen. He started wondering about spying devices in their cell. Tomorrow he would carry Tik again and try the thought transfer to have her check the mother ship computer to wipe out what went on in their cell.

The next morning when the bell went off, Ron and Gus were quick to get out of bed. Both felt better and it showed in their actions as they prepared for the day. They both looked anxiously at their cell mate.

Tik slowly got up and stretched. She saw both of them staring at her and said, "What's up, big boys? What are you looking at?"

"We were just wondering how you felt this morning. You went to sleep awful fast last night and we didn't even get a chance to ask you how the healer unit did on you," Ron answered.

"I don't know if it did anything. I felt something and I guess I was tired because I went to sleep before it actually did anything," Tik said. "I do feel like I have a little more energy this morning."

"Well, the unit said all three of us had a foreign substance in our systems. It also gave a diagnosis of what you needed. I'll fill you in more later on," Ron explained.

The door swung open and Gus grabbed Tik's tool bag. Ron scooped her up and started to carry her out the door.

Tik growled, "Put me down, you overgrown hairless ape. I am perfectly able to walk on my own."

"Oh, but your sprained ankle might not be fully healed. I'd hate for Wurden to have to take you to the medical facilities," Ron quipped. "Besides I need to talk to you and I'd just as soon no one else hears."

Tik settled back down but she didn't like it. She thought Ron was trying to coddle her and she was not going to let that happen. As soon as they started down the passage-way, Ron started whispering.

"Tik, the first thing you need to do is get UV lights at your work station. The reason you're so sick is that you need UV light for your body to properly digest your food. Maybe you can convince Wurden that there are bad bacteria on the used parts and the Bugs might get infected if they don't install the lights. The next thing is we need to get Gus somewhere he can touch sand or dust for at least two hours each week. Are there any dust filters in the air ducts leaving the repair hangar? Check on the computer and see if you can get Wurden to assign Gus to clean them. Make sure he is assigned to clean any dirty equipment or space ships coming into the repair hangar," Ron stated matter of factly.

"How am I supposed to do all of that by myself? Do you think I am some kind of magician?" Tik snorted derisively.

"Oh, I've seen how you have Wurden wrapped around your little finger. You'll find some way," Ron teased with a grin.

"Stick a finger out here and I'll show you something wrapped around a finger," Tik growled.

"Every chance you get, you need to start checking out those two space ships in the incoming hangar. We need to know everything we can about them so we can start planning on how to get out of here. Also there are two other things you need to check. Number one is, are we being spied on in our cell? Can you erase it or change what the Bugs will see? Number two is, the healer said all three of us had some kind of foreign substance in our systems. Are the Bugs giving us more than food in our meals? Is there a way to delete it from ours or to counteract it?"

Tik stiffened as she considered for the first time that the Bugs might be spying on her in her own cell. Ron could read the determination in her posture as she started planning on how to defeat any spying. The meal this morning was especially unappetizing to all three since the question had arisen about drugs in the food. None of the trio finished their meal.

The work group filed into the repair hangar and Ron carried Tik to the counter again. Wurden was right behind them and commented, "Is that beast's ankle still causing trouble?"

Tik snapped peevishly, "Its better, just not completely healed. By tomorrow morning I'll be walking on my own."

"That's good because I would hate to waste time taking you to the medical facilities," Wurden stated aloofly.

He led Ron to a piece of equipment midway on the hangar deck. Ron was working away when he heard Tik scream. She went into a tirade that brought Wurden rushing over to see what the trouble was. She was screaming that her scanner showed there was dangerous bacteria on the last part the messenger had brought. She said that there appeared to be high levels of dust also. The perfect breeding grounds for the bacteria! The next thing would be all the workers, as well as the Challekans, getting sick and then they all would die. Wurden screeched to a stop several yards from the counter. He asked what was wrong and Tik proceeded to unload on him again. Wurden edged a little further away and asked her what her scanner recommended. Tik told him that the counter needed two UV lights to kill the bacteria and the filters in the air ducts needed to be cleaned on a regular basis. Gus walked up with a fuel canister just then and Tik pointed at him and said, "Make him clean those things. He already looks like he's covered with dust and it wouldn't hurt him at all."

Wurden got on his personal computer and put a rush, immediate action order in for the UV lights as he directed Gus to hurry up with his fuel and then follow him. Wurden was pushing Gus to take the fuel canister back to his work station and get out of the protective gear. As soon as he was out of it, Wurden took him to a grav-sled and showed him how to operate it. He flew him to the ceiling and they started checking the air ducts. They were very dusty and Wurden directed Gus to start cleaning them. He looked up the filters and showed Gus where they were at. He told him to make sure they were thoroughly cleaned and then he made a note to make sure Gus cleaned them on a regular basis.

Later when they were back in their cell, Ron commented with a grin, "I was wondering, what took you so long to get the light up and Gus in the middle of the dust?"

Gus chuckled as he joined in, "Yeah, I was sure it would take days to get the light and in less than an hour, there I was elbow deep in dust. What did it take to get the light? Two hours? Three?"

"Listen, you two big apes...." Tik snapped heatedly until she realized they were teasing. "I thought you said it was important and needed to be done right away. If I'd have known that you could wait, I'd have put in a work order and we'd see results in a couple of months."

The trio laughed. They were starting to become more than friends and it felt good. Tik was definitely feeling a lot better and her fur didn't look so tangled and matted. Gus had been in enough dust to really feel good and life suddenly showed some hope.

Ron asked, "Are we being spied on?"

"Hey big boy, I'm good but I'm not a miracle worker. I was planning on checking that right now," Tik said as she pulled her mini-computer out of the bag.

She gave a few commands and shortly she was searching the mother ship computer. She found what Ron had feared. The Bugs were spying on all the captured creatures. Tik checked the different cells quickly and she could see what each one was doing. She checked a little further and saw that the Bugs weren't currently monitoring any of the cells. The record showed that a Bug would skim through the recordings once a quarter. The skim had happened just before Ron arrived so it would be a couple of months until it happened again.

"What do we do? Will we be out of here before they skim again?" Tik asked.

"I don't know if we'll get out of here by then. I hope so but we need to make sure that someone doesn't accidently stumble onto this in the meantime. It looks like the drugs have worked so well that the Bugs are complacent. That's something else that we may be able to use to our advantage. Can you replace the pictures or create some kind of interference? Can you do anything with the voices?" Ron anxiously asked. "There's a particular scene last night that I don't want any of the Bugs to see."

Tik rewound the scene in their cell to last night. She watched the healer do its work on Ron, herself and then Gus. She could see that wasn't a good thing for the Bugs to see. They would want that healer. Then she saw herself go to sleep. When Ron pulled the cape out of his tool pouch, she was watching with curiosity to see what he was up to.

When Ron's legs disappeared, Tik yelped, "What in the world just happened? What are you doing there?"

"That's part of what I don't want the Bugs to see. Whatever you do needs to be across the board. If our cell is the only one that has trouble, the Bugs will start checking closer," Ron answered.

Tik really got excited when Ron put on the cape and she saw his head floating in mid air. She saw possibilities just as Ron had. That cape could open up the entire ship to someone wearing it; especially, if they had access to the mother ship computer. Tik thought for a little bit and then gave a command. All the scenes of the cells jumbled together. All of the audio and video was jammed together so that nothing made any sense. There was a period of the jumble and then the scenes changed to creatures sleeping. Tik worked a little more and the scene in their cell changed to one of the three of them asleep in their bunks. Tik said she would have to work at it over the next few days but she would show scenes where they came in, moved around before they went to bed and if Ron wanted, she could even show little spats between the three of them. Ron thought that would be a great idea; instead of a team working together, make it appear that they had an uneasy truce and just barely got along.

Ron asked, "Hey Tik, how hard would it be to unlock that door? Could you get us out of here?"

Tik replied, "Watch."

The door swung open and the trio looked out in the passage-way. Gus walked over and looked both ways to see if anyone had noticed the door swing open. He pushed it shut and turned. There was a grin on all three faces. Things were starting to come together. Right now, Tik was doing most of the work on the computer. The other two gave ideas but Tik had to do the actual work. They started planning on checking out the two smaller space ships. Tik wanted to don the cloak and head there right then but the other two voted to make her wait until she had more strength. Ron suggested that they needed to come up with some sort of harness that could carry her mini-computer, some tools and the stingerray. They would all start looking for material that they could sneak back into their cell. Tik researched the stingerray and found out how to operate it. She practiced a little bit and then showed the other two. Gus commented that he might have trouble since the stingerray was so small and his hands were so big. Tik put on her list to search for a weapon that would fit Gus' hand. They stayed up late that night discussing different options and how quick they could put them into action. When they finally laid down, they all had trouble getting to sleep.

The next few days settled into a routine of working and trying to find items for their escape during the day; then at night, they would plan and check more of the computer knowledge. Tik's health rapidly improved, thanks to the UV lights and Gus was doing much better since he was in contact with dust and sand so much. Ron used the healer every two or three evenings to keep his blood sugar in control. He noticed that he was starting to lose weight also. Tik found a way to neutralize the drugs in the food and everybody felt better about that. Finally, they decided that it was time. Tomorrow night Tik was going to head to the space ships to check them out.

## Chapter 4

When the bell went off, the three were already up and ready to go. The day dragged on forever. Tik snapped at everybody and even Ron was tense. Gus just buried himself in his work and tried not to think. Finally the shift ended and they were back in their cell.

"How long do you think we should wait?" Tik asked nervously.

"Why don't you check the spy devices in the passageways around here and at the inbound hangar? That should give us an idea." Ron answered.

Gus said, "We've got this far, don't blow it now. I might have to go on the rampage if the Bugs found out. I have to think I have a chance to get out of here or life is not worth living."

Tik pulled out her computer and saw that there was still a lot of traffic in their passageway so she did some more research while they waited. She found the schedule for the space ship Yaota and it showed that it would be heading to Bamberga next week. The other space ship had nothing scheduled for the next month. Tik checked the supplies and fuel on board both of the space ships. She was surprised to see how little fuel was on both ships. She checked past flights and saw that the fuel was loaded just a day or two before the ships flew. There was a minimum of supplies and it didn't look like there was much of anything for the three of them on either ship. Something was wrong but she just couldn't put her finger on it.

Tik checked the spy devices again and saw that the traffic in their passageway and around the inbound hangar was pretty low. The trio agreed now was the time to try. They helped Tik into the special harness they had made from stolen parts. She had a place for the stingerray and her computer right close to the reach of her hands. They took tools out of Ron's tool pouch and Gus' belt to give her the best chance for whatever came up. Finally Ron helped her into the cloak. He fussed nervously, showing her again where the on/off button was.

Tik snapped at him, "I'm not some helpless child. Let me alone! I know how to turn it on and off and I know how to work the tools I have."

"I know. I'm just nervous and I want to be able to go," Ron snapped back.

"Well, unless you cut your legs off, you won't fit in this cloak and I know two of us won't fit and I can't carry you," Tik said.

"Easy, you two. All of us are nervous and want this to succeed. Tik, don't let your temper get the best of you. We want you back here," Gus interjected.

The group had decided that they didn't want to risk the translator so Tik was going to try thought transfer. They had been working on it across the hangar and it seemed to work pretty well now. They were still learning about the process so this would be a good chance to test distance.

Tik stepped up to the door and her heart was pounding so loud she knew that Ron and Gus could hear it. She spoke softly to her mini-computer as she turned on the cloak. Gus held the door so it only swung open a crack. Tik looked both ways in the passageway and didn't see anything so she quickly stepped through. Gus pushed the door shut. Ron and Gus' faces showed the strain. They weren't in the passageway but their pal was and she could be in danger at any second. Neither would breathe easily until she was back. Gus came over to Ron so he could feel the thought transfer if Tik sent anything.

Tik slipped along silently for awhile and then picked up her pace. She wanted to get to the inbound hangar, check it out and then get back to the cell to tell her cell mates. She dropped to all four legs so she could make as much speed as possible. She moved as fast as she could and still keep it fairly quiet. The group had all agreed it would be dangerous to use an elevator unless a robot or some equipment was already on it. If a Bug got on and bumped her, all their plans would be for naught. Tik made it to the stairway with no problems. She had to descend 15 levels so she started down. She made the inbound hangar level with no problems and she did a thought transfer to let Ron and Gus know. She felt the affirmative answer in her mind and felt reassured. Now all she had to do was cross to the other side of the mother ship. The trio had looked at the diagrams of the mother ship and figured she would have to travel more than a mile and a half.

Tik was making good time down the passageway when she saw the two Bugs gliding toward her. She quickly moved to the right, closer to the wall, and waited as she held her breath. The Bugs appeared to be talking and glided closer and closer. The Bug nearest her wall didn't seem too steady and was gently weaving back and forth across the passageway. He would get closer to his companion and then veer closer to the wall. Tik was watching with every nerve telling her to run. The Bug veered away from his companion again and Tik saw that it was going to hit her. She noiselessly ran forward 10 steps and stopped. The Bug swerved next to the wall where she had been standing. She wanted to sit down and shake but she knew she didn't have time. She continued moving, glad to be away from those two.

Tik was almost to the last passage when she saw the four Bugs coming down the passageway. They were abreast across the entire passageway and Tik didn't see any place to go. She moved to the center of the passageway because she wanted as much room as possible to dodge the oncoming danger. The Bugs were close enough together that she couldn't let them squeeze past. As they moved closer Tik tensed. Just as they got to her, she leaped over the gliders and between the Bugs on them. She had thought about jumping completely over the Bugs but then her belly would be exposed and it would not be invisible.

One of the Bugs she had jumped between suddenly accused his companion of touching his leg. They started arguing about it and Tik crept away. She found an intersecting passageway and had to sit down to calm her nerves. Her heart was racing and she felt like panting because her breathing had been so shallow. At last her breathing and heart beat returned to almost normal. She started moving toward the hangar again.

There it was -- the inbound hangar door. Now all she had to do was figure out how to get in without raising suspicions or causing an alarm to go off. Tik decided to wait for just a little bit to see if a robot or something would go in or come out of the door. She sat waiting nervously for any kind of traffic. She felt like she had been waiting for hours and was about to give up when she heard a robot coming down the passageway. It came up to the door and gave a series of beeps. The door swung open and Tik jumped right behind the robot as it rolled into the hangar. Tik quickly moved next to the wall to avoid any traffic. She sat quietly looking around. Suddenly she tensed in alarm. There were Bugs with blasters around both galactic space ships. She looked at the ceiling and saw a turret with multiple blasters sticking out of it. The turret looked like it could spin in a 360 degree circle. It could cover every square inch of the hangar. None of this had shown up on the mother ship diagrams. What was going on here? Tik moved around the hangar to see if there was another way to approach the two space ships. Every place someone could hide was guarded by Bugs with blasters! Tik found a place she could safely use the camera on her mini-computer and filmed the entire hangar. Maybe Ron could see something she didn't. Right now she didn't see any way for them to get anywhere close to those space ships, let alone inside of them.

Tik felt completely discouraged. What were they going to do now? She started moving back toward the door she had come in. Some Bugs went out and she followed as closely as possible. She slunk back down the passageways that she had just moved down with such high spirits and hopes. She couldn't even concentrate enough to send a thought transfer back to her waiting pals. She was so deep in her fog she almost missed the robot coming at her. At the last moment, she spotted it and jumped to the side to let it pass. She reached the stairway door and slipped in. It took her a lot longer to go up the stairs than it had when she came down. She finally got back to her level and sneaked a look out in the passageway. It was clear so she headed back to her cell. What was she going to tell her cell mates? Would Gus do something crazy?

Tik sent a thought that she was opening the door and coming in. The door swung in and she hurried inside. Gus was there to push the door shut. Tik turned the cloak off and slowly took it off. She took items out of the harness and handed them back to Ron and Gus. Then she took her mini-computer out and took the harness off.

"Well, what's the verdict? Can we get out using either of those ships?" Gus inquired anxiously.

Tik was almost afraid to look at him. She slowly said, "The Bugs have guards in there with blasters. There is a turret in the ceiling that looks like it can spin 360 degrees and it can cover the entire hangar."

"How was the turret controlled? Were there Bugs manning the blasters or do you think they were controlled by the computer?" Ron quickly asked.

"I couldn't see from where I was at. Here, let me show you what I filmed," Tik said as she pulled out her mini-computer.

She turned it on and showed what she had filmed. The three looked it over and then Ron had her replay it again. None of them could see a way to get into either of the space ships. They kicked around some ideas of creating a diversion but they had no idea what response the Bug guards would have. They all felt really low. Their first idea didn't look like it would work at all. Ron suggested they all go to bed and look again tomorrow. They might have some ideas that would come later and they could do a little more research.

The next morning they went to work as usual and all three were preoccupied with the escape plan. None of them did much work and almost caught Wurden's attention. Ron saw it first and quickly sent out a thought transfer. The other two picked up enough to stay below Wurden's radar. When they got back to the cell, the planning started again. Tik researched and the other two tried to come up with something. Everywhere they turned they seemed to run into a brick wall. It was the same routine for the next week \-- work during the day and try to find an escape. Finally, they were just about ready to admit defeat.

The next morning Ron was working on a damaged robot when Wurden came to his work station. He said, "Follow me. We want you to look at something else."

He led Ron beyond the ancient space ship to the far wall of the hangar. Ron had never been over here so he covertly looked everything over. They stopped in front of a rack of a dozen rockets. They were about 12 feet long and were about a foot in diameter with a very thin shell on the outside. There were triangular fins on the base of the rocket and smaller steering fins about two-thirds of the way to the top. There were 1-inch diameter nodes evenly spaced around the circumference of the rocket just behind the nose. There were matching nodes just forward of the tail fins. The sides appeared to have a door in them that would open outward, but no hinges were visible. There was a round six-inch circle in the middle that looked like it could be a port or covered fixture to fill or empty the rockets. Some of them were missing fins or other parts and one looked like it had been badly burnt.

Ron asked, "What are these used for? What are those little nodes around the top and bottom?"

"Nobody knows for sure what they are used for or what any of those things do. We have tried to follow instructions but so far we haven't had any luck making them do anything. We want you to take parts off of that one and make this one work. There's not much on the computer about them but that's all we have."

Ron looked up the information on the computer and studied it for several minutes. Then he turned to the rockets to check them out. He used a meter to see if there was any fuel in the rockets. All of them were completely empty and showed no trace of fuel at all. He signaled a robot to come over and pick up the rocket that was going to be used for parts. He studied the rocket for over an hour. He didn't see anything that gave a clue to the rocket's use. The computer did show a way to open a panel to get inside. He opened the panel and checked inside. On the inside of the panel were faint characters which Ron found to his surprise he could read. He quickly went back to the computer and saw that it mentioned the characters inside the panel but gave no interpretation of what it meant. Ron excitedly went back to the rocket. He slowed himself down because he didn't want Wurden to notice that he was getting excited. He read the inscription on the inside of the panel and then checked the wiring and plumbing inside the rocket. He was pretty sure that this was another artifact from the Alcantarans. The more he studied the rocket, the more sure he was. He really struggled to keep his excitement hidden. He knew what the rockets did and how they worked. He saw that one valve was set in the wrong position and somehow he knew that the rocket wouldn't work properly with the valve set like that.

Slowly he removed fins and other parts. He laid them on his work station. When he had all of the parts off, he had the robot carry it back to the rack. By that time it was the end of the day so they headed back to the dining hall and then to the cell. Ron didn't say a word about the rockets to his friends until they were back in the cell and Tik had set the spy devices off. She had a special video clip that she put into the mother ship computer that made it look like they all went to sleep right away.

Ron started very seriously, "Gus, you mentioned something quite a while ago. Do you remember asking about taking the old derelict space ship in the repair hangar? Maybe we need to pursue what needs to be done to make it fly. Tik, can you do some research on it? What have the Bugs tried? What success have they had?"

Tik started to protest, "That old thing? It's so old I don't know whether I would ever trust it or not. I'll see what the Bugs have and then we can see from there."

Gus had been watching Ron's face and he could see an undercurrent of excitement there. He asked, "Didn't you work on something over by that space ship today? What did you find?"

Ron answered, "I'm not sure. That's why I want Tik to find out everything she can about that ship. See how many other artifacts the Bugs have that they think might belong to the Alcantarans. Right now we know we can get access to that ship. We just need to know if it will fly and how long it would take to get it ready."

Ron and Gus just had to sit back on their bunks while Tik did her research. She found little bits and pieces here and there. It took a long time to make any sense of what she found. Ron and Gus got tired and went to bed as she continued to look. Finally she got tired and went to bed herself.

The next morning Ron said, "Keep your ears open and ask any of the other Bugs that will talk to you about the ship. Try to make it casual and don't show too much interest."

Ron took his time the next day putting things back together. He jury rigged some cables to hook electrical power to the stripped rocket. He figured Wurden would throw a fit if he tried it on the one he was trying to make whole.

Wurden saw the cables and came over to see what he was doing. "What do you think you are doing? Do you have authorization to do that?" Wurden cried in alarm.

"Well, this is just a piece of junk now that everything has been stripped. I just thought I would try this experiment to see if I could tell what this thing was supposed to do. I didn't see anything on the computer that even suggested anybody had ever tried this," Ron stated matter of factly.

He touched a switch and suddenly there was a force field around the rocket. He grabbed a meter to see how strong the field was. It was pretty strong for the little current he was applying. Wurden didn't say another word. He just hovered right over Ron's shoulder as he continued his experiment. Ron increased the current just a tiny bit and the field strength increase four fold. He tried pushing against the field and found he couldn't budge it. He grabbed a hammer and tried smacking the rocket. The force field grabbed the hammer and slowed it to a stop. The hammer felt like he had hit a big bowl of cold molasses. When the blow stopped, he could pull the hammer out with no resistance. The force field momentarily increased from the energy of the blow. Ron shut the power off and reached in the rocket to make a few adjustments. He didn't let Wurden see him flip the valve to the original position. He turned the power back on and tried his experiments again. When he increased the current this time, there was no increase in the field strength. He tried the hammer and this time the force field ricocheted the hammer blow. When the hammer ricocheted back, it almost smacked Wurden in the head. Wurden zipped back a safe distance and continued to watch closely. Ron increased the current quite a bit with no increase in the field strength.

Ron started muttering for Wurden's benefit, "Stupid piece of junk. You work one time this way and the next time you don't work."

He turned off the power and made a couple more adjustments. He tried the experiment with the same results. The meter showed that a large well-placed blow would go right through the force field and destroy the rocket. He continued to make adjustments and experiment with the same results. Finally he turned to Wurden, "I don't know what happened the first time I turned the power on. It worked fine then but every time since, it just won't work. I think I could take some kind of bar and drive it completely through the rocket with a hammer. The force field is so weak and doesn't get any stronger with an increase in current. Is that what your scientists found?"

Wurden was pretty non-committal but Ron knew he was right. Wurden was making notes and sending them to his superiors about the experiments. Ron had tried some things the Bug's scientists hadn't thought of. Wurden got a response back from his superiors telling him to have Ron check out the ancient space ship.

Wurden stated officiously, "Follow me. We have another mystery for you to take a look at." He led Ron to the rear of the old space ship. He touched some buttons on his personal computer and the rear door on the space ship opened. Ron approached the old ship with awe. No one really knew how old the ship was but it showed its age in the dents and scrapes on the skin. The ship was 579 feet long and cylindrical in shape. It was 175 feet in diameter at the back and stayed that diameter until close to the nose, where it slowly tapered to a blunt nose like on a 747 jet. The bottom was flattened and had legs with pads for landing gear. It had two fins that started as a taper 50 or 60 feet behind the nose and ran the entire length of the ship. They came to a point in the back and stuck past the flat rear for 15 or 20 feet. The fins looked like they were about 60 feet tall. There was a half tube that ran along the side of the ship. It covered about two thirds of the side and was open at both ends. It reminded Ron of the intakes for military jets. Ron couldn't see inside these intakes so he wondered if they might be the engines or the fuel tanks. He didn't understand why a space ship would need air intakes especially in outer space vacuum. The back was flattened and appeared to have a smaller personal door as well as a large door that looked like it could drop and be a ramp. It almost looked like there were three levels but he couldn't see how you would open the door to all three levels. He didn't see any other doors and thought that was odd. He was used to several escape exits on any vessel that large on Earth. It definitely wasn't your typical flying saucer that the movies always showed but it looked like it would really move when it was flying.

Ron shivered with excitement as he climbed into the door. He wondered what the beings that had built and flown this thing looked like. He wondered what had happened to them. Wurden didn't like coming inside the space craft and his unease showed in his every movement. They entered a passageway that was like a tube about 10 feet in diameter with a flat floor. There were lights that came on as they walked toward them. They were not part of the ship and looked like something the Bugs had installed. As they walked, Ron saw doors leading to the interior of the space ship and passageways that went up and down. Wurden didn't even pause at any of them. He led Ron to a door and stepped through. They were inside an immense cargo bay. Ron thought they must be in the top third of the space ship. It looked like there should be other levels below them. Across the deck were rows of doors with two more rows on top of them. There was a narrow catwalk to access these doors but it looked like they had been designed to allow some sort of lifting device to lift items right up to the doors. Ron looked but didn't see anything that looked like a lifting device. Some of the details were hard to see because the lights the Bugs had put up didn't reach all the corners and they weren't very bright. When they stepped out further onto the deck, Ron saw that the wall they had just stepped through was a mirror image of the far wall. To his right or toward the nose of the ship he saw an elevator leading to the different levels. There was also a ladder on the wall.

Wurden explained in his officious way, "We have examined this ship for years and there are parts of it we have not been able to access. There is no fuel on board so the elevator doesn't work. If you climb that ladder, you can access the flight deck and see the controls that fly this ship. We have never fired the engines, so we don't know if they work or not. My superiors would like you to examine the flight deck and see if there is anything you can figure out or experiments that might be useful."

Ron said, "OK, I can do that. Are you coming up there with me?"

Wurden answered, "No, I have pressing business back in the hangar. Watch for the group of beasts leaving tonight and join us."

Ron could see that Wurden was almost in a panic to get out of the old space ship. It made Ron wonder what had happened, if Wurden was the only one who was nervous about being in the ship or if that feeling extended to all the Bugs. Wurden turned and headed for the door. Ron saw him drop to all six legs and skitter rapidly away. Ron just grinned and decided to check out some of the doors. He tried several and found they were locked and wouldn't open. There were a couple that did open and they were just empty rooms. It looked like they used to have something in them but he assumed the Bugs had cleared them out. He turned to the ladder and started climbing. When he reached the top, he walked slowly onto the flight deck while he looked around.

He must have been unknowingly transmitting excitement because he started getting feelings in his head asking where he was at and what he was doing. He was feeling the messages from both Tik and Gus. He walked to the front window and looked out. Gus was just turning from the fuel dump and getting ready to return to the hangar. Tik was there classifying the fuel and logging it in. Ron sent a thought, "Hi guys, look up at the nose of the ancient space ship." They both looked at the same time. Ron was waving in the window and he thought Gus was going to drop the fuel canister. Ron was really feeling the questions then. All he could send was "Tonight".

Ron explored the flight deck and that whole level. He could understand the writing on the instrument panel but didn't understand all of what he read. It would be like a non-pilot sitting in the cockpit of a 747 and trying to figure out what each gauge and instrument was supposed to do. Even the levers and buttons made no sense. He needed to have the hand-held computer in here and learn a lot about how to fly a space ship. He noticed spots on the racks to the side that had empty spaces in them. He look inside the rack to see what all was there. He started opening some of the panels and looking inside. He was looking for any writing that might give him a clue about the intended use for all of the equipment. He looked and then put the panel back in place. He was about a third of the way through when he looked up to see the group getting ready to leave. He hurried out of the flight deck and down the ladder. He arrived at the door to the floor of the hangar and climbed down. Wurden was waiting and Ron would not have been surprised if he saw him tapping his foot in impatience.

"Well, did you discover something our scientists missed?" Wurden snootily asked.

"Just the picture of the pilots family that he hid under the co-pilots dash board," Ron quipped to irate him.

"What! Where is it at? I want to see it," Wurden instantly demanded.

"Well, I left it there. The pilot might come back and he'd sure be upset if it was missing," Ron said with a straight face.

"Our scientists think that ship is over 25,000 years old. How can a pilot come back?" Wurden stated haughtily.

"I don't know. My planet doesn't have anything this sophisticated. Maybe the pilot had a time machine and went somewhere on vacation. When the time is right, he might use the time machine to come back," Ron retorted.

Wurden gave a start at the thought of the ancient race returning for the space ship. Ron saw that was an idea that the Bugs hadn't considered. Wurden said, "There is no such thing as a time machine. You can't travel in time."

"If you say so, but on my planet they have written about it for decades and I figure someone somewhere has figured it out. By the way, I need to take a hand-held computer tonight to start making notes on what I have found. I also need to look at any manuals for that ship. If you don't have any manuals for it, maybe one of the manuals for one of the planetary flyers will give me a clue what the ancient race was doing with the different gauges and instruments."

"Go ahead and get your hand-held computer but hurry up. We're already behind schedule," Wurden said as he started the rest of the line for the door.

Ron grabbed the computer and fell in at the rear of the line. Gus and Tik were near the middle so they couldn't ask the questions that were about to drive them crazy. Ron had a feeling so he concentrated on a thought. "Don't talk when we get to the cell! We are going to have visitors."

Ron kept broadcasting the same thoughts all the way to the cell. He could tell from the body language that the other two were about to burst. The door opened and they went into the cell. He headed straight to his bunk and the other two did the same. Tik could see what he was doing but Gus could only listen. Ron moved the translator before he pulled the computer out of his tool pouch and started dictating information about the ancient space ship. He told about some of his impressions and questions that he had about the different equipment. The other two were about to go crazy because they not only had no idea what was going on but now they couldn't understand what he was saying.

Ron was just starting to ask questions about what experiments the Bugs had done when the door swung open. Four Bugs carrying their stingerrays walked in and formed a line between the trio and the door. They had different colored embroidery around the hoods than Wurden and the other Bugs they were used to seeing. Another Bug followed them in the door on its disk. This Bug was different too and even its robe was a different material and color. It stopped and looked at the three occupants of the cell.

It turned to Ron and asked, "What did you deduct from your experiments with the rocket? Do you have any idea what it is used for?"

Ron answered, "I'm not sure what it's used for. It might be used to scoop up something like air from the stratosphere on a planet. I think that there is a circuit or a program that is missing. The shield worked the first time but wouldn't work after that."

"What circuit or program do you think is missing?"

"I have no idea about that. I'm not an engineer so I can't really design something like that. You should have some engineers that could whip up a circuit in short order," Ron said as he hoped the Bugs couldn't tell he was lying through his teeth.

"I see. What do you think the circuit should do?"

"Well it should have some kind of feedback to the shield. The first time I tried to hit the rocket with the hammer; the shield absorbed the blow and increased the field strength. The other times the shield just deflected the blow and I couldn't increase field strength even with a huge increase in current. I just made a couple of notes about that here in the computer tonight," Ron continued his wild tale.

"We have never heard of a shield that absorbs the energy. Are you sure?"

"Well no, I haven't really worked on anything like this before. You could ask Wurden, since he was right there watching the experiment," Ron said.

"We have and he knows less about what you did and what actually happened. Do you think the ancient race might have time machines and actually return?"

"I don't have any idea. Wurden says it's never been done but we have lots of literature that describes the theory. If someone can think it, it can be done. Maybe not my race or yours but how advanced were the ancient ones?" Ron asked.

Ron saw that the thought of the ancient race coming back made even this higher level Bug nervous. Ron now wanted to know what the Bugs knew about the Alcantarans. Something was definitely spooking these Bugs.

The Bug spoke again, "Do you think you can discover secrets from the ancient ship?"

Ron pondered a little before he spoke, "I'm pretty sure I could. I would need some power in the ship to experiment with some of the different circuits. Also, I would need a computer expert to look at some of the instruments and compare them to the instruments you have on your planetary flyers. That would give a clue what each one does and once you unlock a few clues, the rest come faster and easier. I don't think it will be quick. I foresee a long process that will yield the results several months or maybe even years in the future."

"What else would you need?"

"Someone to help with the heavy lifting and to run for parts. From what I saw of the ship today, it will be very difficult for a robot to maneuver in there. If the whole back opened and there was a ramp, then a robot could easily work in there. Have you ever had the whole back open?" Ron asked.

"No one ever thought about opening it. Our scientists got through the small door easy enough and didn't feel the need to try the other. Where would you start looking and experimenting?"

"I'm not sure right now. I don't know enough to even ask an intelligent question. I need 4 or 5 days just to explore and get an idea of the function of different parts of the ship. Are your ships the same as other races? Do you have things you do different on your ships?" Ron asked.

"Yes, we have things that are much further advanced than other races. The council will ponder these things. In the meantime, finish your report and Wurden will direct you in your tasks."

The Bug turned and glided out the door. The guards followed and the door swung shut. Tik was about to jump off her bunk with curiosity. Ron ignored her and finished his report and questions in the computer. He adjusted the translator and then stretched out on his bunk like he was going to sleep. He started broadcasting for Tik to put on the video loop that looked like they were all sleeping. He transmitted for her to call his name when she had it going and no one could see them talking.

He watched out of the corner of his eye as Tik turned to the wall and got into her tool bag. Very shortly she called his name.

Ron jumped off the bunk and quickly went to Tik's. Gus came over and touched the translator. Ron rapidly explained, "We can't talk very long. We are being watched tonight. I think I found something today on the rockets that the Bugs had never thought of. They ordered Wurden to take me into the ship to see if I could find anything they had missed. I think they are going to have me start checking out the ship. I've got to feed them something to make them keep me on it but not enough to give them any idea what it will do. I'm trying to work it out so you two will be my helpers, so be ready. For right now we need to seem like we are just barely being civil to each other. Tik, it might even help if you complain to Wurden if we work together. Maybe something about me being too bossy or whatever."

Tik replied with a grin, "Honey, I can complain and make Mr. Smarty Pants think I'm one word away from taking a bite out of your hide."

"Just don't over do it or they will transfer you. I've noticed that Wurden and even that big wig Bug are scared to death of the Alcantarans. I'll bet the scientists were too and that's why they haven't found out very much. I'm going to need your help with some of the computer stuff and looking up what the different instruments are for. Every chance you get when you are absolutely sure you won't get caught, find out everything you can about the Alcantarans. See if you can find out why the Bugs should fear them. Gus, I may need you to help with some of the heavy lifting and to help get into the parts of the ship that the Bugs have never been in. I know both of you have a lot of questions right now but we need to get back to bed. I don't know if we will have another visit tonight but it certainly wouldn't surprise me. I don't want to be seen talking to you two. That would spoil our surprise for the Bugs," Ron concluded as he got up and returned to his bunk.

They had settled down and were just drifting off to sleep when the door opened again. Wurden stepped in and surveyed everything. He didn't say a word but stared at each of the occupants intently. In just a few minutes he stepped out without a word. The door swung shut behind him. The question flashed through everyone's mind, 'What in the world did he want?'

They all drifted off to sleep again and were ready when the bell went off in the morning. Wurden watched them closer this morning as he took them to the dining hall. He continued to almost stare at them as they went to the repair hangar. He dropped Gus and Tik off at their usual job. He led Ron to his work station and had him start repairing a robot. Ron worked most of the morning on it. Suddenly there was a commotion at the door to the hangar. The big wig Bug and his guard walked in. The supervisor Bugs, including Wurden, quickly glided to them and there was a quiet conversation.

Wurden led the big wig and his entourage to Ron as the other supervisor Bugs returned to what they were doing. Ron watched out of the corner of his eye but kept working on his project. He ignored the Bugs when they glided up until Wurden made a noise like he was clearing his throat. Ron looked up and acted like he had just spotted the group.

The big wig said, "The council has decided to let you explore the ancient ship on a part time basis. We need you to keep doing your work during the morning and take the afternoon to explore and experiment. For right now, explore and pose your questions on the computer. Give a general outline of what you want to experiment on and what order you would do it. When you are ready, Wurden will give you this translator and we will assign two people to help you with your experiments. If you have some success, we will continue this schedule; however, if you find nothing after two weeks, we will terminate this experiment."

Ron answered, "That sounds alright to me. If I don't find anything in a couple of weeks, it would be a waste of time anyway. Will Wurden show me how that translator thing works?"

"He will give you full instructions and will introduce you to your helpers."

The big wig and his entourage turned and left the hangar. Wurden seemed a little upset -- like he thought Ron had gone over his head or something.

Ron looked at him and said, "You are going to be coming inside the space ship to supervise aren't you? I know you could add a lot to the experiments."

Ron saw Wurden shiver with dread as he emphatically stated, "No! I have too many duties around here to be tied up inside that space ship every afternoon. If you really need something or a question answered, I will be right there."

Ron nodded and grinned. He could see it would have to be a national emergency or a find of Alcantaran relics to get him back in that space ship. Wurden would want to get the publicity for finding the relics and also to see if he could 'appropriate' some samples for his own study. Wurden quickly found something else across the hangar that needed his attention. Ron continued to work at his station until Wurden came back and led him to the ancient space ship. Wurden opened the door and Ron watched the sequence as he did. Once Tik was able to get inside the space ship, he knew that he would be able to open that door any time he wanted.

Wurden left again and left Ron to explore to his heart's content. Ron had brought the hand-held computer this time and he decided to start from the bottom and work to the top. He found the bottom third of the space craft was blocked. He tried several different passages but they were all blocked at the same level. He figured the space ship was set up like a sea-going ship and had sealed compartments. He tried all the doors he could and explored every thing that was open. He had worked through less than a third of the space ship when he saw it was time to leave for the evening. He left the ship and took the computer with him again. He knew he would have more thoughts after he had been away from it for awhile. He could feel the questions in his mind again as they walked to the dining hall. He warned both of his pals to be careful. He was certain that they were being watched.

Wurden led the group back to the cells so Ron whispered what the Bug had said this morning. He told them they had better not talk tonight because he didn't know if they would have a visit or not. He would try to transmit thoughts and if they could understand they should transmit back or one rap on the bunk would mean they understood. Two raps would mean they didn't get a clear idea.

Once they were in their cell they all went to their bunks. Ron thought of a few things and entered them into the computer. After he had made his notes, he tried thought transfer to the other two. Some of the thoughts went through and some weren't clear. He kept trying and they all could tell that it was getting better. No one came that night and they all soon fell asleep.

The next day Ron went back to his workstation in the morning and then explored the space ship in the afternoon. That night back in their cell, the trio was afraid to speak because they didn't know if a live Bug was monitoring the room. Tik turned her back to the room and did manage to do some research. Ron continued practicing the thought transfer.

The routine was the same for the next two days. On the fifth day Ron started making his list of experiments he wanted to try. He arranged them by priority and then listed what equipment he would need. He entered it in the computer and told Wurden when he came out of the space ship. On the sixth day he worked at his station all day and didn't even get close to the space ship.

The next morning the big wig Bug arrived and told him his experiments were approved. He directed Wurden to get the helpers and to instruct Ron in the use of the translator. Ron and his helpers were to have all of the next four days to do the experiments. They should start as soon as the helpers could be summoned over. Wurden demonstrated how to use the translator; and then while Ron rounded up some of the equipment, he went to get the helpers. Wurden brought back Tik and Gus. He made proper introductions and instructed them to follow Ron's orders. Wurden led them all to the space ship and opened the door. He didn't stay around any longer than he had to.

As soon as they were inside, Ron stated, "I wonder if the ancient race left any spy devices to check up on intruders."

Tik caught on right away and used her mini-computer to check for any of the Bug's devices. There were none. Ron indicated the translator and Tik checked it out. There was nothing sending a signal but she didn't know if it was recording. Ron decided they could talk and they would do something to erase any recorded conversations.

Ron asked, "Have either of you two ever been in the cockpit of a space ship?"

Tik said, "I've been in there to repair a computer but I have no idea about anything else in there."

Gus replied, "I had never been on a space ship until the Bugs kidnapped me."

"Well, we have our work cut out for us. We need to figure out what everything is and how to fly this thing. We are also under the gun to find some secret that the Bugs couldn't find. We have about a week to do it. Here is the list of experiments that I made. I'm not going to try to do anything down here until we find something we can give the Bugs," Ron said.

Ron led them to the flight deck and then into the cockpit of the space ship. The other two looked around in awe. Ron checked his list and then determined what each of them needed to do. He sent Gus to bring a small portable power unit up into the cockpit and then to get several different sizes of electrical cable. He had Tik start a search for a space ship cockpit that was close to what they were standing in. He told her that once she had found the other cockpit to match up instruments, gauges, levers and buttons to the other cockpit and label their purpose. He busied himself with finding where the power came in to the cockpit. He pulled panels and labeled them so he could put them back. He found a panel that seemed to be a distribution point. He unhooked the wire that seemed to feed the panel. He set it up so he could hook in the power unit that Gus was bringing.

Gus brought the power unit and some of the electrical cable. Ron told him to get a switch and a rheostat before he came back. He wanted something to shut the power off in a hurry if the ship did something he didn't like. Gus brought the rest of the items that he had requested and Ron prepped everything to hook up the power. Tik had found some of the instruments but wasn't having a lot of luck with the buttons and levers.

Gus made the comment, "Too bad we don't have a pilot here. They would probably know what a lot of these things are. Even if their ship is different, they would know what you need to fly one of these things."

Ron exclaimed excitedly, "Gus, you're a genius. I don't know why I didn't think of that. Tik, I need you to switch gears. We need some spy devices here to record what the pilot does. We need to record it on your computer and edit it before we put it on the Bug's computer. Can you do something like that?"

"Yes, I would need the spy devices but I'm sure that Wurden could get those. I would just need a wireless transfer device and I know we have some of those in the store room. I'll order one right now. You'll have to talk to Wurden to get a pilot." Tik said excitedly as she started to see possibilities.

Ron told Gus to start familiarizing himself with the ship. He just needed to explore while the other two put their plan in motion. Tik went to the store room to get the wireless transfer device. She wanted to work on it for a little bit to make sure that only her computer could access it. Ron dropped from the space ship and went to look for Wurden.

"Wurden, I need a couple of more things. We need two or three recording devices that we can mount in the cockpit. Some things may happen so fast that we can't see them and I want to be able to play them back to see what happened. Also if something goes **wrong,** it will leave a record so the next crew will know not to repeat that experiment. Can you get something like that for me?" Ron excitedly asked when he found the Bug.

"That will be no problem. It also sounds like a good idea. Do you think anything might go wrong? It will take a little time for a messenger robot to get them and bring them here," Wurden said as if he had thought of the idea.

"I'm sure that the Alcantarans wouldn't sabotage their own ship, but why be sorry when you can be safe? There's one other thing that could save days and maybe even weeks. I have no idea what the instruments, gauges, levers and buttons do. We need a pilot to tell us what they would normally need to fly the space craft. Even if they flew a different type of craft, they would need the same things to fly. Their knowledge could save us from doing something dangerous and would definitely speed up the search for Alcantaran relics and technology," Ron said.

Wurden was getting nervous with the talk of Alcantarans and things going wrong in the space ship. He told Ron he would get the recorders and would present the council with his request. He ended the conversation and moved as far away from the ship as he could. Ron returned to the ship and told his pals what he had found out. Tik was busy with her computer and Ron wanted to check behind some more panels so he went back to work. The messenger robot brought the spy devices and Ron gave them to Tik to set up. They were about as far as they could go when they saw that it was time to leave for the day. They exited the ship and dropped into line.

When they got back to the cell, they didn't talk again. Ron made some notes and then they used the thought transfer to discuss what they had found that day. When they were through, they were too excited to go to sleep right away. All three spent time thinking of the new hope they had found. It was late when they finally drifted off to sleep.

When they got to the hangar the next morning, there was a nine-foot tall purple being waiting at Ron's work station. The being was obviously confused about what it was doing here and what it was supposed to do. Wurden took Ron's translator, adjusted it and then he introduced the being.

"This is Kota Kinabula. It will be here three days to assist you. That is all the time that the beast can be spared from its primary job," Wurden stated with distaste.

Ron found out the being was a Dar Es Salaam Trader that had been kidnapped to train new Bug pilots. Ron later found out that all the Bug pilots wanted nothing to do with sitting in the ancient space ship and the council didn't want to lose any pilots. They figured the Trader was expendable. Ron liked the Trader right away but sent the thought to the other two that they had better not let him in on the secret of the escape. If they found out later that they could take him, they would; but for now it was safer for the Trader if he had no clue about what was going on.

Ron led the way to the flight deck. He ushered the tall Trader into the cockpit. The Trader was staring like a kid in a candy store. He easily slid into the pilot's seat and slid his hands over all of the different controls and levers. Suddenly he realized where he was and that there were three other beings watching his every move.

Kota looked up at Ron and said, "Where did this ship come from? It is similar to ours but different. Why did the Bugs bring me here?"

Ron answered, "I think it is an Alcantaran ship. The Bugs found it several years ago and they can't figure out how a lot of the things work. I have been tasked with finding out some of these secrets but I'm not a pilot. I thought that a pilot could give me a clue what a lot of these instruments, gauges and other controls are used for. Can you tell me what a lot of them are used for?"

Kota hesitated and then carefully said, "I won't help the Bugs increase their knowledge of the Alcantaran technology. I'm sorry but I took an oath when I became a Trader. I guess you'll have to send me back."

"You do know that the Bugs will use the stingerray on you and that it is excruciatingly painful, don't you?" Ron said.

"Yes, I know about the stingerray. They will just have to use it on me again," Kota said with determination.

Ron softly said, "I don't think the Bugs will find out as much as they had hoped about that technology. Do you think this ship could fly again?"

"I don't know. I have no idea if the computer still works or what shape the controls are in. The engines are another question also," Kota said as he looked closely at Ron and then at the other two. "Why are you working for the Bugs and why did they assign you to this area?"

"Well, it's a long story and we don't have much time. Just say that all three of us have health problems and the Bugs don't expect us to live long. All of the beings here fit in that category. We get the most dangerous jobs and I'm pretty certain that we get the least desirable food. We are trying to give the Bugs something to improve our lot and let us continue to research this ship," Ron said guardedly.

Kota sucked in a deep breath of air and his eyes widen. He read between the lines and he knew the trio had a plan to escape. He made a huge effort to control his emotions. He knew that something or someone was watching if this trio was being so cautious. He casually said, "In that case, maybe I can share some of my knowledge."

Ron could see that Kota had guessed they were planning on escaping. He said, "Good. If you will just explain to us what these things do, we'll get on with our experiments."

Kota started his lecture just like he was addressing a new crop of pilot trainees, "Everything here is familiar but different. Here is your altimeter and this is..."

Once he was started, he quickly told of the instruments and controls that he knew about. He explained what each one was used for. When he finished, Ron explained that he had everything set up to put power to the instruments. Kota thought it would be a good idea. Ron checked that the switch was off and the rheostat was set to zero voltage. He turned on the power unit and flipped the switch to on. He slowly increased the power on the rheostat. Some of the gauges started to move and come to life. He increased the power a tiny bit. More gauges came to life and he adjusted the power a tiny bit more. Kota excitedly commented as each gauge came to life and some of the ones he couldn't identify were obvious as to what they did. The group worked all day checking things out. Their knowledge of the space ship was starting to grow. Tik was checking the computer and she thought they were ahead of anything the Bugs had ever done. As they were getting ready to leave for the day, Kota casually commented that the Bugs computer had a program to give the basic training to new pilots. It also had a virtual simulator to allow you to get the feel of actually flying. Tik had been editing what went into the Bug's computer all day but it still showed a lot of progress. Kota was taken to another cell and the trio worked on the things they could in their cell. Ron dictated his notes and thoughts and then looked up the pilot training course. He didn't do anything with it, for right now he just wanted to know that he could get it. He saw that he was going to have to get a computer that wasn't assigned to him. He needed to download that program and the flight simulator.

The next two days went quickly by and their knowledge increased by leaps and bounds. Ron was ready to start some of the experiments on the fourth day and they didn't know if Kota would be sent back to his job or not. The Bugs surprised them and said that he would be there for another two weeks. After a week, they knew what most of the gauges, controls and levers did. Now they needed to know if they actually did what they were supposed to. Kota said a lot of the information would probably be in the ship's computer. They needed some power to the whole ship to get that computer turned on.

They tried several different ways to get power to the computer but they couldn't get to the computer. It was in the area that was locked away. After two hours of discussion and countless experiments, the group came to the conclusion that they needed fuel in the space ship to energize its own power supply.

## Chapter 5

Ron took Gus outside of the space ship and had him show how to drain the fuel out of it. They walked under one of the cowlings on the side and Gus pointed to a spot on the under side of it. He told Ron each step and what safety precautions he had to observe. They found a disk that could take them to the top of the cowling and checked for a place to fuel the ship. As they were flying up, they saw a place on the side of the cowling that looked like it would open. They flew to the top of the cowling and found the port to refuel the space ship. They stopped beside it and Ron stepped down on the cowling. He looked around and quickly figured out how to open it, which he did. Gus looked and said it was very similar to what the Bugs planetary flyers used.

