by Jerry Boyd
“Gee, Caveman, you shouldn’t hold things in. Let us know how you really feel.”
I took off my uniform jacket and handed it to John. “You’re in charge for a few minutes. I have some personal business I need to take care of.” The tickle fight was epic, even if it was short. The kiss at the end was worth all the trouble, though. When I took my jacket back from John, I asked, “Are they ready to receive cargo down below, or do we need to build some secure storage?”
“They have some storage space, but I don’t think they have anywhere near what they would need for all of it.”
“Scotti says she won’t need transport for wall sections till this afternoon. I’ll get Andre and some of his buddies started running cargo down until time to start on that.”
“Andre?”
“Big mother of a bot. You’ll like him. You have any idea what they might like first?”
“Weapons, I would think. Fighting off the wildlife seems to be the thing they think about the most.”
“See what I can do. Do they have enough teaching machines to get people up to speed on the new weapons?”
“Wouldn’t hurt to send some down. Most of their stuff is worn out.”
“Can you think of anything else?”
“If you get a chance, make a run to the surface. They all want to meet the famous Bob Wilson.”
“I’ll see what I can do about that.”
Nikki and I headed for the bridge, and the rest of them headed to the launch bay, to head to the planet for the day. Nikki asked, “So, what do you have on your agenda today?”
“I need to get Topper and Andre started on shipping cargo to the surface, and then a training matter has come to my attention.”
“Oh?”
“Seems one of the crew blew off practice last night to snuggle with a frightened teenager. She needs to catch up, before I have to put her on report.”
“Oh, Caveman, I’ve been naughty.”
“That’s the spirit.”
I commed Topper. “Morning, Boss. How are you today?”
“Doing well. How hard is it going to be to unload some of our cargo?”
“Depends on what you need, Boss.”
“Weapons, mostly. I’d say stuff that’s appropriate for anti-vehicle work, and anti-air. With mounts, spares, and plenty of ammo. With a pallet of teaching machines, to teach the locals which is the noisy end.”
“All that stuff was packed to be taken off first, so it shouldn’t be a problem, except for maybe the teaching machines.”
“Recall as many pilots as you think you will need. I’ll see what I can do about rounding up some cargo bots for you.”
“I could call Andre, if you want, Boss.”
“You know Andre?”
“I did a nametag and logo for him last night.”
“Go ahead, then. Call if you have trouble with anything.”
“I will. Thanks, Boss.”
“For what?”
“Just for trusting me to get it done, I guess. You treat me differently than anybody else I’ve worked for.”
“The rest of them let you by with only sixteen hours a day?”
“The rest of them didn’t think I could be trusted to do anything on my own.”
“You haven’t failed me yet, and I don’t think you will. That’s good enough for me.”
“Talk to you later, Boss.”
“Later on, Topper.”
I turned to Nikki. “Now, about that training issue.”
We made it to the bridge in time to spell Bucky for lunch, but it wasn’t by much. She said, “Gee whiz! You two have all night and you’re sneaking in nooners too? Are you part rabbit?”
I said, “Nikki and I were standing guard over an escaped prisoner all night. You need to get your facts straight.”
“Ooh, an escaped thirteen-year old, half Nikki’s size. She must have been terribly dangerous.”
“Considering she knows access codes that let her escape from guard bots in the first place, I wouldn’t call her harmless.”
Bucky left for lunch with that. I said, “Ensign Wilson, you have the conn. I’ll be in my ready room, catching up on paperwork.”
“I have the conn.”
First, I looked at reports from the surface. Scotti’s crews had run out of anything to do after they finished the foundation of the new wall. She had put them on pouring pads to hold the artillery, so that they could be put into service as soon as they were delivered. I checked the real-time feed, and Andre had commandeered one of the freighters to deliver weapons to Scotti’s pads. It looked like they would have a solid defense as soon as their gunners were trained. Then I saw how many training machines were in use, and what courses were being studied. Looked like the settlement would be much better protected by nightfall. I checked on the power core test, and found what I really expected. The test core was still performing just as it should, even with the abuse the test program was throwing at it. I checked the progress of the new FTL for the derelict we found. Finally, I found something I wasn’t expecting. A few of the parts Scotti had ordered had been canceled, and new orders put in their place. The new orders were signed Zoom, with Scotti signing as supervisor. I commed Scotti, curious. “Hi, Boss. If I’m not working the problem already, I’ll get to it as soon as I can.”
“I was just wondering about the parts for that FTL drive that got canceled, and new parts scheduled.”
“Zoom showed me a better way, and she had equations to back it up. I hope that’s okay, Boss?”
“That’s what she’s there for, Scotti. How are things working out?”
“I had a little adjusting to do, at first, but it’s good now.”
“Adjusting?”
“In order for young Nunya to be a competent assistant, she needed to know all the tools in the shop, and where they were stored. That took a little time, especially since not all the tools were the types she was used to. She has promised me a schematic for a revised layout of the shop that would make our operations more efficient. She says she will have the first drawings by morning. I’m curious to see what she comes up with.”
