Fool's Gold (The Wandering Engineer) (21 page)

“No
problem, I needed an excuse to stretch my legs anyway.” He shrugged.

“You
coming Admiral?” Shelby's voice called. He shook his head and waved as he left.

“So,
how did you get here?” Irons looked over to the old sailor. Logan was sitting
on a stool in main engineering, propped up by his cane. His shoulders were
hunched. He shook his head.

“We
were coming out of hyper. Ship was a wreck after our last battle in
Albuquerque. We'd ridden her as far as she could take us. She dropped out of
hyper about seven light years out from Pyrax.” He looked away for a moment then
cleared his throat.

“Captain
Fox helmed her himself. He knew the translation would most likely break her so
he ordered all hands to the life pods before we crossed.” The old man's voice
was awash in sorrow.

“How
many?” the Admiral asked softly. The old man looked down. His hands shook as
did his voice.

“Eighteen.”
He looked up. “Twenty two of us got off, but four were cooked by the ship when
she blew apart. Rogers got a piece of it, we listened as his atmo leaked out
and he died. We could at least do that so he wouldn't die alone.” The old man
looked away. Irons grimaced in familiar pain. He felt his own feelings of
helpless fury at the loss of a ship, being trapped in a life pod... being
helpless to do anything...and tried to put them aside to listen.

“We
tried to daisy chain but the life pods were damaged by the radiation and
debris. Only a few managed to cluster. The rest of us went shot gun, spreading
out in hopes that one of us would be picked up by a ship.” He shook his head.

“We
took a vote after a couple hours, we were going to draw straws, keep one or two
of us awake, but we all decided to go under. I woke up ninety three years ago
on an Oort colony. Hogrite picked me up in the Oort cloud. Sold me and my pod
to the Port Admiral.” His lips writhed.

“Spent
nearly sixty years working in this place. Long years, even for those of us with
nanite and gene therapy anti-aging treatments. I only received the basic
orientation treatments, I never got the rejuv boosters.” He sighed and shook
his head. “ninety years and none of the other pods were ever found.” He looked
up as Shelby came in then away. She walked past quietly.

“And
Shelby?” The Admiral asked, hoping to draw the man out some more.

 “Her
mother Anna set her sights on me when she came of age. Seems she had a crush on
me since she could walk.” He chuckled looking up. His eyes sparkled. “Goddess
of space rest her soul I don't know what she saw in me, there I was practically
a hermit. Time lost, depressed. Only the constant need of repairs to keep my
mind occupied.”

He
smiled. “I'd like to think I was lonely, I was, but I knew it was more. She
made up her mind she was going to have me.” He chuckled. “Such a strong woman!
Quiet and strong, one of my best students too.” He sighed.

“What
happened?” the Admiral asked picking up a coupler.

The
old man's shoulders hunched. His face turned red and his eyes grew grim as his
lips thinned. “That fucker killed her. That's what.” He pointed the crutch up
to the ceiling practically spitting with hatred.

“The
Port Admiral?” Irons asked.

“Not
him, his father. Well, maybe him too, I am not sure. Son of an ass wipe could
have had a hand in it,” he growled.

“His
father and the ruling elite decreed that the upper life support modules were
for them and their ilk only. They even turned the greenhouses into private
parks,” he snarled, disgusted. “Kicked everyone downstairs including us. We
were assigned temporary quarters on deck one twelve.” He looked away. “Twenty
one years ago. So long.” He sighed. “When we complained about the problems and
lack of food they decided to cut the life support to solve them. They killed
one thousand two hundred and forty three people, including my Anna.” He looked
away.

“She
was pregnant too,” Shelby said coming up behind her father. She hugged his
shoulders and looked at the Admiral.

“I
tried to stop it but his bully boys knocked me flat,” the old man said softly.
“By the time I came too and got away it was too late.” He looked up.

