The Adventures Of Miniator -- Chapter 15 Sabotage

15) Sabotage

The day before Miniator's brain storming session, onboard the the bridge of the Hool:

Luden Lodo was talking to his Number Two, Plo Voom, who was sitting at a communication desk listening to the Jiks transmissions.

'Give me your report, Voom,' said Luden Lodo.

'All seems to be going well, Captain, We have now trained twenty pilots for the first twenty Jiks, and still have another thirty in the hold. We have made forty traps, and have caught fifteen large creatures, and the slaughterhouse is well underway.'

'Good, we will need maybe four or five thousand tons of flesh to make it worthwhile returning to Damos; enough flesh to feed our miners for five Damos years. So, plus the corn deliverers from from Koos, it is enough, and will leave us enough time to get the most out of our new ship! We will soon have it armed and dangerous, hey Voom! There will be no stopping us then!'

'Yes, Captain, the minerals from Damos will trade well, they are in great demand. I'm sure we will get the weapons we need.'

A light on Voom's communication desk blinked, and he put on the earphones, and looked a bit worried by the communication he was receiving.

'Captain, the search-team looking for the Mearian, escapee, as just returned, they found no trace of her again. Should they try again tomorrow?'

'Mmmm, she managed to make fools of us... It doesn't look good the way she just walked away, while that idiot, so-called guard, stood and watched her...! The other prisoners have been laughing at him for the last two days!'

'I questioned him, Captain, he said she had some kind of power over him... that he could do nothing to stop her... he was escorting her to the sickbay, when she stopped, saying she felt dizzy. She had the sun over her shoulder, and in his face, and as she moved her head in and out of the sun the rays flicked in his eyes. She began talking about how the sun effects the brain..., then he said, suddenly her voice was inside his head, as if it was his own... Telling him how heavy his body and the laser-gun felt. Then she asked him to wait for her and walked into the forest... you know he is usually one of our best... he feels really bad about it!'

'Well, he must be held responsible, take away some of his recreation hours... And there is no point looking for her everyday, she could be miles away. With any luck she might have been eaten by one of those monsters... she has no weapons does she?'

'No, Captain.'

Two days later, 2 am, onboard the the bridge of the Hool:

'Captain! sorry to get you out of bed, but one of the Jiks has just been stolen! said Plo Voom in a reluctant tone.'

'What! Stolen, how can that be?' shouted, Luden Lodo.'

'The guards reported that there was a sudden, explosion... a smoke bomb, then they saw the Jik lifting-off, they had no chance to do anything about it. One of the guards said he thought the pilot was that Mearian, Narea Dorr... the escapee.'

'How long ago was this?'

'Fifteen minutes ago, Captain. I have all the Jik pilots standing by, should we pursue her Captain.'

'No, it's too dark, our pilots haven't been trained in night flight have they?'

'No, Captain. You are right… it could be dangerous! Then we should wait until day break?'

'Who is this Narea Dorr? Give me a report!'

'Computer! Identity: Nerea Dorr.'

'Nerea Dorr: Aged twenty eight Mearian years, Special Officer, Engineer, Computer Scientist, Robotics Expert, trained in unarmed combat, Supreme Mentalist. She has served for five Mearian years in the Mearian Special Forces. Holder of the Mearian Survival Medal.

'She sounds very dangerous... What is a mentalist?'

'Computer define Mentalist, ' ordered Plo Voom.

'Mentalist: One trained in hypnosis, psychological subliminal suggestion and misdirection. Often with the ability to read body language, and Eye Assessment.'

'I think we have underestimated our Nerea Dorr,' said Luden Lodo.

They suddenly heard loud explosions.

Then a voice came over the communication desk: 'Corp. 108, to base!'

'Base here. Report, Corp. 108!'

'Sir, we have a problem here... More smoke bombs have exploded all around the base!'

Luden Lodo and Plo Voom looked at each other with blank shocked faces.

'Nerea Dorr !' said Luden Lodo.

'Sir, somehow the captured creatures have got loose...! They are escaping into the forest..., but others are still on the base. Our laser-guns seem to have little effect against them... Should we break-out the larger lasers, Sir?