Wurden saw them on the cowling and glided over to Ron's work station where he waited until they came down. He motioned them over and arrogantly demanded, "What were you doing up there on that cowling? You are supposed to be trying to unlock the secrets inside the ship!"

"Well, that is what we are trying to do. We are at the point where we think we can get into the computer but we need the ship's power. We were looking to see how we could get fuel in there. We also need to install a safety valve on the under side to pull it right back out real quick if we found any nasty surprises," Ron told him. "Gus thinks we can put in a release valve right there and control it from here."

"And just where did you think you were going to get fuel? Who authorized any fuel anyway," Wurden asked in a shocked manner.

"We don't have any authorization yet. We wanted to check to see if we could do a quick on and off before we even asked. As for fuel, that's up to the council if they want to know any more secrets," Ron stated flatly. "There is so much in that ship that depends on the computer. It is the key to unlocking just about everything but it will have to run from the ship's own power. We can't get to the main computer itself to use any of the power units."

"I will pass the request on to the council. In the meantime, it's almost the end of the shift. You need to get your other helpers out of there," Wurden stated self-importantly.

Ron got the other two out of the space ship and shut the door. They fell in line with the group and went to the dining hall. After they were back in the cell, Ron cautioned the others. He felt that they would have a visitor that night. Shortly, he was proven right as the door swung open and the big wig Bug came in with its guards.

The Bug addressed Ron, "Why do you need fuel in the space ship? How much fuel would you put in?"

"We are at a point where we need the computer to check out a lot of the other instruments and controls. We can't get to the computer to just hook it up to one of your power units. All of us are starting to think the computer can unlock the part of the ship that is still locked down. I would only put in enough fuel for a two or three day supply. That ship has me really curious now so I don't want anything to happen -- like it trying to fly off on its own or locking down more. That's why I had Gus look into being able to empty the fuel quickly from down on the hangar floor. I don't know if the Alcantarans put any booby traps in the cockpit but I sure want to be able to shut things down if they did," Ron stated.

Ron saw that the Bug gave a slight start at the mention of unlocking the rest of the ship. The Bug asked, "So you think the ship might be dangerous if it was fueled?"

"I don't know but I want some safety measures. I know Wurden is spooked in the ship and I guess I caught it from him."

"This will take some deliberation. In the meantime, return to your normal tasks," the big wig Bug said.

The group turned and left with the door swinging shut behind them. Ron dictated a few notes into the computer and then the trio discussed the conversation with the Bug. They didn't talk but used thought transfer. They were becoming pretty proficient now. They didn't settle anything before they fell asleep.

For the next three days, they worked at their normal jobs. Kota was gone and they assumed he returned to his training status. The trio was getting nervous and wondered if the Bugs would chicken out. They really wanted to see what was in the rest of the ship but were afraid of what fueling it would do.

On the fourth morning Wurden told them that they would be working on the ancient space ship again. Kota was in the hangar waiting on them when they arrived. Ron had Gus set everything up and they practiced shutting things down three times before they were ready to fuel. Tik and Kota had everything ready to fire up the ship's computer and run several tests. It was time and everything was ready.

Wurden delayed the fueling for twenty minutes. He gave no explanation but at the end of the twenty minutes the big wig Bug, his guards and two other Bugs showed up. The big wig and his guards went behind Tik's work counter. One of the Bugs went to the spot where Gus would be standing. Wurden informed Ron that he and the other Bug would be accompanying him to the flight deck.

Gus went to get fuel and as he flew to the top of the cowling, Ron led the two Bugs to the flight deck. Ron grinned as he wondered if yelling 'Boo' real loud would cause the two Bugs to hurt themselves as they rushed back out of the space ship.

They got to the flight deck and Tik signaled that they were all ready. Ron contacted Gus and had him fuel the space ship. They waited several minutes and nothing happened. Five more minutes went by and the Bugs were muttering to each other. Ron could understand them thanks to his translator and he saw they were becoming more agitated. They were ready to pull the plug on this experiment.

Suddenly cabin lights blinked on. The air started blowing from the ventilators and gauges and instruments started moving and lighting up. At last the computer monitor lit up and a female-sounding voice started speaking. The Bugs had no idea what the computer was saying but Ron did. Somehow he knew it was the ancient Alcantaran language. It was asking for the new password, date and time to reboot all systems. Ron didn't say a word.

The other Bug with Wurden suddenly ordered everyone off the space ship. It wouldn't let them touch anything or even get a good look at what was happening. It almost pushed Ron, Tik and Kota off the flight deck. It stayed but ordered Wurden to get them off and to get Gus down. Wurden was only too happy to be off the space ship and urged them to greater speed. Tik had that look. She was ready to attack to stay in the cockpit but Ron almost screamed in his mind for her to keep moving.

They reached the floor and Gus was already there. The Bug had his controls and he was standing to one side. Wurden was urging the group toward the door when it suddenly slammed open. There was a large group of Bugs that came rushing in. They headed directly to the space ship. One of the Bugs came over and got Kota. They immediately started out the door. Ron, Tik and Gus were furious and also worried that the Bugs had found out about their escape plans. Ron could see that Kota was feeling the same way. Wurden took Ron, Tik and Gus back to their cell.

When they got back to the cell, Ron and Tik were pacing back and forth. Gus was too big to pace with them, so he just had to sit on the bunk and brood. They were communicating with thought transfer and the biggest question was 'why'. Finally Ron made a decision.

"Tik," he thought. "You need to renew your research on the Alcantarans and why the Bugs are so afraid of them. See if there are any more translators or such here on the mother ship and where they are located. I'm going to start that pilot training that Kota told us about."

Tik broke in on his thought, "That gives us something to do but what about the Big Boy over there? He'll go crazy if we are doing something and he can't do anything."

"You're right. We need to get him a computer and teach him how to use it. Maybe you could set it up to use your link to get into the mother ship's computer. He needs to start educating himself about the different space ships and some of the different species that the Bugs have traded with," Ron responded.

"I'll see what I can find right now."

Ron projected his thoughts to Gus, "Gus, we are going to try to find a computer for you. When we do, we'll teach you how to use it and then we need you to start researching the different types of space ships around here. Also you need to find out things about the different species that the Bugs have traded with. Once we get off the mother ship, we'll need to know a lot of that. We all will have to start becoming familiar with techniques the Bugs use for trading. Somehow I feel this will be critical in our escape."

Gus thought back, "Just give me a computer. I want off this ship and I want to get back to my family on my planet. I'll do whatever it takes -- including wiping out these Bugs one at a time if I have to!"

"I'm with you on that and I know Tik is too. Hopefully, we won't have to start smashing Bugs just yet. Tik is trying to find you a computer right now."

Tik excitedly interrupted, "Hey, I've found a storeroom down about 10 levels and a little more toward the center of the ship. They have computers and there appear to be some relics from the Alcantarans stored there also. I wonder if I could get there tonight to grab some."

"Maybe tonight would be a good time. The Bugs will be wrapped up in the old space ship and might not be watching as close as they have. Will your computer wake you up at a certain time?" Ron quizzed her eagerly.

"Why sure it will. What do you have in mind?" Tik asked.

"Instead of leaving here right after things quiet down, leave about two hours before we leave to go to work. Even if the Bugs are checking, we have an established pattern of sleeping until the bell goes off. If we are already asleep, they won't be expecting us to get up and do something early like that," Ron mused.

Gus' stomach growled and he thought, "I wonder if the Bugs will feed us tonight or if we are going to be stuck here all night."

"I don't know. I could use something to eat too," Ron answered.

They continued to pace and plan for the next twenty minutes until the door suddenly swung open. Wurden gestured for them to come out and then led them to the dining hall. All three looked around to see if they could spot Kota but he was nowhere to be seen. They ate their meal and returned to their cell. After the door swung shut, Ron and Tik pulled out their computers and started studying. At their usual time, both of them put up the computers and laid down to sleep. Tik had set the alarm on her computer and it woke them up 3 hours before they normally got up for work.

The three got up and Ron told Tik to put on the loop of them sleeping in case a Bug happened to check their cell. Ron and Gus helped Tik put on her harness and loaded it with the tools she might need. Ron pulled out the invisibility cape and put it on her. Tik took a deep breath and stepped to the door. Gus was right there to keep it from swinging too far. Tik told the computer to open it and she quickly slipped out into the passage-way.

She had memorized the route she needed to take to the storeroom. She hurriedly started down the passage-way. There was nothing moving at this time of day so she broke into a trot. She was trying to see as far down the passage-way as she could. She didn't want to hurry and bump into an unexpected Bug. She reached the stairway she needed and hurried down the stairs. Knowing that her time was limited didn't help her nerves any at all. She reached the proper level and eased the door open a crack. Peering up and down the passage-way, she saw that it was all clear. She quickly checked her computer to see if the storeroom was occupied. The room had no living things in it. Tik rushed to the door and had the computer open it. She slipped in and stopped to listen as she pushed the door shut behind her. There was nothing moving and Tik could hear her own heart beat. She checked the computer, found the location of the computers and grabbed one of them. She hesitated a moment and then grabbed another one. Next she checked the location for the Alcantaran relics and went there. She looked them over and didn't see anything that would be useful to them. She saw a shelf that was above her head level. She was thinking, 'I need to get going. But what if there are things we need right there and I don't make the effort to get them'. She looked around and spotted the post that held the shelves up. She ran to it and climbed it like a squirrel. When she got up on the shelf, she was really glad she had made the effort. There were three of the translators and she grabbed all of them and shoved them into her harness. As she was about to leave, she spotted a small ornately carved box with an ornate chain. She recognized it as a translator that was used by the Dar Es Salaam Traders on her planet. She wound the chain around the box and shoved it in the harness. She felt several pounds heavier and knew she had to leave now. She returned to the post and shinnied down to the floor. She trotted back to the door and quietly opened it a crack. Something or someone was coming down the passage-way. Tik jumped back inside and shut the door. She held her ear to the door and listened. She didn't hear anything so she wondered if it was a Bug gliding on its' disk. She waited and suddenly the door started to open. She caught herself just before she yelped. She backed away from the door just a little and stood there waiting. She bared her teeth and was ready to fight. Suddenly it dawned on her that she was invisible. All she had to do was wait for the Bug to come in and she could slide right out. She held her breath as the Bug glided in. It stopped in the doorway and seemed to be looking around. Tik was getting nervous. She couldn't wait very long; because she had to get back up the stairs and into her cell before the morning bell. At last the Bug moved into the storeroom and Tik quietly moved into the passage-way. The doors closed behind her and she rushed for the stairway. She rushed up the stairs and had to stop to catch her breath when she reached her level. She was out of shape and the extra weight didn't help. She finally started breathing somewhat normally and opened the door. There was movement in the passageway so she timed it just right to get out. She moved to the side of the passage-way and quickly moved to her cell door. When it was clear, she opened the door and slipped in.

Ron was pacing and stopped in mid-step. He quickly came over and pushed the door shut. He and Gus quickly helped Tik out of the cape. Ron folded the cape and put it back in his pouch. Tik gave him his translator back and started pulling the items out of her harness. She laid them on the bed and was quickly transferring them to her tool bag. The 'rise and shine' bell rang and all three about jumped out of their skins. Tik didn't even have time to take her harness off. She just made sure all the items she had stolen were safely hidden in her tool bag. Gus grabbed the bag as was his custom and the three lined up to head to the dining hall.

The door swung open and the trio fell in line. Tik was too excited to even be able to broadcast her thoughts coherently. She did manage to send the message to Ron that she got what they needed and they could check it out later. Ron passed the word to Gus.

When they got to the repair hangar, Gus and Tik went back to their usual jobs. Ron found his workstation had been moved as far away from the ancient space ship as possible and still stay in the hangar. He went back to his usual routine of repairing robots and equipment. He watched the hum of activity around the space ship but he couldn't see any details. Tik managed to pull one of the computers and one translator out of her bag and get them recharged. She didn't have a chance to get the others. She wore the harness all day and Wurden didn't even notice or if he did, he didn't say anything. This was a good thing because Tik needed something to fasten a translator to.

Their normal work kept the trio busy so the day didn't drag too badly. At last they lined up, went to eat and got back to their cell. They decided to do a normal routine and get to sleep at the same time. Tik set her alarm again and they all got up two hours early so they could talk and check out the things Tik had removed from the storeroom.

The alarm went off and the three eagerly jumped out of bed. Tik opened her tool bag and pulled everything out. She told the story of what happened as she laid everything on her bunk. The only things that worked were the translator and computer she had charged with fuel. The other items were completely discharged.

They tried the translator but it wasn't translating like the one Ron had. They were all disappointed and Ron picked it up to look at it. He noticed a small bump and depression on the back. He took his out and noticed the same thing on the back of his. He pushed the two together and found out the bump on his translator fit the depression on the other. The other translator's bump fit the depression on his. As soon as he touched the two together, they all three felt something in their minds. The two machines whirred for a bit and then were silent. Ron handed the new translator to Gus. Gus put it on his harness and asked, "What now? Can you understand me?"

Tik and Ron both grinned and nodded yes. Maybe the translators just had to be programmed after they were fully discharged. Tik took the computer and quickly set it to her link and protected it so the Bugs couldn't hack into it. She quickly gave Gus a course on computer use. He happily returned to his bunk and started trying some things. Ron and Tik talked about getting the rest of the items charged over the next several days.

Ron asked, "Tik, why the extra translators and extra computer?"

"I don't know. I just saw them lying there and I felt that we could use them."

"That's all right. I'm sure we can find a use for them. You'd better get this back into your tool bag. It will soon be time for the bell," Ron said.

Gus put his computer in his personal pouch too. He had the translator in a small pocket on his harness. He and Ron tried the thought transfer and found it was stronger and clearer than ever. Ron cautioned him about using it too much until they had a chance to experiment a little in private. Gus said he understood.

The bell rang and they got ready to head to work. That day was a repeat of the previous day and they were not allowed anywhere close to the ancient space ship. Tik was dying to check the mother computer to see if they were finding anything but Ron told her to wait. There were too many eyes watching that right now. Tik got two more items recharged.

When they got back to their cell, Ron reprogrammed another translator for Tik. They found out that all three could now hear all of the conversations. They settled into a routine. Ron was doing the flight training, Tik was researching Alcantarans and other species on the computer and Gus started getting acquainted with the different space ships. He studied everything he could find out about them.

The mental transfer improved every day and they found out that they could communicate much greater distances than they had before. They practiced with it every day at work and studied at night. Three months went by and they didn't seem any closer to their goal of escape. The trio was sinking toward despair.

The morning started like all the rest. The trio was working at their jobs without enthusiasm while trying to watch the activity around the ancient space ship. It appeared that something was about to happen because they could see the anticipation and the big wig Bug had come to the hangar. It was behind the counter by Tik. Suddenly the shield went up on the old space ship. The group of Bugs close to the ship scurried away as fast as they could, forgetting all about their disks. There was shouting, shrieking and tools and equipment were knocked over as they ran. The Bug with the fuel control was dancing around and seemed to be pushing the button on the fuel dump. Ron and Gus stopped work to watch the commotion. The other slave laborers were edging away from the space ship. They didn't like the look or feel of the shield activating. Tik saw the big wig Bug give a start and move further away from the window opening to the hangar. All three pals knew something bad had happened to the Bug scientists, but what!

The shield slowly faded as the remaining fuel was used up. There was a mad rush of Bugs out of the rear door of the space ship. They ran to the doors on the hangar and rushed outside. All eyes in the hangar were now on the space ship to see what was going to happen next. The big wig Bug fairly streaked out the hangar door on its' disk. Ron was close enough to the door to see that there was a big confab going on out in the passage-way. Shortly Wurden slowly glided back into the hangar and came over to Ron.

Wurden kept one eye on the space ship as he commanded Ron, "Take the sand creature and go inside the space ship. There are two dead Challekans on the flight deck. Remove them and bring them over here to the hangar doors."

"What killed them? Will it kill me too?" Ron asked.

"I'm sure nothing will happen to you. Just hurry up and remove the dead," Wurden said.

Ron thought, "Yeah, nothing will happen. You don't care if it does. All you slimy sewer crawlers are scared to death to go in there!" He took his time walking over to Gus and winked at him as they went to the back of the space ship. They slowly entered the ship and headed for the flight deck. They proceeded with caution because they had no idea what they would find or if the danger was still there. Gus pulled his hammer/ax and led the way. The cargo bay was a shambles of overturned test equipment and cords that had been jerked away as the Bugs tripped on them trying to get away. Gus and Ron climbed the ladder and cautiously peered across the flight deck as soon as they could see. They surveyed the scene for several minutes before they moved. They could see no obvious danger but they were wary.

They both stepped on the flight deck and looked around. There was more overturned equipment and chairs. The Bugs had brought in a couple of tables and these were overturned as well. They peered into the cockpit and saw the two Bugs. They were lying on their backs and had been charred all over. It must have taken a lot of energy to burn the bodies that badly. There was a rotten stench of burnt flesh and Ron's stomach was getting a little queasy. Neither of the two was going to touch those grisly remains. Ron sent Gus back down to get two tarps or something similar, ropes and a shovel or broom to use to push the bodies with.

Gus left and Ron looked around. He saw that the spy devices they had put up were blasted by the same energy. The computers and equipment in the cockpit were all charred as well. He tried his computer to see if he could access any of the test equipment in the cockpit. His computer couldn't find any signal from any of them. Ron broadcast a thought to Tik. He told her to see if she could get in the computer and download copies of the information from the spy devices up to the point of the energy discharge. He told her to see if she could get any notes the Bugs had made as well. Ron stepped back out on the flight deck and looked at the equipment there. The equipment there wasn't burnt but it wasn't working either. It had been hit by the surge of energy. He checked on the cargo bay level and it was the same story. Just then, Gus came back into the space ship hauling the equipment they needed.

They returned to the cockpit and rolled the Bugs bodies into the tarps. They wrapped them with the ropes and carried them to the railing overlooking the cargo bay. Gus lowered the remains over the side and let them down with the ropes as Ron stood on the floor and guided them. When they had the remains on the cargo bay floor, Gus came down and they proceeded to pack them out of the space ship. They let the remains down to the hangar floor and then climbed out of the space ship. Wurden yelled to them to shut the door. Then they packed the remains to the hangar door and laid them on a waiting grav-sled. The Bugs had a robot to push it and all of them except Wurden and the other supervisors disappeared down the passage-way.

Wurden and the supervisors were reluctant to reenter the hangar but they moved just inside the door. Wurden told Ron and Gus to go back to work. Tik had downloaded all of the information Ron had asked for plus a couple of things she thought might be important. The trio used ESP to talk over what could have gone wrong. Tik said it would have to wait until tonight to study the files. The rest of the day seemed to drag on forever.

When Wurden dropped them off at the cell, the first thing Ron and Gus had to do was wash themselves. The washed their clothes also, hoping to get rid of the smell from the space ship. They both knew it would take awhile for that odor to dissipate. When they were as clean as they could get, they returned to their bunks. Tik sent a file to each of their computers and they all started studying them to see what had happened. They studied until they had to go to sleep.

The next morning they returned to the hangar but there was no sign of the scientist or big wig Bugs. They went about their normal routine. They finished the day and returned to their cell where they studied more files. They did this for the next 10 days. They didn't have a clue yet about what had happened but they were learning what the Bugs did for experiments. None of the Bugs returned to the hangar and Tik risked a check on the computer to see if she could spot what they were doing. It appeared that they were doing the same thing, studying the files and experiment notes.

Tik had arranged to have two spy devices installed just outside their cell door. They pointed up and down the passage-way. The devices only fed to their computers so the Bugs had no idea they were there. She set them to trigger an alarm when Wurden or the big wig was heading to their cell. She also set them to trigger the alarm if a large group of Bugs were headed their way. They had been studying the tapes for another month when the alarm sounded. The big wig was headed their way. Everyone put their computers away and laid down.

The door swung open and the usual procedure of the guards entering happened again. The big wig followed and looked suspiciously at them. The big wig said, "You will go back into the space ship tomorrow and clean up the equipment and get ready to start your experiments again."

Ron asked innocently, "Did you find out what happened to burn everything like that?"

"We think one of the technicians set the switches wrong on the last experiment. We will let you know what the settings were and you can make your own adjustments. What will you need to start your experiments?" the big wig said noncommittally.

"I don't know what equipment you had on board or if any of it is damaged. The stuff in the cockpit all looked burnt but maybe it still works," Ron answered. "After we get started on the clean-up, we will know more. Are you going to let Kota come back to help us?"

"You won't need him for the clean-up. The three of you will be enough. When you get everything set up, we will see about bringing him back."

The group turned and left. The trio almost cheered at the prospect of getting back in the space ship. They had come to the conclusion that there was a safety circuit to keep someone like the Bugs from stealing the space ship. They didn't know where the energy pulse had come from but they might find it in the next few days. They all had trouble going to sleep that night.

The next morning Wurden took them directly to the space ship and opened the door for them. He then had pressing business across the hangar. The smell inside hadn't improved in a month so the first thing they did was to set up ventilation equipment to start moving the air around. Gus said there were masks for working in areas where you shouldn't breathe the atmosphere. They all went to the storeroom and got a mask that would fit them. There was a small unit attached to the back to make sure they had a good oxygen supply and it filtered any air from inside the space ship. They had to use the masks for the next week until the mess in the cockpit was cleaned out and the air circulated and was cleaned by the scrubbers.

Just as Ron had suspected, all the equipment in the space ship was toast. They cleaned it all out and started setting up new. Ron was glad to see their idea of dumping the fuel worked. He would make doubly sure that it was in place again. It took more than a week to get everything cleaned out and another 10 days to get the new equipment back into the space ship. Everything was finally ready. Now all they needed was fuel and Kota.

The next morning, Kota was in the hangar. They had permission to load fuel again and they hurried to get everything prepared for the fuel. While Gus went for the fuel, Ron, Tik and Kota headed for the cockpit. Ron could tell Kota was excited because his hair, which looked like fine feathers, was wiggling all over his head. They reached the cockpit and Kota looked at the other's faces. He sensed that they were up to something and both of them had a big grin.

"What's up with you two? Why are you grinning at me like that?" Kota asked.

"We have a present for you. Tik, would you do the honors?" Ron asked as he bowed and waved his hand toward Kota.

Tik reached into her tool bag and pulled out the Trader translator. Kota's eyes widened in surprise. His hand was shaking as he reached for the translator. It was the one the Bugs had taken from him when he was first kidnapped. He was still shaking as he put the chain over his head and touched the translator to turn it on.

"How in the world did you get this? Do the Bugs know that you have it?" Kota asked in shock.

"We found this unattended and Tik recognized it as something that might belong to you. We don't believe the Bugs know that it's gone yet, so if I were you, I wouldn't advertise that you have it. Keep it out of sight and don't let on that you can understand any other languages," Ron said quietly.

Kota was too choked up for words so Tik started filling him in on what had happened over the last 5 months. He looked around with interest when he heard about the Bugs being fried and all the equipment zapped. He asked if they knew what had happened and why. They told him they had a theory but they had to refuel the space ship to test it out. Kota looked a little worried about that and Ron assured him that they had a plan.

Gus loaded the fuel in and Tik started checking the ship's computer as soon as it came on. She pointed to a warning on the screen and Ron said, "Just as we suspected. The Bugs' translator didn't translate right or the Bugs ignored the warning. I suspect it was the wrong translation because they are deathly afraid of the Alcantarans."

Tik continued with her checks and shortly announced that all was clear. The group immediately started on the next round of experiments that they wanted to try. They energized the shield and then shut it off. They asked the ship's computer for a check on all instruments, gauges and controls. The computer blinked for several minutes and then started listing all instruments, gauges and controls and their status. Tik saw a problem with this. She couldn't access this with her computer so she needed to shut the ship's computer down for a while to install a link to her computer. While she was doing this, Ron let Gus know what was going on. He and Kota went to the cargo deck below and they started looking at the locked doors. Kota explained that the Traders sometimes kept locked doors like this if they had some sort of valuable merchandise. Ron was asking questions about trading experiences until Tik called out that she was ready to proceed.

Tik explained that she had set the computer up with a link that required a biometric signature from her to be able to link to the ship's computer. She would set it up for the other three later. The link only had a range of about 1000 yards; but with a link in the mother ship's computer, she could access the ancient ship from anywhere in the mother ship. Right now she restarted the ship's computer and checked her link. Everything worked! She ran the same test as before and had the results sent to her computer. Now they had something to go on to start making sure the ancient ship could fly.

Kota asked her to put in a series of signals and codes. He told her that once the ancient ship was outside the mother ship and clear to broadcast, it would signal for help from the Charter Navy. He said it described what had happened to him and gave what information he had about the Bug's mother ship. Tik gave him the present location and heading and he added that to the code. He said the Charter Navy took a dim view of someone like the Bugs setting up slave labor, especially if it involved Charter Alliance citizens. Kota cautioned that they would have to be close enough to an Alliance planet or ship for the signal to be relayed to the Navy. Tik programmed the ship's computer to send the signal any time it received an indication of Charter Alliance activity.

By this time, the end of the day had come and they started shutting everything down. They left the space ship and Ron, Tik and Gus had a lively thought conversation about what they had accomplished that day. When they got back to their cell, all three of them redoubled their efforts to learn their assigned tasks. Ron felt that he was more at ease today with the test because he had a little more pilot knowledge. They had hope again.

They ran tests for the next two weeks and were feeling very confident that the ship could be flown. There were things that needed to be fixed but for the most part, systems were still functional. They were cautiously dribbling bits and pieces of information to the Bugs. They let enough information out to show they were making progress but not enough to make the Bugs want to return to the ship. While Tik ran tests, Kota started showing Ron how to fly the space ship. Between the night studies and Kota's teaching, Ron was getting a cram course in piloting.

Over the next several months, Tik started developing a list of things that had to be fixed. Kota started using the ship as a simulator to give Ron a hands-on feel for flying. It was close to the real thing but only flying would really improve skills. At first, Gus just stood by ready to dump fuel but he finally went back to work. Periodically, he would add fuel to the old space ship. He and Tik worked out a system where he almost doubled the amount of fuel he put in. Tik set the computer to show only two days or less of fuel if anyone but the conspirators checked. They watched the fuel slowly increase but it wasn't enough to fly them anywhere.

Ron was getting better as a pilot and finally could do some other tasks he needed to do. His knowledge and understanding of the Alcantaran language had greatly improved. He was searching the ancient ship's computer about the rockets one day when he found out what they were used for. He stared at the screen for a long time, not believing what he was seeing. The doors on the side of the cowling that he and Gus had seen, swung open and would actually catch or launch the rockets. When the doors closed, they automatically turned the rockets to empty fuel into the space ship's fuel tanks. What a great idea. The rockets were big gas cans and they went to the biggest filling station he had ever seen, a star. No wonder the Bugs wanted to find out how to use the rockets and no wonder they had lost the ones they tried. Their translator was telling them to turn the valves in the wrong direction. This knowledge changed the time it would take them to get ready to escape. He asked Tik to find out the position of the mother ship and feed it into the ancient ship's computer. He told her to keep the position updated regularly. He queried the ancient ship's computer about the proper type of star that would act as the filling station. He started plotting the course of the mother ship to see how close it would come to one of these stars. There was nothing close so he asked the computer to calculate the amount of fuel they would need for different stars and made a mental note of it.

After several months of tests, Ron was afraid the Bugs would soon get tired of the little bits and pieces of information so he announced to everyone that they needed to switch experiments for a while. They needed to see if they could open one of the locked doors. They all went to the cargo bay and picked a door. He had called Gus because he wanted him to be there if they could get it open. Tik checked the files and found that particular door. She set about breaking the code that kept it locked. She found out that each door had a separate code and she would have to break each one. She concentrated on this one.

The other three conspirators stood around the door anxiously waiting to see if Tik could get the door open. The Bugs had tried all sorts of tools, lasers and other cutting methods with no luck opening a single door. Ron and Kota had figured out that the ship put a protective shield on the locked doors. Any energy used to try to open the doors was absorbed by the shield and fed back into the shields energy source. Even the energy from the lights or star light recharged the shield energy source. The more you worked, the stronger the shield became.

Tik worked the computer for a long time, muttering to herself the whole time. She would get excited when she came close to opening the door and then growl and threaten when it didn't come open. Suddenly she jumped up and rushed to the door. She turned the handle and the door came open.

They all stood staring at the room behind the door. This door may have been sealed for over 25,000 years and they were the first to see inside. The room was small -- maybe 10 feet by 10 feet. It had shelves on both sides and across the back. There were various sized boxes and loose jewelry lying on the shelves. Tik slowly walked in and went to one of the lower shelves. She took down one of the boxes and carefully examined it. It was a wooden box that had delicate carvings on the top and sides. It looked like a jungle scene with trees and vines. The vines had small brightly colored flowers at regular intervals along their entire length. There was an inscription that Tik had trouble reading even with the Alcantaran translator. She brought the box out and set it on a table almost covered with scientific equipment. The group gathered around to stare at the beautiful box. Kota tried his translator and found out it was worse than the older Alcantaran translator. Tik took her mini-computer and scanned the inscription in. She instructed it to search the ship's computer to find a translation. The computer answered in just a couple of minutes. The inscription was a poem that told you how to open the box. Tik followed the poem as she touched two red flowers, one blue one, a yellow and then another blue. They all heard a small metallic click and Tik could lift the lid on the box. Inside was an electric-blue crystal carving of a strange six legged animal unlike anything anyone in the group had ever seen. It was sitting on a base that looked like black onyx with pale bands of white running around it. The figure was so realistic that it looked like it could move. Tik carefully took it out of the box. Everyone held their breath, almost afraid that a hard breath would destroy the figure. As Tik was setting the figure on the table, her finger brushed the bottom of the base. When she set the figure on the table, the figure moved. Everybody jumped like they had touched a live electric wire.

Kota asked, "What did you do? Did you push a button or something?"

"I didn't do anything. My finger may have brushed across the bottom," Tik retorted.

Kota looked at Ron and asked, "May I pick it up?"

Ron nodded as he watched Kota gingerly pick up the figure and examine it. Kota turned the figure around and nobody saw anything. He held it up so he could see the bottom but there didn't appear to be anything there either. He saw a small speck and wiped at it with his finger. Since he didn't see anything, he set the figure down on the table again. The figure moved again. Kota picked the figure up again and set it back down on the table. Nothing happened. He picked it up again and held it up to look at the speck. There was nothing there. He rubbed the bottom again and set the figure down. It moved again. This time Kota picked up the figure and rubbed the bottom for about 30 seconds. When he set the figure down it started moving like it was loping across the plains. The group watched spell bound. They couldn't see anything touching the figure when it was moving but it never left the base. When it came to a rest, the figure was resting on the base. Kota very, very gingerly tried to pick up the figure from the base. It was firmly attached. He rubbed the bottom again and set it down. They watched the figure move but still couldn't see anything attaching it to the base. Everyone except Gus had to rub the bottom to see if they could make it move. Gus stated that it was too delicate for his big hands and he would not be responsible for breaking it.

The group played with the figure for almost an hour before they put it back in the box and set the box back in the storage room. Ron picked a bigger box and took it out to the table. He opened the box and pulled out a figure of a multi-hued bird-like creature with its wings spread in flight. This one didn't move but it was beautiful to look at. He replaced it and took the box back in the room. He picked up a large silver bracelet. He felt a strange tingle as he picked it up. There was a battle scene scribed around the whole bracelet. The combatants were strange-looking creatures wielding strange looking swords. Some had shields and strange-looking clubs. Ron handed the piece to Gus and he jumped as he felt the tingle.

"What in the world did you do to this? I definitely felt a small shock," Gus asked.

Kota answered him, "That bracelet has healing powers for some beings. It will work with your own body to cure many ailments. I've never seen one with scenes like that. We use things like it and those other items as gifts to facilitate permits when we arrive on a planet to trade."

Tik said, "You mean as bribes."

"Well, we tried to say it a little more delicately but, yes, that's what it amounted to. Sometimes a little trinket like that would get us trading days or even weeks before some of our competitors who didn't have anything."

Ron said, "Tik, we need to see if we can get one more door open. I hate to give any of this to the Bugs. I'd rather give up two or three empty rooms just to show them our progress."

Tik went back to work and after more than an hour she had a second door open. Inside were some oddly-shaped tables and chairs. They all agreed to shut the door with the jewelry and figures. The bugs were going to get furniture even though they were sure that it wouldn't fit any of the Bugs.

Tik made sure none of the information about how to open the doors was available to the Bugs. She erased all video of opening the first door and what they had found. As far as the Bugs were concerned, they had only opened the door with the furniture. Ron reported the find to Wurden at the end of the day and he excitedly reported it to the big wig.

The next day the Bugs took over trying to open locked doors on the space ship. Kota was sent back to training and the others returned to their normal jobs. Tik had spy devices set up on the flight deck and saw that none of the Bugs would even come close to it. The Bugs worked for the next three months and didn't get another door open. Ron, Tik and Gus had a lot of discussions about how they were going to get a chance to repair the old ship. Everything they thought of just didn't seem feasible. They continued to study and prepare. Ron had a chance to make a few of the repairs under the guise of testing the systems but the biggest problem was the engines. They needed a new lining in the motor throat. It was very pitted and corroded from many years of use and sitting in space. How could you do that without the Bugs knowing?

Twenty-two months after Ron had been kidnapped; the Bugs turned the ancient space ship back to the trio to uncover more secrets. Kota was still training Bugs and wasn't available to help.

Tik was searching the records in the old ship's computer when she came across the name of the ship. She excitedly called the others into the cockpit and showed it to them. The ship's name was the Galactic Antiquarian. Tik said, "That's sure a mouthful. This ship feels more like an Auntie." That became the name the trio and Kota used after that. Ron informed Wurden of the name the next day but Wurden didn't even care. It didn't make any money for the Bugs. Ron did get permission to do a laser color engraving of the name under the window on the nose of the space craft. When he was done, the trio was really excited about the change. This was really becoming **their** ship. Then came the opportunity!

## Chapter 6

Ron, Tik and Gus were working in Auntie when the alarms sounded. They weren't sure what was happening so Ron quickly ran to the rear door. Wurden gruffly told him to go back to work, since the alarm didn't concern him. But Wurden was shutting doors and sealing things up, which concerned Ron.

Tik in the meantime queried the mother ship computer to find out what was going on. It seems that the Bugs had found a freighter space ship which had been hit by a large meteoroid. The meteoroid had caught the ship off guard and severely damaged the crew compartment, killing most of the crew from the loss of atmosphere. The others had managed to use the escape pods and left the ship abandoned. The Bugs used the Space Naval law and claimed the abandoned wreck as their own. The common courtesy would have been to try to rescue the survivors and then help them with the abandoned ship. The Bugs didn't practice common courtesy; and as soon as they saw what some of the cargo was, they wanted it. The Bugs weren't very moral or sympathetic, just greedy. They were within the letter of the law but it still wasn't ethical.

The freighter was too big to pull into the incoming hangar so they used a tractor beam to grab the ship and hold it just outside the door. They were using fliter, a little flyer that could best be described as a flying wrap-around seat with a large platform on the rear to load cargo on. One person flew the machine and was safely surrounded on three sides by seat. They were safety-belted in; and with the open front, had a good view which allowed easy maneuvering close to cargo and unloading sites. They were highly maneuverable and could quickly haul a pretty good-sized load from the damaged freighter to the mother ship. The fliters had made three trips back to the mother ship when it happened.

The Bug supervisors were directing the kidnapped creatures and robots to unload the fliters and take it to the storage rooms. By the time the third fliter touched down in the hangar, the first supervisor fell over. The supervisor was critically ill and died within an hour. The other supervisors around the cargo started dropping also. By this time, most of the first load was already in the storeroom. The Bugs in there started dropping right and left. The kidnapped creatures didn't seem to be affected so they continued to work. Finally a Bug pushed the panic button and sealed the storeroom, the hangar and that whole section of the ship. All the air vents were sealed and everything was shut down. Any Bugs caught in that section of the ship died. The alarms came on when it sealed everything. Tik watched as the Bugs set up. Decontamination teams suited up and set up a triple-layer sealed entrance. They had to go through two doors to get to the door going into that section of the ship. The Bug team had all sorts of monitors and test equipment to check everything.

When the team reached the hangar, Tik watched closely as they cautiously entered. Soon the reports came back that the cargo was contaminated with a virus that was deadly to the Bugs. The Bugs seemed to know about this virus as if they had seen it before. One of the fliter pilots came back empty and two members of the team went to the freighter. The report came back that the virus had been on the meteoroid and had spread throughout the freighter. All the fliter pilots were in space suits and hadn't been affected. The team called for a decontamination unit to be hooked on to the sealed entrance. Then another triple layer entrance was added beyond that. The pilots were decontaminated and put into isolation until they were given a clean bill of health.

The Bugs were in a conundrum, they wanted that cargo in the worst way but the virus would wipe them out if they couldn't kill the virus. The council went into emergency session to decide what to do. Kota was teaching in pilot class when the alarm went off. He completely lost the attention of the students as they started checking their computers to see what the emergency was. The classroom was just outside the sealed area but once everything was sealed down, the class moved farther away. Kota had his translator on and heard the chatter from the Bugs. He pretended not to know what was going on and asked his students what had happened. The older students weren't going to tell him but finally the youngest in the class explained what had happened. He also explained that the council wanted that cargo very badly.

Kota thought for a little while and then said out loud, "I know how to get that cargo safely on board and to get rid of the virus."

The young student who had told him what was happening asked, "How would you get it on board?"

Kota replied, "The creatures who have been working on the ancient space ship are very resourceful and I have an idea I would need to check with them about. I think the old space ship has a way to bring that cargo into the mother ship."

"How is that?"

"I'd rather not say until I check it out to make sure," Kota answered.

A supervisor Bug came into the room to tell them to go back to work on their lessons. Kota noticed his young pupil took time to have a private conversation with the supervisor before he sat down. Kota went on with his lecture and tried to keep his mind strictly on the school work. He had been wondering what was happening with Auntie and this might be the chance to find out.

In the middle of his class the next day, the big wig Bug and his escort came barging into the classroom. One of the guards beckoned to Kota. Kota followed them out of the classroom.

The big wig didn't mince words as he suddenly asked, "How would you get that cargo into the mother ship?"

Kota was a little surprised at how abrupt the Bug was but he quickly answered, "I would have to check for sure with the other creatures working on the ancient space ship but I think it would be possible to bring the cargo through the ship's shield and remove all of the viruses. By setting up a series of two more shields, you could guarantee that all the viruses were removed. As a quality check, you could have monitors and test equipment set up to scan each item as it came out of the shields. I need to talk to Ron to make sure the shield could be set right. I think he did some tests on letting oxygen atoms in but restricting hydrogen atoms."

"How long would it take to do this?"

"I'm not sure, but it wouldn't make any difference. If you had a tractor beam holding the crippled freighter to the mother ship and you used the freighter's tractor beam to hold too, you could still jump through hyper-space. While you were flying in normal space you could be unloading the cargo. If you wanted to salvage some of the freighter, the same thing would work for that. It might take a year to get everything done; but with a shield dividing the repair hangar, you could even keep up with the repairs," Kota said thoughtfully.

"Whoever was flying out to the freighter wouldn't have too much time to fly loads by the time they went through decontamination everyday."

"Yeah, you're right. I had thought of the pilots just staying on the ancient ship for a week at a time but if the virus is as deadly as my student said, that wouldn't work. Too bad you don't have someone who is immune to the virus that could be the pilot but you would also need someone on the freighter to load the fliters. You could use robots on the mother ship to move things. You would need at least three pilots to really make any headway and if you run shifts, you run a greater risk that decontamination would miss something and infect more of the mother ship," Kota tried to plant a seed but not be too obvious.

"Can you pilot a fliter?"

"Oh yes. I've done it hundreds of times. The Dar Es Salaam Traders use them a lot and we all have to train on different types to keep our license current," Kota replied.

"What about those other creatures working on the ancient ship?"

"Why, I don't know. I don't know if any of them are pilots. I know that they are all pretty resourceful to be able to open things in that old ship like they have. One big problem would be space suits for all of them. I don't think any of them had suits when they were brought aboard," Kota answered. "Who would you use on the freighter to load the cargo?"

"That big sand creature worked in the inbound hangar before it got sick. I'm sure it could move anything on that cargo ship we wanted. We would just have to send a supervisor to mark everything and then keep track of what comes on the mother ship. I don't think the supervisor would even have to be there more than once about every two weeks."

"Why, I'd never thought of that," Kota lied. He was trying very hard to contain his excitement over these new developments.

"How would you get the freighter to the repair hangar?"

"Why, I thought the repair hangar was right close to the other hangar. I just figured you could use the tractor beams to move it," Kota said.

"No, the repair hangar is on the other side of the mother ship and up several levels."

"Well, if it will fly, why don't you have a pilot fly it over. The freighter might not be the easiest to fly right now but I'm sure it could be done," Kota said confidently.

"Go back to your class. The council has much to talk about now."

Kota returned to his class and it was the hardest task of his life to keep teaching. He wanted to race to the repair hangar to talk to Ron and Tik but he had already been hit with a stingerray twice and that was all he wanted. If he could keep making suggestions, maybe Ron, Tik and Gus could use this to their advantage and escape. Even if he didn't get out with them, they would broadcast his signal that was in Auntie's computer. The Charter Navy would be coming for him then.

The three pals were almost at a point where they would have to start opening some more doors for the Bugs. They had tested about everything they could without having the bad systems repaired. Ron felt confident he could fly the space ship and they were ready to try at the first opportunity. They needed some more fuel and they needed to load some water, oxygen and food supplies. They all were still studying ways to make that happen.

The third day after the alarm, the big wig Bug was waiting in the repair hangar when the trio came to work. He motioned them over to one side and asked, "Have you tried to use the shield on the ancient ship to screen out different elements?"

"We did try some oxygen atoms and excluded hydrogen atoms just to see what the capabilities of the shield were," Tik answered. "I'd have to look at the computer to see how successful we were."

"I looked and you were very successful. Could you pick any element and exclude it?"

Tik thought for a minute and then asked, "How big or small would this element be? Is there something about this element that would be easy to identify?"

"This element is about two microns long and we have ways of identifying it."

"I'm sure that could be screened out then," Tik answered.

The trio was listening intently trying to figure out what the big wig really wanted but, so far, he wasn't giving much of a clue.

"Are any of you pilots? Have you flown space ships?"

The question caught all three off guard but they quickly recovered. Gus answered first, "I hadn't even seen a space ship until I was brought on board."

Ron said, "The same with me."

Tik replied, "I worked on space ships but I've never flown one."

The big wig dismissed them and waved Wurden over to talk to him. They talked for some time as Ron, Tik and Gus went to Auntie and started on some tests. Wurden came over later when Gus was outside checking some circuits. Wurden told him to go bring the other two outside so he could talk to them. Gus went just inside the door and sent a thought for the other two. He was secretly watching Wurden. The Bug was antsy and wringing his hands, he was so nervous. He did not like Auntie at all.

The trio came outside and walked over to him. Wurden asked, "Are there crew quarters in the ship that you could sleep in?"

Ron said, "Yes, there are quarters in there but we would need a couple of things to be able to sleep in there."

"Make a list for me. There will be a messenger robot that will be bringing those items and food for you for 7 days. The council has decided to use this ship to benefit the mother ship. We are going to set up a shield across the hangar with you and the ship on one side and the rest of the hangar on the other. There is a freighter on the other side of the mother ship that is being brought around to this side. It is too big to fit inside the hangar so it will be tethered outside with tractor beams. You are to set up the ancient ship's shield to screen for a particular element which will be sent to you by computer. There will be two more shields set up to further screen for that element and then monitors and test equipment will check the final product. The cargo from the freighter will be brought through all the screens and tested before it is moved to storerooms. You three will be part of this operation and will stay here in that ship until the operation is completed. Go to the counter and check out the units to set up the additional screens and then, as soon as you get the word on the computer, set all of the shields to screen for that particular element. Add seven more days fuel to the space ship. We don't want the shield to drop because it runs out of fuel. Keep me advised on what the fuel level is."

The thought immediately went through the trio, 'Kota! He had something to do with this. What was he up to?'

They slowly moved to the counter to get the shield units. They didn't want to seem too eager to get everything set up but they knew that Kota had some idea in mind to help with the escape. They worked the rest of the day getting everything ready and late in the afternoon; the computer showed them what they were screening. Tik recognized it right away as the virus from the freighter. The messenger robots arrived with the food and the items they had requested. Tik worked at setting up the shields while Ron and Gus carried the food and items into Auntie. Wurden had all of his remaining crew busy also. They were moving all of the work stations except Ron's and Gus' to his side of the shield, dividing the hangar. When all was set, Wurden directed them to turn the shields on. The Bug's decontamination team moved equipment in right next to the shield dividing the hangar. They set up a large triple-layer entrance that would accommodate all of the cargo. That night they moved into Auntie.

The next day, Wurden set three personal communicators in the entrance and waved at them to come and get them. When they had them, he told them that they would be coming out of the shields temporarily. When they were out, he led them down the passageway and through the mother ship. He took them into a room where there were all sorts of space suits. The Bug in charge of the room came over and measured the three. It searched for a little bit and came back with a suit for Ron. An assistant went to look for a suit for Gus and Tik. The Suit Bug helped Ron get into the space suit and demonstrated how to use all of the different features. The Bug made Gus and Tik watch while they waited for their suit. After a long search, the assistant came back with a suit for Gus. The assistant couldn't carry it so a robot was assigned to that task. The assistant then brought a suit and had Tik try it on. They took the suit and made some alterations on it before they brought it back again. Ron and Gus were all suited up, experimenting with walking, sitting and getting up. They both were getting the hang of the suits pretty quickly. The assistant brought Tik's suit back and she put it on. At first she didn't like the feel of it but she overcame that to be able to use it. None of the suits were the best fit but they would all do. Wurden had called for a grav-sled and robot so they took off the suits and loaded them onto the sled. Wurden led the procession back to the repair hangar. He showed the trio a rack to hang the space suits on and told them to take the rack and the suits over by the space ship.

Shortly after they had everything moved, a loaded fliter flew into the hangar door piloted by a very tall thin pilot. Two more followed it and they all three landed close to the space ship. The pilots of the other two fliters were short and obviously Bugs. They went through the shields to the triple-layer entrance. The monitors and test equipment gave them clearance and they walked through. Ron noticed that Wurden had important business out of the hangar right then. The pilots left the entrance and took off their space suits. Members of the Bug's decontamination team were there to double check the pilots and gave approval for them to head to a quarantine area. The team put a protective film over the space suits and then left.

Ron and his pals turned to the tall pilot. The pilot removed his helmet and they saw that it was Kota.

Ron grinned and held out his hand as he said, "I knew you had something to do with this. Aren't you afraid the virus will get you?"

Kota returned the grin and said, "The virus only affects the Bugs. I think it has something to do with the Alcantarans. I think that is why the Bugs are so terrified of them."

Tik said in a low voice that didn't carry, "That's part of what I have found out so far. Evidently a long time ago, the Bugs and the Alcantarans wanted some of the same real estate. The Bugs did every underhanded trick in the book and the Alcantarans finally got tired of it. They set the virus on them and sent meteoroids around the galaxies to get them wherever they could."

"Help me out of this and we can go in the ancient space ship to talk," Kota said.

Ron turned him around and pointed to the name now engraved under the windows. He said, "We call her Auntie now. We'll tell you more later."

Just then robots arrived to start moving the cargo through the shields and over to the entrance. Since the decontamination team had already left, they just piled it near the entrance. Ron and Gus helped Kota out of the space suit and took it to the rack to hang it up. Kota walked over to the fliter he had flown in and grabbed a bundle of things that were obviously his bedding and personal items. Wurden was lining everybody up to leave the hangar and told the trio over the communicator that he would be back in the morning. He said the outer shield was set to block everything right now. He turned without another word and disappeared into the passageway.

The group headed into Auntie and went to the galley. Kota took his items to the crew quarters. He saw that he was going to have to sleep on the floor. None of the bunks were long enough for him to sleep comfortably. He wondered if Gus would have to do the same thing. When he arrived back at the galley, he commented on the short bunks. Ron said that he would fix that first thing tomorrow.

The group fixed a meal and sat down to catch up on all that had happened. Kota told his story about being close to the sealed area. He said the decontamination teams were working around the clock to eradicate the virus. He thought it would take another month to get the hangar completely cleared. He told about his idea of using the shield to screen for the viruses and how he guessed that the trio would know that something was up. The real surprise came as he told the real reason for bringing the crippled freighter to the repair hangar.

