The Adventures of Tim Bodge Ch. 17: Pt. 02

Before the rescue:

Do you know why we have stopped again? It appears to be moving and stopping every 30 minutes." Said Freyaka

"Sit down and shut up!" said Jaici.

"But I don't want to sit down, and to keep my mouth shut, I can't; I'm afraid!"

"We are all afraid, and you are not alone in this. We heard all that shouting, and suddenly they stopped."

Why do they have to put us in a cage and then move us around? We seem to have risen." Said Freyaka

Just shut up, you hear that. They appear to be shots fired." Said Jaici.

"Maybe somebody's here to rescue us."

"Something is not right; we are going backward," Jaici said.

"Maybe we'll be back in the light again!"

"If you don't shut up, you're in danger of never seeing the light!" Said Jaici.

"We seem to be going backward quicker; I hope there's nothing wrong!"

"Somebody put something in that lizard's mouth. Before I strangle her," said Jaici.

From the back of the cage came a deep, ruff voice, "If you both don't shut up, I'll kill both of you." Said Gorhard

Both Freyaka and Jaici turned to look back in the corner. There stood a large male, whatever. He was almost eight feet tall, and his head had a long-pointed mouth with long teeth; his nose and mouth at the end were about nine inches straight out from the rest of his head. His eyes were big and red, with no shine to them. His ears were sitting a little off-center of his head and laid to each side, they were about eight inches long.

His chest was muscular yet big and bony, the arms and legs were also muscular, and the hands had only three digits and an oversized thumb. The feet were long, awfully long, with only three toes. The toes turned down at their end and became claws.

Both girls looked at each other and thought, 'you don't give any lip to this guy.' Both sat down and became noticeably quiet. Their cage kept moving backward until they could see something. It was not long before they saw soldiers releasing others from their cages. They now stood with a smile on their face. They turned to see their fellow passenger. There was a smile, if you would call that grin a smile with all those long sharp teeth, showing.

It was their turn for their cage door to be opened. "Please, follow the other's; you will be safe on the next ship."

They followed the line of individuals into a machine and came out into another ship. They kept following the individuals ahead of them. Finally, they stopped in a large room. There were many people there; they handed them a glass of water and some food, told them the next thing was to have their image and voice recorded. That didn't sit right with the big guy. He wanted no part of that, "I do not want anything to do with that," But he thought if he didn't do this. They may question him more. "That's OK, and I have no problem with it."

He went into an area and sat alone. He understood everything that was occurring around him. He noticed the different species throughout the area, and the soldiers were from a feline world. He was wondering who was in charge here. It must be an exceptionally large ship.

He then thought about the machine that brought them here; a machine like that could make him very rich. He just needed the right individual to help. He sat there and thought about the people that he had been with.

He needed someone with skills; also, he could get them to do whatever he wanted without overly intimidating them. They would have to be naïve or gullible. He smiled to himself, and he thought, 'I know just the person, that lizard female.' Now he got up and started to look for her.

It took over an hour, and it took him around the room. He asked a lot of questions. He discovered that this was the spaceship's staging area. That there were over two thousand individuals on this ship, as of this moment.

They were to be transferred to the feline soldiers' home planet and then returned to their homeworlds in the next day or two. Now he knew he didn't have too much time, but with the right help.

He looked around and spotted the female. He would start his plan into action. He walked up to her, "my name is Gorhard, and I am sorry for the way I acted in the cage."

Frayaka looked around to see who had spoken to her. She had to step back a little to see him. She was only five feet six inches tall and him being close to eight feet. "That's alright; it was an incredibly stressful time in there. My name is Freyaka, and I'm happy to meet you now."

He thought,... 'this is going to be easier than I thought.'... "I am sorry, it's just that I lost my wife three months ago, along with the five kids and then my job, right after that. After that, I lost the house to a fire." He now had tears in his eyes and tried to hide them from her. Hoping this would make her feel sorry for him. He gave her that sad and depressing look.

Freyaka now felt sorry for this poor guy; he has been through so much in a short time. "Is there anything I might be able to help you with? Just let me know."

