"The Anti-X Encounter"
Part 5
The journey to the extraction chamber was longer than from the hangar up to Commander Cordyte's office. Rivqua couldn't see which floor the gunhead leader pressed in the elevator. The display above the doors didn't help either. None of the lights seemed to work.
The ride went downwards. A full minute went by. They passed hangar bay twelve. Rivqua counted seconds.
Finally the elevator came to a stop and the doors slid open. The girls were pushed out and down a curved passage, then shoved into another elevator that headed back up again.
Zana had her eyes on Raptaur all the time. The dinosaur guard had lumbered into Cordyte's office, given the prisoners a bored look and taken them away without a word, except a mumbled "Will do, Commander".
But there was something in that bored look, Zana was sure of it. A tiny instance of surprise, followed by a thought. It was quickly hidden away in his general expression of boredom and he turned and shuffled off, leading the way. Like a lump of sad dough with two cake decorations after it and a troop of hard beads bringing up the rear.
Another stretch of corridor was covered. And a third elevator, which moved diagonally. Rivqua closed her eyes, focusing hard on keeping sense of their direction through the maze.
Zana watched Raptaur closely. Waiting for another meeting of eyes. None came. The big guard kept his face turned away. Snorting and hissing to himself like a bull in the rain.
The last passage opened led into a technical workshop of some kind.
"My pretties!" cried a familiar chorus of voices from in amongst the equipment. "The extraction chamber is ready for you!"
Commander Cordyte swivelled her head and looked up. How did she get here, the girls wondered. In this windowless area the super-spider's chrome-plating wasn't such a strain on the eyes. Rivqua and Zana slipped their rocker shades back on all the same.
"Take those off!" Cordyte cried. "And step forward! We are going to scan you and you can't very well have your eyes covered! Such appearances worry buyers, you know."
The room was full of robot concepts in various stages of development. Some complete with painted body panels and others just a skeleton frame and loose wires.
"Move it!" rumbled Raptaur with an impatient gesture, averting his eyes.
The Blonde Plutoz stepped forward. They began to feel apprehensive. All this 'extraction' talk had a unpleasant ring to it.
"Scan us for what?" said Rivqua.
"Why, for these, darling," replied the giant spider. One of her legs stopped polishing her backside and pointed to a couple of robots standing on a platform. Each had two legs, two arms and a head. The basic humanoid shape. All there but for the paneling.
"As you can see they're almost complete. All we need is the lining and surface. And this, my dears, will be provided by you. Darlings, you will become models!"
Rivqua felt uncertain.
"Could you explain that in more detail, please?"
"Be glad to, dear. First we will scan your surfaces down to the last detail. Every texture, every button, every rivet and crease in the leather, every strand of hair, eyelash, the rosiness of your cheeks, everything! Including all measurements. Second, that data will be used in the final contouring and surfacing of the droids. They will look exactly like you!"
"We get that," Zana said. "There are dummies of us in wax museums around several planets already."
"After we've done this modeling bit for you," said Rivqua. "Can we go then?"
"See, we got a gig tonight," Zana added, "and we'd like a long sound check to work a new number into the act. So hows about we get this show on the road and then we'll get out of your, um, chrome and hit warp speed outta here."
Miss Cordyte's choir voices laughed.
"Oh you charming little dears..." she mused. Then her head swivelled sharply. "No! You will not be released! To let you leak word throughout the galaxy about Anti-X!? Certainly not! I am placing you in suspended animation for an extended length of time, say ten thousand years. Until I know what to do with you."
"There goes the rest of our galaxy tour," Zana said, scratching her head.
Rivqua noticed Raptaur over by two oblong cases. Like coffins with see-through lids, resting on wheeled machinery. Small lights blinked and digits scrolled. The big guard worked a couple of touch screens, then prepared a large syringe-looking device.
"And I think we're going with it," said Rivqua. The dinosaur flicked the huge needle and squirted drops of greenish fluid into the air.
"This way, my pretties!" Cordyte cried. She had dismissed the gunheads and now clattered over to two circles on the floor. "Step inside these. Make yourselves comfortable."
The Blonde Plutoz did as they were told. Resistance was useless, that much was clear. Banks of soft spotlights clunked on and began closing in on them, as if rolled up by unseen stage hands. The girls were bathed in pale red light.
Several long telescopic arms slid down from the ceiling. Like slithering octopus limbs they began moving around the girls. Sort of sniffing at them, sizing them up before coming to a standstill in starting positions.
"Right then, darlings," said Cordyte, "All you need to do is stand perfectly still and be your pretty selves for a while."
"How long's a while?" asked Rivqua, staring up at the sensor-laden tip of one arm.
"The scan takes thirty seconds."
Cordyte signaled to the droid working the controls. Buttons were pressed. Somewhere a buzzing hum started and instantly wide beams of blue light fanned out from the sensors. Fine as knives' edges they began wandering over the girls' bodies, from top to toe, side to side, angled every which way, missing neither nook nor cranny.
The girls stood as still as they could. Rivqua counted seconds and they were well over the half-minute when the blue laser blades switched off.
The droid manning the controls spoke.
"Surface detail too great-- replication not possible--"
Commander Cordyte stamped four of her feet in frustration.
"Increase feathering by a few percent and try again!"
"Resetting-- please standby--"
"Is something the matter?" asked Rivqua.
"Your physical exterior is too complex!" Cordyte shouted and gestured in disgust, waving two or three pointed feet at the girls. "Your fusion of materials and design is a concoction so illogical it overloads our scanners!"
"Hey, don't knock our rock star outfits!" Xana said.
"Changed your mind about us modeling for you?" Rivqua asked.
"Not a chance!" Cordyte roared, drilling all six eyes into the girls. "Not a chance..."
"Reset complete-- ready to scan--"
"Fire away!"
The scan began again. Rivqua and Zana stood as still as they could. They just wanted this to be over. And in thirty seconds flat it was.
"Scan completed-- imaging is successful--"
"At last!" the robot spider shouted and resumed polishing her backside. "Raptaur! They're all yours! Leave them on the carbon-baser level!"
Cordyte joined the droid at the control panel. Rivqua was about to ask a question when she felt a sharp pain in her neck.
"Hey!" Zana spun around, staring in horror at Raptaur. The dinosaur stood behind Rivqua. He held the injection gun to her neck. Zana didn't have time to move. Quick as a reptile the bored dinosaur had Zana in a hard grip. The needle plunged into her vein. She screamed.
The Blonde Plutoz sank lifeless to the floor.
Stay tuned for Part 6 of "The Anti-X Encounter"!
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