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 middl
e 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 a
nd 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.
Alcantaran 1: Alien Abduction Page 18