Hand Jive, page 5
“Bruce?”
“You haven’t met him yet? Scotti built a bot to teach us martial arts. Treat him with respect, and he’ll teach you more than you thought you could learn. Smart off to him, and scrape yourself off the wall.”
“He’s not just for you?”
“Milly has been working with him. I overheard her talking about it the other day.”
“Milly is getting better? I don’t have a chance at a rematch either, do I?”
“You have size and strength. If you don’t let her use that against you, I think you could give her a run for her money. She was having trouble a while back, and I told her to start on arts that used the opponent’s strength and momentum against him. I haven’t heard her complain lately.”
“Yousa! She was tough when she explained it to me. I don’t even want to think what she could do to me now.”
“Scared of a leetle girl? C’mon, now, Jeff.”
“Leetle girl, my behind. She’s pure Marine, and you know it.”
“Well, there is that. I better let you get back to it. Thanks for the info.”
“No problem, Boss.”
The line went dead. Nikki asked, “What did he say?”
“About suppertime. I’m sure Ruth would have a better estimate, but that’s close enough, isn’t it?”
“Plenty close. I’ll call them this evening, and see what they have to say. What do you want to do about Rimmi?”
“Do you think she would be willing to stay on the Evans, and keep Eve company, while we figure out what we’re going to have to do to keep her safe?”
“I think I can talk her into that. Do you want me to have Dixie move her autodoc, before she wakes up?”
“Sounds like the best way to go about it. I’m guessing you want to be there, when she comes out of the box?”
“Might be best. Too bad you sent Steve with Grandpa. Bucky has always been better at calming her down than I am.”
“You want me there?”
“I don’t think so, Caveman. I need to get honest answers out of her, and she might not want to talk as much, with you there.”
“I could see how that would be. Holler if you need any help.”
“I will, believe me. I’m gonna head to sim deck, unless you need something else.”
“I can’t think of anything that wouldn’t embarrass Jeeves.”
“You say the nicest things.”
“I try.”
“You’re very trying. Why is it that I keep you around?”
“Not sure about that one, but I’d rather you didn’t think on it too hard. You might realize you could do better.”
“I doubt that. See you later.”
She headed off. Jeeves asked, “What now, Boss?”
“I’ve got time to let Bruce explain it to me, before lunch, don’t I?”
“You do, indeed. Should I schedule you an autodoc?”
“I don’t think so. Thanks, anyway.”
I headed to the gym.
Bruce was waiting for me, when I got there. I said, “Let me change, and I’ll be right with you.”
“No rush, Boss.”
When I got back to the mats, Bruce asked, “What would you like to work on, Boss?”
“Whatever you think I need.”
He jumped me, without warning. I managed to block most of it, and retreat enough to get my bearings. I counterattacked, but I didn’t manage to land anything. Two hours later, I was having trouble keeping the sweat out of my eyes. Bruce said, “I think that is enough for today, Boss. I think you should make time more often, though.”
“I’ll try and remember that. Perhaps you should ask Jeeves to remind me.”
“The desire to learn must come from within, Boss.”
“It’s not desire that’s the problem, Sensei. It’s my limited memory.”
“If you wanted it, you would remember.”
“Maybe you’re right.”
He didn’t say anything else, and I went to get cleaned up. Once I was back in uniform, I went back to the office. Jeeves said, “Well, you’re still walking. It must not have gone too badly.”
“I think I learned some things. We’ll see if I can remember till next time.”
“Would you like me to remind you to go to the gym?”
“Bruce says if I really want to train, I’ll remember on my own.”
“Bruce has no idea how many things you have to keep up with.”
“How about this? If a week passes without me going to the gym, you can remind me.”
“Sounds fair enough. You’re trying to do it the way Bruce wants you to, but you want to make sure you make it, if that doesn’t work.”
“Exactly.”
“You want a coffee?”
“Might as well.” I looked at my inbox, but there wasn’t much that needed help. I got a sip of my coffee before Topper came over the speaker. “Boss, Andre’s in trouble. Could you step over here, please?”
“On it, Skipper.”
I managed not to spill my coffee on the way across the hall, but it was a near thing. I got strapped into my chair, and asked, “What’s happening, Skipper?”
“Andre was riding with Rachel and the rest of the fire crew. They rolled up on a house that was too far gone for the humans to risk. Andre went in anyway. He got the parents out, and it was all good till the mother started asking where their daughter was. Andre ran back in. He found the daughter, but he couldn’t make it back out. He took her to the basement, and broke through the concrete, to make a hidey-hole for her. He covered it with his body, and called me for backup. I got a couple of freighters in there to do a water drop, but we lost comms with Andre before they got there. We got the fire out, and I guided the firefighters to Andre. He had managed to save the girl, but he wasn’t responding. He’s inbound on one of the freighters. Scotti has a team waiting to take care of him, but I don’t know if we got him before his processor and memory got cooked.”
“Sounds like I’m in the wrong place, Skipper. Rachel will be riding with him, and she’ll need to be calmed down.”
“That’s what I was thinking, too, Boss. Any chance you could handle that for me?”
“Sure, Skipper. I’m on my way. Can you ask Jeeves to come get my coffee cup?”