Kota explained, "The freighter has a big load of fuel. Here is your chance to get what you need for the escape. Also there is water, food and air. If we can work this right, we will bring cargo in here and overwhelm the robots. They will be very cautious about moving the cargo into the storerooms until everything is double and triple checked. Once the cargo is piled up, it will be a simple matter of getting what supplies you need for Auntie. Maybe you can get some of the computers and comm gear you need also."

"Are you going to be able to fly all of that in a short space of time?" Ron asked.

Kota replied with a sly grin, "I can with the help I'll have from the other pilots. Poor Gus will be on the freighter loading things and will have his work cut out for him."

Tik's head whipped up to attention as she asked, "What other pilots are going to be helping you?"

"I'm looking at them," Kota grinned.

"Wait a minute! I'm a computer tech, not a pilot. I have never claimed to be one nor do I really desire to learn," Tik complained.

"Do you want off this mother ship with a chance to return home?" Kota cut off the protest in mid-sentence. "You're going to have to do whatever is necessary to get out of here. You have the perfect opportunity right now, so don't blow it!"

Tik still hesitated as she said, "I don't know if I can do it. I want off this ship so bad I can taste it but you're sitting in that seat hanging right out there with nothing to protect you. Besides, I don't think I will fit in the seat."

Kota laughed and said, "This is coming from the one that has wandered the passageways gathering items. You're ready to take on the whole ship-load of Bugs but you want solid deck under your feet. After we finish this meal, I'll take you down and show you how to adjust the seat to fit. Then I'll explain how the controls work. You two will be flying like pros in just a few days. Besides, it will be good practice to help get the feel for flying Auntie. I would suggest that everyone, including Gus, learn how to fly Auntie. You never know when someone will be sick or incapacitated."

As they ate, they told Kota all that they had accomplished while he was gone. Suddenly it hit Ron that he would now have time and opportunity to repair the damaged systems. There might even be parts on the crippled freighter for the repairs. The excitement was starting to build in everybody. They were now ready to do whatever it took to get Auntie ready to blast off.

Kota took them down to the fliters after they ate and showed Tik and Ron how to adjust the seats to fit them. Then he showed them how to get into the machine. There was a control arm, which looked like the yoke on an airplane, which swung out of the way to let you sit down in the seat. Once you were in and belted in, the arm swung back and became the 'steering wheel' to fly the fliter. Kota showed them that pulling the control backward made the fliter rise up. Pushing it forward made it drop. Turning the wheel left or right turned the fliter in a corresponding direction. There was a grip on each side of the yoke and when you twisted the left side it made the fliter fly in reverse. When you twisted the right, the fliter went forward. Using those controls also acted as the brake when you were moving. Kota explained that outside the mother ship, there was nothing to slow you down once you were started.

Tik was muttering to herself so Kota had her get into her fliter first while he climbed on the load platform to direct her. He had her practice going straight up and straight down until she was comfortable with that. Then he had her ease forward and come to a stop. He had her practice backing and stopping, and then he had her set the fliter down while he set up an obstacle course for her to fly around. After a few minutes of this, Kota ran Ron through the same procedure. They both were really stiff and jerky at first but after 30 minutes of practice, they were becoming smoother. By this time it was bed time so they all trooped back to the crew quarters to sleep.

They were all so excited that they were up before the bell went off in the mother ship. They grabbed a bite to eat and hurried to start the day. Ron went to his work station and quickly made beds that would fit Kota and Gus. He carried them into the crew quarters and set them up in both Gus' and Kota's quarters. They would have to find something later to extend the mattress. In the meantime, Gus got his first lesson and Tik continued to practice.

The decontamination team came back to the hangar and the robots started slowly pushing the cargo into the entrance door to be screened. Like Kota said, the Bugs double and triple checked everything for the virus. Evidently the shields were working because they started moving cargo to the storerooms.

Ron, Kota, Gus and Tik suited up. They were ready to try the fliters out in space and start moving cargo. They set their suits to the same radio frequency and Kota flew out first to take Gus to the freighter. As soon as he had dropped Gus off, he flew back to coach Tik. Tik came out into outer space barely making any head way. She had such a death grip on the steering yoke that she was having trouble flying. Kota had her fly around just to give her some confidence and to get her to relax. After about 10 minutes, she started to relax and was moving a little better. Kota guided Tik to the freighter and told her to take a small load until she started feeling more confident. Then Kota turned to Ron. He had him repeat the same procedure as Tik. Ron seemed more relaxed than Tik and was soon flying fairly smoothly. Tik came out of the freighter with her load and Kota sent Ron for his load. He cautioned him to take a small load for the first three times until he got the feel of the fliter with weight. Kota then coached Tik into the mother ship with her load of cargo.

Kota watched Tik ease slowly into the mother ship. She approached the spot where she wanted to set the fliter down. She gave it too much down and dropped like a rock. She quickly jumped back up twice as high as she had come in. Kota could see she was shaking but she gently set the fliter down this time. The robots quickly came and unloaded the cargo. Tik flew the fliter out of the mother ship and headed for the freighter. She had just moved out of the way when Ron came ripping back. He was trying to show off a little for Tik and almost got himself into trouble. He came into the mother ship too fast and had to apply hard reverse to get stopped. He almost dumped his load of cargo. After he got stopped, he slowly lowered the fliter to the deck for the robots to unload. As soon as they were clear, he headed back to the freighter. Kota decided he couldn't do much more coaching as they were making the usual newbie's mistakes but would soon have the hang of flying the fliter. He flew out to the freighter to start hauling his share of the loads.

On Kota's return to the mother ship, there was a Bug in a space suit waiting for him. He was going out to the freighter to mark which parts of the cargo were the priority. Kota flew him out there and Gus recognized his old boss, Sabah. Ron had jumped off his fliter to help Gus get some of the cargo moved around and ready to load. As Sabah led the two through the cargo bay; pointing out the different priority cargo, Ron would mark it with a marker he had. As soon as he was through, Sabah had Kota fly him back to the mother ship. Tik and Ron continued to make trips and each trip was with a larger load until they were at capacity. Both of the new pilots were getting smoother with each trip and feeling more confident. On the last trip for the day, Gus rode back with Kota. The new pilots were too nervous to start hauling live cargo this soon.

When the cargo was unloaded from the fliters, the group got out of their space suits and went to the galley in Auntie to eat. As they were entering the space ship, they saw the robots shutting down and the decontamination team leaving the hangar. Wurden had already left with his group. After they had finished eating, Ron and Kota climbed up on the outside of Auntie and pulled off a couple of panels to see what they needed to repair on one of the broken systems. They made their list and just laid the panels back in place. While they were doing that, Gus and Tik went to scrounge mattress material for Gus and Kota. They found a substitute and took it back to the crew quarters. There was not much talk tonight because everyone was dead tired. The strain from the new job hit them all suddenly. They went to bed and didn't wake until they heard the bell. The next day was pretty much a repeat of the previous day except they started putting pressure on the decontamination crew to keep up. By the end of the third day, there was still a small pile of cargo left on their side of the shield. Ron and Tik were much more comfortable now and Kota instructed them to try some fancier maneuvers as they were flying out to the freighter. He gave them a routine to try each time. They learned to do barrel rolls and loops. Each step they learned gave them a renewed boost of confidence. Ron traded off with Gus to give him a chance to learn about flying the fliters. He took to it as quickly as the other two.

After a week, they were so far ahead of the decontamination team that Ron had time to start exploring the freighter. One evening he was the one loading cargo. At quitting time he was still on the freighter. He had a pile of parts he needed to repair Auntie and Kota flew back to get him. Kota signaled that the decontamination team had already left so it was safe to bring the parts into the hangar. Tik was on the computer making sure none of the Bugs would see anything in the spy devices. Tik had figured out how to drop the big rear door on Auntie and had it down when Kota flew into the mother ship. He flew directly into Auntie and Gus quickly unloaded the parts. Kota then flew out to the hangar deck and shut the fliter down. He and Ron climbed out of their suits and headed to the galley to eat. That evening Ron and Kota started repairs. Tik and Gus started testing systems as soon as they had them repaired.

A month after they started, they had the primary cargo moved out of the freighter. They had repaired and tested all of the broken systems and Auntie was ready except for food, water, air and fuel. Sabah had come back and marked the next batch of cargo by priority and the escape group was getting ready to start transferring it to the mother ship. The fliters needed refueling and Gus had come up with the plan to tell Wurden they would pull fuel out of the freighter. While he was doing that, he could sneak some into Auntie. Every day for a week Gus got a little fuel put into Auntie. Ron had a hit on the computer search he was looking for. The Bugs were headed for a solar system that wasn't that far galactically speaking from a blue super-giant star that could go super nova at any time. In about three weeks they would be at the optimum point to depart the mother ship and launch out for the blue super-giant.

Everyone had been planning for 5 or 6 days on how they could get out of the mother ship without the Bugs knowing it. They knew that the Bugs were going to jump to hyper-drive some time soon but they didn't know just exactly when. They knew they would get a few days notice because the crippled freighter needed to be anchored to the outside of the mother ship if the Bugs wanted any more of the cargo or salvage. The group talked about a leak of the virus but they had already seen the decontamination team in action when that happened. They would just seal off the affected area and life would go on as usual. They needed something that would panic the kidnapped creatures as well as the Bugs.

Over the next week, they started transferring food and water as they could. One of the side effects of the shield filtering out the virus was that the shield became opaque instead of transparent like it had been. The more the shield filtered, the less you could see through it. The Bugs were deathly afraid of the virus and would not set foot on Auntie's side of the shield dividing the hangar unless they were ordered by the council. They had no idea what the group was up to. Ron's and Tik's flying had improved so much that two pilots could overwhelm the robots and decontamination team. When they were far enough ahead, they would load a fliter with items they needed on Auntie and fly directly in her back door to unload. They had most of their supplies loaded when things changed.

The group was talking after the evening meal one night when Tik said, "I wonder if the Bugs have ever had a big radiation leak and what their procedures are."

"That could be the panic we are looking for," Ron said. "Tik, check in the mother ship computer to see what the procedure is and how they would let everyone know there was a leak."

Tik checked and replied, "The procedure is pretty general. If the radiation leak is too bad, most of the procedure involves getting to escape pods to get off the mother ship. All the slave labor would be left to fend for themselves."

Kota eagerly asked, "How do they know it's a bad radiation leak?"

"The alarm would have a distinct ring and the lights would flash. They will get dim pretty quickly as the reactors are closed down to almost nothing until the Bugs determine where the leak is and how bad," Tik said.

"How long would it take you to set up something to trigger that alarm?" Gus asked.

"About 5 minutes. The big thing would be doing something to keep the Bugs from finding out the leak is a false alarm. I would have to keep tweaking things to make the alarm grow."

"I think we've found the diversion we need. Let's set the day for escape two weeks from today. We still need to get to the Bug's storeroom to get a few things; but maybe during the confusion, we would be able to get in there and get back here," Ron said excitedly.

Everyone agreed on the date and determined to double their efforts to get the needed items off the crippled freighter; however, Kota was unusually quiet. He looked thoughtful and then asked, "What happens if the Bugs move some of us? Do we still try to go? How many do we need to go ahead?"

The questions floored the rest of the group. They had never even considered that possibility. Finally Ron answered, "If I'm moved and you three have a chance, get out of here. Get to the Charter Navy and tell them about us. I don't know how many we would need to run the ship. You have more knowledge about that than we do. How many do you think?"

"Two could do it but three gives better odds of success. I echo your sentiments also. If I'm not here and you have a chance, get out of here."

The other two agreed that they would stay behind if it meant getting the others out. Little did they know that Kota's feelings would be prophetic.

The next day, Kota got the call to come back to the hangar. The Bugs wanted him back in the training area. Something had come up and they needed his expertise. Reluctantly he took off his space suit and went in Auntie to gather his personal things. Just before he left, he turned to the group and saluted them. They knew he meant for them to go ahead with the escape even if he didn't make it back. He went through the shields and then through the sealed entrance where a Bug led him off to the training area.

The trio was heartbroken but determined to go ahead and get to the Charter Navy as quickly as possible. They had only worked two more days when the order came down to shut down the operation and secure the freighter to the mother ship. Ron and Gus went to the freighter to use its tractor beams to help hold it to the mother ship. Tik worked on the inside and the freighter was secured. Ron and Gus grabbed one last load and flew directly into Auntie. Tik closed the rear door with the fliter still in the cargo bay. They hoped the Bugs wouldn't look inside but it was a chance they would have to take. Wurden passed the word that the decontamination team was going to be coming in to start decontaminating the rest of the hangar. Ron moved the remaining fliters back behind Auntie and put some of the salvaged parts from the freighter in front of them. If no one looked too closely, it looked like there were three fliters there, as well as the salvage.

The decontamination team had help from two more teams and it only took three days to get the rest of the hangar decontaminated. They took one more day to run all of their tests and then; after they were satisfied, Ron, Gus and Tik started taking the shields down. Tik secretly changed the code to get into Auntie. If any Bugs tried to get in, she would say that she had rebooted the ship's computer and something must have scrambled. She would tell them she could work on getting it open. All of the supervisor Bugs including Wurden seemed to give Auntie an even wider berth. They weren't totally sure that some of the virus hadn't invaded the inside of the old ship and they were not taking a chance.

Wurden announced, "The mother ship will make a hyper-drive jump in two days. We need to get everything secured here in the hangar. During the jump everyone will stay in their quarters."

Ron glanced at Tik and Gus as he thought, "We need to move tonight. We're not where we want to be, but we have no idea where they are jumping and no time to really find out."

Tik thought back, "What about Kota?"

"If he makes it here, he goes; otherwise, do as he said. We leave and find the Charter Navy."

"I agree," Gus thought. "I don't want to leave Kota but this may be the last chance we get for a long time. What if the Bugs decide to kick us out of Auntie again and find all the things we've moved in? They'll know we were planning an escape."

They worked all day securing the hangar and were on pins and needles wondering if they would be allowed to stay in Auntie that night. At the end of the day, Wurden rounded up his group and they went to the back of Auntie. Wurden didn't say a thing as they entered the ship. All three went weak in the knees when they made it inside. They were too excited to eat so they packed away the last of the items from the freighter. They had 'appropriated' some netting that day and they used it to secure the fliter. They had everything as ready as they could expect it to be.

Ron said, "Tik, check and see if you can find Kota. If you can find him, unlock his door when we set things in motion. We can't wait on him but maybe that will give him a chance to get here."

Tik started checking as Ron and Gus made one last sweep to make sure everything was ready. They climbed up on the surface of Auntie and double-checked all of the panels and work that they had done. Everything was in order so while they were on top of Auntie, they checked the hangar. They didn't see anything they had missed. They climbed down and went back inside the ship. Another hour and it would be time.

The minutes dragged by like days until Tik looked at Ron. He nodded and she told the computer to proceed. Tik had found Kota's cell and she now unlocked it. The sirens started to wail, declaring a radiation emergency. The lights flashed for a few minutes and then started to dim. Ron quickly and gingerly turned Auntie around so she was pointing out the door. The trio quickly headed for the storeroom where they hoped to get the final items they needed.

Ron had just finished his part of the story when Auntie's alarm went off. All three thought their heart would stop. Had the Bugs found a way to turn around quicker than they thought? Were they about to capture them again? They all rushed to the cockpit to see what the alarm was about.

## Chapter 7

They all stared at the gauges trying to find the cause of the alarm. Suddenly Tik pointed and said, "Look. Something is coming from the port side at about a 30 degree angle. It's quickly overtaking us and will pass very close."

"What is it? The radar shows that it's huge. Is it big enough to be the mother ship?" Gus exclaimed.

"Doesn't Auntie have outside cameras?" Ron asked.

Tik growled, "It's too dark out there for cameras and I really don't feel like announcing our presence with lights. Let me try something here."

She made some adjustments and turned on another system. Suddenly the monitor showed an image. It looked like a giant deformed potato almost like two potatoes had grown together. The two pieces were at a slight angle like a shallow 'v' with the lower portion being larger than the top and both marked with pits.

"It's an asteroid and man is it moving. I'll bet it's traveling two to three times as fast as we are," Tik exclaimed excitedly.

"How close will it pass to us? Will it hit?" Ron asked anxiously.

"Let me see.... I think it will miss us by at least half a mile," Tik said.

"How big is that thing?" Gus asked incredulously.

Tik checked the instruments and did some figuring before she answered, "It must be 3/4 of a mile long and 3/8 mile wide at the widest. It'll be here in 20 to 30 minutes."

"Just for practice, run a spectrograph to see what it's made of," Ron suggested.

Tik turned on the instruments and started working. About five minutes later she started reading the results, "It looks like a lot of it is rock. There is some metal hmmm... I think its silver and zinc. Look right here at the bottom of the v. That's water or I should say ice. Too bad we couldn't get that on board. That would solve our problem of the water shortage."

"Not only water but oxygen as well. Remember our experiments with letting the oxygen pass through the shield but excluding hydrogen?" Ron said excitedly. "Check to see what it would take to match speed with it. Can you plot a trajectory where it's headed too?"

Gus asked, "Even if you match speed, how would you get the water off of the asteroid and into Auntie? We could haul it on the fliter, but how do you put a block of ice into the water tank?"

"I hadn't thought of that. What if we set Auntie down right there on top of the ice?" Ron mused thoughtfully.

"That would take a lot of fuel to do all the maneuvering and would leave a pretty good trail if the Bugs come sniffing around," Gus declared.

Tik broke in, "That's not true. If we just match speed fairly close, why not use the tractor beam to pull us down?"

"Yeah, just like we did with the crippled freighter. Being in outer space, it didn't seem like we were moving but the mother ship was actually cooking along at a pretty good clip. How fast do you think they were going when they did the hyper-space jump? I'll bet the freighter is still there," Ron said.

Tik said as she pointed, "Here's what we need to do to match the speed. We'll also have to move closer. Auntie shows that we need to fire the engines here. I don't know where this bad boy is going yet. I need a little more path to plot the probable trajectory."

Ron quickly sat down in the pilot's seat and told everyone to strap in. He strapped himself in and made the setting suggested by Auntie. Tik counted down for him and at the right time, he fired the engines for just a short period. He looked out the window and could see the asteroid off to his left. He gingerly maneuvered Auntie closer to the big rock. Tik switched on the external lights and he could now see the ice in the bottom of the v. The engines were now off and he was maneuvering with jets of compress air. Gus sat at the controls for the tractor beam and, as they came within a hundred yards of the asteroid, Ron directed him to grab it.

Gus was staring at his monitor and stretched out the tractor beam. The beam grabbed the asteroid and they felt a slight bump as the two matched speed exactly. Gus started pulling Auntie down to the surface. He had to roll her some to make sure she sat down on the bottom instead of her side. They came closer and closer to the surface with Ron calling off the distance. Finally, they gently touched down.

There was silence and the three looked at one another as they realized they were now sitting on an asteroid flying to who knows where. They all wanted to get outside to see what it was like. Tik checked the gravity level and said, "We'd better leave the tractor beam on. There's hardly any gravity and we might float off. I wonder if we stand out like a big black blot on this ice field."

"That's a thought. Would the shield make a difference? Maybe we could set it to reflect about the same amount of light as the ice field," Ron said. "If we set the shield to a minimum, we wouldn't use very much fuel."

Gus commented, "I don't know about you two, but I'm beat. What have we been up, 35 or 36 hours?"

Ron nodded as he said, "I agree. I want to explore but right now I need sleep. Before we explore, we need to unlock the rest of Auntie. There may be other things in the locked area that could help us. Besides, we need to find a way to store the water and air and I think those will be somewhere in the locked area."

"Well, big boys, you don't have to invite me twice. I'm ready for bed now, and then we can tackle these problems when we're fresh. Tomorrow, I'll plot the trajectory for this asteroid."

The trio headed to crew quarters and slept that night like the dead. Tik was the first one up and she was an hour and a half later than her normal time to get up. She was in the galley making something to eat when Ron and Gus came in.

"Morning, big boys. I thought of something else this morning. We need to catalog all of the supplies and other items we took from the freighter and the Bugs. We really have no idea of what we have and we might need to ration some things to survive. Why don't you two do that while I work on unlocking the rest of the doors?"

"Now wait a minute, little red one. I want to be there when you open the locked area," Gus snorted.

"I do too," Ron exclaimed.

"Oh, I promise that I won't open anything until you are there. I'll just get everything unlocked," Tik protested.

"Something just occurred to me. Did you ever find anything that gives a clue about what happened to the Alcantarans? Does Auntie have anything in her computers telling what happened to the crew?" Ron asked thoughtfully.

"I didn't find anything in the Bug's records. I think the part of the memory that tells about what happened on this ship is either damaged or locked in another part of the computer that's only accessible in the computer room. We'll have to get into the locked area to get more answers," Tik responded.

"Do you think they could have caught some kind of virus like the one that attacked the Bugs?" Gus asked. "Would any of the viruses still be alive in those locked areas?"

Ron and Tik looked at one another. No one had thought of that possibility. Ron said, "When we open those areas, we need to be in space suits and we need to seal off as much of this area as possible."

Gus grinned slightly as he said, "I think a couple of the Bug's portable shield generators found their way on board. Maybe we could set up something like we did in the hangar."

"I wonder how those things happened to find their way here. That sounds almost as bad as someone sending a robot with the radioactive fuel canister to the computer room on the mother ship," Tik said light-heartedly.

Gus looked at Ron and asked, "Who sent a robot to the computer room? That won't put Kota in danger will it?"

"Well, I must admit I might know something about that. The computer will still work for everyday things. It will just take awhile for the Bugs to get the mother ship turned around and get back here to search for us," Ron said sheepishly.

The trio laughed together and then pitched into their morning meal. As soon as they had finished and cleaned up, Ron and Gus went to inventory and Tik headed down to the cargo deck to start trying to unlock doors. Ron and Gus finished first with everything except the Alcantaran relics they had captured from the storeroom. They grabbed the portable shield generators and carried them up to the cargo bay deck. They kept sending thoughts asking Tik how she was doing until she laid down the law. She wanted no more interruptions. She would let them know when she had something to report.

Ron and Gus decided to get the Alcantaran relics to see if Auntie's computer or the database from the mother ship computer could identify any of them. Just before they left yesterday, Tik had copied a lot of the mother ship database. They now had a list of planets the Bugs had visited or traded with and what they used for trade. If there were any notes about the planet and inhabitants it was in the database. There was some information about the Alcantarans and their relics but some of it was pretty sketchy. They were making a little progress when they received an excited call from Tik. She had found the key to unlock everything. She was ready to start opening doors.

Ron and Gus rushed to the cargo bay and up to Tik. She was waiting impatiently in front of one of the doors. Everyone was excited about opening the door. Gus moved a shield generator and programmed it to form a ball around that door. The three of them then went to the rack and donned their space suits. They were thinking about opening the other doors without any protection. Maybe there wasn't any virus. They came back to the door and Gus stepped up to it and swung it open. Ron used his healer unit and checked for anything dangerous. After several minutes the unit gave an all clear.

"Well, do we examine the things in this room or do we proceed to the rest of them?" Ron asked.

"I'm in favor of opening the rest of the doors. It's a pain in the butt to take these suits off and then have to put them back on. Besides we need to get the rest of the ship below opened up," Gus replied.

Tik said, "I agree. We can look this stuff over once we have everything open and get out of these suits. Big Boy, what if we found some more jewelry? I couldn't try any of it on with this suit."

"Open it is then. Tik lead the way. Let's hurry up and get everything open so we can check for viruses or other problems," Ron said.

Gus moved the shield generator and they quickly opened the other five doors in the cargo bay that they hadn't opened before. Everything checked out clean so they moved to the freight elevator in the rear of the space ship. Gus pushed the shield generator into the elevator and set the other one over the entrance to the elevator. They didn't want anything from below to contaminate the rooms they were in. Ron and Tik followed Gus into the elevator and they went down one level and stopped

They were in another cargo bay standing on an upper catwalk. The room was about 40 feet high and stretched for 300 feet toward the nose of the ship and about 125 feet to the opposite wall. They could see a wall that looked like there were four levels. There were stairs and catwalks along each level. Sitting on the deck close to the wall were stacks of something that had been netted down to keep them from moving. Along both sides of the ship were more of the storage doors.

They checked the first side and crossed to the other side. All of the rooms checked out clean and they tried not to spend too long in any one room. Some were empty and others had items that they were going to have to check out on Auntie's computer to find a clue for what their purpose was. They worked up to the wall where they entered the passageway. There seemed to be a row of rooms that sat back to back down the center of the ship. On the other side of the passageway there was another row of rooms. All of these rooms appeared to be very large, luxurious living quarters. There was one cross passage in the middle of the row and another at the nose of the ship. They took the nose passageway to the other side of the ship and then went back toward the rear of the ship looking in all of the rooms. In one room, they found something that Ron thought looked like some kind of exercise equipment. They finished looking at that level and dropped down to the next level.

The passageway on this level was next to the outer skin of the space ship. When they stepped in, they saw a long passageway with some doors leading into the middle. Tik tried the first door they came to and stepped in. She stopped in her tracks as she looked around. They were on a cat walk that didn't look like it was in the best of shape. The metal was badly corroded and some sections had actually fallen. They were looking at a desolate scene in the big room. The room ran about 250 feet toward the nose, was two levels high and the width of the ship except for the two passageways on the outside. The interior was covered with dead plants of all sizes and shapes and it even looked like there might be some small skeletons lying on the floor. The floor was dirt and running down the middle was a small stream that had a very small trickle of water in it. The stream meandered across the floor in a series of loops and right now it looked like it was pretty muddy. There appeared to be a stone path following the stream and there were two small bridges over the stream. In some places, there were long boxes hanging off the catwalk. Ron walked over to one and saw there was dirt in it. There was some kind of tube running from box to box and suddenly Ron thought of a greenhouse. On the floor below, they could see more boxes but these looked different. There wasn't any dirt in them so they assumed they were for hydroponics. They figured out this must have been some kind of conservatory where the Alcantarans raised fresh fruits and vegetables. It could have been a solarium but Ron couldn't see any way that they could pipe sunlight in. He looked at the ceiling and thought he could see lights that might be a type of UV lights.

"Hey, if this is what I think it is, it will fix problems for the two of you. I think there might be UV lights in here and I know there is dirt. I'll bet at one time this place was beautiful. I wonder if those skeletons were some type of bird or flying creature," Ron proclaimed excitedly. "I'll bet they had all kinds of fruit trees and vegetables in here, as well as flowers. These beings spent a lot of time in space and things like this and the luxurious living quarters made up for that. I'll bet somewhere they even moved the ship's air through here to help clean out the carbon dioxide."

Gus remarked, "Well, it looks a little spooky right now but I'll still come here to get my dose of sand and dirt."

Tik wrinkled her nose as she expressed her distaste, "I'll come here if I have to but I would sure like to have some of that stuff growing first."

Ron stated, "We need to preserve some of those skeletons and the plant residue. That might give scientists a clue about the Alcantarans. Some of those rooms in the lower cargo bay looked like they could be sealed to an airtight configuration. Maybe we could move some of this stuff in there. If you're working to clear this stuff out, it won't be so spooky."

They backed out into the passageway and made their way around the center room. They noticed cables and pipes entering but didn't see anything in the passageways that was of immediate interest. They checked the rooms along both sides of the cargo bay on that level. It was much like the level above. Ron's healer unit gave this level a clean bill of health.

They went to the floor of the cargo bay and started checking the rooms there. In one room, they found a machine shop with all sorts of machinery to maintain the space ship. If a person knew how to run the machinery, Tik guessed that they could make about all the parts needed to repair Auntie. The next room had all sorts of steel, aluminum, pipes and other raw material to make repairs. When they reached the back of the ship, they looked closely at it. Ron and Tik decided that this wall would drop and make a ramp just like the one on the level above. You could drive equipment right in to load or unload cargo or materials. It would make for a quick turn-around time if you were trading. They looked closely at the floor and decided it would slide toward the nose to provide a taller cargo space if you needed it. They finished inspecting the doors on the other side of the cargo bay from where they had entered. They walked around the conservatory on this level and it was the same as the level above. They stepped inside and saw that their guess had been right about the boxes next to the wall being hydroponics. There was a small trickle of water running down the boxes now. By the time they were through with this level, they decided it was too late to start on the next level. So far everything checked out fine and they could breathe the air with no problem. Tik suspected it would smell pretty stale because there hadn't been any circulation for so long. Ron wondered where they would find the unit that cleaned and refreshed the air. Their air above on the flight deck seemed to be all right but they needed it to run through a purifier to keep it that way.

They made their way to the upper cargo bay and took off their space suits. Gus turned the shield generator off to conserve fuel. They went to the galley and fixed something to eat. As they ate, they excitedly discussed all that they had found so far. Ron figured the skeletons and plant specimens would be worth a lot of money to the right place. Anyone wanting to know about the Alcantarans would be very interested in these things. The weapons were another matter too. He didn't have enough information about them, but surely there were collectors who specialized in Alcantaran relics. If these weapons worked, they would be worth more than gold.

On the mother ship their only thought had been to get off of it and head back home. Another idea was starting to develop. All this talk of what everything was worth and who would want it stirred a sensation that none of the group had felt before.

After they had finished eating and cleaned up, Ron voiced the idea, "Why do we care what the skeletons, the weapons or any of the other things are worth? If we just want to get back to our home planets, all we have to do is fly Auntie into some advanced civilization and sell her. We could get enough money to set us all up for the rest of our lives back on our home planets. Is that what we really want?"

Gus spoke first in a thoughtful voice, "I really don't want to go back and live on my home planet. I do want to see my mate and to make sure my family is taken care of. I want to make sure the Bugs never come back and kidnap any more of my people. But...I like meeting different creatures such as yourselves and Kota. All I've ever known is the sand of my own planet and I would like to see some of the others, especially your home planets. The way you have described them makes them seem so wonderful."

Tik responded, "I agree with Gus. I have to get back to my home planet to check on my family and to pass the word about the Bugs. Our government will ban them and won't let them land when they find out what they're up to. I've worked on the space ships that have come into our space port but I've never been off the planet. Now that I'm off, I'd like to see your home planets and maybe even a few more. When I downloaded the Bugs trading database, I saw a couple of galaxies that were mind-boggling. I'd like to see them in person if it's possible. How in the world would we be able to do something like that? Do you have something in mind?"

"I agree with both of you. I want to see my wife and family and to make sure they are safe. My planet isn't as far advanced as the Bugs; but with some of the technology from this ship, we would soon hold our own against them. To answer your last question, I really don't have anything in mind. I just know I'm a small businessman on my home planet and when you start talking about what something is worth, my ears pick up. I like the challenge of buying something and then being able to turn around later and sell it for a profit; and like you, I like meeting the different creatures. We three have proven we can overcome a lot of challenges. Would we be up to the challenge of becoming Traders? Could we run this ship and learn the ins and outs of trading between planets? Would you be interested in forming a partnership in that sort of venture?"

The other two sat in stunned silence for a moment while Ron's words sunk in. Tik was twisting her head from side to side as she thought and Gus suddenly developed a far-away look in his eyes.

Tik blurted out, "I'd be up for trying. We still have the immediate problem of getting away from the Bugs. We still need water, air and fuel. The ice here may solve the air and water problem but that leaves fuel. If we don't get that, then this conversation won't matter."

"The fuel isn't the problem you think it is either. I haven't had a chance to really explain but that's why we are headed for that blue giant. When Wurden had me work on the Alcantaran rockets that first day, I found out what the rockets are for. They have their own shield and are actually a giant scoop. They will dive in close to the surface of the star and scoop up fuel. This type of start is supposed to be one of the better ones for quality of fuel...."Ron started.

Gus interrupted, "The Bugs thought they had the rockets figured out too but they lost some of them when they tried. We don't have any rockets to spare on losses."

"I know, but that first day I saw their problem. There is a valve in there that they had set backwards. I don't know if their translators weren't 100% accurate or not. I suspect that's the case, because we unlocked doors that they hadn't been able to open with years of trying. The Bug that had my translator probably stole it from a storeroom and wasn't high enough in the hierarchy to let it be known that he could understand what the Alcantarans had written. When you set the valve to the proper position, the shield absorbs any energy that strikes it. A small increase in current makes a huge increase in shield strength. If it's set the other way, the shield never develops any strength. You could take a hammer and a steel rod and drive it right through the rocket. I think the rockets are programmed to fly close to the star and then open the shield for just a few microseconds to scoop up the fusionable material. The heat is so intense next to the star that anything more would melt everything. The more the star beats down on the rocket's shield, the stronger it gets. The shield also acts as a container for the fusionable material. I don't know for sure yet but I think there are receptacles on the outside of Auntie that hold the rockets and take the fuel directly into her fuel tanks. I suspect there is a place in the lower area that allows you to refuel all of the equipment and robots. It will probably even refuel my translator and healer," Ron declared enthusiastically.

Tik announced, "Well, I'd better find out where this rock is taking us. There should be enough data to predict some kind of trajectory. Also, I'd like to send a burst message for Kota. He already programmed it into the computer. It will be so brief that it will be almost impossible to trace."

Ron and Gus followed her into the cockpit to watch. Tik sent the message first and then worked on her computer for a bit. She took readings from Auntie's gauges and instruments. After a few minutes, she had a trajectory.

"It looks like this rock is in an elliptical orbit around that blue super-giant. It's narrower at one end and we're on the big end right now...."

"When you say elliptical, do you mean egg-shaped?" Gus interrupted.

"Yes, and we're at the bottom of the egg. The top of the egg is closer to the star than the bottom. The asteroid will be about 930 million miles from the star at the top. We'll be at the top of the elliptical in about 10 days. This asteroid is actually traveling at a pretty good clip. How long does it take those rockets to fill up and then dump the fuel in Auntie? How much fuel will each rocket hold?" Tik answered Gus and then asked Ron.

"It'll take about two days at that distance, if we can rob enough fuel from the robots and the fliter. We need to get the rocket to about 60% of the speed of light. Since we'll be shooting the rocket directly at the star, the star's gravity will help us some. I don't know how much fuel each rocket scoops up. I'm still not sure how to translate that measurement to something I know. I'm not sure how much Auntie will take to fill her up either. I thought that once the first rocket has a load of fuel, we could put half of it in Auntie and load another rocket or two depending on how much fuel they will scoop. Then we could have three rockets going. That would make things go a lot faster. At the top of the elliptical, we should be on the opposite side of the star from where we left the mother ship. Hopefully, that will help hide us and the rockets' signatures should be pretty small. If it's against that star, that will help hide it also. Tik, why don't you plot where we would need to get off the asteroid to stay behind the star? Once we have a load of fuel, we can decide where to go from there. We're going to have to watch pretty carefully, because that could be about the time the Bugs could be back looking for us," Ron answered.

Tik announced, "We need to get off at day eight. That will give us time to decelerate and go into a parking orbit."

Gus thoughtfully asked, "If it will take us 10 days to get in place and at least 4 -- no make that 5 days to get fuel, how long can we stay there and still have food to get somewhere? How will we know where to go to get food? Like you mentioned before, what will we use for money?"

Ron looked at the inventory and calculated before he answered, "I think we have about two months food. I would say that we can't stay any longer than twenty days. That would give us a months worth of food. We don't know if we'll have to lay low somewhere to dodge the Bugs, so I'd like a little cushion. If the rockets only pick up a dipper full at a time, we're in trouble but I think the rockets do a lot more than that. As for money, Tik, where was that silver and zinc that you saw when you were first checking out the asteroid?"

"There seems to be a fair-sized deposit just to our starboard, right at the edge of the ice field. It appears to be close to the surface also. How will we mine it?" Tik responded.

"I don't know. Maybe one of those weapons uses a laser and we could modify it to cut the silver and zinc. If we could cut blocks or slices, we could move that into the ship. There would be a lot of mass but almost no weight on this asteroid. I hope the weapons use the same fuel as Auntie but I don't know where we will get the extra fuel to start the mining," Ron mused.

"What would happen if we launched a rocket tomorrow or the next day?" Gus asked.

"It would take longer to get there and back but I suppose it would meet us somewhere along the asteroid's trajectory. Let me do some figuring," Ron answered.

He worked on Auntie's computer for several minutes and then stated, "It would take five days to get there and back if we fired it in two days. That would only leave one day before we had to leave the asteroid to decelerate."

Tik interrupted, "What if we didn't get off as we approached? What if we got off two days after we were at the apex? We're going to have to burn fuel so why not burn it to come back to a point rather than stop at a point? It would take a little more fuel but it would give us four more days to mine."

"Boy, we're so good as a team it's almost scary. One thing for sure, by firing a rocket early, it would let us see how much fuel the rockets scoop before we're too committed. Then we can go to plan B if necessary. So tomorrow we need to finish exploring the lower deck of Auntie. The next day we need to defuel the robots and the fliter and put the fuel in one of the rockets. After we fire it off, we need to load all the rockets into the pods on Auntie's outer skin to be ready when the first one comes back. We'll have to concentrate for the next five days on getting water and oxygen. Once the rocket has returned, we need to get additional rockets ready to fire and then we need to start mining. Just think, we'll be doing all of this while we are looking over our shoulder to see if the Bugs have found us. I can see right now that I won't be bored and I don't think either of you will be either," Ron said with a laugh.

They all agreed and decided they would turn in early so they could get an early start tomorrow. If they could finish exploring, maybe they could start with the defueling and refueling. Ron thought he might have trouble drifting off to sleep. His mind was whirling with all of the new things they had found and wondering what they were. It had been harder work using the space suit than he thought; however, so it didn't take long to drop off. The others were the same way.

They were up early and rushed through breakfast. They hurried to the space suits and went through the same procedure as the day before. When they were in the elevator, they dropped 9 levels and stopped. The trio looked at one another wondering what they would find today. The door opened and they stepped into their biggest surprise yet.

They were on the upper catwalk looking down on another cargo bay. This cargo bay wasn't empty like the others had been. There was something that looked like a sail boat and another that was obviously some kind of powered boat. There were several land vehicles and a couple of aircraft. They were all of distinctly alien design. They could tell that two of them were boats because of the hulls and the masts on one. The aircraft had wings but that was where the similarity to any planes Ron had ever seen ended. There were a couple of strange-looking tracked pieces of equipment. These pieces of equipment looked like they pulled a cart which had high sides. It reminded Ron of a pickup box with sideboards on tracks. There were mechanical arms on the equipment that looked like it could pick up items and put them into the cart. There were two other arms, one of which had an attachment that looked like a half-claw/ half-bucket. The other arm had some sort of round tube that looked like it had a glass dome on one end. The floor of the cargo bay seemed fairly crowded because it was smaller than the one above. The rooms along the outside walls were deeper and had to be curved to match the outside hull of the space ship. Ron checked his healer unit and everything seemed normal so far. The trio started down the line of doors opening each one and checking them out.

Ron walked over to one long door and opened it. The room must have been 75 feet long, almost 25 feet wide and 9 feet tall. Both walls were lined with racks that held all sorts of different weapons. Some were so strange he had to guess that was what they were. There were all different types of swords, cutlasses and other cutting-type weapons. There were even maces and different types of war clubs. All of the different styles looked like they came from different planets for different types of creatures to use. The handles were various sizes and shapes with several of them decorated with fancy jewels and gold inlays. There appeared to be different types of side-arms from alien cultures and rifles that matched.

"Wow! Let the Bugs come in about a week. Once we know what this stuff does and how to operate it, the Bugs won't have a chance," Ron exclaimed.

The other two rushed over and looked inside the room. Tik cried in awe, "Oh my goodness. Look at all of those weapons."

"Wow some of these look similar to my ax/hammer. Look at these -- they are similar to the war clubs of the Sandghost. Do you know what any of these are?" Gus blurted out in surprise as he pointed to some weapons that looked like the blasters the Bugs used.

Tik suddenly pointed and exclaimed, "Look. Aren't those stingerrays? They look a little different from the ones the Bugs use. The ones the Bugs have now look like the newer and improved version of these."

"I sure hope we can find information about this on Auntie's computer," Ron declared. "I've never even seen anything like some of this stuff and I don't have a clue how it works. But that is a mystery for another day. We need to press on. My healer unit says everything looks good so far."

The second one they opened was full of some sort of electronic equipment. Tik checked out two or three pieces and declared, "I think this is some sort of remote detection equipment. It almost looks like a miniature version of Auntie's radar/spectrometer equipment. I wonder if this would fly out from here and relay information back. I'm going to have to research this. Those smaller units look like a 3-D camera. Look how small they are. If they were flying, nobody would even notice them."

There was way too much 'stuff' to check out at that time. The trio really wanted to check out this lower level and then get ready to launch a rocket. They closed the door and went to the next one. This room turned out to be the water storage tank. There was a small space with pipes, valves and gauges. Ron looked in and thought it was the distribution center for the water. There was an area in the room that was the purifying unit. On Auntie, as much water as possible was recycled. They moved to the wall at the end of the cargo bay. When they entered the passageway there, they saw it was laid out much the same as top level above. The rooms along the side held a lot of the distribution equipment for electrical and oxygen. The oxygen scrubber was located there with pipes going through the ceiling and floor. Ron looked at some of them and wondered if they piped CO2 back to the conservatory to help the plants grow. The center rooms were deluxe offices and more luxurious living quarters. The other side was a duplicate of the port side.

They headed down one more level. So far they would have had no problem without the space suits but they all were not willing to take the chance that there could be something bad behind one of the doors. The first two doors had odds and ends in them so they didn't spend any time there. The rest of the rooms on that wall were still part of the water and oxygen tanks with their associated purifying equipment.

The center rooms were where the big surprises really started. Some of the rooms were full of computer, communication and detection equipment. The rooms were obviously climate-controlled. Lights were blinking and the equipment was definitely working. Ron and Gus had to literally drag Tik out of the room. She wanted to start checking everything out but the other two knew they needed to move on.

The next room was a situation/comm room. The walls were covered with giant view screens, one of which showed the asteroid they were sitting on. Another screen showed the ice field and the location of the silver. There were several chairs around the room and a console in the center that looked like it could be the control. Tik sat down and ran her hands over the controls as she stared in rapture at everything.

Ron said, "Gus, you might as well carry her. I know that her legs won't work now."

Gus reached to grab her and Tik growled, "Touch me and you'll lose that finger. I'll bite it right off."

Gus laughed and asked, "How are you going to bite me with that helmet on?"

"I'll jerk it off to get a bite if I have to!" Tik responded.

Ron chuckled as he said, "Now, now you two. We still have another level to check out. What's this?"

He was standing in front of another console. This one had several joysticks and lots of buttons and gauges. It had two screens that were blank right now. Tik moved over to it and studied it for several minutes. Finally she said, "If I didn't know better, I'd swear it's a weapons control center. These joysticks could point the weapons and probably Auntie's computer would track and fire. Hmmm.....let me try to turn it on."

Tik tried the power switch but nothing happened. She moved the joysticks and tried other button but the console was still dead. Ron said, "I'd be leery of pushing buttons you don't know about. It could be dropping bombs or sending out laser beams that the Bugs will be able to track."

"You're right. I forgot myself. Another mystery to solve when I get some time on the computer," Tik cried excitedly.

They noticed two doors that appeared to lead to a closet. When Ron opened the door, there was a shaft that went from the bottom of the space craft to the top. He thought he could see other doors at different levels. Was this another elevator? None of them remembered seeing any small doors like this on the other levels but they had been in a hurry when they looked in those rooms, so it was possible.

Ron led the way to the next room. There was a cross passageway and the door to the next room appeared to be in the center of it. Ron walked over and opened the door. As it swung in, he stopped dead in his tracks. Tik was right behind him and ran into him. Gus was close enough to peer over his shoulder.

There in the room was another flight deck and cockpit. Instead of windows, there were view screens across the nose side of the room. There were more controls, gauges and instruments than in the one above. This looked like the super deluxe model while the one they had been in was the bare minimum stripped-down version. There was another weapons console on the flight deck but Gus wouldn't let Tik touch anything on it. Ron sat down in the pilot's seat and flipped a couple of switches. The screens came to life showing the view in front of the space ship. He felt the controls and knew that they would be live if he wanted to fly Auntie from here. Why would the Alcantarans have two cockpits? Had this been some sort of spy ship rather than just the small freighter it looked like? Tik really needed time to search the computer for some answers.

Ron flipped the switches off and they headed for the other levels. They checked them out and found more mysteries but nothing extraordinary. This space ship definitely had led a double life. The trio was burning with curiosity but they had a schedule to stick to. They went to the upper cargo bay and took their space suits off. They held a council of war and decided they didn't need Tik to help with the rockets so she was going back down to level 3 to see if she could find some answers in the computer. Ron would get the rockets ready while Gus drained the fuel from the fliter and the robots. The first thing in the morning they would take them outside to load in the pods. Ron would program the rocket to launch toward the star and scoop up as much fuel as it could.

Ron and Gus worked late but they were all ready for in the morning. The fuel from the fliter had actually filled two rockets so they still had some fuel left in the robots. They went to the galley to fix something to eat and saw that Tik still wasn't back. Both of them concentrated and said, "Tik, it's time to quit. You need to come eat. Leave something for tomorrow."

In just a short time Tik popped out of a panel in the galley. She startled Gus so bad he dropped his drink. It spilled all over the table and onto the floor.

Tik laughed and asked, "What's the matter, Big Boy? Don't you like my magic lift?"

Gus tried to bluster but his curiosity got the better of him. He asked, "How did you do that? Did you come all the way from the lower deck?"

"Yeah, that's about the only thing I did figure out. See these decorations here? If you push them like this...it will take you to the lower level of the middle cargo bay. Doing this will take you all the way to the bottom and this will bring you up to here," Tik gloated.

"I don't see an elevator. How does it move you up and down?" Gus asked.

"It must work on gravity/anti-gravity. I put a pillow off of one of the beds down there in it and watched it go to the top level. I hit the buttons to bring it down. Then I had to try it for myself. It was quite a thrill the first time, I must say. For me going down is worse than coming up. Here, do you want to try it?" Tik responded eagerly.

"I don't know if it will hold my weight. I think I'd rather be on the bottom floor and only go up one floor to try it the first time. Or better yet, find something that weighs as much as I do and try it," Gus hedged.

Ron laughed, "Yeah, we don't need to have Gus break legs or arms or worse right now. He has to help with the rockets. Not to change the subject, but did you say you didn't get anything out of the computer?"

"I tried everything I could and all I got was what I can get right here. I'll use my mini-computer tomorrow to see if I can do better. Look, when this panel closes, you can't even tell that it's an elevator. I wonder how many other secret panels this ship has. Maybe we'll even find an Alcantaran hiding in the walls," Tik ended in a mysterious whisper.

They talked for just a short while and then decided to turn in. Ron tossed and turned because his shoulders were aching from all the strain of using the space suit the past two days and then the moving of the rockets to make sure the valves were in the right position. His 62 years were catching up with him. Thirty-five years ago, this would have been nothing. Even twenty years ago he wouldn't have felt this bad. He debated about checking with the healer to see if it could do something. Suddenly, he remembered what Kota had said about the bracelet in the storeroom. Maybe it would do something. He quietly got up and slipped out of the room. He went to the storeroom and got the bracelet. He felt the familiar tingle as he put it on. He closed the door and went softly back to his quarters. By the time he got back in bed, he was already feeling a little better. He laid down and in just a little bit, he was asleep. The next morning he felt like a new man. He decided he would keep wearing the bracelet.

After the group had a quick meal, Tik headed down to the main computer. Ron and Gus were heading for the space suits and outside. Tik reminded them to set the air lock so they wouldn't lose any air. They were debating what would be the best way to get the rockets outside when Gus spotted the grav-sleds tied down on the deck. He suggested that they use them to haul all the rockets in one trip. He said the grav-sleds would also lift them up to the height they needed to load the rockets. Ron agreed and they stacked the rockets on the grav-sled. In short order, they were standing in the air lock at the big rear door. After the air was pumped out, they opened the door and pushed the grav-sled outside.

Gus stopped to check on the controls for the rear tractor beam. Ron forgot they were on a small asteroid with almost zero gravity. Auntie had her own artificial gravity, so gravity was the last thing on Ron's mind. He gave a small push to the grav-sled, leaping on as he did. The grav-sled and Ron shot out the back of the space ship and headed for the shield. There wasn't enough gravity to pull him down and no air for friction to slow him either. He flew across the ice and ran into the shield. The shield bounced him back toward the space ship at the same speed he had left the space ship. Ron let out a yelp as he shot toward the shield and Gus whirled around. Gus saw the problem immediately and flipped the control on his suit to magnetize his boots. When Ron came bouncing back to the space ship, Gus was ready to catch the grav-sled.

Ron grinned shakily and said, "I'm glad we had the shield up. I might be headed off to the far reaches of space on a grav-sled. Thanks for the rescue."

