“Gene can whistle him up, whenever you want to see him, you know.”
“I never remember that. It seems so weird, an AI calling the dog.”
“Why is that? Snitz has been around us enough to know that Gene is our friend, and he should listen to him.”
“How do you take all this in stride, Caveman? I should be doing better than you, you’re from a primitive planet, after all.”
“That’s my advantage. I don’t have preconceived ideas about how all this should work, so whatever happens is good enough, until I learn better.”
“You’re saying that I know more about how starships work, so I think the Gene should run like the ships I’m used to?”
I studied that for booby traps, and, not finding any, said, “That’s what I meant, even if I didn’t quite get it said.”
Nikki replied, “You mean you don’t have to unlearn what you already know, so you’re a step ahead?”
“Yes. How is it you can put my thoughts into words so much better than I can?”
“Women are more verbal. Even your planet knows that.”
“They heard that slam the next system over, Space Cadet. I’m just a poor, dumb, hillbilly, Ma’am. I didn’t mean no harm.”
“Who’s printing your contacts all the way out here, Caveman?”
“I’ll never tell. Let’s go see if anything is happening on the bridge.”
“Okay, but you know something is going to happen, as soon as you hit that door, don’t you?”
“Would I be going, if I didn’t think so?” Saucy sang out, “Commodore on the bridge”, as we entered. I replied, “As you were. Mr. Topper, is anyone conspiring to make our little chunk of the universe interesting today?”
“Nice and quiet so far, Boss. Charlie is making good progress getting the Squirrel ships back where they belong.”
“Any word from their fleet?”
“Nope. Not a thing.”
“Not even calling to gripe about the condition of their prisoners? That seems odd. Squirrels usually don’t lack for something to fuss about.”
Sue said, “There goes Charlie with the last ship.”
I must have gotten a strange look on my face, because Nikki asked, “What’s wrong, Caveman?”
“Not sure, I just have a funny vibe.”
Nikki broke chain of command, but nobody seemed to mind. She called out, “Topper, jump the ship. Saucy, send orders to all the ships in the vicinity to do likewise. We need to be farther away from the Squirrel flagship, right friggin’ now!”
I asked, “What are you thinking, Space Cadet?”
“I’m thinking if that fleet isn’t communicating, they could be getting ready for another assault. Those ships had sensors running, so they would know where our ships were, and be able to jump in and ambush us.”
I said, “Saucy, get me Commodore Sloan.”
Dingus said, “Are you ready for us to come back, Boss?”
“Not yet. The Squirrels aren’t communicating, and Nikki thinks that could be a bad sign. If you detect ships coming this way, be ready to jump in behind them, and mess up their day.”
“Understood, Bob. You really think these idiots will take another poke at you?”
“I don’t think we can afford to rule out the possibility, do you?”
“No, I do not, given the way they act in general. Is the Ambassador safe?”
“He’s in my ready room. If that’s not safe, we’ve got bigger problems.”
“Ain’t that the truth. Any idea how long we’ll need to stay on alert?”
“Once Charlie is back, I’ll call them, and see how they sound. We’ll go from there.”
“Understood, talk to you when you have more answers.”
“Later, Dingus.” We waited for Charlie. Topper said, “This is as long as he has taken to get back. I would have to say he is overdue, Boss.”
Saucy called out, “Text from Commodore Sloan. Fleet spotted, following.”
I said, “Good catch, Sweetheart. Tex, are your party favors ready?”
“Yes, Boss. You want to kill their drives and stun them, like usual?”
“We’ll start out that way, at least. As many ships as they’re coming in with, I don’t know if we’ll be able keep it that peaceful. Ruth, are you ready to build a Death Blossom, when they come out of FTL?”
“On it, Boss. I’ve got some extra processing power tied in, so we can start jumping quicker.”
“Good idea. Sue, do you have any prediction on how soon they will show up?”
“I don’t have any trace yet, so they aren’t very close. I’ll sing out when I see them.”
“Good enough.” Topper said, “Your ship, Boss. You better get strapped in.”
I looked at him. “I did take over without protocol, didn’t I? I should report me to myself, or something.”
Topper said, “I thought Mrs. Wilson was in charge of your discipline?”
“You don’t have to get mean about it, Topper.”
Nikki piped up, “Don’t worry, Topper. He’ll pay.”
A minute or so passed, and Sue said, “Here they come, Boss.” The bridge suddenly got quiet. We all knew this was going to be our hardest fight yet. Saucy said, “Charlie is aboard, Boss. He wants to know if you need anything before he heads back.”
“Tell him to head to medbay, and annoy Rhonda till the battle is over.”
“He says, ‘On it, Uncle Commodore’. Is that proper address, Boss?”
“About as proper as you’re likely to get, out of Charlie.”
It wasn’t long before Sue said, “They’re emerging now, Boss.” I was barely able to register the fact that three Squirrel ships were targeting the space the Gene had occupied before. Then we were deep into the jump and shoot routine that Death Blossom required. Our first two or three targets went down easy, but then Ruth said, “Boss, there are too many. They had time to figure out what we were up to. They’re jumping too.”
“Do your best. We have help on the way.”
