Roo the Day, page 12
part #13 of Bob and Nikki Series
“She is spry, since she was in the box, if she can keep up with Lilly.”
“Janice says it’s a challenge, but it’s fun.”
“Till she hops on your bladder.”
“Ouch. She do that to you?”
“She has a habit of finding me when I’m on the training machine. Can’t do much to defend yourself, when you’re not even aware of your surroundings.”
“I can see how that would be a problem. I’ll get right on those interviews for you, Bob.”
“I expect them to pass, but I can’t justify putting them on the crew without an interview.”
“Understood. Talk to you when I have some answers.”
“Later, Jim.”
I turned to the Marine in charge of settling the new people in. “Once you get these folks assigned quarters, Mr. and Mrs. Bailey will be wanting to interview them. I don’t expect any trouble, but give them a guard, just in case.”
“Understood, Boss. Do you want your dog to meet them, too? Never can tell who might have a nasty implant.”
“I hadn’t considered that, but it sure couldn’t hurt.”
“I’ve asked Gene to page him, Boss.”
“I love this ship. Carry on.”
It wasn’t long before Snitz came running in. I gave him some pets, and ear scratches, and said, “I’ve got some people for you to meet. Come on, boy.”
We went over to where the two crews were getting acquainted. Benny said, “Hi, Captain. Do you need something?”
“Thirty hour days, and ten day weeks, most of the time. I’ve got somebody I want you to meet, if it isn’t too much trouble.”
“Who would that be, Captain?”
“Snitz, my dog.”
I looked down at Snitz, who was looking at Benny, expectantly. Benny asked, “Your, ah, dog, did you say?”
“Yes.”
“What’s a dog?”
“Domesticated wolf. Companion animal, good at guarding.”
“Wolf, did you say?”
“I did. His ancestors were wolves, thousands of years ago. This fella here is pretty friendly.”
“What’s he good for?”
“You know that teaching machine mod you all are so wound about? He’s the one that found the problem. I just fixed it.”
“How did he do that?”
“His hearing goes to higher frequencies than ours. The problem was a high-pitched noise we humans couldn’t hear, but it caused us to tense up, and get headaches.”
“I’ll be! How do I make friends with him?”
“They get a lot of information from smells. Hold your hand down where he can smell it.”
He did, and Snitz thought he smelled okay. I said, “Stroke him lightly on top of his head. He likes that, too.”
Snitz licked him. I said, “You pass. Can you call the rest of your people over for a turn?”
“This is a test?”
“He’s a good judge of character. It won’t be your only test, but I do put some faith in it.”
He called the rest of the crew over, and they took turns petting Snitz. He didn’t alert on any of them. I said, “Well, good. I didn’t want to have to deal with an implant today, anyway.”
Benny asked, “He can detect implants?”
“Some of them. We’ll probably run you folks through a scanner, just to be sure, but anything he picks up is usually something that needs to be dealt with quickly.”
The Roos had wandered over to see what we were doing. One of them asked, “Is that what their young look like?”
Ellie said, “No, I’ve seen their young. They just look like smaller versions of them. That is an animal the Captain keeps as a pet. Harmless. He plays with my joey.”
The Roos took turns petting Snitz, until an older female came up last. Snitz alerted on her pouch. I asked, “Ma’am, do you have some kind of technology in your pouch?”
“Oh, you mean this?” She said, drawing a nasty looking pistol.
I asked, “Is that lethal, or not?”
She pointed it at me, and said, “Let’s find out.”
I was still reaching, when Nikki shot it out of her hand. Nikki said, “Thanks for talking me into getting those enhancements, Caveman.”
“You’re sure welcome.”
Two Marines had her arms. One of them said, “Ma’am, drawing on the Captain is frowned upon, on this ship. If it happens again, I’ll volunteer to escort you to the airlock.”
Another Marine picked up the pistol, and laughed. I said, “Something you’d like to share with the class, Marine?”
“What? Oh, sorry Boss. It’s a candy dispenser, made to look deadly.”
“Why does it put out ultrasound, then?”
The Marine gave it a closer examination. He said, “There’s a counter, to tell you when to refill the candy reservoir. It’s what is making the sound.”
“Let her go, fellas. Just a misunderstanding.”
Nikki said, “I’m sorry, Ma’am. A lot of people want to shoot him, we’re a little jumpy.”
“No need to be sorry. I was being stupid. I should know better than to pull jokes like that, on people I don’t know well.”
I said, “I hope the fleet catches up with us. There are a couple of ladies you need to meet.”
Nikki said, “You’re going to turn the Gun Grannies loose on this poor lady, just for making a joke?”
