Captain Diamond did not want to take the set of Cyber-Rats on his ship. He considered trying to stare Admiral Fisher down, but as soon as her eyebrow began to rise, he gave it up.
"Cyber-Rats. Yes, ma'am," he said with a sigh he couldn't entirely hide.
"They are well-trained and personable," she insisted.
"They're rats."
"Mik and Min."
"Rat's not mice."
"Not many people get that reference," she said with a nod of approval.
He sighed. There was no way to win this one. "When do I pick the rodents up?"
"They're already on your ship."
He sighed. Fisher waved him away.
The walk back to his ship should have been a pleasure. The Inner Worlds Council's new non-military post on Earth was quite a feat of engineering and diplomacy. This was only his second trip to Earth and the first time at the famed Paris Port. The site lived up to its hype, too. The museum-quality art along the walkways amazed him, even today. The colors were bright, beautiful -- and earthy in the way the colonists could not quite capture without special lighting effects and imported paints.
The Sunfire looked lovely on the pad, too. She was less than two years old and a Wander-class Scout ship. So far, she was the only one of her type, though six of the larger vessels -- like Admiral Fisher's Farhome, were in orbit.
As he neared the ship, Diamond braced himself for what was bound to be an exciting conversation with the other members of his crew. At least they all knew Admiral Fisher's eccentricities. She had, at least, given up on the idea of raising bees in ships.
Though the honey had been lovely.
The airlock door into the bay was open. Diamond was not surprised to find Alyna standing inside waiting for him. When he'd gone to answer the Admiral's call, it had been Alyn in a flashy blue jacket, black pants, red boots, and hair in curls. Now they were Alyna in a severe black single suit and boots to match. Her hair was pulled into a tight bun.
"We have a gift from Fisher," she said with a wave toward a crate.
"I know. Call the crew together for a meeting in ten minutes up in the lounge. Then you can all go on leave for twenty-four hours."
"I'll stay --"
"Alyn wants to see the city. Do you really want to live with that for the next few years?"
Alyna scowled. "Here's the info that came with them."
She handed over a chit and marched away. Diamond sighed and pulled out his pocket comp and looked the crate over. It wasn't an enormous container, and there were vents on two sides and a wire door on the front with a lock on the outside. He could see things moving inside, but at least they were quiet. Diamond also thought there was an odd twinkling of tiny lights.
The instructions were simple enough. Food, water, nesting sites. Free run of the ship.
That wasn't going to happen.
Rats. Diamond was carrying rats up to the lounge. He hefted the crate, heard a couple squeals of surprise, and refused to look inside.
The others had already gathered. Alyna was Alyn again with his flashy clothes and bright smile. That did not make him any easier to deal with than Alyna.
"I assume you all have the news."
Quince, Breta, Smarl, Alyn, Retra, Kyle, and Dyna all nodded in unison. Diamond put the case on the table. Retra tried to look in through a side vent, but the others kept back. Even Alyn, though Diamond suspected more than a bit of interest there.
"Admiral Fisher, bless her eccentric little heart, has gifted us with another of her experiments," Diamond continued. "We are to let them do whatever work they seem to think needs done. This strikes me as rather ... haphazard. We'll let them out when someone is there to watch over them. I do not want the rats running loose on the ship and getting into who knows what."
No disagreements there.
"Can you let them out so we can have a look at them?" Breta asked.
"Yes, I suppose so." Diamond reached toward the door and the lock.
A tiny paw reached out, manipulated the lock, and the door popped open.
"Well, okay then," Diamond said. "I guess they won't stay in the crate."
The two came out with glitter of diodes and LEDs. A row of them ran from between the eyes to the back of the neck. More circled the tails, and it looked as though they had chips in their ears. They pretty much glowed and glittered.
At least they weren't as large as Diamond had feared, but he still had no idea what to do with them.
"Trained for light maintenance and repair," Quince said, reading over the chit. In-ship systems were his area of work. "Hey, maybe they can figure out that glitch on the level two storage door."
Diamond didn't want the rats touching anything, but he suspected that it was not going to be his choice, much like keeping them locked in their cage.
The two little creatures made a high-pitched chittering noise. Diamond swore it was a laugh of glee. It didn't help.
"Go off on shore leave while you can," Diamond said with a wave of his hand. "There is no telling what Fisher might decide for us next."
"You go, too, Captain," Quince said as he stood. "No, really. You know I'm allergic to most earth plants. I'll stay with the Cybers and give them a few tests. Go, go."
So Diamond gave out the passes Admiral Fisher had sent to them earlier. He should have known they were part of a bribe.
He went out and spent a few hours out in the city enjoying himself. All the while, though, he had the feeling of impending rat-based doom.
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