"No problem, it looks like us land-lubbers have some things to learn. I can see we need to talk about some of these problems any time we come outside the space ship. I'll have Tik put in an automatic reminder in the computer," Gus responded with a grin.

Ron flipped his control to magnetize his boots as he stood up on the grav-sled. Gus operated the tractor beam and had it grab the sled. He maneuvered it to the port-side opening. Ron directed him until he could see the pods and then pushed three rockets in. They slid in very easily and once they were in, seemed to be locked in. Gus moved him to the starboard-side and he loaded the other three rockets. He and Gus returned inside the air lock where they closed the outer door and let the air pressure build. As soon as they could, they entered the cargo bay and climbed out of their space suits. They hung them on the rack and hurried to the flight deck.

Ron sat down at the computer console and queried the computer about the rockets status. He was pleasantly surprised to see the two loaded rockets showing on the screen and the others showing that they were loaded in the pod but had no fuel. He explained what he wanted and the computer plotted the burn, flight pattern and the rendezvous point. Ron directed it to feed the program to one of the fueled rockets. He and Gus had decided to only risk one rocket at this time. If it worked and they saw the other rocket returning, they would fire the second. That would cut some time off of getting fuel. Then they would try to refuel the other rockets to get them sent off.

Gus worked the controls to close the shield and then lifted Auntie off the asteroid. He kept hold on the asteroid with the tractor beam though. Ron directed the computer to fire the rocket. There was no noise or any indication that the rocket had fired until they saw the small blue blur of its engine as it blasted off for a journey to the edge of the star. Ron had the computer set a clock that showed a count down for the rocket's return. He also tasked the computer with using the sensors to see the rocket as soon as it came back around the star. He told the computer to see if it could determine if there was fuel on-board the rocket and how much. Gus set Auntie back down on the asteroid and reset the shield.

Ron and Gus were debating about the best way to get the oxygen and water into Auntie's tanks when Tik called them down to check out her discovery. They headed down to the lower level and found Tik working on something from the room that contained all of the electronic equipment.

"I thought you were trying to get into the ship's computer. That's the funniest looking computer that I've ever seen," Ron joshed Tik.

"Ron, can't you see the antenna? It picks up her brainwaves and works just like an abacus. The marbles just roll around," Gus joined in.

"Oh, you two are so funny. You should be on stage; more people would have targets to throw things at. I'm working on the ship's computer. My mini is hooked up to it trying to break in. Right now I'm multi-tasking. I pulled this out and I found the refueling station in there. I put just a little fuel in it and started checking it out. Does anyone but me see a problem when we go behind that blue giant?" Tik rebutted their jokes.

"Well, we have a small window of time to get a lot of things done," Ron remarked.

Tik turned to Gus and waited. Gus finally said, "I don't know what you see as a problem. I have to agree with Ron."

"What happens if the Bugs pop back into space about where we shot them out of here? We're taking a long time to get around that star because we don't want to leave a trail. How long will it take the Bugs to fly around it and check it out? How long would it take for us to be ready to fly out of here? How would we protect ourselves?" Tik shot back at the other two.

"Yeah, I can see where it would be nice to have some advanced warning. Will this thing do that?" Ron asked.

"Absolutely, Honey Child! It has all sorts of detectors and it sends out a coded signal that I'll bet the Bugs can't even detect. Once that rocket comes back full of fuel, we need to fuel this thing up and launch it on this side of the star. I'll show you something else I found," Tik said as she headed back into the electronics room.

She picked up a small item that was about the size of a softball. It looked like it had a tiny hole in it. She went to a computer terminal and spoke briefly to it. The small item leaped out of her hand and flew into the cargo bay. It went almost to the ceiling and hovered there. Tik directed their attention to the monitor. They were seeing a picture of the cargo bay and all its contents.

Tik said mysteriously, "Wait here and listen." She stepped into the cargo bay and moved across it. Ron and Gus followed her movement on the computer monitor. When Tik was on the opposite side of the bay, she whispered, "Hey, Big Boys, can you hear me? How do you like my little toy now?"

Ron and Gus were flabbergasted. Tik came back into the room and walked to the computer again. She directed the small item to zoom in on one of the boats. She waved Ron and Gus back out of the way and told the computer to project in 3-D. Suddenly there appeared a small replica of the boat in the area between them. The details were so crystal clear that Ron could see some kind of pack lying on the deck of the boat. He didn't remember anything like that so he had to go check. Sure enough there was the pack.

"Wow, my apologies, Madam," Ron said with an exaggerated bow and a wave of his hand. "I can see that you have made some startling discoveries even if you didn't get into the computer. How many of these things are in here and how many of the remote detectors do we have?"

Gus was watching Tik and he could see Ron's exaggerated apology kind of embarrassed her. She answered, "There's about three dozen of the little remote sensors and five of the remote detectors. I'm in seventh heaven checking this stuff out. There are a lot of companies on my planet who would give a lot of money for these."

"On mine too. I'm not sure that I'd want all of them to have it though. Some of them might not use it in the best interest of a lot of people," Ron remarked.

Gus spoke, "Yeah, I could see how some people or companies would spy on you and use it for their own advantage. There goes any privacy."

Ron asked, "What seems to be the problem with the ship's computer? I thought you were making progress yesterday."

"I was. I can get started into different levels but it keeps coming up with needing another password. I've tried every combination that I can think of and I still can't get that password." Tik replied disgustedly.

"Could the password be symbols that the Alcantarans used?" Gus asked.

"I thought of that but I really don't know enough of their symbols to try that," Tik said.

"Where are you trying to get in? Are you in the computer room or somewhere else?" Ron asked.

"I've tried the computer room and the flight deck. I've had the same results in both," Tik replied.

"Well, we'd like to help you but you're the computer expert. Does that remote sensor display its images in the flight deck and the situation/comm room?" Ron asked.

"I don't know. I haven't had time to check," Tik said.

"Well, let's go look. Maybe we can try out the secret elevator to see if it will push me and Gus up. I'd like to find out now because you never know when you might need it," Ron stated.

They all headed for the comm room first. Sure enough the screens in there displayed the video and audio feed. Next they moved to the flight deck. Ron sat down in the pilot's seat and turned on the screens. They showed the outside and on one screen in the center of the nose, there was a small version from the remote sensor. He turned off the screens and moved back to the flight deck. Gus and Tik had taken chairs around the table there. Ron came over and sat down as Tik turned on the computer there. Ron's bracelet not only tingled, it was quivering. He almost jumped out of the chair.

"What's the matter? You look like an Alcantaran just reached out and grabbed you," Tik asked.

"I think it did. Look at this," Ron said as he pushed back his sleeve. The bracelet he was wearing was glowing and the symbols on it stood out in bright gold.

"What in the world?" Tik stared in disbelief.

Gus quickly interjected, "Try those symbols for your password."

Tik ordered the computer to read the symbols off of Ron's bracelet. It took a few seconds and then it opened to a new level.

His translator vibrated. He looked across the table and saw the other two give a start.

"Did your translator just vibrate?" he asked.

The other two nodded in agreement. Tik worked the computer controls and saw that she had entered another level of the computer. This level called for a key but gave no clue what the key was or what it looked like. Tik checked a few things on the different levels that had opened and saw that she had a lot more information.

"It's going to take some time to see what information these two other levels opened up but it looks like we'll know about a lot of this equipment and what its functions are. Now if I could just find the key. I wonder how many more levels there are," Tik stated with conviction.

"Well, little furry one, since we figured out these two levels for you, we'll leave the key and the other levels for you," Gus grinned.

"Read my lips, you big overgrown pile of sand," Tik said as she gave him the raspberry. "Is that the bracelet that was in the first door we opened?"

"Yes, I was aching last night and remembered Kota talking about these things helping sometimes. I couldn't get to sleep so I thought it was worth a try. I feel so much better today that it's not funny. Do you guys mind if I keep wearing it? On Earth I would be considered...well, maybe not ancient but at least an older gentleman. Right now I need every break I can get," Ron answered.

The other two thought it would be a good deal if he kept wearing it. Tik said he could give personal testimonies when they tried to sell others. Everyone looked closely at the bracelet and saw that it had returned to its normal state.

"Well Gus, I'm going to leave her to her research and go see if that elevator will lift me. It's almost time to eat and it sure would save a lot of steps if it worked," Ron announced.

He started to the elevator and Gus followed. Tik stayed behind for a bit to see if she could find any clues to the key. Ron pressed the camouflaged button and the door swung open. He pressed another button to go up one level and stepped gingerly into the elevator. There was almost no sensation of movement and he was standing in front of the next level's door. He stepped through and called back down to Gus, "Come on up. If it won't lift you, you'll only drop one level."

Gus was even more nervous than Ron. He was a lot bigger and weighed twice as much. He pushed the button for the next level and stuck one leg in the elevator. He tried to step on something but didn't feel anything. He pulled his leg back and took a deep breath. He stepped in the elevator and shot to the next level with Ron. Ron was grinning as Gus stepped through the door.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" Ron asked.

"Once I was in, it wasn't bad. It was just bad stepping into thin air," Gus retorted.

"Well, the next step is up to the upper flight deck," Ron said as he stepped back into the elevator. He shot up to the top and stepped into the flight deck. Gus followed in just a few seconds. Gus closed the door behind him and the two walked to the galley. They were almost finished eating when Tik arrived mumbling to herself.

"It must be bad, she's talking to herself," Ron said.

"Yeah, not only talking to herself but answering too," Gus added with a grin.

"Well, if you'd tried to find that key, you'd be talking to yourself too. I did find out that it will take months to digest what we unlocked today. I'll keep looking for that key," Tik vowed.

"Do you remember those items we took from the Bugs locked storeroom? I felt like they were important then. Maybe something in there will be the key or help identify the key," Ron mused.

They talked about the day's accomplishments and what they wanted to accomplish in the next several days. They talked a little about their home planets and their families. All of them felt homesick and really wanted to see their families.

Ron announced he was headed to bed. Tomorrow they were going to start pumping water into the tank. He didn't know how, for sure, but that was a problem for tomorrow. Gus followed but Tik said she had one more thing to check out. She headed to the computer in the flight deck.

## Chapter 8

The next morning Tik was almost purring, she was so excited. Ron and Gus could tell just by looking at her that she had uncovered another secret. She was trying to be coy about it but, finally, had to blurt it out.

"I know what those funny looking machines with the tracks are for," she declared excitedly. "And I know how to get water in here from the ice field."

"I thought we would just hook up to the water faucet out there. We'll have to find a hose first but that should be no problem," Ron quipped as he winked at Gus.

Gus caught on, returned the wink and said, "Do you think we'll have to warm up the faucet? I know we'll have to warm up the hose to get all the kinks out of it."

Tik's head swiveled from one face to the other as she sputtered, "What are you two apes talking about? There's no faucet out there. Is there?"

Ron and Gus almost fell out of their chairs laughing. Tik started to get mad but then she stopped to think about what she had just said. She wound up laughing too. The laughter was a good way to start the day. It helped relieve the tension of Bugs coming, needing oxygen and water and all the things they didn't know about this ship.

Gus said, "'Is there faucets out there?' That reminds me that we need you to program Auntie to alert us every time we get ready to go outside. Yesterday Ron was practicing being a bouncy ball. He forgot about gravity. If you hadn't reminded us about the airlock, that could have been disastrous. Maybe Auntie already has something that would remind us of things we take for granted."

"Yeah, I can see we need that. We just don't have the experience yet. I'll make it my first priority to make that happen," Tik said seriously.

Tik had to hear the entire story of Ron's adventure and Gus was glad to elaborate about it. He made it sound like Ron almost flew off the asteroid and Ron was good-naturedly protesting. After they had another good laugh, they discussed several things that should be included in the warning.

"Tik, what do those machines do?" Ron asked.

"They're miners. Those tubes are lasers that can carve out blocks or bore holes. The arm with the claw/bucket will load material in the cart and then it will dump it wherever it's programmed. Those things could load ice into the carts and then use the lasers to melt it. Hook your hose up to those faucets," she responded as she stuck out her tongue at the other two.

They finished their meal and Tik went to the secret elevator and dropped down to the lower flight deck to continue her research and to program for the warning. Ron and Gus went to the robots in the upper cargo bay. Gus put on his protective suit and emptied some fuel. Gus took it down in the elevator and Ron went to another of the secret elevators to drop down and join him at the miners. They put a small amount of fuel in the miners and started checking them out. They used Auntie's computer to check each system out to make sure they would function all right. They worked most of the day just checking, fine tuning and learning how to operate them. Ron suggested that they move them to the upper cargo bay to finish fueling them since they needed to remove fuel from the robots up there. They moved them up and while Gus was moving fuel around, Ron checked for hose. He found some and a pump. The next problem was pumping the water into Auntie.

Ron was thinking about how cold it was outside and wishing there was some way to load the water from the inside. He started thinking about the conservatory and decided to check there. He hadn't looked very long before he found a valve and an input fitting right on the cargo bay wall of the conservatory. If they ran the water through the conservatory water system, it would be filtered and checked for contamination too. He called Tik to make certain the conservatory was hooked into the main water supply and she confirmed that it was. Ron moved all the hoses, pumps and fittings to the middle cargo bay. He told Gus to move the miners to the middle cargo bay after he finished his fueling job. They would be able to do everything from right in the cargo bay and wouldn't have to worry about keeping hoses warm and water freezing back into ice before they could move it.

By the time everything was ready in the middle cargo bay, they decided it was too late to head outside. Instead, they headed down to the lower flight deck to see what Tik had found that day. Gus reported he had drained the robots. They weren't sure how much fuel the miners would take but they hoped to at least get started tomorrow and then maybe the rocket would have enough fuel to complete the job.

Gus wanted to try dropping down in the secret elevators so they headed for the nearest one. They dropped down and walked into the flight deck. Tik was so absorbed in her research that she didn't see them walk in. She glanced up and jumped when she saw them standing there. They grinned and asked her what she had found out so far. She launched into a long spiel about her discoveries. She had checked out another room more closely than the cursory check they had done before and had found clothes. There were some that were as alien as the weapons in the armory. Ron said the Alcantarans probably wore them on certain planets where they didn't want to stick out. He asked if there was anything in his size. His clothes were starting to wear a little thin. Tik said she had also found machinery in there that could make cloth and then make it into clothing. She said that Ron would just have to go in there and get measured. He said he would as soon as they had some water and oxygen. That was the priority right now.

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.

The trio looked at one another and worry was written all over their faces. As far away as the oncoming ship was, it probably couldn't detect them because they would be on the edge of the star from its view point. By tomorrow they would be around the edge. Could they risk continuing with the oxygen project? What about the rockets? They needed the fuel and they sure didn't want to lose the rockets, since that was going to be their lifeblood for fuel. They decided to wait until morning to see if there was any change in the on-coming space ship. If there was no change, they would finish gathering what oxygen they could in the morning. They would recover the rockets and wouldn't send them out again. If all the rockets did like the first two, they would have a full tank and then some. If there was no change in the on-coming ship by tomorrow night, they would wait until the next day to retrieve the last rocket. Tik would recall the remote detector and it should be back about the same time as the last rocket. Whatever they had, they were going to leave as soon as the last rocket was secured.

Gus queried the computer and saw that the oxygen level was above the minimum level. If they worked for three or fours hours tomorrow, they would be high up in the safe zone. Nobody was hungry that night but they ate just to keep up their strength. Ron and Gus didn't think they could sleep but went to bed anyway. They were tired enough that as soon as the adrenaline wore off, they conked right out. Tik didn't even go to bed. She spent the night in a chair in front of the view screens and the remote detectors signals. She cat napped on and off but she kept watching the growing threat.

The next morning, there had been no change in the approaching space ship so Ron and Gus ate and quickly returned to work. Tik didn't want to leave the comm room so she stayed there to monitor the space ship and did research on the equipment in the room. Ron and Gus pushed even harder than they had yesterday and by 10:00 when they quit, the oxygen was in the high safe zone. They were through with the oxygen. Gus raised Auntie and they prepared to start receiving returning rockets. Ron told her to dump all of the fuel into her tanks as the rockets came back. Auntie had spaced the returning rockets about 10 minutes apart. That gave her time to secure the rocket and unload the fuel before the next one arrived. In 50 minutes, all the rockets were on board and all but two unloaded. Auntie's fuel tanks were full so she kept the extra fuel in the rockets. Ron directed Gus to set Auntie back down on the asteroid but to move her right next to the silver deposit. Tik called out coordinates and Gus set her down and put up the shield. The deposits were just outside Auntie's rear door.

Tik stayed right where she had been since the detector picked up the space ship. She was trying to find out more information about it but it was just too far away. They knew that they were hidden from view by the star but they didn't want to be taken by surprise. Ron and Gus decided to try mining some silver. They climbed back into their space suits and took the miners outside. Ron closed the lower cargo bay door and they just used the middle cargo bay. They set the miners to use the lasers to cut chunks out of the silver and then to load it into the carts. This didn't go nearly as fast as cutting ice. There was a layer of rock covering the vein of silver and when the lasers cut into it, it crumbled into sand. The rapid heating fractured the rock and then when the laser was through, the rapid cooling did even more. The miners got to the silver and started working in earnest. By the end of the day, there was only about half of a cart full between the two miners. Ron and Gus took the miners inside and moved the silver into a lockable room on the side of the cargo bay. It looked like they had between 2 1/2 to 3 cubic yards of silver. Some of the silver still had chunks of rock clinging to it. All of it would have to be smelted later and poured into smaller ingots to make it more saleable. They secured the silver in the room and then the miners. As soon as they were out of their space suits, they hurried to the comm room to find out the latest news, even though they knew that Tik would have let them know about any changes. When they stepped into the room, Tik greeted them and showed them what she had on the space ship. It wasn't big enough to be the mother ship but she couldn't tell anything else. She was recalling the detector and would lose sight of the space ship sometime during the night. The rocket would be back in the morning anyway.

Ron and Gus dragged Tik away from the view screens to the upper galley to get something to eat. After they ate, Ron ordered her to bed. She had been up so long that she was almost dead on her feet. She protested but about two seconds after her head hit the pillow, she was out.

Ron and Gus stayed up a little longer discussing what they needed to do.

Gus told Ron, "I want to go back out to get some of the sand from the mining to dump in the conservatory. If I have any extra time, I'll grab a little more silver."

Ron said, "I need to pick a destination where we can trade for some food. I'll have Tik check the Bug's database in the morning and we'll pick a place to head for. I also need to make a sweep of the ship to make sure everything is secured."

"Why don't you use one of the remote sensors and have Auntie do a scan? She'll do it a lot faster and probably a lot more thoroughly," Gus suggested.

"Yeah, that sounds like a great idea. I forget that we have a lot of modern conveniences and I don't have to do everything myself," Ron responded. "Once we get under way, we need to start on that conservatory. It will help with our oxygen and water purification if we can get some stuff growing in there again. We need to make it pleasant enough for Tik to use it to stay healthy."

"Yeah, if we have a big pile of sand in there, I'm going to stretch out and lay on it. I can feel the need since I haven't been around dust or dirt for several days now. How is your diabetes doing?"

"Since I started wearing this bracelet, I haven't even had to use the healer unit. Maybe there is something to the stories behind them. I know I feel a lot better and have more energy than I've had in the last ten years," Ron said.

"Well, one last check on our unknown space ship and then I'm ready to hit the sand," Gus said as he started for the flight deck.

Ron followed and they saw that there was no change and nothing new about who the space ship might be. They called it a night and went to bed.

They were up early and rushed into their last minute preparations. Gus took both miners outside and hauled in three big loads of sand and rock. He found a door on the conservatory that he could back the miners into and dumped it to one side of the door. He made one more trip out to get what silver he could until Ron warned him that they needed to lift off to retrieve the rocket. He hurried inside and secured the miners. He left the silver in the carts and put some netting over it to make sure it stayed there. He had just climbed out of his space suit when the warning came to prepare for take off. He hurried and just made it to the flight deck where he settled into a chair as the count down to lift off began.

Ron had Auntie search what she could to make sure everything was secured. He had her fly a remote sensor around all three cargo bays to check them out. He and Tik looked at the data bank and decided to fly to Europaische in the Kita Kinabula galaxy. The Bugs had been run out of there in the not too distant past, so they thought they might be nervous about following them there. According to the database, they would be able to trade some of the silver there. They were going to trade for food and get out of there pretty quickly. They wanted to put some distance between themselves and the Bugs. They plotted out a zig-zag pattern that doubled back on itself before it arrived at their intended destination. They hoped all of the turns and changes would confuse the Bugs if they followed.

As soon as Gus was in the ship with the miners, Ron lifted off of the asteroid. He noticed that Gus' digging for sand had covered up the silver. You had to look awful close to even see that they had been there. Ron retrieved the rocket first and then Tik retrieved the remote detector.

As Gus sat down and buckled his seat belts, Auntie fired her engines. They were quickly picking up speed and as soon as they hit the threshold, they jumped to hyper-space. They traveled for about four hours and then jumped back to regular space. Ron turned Auntie to the starboard and they jumped to hyper-space again. They stayed in hyper-space for eight hours this time. It gave everybody time to get some sleep. They jumped in and out of hyper-space changing directions each time. Finally after the sixth jump they aimed for their destination of Europaische in the Kita Kinabula galaxy. This jump would take ten days because they were leaving the galaxy that the super-giant blue star was in. All the jumping had disrupted their schedule so the first night of the journey the trio slept like logs. They slept in the next morning and got up to a leisurely breakfast. Gus felt the need to go touch sand so he headed to the conservatory. Tik joined him to get the UV rays. Ron went to the lower comm room to check on things.

Gus took off his kilt and belts. He buried himself up to his neck in the sand and gravel he had mined from the asteroid. Tik sat nearby and couldn't stand the silence so she started a conversation.

"Gus, doesn't this place give you the creeps with all of the dead trees and bushes around here?"

"I haven't paid any attention. This sand and gravel feel so good. What do you think we should do?" Gus sighed.

"Well, I think Ron was right. We need to take some pictures and then take samples, seal them up and store them in one of the empty rooms. When we find someone really interested in the Alcantarans, we could sell or give them copies of the pictures and the samples," Tik said with a shudder.

"Can you get one of the remote sensors to fly in here and take pictures? Could it start at one end and work to the other so we'd have a layout of everything in here?" Gus asked.

"Sure, that would be no problem. As soon as I get through 'sun tanning' in here I'll get it started. After it does a wide view, I'll have it do close ups of everything. I wonder what we can do with the stuff we don't save," Tik replied in a brighter voice.

"I don't know. Maybe Ron has some experience with things like this conservatory. What will we put in here after we get everything cleaned up?"

"I'll have to look in the computer to see if it says. If nothing else, we can get something at Europaische to get started. I'd like to have seen this place when it was in its glory," Tik commented.

"Well, maybe we can make our own space. That is, if we are going to be Traders and keep Auntie. Do you think you'd like to do that?" Gus asked.

"I think I would but I'd like to do a few trades just to make sure we can pull it off." Tik said reflectively. "I'm about done here, so why don't we go talk to Ron about this?"

They got up and Gus got dressed. They stopped off at the electronics storeroom to get a remote sensor. Tik carried it back to the conservatory and placed it inside. She was going to program it when she got to the computer.

Ron checked everything about the flight that he could. Everything seemed to be going according to schedule. When he finished, he started looking around. He sat down at the weapons console and checked it out. He moved to the comm console and was looking at it when he noticed a button he had never seen before. He queried the computer to find out what it was for. The computer said it was to open the storage are for the personal voorwarp units. Ron asked what the voorwarp units were and the computer gave a history of them. 25,000 years ago or whenever Auntie was being flown by the Alcantarans, they were the newest personal safety gadget. They provided a small personal shield that was controlled by brain waves helped amplify sound waves and also acted as a translator. The shield would also deploy if the person was attacked unexpectedly. For anyone in the crew who was wearing another one, it boosted ESP transfer. It made the transfer a lot clearer; traveled farther and instead of just transferring words, it would transfer the image or sense of the word. An example would be; if you referred to a big cat, it could show an image of a lion or tiger if that was what you meant.

Ron was excited the more he read about the voorwarp units. He pressed the button and the side of the comm console opened. Inside were 20 or 30 objects about the size of a baseball. He gingerly picked one up and saw that the shelving it sat on actually kept it charged up. He hadn't read far enough to find out how long they lasted or how they got their energy so he wasn't sure this one was live and ready to go. He read on down about how to activate the unit. The computer said to hold the unit in your open palm and then press on the slight indentation on the top of the unit.

Ron laid the unit in his palm and pushed on the indentation. The unit rolled up his arm and before he could move, he saw a piece come off. He felt something gently slap his head behind his ear. At the same time, he felt something crawl down his back and suddenly there was a warm spot right between the shoulder blades. He felt behind his ear and thought he could feel a slight bump but there didn't seem to be anything foreign there. He walked over to the computer camera and turned his head so the camera was looking at his ear. He directed the computer to display the camera image on the view screens. He couldn't see anything behind his ear! He directed the computer to zoom in closer and he still couldn't see anything. It looked just like normal skin behind his ear. Ron quickly peeled his shirt back and had the computer look at his back. He knew where he had felt something warm but there was nothing showing there. Ron couldn't reach back there to feel, although he tried. He was trying different contortions to reach the area when he heard something coming down the passageway. The sound was so slight that he was surprised he heard it. Just then the door opened and in walked Tik and Gus.

They both stopped and stared. Ron turned red and pulled his shirt back up as he straightened up.

"Umm...I'll bet you're wondering what I'm doing," Ron started lamely.

"Oh no, we expect to see humans doing all kinds of weird things," Tik said mischievously. "Go ahead and continue your gyrations. Don't let us stop you."

"I felt something on my back and I didn't see anything on the view screens so I was trying to touch it," Ron said as he thought 'SHIELD'. "Can you see if you can spot anything or feel anything?"

Tik started to walk over closer and when she was about three feet from Ron, she ran into the shield. It stopped her dead in her tracks.

"What in the world did you just do?" Tik exclaimed. She reached out to try to touch Ron and again ran into the shield.

Gus had been watching with interest and decided to try his luck. When he got within three feet of Ron, he felt the shield. He reached out and pushed. Ron didn't move. Gus gave a huge shove and still Ron didn't move.

"Is that some kind of shield? Where is the unit that generates it?" Gus asked with an intense curiosity.

Ron thought 'SHIELD OFF' and replied, "I found a personal voorwarp unit and was checking it out when it attached itself to me. Can you see anything on my back right there between my shoulder blades? How about right behind my right ear?"

Tik approached cautiously this time and reached out to touch his back. She stared intently at his back for a couple of minutes and then turned her attention to his ear. She moved her finger over the skin behind his ear. Finally she said, "There's nothing there. I can't see anything nor feel anything. What do these voorwarp units look like?"

Ron pulled his shirt back up and walked over to the console. He removed a unit and silently handed it to her. She turned the unit over and carefully inspected the unit.

"There is nothing like this back there. If you have something like this on your back, it has to be on the inside," Tik declared firmly.

"I don't know because I can't see or feel it but I know I can think about a shield now and it's there. I just put that thing in the palm of my hand and touched the indentation on the top of it. The next thing I knew I felt something behind my ear and sliding down the neck of my shirt. Then I felt something warm between my shoulder blades." Ron declared just as firmly. "Why don't you try it, if you don't believe me?"

Tik hesitated and Ron said, "Ah, you do believe some of it then and you're afraid. You want to use me as the guinea pig first, huh?"

"I am not afraid. I just don't think there's anything there. Where did you say to touch?" Tik declared in a snit.

"Right there on that indentation," Ron answered.

Tik touched the indentation and the unit rolled quickly up her arm. She was almost quick enough to jump out from under it but not quite. It slapped behind her ear and rolled down her back. Ron watched as both spots disappeared under her fur. Tik was wriggling around trying to see her back but she couldn't. She remembered Ron standing in from of the computer camera and she rushed over there. The camera showed her back on the viewing screens and all she saw was fur. She rushed back to Ron and demanded he look under her fur to see if he could see anything. Ron parted the fur and there was nothing. He moved her fur behind her ear and it was the same.

Ron projected a thought, "Think SHIELD." Tik jumped but Ron could see her concentrate. He reached out and felt her shield.

"You didn't speak those words, did you?" Tik said.

"Nope. That's supposed to be one of the benefits of these voorwarp units. The ESP is clearer and reaches farther. Gus, I sent a thought for her to think SHIELD and her shield is up. To turn it off, just think 'shield off'," Ron said.

Gus asked, "How did you find those things? What all will they do and how do you get them off?"

"I haven't read that far yet. I was looking around and saw this button. I asked the computer what it was and Auntie told me it was the voorwarp storage. Here, read for yourself to see what they can do." Ron replied.

Gus and Tik crowded around the monitor to read about the units. They quickly scanned the material until they came to the part that told how to take the units off. It said to think 'back to storage' then 'confirm back to storage'.

Ron said, "Tik, let me check something and then I want you to check me." He pulled out his healer and scanned behind her ear and on her back. The healer unit didn't show anything. Ron handed the unit to Tik and she did the same on him with the same results.

"Gus, do you want to try one? I'm curious how these things work on creatures so different. You have a completely different make-up physically than either Tik or me. I wonder if these units will work with you." Ron said.

Gus took a unit and held it in his palm. He touched the indentation and the same thing happened that had happened to the other two. Gus' skin was the texture of sandstone but the unit still disappeared on his skin. Ron and Tik both studied his back closely and could not find anything. Ron scanned him with the healer and it showed nothing again.

They experimented with ESP and found they could even think like a Sandghost if they were directing thoughts to Gus or they though like a human when they directed thoughts to Ron. It was the same for Tik.

"Wow, these things will give you a definite advantage when it comes to trade. We would understand the culture and I'll bet we can sense intentions in other beings. We are going to have to research these some more. Do you think we can even learn a fraction of 1 % of what's in Auntie's computer? Ever time we find one thing, it leads to a hundred other questions," Ron reflected.

"Speaking of that, that's what we were coming to talk to you about. Are we going to keep trading or sell Auntie and go home?" Gus said.

"What did you two decide?" Ron asked.

"We're interested but Tik would like to see how a few trades come out. We have a little silver. What else can we use for trade? Do we trade some of the Alcantaran relics?" Gus replied.

"I'm against trading any relics. We might trade away the key to unlock the next level in Auntie's computer," Tik declared. "Maybe we can find another asteroid or something and mine some more metals."

"I feel in my gut that unless we are trying to sell Auntie, we shouldn't mention anything about this being an Alcantaran ship. If anyone finds out about the relics we have on board, I think we will have treasure hunters looking for ways to take Auntie away from us. Having Bugs that might be tracking us is bad enough; I don't want anybody or anything else chasing us." Ron stated. "I'd vote to do as Tik suggested. Let's try a few trades to see if we have what it takes and then make our decision."

Tik and Gus agreed and they sat down to discuss what they needed to do in the next nine days to get ready for Europaische. They listed the things for Auntie to place into memory. They needed to smelt the silver down and make small ingots. Tik needed to check out the weapons system on Auntie to see what weapons they had. She also needed to see what personal weapons the people on Europaische carried. Did they wear them openly and what were the rules? Ron would try to select some small, easily concealed weapons that they could carry. If the Europaischens carried swords, they would see about carrying swords but they would still carry some type of pistol. They were all too cautious to trust the other beings when they didn't know anything about them. There were other things but they decided they would do them as they had time.

Gus brought up the conservatory and what they should do with it. He told about Tik's suggestion to start with plants from Europaische. Gus asked about getting rid of the dead material that was already in there. Ron said that somewhere on Auntie the Alcantarans probably had a chipper/shredder. They could use the dead material to enrich the soil that was already in there. They decided to keep the voorwarp units on for now and concluded their meeting when Ron mentioned he was getting hungry. They all went to the upper galley. After they ate, they headed to bed again, ready for a new day and a new challenge.

## Chapter 9

The next morning Ron and Gus headed for the middle cargo bay to see about melting silver and making small bars out of it. They opened the door and looked at the pile of silver under the netting.

"How in the world are we going to smelt that? Will it stink up the rest of the ship?" Gus asked. "Once we get it melted, how do we make bars?"

"We can use the miners to melt it, just like we did to mine it. We just need something to hold it while we melt it. Too bad we don't have some gnomes to melt it down and pour it into molds for us." Ron answered.

"We do have someone that could hold it and pour. We have those robots we took from the Bugs." Gus declared excitedly.

"Yeah and we could set up a shield for them to work in. That would capture any smells or toxic gases that might be given off. You haven't refueled the robots yet, have you?" Ron joined in the excitement.

Gus shook his head no and Ron continued, "Why don't you go refuel them and I'll go look in the machine shop to see if there is something we can use for molds and something to melt the silver in."

Ron was headed for the machine shop when a thought struck him. Why not ask Auntie's computer if there were any melting pots or molds on board. Ron headed for a terminal and posed his questions. Auntie answered him with a door number where molds and melting equipment were stored. Ron headed to the room and opened it up. He stepped inside and saw rows of shelves with items neatly and securely stored. There were labels showing what shelf and row the items were on. Ron found a smelting pot that was almost three feet in diameter. It looked like pictures he had seen of a witch's cauldron. There was a heat source on it but he saw that it had no fuel for the heat. There was a shelf area on the bottom near the front of the pot to slide molds into and a lever to open a valve to allow liquid metal to fill the mold. This could be a lot handier than what they had planned. He looked on the shelves above the pot and saw stacks of several different sizes of ingot molds. He also saw some other molds that he reached up to check out. There were five different ones that were small figures of alien animals. There were five more of exotic alien birds. None of the figures would be more than four inches high when they were done but they sure were interesting. All of the figures came complete with a mount to stick into a base that would hold the figures. Ron remembered Kota talking about having 'eye candy' to help grease the wheels of trade on a lot of planets. Ron figured these were some of the 'eye candy'. If the ship had all of this equipment, they must have done the same thing they just did. Maybe they even had a supply of gold or silver already on board. Ron found some more molds that would make a hollow core statue. It looked like there would be two halves and they would have to be soldered or welded together. He didn't want to take the time to do anything like that now, so he left them where they were. Ron found fifteen tiny molds of exotic birds and animals that looked like they would make bracelet charms or trinkets. They were incredibly detailed for such small molds. He added 15 of the molds to the pile. He saw that he wasn't going to be able to carry all of this himself so he looked for something to put it in. He spotted a smaller version of the Bug's grav-sled. He went over to it and saw that it was dead. No power. There was a lot of helpful equipment in this ship but it was going to be a pain in the butt until they had more of it fueled up. Ron grabbed the grav-sled and pulled it out the door. He slowly moved it to the fueling station and hooked it up. He charged it up and then turned it on. It moved much easier now. He returned to the storeroom and pushed the grav-sled next to the smelting pot. He had to work at it but he finally got it loaded on the grav-sled. He piled a bunch of the molds in the pot and headed to the fueling station again. He was about finished with the fueling when Gus sent a thought asking if he had gotten lost or just fell asleep. Ron sent back the thought that he had to work a lot harder getting his items than Gus did. He finished fueling and moved his items up to the middle cargo bay.

Gus eyed him as he came up to the silver. Ron explained, "There's lots of equipment to make life easier but everything is empty. Anything you want to use has to be taken to the fueling center to be charged up. I did find some things here that will make this job a lot easier."

Gus picked up one of the molds for the figures and examined it before he asked, "What are these for? What can we do with such tiny figures?"

"Were you there when Kota was talking about 'eye candy'? That's what these are for. Some planets need a little gift to help the bureaucrats find the proper paper work or the right phone number. There won't be much silver in there but it's enough to impress some of the mid-level bureaucrats. We need to make 3 or 4 of each one to have on hand. I think we should do about a third of the silver that's left in these bigger bars. If the silver is like the lead I use to melt for bullets, there will be impurities on the top. Skim it off with this dipper and pour it into one of the larger molds. We can trade it as full of impurities and let it go for less than the others," Ron related. "Well, let's get started. Set up the shield over there and then have the robots start carrying silver there. I'll grab that bench over there so we have something to work on."

Gus started the robots and Ron picked up the work bench. They moved everything to the middle of the cargo bay and Gus activated the shield. Ron fired up the smelter and put some pieces of silver in it. It started smoking and stinking from the dust build-up of being unused. Shortly the smell lessened and the silver started to melt. Ron added some more and then grabbed a mold. Gus had never done anything like this, so he watched closely. Ron moved the lever and let silver pour into the mold. He held it for a few seconds and then dumped it back into the smelter. He moved the mold back under the spigot and moved the lever. He filled the mold and moved over to the bench. He waited a couple of minutes and then popped the mold open. The figure plopped down on the bench and Ron returned to the smelter. He filled the mold again and repeated the process at the work bench. He did that three more times before he set the mold aside. He indicated Gus should try his hand at it. Gus followed his steps and soon had a different figure lying on the work bench. Ron went to the bench and used a tool to move the figures around to check them out. He was looking for flaws. One of his figures had a void so he carried it back to the smelter. Gus did his five figures and Ron showed him how to check for flaws. Three of his figures had flaws so he dumped them back into the smelter and started over. Ron redid his and grabbed another mold. He and Gus alternated filling molds and dumping them as they kept adding raw silver to keep the optimum level. They would do five and then inspect them. Soon they had all the figures they needed.

"Gus, I think we can program the robots to fill these ingot molds. I don't know if I trust them to keep the pot filled to the right level though. Maybe after we watch them for awhile, I'll trust them a little more. If we have one robot making ingots, we should have the other one taking the finished ingot to the storeroom. Why don't you start that robot making ingots and I'll take the other one to program it for storing the silver," Ron said.

Ron went to another storeroom because he didn't want to move all of the raw silver before he could start stacking the ingots. He found a room with shelving and plenty of floor space underneath. He programmed the robot to bring the ingots and stack them on the floor. He designated how high and how large the stack should be. He told the robot to start and it began to move silver ingots.

Ron walked over and asked, "Do you need any more help, Gus? I want to go check out a couple more molds and then I want to check out the armory for weapons for us."

"Go ahead. There's nothing to this. I might even leave the robots and come to the armory a little later."

Ron went to the storeroom where he had found the molds. He looked through several more but didn't see any that he wanted to use right now. He went to the armory and started investigating weapons a lot more closely than they had the first time.

Tik remembered she hadn't started the remote sensor. She went to the computer and started programming what she wanted the sensor to do. The computer asked where she wanted to store the images. Tik was a little surprised because she had never thought about where to store images. She asked the computer if it had an image storage section and the computer said it did. Tik told the computer to store the images there and to start the remote sensor on its programmed job. Out of curiosity, she asked the computer to show her some of the images. The computer put a list on the monitor and Tik began to pick titles at random. There were pictures of galaxies and planets. Tik checked out these pictures for quite awhile before she moved on to another category. The next category had pictures of inhabitants, flora and fauna of different planets. Tik was fascinated and spent over an hour looking at these images. She found out that some of them were movies and she watched them. The inhabitants spoke in some of these and Tik discovered that she understood their speech.

Tik had been looking at the images for several hours when she came to a category entitled 'Training Films'. She selected that category and then the film on Sipida sword fighting. The movie started by showing the swords and proper care for them. The instructor was an alien-looking creature. It announced that the next segment would demonstrate proper techniques for these swords. When the segment started, Tik's jaw dropped. There was a Mis'stear fighting the Sipidan. Tik was so surprised she inadvertently sent a thought message to Ron and Gus. She was caught so off-guard that the message she sent was that she was sword fighting a Sipidan. She was spellbound as she watched the demonstration of the larger Sipidan fighting the Mis'stear. She was so engrossed in the training film she didn't realize anything was wrong until she heard the footsteps thundering down the passageway. Suddenly the door burst open and Ron ran in, sword in hand, followed shortly by Gus who had his ax/hammer drawn.

Tik jumped from her chair, ready to do battle. Ron and Gus stopped and looked around the room. Tik couldn't understand what their problem was and she had to look around the room to see if something had sneaked in while she was watching the video.

Ron, who was still a little out of breath, finally said, "Where is the Sipidan you were fighting? Are you all right?"

"What are you talking about? I've been in here watching this training video!" Tik declared huffily.

"Then what was that message you broadcast about sword fighting? I could see you fighting some creature just as plain as day," Ron remarked acidly.

"I saw it too," Gus attested.

"I don't know what's up with you two; but now that you're here, look at this. I found a bunch of training videos and there's a Mis'stear in it. I don't remember hearing any tales of Mis'stears being involved with the Alcantarans. It surprised me so much I must have broadcast thoughts without even knowing it. These voorwarp units must be a lot more sensitive than the translators," Tik said.

Ron turned to set the sword down on the comm console so Gus was the first to see the video. Ron turned quickly when he heard his sharp intake of breath. Gus was pointing at the video.

"That's not a Mis'stear! That's a Sandghost! Look -- it even looks a lot like me."

Ron rushed over to see what they were talking about. He expected to see Mis'stears and Sandghosts sword fighting. Instead he saw himself fighting a strange-looking creature that was a good six inches shorter than himself. Now that he was watching, he could even smell a strange scent. It wasn't terrible but it was definitely different.

"I don't know what you two see but I see myself fighting an alien creature. Can either of you smell something funny?" Ron asked.

The noise started as both of the other two tried to talk at the same time. Ron had to grin as he held up his hand. It seemed that each of them saw themselves in the video. The only constant was the Sipidan and the same swords. Ron asked Tik to try another one. She picked another one at random and started it. A large lizard-looking creature with a huge frill around its head was standing on two legs. It held a very long rapier in one hand and a dagger in the other. Each of the trio saw themselves fighting the creature. Gus and Ron were taller than the creature and as they called off moves, seemed to use almost the same moves. Tik was shorter and her moves were completely different. Ron asked her to switch to 3-D and play it in slow motion. At each move, they described what they were doing. Ron and Gus were slightly different with each move. Tik was radically different than both of them. Ron and Gus were watching and Ron almost got nicked in the video. Gus did get nicked and hollered as he grabbed his arm. There was no mark on his arm but he said it felt like he had been cut by the rapier.

Ron walked over and grabbed the sword. He went to the 3-D image and took the place of his image. He told Tik to leave it on slow motion and he tried to counter the sword swings and thrusts of the alien. When his sword met the others, he felt the clash of steel in his arm. When he missed one of the thrusts, the alien roared at him to keep his guard up. After a few minutes, Ron told Tik to halt the video.

"What did you two see?" Ron asked.

"When you were out there, we saw you fighting the alien. We heard him chew you out for missing that thrust too." Tik and Gus answered almost in unison.

"This is incredible. I could smell that creature's breath when we got close. It had a fishy smell. I could feel the sword when it clanged against the rapier."

Gus and Tik had to try it for themselves. They both reported the same sensation and being able to smell the alien. Tik got whacked by the rapier and she reported it stung like crazy. They stopped the video and looked at the list of others available. Tik found another section of movies. They looked at some of the titles and tried some of them. They had the same reaction as with the training videos. They all thought the hero or heroine looked like themselves and they could smell flowers or other scents in the scenes. Alien creatures stayed alien but some of the supporting actors were the same race as the watcher. They finally had to stop because they had other things to do. They all knew that this section of the computer would be worth a ton of money to researchers looking into the Alcantarans. They also knew that if they were to be Traders, they needed to learn some of the sword and knife-fighting techniques. Tik went back to checking out the weapons system. Gus went back to check on the robots working with the silver and Ron went back to the armory.

Ron walked into the armory and hung the sword back on the wall where he had grabbed it earlier. He was concentrating on some of the pistol-shaped weapons and was thinking 'I wish Auntie would tell me a little about these weapons'.

Suddenly a thought popped in his head, "Which ones would you like to know about?"

Ron whirled around to see if Tik or Gus were standing in the doorway. Then he realized that the thought was not from either of them. There was a different feel and he wasn't sure who this was in his head. He decided to see if it really was Auntie.

"Auntie, is that you?"

"Yes, which weapons would you like to know more about?"

"How can I hear you in my head?"

"Your voorwarp unit allows you to communicate with me directly."

"Wow, how far away can I hear you? Can you hear the same distance?"

"We can both hear the same distance. Usually it's about 5 or 6 miles, although I do recall one time that atmospheric conditions were just right and I could hear 10 miles."

"Who were you talking to then?"

"That is beyond your clearance. You need to insert the key to gain that knowledge."

"Where is the key?"

"23456G, 456665S, 33455.66M"

"What?"

"23456G, 456665S, 33455.66M"

"OK, skip it. Tell me about this weapon here." Ron said as he picked up the weapon.

He was examining it closely and Auntie was explaining how to operate it and some of its limitations when Gus came into the room. Ron was concentrating so hard on what Auntie was saying that he didn't hear Gus come in. When Gus stepped up beside him, he saw him out of the corner of his eye. He jumped and Gus chuckled.

"I think everybody is getting jumpy around here with all of the new things we are learning," Gus chuckled again.

"Oh yeah, Mr. Smarty. Hold this and think very carefully that you'd like Auntie to explain about it," Ron blurted.

Gus looked at the weapon and did as Ron had said. He jumped when Auntie started explaining about the weapon. Gus knew that he wasn't hearing the voice in the normal sense but was receiving the lesson through ESP.

"Now I see why you were concentrating so hard. When did you find out about this?" Gus said.

"I was just looking at the weapons on this wall when I thought it would be nice if Auntie would explain about them. Suddenly there she was in my head. She said it's from the voorwarp units. She also said that they have a range of 5 or 6 miles; sometimes, when things are just right, she can hear 10 miles. I asked who she had heard before and she said I needed the key for the next level. I asked where the key was and she gave me a string of numbers," Ron reported.

"These units keep surprising us, don't they? How long will it take before we discover all they'll do?" Gus asked.

"I don't know but they are incredible," Ron said.

They turned back to the weapons and discussed which would be better for each of them. Ron asked Auntie and she picked out a different weapon for each of the three of them. Ron picked them up and asked Auntie for directions on how to load them. She explained the procedure for each weapon to him and then Ron handed the larger weapon to Gus. They both walked to the fueling station and loaded all three weapons. Auntie directed them on how to set them for practice. She said that there was a target in the armory that needed fueling and then they could fire the weapons. Gus hurried to the armory to get the target. It was only about 10 inches in diameter and he wondered how they would hold it up. Auntie told him to fuel it. Gus did and the target took off and flew to the other end of the cargo bay. Suddenly the target grew until it was 3 feet across. Ron fired his weapon first and hit the right edge of the target. Auntie told him to hold it just a little to the left. He did as he fired again and hit more toward the middle but still too low. Gus stepped up to try then. His first shot went high and to the left. The next shots walked down closer to the bulls-eye. Ron tried the weapon intended for Tik. It felt small in his hands but he could still hit the target. He switched back to his weapon and they took turns shooting at the target. After they were comfortable with the weapons, the target began to shrink. After a few more shots, the target started moving. It moved pretty slowly for awhile but gradually increased the speed of its movement. The two grew tired of the practice and decided to check out a few more weapons.

Ron asked Auntie for suggestions for easily-concealed weapons. Auntie led them to two different weapons this time. She pointed out one type for Tik and a different one for the other two. They charged the weapons and tried them on the target. They didn't practice as long this time but were satisfied with their performance. When they checked the time, they were surprised to learn that is was suppertime and the day was almost gone. They told Auntie to put the target away. They went to the armory and found holsters for all the weapons and hooked them to their belts. Ron hid the smaller concealed weapons in his boot and Gus put his behind the crossing straps on his back. They headed to the comm room to find Tik to pry her away from the computer and then to head to the galley.

They gave Tik her weapons and told her they would let her practice tomorrow. They were so excited about the weapons that both Ron and Gus forgot to tell Tik about ESP communication with Auntie. They fixed something to eat and were talking about the weapons during the meal. Tik asked about one of the controls on her weapon and Ron didn't remember. Without thinking he 'told' Auntie by ESP to show a picture of Tik's weapon and explain it to her.

As soon as the 3-D image appeared, bedlam broke out. Tik leaped onto the table knocking the supper dishes onto the floor. She let out a scream of surprise before she whirled to face Ron. She saw the look of surprise on his face and whirled toward Gus. Gus was even more surprised because he had no idea that any of this was coming.

"All right, who did that? What's going on around here?" Tik demanded.

Ron and Gus looked bewildered and then they looked at each other. They broke out into a gale of laughter. They were laughing so hard, they couldn't even talk.

Tik was definitely peeved and said, "That was not funny, you two! You almost scared me to death and look what happened to our supper."

"Tik, I apologize. We're not laughing at you, just your reaction. We forgot to tell you about another amazing discovery we made this afternoon. The 3-D picture and the voice you heard in your head are all courtesy of Auntie. Apparently the voorwarp units allow us to communicate directly with Auntie. I didn't even think about not telling you when I asked Auntie to show you your weapon and explain a little about it. I'm sorry that I forgot to tell you," Ron said as he started to chuckle again. "I saw a cat touch an electric fence back on earth and that thing had the reactions of an old, old man compared to you."

