Let's Make a Deal (Bob and Nikki Book 11), стр. 64
“I still get to fly the cool new ship Tikki built me?”
“Depends. Is it big enough to haul a saucer back?”
“No, I don’t suppose it is.”
“Then you’ll have to wait till you get back to fly your new toy. Don’t worry, they’ve got enough planets for you to check out, you’ll have a good long time to fly the new ship.”
“This is one of those ‘other duties as assigned’ you people talk about, isn’t it?”
“Afraid so. You’re the best qualified for the mission, so you’re elected, unless you have a good reason I should pick someone else.”
“No, I just thought I was finally going to get to go exploring.”
Ozzie spoke up. “Well, Mr. Natti, where you’ll be going isn’t exactly well explored, either. No telling what you might find.”
Rikki said, “This is sounding better all the time. What am I looking for, anyhow?”
I said, “Derelict saucers, of a type we don’t know much about. Everything we have is in Ozzie’s memory.”
“Will he be going with me?”
Ozzie said, “Thanks, but, no thanks. I’ll give you a download of everything I have, I could even set it up as a training machine course, if you like.”
“That sounds like it might be the best option, Ozzie, was it?”
“Yes.” Ozzie froze for a few seconds, and said, “I sent it to your comm. Just ask if you need anything else.”
“Thank you. I’m guessing I shouldn’t tell Tikki where I’m headed?”
I said, “I’d rather you didn’t, but if you feel you have to, please ask her to keep it to herself.”
“That’s generous, Commodore. Thank you.”
“I trust both of you. I just don’t want word of this getting around until we know more about what we’re looking at.”
“I understand. Do you know anything about the people who built the saucer I’m looking for?”
“Only that the Commonwealth has had even fewer interactions with them, than with you Squirrels, so that they know almost nothing at all. Our planet finding team deduced their existence by a few reports that didn’t sound like one of your craft. That, and Ozzie’s memories of working at a lab that had one of their craft to study, are all we have.”
“How do you know that the two things are connected?”
“We don’t know for sure. Ozzie says the craft he saw and took readings on was found in the same region the unexplained reports came from. One mystery in that part of space makes more sense than two that happen to be together.”
“I see. So, we really don’t have a lot to go on, do we?”
“Nope, we don’t. Sound too speculative for you?”
“Sounds like fun, is what it sounds like.”
“Draw a freighter, with the newest version of the sensors that can pick up a ship from FTL. You’ll never find anything if you have to search the whole time in normal space.”
“How soon do you need it?”
“We don’t need it, but it sure would be nice to have another technology improvement. If nothing else, it would keep your fellow Squirrels wondering. I’d say go look for a month, if you don’t find anything, come on back, and we’ll try something different, and you can go planet hunting.”
“How soon do you want me in the black?”
“How quick can you load your gear and find some bots to crew for you?”
“I’ll have to ask Scotti which ship she thinks I should take, but my crew is already picked, and the gear I was planning on taking is ready to load. Give me an hour, I think.”
I looked at Ozzie. “Do I have bad breath? He wants to get away from me, quick-like.”
“Well, Boss, we’ve been trying to keep from mentioning it, but now that you ask...”
Rikki said, “I will never get used to mechanical people with a sense of humor. I do enjoy being part of your crew, Commodore.”
“Yeah, yeah. Your hour is burning. You better get to work. Fly safe.”
“You too, Commodore.” Rikki headed out. I turned to Ozzie. “You just got a new job. I doubt you were the only bot in the whole fleet who remembered something after the Emperor unlocked everyone. Get in touch with all the bots who were unlocked, and find out if they remembered anything I need to be aware of.”
“On it, Boss. That’s a lot of bots. I should have you a report by morning.”
“Good. Find me then.” We left the ready room, and I realized it was past time to eat. I headed to the galley. Janet was just leaving. She said, “Mom told me to tell you that she had gotten tired and headed to bed early.”
“Thanks. Where are you headed?”
“Milly and I have a few things we wanted to finish up before we called it a day. Is that okay?”
“Sounds fine. More plotting against Charlie?”
“Nope. Scotti has some mods she wants made on some of the power runs. We’re almost finished with the section we’re working on.”
“I thought she had all that the way she wanted it?”
“She did too. Then the Emperor unlocked some plans she had stored for making the whole system better. She was mad. I hope she doesn’t take it out on Tikki.”
“Me too. I prefer when Engineering runs without me having to stick my nose in. Scotti knows what she is doing. I would just slow things down. Can’t have her mistreating Tikki, though, especially now that her Dad is going to be away from the ship.”
“I thought his new ship wasn’t ready yet?”
“Something came up, and I needed him to fly a different ship for a while.”
“What kind of something?”
“Sorry. Need to know, and you don’t.”
“Aww, Dad!”
“You can pout all you want, I don’t want Rikki’s mission getting around.”
“Meany!”
“Indeed. Have you seen Snitz lately?”
“Nope.