Shipping Out by Jerry Boyd

Author:Jerry Boyd [Boyd, Jerry]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2023-05-29T16:00:00+00:00

“Some folks are like that. You went out to see the world, and never went back?”

“Something like that. You sound like you understand, Mr. Wilson.”

“My son is getting serious about a girl in a similar circumstance.”

“Oh. Are they here?”

Milly said, “Jimmy is already there, helping her dad clear his new farm. She’s shipping out tonight, with us. I haven’t seen her around.”

George faded in, and said, “She’s already aboard the Aldrin. She thought it might be better, if she had a little time to get used to it.”

Milly said, “Thanks, George.”

“You’re welcome.” He faded back out.

Bruce said, “I had heard about the bots you have without limiters, but I’ve never seen anything like that. Was he there the whole time?”

I replied, “He sure was. It’s his job to see that I don’t come to any harm.”

“Because you’re in charge?”

“Yep. Nobody else wants to take over, so they make me take security with me, wherever I go.”

“So, you people practice your tactics in the woods like that frequently?”

“We used to do it every two weeks. Nowadays, we don’t always get it done that often.”

“Aren’t those weapons quite a bit different than a blaster, or even one of your slug throwers?”

“Yes, but we prefer to work with stunners, when we can.”

He thought on that for a minute, and said, “I see what you mean. Those weapons do have a lot of similarity to stunners, don’t they?”

“They do. Just a happy coincidence. We were doing this, before we ever met anyone from the Commonwealth.”

“Just for fun?”

“Yep.”

“I like it here.”

“Glad to hear it. Some folks from the Patrol come here, and just can’t get used to the way we do things.”

“You’re talking about Private Crang, aren’t you?”

“Well, yes.”

“She thought I was crazy to come down here with the Major.”

“I’ll tell you, just like I told Mike. There ain’t no Major here. All there is, is Mr. Rottum. He’s out of uniform, and so are you.”

“Understood. If we’re off duty, we don’t have to report anything, well, out of the ordinary, that we might see, is that it?”

“Exactly right. As long as you’re out of uniform, Milly can tell you where she comes from, and how she came to be here. If she were to do that while you were wearing your uniform, it would put you in a bind.”

“Yes, it would. I’m beginning to see why you like things a certain way. Do you always think things through like that?”

Milly said, “He’ll try to tell you that he just gets lucky, but I don’t think that’s the real story. I’ve seen him study hard, trying to find the best way to do things.”

Bruce asked, “Why don’t you want people to know how hard you work to get things right? Wouldn’t they give you more credit, if they knew?”

“Well, it’s like this. If I act a little slow, people tend to underestimate me. That gives me an advantage.”

“Doesn’t that take away from how much people respect you?”

“People who know me respect my results. People who don’t learn fast enough.

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