Ron and Gus started to laugh again and Tik was starting to get upset until she realized where she was. She was sitting in the middle of the table in the middle of the mess that used to be their supper. Ron and Gus had food sitting in their lap and Tik thought of the surprised look on both of their faces when she had first moved. The more she thought of it, the funnier it got. Pretty soon she was laughing just as hard as the other two. They all joined in and cleaned the mess up. They fixed a little something more and finished their supper while they talked of their discoveries.

Ron thought of something and asked, "Gus, did you hear anything when I talked to Auntie?"

"No, I didn't hear anything and I had no idea what bit Tik to make her jump like that," Gus answered with a big grin as he thought about the earlier scene.

"I didn't hear anything either when you were talking to Auntie. Did either of you hear Auntie start explaining the weapon to me?" Tik asked.

They both shook their heads no. Ron said, "Let me try to direct something to Gus and Tik, you see if you can hear it." Ron directed a thought to Gus and Tik heard nothing. Ron then directed a thought to Tik and Gus heard nothing; but when directed to both, they both heard. They were learning a little more about the voorwarp units all the time. Gus went to check on the robots and shut them and the smelter down for the night.

The next morning they decided they all should spend some time studying the planet they were approaching. Gus started the robots on the silver before he came down to the lower level. They spent about an hour going over the planet's information and then Ron wanted to practice his flying. He had Auntie program the screens and controls in the lower cockpit for simulation. Gus and Tik decided to practice with the weapon system at the same time. They practiced for about a half hour and then everybody switched places. With only three people, everyone had to be able to do all the jobs. After another 45 minutes of practice, during which they switched one more time, they were ready for something else. They moved to the armory where they grabbed the target. Gus thought they should get two more so they could all practice at the same time. They had to help Tik at first. They had to show her how to properly hold the weapon and how to squeeze the trigger. Once she started practicing, she rapidly improved. All three of them seemed to have a natural talent with the weapons. After they had practiced for quite awhile, Ron thought they should start learning more about knife and sword fighting. He had Auntie set them up on a regular training schedule for that. They all agreed that what they had just done would be a good routine to get into while they traveled. Auntie set it up as a daily schedule for the rest of the flight to Europaische. The flight and weapons systems training became like a fast-paced video game and became less tiring as the days went by. The weapons training soon became a competition to see who could hit the most targets. They practiced with and without their shields up and with the targets popping up erratically and unexpectedly. They were getting pretty proficient with everything except the edged weapons by the time they arrived in Europaische's solar system. They were still learning the basics of the edged weapons and it would take longer to become proficient with them. They felt more comfortable with their knowledge of the planet too. The Bugs had kept detailed records of trades and about the inhabitants. They didn't know how current the information was but at least it was a place to start.

The silver was all done before they dropped out of hyper-space. Ron had found ten more molds of small figures that could have been bracelet charms. They made a bunch of those up for 'eye candy'. All the smelting gear had been put back into storage and the robots were secured. Ron and Gus had loaded more weapons in the armory while Tik had researched more about Auntie. They were all nervous about the upcoming meeting but were excited too.

Auntie dropped out of hyper-space outside of the solar system. Ron wanted a chance to actually fly before he tried to set down on an inhabited planet. Auntie found a small barren planet on the outer rim of the solar system where they all practiced landing and 'touch-and-goes'. Once they all felt confident of their abilities, they started in towards the planet. Tik thought they should drop a remote detector along their route; so about half way to the planet, they dropped the detector. They also sent out Kota's message again but they received no response.

They continued cruising toward the planet until they received a radio transmission asking who they were and what their intentions were. Ron answered them and told them they were the Galactic Antiquarian here to trade. The radio transmission directed them to the space port and where to park. Ron did the piloting and was super nervous landing on an inhabited planet for the first time. It was all worry for nothing because he set Auntie down like a feather, right on the designated spot. The radio directed them to the manager's office to fill out the necessary paper work and to get their trading permit. Auntie had been scanning the planet and said they could breathe the air with no problem. She said there were bacteria and viruses that could be harmful but none were close at hand. They would be able to move around the planet without space suits.

They had selected concealed weapons for this first meeting and had them hidden on their bodies. They had selected several of the smallest silver figures and a couple of the larger ones. Gus was carrying three ingots of silver in his personal pouch and Ron had one in his pocket. They had divided the silver figures between them so everyone was carrying a couple. They went to the rear exit on the bottom level and out of habit, cycled through the airlock.

As they stood in the airlock, they talked of how they felt. They were feeling nervous, excited, curious and ready to try this adventure.

Gus said, "It's been three years since I set foot on a planet. I wonder what the weather will feel like again."

Tik said, "Yeah, it's been 2-1/2 years for me. I wonder if they have flowers in bloom."

"I guess I'm the lucky one. It's only been two years for me but somehow I don't feel that lucky waiting that long," Ron sighed.

The airlock took in outside air and they started smelling a planet again. The cycle finished and the door swung open. A different sunshine than they were used to poured in the open door. This light had a bluish tint because the sun was a blue dwarf. There was a slight smell of nutmeg in the air and other fragrances, they couldn't identify. This level had stairs that they could walk down to the ground. When they were on the ground, they looked all around at their first alien planet. They had been watching the monitors as they landed and they knew there was a range of mountains to the north. A broad river meandered around the city they had landed near. The river continued across rolling plains that showed definite signs of agriculture. The space port sat in the middle of a temperate zone about the same as Kansas City in the United States. The alien city was in the middle of the land mass on this side of the planet. During their approach to the planet, they had seen oceans and another large land mass across the ocean to the east. The space port appeared to be 10 to 15 miles from the edge of the city. There were houses and businesses scattered along the road between the city and the space port. It had looked like there were boats on the river and there had been roads scattered across the landscape.

The trio looked around now and saw the mountains in the distance. There was some kind of large, tree-like blue fauna spaced on the edge of the space port. Under these trees were densely spaced blue bushes that appeared to be about 10 feet tall. If anything went through that hedge, it would have to be smaller than Tik by far. Whatever it was, it made an effective fence around the space port. As they walked toward the space port office, they felt the gentle breeze blowing in their faces. The space port itself was flat and looked like it was 300 or 400 acres. The area closest to the building had a hard smooth surface like concrete but a little different. Two or three hundred yards away from the buildings, the ground had a blue cover that resembled grass. It gave a strange but not unpleasant look. As they got closer to the building, they could see the hedge coming up to the edge of the building. There were small yellow and blue blooms scattered across the face of the hedge. There was a strong, sweet fragrance coming on the breeze from those blooms. Now that they were closer, they could see the large, sharp, brown thorns that were all over the branches on the hedge.

Ron thought of the air in Auntie and how stale it would seem now. He asked Auntie if she could cycle some of this air inside and refresh their air. She said she would get right on it and things would be freshened up by the time they returned.

The building was a one story building that spread out for three or four hundred feet. From where they stood, they couldn't tell how deep it was. The outside was a tan color with vivid blue, green and orange swirls and designs over the face. There was a large door in the middle of the building, so the trio headed there. There was a sign over the door written in a strange language. The trio was amazed that they could read it. It said:

### Wuensche National Space Port

We welcome all pleasant visitors.

We are here to serve you and to promote trade between the planets.

The trio stepped through the doors and looked around. Gus noticed that the doors were tall enough for him. He guessed they would even be tall enough for Kota to walk through without ducking. They were in a room that was at least a 100 feet by 100 feet. Passageways went off the center of the room in each direction. There was an exit door across the room and they could see more shrubs and trees outside. They had to walk through some sort of scanner as they entered the building. Once they were through the scanner, they faced a long counter that blocked the exit. The counter was reddish brown with the grain of the wood showing as a dark blue. There were three sections to the counter with openings between each section. Each opening had steps that led to the level behind the counter. The opening was blocked by an arm that was swung out of the way by a mechanical device. The counter was about four feet high and the section to the right had two steps in front of it. The middle section had one step. Ron led the way to the left section which had no steps. He figured they must have different sizes of space farers, so they were trying to accommodate them all.

As Ron stepped up to the counter, a creature came out of a room off to the left and walked over to the counter. The creature walked on short stout legs. Its body reminded Ron of a cartoon snowman. It looked like three balls stacked on top of one another with each ball getting smaller as it went up. It had two arms with six fingers and a thumb on each hand. The creature was wearing a miniature top hat that was set at a rakish angle. The hat was much too small for its head and Ron didn't see how it stayed on. The hat sat on top of short dark blue hair. The creature had big, round, yellow eyes and a sharp pointy nose. It had thick orange lips that were stretched into a big smile right now. Its skin was pale blue and the black suit it wore almost looked painted on. There were three bright green buttons on the suit jacket that caught the light and sparkled as the creature walked up to the counter.

"Hello. My name is Fu-Ni-Quc and I'm the space port manager. How may I help you, gentle creatures? Can you understand me or do I need to find a translator?"

"Hi, I'm Ron Calvin. This is Tik Michi and this is Gusissi Ugde Ghaolh. We understand fine. Our translators seem to understand your language just fine. We had a radio transmission that said we needed to check in with the manager, so here we are. We'd like to see if we could do some trading here."

"Oh my, we welcome trade. Do you have any idea what you want to trade for? How long will you be staying with us?" Fu-Ni-Quc said in a musical pleasant voice.

"Well, we have no idea how long it will take to conduct a trade, so we don't know how long we will stay. We know we want to trade for some food supplies for ourselves; but beyond that, we would like to see some of what you have available." Ron answered.

"Right now, we can't help you if you need fuel; unfortunately, we are at war with a neighboring country and we are not allowed to sell any fuel." Fu said as he started filling out some forms.

"We're fine on fuel. What type of fuel do you normally offer?" Ron asked.

"We usually have three grades of fusionable material but everything is going to the war effort right now."

"Gee, that's too bad. I hate to hear of any country at war. It's always so hard on the citizens and soldiers."

"I know. There are some shortages but, luckily, food isn't one of them. Where did you say you gentle creatures were from?"

Ron broadcast a thought to Tik and Gus, "What should I tell him?"

Tik mentally answered, "Just say your home planet. You'll know more details about that and won't have to make things up."

Ron answered, "We're from Earth over in the Milky Way galaxy."

Fu filled in some more of the form and said, "We have a landing fee of 1000 rudia or 10 Charter Alliance credits plus a parking fee of 100 rudia or 1 credit per day. How would you like to handle that?"

"We're not members of the Alliance yet, so right now, all we've got is some silver to trade. Is there somewhere we could trade some silver for the local currency?" Ron said as he pulled a silver ingot out of his pocket.

Fu pulled a communication device out of his pocket as he said, "We have a representative from the banking industry on site. He can do an exchange for you. Excuse me a moment while I contact him."

Fu talked on the comm device for a few minutes and shortly another creature appeared. This one was a thinner copy of Fu without the hat and seemed to be a little older. The creature walked up to the counter and said, "Hello, my name is Glueck and I understand from Fu here that you have some silver to exchange."

"Yes, we have a few more like this. We'd like to see how they exchange for your rudia," Ron said as he showed the ingot to the creature.

Ron could sense the excitement in the creature. Evidently silver was highly sought after here. He forced himself to keep a poker face so he didn't reveal that he could read their emotions.

Glueck said, "I'm afraid your companions will have to wait here but I'd like you to accompany me to my work area. I need to test this ingot, and no offence intended, but I have rules to follow."

"No offence taken. If I had a stranger show up with silver ingots, I'd want to make sure it was silver all the way through," Ron answered.

Glueck led the way down the hall to a room on the right. When they entered the room, Ron saw a bench with scales and other equipment on its surface. Glueck went directly to the bench. He weighed the ingot. Then he took a drill and drilled three very small holes in the ingot. He took the filings that came out and put them under a small machine that sat on the bench. He turned a dial and pushed a button. In just a few moments there was a reading on the machine's screen. It read .999. Glueck got even more excited at the reading but Ron could tell he was trying to hide the excitement.

Glueck turned and said, "This is very pure. My scale shows it weighs 100 ounces. We would be interested in exchanging this for rudia. How much of it would you be exchanging?"

"I don't know for sure. I know that we'll have to do at least one just to pay the landing fee but I need to find out what the exchange rate is. Also I need to find out how much your goods would cost. If a good breakfast meal costs 100,000 rudia and this silver is only worth 100 rudia, then we won't be exchanging much," Ron hedged until he knew the rate. "Also, I would need to know if there is a fee to exchange the silver."

"Well, I can tell you we will offer you 30,000 rudia for this ingot and there would be no fee for doing it. A good breakfast can be had in the city for 8 or 9 rudia."

"In that case, for right now we need to exchange two of the ingots. My partner Gus has another one here in the building if you have the rudias to exchange for it. Shall we take that ingot and go get the other one?"

Glueck grabbed the ingot like he was afraid he was going to lose it. They went to the counter and Ron asked Gus for another ingot. He had been broadcasting what was happening so Gus was ready. Ron took the ingot and they returned to the testing room. Glueck went through the same procedure and was even more excited when he saw the same reading. He picked up the silver filings and placed them in a small bottle. He grabbed the bottle and both ingots and then he led Ron into another room that had a fancy desk made of the same wood as the counter. The rim of the desk had flowers and some kind of bird carved around the entire rim that Ron could see. Glueck pushed a spot on the desk and a smaller, younger creature came into the room. Glueck told him to get 60,000 rudia out of the safe and bring it in to them. Glueck filled out some forms and asked Ron to sign one of them. Ron saw that it was a simple form stating that he had exchanged 200 ounces of silver for 60,000 rudia. He signed it as Glueck's helper brought the money into the room. Glueck gave the money to Ron and then bowed as he thanked him for doing business with them. Ron thanked him and walked back outside to the counter.

Ron gave Fu 1700 rudia. He told him that he would like to pay for a weeks parking and then see how much longer it would take to make a trade.

"I'll get you a receipt. Do you wish to get a trading permit now?" Fu asked.

"Do we need a permit to look around and see if you have anything we need to trade for? How much is the permit and how long will it take to get it?"

Tik was getting impatient to get out and look around. Ron and Gus both were broadcasting for her to chill out. They had to follow procedure here or they might wind up with trouble and wouldn't get their food supplies. She settled down but still wasn't happy.

"The permit is 100 rudia and it usually takes two to three days. You are welcome to look around our city but would really need the permit to check out trade goods." Fu replied.

"In that case, we'd better have the permit. I have money in my pocket and if I see something I really need, it might burn a hole in my pocket," Ron said with a grin.

Fu returned the grin and started filling out the paper work. He asked what the name of the space ship was and where they were from. When he asked for a company name, Ron told him RTG Traders. Fu finished the paper work and had Ron sign it. Ron gave him 100 rudia and Fu gave him a receipt for both the permit and the landing/parking fee.

Ron casually asked, "Do you ever moonlight as a consultant or do you know a consultant? We need someone to help us with the local customs. I'd sure hate to offer to shake hands as a friend and find out that's an offer to fight here."

"Why, I've never been asked to consult before. I try to answer questions here and point space travelers in the right direction. I don't know...." Fu stammered.

"That's all right. We wouldn't want you to break any rules or regulations. We just need a consultant or guide. We just figured if you had worked here very long, you would know the right and wrong way to get things done," Ron stated soothingly.

"Well, I have worked here for 10 years and I do have 3 or 4 personal days coming that I could use. If I were to consult, how long would you need me and exactly what would you expect me to do?" Fu asked nervously.

"We definitely don't want you to do anything illegal or immoral. If we ask something that fits in those categories here, we would expect... no, demand that you tell us we shouldn't do that. We need someone to show us around and to make sure we aren't insulting the local people. Our company insists that we be model citizens," Ron declared emphatically.

"In that case, I could help you out. I'll be through here in two hours and we could start then. I must warn you though, that I don't frequent those dives east of here that most of the space travelers go to. I wouldn't know anything about them," Fu asserted.

"We're not looking for that type of place. We would rather go to some place you would take your family. Do you have a family?" Ron said.

"Oh yes. I have a wife and two sons. Here is a picture," said Fu as he pulled the pictures up on his comm unit and showed them to the trio.

Ron said brightly, "I have an idea, if it doesn't offend you. Why don't you call them and we could all go to eat supper. It would be our treat."

Fu was almost flabbergasted. He said, "My family has always wanted to meet a space traveler. I have told them about the ones that have come through here and have even sneaked a picture but they have never been close to any of them. Let me call to see if the wife had anything planned."

While Fu called his wife, the trio was trading thoughts.

"That's laying it on pretty thick, isn't it?" Tik asked Ron.

"No, he'll be able to keep us out of trouble with the locals and I'll bet the paper work will zip right through. Besides, if we ever come back this way again, we'll go to the head of the line, as far as he will be concerned," Ron tossed back.

"I agree with Ron. I'm scared to death that I'll do something taboo and all the local population will be after us. We need to get those food supplies and this is one way to test our trading skills. I know when we dealt with the Jiangau back home; we always tried to be extra polite with them. We never had any trouble and always got a good deal. Some of the other Sandghost groups were pretty rough with them and they had to double-check every deal they made. The Jiangau didn't really cheat them but they drove a very hard bargain," Gus declared.

Fu came back and said his family was ecstatic about meeting them and would gladly accept their invitation. He was to pick them up right after he got off of work. The trio saw that a thought crossed his mind.

"I have a small vehicle. How will we get you to the eating place?"

"Do you have taxies here or other vehicles for hire with drivers?" Gus asked.

"Yes, there are vehicles with drivers who take space travelers around. They are larger vehicles that will haul persons of your proportions," Fu cried excitedly.

"Well, if you can call one for us, we'll meet you at the eating place. We'd like to look around your city anyway and this will be the perfect excuse," Ron said.

Fu called the driver, who told him he would be there in 10 minutes. He gave them a slip of paper with the eating establishment's name and address and then Fu excused himself to go finish the paper work so the trio moved out the front of the building. Ron divided the money and gave each of them a third. After the landing fee, parking fee and permit, they each still had almost 20,000 rudia. They still didn't know if they were rich or how they would fare for prices but Ron had the feeling that they had a lot of money.

The driver arrived in 10 minutes as he said he would. Ron checked on the price and was satisfied with the charge. They loaded in the vehicle and the driver started up. He started to turn east but Tik stopped him. She directed him toward the city. She explained that they wanted to see some of the sights in town and that they were meeting someone. She handed him the slip of paper and asked if he knew where that was. He did and he took off for town. They plied him with questions and he gladly answered and volunteered information about the different buildings on the way into town. He gave a guided tour of the local points of interest. He went into a history of the area, which the trio knew in general but their guide filled in a lot of blanks. Ron asked if he was booked for the rest of the week and the driver said he was open. Ron hired him for the rest of the week to drive them around. The driver dropped them off early at the eating place and Ron told him they would need him later when they were finished eating. The driver gave him a phone number to call but said he was just going to wait in the parking lot. Ron asked if he needed to eat and the driver said he had brought a meal. Right now, they wanted to walk around a little bit before they met with their appointment. The entire trio was impressed with how clean the city was and how friendly the people were. The buildings all seemed to be four stories or less and were painted in pastel colors. There were lots of shrubs, flowers and trees even in the downtown area. The trio all agreed that it felt good to walk on solid ground with the sun shining on their faces. They noticed that some of the people stared at them but were very polite about it. Tik saw that it was getting close to time to meet Fu so they returned to the eating place. As they walked up, Fu and his family were just getting ready to enter the building. Fu introduced all of them and only had to struggle a little with Gus' name. Gus told them to just call him Gus because it was much simpler and he might not recognize his full name anymore. The Fu family laughed and led the way into the building. Gus had to duck to get in the door and then had to watch his head inside. The ceilings were only seven and a half feet tall. Lights and other fixtures were right at head height for him. The eating place had two special chairs for Ron and Gus to sit in. They were larger and much sturdier than the other chairs in the room.

Fu's boys were miniature copies of their dad \-- right down to the funny little hat. The only difference was that the boys wore a dark blue suit whereas their dad wore black. When they sat down to order, the trio had to ask what all the menu items were. Fu explained what the different dishes were and Gus asked how big the portions were. Fu told him and Gus decided to order two entrees. Ron sat next to Fu's youngest son and soon started entertaining him with sleight-of-hand tricks. The family had never seen anything like it and was delighted. Ron knew he wasn't very good but it was fun amazing the family. Other patrons sitting around were watching and enjoying the show as much as the Fu family. Fu's boys wanted to hear about their space ship and their home planets. Tik made a deal with them. They would tell two stories and then the family had to tell one. The trio wanted to learn about Europaische and the inhabitants too. Tik told the boys that their space ship was named the Galactic Antiquarian but they just called her Auntie. The trio kept quiet about escaping from the Bugs and all of the special equipment on the lower level. They did tell about finding the asteroid and mining the silver but skipped the part about getting fuel from the blue super-giant. Ron noticed that when they were telling stories about Auntie or their home planets, the conversation at tables near them died out. Those patrons were listening just as intently as the Fu family. The food arrived during one of the stories and the aroma brought the story to a halt. After eating the slop the Bugs had provided and the plain fare on Auntie, the food was heavenly. The trio savored each bite. The Fu family could tell they were enjoying the meal and were delighted that they had been a part of bringing the trio here. As the meal progressed and the trio wasn't so absorbed in eating, the stories started again. Ron had an idea and broadcast it to the other two. He took out a small silver bird and presented it to the youngest son. Gus gave a silver animal to the oldest son and Tik gave another silver bird to Fu's wife. The family protested that they couldn't accept such rich gifts but the trio insisted. They said that anybody who introduced them to food fit for the gods deserved a lot more than these little trinkets. Ron gave a small six legged silver animal to Fu. The trio didn't realize that those little trinkets were worth thousands and thousands of rudia because they were from space travelers. Those four little trinkets were worth two to three times what Fu made annually. The entire trio did notice the buzz of interest from the other patrons in the eating establishment. Everyone wanted a closer look at those trinkets. The waitress was at their table a lot, not so much for service but so she could hear the stories and then to see the trinkets.

The trio debated by thought most of the evening about inviting the family into Auntie. They knew they couldn't allow them to see the lower level but would it hurt if they saw the upper level? What about the middle cargo bay? They didn't think anyone should see the conservatory or a lot of the other rooms right now. They decided that they could invite them to see the upper area. Ron asked if the family would like to see the inside of Auntie. He asked Fu if that would be against any rules or regulations and Fu said it was permitted but he had never heard of anyone in his ten years of service getting to do it. The boys were ready to go right then but Ron told them that they needed to clean up their rooms first. He told them that they had wanted to get on the planet so bad, they left everything a mess. They arranged the tour for three days from now. The boys had school for the next two days but would be off on the third. The trio could see out of the corner of their eyes that it wouldn't take much and the entire population of the eating establishment would volunteer to escort the family on the tour of the space ship. The trio was surprised by the interest.

The boys started talking about the friends at school who they were going to tell their story to tomorrow. They asked their parents if they could take the silver trinkets to school to show their friends and teachers. Mrs. Fu said she would have to go to school with them if they did. Gus started asking questions about the school and what subjects they taught. He asked what the classrooms were like and the boys said he should come to see for himself. Gus said he would if Fu could arrange it with the school authorities. The boys instantly started pleading with him to set it up. Fu said he would try to arrange it for the day after tomorrow. Ron had to grin as he saw the reaction from the tables around them. He wondered how many parents and grandparents were going to find a need to visit their family's school on that day. Fu announced that tomorrow was a school day so he needed to get the boys home. There were groans from their side of the table until Tik reminded them that they would be seeing them at school the in two days and at Auntie the day after that. If their dad decided they hadn't behaved enough to visit Auntie, the trio would have to back him up. The groans stopped immediately and the boys politely thanked them for the silver trinkets and all of the stories.

The waitress brought the check and Ron paid it, as well as a generous tip. The waitress acted like she didn't know what a tip was and Fu explained that their culture didn't do that. Ron took the money back but gave her a silver trinket. He said his culture tried to show their appreciation for a job well done. The waitress was on cloud nine with the gift. Ron could see that they were going to have to make a lot more of these. Small things like this didn't cost them a great deal but paid big dividends as gifts. The trio arranged to meet Fu early in the morning to start touring the countryside and figuring out something to trade. They told him that they had hired the driver and vehicle for the rest of the week and he could ride with them. He said he would meet them at the space port.

Everyone got up to leave and Gus forgot about the low ceilings. He bumped into the light fixture and the boys giggled until their father glared at them sternly. The trio tried hard to suppress their grins but it was no use. They chuckled and soon the boys were giggling again. They went outside and the Fu family got into their vehicle and drove off. The trio went to their hired vehicle and told the driver to take them back to the space port.

## Chapter 10

The trio arrived back at the space port and went through the doors to get to Auntie. They walked up the stairs and stepped into the airlock. Auntie had opened the airlock and they didn't have to wait. The faint metal odor struck them as they stepped in the door. Auntie had been changing the air inside but it still hadn't erased the older odor from long ages of sitting empty. It wasn't a terrible odor but after the freshness of open air, it was hard to go back inside.

"Ugh... I was just getting used to fresh air and sunshine," Tik said.

"I know. The smell of those flowers was delightful," Ron quickly agreed. "It's hard to go back inside. When I was on Earth, we used to camp out under the stars but I'll bet they would frown on that here at the space port."

"Too bad Auntie couldn't pull in some of this air and direct it to our sleeping quarters. It'd be nice if she could vary the lighting during the day too. Maybe we should add some UV lights in the places where we spend a lot of time to mimic sunshine," Gus stated.

"Oh, but I can do that. I did that long ago with some of my other crews," Auntie broadcast. "I just didn't realize that you wanted something like that."

"Well, for tonight pipe, the outside air into here and when we get ready for bed, dim the lights. Tomorrow you can wake us to simulated sunshine," Gus ordered.

"Yeah, too bad we couldn't hire that chef from tonight to be out here in the morning to cook our breakfast. You know, that it's going to be really tough to choke down our usual breakfast after that scrumptious meal we had tonight!" Ron dreamed out loud.

Both of the others agreed. They sat down at the galley table to recount what they had learned that day. They made a plan of what they wanted for tomorrow as well. Ron brought up that the small trinkets had been such a hit that they might have to make more of them tomorrow. Gus said he would set things up with Auntie right away. He asked how many trinkets Ron wanted and which ones. Ron said he would have to look at what they had again and they all decided to go look at them right then. None of them were really sleepy and besides, it was earlier than they had normally been going to bed.

They went to the storeroom and looked the shelves over carefully. They discovered ten more molds of different figures of the trinket size. They picked up the ones they had used before and decided to make at least five of each of those and the new ones. They laid all of the molds on a bench beside the door. Auntie acknowledged that she understood and she would direct the robots tomorrow. They told her to use the ingots that had zinc mixed in with the silver first and then start with the larger ingots. Auntie replied that the mixed ingots would be more than enough to do the figures they wanted.

Since they weren't sleepy, they had a shooting competition. They moved the miners out on the cargo deck and set the targets for only about four inches in diameter. They directed Auntie to move the targets in and around the miners and other items in the cargo bay. They decided to walk to the rear of the bay and back to the front as they shot at targets. Auntie suggested that she make one target a deep blue and they would lose points if they hit it. The trio agreed and they started their competition. The competition was spirited and lively. They all hit some of the blue targets at first but by the time they walked back, they didn't fire at them. Tik won by two points, so she was really rubbing it in. They decided they had better go to bed because they wanted to be fresh in the morning. Auntie put the targets away and reminded the trio to check the charge on their weapons. They were a little over half and thought that would be enough but Auntie insisted they completely recharge them. They followed her advice and went to bed.

The next morning they got up and could only eat about half of what they normally did. The meal last night had ruined them. They rounded up some more trinkets and two more ingots of silver. They were early for their appointment with Fu but they just walked around outside basking in the fresh air and sunshine. It seemed they had landed in the middle of summer and the weather was pure joy for someone who had been cooped up in an unchanging climate for two or three years.

Fu arrived a few minutes before their hired vehicle. He asked what they wanted to see today and the trio told him they would like to see some of the country and the business district where goods were sold. They said they might spot something they might want to trade for when their permit came through.

The driver pulled up and asked where they wanted to head today. Fu told him they were going to tour some of the country and then back into the city. Ron saw the driver hesitate and ask Fu how far into the country. The driver and Fu had a short conversation and Ron could see there was a problem.

Fu approached the trio and said, "The driver says he has a problem if we need to travel very far into the country. He has used his fuel allotment and won't get another for six more days. He suggested we look around the city today and he could take you into the country after he gets his fuel allotment."

"Does this have to do with the war your country is involved in right now? What sort of fuel does he use?" Ron asked.

"Yes, because of the war, some items are rationed and fuel is one of them. His vehicle uses fusionable material which is in very short supply." Fu answered.

"Here is where you earn your consulting fee. By the way, we haven't discussed how much it should be. Would 10,000 rudia be enough for the next week?" Ron asked.

The trio thought poor Fu was going to drop to the ground. He looked like Ron had hit him right in the solar plexus. He turned pale, his eyes widened and he was gasping for breath.

"What's the matter? Isn't that enough?" Ron asked with great concern.

"No, No, that's not it. I thought the little silver image you gave me last night was my fee. You are offering me more than my annual salary and I couldn't take that for just a week's work," Fu gasped.

"Nonsense! Just look, you've already saved us from making a mistake and spending way more than we need to. The silver image was a gift and doesn't count as any part of your fee." Ron snorted. "Now, a question for you, Mr. Consultant. Can we get this vehicle out near our space ship? Can we legally and morally give this driver some of our fuel?"

"Yes, we can get the vehicle out there. We have vehicles deliver goods to space ships all the time. I don't know about giving him fuel. I don't know how that will affect his allotment. Let me go inside to my computer to check," Fu stammered.

He rushed into the building and was gone about 10 minutes. He came back outside and told Ron that the driver would keep his allotment and would actually be awarded a cash bonus for conserving fuel. Ron told him to direct the driver to their space ship and they would meet them there. He broadcast what was going on to the other two and they headed for Auntie.

The driver pulled up next to Auntie and they asked him to show them how he fueled his vehicle. He showed them the fitting and Gus said he could make their fuel transfer system work with his vehicle. Gus made the transfer, giving the driver about the same amount of fuel that he gave the robots. They closed everything up and climbed into the vehicle. The driver climbed in and suddenly he had the same shocked look that Fu had earlier. It seems Gus had given him a six month supply of fuel.

They were ready to tour the country and Fu directed the driver. He took them out to where fields of grain were growing. They drove past orchards with fruit and other fields with all sorts of vegetables. Fu and the driver explained some of the history of the countryside and told about the different uses for a lot of the food. They saw some animals at a distance and the two Europaischens told how they were raised and used. About noon they came to a small diner beside the road. Gus said that his breakfast hadn't lasted and wondered if they could stop to eat. At first the driver wasn't going to go in but the trio insisted, so they all went in to eat. They had to have the two Europaischens explain the menu again. They picked out some different dishes and loved what they were eating. Gus broadcast that they were eating in town tonight. He wasn't eating any more on the space ship until he had to.

After lunch they headed back into town. As they were going down the road, Fu got a call on his phone. He reported that he had just received word that their permit had been issued and they could trade now at any time. Ron broadcast to Tik and Gus, "See, I told you it would help our cause to be nice to Fu." They hadn't traveled very far when they saw a crowd of people at a farm house. The trio asked the driver to slow down and they asked Fu what was going on. He said that it was a sale. He said some of the families had sales like this to get rid of excess equipment and to make a little money for the household. He mentioned that sometimes you found real bargains at these sales.

The trio asked the driver to stop and they all climbed out. As they walked up to the sale, the trio could see they were generating some excitement among the other shoppers. There were rows of items under a canopy that was set in the yard. Some of the items were on tables and some just stood by themselves. They looked at some of the clothing lying on one of the tables but knew that none of it would fit Ron and Gus. Some of it might be altered for Tik but she didn't think it would be worth the effort. Ron and Gus liked the feel of the material and said they needed to get some of the material for Auntie to make clothes for them.

Suddenly Gus spotted some robots and pointed them out to the others. They walked over to examine them. Two of them were some sort of agriculture workers. They had arms that were detachable and there was a bunch of arms lying on the grass beside them. Gus examined the different arms and asked about their uses. Neither Fu nor the driver was sure what they were used for. Fu went to find someone from the family to give an explanation. He returned shortly with the man of the house. The man explained that these were agriculture helpers. The interchangeable arms allowed the robots to till the soil, plant things, tend to them, and harvest the vegetables. There were also arms there for working with fruit trees and they could keep the grass down in the orchards. He had just bought two newer models and the dealer wouldn't give him even scrap prices for these. Tik asked for a demonstration and the man said it would have to be limited because they had removed most of the fuel. He did show them how to change arms and said the robots could change their own arms if they were programmed right. Tik asked several technical questions and then looked at Gus. They both broadcast to Ron, "BUY THESE! We need them in the conservatory." Ron was grinning because he could also see the possibilities.

There was another robot standing beside the Ag workers and they asked about it. This robot was six and a half feet tall and sat on a set of tracks. The body could rotate 360 degrees on the tracks. The man said that the body would also pivot on the tracks to keep it vertical, even if going up stairs or an incline. The lower body was cone shaped and tapered to a cylinder shape about where the waist should be. The bottom of the cone was around three feet in diameter and tapered to two feet in diameter at the cylinder. The cone was 3 1/2 feet high and the cylinder was about 18 inches high. There was storage space in the cone where the robot kept a short broom and mop. There was also storage for kitchen utensils like spatulas, spoons, measuring cups and knives. The upper cylinder was flexible, allowing the robot to twist and bend. The robot had four arms, two of which were telescopic. They could extend out to reach things in high or low places and were used with the short broom and mop. The body was topped with a very small head that sat on a short neck. This allowed the head to swivel just like a human head. The robot had two eyes and a mouth. The man of the house explained that this robot was a chef and housekeeper. He explained about the meals the robot could cook and the trio's mouths started watering at just the description of the meals. The man said that the robot could even make up its own menus and would purchase all the ingredients. The man talked at length so long about all of the robot's qualities and abilities that the trio started to suspect all was not right with the robot. Finally the man got around to that part. The robot was fairly new but had one glaring flaw. It would be talking and then, all of the sudden, it would start talking gibberish. As soon as it was through with the gibberish, it would continue the conversation. He had taken it back to the dealer until the dealer refused to do any more with it. The man said they had finally bought another used chef, because they needed help around the house when they got busy with the farm and the gibberish was driving them crazy. He said the local stores sometimes got upset because the robot would start talking gibberish when it was purchasing food. Tik asked if he had all of the manuals for this robot and the two Ag workers. He said he did and Tik asked how much he wanted for the three robots. He said he wanted 200 rudia for each of the Ag workers and would like to get 100 rudia for the chef. They thanked the man and said they needed to talk to their consultant. The man walked away and the trio turned to Fu.

The trio looked at him and asked, "Are these prices within reason?"

Fu replied, "I really don't know. I've never invested in anything like this."

The driver piped up, "I have a friend that sometimes deals in used robots. I'll call him to check."

He called his friend and described the three robots. He told him about the defect and waited while his friend did some figuring. He listened for a little bit and then told them that his friend said all three together were only worth about 350 rudia. He said the chef model was one that had a history of problems. Not all of that model had problems but when they did, the factory had not figured out how to fix it. One of the other problems they had was that the robot became overly protective. Sometimes the robot would not let what it considered 'questionable characters' near the owners.

The trio was in unison when they broadcast, "BUY". They asked Fu to bargain for them and said they would pay the suggested 350 rudia. Fu asked how they were going to get the robots back to the space ship. Ron asked him if they could fly a small fliter out here to pick them up. Fu asked what a fliter was and Ron explained. Fu said it would be acceptable. He called the man back over and they haggled for a few minutes. The man finally accepted their offer and Tik paid out of her money since she hadn't bought anything yet. The man gave her the manuals and the trio arranged to pick up the robots later that afternoon. Ron broadcast to Auntie to see if she could hear and she answered loud and clear. He told her to mark the coordinates where they were currently at because they needed to return there later today. Auntie said it was done.

They walked around a little more but didn't see anything they wanted so they decided to move on. They climbed into the vehicle and headed into the city. They hadn't traveled very far before it hit Ron that they were a lot further than 10 miles from the space port.

He looked at his pals and asked, "How far do you think we are from the space port?"

Gus guessed, "I'd say about 60 or 70 miles. Why?"

"I just talked to Auntie and I could hear her loud and clear. When she first started communicating with us, she told me her range was 5 or 6 miles with an occasional 10 miles if everything was just right. Sixty or seventy miles is way beyond that range. How in the world is she doing it?"

Tik suggested, "Why don't you just ask?"

Ron broadcast to Auntie and the other two, "Auntie, by the way, we're 60 or 70 miles from the space port..."

"67.8 miles to be exact and you're moving closer," Auntie interrupted.

"If it's that far, how in the world are we communicating?" Ron demanded.

"I just followed standard procedure with my former crew and launched a couple of remote sensors when you left yesterday and again this morning. I can use them for relays to extend my range. It also gives me a real-time position if you should run into trouble," Auntie responded to the trio.

"Thanks, Auntie," Ron said as he looked at the other two. What had her former crew been up to that they wanted someone to know where they were all the time?

They didn't have much time to delve into the question as they were approaching the area of the space port. They were concentrating on the different businesses and what they dealt in. Some of them were bars and neither Fu nor the driver had any good thing to say about them. It seems a lot of the space travelers frequented those places when they landed. Tik noticed a grocery store and made a comment about it. Fu and the driver responded that most of their merchandise was all right but, since they dealt with the space travelers so much, their prices were higher than most of the other grocery stores in town. They continued on to the business district and the trio sent messages back for Auntie to make note about the different opportunities they saw. Later, when they were back in the ship, they would check those items against items traded to other planets. They drove by the driver's friend's place and saw that he had several used robots at the present time. By the time they reached the end of the business district, the trio was getting antsy. They had several ideas and they kept thinking about the robots they had purchased. They were getting more and more anxious to get back there to bring them to the space ship. Finally, they told Fu and the driver they should go pick up the robots. They thanked them for the wonderful day and said they would continue tomorrow. The driver dropped Fu and the trio off at the space port. He was anxious to get home to tell his family that he now had a six month fuel supply and he was chauffeuring space travelers around the countryside. Fu was anxious to get home to tell his family how much he would be making for his week of consulting. He was also going to tell the story of the space travelers buying the broken robot.

The trio rushed through the space port terminal and into Auntie. They told Auntie to be ready to open the rear door as soon as they had the fliter fueled up. It didn't take Gus long to get the fuel in and Ron jumped into the pilot's seat. The other two climbed onto the platform in the rear and hung on. Ron lifted off and flew out the door. Gus glanced back and saw that Auntie had closed the door as soon as they were clear. They were almost at the farm house when the alarm came.

Auntie let them know that the remote detector had picked up a space ship on the way in to the planet. It was still too far away to identify any details so she would keep them informed. Tik asked how long before the space ship would reach the planet. Auntie told her that it would be about seven days at the present speed.

The trio was kicking ideas around the entire time that it took to complete the trip and land. They dropped the discussion as they concentrated on loading the robots and accessories. The man of the house came out to give them a hand. He was eyeing the fliter because he had never seen anything like it. He asked how much it would haul and what it would cost. The trio got the distinct feeling that he would buy it if it were for sale and in his price range. They told him that the fliter came with the space ship and they really didn't know how much it would cost. They told him the fliter would lift more than they could stack on the platform. They explained that it was mainly used to move cargo between space ships while they were in space. The man of the house apologized for not leaving more fuel in the robots but Ron assured him that they would get by. The man told them that the housekeeper robot was a Dolores model. He said the Ag workers were FarmerDell types. He told them some tips on maintaining the Ag workers but said the Dolores model was pretty self-sufficient. The trio thanked him and piled onto the fliter. They were more anxious than ever to get back to the ship and to get these robots refueled. In a short while they were flying in the rear door of Auntie. For the time being, they secured the fliter and accessories where they were. Auntie had reminded them to secure everything as they flew in. Her warning brought back the threat that was coming. They asked if she had any new updates and Auntie replied, "No." There was just enough fuel to get the robots to the fueling station on that level. Gus fueled them and Tik started checking out their programming. She was concentrating on Dolores first. She found out it was pretty simple and with Auntie's help she soon had Dolores turned on. Gus secured the Ag workers while Ron and Tik took Dolores to the upper galley. Tik walked her through the workings of the kitchen and showed her their store of supplies. Dolores used one of her hands to reach inside each container and put a little of the ingredients in her mouth. She would hum for just a little bit and then go to the next container. When she had sampled everything they had, she stopped and quietly hummed for several minutes.

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.

They arrived at the robot lot and everybody climbed out of the vehicle. The driver introduced them to his friend and the trio started looking around. The man had about 30 robots sitting there. There were ones to act as laborers moving heavy items around, ones like the Ag workers they had just bought and several other categories. All of these robots were much more refined than the two they had appropriated from the Bugs. Those two might have been some the Bugs had tried to make off of the process they had stolen. Gus found two that were more suited for helping refuel and loading goods. He checked and they could also be programmed to secure items on the space ship. Several of the robots had interchangeable arms or other equipment to make them multi-faceted. Five of the robots were almost new and most of them had manuals with them. The newer robots could take several different accessories but the owner didn't have any of the accessories on hand. Ron asked the owner about spare parts, as well as the accessories, and he replied that he had some spare parts and could get more in just a short time. The accessories would all be new and would take two days.

Tik looked in an open door of a building that sat on the lot with the robots. She saw several robots in there with parts missing. She asked about them and the owner said two were being repaired and the others were damaged or too old to be repaired, consequently they were using them for parts. Tik asked if he needed any specialty tools to work on the robots. The owner told her about the tools she would need to work on the robots. Gus went to the two that he was interested in and asked what parts usually wore out on them and how often. The owner showed him a couple of parts that would wear with heavy use and explained some maintenance procedures to help extend the robot's useful life. Gus asked if he had replacement parts and the owner said it would take two days to get them here. Ron asked for the price and then pointed out two or three more and asked for their price. The owner gave him the prices and Ron started dickering to see how firm he was. They worked back and forth and the owner dropped his price a little and said he would give a 90 day guarantee. The owner was seeing a good day for sales when Ron dropped the bombshell.

"I don't think a guarantee will do us any good. If we are on another planet, I assume you won't fly there to make good on your guarantee. How much do you want for all of the robots on the lot with spare parts and accessories? Also we would need ten sets of the specialty tools."

The owner's mouth dropped open and he looked at the driver to see if this was a practical joke. The driver was grinning but indicated that it was no joke. The owner had to excuse himself to go check how much he had in the robots, and how much the accessories and tools would cost. He came back in just a few minutes and said it would take him an hour or so to check on the tools and accessories. Ron told him they had another stop to make and would return later. They loaded into the vehicle and took off for the school.

Fu had cautioned his sons about telling anyone the space travelers were coming. The principal had told the teacher but the teacher hadn't told the students yet. When the vehicle pulled up to the school, the students were outside on recess. One of the kids spotted the trio and soon all of the students were rushing to the fence to get a better look. The bell rang for them to return to class and the students hurried to the door to return to their classes. The trio, Fu and the driver checked in at the office and the principal gladly led them on a quick tour of the school. The driver said he would wait in the vehicle but Ron could see that he was dying to hear some of the stories of the space travelers, so he insisted the driver accompany them. After the quick tour, the principal took them to Fu's youngest son's class. The principal let Fu's son introduce the guests and the young boy almost popped his buttons, he was so proud. The teacher asked the travelers to tell where they were from and a little about their home planet. Each of the trio did their little spiel and then some of the students started asking questions.

Fu's son asked if they could tell some of the stories that he had heard the other evening. Ron was picked to tell a story and he told about Joe Meek, the mountain man, and his two companions who fought and killed three grizzly bears in one day. Ron described the grizzly bears and how ferocious they were. Ron happened to glance out of the corner of his eye and saw that Gus and Tik were as engrossed in the story as the students. Ron explained about the grizzlies having great big, long claws and they were very strong. The students' mouths were hanging open as well as the adults in the room. He had to explain what hibernation meant and about the bears sleeping in caves all winter. Ron had to describe the weapons the men used and that they only fired one projectile before they had to be reloaded. Ron built up the story of the men hunting all day and not finding anything. Then Joe Meek spotted the cave. He left his companions outside while he crept inside. Everyone in the classroom was holding their breath to find out what happened next. Then Ron told about Joe finding the grizzly bear. He was getting ready to shoot the bear when he spotted another one. He looked some more and there was a third, very large grizzly bear. He was a little perplexed about what to do but decided to shoot one of them and then stand very still. Maybe his friends outside could shoot the other two. He shot his target but it didn't kill it. It was wounded and very dangerous but it ran outside with the other two bears following. His friends were so surprised at seeing three bears run out that they only killed the one that was wounded. The other two ran back inside the cave with Joe Meek.

Everyone in the school room gasped in shock. Ron continued his story by describing how Joe had time to reload while they were outside, so he killed the first bear that came back into the cave. The other bear ran into a corner of the cave and was getting ready to charge him. Joe quickly reloaded and fired just as the big bear started to run at him. Ron paused for dramatic effect and the principal excitedly asked, "What happened?" Ron said that Joe Meek fired again and the bear dropped at his feet. His friends came in and helped pull the two bears outside. They took the bears back to their camp and had meat for a long time; plus they had three warm bearskin coats.

The class erupted in a cheer and a clamor for more stories but the trio told them they had to go to another class. They went to the oldest son's class and Gus told an exciting story of capturing wild kamaals and breaking them to ride. Everybody wanted them to stay longer but the trio had shopping to do. The principal invited them back any time they could make it. They said they might try another time if they finished with their business. When they got back in the vehicle, Fu and the driver wanted to know if the stories were true. Ron and Gus swore that it was the gospel truth.

When they got back to the robot dealer, he was ready with figures. He told them he would take 50,000 rudia for all of the robots. Ron asked Gus for a silver ingot and told the dealer he would give him the silver ingot for them. The dealer calculated in his head what he could get for the ingot and said that wasn't quite enough. Ron pulled out one of the silver trinkets and asked if that would be an even trade. The dealer's eyes bulged out and Ron could see he wanted that trinket. The dealer finally agreed. Ron said he would add a second trinket if the dealer threw in the parts robots in his building and delivered everything by the day after tomorrow. The dealer could hardly wait to close the deal. He said it would take some time to fill out the paper work but he could have it ready later that afternoon. The dealer asked what name they wanted to use for the purchase and they told him just to put it under RTG Traders. They had talked a little about a name but really hadn't decided for sure. The dealer started to head into the building to start the paperwork but Ron stopped him. He handed him the ingot and the two trinkets. The dealer couldn't believe that Ron would do something like that. Normally he would be paid upon delivery. Ron said the driver had proven to be very honest and had recommended him so he would rather pay now. Ron told him to have the ingot checked to make sure it was pure silver and they would stop by late in the afternoon to finish the paperwork. Ron could see that they had moved up another step in the eyes of Fu and the driver.

They returned to the space ship to pick up Dolores and several more ingots. They had stocked up on trinkets before they had left that morning so they were set with them. They headed back to a grocery wholesaler. At the wholesaler they told him what they wanted and that Dolores would be supplying the list. She would also be inspecting the fresh fruits and vegetables. The wholesaler had no objections since he was used to robot chefs coming in. Ron showed him an ingot and asked if he would take that in payment or if he preferred rudia. The wholesaler said he could take the silver. Ron said that he should figure a delivery charge to the space ship also. When they came back they would pay. As they left, they could see that Dolores had already given them the list and was inspecting the food stocks.

They walked out of the wholesalers and told Fu that they wanted to buy some cloth. He took them to a large store and they looked at cloth. They selected a large amount of different colors and types of material. They also picked up thread, buttons and a material like Velcro that would work in place of zippers. They bought such a large quantity that the store agreed to deliver the items the next morning. They paid and then Tik wanted to visit a nursery or plant store. Fu took them there and they shopped for plants for the conservatory. They were looking for young plants to raise hydroponically, as well as plants to put in the dirt. They were consulting with Auntie to make sure there wouldn't be a conflict. Tik and Auntie had an idea designed previously but as they saw new plants, the design evolved. Auntie said there were other plants they needed in the conservatory that weren't available here. Auntie told them that they needed some composted soil to reestablish bacteria in the conservatory. The long period without energy had wiped everything out and it was now sterile. They bought trees, bushes and seeds to start. Tik arranged to have everything delivered in three days. The nursery gladly accepted their silver ingots as payment.

By this time, they figured they needed to go back to the robot dealer to finish the paper work. When they pulled up, the dealer had everything ready and they went in the building to sign everything. When they were finished, the dealer handed them a large stack of papers. Ron asked for an envelope or something to put all of them in and the dealer gladly accommodated them. The dealer had taken the silver ingot to another friend to have it checked. The friend told him how pure it was and that he had made a good deal. The dealer said he would start delivering the robots first thing in the morning. He apologized for not having all of the robots fully fueled but his ration just wouldn't allow it. Ron assured him that they would make out.

