Mannion reported back. “They agreed in a hurry, Captain. They seem to feel pretty good about the deal. They want to chat, now that they’ve got a bargain. I’m still taping a long tirade.”
“Good,” I said. “Better get ready to send about six men with an auxiliary pusher to bring home the bacon. You can start feeding them the juice again.”
I turned to Kramer. He was staring at the video image. “Report yourself back to arrest in quarters, Kramer,” I said. “I’ll take your services today into account at your court-martial.”
Kramer looked up, with a nasty grin. “I don’t know what kind of talking oysters you’re trafficking with, but I’d laugh like hell if they vaporized your precious tub as soon as they’re through with you.” He walked out.
Mannion called in again from ComSection. “Here’s their last, Captain,” he said. “They say we’re lucky they had a good supply of this protein aboard. It’s one of their most amusing foods. It’s a creature they discovered in the wild state and it’s very rare. The wild ones have died out, and only their domesticated herds exist.”
“O.K., we’re lucky,” I said. “It better be good or we’ll step up the amperage and burn their batteries for them.”
“Here’s more,” Mannion said. “They say it will take a few hours to prepare the cargo. They want us to be amused.”
I didn’t like the delay, but it would take us about 10 hours to deliver the juice to them at the trickle rate they wanted. Since the sample was O.K., I was assuming the rest would be too. We settled down to wait.
I left Clay in charge on the bridge and made a tour of the ship. The meeting with the alien had apparently driven the mood of mutiny into the background. The men were quiet and busy. I went to my cabin and slept for a few hours.