Roo the Day, page 9
part #13 of Bob and Nikki Series
The last message surprised me, maybe closer to shocked, if I’m being truthful. It was a wedding announcement, for Bill Rottum and Nikki’s mom. I sincerely hoped we would be back in Commonwealth space in time to see that. I commed Nikki. “Hey, Caveman, what’s up?”
“Have you looked at your messages, since the last time we dropped out of FTL?”
“No, should I?”
“Probably. You might want to sit down, first.”
“Just tell me, Caveman.”
“And spoil the surprise? I don’t think so. I had to read it with no prep, you can too.”
The line went quiet for a minute while she read her mail. “Snagfart!! You could have warned me, Caveman!”
“I could have, but it was more fun this way.”
“I knew they were getting along well, but this is a shock. She always said she wasn’t going to get married again, especially to someone in government service, like Dad was. Now she’s marrying a Patrol Major? I don’t understand, at all.”
“Bill can be charming, when he isn’t trying to put you out of business. She could do a lot worse.”
“I know that, but I still can’t get over her suddenly deciding to get married again.”
“Maybe she had a defective implant. I hear they run in the family.”
The line was quiet for a moment. “Do you really think that, or are you just trying to wind me up?”
“I’ll never tell.”
“Asshole!”
“Love you, talk to you later.”
“Love you, too.”
I realized it had been long enough for me to train again, so I lit myself up. For once, Lilly didn’t sneak in while I was training. I had a feeling that there was something I needed to take care of, but I didn’t have any idea what that might be. I figured the fastest way to find out, was to find Snitz, and try to get some Frisbee in. I asked, “Gene, could you page Snitz to the Frisbee room?”
“Sure, Boss.”
I grabbed a transit, and headed that way. When the doors opened, I saw why Lilly hadn’t shown up while I was training. She was petting Snitz, while he waited for me to arrive. Velma said, “Hi, Boss. These two have become big friends. I hope that’s okay.”
“Snitz is a good judge of people. If he says she’s okay, it’s fine by me. Do you think I’ll be able to borrow him for some Frisbee?”
“All we can do is try, Boss.”
We went into the bay, and I got a Frisbee out of the locker. I let fly, and Snitz took off like a shot. Lilly was confused, at first, but she giggled when she saw Snitz running back with it. She was happy to sit and watch for a while, and then she decided to try for herself. It didn’t go very far, and flew crazy because she didn’t understand she needed to spin it, but Snitz dutifully brought it back anyway. It went that way for several tries, with not much in the way of results, until Lilly turned to me, with a pitiful look, and asked, “Help?”
It didn’t take long to understand her biggest problem. Her wrist was put together differently, so trying to copy the way I threw didn’t work for her. We tried several things, and finally found a throw that worked for her. Being so small, she still couldn’t throw very far, but it was a big improvement over how she started out. Gene must have told someone what was happening in the bay, because when I looked around, we had an audience. Nikki said, “Making friends wherever you go, huh, Caveman?”
“Beats making enemies, I think.”
Joanna said, “That’s for sure. Do you suppose we could take your partner and get some food down her?”
“That’s between you and her. I’m not getting in the middle of that.”
Ellie said, “You are a wise man, Captain.” She walked over and scooped up Lilly, who protested.
I said, “We’ll play again another day. Don’t worry.”
She swung a play fist at me, and I rocked back on my heels. Ellie carried her off. Joanna followed, shaking her head. Nikki looked at me, and said, “You’re even good with alien kids. How do you do that?”
“Don’t know. I just do what feels right. It seems to work, so far.”
“I can’t wait to see this in the history books. How are they going to get all stuffy and technical about, ‘Captain Wilson made friends with the Roos by playing with their children’?”
“They’ll find a way, I have no doubt. A hundred years from now, schoolboys will cuss the thought of having to read about me anymore.”
“I wish I didn’t believe that. It does make you wonder about all the stuff we learned in school, though, doesn’t it? If we’re having this much fun, and the historians are going to make it boring, what did all those old-timers get up to, that didn’t make it into the books?”
“People are people, whenever you go, I guess. I’d imagine they got up to pretty much the same things we do. They just sounded more impressive when they went to cuss somebody.”
“I don’t know about that one, Caveman. Don’t you think they only wrote down the really impressive stuff, and most of the everyday cussing got forgotten?”
“You’re probably right about that. Hard to tell, when you only have written records to go from.”
“Are you getting hungry? My belly thinks it’s suppertime.”
