Fool's Gold (The Wandering Engineer) (61 page)

"I
don't like the looks of engine two. I want to stand her down and run a
diagnostic," Shelby replied. Irons looked at the avatar.

"Firefly?"

"Engine
two is not reading up to spec Admiral. The engine is running at forty three
percent efficiency, but there is a hard wave harmonic that is throwing things
off. We may have a problem with the thrust vector or something further up
stream. Perhaps a broken wave guide emitter? Or a short?" Firefly answered
after a moment.

"You
mean you don't know?" Janice asked.

"Most
of my drive sensors are still only connected to subnets. I can't run
diagnostics now. It has to be done manually," the AI answered.

"Hence
the stand down," Irons nodded. "Go ahead. All fusion drives shut down
to maintenance levels. RCS to station keeping. Set wedge and mag sail to
station keeping as well. Shelby, go ahead and shut down drive two and get
busy," he said looking up. “I want a completion ETA ASAP.”

"On
it. Thanks."

"Admiral,
she's a mess, but she's worthy," Logan said a few hours later. Irons
smiled as Logan reported over the communications link.

"She's
bingo on everything, but I don't see any damage to her drives that we can't
fix. Matt patched in a battery pack to her bridge, her bridge electronics are
functional. I've got a crew working on a communications link to Firefly now.
Purple Blossom dived right into the air ducts and electricals, she's chasing
down shorts and power bleeds a hell of a lot faster then we can."

The
AI turned and nodded to the Admiral. "Handshake protocol received and accepted.
Admiral, I've accessed her logs do you want to see them?"

Irons
waved it away. "Maybe later. Copy them to the file archives. CC a link to
Harris and Dan for further review."

Harris
looked up and grinned. Dan chuckled. "Oh I think it's going to be a late
night again tonight!" he sing songed softly.

"Quiet,"
Firefly frowned.

"This
ship is tight Admiral, only two decks, not much room. I can barely turn around
in her bridge. Engineering is pretty tore up. It's just on the other side of
the bulkhead." Irons could hear the annoyance in Logan's voice. "I
sent Sergio back to pick up more gear. I'd like to get those replicators you
built for her in and online ASAP," Logan finished.

"Right,
I have him on final now," Firefly confirmed. A video screen popped up with
an image of the launch. Irons waved it away.

"Send
Shelby over with a spare micro reactor and a couple patch kits and some armor
plates. Maybe a couple servers. No wait, I don't think they are compatible..
Crap."

Irons
shook his head. "Shelby is busy tearing into drive two Commander. She said
something's hinky and wants to figure it out. I'll see if she can send over
someone else." He nodded to Firefly who started to scroll names. Two came
up. "Okay I've got two, we'll page them and have them meet Sergio in the
boat bay."

Irons
nodded to the avatar who blinked.  "Done."

"I
should have known she couldn't resist tearing into the engines. We'll manage.
Let me know when Sergio is on his way, he's liable to forget."

Janice
nodded. They all knew Sergio was good, but still a little pilot mad.

"Right,
will do. Give me a status report in two hours. Firefly out." He waved his
hand across his throat in the classic cut motion.

The
comm. tech cut the channel. "We're clear ah... sir," she said.

"Admiral,
if you were over there could you speed up the repairs?" the tech asked.

"Yes,
probably, but I'm not too comfortable leaving Firefly. I don't want to be
caught away if the pirates arrive," Irons answered, studying the data
Firefly brought up on his display.

"Oh,"
the girl mumbled.

"She's
got a universal docking port Admiral, we could dock," Firefly reported,
highlighting the dock.

"Yes
but there is a breach here and here. She's a sieve." Irons pointed them
out. "When they get her patched up a little more then maybe. I'm also
leery about docking till we're sure she won’t short out and blow up," he
shrugged.

"Can
we upgrade her electronics? This ancient piece of crap is... well... crap. The
bandwidth is terrible and the system... Don't get me started on the memory speed."
The AI grimaced. Several of the bridge watch chuckled.

