by Jerry Boyd
John said, “The Captain and Mrs. Wilson figured out why they hurt, and fixed them.”
I said, “He’s half right. Snitz figured it out, we just fixed the machine.”
“Snitz figured it out? How would he even tell you?”
Nunya spoke up. “Could I tell this part, Captain? I heard it from Frank.”
“Sure, Nunya, go right ahead.”
“Dogs, like Snitz, have different hearing than people. You know how some sounds are low, and other sounds are high?”, she said, pitching her voice to demonstrate. When Millus nodded, she continued, “Well, dogs can hear sounds that are too high for humans to hear. The teaching machines were making noise that was too high pitched to hear, but it made your muscles tense up and give you a headache. Snitz didn’t want to go near one of the machines when it was running, so the Captain thought maybe it was a noise he couldn’t hear. He and Mrs. Wilson found where the noise was coming from, and made it stop. Understand?”
“I know about frequency, from working with comms and radios, but I didn’t realize that sound had frequency, too. The part I don’t understand, though, is you used a word a couple times I haven’t heard. Missus, I think you said, what does that mean?”
Nikki spoke up. “That means that the Captain and I stood in front of our friends and family, and swore to be with one another forever.”
Millus replied, “But aren’t you jealous of all the other women?”
“What other women?”
“He’s the leader, he can have anyone he wants, any time, right?”
I said, “Nope. That’s not the way we do things. Nikki is my wife, and she’s the only woman I want.”
“Wait, this is so strange. You let all these women stay here without paying for it?”
“They all work, they have different jobs, but everyone works, I don’t understand what you mean.”
Dingus said, “Hang on a minute, Bob. I think I get what she’s saying. Do you mean that where you come from, all the women have to pleasure the leader, in order to stay in the village?”
“If they don’t, they get sent down among the rippers and thunder bears.”
Dingus asked, “Is that why you wanted to get away, because you were becoming a woman, and you would have to choose?”
“Yes. Jannul said it wasn’t like that in her town. I didn’t believe her, but I thought maybe at least the men washed in her town.”
Jane spoke up. “It’s not like that in her town, or here, or anyplace that’s civilized. You’re safe, now.”
“You won’t turn me out among the animals?”
I said, “Good Lord, no!”
Gene came over the intercom. “Captain, there’s a Jonnus calling for you.”
I took a deep breath, and said, “Put him through.”
“Captain Wilson. Thank you for getting the power back on. Won’t you come back and let us thank you properly?”
“If I ever come back, it’ll be with a ship full of Marines to clean out that snake pit you call a village. Please do not try to contact me again. Cut the circuit, Gene.”
Millus said, “He’ll be mad, now.”
I replied, “We’re in space, he’s on the ground on the other side of the planet. What can he do?”
“There’s one old ship. He’ll probably try to come up here and cause trouble somehow. If he doesn’t, somebody will challenge him to be the new leader.”
I said, “Scotti, you heard the young lady. Combat space patrol, post a guard around the Gene, and a patrol above that rathole, until further notice.”
Scotti snapped to, and said, “Aye, Sir!” Pilots were boarding their craft and launching almost immediately. I said, “My compliments, Scotti. Well done.”
She replied, “Thank you, Sir. It’s a pleasure to finally have something to do besides drills.”
I asked, “How many Marines do we have aboard?”
“Sorry, Sir. Andre and his crew are the total complement.”
“I’m guessing there are ridiculous numbers in the boneyard you were recovered from?”
Scotti answered, “No, Sir. Given their size and strength, nearly all of them were repurposed as cargo bots.”
“So, if any still exist, we would have to buy them?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Good to know, Scotti. I’ll be sure whoever goes shopping next is looking out for them. Any other types we need to look for?”
“I’ll have to look over some records, Boss, and see who didn’t get mothballed with the ships.”
“Send Sally your list when you get it compiled.”
Scotti asked, “Sally, Sir?”
“Yes, she’s my secretary.”
“Yes, Sir.” I thought Scotti had an odd reaction, but I wasn’t sure. I was sure that If Scotti thought it would affect the ship, she would tell me what she was thinking, so I let it slide. Millus asked, “What will the bots do to the ship if they catch it?”
I replied, “I know you don’t know Scotti very well, but you shouldn’t insult her pilots like that. They will catch that ship, no doubt about it. When they do, it all depends on what the people aboard decide to do. If they go back to the village, the bots will just continue to keep watch, unless they park their ship in the open. Then it might get damaged enough to keep it out of the air. If they surrender, they’ll be escorted aboard the Gene. If they act aggressively, I’m sure the bots will be more than capable of showing them what real aggression looks like.”
Scotti spoke up. “That they will, Sir.”
Millus asked, “Aren’t you afraid of what the bots might do?”
“They’ve never given me reason to be afraid. They’ve always been good helpers, and good friends. Are you afraid of your friends?”
“Well, no.”
I said, “So, why do you think I should be afraid of my friends, just because they happen to be built out of metal, instead of meat?”
“I don’t know. It just seems different, to me.”
I replied, “Give them a chance. I bet you’ll like them, too, once you get to know them.”