They returned to the grocery wholesaler to pick up Dolores and settle up. The wholesaler had most of the items that Dolores ordered but it would be two days before he had the rest of it. They told him to start delivery in two days and finish whatever he needed the next day. By this time, they felt like it was time for supper. They wanted just a quick bite and then to head back to the space ship. The driver knew of a place that wasn't too far away. Dolores stayed in the vehicle while they went in to eat.

After they finished eating, the five of them were walking outside to head to the vehicle. It was parked at the far end of the parking lot because it was so large. They were about half way to the vehicle when three young men jumped from behind another vehicle in the parking lot. All three had stingerray guns like the Bugs carried. This was strange because the shape of the men put them from Europaische. They were thinner than Fu but had the same build. They gruffly ordered them to hand over all of their valuables and to be quick about it. Gus and Ron quietly stepped in front of Fu and the driver. Tik dropped to all four legs, her tail went straight up in the air with a small curl on the end and her ears were plastered flat against her skull.

Gus groaned, "Oh Lord, help us. Somebody over there is going to get hurt."

Ron asked, "What do you mean?"

"When she looks like that, with her tail straight up and her ears laid back, she is in full fight mode. Those chumps over there won't even have a chance to move before she'll have pieces of them flying. Remember the Bug arms she had in her bag? She looked just like that and she was so sick she could hardly move and the Bug had a stingerray in his hand."

The thugs had just started to swagger forward and Tik was set to launch an attack, when out of nowhere, Dolores came flying with a broom in one hand and a mop in the other. The handles on both were telescoped to full length and she was holding them close to the broom and mop head. She was moving so swiftly and silently that the thugs had no idea anybody was even close. She whacked both handles right across both sides of the middle ones head. He dropped like a rock, screaming in pain. In almost the same motion, she whacked the thugs' arms that were holding the guns. They screamed in pain and surprise as they dropped the weapons. She started whacking them across the back with the handles and the thugs shrieked in agony and started running. The middle one that had hit the ground stirred and started to get up. She lit into him with both handles and he started shrieking as he was trying to crawl away. It was more than Tik could handle to stand back and just watch. She rushed in and bit the thug right on the rear while grabbing him with open claws. She bit hard enough to draw blood and tear his trousers, while her claws had left bloody gouges and more slashes. It was amazing! The thug had been struggling to get up under Dolores's whacks but now leaped to his feet and quickly overtook the other two as they ran away. Dolores and Tik were right on his heels. Tik's claws took small bloody chunks out of the backside of the other two thugs as she ran behind them. All of the thugs were shrieking like teeny-boppers on a scary roller coaster ride. Tik slowed after she mangled all of them a bit more but Dolores kept after them. She switched to just the broom with the broom head to the outside. She was pounding away on all three of them. Ron thought it looked like the farmer's wife chasing three rats out of the house. He and Gus hurried the driver and Fu to the vehicle and got it started. Tik stopped to grab the weapons and leaped into the vehicle as it was heading out of the parking lot to follow Dolores. The driver sped down the street in the direction Dolores and the thugs had taken. They spotted her about six blocks ahead with the thugs still running at top speed as they were shrieking at the top of their lungs. One of the thugs tried to duck down an alley but Dolores turned her full fury on him and he quickly decided to pass his companions.

They had run three more blocks when Fu shouted, "There's a police station three blocks to the right." They didn't know if Dolores heard or already knew of the police station but she turned the thugs down the street and kept them moving at high speed. People were leaping off the sidewalk to get out of their way as they ran shrieking and screaming. The driver kept just a little behind them and everyone inside had a good view of the happenings. The police station was in the middle of the block and Dolores herded the thugs into it just like a cutting horse herding cattle. Her broom was flailing with every step the thugs took. They ran up the steps and crashed through the door. Dolores didn't even slow down. Her broom didn't stop until they were inside and several policemen came around to see what the ruckus was. The thugs were so out of breath that they couldn't even talk.

Dolores calmly announced, "These young thugs threatened to use stingerrays on my owners and their friends. I have escorted them here for appropriate official action. I simply can not tolerate such rude behavior."

The thug who had been hit first was wheezing, "She tried to kill us. We wusn't doin' nothin'!"

Fu, Ron, Tik, Gus and the driver rushed in just at that moment. Tik held up the stingerrays and handed them to one of the policemen. She declared loudly, "These gentlemen dropped these when Dolores kept them from using them on us." The policeman took the weapons and handled them like they were snakes. The weapons were banned because of the atrocities the Bugs had committed with them. The other thugs were starting to whine now about being attacked for no reason and those things didn't belong to them. Ron and Tik started to disagree and bedlam broke out. Dolores rolled forward and raised her broom. The thugs fell silent and one of the policemen who had recognized Fu asked what had happened.

Fu conveyed the answer in a very official voice, "My friends and I have been shopping all day and had stopped for a bite to eat. As we were leaving, these young thugs leaped from behind a parked vehicle and demanded all of our valuables. They were carrying those weapons and I feel they were just about to use them on us. My friends, Ron and Gus, stepped between them and the two of us. Their new robot chef came flying to their rescue. She disarmed all three of them and then proceeded to chase them down the street right here to your station. I must say that I have never heard such shrieking and screaming in all my life. When the tables are turned, those three showed their true, very cowardly character."

The policemen all laughed at the story and the thugs hung their head in embarrassment. The policeman turned to the thugs and told them to tell their side of the story. They maintained their innocence. They claimed that they had never seen the weapons and the crazy robot attacked for no reason. The policeman believed Fu but still hesitated to arrest the three.

Ron suddenly suggested, "If they are so innocent, you should turn them loose. Dolores would be happy to escort them home to make sure they get there safely."

Dolores piped right up, "Oh yes. It would be my delight to escort these gentlemen all the way home."

The thugs turned pale and their eyes got very big. They looked from Ron, to Dolores, to the policemen. Suddenly they confessed to the attempted robbery, carrying the weapons and even started confessing other crimes. Three of the policemen led them away and took their confessions. The policeman who knew Fu exclaimed with a big grin, "Would you like to sell that robot? We could use her to get a few more confessions and make the crime rate drop considerably around here."

Ron declined the offer and said they needed her around the space ship too much. He said rats and other vermin were afraid to even come close to their space ship now. Everybody laughed and the policeman said they were free to go. If they had any questions, he would get in touch with Fu. Fu continued to talk as the others started out the door. Fu quietly said, "I think those thugs are very lucky. The three star travelers were getting ready to go into action when that robot attacked. I overheard the biggest one saying that the little one was ready to fight and he had seen her tear arms off of someone. I know Ron and Gus stood between me and those thugs. They were protecting us but they were also reaching for weapons. I think you would have been picking up body parts if they had defended themselves." The policeman had a thoughtful look in his eye as Fu turned to catch up with the rest of the group.

Fu and the driver were very thoughtful on the way back to the space port. They both realized there was a lot more to these space travelers than met the eye. Honest citizens like themselves were very safe with them but law breakers accosted them at their own risk.

## Chapter 11

The next morning the trio woke to rain. Everything outside was wet and when they looked at the view screens in the living room, they saw the clouds looked like they would continue to rain all day.

Ron was muttering about rain and goods being delivered when Gus piped up, "This might not be so bad after all. We haven't wanted to show anyone here that we can open all the doors on Auntie. Why don't we activate the shield and extend it out the back a little. We could put all of the goods coming in under it and if it was opaque, we could open any doors we want."

"That's right. That would be a great idea. We'll just have to watch and make sure the doors are closed when the goods arrive," Ron brightened.

Tik came strolling in and glanced at the view screens. She said, "It looks a little damp out there. I'm glad I bit those thugs last night instead of today. They tasted bad enough dry; but if they were wet, they would've been terrible. I washed my mouth out twice last night and again this morning and I can still taste them."

Gus chuckled as he said, "Maybe that'll teach you to hold your temper and control your killer instincts. If you feel bad, what do you think those thugs are feeling right now with all of the parts and pieces they're missing?"

They all laughed and went to see what Dolores had cooked up for breakfast. When they walked in, they could smell the delicious aroma. Dolores rolled out holding her broom and mop. Both of the handles were bent and twisted to uselessness.

"Boss, I seem to have wrecked my broom and mop last night. I'm sorry..." Dolores started to say.

Tik jumped right in, "Wrecked your broom and mop! After saving us last night, we'll buy you 10 more if you use them like that. We can keep a supply in your kitchen and when you wreck one, just toss it in the recycler and grab a new one."

Ron and Gus laughed and agreed with Tik. They both assured Dolores that they weren't upset. Dolores seemed very happy and her gibberish was less that day but she picked up another habit. As she worked, she was humming a tuneless ditty that soon grated on your nerves. Ron told Tik to find some music and program her to hum the music. Tik programmed enough music in her that it took several days to repeat. Tik told Auntie to order a supply of brooms and mop handles, which she did that afternoon.

Right after breakfast, the trio practiced with the weapons for a while and then got the shield set up. Tik set the Ag workers to work, cleaning a spot to set the plants and seeds that were coming. She had them carefully take samples of the dead plants in the conservatory into a sealable storage room. Ron had checked with Auntie and went to get the chipper that she said was on the lower level. He brought it back for the Ag workers to use on the rest of the material in the conservatory. Ron looked at the damaged catwalk and made a note of what they needed. He knew they were going to be very busy the next two or three days just stowing what they had bought. He would send Fu to get what he needed for repairs.

Gus was getting things ready when Auntie alerted him to the fact that the first set of robots had arrived. Gus went outside and directed the truck to the edge of the shield to unload. They could only haul five robots at a time, so they would be making several trips throughout the day. Once the robots were unloaded, Gus took them inside to refuel. Tik had the Ag workers going, so she came up to help check out the robots and to reprogram them to whatever they needed. One of the first five robots was the one Gus wanted for refueling and stowing goods, so Tik programmed it first to be able to help with all of the supplies being delivered. Since this was to be his primary helper, Gus decided to call it Tamu. He said it reminded him of a boyhood friend. As Tik was finishing with Tamu, the next load of five robots rolled in. Gus took Tamu and the two of them started bringing the others into Auntie to be refueled.

Ron came up from the lower level as the cloth arrived. He took three of the robots that Tik had already programmed and started unloading the cloth and other material. As soon as the delivery truck left, Ron set the robots to hauling goods inside. He showed them the room to store it in. By the time the robots were through, the room was almost full. Ron was excited and ready to get some new clothes made. He already had some patterns picked out, so he took some of the cloth and other items that would be needed into the sewing room. He loaded the cloth into the slot that Auntie directed and then turned and moved in front of the scanner as she measured him. Ron then loaded the thread, buttons and velcro material into the other slots and left the rest to Auntie. He returned to the upper cargo bay to tell the others to go pick material and to get measured but they were both busy. The robot dealer had just pulled up with a load of parts, so Ron helped find places to store everything. He had the robots run each item in front of a camera so Auntie could add it into their inventory. She tracked where everything was stored, so later, they could go right to the spot for that particular part.

It was lunch time before they knew it, so the trio stopped for a bite to eat. Dolores brought sandwiches and drinks to them where they were working. They ate and then waited for the Fu family to arrive. Gus kept supervising the last of the robot arrivals but Tamu was doing most of the actual work. Tik had Auntie make note of the robots that needed programming and she would do it later. Tamu found the robot that was to be his assistant, refueled it and programmed it to help securely stow all of the other robots that had been delivered.

The Fu family arrived and the trio took them on the grand tour of the upper level. They were still very cautious about letting anyone know that they had opened all of the levels of Auntie. The entire Fu family was happy just to see the upper level and didn't even ask questions about any of the rest of the ship. Mrs. Fu and the boys were excited and impressed with the rows of robots sitting in the cargo bay. The boys had to sit in the fliter and hear tales of using it to move cargo from space ship to space ship. The trio took the family to the cockpit and had Auntie bring up the flight simulator. The entire family jumped at the chance to fly Auntie. The boys were better at it than their parents. Tik had Auntie show some pictures of galaxies that she had visited. The Fu's were awed and couldn't get over how clear and life-like the images were. Finally, Fu declared it was time to head for home. They boys weren't ready but they obeyed their father. As they got ready to leave, Ron paid Fu his consulting fee. He told him they wouldn't need him for the next two days because they were going to be very busy stowing the food supplies they had bought.

Ron gave Fu a list of material for the catwalk and asked him, "Could you find this material and a price? Also, could you find someone who could make different sizes of wooden bases? I would prefer someone who had access to different types of wood and could complete a project in a short time."

Fu asked, "Will you be leaving soon?"

Ron replied with a chuckle, "Everyday we sit in the space port costs us money. Not only what we are spending but in lost revenue from trading. We have really enjoyed our time here and I'm sure we'll be back but for now we need to concentrate on getting loaded and finish shopping for trade items."

Fu quietly looked at him as he asked, "Does the space ship coming to our planet have anything to do with your rapid departure?"

Ron was surprised and almost caught off guard. He replied, "Not unless they are our competitors. Then we definitely want to beat them to the next planet. If they have a lot of silver to trade here, they may drop the price but we already have bought most of what we need. By the way, do you know who the incoming ship is or where they are from?"

"I don't know but I'll find out and let you know. My staff just let me know as I came through the terminal that another ship was on the way in. It has been good working with you and I thank you for the consulting fee. I especially thank you for being so gracious to my family."

Intuition prompted Ron to say, "We were glad to have your family come for the tour and we really appreciate your help. I just wanted to let you know that we actually did mine that silver off an asteroid. We have done nothing illegal or immoral but we do have some people we would just as soon not meet right now. We have a feud with them and we don't want to involve your planet. We are not firing you right now and we may need your help again but we **do not** want to put you or your family in danger because of our feud. We would like nothing better than to bring our families here to meet you once we have settled this. We value the driver's and your friendship and hope we can leave you feeling the same way."

"Thank you for being honest. I can understand a feud, because that is what this war is all about. The Bugs just agitated and stirred up what had been simmering for quite a few years. We might have avoided the war if they had stayed out of it. My family and I consider you to be valuable friends and we will be praying for you to find a way to end this feud. We would be delighted to meet your families. Tomorrow, I will find these things that you need and let you know."

"Thank you, friend," Ron said as he escorted Fu to the door to catch up to his family. They waved as they left and Ron went to help Gus finish loading the accessories and parts for the robots. Tik had returned to her task of programming the rest of the robots. Ron broadcast his conversation that he had with Fu and they discussed the implications.

A short while later, Fu called Auntie on the radio and asked for Ron. Auntie relayed it to Ron. "Ron, the incoming ship is from Nodac-Liujia and they are known to be allies with the Bugs. Their stated intentions are to trade."

Ron asked, "Have they ever traded here before?"

Fu said, "Yes. They didn't stop very often but did come for trade occasionally. It has been over a year since they had been here last."

Ron gathered that Fu didn't care much for the incoming visitors. He thanked Fu for the information and told him to have a good evening with his family.

Ron asked if Gus and Tik had heard and they replied that Auntie had included them. He and Gus were through with loading, so they decided to go see what the Ag workers had done in the conservatory. Tik couldn't take the pressure so she joined them. The workers had finished with the samples going into the sealed storage and were starting on the rest of the dead material. They were running it through the chipper and then spreading it on top of the soil. The trio noticed that there was a lot more water running through the stream and that it was still muddy from the increased flow.

They were happy with the progress in the conservatory, so they decided to practice with the edged weapons. They needed to pick up the pace on their training with them. There were times when a gun was not the weapon to use. Gus knew how to use the hammer/ax he carried but even he needed to know how to defend himself. They still felt that the Bugs would be chasing them as soon as they had a lead and this incoming space ship held Bug allies.

As they ate that evening, they talked of what it would take to be ready for a quick take off. Ron checked with Auntie and found out that the ship was still four days out. He asked her to pull up any information about Nodac-Liujia. He told her to set it up on a 3-D viewer for them there in the dining hall. The information had come from the Bug's database and didn't cover a lot of things that the trio would like to see. They saw some video of the inhabitants and the planet itself. The planet was dark and dreary with garbage scattered everywhere. When the wind would blow in the video, garbage could be seen racing before the wind. None of the inhabitants inspired confidence or made the trio want to try to develop a friendship with them. What facts they had found, made them think that their driver had given good advice to put up a shield if they parked anywhere near.

Tik said, "Auntie, please put up the shield when the incoming space ship is a day away. Use the shield to block any probes trying to see how many people are on board or any other useful information. And keep the doors locked."

Auntie reassured her, "I always do when you're away."

That night when he was getting ready for bed, Ron looked in the mirror and noticed that he didn't seem to have as much gray in his beard. He knew that he felt better than he had in several years and he actually felt younger. He wondered if the bracelet was doing all this. He asked Auntie if there were other bracelets for Tik and Gus. She answered that there were six more of the bracelets and; with a little modification, they would fit both of them. Ron made a note to get the bracelets in the morning for them to start wearing.

The next morning the rain was still coming down but it was lighter. The trio decided to leave the shield up just like before. The space port ramp where they were parked was now dry so they could set supplies on the concrete without any fear of them getting wet. The delivery trucks from the grocery wholesaler and the nursery soon started to arrive and the process of loading supplies into Auntie began. Gus activated 10 of the new robots including Tamu, the two Ag workers and the two robots from the mother ship. Tamu directed the 10 and they started carrying food supplies into the lower cargo bay and onto the lower kitchen storage area. Gus used the other four robots to start moving the plants and seeds into the conservatory. With both the middle and lower doors open, the process went much faster. Some of the food supplies were very heavy. Dolores had ordered barrels of different grain flour, so the robots started a circle around the inside rooms to keep the traffic flowing. Ron and Gus knew they would have a lot of food for three people for a year but they had no idea it would be this much. Dolores directed the robots exactly where to put the food in the pantry.

Gus got the plants and seeds in the conservatory and Tik came in to get the Ag workers started planting. She activated two more of the new Ag workers and had Auntie help her lay out work for all four. They wanted to get as many of the plants in the ground as they could before they had to take off into space. Wherever the catwalk was still in good enough shape to hold the hydroponic tanks, they set things up to start the plants growing in there. There were not enough plants to fill the conservatory but at least they were starting.

The next morning the trio sat at breakfast and talked over their plans for the day. Things were really shaping up and the last of the things they had ordered should be delivered before noon. Ron said that he wanted to go get the steel for the catwalks and check on the woodworker that Fu had found. Tik didn't want to leave the work going on in the conservatory and Gus felt he should stay to supervise getting the rest of the supplies loaded. After their morning workout with the edged weapons, Ron headed for the terminal building. He chatted with Fu for a few minutes as he waited for the driver and his vehicle. When the driver arrived, he headed to the steel place first. He ordered the steel he needed and set it up for them to deliver that afternoon. Next he headed to the woodworker and checked out the different wood samples. He ordered 100 bases which came in different sizes and shapes to mount the silver figures on. He also ordered two units of wood to be delivered in two days.

As he was getting ready to leave, he saw a flyer for a big sale at a machinery manufacturer. The manufacturer was just down the road, so Ron headed there. The manufacturer had a large inventory that hadn't sold because of the war. They needed to move it and Ron saw an opportunity for a planet that he remembered studying about on Auntie. He checked out the machinery and bought six of the units to be delivered the next day. Ron figured they had enough things to trade now. Unless they came across some other really good bargain, they were set. He broadcast to let Gus and Tik know what he had done. Gus broadcast back that with all the trade items they had been buying, they needed some more tie down netting and something they could use to anchor them.

Ron returned to the vehicle and asked the driver if he knew of a place that sold netting to secure a load during transportation. The driver thought he knew a place and called to make sure. The company had some and they were on sale because the military had ordered some and the manufacturer made too many. Ron told him to head for the company.

When they arrived, Ron went in to check out the netting. He found some that would work very well for what they had bought. The company was overstocked and had a very good deal on the netting. Ron bought all they had and got an even better deal. He was looking around while the salesman checked on delivery and spotted a demonstration of a strange device. The salesman came back and told him it was used as an anchor point on any surface. The military had been interested in it but a competitor had started a rumor that it actually damaged the surface it attached to. The device was a cross between a suction cup and an electro-magnet. It had a lever you flipped and the device wouldn't move. The salesman had a video showing the device being attached to a surface and then vehicles were chained to it. They tried to pull it loose with no success. The video even showed a tracked vehicle similar to a bulldozer pulling on the device and not moving it. The device worked on even non-ferrous material because it actually bonded with the material it was stuck to. The salesman grabbed five of the devices and walked over to the wall. He stuck two of the devices to the wall and climbed up on them. He reached a little higher and placed another one. He climbed up and placed another. As he climbed back down, he easily removed each device. The salesman showed him a scientific study that said the devices didn't damage the surface they were attached to.

Ron asked how many of the devices they had on hand. The salesman replied that they had 5000 and could get more in about a week. Ron asked how much the devices cost and the salesman told him. Ron told him that was too much. The salesman asked how many he wanted to buy and Ron told him he would want several if the price was right. The salesman excused himself and went back to see his manager. The salesman came back with a more reasonable price. Ron countered with a lower offer and the salesman went back to his manager. When he came back, he said they would accept the offer. Ron said he would take all of the 5000 that they had on hand if they could deliver them and the netting later that day. The salesman said he would have them there by 4:00.

Ron knew he had bought way too much netting and too many of those devices but he had a hunch they could be good trading material. He told the driver to head back to the space port. As they were headed through the city, Ron spotted a small music store that had a 'going out of business' sign up. He told the driver to stop. The driver came in to see what type of instrument the space traveler would be interested in. Ron looked around and saw strange-looking keyboards, stringed instruments and several different types of horns. The keyboards not only made music but did a laser light show that could be programmed to the music or played as you went through the show. The driver was a musician during his off duty times so he told Ron a little about the different instruments and what they would do. He played for relaxation and once in awhile, he and his friends would do some concerts. The owner came over and Ron asked if he had any videos showing how to play the different instruments. The owner showed him the selection of instructional videos for all of the instruments in the store. Ron asked about replacement strings for the stringed instruments and reeds or other parts for the horns. The owner assured him that he had a sufficient stock for all of them.

Ron asked how many instruments he had left and the owner said he had almost 300 instruments left. Ron had a feeling that these could turn into trading items or at least eye candy that would impress someone on another planet. He pulled out three of the little trinkets and told the owner he would trade them for all of the instruments with instruction videos and replacement strings, reeds or whatever they needed. The other caveat would be that everything needed to be delivered tomorrow. The owner looked at the silver trinkets and asked for a moment to check something out. Word of the other trinkets had spread and the owner found an ad on the computer offering a huge sum for any of the trinkets. The owner came back to Ron and quickly accepted the offer. Ron asked if he could give him a reference, showing which video went with which instrument as well as a reference showing which replacements went with which instruments. The store owner said that would be no problem because he already had that on the computer. Ron gave the owner the trinkets and the owner gave him a receipt as he told him that he would have everything delivered by the next afternoon.

When they were back in the vehicle, the driver asked, "Sir, may I ask why you need so many instruments? Are you planning on some sort of band?"

"No. I don't play any of your instruments. I may learn some on long flights but my main reason is that they may become trade items on other planets. We are looking for different trade items that we may be able to trade on a regular basis."

Ron had the driver stop at another store so he could buy some of the video players. He knew that Auntie could soon figure out how to play any of the video formats but they might not have the same capability on other planets where he needed to trade the instruments. They had enough room in the vehicle, so he just loaded up the players right then.

When Ron got back to the space ship and told his partners what he had bought, they thought he was crazy.

"Who will be crazy enough to buy an alien instrument? How will they even know what it's supposed to sound like?" Tik asked

"Well, that's why we're called Traders. We have to convince them that these are valuable commodities. Just look at the trinkets. I traded three of them for almost 300 instruments, parts and instructions. What did they cost us?" Ron replied.

"Well, I guess that's so. Just don't expect me to be playing any of those things to sell them!" Tik declared.

"Me either!" Gus agreed.

"I wouldn't say that if I were you. You haven't even seen what they are. I'll bet Tik would be great on the keyboard that does the laser light show, too," Ron snorted.

"Laser light show? How does that work?" Tik asked suddenly intrigued.

"I have no idea but there will be an instructional video with it," Ron replied with a grin.

The netting and the anchors arrived and Ron had to demonstrate the anchors to the other two. They were commenting that this was something useful and you didn't have to learn to play it. Ron just warned them that they might have to eat their words someday. Gus quickly trained Tamu, as well as the other robots, on the anchors and how to use them. They re-fastened some of their cargo and Gus reported that it was a lot more secure, as well as much faster. Gus asked why they had so much netting and so many anchors. Ron replied that they could be trade items on some planets.

That night they started making plans for the next planet they wanted to head to. They decided to leave this galaxy to make them harder to track. There were several planets in this galaxy that would be good places to head to for trading but they all wanted to be able to head home without Bugs on their trail. This ship coming in could radio to other ships or to the Bugs and the hunt for them would intensify in a hurry. They finally decided on Fen Avholog in the Pancawarna galaxy as their next stop. Their economy looked like a good match for the robots and machinery Ron had just ordered, so they would be great trade items. They knew that the last of their orders would be delivered in two days, so they planned on leaving the following day. That would be the day the incoming space ship would be landing, so they would try to leave just after it landed. This would tell them if that ship was hunting them or was just coming in for trade.

Ron had inspected Auntie before they left the mother ship but he wanted to check things again. He remembered that the engine lining looked like it needed redoing. He wanted to check the next day to see if it had any further wear. They decided to have Dolores pick up another two-week supply of fresh fruits and vegetables in two days. They were getting used to good food and wanted to prolong it as much as possible. Gus would supervise loading the rest of the goods that would be arriving and Tik would start programming for the hyper-jump. They were going to fly by the remote detector and, as soon as they had it aboard, they were going to jump to hyper-space. If she had any spare time, she would continue with the conservatory.

They all had to go to the conservatory to see the changes that were happening. Trees, shrubs and bushes were scattered over about half of the floor space. New plants were growing in the hydroponic tanks and the stacks of compost sacks were disappearing into the soil. In a few weeks, there would be grass and flowers. Hopefully in about the same time frame, there would be some fresh vegetables from the hydroponics. They went to the lower level for weapons practice.

The next morning Ron called their driver and sent Dolores with him to the grocery wholesaler to buy the fresh fruits and vegetables. He gave her money and told her to get them delivered as soon as possible but no later than noon the next day. Tik was busy on the computer, plotting their course for Fen Avholog and Gus was outside working on the first delivery. The machinery that Ron had bought was heavier and bulkier than anything they had loaded before, so it was taking longer to get everything aboard. They were using the new anchor points and double-netting everything to make sure it didn't move during flight. After Ron was through with Dolores, he pulled out a small grav-sled and flew up to both engine exhausts. He carefully inspected the liners and saw that there was very little deterioration from their last flight. He would still feel more comfortable when they got new liners. He checked with Auntie to see what the tolerance was and she replied that as long as they didn't do a maximum burn for a long period of time, they were fine. Ron had just landed and was headed toward Gus to see how he was progressing when the alarm came.

Auntie and the remote detector had picked up the space ship at the same time. This ship had come out of hyper-space a lot closer to Europaische. It was even closer than the first space ship they had been tracking for the past few days. Auntie said at the speed this new ship was traveling, it would arrive on the planet late that afternoon. She said this ship was on a mission because it was really taking a chance jumping out of hyper-drive this close to the planet.

The trio was electrified. They knew that this new ship had something to do with them, but what? Tik was about through with her computations and couldn't make them happen any faster but Ron and Gus could hurry up the process of loading and they jumped in with a passion. Ron had Auntie relay to Dolores that they had to have the fresh fruits and vegetables within two hours or not at all. The only thing that was missing was the shipment of wood and the wooden bases. However; if they had to, Ron would arrange with Fu to store them here on the space port and they could pick them up later. Ron asked Auntie to see if she could catch Dolores and the driver before they passed the wood manufacturer. She did and he had her relay his request to pick up four of the wooden bases he had requested.

Dolores came back with the bases and reported that the fresh food would be delivered that afternoon. She rushed off to the galley to get everything ready for the delivery and to prepare lunch for them. Gus was loading the last of the machinery and was getting the robots to secure everything when Dolores called for lunch. Ron and Gus met Tik at the galley to eat and plan.

Auntie reported that the first space ship had sped up and would now land sometime that night. They still didn't know who the new ship was, so they were almost too worried to eat. Dolores was hovering and fussing as she urged them to eat, so they would be ready for action. She did manage to get a laugh out of them when she said she had a new broom and mop and she would gladly defend them if needed.

Tik had finished the hyper-space computations, so after lunch she went to the conservatory to make sure everything in there would be secure for flight by late that afternoon. Gus took the upper level and Ron took the middle level. They checked each room and the cargo bays to ensure that everything was ready for flight. The groceries came and Gus took charge of getting those inside. Ron went to the workshop and fitted four of the larger figures to the bases. They came out looking incredible. He had arranged for the driver to come back to settle up, so he grabbed two of the figures and walked into the terminal. Fu and the driver were standing there chatting when he walked in. He walked over and presented Fu with a small delicate looking bird figure and the driver with a wild-looking four legged animal that looked like it was in motion.

Both of them were flabbergasted and exclaimed, "Ron, you and the others don't owe us anything like this."

Ron told them, "You have went above and beyond while you were working for us and this is a gift for the friendship you have given to us. This is the silver we mined on the asteroid and I poured the figures myself from molds that were on the space ship."

Both men thanked him profusely and then Ron settled up with the driver for his time. He was about to head back out the door when he felt the vibration. He had not felt that before but somehow he knew that he was feeling a space ship land. Fu told him that the ship had maintained radio silence on the way in, so he had no idea who it was. Ron relayed the information to the other two and decided to stay there in the door to see what type of creature would come out of the ship. He didn't think he would be attacked right there in a public place with all kinds of witnesses.

Gus had just sent the last robot inside when he felt the vibrations. He hurried inside and closed all the doors except the small personnel door. He rushed to the cockpit to be able to see the ship as it came in. Tik had already beaten him to the window there. They both watched as the space ship slowly settled to the ground a hundred yards from Auntie.

This space ship was much smaller than Auntie. It would almost have fit in one of the cargo bays. The ship was smaller than the planetary flyers of the Bugs. It had a sleek, fast look. Auntie reported that she could see two live beings on her scanners and one of them was heading to an airlock. The airlock was on the other side of the ship from Auntie, so they had to wait until the being was out and had walked around the end of the space ship before they could see it.

Fu and the driver had been apprehensively watching Ron watch the space ship. When they saw him suddenly rush out the door, they feared the worst. They rushed to the door to see what he was going to do. Ron was running straight at the figure that had come around the corner of the space ship. As they watched, Gus and Tik came running out of Auntie. All three ran up and grabbed the being standing there. At first, Fu and the driver feared for the beings' safety and then they saw that the trio was excitedly greeting the being. They hugged it and shook its hands. Everyone was talking at once, so neither Fu nor the driver could make out anything. They realized that this was a joyous reunion, so they stepped back inside to give the group their privacy.

Ron knew the figure that stepped around the smaller space ship! It was Kota. He made it to him first but just barely. Gus and Tik were close behind. Everyone was trying to talk at once. The trio wanted to know how Kota had escaped and how had he arrived here. Kota wanted to know what had happened since they had made their escape. Finally, they decided to go into Auntie to hear all the stories. Tik asked about Kota's companion. Kota gave Tik a strange look before he replied that the pilot was securing the ship and then had to go pay the landing fees. Kota said they had spotted the space ship from Nodac-Liujia and his pilot didn't trust them. She wanted to seal the ship while they were gone and set the shields. Tik told Kota he could invite her over after she was done. He relayed the message over his comm unit as the group headed for Auntie. As they walked, Tik and Kota led the way. Ron noted that Kota was armed.

As they walked in, the trio made the decision to show Kota what they had opened. They would take him through the ship. They walked into the upper cargo bay and Kota stopped in his tracks. He was staring at the robots anchored there and the other cargo crowding the space around them.

"Wow. Where did those come from? Were they on the other part of the ship that was locked?" Kota asked in wonder.

"No, we just traded for them. Right after we escaped, we found an asteroid and set down on it. We harvested oxygen and water from an ice patch on it and then we found some silver. We mined it and did some trading here," Ron explained.

"That explains why we couldn't find you guys," Kota remarked.

"What do you mean, you couldn't find us?" Ron asked.

"About a week after you escaped, did you spot a space ship cruising toward the super blue-giant star?" Kota answered his question with a question.

"Yes, we were on the asteroid and stayed put until it swung around the star away from that ship. We didn't have any idea who it was and we weren't going to take any chances. We got the fuel we needed and took what silver we could in that time and then took off. We zigzagged for a few days to mask our trail before we jumped here. Do you know what ship that was?" Ron answered.

"Yes, that was a Dar Es Salaam ship. They picked up the signal you sent and they were investigating. They weren't too far away, so they got there pretty quickly. They saw the trace of the mother ship and a short trail from that trail. Then your trace disappeared. When you attached onto the asteroid, you were moving a lot faster and they didn't even think to check it out," Kota replied.

"Well, how did you get off the mother ship and then get here in that ship?" Gus asked.

"That's a long story and my pilot is through with her precautions. She'll be here in just a couple of minutes and I'd like to show her some of the ship if it's alright with you guys. I would suggest that you lock Auntie and set shields. Those creatures in that incoming ship are not the best of neighbors and I would highly suggest that you take precautions," Kota stated firmly.

"Oh, the precautions are already taken care of. As soon as your pilot joins us, our shield will go up and only we three or an Alcantaran will be able to get in. If you don't believe that, just ask a Bug about getting through Auntie's shield. They tried for years with no success," Tik asserted.

"We'd be glad to show you and your pilot around. We've opened a lot more since the last time you were on board," Ron declared.

In just a short time, they heard a voice ask, "Permission to come aboard?"

"Come ahead. We're in the cargo bay here," Ron answered.

A tall creature that looked just like Kota; except that she was a few inches shorter and a shade darker purple, walked up to the group. She was looking around as she walked and Ron could see that she was staring in disbelief at all of the robots and other trade goods stacked on the cargo bay deck.

Kota grinned as he put his arm around her and announced, "This is the best pilot in the Dar Es Salaam fleet. Meet Zibo ao Te Kinabula. Zibo, this is Tik Michi, Ron Calvin, and Gusissi Ugde Ghaolh."

Tik caught on right away, "Is that Mrs. Kinabula?"

"Yes, she is my wife," Kota said with a shy grin.

"Were you married when we were on the mother ship?" Tik asked.

"Yes, we had only been married a short time when the Bugs kidnapped me. She has been on a mission to find me ever since. The Dar Es Salaam Traders backed her and provided that space ship. She had found some clues that the Bugs might have kidnapped me and she had been tracking and building a case when she got the message you sent. But I'm getting ahead of myself in the story...." Kota responded.

"Why don't we take you on the tour and then go to a comfortable place to catch up on all the stories. You guys can join us for supper. Do you know if your systems will handle the local food?" Ron invited.

"Yes, we checked as we came in and our database says that we can eat most of it. If there is something that will bother us, we'll just skip that part," Kota accepted the invitation.

The trio led them on a tour of Auntie. They only opened a few of the doors to give them an idea of what was in them. They went to the middle cargo bay where both Kota and Zibo were totally amazed. When they showed them the conservatory, Kota got very excited.

"What did you do with all of the dead plants that were in here?"

"Well, you're standing on a lot of it. Those Ag workers ground it up and worked it back into the soil. We had to add some composted material to get bacteria back into the soil. Everything had been shut down so long that it was sterile in here," Tik stated. She watched Kota's face fall in disappointment. "However, we did take samples of everything and put them into a sealed room until we can find someone who might be interested in them."

Kota's face immediately brightened as he eagerly exclaimed, "I know where that somebody is. Our scientists would love to get their hands on that stuff. Any of the other relics that you would be willing to part with, would be a great help also. What are you going to do with all of this stuff and with Auntie?"

The trio looked at each other and broadcast the go ahead to Tik who said, "We bought all of this to use for trade. We want to find our home planets as soon as possible but we also want to see if we can work trades. So far, with the little silver we mined, we think we have done pretty well....."

"Pretty well! You have done incredible. We have experienced Traders that would be hard pressed to even come close to what you have done," Zibo exclaimed.

Kota agreed and asked, "If you feel confident and are going to become Traders, where will you trade?"

"We only have the next planet picked out. We haven't really decided where we'll trade. We like the people here and would like to see them on a regular basis but we still want to get to our home planets before we really decide," Tik continued.

"You said you had another planet picked out. Will that be before or after you visit your home planets?" Zibo asked.

"Well, we were going to the other planet first. We were still trying to make sure the Bugs won't find us or threaten our planets. We don't want any more kidnap victims from our planets; especially, and we'd like to stop all of the kidnapping," Tik answered. "There's one other problem that Ron and Gus don't know yet. I've been doing some computer work, trying to find the route back to our planets and I've run into a problem. When I look for the galaxy Melpomene, the Milky Way or the Coddington's Nebula galaxy, I'm not finding them. Those are the local names we know them by but they are called something else in the Bug's database. It's going to take some time for me to retrace their path and put a time line to it so I can figure out what they call our galaxies. Once I have a name and location, I can plot a flight path."

Ron and Gus looked startled at the news. Neither one of them had ever considered the name problem. None of the trio was happy at the prospect of searching over a trillion galaxies to find their homes.

"Maybe I can be of help. Let's finish the tour and then we can discuss my solution," Kota said mysteriously.

The trio showed Kota and Zibo the rest of the middle level and then they went to the lower cargo bay. Kota was really excited about the boats and airplanes. Ron joked that Gus might have to carry him just like he did Tik with the situation room. When they showed them the room with the smelting pots and the molds, Kota was very interested again and asked, "How many molds are there and how many figures have you made?"

Gus told him, "We have made about 250 trinkets and 50 of the silver figures."

Kota asked, "What do you want for a complete set?"

Tik told him, "We'll gladly give you a set for helping us escape."

He protested and they dropped the subject for the time being. They showed them the lower situation room and the flight deck. Kota and Zibo both had to sit in the pilot's chair and feel the controls. Tik had Auntie put up the flight simulator and they both tried flying Auntie. They were delighted with the experience and thanked the trio. Two rooms they had deliberately skipped were the weapons room and the electronics room. They all agreed that they could tell the Dar Es Salaam couple about it later when they knew what Kota was up to.

When they went into the galley, Dolores was there and they introduced her. They told her to bring something to drink into their living quarters and to add two places for supper. Dolores was all excited and fell into gibberish twice as she asked about the Dar Es Salaam couple's diet and calorie intake. She announced that she had a special recipe that would meet everyone's dietary needs. She wheeled off to the kitchen as the group headed for the trio's living quarters.

They settled on the couches and chairs while Dolores brought drinks. After she left, Kota told his story. He had left his cell as soon as it had opened. He was working his way to the repair hangar but kept running into Bugs or crowds of other frightened creatures. It took a lot longer to get there than it normally did. One Bug had tried to stop him and he had smashed its head and took some of its tools and its stingerray. After he had the stingerray, the creatures gave way and let him through. When he got to the passageway for the hangar, one of the Bug's devices alerted him to the radiation. He back-tracked and worked his way to the other side of the repair hangar. There was radiation that way too, so he started checking doors on the same side of the mother ship as the repair hangar. He finally found one that was next to the storeroom where Tik had worked. It was a machine shop and he used some tools to cut a hole into the storeroom. He crawled in and then piled some heavy parts in front of the hole. He worked his way to the hangar but Auntie was already gone. He was in the storeroom when the mother ship jumped to hyper-space.

He was about ready to go back to his cell when a thought struck him. He looked into the hangar and saw his space suit still on the rack. He saw the disabled robots in front of the hangar doors, so he checked for any other doors into the storeroom. He found two and piled parts in front of them to keep them blocked. He returned to his suit and put it on, except for the helmet. He didn't think they would stay in hyper-space for long and he was right. In less than a day, they came out of hyper-space. He put on his helmet and started releasing the tractor beams to the damaged freighter. He flew a fliter to the freighter and landed in the cargo bay. There was still fuel left in the freighter, so he started closing everything up. It took almost a half a day but he got it closed up tight. He had taken one of the Bug's portable shields and he used that to block off the flight deck and some of the rooms close to the nose of the freighter; including a galley close to the cockpit. He started pumping air into the area and pressurized it. Then he released the tractor beams and gave the freighter a shove away from the mother ship.

He just drifted until he could see if the Bugs noticed the freighter was missing. The mother ship picked up speed to make a swing around a star. They were trying to get turned around to make a jump back to where Auntie had left. After the mother ship was gone for a day, Kota fired the engines and headed for an inhabited planet in the star's system. He broadcast his message and Zibo; who wasn't far away, picked it up. She really lit up the engines getting to his location. He was glad she did because the mother ship had spotted him when he fired his engines and sent a couple of the planetary flyers back. Since the freighter was damaged, Kota couldn't push it too fast and the flyers were gaining. He figured he had less than half a day and they would catch up to him. Zibo popped out of hyper-space between them. He radioed that he was in the damaged freighter and the ships behind were going to make trouble for him. Kota explained that their ship had some armament that discouraged the Bug ships. When Zibo went ripping right at them and announced that she intended to blow them into the next galaxy, the Bug ships turned tail and ran for the mother ship.

Kota parked the freighter in orbit around the planet and transferred to Zibo's space ship. They radioed the Charter Alliance Navy and reported the kidnappings to them. The Navy quickly came to the area but the mother ship had already jumped into hyper-space. They gave chase; but so far, Kota and Zibo hadn't heard what the Navy had found. Kota and Zibo were claiming the damaged freighter as salvage. They had checked and, with some help from the Dar Es Salaam Traders, it could be repaired. For a portion of the profits for the next few years, the Traders would repair the freighter and set them up in business. There was still enough freight on the freighter to help pay for a lot of the repairs but they were going to use most of that for operating capital.

The trio from Auntie congratulated Kota and Zibo on their good fortune. Ron then told them the story of getting the water, oxygen and the silver. He explained about making the ingots and figures and of their experiences with the driver and the Fu family. Kota was nodding in approval and chuckling. When they told about Dolores attacking the thugs, they all laughed again. The trio was still holding back on some of the discoveries they had made on Auntie. They wanted to hear what Kota had to say and they were wondering if they would be able to keep Auntie.

Dolores came to announce that supper was ready and the group headed to the galley. As they were walking down the passageway, the aroma of the food permeated the air. The trio knew they would have a fabulous meal and they could see Kota and Zibo were starting to get that idea. The meal was all that Dolores said it would be and she fussed to make sure everybody had plenty to drink and eat. Kota and Zibo were really impressed at her expertise and dedication. They commented on this several times during the meal. Gus was the first to broadcast the idea of buying a chef for them as a present. Ron and Tik both thought it would be a good idea. They had a wonderful evening telling stories and enjoying the meal. During the meal, Auntie privately alerted the trio to the fact that the other space ship had landed and was parked about 400 yards from them. Ron told her to announce it over the speakers, so their guests would know also.

When they were through eating, they moved back to the living quarters. Tik walked to a computer station and told Auntie to put the outside view up on the screens. Dolores brought them an after-dinner tea. It was a special herbal tea that really topped off the meal. Kota got a thoughtful look and started telling the real reason they were there.

Kota said, "When you broadcast the message, we had several Traders alerted to keep a lookout for you. We were able to triangulate where you had broadcast from and we hot-footed it here. Let me ask a few questions and then, like I mentioned before, I might have a solution to some of your problems. First, I noticed that you had a pretty good selection of merchandise to trade. Did you pick it for a certain planet or did you just get a good buy?"

"Some of it was for the next planet we picked. We are looking at going to Fen Avholog in the Pancawarna galaxy. We thought about visiting some of the planets in this galaxy but we are still in the escape mode. We will not go back to the Bugs!" Ron answered determinedly.

"I can understand that. Do you plan to trade independently or would you affiliate with an established group? What will you do for back-up if you run into trouble with the Bugs or even local groups on a planet?" Kota asked.

"We didn't even know that you could affiliate with a group. We were just trying to trade to make sure we had food. We were set pretty good for water and air, so we thought we would try trading. We want to get back to our home planets but we kind of like this space travel and we have enjoyed trading on this planet. If things are a little tighter, can we still make good trades? That is the question we still need answered," Ron voiced the trio's concerns and needs.

"I was sent here to see if you wanted to sell Auntie and get a ride back to your home planets. Now that I've talked to you and felt your passion for her, I have my answer. You won't sell unless you completely fall on your face and can't find any other way to earn money with Auntie. I'm not authorized to offer you a deal but I think Zibo and I can twist enough arms to pull it off. My uncle was on Earth not very long ago and now has exclusive trade rights for most of the goods from there. I can get the coordinates from him for Ron's planet. We could pass information about your planets and galaxies around to the Trader Alliance. They would be able to narrow down Gus' and Tik's planets, which would help you find your planets a lot quicker."

"The other thing to consider would be affiliation. I'd like to propose that you affiliate with the Dar Es Salaam Traders. We have a code of ethics and a Charter that lays down the rules for trading. I saw how you operated on the mother ship and I know that you would have no problem following the ethics rules. I didn't see anything here that looked like it would violate any of the Charter rules, so I'm pretty sure we can swing a deal for affiliation. Our scientists would love to study a lot of the things on this ship. They would gladly pay for the privilege of studying, which could help subsidize your trading. Would you consider accepting our help and joining us as an affiliate?" Kota said.

"Yes, please, do join us. I'll work with Kota on the details and I'm sure we can work something out. We owe you so much for getting Kota out of that mother ship and now we'd like a chance to repay," Zibo declared.

The trio didn't know what to think. They were busy broadcasting between themselves but didn't want to not answer. They agreed Ron should buy them some time.

"Wow. We don't know what to say. We're not against joining you but we'd like to see your Charter and your ethic rules. In the back of our minds, we had the idea to use Auntie to open our planets to space trade. We wanted to offer the chance for others on our planets to join us if it looked profitable and possible. We would definitely accept your offer of help finding our planets. We need a few days to think the rest of it over and to even find intelligent questions to ask. We were scheduled to take off day after tomorrow. Could we have that long to formulate some questions and kick this around between us? We are partners, so we need to discuss it," Ron hedged.

"That would be fine. We don't have a set schedule. We didn't know how long it would take us to catch up. You definitely covered your tracks after leaving the mother ship, so no one had any idea where you had disappeared to. Maybe Zibo and I can take a little vacation here while we wait," Kota responded.

"One question we have right now is, what would the Charter Alliance do if the Bugs claim that we stole Auntie and they want her back?" Ron asked.

"They would have to prove that they had found her in space. Then they would have to prove that they were actually trying to get her space worthy or salvaging her. I don't know how much documentation they did with their research but; from what I've seen of their methods, they don't like to share any information," Zibo stated. "If they don't share information, then it's their word against yours. You have the space ship and are flying it, so that won't look good to a court."

"Well, thanks for the meal and the stories. We need to get back to our ship. Don't forget to make sure everything is secure from the visitors over there," Kota said as he pointed to the other space ship on the viewing screen. "We'll talk some more tomorrow and if you have any questions, we'll try to answer them. I'll bring over copies of the Charter and ethic rules."

The trio escorted the two Traders to the rear door and waved good-bye. Tik directed Auntie to let them out of the shield. They watched until the two were inside their own shield. Then they headed back to the living quarters for a council of war.

"Ron, if I had the coordinates for your planet, I could find the path back to mine. If I had my planet's coordinates, I could find your planet, Gus," Tik began eagerly.

"I'm all for accepting their help locating our planets. The big question right now, is whether we are going to continue trading?" Ron asked.

Gus agreed, "I vote to accept their help finding our planets. I also like the work we have done so far in this trading business. It feels good to know that we mined that silver ourselves under a lot of pressure and then picked the right planet to trade it off on. I thought we had done pretty well with the trades but from the sounds of Kota and Zibo, they think we did a lot better than that. Can we do it again? How much will we get for this stuff we bought?"

"That's the big question. I think we need to stick with our original plan. Let's pick another planet, then let's go to Fen Avholog and make what trades we can. Once we're through with the second planet, we can make up our minds. We should be able to tell if we are cut out to be traders by then. Maybe we could do a conditional affiliation while we decide if we want to trade. By the time we get through with the second planet, we should have coordinates for Earth and that could be our next stop," Tik expressed her view.

Ron said thoughtfully, "I want to see what the Charter says about us taking partners from our planets to establish trade. If Kota's uncle has the trade rights with Earth, where does that leave us? Another question is what does it cost to join the Charter Alliance? How much do you pay? Do you pay per trade? Per year? We need some of these questions answered before I'd vote for even a conditional affiliation."