“So, you are happy with the arrangement?”
“More than just happy, Boss. These two are good crew. Thank you for finding them for me.”
“Are you aware that you might have one more crew member. If he does well in the autodoc?”
“Nunya’s Father, you mean? Yes, I am aware. I will see how he works out. May I request he be transferred if I do not find him suitable?”
“Without a doubt. You are going to need a crew you can rely on. If you can’t rely on him, don’t keep him around.”
“Thanks, Boss. I’ve been concerned about that.”
“It’s your department, Scotti. Run it to suit yourself. Have you had any progress on the project to give us a drive flare without a rough transition?”
“We have a design, and we’re running it through the worst-case simulation as we speak. I should know more by tomorrow. The early results look good, so I already started the long lead time parts. We can always recycle them if the simulations show us a problem.”
“Assuming the simulations come out well, how soon could you have the system ready to use?”
“Day after tomorrow at the earliest, safer to say the day after that.”
“That should be well before we need it, unless we have more unexpected visitors. Andre is putting those weapon emplacements you had built to good use. You’ll need to let him and Topper know when you want to switch over to hauling wall pieces.”
“Boss, I hadn’t planned to haul them down. Loading and unloading them on and off the freighters will take a lot of time we could use constructing the wall.”
“I’m afraid I don’t follow. How were you planning on getting them to where they’re needed?”
“They’re hull metal, so the heat of reentry won’t bother them. The previous owners didn’t strip out the DSS, so we can use that.”
“DSS?”
“De-orbit Supply System. It’s a quick way to get supplies to a ground unit under combat conditions. You just put whatever they need in a heat resistant container, and the catapult drops it out of orbit.”
“And the wall pieces don’t even need a container. I’m hoping you were planning to give the folks down below some notice before you start hitting them with what looks like an orbital bombardment?”
“You sure know how to spoil a girl’s fun, Boss. Of course, I was going to give them notice and make sure they were clear of the landing zone. They’ll be a little hot when they land, but by the time the whole wall is down, the first pieces should be cool enough to handle.”
“I’ll have to get ahold of Jane and make sure Greg is somewhere he can see them coming in. He won’t forgive me if I let him miss a fireworks show like that.”
“You humans have weird ideas of fun.”
“I’m sure I could say the same of you, if I knew what you do for fun.”
“You need anything else, Boss?”
“Nope. How about you?”
“Fly safe, Boss. I don’t want to work for anybody else.”
“Talk to you later.”
After I hung up, I couldn’t think of anything else I needed to check on, so I commed Jane. “Hi Bob, what’s up?”
“Just wanted to give you a heads up. Scotti is going to make quite a show delivering the wall pieces. Greg is going to want to be someplace where he can see them coming in.”
“When is this going to start?”
“My understanding is sometime this afternoon. I’ll let you know when I have a firmer time.”
“What exactly is she up to?”
“Since heat won’t bother the wall sections, she’s going to kick them out the back and let them reenter on their own. Says the ship has a system designed to do that.”
“An artificial meteor shower? Greg’s not the only one who wants to see that.”
“Will the vibrations from the impacts cause any problems?”
“All of their tunnels are lined with epoxy granite. I don’t think it will be an issue, but I’ll ask.”
“We can bring the pieces down in ships, but it will take longer, and I got the impression Scotti was really looking forward to getting to use the drop system.”
“I’ll get with some folks, and let you know what I find out. The change in morale down here is amazing. When we first landed, they were all asking if we could take them somewhere safe. Now, they’re making plans to defend the place, and thinking about the future.”
“Glad we did some good. Speaking of doing good, do you or John have any ideas for getting Phonelia’s crew ready to fly again? I heard they were in a bad way.”
“John ran them through the autodoc, but neither of them had any physical issues. Since we’ve been bringing Greg to work with us, Sally has been at loose ends, and John has her talking to them, trying to get them able to go back to work.”
“Do you suppose a new task would help, or would that just make it worse?”
“Ask Sally, she has a better read on where they are in the healing process.”
“When did she go from nanny to shrink?”
“When Scotti had a private talk with her.”
“Well, that probably means the right bot is on the job. Thanks. I’ll call again when I know more.”
“Bye, Bob.”
I commed Sally. “Hi, Boss. Haven’t heard from you in a while. Everything okay?”
“That’s what I called to find out. Are Phonelia’s crew making progress?”
“They are, but they’ve both got a good dose of what your people call PTSD. I don’t think either one of them had any idea what could be waiting for them out here in the wild stars.”
“Do you think giving them a new assignment would help, or hurt?”
“Their work is a big part of their identity. Having something to work on would probably do them good.”
“Would you be able to monitor them, and pull them off it, if it went the other way?”
“Sure. What do you need them to do?”
