Fool's Gold (The Wandering Engineer) (103 page)

“Are
you going to be punished?”

The
Admiral started chuckling. The kid looked up at him confused then smiled.
Timidly he reached up and grasped the Admiral's hand.

“Admiral
the boy has extensive bruising on his face, torso, and genital regions.” Sprite
pulled up a thermal scan and overlaid an ultrasound scan with it. He gritted
his teeth again and looked away.

“He
looks familiar,” the Admiral murmured.

“Did
you say something?” the boy asked.

“Nothing,
let me check my map,” he looked up for a moment. Sprite plotted a course out of
the warren.

“Okay,
let’s see, we've got a little ways to go,” he pointed with his free hand. “Down
that way and we turn right.”

When
they entered the light of the main concourse he looked down to see the boy
holding his hand up to shield his eyes. He was blinking tears. “My baby!” a
woman screamed and came running. Men turned from all directions and came
running.

“What's
going on here?” a man asked. The woman scooped up the boy, gave the Admiral a
dark look then rushed off. Irons shrugged.

“I
was checking the newly restored areas and ran into the young man. He's been
badly beaten and is traumatized. He needs food, water and medical treatment
right away,” he looked over to a man wearing a security badge.

“You
say you found him?” the man asked skeptical.

“I
heard him actually. He was crying inside a crate about two hundred meters back
that way,” Irons pointed with his thumb over his shoulder to the passage they
had just navigated.

“Bull!
You hurt my son!” A man lunged at the Admiral but someone restrained him. He
was hustled off.

“We'll
need you to come with us for a formal statement Admiral,” the security officer
said coldly. He looked around to the growing crowd. The Admiral nodded.

“I
can upload the entire event for you to view,” Irons said waving his artificial
hand. The man looked startled.

Another
whispered. “Is that even possible? Doesn't that mess the plan up?” Someone else
elbowed him in the ribs.

“What
plan?” Irons asked turning to the men. They looked away. The security guards
face tightened. “You'll have to come with us. This way,” he pointed his baton.
Irons nodded. Over a dozen men formed up around him.

“I
swear that boy was familiar,” Irons said sitting against the wall an hour
later. The boy's battered face came up on his HUD, a still of when he was being
carried off by his mother looking over his shoulder.

“Running
facial recognition.” Points were plotted on the boy's eyes, nose, mouth, and
ears then lines drawn. Faces began to scroll in a window beside the first.
Sprite had eliminated everyone outside his estimated age group. Most of the
kids looked like the kids he'd seen in the schools on Anvil. His brows knit. He
opened his mouth to say something but Sprite flashed a match.

“Admiral
I have a hit and you’re not going to like it,” Sprite responded slowly. The
kids face came up in the second window.

“Where?”
Irons asked. The tight shot of the boy scrolled out to a view of the Port Admiral's
bordello Enrique had shown him months ago. He grimaced and then swore.

“Damn,”
he shook his head. “I think we've been set up.” He looked up to the camera in
the corner. “I know it.”

“Admiral
I can't get a link out. Someone went to a lot of trouble to isolate you.” He
scowled. “Of course it could be because they haven't repaired their Wi-Fi,” she
said sarcastically.

“No,
this is too much of a coincidence,” he looked around. The interrogation room
was bland, with a single door, one way mirror, table and two chairs. The
security guard had escorted him inside and left him.

“Door
is most likely locked,” Sprite reported.

“Stating
the obvious again?” Irons smiled grimly. He held up his right hand. “I've got
the key right here.” His voice tightened in suppressed anger.

He
had exited the interrogation room easily. They hadn't even posted a guard. He'd
hesitated for a few minutes, trying to let Sprite come up with more intel
before he committed himself. When he got close to the main lobby he slowed at
the voices of an angered mob. “Well that's not good,” he shook his head.

“Admiral
they are after you. And not in a good way. This crowd is primed and out for
blood,” Sprite said. He backed away then entered an empty closet.

“Access
point is right there Admiral by the door,” Proteus pointed out.

“Finally,”
he sighed jacking in.

“Crap,”
Sprite said. “Firewall.” She pinged the firewall then applied an implanted
override. The firewall fell. “I'm in,” she looked around.

“Admiral
I'm checking security feeds. There are mobs all around the station and in many
of the parks.” Irons scowled at the news. A window opened. He watched a
Telerite delegation in full rampage. They were tearing a navy recruiting booth
apart. Telerites. They were the most pacifistic race in Pyrax. The giant furry
aliens were extremely protective of children however.

“This
was rather sudden wasn't it?” he asked.

“Well
this may have something to do with it.” A window opened. A local news broadcast
of the mother and child in a hospital room. The battered boy was describing how
the Admiral fed him drugs and candy and had abused him as the woman gently
stroked his bruised brow and hair. The Admiral's jaw tightened.

“Is
this going out for system wide feed?” he asked.

“Yes
Admiral,” Sprite replied. “The damage is going to be extensive even when you
put out your side of the story.”

“It's
not a story it’s the truth,” he said tightly, clenching his hands.

“We
know that. But you know how it is being spun,” Sprite replied softly.

“Yeah.”

“So
now what?” she asked.

“We
find the ones responsible,” he growled. carets appeared around some of the
members of the crowd. Most seemed to be instigators.

“There
are agitators in the crowd Admiral. Shall we pick one up and talk to them?”
Defender asked.

“No,
that would expose us to the crowd and they could turn into a lynch mob,” Irons
replied. “People, innocent pawns would get hurt. Trampled. No, I think I know
who did this. Find the chairwoman and her cronies. Get me a link to Firefly.
Prep the marines. Upload a full sitrep now.”

