“An ex-con man?” I asked doubtfully. Did we really want a criminal as our representative to governments? I supposed plenty of the world’s diplomats came under that description, but still....
“Well, maybe not so ex,” Crow went on. “Pierre’s been living off internet scams for years, I gather. He always kept a loaded weapon with him, expecting some mark to hunt him down for revenge. That’s what saved him when the Nano ship grabbed him.”
“I see. Well, if he’s the best we have for now.”
“You might do well as a liaison,” said Crow, “if that’s what you are thinking. I know that. But you can’t do everything. I need you focused on figuring out these ships and what we can do with them.”
“Agreed.”
“Commodore Crow?” asked Sandra suddenly.
“Who’s that?”
“My name is Alessandra, but people call me Sandra.”
“Oh indeed? How old are you, Sandra?”
“Twenty-six.”
“My estimation of your abilities grows ever larger, Riggs. You have to tell me, how did you manage to smuggle one of your students aboard your ship? Everyone that I’ve brought aboard was immediately subjected to deadly tests.”
I explained that she failed the tests, but was brought back aboard afterward. I hadn’t really thought about it, but I supposed the ship was ignoring her and tolerating her because she was a failed applicant for command. She was a loophole. She wasn’t to be tested, because she had already failed the tests. She wasn’t hostile, so she wasn’t to be killed. She had already been kicked out once, so there was no urgency to kick her out again. I’m sure that the Nanos would have preferred to drop her somewhere as biotic waste, but were held in check by my orders.
“Well done,” said Crow. He paused, and I got the feeling his mind was racing with ideas. “So,” he continued thoughtfully, “to get someone aboard with you, they have to go through at least one of the tests. Maybe.... What if I—we were to float close to the Earth, grab someone, let them fail a test, then when they get dumped out they fall into a swimming pool or something? Then I—we that is, could pick them up again and the ship would ignore them….”
“Getting lonely, Commodore?” asked Sandra in an acidic tone of voice. I glanced over at her and noted she had crossed her arms. “Intentional kidnapping is still a serious crime, remember?”
“Of course, my dear. I know that very well! We all do! We were all victims of these heartless ships. Riggs? You should work on some kind of video system. I would love to see the people I’m talking to.”
Sandra and I exchanged glances. The Commodore wasn’t the most gentle of gentlemen. I had thought before that this fleet might be a ragtag force of scoundrels and crazies. I realized now that my assumptions had been essentially correct.
“I’ll see what I can do, Commodore,” I said aloud.
Sandra rolled her eyes at me.
“And Riggs, go get some equipment. Whatever you think you need. Just hang over a mall and have the big arm dip down and grab whatever you want. Food, furniture, electronics, etc.”
“Isn’t that piracy, sir?” I asked.
“That’s a harsh word. But we have to do what we must until we establish proper relations with the Earth governments. Then we can buy what we need. That will take longer, but it will make everyone feel better about the situation.”
“Relations? Do you plan on demanding payment?”
“Aid, isn’t that what you Yanks call it, Riggs? Billions in aid, that’s what we need.”
“Sounds like tribute, or ransom,” complained Sandra.
“Too right, Sandra. Isn’t that what it always is? You can grizzle about it, but listen, we are providing a great service to Earth. We are doing more to protect them than all their military forces combined. They should mothball their navies at least and give us the funding. What good would one of your aircraft carrier battle groups have been, for example, against that last Macro ship?”
“You have a good point,” Sandra admitted.
“Glad you see things my way. Well, we’ve chatted long enough. I’ve got a lot of business to do. Crow out.”
“I’m not sure what to think of him,” Sandra said after the connection had been broken.
“I know what you mean. But maybe he is just the kind of ruthless, practical man the world needs right now.”
“Maybe. I don’t like the way he talks about Earth—about all of humanity—as if they are some foreign power. I don’t feel that disconnected from them.”
“I know what you mean. But for a commander on one of these ships, disconnection is a stark reality.”
“Do you think he’s really going to go down and kidnap some young girl for—ah, as a companion?”
I sighed. I wanted to say no, but I couldn’t rule it out. What did I really know about this man I’d allied myself with? I shrugged.
Sandra watched me closely. “Are we going to go down and steal things too?”
I thought about it. We needed food. I couldn’t just hang around my farm picking unripe corn and having the arm grope for things blindly in the windows forever. I had to wonder what the air force thought of my ship and its obsession with this one particular point on the map. I imagined a team of people might be fussing over the mystery. I couldn’t decide if it was funny or pathetic. How panicked all the militaries of Earth must feel right now, unable to stop these strange, roving ships. They had no idea what we might do next. Were the cities rioting, evacuating? Had there been panics and if so, how many had died?
We spent some time cleaning up the mess the battle had made of things. It was extremely helpful to have the ship simply drop anything you didn’t want, such as dribbles of beer, dried up garbage and the like, out of the ship. Vacuuming was a thing of the past. I had the ship create another storage room, and made a private room for Sandra that was connected to the bathroom. She wouldn’t have to be tied by the ankles when she was in there, something she appreciated.
After a few hours, we looked critically at our handiwork. Such a strange mix, my old furniture and stark walls of gleaming metal. One item in particular stood out. It was an old lamp we’d used in the kids’ bedrooms when they were babies. The ship must have found it in the attic. The lamp was in the shape of a teddy bear. I found it looked odd and pathetic, sitting next to my stained leather couch. All my furniture, in fact, was shabby-looking at best. I knew I should dump the teddy bear lamp and have the ship get something else, but once it was up there, I couldn’t force myself to part with it. My eyes stung when I looked at it.
Sandra watched me, but pretended not to notice.
“Sandra, what day is it?” I asked her, still staring at the teddy bear lamp. It had glassy, black eyes, like marbles.
“Monday, I think.”
“I think we will take a trip to the mall. Not a lot of people are there on Monday morning.”
She pursed her lips disapprovingly.
“We need bedding, furniture, clothes, food and electronics,” I argued. “Hopefully, we won’t give anyone a heart attack.”
“You’re the commander,” she said.
She turned away and busied herself with our pile of half-stale, half-eaten boxes of crackers and breakfast cereals. It had been a long time since I’d been in a domestic situation with a female, but I recognized the behavioral patterns. They weren’t positive.
“What’s the matter?”
She turned on me quickly and put her hands on her hips. The little black arms that still wrapped her ankles strained to keep up with her. Those lovely dark eyes smoldered.
“Is that really what we are going to do, Kyle? Become pirates?”
I looked at her. “Aren’t you tired?”