Let's Make a Deal (Bob and Nikki Book 11), стр. 39
“I’ll have a ship there in a little bit, then. He was mean to the bots?”
“He was.”
“Bots like Taz?”
“Yes.”
“You know how my people feel about Taz.”
“I do. Wash him off when you’re done with him. I need him back alive.”
“Does he know that?”
“He probably does, but it wouldn’t hurt to give him a little doubt about it.”
“We can do that, Bawb.”
“Bye.”
“Bye, Bawb.” Nikki finished something she was doing to the bots. I asked, “Whatcha up to?”
“Disconnecting their limbs from their control, so that they can’t move, if they get out of the lockup they’ve gotten into.”
“What was that, anyhow?”
“Conflicting instructions. They know not to harm their Boss, but Frank tried to get them to. The conflicting directives put them in a locked state, until they can resolve the conflict.”
Frank started to rouse, and Nikki stunned him again. Scotti and Lakki came out of the transit together. Scotti asked, “What happened, Boss?”
“I don’t know for sure. Frank managed to get into their programming again.” I pointed to the Marine. “The way this fellow talked, he was switching out their software at the end of the shift, so that you couldn’t find it, Lakki.”
Lakki said, “He’s a skilled programmer, that’s for sure, but are you sure he’s not more trouble than he is worth, Boss?”
“I’m hoping a month on the planet, shoveling outhouses, will adjust his attitude.”
Scotti said, “I like the way you think, Boss.” Lakki got to work, finding out exactly what Frank had done to the bots. I heard a growl from the hall, and turned to see what was going on. Wet Bobcat had thumped her head, coming out of the transit. Morning Flower said, “See now why I didn’t take this ship when Bawb offered it to me? It is built too small for people like us.” I picked up Frank, and handed him to Wet Bobcat. Morning Flower asked, “How long do you want us to keep him, Bawb?”
“A month, but he doesn’t have to know that.”
“Three years, yes, Bawb. No problem. He’ll enjoy shoveling in the winter.”
Wet Bobcat ducked when she got back on the transit, but not low enough for Frank. He might get a couple of bruises from it, but I really couldn’t bring myself to care, right then. Lakki spoke up. “I see how he set them up to switch programming. I wonder where he got the extra memory to hold the other program?”
Scotti said, “Oops! He asked me for it for an experiment. I never thought he would use it like this.”
I asked, “Can you get them back to normal, Lakki?”
“Already did, Boss. I’ll get the rest of the Marines squared away later today. Scotti still needs to remove the extra memory, so they can’t be switched back.” Scotti looked at the problem, and pulled a module out of each of them. Then she hooked up their movement controls again. Julie said, “Thanks, Boss. I thought he was slick enough this time he wouldn’t get caught.”
“Sorry I took so long to come by. I was just tired of his BS. I didn’t realize you were waiting on me to come and rescue you again.”
“I thought I could keep him under control this time. I was wrong, again. I guess I’m just not the bot for this job.”
“I’m beginning to wonder if there is a bot for this job, Julie. I’m going to call in the expert, and see if she has better luck.”
“Thanks for understanding, Boss. I really did do my best.”
“Of that, I have no doubt, Julie. Maybe the twins will be more your speed.”
“Considering they have the genes of you and Mrs. Wilson, I’m not at all convinced of that, Boss.”
The Marine spoke up. “It was my job to make sure this didn’t happen, Boss. I failed, badly. Will I be scrapped?”
“Oh, no, Marine, you’re not getting out of this that easy. I’m thinking more along the lines of remedial training with Niner-Deuce, until he thinks you’re ready to return to duty.” Momentarily, I feared that we might need to clean up some hydraulic fluid. He seemed to be quite upset with that turn of events. He said, “Niner-Deuce, Boss? He’s never satisfied with anything. I’ll be in remedial training forever.”
“Beats getting scrapped, doesn’t it?”
“Barely, Boss.”
“Go report to him. If he has questions, have him call me.”
“Yes, Boss.” He headed out to his new duty, still acting worried. Lakki followed him out. Julie asked, “What about me, Boss?”
“First, you need to explain what Frank was working on to Scotti and Tikki, as well as you can manage. Then, we’ll figure out something else for you to do, until Wilma gets here. When she arrives, you’ll need to bring her up to speed on what her Dad has been up to, to include all his attempts to control you. If she can figure a way to keep him out of mischief, we’ll put him back to work.”
“What if she can’t, Boss?”
“I’m not sure. We might just build him a lab on Shaved Ape Key, and let him do what he wants, without trying to make him take care of himself. The way he is, that shouldn’t last too long, before somebody has to scrape him up and shovel him in the autodoc.”
Nikki asked, “Do you think that would get his attention, Caveman?”
“I doubt it, given what we’ve seen so far. I don’t have any other ideas, though. We can’t have him messing with people the way he has been. That’s not something I will tolerate.”
Julie said, “Thanks, Boss. I feel like it’s my fault. I should have done more to keep him under control.”
“He messed with your programming. How are you supposed to fight that? Once he got his hooks in you, you had no