“I think she and Beatrix would get along just fine. Dee would find it necessary to give her a load of crap for drawing on me, but it would be all in fun, don’t you think?”
“I guess. Those two are a roomful, by themselves. Seems like a lot, for an introduction to a new species.”
“I have faith in this lady. I think she can handle it.”
“Why do you say that, Caveman?”
“You just shot her candy-shooter out of her hand, and then she was seized by two Marine bots, when her culture doesn’t seem to use bots. Yet, we have no need of a mop. I think she’ll do fine.”
The lady in question asked, “You think I have the ability to handle new situations, just because I was able to hold my water?”
“Well, Ma’am, we’ve seen people make a mess with less provocation, so yes, I do. You don’t agree?”
She replied, “My ability to handle new situations is one of the reasons I’m on this crew. I’m surprised at how you figured it out.”
“The last race we met, weren’t as good as your folks seem to be, at adapting to new conditions. It could be my standards are a little low, right now.”
“What about the race before that?”
I looked at Nikki. “She’s sneaky. I like her.” Then I turned back to the Roo. “They are about as friendly as you could hope for, Ma’am. Real nice folks. Before you wind yourself up, trying to find a way to slip it in and sound innocent, that’s all the folks we’ve met, so far.”
She looked embarrassed. “I don’t often get caught so quickly, Captain. Remind me not to gamble with you.”
“Why is it I don’t believe a word of that? I think you’d do it in a heartbeat, just for the challenge.”
She looked stunned. “My goodness, Captain. You are sharp. I studied the records of encounters with your people, before we came out this way. They didn’t seem to think you folks were quite this quick on the uptake.”
“The folks you’ve met in the past were probably dealing with a nutritional deficit. That’s recently gotten fixed, so they do a little better, these days.”
Benny spoke up. “You fixed it, you mean. Ma’am, the Captain is from a primitive planet, where they don’t have the same diet as most of us. He helped figure out that we weren’t getting all the nutrients we needed. I can tell the difference since the last time I was...Oops, not supposed to mention that.”
The Roo said, “I thought you looked familiar. I met you before, didn’t I?”
Benny looked embarrassed. “Yes, Ma’am. Been several years, how did you recognize me?”
“I’m not sure. You just seemed familiar.”
I said, “Well, Benny, now that you’ve spilled the big secret, can you folks relax a little, or do you have something else up your sleeve?”
“Well, Captain, I surely would appreciate it if you could forget what you just heard, since it makes me liable for a long prison sentence, should the Commonwealth ever find out about it.”
“Oh my! People on the run from the law, working for Bob’s! Whatever shall we do?”
Nikki said, “He’s having a laugh at your expense, Benny. Somewhere around half of the people working for this outfit would be liable for jail time, if the wrong authorities caught up with them. Being in trouble with the law isn’t actually a requirement, but he seems to think it makes people more loyal.”
“He’s a different kind of Boss, isn’t he?”
“That, he is.”
One of Benny’s crew asked, “Boss, you mentioned a couple of other races. Would you mind elaborating?”
Nikki said, “He caught you fair and square, Caveman.”
“So he did. Have you ever seen one of those hairy servants the well-to-do families have, back in the Commonwealth? Turns out they are more intelligent than the people keeping them want you to believe. Those are the friendly folks I mentioned. Give me a minute, and you can meet one of the other folks.”
I asked, “Gene, are Haffi or Lakki free right now?”
“They both are, Boss. Would you like me to page them?”
“Yes, please.”
“Wait, you have aliens working for you?”
“They decided they liked it better here than back in their stars. Lakki is one of those outlaws Nikki was talking about, and Haffi is her aunt, who came looking for her.”
It wasn’t long before Haffi and Lakki showed up, but they had Lilly and Velma with them. Lilly was riding Velma again. When she saw me, she jumped down, and came hopping toward me. I braced for a flying hug, and she landed in my arms. “Hi, Lilly. Did you come to see your Mom?”
She shook her head, and pointed at me. Haffi said, “I hope you don’t mind, Captain. I got drafted to help babysit, when Janice went to do interviews.”
“No problem. These fellas are new around here, still trying to figure out how much of my BS to believe. Thought I would introduce you, if that’s okay?”
“Sure, Boss. Where are they from?”
“Commonwealth survey ship, that got crossways of a Roo greeting ritual.”
“This bunch looks fairly reasonable, none of them have passed out, yet. Why didn’t they understand it was just love taps?”
“Green officer, trying to make a name for himself. We sent him on down the road. I expect him back in a day or so, trying to claim the Gene for the Guide, if we haven’t moved off by then.”
