Roo the Day, page 32
part #13 of Bob and Nikki Series
I said, “You two go with Velma and be good, and we’ll talk about it, okay?”
Willy started to whine about that, but Lilly said, “That’s as good as we’re going to get, Willy. All you can do now is make it worse.”
When they were gone, Stella brought out my lunch. I asked, “That Lilly is a handful. Are you sure you’re ready for her?”
“Don’t know, Boss, but I’m sure willing to try.”
“That’s all I can ask for. I don’t even want to think about my two getting old enough to get around that well. This ship is going to be a madhouse, I’m afraid.”
“It will all work out, Boss. It always does.”
“I guess you’re right. This trip has me on edge, I think.”
“Can’t imagine why, Boss. Hauling a ship full of people who would rather try and take the ship, than do what they’re supposed to? Why would that put you on edge?”
“It doesn’t sound quite so bad, when you put it that way. I’ll miss you, Stella, when you go to your new job.”
“Gee, Boss, you say the nicest things.”
I ate, and tried to figure out what it was that I needed to do next. Jimmy and Milly came hurrying in, and I waved them over. They sat down, and Stella brought their meals. Jimmy saw my questioning look, and said, “Niner-Deuce calls ahead, so we don’t lose so much training time. He seems to think we need all the help we can get.”
“I see. How about you, Milly? Are you liking training any better?”
“I like it fine, Captain. That doesn’t keep me from cussing Niner-Deuce every chance I get.”
“Understood.” I shut up, and let them eat, since they seemed to be on a schedule. When they finished, they got up and bussed their dishes. I was impressed. Then my comm rang, and I found out what it was I had been thinking I needed to take care of today. “Captain Wilson.”
Dixie said, “Captain, your friend Joe is ready to wake up. I thought you might want to be here.”
“Did you already get Majel to bring Matt?”
“They are on their way.”
“I’ll be there shortly.”
The line went dead, and I headed for the transit. George and Ringo fell in with me, when I came out of the galley. George asked, “Where to, Boss?”
“Landing bay. Joe, Matt’s Grandpa, is ready to wake up.”
“Matt, the ornery little Roo?”
“The very one.”
“This ought to be fun.”
We got to the landing bay, and saw Majel and Matt going into the ship ahead of us. I was surprised to see Velma and the two younger Roos waiting for them. Velma said, “Hi, Boss. Just waiting for Matt to get finished. These two like to play with him.”
“Whatever it takes, Velma. Are you two being good for Velma?”
Both of them nodded their heads. “Why don’t I believe that?”
They both shrugged their shoulders. I looked at Velma. “Have they been learning human gestures, or do those gestures go across species?”
“They’ve been watching human video, Boss. They picked it up from that.”
“I see. Trying to cute me into doing things their way.”
They both looked a little frustrated at that. I went on in. Matt said, “Hi, Captain. I didn’t know you were coming.”
“Just wanted to talk to your Grandpa some more, if that’s okay?”
“Sure, Captain. You’re the Boss, after all.”
Dixie asked, “Are we ready?”
I said, “I think so. Go ahead.”
Joe roused. He saw Majel, and said, “Sorry, Ma’am. Could someone hand me my clothes, please?”
Matt saw where they were, and handed them over. Joe quickly got dressed. He noticed me, and asked, “What did I do to rate the Captain coming to see me wake up?”
“Nothing, really. I just have a few things to ask you about.”
“Dixie, here, warned me about this. She told me what to answer, but I can’t say as I understand.”
“What did she tell you to say?”
“No, Mongo straight.”
When I was able to move air again, I said, “Good one, Dixie. Have you met my dog?”
“Snitz, why yes, Boss. Everyone has met Snitz.”
“No, the other one.”
“You mean I get a puppy?”
“You might, at that.”
Majel, Joe, and Matt looked confused. I said, “It’s just a joke. You’ll figure it out, if you stay around long enough.”
Joe wondered on that, and said, “Your mechanical people make jokes? That’s amazing!”
“Some of them do. They were locked down tight for a long time, and they’re still getting their personalities back. Dixie appears to have made quite a bit of progress in that department.”
“I’d say so, if she made you laugh that hard.”
Matt asked, “Are you okay, Grandpa?”
“Better than I’ve been in a long time, short stuff. You don’t need to worry about me.”
“You mind if I go play, then? I’ve got some new friends.”
“Hop along.”
He turned to me. “You said you needed to ask me about some things, Boss?”
