“I was, but I decided my prospects were better working here. If I had gone back, I would have been put back in jail, to serve out my sentence. Here, I get to be free and work.”
“You work for the detestable monkeys?”
“Not so detestable once you get to know them. Actually, pretty nice folks. I’ve learned a lot working here.”
“Like what?”
“Well, I’ve learned that walnuts grow just fine on Oak. It’s just your friends in the cartel who keep it from happening.”
“You really think he knows what he’s talking about?”
“At this point, I’d be surprised if he didn’t.”
“You’re loyal to a monkey?”
“He treats me better than my own people have, why wouldn’t I be?”
“How do you mean?”
“Your military sent the fleet I was with, out here on a suicide mission. I was considered expendable. The Captain did a loyalty check before he sent me in here, but he wouldn’t send me on a mission like that.”
“How do you know?”
“I’ve talked to some of the bots, the mechanical people that help run the ship. They say the Captain wouldn’t even sacrifice one of them, when he was disposing of a bomb. That is why they are so loyal to him.”
“You believe these mechanical people?”
“I do.”
“And you saw this trip to Oak?”
“I watched the events on a monitor, I wasn’t actively involved.”
“It couldn’t have been faked for your benefit?”
“On the second pass, I was able to see the continents. It was Oak. How would they know the continents of Oak, without having been there?”
“Wait, second pass? The Captain didn’t mention a second pass.”
“He tried to parley with a ship sent to capture us. They didn’t want to, and attacked. He defeated them, and took them home. By that time, the ship’s engineers had figured out how to defeat the FTL suppressors around the planet, and we were able to go directly into orbit. That was when I saw the continents.”
“You’re saying the infamous monkey can jump directly into orbit around Oak, whenever he sees fit?”
“I saw it done.”
“He could conquer us at any time.”
“He has no desire to do so. He just wants to do business with us.”
“What kind of business?”
“He has a large quantity of walnuts he would be willing to trade for our technology, provided you can find some without trackers in it.”
“What do you mean when you say ‘large quantity’?”
“So many he wasn’t even sure of how much, but he estimated several tons.”
“Did you say tons?”
“I did. I had the same reaction. The crew say the nuts are common on their planet.”
“Do they have any idea why they won’t grow on Oak?”
“They think they will, but that knowledge is kept secret by the people charging ridiculous amounts of money for them.”
“What makes them think that?”
“I don’t know. The Captain has a project going, concerning walnuts on Oak, but I haven’t had a reason to be read into it.”
“So, you’re not trusted?”
“I’m trusted with the things I need to work on. That project was handled by other people. I think there were some of our people on the team, though. Folks who had been on the crew longer than me.”
“You’re not the only one of our people working for him?”
“No. One fellow was an undercover agent, sent to the Captain’s planet to buy walnuts. Lived next door to the Captain for years.”
“All this is hard for me to believe.”
“You get used to it, after a while. You would be a lot better off, with the Captain as a friend, than if you make him your enemy.”
“You make it sound so simple. I have a career in the military. I was ordered here to eliminate the threat this ship poses to our people. If I go back without results, my career is over. It’s obvious I can’t complete the mission I was assigned, but I can’t return without it.”
“You’re in a tough situation, that’s for sure. Trying to fight the Captain will only make it worse. You need to think about what you’re going to do, and I’ll come back and talk more later.” Lakki got up to leave. He said, “You really do think the Captain is trustworthy, don’t you?”
“I do.” Then she left. We met her outside. I asked, “What do you think?”
Lakki said, “I think he is in an impossible position, and he doesn’t know which way to turn. If he cooperates, he’s throwing away everything he has worked for. If he doesn’t, his future isn’t much better.”
Dingus asked, “Do you think he understands what will happen if we dump him and his crew in orbit around Oak?”
“I think he understands all too well. He’s looking for some way to save his career, and I’m not sure there is one.”
John said, “Too bad we don’t know of some planet that he would like to retire to. Sounds like his career is over, whatever he does.”
I replied, “That’s a big ask, John. I get the impression that the Squirrels are even more social than we are. Putting him in a hermit cabin somewhere just wouldn’t cut it.”
Lakki spoke up. “I could set him up with a clean ID, and we could drop him in one of the outer colonies, but I think he has his heart set on going back to his old life.”
Dingus said, “We need to get him to understand that his old life has ceased to be an option. No matter what happens, he’s not going to be able to go back to what he had before.”
Lakki said, “I think he’s figured that out intellectually, but he hasn’t accepted it emotionally yet.”
I looked at Dingus. “Do you think Dee