He thought,... 'this woman is dumber than I thought.'... I'll play her along and see what kind of work she did.... "No, I don't want your pity. I'll make it on my own." He turned to walk away but did it very slowly. Knowing she would not let him go.

"What do you say we talk?" They both walked over and found a seat and sat down to talk.

"It is difficult, given everything that is happening. I overheard a couple of guards talking about this group."

"What is that supposed to mean? What's going on with this group? They've saved our lives."

"Why would a ship full of soldiers save our lives? They must have other things to do."

"That's what soldiers do, save people from the bad guys."

"Well, in that case, why did they say, 'We're going to get a lot of credit for this group, more than the last ones.'"

"You see, all they care about is getting credit for saving our lives."

"Why? Did I hear the other say, 'the captain is to meet with the other ships and exchange this group for the credits?'"

"Well, maybe the Captain is just planning and wants the news people there to see how things went."

"This woman is such a fool." Gorhard sat there trying to understand his next move. He had to lead her into a conversation about her work. He then said, "I suppose I'm going to take care of it myself because I have nothing to lose but my life. And I'll be with my wife and kids who love me."

"What do you think you are going to do?" She turned towards him. She reached out and took one of his hands into hers. Hold them so gently.

"I'm not sure, do I need to know what the plans are for us? So, I'm going to do a little research to see what I can find out."

"What can I do to help?" Her face had a serious look like she had already made up her mind.

"No, you must stay out of it; it could be dangerous. A woman such as yourself. No, I want you to stay here." He now knew that she would do as he asked.

"But I could find out about their plans."

"Now, how could a lovely lady like you know how to find out about their plans?" He smirked to himself,... 'such a sucker,' he thought

"At one time, I was an IT specialist."

"So, what did you do?... When I figure out what's happening. It will allow you to return to work."

"I can log in to their computer system and find out what their plans are for us." She said with pride in her knowledge of computers.

"I know, but what happens if they catch you?" He said.... 'I intend to find out how good she is.' He thought.

"Where do we find a computer?" She started to look around.

"Wait, here I'll go and find out where they are." He got up and looked around for a soldier. He spotted one by herself. Walked over to her and asked, "Is there a place where I might send a message to my wife and five kids?"

"I am sorry, sir, all that equipment is on the third deck, and you will need to see the Commander for permission to go there."

"Thank you for that information, and where might your Commander be?" He looked back and smiled at Freyaka. To let her know that he had the information.

The soldier pointed him to the office used by the Commander. The office was right next to the lift. So, they had to go up one deck and then find the computer.

He went to Freyaka and told her that they needed to take the lift to deck three and find a computer there. They both walked to the lift and entered, but a soldier asked where they were going?

He told her that the commanding officer had permitted him to go to deck three and use a different computer in Room 521. The soldier then said to the lift, 'deck three,' and the lift responded, they were on their way. When they left the lift, he asked. "Which way is room 521?"

The soldier pointed to the left and told them five sections down and turned to the right, and the number would be on the doorway. They turned and headed in the direction the soldier had said. They saw a lot of other individuals on this deck. All looked like they were at home here. Individuals were coming and going into these doorways.

They walked to the end of the hallway and up to room 521 and knocked. Esireli answered the door. "Could I help you?" She asked.

"Is this the computer room?" Asked Gorhard. Aware that this was not the case, he put his left foot in the door and pushed on the door. As the door was pushed open, Esireli was taken by surprise and tripped backward. By the time she regained her balance, Gorhard was in the living room.

Esireli let out a scream and moved further back away from the doorway. Her two sisters ran out of their bedrooms and saw a large male standing in their living room door. They stood there and stared, not knowing what to do.

Their mother came from the kitchen and saw what was happening and asked, "Is there something you wanted, sir?" She knew there was going to be trouble. She signaled her daughters back into their rooms. Then walked up to Esireli and said, "Daughter go to the kitchen and check on the food." Esireli, with a strange look, turned and entered the kitchen.

