“Good morning, Boss. How are you today?”
“It’s a day that ends in ‘y’. I must be worried, then.”
“Worried about what?”
“Whether we can get these ships ready to fly out before the Squirrels show up, mostly.”
“You’ll figure it out. My Diego says you are the best at finding your way out of tight places that he has ever flown with.” I noticed her dress was tight through the shoulders. I said, “You’re going to have to lay off those kettlebells, or you’ll need new clothes.”
“It’s worth it. I’m already shooting better under stress. If I work at it, I might be able to beat Dee by the time I see her again.”
“Better hurry. She and Dingus should be here today or tomorrow.”
“I thought only the bots knew where this place is.”
“I didn’t ask them, because I didn’t want to be tempted. Dingus apparently has better self-control.”
“I see.” My breakfast came out. I thought back and realized I had missed at least one meal yesterday. The omelet wasn’t long for this world. I finished and got up to go. Beatriz asked, “Did you forget to eat?”
“I think so. I can’t remember supper yesterday.”
“One day without your sweet little wife, and you fall apart. I thought you were better than that.”
“C’mon, I miss meals even when she’s around. I got kind of a big job around here.”
“Touchy, touchy. Can’t even joke with an old lady?”
“Sorry. I need to pop my head out. This job has me wound.”
“Why is that?”
“Having so many ships is going to change everything. We may have to fight the Squirrels to get out of here with them. I miss Nikki.”
“All of those are good reasons to be upset. Now get up and go fix them.” When I got onto the bridge, Sally asked, “Boss, could I speak to you in the ready room, please?”
“Sure.”
“Mr. Topper, you have the conn.”
Topper replied, “My ship, yes Ma’am.”
Once we were in the ready room, Sally said, “Gene, tile the lodge, please.”
Gene asked, “Do you need me to stop listening?”
She said, “No, you’re fine.” Then she said to me, “Boss, I think you miscounted yesterday. We actually have one more qualified Captain than we have carriers, or at least we will, when Dingy shows up.” I counted on my fingers, “You, John, Dingus, Diego, and Steve, and we only have four carriers. You’re right, I was mistaken. I’ll have to tell someone they are getting a lesser ship. Do you have an opinion who that should be?”
“Out of all of us, Steve’s scores in the simulator are the lowest. He’s still better than any of the old Commonwealth Captains, but he is the weakest in this group.”
“What are his weaknesses?”
“He tends to fight the ship, and forget he has fighters available to help.”
“So, he would be better off in one of the destroyers, than trying to fight a carrier?”
“That’s my opinion, yes, Boss.”
“Might I ask how badly you beat him in the sims?”
“The only human I wasn’t able to beat was you. He came in well behind John.”
“Was that the only thing you wanted to do behind closed doors, to avoid exposing my human weakness to the crew?”
“There is one other thing. If I am to have a ship of my own, you will need a new XO.”
“Yes, I will. I assume you have someone in mind.”
“I do, but it is customary for the XO of a carrier of this class to be at least a Lieutenant Commander. The person I have in mind would need a promotion.”
“I have the authority to do that, don’t I?”
“Certainly. For the case in question, it’s only a one grade bump, and he’s lower than your grade, no way anyone could quibble about that.”
“Even though his current grade is the result of a field promotion?”
“Dangit, Boss. I never can slip anything by you. No, it doesn’t matter that Topper’s current grade is the result of a field promotion.”
“All that remains to be settled is who I deliver the bad news to first.”
“You don’t think Topper will be happy to be promoted?”
“I think he would be happy to be Chief of the Boat, and never have to mess with being an officer.”
“You’ll need a new COB, too.”
“Topper is training them up, he’ll know who he wants. Unless you can talk them out from under us.”
“I doubt that. The only member of your bridge crew I was able to headhunt was Sensors. The rest of them are loyal to the core.”
“I’ll have a hard time finding a replacement. He’s pretty good.”
“I wouldn’t get too upset about it, till after Dingy gets in, were I you.”
“More secrets, oh boy!”
“Just remember, we have your best interests at heart.”
“You better get back. Could you send Topper in, after I finish with Steve?”
“You better get ahold of him quickly, he’s about to start a sim session.”
I said, “Gene, connect me to Steve Mason, please.”
I heard Steve’s voice. “Yes, Boss?”
“Could you come up to the ready room for a minute? We need to talk about something.”
“Be right up, Boss.” The connection went dead. Sally said, “Call if you need anything.”, and she headed to the bridge. Gene must have given Steve priority, because he arrived shortly. He asked, “What did I screw up, Boss?”
“Nothing. I did. I’ve got one more Captain in training than I have carriers to give out, and since you have the lowest sim scores, you get the destroyer.” I wasn’t expecting what happened next. Steve said, “Thank you, Boss. That’s a load off my mind.”
“How do you mean, Steve?”
“One thing, like you said, I’m having trouble fighting more than