"What do you suggest?" Gus asked.

"Let's finish loading our goods tomorrow. The last of the lumber should be here in the morning. Then let's do our trades with the next two planets and evaluate where we are then. We'll pick the next planet tonight and see if Kota and Zibo can meet us there for a decision. Maybe we could ask Kota to be a personal backup and skip the conditional affiliation for now. Do we still want to do something for Kota? I think he helped us more than we helped him."

Tik replied, "I say get him a robot chef. It doesn't cost us that much in silver and I agree with you."

"Go for it. They both really enjoyed the food and kept commenting about it," Gus added.

"OK, tomorrow while you're loading, I'll go to town and buy a robot. I'll bet the driver's friend can find one on pretty short notice. I might just go into the terminal right now to call the driver to see if he can get in touch with his friend," Ron said.

"We'll start researching a planet that looks like a likely place to trade for what we have and the projected goods from Fen Avholog," Tik responded.

Ron went into the terminal and called the driver. The driver was sure his friend could find another robot chef. He would be out first thing in the morning to pick Ron up unless his friend couldn't find anything. It was dark when Ron stepped outside and the few lights around the outside of the space port didn't light up the areas around the space ships very much. As he started to head for Auntie, he thought he saw movement between Auntie and Kota's ship. He didn't see anything as he walked out closer but he asked Auntie if she saw anything. She reported that one of the creatures from the far space ship had tried to get to the personnel door but the shield kept him away. He was currently hiding on the other side of Kota's ship. Ron was fully alert now and watching all around. He made it to the shield with no further movement and headed inside. He walked to the situation room where Gus and Tik were studying several planets. They had them on the view screens and were comparing goods that the Bugs had traded to them and what they traded for. Ron told them what he had seen and what Auntie had reported. Tik was all for going out and teaching the scum a lesson. Ron and Gus calmed her down by saying that they wanted to leave in two days. They pointed out that any kind of inquiry would likely take a week or more and that would leave them here to face more trouble from the other space ship. Tik conceded and said she would let it pass for now.

They finally decided to go to Aspasia409 for the second planet. It was in the same galaxy as Fen Avholog, so it would change their travel pattern. They were avoiding Bugs but they were becoming more confident about their abilities to protect themselves. It wouldn't be long until they would thumb their noses at the Bugs and go where they wanted, when they wanted. They noticed that Fen Avholog was a jungle planet and the Bugs had traded for a small amount of spices. The Bugs didn't use them and only took them to complete a deal. The spices had been very popular on Aspasia409 but the Bugs hadn't followed through, because they thought it was a fluke. The trio made a note to try for the spices when they traded. Tomorrow they would check their silver stores to see how much they had used and then they would make serious preparations for taking off.

## Chapter 12

The next morning, Ron left before Kota came over. He wanted to get the robot and surprise them. The driver took him to the robot dealer and the dealer was delighted to sell another robot. He knew where there was another used model and it would only take about two hours to have it there in his shop. At the moment his shop was bare except for the robots being repaired. Ron decided to go to a different nursery that was just a few minutes away. Maybe he could pick up some more plants for the conservatory before he headed back. They were almost at the nursery when Auntie warned him that he was being followed by two vehicles. Four of the creatures from the last space ship were in the vehicles. Ron was alert but didn't think the creatures would bother him in the crowded nursery; especially, in broad daylight. He walked around and found several different flowers than they had found at the other nursery. He checked with Auntie and she said they would be compatible with the rest of the plants. He bought a couple dozen plants and the driver helped him load them into the vehicle. They started back to the robot dealer's place. On a long empty stretch of road, a vehicle zoomed around them and slammed against the front of their vehicle forcing them to the edge of the road. Two large, ugly-looking creatures jumped out of the vehicle that had just smashed into them. Ron felt Auntie warn him that the other vehicle was right behind and the other two creatures were getting out of the vehicle and they had weapons pointed in his direction.

Ron quietly told the driver to call the police and to stay down out of sight. He slipped his weapon into his hand and opened the door. He switched on his shield as he stepped out of the door. The large, ugly creature started screaming at him and waving at their vehicle. Suddenly it had a weapon in its hand and pointed it at Ron. It looked like a slightly different version of the stingerray. Ron could hear his driver urgently talking to the police. The ugly creature started advancing toward Ron screaming insults about them wrecking their vehicle. The creature fired its weapon at Ron. Ron's shield took the blast and he didn't feel anything except a push. He returned the fire. His weapon wasn't a stingerray, it was a blaster and it took a chunk out of the creature's shoulder. The creature dropped to the ground and lay there writhing and screaming in pain. Ron whirled to take care of the two behind him. They had rushed forward when their partner fired his weapon and they didn't have time to stop before Ron was aiming at them. The passenger blasted at Ron just as he shot. The creature's shot went wide but Ron's hit the mark. All of his practice was now paying off as the second vehicle's driver leaned on the back of their vehicle to snap a shot at him. The shield did its work again and Ron blasted this one completely off the back of their vehicle. The last ugly creature saw what was happening and jumped into his vehicle. He slammed it into reverse and backed away from their vehicle. He then crammed it into a forward gear and sped away.

In the distance, Ron could hear the police sirens. He walked over to the two at the rear of their vehicle and saw that they were dead. He left them and their weapons where they lay. He walked toward the first gunman and saw that he was still alive but seriously hurt. He kicked the weapon away from the creature and the creature looked up, clearly expecting Ron to finish him off.

Ron pointed his blaster at the creature's legs and asked, "Why did you do it and what do you want?"

The creature started to make a smart remark and Ron aimed at the creature's right knee. The creature stared at Ron's eyes and saw something there that he didn't care to push against.

The creature answered with a snarl, "You and your mates are worth 50,000 credits each if we captured you. If we could get that ship back to the Challekan Traders, it would be worth a cool million credits."

Ron asked in a quiet deadly serious voice, "Who is paying for my capture?"

The creature answered quickly, "I don't know, for sure. My boss told us about the reward and that we could split it. I think it is the Challeka Traders who are offering the reward. I don't know which branch. There are four mother ships and it could be any one of them or all of them. I'm hurt. When are you going to get me some help?"

Ron just walked back to his vehicle to check on his driver.

The driver was pale and his eyes were about the size of saucers. He excitedly said, "I've never seen anything like it. You don't even see anything like this in the drama videos. I don't know how they missed you. You were just standing there so calm. I notice you didn't miss any of them. Are they all dead?"

"No. The one to the front is badly wounded. Are you all right? They didn't hurt you did they?" Ron asked matter of factly.

"I'm fine. Wait until I tell Fu and my friends. They'll never believe this. You knew they were going to shoot. Why didn't you shoot first?" the driver asked, almost in shock as the reality set in.

"On my planet, we believe in giving even the bad men a chance. They made their choice and now will live with the consequences," Ron said quietly. "I'm sorry you were involved in this. Will your vehicle still move and function?"

The driver jumped out to check his vehicle and, at the same time, tried to avoid looking at the ugly creature lying on the ground. There was only minor cosmetic damage to the front of his vehicle, so he moved back to the driver's seat. The first police car slid to a stop and two policemen jumped out. Ron told them the creature in front was wounded and needed attention. One of the policemen rushed over and then went back to the patrol car for a first aid kit. He told his partner to call for an ambulance as he rushed back to administer first aid. The ugly creature was very defiant but too weak to protest for long. The other policeman checked out the other two creatures. He noted the stingerrays in their hands.

Three other police cars pulled up and started directing traffic. One policeman took Ron's driver to a squad car and started asking questions. The driver started excitedly telling about Ron standing there and the ugly creature firing at him and missing. He told about the others firing at Ron and then Ron returning their fire.

Another policeman took Ron's statement but strangely didn't ask about Ron's weapon. Ron had already hidden it away again. The ambulance arrived during Ron's statement and hauled the ugly creature off to the hospital. When Ron and the driver finished their statements, the policemen stood together out of earshot. They were comparing stories and deciding what to do. Ron was thinking about this attack and the thugs who had attacked them at the restaurant earlier. He wondered if it was really a simple robbery or if they were trying to earn a big reward, too. Ron broadcast to Auntie and asked if she had recorded the shoot out. She replied that she had. Ron asked if she could tap into the banker's or some other computer in the terminal and send a copy anonymously. She replied that it would be a piece of cake. Ron told her not to use Fu's or any of his employees' computers but send a copy of the shoot out to the police station.

Shortly there was a call over a squad car radio and one of the group of policemen went to answer it. After a short conversation, he walked back to the group. One of the group came over to Ron.

The policeman said, "We just got an anonymous email with a video of this whole shoot out. It happened just as you and the driver said. Would you know anything about where it came from?"

"I've been right here and as your man over there can attest, I haven't even touched a phone. How could I know anything about it?" Ron answered matter-of-factly.

The policeman, who had been watching, nodded his agreement and the other policeman just shook his head as he returned to the group. After another 20 minutes of discussion, the policeman came back to Ron and asked if Ron had ever seen any of the ugly creatures before. Ron told him he had never even laid eyes on any of that race. He had no idea where they came from, unless they were from the last space ship that had landed yesterday. Ron told him that the first space ship was manned by a close friend and they had been together last night, so he didn't know who or what was in the other ship. He asked if the ugly creature was from their planet and the policeman replied that it wasn't. The policeman asked how long he would be on planet. Ron told him they planned on leaving the next day. The policeman told him that they would need him to come to the station in the morning to finish the paper work and they might have to delay a day until they finished their investigation. Ron said that could be arranged and asked if the policeman could tell his driver where they needed him to be in the morning. He explained that it would be much easier if he wasn't trying to explain addresses and directions to the driver. The policeman grinned and agreed as he walked over to the driver. Shortly, the policeman and the driver came back over to Ron and told them they were free to go. Ron asked if it was alright to stop at the robot dealers to pick up his purchase and the policeman told him he was free to travel anywhere he liked.

Once they were in the vehicle and on the road, Ron's adrenaline wore off and he started to shake. The driver was so excited, he was still talking a mile a minute and didn't notice. By the time they reached the dealer, Ron's nerves were steadier. He went in and concluded his business. The dealer wheeled out another robot that looked similar to Dolores but with subtle little differences. Ron and the driver loaded the robot onto the back of the vehicle and headed for the space port. They arrived with no more incidents and drove to the rear of the space ship where they unloaded the robot. Ron took it into Auntie, so they could make sure it was full of fuel. He called for Gus to bring some help to carry in the flowers that he had bought. Gus asked how many plants he had bought and when Ron told him two dozen, Gus said he would just bring a grav-sled.

While he was waiting for Gus, Ron and the driver unloaded the flowers and Ron started to pay the driver. The driver didn't want to take any pay but Ron insisted and he paid for the damage to the vehicle as well. The driver thanked him and left with a promise to be back in the morning to take him to the police station.

"Well, well. We've been here slaving away getting ready to leave and what have you been up to? I didn't know it would take so long to buy a few flowers and a robot. Did they have to grow the flowers or make the robot?" Gus joked with a chuckle.

"Oh, buying the flowers didn't take long nor buying the robot. It didn't even take long to shoot three of our friends from over there. It was the paperwork that took forever," Ron came back smart-alecky.

Gus dropped the flower he was carrying as he whirled to see if Ron was joking. He saw the look in his eyes and knew it wasn't a joke. He saw that Ron was pale and looked shaky. He started shaking even more as he thought about what had just happened. Gus picked up the flower and they loaded the rest on the grav-sled. They pushed it into Auntie without another word until everything was put away.

"We better go find Tik and hear this story together," Gus said gravely. Gus was watching his friend and partner with concern. He felt that Ron had been through a severe emotional trauma.

Gus broadcast for Tik and she said she was in the situation room looking over the ethic rules Kota had dropped by earlier. The two men headed for the situation room. Tik knew something was up as soon as they walked into the room.

Gus said, "Why don't you tell us what happened."

"Well, I bought the robot and the dealer said it would take a couple of hours to get it. I decided to go shopping at a different nursery while we waited. I found some different, really colorful flowers so I bought some of them. I checked with Auntie before I bought them just to make sure they were compatible. We were headed back to the dealers when it happened." Ron paused.

"What happened?" Tik demanded anxiously.

"I think a picture is worth a thousand words; so, Auntie, will you please show what happened, starting with the vehicle running us off the road?"

Auntie started the video and Ron watched himself in action. Tik was growling and almost hopping up and down when the first creature fired at Ron. Gus was tense, also as he watched the scene unfold. When Ron shot the two at the back of the vehicle, they both muttered, "Good, they got what they deserved!"

When the video finished, Ron took up where he'd left off, "I asked 'old ugly', there on the ground, why I was attacked. He told me that we are worth a lot of money and Auntie is worth even more. He said there is a reward of 50,000 credits each; if we are captured, and Auntie is worth a million credits, delivered to the Bugs. He also mentioned that there are four Bug mother ships and he didn't know which one put up the reward. He said it might have been all of them. We know now that the Bugs want us and Auntie back in a bad way. I, for one, am tired of the Bugs pushing us. It's going to cost any bounty hunters in a big way from now on."

"Do you think the incident the other night wasn't a robbery? Were they after the bounty?" Tik asked.

"I don't know. I don't know how word like this gets around. I can understand Kota finding us; because they were looking for the radio broadcast, but how would local thugs find out? We may have to talk to Kota to find out some more," Ron answered.

"What do we do about it? Can we leave here right now?" Gus asked anxiously.

"I have to stay until tomorrow at least. The police said they were going to investigate and I will have to go back into town to sign some papers. They thought I could leave after that," Ron stated.

"Well, those thugs the other night and now, these ugly sewer crawlers found out we have teeth and claws. The bounty might not look so attractive once word gets out," Tik declared angrily.

"Yes, I agree. One thing I learned this morning was that we need to practice a quick draw. On Earth, we have movies where cowboys wear guns all the time. They survive by being able to get their gun out fast and still hit the target. If I hadn't taken my weapon out before I got out of the vehicle, I would have been in trouble. The shield did work nicely though," Ron said.

Auntie chimed, to let them know that Kota and Zibo were at the shield. Tik said to let them in. Tik used the intercom to tell them to come on in. She said they were all in the lower situation room. Kota and Zibo entered the room in just a short time.

Kota had a very serious look on his face as he spoke without any sort of greeting, "I've got some bad news. One of our Traders picked up a rumor on another planet and radioed it to us just this morning. They said the Bugs want..."

"Want us badly and have offered a 50,000 credit reward for our capture, right?" Ron finished for him.

"How did you know? Did someone else radio you?" Kota asked anxiously.

Ron told Auntie to roll the video again. Kota and Zibo watched in shocked silence. When the video was through, Kota asked, "Where did you get that weapon? It looks like you have been practicing. Those were not lucky shots, were they?"

"Well, we have been practicing every day since we found them here on the ship. There are some targets that Auntie programs to move and we have had some competition to help. These aren't our first choice as weapons but they are easily concealed," Ron said as he moved his shirt to expose his weapon. "I notice that you don't bother to conceal your weapons."

Kota grinned and said, "No, we don't encourage any false hope for trash like that which attacked you. They know that we will give no quarter and usually give us a wide berth."

"What do local authorities say about openly carrying weapons?" Gus asked.

"They don't care as long as we're not waving them around and threatening local citizens. Most of the time, they try to stay out of disputes between traders, as long as the locals don't get caught up in it," Zibo answered. "Are all of you that good with the weapons?"

"Would you like to see how we do on the targets and maybe try them for yourself?" Tik asked with a superior little smile.

"I'd love that!" Zibo remarked.

The trio led the way to the armory and opened the door. When Kota and Zibo stepped in, they gasped in amazement. There were weapons they recognized and others that looked familiar but didn't quite fit what they thought a weapon should look like. The trio picked up their preferred weapons and Tik instructed Auntie to set up a series of 4-inch random targets.

Ron asked the two Traders if their weapons were adjustable for target practice and they said they were. The targets flew out and darted amongst the equipment stored in the cargo bay. The trio each called a different colored target and proceeded to shoot. Auntie projected a running score of the hits near where they stood. At the end of twenty five shots each, Gus was the only one who had missed a shot. He had missed a particularly tough diving target that had made it behind the boat just as he shot. Kota and Zibo were shaking their heads at the trio's accuracy. Ron asked if they would like to try it and they agreed. They picked their colors and the targets started flying. The two Traders missed half the targets. When they were through, Ron joked that he could make the targets three feet in diameter like they were when they had started and let them try again. The two traders laughed and declined the offer. Kota was very interested in the targets and asked to see one up close. Auntie flew it up to him and he grabbed it. He turned it over and inspected it closely. He asked how they were made and Auntie started to go into a very technical explanation of the manufacturing process. Ron stopped her when Kota held up his hands and said he didn't need that much detail.

Kota finished with the target and let it go. He turned to the trio and said, "I'll give you 500,000 credits plus a 5% bonus for each one sold, for exclusive rights to manufacture and sell these targets. I would limit sales to Dar Es Salaam Traders. We don't have anything even close to this. We have some targets that fly but not in intricate patterns like you just had these fly and not in adjustable sizes. As you could see from our shooting, we need a lot more practice. What do you say?"

The trio was shocked by the offer. They had no idea that a simple thing like that would be so valuable. They conferred for a few seconds mentally and then Ron agreed. Kota said he would bring over paperwork later that day. He asked where they would like the credits transferred.

"We have no idea where to transfer them to. Everything we own is right here on this space ship. Each of us has things back on our home planets but they are a long ways away. I don't suppose they have anything like prepaid debit cards, do they?" Ron asked.

"I don't know what a debit card is but the Charter Alliance makes a special tamper proof chip that will tie into Auntie. You can carry your balance with you and use it for buying goods on planets that accept Charter credits," Kota explained. "When I start selling these targets, you'll automatically get an update on credits whenever you land on a planet that accepts Charter credits."

That sounded like a good deal to the trio, so they accepted that offer. Kota said he could have the device shipped here or he could have it at their next planet. The trio told him to have it at Fen Avholog if they accepted Charter credits. Kota said he would check when he did up the paperwork.

"Oh, I almost forgot, when you surprised me knowing about the bounty. The Navy lost the mother ship after it jumped. Now that they know the mother ship has been kidnapping Charter citizens, they have the legal excuse to stop and search them," Kota disclosed.

"Which mother ship will they search?" Ron asked.

"What do you mean which mother ship?" Kota responded.

"We heard there were four mother ships and they all communicate and cooperate on some projects, like our bounty," Ron said.

"That's news to me. I think I'll pass this information along," Zibo announced.

"Have you made any decision about affiliation?" Kota asked.

"Not yet. We had some questions but haven't completed the list yet. The excitement this morning upset our schedule. Speaking of that how would thugs on this planet find out about the bounty on us? By the way, Gus, did you have time to finish what I brought in this morning?" Ron asked, knowing he hadn't.

"No, I didn't. I need to go finish that. We'll need it here very shortly," Gus replied as he headed to the upper level.

Ron and Tik kept the two Traders engaged in conversation for a few more minutes to give Gus time to refuel the new robot. Kota explained that sometimes races like the Bugs would work with local groups and would leave communication gear with them. The locals could then keep them informed about the local planet and also receive information from the Bugs. Kota wondered why he asked and Ron told him that they were starting to question the thugs attack from the other night. He said they were starting to wonder if they were attempting to capture them, instead of robbing them. Kota said that could be a possibility. Gus gave a signal that he was through, so Tik and Ron started walking the two to the upper level.

Kota remarked, "Well, we better get to our ship so we can send messages and finish our paperwork. I'll bring it back after while."

Auntie sounded an alert. She said there were two more space ships on the way to the planet. At their present speed, they would arrive in two days. They seemed to be the same class of space ship as the one from Nodac-Liujia.

Zibo stared in open-mouthed amazement and then asked, "How does your ship know that there are other ships coming in? I have mine set to alert us but she hasn't seen a thing yet."

Tik replied, "Well, it could be because we dropped a remote detector when we were coming in to the planet. It gives you a lot more warning."

"I can see that. What other surprises does this ship hold?" Zibo said.

"We don't know all of them yet. It seems like we find something about every day or two," Tik hedged.

"Well, we better get. Do you know when you will be leaving yet?" Zibo asked.

Ron replied, "We had planned on leaving tomorrow but I have to go in and sign a statement some time during the day. The police thought I would be free to leave then but there seemed to be a question that was left hanging."

Gus walked up and said, "Oh, by the way don't forget your stuff."

"What stuff?" Kota asked. "I have the target right here."

"That robot over there," Gus replied.

Kota and Zibo were speechless. The trio took them over and gave them the title and paperwork. They told Kota the robot was a present for all the help he had been on the mother ship. He started to protest but they would have none of it. They told him that if he wouldn't accept the gift for helping, then it was a late wedding gift. Kota finally accepted the robot and started checking everything out. Tik gave them some pointers on programming the robot and told them that the robot would do the shopping as well. Once she knew their eating needs, she would tailor-make their meals for them. Zibo and Kota both were excited at the prospect of having help with the cooking and cleaning. The two Traders started for the door with the robot following along behind.

As Kota and Zibo walked across the ramp toward their ship, Kota said, "Did you notice they were using ESP. I'm sure it was a lot more than we do. I could feel some of the transfer but I had no idea what they were saying. I'm sure they were actually talking, using the ESP."

"I thought they formed group opinions awfully quick. If you didn't know about ESP, you wouldn't even know. I wonder if that's another secret they discovered from Auntie," Zibo mused.

"I'm sure of it and those weapons they have are more advanced than ours. We have to convince them to affiliate with us and to let our scientists on that ship," Kota stated with conviction.

Ron looked at Gus and Tik as he said, "Kota knows we're using ESP. He was watching too closely as we tossed things back and forth. I think he has a low level natural ability for it."

"What are we going to do with those ships coming in? Do you think they are bringing reinforcements to try to capture us?" Gus asked.

"If they mess with us anymore, they will be in for a rude surprise. I'm tired of side-stepping and running away from threats. I say, we meet them head on," Tik declared fiercely.

"I'm tired of being pushed, too. I just don't want to be banned from this planet if they think we bring too much trouble," Ron said.

"I say, we don't look for trouble but if they start it, we finish it!" Gus asserted just as fiercely as Tik.

Auntie alerted them that Fu was approaching the space ship. The trio went to the small door to greet him. As they headed for the door, Auntie told them the two ships had been in radio contact with the one here on the ground. They were speeding up and it looked like they would arrive that night.

"Hello, space travelers. I hear you had some excitement in town again today. Are you all right? By the way, the police are here in the terminal. They would like to talk to you," Fu commented politely.

Ron answered, "I'm fine. Your planet is getting as bad as bear hunting with Joe Meek. I may have to go off planet just to rest up." Fu, Tik and Gus all laughed. "I'll be inside in just a second. I need to talk to Tik and Gus."

Fu said good-bye and walked back to the terminal. Ron said to Tik, "We need to check and see if Auntie can pin point an arrival time for those two ships. Also, see if she can scan their ship to see how many creatures are still in it."

Tik and Gus went back into Auntie to check things out and Ron walked into the terminal. Two of the policemen, who had interviewed him that morning, were waiting.

"I'm sorry you had to wait. I had some business that I had to take care of. How can I help you?" Ron said.

"We came to let you know that the wounded creature died. We really didn't have all the medical facilities to treat his species. Also, we wanted to ask if you could give us a description of the one that drove away. We haven't found either the vehicle or the driver," the policeman asked.

"I didn't really get a good look at him. I was being shot at and I was worried about my driver. I didn't even think to take a good look at the other driver. Did the wounded creature give you any clue why they were shooting at me?" Ron replied.

"All he ever said was that you would get yours one of these days and maybe sooner than you think," the policeman replied.

"I wish I knew what I did to upset them. Neither my partners nor myself could think of anything we ever did to those creatures. Did the creatures come from that space ship out there? Are there any more of them out there? Maybe you could ask them what we did wrong. If we parked our space ship in their spot, I'll gladly move, if it will stop any more attacks," Ron stated.

"We can't legally go out to their ship, so we used the radio here in the terminal to try to reach them but we didn't receive an answer. We are wondering what to do with the bodies. By the way, do you wish to press charges if we catch the driver?" the policeman explained.

"I'd like to but if I have to stick around to testify, I probably won't. I don't know how long it would take to bring the creature to trial but we are about loaded and ready to head for another planet. We have enjoyed your planet and hope we will be welcome again but we have to keep on the move to make any money," Ron related.

"Yes, it could take awhile to come to trial depending on the lawyers and judges. We would be afraid that if the creature got back to his space ship, he would leave and we would never see them again. You are more than welcome here. You have done nothing wrong, as far as we can see, and Mr. Fu here speaks very highly of you and your partners, as does your driver. I think we have several merchants here that would like to see you return also," the policeman said.

"Good. All we have to do now is trade off the goods we purchased here. Then we can come back and stock up again. Do you need anything else?" Ron asked.

"No, you've answered all of our questions. We have finished the investigation. You could come down to the station a little later and sign the report and then would be free to leave tomorrow, when you're ready.

"I'll be there between 4:00 and 5:00. If you think of anything else, just get in touch with the terminal and I'll try to bring it," Ron said.

The policemen left and Fu said, "I need to talk for a minute if you have the time."

Ron told him, "I'll always try to make time for you, my friend. What can I help you with?"

"It's more what I can help you with. There are two more of the Nodac-Liujia space ships on the way in. Only one is going to land for right now. The other will stay in orbit for a few days before making up their minds to land. The one landing is coming here for trade," Fu stated in a quiet, conspiratorial voice.

"Thanks, friend. That's good to know. Hopefully, they are here for trade and won't bother us like their countrymen. We don't want any more trouble and like I said, we would like to come back," Ron told him. "Could you do me a favor and see if our driver can come back at 4:00 to take me to the station?"

Ron turned and walked back to Auntie. He found out where the other two were and headed to the situation room. He told them about his conversation with the police and Fu. He told them that he was going to the police station to sign the report so they could leave in the morning. Ron asked Auntie if she had anything non-lethal that would discourage anyone from sneaking around outside. She replied that her shield could give off a static electric spark that was non-lethal. She said most creatures found it most unpleasant and didn't wait for a second jolt. Ron said that sounded fine and asked her to set it up to use it on their ugly neighbors, if they came too close. Tik and Gus decided they were going to tag along. Tik said she didn't want to miss any excitement if it happened again. Tik told him that there were two more creatures in the other space ship. They must travel with a crew of six. Ron asked Auntie to check with Kota to see if that would be right. She did and reported they usually had six to eight for a crew.

Everybody went to the armory to make sure their weapons were fully loaded and then Ron grabbed some more of the silver trinkets. They headed to the terminal to wait for the driver. Kota, Zibo and their new robot chef came into the terminal and told them they were headed to town to buy some groceries that the robot wanted to round out their stores. Zibo said they should meet for supper and it would be their treat this time. Ron said they were headed to the police station to sign the report. Kota checked a map he had and said they were going to be fairly close to the station when they were buying the groceries. He said they would drop their robot off and meet them there. There was an eating place two blocks from the police station.

Kota and Zibo had rented a vehicle and it was waiting at the curb for them. They went out, loaded the robot and headed for town. The trio's driver arrived a few minutes later and they headed to town. They felt the rumble of the Nodac-Liujia space ship landing as they headed out.

Ten minutes later Auntie sent them a report. She said the other ship had landed and eight creatures had gotten off. She had scanned the ship and it was now empty. The two creatures from the other ship had come out to meet the newcomers. They all had headed to the terminal. Two of the group had come sneaking over to check her out. She reported that two static electric charges had helped them on their way. Ron and Tik could have sworn that Auntie was chuckling when she told about the electricity hitting the two. Auntie reported that she had launched two of the remote sensors. One was following them and the other was following the two groups from the other space ships.

The driver embarrassed Ron by enthusiastically telling the story of this mornings events. His story made Ron into some kind of super hero and the other two were sending ESP asking Ron for his autograph and asked if he actually walked on water. Tik said they should look out for old ladies for him to escort across the street. Ron shut them up by silently giving them the raspberry.

When they got to the police station, they told the driver they would walk down to the eating place two blocks down the street. They told him to just wait for them there and he could go eat with them. The trio went into the station and Ron read through the report before he signed it. The police asked him a few questions and then one of them; who had kids in the same class as one of the Fu boys, asked him about grizzly bears. He had to tell his Joe Meek story again to the delight of all the policemen in the station. They were all asking if the story was true and Ron said that as far as he knew; it was the gospel truth. They had been in the station about an hour by then and said they had to go meet some friends. The police all thanked him for the story and his cooperation.

As the trio was approaching the door, Auntie told them Kota and Zibo had just pulled up outside. She also warned them that there were now eleven of the Nodac-Liujia creatures in various positions surrounding the building outside.

Ron asked, "Auntie, is there any way to warn Kota and Zibo?"

"I could if I had some time but I would have to research their comm frequencies and methods. There is no quick way to do it," Auntie replied.

Tik growled, "Let me go. I'm a smaller target and faster than you two. I'll warn them and see if we have anything to fear or if those sewer vermin are just observing. They must be awfully desperate or awfully stupid to try something right outside the police station."

"That might be the smartest place. They probably think we won't be expecting anything here," Gus countered.

The trio quietly drew their weapons as they triggered their shields and then Tik rushed outside to crouch next to Kota's vehicle. She quietly told Kota through his open window, "Get down. We have some sewer crawlers here and I think they are up to no good."

Kota and Zibo slid down in the seat as far as they could and drew their weapons. Two policemen started to walk up the steps into the station. Tik had just started to warn them when two Nodac-Liujias next to the police station opened fire. They hit Tik's shield which pushed her up against Kota's vehicle. She returned fire at the one in front of Kota's vehicle. The creature fell with a big hole blasted in its middle. The two policemen turned at the sound and the creature toward the rear fired a stingerray at them. One of the policemen fell to the steps while the other tried to hold him and get his gun out at the same time. Gus and Ron leaped out of the building and in front of the two policemen. Tik whirled and fired at her other attacker. That attacker fell and would not be bothering anyone again. The Nodac-Liujia creatures across the street opened fire on Ron and Gus. Some of them were not using stingerrays. They were using blasters. Ron and Gus returned fire as Gus reached down and picked up the stunned policeman. He shoved him and his partner through the door. He and Ron ran to crouch behind Kota's vehicle with Tik. Kota and Zibo started picking targets and firing at them. Tik took off down the street and Ron went the other way. Gus was firing over the hood of Kota's vehicle to keep the creatures' attention. Ron and Tik caught two of the creatures as they rushed from the back of the police station where they had been watching the rear door. They blasted and both of them dropped where they were hit. Ron and Tik had reached opposite ends of the block and now crossed the street. They had the Nodac-Liujia creatures in a deadly cross-fire now. Gus had dropped two others with his fire. Ron managed to drop one more and the creatures had all they could stand. They leaped into a waiting vehicle and sped off. As they sped off, they tried to avoid getting anywhere close to Ron because of his deadly fire.

The street was deathly quiet. Ron and Tik started advancing to check for any creatures left behind. All they found were bodies. The police were cautiously rushing out of the door and crouching beside Gus. Some of them came out of the back door and slipped cautiously around the building. The whole thing was over in less than five minutes.

The policemen slowly checked out the dead bodies and picked up the weapons. Ron and Tik walked back to Kota and Zibo to see if they were all right. They were a little shaken and their vehicle had been hit several times but they were not hurt.

Ron broadcast a thought to Tik, "Can you work with Auntie from here and get those two space ships into the air before these creatures get back?"

Tik replied, "I don't know but I'll sure give it a try. I think Auntie should be able to fly them remotely if she can get into their computer."

"Good. We'll make it really costly for these vermin. We'll let the police chase them on the planet here," Ron said angrily.

Tik went to the rear of Kota's vehicle and concentrated on her task. Ron and Gus kind of led the policemen up the steps to check on their fallen comrade. Gus looked at him and said he had been hit by a stingerray. He would be all right by tomorrow but he would ache and be weak for awhile. The police thanked him and got an ambulance on the way, just to make sure. The sergeant called in detectives to start investigating everything and put out an all points bulletin about the attackers who'd escaped. He told some units to block the road to the space port to keep them away from the space ships. Others were already blocking off the road and sidewalk to keep curious onlookers from contaminating the scene.

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.

## Chapter 13

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."

"If we were off the planet, would the Nodac-Liujian warships still attack?" Ron asked.

"I don't know. They may want to attack anyway to make an example out of them. They would like to tell everyone NOT to help you. Word of a planet conquest would definitely limit the number of planets that would trade or help you in any way," Kota said.

"How many warships are coming? Do you have any idea of what kind of armament they carry?" Tik asked gravely.

"If you can direct Auntie to communicate with our ship's computer, I can show you pictures and more details," Zibo said.

Tik directed Auntie and soon they had pictures of three warships up on the view screens. Kota and Zibo liked what they were seeing and decided they were going to retrofit the freighter with the same viewing equipment. Auntie put a list of armament and shield capacities on view screens next to the pictures of each warship. The biggest warship in the middle carried 50 small fighters. They could be used for space-to-planet fighting also. The fighters were very lightly armored because they depended on their speed for protection. The warships were another matter. They had the weapons and the shields to give a lot of punishment without taking it themselves.

"If you are attacked by someone like the Nodac-Liujian ships, do you have the right to retaliate?" Ron asked, as an idea started to germinate.

"Yes, we have every right but there is no way we could do any damage to those ships with all their shields," Zibo protested.

"What about the fighters? How would your space ship fare against them?" Ron asked.

"They wouldn't stand a chance. As long as all 50 didn't attack at once, we would definitely spank them," Zibo stated with conviction.

"Where is the weak spot on those warships? If you had a ship that could fight them, where would you try to hit them?" Ron asked.

"I guess it would be somewhere near the rear, where the power plant is located. Then you try for the engines. If they can't move, they become a sitting duck. Why do you ask? Have you got a warship up your sleeve?" Zibo asked with a growing curiosity.

"Auntie, what do you see as their greatest weakness?" Ron asked.

Auntie studied the plans for a few seconds and then said, "Like Zibo said, the power plants. When they are in battle, the shields are heaviest around this area. These ships have several layers of shields in this area to keep them safe."

"Do they keep this shield up during a hyper-space jump?" Ron continued to question.

"No, they take too much power to operate in hyper-space. They would activate the shield shortly after they dropped out of hyper-space. If they are not in battle mode, they may only have minimal shields, just to protect from meteorites or asteroids," Auntie said.

Tik, Gus, Kota and Zibo were all looking at one another. They were wondering what in the world Ron was up to. It would be suicide to try to attack one of those warships, let alone three.

"Kota, can your sources tell us about where the Nodac-Liujian entered hyper-space and where they will be coming out? See if they know when they will get here," Ron asked.

Kota used his communicator to relay to their ship. He broadcast his request and they waited. In the meantime, Ron started asking Auntie some questions by ESP.

"Auntie, what would be the optimum range to destroy those power plants and engines?"

"If I was 200 miles away; coming in from the rear, I could destroy the power plant and the engines. The solid projectiles would rip through about half of the ship before they were spent. The warships would detect me before I could get anywhere close to 200 miles though."

"What if you popped out of hyper-space right behind them? How close could you come out of hyper-space behind them safely?"

"If I knew their position before I jumped, I could be less than 200 miles."

"How long would it take you to fire your weapons after you came out of hyper-space?"

"It would take only a few microseconds and the projectiles would be on their way. I would need to be on target for almost two minutes to be the most effective. If we did attack like that, I would suggest that I jump right back to hyper-space before they could get shields up or bring their weapons to bear. I assume you want me to fire on all three warships."

"Yes. I don't know what kind of formation they fly in but I would hope they would be close together."

Ron turned back to Kota and Zibo. He asked, "If you were attacked by the ship sitting in orbit, would that mean you could legally attack those warships coming in here?"

"It would depend. If we saw them preparing to attack and we demanded an explanation, their answer could justify such an action. All they would have to do would be to indicate that this was a planet-wide action," Kota explained.

"What if one of the thugs from last night confessed to a conspiracy with the Bugs?" Ron asked.

"If we had that confession, we wouldn't have to wait for that ship in orbit to make any hostile moves. That basically would be a declaration of war," Kota stated firmly with fire in his voice.

"If we were affiliated with you, that would include us, too, wouldn't it?" Ron asked.

"Most definitely."

"Well, in that case; if my partners agree, we need to affiliate," Ron asserted. He looked at Gus and Tik and they both nodded yes. All of the trio could feel the exultant 'Yes' in Kota's mind. They could almost feel him pumping his arm in victory.

"Do you know where any of your attackers are? Do you think they will confess?" Kota asked anxiously. "What do you have in mind with those warships? I've seen you studying and I think you have a battle plan."

"I do have a plan but it has to be approved by all of my partners first. We would need your help, too, and there is an element of danger for you," Ron stated.

"If there's danger for us, how much danger will you be in?" Kota asked in a very concerned voice. They had just agreed to an affiliation and he didn't want to lose them right away.

Ron continued, "I don't have all the details worked out, but Auntie says it is doable. Basically, we need to disable that ship in orbit and get into space. When we know where the warships are going to pop out of hyper-space, we need you hidden somewhere close to give us an exact coordinate of where they are. We will be out of the area and will make a hyper-space jump back here. We will come out within 200 miles behind the warships. Auntie will be ready with her rail guns and will pepper the back end of those bad boys. She says it will destroy their power plants and engines. You would have to help us take care of the fighters but the warships will be out of commission without power," Ron outlined his plan.

"I've never heard of anything like that. All ships have special overrides to keep you from coming out of hyper-space too close to other bodies. What if you came out of hyper-spacer with another space ship or asteroid coming right at you? You might not have time to react before a crash," Zibo declared.

"That's part of the help we need. You would have to tell us everything is clear where we would be jumping. As for overrides, Tik can work around the one on Auntie. That is, if she agrees to the plan. I, for one, would like to stick it to these Nodac-Liujian warships. It would send a pretty strong signal to everybody that it's not nice to mess with an Alcantaran space ship and her oddball crew! Those Bugs better beware or we will start hunting them and they could come to the same end!" Ron declared angrily.

Tik immediately and vehemently affirmed, "I'll be glad to bypass the override. If we can stick it to the Bugs or their allies, I'm all for it -- no matter how dangerous. I owe them for two years of hell."

Gus joined in with equal vehemence, "Count me in, too. I owe them for three years. It sounds like we have a good chance to cut the Nodac-Liujians down to size. If conquering a planet sends such a strong signal, what will one old trading ship destroying three warships send?"

Kota and Zibo stared in amazement at the trio. They were used to defending themselves and the annals of the Traders had many stories of the exploits of other Traders defending themselves but there had never been anything close to the scale these three were talking about. Kota and Zibo both were glad they were friends with the trio and not being hunted by them. They didn't know if the whole Charter Navy could keep them safe if this trio was after them.

Kota had a message come through. It said his sources would get the information he needed. His source expected the warships to arrive in about five days. He also said that the Nodac-Liujians were loading troop ships. It looked like they planned to occupy Europaische. He didn't know if more warships were going to move toward them or not, but he would keep them updated.

Ron asked innocently, "Does the Charter Navy ever make 'Calls of State'? Do they visit other planets just as a courtesy and to kind of show off their newest warships?"

"Yes, they do. I can remember a couple of times, I was on a planet they visited. It was very impressive and the whole planet talked of nothing else for weeks afterward," Kota exclaimed.

"Since they won't be able to get here to help us in time, I think now would be a really great time to show off a bunch of their warships at Nodac-Liujia. Do you have a way to make that suggestion?" Ron asked.

"Both of us have a few connections that could make some strong recommendations," Kota responded. "If we had a confession, it would make the recommendations even stronger. The Charter Navy doesn't like galactic wars that disrupt Charter Alliance trade."

"Maybe this crisis could end the planetary war here. If they knew they were about to be attacked from space, maybe they would stop fighting amongst themselves and concentrate on their real enemies," Gus mused.

Zibo looked at the trio amazement and exclaimed, "You all are natural born traders. You have come up with trades and solutions that even trained and experienced Traders wouldn't have figured out. Here you are being threatened, yet you think of solutions for your trading partners. I hope you have made up your minds to stay with the trading and become full-fledged members of the Charter Alliance."

"Well, it's these _super heroes_ here who are doing all the saving. I'm just along to tend the computers," Tik said slyly, as she blinked her eyes like a damsel in distress.

"Who was it that rushed right into the face of danger to warn our friends, the Traders?" Gus retorted with a laugh. The whole group joined in and that helped relieve some of the tension.

"Well, as the trusty side-kicks to all you _super heroes,_ what do we need to do now to make this happen?" Kota asked.

This brought another chuckle from everyone and Ron stated, "Auntie, could you put this up on a view screen so we don't miss anything? Tik, you need to check how many solid projectiles we have and see if we can substitute something from here if we don't have enough. Gus and I need to find at least one of the attackers. Kota, we need all of the Intel on these warships you can get us. Keep us apprised about the troop ships too. Zibo, we need you to find a place to hide your ship close to the entry point for those warships. We need you there for our eyes and ears. What else?"

Kota added, "I've got to get my groceries loaded and we need to warn the local officials about the danger."

Gus jumped in, "Maybe the local officials could get word to the national level which could quickly stop their war. Kota, do you have some official report on the Nodac-Liujia warships that you could show Fu and maybe the police captain? Speaking of which, they will want us to sign the report pretty soon."

"I need to plot some hyper-space jumps for us. As soon as I know about where the warships will come out, I can have something started. All I would need then would be the final position," Tik said.

"Kota and Zibo, if you could work with some of the locals to warn the national officials, it would be a big help. Gus and I will start right away to find our attackers. We need at least one of them alive to confess, so we'd better leave Tik behind," Ron said with a grin.

Tik gave him the raspberry as she started checking the loads that Auntie had for the rail guns.

Kota said, "Now, if we just had some help from space to take care of our friend out there. Even if someone could keep them busy for a few minutes, we could get into space and keep them from firing into the planet."

Tik quipped, "You mean something like another Nodac-Liujian trader ship crashing into them?"

"That would work but wasn't exactly what I had in mind. A Charter Navy ship would be more along the lines of what I was thinking. Where would you get a Nodac-Liujian trader ship and how would you get it to crash into that one in orbit?"

Ron and Gus looked at one another with a big grin. They had another answer to their dilemma. Gus responded, "Tik always has something up her sleeve. Do you remember those two ships that were sitting here last night? What do you think happened to them?"

"I thought some of the remaining crew got word of what happened and rabbited away before they could get caught," Zibo answered.

"They were empty. Everybody came into town to ambush us. Tik had a hand in flying them out of here and hiding them on some asteroids a little farther out," Ron said.

"How in the world did she do that? None of you left the police station before we did and we all went to supper. When did she have time to get out here? And besides, how did she get back if she flew them out to the asteroids?" Kota said in a puzzled voice.

"They didn't say I flew them out there. They just said I had a hand in flying them out of here," Tik replied with a chuckle.

Kota stammered as he said, "But, but I just don't understand. How did you do it? Did you have help from the locals?"

"I'm afraid those are trade secrets. Maybe one day you will be in the 'need to know' loop and we can tell you. For now just say the Alcantaran ghosts had something to do with it," Tik proclaimed with a sly grin.

Kota received a message just then and announced that their groceries were on the way, so he and Zibo hurried out to start loading them into their space ship. Ron and Gus went to the armory to pick up two stingerray guns. They needed something that would incapacitate rather then kill. Ron felt like a walking arsenal. He had his concealed weapon, the regular weapon in the shoulder holster and now the stingerray. They contacted Auntie by ESP and asked her to check radio traffic between the ship and the planet. She said there had been a few encrypted messages back and forth. Ron asked her to launch several of the remote detectors and to pinpoint the location of those messages here on the planet. Auntie immediately launched the sensors and started searching for the attackers.

Ron and Gus then headed into the terminal to talk to Fu. When they walked up to him, Fu immediately noticed the extra weapons they were carrying. He saw that two of the weapons were stingerrays. Ron and Gus both could see the disapproval written on his face.

"Hello, friend. I'm glad to see you disapprove of these weapons. We do, too, but right now we have to have them. We need to take some of our attackers from last night captive and these do work for that -- as both of us can attest," Ron explained.

"Oh, I didn't mean to be so rude and obvious," Fu said.

"That's all right. We have some bad news and we are going to need your help in a big way. Kota will fill you in on all the details as soon as he finishes loading his groceries, but we have just learned that three Nodac-Liujia warships are headed this way and they intend to subdue your planet and enslave the population. We have a plan to stop it but we need at least one of our attackers alive. Do you think you could get your police chief out here pretty quickly? We need to discuss some things with him and Kota needs his and your help to notify national authorities but we need to stay here at our space ship to keep checking some things," Ron quickly broke the news.

Fu turned very pale and was visibly shaken. He shakily asked, "What do you need me to do? How can one old space trader and one pleasure craft stop three warships?"

"We'd rather not say right now. Sometimes walls have ears, if you know what I mean. We just need you to get the police chief here as soon as possible. Those warships could be here in five or six days, so we don't have much time to get ready," Ron proclaimed.

"One way or another, I'll have him here in less than an hour," Fu declared.

"The less time the better. When he arrives, bring him to our ship and we will meet there. It's easier to show some of the things we know on our view screens. If we get permission, Gus and I will be leaving to round up our attackers. Kota and Zibo can use our ship to explain in detail what you will be facing," Ron emphasized.

"I'll start right now," Fu said as he returned to his office.

Ron and Gus went to Kota's ship to tell him the news. Kota was scurrying to get the groceries inside so Ron and Gus helped him. In just a short time they had everything inside. Kota said his new robot would store everything from there. He and Zibo followed Ron and Gus to Auntie. They were just headed up the steps when Fu and the police chief came out the terminal door. Gus led Kota and Zibo down to the situation room while Ron waited for the two locals. He led them up to the upper galley and then they took the secret elevator down to the situation room. Ron wanted to keep the two from seeing any more of the ship than they had to.

When they walked into the room, Tik had the pictures of the warships along with the armament data on the view screens. She had found some comfortable chairs for everyone and they all sat down. Kota did a brief explanation of the situation. He didn't mention that the trio had taken Auntie to escape the Bugs but just said the Bugs had issues with them. Ron explained they needed a confession from their attackers before they could take care of the warships. He asked for the police chief's permission to hunt them down and bring them in. The police chief gladly gave them the permission. He said he would call the station and alert all of his policemen to that fact, too. Ron and Gus excused themselves to take off immediately. Auntie had two likely locations already and they wanted to look them over. Kota, Zibo and Tik explained the rest of the idea about ending the war and uniting Europaische again. They made plans for bringing this idea to pass.

Ron and Gus went to the upper cargo bay to pull the fliter out. Ron jumped in the pilot's seat and Gus climbed on the back. They flew out of Auntie and headed out of town. Both locations Auntie had found were in isolated areas not too far from the city. When they were close to the first site, Ron took the fliter down to tree top level. Auntie warned that they were very close, so Ron slowed to a crawl and actually dropped down to where he was brushing through the trees. Finally, Ron could just barely see a house through the branches. Gus stood up so he could see, too. They studied the grounds and the house; and before long, they spotted two Europaischen guards. They were almost hidden in some shrubbery. Peering closely, Ron and Gus spotted the stingerrays that they carried. The guards were facing toward two roads that approached the house. Ron saw a faint track that led away from the back of the house. Ron and Gus used ESP to discuss an attack plan. They decided to use the stingerrays to take out the two in the shrubs and then to land in the back. They would slip up on the house to see how many were in the house.

Auntie interrupted to tell them she could check with the remote sensors and could also pinpoint where everyone was at. She reported four more creatures inside the house. She thought they were all Europaischens. They were all together in a large room in the front of the house where they appeared to be watching a TV or something. Ron and Gus made their move. They got ready and both fired at the same time. Both guards just slumped slightly where they sat, now unconscious. Ron flew to the rear of the house and quietly landed. They rushed to the rear of the house. Auntie reported the four were still sitting in the front room.

Gus slipped up to the back door and stealthily tried it. It was unlocked, so he slowly and quietly opened it. He slipped inside and Ron followed. They found the door that led to the front room where the four were sitting. Gus silently opened the door and they both sprang through. They zapped the four with the stingerrays before any of them could even move. Ron and Gus moved through the rest of the house checking to make sure no one had found a way to avoid Auntie's sensors. There was nobody else in the house but they found quite a cache of weapons and communication gear. Gus went outside and hauled the two guards into the house while Ron started tying up the four inside. When they had everybody securely tied, Ron picked up a couple of stingerrays to supplement their weapons. Ron told Auntie to let the police chief know where the house was located and what they had found. He told her to advise him to get here quickly and quietly. If they hid in the house, they might capture other citizens who were involved with this conspiracy. Then they hurried to the fliter and headed for the second location.