"Do you have a computer here? If so, could we use it?" Gorhard asked. He now stepped further into the living room. He did not wait for an answer but waved his hand for Freyaka to enter.

Freyaka entered the living room and looked around.

Nanladra turned around and pointed at the door, and said, "Our computer is in that room, sir." She just stood there and waited to see what happened.

Gorhard looked at Freyaka and then pointed to the door, "See if that will do? I'll make everyone comfortable."

Freyaka moved to the door and checked inside, there was a computer system in there. She turned and gave Gorhard a thumbs up and walked inside.

"Please, I do not want to hurt anyone; how many are here?" He asked. He started to look around.

"Please, sir, there are only four of us, and all are female with no means to protect ourselves."

"Is there a room with no windows and only one door?"

"That would be our study, and the only thing in there is a plant."

"Show me!" Gorhard followed her to the door, opened it, and looked inside. All he saw was a foot-tall plant sitting in the middle of the room. It was dark green in color. "Now, call your daughter from the kitchen first."

Nanladra called Esireli. She came when her mother called and stood next to her and waited.

"Now, call both of the other daughters!"

Nanladra called the other two; they came out of their rooms and stood next to their mother.

"Ladies, I mean you no harm right now, if you will enter that room and make no trouble, I will promise you, nothing will happen, but if you cause trouble, then someone will get hurt!"

Nanladra and her daughters entered the room and moved to the far corner. There they all huddled together.

Gorhard closed the door and walked over to the room where Freyaka was working and entered. Saw that she was working on getting the system up.

"I'll have the system up in a minute. Once I get it up, what am I looking for?"

"Whatever might control this ship." I,... We need control for everything to work."

"I'll see what I can do about it."

"Be quick; someone was bound to have seen us leave."

"I'm trying; this is a really excellent programming job they did here."

"Quit admiring their words and get to work!"

Freyaka watch Gorhard as she worked on the computer; she moved her fingers as she did at her regular job. She kept watching him to make sure where he was. She had hoped someone would have reported them by now.

She was into the system, now all she had to do was to get someone's attention. She started typing, "room 521 needs help". Just as she pressed the input key, Gorhard walked out of the room. She got up and ran to the door, trying to see where he went.

Gorhard entered the study where he had left the females. Saw that they all were still in the corner. "Ladies, I need one of you to help convince my friend to work faster. Who shall it be?" He started towards the females.

Nanladra stood up and said, "You must kill me first."

He laughed, "You are right; you're the oldest and probably well used." He took a step forward to grab her.

The plant moved very fast, and its vines were around his feet and arms in no time. Others were wrapped around his legs, so he could not move. Still more wrapped around his body and lifted him off the ground. The final vine wrapped itself around his mouth so he could not make a sound.

Gorhard just hung there, not knowing what to do.

***

Tim walked onto the bridge and saw Tabitha and Tammy in their seats, "Tabitha could I have a word with you in the lounge, please?" He continued to the lounge. He walked over to get a cup of coffee and then to the left side and took a seat.

Tabitha walked in and saw where Tim had sat and took the seat opposite him. "What was it that you wanted?"

"Question? Have you or Tammy trained anyone to take your place as the pilot or the navigator if you leave?"

"No, we had no intention of leaving right away."

"Well, what would happen if something happened on your planet and you were both needed there?"

"I guess Sarha would have her old job back until someone could be trained."

"Well, she's doing that now when you're not on duty, isn't she?"

"I guess, are you telling me to train my replacement?"

"No, not your replacement, but I want you and Tammy to start training three or four people for your backup. At the same time, you will be handling the bridge while I am not there."

"Tim, I don't want your job! I'm happy doing the pilot's job."

"Tabitha, this is not about doing my job or your job; it's about what is best for the people on this ship."

"I will start tomorrow looking for our new trainees."

"At the same time, keep an eye out for candidates for the other positions. Give me four teams on the bridge."

They both just sat there and thought about what was just said.

"Tim, we have a problem with some of the people on deck four." Said Sarha.

Sarha appeared next to Tim. Tim turned to look at her, "What seems to be the problem?"

