by Jerry Boyd
“You’re in a mighty nice vessel, and you have a fighter escort. That doesn’t sound like pirates scraping by.”
“We got a ride in with Captain Wilson. He’s not a pirate, scraping by.”
The fellow from the colony responded. “And I should just believe you? What proof do you have that you’re not Patrol, here to raid us?”
I stepped up to the mike. “I’m Captain Wilson. I’m not Patrol, just a regular guy trying to get by. If you’d rather deal with the Patrol, I’ve got some friends there, I could call them up for you.”
“No, Captain, that won’t be necessary. Can I ask why you decided to show up in force?”
“I’ve had some dealings with the folks who took off from here. It seemed like the wise course.”
He said, “That sounds right. They took up piracy, like they intended?”
“They did. Racked up some large bounties. My bank account is thankful. I don’t see how you folks could have any paper out on you, though, being way out here in the wild stars.”
He replied, “There’s always establishing an unregistered colony. That’s still an offense, isn’t it?”
“Dang if I know. I’ve only known about Galactic civilization myself for a couple of months. Haven’t had a need to brush up on colonial law, yet. I’ve never collected bounty on anyone who didn’t shoot at me first. As long as you’re willing to hold your fire, we could get along.”
“That’s a pretty low standard you’ve got there, Captain.”
“I suppose it is. Is that a problem?”
He replied, “I just wonder what it is you want from us.”
“I want you to talk to these folks, and see if you would want them for neighbors or not. If you don’t want them, I’ll haul them off, and find another place for them. They are out of a place to live, and you’re the closest thing to relations they have.”
“Why the fighters, then?”
“You have noticed the wildlife on this planet, haven’t you?”
“We’re too high up for any of them to bother us. That’s why we live in the mountains. The thinner air keeps them away.”
“That’s handy. The folks on the other side of the planet live down low, have to fight them all the time.”
“They live down among those nasty bird-things? It’s a wonder there are any of them left. Must be some tough people.”
“They seem to be. You mind if we land, and continue this in person?”
“Not at all. Could you ask your fighters to orbit out a little farther? They make my people nervous.”
“I think we can do that. See you in a few minutes.”
I cut off the mike. Nikki said, “I’ve got the fighters backing off.”
“Be sure they’re ready to come back quickly, if this goes sideways.”
“They are.”
Zoom said, “You don’t trust him?”
I replied, “I don’t trust anybody I don’t know any better than I know him.”
She said, “Makes sense.”
Nikki brought us in, and I went back into the bay. I said, “We don’t draw on them until they show hostility. Stunners unless and until they show resistance. Clear?”
Andre and his boys came back with a resounding, “Clear, Sir!”
I walked over, and started the ramp down.
What the falling ramp revealed was pretty much what I expected. One fellow standing in front of a large armed group. He said, “We’ll be taking your pretty ship now, Captain.” Dingus’ training kicked in, and I fell to the side while drawing my stunner. Good thing, because Andre and his boys came charging through the space where I was standing. I managed to get off a couple of shots, as did Dingus and Jane. Mostly, the Marines landed and took the situation well in hand. Andre came back and waited for me to get up. Then he asked, “What would you like us to do with them, now that we have them stunned?”
“Disarm them, and restrain them. Bring the leader aboard the ship.”
“Aye, Sir.”
I turned to Dingus and Jane. “You’ll need to set up an interrogation room, so we can get the straight story out of this turkey.”
Dingus said, “Sure, Bob. How did you know they were going to try something?”
“I didn’t. I just figured talking to that fella went way too smooth.”
Nikki came over the intercom. “Caveman, don’t step outside. There are three snipers covering the field.”
“Do the fighters have stunner capability?”
“Nope, and I’d have to pick the ship up to get them with ours.”
“Let’s see what they do, first.”
“Okay, that worked out so well the last time.”
“Feed the locations to Andre and his men. Maybe they have a way to deal with them.”
“On it.”
A few seconds later, my comm rang. It was Andre. “Sorry, Sir. Those sniper nests are too far away for our stunners. The only solutions I can offer you are permanent.”
“Understood. I don’t want to do that, unless they give us no choice. What kind of weapons are they carrying?”
“Well preserved antiques with no power in them, for the most part. A few of them have chemically propelled slug throwers, but those don’t seem very advanced.”
“Be careful with their antiques, we may wind up charging them. Bring in the best of the slug throwers, I want to see the state of their art.”
“Yes, Sir.”
I got on the intercom with Nikki. “Space Cadet, can you give me a scan of those sniper nests, and tell me what sort of weapons they have?”
“One of them has a beam weapon, but the power level is very low. Two shots, max. The other two appear to have muzzleloaders of some sort.”
“Thanks.”
I was trying to figure out what to do next, when a shot rang out. The Marines came aboard, carrying the leader of the natives, and one of their number. I hit the button to close the ramp and called, “Zoom, front and center. You have a patient.”
