31
As Kris spread her troops over three farmsteads for the night, she had two problems. How to get the most out of tomorrow's misfire at the dugouts was something she'd enjoy batting around with Jack and Gunny. The quality of her volunteers and their exact behavior in a real firefight tomorrow wasn't likely to be resolved tonight. Still, tonight was all the time she had to patch something together.
She started with a small meeting of her best. She'd hardly mentioned how much she wanted some human control over how the dugout ''battle'' played out before Sergeant Bruce stepped forward.
''If Nelly would be kind enough to give me some nanos, I think I can make things happen just the way you want it, Your Highness. Nothing special, Nelly, just make them wag their tails when they see something.''
''Computers have no tails to wag, Sergeant,'' the computer made clear in a rather schoolmarmish voice. But in the next second Nelly had switched to the voice of a twelve-year-old, tickled that the game was afoot. ''But I can rig a couple of nanos to squeak so that only someone listening for the precise squeak could tell it isn't just part of the background noise. What kind of nanos do you want?''
Jack failed to hide a grin. Kris just shook her head. Nelly was developing so many different personalities … and trotting them out so fast … that even Kris never knew what to expect when she talked to her computer. It could be all fun and games, but could Nelly become unreliable?
Kris had to make time to talk to Auntie Tru about her favorite pet computer.
But Sergeant Bruce was having no problem. ''Motion sensors, both for air and water. At least, if I was attacking the dugouts, I'd have that heavy infantry walk in from the wet side. Oh, and some nanos to set the fireworks off in a cascading daisy chain. If I understand your intent, Captain, Your Highness, the object is to make the colonel the laughingstock of his troops. Any casualties are kind of icing on the cake.''
Jack eyed Kris, who found herself grinning happily.
''Yes, Sergeant,'' Jack said, ''I think you read your commander's intentions perfectly.''
''Nelly, how long to forge the nanos?'' Kris asked.
''I've been done it seems like just way foreverrrrr,'' Nelly said, sounding far too much like that certain twelve-year-old girl who now infested Kris's ship.
For a moment, Kris wondered how Cara was making out, with her teacher groundside. She'd probably spent the time wrapping Professor mFumbo and his helpless boffins around her little finger. The girl did not belong on a warship. Kris would have to do something about that.
Just as soon as she got some invaders to leave this planet. And did something about the mess on Xanadu. She had come out here to resolve that problem. Couldn't forget that bunch of nuts. Hopefully, Cara wouldn't have to wait too long, but Xanadu did come ahead of her. Just as this bunch of uniformed bandits had somehow gotten ahead of Xanadu.
Kris doubted the Guides of Xanadu could get into much mischief while she was stuck in the mud here.
''Sergeant Bruce, could you hold out your personal computer?'' Nelly didn't quite order. The Marine did.
''I've transmitted subroutines and the nanos to your machine. You must talk to Kris about a computer a bit more capable.''
''Nelly!'' Kris snapped.
''Yes, Kris. But you really should. At least for the noncoms who you use a lot.''
''As you were,'' Kris growled.
''I am not in the Navy. You can't order me around.''
''Don't bet on that to last forever,'' Jack said, giving Kris an evil grin. ''If she takes a mind to it, Kris might draft you right into her Navy. She drafted me out of the Secret Service.''
''Computers have our rights.'' Nelly stormed on. ''Civil rights. Human rights. Oh,'' she said and paused for a long second, which, for a computer, must have lasted beyond forever. ''Jack has human rights, and you drafted him. If I had rights, you could still draft me. I need to think about that.''
The last was spoken in the standard computer voice, the one Nelly only used when she was devoting a major part of her power to something a mere human would likely find beyond complicated.
''Nelly, my dear,'' Gunny said, ''you do know that you're a major part of our team and all of us, Marines and Navy, respect what you do for us.''
''You do?'' was still in that standard computer voice.
''We do that, my dear. Now, does Sergeant Bruce need any more help with his nanos?''
At OCS, Kris learned that senior NCOs were more like unto God than, well, most humans thought God was. And that NCOs made it a point to look out first and foremost for their troops. Gunny was often more hands-on than any recent apparition of the traditional Divine Being. Though his attention was usually to the surprise and dismay of said subordinates.
Just now, Kris watched Gunny in full transcendent concern for not only Sergeant Bruce but all his trigger-pullers.
''No, Sergeant Bruce is good to go,'' Nelly said, starting to sound more normal.
Sergeant Bruce nodded. ''I think I've got them under my control. I've had my computer cycle them through a series of tests, and everything is working. The range looks to be limited, but I think it will do.''
Which left Kris with only one more problem to handle this evening. The one that couldn't be solved.
As Sergeant Bruce marched off on the first leg of his journey to the dugouts, Kris glanced around the large barn she expected to spend the night in. Like most other barns she'd seen on Panda, it was dug out and sod covered. So far, Thorpe hadn't paid any attention to them.
One of the last trucks to arrive that night had disgorged Penny, with old man Fronour and Gramma Polska. Kris couldn't name the other gray heads that dismounted, but she suspected someone had called a meeting of the senior farming clans and forgotten to cc her on the matter.
Bales of hay were being arranged into a kind of forum. Gray heads were settling into seats. Kris had foresworn the political life of her father … but she wasn't blind to its trappings.
Penny joined Kris. ''Sorry this got out of hand.''
''It had to be faced,'' Kris said, and led them to where a speaker's rostrum would be if the forum were more formal.
Kris stood at parade rest … and let her eyes rove the elders before her. Slowly, the babble settled to silence.
Kris cleared her throat, and asked. ''Do you have any questions for me?''
The silence gave way to murmurs as heads turned to the people next to them. No one among them moved to stand, to take the lead. Had Kris moved before they were ready, or had the different views failed so far to coalesce?
Pandemonium had no planetary government. Kris had been surprised to hear from Andy Fronour on the trip out just how minimal the town governance was, a council, no mayor. He'd been proud of just how little government they got along with.
Kris hoped she wasn't going to have to teach a whole lot of reluctant souls How to Decide Things 101.
''I hear there's going to be a fight tomorrow up the road a ways,'' Bobby Joe Fronour said. ''What are we doing all the way back here?''
''There will be a battle up the road at what I've come to call the dugout,'' Kris said, ''but we aren't going to be there.''
''Don't it take two to have a battle?'' The man who stood up held his rifle at the ready, as if he might find an enemy sitting beside him. He was one of the youngest in the barn, hair still flaming red.
Kris gave the question a nod. ''If you want to go down in the history books as a great conqueror, it does help if some opposition shows up to fight and get their butts kicked.''
A momentary pause got the laughter Kris hoped for. ''Us showing up serves no one's benefit except Colonel Cortez's. His launching a smashing assault on a host of barnyard animals should make him the laughingstock of his entire command, as well as human space once the story gets out, don't you think?''