Alcantaran 1: Alien Abduction by Terry Compton Page A

covered fixture to fill or empty the rockets.   Some of them were missing fins or other parts and one looked like it had been badly burnt.
    Ron asked, "What are these used for?   What are those little nodes around the top and bottom?"
    "Nobody knows for sure what they are used for or what any of those things do.   We have tried to follow instructions but so far we haven't had any luck making them do anything.   We want you to take parts off of that one and make this one work.   There's not much on the computer about them but that's all we have."
    Ron looked up the information on the computer and studied it for several minutes.   Then he turned to the rockets to check them out.   He used a meter to see if there was any fuel in the rockets.   All of them were completely empty and showed no trace of fuel at all.   He signaled a robot to come over and pick up the rocket that was going to be used for parts.   He studied the rocket for over an hour.   He didn't see anything that gave a clue to the rocket's use.   The computer did show a way to open a panel to get inside.   He opened the panel and checked inside.   On the inside of the panel were faint characters which Ron found to his surprise he could read.   He quickly went back to the computer and saw that it mentioned the characters inside the panel but gave no interpretation of what it meant.   Ron excitedly went back to the rocket.   He slowed himself down because he didn't want Wurden to notice that he was getting excited.   He read the inscription on the inside of the panel and then checked the wiring and plumbing inside the rocket.   He was pretty sure that this was another artifact from the Alcantarans.   The more he studied the rocket, the more sure he was.   He really struggled to keep his excitement hidden.   He knew what the rockets did and how they worked.   He saw that one valve was set in the wrong position and somehow he knew that the rocket wouldn't work properly with the valve set like that.
    Slowly he removed fins and other parts.   He laid them on his work station.   When he had all of the parts off, he had the robot carry it back to the rack.   By that time it was the end of the day so they headed back to the dining hall and then to the cell.   Ron didn't say a word about the rockets to his friends until they were back in the cell and Tik had set the spy devices off.   She had a special video clip that she put into the mother ship computer that made it look like they all went to sleep right away.
    Ron started very seriously, "Gus, you mentioned something quite a while ago.   Do you remember asking about taking the old derelict space ship in the repair hangar?   Maybe we need to pursue what needs to be done to make it fly.   Tik, can you do some research on it?   What have the Bugs tried?   What success have they had?"
    Tik started to protest, "That old thing?   It's so old I don't know whether I would ever trust it or not.   I'll see what the Bugs have and then we can see from there."
    Gus had been watching Ron's face and he could see an undercurrent of excitement there.   He asked, "Didn't you work on something over by that space ship today?   What did you find?"
    Ron answered, "I'm not sure.   That's why I want Tik to find out everything she can about that ship.   See how many other artifacts the Bugs have that they think might belong to the Alcantarans.   Right now we know we can get access to that ship.   We just need to know if it will fly and how long it would take to get it ready."
    Ron and Gus just had to sit back on their bunks while Tik did her research.   She found little bits and pieces here and there.   It took a long time to make any sense of what she found.   Ron and Gus got tired and went to bed as she continued to look.   Finally she got tired and went to bed herself.
    The next morning Ron said, "Keep your ears open and ask any of the other Bugs that will talk to you about the ship.   Try to make