Let's Make a Deal (Bob and Nikki Book 11), стр. 44
“Yes, Boss. Sorry to bother you.”
“No bother. I’m just curious what you thought I could do with the mere fact that we hadn’t met everybody in the galaxy yet?”
“We were worried you might be upset that we had spent our time on a project you hadn’t approved.”
“You are caught up on what I asked you to do, correct?”
“Yes, we are. Quite a bit ahead, actually.”
“You found something useful to do with your time without having to be told, didn’t you?”
“I suppose. Not everyone would consider hunting aliens to be useful, Boss.”
“We’re flying around out here in a big old attention magnet. If there is another race out here, chances are they’ll find us. I’d rather have some idea about them before they show up.”
“Thanks for understanding, Boss. We’ll get you some better results.”
“Keep up the good work, you two.” We got to the ready room, and Snitz and I got off the transit. Before the doors closed, I heard, “He wants us to work on it! I thought he would put us ashore for wasting our time.”
Lakki and Tikki were waiting for me outside the ready room. I asked, “Did I keep you waiting long?”
Lakki said, “It isn’t even when you said to meet you, yet.”
“That’s good, I got to talking with those two, thought I might be running late.”
Tikki asked, “Anything important?”
“Could be. They don’t know enough yet for me to be able to tell. Let’s go in, and get this over with, so you two can get back to what you were doing.” They followed me in, and Tikki shut the door. Gene asked, “Do I need to tile the lodge, Boss?”
“I don’t think so, Gene. If the Squirrel fleet has us cracked well enough to listen in, nothing we talk about will help them anyhow.”
“Okay, Boss.”
Lakki asked, “What is it you need to know about, Boss?”
“I need to know how the Empire’s government works, or failing that, which courses I need to take to find out.”
Tikki said, “The Civics courses are clearly labeled, Boss.”
“Yes, but are those the ones that explain how the government actually works, or just what they want the general population to think?”
Tikki looked confused. “I don’t understand what you’re asking, Boss.”
“When I was studying ship handling, and fleet tactics, I found myself very confused by the courses that were labeled for those subjects. It was only after having the same problem with the old Navy files, that I realized the files were designed to keep the junior officers from being threats to the Admirals. We looked through the files we had captured from your people, and found they were set up the same way. Once we were able to find the right files, the subjects made a lot more sense. I don’t want to have to go through the same process finding out how your government works.”
Lakki said, “I see. You want to know which files are the real deal, before you waste time learning the ones that won’t do you any good, correct?”
“Exactly. Do you two think you could help me?”
Tikki said, “You just called me in because I’m a Squirrel, didn’t you, Boss?”
“I suppose. What did I screw up this time?”
“Joshua or my Dad would be much better choices to help with this. You mind if I call them in, and go back to Engineering?”
“Go right ahead, I should have thought of that, myself.”
She called them, and took off. When they arrived, Lakki filled them in on what I was trying to accomplish. Joshua said, “Bob, the courses you’re talking about don’t really see all that much use. Everybody just stays out of the Emperor’s way, and tries not to get noticed.”
“So, neither of you has any ideas about how to find the courses that will actually tell me what is going on, instead of trying to baffle me with BS?”
“We can show you the ones to avoid, but beyond that, we won’t be much help, I’m afraid.”
“That doesn’t sound all that much better than what Tikki said. Are you guys for real? Average citizens don’t have a clue how the government works?”
Rikki said, “That’s about the size of it, Boss. If there are courses to help you understand it, I’ve never heard of them.”
I replied, “They must exist, how else would the people in the government know what they were doing?”
Joshua replied, “We don’t see much evidence that they do know what they’re doing, Bob.”
“Wow! I didn’t think this would be so complicated. Lakki, do you have anything to add?”
“I don’t know anything about the subject, but I do know some of the players, and I was able to access their training records. I’ve got a search running to see what courses they have in common.”
“Nicely done. I guess I bothered you fellas for nothing. Hope I didn’t interrupt anything important.”
Rikki said, “No, Boss. I’m just waiting for the new survey ship to get finished, so I can head out.”
“Did the geeks find you some hot prospects?”
“Sure looks that way. I’ll let you know after I’ve had a closer look.”
“Remember, no ground surveys without a serious atmospheric analysis.”
“Yes, Boss. Nobody wants to repeat that mess Phonelia got into.”
“How about you, Joshua? What do you have going on?”
“I’m trying to figure out the route for my next trading trip. I want to stay in the less traveled colonies, so I keep a low profile with the walnut cartel.”
“I’ll let you boys get back to it, then.” After they left,