by Mike Luoma
Chapter Six
Two and a half hours later the Stinger ship carrying Alibi, Kit and Piccolo reaches what Alibi figures is a safe orbital distance from Junzias, before they can be detected by any instruments scanning nearby space from the planet below.
"I'm picking up some sort of planetary energy field," Alibi notes aloud. "Hard to read. Seems unsteady."
"That is the old Eldred planetary defense shield," Kit says. "Probably not at full power if it is sputtering."
"I'll find the weakest spot and punch us through it next time it sputters," Alibi says. He locates a weak spot in the grid of energy surrounding the planet. The defensive energy grid is old and frayed, incapable of covering the entire sphere of Junzias' globe. As weak energy readings come back to him on the bridge, Alibi finds he doesn't need to wait for the field to sputter to fly the Stinger ship down past the grid and into the atmosphere.
"We're in," he tells Kit and Piccolo once they've punched through. "I'm flying us back around the globe. The planetary field generator is right next to the port, so I had to punch us through the grid half a world away from where we wanted to be. We'll come around from the planet's dark side and follow the night in."
Alibi brings the Stinger in towards the port on a low altitude approach vector at twilight to avoid detection.
"I'm putting us down outside of the port," he explains. "There's some desert scrub land there." Alibi lowers the ship to the surface in stealth with a lights-out landing. "Alright! Let's find out what the Tek'Tah are up to," Alibi says.
They seal the ship and set out. Low scrub brush provides little obstacle as the three of them scramble through the darkness towards the port.
"I hope we find your friend, and your sister," Kit tells the two humans. "I find just being off that malodorous vessel has put me in a better frame of mind."
"Makes you use bigger words, too," Piccolo notes with some amusement.
"Shhh!" Alibi, feeling like the sensible one of the three, tries to quiet them down. They're nearing the outer wall of the port.
"I hear Tek'Tah voices," Kit tells him in a hushed purr.
"I don't hea..." Piccolo stops when Alibi raises an open palmed hand in his face. Alibi puts his finger up to own his lips in the universal sign for quiet.
Piccolo nods. The two men look at the feline alien. His eyes are staring up, off into space, as he listens for the sound of the Tek'Tah. He's slowly shaking his head from side to side. Alibi can almost hear him in his head.
Not yet.
The three stay frozen in place until Kit's head begins to nod yes.
"Shhhh..." he purrs. "From what I heard, there is a door in the wall close by. Follow me." He leaps across the scrub into the darkness near the wall. Alibi and Piccolo follow, closing the distance.
"Better sight," Piccolo grouses in a whisper. "Better hearing! Damn, what do they have that's NOT better? Not fair!" Alibi glares at him, hoping he'll shut up. "Sorry," the man whispers.
"Brittle bones," Kit says, suddenly standing next to them. "Our homeworld Hur has lower gravity. We Dakhur are born to leap, born for grace! But our bone structure is more fragile than yours." The cat man turns and pads away. "Come," he says, turning back to them. "I've got the door open. There is either no one nearby inside now, or they are unnaturally quiet for Tek'Tah."
Kit, Alibi and Piccolo make their way through a door in the port's outer wall and into a ship bay. A small Tek'Tah cruiser sits in the bay, hooked up to fuel lines and energy chargers. Not the ship they're after.
Alibi remembers the ship they're looking for well. He saw it just before the Tek'Tah grabbed him. What was it Kit called it? An Overlord's Family Ship? Whatever the name, it wouldn't fit into this small outer bay.
"The Tek'Tah Elite Family Freighter should be over that way," Kit says, gesturing towards the port's control tower. "The prestige bays will all be close to the tower."
They make their way bay by bay towards the tower. Most are empty. Those containing ships seem shut down for the night. As they near the tower, they can see light rising up from a large bay ahead.
"Betcha that's it," Piccolo observes astutely. Alibi just gives him the glare again. "I'm just saying," Piccolo says, lowering his volume.
