JBO S1 17 Take Me Home by Jerry Boyd

Author:Jerry Boyd
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Jerry Boyd
Published: 2021-06-15T22:00:00+00:00

Topper said, “Ruth, coordinate with Scotti, let’s see how quickly we can do this.”

Ruth said, “On it, Skipper.”

We slid into normal space, and almost before the transition could register, we were back in FTL. Sue said, “I have a good trace on the freighter. She’s going to FTL.”

I said, “Saucy, when they’re in FTL, send ‘Happy Trails’.”

“Sent, Boss. They reply, ‘Fly Safe’.”

I turned to Topper. “Skipper, I’m going to get out of your hair. I’ll be in the office, if you need me.”

“See you later, Boss. What’s Jeeves putting you in for the concert?”

“I haven’t asked. Probably should.”

I went across to the office, and found John waiting on me. I asked, “Finally decide to come play pool?”

“That, and talk about yesterday.”

“Did you figure something out?”

“No, but I did look up that data mode you figured out. It was in use before Earhart went missing.”

“One point for the side that says they’re for real. I’m having a hard time believing it, still.”

“So am I. What are you thinking, Admiral?”

“I’m thinking we’re the force best equipped to deal with it, if it turns out to be something other than what it purports itself to be. That fact makes it our job to make sure that whatever is there, isn’t a hazard to navigation.”

“Dangit, Bob! I was hoping you had found a loophole we could sail through, and ignore it.”

“Scares you as much as it does me, then?”

“I only see two ways this goes down. Either they were being straight with us, and it really is what they claim, or it’s a honey trap laid by somebody with way too much information, and way too much skill.”

“Those were the only two possibilities I was coming up with. The only thing I can think of to even help with the hazard, is to wait until we have better drives, and better hulls. Then we’ll let Taz and Willum do their thing, before we go strolling in. Even so, it scares me.”

“Join the club, Bob. The Monkeys are the only ones we know of, with the beacon tech. But the whole idea of it being a Monkey base doesn’t make sense.”

“Yep. I’ve been around that mulberry bush a few times, too.”

“Let’s shoot some pool. This is getting us nowhere.”

“Now you’re talking.”

John said, “One more thing, before I forget. When we dropped out of FTL, I sent a message for the Aldrin to go ahead and start executing the plan we made up for recruiting out of the veterans’ homes.”

“You already have a plan?”

“We knew it was coming, sooner or later. I figured it was better to be ready.”

“Do you have enough human crew to make much of a start?”

“Not really, but some of the folks from back home have agreed to help.”

“Glad you had it figured out. I’m guessing you’ve been sharing info with the rest of the fleet?”

“I have. Joanna has things planned out for the Gene, and Zoom says the Conrad is ready to rock. Steve has things sorted on the Grissom, but he doesn’t have many humans aboard, so he won’t be able to help much.

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