“Glad to be of service. If you need anything, Morning Flower can always get ahold of me.”
“Thanks, Bawb.” I got up and went back to sit by Nikki. Morning Flower came over and took my spot. Nikki asked, “What was all that, Caveman?”
“Apparently, Walking Skunk decided he wasn’t brave enough to be an elder, because he didn’t try to rescue Morning Flower when the slavers took her.”
“You got him straightened out?”
“I suppose. Just explained that charging in when he wouldn’t have had a chance wouldn’t have accomplished anything.”
“You got him to understand that he will be a wiser and better elder, because he wouldn’t rush in?”
“He already had it figured out. I just gave him an excuse to admit it to himself.”
Morning Flower and Walking Skunk came strolling up. I asked, “You two get your disagreements worked out?”
Morning Flower said, “Yes, Bawb. Grandpa needs a ride back to the village, but I don’t have room in my fighter. Could somebody fly him over?”
I asked, “Do you need to go back to your camp for anything?”
Walking Skunk said, “The only thing I left behind is a flint ax. This one from Taz is much better. I don’t need to go back there.”
Nikki said, “I could fly you over. Are you ready to go now?”
He replied, “Probably better, before your man’s convincing wears off.”
She got up and took him aboard the Evans. Morning Flower said, “Thanks, Bawb. It will be good to have his wisdom back in the village.”
“Go easy on him. He felt like he had good reasons for what he did.”
“I know, but it would have been silly for him to try and fight the slavers. Before you came and helped us, we didn’t have a chance against them.”
“He still felt like he should have tried, for you.”
“I know. I better get back, and help him settle in. The rest of the village will make a fuss. If I’m not there to keep him calm, he might run off again.”
“Take care of him. I like him a lot.”
“He likes you, too, Bawb. See you later.”
“Bye.”
Beatriz saw me sitting by myself, and came over. “No wallflowers at this party, Captain. Get up and shake your booty.” I danced with her till Nikki got back. When she finished shutting down the Evans, she came over and asked Beatriz, “May I cut in?”
Beatriz replied, “Of course. I was just keeping him from thinking too much.”
Nikki and I danced a few, and then she said, “It’s been a long day, Caveman. Do you think we could shut this party down?”
“I think it has run its course. Several people have already wandered off. I’ll go tell Topper to wind it up for tonight.”
“Just text him, Caveman. You don’t want people to see you as a party pooper.” I did as she asked, and Topper called out from the stage, “Okay, folks, this is the last song. If you’re going to ask someone to dance, do it now.” Nikki and I danced one more, and she headed for the house. I found Snitz, and we started our nightly patrol. Steve caught up with us and said, “This is a nice little place the bots built.”
“Yes, it is. I didn’t realize you and Bucky had come planetside.”
“We didn’t have much to do on the ship, and it seemed like a chance to take a nice break.”
“Things have been busy lately, haven’t they?”
“You’re telling me. Some days I still wake up and reach for my leg. Then I wake up and remember I don’t need it.”
“You two have a house picked out?”
“Yeah. There were still a couple of empty ones when we got here. Bucky checked the computer to make sure nobody had dibs, and we moved in.”
“Marcelle like it here?”
“I think he can smell something back in the woods. He doesn’t seem interested in getting too far from the house.”
“Was there something you needed, or are you just being neighborly?”
“Well, Boss, I don’t want to stir up trouble, but I notice that Bill Richards isn’t here.”
“No, he’s studying with Sally, trying to get up to her standards to be a captain.”
“Do you think that’s a good idea, Boss?”
“Not as good as talking you or Diego into it, but not horrible, do you have a different idea?”
“Nothing concrete, Boss. Just a couple of things he said didn’t feel right to me. I get the feeling he wouldn’t be nearly as opposed to waking up the Navy and taking charge as you are.”
“Thanks for letting me know, Steve. I’m sure Sally will be able to figure out for sure if he has a problem in that area. She didn’t think he was the best candidate, either.”
“What would we do if he turns out to be unsuited for the duty?”
“I guess we would have to put him ashore, wouldn’t we?”
“Where?”
“That’s the big question, isn’t it? Sending him back to Earth is just going to cause problems, and we don’t want to leave a mess like that for Morning Flower to deal with. Maybe one of the outlying Commonwealth planets? The fact he has dependents complicates things.”
“Yes, it does. Did I hear you say you’d rather have me in the big chair?”
“You don’t want it, do you?”
“Nope.”
“Don’t think you are good enough? Sally says that’s what makes me good at it. She mentioned John and Diego, but I’m sure she’d be happy with you, too.”
“I knew when I signed up there would be ‘other duties as assigned’, but I never thought you would try to sit me in the big chair, Boss.”
“Sally thinks that enough people know about the Gene that, sooner or later, somebody is gonna go looking for the Navy yard, and she
