Fool's Gold (The Wandering Engineer) (62 page)

Irons
sighed shaking his head. "I know. But we can't do anything about that. You
know the drill, everything is a trade off," he shrugged.

"Well,
we've got her software sorted out. Logan reports the breaches around the
airlock have been patched. I think we can dock with her now. It will make
repairs go faster," Firefly reported, but didn't sound eager at the
thought.

Irons
studied the avatar then nodded. "All right, ask Logan to let me know when
he is ready."

"Already
done. He's waiting for this EVA shift to finish and come in. Then he said he
will be ready. Um, about thirty minutes he said," Sprite replied. Irons
nodded.

"I'm
glad I've got subordinates that have initiative. Make it so," Irons
smiled.

"Um,
manual docking?" Firefly asked, sounding nervous.

Irons
shook his head. "No, you handle it. Tell Sun-Yat we'll dock with them, not
the other way around." The AI nodded.

"Very
well, setting course now," Firefly fed the course to the helm.

"Janice,
Firefly is going to dock with Sun-Yat in..." Irons looked at the clock.
"Twenty nine minutes. Just keep off the controls while he does."
Janice looked up then nodded slowly.

"If
you want the AI can feed you the docking maneuver and let you run the sim, give
it a try," he suggested. She cocked her head then shrugged.

"I'm
game. It beats sitting here staring at the bulkhead while someone else drives.”
Irons chuckled and nodded to the avatar.

"Docking
maneuver complete," Janice reported twenty minutes later. Irons nodded.
Firefly had reluctantly allowed Janice to do the maneuver. The young woman had
sweated through the entire approach, but had made a flawless docking. Now she
sounded both relieved and smug. Irons chuckled.

"Call
your relief then get some food Janice. Good work," he nodded to her.

She
sat back with a soft groan. She wiggled a little and then groaned. "Thanks
Firefly. Thank you Admiral. As soon as this massage is over, I'll take you up
on it," Janice sighed in content.

The
sensor tech nearby chuckled. "You have to admit, building heaters and
massage motors into the couches is a nice touch," he said. Irons nodded.

"Airlock
pressure equalized. We've got good seal Admiral," Firefly reported.

"Crack
the lock and let’s get busy," he instructed.

"I've
got the crates the commander requested already in the docking corridor.
Munitions to follow," the AI reported. Irons studied the report.

"Admiral,
thanks for docking, getting parts in sips from Sergio is nice, but we need a
concentrated effort here," Logan's voice came from behind him. Irons
turned then sat up.

"Permission
to come aboard?" Logan asked with a weary smile.

"Since
you're already here, granted." Irons got up and nodded to the exec's
chair.

"She's
a no frills ship Admiral, but I think I can handle her," Logan nodded.
Irons chuckled.

"All
right, transfer approved. Log it Firefly." He looked over to the AI. The
AI nodded. "All right, now, how long do you need before we can move
on?" Irons asked.

Logan
grimaced then ran his hand through sweat soaked hair. "At least two more
shifts. That should get the basics covered. I've got a crew out now patching
her fuel tanks. Shelby has a crew out running the parts now," Logan waved.

"I'd
say at least seven hours, maybe eight. We just ignited her fusion reactor. It's
purring like a kitten, no problems there. You were right, swapping in the one
we built on the way out was a hell of a lot easier than using the death trap
they had. Damn magnetic couplers were built around the stone age," he
smiled.

Irons
nodded. "Good to hear that. At least something is working out," he
nodded.

"Life
support is pretty shot up. We're talking a complete rebuild in some of the
compartments. I've got techs and bots working on it now," Logan pointed to
the holo. "Most were in the crew quarters. I've got a few people standing
down due to fatigue. They're in hammocks in cargo bay one," he pointed.

"Right,
so most of this gear is life support?" Irons asked.

"That
and some new electronics. I checked her modules. They use standard universal
ports dating to about twenty years prior to the war. Firefly's workshops
adapted electronics to match it."

Irons
nodded to the AI. "It looks like she was refitted before the war and we
lucked out there. ETA on parts?" Irons asked.

"Electronics,
about another hour barring any problems. I'd say another two, maybe three to
get them all sorted and plugged in," the AI reported. "Another twenty
to thirty minutes getting them programmed from their firmware and
updates."

Irons
nodded. "All right, anything I can do to lend a hand?" Irons asked,
turning back to Logan.

Logan
smiled. "All hands are welcome Admiral." Irons nodded.

"One
condition, you get some rest. At least four hours," Irons held up a
finger. Logan stiffened, then sighed wearily.

"All
right, an orders an order. I'll eat then get some sack time." He got up
with a groan.

"Get
going commander. I'll check in later to compare notes," Irons waved him
off. "Janice, you've got the bridge," Irons smiled as she stepped
back onto the bridge holding a power bar. She froze. Irons turned to follow
Logan out.

"Who
me?" Janice squeaked. Irons chuckled as he paused in the hatch doorway and
caught her surprised expression. It was priceless.

"You
are the only officer left on the watch bill, your it. Enjoy," he waved.
"Let Harris know what is going on. I'll try to be back before his shift
starts," he ordered.

"Right,"
Janice walked warily over to the command chair then sat on the edge.

"It
won’t bite," Firefly teased.

"Sure
it won’t," she muttered. She wiggled her butt for a moment then pursed her
lips. “It'd better not,” she said, glaring at the AI. Several techs chuckled.

"She's
a mess Admiral but we can work with her." Irons smiled as Sprite and
Proteus gave him their reports.

"It's
a pain not to be able to access through a wireless node, I've sent a tech to
set a couple up, at least one on the bridge. Would you believe this crate
doesn't have implant access?" Sprite sounded miffed. Irons chuckled. A
tech looked over to him.