"We have two individuals that are missing?"

"OK, what do you mean by missing?" Asked Tim.

"Well, the volunteer servers and the bots came up with food serving over. I ran a check, and two individuals are missing from the tables."

"Sarha, could these two be in a room together, for some unknown reason?" Asked Tabitha.

"I thought about that, but the male was heading to the prison planet to die by injection."

"What was his crime?" Asked Tim.

"Tim, he had committed twenty-seven murders, across ten planets, in the last seven years."

"Call the Commander, have her meet me on the bridge ASAP."

Tabitha and Tim got up and walked to the bridge, "When I leave this bridge, the doors are to be locked until I get back. Sarha and Tabitha, do you both understand?"

Commander Anden-Aipas entered the bridge, "Tim, Sarha sounded urgent about being here quickly. What do you need?"

"Remember the talk about keeping some of your team here? Well, I think I'll need them now."

"What do you need them to do?"

"Somewhere on this ship is a mass murderer, and he is missing along with someone else."

"Sarha, could you have my second receive a code? Tell her the Commander wants three brooms."

"We have no idea where these people are. Or, if the second person is a friend or a hostage." Said Tim.

"Sarha, do you have pictures of these two?" asked Anden-Aipas. "If so, could you send a picture to my team?"

"Sarha, have you searched for any records on the second individual?" Asked Tim.

"I was searching; I have found this information; it seems that she has a very high-security clearance. All of her other information cannot be accessed, even her name."

"OK, Commander, I would like a check on both decks three and four ASAP. Is there a way to make it unnoticeable?

"The code that my second received told her to sweep the deck with three soldiers, I can now add deck 3 to the command. There will be about five minutes between each group. It will look like they're exercising while walking."

"Tim, how about our people? Will you inform them?" Asked Tabitha. She had sat down at her station and turned the seat towards Tim.

"No, if this individual knows we are looking for him, he may try to hold hostages," Tim said. "Sarha, have you been scanning the hallways?"

"Yes, but I have not found anything yet.... Tim, someone is trying to access my main program."

"Do you know which computer; she is working from?"

"Not yet, she's good, I do know she is on deck three."

"Commander, sweep deck three, all personnel to that deck." Said Tim.

***

Commander Anden-Aipas left Tim and headed to the lift. She called her second to have six soldiers report to the bridge with weapons. They were to guard it, and no one was to enter without Tim's permission.

She met her second-in-command at the lift's doorway. "I want every soldier on deck three and fully alert, I don't want someone hurt." Said Commander Anden-Aipas.

"I have started patrols up and down the main passageways every five minutes. A second group will be going through the secondary passages every ten minutes. Is there anything else?" She asked.

"Yes, the orders are to shoot to kill and not to get close to him. He's killed twenty-seven already, no more." Said Commander Anden-Aipas.

"Commander, one of the soldiers, said she had ridden the lift with them. They said something about a computer in room 521."

"I want a squad in the hallway now, do not enter or try the door, I am on my way." Said Commander Anden-Aipas.

"Sarha, tell Tim they are in room 521 If he wants to come down." Said Commander Anden-Aipas.

"Sarha, tell the Commander I trust her, let me know if she needs anything."

"Tim, something is going wrong with my system, it seems there is a code coming through, it reads, room 521 needs help."

"Sarha, I am on my way, tell the Commander I have changed my mind. Meet me at door 521." Said Tim. Tim ran to the lift, just hoped nothing was happening to the people in room 521.

Tim walked fast down the hallway, there were a lot of soldiers just waiting around. He walked up to the Commander. "We got a message through the computer that there was trouble inside."

"Is there a way to open the door without trying to break it down?" Said Commander Anden-Aipas.

"Sarha, can we override the locks on this door?" asked Tim.

"If you wish to give me the order to unlock the door, I will." Replied Sarha.

"Tim, I will need you to give that order, but my soldiers are to be the first inside." Said Commander Anden-Aipas. The Commander requested her tactical team. They stepped forward and stood by the door. "Tim, order her to do it now."