Dee said, “Yes, we were. After we got done talking to that fellow you sicced us on, Angus told us the Captain of that merchant vessel you stopped was wanting to talk to someone. Since we were already there, we took that one, too.”
“What kind of a deal did you get out of him?”
“500 pounds of walnuts for his entire load of technology, and Scotti gets to check it for trackers before we bring it aboard.”
“Dang! Did you leave him a uniform to wear home?”
“We did, but I think we could have gotten it if we had tried.”
“You just got a promotion from Protocol Officer to Head of Sales, Squirrel Division. I’m tired of trying to get through to them, anyway.”
“Does that come with a pay bump?”
“Sure. I’ll double your salary.”
“But I’m not getting paid now!”
“Now you’re not getting paid twice as much.”
Grandma Cachi spoke up. “Now I see why you say they call him Asshole. You really don’t get paid?”
Dee said, “He arranged for me to get more money than I could ever spend, a while back. I don’t get paid, but that’s because he already took care of me, financially.”
I replied, “That’s a good point. I need to find some bounties, so we can get the new people taken care of.”
Grandma asked, “You are a bounty hunter?”
“When we started fixing saucers, bounties were just dropping in our laps. We haven’t had so many lately.”
Dee said, “Well, gee, Bob. You took out all of the pirates and slavers, what are you, greedy?”
“I just want to make sure folks are taken care of.”
Jim said, “Three square meals, traveling on a starship, and meeting aliens isn’t enough? People want to be paid, too? It’s not like the bots won’t whip up anything your heart desires.”
Grandma said, “The crew are very helpful, too. That girl you gave the horrible name to, she is such a sweetie.”
“You mean Nunya? I offered to change her name, but she said she had gotten used to it, and wanted to keep it. Seemed like she thought it was a badge of honor.”
Dee said, “See, I told you. He takes care of his people.”
I said, “Anyway, what happened with that fellow after you made him a deal?”
“Scotti checked his cargo over and cleared it, Sally gave him a transponder code to use the next time he came here, and we sent him on his merry way.”
“Is he going to be upset when he gets back and finds his cargo isn’t worth what he thought it was?”
“Probably, but he thought he had took us for all we had, so I’d say it serves him right.”
“At least we found Grandma a job.”
She asked, “What’s that?”
“Deputy Head of Sales, Squirrel Division. Dee, do you have access to the company account?”
“I do, as a matter of fact.”
“Set her up with some cash, so she can take care of anything she needs. Matter of fact, do that for anybody on the crew that hasn’t gotten set up yet. Things have been going so fast, I haven’t been keeping up with making sure folks have the money they need.”
Dee replied, “Sure thing, Bob. I haven’t heard anyone complain, anyhow.”
“Let’s keep it that way, if we can. Did you have any luck with the other Captain?”
“He still thinks he can go back to his old life after this.”
“Is there any way we can let him go, or will he just turn around and attack again?”
“He says he will leave peaceably, but we have our doubts. Scotti is making sure none of his weapons will fire without a serious overhaul.”
“I wonder if we could put some of those drones on, without activating them. Save us from having to get close enough to put them on if they decide they want to ram us.”
Grandma said, “Sally and Scotti told us you would say that. They already have it set up. We were silly, we didn’t believe them.”
“Good thing they’re thinking ahead, I would have put us late enough they would have had to rush the fix on the drones.”
Dee replied, “Scotti said it was just a software upgrade. She was able to set it up very quickly.”
“So, are they already gone?”
“Nope. Sally figured you would want to be on the bridge for that, just in case.”
“Yep, I suppose I would. I better hurry up and eat.” When I got to the bridge, Sally said, “Good Morning, Captain. Would you like the conn?”
“Suppose I better. Are we ready to be done with those idiots?”
“Awaiting your order, Captain.” I got strapped in, and said, “Send them home.” Sure enough, as soon as they were far enough away to get a good speed up, they turned back, as if to ram. Sally said, “I have their drives in shutdown, Boss.” Topper said, “Incoming comm, Boss.”
“Put the idiot on.”
“What is the meaning of this? Why have you shut off our drives?”
“You turned as if to ram us. You agreed to leave peaceably. We didn’t believe you, with good reason, it would appear. You can turn your ships and leave, as you agreed, or we can stun you all, and dump you in orbit around Oak, like the garbage you are.”
Sally said, “I’m giving them the ability to maneuver, let’s see what they do with it.” They turned and jumped out.
I asked, “Sensors, do you have any way to tell how far they jumped?”
“Their entry looked normal for a long-range jump, Boss. I’ll keep an eye out for any anomalies.”
“Good enough. I think I’ll stay here for a bit, until we’re sure they aren’t coming back.” We sat for several minutes,