"Internal
conversation. Get back to work." He made a shooing motion then turned as
they nodded amused.

"Oh
it's got an access here and there for civilian grade implants, but nothing
military grade," Sprite sniffed. "And no AI, and no AI hardware."
She shook her head.

"I
take it that is going to be rectified?" he asked dryly. Logan's survey
crew had finished their work hours ago. Logan had concentrated on hull and
architectural repairs for the first shift then when they had it under control
he'd shifted to the power plant and drive. He'd left the electronics for later.
Which brought them to where they were now, sorting that out.

"Not
now. I don't think we have the time. I've set up some seed AI to help the crew,
but we need to build the hardware core before we could go that route," the
AI shrugged.

"Sensors,
communications and power are online. Hull is patched. Replacement struts look
good, she's sound structurally at least. There were several EPS leaks, they are
locked down now. Weapons are under repair. We're swapping two of the broken
laser gun defense turrets for point defense laser clusters Firefly has in
storage. That will upgrade the firepower and defense," Firefly reported.

"Dan
checked in, he's overhauling the ECM and defenses. Chaff packs and flares are
about it for this thing. He's sent over a couple toys for them to play with
though. They'll have to strap them to the hull and use explosive bolts to kick
them off the hull to use them though," Sprite reported.

Irons
nodded. "What about the drive?" he asked.

"Good
news and bad news. We've got Firefly's second drive almost finished, Shelby has
it in pieces but they are putting it back together now. She says they will have
it back together by the end of this shift and ready to work up again. Sun-Yat's
drive is actually in better shape than we'd planned on. She took a couple micro
meteors up the tail pipe, but we've replaced the broken emitters and split
lines," Proteus reported.

"There
was a coolant leak that froze her sensors along the keel, so a crew is working
on that now. They should get it done soon," Firefly finished.

"And
life support?" Irons asked.

"That's
a bit problematical. She's a colander Admiral, she's got leaks everywhere. SOP
is to keep everyone in skin suits till she's certified fit. The starboard side
of deck one is the worst. I think it will be some time before it can be safely
occupied," Proteus reported.

"Fuel,
wedge, and shields?" Irons asked.

"Fuel
tank has been patched and is filling from our reserve tanks now. Shields are the
most critical system left, they took an awful beating. Most of her starboard
flank is bare. I've got a crew working on it. I sent the specs to Anvil, they
are going to transship pods and parts to the Oort colony for pick up."

Irons
nodded as Logan entered. He looked a bit grizzled, not having shaved. He did
look a bit better though. He smiled as he went over to the food replicator and
tapped in a request.

"I
see the food replicator works." Irons nodded. Logan saluted him with his
cup.

"One
of the first things we fixed. You know the drill Admiral, the navy lives on its
coffee," Logan smiled taking a sip. Irons chuckled.

"Are
you ready to go to the Oort colony?" Irons asked as Logan sat down in the
couch next to him. The corvette's bridge was small and cramped, with only the
minimum seats. Captain, helm, and tactical. Irons and Proteus had repaired all
the stations. Soot still stained things here and there, but all the displays
and controls were now fully functional.

"Yes
Admiral, they are set to top off our life support and fuel once we get
there." Logan sat back with a grimace. "Funeral at oh eight
hundred?" he asked. Irons reluctantly nodded.

"We
leave at oh nine hundred. Shelby should be done by then," he smiled.

"She'd
better be. I taught her," Logan smiled. Irons chuckled.

"Think
you can handle her?" Irons indicated the ship.

"Oh,
we'll be fine. Bit tight but fine." He tapped his foot on the deck.
"Thanks for restoring gravity and lighting." Irons chuckled. Logan
looked around. “And the bridge,” he smiled.

"I've
had a lot of practice," Irons said as he waved dismissively. “We've got
your electronics mostly sorted out, we're waiting on the repairs to your drive
and drive sensors. Firefly is running sims to balance your shield load until
you can pick up more nodes."

He
looked over to the ships plot.

"Ah.
Probably won’t have much more than particle shielding until we get them
fixed," Logan replied. They had hoped for more.

"That
is unfortunately correct commander. I've devised several algorithms to cover
your starboard flank. It is the weakest with little protection. I suggest you
keep the port side to the primary or any other major source of radiation,"
Firefly projected the ship's schematic then rotated it and highlighted the
starboard flank in red.

"Right.
RCS is okay? Inertials?" Irons asked. The last thing they needed was
another hiccup.

"RCS
checks out, despite that hiccup earlier. There was a great deal of heat stress
damage on the port side and some frozen valves on the starboard. They have been
repaired. Inertials need a bit more work, but we've got minimum coverage on
both decks," Logan replied, checking his display. "I wish this had an
ops station, or a defense station. Pairing up the duties is a pain," he
frowned.

"Would
an AI make things simpler?" Firefly asked syrupy sweet. Logan glared then
shrugged sheepishly and laughed.

"Right.
I'll put it on my Christmas wish. Along with the other things." He waved
his cup. "Not bad though, you've got to admit. I thought she would need a
month or two of work."

Irons
nodded. "In my, I mean, our time, maybe a couple days in a good dry dock.
But that's with a complete rebuild. We have to make do with what we got. For
now," he shrugged.

“Admiral,
we're getting a signal from Warthog.” the com tech said with a smile. So far
things were going well. They were on their way to the jump point now. About six
hours out he thought as he checked the display.

Irons
felt a brief glow of pride as he glanced around and then turned his attention
to the tech. He knew his people were working miracles and growing up quickly.
But sometimes that's what it takes to survive a crisis.

They
were on course for the the derelict, without any hiccups in the drive so far.
In fact The rebuild of engine two had sped them up by something like nineteen
percent. Which had put them just in range of this rendezvous.