Tik choked down most of her food that night.
She ate in a hurry and looked around trying not to be obvious about it.
She tried to communicate with the creatures in her line but no one seemed to understand her language.
She noticed that all the creatures grouped together were of different species.
She guessed this presented a language barrier.
She saw all different sizes and shapes of creatures in the dining hall.
None of the lines lingered very long.
They ate and then went on their way.
Tik did notice a nine-foot tall purple creature with funny-looking hair.
She was sure it was the same species as the Dar Es Salaam Traders that stopped at her planet.
This one seemed to be missing its translator that all the Traders normally wore.
Tik would like to get closer to this one.
She knew that if it were a Trader, she could at least communicate by sign language.
The crippled Bug came to the table and told them to line up.
As soon as they were in line, they started for the cells.
The other two creatures in Tik's cell went straight to their bunk.
Tik tried the door again and then went to her bunk.
She took her tool bag to the bunk and opened it up.
She took out a mini-computer that she carried to help with programming and to take notes.
She started planning how she would lay out her program to get into the mother ship computer.
She made notes of the general outline and then put everything away.
She lay down and slept better.
The bell went off and Tik jumped up.
She was eagerly looking forward to getting to her work station to start checking out the interface between the computers she worked on and the mother ship computer.
Tik looked around in the dining hall but didn't see the Trader this morning.
She found out that if she wolfed down the food and didn't think about it, she could get it all down.
As soon as everyone was through, the crippled Bug took them to the repair room.
The routine was the same that day as it had been yesterday but the Bug didn't seem to hover over her as much.
When it wasn't at her station, she tested the interface of the computers.
By the end of the day, she understood how it worked and she had developed a plan for programming.
In the dining hall she tried to communicate with those around her but there was no response.
She saw the Trader again; but there was no way to get close to him or to get his attention without attracting attention to herself, so she just observed.
When the door swung shut again, Tik tried it again with no luck.
She hurried to her bunk and took out her mini-computer.
She started writing the code she needed.
She arranged it so that she could take small pieces to put in every computer that she worked on.
The mini-computer would track where she was at in the code to help her keep things straight.
Tik made good progress that night and she knew that she would have the code finished in two more nights.
Tik went to sleep very excited about the prospects of getting revenge.
The next morning Tik was so excited that she had trouble wolfing her food down and she thought it tasted terrible.
She tried to communicate with those around her with no luck.
Tik was ready when she got to her work station.
She started implementing her plan with the first computer she repaired.
The Bugs seemed happy with her work and now left her alone unless she had a question.
It took a month to get all of the code programmed into the mother ship computer.
Tik activated the Trojan horse that day.
She could hardly eat that evening.
She wanted to get back to her cell to try her new program.
Tik skipped her usual task of checking the door and went straight to her bunk instead.
She took out her mini-computer and tried her program.
She was in!
She tried some different things and found out she was blocked from a lot of the mother ship computer.
She didn't care.
She was in and now could hack into whatever she wanted.
Tik spent another month getting into all levels of the mother ship computer.
She started to notice that she didn't have much energy.
She was forcing herself to eat everything the Bugs gave her but she still felt listless.
She tried each meal to communicate with someone but nothing happened.
Once she was into all levels of the mother ship computer, Tik learned the lay out of the mother ship and where the bugs stayed.
She found out where her cell and the repair room were located in the mother ship.
She found the hangar for the incoming and outgoing planetary ships.
She had a lot of information and could wreak havoc on the Bugs but it didn't help her get off the space ship and back to her planet.
Tik got into the navigation part of the mother ship computer and found out where they were at.
It was a long way from her home planet and she didn't see any way that she could get back there.
She continued to work on the mother ship computer and started setting all the equipment and robots on the mother ship to listen to her voice commands and do as she said.
One day she realized that she was getting sicker and weaker.
She programmed the mother ship computer to have a robot take her and her tool bag to the dispensary for creatures such as herself.
The crippled Bug evidently got his orders from the mother ship computer also because he didn't say a thing as the robot took her away.
At the dispensary, there was a Bug with a healer unit.
The Bug checked her out and then gave her an intravenous fluid.
The fluid made her feel a lot better in just a short while.
The Bug with the healer unit left her alone and she quickly got out her mini-computer to search the mother ship computer for her diagnosis.
The diagnosis said she was malnourished and low on certain essential vitamins.
The intravenous fluid contained what she needed but the mother ship computer said another medical solution needed to be found because it wasn't cost effective to keep giving intravenous fluids.
Tik checked to see if she could drink the fluid but it was only a temporary fix.
It would stave off the malnutrition but eventually she would die if her system didn't digest the food properly.
Tik told the computer to order the fluid for her as part of her normal diet.
