Fool's Gold (The Wandering Engineer) (48 page)

"No
harm done," Irons said then continued on his way.

"So
we've got beam weapons, tractors, KEWs, and grapeshot. Any chance of shield
disruptors? Gravity bombs?" Harris asked. Shelby grimaced. Harris was
shaking down into his new roll and seemed to enjoy it. He'd spent the past
couple of hours since boarding familiarizing himself with the tactical systems.
He'd even pestered her about the drive specs until Firefly had intervened. She
wasn't sure why he needed to know that information. This was his first time in
a meeting hopefully she wouldn't have to kick him too often.

"We're
making as many missile bodies as we can. We've got two lines going, since there
are apparently two different types." She looked over to the Admiral but
Harris nodded.

"Right,
point defense missiles and offense missiles. Got it. Not much of warheads
though?" he asked looking over to the Firefly avatar.

"We've
made three fusion warheads. Now that the crew has experienced the manufacturing
and assembly process they should speed up," Firefly explained.

"Fusion?
Gravity?" Shelby asked.

"There
are different types of missiles. They all use the same body and propulsion...
But the warheads do different things. Fusion warheads are nuclear explosives.
Antimatter... Same deal but more powerful. Gravity.. well it is harder to make
and it is specialized," Logan explained.

"Then
there are ECM missiles. They use electronics to spoof the enemy's fire and
defensive fire control. They blind it or fool it into receiving incorrect
sensory data." Logan sat back.

"Unfortunately
antimatter and gravity warheads take a lot of time, rare materials, and energy
to make. They are out," Irons explained. "We can make ECM missiles
though, we're working on that now. Now that we have some missile bodies we've
set up a second warhead line that is making them. Most will be flares and
dazzlers though," he shrugged. Shelby and Harris nodded.

"I'll
have to factor that into the tactical plans," Harris muttered.

"You'll
get to play with the others later Harris. Let's get through this mess
first," Shelby muttered. Harris looked up and smiled.

"Promise?"
His tone and smile was so much like a kid promised candy that the staff
chuckled.

"Least
he's happy," Logan pointed his thumb to the smug tactician.

"Whatever
works," Irons nodded.

The
lift doors opened and Irons looked inside. "That's it?" he asked.

"Yes
Admiral. I'm afraid after the battle of Malaysia rebuilding my flag bridge was
deemed unnecessary. Chief Grimaldi pulled the debris and the space has been
used as storage since then." Firefly sounded apologetic. He'd told the AI
it was an informal inspection tour.

Irons
grunted looking around at the crates. "Food?" he asked.

"Yes
Admiral. Ration bars."

"A
bit past their expiration dates I would imagine," Irons said dryly.
"Don't even think about getting me to eat them." He shook his head.

"Why
Admiral I'd never..."

"Relax
Firefly, he's pulling your leg," Sprite responded. The Admiral chuckled.

"Spoil
sport," he shook his head.

"No,
merely filling a naive soul in about your depraved nature," Sprite
replied.

He
chuckled. "Right, send it all to the recycler. I don't need a flag bridge
for now anyway, so we can hold off on repairing it as well."

He
shrugged. "Besides, we've got more important priorities. If we have a
fleet action I can use the backup bridge or the couch in the Admiral's
wardroom," he smiled.

"Right,
with a jack you can plug in anywhere," Firefly responded. "I've put
in a work order now. Chief Mantooth and the Bosun are polling for a work party
now." The Admiral nodded.

"So,
what are these implants?” Jesse, one of the coxswains asked nervously.
"They are implants that will let you access ships systems and enhance
you," Irons replied. He looked around the bridge. Most of the crew were
attending to their stations but also listening in. Even the techs working on
wiring in the corner had slowed or paused to listen. Typical he thought with an
amused thought. Some things never change.

"Like
super men?" Jesse asked dubious.

"No.
We don't have the time for that. You'll get a basic IFF, code package, medical
check up, and if possible sensory implants. Also rejuv treatments," Irons
looked down at his tablet. He'd need to adjust the schedules to get the port
plasma feeds back online. In just two days they'd worked wonders. He was proud
of them.

"Anti-aging?"
Harris asked. "You'll love that Jesse," he smiled to her. She
grimaced then stuck her tongue out at him. Harris chuckled. "Seriously,
anti-aging?" he asked.

"It's
a bit more complex than that. It doesn't just slow the aging process, it also eliminates
a lot of excess body fat and enhances your muscles and immune system," the
doctor sat down with a cup of coffee.

"Morning
Doc. Just the person to ask about this," Irons sat back picking his own
cup up.

"Right.
There are different implant techniques, we're going with a mix since we don't
have access to military grade medical nano," she grimaced.

"Why
not?" Harris asked surprised. "I'd think they'd stock it
here..." He waved to indicate Firefly.

"It's
not that easy. Because of Federation law the only places that can make medical
nanites are hospital facilities under strict regulation. Military medical nano
can only be made on hospital ships or stations," she sighed sitting back.

“And
Firefly ran out of military grade a long time ago. Right?”

“Right
doctor. I have been making do with civilian grade,” Firefly responded.

"So
where does that leave us?" Janice asked.  Irons was pleased with her. She
had recently joined up, in fact she'd made a bee line from sickbay straight to
Firefly's dock when she came into port. She was shaping up as a good second
chair helmswoman. He had given her a brevet rank of second lieutenant.

"Doing
implants the hard way. Oh I can program the nano I have to do civilian grade
implants now, so we will do that with those that need it. Those that need to do
a lot of telepresence or VR work," she waved. "Some implants will
have to be the old cut and paste method, so they will have some recovery time
attached," doctor Thornby said with a grimace.