"I
don't know. The problem is interfacing. Remember, she's old. There is no
telling if we can match her old system and old wiring harness with new gear.
Some of her systems probably won’t be able to handle it," Irons replied.

"Yeah,
that's true. Then again, if they made her modular, then we might have a
chance," Harris replied. Irons looked over to him.

"Well,
I did do a little research a while back. Some of the ships were modular to make
them easier to repair, service, or upgrade in the field," he said. Irons
nodded. "That's true of some designs, but there is no telling what that
is," Dan waved to the ship. "She's different. Spinal mounted rail
gun? Who uses that? I don't remember that back in the Xeno war," he shook
his head.

Harris
studied his tac readouts then the schematic. "You may be right. Looks like
she's got six laser turrets. Singles, not Gatling. They must double as point
defense. I wonder if they tore out KEW turrets as an upgrade?"

“Bingo.
Probably late addition add ons or something,” Dan said rubbing his jaw. He
looked thoughtful. “I do recommend we try to upgrade her, I mean, the interface
design will be a bitch, but if we've got to do it anyway...” he turned to
Irons.

The
Admiral nodded. “We'll see.”

“And
get rid of those ridiculous portholes,” Firefly muttered.

"Admiral
she's maneuvering! Her RCS is lit... She's firing! We're on a collision
course!" a sensor tech called, sounding hysterical.

"Firefly
emergency blow, All hands brace for emergency maneuver!" Irons called,
then grunted as the ship pitched down. Padds and styluses, along with assorted
loose gear suddenly flung up to the ceiling then rained down once more. Janice
squeaked as a coffee cup hit her on the back.

"Report,"
Irons said, turning to see the tech picking herself up off the floor. She
looked at her display then turned.

"We're
clear, but that was too close," she shuddered.

"Firefly?"
Irons asked. "Comm. open a channel," he scowled.

"Channel
open Admiral."

"Logan
what the devil is going on over there?" he asked with some heat.

"Sorry
Admiral, there was a hiccup in the helm controls. Her last order was still
embedded in her electronics buffer. When we powered her helm up to clear her
she just bucked like a mule." Logan's voice sounded breathless and a bit
shaky.

"Everyone
okay?" Irons asked suddenly concerned.

"We've
got a few injuries, mostly bumps and bruises and a couple broken bones. I
definitely hurt my pride. The inertials were off line so some of the crew are
out still." Logan sounded concerned as well. He had a right to be, his
ship wasn't fully functional yet after twenty something hours of round the
clock work.

"Damn,"
Irons muttered looking around. He found the comm. tech. "Get a med team
over there on the next flight. Bump whatever you need. And get me a casualty
report here," he sighed as Shelby called in.

"What
the hell was that?" she said. "Evans nearly blew us to kingdom
come!" Harris paled. The comm. tech winced.

"It
is all right Shelby, my fault," her father answered her tiredly."
Sun-Yat had a bit of a buck in her we didn't see coming." He exhaled
noisily over the channel.

"Well
next time warn a gal!" Shelby said, starting to calm down. Irons nodded.

"I'm
getting damage reports all over the ship. We'll talk about this later,"
she snarled then cut the channel. Irons winced.

"I'm
glad we weren't docked when that happened. It would have ripped our hull
up," Firefly said into the growing silence.

"Yeah,"
Irons exhaled, getting his own emotions under control  then shrugged. "And
now you know why I didn't want to do that right off. All right, let's get
things sorted out then. Sergio is on final?" He turned to the sensor tech
who nodded. He cleared his throat.

She
turned. "Oh, sorry, I mean yes Admiral. He's..." she looked down,
"twelve minutes out." Irons nodded.

"We've
got a couple reports of bumps and bruises, one broken arm, but so far so
good," Firefly said.

Irons
nodded. "Keep me updated."

