Destiny's Choice (The Wandering Engineer) (70 page)

“Yeah,
I wonder why?” Bailey said sarcastically, shooting a dark look to Willis. She
held up her hands.

“It
wasn't me. Honest.”

“Maybe
so, but that bullshit's got to stop. The man is innocent. I've seen the video,
so have you. So have the others. Next person I catch shooting their mouth off
isn't going to like what I do to them,” he growled menacingly. “That goes for
that bitch of a boss of yours too. You can go ahead and tell her I told you
that too.”

Willis
winced a little then shrugged helplessly. “He's safe. It's not true what you
heard. Any of it. The Admiral is a good man.”

“Gee
thanks,” Sprite said dryly to the Admiral. “That makes it all better right?”
she said sarcastically in the Admiral's ear. He sighed a little. “I think it's
high time I get into this conversation Admiral,” she said. He grimaced, put
dutifully pulled out a holo emitter out of his hip pocket and placed it on the
bar, it lit and a small image of Sprite formed.

“Hi
folks,” she said looking around. The bar patrons gathered around, oohing and
ahing. She fairly preened.

“Don't
lay it on too thick folks, she's got a big enough head as it is,” Irons
muttered. She gave him a quick quelling look then smiled again.

“My
name is Sprite. I am a Lieutenant Commander in the Federation Navy. I am
assigned to Fleet Admiral Irons as his aide and guardian.”

“Guardian?”
Miss Willis asked.

Sprite
shrugged. “Sure. Flag officers have a way of getting into trouble. It's in
their nature after all.”

“You
could say that again,” Bailey snorted as he poked Irons.

“Is
she real?” the kids asked, hands on the bar. The boy pulled himself up to see
over the counter. His father snorted and gave him a leg up. He glanced up with
a smile of thanks then turned, eyes on the little figure. The little girl put
her hand through the holo, then blinked up at her mom.

“That
tickles,” Sprite giggled a little. She smoothed her outfit as the image wavered
and stabilized. “I am an AI. An Artificial Intelligence. So yes I am real. This
is my avatar, which isn't exactly real. It is my way of showing people who I
am.”

“She
has other ways of making herself be heard. Believe me,” Bailey snorted.

“Cute
Chief. Keep it up and I'll tell your wives you've been a naughty boy.”

“Could
you? I haven't been punished in days!” he said with an ear to ear grin. Sprite
opened her mouth then closed it with a sigh.

“No
fun when we ask for it is it?” Irons teased with a small smile of his own.

“It
does take the impact away,” she growled. She shook her head, glaring at the
chimp then turning and ignoring him. The kids giggled a little. The little girl
smothered her giggles with her hand. “I have been with the Admiral for years.
It's been quite an adventure.” Her image faded then another appeared.

“It
all started...”

“Please
tell me you're not going to show my baby photos?” Irons said under his breath.

“No.
Just the highlights, not the low lights,” she replied on his HUD. “Now hush,
you're distracting me.

“Gee
thanks,” he sighed, sitting back. He felt his ears burn a little as she
continued on.

“WEEE!”
the kids squealed. Irons chuckled as the little girl, who's name was Wendy
pulled the yoke back to her chest. The shuttle stood on it's tail and climbed
for orbit. In a moment they were near subspace.

“This
wasn't exactly what I had in mind, but okay,” Irons snorted. Her mother was
looking a little green. “Barf bag is in the compartment next to you ma'am,” he
said leaning over and pointing to the right area. He wasn't sure what her
problem was. The inertial dampeners were working at ninety five percent. They
could barely feel the shuttle maneuvering.

“Thanks,”
she half whispered, eyes wide. One hand fumbled with the compartment latch then
fell into her lap.

Irons
felt a little pity for her. She was trying manfully to deal with the vertigo.
It got to everyone on their first trip. Some took to it better than others.

He'd
been surprised she's been the one to go. Apparently her husband had been needed
to tend to the still and bar so she'd been elected. Word had spread about his
show, forcing a chagrined Sprite to replay it a few more times. Fortunately
word had spread about the truth though. He was pretty sure whoever had started
the rumors was now gnashing their teeth at that. Good.

The
mayor had specifically asked for the donation, something that had amused Irons.
He'd wondered if Willis had been the helping hand to break the ice there or
not. He wasn't sure. After all this time with the woman he still couldn't get a
proper read on her. He doubted he ever would.

“Kids
go easy on your mom, it's her first time too remember?” he asked getting up and
stretching.

“Don't
you have to fly? I mean... what if something happened?” she asked, eyes wide.

“They
are doing fine,” the Admiral smiled as a pair of boys got into his seat. They
knew better than to push any buttons. He glanced at them then back to their
mother. “To tell you the truth I've got it on auto pilot. They can maneuver a
little, but it's now locked on course to Destiny,” he stage whispered to her.
The kids were oblivious. The other four were clustered around the view ports,
pointing and laughing.

“Oh,”
she watched the ship roll and roll. “Oh god.” She turned grabbing at the
compartment.

“Yeah,
I'll just be over here if you need me,” he said walking away as she began to
barf. The kids were making ew sounds as they caught the sound and smell.
Hopefully none of them would follow suit.

“What's
going on?” one of the guards asked, as the boat bay opened and kids came piling
out. “What the hell?” he said looking from one to another. He hadn't expected
that. Pulling guard duty during a visit was a bit like being a bored tourist in
reverse. He got to see his friends and shipmates go down and come back drunk
and half out of their minds. Which could be fun. But... kids?

“School
field trip,” the Admiral smiled. He stepped aside as the teacher stepped out
with the mother. Both were a little green. The teacher was waving a hand in
front of her face. “We're here to pick up a load and for the kids to check out
a real star ship.” He waved. “I've called ahead and made arrangements.”

