Let's Make a Deal (Bob and Nikki Book 11)
a Marine who has some information you need.”“Put him on, leave Commodore Sloan in the call.”
Chesty said, “Boss, one of my Marines has found the Ambassador.”
“In what condition?”
“Sedated. He’s in his cabin, asleep.”
“That’s good news. One of the idiots who tried to take the Gene claimed he was dead. Are your boys having much trouble with the stunner resistant folks?”
“No, Boss. Commodore Mason provided them with flash bangs. Stunner resistance doesn’t do diddly for that.”
“More good news. You’re just a ray of sunshine today, Chesty.”
“You don’t have to get nasty about it, Boss.”
“Have your Marine bring the Ambassador, and a few changes of clothes. I want him on the Gene, soonest.”
“On it, Boss.” Tikki came running onto the bridge. “Yes, Boss?”
“Do you still have that number on your comm that I had you call the other day?”
“Yes, Boss.”
“Could you call him, and pipe it to the speakers in here?”
“Sure. When do we get to the hard part?”
“When I have to tell him his Uncle’s mission is going sideways.”
“Ouch! Glad you’re sitting in the big chair.”
The speaker came alive. “This is Captain Dressi, how may I help you?”
“This is Commodore Wilson. I’m calling to inform you that your Uncle has had some trouble keeping control of his mission. He’s had a mutiny, of sorts, but we have it under control for him. He was sedated, and has yet to wake up. Do you have some idea as to how we should proceed?”
“Could you tell me how this came about?”
“Yesterday one of his minders tried to kill me. Your Uncle revoked his diplomatic immunity, so that I could take him into custody. Apparently, the rest of the old guard aboard his ship objected to that. The ship that was supposedly bringing your Uncle back for more negotiations this morning, arrived full of troops, demanding the return of the prisoner. They are enjoying the fine accommodations in our brig. We then assaulted the flagship, in an attempt to ascertain the well-being of your Uncle. He is well, but still sleeping from whatever they gave him.”
“You’re saying your forces are in possession of our flagship?”
“At the moment, yes. I certainly don’t intend to keep it, I just wanted to get your Uncle to safety.”
“Thank you for that. Would it be alright if I brought a fleet to see for myself?”
“That wouldn’t be a problem, but be advised my entire fleet is in the system, and any hostile moves would not be taken lightly.”
“Understood. Please have my Uncle contact me as soon as he is able.”
“I certainly will. Sorry to call with such poor news.”
“To tell the truth, Commodore, the news is better than I expected. I thought they would force you to kill someone.”
“Not for lack of trying, that’s for sure. Feel free to call Tikki if you have any questions. She will be able to get you in touch with me.”
“Thank you for informing me. Hopefully, our next conversation will be under better circumstances.”
“I hope so as well. Good day, Captain.”
“Good day, Commodore.” I turned to Tikki. “Thank you for helping with that. Do you need anything?”
“A few minutes to take it all in, I think. You captured the flagship, just to make sure your friend, the Ambassador, was safe?”
“We did. I’ve been led to believe that your people respect shows of force. Is that not the case?”
“It is. What was that I saw in the culture pack? Oh yes, ‘Yours goes to eleven’.”
“You’re saying that a Squirrel wouldn’t have gone to the same extreme?”
“That’s what I’m saying, yes.”
“Did I go too far?”
“I don’t think so. You should have their attention now, though.”
“I doubt it. They seem to have difficulty taking me seriously.”
“You may be surprised, Commodore. If you don’t need anything more, I’ll get back to my station.”
“Go ahead. I’ll have Gene interrupt you again if I need anything.” She headed out. Topper said, “The Ambassador is aboard, Boss. He has yet to wake up.”
“Have him sent to medbay, so they can keep an eye on him. Post a guard, just in case we have one of their mutineers running around loose. Do any of our Squirrel crew members have any medical training?”
“Haffi Witti has an advanced first aid certificate, about what Earth would call an EMT.”
“Have her check in on him, please. We don’t know enough about Squirrel physiology to know if we’re doing the right things for him.”
“I’m having Gene page her. What should we do with the Squirrel ship?”
“Get Lakki to get into their computer records, and see precisely what happened over there. Let the Marines keep control of the ship until the Ambassador wakes up and tells us what he wants done.”
“On it, Boss. Haffi is on the comm for you.”
“Commodore?”
“Yes. What can you tell me about the Ambassador?”
“They didn’t just sedate him. They chemically forced him into hibernation. Without the antidote, he’ll be out for a week.”
“I’m guessing we don’t have any of this antidote on hand?”
“There’s a problem. There are several drugs that can induce hibernation. Without knowing which one they used, I can’t administer an antidote. None of the antidotes are all that complicated to synthesize, but using the wrong one can be worse than no antidote at all.”
“Could an autodoc tell you which antidote to use?”
“Most likely not, since all of these drugs are very close to naturally occurring chemicals in the body.”
“You’re telling me that unless we can get the person who drugged him to tell us what they used, he’s going to be asleep for a week?”
“That’s the way it looks to me, Boss.”
“Lakki is trying to break into their computer records. If she’s as good as she claims, she should be in by now.