Next, I hit the intercom and said, “Lift and stun those idiots, Space Cadet. One of ours is down, this isn’t fun and games any more.”
“On it, Caveman.”
Zoom was busy splicing cables, when she finished, she looked up and said, “Can you move your legs now?”
The bot tried, and found he could. He said, “Thank you, Ma’am.”
Zoom replied, “That’s just temporary, to keep you mobile till we get back to the Gene. I can do a better repair once I’m back in the shop.”
“I’m just glad to be mobile, Ma’am.”
Andre came up to me. He said, “Sir, I’ve never served with anyone who cared about the well-being of his bots before. Thank you.”
“You fellas do good work. You deserve all the help I can give you. Besides, Zoom was getting bored. That’s dangerous.”
Andre asked, “Dangerous, Sir?”
“No telling what she might think up if she gets bored. I’m already having trouble keeping up with that bunch and all their new inventions. I don’t need to make it worse.”
“No, Sir.” Nikki came over the intercom. “They’re all stunned, Captain Caveman. What now?”
“You’re going to impress us all with your flying skills, putting Andre’s boys down where they can fetch these idiots.”
“Ramp coming down, then.”
The Marines brought the three snipers aboard, one obviously the shooter, as the ramrod was still in his weapon, he being stunned in the process of reloading. I asked the bot who had been shot. “What do you think, tie him tight, as payback, or tie him loose, so he gets away and we can beat on him?”
The bot looked at me a moment, and then answered, “Both are tempting options, Boss, but I think we’ve probably had enough drama for today.”
“Good answer.”
“Fly safe, Boss. I like working for you.”
“I always try.”
I had a look at the sniper’s weapon. It was, at least, a rifle. The sights were tiny. This turkey must have good eyes.
I finished ramming the ball home, and put the ramrod away. Then I looked at the action. It wasn’t even a true flintlock. You would have to manually open the pan before you took a shot. I got on the intercom. “Nikki, did the cameras catch that sniper taking his shot?”
“They did. What do you want to know?”
“Was there a cloud of smoke after he fired?”
“Oh yeah.”
“Thanks.”
The more I thought about their situation, the less sense it made. They had a working comm, but used muzzleloaders? I went up to see if Nikki had any thoughts on the matter. One of the people who had been thinking about coming to live with these folks asked me, “I saw you looking at that man’s weapon, like you recognized it. What in the worlds is it?”
“A muzzleloading rifle. It fires a lead ball by means of detonating a charge of black powder. If I remember my history, it’s a snaplock, not even the most advanced action of its type.”
“Remember your history? So, that weapon is primitive even to you?”
“Some people on my planet hunt with older types of weapons to make the hunt more challenging. I’ve never seen anyone use one of those. I’ve heard of folks using matchlocks, even more primitive than that, and there are people who use everything back to atlatls, but that particular lock is not something you see.”
“If these people have fallen that far, how do they still have a working comm?”
“If you come up with an answer to that one, let me know. It’s got me all confused.”
I headed on up to the bridge. When I arrived, Nikki said, “There’s a crowd of females gathering out there. They look like they’re trying to work up the courage to go untie their men.”
“Did you happen to land so that you could stun folks?”
“You know, as a matter of fact, I did. Clever of me, don’t you think?”
“I do. Yes indeed I do. Would you mind going ahead and applying a small dose of friendliness to those folks?”
“Not at all, Sir, not at all.” The ladies had a nap. I asked, “I’m well and truly confused. How is it that these folks have a working comm, but they carry muzzleloaders for personal armament?”
“Well, Caveman, this is just a guess, but I’m thinking that the power core they were using to recharge all their energy weapons failed not that long ago, and they haven’t had time to develop a decent arms industry yet.”
“And the comm?”
“They wouldn’t have much use for it. It could be running off backup power of some kind. Comms don’t take much juice to run.”
“So, if we were to gift them a shiny new power core, we might get another statue put up?”
“That’s my guess.”
“Wonder how that syncs up with what your Grandpa is learning?”
“Maybe you should go ask him.”
“You’re probably right. See you in a bit.”
I went down to the room they were using for interrogation. Dingus was just coming out. He said, “I was just coming to look for you. We figured out why they tried to take over the ship.”
“Their power core had died, and they need a new one?”
“Dangit, Bob! How do you do that?”
“Nikki figured it out. We were talking about how having comms and using muzzleloaders didn’t add up. Do they have anything useful to trade for a power core, or are we doing this out of the goodness of our hearts?”
“He did mention some star charts that sounded useful, other than that, no.”
I asked, “How big of a core do they need?”
“He seemed to think the core out of this ship would be perfectly suitable.”
“How long have they been without?”
Dingus said, “Twenty years or so, if I’m understanding correctly.”
“And they don’t even have a proper flintlock. I wonder about these folks.”
“Like he said, they live above all the megafauna, so weaponry isn’t a huge priority.”
I said, “I suppose. Just seems odd to me, folks going that far backward that fast.”
