Let's Make a Deal (Bob and Nikki Book 11)
jump in behind them when they get here. They really don’t have a chance, do they?”“Worst case, we have to hold them to a standstill till Snappi and his fleet show up to take them home.”
“You don’t think that’s going to be how it plays out, do you?”
“If all they have are the three ships that Snappi knew about, I don’t think the chance of that is good at all. At this point, we don’t have any way to know if we can trust that report or not.”
“You think Snappi would give you bad intel, when he was taking a risk just getting in contact?”
“No, I don’t. But we have no guarantee that he knows all there is to know about these folks and their operation. They may have more ships stashed somewhere to help with the assault, or some of the ships that reported mutinies put down may have just had mutineers with enough sense to acquire the Captain’s comm codes before they took over.”
“You do believe in Murphy, don’t you?”
“I’ve never seen it pay not to.” We managed to settle down and get some rest. The next thing I knew, Jeeves was shaking my shoulder. “Boss, it’s time to get up, if you want a shower and a cup of coffee before you’re due on the bridge.” I dragged out of bed, and got cleaned up. I went by the galley, to get some coffee and a quick breakfast. Jeeves must have called ahead, because Stella had breakfast waiting for me. I shoveled it down, and grabbed a transit for the bridge. Saucy called out, “Commodore on the bridge.”
I replied, “As you were. How are things in our little corner of the galaxy, Mr. Topper?”
“Proceeding peacefully, Boss. The Marines have put the previous management back in charge over on the Squirrel flagship, and no new ships have appeared so far.”
“How long do we have until Sue’s window for when the mutinous Squirrels might arrive?”
“Thirty minutes, Boss.”
“My ship, Mr. Topper.”
“I stand relieved.”
“Ruth, have you shared Death Blossom with the other ships?”
“I have. The destroyers had to modify the attack plan somewhat, as their mains don’t recharge as quickly.”
“Have you figured out some sort of coordination, so that we don’t wind up with two ships trying to attack the same enemy at the same time?”
“Yes, Boss. I can explain it, if you would like.”
“Are you confident it will work?”
“I am.”
“Good enough for me. Sue, have you seen anything out of the ordinary?”
“No, Boss. This part of space is quite boring, I’m afraid.”
“I only get afraid when it’s not boring, anymore. Saucy, any news from the scouts?”
“They check in every half hour, just so we know they’re still there, but they’ve yet to see anything.”
“Sue, have you sent your search methods to all the sensor operators in the fleet?”
“Yes, Boss, and Scotti reports all the carriers have the better sensors like the Shepherd. They draw too much power to be practical on the smaller ships.”
“Sounds as if we’ve done all we can to get ready. What am I missing, Mr. Topper?”
“Well, Boss, we could launch a fighter screen, in case they try to come out of FTL at a distance, and drift in.”
“Just make sure they are far enough out to leave the larger ships maneuvering room. When this party starts, there’s going to be a lot of dancing going on.”
Saucy said, “Message coming in, Boss. Captain of the Squirrel ship.”
“Put him on, please.”
“Commodore, thank you for putting my ship back into my control.”
“Truth be told, Captain, I was just worried about my friend, the Ambassador. Returning your ship was the easiest way to assure his well-being.”
“I have reviewed the log, and your attack on the ship was a thing of beauty. Do you suppose we could get together and discuss tactics, some time?”
“I think that would be a nice way to get acquainted. I do have other things to worry about at the moment, however.”
“Really? What would they be?”
“Well, let’s see. The Ambassador was put into chemically induced hibernation, and we’ve yet to figure out how to wake him safely. I’ve gotten word that several of your Navy’s ships in this region have had mutinies, with the implication that they are headed here to put a stop to negotiations. That’s all I can think of, off the top of my head.”
“How many ships are headed this way?”
“That’s a good question. The report I got said there were nine mutinies, of which six were put down. There exists the possibility that some of the six were just cases where the mutineers managed to get the Captain’s comm codes so that they could report the mutiny as failed, when in fact it wasn’t. There also exists the possibility that there were other mutinies that happened so quickly that no message was sent. So we expect at least three ships, perhaps more, depending upon the competence of the mutineers.”
“You don’t look on the bright side, do you, Commodore.”
“Our company motto is ‘Murphy is our shepherd’, Captain. Surely the Ambassador has explained it to you.”
“He has. This is just the first time I’ve seen it in action.”
“I suppose your ship is generating some sort of beacon, that those ships can home in on?”
“All of our ships are so equipped, yes.”
“Very difficult to disable, I assume?”
“Nearly impossible, is my understanding, and a court martial offense to try.”
“The Ambassador could give you some cover there, if he was awake.”
“Is there anything we could do to speed that up?”
“Not unless your medical people have a handy test to figure out which drug he was given to induce his hibernation. I’m told if they try the wrong antidote, it could make things worse.”
“Your people have everything we know about