Now both Alibi and Kit are glaring at him. He stares back, but doesn't speak again. Kit nods at the way ahead and they continue. They reach the connecting door next to the well-lit bay and stop to listen for noises on the other side.
"It sounds like a bunch of people... eating?" Kit says. Alibi tries the door. Unlocked. He opens it just enough to take a look through. He sees the Elite Family Freighter as expected. Another sight not quite as expected – under high-powered lighting units stretch several side-less tents. Underneath one of the tents sit two tables of people, eating dinner.
Alibi feels Piccolo breathing down his neck as he tries to get a look beyond the door. He moves back and down a bit so Piccolo can have a look.
"There she... She's here!" he says in an excited whisper. "Katie's here! We've got to save her!"
"I know you want to save her," Alibi whispers. "But that might have to wait. We're way outnumbered!"
"Attention!" The amplified voice of a Tek'Tah guard echoes out. Kit Alibi and Piccolo freeze in place. "Feeding time ends in five minutes. Prepare to return to the ship for sleep cycle."
Alibi realizes he's been holding his breath. The guard wasn't looking for their attention. Luckily.
The guards escort their prisoners back onto the ship. The high-powered lights are extinguished. Kit, Alibi and Piccolo retreat back three bays to discuss what they can do.
"Shouldn't there be more people here?" Alibi wonders out loud.
"More?" Kit asks.
"I was counting them. There's about forty people. That's one ship's worth of kidnap victims, if that," Alibi notes. "Where are they keeping the others? There were more people taken before this. My friend Miss Kay was taken before this. Where is she?"
Piccolo shrugs.
"They may have moved on," Kit observes.
"That's what I'm thinking. There's no way this is their ultimate destination," Alibi continues, making his point. "Where are they going after they leave here? Where are the Tek'Tah taking them? And why so many stops?"
"Very good questions," Kit says. "This is obviously not the end of the line."
"Obviously," Piccolo echoes.
"So. Do we wait and see what happens next?" Kit asks.
"I guess," Alibi says. "Should we keep following them when they leave?"
"What about my, um, sister?" Piccolo asks hesitantly. "Can't we get her out of there?"
"I do not think we can do both," Kit says, shaking his shaggy head.
"Maybe we can," Alibi says. "We wait. See what they do next. But at the same time we get ready to act, so we can rescue these people from whatever the Tek'Tah have planned for them... After we see what it is. Or we just wait for a little while, and act on a deadline we set ourselves."
"Huh?" Piccolo asks, confused. "Whadya mean? How do we do that?"
"We just do it," Kit says. "Wait until morning. Then we can act, if nothing happens."
"I'm going back to the ship," Alibi announces.
"What?" Piccolo asks, surprised.
"Why?" Kit asks.
"I'm going to fly it back over here. Land in one of these bays. Get our getaway vehicle a little closer. That way, we might stand at least some chance of getting some of those people out of here. Might as well move the ship now while it's still dark. Then when they get 'em out under the tent for breakfast we can bust them loose. Whadya think?"
"I think you are crazy, but good crazy," Kit tells him. "Go. Bring the ship here. I'll find a way to guide you in."
Alibi makes his way through the bays and out across the scrub, back to the Stinger. He powers up the engines but maintains a blackout on his ground lighting. The Stinger rises up in the dark. He keeps her hovering at a low altitude as he glides the ship in over the outer bays.
Lo
oking down, Alibi sees Kit has marked the bay he and Piccolo are waiting in with two crossed flashlights on the ground. It's enough light to allow Alibi to bring the ship in. He touches down inside the small inner bay near the freighter.
Cautious, Alibi looks around as he gets off the ship, but no Tek'Tah have appeared. Kit appears, nodding his approval.
"Good flying," Kit compliments him.
"Thanks."
"Now, we wait," Kit says.
Alibi, Kit and Piccolo wait through the night. When the sky begins to glow with morning light, the three head back to the main landing bay, to the freighter and the tents.
The Tek'Tah appear to be waiting, too. As Kit, Piccolo and Alibi watch them through the main bay's door, the Tek'Tah guards search the sky, looking for something. Another ship?