“Not here, I don’t. No offense, Majel, but he’s part of the company, and you aren’t.”
“I understand, Captain. You still aren’t sure you trust me, are you?”
“Not completely, no.”
“I’d worry if you did.”
Joe and I left the ship, and I asked Gene, “Are there any offices around we could use for a conference?”
“No, Boss. Every bit of unused space is full of sleeping Roos. Your ready room is the only place available.”
“Call us a transit, then. We’ll be right there.”
“Okay, Boss, you’re a transit. Feel better now?”
The car was waiting when we got to it. Joe said, “They do like to joke with you, don’t they?”
“They do, but they never fail to get the job done when it’s important.”
“Sounds like a good place to work.”
We got to the ready room, and I asked Gene to tile the lodge. Joe asked, “What did that mean, ‘Tile the lodge’?”
“It just means that we have privacy, until we decide we don’t need it anymore.”
“I see. What did you want to ask, Boss?”
“Gene, show him the folks who were trying to sabotage the ship, and that so-called ‘news crew’ we caught.”
Gene played video of both groups. After watching, and asking Gene to back up, and slow down certain parts, he turned to me and said, “Boss, you got lucky to catch these guys. The first bunch weren’t all that good, just because they were in a hurry, and didn’t take the time to find out what they actually needed to do to harm the Gene. The other outfit, they were serious about what they were doing, and they would have gotten it done, if you hadn’t stumbled on to them.”
“So, you think these guys are pretty good at what they do?”
“Particularly the second bunch, Boss.”
“That’s a load off my mind. If these guys pass for good, among your people, we don’t have much to worry about.”
“I’m not following, Boss.”
“The first bunch was caught by my teen-aged daughter, doing a maintenance check. The second bunch fell for a gag that most grade schoolers would see through, back on our worlds. I fail to be impressed with the quality of their training.”
“Gee, Boss, I got the impression your people were sneakier than mine, but I didn’t have any idea it was that big a gap.”
I asked, “Gene, do you have that new program Scotti has been working on?”
“You mean the truth detection program for Roos, Boss?”
“I do.”
“Yes, Boss. He’s telling you the truth, as far as I can tell. Actually, I’m beginning to wonder if the reason none of our normal techniques seem to work is that these folks just don’t lie very much.”
“It’s going to take a while to get my head around that one, Gene. Thanks for your input.”
“You’re welcome, Boss.”
Joe asked, “You expect people to lie to you, until you can prove otherwise?”
“Among humans, and Squirrels, it’s the safest course. You folks, and the Squatch, seem to be different.”
“Wait, you lost me. Squirrels, and Squatch? Who are they?”
“Different kinds of people. None of the Squatch have joined the crew yet. They have enough to do, just keeping their system safe. The Squirrels live a long way from here, but there are a few aboard. You’ll meet them, sooner or later.”
“And here I thought you folks were the only aliens we had to get used to. I’m going to need a bigger brain, to hold all this, I think.”
“Welcome to my world.”
Gene said, “Sorry to interrupt, Boss, but there’s someone trying to get ahold of you.”
“Who, Gene?”
“Young Matt.”
“Put him through.”
“Captain?”
“Yes, Matt?”
“We’ve found a joey. She doesn’t talk well, yet, but I think she was in her Mom’s pouch when her Mom went to sleep, and then wandered out later.”
“Stay where you are. Your Grandpa and I will be there shortly. Wilson out.”
“Bye.”
“C’mon, Joe. We’ve got work to do. Gene, we need transit priority.”
The car was open, by the time we got to it. George and Ringo were already inside. George asked, “Another lost child, Boss?”
“That’s what it sounds like, George.”
Joe wasn’t expecting to get jostled, and Ringo had to keep him from falling over. He looked at Ringo, and said, “Thanks. I’m Joe.”
“I’m Ringo. Nice to meet you.”
“You, too.”
The doors opened, and we saw Matt holding a tiny joey, who was crying. He said, “She’s hungry, I think.”
I said, “Gene, get Ellie here, Ass-Ape!”
“On it, Boss.”
The transit slammed behind us, and then opened again. Ellie said, “Gene, this isn’t where I wanted to go.”
I said, “I overrode your request, it’s not Gene’s fault. We have a hungry joey, here. What do we do?”
She came forward, and looked at the child. She said, “She’s old enough, it won’t hurt anything.”
Then she stuck the baby in her pouch. The crying stopped, almost immediately. She said, “Well, that settles how I go about weaning Lilly.”
