Monkey Business (Bob and Nikki Book 10)
to make sure it hadn’t been vandalized by alien dogs in the night. Jim was there with Molly. I said, “Alice must be on a different clock. She never seems to get Janet up this early.”“Molly was the same way, until she went through the autodoc. I think it’s just the age.”
“Has Molly been hanging out with Bill’s niece and nephew?”
“Yep. You thinking John needs to run them through the autodoc, like Janet?”
“I’m thinking that’s Bill’s decision to make. Does make you wonder, though.”
Jim asked, “You’re not going to poke your nose in?”
“Not unless it gets to be a problem. There’s plenty for me to take care of, without finding more. Of course, if you, as a concerned dog owner, were to say something, that would be altogether different than the Captain bringing it up.”
“You mean you don’t want it to be an official recommendation, just a friendly heads-up?”
“Something like that. Not even a recommendation, just ‘Hey, it worked for Janet.’”
“I’ll see what I can do about that, Boss. Anybody ever mention that you’re sneaky?”
“Think I may have heard that a time or two. Let’s get some breakfast.”
On the way, we met Jackie. “Hi, Boss. How’s it going today?”
“Pretty good, so far. How about yourself?”
“Good. Thanks for getting Saucy and Cecil to go get fixed up. I didn’t realize how much I missed those old coots.”
“No problem. Anything else bothering you?”
“Nope. Anything I can do for you?”
“Can’t think of anything. You never had any dealings with the Squirrels, back in the day, did you?”
“No, I didn’t. Heard lots of rumors, but I never saw one of their ships.”
“Do you suppose you could get all the old-timers to compile all the rumors they heard back then, and give them to Sally? Never can tell when there might be a nugget of truth buried in there.”
“Sure, Boss. How soon do you need it?”
“Whenever you can fit it in. I don’t think it’s that critical, right now, but we will have to deal with them again, eventually.”
“I should be able to have that taken care of by tonight, at the latest.”
“That’s plenty fast. Thanks.”
“See you later, Boss.”
“Later on.”
Jim asked, “Do you go anywhere without finding something to do for the ship?”
I replied, “Just last night, Snitz and I played Frisbee for a good long time.”
“That was the first time in how long?”
“I dunno. A few days, at least.”
“You need to figure out a way to relax more often, or you’re going to burn yourself out.”
“I also need to make sure I’m ready, if those Squirrels decide to try and take us out. The ship is counting on me, Jim. I’m just a dumb old hillbilly. Everything I know about fighting a space battle, I learned reading pulp novels and watching TV. I’m training as fast as I can, but I don’t have any way to know if it’s enough.”
“You’ve been training on their tactics, haven’t you?”
“I have.”
“Do you think they can beat you?”
“Based on what I’ve seen of their training? Nope, not unless they have a huge numerical advantage, and the element of surprise. Even then, I could hurt them pretty bad.”
“So, what is it that worries you?”
“I don’t have any way to know if my opinion is worth a thing. I don’t have any real-world experience to tell me that what the book says really works.”
“So, you’re afraid that the simulations aren’t accurate enough, that there’s some element that they are missing, and that is going to trip you up when you encounter it in the real world?”
“That sums it up fairly well, I guess.”
“As I understand it, you assigned your meanest, sneakiest people to build those simulations. Do you have some reason to believe they would go easy on you?”
“No, I suppose I don’t. They keep telling me I’m the one who can cut through the BS. I need to introduce them to you.”
“Just doing my part for the ship, Boss.”
“Keeping the Captain on an even keel?”
“Guess so. I’m training up, but so far that seems to be the job I have the skills for.”
“Thanks for taking the time, Jim.”
“It’s no bother, Bob. You’re doing a good job. Look how far you’ve brought this ship in what, a couple of months? What you’re doing is working, whether it should or not. Keep at it.”
“I do have a question, though. Did Sally put you up to these little morning meetings?”
“Not the first one, but she saw it had a good effect on you, and asked me if I could make a habit of it.”
“What a deal! I can’t go wrong, with so many people looking out for me. Let’s go get that breakfast.”
After breakfast, I went to the ready room to finish the Squirrel training. Jasmine said, “Here you go, Boss. What are you going to study next?”
“All I know for sure is that it will be something designed for humans. I’m tired of trying to think like a Squirrel.”
She lit me up. When I woke up, Nikki was waiting on me. “Hey, Space Cadet. Fancy meeting you here.”
“Hey, Caveman. You ready to go to work?”
“Nope, but when does that ever stop me?”
We headed down to the sim deck. Jasmine and Pete were waiting on us. I asked, “What’s up, Pete? Come to figure out how I’m cheating?”
“No, Boss. I just wanted to see you in action. Maybe I can learn something that will help me make the next round harder.”
“You’re not fooling me. If that was all you wanted, you could watch the records of the session. You have something up your sleeve.”
“How can that be? I don’t even have a shirt.”
“Good one, Pete. You’re not going to tell me what you’re here