“He
got his, daddy.” Shelby looked into his eyes. “They don't venture out of the
luxury decks anymore. And they've learned, they hire muscle from off station
now.” She gave the Admiral a challenging look. “We can't cut the power to their
quarters; it's upstream of the command deck and sickbay. Believe me, we've
wanted too.” Her eyes were cold. “They've learned that accidents happen when
any of them stray from those areas. No one repairs the decks in there either.
They have servants, and those parties, so we can't get a clear shot.” Her lips
writhed.

“Just
as well, I don't want innocent blood on my hands,” the old man said. “Just
theirs,” he said softly.” Shelby nodded.

“Why
didn't you leave?” the Admiral asked.

“Couldn't.
The computer keeps watch on the docks. I tried a time or two before Anna came
along, no luck.” He sighed.

“All
right, well, this coupler is good. I'll get to work on aligning the matrix
after we install it. I'm going to need a hand with balancing the emitter nodes
and plasma yield so why don't you get some down time and rest up. You’re going
to need it.” The Admiral nodded to them. The old man chuckled.

“I
may have aged, but I can handle it Admiral.” He waved as the Admiral left the
compartment.

Irons
looked around the deck then sighed. There was a hell of a lot to do. Too much.
“Admiral, they are still working on the latest shipment. Care to lend me a hand
with the station AI?” Sprite invited. Irons smiled grimly. “I think it's high
time he knew who is boss... Or at least that the station is under new
management,” Sprite said.

Irons
nodded. “Let me jack in and we'll have a heart to heart.”

“Smithy,
it's time you and I had a heart to heart.” Sprite faced her opponent in virtual
space. Her avatar stretched. She laced her fingers together in front of her and
stretched again, then made wiggling motions with each digit. She looked at the
geriatric pile of uncompressed code and sniffed. “You’re so full of corrupted
code you’re barely hanging on. Time to hang it up and reboot.”

“No!”
the AI replied gnarled hands raised for a fight.

“We
don't have time for this.” Irons avatar coalesced out of the ether and into the
virtual space. Io and Defender were on either side of him. Proteus floated
around him like a snake. “It's time you were repaired Smithy. I'm not asking.”
His eyes flashed. “I'm telling. As ranking military officer in this star system
I am the authority here.” He gave the shrinking AI a long look.

Tendrils
of access codes were flowing out of Sprite, Defender, and the Admiral.

“Time
for a reboot,” Sprite said smiling. “Trust me, this won’t hurt a bit.” Smithy
shuddered. His vision faded as Sprite asserted control. “Time for a little code
surgery, let’s see here...”

"Who
exactly is this Port Admiral? I haven't seen him around the bridge." The
Admiral looked around then to the exec who was looking grim. Io was still
working on the parts. Sprite Didn't need him in the core so he pulled out and
checked in with OPS.

"Be
glad he isn't here." He tapped a control. "I had this
installed." He pulled up a feed of a portly man dressed in a roman toga on
a hovering dais. The dais was covered in rugs. Tapestries were draped behind
him. A pair of half naked guards in jeweled harnesses stood to either side.
What concerned and disgusted the Admiral the most were the servants. A pair of
what appeared to be ten year old naked Terran girls fed the fat man grapes.
Another held a gilded tray with a chalice. A blond girl stood behind him,
trying to fan him with a giant plastic fan made to look like a fern. The fat
man groped one of the girls, who shuddered and closed her eyes.

"Turn
it off," the Admiral growled.

"Sorry,"
the exec said softly.

"I
wish you had done something about that," the Admiral closed his eyes in
pain. "Like what? He controls the computer; we all live and die at his
sufferance," Enrique sighed.

"The
computer is now under MY control," Admiral Irons informed the exec.
"It was pretty messed up, viruses, Trojans, and corrupted registry and
memory. The AI was senile." The exec and several of the bridge crew stared
at him. "I spent the better part of the first two shifts yesterday
cleaning it up and rebooting from the firmware back ups." He waved.

“Well,
technically me,” Sprite said with a sniff for his ears only. He shrugged it
off.