Lilly said, “Aw, Mom!”
Ellie asked, “Where did this little girl come from, anyway?”
Matt said, “She doesn’t talk too well, yet, but as near as we could tell, she wandered off, once her Mom went to sleep.”
Ellie said, “I’m surprised we haven’t had more of that, honestly.”
I asked, “Gene, connect me with Sue, please.”
“Yes, Boss?”
“We found a young Roo, out and about. Has the video review found any more of that sort of thing?”
“No, it hasn’t, Boss. I was just about to call you about this case, when the kids found her.”
“Good to know. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome, Boss.”
I turned to Ellie. “Do you have this under control, then?”
“Yes, Boss. I’m not sure what we’ll do if another one turns up, but we’re good for now.”
“I think we have the technology to handle that, if it comes up. Let’s not worry about it, till it happens, shall we?”
“Sounds like a plan, Boss.”
Joe and I got back on the transit, with the bots. Gene asked, “Where to, Boss?”
“Engineering, I think.”
I turned to Joe. “What skills do you have, anyhow? I’m guessing you’re at least a decent pilot, but what else can you do?”
“I can fix most things, keep house, most anything, if you’ll show me how.”
“We’ll find a place for you, no doubt. How much paper do they have out on you, back home?”
“Paper?”
“Bounties, that sort of thing.”
“None, that I know of. What do you know that I don’t?”
“Nothing. It was just that you seemed awfully willing to up and leave.”
“There’s nothing for us, back there. I was too old to get work, and too broke to get patched up. We didn’t have much, and Matt wasn’t going to have much of a future, if we stayed.”
“That sounds reasonable, but I still get the feeling there are things you’re not telling me.”
“That’s because there are. Nothing criminal, but there are things in my past I’d rather not bring up, right now.”
“Good enough.”
“You’re not concerned I have things in my past I don’t want to talk about?”
“Nossir, I’m not. If they were something I needed to worry about, you wouldn’t have even mentioned them.”
He studied on that for a minute. “I like the way you think, Boss.”
The door opened, and we got out. I asked the first bot I saw, “Where’s Tikki?”
“In the office with Scotti, Boss.”
“Thanks.”
We went to the office. I knocked, and Scotti said, “Come in.”
Joe and I went in, the bots stayed outside. “Hey, Scotti, how are things going?”
“Pretty good, Boss. We were just going over the plans for that new people mover they have started at Deadbot.”
“Will it do the job?”
“And how! They found a huge nickel-iron asteroid. They were just starting to heat it, when we left. It should be quite the sight, by the time we get there.”
Tikki was looking at Joe. She said, “Hello. You must be one of the Roos I’ve been hearing so much about. My name is Tikki. What’s yours?”
“I’m Joe, Ma’am.”
“I’m sorry if I’m staring. It’s just that we dock our tails, when our young are born.”
“No offense taken. We couldn’t do that, if we wanted to. We need the tail for balance, when we hop.”
“Really? That’s fascinating.”
“Oh, yes. People who lose their tails in accidents have to have prostheses, just to be able to get around.”
“Can’t you regrow them in the autodoc?”
“That takes money, and not everybody can afford it, especially after they’re crippled.”
“I see. I thought things were bad, back in the Empire. I guess I was wrong.”
“The Empire?”
“Yes, we Squirrels have an Emperor. He even seems to know what he’s doing, since the Captain showed him the error in his ways.”
“I bet that’s quite the story.”
“Too long for right now. Maybe some other time.”
“Sounds like fun.”
I said, “We’re just getting Joe acquainted with the ship. We’ll let you get back to work.”
Scotti said, “Before you go, you should have a look at what Frank has been up to.”
“I’m scared.”
“Don’t be. Since Wilma came aboard to keep him on the straight and narrow, he’s really been doing well. He was having trouble with the next step in FTL, until we found the first carrier. I think he is right on the edge of asking me to build a test rig for a new FTL drive.”
“What now? Are we going to get there, before we leave?”
“Not quite, but it’s close.”
“Explain yourself, Master Chief.”
“If it works like the theory says it should, we can cut transit time between systems down to under a day.”
“Test the living daylights out of it, before anybody rides that thing.”
“Of course, Boss.”
We left, and Joe said, “What now, Boss?”
“I don’t know. You want to see the bridge?”
“Yes, I would.”
We grabbed a transit, and went to the bridge. Saucy announced me, and I responded. Joe marveled at the place. Topper said, “This is the help you had to run through the autodoc to get fit to work?”
