Let's Make a Deal (Bob and Nikki Book 11), стр. 58
“It appears that way, Boss. As near as we could tell, the command was trying to get us to attack the Emperor himself.”
“How good is your proof?”
“I’d say it’s pretty solid. I don’t know if it would stand up in court.”
“Do you have the Ambassador’s comm code?”
“Yes, Boss. Topper gave it to everybody.”
“Send him what you have, and explain that I told you to.”
“On it, Boss. All sent, and he acknowledged receipt.”
“Be sure that Scotti gets the copies of the signal he was trying to use against you, but warn her before you send it, so she can take precautions with it.”
“Um, Boss, she already asked us to send any signals like that to Tikki, as soon as we received them. She’s already working on it.”
“Don’t worry about it. Dumb organic, trying to keep up.”
“Refresh my memory, Boss. Who was it that decided to call up us old bots for this mission?”
“Okay, point for your side. Anything else you need?”
“We were thinking about maybe teaching the newer bots some of the things we’ve learned during our long service lives. Maybe setting up a kind of school.”
“Let me get this straight. You fellas want to set up a bot academy, with yourselves as the board of Rustees?”
“Good one, Boss. Something like that, yeah. Scotti said she would never have thought about us old bots not having the same software as the newer models. Little things like that might make a difference, sometimes.”
“I trust your judgment, Bone.”
“Thanks, Boss.” He went back over to the other bots. I overheard Saucy tell him, “See, I told you. The Boss just wants things to work. He doesn’t care where the ideas come from.”
Soon enough, the ramp opened, and we were back on the Gene. I headed toward the bridge, but my comm rang. “Commodore Wilson.”
Topper said, “Boss, the Emperor is on the line for you. Should I put him through?”
“Go ahead.”
I said, “Your Majesty. What can I do for you?”
“I called to thank you for telling us about that guard officer who was trying to sabotage the negotiations. How did you anticipate such a thing?”
“Truthfully, Majesty, I didn’t know for sure, I just wanted to do all I could to make sure the signing went smoothly.”
“You really did want this agreement as much as we did, didn’t you?”
“I’m a businessman, Majesty. There’s no profit in war for me.”
“I appreciate your honesty. The Ambassador is wondering if you would be available to do some more negotiating today.”
“I need to catch up on a few things I’ve been letting slide, I’m afraid. My negotiating team is aboard, if he would like to talk to them.”
“Oh my! He says tomorrow will be entirely soon enough. He seems to fear your negotiating team, why is that?”
“He dealt with them on some business before he became Ambassador. Seemed to think they were rather skilled at what they do.”
“I see. Your organization continues to amaze me, Commodore.”
“We’re all doing the best we can, Majesty.”
“I’d better let you get back to it, then. Good day, Commodore.”
“Fly safe, Majesty.” When the connection went dead, I called Topper. “Yes, Boss?”
“I was just wondering. Did the Emperor’s yacht send anyone out for a walk in the last few minutes?”
“They did, Boss. They’re not as merciful as you. They left him his suit. I can patch you into the audio, if you would like.”
“No, thanks. Has he said anything of use to us?”
“He seems to think the cartel will have revenge on the Emperor for making peace with you. Other than that, pretty much what you would expect.”
“He certainly deserves to be punished, but I don’t see why he needs to wait for his air to run out. Could Tex hit him with a turret from where we are?”
“He asks which extremity you would like him to remove, Boss?”
“Center of mass, no need to get fancy.”
“One railgun round, out. Any other targets you need serviced, Boss?”
“No, thanks. Put whoever calls to complain through to me. I was the one who decided to put him out of his misery, no need for you to have to deal with that.”
“Understood. Talk to you later, Boss.”
“Later, Topper.” To my surprise, no one called to complain that I had cut the fellow’s sentence short. Made me wonder if the whole thing was a test. I finally made it to the transit, and headed out to the bridge. Saucy made it back before me, because he sang out, “Commodore on the bridge.” I replied, “As you were.” Topper said, “We haven’t received any complaints about cutting that fellow’s sentence short, Boss. I would have thought they would be upset about that.”
“I would have too. I’m beginning to wonder if it wasn’t a test, to see what I would do.”
Nikki spoke up. “You think the Emperor still doesn’t trust you?”
“Closer to the point to say I think he’s still trying to figure out who he is dealing with.”
“What makes you say that?”
“He went out of his way to space that fella on a side of the ship where we could do something about it, if we so chose. If he wanted to make sure he suffered, he would have put him out where we would have to maneuver to get a shot on him.”
Sue said, “Boss, they just launched a stealthed ship, looks like one of their spy ships.”
“Midnight or Black Beauty in the black right now?”
Saucy said, “Midnight is, Boss.”
“Ask Shorty to crawl up behind our friend there, and see what he’s up to.”
“On his way, Boss.”
“Topper, do you need Mrs. Wilson any longer?”
“No, Boss. Thanks for the help, Ma’am.”
Nikki said, “You’re welcome, Topper. See you the next time he gets a