Roo the Day, page 17
part #13 of Bob and Nikki Series
“They thought about it, but decided to stay here, where they were in charge of their own destiny.”
“How do they feel about having people on their planet?”
“They don’t mind, but they recognize no owners, after this long, and since they were functional, I couldn’t claim them as salvage, so they are independent beings.”
“If they have stayed functional this long, I think they have earned at least that much, don’t you?”
“Yes, I do. Zoom told me you would say that, too.”
“How long have you put off calling, because you were afraid of what I might say?”
“About a day, is all.”
“You’re the man on the scene. Figure out what we need to do, to get along with these folks, and we’ll make it company policy.”
“Thanks, Boss.”
“No problem. There is a price, however.”
“I’m afraid to ask.”
“You have to call Dingus and tell him that his planet is still the one I’ll be trading, since yours already has owners.”
“Trading? What did you find that’s worth a planet?”
“Scandium, in asteroid lots. With it, we can make a better grade of hull metal.”
“Where did you find that much scandium?”
“The new folks we met live in a part of the galaxy where it isn’t rare.”
“New folks?”
“You didn’t hear about that, while we were bugging out?”
“I guess I missed it.”
“You knew your old employers had captured Joanna, right?”
“I heard that much.”
“She had a cellmate who wasn’t from around here. That’s how they were able to get Joanna to cooperate, by threatening the cellmate’s child.”
“I swear, Boss, I didn’t know how dirty they were, when I signed up to work for them.”
“I understand that, Diego. I’m just glad you’re working for us, now.”
“Me too, Boss. How do you want me to handle this planet?”
“Like Charlie’s, I think. Treat the bots as a native population, and compensate them for anything we do there. Is there anything in particular they need?”
“Not that they’ve told us about, anyhow. They’re all on one small continent, and seem to be open to the idea of leasing the others to us.”
“Find out what they want for the lease, and get that locked up. We may not use it soon, but it’s better to have and not need, don’t you think?”
“Yes, Boss. Do you need us where you are, when we get done here?”
“Sally and John are already here, if there’s something here we can’t handle with three carriers, five probably wouldn’t do much better, do you think?”
“I doubt it. Just finish the list Sally gave us, then?”
“Please. Get in touch, if you find anything interesting. Listen to your wife, when she tells you to call in, and that’s an order.”
“Yes, Boss. Understood. Talk to you later.”
“Bye, Diego.”
I put my comm away, and got up to leave, when it rang. “Captain Wilson.”
John said, “Shouldn’t that be Commodore?”
“Sally came in giving orders, and she hasn’t passed command to me yet, so I don’t think so. How have you been, John?”
“We’re doing well, I suppose. Still haven’t come to terms with not being able to go home again.”
“Me either. I wish there was something we could do to get those turkeys off our backs.”
“The only way I see that happening is if we give them everything they want. If we did that, they would be Commonwealth members in a year or two, and most of our friends wouldn’t be welcome anymore.”
“Dangit, John! I thought you were supposed to be smarter than me. I figured you would have a plan all cooked up, and all I would have to do would be sign off on it.”
“Sorry to disappoint, Bob. I don’t see any way we can go home without giving them the tech.”
“Here I was hoping I had missed a trick. Oh well, we have things to do, before we have time to worry about that. Surely you wanted something more than just to shoot the breeze, John. What can I do for you?”
“As medical director of this fleet, I called to inquire about your state of mind.”
“Am I miffed about Sally keeping me out of the fun parts? A little, I guess, but I understand her reasons for doing it. It’s the right thing for the good of the fleet, and we’re not out here just for Bob to get his jollies.”
“I wish I had video on this call. I don’t think that last statement would have passed cold reading, at all.”
“You could be right about that. My head knows she’s right, but my gut still wants to be the one doing something, not the one having to sit back and watch.”
“Sounds like you’re about as good with it as you’re likely to get, then. Do you know how Sally intends to proceed?”
“I don’t. She just called me off, I haven’t been keeping up with what’s going on, since then. I had a personnel issue to deal with, and then Dingus called. I should probably get back to the bridge, and get caught up.”
“Personnel issue?”
“Not my story to tell, John. Ancient history, come back to bite us in the butt.”
“Dixie’s report included a use of the onboard crematorium, is that what you’re talking about?”
“Nope. Milly took care of that her own self. All I had to do was declare it justified.”
“Go, Raylan.”