"Let's get closer," Alibi says. "While they're looking up."
Kit leads the way into the larger bay. Alibi and Piccolo follow. They duck behind some discarded cargo containers and watch for some advantage, for an opening, a chance to overwhelm the guards, take them by surprise.
The Tek'Tah begin hissing at each other as a shiny silver ship appears high above them. As it descends, Alibi realizes it's bigger than it first appears. It's actually hard to judge its size due to a lack of external ornamentation of any kind, but the silver ship grows ever larger as it approaches the port.
"That's not a Tek'Tah ship," Alibi notes. "I don't think I've ever seen a ship like that before. Beginning to look like this whole kidnapping thing is bigger than just the Tek'Tah!"
"I believe you may be right," Kit observes.
"Who are these new guys?" Alibi asks.
"I am not sure," Kit admits.
"Don't look at me!" Piccolo says, almost too loud.
They all look up as the ship comes down. The sleek silver vessel grows to an enormous size as it lands in the bay. The curve of the ship looms over their heads as it settles down on ten meter tall landing gear.
A cylindrical column drops down from the body of the ship to land on the ground in the bay. Alibi doesn't notice when a small door opens in the side of the landing tower, but Kit gasps.
"That's impossible!" Kit whispers with a hiss.
"What?" Alibi asks.
"Them! They are supposed to be dead!"
Alibi looks away from the ship above to see what Kit is so upset about. Two small, light blue, teddy-bear like figures exit a door in the tower and walk over to the Tek'Tah and the kidnap victims. Then seven more fuzzy blue aliens emerge from inside the landing tower, taking up defensive positions around the tower. Each carries a rifle of some kind. Tek'Tah guards begin pushing their prisoners toward the landing tower.
"Who are those aliens? What race is that?" Alibi asks Kit. "I've never seen them before!"
"Those are the Eldred!" Kit says. "But... there is no way! How are they here? How can they be alive?" The cat man asks himself as much as he asks Alibi.
"The Eldred?" Alibi says in disbelief. "They're all supposed to be dead. Wow... wait until Aunt Anita hears about this!"
"The Eldred?" Piccolo asks, again a bit too loud.
"Hey!" A Tek'Tah guard spots them and fires its burner at the trio.
FWAAAAAAAASSSSSHHH!
"Shit!" Alibi swears as the crates in front of them erupt into flames from the blast of the burner's beam. "We've gotta get out of here!"
"My sister!" Piccolo shouts at the other two.
"We must go. We cannot get her now!" Kit tells him. Alibi is already heading for the door.
Piccolo looks torn. "But..." He leans back towards the Tek'Tah and their prisoners.
"We'll follow them to their next stop!" Alibi shouts at the man.
FFFFFWWAAAAAAASSSSHHHH!
The burner beam slices into the ground on Piccolo's right.
"AAaaaaghgh!!" he screams, collapsing to the landing bay floor.
Alibi goes back to check on him.
Piccolo is curled up, cowering, but doesn't appear to be harmed.
"Let's go!" Alibi shouts at the man, trying to get him back up and running.
FFFWAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSHHHHHH!
Alibi ducks as burner fire brushes nearby.
"Oh man," Piccolo mumbles. He stumbles up onto his feet and lurches forward. "We're not gonna make it."
"Alibi! Piccolo! Come on!" Kit calls from the doorway.
"Comin'!" Alibi grunts as he runs. Piccolo lags behind, still protesting.
"You gotta promise me. We gotta save my sister!"
"We will! Later. We'll try, Piccolo. Just move your ass!"
FWWWWAAAAAASSSSHHHHHH!
"Let us go!" Kit calls again.
Alibi and Piccolo stumble ahead and follow Kit out of the main bay door.
FWAAAAAAAAAASSSSHHHH!
"I think they burned my heels," Alibi says as he and Piccolo catch up to Kit. The cat man is cycling open the Stinger Ship's airlock.