I rubbed my stomach. “Mine seems to be in agreement, now that you mention it. Let’s do that. Do you suppose we should rescue Jimmy from Niner-Deuce, so he can eat, too?”
“Might be a good idea. That way we get to look like the good guys, rescuing him from the evil drill sergeant.”
“He won’t fall for that, will he?”
“What is it you always say, Caveman? Not over once, he won’t.”
I asked, “Gene, where could we find young Jimmy?”
“Grab a transit, Boss, and I’ll take you to him.”
The transit doors opened, and Niner-Deuce said, “Hey, Boss. Come to retrieve this miscreant?”
“Thought we might ought to feed him, anyhow.”
“I knew I was forgetting something. I’m having trouble getting used to working with organics, don’t you know.”
Jimmy said, “Don’t listen to him, Dad. He makes sure I get plenty to eat. He just runs it off me.”
I half expected Niner-Deuce to come down on him hard for calling me Dad, instead of Sir or Captain, but he didn’t. I guess he was getting the easy version, since he hadn’t done much in the way of orneriness to get assigned to training with Niner-Deuce.
I said, “Don’t worry, Marine, you can have him back in the morning. Is he performing up to expectations?”
“He isn’t the troop that Greg is, but he is a bit younger. I think we can have him in shape, quick enough.”
“Has he learned to pull his punches, in training?”
“He has, Boss.”
“That may be a useful social skill, where we’re going.”
“Sounds like a fun place, Boss. How do they feel about bots?”
“As near as I can tell, they don’t have any. Not sure yet why that is.”
“Let us know, when you find out, Boss. We wouldn’t want to tear up all your hard work, sparring with baby Roos, by offending somebody.”
“Velma is a gossip, you say?”
“She shared it with us, because she thought it was funny. I hope we didn’t offend.”
“Not at all. It is kinda funny.”
We got on the transit, meaning to go to the galley. Then we got a whiff of Jimmy. I said, “Gene, can you divert this transit to our cabin, please?”
“Sure, Boss.”
Jimmy asked, “What’s wrong, Dad?”
“You need a shower, before we go out in public, that’s what’s the matter.”
Nikki said, “You sure do. At least we know Niner-Deuce is working you hard enough to get you to sweat.”
Jimmy replied, “You mean you didn’t know for sure?”
I said, “We figured. Pete works Greg pretty hard, and Niner-Deuce is supposed to be more hard-core than Pete.”
The transit opened, and Jimmy went to his room to get cleaned up. Nikki and I went in to check on the twins. Janet and Julie were playing with them. Janet said, “Hi Mom. Hi Dad. What’s up?”
“We were thinking about getting something to eat. You hungry?”
“A little. Let me help Julie put some of this away.”
“No rush. Your brother is taking a shower before we go.”
“I saw him and Niner-Deuce today. He is getting a workout.”
“Niner-Deuce won’t go easy on him, just because he’s the Captain’s kid.”
“I was talking about Niner-Deuce. It’s all he can do not to bust out laughing at some of the crap Jimmy pulls.”
“Jimmy isn’t taking the training seriously?”
“Oh, he is. It’s just that whenever he gets enough wind to spare, he’ll make some crack or another, or do something silly. He’s working hard at it, though.”
Nikki said, “If I didn’t know better, I’d swear he was your kid, Caveman.”
“He is, now.”
She smiled, and said, “Thanks, Caveman.”
“No problem. You make good kids.” I pointed at Janet. “Now this one, I’m not so sure about.”
“Da-aa-ad!”
“Gotcha!”
We picked up, while we were waiting for Jimmy. Gus decided he needed some Dad time. I laid him on my head, and Supermanned him around the room. He giggled. Becky watched that for a bit, and then raised her arms toward me. I handed Gus to his sister, and picked Becky up. She wasn’t too sure at first, but then she decided she liked it, too.
Jimmy came across the hall, hair still damp. I leaned in and took a whiff. “That’ll do. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome, Dad. Can we go eat, now?”
“Let’s.”
I gave Becky a raspberry on her belly, and handed her to Julie. We headed to the galley. Nikki said, “Transit, Caveman. I’m hungry.”
“Sure thing.”
We got there, and settled in. When our food came out, Jimmy seemed to have developed a hollow leg. I looked at Nikki and said, “He must be settling in alright. At least, his appetite has improved.”
“Yes, it has.”
Janet laughed, and Jimmy said, “Oops! I guess I was hungry. Would it be okay if I got seconds?”
I said, “You’ll have to take that up with Stella.”