“Teehee. I better go act like I’m running this boat. Talk to you later.”
“Bye, Bob.”
I went back to the bridge. Saucy announced, “Commodore on the bridge.”
I replied, “As you were. Commodore?”
“Sally passed the flag while you were in the ready room. She said to tell you she still wasn’t going to let you check on the derelict.”
“As it should be. I ought to double her pay, for having to deal with a superior officer who doesn’t know his place.”
Topper had been busy, while I was on Earth. The bridge crew sang, “Nothing from nothing leaves nothing.”
I turned to Topper and bowed. “Nicely done, Mr. Topper.”
“Thanks, Boss. You want the conn?”
“Guess I might as well, at least for a bit, till we see what Sally has planned for the old girl.”
I strapped in. Saucy said, “Comm from Sally.”
“Main screen.”
“Hi Boss. How have you been?”
“I should ask you that. You’ve already downloaded reports from every bot on the ship, I’m sure you have a better idea than I do.”
“All the reports I’ve seen say you’ve been doing admirably, particularly in the area of interspecies relations.”
“I’m all in favor of nanny protocol, Sally, but was it really necessary to bring the whole fleet?”
“None of the Captains wanted to be left behind, because we all figured you would find something interesting out here. It appears we were right.”
“What do we know so far?”
“Initial scans confirm it is, indeed, the first carrier. It appears to have run out of power many years ago. The drive appears to have consumed itself, in the massive flare that led the Navy to believe it was destroyed. We have yet to determine what happened to the crew, when the drive blew.”
“Will we be able to retrieve the log?”
“I have a crew aboard working on it, as we speak.”
“Good work. If I had known how close behind us you were, I would have waited.”
“We were able to make up some time, when you stopped for the other derelicts.”
“Topper says you passed me command of the fleet. Thank you. I intend to remain here until we have some idea what happened to the first carrier, and then proceed to Roo space. I would rather not enter their space with a fleet. I have no issue with you staying handy.”
“That sounds reasonable, Boss. Once we have determined the carrier presents no hazard, I intend to leave Captain Branham to salvage it, and follow you into Roo space.”
“That is acceptable, but I would ask you to leave your escorts with Captain Branham. I don’t want to make it look like an invasion.”
“Understood, Boss. Anything else?”
“Did Captain Sloan get with you on that issue he was having?”
“He did. I wasn’t able to help him very much. Have you come up with any ideas?”
“I haven’t. I may have a couple of people aboard I could ask, though.”
“I’m sure he would appreciate any help you could give. He sounded pretty resigned to leaving the bots deactivated, when I talked to him, Boss.”
“That was the way he sounded to me, as well.”
“If that’s all, I’ll talk to you later, Boss.”
“Wilson out.”
Saucy put the recovery operations on the screen. I asked, “Saucy, have you ever met a bot who had given up?”
“You mean like the bots on that planet Captain Sloan found?”
“Exactly like that.”
“No, Boss. It would take an awful lot to bring a bot to that state. I have to think there is more to the story than we’re being told.”
“What do you think happened, then?”
“Well, I couldn’t say for sure, but it’s almost certain that it was more than that bot told Captain Sloan. The bots on Captain Cachi’s planet did just fine, it sounds like.”
“Write up a report on your suspicions, and send it to Captain Sloan. Tell him I asked you to.”
“That’s all I have, Captain. Suspicions. I don’t have anything concrete.”
“Well, Saucy, sometimes, that’s all we have to go on. Feelings, suspicions, hunches. We have to depend on those, when we’re fresh out of data.”
“Yes, Boss. It’s taking a while to get used to that. We always used to get told exactly what to do, and not have to worry whether it was the right thing, or not.”
“You’ll get used to it. If a dumb organic like me can handle it, you shouldn’t have any problem.”
“If you say so, Boss. Sally is calling again.”
He split the screen. I said, “Yes, Sally?”
“I thought Topper would want to see this. We’ve opened enough of the log to find the incident he told me about.” She ran video of somebody entering commands into a console, obviously located in the Engineering Department. She said, “We analyzed the commands being entered, and found they made it look like the drive is operating normally, but in fact cause it to fail in a spectacular fashion. We’ve yet to figure out how the ship survived the detonation.”
“Any idea what happened to the crew?”