Harris
suppressed another yawn. Irons glanced his way. They'd been at it for about
thirty six hours. Obviously the kid needed a break. Fortunately he had the
perfect excuse.

"All
right Harris, you and Dan take off, get some rest. I'm giving you the evening
watch. Be back here ten minutes before it starts. That’s in six hours so you
better get some food and down time." Irons looked over to the tac officer
then to the defense officer.

"Dan,
you've got the graveyard, so get some food and rest and report back here in
thirteen hours. Both of you be prepared for six hours of work though, I'll
leave you some exercises to work on," he smiled. Harris's eyes lit. Dan
seemed just as excited but then a hint of worry appeared.

"What
if we mess up?" he asked.

"On
graveyard? Hardly." Harris dismissed the idea as he got up. A tech came in
to relieve him. "You'll do fine, just don't crash the mainframe trying to
run a sim," he smiled. Dan chuckled. He stretched and then nodded to the
tech who came up beside him. He murmured to her for a few moments then followed
Harris out.

"Do
you think they will be okay with command?" Firefly asked over the private
channel.

"They'll
do fine. Besides, we've got to start taking chances some time. They need to get
some experience and confidence. Develop some command skills," Irons
murmured. The AI nodded.

"Hence
having them take the evening and night shift on their own. We're going to be
here until morning so you can rest up," the AI's avatar turned and smiled.
Irons chuckled.

"Now
you've got it," he said. "Make sure you give them some good problems,
start them on a curve though. Make sure you throw them one twist. I want it all
recorded so we can go over them later." The AI nodded.

"Aye
aye Admiral, I have a few that would work," the AI sounded smug.

"Don't
swamp them just yet. Let them get some confidence. But if you can keep their
interest with a challenge, all the better," Irons warned. The AI nodded
again.

"Sun-Yat
is powered up. They've got her computer rebooted and life support in several
compartments. Commander Logan requested a funeral service for the dead,"
Sprite reported.

Irons
grimaced then nodded. "Yeah, a brief one," he replied.

"Drive
techs are working now, she's only got the one fusion drive, so it will be
easier to work on. They won’t have to sync up multiple ones, but she's a bit
slower and sluggish on the helm," Firefly said sounding smug.

"Maybe,
but then again, she doesn't have as much mass," Sprite replied sweetly.

"Are
you calling me fat?" Firefly asked sounding amused.

"If
the ship fits..." Sprite answered with a laugh. Irons chuckled.

"All
right, the pop guns I'm not thrilled about. Two working turrets? The pathetic
spinal mount rail gun? She's got no offensive missiles, only unguided rocket
pods someone strapped to her flanks," he growled shaking his head.

"Well,
the rocket pods are easy to take care of. I already have my munitions plant
working on it. Chief Brower sent me the plans he drew up an hour ago,"
Firefly reported. Irons nodded. "What about the rail gun?" he asked.

"We're
not sure. The commander has a team working on it now. It's a brute for its size
and age, and her superconductors have a lot of magnetic leakage. That may be
why they went with only six turrets and the four mini guns. Most of the weapons
are on the ventral side, as far from that pop gun as they could get them,"
Firefly reported.

Irons
nodded. "So her weakest side is her keel?" Irons asked.

"Yes,
she's got a pair of defensive rail gun turrets on her flanks that can
articulate down, but they can't quite close the gap." The AI demonstrated
on the holo in front of the Admiral. Irons grunted.

"Electronics
wise, they are in better shape. The helm has some issues, but sensors and
communications have been cleared. They are focusing on drive issues now of
course," Firefly continued. Irons nodded. He looked over to the main plot.
They could see small flashes as work crews patched the ship’s hull. Every crew
member had a skin suit and knew how to use it. He'd been firm about that. Now
he was glad they had taken the time to pick a salvage crew with space
experience.

"Admiral,
that ship doesn't have much armor. Six centimeters of sloping composite. That's
nearly naked," Sprite reported.