Benny said, “Obviously, your badge can understand what she’s saying, Boss, but we don’t have the software for her language.”
Nikki replied, “I already called for new badges, Sergeant. They should be arriving any time, now.”
Janet came through the door, at a run. “Here are those badges you wanted, Mom. Need anything else?”
“Not right now, unless you know how to keep a joey occupied. Lilly seems to have latched on to your dad.”
“Gus or Becky, I might have a chance. Lilly is above my pay grade.”
Ellie asked, “Is she bothering you, Captain?”
“Not at all. I think she might be wanting me to play some more Frisbee with her, though.”
Lilly nodded. I said, “Not right now, sweetie. After I talk to these folks, maybe.”
She tilted her head at me, like she was trying to decide if she could believe me, or not.
Benny asked, “How did you get to be such good friends with the joey, Boss?”
“It’s easy, Benny. Just pretend to get knocked out when you play fight with her, and she’ll be your friend.”
Benny looked like he thought I was telling him a story, but Ellie spoke up. “Believe it or not, that’s how it happened. When I first met the Captain, my friend Joanna told him about the greeting ritual, and he picked up on it, right away. Lilly poked her head out of my pouch, and started making play swings at him, and he played along. When he acted like she had knocked him out, she giggled and giggled. He’s been her friend ever since. I don’t even think she realizes he’s not a Roo.”
Benny shook his head. I asked, “Having second thoughts about working here?”
“No, Boss. Just trying to get my head around your way of doing things.”
“I hate to break up the party, but you folks have your interviews to tend to. You don’t want to keep Janice waiting.”
Benny gathered his people, and a couple of Marines guided them to where they needed to be.
The Roo who had drawn the candy dispenser said, “Nice bunch. Shame they didn’t get to keep the Lieutenant they used to have. He was a good sort.”
I asked, “How did you come to meet them, before?”
“They happened into a system we were surveying. Took us a few days to manage to communicate. I think the Lieutenant they had back then said he was going to put in the log that they had drive trouble, and took several days to repair it.”
Nikki said, “They must have told someone. Their mission records are classified so high, I didn’t have a chance at getting a look at them.”
“You know those fellows?”
“Flew with them, when I was fresh out of the Academy. They never told me anything about you folks, though. I tried to hack the logs, but I couldn’t get in.”
Lilly started reaching down, and I saw she was trying to reach Snitz. I put her down, and said, “Be easy.”
Surprisingly enough, Lilly was gentle with Snitz. Ellie asked, “You wouldn’t consider taking up a sideline in babysitting, would you, Captain?”
“No, Ma’am. Our two are plenty, thanks.”
Janet asked, “Are Jimmy and I really that much trouble, Dad?”
“You know I meant the twins, you scamp.”
Janet looked at Nikki. “You’re right, Mom. It is fun to wind him up.”
I shook my head. The Roo who drew asked, “How many children do you have, Captain?”
“Just the four. That’s enough, for a while, I think.”
She looked at Nikki, and then at Janet. Her face had a look of concentration, that was obvious across species. Janet said, “I’m adopted, Ma’am. That’s why the ages don’t look right.”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry.”
Nikki said, “No trouble. Our family is a little odd. Jimmy, our son, is mine from a previous relationship, and then we have the twins, who were just born a few months ago.”
“Why do I think you two are leaving out all the juicy bits?”
Ellie said, “We would be here all day, if these folks told you all the juicy bits. They get up to some adventures.”
“I don’t doubt that.”
I asked, “I didn’t get a name for you, Ma’am. What should we call you?”
“The Commonwealth crew I met before just called me...” She screwed up her face, and concentrated, managing to speak decent Galactic when she said, “Number One”. Then she asked, “Is that a term of respect among your people?”
“Not exactly. Listen while I let the translator work on it. Number One.”
“Oh! I was just the first one of our people they talked to. Silly me.”
“What would you like us to call you, then?”
“I’m sure you couldn’t get your tongue around my real name, Captain. Do you have any suggestions?”
“The only the thing that springs to mind, is based on a character in an entertainment program, and wouldn’t have the dignity appropriate for your station in life.”
“Dignity comes from within, Captain. A name won’t affect that, one way or the other. What do you have?”
“I was thinking Majel, Ma’am. There was a character called Number One, in a program back where I come from. She was played by a lady named Majel.”
“That sounds fine. Majel it is.”
Lakki spoke up. “Do you need us for anything else, Captain?”
“Oh, I don’t know. You could chat them up, and see if you could hire their IT person. We’re going to need a Roo hacker, if we’re going to spend much time in their space.”