“Not everyone is as paranoid as you or me, Bob.”
“That may be, but it would seem like they would want to be ready, in case something managed to get to this altitude and stay alive.”
“They’ve never had a problem, so they don’t think they ever will.”
I replied, “Seems like a good way to get dead, to me.”
“Me too. You have to remember, all the folks who thought that way got up and left when they had the chance.”
“Alright then, let me see if I have this straight. We’re trading a perfectly good power core for some star charts of dubious value, and doing business with a bunch of idiots who are willing to assault a starship with black powder guns?”
Dingus replied, “I believe that sums it up. It sounds even worse when you say it.”
The fellow I had talked to on the way to the bridge walked up. He said, “We’ve been talking among ourselves. None of us really want to stay with these people. Is there any way we could work off passage to somewhere else?”
Dingus replied, “You’ve done it now, asked Bob to put you to work.”
I said, “We can work something out. You all feel the same way?”
He replied, “Sammus took longer to come around, but once he got a good look at the weapons they were carrying, it changed his mind.”
I said, “They claim to have some star charts we would find interesting, other than that, I don’t see a whole lot to trade for.”
“I doubt that. Our ancestors kept all the star charts they copied before they left. We can show you everything they have.”
I said, “You’re making my life difficult. As long as they had something we could plausibly trade for, I could justify giving them a power core. Now, I don’t have an excuse, and I don’t want to leave these folks in the condition they’re in.”
Dingus said, “Give them one of the new ones. Call it a long-term field test. Gives you a little cover, anyhow.”
“That’s probably as good as I can do. Go see how quick your boy can get his charts together, I’ll get with Scotti about a power core.”
“On it, Bob.”
I commed Scotti. “Hey, Boss, having fun on the planet?”
“Wouldn’t call it that, but our only casualty is patched up, so we’re doing okay.”
“Somebody got hurt?”
I replied, “One of the Marines. Zoom patched him up, though. I forgot to ask his designation.”
“Oh, I see the notice on the system now. The way he tells it, you’re the best Boss ever, for offering to let him tie the prisoner loose, so he could beat him up while catching him again.”
“He’s easily amused. Have you started any of the new style power cores?”
“Yes, Boss, I have. Should I have checked with you, first?”
“Did you use anything that couldn’t be recycled, if the tests went badly?”
“No, Boss.”
“Then I have no problem with it. How many are ready to rock?”
“Just three. I wasn’t going to make production a priority until after the tests were finished.”
“Those are big enough to run a freighter, right?”
“Yes, Boss. Or a fighter with some really nice lasers.”
“Some days I wish I was Morning Flower. How long would it take to get a crew together, and bring one down?”
“Half an hour, tops. I’m guessing you need it installed?”
“I do. You should also bring everyone you can find who knows which end of a stunner to hold. These folks are belligerent.”
“You’ve reached the end of your patience, Boss?”
“I have.”
“Be there shortly.”
The would-be colonist said, “You get things done, don’t you?”
“Comes with sitting in the big chair. Something needs done, I put people on it.”
“Don’t you ever have doubts?”
“All the time. I just d
on’t let them keep me from acting. On my world, we have a saying, ‘Do something, even if it’s wrong’. It means that it’s better to act, even if what you do may not be perfect, than to dither about your best course of action. I’m sure there’s a better way. I just don’t have time to find it right now.”
He replied, “That’s an interesting philosophy. I’ll have to think about that.”
We headed back to the bay. I asked Andre, “Did you get these turkeys’ weapons?”
“I think so, Sir. Would you like to check?”
“Why not? I don’t have anything better to do until Scotti shows up to put in that new power core.”
I walked up to the first one. It seemed to me he wore his shirt collar too big. I slapped his back and found a rig with three throwing knives. Andre said, “We shouldn’t have missed that. What tipped you off, Boss?”
“His shirt collar is very loose, for no bigger than his neck is. No more tech than these guys have available, edged weapons are going to be popular. See that one over there, how his pants are loose around the ankles? I bet he has a boot knife or two.”
Andre nodded at one of his fellas to check. Sure enough, he had a boot knife. Andre said, “Boss, do you see anything else we missed?”
“Not right off. You fellas aren’t used to looking for knives, are you?”
“No, we’re not. We’ll have to find a way to get trained on that.”
“Get with Dingus, he’s head of security. He’s forgotten more about this kind of thing than either one of us ever knew.”
“I’ll do that, Boss. Do you really think one of them could hurt one of my Marines with a knife?”
“If he waited for the right opportunity, he could probably cut the power to your legs, like the sniper did with his rifle. Once you’re not moving, it’s a lot easier to do you more damage.”
“Boss, remind me to stay on your side. You think nasty.”
“Thanks, I think.
Nikki came over the intercom. “Caveman, Scotti is coming in hot with that power core. She could use your Marines, if you’re not using them.”
“Understood.”
I turned to Angus. “You can handle these prisoners, can’t you?”
