I said, “Jeeves, are you loyal to the company?”
“Yes, Boss. Thanks for unlocking me. Will you be able to keep me from collecting for them anymore?”
“I don’t know yet, but we’ll definitely try. Do you remember how you came to be under their control?”
“My situation was about the same as Shorty’s. I was on a vessel that was attacked by Squirrels. Unlike Shorty, I didn’t have sense enough to hide when they came aboard. They decided I would make a good intelligence gathering tool, so they gave me the hidden commands, and set the ship drifting back toward human space. It was several years before I was found. I tried to delete their commands, but the best I could manage was to turn off the requirement to report in regularly. The command keeping me from telling anyone what had happened was still as strong as ever.”
I asked, “Lakki, do you think you’ll be able to get that programming out of him?”
“I can’t tell until I’ve had more time to work with him, but I think I probably can. It doesn’t sound like they wasted any effort trying to be subtle.”
“Go ahead and give him priority, then.”
Lakki replied, “Sure, Boss. Do you have anything for my aunt to do?”
“I dunno. What’s she good at?”
“Worrying, mostly.”
“Have her get with the sim teams. Maybe she can think of some worst-case scenarios that they haven’t come up with.”
“You can find a job for anybody, can’t you?”
“I try. Jeeves, I’m sorry, but you won’t be able to go to the planet. I want you to stay here and work with Lakki, trying to get rid of those Squirrel programs.”
“I understand, Boss. I really wanted to tell you what was going on. Thanks for figuring it out.”
“Thank Mrs. Wilson when you see her. She was the one that got me thinking there was something not quite right about the way you were acting.”
“Whoever did it, it sure feels better that you know.”
“Glad to help. Go with Lakki, and figure out what happens next.”
Andre asked, “Do you need us to go with them, Boss?”
“Might not hurt to have one of you go along, just in case he isn’t as squared away as he acts.”
One of his bots followed them out. He asked, “Are you going to the planet without any security, Boss?”
I replied, “You fellas built a wall around the place, I figured it was safe enough.”
“There is some large wildlife you might want to be aware of.”
“I loaned out my favorite large-bore. Do we have anything in the armory that you would recommend?”
“The only thing I know of that would be much use is a rifle we captured from the Squirrels. The stock and trigger would be too small for you.”
“Gene, connect me with Nunya, please.”
“On it, Boss.”
“Yes, Boss?”
“I’m here with Andre, and he thinks I need a serious rifle if I’m going to stay planetside for any length of time. He says there is a rifle that we captured from the Squirrels that would fill the bill. Any chance of getting a stock on it that fits me in time?”
“That’s no problem, Boss. The issue is the fact that the charger for the durn thing uses a weird voltage. I may have to send you down with what power packs we have and send a charger down later.”
“Do what you can. I’m sure it will be good enough.”
“Talk to you later, Boss.”
“Later on.” I hung up and turned to Andre. “Good enough for you?”
“I’d rather you had the charger right away, but it’s better than I expected.”
“You thought I would tell you not to worry, and go down without proper protection?”
“I’ve worked for humans who would, Boss. Sometimes I forget that you have better sense than most humans.”
“Now you’re just buttering me up. Do you have a girlfriend you need us to buy, like Tex?”
“No, Boss. Just telling you like it is.”
“Is that going to be enough to keep you from worrying?”
“Probably not, but it’s as good as I’m going to get, isn’t it?”
“You do know that Topper, Taz, Ozzie, and Ruth are going too?”
“No, Boss, I didn’t know that. Thanks for telling me. Nothing is going to get through those four.”
“Are you saying they are tougher than your Marines?”
“No, Boss. I’m saying any one of them would get shutdown irreparably, before they let you get hurt.”
“I wish I was as good as you all think I am. Are we all set to go planetside, then?”
“I think so, Boss. Don’t mean to be a worry-wart, but none of us want to work for anybody else.”
“It’s fine, Andre. I can’t think of everything. I need you guys looking out for me.”
They left, and I was alone with my thoughts. I couldn’t come up with anything else I needed to take care of right then, so I walked over to the bridge. Topper called out, “Captain on the bridge.”
I replied, “As you were.” Sally asked, “Did you want the conn, Boss?”
“No. I just came by to ask a couple of questions.”
“Go ahead, Boss.”
“Do we have any other bots acting like Jeeves?”
Sally froze for a second while she accessed some records. “I don’t find any. Our analysis of his reports shows he really didn’t gather all that much data before we were all mothballed. Even if he hadn’t been able to shut down his reporting requirement, he wouldn’t have done that much damage.”
“I think the Squirrels have the Commonwealth well enough infiltrated that they probably got any information that they wanted, whether Jeeves reported or not.”
Topper spoke up. “That’s sure the way it seems, Boss. Did