"What
about Logan?" Jesse asked.

"What
about me?" Logan asked coming in. He saluted the Admiral with his cup and
then took his seat next to him.

"Don't
you need an officer's upgrade?" she asked.

He
nodded.  "The Admiral frocked me to officer status, so my implants have
the basic codes. He updated them in my BIOS. Firefly is going to do a firmware
update the next time I go to bed." He shrugged it off.

"And
you can do what? Access computers and stuff?" Jesse asked.

"I
can jack in yes." He held up his right palm. "That's how I've been
managing Anvil's power plant for years. This is a civie implant, used for basic
data like banking." He tapped the right side of his neck. "You can't
see it unless you're close but there is a port here that lets me jack into a
system," he grimaced.

"But
you don't need to do you Admiral," Harris said. Irons stiffened then
shrugged.

"There
are upgrades and plug and play radio LAN transceivers. In my case however I
have a wireless implant. It lets me access things without a physical jack when
I need to, but the bandwidth is more limited. I don't telepresence without
physically jacking in." He held up his right arm. His middle finger
morphed into a jack. "See?" he said. Jesse and Harris stared in mute
fascination and horror. "If we had medical nano that was properly
programmed then they would weave the implants into your tissue while you slept.
It would take a day or two, but you'd wake up better than ever," he
shrugged.

"I
guess I can live with it," Jesse grimaced. "As long as I'm still me
in the end," she muttered. Irons nodded.

"It
takes some getting used to petty officer, but you don't need what I have so
don't worry about it. We're giving you the minimum invasive upgrade we
can." He shrugged. Doc nodded.

"Right,
Once I get the handle on it and get the crew squared away I'm going to switch
to the station so I can set up an assembly line and do it right," she
smiled. Jesse grimaced.

"Doc
Standish?" she asked. Doc locked her eyes with the helmswoman.

"He
wants an officer's slot. Do you have a problem with that?" she challenged.
"No not at all," Jesse mumbled.

"Good,"
Doc said primly. “Doctors are usually considered officers. Most nurses as well.
We need the authority to deal with difficult patients.” She gave the Admiral a
dead pan look.

Irons
hid a grimace. "Right, we've come a long way, but we've got a ways to go.
How is engineering?" He turned to Shelby.

"Better.
We've finished our first round of training sims, or at least the orientation
ones. I'm going to throw a few problems at them on the next shift and see how
it goes." She shrugged. "So far so good. I've got a few problem
people but we're working it out. I'll get you a watch bill and shift rotation
by next watch," she held up a tablet. Irons nodded.

"Right.
How is tactical?" he asked. The meeting revolved into routine as they
relaxed.

"Admiral
I noticed you said support ships, does that mean Io can make military grade
nano?" Harris asked softly over a private communication channel. He looked
around then nodded to the avatar. The AI isolated the link.

"Yes,
but I'd prefer that to be strictly need to know," he grimaced. Harris
really was sharp.

"What's
to stop them from using it?" Harris asked.

"Me.
Or a lack thereof," he chuckled.

"Oh,
lock out?" Harris asked. Irons nodded.

"Exactly."
A tech waved and Harris grimaced before moving off to see what was going on.

"Admiral,
I'd like you to meet Dan. He's a bit of a tac buff like me, but he always
focused on the ECM and defensive measures side over the strategic offensive
side," Harris introduced a short stocky man with a bit of a beer gut.

"Pleased
to meet you. ECM?" he asked.

"Well
some of us prefer brains over brawn," Dan turned a look on Harris then
smiled briefly to the Admiral.

"All
right, You've got a battlefield commission as a second Lieutenant. Get with
Harris and start working out with the ships systems," he waved as he sat.

"Admiral,
when are we going to do a field exercise?" Harris asked excited. Shelby
hid a smile.

"When
we're ready. We've still got a crew to train. I'd rather not expend munitions
until we've had a few sims under our belt and weapons to train with,"
Irons smiled. Harris nodded.

"Right,
right, okay. I'm on today's list for upgrading, let’s see if we can run a sim
or two beforehand. I'd like to compare and contrast it to what I can do when
I've got implants," he waved to Dan who started chattering animatedly.

Shelby
leaned over to the Admiral's side. "They'll do all right Admiral. I'm more
worried about the prize crews for the corvettes," she sighed. Irons
nodded. Recently they had identified a few potential ships to repair and put
back into service. Unfortunately all of them were sublight milita grade ships
and none were above the size of a light frigate. They were reserving their best
command team for Firefly, which meant the corvettes were going to get the
dregs. That is if they were worth salvaging. He sat back.

"I've
got a couple people volunteering for communications or engineering slots, but
no one is stepping up for command," he said, grimacing and steepling his
fingers. Shelby grimaced as well.

"Harris
and Dan won’t do it, they're good but they lack..." She shrugged.

"People
skills you  mean. Real world experience and leadership skills. That takes time,
exposure, and practice," Irons sighed. Shelby nodded looking away.

"It's
harder to do than I thought," she said softly. He nodded.

"Being
an officer or serving with friends and family?" he asked. “From what your
father said and what I've seen you've got the leadership and technical
abilities down.” He shook his head. “Is it being an officer with everything on
the line?”

She
grimaced. "Both. I've done it all my life, but it's a little harder to be
objective now." She looked over to him. He nodded.

"Now
it's real and we're in a time crunch," he replied. She grimaced as well
then reluctantly nodded.

"Yeah."

He
chuckled. "If it was easy everyone would do it. Don't worry about it, it
comes with time," he nodded to her.