'Luden Lodo here! Sound all the alarms! Do not use the larger weapons, we must not damage the ship! Try to push the creatures away from the ship and the Jiks. It is crucial they don't cause any damage.'

Luden Lodo and Plo Voom listened to the chaos coming from outside. They could see flashes of lasers and hear the ringing of alarm bells, and wailing of sirens above the roars of the dinosaurs. It continued for around an hour.

'Corp. 108, to base: We have resumed control of the base. All the creatures have escaped into the forest, and many of the traps have also vanished, Sir, One of the corps., Sir, reports seeing a flying dinosaur during the attack...!

Luden Lodo and Plo Voom said nothing for the moment, they were speechless.

'Corp. 108, to base: do you read me base...?'

'Yes, we read you... what should I say, the corp. must be deluded '

'This is the work of Nerea Dorr...,' said Luden Lodo to his Number two, 'her power over minds must be considerable... flying dinosaur?'

'Corp. 108, This is the Captain, Give orders to all the corps. To shoot on sight the escapee Nerea Dorr! She is extremely dangerous, do not attempt to take her prisoner or approach her...! There will be a bonus for anyone who kills her. I repeat do not approach her!'

Daybreak on the Bridge of the of the Hool:

Ludo Lodo sits at his desk with his head in his hands. Plo Voom sits at the communication desk looking worried.

'Corp. 108 to base!'

'Base receiving,' said Plo Voom.'

'Sir, many of the jiks have a problem... of the twenty, only five will start... It seems to be a problem with the onboard computers...'

Ludo Lodo only moaned, and didn't lift his head from his hands.

'Get the engineers on the problem,' said Plo Voom.

The Captain lifted his head and said, 'Corp.108, send out two search parties for that escapee!'

'How many, Sir?' Responded the Corp. 108 .

'Two teams of ten, and remember shoot to kill!'

'Yes, Sir!'

'Ludo Lodo said to Plo Voom, 'That leaves thirty corps. to guard the crew and the engineers, and the rest of the base, and the ship. This should be our sole purpose until we get rid of this thorn in our side, then we can get back to our work. So we should keep the corps. on red alert. Make sure you keep close contact with them.

Two hours later on the bridge of the of the Hool:

'Base! Corp.10. Search party 2 to base!'

'Base here, come in Corp.10, Search Party 2!' Responded Plo Voom.

'Sir, six of our men have walked into one of our traps, we have no keys with us, request a Jik, to come and lift them out!''

Ludo Lodo slamed is hand down hard on his desk, and sprang to his feet, cursing the whole Mearian race!

'What is to be done, how is it possible, she is unarmed. How can build smoke bombs out in a jungle, control the mind of our best trained corps... and walk them into our own traps?'

'Corp. 10 to base, do you read me?''

'Yes, we read you, said Plo Voom, will send a jik. Out!'

'Sir, I have an idea, we could just pack up, and take off, and shift to another time zone... say forty years forward, find another place to land, and start again! We could leave our Mearian problem in the past!'

'That's it! Yes! Get all the corps back, load all the jiks, forget the the slaughterhouse. Then we are off! We leave before nightfall. And leave this cursed Narea Dorr here alone to rot!

Six hours later on the Bridge of the Hool:

'Are we ready, Number Two?' asked Ludo Lodo

'Yes, Captain, everything is loaded up, all the prisoners locked safely away, all the Corps. on board.'

'Very well, engage the computer and close all ship doors!'

'Engaging Computer... engaging computer...'

'CODE INVALID!' responded the computer

'What is is it?'

'The computer will not engage!'

'Try again!' barked Ludo Lodo.

Plo Voom put the code into the computer again.

'CODE INVALED!'

'Corp.108, Sir, we have an emergency, the robots are not locked down and have opened all doors and released the prisoners!'

'Hello Captain Ludo Lodo! Captain Sobyan here. I have re-established command over the computer...You and your crew are under arrest. My robots are securing the ship. I have a message for you from Special Officer Narea Dorr. 'It is: ''See you Soon!'''

Before Ludo Lodo and Plo Voom had time to reacted the doors of the bridge opened and a large troop of robots entered armed with laser-guns. Two minutes later Captain Sobyan and Narea Dorr entered.