“I wouldn’t put it past them. They have some strange ideas. If your people were to get suddenly revealed, the humans would panic, and the Commonwealth would be forced into doing something stupid.”
“So, it’s in your best interest to keep us secret?”
“Yes. Isn’t it in your best interest to keep secret where you are getting all these walnuts?”
“I suppose it is.” He looked over to where Tikki and one of the boys were talking. “It looks like I’m going to be coming back here, whether I want to or not.”
“He could do a lot worse. She’s a good kid.”
“That’s not what I’m worried about. She’s going to convince him how great it is to work for you, and I’m going to be looking for a new deckhand.”
“I do seem to wind up officiating a lot of weddings. Nothing says you couldn’t contract your ship to us, I’m sure we could keep you busy.”
“Sneaky monkey. I’ll think about it.”
Abe said, “The other ship is coming in, Boss.”
Once they were clamped down, Pete and Greg came out of the hatch. Pete said, “Howdy, Boss.”
“Howdy. Giving the trainee some field experience?”
“Yep. Thought he might come in handy getting them aboard that little ship.”
“Sounds like a plan. Carry on.” Pete and Greg helped the old-timers get the prisoners arranged in their bunks. Captain Dressi asked, “You have a bot supervising a human?”
Jane spoke up. “That’s my son. He was beginning to get into trouble, so I got Pete to give him some structure and training. It’s done wonders for his attitude.”
The Captain said, “No offense intended, Ma’am. We just don’t use mechanical people in those kinds of jobs.”
She asked, “What kinds of jobs do you use them for? I would have thought you might have one with you to help with loading and unloading.”
“Some ships do, my sister keeps me supplied with crew, so I don’t bother.”
The bots finished moving the prisoners. Andre came over and said, “You’re all loaded, Sir. Anything else we can do for you?”
“No, thank you.” He turned to me. “Pleasure doing business with you, Captain Wilson. Hope to see you again soon.”
I shook the hand he offered, and said, “Indeed, a pleasure. Stop by whenever you’re in this part of the galaxy.”
He collected his crew, and boarded his ship. We all backed away to give him room to maneuver. Dingus said, “He was a nice fellow, wasn’t he?”
I replied, “He sure was. Hard to believe, after all the turkeys we’ve dealt with so far.”
Jane said, “He’s not out of the system yet. Don’t jinx it.”
We stood and watched as the ship left. The hatch closed behind it. I said, “That force field holding out the vacuum still freaks me out.”
Dee said, “It does feel better to have a solid hatch between us and the universe.”
Tikki came up and said, “His nephew says they tend to skirt the law once in a while.” The assembled humans looked at one another. Finally, I said, “We don’t know anybody like that.”
Jane replied, “Nope. Not a soul.”
Dee said, “Can’t think of a one.”
Dingus said, “Outlaws? Oh, my goodness!”
Tikki said, “You guys are hopeless. I told him that you guys would be cool with it, but he didn’t believe me.”
I said, “Maybe you can convince him next time.”
“They’re coming back?”
“That’s the way Captain Dressi sounded. I just hope he can get those people dropped off without getting caught.”
“What will we trade with them?”
“It may come down to gold for walnuts. I’m guessing you and Scotti can figure out how to duplicate all the goodies we traded for this time?”
“We should be able to, yes. You don’t think there will be more people for them to haul home?”
“I hope not, anyway.”
“How long do you think it will be before they are back?”
“Don’t know. The Captain was talking about peddling those walnuts among the smaller colonies, that will take some time, I would think. You missing him already?”
“What? No. I asked him to bring me some parts we don’t have. I don’t know enough about them to print them, so I need examples to copy from.”
Dee asked, “He’s doing that out of the goodness of his heart?”
“Of course not. I told him I would make sure he got paid when he was able to deliver.”
Jane asked, “And just what does he want to get paid?”
Tikki said, “Probably just what you think, but I’m going to give him cash.”
Dee said, “You’re right, Bob. She is a smart one.”
My comm rang. “Captain Wilson.”
“Bob, this is Bill Rottum. I’m not calling on my regular phone because I don’t want to get tracked. I just got a strange call, claiming there were aliens in the system where you are. Can you shed any light?”
“I can say that to my knowledge, there are Sasquatch and employees of Bob’s Saucer Repair in the system at this time. I’m not aware of anyone other than that.”
“Bob, there are holes in that statement that you could drive one of those semi-trucks your planet is so fond of through. How long ago did they leave?”
“A clarification, if you would. Am I speaking to Bill, or Major Rottum?”
“Just Bill, but please don’t make me change my mind.”
“Five minutes, maybe ten. I traded a pallet of walnuts to a nice trader fella, to get him to haul them home for me.”
“This trader fella, he wasn’t from around here, either?”
“No, I suppose he wasn’t.”
“So, you’re in contact with aliens, now?”
“Just doing a little business, Bill. Nothing to get excited about.”
“I guess I’ll have to believe you. Let’s get back to the other hole in your answer. How many aliens do