Tik had just put up her mini-computer when the healer Bug came back into the room.
The Bug said, "You have been reassigned.
I will give you more fluid tonight and in the morning a supervisor will take you to your new job."
"What's the matter with me?
Why am I so weak and sick?" Tik asked testily.
"You don't need to know.
We will take care of you as long as you do your job," the Bug retorted gruffly.
"Where am I going to be working?
Where will I sleep?" Tik asked as a test to see what the Bug knew or would tell.
"Your supervisor will show you all of that tomorrow.
For now, relax and I will give you more fluid," the Bug told her like one would tell a child it was time to go to bed.
Tik waited until she was sure the Bug had gone for the night and then checked her mini-computer again.
She found out she would be going to the repair hangar to work on computers there and also to input the amount of salvaged fuel that was dumped into the mother ship's stock pile.
Tik worked for another hour or so before she put her computer away and went to sleep.
The next morning Tik woke up feeling much better.
She still didn’t have the strength that she had when she came on the mother ship but she felt she could work something out now.
The Bug with the healer unit brought her something to eat and Tik ate everything there.
She knew she would have to eat everything to keep her system from starving her to death.
Later she would have to research what she needed to keep her system working.
She had just finished eating when a Bug with different colored trim on its robe came and told her to follow.
They worked their way through several different passages before they rode an elevator toward the outer skin.
Once they got off the elevator, they walked a short distance and entered a huge hangar.
There were several planetary flyers, other space ships and some large robots in various stages of repair.
Robots and an assortment of varied creatures of differing sizes were swarming over everything.
They were taking things apart or putting them back together and it took Tik several minutes to tell which was which.
The Bug kept her moving across the hangar to another room.
She noticed one space ship towards the rear of the hangar.
It looked like it had seen its better days.
It was much larger than the planetary flyers the Bugs used and Tik wondered where it came from.
Her escort took her to a Bug that appeared to be the overseer in the room.
The new Bug announced, “My name is Wurden.
You will be working here entering salvage parts into inventory and weighing, classifying and entering salvaged fuel.
You will also send messenger robots to get parts that the technicians will need.
I will be here until you are competent to do this alone.
Do you understand?”
Tik replied sarcastically, “Yeah, I get it.
How do you classify all the different parts?
Do you assign them part numbers or just stick them on a shelf somewhere?”
“We classify them according to use category.
You will decide which general category the part fits in and the computer will make a final determination.
The computer will assign a shelf number and a messenger robot will store the part.
There is a camera here that helps the computer identify the parts and what they are used for.
The messenger robots that bring the parts here interface with the computer and tell it where the part came from and which ship or large robot it came off of,” the Bug declared smugly.
“I see.
Do you get a lot of salvage ships?
Where do they come from?” Tik asked.
“That is none of your business.
Just concern yourself with quickly and properly classifying the parts as they come in.
It is critical you weigh, classify and enter proper numbers for the salvaged fuel.
There are five grades of fuel and we don’t want to mix them,” Wurden stated haughtily.
“What happens when you mix them?
Do they blow up?” Tik asked innocently.
“It most certainly does not.
The mother ship has too many safeguards for that to happen.
All it does is to degrade the fuel which makes the ships and equipment use it up faster!” Wurden declared pompously.
Tik held her tongue and went to work.
She had trouble guessing what the parts were and how they should be classified.
Wurden was very impatient and she still wasn’t feeling all that well.
Tik was holding her temper but just barely.
She was fairly slow and toward the end of the day two messenger robots brought parts and set them on the counter for her to classify.
She was concentrating on the computer and didn’t notice the large creature encased in the safety gear approaching.
The creature moved rather clumsily in the protective gear and when it walked by the counter, it bumped into the robot delivering a part, causing the robot to dump the part right in Tik’s lap.
Her tight hold on her temper snapped and she leaped on the counter and was ready to attack the robot when she saw the cause of the problem.
She started screaming at the large creature, “You big lummox.
Why don’t you watch where you are going?
You’ve damaged this robot and almost killed me.
Did you do that on purpose?”
The creature just kept walking -- completely ignoring her.
It walked into the energy-shielded cubicle for recycling salvage fuel.
The robot on the deck couldn’t get up, so it lay there thrashing around, trying to find a foot-hold or something.
It started making a beeping alarm sound that added to the commotion.
Another messenger robot was trying to get to the counter and couldn’t get around the one on the deck.
Just then Wurden glided up on his disk and asked, “What is going on here?
Why are you standing on the counter instead of entering parts?”
“Just look at that big clumsy ox.
He knocked that messenger robot over and knocked this part on top of me.
I was almost killed and that thing just keeps shuffling along like it doesn’t understand plain old everyday Mis'stear," Tik complained.