Zoom said, “C’mon, Millus, let’s get you settled in for the night.”
After they left, Dingus came up to me. “Bob, are you okay? I could tell Millus’ story was getting to you.”
“No, I’m not. There’s no way we should walk off and leave that nonsense, but if we just take out the leader, another one will rise up and do the same thing. I don’t know what to do about it, but I sure don’t want to let it go on.”
Dingus replied, “I don’t either, but I can’t see a good way to put a stop to it. No matter what we do, the same conditions will be there tempting the next leader down the same path. We can’t change human nature, Bob.”
Nikki spoke up. “Is there a way we could get the other colony to rescue the exiles, before the wildlife gets to them?”
John said, “Right now, they would do anything Captain Wilson asked. Whether they would keep it up in the long term or not is questionable, unless we make regular visits to keep them motivated.”
I said, “We’re pretty much stuck making runs out this way. They don’t have any other supply line, unless we rat them out to Galactic society. We’ve already got them in much better shape than they were, but without consistent supply runs, they’ll run out of something, sooner or later.”
Scotti spoke up. “Boss, sorry for butting in, but you all seem to be assuming that all of the exiles perished. My experience is that motivated humans are incredibly hard to kill. Isn’t it possible that at least some of the exiles have survived?”
Nikki replied, “It’s possible, I suppose. Could you have your patrol craft run some scans, see if they can find anybody?”
Scotti asked, “Boss?”
“As long as they can do it without letting those idiots slip away in their ship, have fun.”
“Thanks, Boss. Hold on, I have data coming in, the patrol managed to zap their emitters as they were trying to take off. Unless they have spare emitters, they’re grounde
d.”
“Good work, Scotti. Tell your pilots I am grateful.”
Scotti replied, “Ace says, ‘Thank you, Boss. Only four more to live up to my name.’”
Gene came over the intercom again. “Mr. Jonnus is on the comm again, Captain.”
“Gene, would you be so kind as to tell Mr. Jonnus I am unavailable, and uninterested.”
“Certainly, Sir. Sir, his response was quite colorful, and unless you are more flexible than I’ve seen, anatomically impossible.”
“End the communication, Gene.”
“Done, Boss.”
Scotti said, “Boss, I have the scanner reports. There does appear to be a small group of exiles, living in a fortified cave.”
“Have your patrols see to any dangerous wildlife in the area, Scotti. I’ll see about organizing a mission to talk to those folks, and see if they want to be rescued.” I turned to Nikki. “I doubt any of these people will want to talk to a man. You mind running this one?”
“Can I have Ruth for my pilot?”
“Even if I have to sit watch till you get back. You’ll need the best for this.”
Jane said, “I’m in.”
Andre stepped up and said, “Boss, she’ll need security for this. My boys don’t have anything to do right now.”
Scotti said, “You’ll need Millus to talk to them. Zoom is on her way back with the girls.”
Nikki said, “Phonelia is good in a tight spot. I’ll get her down here.”
Scotti said, “I have one of my pilots on her way to the bridge to relieve Ruth.”
I said, “Sounds like you folks have the whole thing figured out. Guess I’ll go sit on the bridge and worry till you get back.”
Nikki said, “There is one thing I need, before you take off.” I put Snitz down and the next couple of minutes were kind of a blur, but Nikki looked as wobbly as I did when Ruth showed up, so I suppose I held up my end. I said, “Fly safe.”
She replied, “Always, Caveman.”
I got on the transit and headed to the bridge. Snitz rode with me. We found Sam outside the bridge. He said, “Captain, Sir, I was wondering if I could come in and watch the girls’ mission with you? I know I haven’t been the best father, but I worry about those two.”
“Sure, come in and have a seat. Hope you’re not too disappointed about not being able to join the colony.”
Sam replied, “When Scotti told me they were carrying those primitive guns because they failed to do basic maintenance on their power core, that made up my mind. Being somewhere that sloppy would drive me crazy. Oh, I wanted to thank you for running me through the autodoc and getting me over the need to drink. I feel better than I have since before my wife died.”
“You’re welcome. Just don’t say too much in front of John. He’s still a little mad at me for interfering in his specialty.”
John walked up about then. “I’m what now? I’ll admit I was a little miffed when you first figured it out, but since then, it’s more about winding you up.”
I replied, “I should have known. That’s the favorite pastime around here. Let’s go see what the ladies are up to.”
Topper called out, “Captain on the bridge!”
I replied, “As you were. Mr. Topper, situation report, please.”
“Well, Boss, the fighters have taken care of all the nasty wildlife for about a two-mile radius, and a couple of them are orbiting to make sure nothing else pops up. The mission is just landing now, so no report from them yet.”
“Sounds good. How are the instruments coming?”
“Ozzie’s drums are good to go. Taz’s bass is ready. He just needs to tune it. My guitar is good, but Scotti is still working on my stomp box and Ruth’s keyboard.”
“Sounds like things are progressing well. I’m looking forward to your concert.”
“It should be fun. I have video coming in, Sir.”
“On the main screen, please.”
“Yes, Boss.”
Nikki had landed in front of their fortified cave. An older lady, clad in remarkably nice homespun garments, came out of the cave carrying a muzzleloader. She said, “What do you want?”
