Let's Make a Deal (Bob and Nikki Book 11)
mean, ‘out for a walk’?”The Ambassador said, “I believe he means that he would prefer to put you out of the ship, without the benefit of a suit.”
I said, “I’m not sure about that last, Ambassador. These two are annoying enough I might be willing to give them suits, so that they had time to contemplate their misdeeds before their air ran out.”
Dee said, “I believe you have their attention, Bob.”
The mouthy one spoke up. “You wish to hear us beg for our lives?”
I replied, “Not at all. We would be sure to disable your comms before we put you out.” He turned white as a sheet. His partner passed out. The Ambassador said, “I think you may have gotten their attention, finally. I can’t guarantee that it will last, though.”
“Good enough. Can we get down to business, now?”
“Certainly. We need your assurance that you won’t enter our territory without an invitation.”
Dee said, “We would need exceptions for hot pursuit and active rescues, at the very least.”
Beatriz asked, “Would a prearranged business meeting be considered an invitation, or would every meeting need to be cleared through the government individually?”
The Ambassador said, “I do enjoy negotiating with these two. It is seldom I get to test my skill so thoroughly. I’m fine with the idea of you being able to come across the line to rescue a vessel, but what is this ‘hot pursuit’ of which you speak?”
Dee replied, “If we are pursuing a vessel, for whatever reason, we do not wish to let them escape, merely because they manage to get across your border. That sets up a situation where criminals can hide in your territory, and come across to prey upon whoever they like, at will. That would not be acceptable.”
“I can understand your concern, but there are many in my government who would see such an agreement as giving you far too much latitude.”
I said, “C’mon, you’re going to talk to your manager, already? That’s weak, Natti.”
Beatriz said, “We would be willing to report to you that we were coming across, and we certainly wouldn’t want to stay any longer than we absolutely had to.”
Natti asked, “Would it be possible to put a limit on how long you were permitted to be in our territory?”
I said, “I think we could agree to that, but be aware that the shorter the limit is, the less mercy your raiders can expect. If we are under time constraints, we may not be as able to take as much care in their capture.”
He asked, “Are you suggesting my government would sponsor such raids?”
I nodded at his companions. “I don’t think it is out of the realm of possibility. Besides, I have an irrational hope that our descendants will still be abiding by this agreement. We certainly can’t predict what some future leader might, or might not, do.”
“When you put it like that, I see your point. Would twenty-four hours be acceptable?”
Beatriz said, “I think it is reasonable to assume that if we are going to be able to catch someone, we would be able to do it in that amount of time.”
I said, “I agree.” We wound up pulling an all-nighter, from my perspective, but we managed to hammer out an agreement that everyone but the Ambassador’s minders was pretty happy with. They were willing to keep their mouths shut, which I took as a win. Gene cleaned up the language, and printed out copies in Squirrel and English. The Ambassador and I signed, and it was official. I asked, “Do you folks mind if we reconvene in a few hours? I need some rest before we do any more of this.”
Ambassador Dressi said, “I could stand a little rest myself. In ten of your hours, shall we say?”
“I look forward to it, Ambassador.” I went with them, down to the bay where their ship was. I said, “We have plenty of cabins, if you’d rather stay here.”
“No, I’d better get back, and make my report to homeworld. They will want to know what I had to trade away to get peace with the infamous monkey, terror of the skies.”
“Fly safe then, Ambassador.”
“And you, Commodore.” I was worried about Natti, aboard that little ship with all those folks who didn’t agree with him, but there wasn’t anything I could do, without overstepping and causing more problems. I grabbed a transit, and headed for our cabin. Snitz was waiting at the door. Seems meetings don’t make any difference, it’s time to go to the grass room first thing in the morning. I took him to deal with his problem, and Janet was there with Alice. I asked, “Do you think you could keep an eye on Snitz for me today? I just got out of an all-night meeting, and I need some sleep before it starts back up.”
“Sure, Boss. Go get some rest.” I headed back to our cabin, and went to bed. Nikki roused a little, but when I snuggled with her, she went right back to sleep. All too soon, Jeeves was shaking my shoulder, saying, “Boss, you need to get up, if you are going to get a shower and something to eat before your meeting starts.”
I got up, and took care of morning things. Jeeves had cleaned my uniform while I slept, and had it laid out for me. I got dressed and headed to the galley. A bot I didn’t recognize brought me out an omelet and hash browns, with toast. Then she poured me some coffee. I said, “Thanks. Jeeves called ahead?”
“Jee… Oh yes, I’m sorry Sir, these new designations still have me confused.”
“You’re new? One of the bots who was drifting?”
“Yes, Sir. I will get current on the new procedures, right away.”
“No need to rush, but you do need to stop with that ‘Sir’