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 se
nd 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 are
a. 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 t
he 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 poss
ibility. 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.