Nikki replied, “Just to talk. We wondered if you folks needed anything?”
“You’re not from that bunch up the hill, are you?”
Nikki said, “No, Ma’am. Most of us are from a whole different star system.”
Millus ran around Nikki and said, “Grandma? Is that you?”
“Millus? What are you doing here?”
“I stowed away on these people’s ship, trying to get to someplace better.”
The older lady looked at Nikki. “So, you were up there?”
“Till we figured out what was going on, yes. My husband takes a dim view of treating women like that.”
“Your what?”
“Husband. The man I’m bonded to.”
“So, you watch while he runs around?”
“Bob doesn’t run around. He’s committed to me.”
“Sounds like a nice story, anyway.”
Millus spoke up. “No, Grandma, I’ve seen how they live, on their big ship. She’s not lying.”
The older lady said, “You’ve got my Granddaughter believing it?”
Nunya stepped out. “I believe it too, Ma’am. The first time I met the Captain, I mouthed off to him something fierce. All he did was give me a silly nickname.”
“And who might you be?”
“Billus Makkum. I’m descended from the folks who left here to go be pirates.”
“Why would you come back here, if that’s so?”
Nunya replied, “The Captain put us out of business. We were looking for a new place to live.”
“Wait a minute, this Captain you talk about put your people out of business, and now you fly with him? How does that work?”
“When the Patrol found the main base, and arrested everyone there, a bunch of us dependents were in another base. We were cut off, in danger of running out of air. The Captain saw to it that we got rescued, even if we didn’t want to be. Anybody who had a warrant out on them got put in jail, but most of us got set free. When Rizzum managed to get a ship flying, we came here looking for a place to live. The Captain caught us coming into the system, and recruited us. He had been looking to hire Rizzum ever since he first saw her work.”
“What’s so special about this Rizzum?”
Zoom stepped out of the ship. “How did the Captain put it? ‘You build ships out of junk and hope’, I think he said. He wanted to see what I could do with decent parts to work with.”
Grandma asked, “If this Captain of yours is so special, why did he send you girls to talk to us?”
Zoom answered, “He figured after dealing with those fine specimens up on the hill, you might not want to talk to a man.”
“He was probably right, at that. What is it you people want?”
They were interrupted, as the Marines came charging out of the ship, headed up the hill. Nikki asked her comm, “Ruth, what was that about?”
We didn’t hear the reply, but Nikki told everyone. “They must have seen us land. There’s a war party coming down the hill. Move away from the ship, so Ruth can turn it.” Our view changed to split screen, one camera tracking the folks who had left the ship, and the other showing the view out the front of the ship. Play time must have been over, because Jane and Phonelia came out of the ship with an M240 and a whole bunch of ammo. They set it up where they could take cover behind some boulders. I looked at John. “I didn’t know you had one of those.”
“I don’t. That’s Jane’s wedding present. Not every lady wants a hypersonic Audi.”
“Nice of her to bring it along.”
John replied, “She thought she might have to get someone’s attention.”
Andre came over the bridge speakers. “Boss, they’re using blasters. Permission to use lethal force?”
“Please do. You might want to save a few for Mrs. Branham, she’ll be miffed if she doesn’t g
et to use her new toy.”
“Understood, Boss. On it.” As it happened, neither Andre or Jane got any action, as Ruth zapped them all with the ship’s stunner before any of our folks got a shot off. Andre came back over the comm. “What would you like for us to do now, Boss?”
“Well, Andre, I think Millus’ Grandma there could make better use of all those weapons than those idiots that came charging down the hill, don’t you?”
“Yes, Sir! On it!”
Andre and his squad set about disarming the attackers and stacking their weapons. She said, “What do you expect me to do with these? I don’t have any way to charge them when they run out of power.”
Nikki said, “I think we could take care of that for you, if you’d like.”
“That sounds great, but what’s in it for you?”
I broke in. “We get to do long-term testing on our new power core design, we have some assurance that those idiots up the hill don’t go back to their unacceptable ways, and besides, it’s just neighborly. If you’ve got a going colony, you’re going to want to trade with the outside world. It just happens we have a few freighters, we could stop here once in a while and do some business, if you were thriving, instead of just surviving.”
“You must be the Captain Wilson I’ve been hearing about. You sound too good to be true, so I’m assuming you’ve got something up your sleeve.”
“I do have a few lost souls looking for a place to call home, but you would have to talk to them and see if you want them or not.”
She replied, “I get the feeling you don’t miss a trick very often, Captain. What would be in it for us?”
I said, “Well, I would think you might have a use for some walls to keep the beasties out, maybe some artillery to keep the rippers from flying too close, that sort of thing. An autodoc to go with your power core, maybe?”
“All that just for taking a few foundlings off your hands?”
“It’s a problem for me. If I take them back to Earth, they’ll have a lot of trouble fitting in, they might manage to let our secrets out, and force us to leave the planet. The only other planet I know about that isn’t Galactic, already has people on it, and I’m not sure they’re the kind of folks these people could get along with. Your group is at least descended from the same people they are, can you at least talk to them, see what you think?”