Let's Make a Deal (Bob and Nikki Book 11), стр. 88

“I suppose not. No fancy flying, though. The Emperor doesn’t trust you like I do.”

“Understood. If you would come aboard, Your Majesty? We’ll see if we can make the trip without so much drama this time.”

The Emperor was a little taken aback by the exchange, but he said, “Of course. Thank you, young lady.”

The bot said, “Oh, Your Majesty! Promise me you’ll never look at the build date on my nameplate. That’s the nicest thing I’ve heard in just ages.”

Natti chuckled, “Are you sure you are a good influence on these bots, Bob?”

“Probably not. We do have fun, though. Fly safe, Your Majesty, Mr. Ambassador.”

The Emperor replied, “You too, Commodore. The universe needs more of your kind of fun, I think.”

They climbed aboard, and the ship lifted. She eased it out, and went to FTL as soon as she was far enough from the Gene. I commed Topper. “Is she taking him all the way to Oak?”

“No, Boss. We just wanted to be sure no one had a chance to take a pot shot on the way back. Didn’t mean to surprise you.”

“No worries. Tell Tex not to light up the sensor platforms until they are out of the system. Things are tense enough right now, without fireworks.”

“He’s disappointed, but he understands the need.”

“Good enough. I better call Snappi and tell him he doesn’t need to send medics. Talk to you later.”

“Later, Boss.”

I commed Snappi. He said, “No medics needed, I figured that much out, Commodore. Your pilot is pretty slick with those short jumps.”

“She wasn’t interested in finding that turret that’s in mutineer hands the hard way, with the Emperor aboard.”

“You think one of my turrets is in enemy hands?”

“I can’t afford to ignore the possibility, would be more accurate. I’m sure you’ve done everything you could think of, to keep the Emperor safe.”

“Oh my! We’ve got a situation, Commodore. Your pilot had to stun a couple of my men who attempted to take her into custody.”

“That’s good news. The mutineers are out of stunner resistant types. Did she get away?”

“A couple of the fellas who work in that bay are going to need clean uniforms, I think, but she got the saucer off our ship.”

“Scared them good, did she?”

“Oh yeah. Anything else you need?”

“Can’t think of a thing. Fly safe. Hope to see you again soon.”

“You fly safe as well, Commodore. The galaxy needs more like you.” The line went dead.

I turned to Nikki. “You want to go up to the bridge and watch Tex’s fireworks show?”

“I suppose, as long as you don’t get involved in some other nonsense, and spend the rest of the day there.”

“We do have other things to take care of today, don’t we?”

“That we do. I was promised a peeling, I believe?”

“Yes, yes you were.” We got aboard the transit, and headed for the bridge. Gene must have warned them we were coming, because the whole bridge crew broke out in cheers when we came through the door.

I asked, “What’s the celebration about?”

Topper said, “You managed to make peace with the Squirrels. We don’t have to go to war. Isn’t that enough?”

I replied, “Indeed it is.” Then I started yelling my fool head off with the rest of them.

Thanks for sticking with my books. I hope you had as much fun reading as I did writing. I sure would appreciate it if you took the time to leave a review on Amazon, Goodreads, or anywhere else that strikes your fancy.