“Well, finding not one, but probably two lost colonies on this planet, has me thinking there may be a lot more lost colonies out here in the, what did you call them, ‘wild stars’?”
“So, you want them to go through the records and see if they can find any likely locations for these lost colonies, so that we can go see if they exist, and if so, are they friendly?”
“Exactly right. Does that sound like something they could do?”
“As long as you don’t ask them to do any first contact stuff, I think they will be fine.”
“Go ahead and start them on that, then, if you don’t mind.”
“Sure will. Thanks, Boss, I’ve been looking for something to keep those two busy. Left idle, they just spiral back to the attack.”
“Glad to help. Let me know if you need anything.”
“I will. Talk to you later, Boss.”
“Bye, Sally.”
I went back out to the bridge. Topper called out, “Captain on the bridge!”
I replied, “As you were.”
Nikki asked, “Would you like the conn, Sir?”
“I would.”
“I stand relieved.”
“Are you headed to lunch?”
“Yes. You want me to bring you a sandwich?”
“If you don’t mind.”
“Not a problem.”
Nikki left. I asked Topper, “Any update on when Scotti intends to begin bombarding the colony?”
“Bombarding..? Oh, you mean delivering the wall sections. She intends to start in thirty minutes.”
I commed Jane. “Hi, Bob.”
“Just called to let you know the show starts in thirty minutes. Do the locals have any objection?”
“No, Sir. They like your style.”
“Please tell me there’s not a statue in the works.”
“In the works? No, Sir. Scotti’s crew finished pouring the base last night, and the statue came down from the ship this morning. Andre put it on the pedestal himself.”
“You’re not joking, are you?”
“No.”
“Scotti turned loose of that much hull metal?”
“She said it was for a good cause, native relations. She also said she had enough stores to meet any conceivable need, up to and including building an entire fighter complement for the Gene.”
“I’m supposed to act as if I have no idea how all this came about, so I don’t have to talk to Scotti about the use of the ship’s resources, aren’t I?”
“That’s the way it is usually handled, yes.”
“Understood. Enjoy the show!”
“Bye, Bob.”
I turned to Topper. “COB, have you studied the functions of our fine ship?”
“I have, Sir.”
“Can you explain the DSS to me? I’m not sure I understand the details.”
“Well, Sir, the cargo to be delivered is put into an electromagnetic catapult, that slows it to less than orbital velocity, whereupon it begins a ballistic reentry.”
“Yes, I understand that part. The next bit is where it gets fuzzy for me. The cargo is descending through atmosphere, with random wind currents, possible bird strikes, and who knows what all else, and yet we can predict the impact point well enough to make it safe to drop near a settlement?”
“Oh, I see the problem, Sir. No one told you about the guidance modules that are attached to each piece of cargo. They have a set of small drive emitters, that correct any variation in trajectory.”
“That makes perfect sense then. Are the guidance modules reusable, or are they expended in service?”
“Oh, Captain, that’s the sweet part. Once they’re detached from the cargo, they have enough thrust to make orbit. They come home all on their own.”
“Outstanding! Have your freighter crews been advised of the hazard to their navigation?”
“They have. I have them holding aboard the Gene until after the drop.”
“All of them?”
“Aah, yes, Sir. The last ship just came aboard. By the time the drop is over, all of them will be loaded and ready to depart.”
“Will you lose part of your unloading crew to wall construction?”
“We will. Andre estimates we will be able to shift cargo about half as fast as we could with the whole crew.”
“Anything we can do to help with that?”
“We’ve not been able to come up with anything, Sir. If we speed up one part, it just bottlenecks somewhere else.”
“Good enough. At least we got them some artillery positioned.”
“Yes, Sir. All of Scotti’s emplacements now have weapons and trained crews.”
My comm rang. “Captain Wilson.”
Max said, “Captain, is it now? I’ve got to keep up on current events.”
“Somebody has to drive. I was the only one too dumb to turn it down.”
“Sure, Bob, I believe you. I got a visit from your brother last night.”
“My?, oh, Farts-Like-Skunk. How is he?”
“He’s fine. He came to tell me what he had heard in the knocks from up north. Falling Rain is having trouble with her pregnancy, and he wanted Bawb to come and help. I took Farts-Like-Skunk with me, and we picked them up and brought them back to Missouri. I’ve got Falling Rain in the autodoc, and she and the baby should be fine in a day or so.”
“Sounds like you have it under control. Good work.”
“There is one other thing. Knocks Hard, having seen how much technology can help take care of people, has decided that they would do better to go live on Falling Rain’s planet. We’re short of people, and can’t shake anyone loose to haul them out.”
“You need me to send someone there to pick them up and take them to Charlie’s Planet, then?”
“If you have anyone you can spare.”
“I think I know just the folks. I’ll get them on their way by the end of the day. Anything else you need?”
“Nope. Fly safe.”
“Talk to you later, Max.”
I commed Zoom. “Yes, Captain?”