“Well, Boss, the explosion generated enough radiation that everyone but the best protected would have been cooked. A few crewmembers may have survived long enough to see the ship come back into normal space, but they wouldn’t have been in any shape to take care of themselves, much less repair the ship. It was the tragedy we always thought it was, even though the ship survived.”
“I hate to ask, but what about the bots that were aboard?”
“Their circuits were overloaded by the blast. The EMP was huge, inside the hull. So far, we haven’t found any bots that could be repaired, and we don’t expect to.”
“What about the ship? Is it salvageable?”
“I don’t think it would be wise, Boss. Even after all this time, the background radiation aboard her is higher than we would like, and there is evidence the explosion did permanent damage to the hull.”
“What sort of damage? Is it repairable?”
“Microcracks spread throughout the hull, not to mention the fact we’re seeing molecular changes from the radiation surge. It’s not clear whether we could even melt down what’s left, and make a new hull that would pass inspection.”
“You’re saying all that’s left is more evidence of the Squirrel’s secret war against the Commonwealth?”
“That’s what it looks like so far, Boss. Did you already have a Captain lined up?”
“No, I was still thinking on it. Good thing I didn’t get too far. Is there anything we can get from her, besides the records?”
“No, Boss. It’s taking a bit of work to even get that much. The only copies still readable are in the protected storage, what you would call a black box.”
“How long do you think it will take to recover all that we can?”
“Barring more difficulties, two hours. The state the ship is in, I wouldn’t want to guarantee we will be done before morning.”
“You are the best qualified to run the recovery effort, aren’t you?”
“I am, Boss.”
“I think we’ll head out, then. Feel free to send Captain Branham after me, if you think it’s necessary.”
“Would it be acceptable if I followed with the rest of the fleet, when I am finished here?”
“If you stay out of sight, I think it would be fine. I just don’t want to spook our new friends. We don’t know how good their sensors are, so stay well back.”
“That sounds reasonable.”
“See you later, then.”
“Later, Boss.”
Saucy ended the call. I said, “Ruth, we have places to be. See what you can do about that.”
“Unassing, Boss.”
We slipped smoothly into FTL. “Nicely done, Ruth.”
“Thanks, Boss.”
“Mr. Topper, are you up to taking the conn?”
“Yes, Boss. I’m feeling better.”
“Your ship, then.”
“My ship, Boss.”
I realized it was time I could train again, so I went over to the ready room, and got that done. When I finished, I thought about what I should do next. I didn’t come up with anything, and I didn’t think I would be good company, so I took off alone to wander the ship. Surprisingly, George and Ringo didn’t immediately appear. I wondered if that was a good sign or bad. I met several bots, going about their duties, but didn’t find anything that needed my attention. After a while, I heard a commotion coming toward me. Niner-Deuce had Milly and Jimmy out for a run. Jimmy looked to be enjoying it, but Milly was muttering under her breath. All I caught when they went past was, “Miswired son of a ripper”.
I took that to mean that Niner-Deuce had her attention. I continued my tour, until my belly decided it was suppertime. I headed for the galley. Nikki was already there. “I wondered where you had gotten to, Caveman. Come and eat.”
I sat down, and Stella came out to see what I wanted. I didn’t really have a preference, so I asked her to bring me the special. Nikki said, “You look sad, Bob. What’s wrong?”
“That carrier, drifting in the black, not even fit to salvage, all because a Squirrel agent decided to keep the Commonwealth from having a carrier. Did I do the right thing, making peace with those nasty boogers?”
“You had good reasons for making peace with them, and those reasons are still valid, even if you’ve found more evidence of their bad behavior.”
“Sally said nearly the entire crew would have died, instantly. The ones that didn’t, wouldn’t have suffered very long. She still didn’t know why the ship jumped, instead of being destroyed.”
“If the Squirrels had declared war, instead of their sabotage campaign, many more people would have died, Bob. What they did wasn’t good, but it wasn’t all bad, either.”
“You’re right, but it still feels like I let them get away with some awful deeds.”
“If you didn’t make peace with them, a shooting war would have started, wouldn’t it?”
“I don’t see how we could have avoided it.”
“Is that the future you want for the kids, war with the Squirrels?”
“No, it isn’t. You’re right, I got what I wanted, even if the price was higher than I thought it was, at the time.”
Stella brought out our food. She said, “Good news, Captain. Sally sent me some new sims for you, while we were stopped.”
“I think perhaps we have different ideas of what amounts to ‘good news’, Stella.”