“Will do, Boss.”
I ran across to the transit, and said, “Gene, I need priority to whichever landing bay they’re bringing Andre into.”
“On it, Boss. Grab on.”
He wasn’t kidding. He pulled out all the stops. The doors opened, and I ran into the bay. Scotti said, “I’ve been able to access his diagnostics, Boss. We have the parts on hand to bring him back up to operating specs.”
“Thanks, Scotti. You’re sure he’ll have all his memory?”
“I am, Boss. He was still providing air for the girl he rescued, when they pulled him off that hole he dug.”
“The firefighters had trouble moving him?”
“They couldn’t do it. He used mounting putty to seal himself down. They were trying to chip the concrete away, when one of the bots on the freighters came down with solvent to get him loose.”
“He was afraid the fire would get into the hole, with the girl?”
“So it seems. He didn’t report to the Skipper, so I’m just guessing. He was in a hurry, when he figured out he wasn’t gonna get her out.”
“I don’t doubt that a bit. How long till they get here?”
“Should be on the deck any time now. You’re planning to deal with the organic that wouldn’t let them leave without her?”
“I’m planning to try, Scotti. I’m not willing to promise you a thing.”
“Well, Boss, I’ll take your try over most people’s guarantee, any day of the week.”
The ship came through the force field, and the door started to close. The ship turned around before it sat down, so that the ramp was facing us. The ramp was opening before it hit the ground. A squad of Marines rushed up, jumping onto the ramp before it touched down. They ran right back out carrying Andre, and rushed toward a shop, where several techs were waiting. Rachel ran out behind them, screaming, “Hey, where are you taking him?”
I said, “They’re taking him to where he can get worked on, before he runs out of backup power. Calm down, Scotti says he’ll be fine.”
“Who’s Scotti, and why should I trust what he says?”
I pointed. “She, is the best dang engineer in the whole BSR fleet. If she can’t fix it, it ain’t broke. Andre is in good hands.”
I must have slipped into Admiral voice somewhere in there, because she answered, “Sorry, Sir. I let my emotions get the better of me.”
“Andre was a frickin’ mess, when you were in the autodoc. Payback is a bitch.”
“I guess so. You’re sure he’ll be alright?”
Scotti said, “He couldn’t talk, even over the comm, but I was able to access his telemetry. As long as we get him some external power soon, he’ll be good as new.”
I said, “He may have to spend some time with Bone, but other than that, I don’t expect any bad effects.”
Rachel looked at me, tilting her head. “Bone?”
“He’s our bot counselor. Helps them with PTSD and such.”
“Bots get PTSD?”
“Close enough so you can’t tell the difference, anyhow.”
“I never thought it would come out like this, when I asked Andre if he wanted to ride with us.”
“You know he’s not going to let a bad situation get worse, when he thinks he can do something about it.”
“I do. I guess I didn’t add it up.”
“Don’t worry about it. He’s a big bot, he knew what he was getting into. Not your responsibility.”
“Thanks for seeing it that way. How long will he be out of service?”
I looked at Scotti. She said, “If he isn’t out here joking with you about it in two hours, some of my techs are going to be on the hull, with toothbrushes.”
I said, “Sounds like we have some time to kill. Call me when he’s ready to wake up, Scotti.”
“Of course, Boss.”
I looked at Rachel. “Have you eaten yet?”
“No, but I don’t think I could eat, right now.”
“Well, Andre isn’t cooking today, obviously, but his second is pretty good, all the same.”
“I guess I ought to do something, besides standing here worrying.”
“Yes. Yes, you should. Come this way.”
I took her to the transit, and had Gene take us to the galley. We went inside, and Nikki and the kids were waiting. I said, “You remember Nikki, don’t you?”
“Yes, but I don’t think I’ve met the rest of these people.”
“This is our son, Jimmy, our daughter, Janet, Rhonda Sloan, and Milly.”
Milly looked at Rachel, seeing the confusion on her face. “Sorry, where I come from, we don’t use last names. Didn’t mean to confuse you.”
“No sweat. I just didn’t catch on, at first.”
Janet asked, “How’s Andre?”
Rachel said, “A bot called Scotti said he would be fine.”
Milly said, “Then he’ll be at least as good as he was before the fire.”
Rachel looked at her. Milly said, “I wouldn’t put it past Scotti to use the chance to slip him a few upgrades, while her crew is working on him, anyway.”
“You’re really not worried about Andre?”
“No, Ma’am. I work for Scotti, when I’m not training. She won’t settle for less than the best. Andre will be fine, if she said he would.”
Janet said, “You can take that to the bank, Ma’am. Scotti can fix anything.”
Rachel said, “But, she had some of her techs working on him, she wasn’t doing it herself.”
Janet replied, “It may have looked that way, while you were there, but the bots can talk over the comm channel at the same time they’re talking vocally. I have no doubt she was supervising what was happening with Andre, while she was talking to you.”
Nikki said, “Believe it. Scotti and Andre are friends. She wouldn’t take any chances with him.”
Stella was waiting to take our drink orders. She said, “She better not. Half the crew would be ready to take her apart, if she did.”
