Closet Spaceship Part 6

[Here's the latest installment about when I met the captain and his crew. Have you been thinking about what makes a good leader since the last installment?]

   I was afraid Captain Lamont was going to banish me from his ship, so I knew I had to be persuasive.
   “Look at it this way,” I said. “You and your crew are doing something important, something good. I know you’re not in this for the fame, but it’s a good thing if people know what you’ve done. If nothing else, they can see what happens to crooks like Mallock and Beckman, right?”
   “There must be other criminals you could focus on,” Lamont said.
   “Oh, I’m sure there are, and there are lots of people out there trying to stop them,” I said. “But they don’t have Reggie and Nick and people like that helping them. Let’s face it: you’re all interesting!”
   “There are times I’d rather be boring,” Lamont said.
   “I know,” I said. “I think there are times you’d rather not be so determined, too, aren’t there?”
   He didn’t respond for several seconds. Then he said, “I looked you up.”
   I waited.
   “All right,” Lamont said. “I won’t interfere if you wish to drop by occasionally. It sounds as if I couldn’t stop you anyway—but I have a few conditions.”
   “Go ahead,” I said.
   “Don’t put yourself in the middle of a gunfight,” Lamont said. “We have enough to do without worrying about protecting you.”
   “I promise,” I said. That was easy.
   “Don’t ever appear in our living quarters again.”
   “Okay,” I said. I’m glad he said “appear” so I could still be there without being observed.
   “Don’t ask us to describe how anything unfamiliar works,” Lamont said. “I don’t know the exact rules of time-travel, but I don’t want to change history in any way by describing technology that hasn’t been invented in your time. That also means you can’t ask us how any events in your time turned out.”
   I smiled. “You mean, I can’t ask you if the Cubs ever win the World Series?”
   He almost smiled, too. I wish he would have, but instead he said, “Don’t tell any of my crew what will happen. If you know anything about our futures, keep it to yourself. I’m very serious about that.”
   I nodded. There were already things I knew about their futures, and I wasn’t about to discuss any of it with them.
   “If I or any member of the crew tells you to leave, I want you to leave,” Lamont said. “If any member of the crew doesn’t want to see you, avoid him or her. Respect us.”
   “I have nothing but respect for you,” I said.
   Lamont sighed. “Tell me what it’s like sometime.”
   “What?” I asked.
   I expected him to say time-traveling or observing the crew, but he said, “Writing.”
   “It’s the absolute greatest,” I said. “I can’t imagine life without it and I’ll be doing it until I die. You should try it.”
   He shook his head. “Maybe after I retire. Not now.”
   I was sorry to hear that. I imagine he’d have something worthwhile to write, but I wasn’t about to push my luck.
   “I accept your conditions,” I said. “I’ll let you get some sleep now. Thank you, Captain.”
   “Last condition,” he said. “Call me Ben.”
   “I’ll try,” I said. “Goodbye for now.”