Monkey Business (Bob and Nikki Book 10)
about, are you?”“No, Boss. You’ll find out soon enough.”
We got hooked up, and started the sim. I could tell right away that our opponents were reacting quicker and smarter than they usually did. Pete was running the opposition in real time. That made it harder to get ahead of them, but it didn’t take all that long to figure out Pete’s habits, and use them against him. It was time to eat when we finally won. We came out of the pods, and Pete disconnected from the equipment. He said, “That was educational. You managed to use my patterns against me.”
I responded, “Does that mean you’ve figured out a way to run the sim without developing patterns?”
“Not yet, Boss. I’m not sure we can come up with a sim that doesn’t have some kind of pattern.”
“At least now you know what you’re looking for. Will you be back this afternoon?”
“Thanks, but no thanks, Boss. I’ve had enough embarrassment for one day.”
“How do you figure?”
“I got my clock cleaned by a couple of organics. No bot should have to admit that.”
“Got your clock cleaned? You’ve been working hard on that culture pack, haven’t you?”
“Sure have, Boss. Thanks for noticing. I’ll come back when I think I have a chance.”
“See you then.” Nikki came back from the little girl’s room. “You ready to find some lunch, Caveman?”
“Sure am. Feeling brave?”
“No, but it would feel good to stretch my legs.”
We headed off toward the galley. We only stopped for tonsil hockey a couple of times. We were almost to the galley, when we heard giggling coming from a compartment. I shook my head, and texted Gene. ‘Who is in the compartment near me, and are they supposed to be somewhere else?’
He replied, ‘Nelly and Scott, and they have ten minutes left on their authorized lunch break.’
I showed Nikki the text, and we went on to the galley. When we were out of earshot, she asked, “Do you think they will make it back in time?”
“I don’t know, but I am sure Gene knows where they are, if somebody looks for them.”
“You mean the problem can be solved, and you’re willing to sit back and see if someone takes it upon themselves to do so, or not?”
“That sounds about right. Let’s get some lunch. If they are still there when we head back, I may have to notice.”
“It’s a little scary, how fast you’re getting the hang of this Captain business.”
“They might head back of their own accord. Whoever is in charge of them may come find them. Or they may still be there when we head back. However it plays out, I’ll learn something.”
“Let’s eat. Caveman thinking this far ahead makes my head hurt.”
We were just getting started when my comm beeped for a text. It was from Gene. ‘They arrived at their proper location, only two minutes late, of their own accord.’ I showed it to Nikki. She said, “That came out well. How did you know?”
“I didn’t. But if I had interrupted them, I never would have found out if they meant to go back, or not.”
We finished eating, and headed back to the sim deck. Jasmine was by herself, this time. I asked, “Couldn’t find anyone else to go up against us?”
“No, Boss. Everyone else has better sense. If Pete can’t beat you, the rest of us don’t stand a chance.”
We got hooked up, and started in. Oddly enough, the next sim was pretty easy. The Squirrels acted like all their training material said they should, and I had just gotten through studying that. The one after that, someone had tweaked their responses, so that they were more competitive. Still not as challenging as what we had been up against before, but better than the last one. When we finished that one, it was time to feed the kids again. Bill was waiting for me when we got out of the pods. I didn’t know if he would be mad or not, so I just said, “Hi, Bill. Something I can do for you?”
He replied, “I wanted to ask you about something.”
“Go right ahead.”
“Jim Bailey mentioned today that time in the autodoc had helped Janet with her PTSD. He seemed to think that the dogs hanging around Nelly and Scott might mean that they needed the same kind of treatment. I was wondering what you thought.”
“I think you know them better than Jim or I do. We sure can’t ask Snitz or Molly why they have decided to hang around with those two. How do you think they are doing? Did they ever get convinced that we really are on a spaceship?”
“Meeting Tikki and Lakki did the trick. They’re convinced, and pretty psyched to be here. I don’t know why the dogs have chosen to stay with them, but I don’t think that they are trying to tell us to treat them for PTSD.”
“That settles it, as far as I’m concerned. You’re in charge of their care. If you say they are good to go, I’ll believe it till I see evidence to the contrary. I was pleasantly surprised today. I heard them hiding in an empty compartment, but they made it back to class, more or less on time.”
“More or less?”
“The report I got said two minutes late. I can live with that, at their age.”
“Are you tracking them, Boss?”
“Nope. Just happened to hear them when we were walking to lunch, and checked with Gene to make sure they weren’t cutting class again.”
“You really go out of your way to take care of the crew, don’t you?”
“I take care of what I can. I think people give me too much credit.”
“I don’t. You’re a heck of a Captain. I’m glad to be serving under you.”
“Thanks. Anything else you need?”