They used the same approach again and were studying the layout when Auntie reported the police had arrived at the first house. They had quickly loaded up the six unconscious citizens and were headed to jail with them. They had left a contingent of policemen to see who would show up in their trap.

Ron saw at least four ways of escape from this house. The three roads coming in were guarded by two guards each and there was another one on the path. Ron guessed that with this many guards, there had to be at least one of their attackers in the house. Auntie confirmed that she had spotted two Nodac-Liujians and six more Europaischens. They were in three different rooms throughout the house.

Gus quipped, "We need one of those invisibility cloaks now. It would be a lot easier to sneak up on the guards outside and might give us a better chance inside."

Auntie answered, "But you do have invisibility cloaks. You can set your shields to make you invisible. When you turn it on, just think 'invisible'. The shield bends the light around you, making you invisible."

Ron and Gus both tried it at the same time and were amazed to see the other one disappear. Ron backed the fliter away from the house and set it down 400 yards away. They decided that Gus would take care of two of the sets of guards in front and Ron would get the other set, plus the one in the rear. They quietly worked their way to the road. They knew they would make less noise walking down the middle of the road and besides, the guards couldn't see them. Ron and Gus quickly took care of the guards and made their way to the back door. Auntie warned them that one of the Europaischens was in that room.

They slipped around the house to a window in an empty room. They quietly opened the window and slipped in the house. They closed the window and Ron opened the door a crack. There was an Europaischen there with his back to them. He was working in the kitchen fixing something to eat. Ron eased the door open a little more and looked around. There was a door leading to the front of the house and the rear door going outside. He slipped out and went to the door leading to the front of the house. Gus slipped into the kitchen and closed the door. The Europaischen went to the table to sit down and eat. When he had everything on the table and had sat down, Gus zapped him with the stingerray. The Europaischen slumped over into his food. They left him that way as they proceeded into the house.

Auntie reported that the other five Europaischens were in the next room that Ron and Gus had to go through in order to get to the two Nodac-Liujians. Ron and Gus walked quietly into the room and saw the door leading to the Nodac-Liujians was closed. They pulled their stingerrays as well as the ones they had taken from the other house. They opened fire and soon all the Europaischens were out cold. Gus led the way to the door. Auntie reported that the Nodac-Liujians appeared to be lying on two beds on opposite sides of the room.

Gus kicked the door open and rushed into the room. The Nodac-Liujians sat up in bed in surprise, trying to figure out what was happening. There was a sickening smack and the one on the right collapsed back onto the bed. Terror filled the eyes of the other one as he tried to get off the bed. He stood up and there was another smack. The Nodac-Liujian dropped unconscious across the bed. Ron hadn't seen anything moving but guessed that Gus had hit the two with his fist and knocked them out cold. He quickly moved through the rest of the house making sure it was secure. He switched off his shield and returned to the room with Gus and the two Nodac-Liujians. Gus had found some wire and had them both tied up. He had switched off his shield also and was moving to the five laying in the other room. Ron helped him tie the five up. Ron sent him to get the six out front while he tied up the one in the kitchen and dragged the rear guard inside. It didn't take long and they had them all tied up.

"How are we going to get those two to talk? I'd like to beat on them until they confessed but I don't know if the Charter Alliance would accept it under those circumstances," Gus mused aloud.

"Yeah, they probably deserve a good beating but I think you are right. I guess the beating will have to wait. Come on. I think I hear something in there. Open the door so Auntie can bring a sensor in here. We want clear no nonsense video when they confess," Ron answered.

While Gus opened the door, Ron asked Auntie if the police chief, Fu, Kota and Zibo were still there. She said they were. They had just finished making plans and were getting ready to set them in motion. Ron asked her to show the scenes with sound from the up-coming interrogation. Ron asked if it was possible to open voice communication through the sensor and she said it would be done.

Gus returned with a sensor hovering over his shoulder. They both walked back into the room with the Nodac-Liujians. The one on the right had come to and was glaring at them. Gus walked over and shook the other until he awoke.

The one on the right snarled, "Who are you? Why did you attack us?"

"Oh, we didn't attack you. Did you see either of us?" Ron quipped.

The creature didn't look as sure of himself as he asked, "If you didn't attack us, who did? I know the door crashed open and then something hit me."

The other creature was showing signs of terror as he said, "I saw you fall and there was nothing there. I stood up and all of the sudden, it felt like someone hit me on the jaw with a club. That's the last thing I remember until just now."

Ron caught on right quick and sent a thought to Gus to follow his lead. Then he said, "I think you just met our friends, the Alcantaran ghosts. They aren't happy at all that your race is helping the Bugs. They're really upset that you were shooting at us last night."

He flashed a thought to Gus to think of the scariest creature he had ever seen and then to send the feelings of terror he had at that sighting. Gus thought of the spider creatures that had attacked the Bugs back on the mother ship. Gus didn't have to make up any feelings of terror about those creatures and he sent a strong signal at the two.

The creature on the right which was obviously the spokesman said, "We don't know anything about an attack or any Alcantarans or Bugs. You've made a big mistake and you'll pay for it."

"Oh, you may know the Bugs as Challeka Traders of Elgebar V, but the Alcantaran ghosts don't make mistakes. They have you both marked and it took a lot of pleading on our part to keep them at bay until we had a chance to talk to you a little more," Ron continued smoothly.

Gus' ESP and Ron's story were getting to the two. The one on the left looked like he was about to wet himself but was afraid to do anything to call attention to himself.

The one on the right made one more attempt at bravado as he said in a trembly voice, "Well, they made a mistake this time. We've been right here the entire two days since we landed. Someone stole our space ship last night and left us stranded. We're staying with friends until we can get our ship back."

While he was talking, Ron asked Auntie if the sensor could project in 3-D and she said it could. He told her to find these two on the video from last night and project it in the middle of the room in half size.

"Oh my, calling the Alcantaran ghosts liars will really make them mad," Ron said as he shook his head.

Suddenly the shoot-out appeared in the middle of the room. Both of the creatures were prominently shown firing multiple times and then leaping into the get-away vehicle. The creature on the left promptly fainted and tipped over on the bed. The one on the right turned a ghostly white but barely remained conscious. Even with his hands tied behind his back, Ron could see him shaking like a leaf.

"Would you care to revise that last statement?" Ron asked. "I'm afraid we can't keep the Alcantaran ghosts at bay much longer once they start showing your life like this. I heard of one creature that messed with them. It took years to die. They would torture it while it shrieked itself hoarse. They would stop to heal its voice and then start again. I think they can reach down inside of a creature and torture its soul as well as its body. Trouble was, none of the authorities could get close enough to the creature to do anything. They were completely helpless."

Gus joined in, "Ron, you're scaring me. I know we're friends with the Alcantaran ghosts but I don't want to take a chance on that torture. Let's get out of here before they think we took too long with these two."

The one on the left had come to while Ron was talking and now let out a terrible sounding moan and wet himself. As soon as the one on the right smelled his friend, he let go with his water and started moaning himself. Ron and Gus started to leave the room.

Both creatures screamed in unison, "Please don't leave. We'll tell you anything you want. Just don't turn us over to the Alcantaran ghosts."

"Why did you attack us last night?" Ron asked.

"The Bugs have offered a bounty on you of 50,000 credits. They have offered 1,000,000 credits for your ship. We didn't think you looked that tough, so we were going to try for it," the creature on the right almost screamed.

"Is that all there is to it?" Ron asked.

The dam had burst and both creatures started telling about their planet wanting to expand and Europaische would fit right in with their plans. They were an advanced group making contact with the network the Bugs had set up earlier. Their warships should be here in six days and they would have control over the entire planet in three more. There were troop ships that would arrive by then to occupy the planet and enslave the population. The Bugs would back them all the way in this and would share in anything they found on the planet. The Bugs were staying clear so the Charter Navy wouldn't get involved but they would arrive in force once the Nodac-Liujia had the planet under control. Ron asked about the other two and new terror leaped into the two Nodac-Liujian's eyes. They had no idea how he knew so much about their numbers or their plans. The creatures said their shipmates had already crossed the border into the warring country. They were activating the Bug's network there.

Ron acted like someone had just whispered in his ear. After a few seconds, he said, "We need to go discuss these things with the Alcantaran ghosts. They have some questions for us and we want to verify your story. The police will be here in a short time and I would suggest that you repeat your story to them and answer any questions about these secret networks. I'm pretty sure you will have an Alcantaran ghost escort and I'd hate to be in your shoes if you're lying."

"Everything we've said is the gospel truth. We'll tell the police phone numbers, contacts and passwords. Please just protect us from the Alcantaran ghosts!" the two pleaded in terror.

The two moved to the middle of the room and stood back to back. They were searching around the room for anything that moved. Ron and Gus left them there for the police.

Once they were outside, Ron asked, "Auntie, did you record all of the interrogation and did everybody there see it all?

She replied, "Yes, they all saw it. I've already made copies to show the authorities. Kota said that with this confession, the Charter Navy would be paying a call on Nodac-Liujia very shortly. Fu and the police chief will be in touch with national people shortly and they think the war will stop in a hurry. They will be preparing for the Nodac-Liujia warships and; if worse comes to worse, they will prepare to fight on the ground against an invasion."

Ron told her, "Good. We're headed back to the fliter and will be back at the space port shortly."

When they returned to the space port, they found that Fu and the police chief had left. They had appointments to talk to the mayor and other high ranking officials from their country. Auntie reported that the police had arrived and were in the process of moving all the prisoners to the jail. The two Nodac-Liujians didn't even want to wait until they got to the jail to start telling the police everything they knew about the invasion. The police told them they had to wait until they were at the station so they could tape everything.

Ron and Gus flew into the back door of Auntie and secured the fliter again. Kota's ship alerted him to the fact that they were back. He came over to report that the Charter Navy was on the way to pay a 'State Visit' to Nodac-Liujia and to ask the leaders of the planet some hard questions.

Kota looked around and whispered, "Did you just make up the part about the Alcantaran ghosts?"

Ron and Gus looked at each other and Ron whispered back, "We can't talk about that yet. It's not safe."

Kota knew better but he still looked spooked. Ron and Gus laughed, so Kota was pretty sure they were joking but....

Kota left to see if he could get more details on the warships that were headed their way. After he left; Ron and Gus almost had to lay on the floor, they were laughing so hard. Auntie had alerted Tik that Kota was in the ship, so she came in as the two were laughing.

"What's so funny? Did I miss something?" she asked.

Ron told what Kota had said and his reaction when he had whispered back. Tik laughed but she still didn't get what made it so funny to the other two.

Tik asked, "Why did those two sewer crawlers think there were ghosts around? You didn't find more invisibility capes, did you?"

For an answer, Ron turned his shield invisible. Tik yelped in surprise which set the other two into a fit of laughter again. She was tapping her foot, working up an angry reply, when it struck her how those two had been knocked out without seeing anything. She broke into laughter again with the other two.

When she finally caught her breath again, she asked, "Which of you two knocked them out?"

Gus held up his hand because he still hadn't caught his breath. Finally, he said, "You know that Kota doesn't believe in ghosts and probably has thousands of scientists who can prove they don't exist, but right now, he isn't sure. I could see it in his face. This may be a blessing in disguise because I'll bet word of this will spread like crazy. Bounty hunters will be a lot more cautious now and I'll bet 50,000 credits a piece won't tempt most of them. As a matter of fact, when the Bugs get word of this, it will answer a lot of questions about missing relics and how we could unlock secrets that left their scientists in the dark for years."

"Yeah, I hadn't thought about that. We need to build on this mysterious legend every chance we get. Drop a hint here and there but don't say anything overtly. This could be an edge that will keep the Bugs and their allies off our backs for awhile," Ron affirmed.

"How do you make yourself disappear? I don't see a cape," Tik inquired.

"Just think 'invisible' when you activate your shield, little one," Gus instructed.

Tik had to try it right then. She blinked out of sight and then back in again. Suddenly, she had a thought. She asked Auntie, "Will your shield do the same thing?"

Auntie replied, "Yes, but before you think of using it on that orbiting ship, you should know that some detectors will pick me up even when I'm invisible. Some of the neutron detectors follow my power supply and engines. If we had something sitting on the ground here that looked like me, we might be able to sneak up on that ship. However; if they have anyone that is only moderately competent, they may spot us and start firing. If they weren't looking for us, we might have a chance."

"Oh well, it was a thought," Tik replied.

She reported that she had inventoried the projectiles and had ordered 100 stainless steel rods of the same diameter and length as Auntie's original rounds. She had ordered 500 of the smaller ones and they all should be delivered early in the morning. She had offered a bonus for the shop to put their order first and to work all night to get them done. Tik headed back to the situation room to finish working on plots for the hyper-space jump. Ron and Gus had Auntie make her shield opaque before they took a grav-sled outside and flew up to the rail gun pods. They had Auntie open them and then they inspected everything. They had her move all the weapons while they were inspecting them to make sure everything was ready. They didn't know if they worked but Auntie ran diagnostics and said it all checked out.

Satisfied that they were as ready as they could make everything, Ron and Gus returned inside. They took the stingerrays back to the armory and reloaded them. They checked their other weapons out of habit. They went to eat and then had a practice session with edged weapons. After they were through, they returned to the living quarters and talked about their dreams and hopes for the future. Finally, when they were relaxed, they turned in for the night.

## Chapter 14

The trio was up by dawn. Shortly after they ate, Auntie notified them that the projectiles had arrived. Auntie made the shield opaque again while Ron and Gus quickly loaded the projectiles into their magazine. Ron noticed they now had 150 of the large rounds and 600 of the smaller ones. It didn't seem like much but when considering the unlimited plasma balls and then the laser burst cannons, some unlucky Nodac-Liujia warships were going to think there were plenty of rounds. As they finished loading the rounds, Kota and Zibo came over. Auntie let them in and turned the shield to transparent.

They went to the situation room to see if Tik was ready with the Nodac-Liujia trader ships they had seized. They were only going to use one of them if they could. They hated to damage perfectly good space ships. Maybe they could be used back on their planets.

They went over the plan again to see if they had missed any details. Tik already had the seized ship headed toward the planet. The ship in orbit was trying to contact it by radio. When Tik gave the word, Kota and Zibo would be ready to take off quickly and head directly at the ship in orbit. That ship wouldn't be able to fire on Auntie for fear of hitting the Traders. Hitting them would be a declaration of war with the Dar Es Salaams and those in the Nodac-Liujia ship knew who would lose. The Dar Es Salaam Traders had a nasty reputation of taking care of those who attacked them. Auntie would take off a short time later and Tik would fly the seized ship into the one in orbit. Hopefully they wouldn't think of one of their own ships as dangerous and would be watching Kota and Zibo. The group decided they were as ready as they ever would be. Zibo asked how Tik was going to guide the seized ship and she replied in a smart-alecky manner about the Alcantaran ghost giving her a hand. Zibo and Kota looked at each other, as if trying to decide if they believed in ghosts.

Kota gave his report on the locals and how they were faring with ending the war. It would take awhile to even get the two enemies together but hopefully once the other side saw the videos, they would be ready to cooperate. The police chief had rounded up the rest of the local cell members and they were rapidly closing in on most of the national members. Fu was very optimistic that things would start progressing very quickly that day.

Tik announced they were an hour away from count down. Kota and Zibo hurriedly returned to their ship and started their final take off checklist. Ron and Gus made a quick sweep of Auntie and then went to the lower cockpit to start the count down. Tik stayed at the console in the situation room to guide the other ship. She wondered how much of Auntie's computer capacity they were using. There were a lot of things to keep going all at the same time.

The ship in orbit was demanding to know who was in the seized ship and what their intentions were. Tik signaled Zibo to take off. The ship in orbit continued to call to the other ship but Tik could tell their attention was now focused on Zibo and Kota. Zibo was reaching the upper reaches of the atmosphere now and Tik called for Ron to blast off. Auntie gracefully rose from the ground and started to accelerate into the air. She was heavy but still responded like a race horse at the start of a race. Ron tried not to push her engines too hard but he needed to get into space.

Tik heard the ship in orbit screaming at Zibo and Kota. He was threatening to shoot them out of the sky if they didn't change course. Zibo and Kota remained silent and aimed right for the ship. They picked up speed as they left the atmosphere. Tik pushed the seized ship as fast as she dared and raised the shield. When it was 50 miles from the ship in orbit, the Nodac-Liujians realized they were on a collision course. It was too late. They couldn't move fast enough to get away. The Nodac-Liujia trader fired a plasma ball shot at Zibo and Kota. It hit a glancing blow to the side of their shield and ricocheted into Europaische's upper atmosphere where it died out. Tik crashed the seized ship into them right behind the nose. The seized ship glanced off and Tik reversed engines to bring it to a halt. Zibo quickly turned her ship to give the two wrecked ships plenty of room.

Auntie zoomed into space and relative safety. Ron swung her toward the ship that had been in orbit. He told them to surrender immediately or he would open fire. Zibo was coming in from off of Ron's starboard side. They had the Nodac-Liujia ship in a cross fire. There was no answer from the damaged ship, so Ron had Auntie scan for life forms. There was no one alive! The seized ship had smashed a hole right behind the cockpit and the ship had depressurized in seconds. Apparently none of the Nodac-Liujians had put on space suits or any other protective gear. The thought of that shook the trio. They were sitting with no protection except their shields. They didn't know how long they would survive inside the shields but Tik added a note to Auntie's warnings. She told Auntie to remind them to at least have the space suits in the same room they would be in during risky flights like this. Tik also made a note to check on air tight emergency doors in the space ship. They needed to be able to compartmentalize so they would be able to conserve oxygen if they ever had a hull breach.

Ron launched a remote sensor to check out the wrecked space ship. It flew in through the hole in the space ship's hull. It found six bodies in the cock pit and on the flight deck. Ron sent it to the seized ship to access damage and reported what he had found to Zibo and Kota. The seized ship had a huge dent where it had glanced off the other ship but appeared to still be air tight. Tik sent it back to the asteroid where they had hidden it before. Ron pulled Auntie close to the wrecked ship and used Auntie's tractor beam to push it back into the orbit it had been sitting in before the crash. They decided to leave the bodies where they were at. They had other things to finish right now and they didn't want to take time to move them.

Kota reported that the space battle had been seen by both sides of the planetary conflict below. It had hastened the peace process and they were already talking about what they needed to do to prepare to repel invaders. He said they were headed to their hiding spot. He wanted as few traces as possible leading there by the time the warships arrived. Ron finished with his tasks and turned Auntie away. They were going to head in the opposite direction from the suspected entry point of the warships. If they were checking, they might see Auntie's trail and think they were fleeing. Ron was taking his time until Tik let him know that she had the seized ship parked on the asteroid. As soon as she gave the word, Ron pushed Auntie to jump speed and then made the jump into hyper-space. They were headed to another solar system in this galaxy. They would make two more jumps to be behind the incoming warships.

As they came out of hyper-space, Ron spotted some small asteroids 5000 miles in front of them. The asteroids were moving in the same direction as they were. He asked Tik to see if this solar system was inhabited. She reported that there were no planets that would support life. Ron proposed testing the rail guns and laser burst cannon on the asteroids ahead of them. The other two thought it was an excellent idea.

Ron lined everything up and increased their speed until they were within 300 miles of the asteroids. He told Auntie to shoot plasma balls from the two big rail guns and then try to hit flying fragments with plasma balls from the smaller rail guns After a self check on the weapons, she could try one solid projectile from each of the rail guns. Then she should try the laser burst cannons on flying debris. They had enhanced pictures of the asteroids on the view screens and they sat tensely as the miles counted down. 250, 225 and then at 200 they all felt a bump like a land vehicle hitting a pot hole. Auntie had targeted the two biggest asteroids, which were about a 1/4 mile wide. The trio held their breath as they waited for what seemed like forever. They were starting to worry that the rail guns hadn't worked. At the end of 42 seconds, the asteroids disappeared. Auntie didn't fire the smaller rail guns because there wasn't anything large enough to be a target. The trio sat in shocked silence. They had never seen anything like this, nor had they heard of anything like it either. Auntie had told them that there was a lot of destructive power in the guns but words did not do justice to the actual event. Ron asked Auntie almost in a whisper, "How far away did you say you could hit something like that?"

Auntie replied, "Something that big I could have hit when we first came out of hyper-space. If I had to pick a smaller area, I would want to be within 3000 miles."

"Would the damage have been as severe from 5000 miles?" Ron asked.

"Oh yes. There is no atmosphere here in space to slow the plasma balls down," she replied.

Ron had her fire the smaller rail guns at the remaining targets and they tore the asteroids to pieces with one shot. Auntie fired the laser burst cannons and pulverized the pieces. Ron told her to do a self-diagnostic. She finished the task and reported that everything was still in working order. There was nothing left to use for targets for the solid projectiles so they made their next jump. They came into regular space and checked that they were still on the right vectors. As soon as they had verified that, they made their final jump. They had spent two days making the long way to this point, but like Kota, they didn't want to leave a trace. When they jumped from here, they would be just a few minutes behind the big warships. Ron kept Auntie at speed to jump and had her constantly update their position. All they needed now was the warships' position and they would jump.

They were now hurtling through empty space waiting on Kota and Zibo. Tik tried the comm units to make sure they had contact and Kota answered back. They were on pins and needles waiting for something to happen. His contacts at Nodac-Liujia had no new news about the warships. He hadn't heard anything from the Charter Navy either. He did thank them again for the robot chef. He told of their heavenly meals. Kota said these robot chefs could be a big seller to Trader ships. One of the big complaints of Traders was the quality of food they had to eat on different planets. Tik signed off and said they would check again tomorrow. Tik then checked the remote detector and saw that she could still search the area around Europaische.

Now began the waiting. This was the hardest part but it had to be done. Tik tried to do some gardening in the conservatory while Ron and Gus watched for a few minutes. Ron and Gus couldn't take the inactivity and went to the cargo bay to practice with their weapons. They practiced for two hours and finally tired of that. They went to the armory and reloaded. They spent another hour learning about some of the weapons they hadn't used yet. Auntie walked them through tearing them down and putting them back together again. Finally it was supper time and they put everything away and secured it. They all met at the galley where Dolores had a scrumptious supper but they just picked at it. They now knew that Auntie had the power to knock out the three warships but could they catch them unaware?

They decided to keep someone in the pilot's seat at all times now. The warships weren't supposed to be there until tomorrow but they didn't want to take a chance. For tonight they decided on four-hour shifts. Tomorrow they would do two-hour shifts so everyone would be ready for the attack. Tik told them they needed to bring their space suits to the flight deck. She reminded them of what had happened to the ship which had been in orbit. Ron stayed in the cockpit while the other two went after their space suits. They double-checked everything and brought them into the flight deck. Gus took over the pilot's seat and Ron went for his suit. Tik had lost the flip of the coin and she had the first watch, followed by Gus. Ron and Gus went to bed and tried to sleep. Every change in air current or creak or groan brought them wide awake. They made it through the night and none of them wanted to be far from the flight deck. They had Dolores bring meals there. To help relieve some of the tension, Tik suggested that they should start studying the information on the next two planets. They also added some notes about Europaische and their trades. This waiting seemed worse than the wait to escape off of the mother ship.

Ron was in the pilot's seat when the alarm finally came. The remote detector had picked up five space ships. Kota called to report that the three warships were there and they had two smaller escorts. Ron said they had to go anyway. At least they could take out the three warships; and if they had time, they would send some laser cannon bursts toward the escort ships. Tik yelled that she had the coordinates programmed in and Ron punched the button to take them to hyper-space.

Auntie came out of hyper-space and the trio saw the warships and their escorts dead ahead. The biggest ship was in the middle with the two other warships at the four o'clock and eight o'clock positions. The escorts were in the ten o'clock and two o'clock positions. The formation looked like the five spots on a dice. As soon as Auntie came out of hyper-space, her rail guns started to fire. She had everything firing at once and this time when they went off, it felt like someone had slammed on the brakes in an emergency stop. Two minutes of firing seemed like an eternity with everything moving in slow motion. Ron was watching the readout of rounds expended and saw in fascination that the count for the big rail guns reached 50. The smaller rail guns hit 85 rounds. He saw the first rounds tearing their way through the warships. The warships had minimal shields around the power plants and the big rounds soon overwhelmed them. Ron just had time to see that every ship was taking hits when they jumped to hyper-space again. Tik had preprogrammed three quick jumps which brought them back to within 500 miles of the port sides of the warships. Ron had Auntie zoom in on the scene in front of them. The rears of the three big warships were wrapped in a fog and from their vantage point, the trio thought it looked like fire but they knew that no fire would burn in a vacuum. It looked like the entire rear of the far escort space ship was missing. The near escort ship had a weapon that was slowly moving in their direction. It looked like the weapon was being moved by hand or from a battery that was almost dead. Auntie picked up the threat and fired one burst from a laser cannon. The weapon vaporized. Kota's ship suddenly appeared about 500 miles off the starboard of the warships. He was far enough below the warships to be out of Auntie's line of fire. They waited a few minutes to see if there were any fighters coming out of the big warship. Auntie's momentum from the jump was driving her closer to the big ships. Kota's ship was coasting closer, also.

Ron had a thought and sent a call to the warships. He asked them to surrender or he would turn the Alcantaran ghosts loose again. Auntie had been scanning the biggest warship and reported that there was no life in the back two-thirds of the ship. She quickly scanned the rest of the ships with the same report. Ron had seen reports on TV of 'shock and awe' that happened during the Gulf War but it didn't even come close to what had just happened here. In two minutes, three mighty warships and two escorts were reduced to junk.

Tik was in contact with Kota and he reported his ship had scanned with the same results as Auntie. They had been hidden so they didn't see Auntie pop out of hyper-space and do her damage. Kota looked at the warships and swore that it would have taken at least five ships to do that much damage. His and Zibo's hair was standing on end because they were starting to believe that the trio had actually turned Alcantaran ghosts loose on the warships. The only thing that didn't ring true was the fact that ghosts didn't have substance and should not be able to do this much damage. He was videoing to have a record to send to the Charter Navy. They would want to know about this. He didn't think they had any ships except a big battlewagon that could inflict this much damage.

A weak signal finally came from the middle warship. The caller identified himself as Admiral Selangar from Nodac-Liujia. He demanded to know who had attacked with no provocation.

Ron replied, "I'm afraid the attack was not unprovoked. Your agents on Europaische initiated attacks seven days ago. One of your ships disguised as a Nodac-Liujia trader had attacked a Charter Alliance citizen three days ago. The agents on the planet had confessed to a plot to subdue Europaische and enslave the citizens. The Charter Alliance considered all of this an act of war. I'm afraid that Alcantaran ghosts have no patience with allies of the Challeka Trader, especially those who try to lie to the rest of the universe. I'm afraid we need to move away from you now. I think the Alcantaran ghosts will be here in a few minutes to finish what they started. Good-bye, Admiral."

There was silence for thirty seconds before the Admiral came back on the air, "Please don't leave! We surrender. Most of my command is dead and we are completely defenseless. We need help with the wounded and our oxygen situation here is not good."

"How many wounded men do you have? How many men are left on all the ships?" Ron asked brusquely.

"I'll have to check. It will take a few minutes," the Admiral said.

Ron, Gus and Tik discussed how to get a large group of wounded to the planet. They all agreed, they didn't want any of the Nodac-Liujians on Auntie. Besides, her cargo bays didn't have much room. They decided they needed to use the seized ships; which hopefully, would be fairly empty. It was decided that Ron would stay as pilot of Auntie and stay on station to make sure that there was no funny business from the warships. They needed Kota and Zibo to pilot the good ship and Tik and Gus would fly the other one after they checked it out. If it was too badly damaged, they would not use it. One big concern was fuel. They had no idea how much fuel was in the other ships. Ron checked Auntie and she had used all the fuel in the rockets, except what they needed to burn for the next load. Auntie's main tank was almost full, so they had no problem there.

Tik called Kota to see if he and Zibo could help with the other ships. When she explained that she and Gus would fly the damaged ship, Kota would have none of it. He reminded her that he and Zibo were much more experienced pilots. They would fly the damaged ship or they wouldn't help. Tik finally agreed. Tik asked Kota if he knew how much room was on the two ships and he told her they usually had two cargo bays that were about 350 feet long by 140 feet wide. There would be plenty of head room but no real way to utilize it. Tik asked him to send a message to Fu to let him know there were a lot of wounded who would be arriving shortly as well as prisoners of war. Zibo moved their ship moving closer to Auntie. Tik and Gus would transfer to their ship and then they would head towards the seized ships. Tik said the Alcantaran ghosts could fly the seized ships towards them for the transfer.

Auntie had been monitoring the radio traffic from the big warship to all the others. There was no answer from the last ship she had shot. She reported that there was nothing suspicious about the radio messages.

The Admiral came back on the radio and told Ron that he had 4000 wounded and maybe another 4000 to 5000 troops left on the five ships. He said they hadn't been able to raise the one ship, so he had no idea how many were left on it.

Ron asked where they needed to be to start transferring wounded. The Admiral described an escape door, close to the nose of the warship. He said they had a special tube that would seal over that door and to the door of his space ship. Using a tractor beam to keep the tube taut would allow them to move personnel fairly rapidly. Ron told him they only had two ships to transfer everybody, so it was going to take some time. He also told him that if there were any tricks or anyone tried to approach the flight deck on either ship, the Alcantaran ghosts would dump the whole load of personnel into space and the rest of the crews would face an agonizing death that would take days or maybe even weeks. The Admiral said they would cause no problems. Ron knew if all the other crew members were as disheartened as the Admiral, they would be afraid to try anything.

Kota and Zibo reported the damaged ship was still space worthy and they would have no problem flying it. They also reported that they would have plenty of fuel. Tik reported they had plenty of fuel as well. They started loading wounded and then flew them to Europaische. It took four days to get everyone off the warships and the escort ships. Ron took catnaps in the pilot's seat and only left to go to the bathroom and to stretch once in awhile. Tik and Gus traded off flying, so they could get a little sleep on the way to the planet and on the way back. Kota and Zibo did the same. On the last load of personnel, Kota transferred to his ship and flew it back to Europaische. Ron followed in Auntie; and as soon as they landed, Tik and Gus came into Auntie and Zibo went to their ship. They were all exhausted and slept for the next 14 hours.

Tik was the first to wake and get out of bed. She walked into the living room and cried, "Oh, my gosh!" She was staring at the view screens with her mouth wide open. Ron and Gus came running in, expecting serious trouble. They stopped and stared at the screens with their mouths open, too. There were at least a dozen more space ships of various sizes sitting in the space port. One screen showed a giant space ship parked in orbit with several other ships around it and others scattered in orbit around the planet. The trio looked at each other. Had the Nodac-Liujians evaded the Charter Navy and still carried off the invasion of Europaische? They all ran to the situation room to check out what had happened while they slept.

Auntie announced that Kota and Zibo were at the edge of the shield requesting permission to come aboard. Ron told her to let them in and to rush them to the situation room. Kota and Zibo came running in out of breath.

"What's the matter? Auntie sounded like there was some kind of alarm," Kota huffed breathlessly.

Tik pointed excitedly, "Look at all those ships here at the space port and there's more in orbit. Do you think the Nodac-Liujians went ahead with their conquest plans?"

Kota and Zibo started laughing; which was hard to do, considering they were still out of breath. Finally, Kota stopped laughing and caught his breath.

"Those aren't Nodac-Liujian ships, except that big one in orbit. Those other ships are Charter Navy or news media. The big one is a troop transport that will be used to get the prisoners of war back home. Europaische doesn't want to feed and house them any longer than is necessary," Kota explained.

"Oh," was all Tik could say.

"You three are much in demand, too. A Charter Navy Admiral just called us and wants to set up a meeting. Evidently, Auntie is not putting messages through," Zibo added.

"Auntie, do we have messages?" Ron asked.

"Yes, you have 23 and counting," she replied.

"Why in the world did you hold them? By the way, why didn't we get an alarm about space ships coming in?" Ron asked with some irritation.

"I monitored your health as you came into the ship yesterday and saw you needed rest. You were sleeping so soundly when the ships started coming out of hyper-space. They were identifying themselves as Charter Navy on a mission of mercy. Even the news media identified themselves as soon as they came out of hyper-space. I didn't think I needed to wake you since they posed no threat -- unless you would like to add them to a possible threat list?" Auntie reported.

"No, they aren't a threat," Ron replied.

"The calls started very early this morning and none of them seemed extremely urgent, so I just let you sleep," Auntie stated matter-of-factly.

Ron grinned at Kota and Zibo as he shrugged his shoulders, "Well, there you have it. Our space ship is now our social secretary and nurse maid. I guess you two are lucky that you weren't attacked by our robot chef since you did run up here."

"I alerted Dolores to the fact they were coming. She was ready to defend but is fixing breakfast instead," Auntie commented.

Everyone broke out in laughter at that statement. They could all picture Kota and Zibo being chased by a robot chef with a broom to help them along.

"What in the world does a Charter Navy Admiral want with us?" Gus asked.

"We don't know; but he seemed a little put out, because he couldn't make contact with you. They have an emergency interrupter for Trader space ships, so that is what woke us up," Zibo declared.

Suddenly it dawned on Ron what Auntie had said. He asked, "Auntie, did you say that everyone coming here now is identifying themselves right away?"

"Yes, everyone starts broadcasting identification as soon as they pop out of hyper-space and the Navy deployed shields right away, too," Auntie replied.

"Did the Navy fly by those warships on the way here?" Ron asked.

"Yes, and they still have a guard there to keep the news media away. All the other Charter Navy ships took their time as they flew by. I'm sure they were surveying the damage," Auntie reported.

Ron looked at Kota, "Did you send a message after the little fracas out there?"

Kota looked pretty sheepish as he replied, "Yeah, I did. I sent a few pictures because the damage was so incredible that words just couldn't describe it. I might have said that it looked like more than one ship had attacked."

"Must have been the Alcantaran ghosts again, huh?" Ron quipped. The trio laughed along with Kota and Zibo but their laughter seemed a lot more nervous and strained.

Ron quickly changed the subject as he told Auntie, "Well, Auntie, you'd better get this Admiral on the line before he really gets his shorts in a knot."

An Admiral in full dress uniform appeared on the view screen, "Congratulations! I am Admiral Dursun Aydin of the Charter Alliance Navy. You all have performed an incredible feat stopping those warships and saving this planet! I would love to hear the story of how you did it; but right now, we need your help again. The Nodac-Liujian Admiral refuses to surrender to anyone except the pilot and crew of the Galactic Antiquarian. He claims you were the ones that defeated him and kept the Alcantaran ghosts from finishing off the rest of his command. He said you stayed on station for four days straight to keep them at bay. Whoever heard of ghosts doing that much damage or being able to finish off warships?"

"I don't know but I think you must. Why was it that all of your command identified themselves as soon as you came out of hyper-space? I didn't think that was standard protocol," Ron said with a chuckle, which was joined by the others.

Admiral Aydin turned a deep purple in embarrassment, "Well, we saw the pictures of the damage and we couldn't take a chance that they were real and still on guard. There's too much at stake here to take chances."

"I couldn't agree more, Admiral. We really have to thank the Alcantaran ghosts for all their help; not only in space, but here on the planet also," Ron said with a mischievous smile.

The Admiral looked closely at Ron and then at his two companions. He was sure they were pulling his leg but...

"Admiral Aydin, what do you need us to do to help with this surrender? I'm sure you know that Kota and Zibo were as much a part of this fracas and rescue as we were. They were the ones in harms way, waiting right by the entrance point to pinpoint those warships when they arrived. We just jumped from hyper-space, fired a few shots and then demanded the warships surrender. The ghosts had already done enough damage to encourage the Nodac-Liujian Admiral to surrender. Kota here is the one that taught us to fly, so he is more the hero than we are," Ron continued.

Kota started to protest but Admiral Aydin held up his hand to stop him, "They both need to be there with you. Can you be ready in an hour to meet us in the terminal? I'll get things arranged at the POW camp and we'll get the surrender taken care of...."

"Wait a minute. We just got out of bed and we haven't had breakfast yet. We still need to get ready, so why don't you make it two hours? How are we getting to the POW camp? Do you have some transportation?" Ron asked.

"I hadn't even thought of that. I just assumed there were vehicles here for transportation," the Admiral said.

"They do have but the residents here are less than six feet tall and if you are close to Kota's size, you'll look like a pretzel in there. We have a driver that hauls us around. Maybe he has friends or knows some other drivers. We'll give him a call to see if he can be here by then. We'll let you know how many people he can haul. We'll be talking to you, Admiral," Ron said as he signaled Auntie to cut the connection.

Ron looked at Kota and Zibo as he asked, "Have you eaten yet? You're welcome to join us."

They declined and said they needed to go back to their ship to get ready. As they left the room, Ron told Auntie to contact Fu on the radio and have him ask the driver about chauffeuring them and several Charter Navy people. The trio ate and then went to get ready. It dawned on them that they really didn't have any 'dress clothes'. Ron said they would have to remedy that, once they were in space. They did have their concealed weapons, as well as the other ones in the shoulder holsters.

When they walked out into the terminal, Admiral Aydin was already there. Ron walked up to him and introduced Tik, Gus and himself as he shook hands. The Admiral was eyeing their weapons.

He asked, "Do you really think you will need those right now with all these Charter Navy personnel around?"

"Well, it's this way, Admiral. These are life savers," Ron commented.

"Life savers?" a puzzled Admiral asked.

"Yeah, if someone sees us wearing them, they aren't likely to try anything; therefore, it will save their lives. If we didn't have them, someone might think they had a chance to collect 50,000 credits and would wind up badly injured or dead," Ron said with a tight smile. "Besides, they make the Alcantaran ghosts rest easy."

The Admiral gave a start at the mention of the ghosts and quickly dropped the subject. The Charter Navy had armed guards outside the terminal to keep the news media and onlookers at bay, but when they walked out, it still created a big stir. As they walked out, the trio's driver was waiting for them with a huge grin. He had enough vehicles to haul everyone and he was going to drive his friends and heroes. He announced that they could not pay for anything that day. He said they were heroes for saving Wuensche and it would be a terrible insult if they even offered any money or gifts that day. The trio invited the Admiral, Kota and Zibo to ride with them. The Admiral briefed them on the procedure for the surrender and the rest of the ceremony during the drive.

They arrived at the POW camp for the ceremony and the news media had crews there. The media who had been at the space port had followed and quickly set up their gear. The ceremony quickly proceeded. The Nodac-Liujia Admiral gave them a ceremonial sword in surrender and then thanked them for holding the Alcantaran ghosts at bay while his troops were shuttled planetside. The news media had heard rumors about the ghosts and now were ready to go into a feeding frenzy to find out more details. Admiral Aydin surprised the trio, Kota and Zibo when he stepped up and presented them with medals of valor for rescuing enemy troops. The 'enemy troops' cheered louder than anyone else at this. All five were now super heroes in their eyes. The news media noted the cheering and were frothing at the mouth to get a chance to do interviews.

When the ceremony was done, the driver didn't take them directly back to the space port. He turned and took them downtown. Thousands of Europaischens lined the streets, cheering and waving as they went by. The trio, Kota and Zibo were embarrassed and didn't know what to say.

Ron quipped, "If they want a speech, I'm sure it is Tik's turn."

Gus quickly agreed and she whacked both of them. They didn't have speeches that day but the driver informed them that they had another parade with speeches and such scheduled in four days. He said there would be national leaders there from countries all over the planet. He asked if the five star travelers could be present for the festivities and they were forced to say yes. None of them wanted to alienate a whole planet by not showing up at a party given in their honor.

The driver finally got them back to the space port and they headed for their space ships. Kota asked if he and Zibo could talk to the trio, so they invited them into Auntie.

The trio led the two Traders to their living quarters where they would be more comfortable. After a little preliminary chat, Kota asked, "What are you going to do with those warships and the salvage rights?"

"What do you mean, what are we going to do?" Ron asked in shock.

"We just helped wreck them. How can we have any salvage rights?" Tik quickly asked.

"It doesn't make any difference what you did. The Nodac-Liujians can't do anything with them. That is part of the surrender terms. The Charter Navy wants to make it very painful for a planet that tries galactic conquest. We filed a preliminary salvage rights claim for you," Kota replied.

"What would you recommend? If we have the salvage rights, half belongs to you," Ron said.

"But we didn't do much...." Kota protested.

"Never-the-less, half is yours," Ron said adamantly.

"We couldn't take half. Why don't we make it 1 share out of 4?" Kota said as he tried to dodge ownership.

"OK, you take the 75% share and we'll call it even," Ron said in a determined voice.

"That's not what I meant. We would take the one share," Kota protested.

"Nope, that won't work. I guess you will have to take it all," Ron declared.

"Why don't we split it five ways and we'll take two shares?" Kota pleaded.

"That will work," Ron grinned in triumph. "Now, what do you recommend we do?"

"We don't want to try to do any of the salvage ourselves, nor do we want to supervise the salvage. All we wanted was two of the fighters and a few of the personal weapons on board. We have heard some very good reports about the fighters and we'd like to have some of the personal weapons to stock our armory on the freighter. We would also like to send some of them to the scientists of the Traders. They study them to see if we have defenses against them and also if they are better than our weapons. They also check to see if little improvements would make a big difference in performance. We would really like the fighters because when the freighter is retrofitted, we lose our space ship there. The fighters would be a good fit in the freighter to get around in a solar system or on a planet. You should look at getting three for yourselves. You might have to make some modifications to Auntie to hold them but I think you would find that they could become a valuable addition. As for the salvage, the Traders have their own salvage company that would take on this job. They would get the maximum value out of it and are very reasonable in their prices," Kota explained.

"How much money would we have to have up front?" Gus asked.

"Nothing. As a matter of fact, they would pay a deposit to you for the rights," Zibo chimed in.

The trio looked at one another and they all nodded yes. Ron told Kota, "Let's do it. Maybe we could fly out tomorrow and look at one of those fighters. Although; if we want to bring five of them back, it will mean two trips. Is there a way to get a list of weapons aboard those ships? We might want to stock a few more modern weapons in our armory."

"There will be an inventory list somewhere. Our salvagers could find it for us. I'm not sure how far radiation has spread through the ship. We saw some of the troops that came off those warships and they had radiation burns. Why don't I call the salvagers and let them check it out. They can be here in two days with a survey crew and they could take possession of the ships then. If the fighters are covered with radiation, they will decontaminate them and they could even fly one here. If you like it, they would gladly fly the rest of them here. We won't be able to take our fighters with us. We'll have to ship them to where the freighter is being retrofitted," Kota responded.

"What are you going to do with those two trader ships here on the ground? What about that one still in orbit?" Zibo asked.

"I just thought the Nodac-Liujia traders would reclaim them now that they're on the ground," Tik said.

"They are covered under the same rules in the surrender. The traders lose them and you were using them in space so that makes you the owners. And **NO,** we do not own a share of them!" Zibo responded with feeling.

"We hadn't even thought about them. Things have been a little busy. It would be nice if we could have people from our planet start flying them but that would be way in the future. Why? Do you want to use them to haul your fighters home?" Ron said.

"That's not a bad idea but what I really had in mind was leasing them. I have two cousins that have been looking for a space ship. They have been trading with Master Traders for the last 10 years and they are ready for their own ships but haven't found any yet. Buying a new one is out of their price range right now but they could afford a lease and maybe earn enough to buy a ship in the future. I'm sure they could find someone else for the third ship," Zibo stated.

"I don't know if they would want the one that is damaged or the one that is in orbit. I don't know what it would cost to fix them. I haven't seen the insides of the ships but Tik says they are disgusting. Well, you saw them. How long would it take to clean out the insides and make them inhabitable for non-slobs?" Ron asked.

"My cousins and their crews would take care of cleaning everything up. As for repairs, do you three realize that with this salvage contract you will all probably be millionaires?" Zibo asked.

"We didn't realize that those warships would be worth so much. What should we charge if we lease those other ships?" Ron asked.

"Typically, they would pay you a flat fee per month or per year. Another way, would be to accept a percentage of their trades. That's a little more risky but potentially a lot more profitable," Zibo commented.

The trio met with ESP and decided to go with the percentage of trade. They really didn't have anything to lose. Ron said, "We'll go with the percentage of trade with the stipulation that they take a human, a Mis'stear or Sandghost as a trainee. I don't know if you have a training school for basic rules but; if the Traders do, that would be part of the costs. Your cousins will have to get the ship repaired and we will pay for it. The same goes for the one in orbit."

Zibo was very excited and said her cousins would be here with papers by the time the parade was over. She said her cousins would pay for whatever trade goods were already on the space ships. She would let her cousins know about the other ship as well. Kota sent word to the salvage company to come and investigate the five ships. They replied back that they had found another crew looking for a ship and they all would be there in two days with a contract. Kota arranged for them to bring the special chip, showing the Alliance credits to attach to Auntie. He wanted everything to be legal and to get the trio up to speed as fast as possible. Later in the day, he brought over the contract to affiliate the trio with his trading company. He announced that Dar Es Salaam Traders thought they could give coordinates to the trio's home planets. He thought they would have it by the time the trio arrived at their next planet. He said one of the Dar Es Salaam Trader ships would meet them there and they could see if the data they had on hand, matched their planets.

The news media had been trying to get interviews with the trio but they avoided them like the plague. The trio had no desire to be famous on more than just this planet. Little did they know that they and the Alcantaran ghosts were now tied together and stories were spreading through all the inhabited galaxies.

Ron went in the next morning to talk to Fu and to pay their parking fee. Fu presented him with three small, delicate porcelain bells his wife had made. They had a plastic covering that fit like a decal over the bells. There was a mountain scene with delicate little flowers and trees around the bottom. Ron was very interested in the plastic covering and asked about it. Fu said his wife did the scenes and had a company do the plastic covers to her specs. Fu said the covers could be changed with a simple process and showed Ron the other ones for the bell. There were several different scenes of the country around the city.

Ron asked, "Can your wife do larger covers? Could she custom make them to fit something?

Fu replied proudly, "Oh, I'm sure that would be no problem."

Ron explained, "I want some covers that would fit Dolores. I want them to look like dresses that had been on an old TV character. I want a solid background color with a small flower pattern all over it."

Fu called his wife and explained what Ron wanted.

She said, "That should be no problem. How quickly will Ron need it?"

Ron replied, "I'd like to have it by the day of the parade, but the way things are looking, it might be another day or two."

Mrs. Fu said, "I'll get in touch with my supplier to see if they can do something that quickly and then get back to you."

Shortly after Ron went back to the space ship, Fu called on the radio, "The supplier originally said it would take six weeks but when they learned who it was for, they quickly decided they could have it done by the day after the parade."

Ron told him, "I want six of them and this is the colors for the background. Just let your wife pick out the color of flower to compliment the background color."

Ron decided they needed something a little dressier for the parade. He made Tik and Gus go to the sewing room to be measured. Then they looked at some of the pictures of dress uniforms that Auntie had in her data banks. They settled for a very simple but elegant pattern with bright, electric blue material for trousers and jackets. The shirts were a wheat-colored yellow and they added a deep brown leather-like belt that would hold a holster on the right for their weapons. The belt had another strap that crossed from the right hip over the left shoulder and back to the right hip. On the left side was a small pouch for personal effects. They put an RTG Trading logo on the right breast in bright red. They settled for a light gray boot that came up about mid-calf on Ron and Gus. After the other two left, Ron added an order for an apron for Delores. He was completing a picture of Aunt Bea from the TV program he remembered watching.

The next morning, the salvage crew arrived. They brought contracts for everyone to sign and they had the chip for Auntie. They gave the trio a slip that showed a 500,000 credit deposit for each of them. Zibo's cousins also arrived in the afternoon and the trio walked through the two Nodac-Liujia trader's ships with them. The cousins liked the basic ship but not the mess the Nodac-Liujians and the rescue had left. The cousins told the trio they would give them a third of the profits for use of the ships. The trio agreed and the cousins produced the necessary contracts. They agreed to find suitable humans, Mis'stears or Sandghosts to send to the trader training and then would start them on the apprentice program. As soon as the contracts were signed, they took their crews to the ships to do an inventory and to start clean up. They reported it would take at least a week to clean everything and restock the ship. The other crew had flown to the ship in orbit and reported they could make a temporary patch that would enable them to get to a ship yard. They offered the same deal as Zibo's cousins. The trio agreed and signed the paperwork when the crew landed the ship on Europaische.

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.

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About the Author:

Terry Compton has raced stock cars, rode horses across the Scapegoat Wilderness, fished and hunted most of his adult life while working at several different jobs. 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.

Terry currently lives in Montana with his wife and a dog who thinks she is a short furry people.

Discover other titles by Terry Compton at Smashwords.com. Also check out the author's web page: <http://www.terrysbooks.com/>.

Already published or soon to be published novels and short stories:

Book 2 in the Alcantaran Series

Alien Challenge

The Alcantaran Key Book 2 in the Alcantaran Series

Seeds of Change A short story

The Recruiter A short story