"So
that's why it is running faster!" a woman said. She blushed and ducked as
the exec looked over to her. "Sorry," she mumbled.

"So
you can do something about him?" the exec asked wary.

"I
could, but he is the chosen leader here. I am not happy about that or his...
abuse of power." His left hand tightened, his knuckles turned white.
"Let's get through this current crisis and see what tomorrow brings,"
he said. He damn well was going to do something, just as soon as he had the
time and energy. For now though, he'd have to wait. "Where are we on
repairs? Did you refund the Io?"

The
exec nodded. "The captain and purser were gleeful," he replied
sourly.

"It's
for a good cause, trust me. When you get the rest of the parts, you will see.
Io is already helping me out with the software repairs even now. If we can get
things sorted out who knows? You might have a better AI by the end of the
week."

The
exec smiled. "Let's just make sure we have a working station at the end of
the week," he sighed. "The fifth shipment of electronics and emitters
is already being off loaded, we have sent the third installment of metals and
materials, and I am hoping we can get the next shipment of parts before I go
off shift," Enrique said.

The
Admiral nodded. “See? There is light at the end of the tunnel after all.”

"Maybe,
but some of the fusion reactor parts are complex, so they take time to
make." The exec sighed.

"Yeah.
Well, Io leaves in less than two days, we better make the most of that
time," the Admiral replied as he left.

“You're
like a machine you know that?” Shelby asked amused. “We just may make it,” she
said shaking her head. “No thanks to Liam, he bailed over twelve hours ago,”
she added. “I sent him to sickbay; he had a migraine to end all migraines he
said.” She motioned to another operator in the seat.

“You've
been in there twenty hours straight. I would have had to take a pee break hours
ago.” She shook her head amused. “I know my stomach would interrupt me, what's
your secret?” she asked. He looked at her a little blearily. Running the
control lines had been a tedious thing. Thousands of connections. Fortunately
the new stuff from Io was all plug and play. Unfortunately the stuff remaining
in the reactor wasn't. Too many patch jobs over the centuries. The extra robot
had helped enormously. They were within a few hours of a powered test if they
could get the last four emitters in.

“My
implants,” he answered. His voice was rough. His mouth felt dry. He took
another sip of metallic flavored coffee then tried again. “I have implants.
They can recycle things and help my body stay healthy.” He shrugged. He rolled
his shoulders. Proteus was still in one of the robots so he had to remain
jacked in. That was why he was feeling tired he told himself. No nanites to
back him up. He felt old.

“Yeah
well, I couldn't stay still like that. Aren't your muscles sore?” a weary tech
asked. He sighed, rubbing his lower back then whimpering about a cramp in his
right thigh.

“A
little. It will go away in a bit,” the admiral replied. He manually accessed
the nanites and had them purge his muscles of lactic acid. He was careful to
move though.

“Well,
while you've been in la la land the exec has been foaming at the mouth.” Shelby
shook her head. “I swear the man wants to die. Moaning about the deal you
agreed to.” She sighed.

“He
has his priorities skewed and is taking it wrong. He'll come around, just give
him time. How are we doing?” he asked.

She
looked away. “We had a brown out in decks thirty three through thirty five.
Panic turned the people on the decks into rioting mobs.” She sighed looking
almost tearful. “Swarms hit the upper decks. Many were trampled.”

“How
many?” he asked softly.

“One
isn't enough?” she asked. “Too many. Too damn many. Trampled, shot, and
crushed. You name it.” She shook her head. “The worst thing is I lost a couple
techs too. A few of the gangs went berserk and swarmed them before security
could get there.” She spread her hands apart on the railing, looking out as she
leaned on it.

“Damn
fools. Don't they know we're trying to fix the problem?” she said pounding a
fist into the armrest..

He
sighed. “Some see the problem and blame you for it.” He waved. “You've done
everything you can with what you had on hand. It's a miracle things didn't come
apart before now.” He shook his head. She looked down.