“That
he did. I got hung up, sorry about that folks,” the captain said coming around
a corner. The guard jerked to attention.

“Captain
on the deck!” the guard exclaimed. Some of the kids saw the guard and Admiral
come to attention and paused then came to some semblance of quiet order
themselves.

“Welcome
to my ship ladies and gentlemen. I am the captain of the good ship Destiny. I
will give you a quick tour so you can see her for yourself.” He pointed to a
camera bot hovering over his left shoulder. “This robot will film it for those
students who missed out.”

The
kids looked at each other then smiled. “Shall we begin?” he asked. The Admiral
nodded.

“I'll
be loading,” he said nodding as the group moved off. The mother looked back,
shrugged then followed the group, using her hands to guide the kids along. The
teacher looked awestruck by the captain in his uniform. Irons was pretty sure
that was going to make the rounds with the local biddies once the two adults
hit the dirt once more.

“Well,
you're racking quite a few good deeds up for one day,” Bailey growled coming up
behind him. He turned with a snort.

“Thought
you were ground side?”

“Had
to come up. Harry ran into a problem and called in a panic. Turned out to be
nothing but a wasted trip, they fixed it when I was half way up,” he sighed.
“Clennie will go back down with me next trip though. Sylvia is busy.” He toed
the floor. “Wish we could all get off at the same time though.”

“That's
the fun thing about trying to arrange schedules,” Irons sighed. “She can't swap
with someone else?”

“No,
she tried but her department is short handed as it is,” the chimp sighed,
shaking his head.

“Maybe
it's for the good. She's pregnant. You don't want her catching something ground
side. Or getting sick going down or coming back up,” Irons replied. The chimp
glared for a moment and then sighed.

“Yeah,
you're right. Still sucks though.”

“Don't
worry chief. Soon enough you'll have family picnics. Just keep a fire
extinguisher handy for the little tykes antics, just in case,” Irons grinned as
he slapped the chimp on the shoulder.

“Gee
thanks,” Bailey said with a laugh. “I'll give you a hand here. Nothing better
to do.”

“Well,
that was fun,” Sprite said watching the kids leave. They were waving excitedly
as they left. A few were skipping on the tarmac. One kicked at some weeds
growing up through the cracked plascrete.

“It
had it's moments,” he said disinterested. He waved goodbye to the kids and then
looked around. He'd spent the day going up and down. Then several days helping
the family get organized. Now that was all settled. He felt a little better
helping a family, but it was a small drop in the bucket compared to the entire
colony!

“And
it's not so fun moments. Still it is good that you helped them despite their
initial attitude. Solar panels, the bleach, the school. All nice touches.”

The
barmaid and younger teacher had practically twisted the older schoolmarm's  arm
to get her to take the gear. She had watched him like a hawk as he and a few
helpers had set up the solar panels and the small wind turbine on the school
roof, then run the wiring. He'd even threaded the wiring through conduits to
keep it safe from prying fingers. She had been grumpy and dubious about the
project but she had been all smiles at the results. Lights, heating, and even
an electric pump connected to the nearby well to pump water to the school's new
indoor sinks and toilets. The computers and tablets had been something she had
clearly not known what to do with.

“Once
they got over the gossip you mean,” Irons growled. “And as long as I am
supervised.” He nodded to a couple of people near the tower. They were men,
most likely the local ruffians. “Any of you men want to earn a gold piece? I've
got some packages to go to the tower here.”

“Sure!”
a man said jerking himself upright. He brushed dust off his brown pants and
shirt. “What have you got?”

“Equipment
to help your tower out. Radios, solar panels, satellite links, and some
meteorology equipment. Also some transponders, parts to keep everything
running, and tool kits.”

“Cool.
Mayor must of paid through the nose for this stuff,” one of the men said,
coming behind him.

“No,
it's all donated from the Federation Navy. I'm trying to help people get back
on track and up to speed,” Irons said with shrug.

“You
don't say. Let me see that gold piece,” the first said. Irons fished out a
piece. “And what's to stop us from taking it now?” the man said puffing his
chest out. His thumbs went to his belt.

Irons
smiled. “Well, I am a Federation Officer. With oh... this,” he said. He held up
his right arm and did the demo morph. The men blinked, slack jawed. “I
encourage honest wages for honest work fellas. Think about it. You in or out?”

“Sure,
sure. Just saying,” the first man said with a shrug. “Let's go,” he waved.

Irons
made orbit and sighed, sitting back in the couch. The vibrator kicked on and
rubbed the knot of muscle in his back. “Thanks.” Hours of back breaking labor
for little thanks. He regretted letting them keep the hover jack. Of course he
could make another but that wasn't the point. None of them even said thanks
when the left. Not even a wave goodbye. More of a good riddance feeling when
he'd returned to his shuttle.

“Don't
mention it. Your pain endorphins were distracting me,” Sprite said dryly. “You
do have implants for that you know.”

“Sometimes
you have to feel human to feel alive. Sorry,” He shrugged.

“What
ever. I can't believe these people. Stupid. You were giving away equipment
they'd sell their first born to get and they treated you like a leper. Not so
much as a thank you.”

“And
it will be that way. At least until we get out from under this cloud, and the
only way to do that is far away from Destiny,” the Admiral sighed. “Think
Willis was the one spreading the rumors?”

“Miss
sweetness?” Sprite sniffed. “I'm catching on to that little two faced bitch.
Yes. I'm pretty sure she's the culprit. No one was in that bar except her. I
checked. The rest of the delegation went to the other side of town. I caught the
looks the bar patrons were shooting her way when she admitted it was all lies.
And yes, Mayfair has been up to her usual tricks, but she's starting to run
into a wall with some of the people after your side got out. She's having a
hell of a time dealing with it. Now the mayor thinks she's a liar.”