“Done
and done Admiral. Firefly has received my compressed report and is prepping
marines,” Sprite responded after a moment. “The chairwoman...” she paused.
“They are in the administration annex. There is an employee side entrance
unguarded. I'm into their security system. I've redirected the cameras in the
halls and set up the one by the door to show a loop.” He nodded.

“Then
let's get this over with,” he snarled.

“I
think it's time we had a talk,” Irons said coming into the room a few minutes
later. The speaker turned and smiled at him. Her followers and representatives
turned as well. They had a handful of weapons and electronic gear. There were
twenty one people in the room. Most were prominent senators, representatives or
their aides. A few of the aides looked more like body guards.

“Admiral
I can't get a signal through to their equipment. I've got a thin link to
Firefly though.”

The
chairwoman smirked. “Talk Admiral. A picture paints a thousand words.” She
pointed to the mobs on the screens around them then clicked a remote. The view
changed.

"Crap,"
Irons sighed softly looking at the display. The boy and his family were in an
airlock.

"As
you can see we've taken the precaution of isolating your AI and the family. If
you care to take this to its natural conclusion..." the chairwoman purred.
The Admiral's eyes narrowed.

"The
Federation doesn't negotiate with terrorists."

"Well,
since we're the Federation, it’s a moot point. I prefer to think of it as
leverage," she smiled.

"Say
the word Admiral, the marines are primed and ready," Sprite said. Irons
grimaced.

“You're
not as good as you think. Firefly knows what's going on.”

"If
your thinking about sending in your marines forget it. We could have an
unfortunate accident. You know how it is with these old colonies. Why, you
don't know how they wired things," she shook her head. An image of
explosive charges was shown. Irons snarled softly. There were ten or twelve 
thousand people in this colony.

"I
don't like terrorists," his fingers curled. His shields were primed and
ready.

"It
is all relative Admiral. I suggest you think about our proposal
carefully."

"You
mean running me out of town?" he asked. She spread her hands apart.

"Ah,
I see you guessed it. Impressive. It's not all doom and gloom. Call it a fact finding
mission. We're not demanding you resign. We could of course," she
responded. “We'd reluctantly accept it,” she smirked. Irons grimaced.

"Cute."
He looked at her for a moment.

"As
it happens the other representatives are in agreement with me." His grimace
deepened. "You have only yourself to blame Admiral."

"That
secret session," the Admiral said starting to realize it's implications.
The chairwoman bowed.

"As
you said, you should stay out of politics," she smiled seeing the shot go
home.

"Exile
or a Pyrrhic victory Admiral. The choice is yours," a senator said.

"And
the others agree with this? Agree with you using children as shields? An entire
colony as a bargaining chip?" he asked softly.

"They'll
come around. They all agree that you've served your purpose," the
chairwoman smiled.

“Voice
stress analysis confirms she's ready to go through with the threat if you don't
back down Admiral,” Defender reported.

"Classic
catch twenty two Admiral. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. If you agree
to it, you're weak and it destroys you. If you don't agree to it, you're cold
to allow them to kill innocents to protect your own power base. That will also
hurt you," Sprite said softly. "And if you go along with it and then
turn on them, it can be spun as a power coup," she finished. Irons
frowned.

"Thinking
of a way out? Don't. We've taken the precaution of covering all the
angles," the Chairwoman gloated.

"I
wouldn't be so smug if I were you. You are in the room with me you know,"
Irons said dangerously. Her eyes widened fractionally.

"You
wouldn't kill in cold blood," another rep said smugly. He hefted a gun.

"Well
no, not normally, but this isn't normal now is it? Besides, that made it a moot
point," the Admiral snarled.

"Shields
are up Admiral." He felt his right arm tingle. It morphed into a blaster.
The chairwoman's smirk vanished as she shrank back. Then motioned to the rep
with the weapon.

"Jim,
take your hand off the weapon slowly. We're not going to threaten him in any
physical way. But I should warn you Admiral, there is a dead man's
switch," she smiled as she held up a control. Her eyes glittered. "If
I go, we all go." He cocked his head.

"Interesting.
I can't hack it Admiral. They've shielded this entire room. That's a hard wired
link to something. Its monitoring her vitals too," Sprite informed him.

"I
suggest a tactical retreat is in order," Defender urged. Irons snarled
again.

"This
isn't going according to plan," one of the other senators said, gulping
and looking nervously from one opponent to the other. "You said he'd cave.
You said that."

"Quiet
Bernard. The Admiral is merely being stubborn. He'll come around in time,"
the chairwoman replied.

"I
can turn this around later you know," Irons replied.

"No
you can't. And If you try, it will be your word against ours," she smiled.
"Your power coup is foiled."

He
shook his head, suddenly tired. "You honestly think people will believe I
went through all the trouble of setting up a government, handing over the
governorship all to take it back?" he laughed.

"They'll
believe what we tell them. We're their leaders after all," another rep
said. Irons turned on him then back to the chairwoman when the man wouldn't
meet his gaze.

"You
will come to regret this," he said.

"Don't
count on it," the chairwoman grinned. She knew she had him.

"No,
I can assure you, you will," the Admiral shook his head. "You have no
idea how much you will.” He shook his head. “All right, I'll leave. I was going
to in a couple of years anyway." He shrugged and turned to the door.

"Admiral
no tricks. You will board your shuttle. Dock with the Destiny and not make any
communications to Firefly or any other ship or colony," the chairwoman
said.