He went over to talk to her, and she brought him out another plate, not as full as the first. She said, “Sorry, Boss. I should have checked on how many calories he was burning working with Niner-Deuce.”
“No problem. Doesn’t hurt him to have to ask.”
“Thanks, Boss.”
That got me thinking about social interactions, and I realized I needed to get Ruth and Topper working on something, for when we got to Roo space. Nikki caught me drifting off into my thoughts, and asked, “What now, Caveman? Did you think of something you forgot to do?”
“Sort of. I just need to get Ruth and Topper started on a project.”
Janet asked, “What kind of project? I thought Engineering got to do all the projects.”
“This is one that needs their particular talents. Don’t worry, it doesn’t involve building any hardware, so you don’t have to rat them out to Scotti.”
“You know better than that, Dad. I don’t rat out my friends. I’m a Wilson.”
“You’re a good kid. You should let it show more often.”
“Da-aa-ad!”
“Somebody needs to tease you, and Jimmy’s too tired.”
I looked over at him, and he was asleep with his head on the table. Janet said, “I see what you mean.”
“At least he pushed his plate out of the way, before he zonked out. Passing out in the mashed potatoes isn’t a good idea.”
He was fast asleep, so I picked him up, and carried him back to the cabin. Then I put him to bed. I kissed Nikki, and told her, “I need to run to the bridge just a minute. I’ll be back in a little bit.”
“I’ve heard this one before, Caveman. Murphy will find something for you to do, I know that.”
“You could be right, but I can hope, can’t I?”
“Crap in the other one. It will fill up faster.”
“Pretty sure you’re right about that. See you as soon as I can, then.”
“Love you, Caveman.”
“You too, Space Cadet.”
I headed to the bridge, on the transit. No need in making it easy for Murphy to put obstacles in my way. When I arrived, Saucy called out, “Captain on the bridge. Secure for baby Roos.”
I replied, “As you were, I think it’s past her bedtime, anyhow.”
Topper asked, “What’s up, Boss?”
“I have a little project I’d like you and Ruth to work on, before we get to Roo space.”
“What’s that?”
“Oh, come on, Topper. You haven’t read my mind, and already have it in the works, and almost ready to use? You’re slipping, I think.”
“You could be right, Boss. Maybe I need to go see Scotti for a checkup. Reading an organic mind shouldn’t be this difficult.”
“Good answer! You really don’t have any idea what I’m going to ask?”
“Nope, I don’t. I can’t think of anything that Ruth and I have special skills to accomplish.”
“Ruth, tickle blossom works well, but it’s fairly plain, don’t you think?”
She thought a moment, and said, “I suppose it is, now that you mention it, Boss. What did you have in mind?”
“I thought between you and Pierre, here, you could come up with something stylish and entertaining.”
Topper asked, “I’m sure we could, but what use would that be, Boss?”
“I’m assuming that by the time we get to the system where Rikki is, there will be several Roo ships present. Given their method of greeting, I thought we might be ahead to put on a show, instead of just giving them all a tap, and calling it good.”
Ruth asked, “You want to not only greet them in their style, but show them we have a sense of humor about it?”
“Exactly. Do you two think you can do something like that?”
Topper said, “That sounds fun, Boss. We’ll get something worked up for you.”
“Thanks. I’m headed for my cabin. Don’t hesitate to call, if something comes up.”
“Sure thing, Boss. See you tomorrow.”
I headed back, taking the transit again, just to cut down the chances of getting sidetracked. Of course, Snitz had business to take care of, when I got there. We headed out to the grass room. Jim was there with Molly. “Hi Boss, how was the rest of your day?”
“Not so bad. Got a message from Max that the Space Force was beginning to ease up. He figures they are still watching the holler, though.”
“Anything else interesting?”
“Scary, more like. Got a wedding announcement. Bill Rottum is going to be family.”
“I knew he hit it off with Nikki’s mom, but they’re that serious?”
“All I have to go by is the fact they sent out wedding announcements. I would think that would mean they were fairly serious.”
“I heard something about teaching Lilly to play Frisbee.”
“That was one of the harder things I had to do today. Their wrists are built enough different that it takes a whole different motion for one of them to throw a Frisbee. Took awhile to figure that one out, with Lilly being so helpful, and all.”
“I guess I shouldn’t tell you, but the video of you teaching her is one of the most popular on the ship’s net.”
“You mean I’m a GeneTube star?”
“Afraid so, Boss.”
“Folks must be hard up for something to watch. Nikki and I need to take the bridge for a few hours, so the band can put out a new concert video.”
“Do what you want, but I like the Frisbee video, myself.”