"Lucky it is just your heels. We must get out of here now!" Kit says, an edge in his voice.
"But... but, my sister!" Piccolo protests.
"We will continue to follow her and her new captors... at a safer distance. Let us go," Kit says. He turns and enters the ship. Alibi motions for Piccolo to go ahead. He follows him in, swinging the ship's airlock door shut behind him.
FWAAAAAAAASSSSSSHHHH!!
A burner beam blasts the outside of the Stinger ship's door, loud enough for them to hear inside. Kit, Piccolo and Alibi exchange uh-oh looks.
"I'll get to the bridge," Alibi says.
"I..." Kit begins. He pauses, his voice choking a bit as he tries not to breathe. "I will head for the engine room."
Piccolo stands frozen for the moment, stunned.
"Almost had her back," he says, mostly to himself.
"You coming?" Alibi calls over to Piccolo.
"What?" Piccolo says, slowly snapping out of it. "Yeah, I'll be there in a second."
Alibi laughs to himself over Kit's discomfort with the ship's stench as he makes his way to the bridge at a run. He slips into the pilot's seat and fires up the ship's engines.
BOOOMCHAAAAAAANNNNGGG!
A metallic, echoing boom rings through the ship. Alibi is tossed sideways.
THAT was a Big Gun!
BOOOOMCHAAAAANNNNGGGG!
The ship is slapped backwards. Piccolo comes tripping in from the corridor onto the bridge, sprawling out onto the deck on all fours.
"That big silver ship must be firing on us!" Alibi says. "Get in that deck chair if you can!"
Alibi settles back into his seat and triggers the command that fires the thrusters and lifts the ship up off the surface of Junzias. He punches the controls for more engine power. Alibi brings the Stinger ship up off the ground at a steep angle of ascent, punishing the engines and testing the vessel's structural integrity as he attempts to escape from the aliens and their superior firepower.
Piccolo didn't make it into a seat. He's pressed back against the rear wall of the bridge as the ship rises. The old Stinger ship is shaking as it screams up off the planet's surface.
BOOM-ANG!
The ship lurches to the left as it absorbs a glancing blow from the alien weaponry.
They must have taken off to come after us!
Alibi tries to call up an analytical display to see how close the silver ship is.
"Come on, come on, give me tactical!" he shouts at the control panel in front of him. Some old voice recognition control kicks in and a heads up tactical display screen pops up in front of his face. Their ship shows up as a gold blip, their pursuer as a light blue blip. The blue blip is gaining. He punches in the Transpace coordinates for Cat's Eye and starts hitting the jump controls, but the Transpace drive in the old ship is slow to respond.
Piccolo struggles up into the chair next to Alibi.
"What's going on?" Piccolo asks.
"Nothing! Absolutely nothing! That's the problem!" Alibi says sharply.
"Alibi?" Kit calls over the com.
"Yeah, Kit?"
"We do not yet have enough energy built up to power the Transpace Drive," Kit breaks the news to him. "You should not trigger it again, for the moment. Your last attempt drained the meager power battery with which this vessel is equipped. It is starting to build power up again now."
Alibi is watching their blue blip get closer to his gold blip.
"How much longer, Kit?"
"Another two minutes, approximately."
"Shit... we don't have two minutes!"
"It is coming back up. It is just a bit slow," Kit tells him.
"Tell me when we can jump!"
Alibi waits for Kit to respond. He plots a serpentine course for the Stinger ship as he watches the blue blip draw closer. The alien ship fires at them again, but misses the Stinger.
"Keep missing... keep missing... Kit?"
"Not yet. The power is still building up in the battery. I am sorry this ship is so ill-equipped."
"Not your fault," Alibi admits. "Might not matter whose fault it is if we don't get..."
"Now!" Kit shouts over the com, interrupting him.
Alibi punches in the jump for Ceres Central and they flash out of the system. As they hit Transpace, the enormity of what he's seen is still hitting him.
The Eldred? Alive?
Aunt Anita's not going to believe this!