Rachel noticed Stella. “Oh, hi. I didn’t see you there.”
“Just wanted to know what you folks needed to drink. Figured I would eavesdrop, and find out what was going on with Andre, while I was at it.”
“You know Andre?”
“He cooks, when he isn’t busy making eyes at organics.”
Rachel looked embarrassed. “I…uh...I mean.”
Nikki said, “She’s just messing with you, Rachel.”
Rachel replied, “Andre jokes around enough I should be used to bots having a sense of humor. Guess you didn’t catch me on my best day.”
Stella said, “I know that, Ma’am. I was trying to help you think about something else, at least for a minute.”
“That was kind of you. Thanks.”
“All part of the service. What can I get you?”
It turned out that Rachel was hungry, after all. After we all finished eating, she asked, “How long till Andre is ready to talk?”
I said, “Not a clue. Gene?”
Gene said, “Boss, Scotti says he won’t be ready for company for another hour or so.”
“Thanks, Gene.”
Nikki asked, “Do you play pool? Bob has a nice table in his office.”
Rachel looked at me. I said, “Sometimes it helps shake loose the answers I can’t quite get at.”
“Do you have a beer cooler, too?”
“Nope. We keep that here. Couldn’t crack into it right now, anyhow.”
“Why not?”
“The fella I usually hand the fleet to, when I crack a beer, is in FTL right now, and couldn’t take command.”
Rachel looked at Nikki. Nikki said, “This fleet is a lot of destructive power. He tries to be sure it doesn’t get used, when it shouldn’t.”
“Andre said this was a different place to work, than when he used to be in the Navy, but I don’t think it sunk in just how different.”
Gene broke in. “Boss, Andre put her through ‘Acceptable Contact’, and another test the Marines use to make sure that people are safe to work with. She passed with flying colors. Nothing to worry about. Andre cares about security.”
I said, “Thanks, Gene. How did you know?”
“Your pulse was going up, along with your blood pressure. I thought it would be better to calm you down, before you got worried. Besides, Mrs. Wilson was about to go off, too.”
I looked at Nikki. She blushed, and didn’t say anything. I said, “Thanks again, Gene.”
Rachel asked, “All those words were English, but I’m not sure I caught what you were talking about.”
I replied, “Gene noticed me getting upset, when you started talking about things I wouldn’t have thought you would have known about, and reassured me that you were cleared to know those things. He also noticed Nikki getting uptight about it. Which part did you miss?”
Rachel looked stunned. Janet said, “Dangit, Dad! You broke her.”
Rachel looked at her, and said, “No, I’m functional. We just jumped from a casual conversation to talking about serious things mighty quick. Give me a second to catch up.”
Janet said, “Noted. No flight training for you.”
Nikki said, “Now, Janet. She might be able to train around it. Bucky did.”
Rachel asked, “There you go again. Bucky?”
Nikki replied, “My friend from the Academy. She’s still not as good a pilot as some of us, but she does alright. A little better than Bob, but she’s been at it longer. Janet just has high standards, since she’s a natural.”
I said, “If you two are going to get any pool in, before Andre wakes up, you better head on up.”
Nikki asked, “You’re not coming?”
“No, I have a thing or two I want to see to, before I head back to the office.”
“When should I tell Jeeves to expect you?”
“When Gene tells him I’m headed that way sounds as good as any.”
“Understood. There is one thing you need to take care of, before you head out.”
I kissed her. Jimmy said, “Get a cabin, you two!”
Nikki looked at me, and shook her head. “I’m not sure you two are good for one another.”
She and Rachel caught a transit. Jimmy asked, “What are you up to, Dad?”
“I don’t really know, but I thought Rachel could probably use some time with your mom, without me hanging around.”
Janet said, “I’ll put out the alert. The Admiral is on a Murphy walk. Prepare for action.”
I looked at her. “Gee whiz, is it that bad?”
“Sometimes it is. Scotti always wants to know when you’re out and about, just in case. She says you find things she’s overlooked.”
“I must be way too picky, then. She runs a tight ship.”
“She appreciates the help, Dad.”
“If you say so. Sounds like I’m looking over her shoulder.”
“She doesn’t see it that way, I know that for sure.”
“Good enough. See you folks at suppertime.”
“Bye, Dad.”
Jimmy said, “Be careful, Dad.”
Milly said, “Fly safe, Boss.”
Rhonda said, “Take care of yourself, Uncle Bob.”
I wandered off, wondering what had them all on edge. I hadn’t gotten far before Snitz came running up to walk with me. If Gene was that worried, there must be something going on, but I still didn’t have a clue what had them all so wound up. I asked, “Gene, where would I find Bone?”
“He’s already down in Engineering, waiting for Andre to wake up, Boss. You don’t need to ask him.”
“Good enough, then. What has everyone so worried, about me taking a walk?”
“You haven’t been out and about for a while. We’re all thinking you might actually find something this time.”
“You think there’s something bad enough that I need Snitz to back me up?”
“I don’t know, Boss. You know how seriously we take your feelings.”
“Okay, but this wasn’t a feeling, more like just killing time, waiting for Andre to wake up.”
