Outward Borne by R. J. Weinkam Page B

with Til stationed in a narrow
passage to block any bots from following, Pok and Zep moved on,
this time they searched each room they came to. They were
right.
    LePan had lost track of the
Cathians while she was trying to control the bots. She was
frustrated. Those things really were helpless doing anything that
differed from their routine. She was standing in the small
communications room, the image of Buth NuTet, Captain of the
Outward Voyager for the last sixty years, displayed before her. Zep
pushed open the door. LePan turned in surprise, shocked that they
had gotten through the complex so quickly. Buth NuTet watched,
disgusted. LePan was bigger, quicker and faster than the Cathians,
in spite of her bulk, and easily dodged past them and out into the
corridor. She was not sure and then remembered a door not too far
away. She might still escape in the waiting shuttle. Pok followed
LePan with her low undulating gait, while Zep, limping, went out
the far door into the next hallway and headed toward the rear of
the complex. The Cathians came down both sides of the corridor as
LePan tried to force open the very exit doors that Pok had long
since tied shut, unfortunately for her, from the outside. Even
though the ObLaDa outweighed the stocky Cathians, she did not put
up a fight. LePan stood passively as Pok hobbled her rear legs,
looped a line around her forearm, and led poor LePan back to the
communication room. Buth NuTet had told her she would not survive
contact with the aliens and, if that were to occur, he would
consider her dead already. No wonder she succumbed.
    Zep was elated. This was the hoped
for but unexpected culmination of her plan. With the captured Da in
full view and with operational communications, they would be able
to make their demands known and force the Hags to listen. Still,
communicating would be a problem, as the ObLaDas had only a minimal
understanding of the Cathian language. Then again, it should not be
hard to guess what a rebellious captive species that had been
forcibly transported from their home might wish.
    As soon as she entered the room,
Zep could see the image of another ObLaDa on the large wall screen.
She pulled LePan forward to make it clear that it was under their
control. LePan said some words, very calmly in Zep’s opinion. The
image on the screen did not make much of a response and, without
saying anything, it moved away. A few seconds later, the lights,
the screen, and all power in that level of the anti-module went
off. LePan cried out and collapsed to the floor, surprised by the
sudden blackout. The ObLaDas, it seemed, had not mastered the
negotiation concept, or maybe they had, but rather not. On the far
side of the deck, the shuttle quietly moved out of the
antimodule.
    The initial shock of the shutdown
and the apparent disregard for their follow ObLaDa was soon
replaced by a sense of confusion. Zep’s plan had run its course.
Pok, as was becoming typical, attempted to find a way to recoup
their situation. They could still function as long as their air
supply and portable lights held out. They had one captured Da as a
bargaining tool, of doubtful worth, and they could not go back.
From the start, they were on a one-way chance with long odds and
limited resources. Pok decided to run for the shuttle tube and move
through it toward the ObLaDa habitat. They would take the risk,
their plan never had much chance of success from the start, an act
of defiance became her goal, and she would pursue it to the
limit.

 
     
     
    Chapter 9 Worthless
Hostage
     
    Zep trussed up the sad and
confused LePan while Til rigged lights to the front and rear of the
cart. The three together hefted LePan’s bulky body onto the top and
stuck supplies into whatever space remained. They went out into the
deserted deck. Pok tied the door closed from the outside. They did
not expect to be pursued by the leaderless house bots, but why make
it easy for them to try? The three plus LePan took off at a