Fool's Gold (The Wandering Engineer) (7 page)

Faith
looked them over. “Well, good luck.” She waved to them.

They
moved off and down the dock but were stopped by the guard. “You have to pay
import fees.” He waved to the custom agent.

Junior
groaned. “I forgot.” His hands covered his face.

The
Admiral sighed. “Let's get this over with.” He pushed the cart over to the
woman.

“Yes?
Oh you? What are you doing with that?” She looked over her desk counter to the
pallet. “What are those?” She looked up to them.

“Parts
for the Valdez tug. The XO wants us to get it back in space to resupply the
station. We're almost out of fuel.” The Admiral replied.

The
young woman's eyes widened. “I'd heard, but I didn't know it was that bad!” She
sat down abruptly. “Vinnie...” she shook her head.

“We
don't have money for the import fees, can we be billed or...?” The Admiral left
the thought dangling.

“Say
no more! You don't need that hassle! Get that tub back in space! We need fuel!
My cousin Vinnie works in engineering he said the reactor is almost out!” She
gave Junior a look. “You’re the pilot?” She looked from the Admiral to the
young man.

“He
is. One of them anyway.” The Admiral motioned to the young man who was suddenly
shy and awkward. The girl seemed to preen.

She
put a call in to Ops. After a few moments a harried voice answered. “Yes?” the
man asked. “This is Kathy in customs; we've got the Valdez family here trading
for parts to repair their tub.” The Admiral winced as Junior mouthed tug.

“Tug,”
he said softly.

“Sorry,
Tug,” she said giving him a look.

“Valdez
family? What does... oh excuse me boss.” Another voice replaced the first.

“Kathy
is it?” She seemed too straightened and looked at the Admiral and Junior with a
warning glance.

 “Yes
mister exec?” she asked.

“Expedite
them. Let them go, don't charge them any fees. We need that tug in space
yesterday.” The channel cut with a click. She looked at the speaker for a
moment then cut her line with a shaky hand.

“Well,
all right then, go to it then.” She waved to the guard. “It's all right Benny,
the exec said to leave them be.” He looked back, looked at the cart then
shrugged.

“Your
funeral Kat.” He shook his head and turned away as they left.

“Do
we have to take the lift?” Junior asked, almost whining. The Admiral grimaced.

“If
you have a better idea, I'm all ears.” He waited patiently by the lift doors.
“Actually, I do, I'll meet you at home.” The boy grabbed a few of the smaller
parts, stuffed them into his coverall then left. The Admiral shook his head as
he left.

“Coward,”
Sprite seemed to laugh. The Admiral shook his head once more.

“Yes
and no, impatient too.” He listened as a car groaned to a stop. He muscled the
doors open, and then had to lift the cart up to get over the lip. The car
inside had stopped late, thirty centimeters above the floor. He sighed as he
climbed in. “Well, this is fun.” He tapped the panel entering their
destination.

“Think
we'll get there first?” the AI asked.

“If
we don't run into any problems. Hopefully he doesn't run into any either.” The
Admiral hoped the kid wouldn't get stopped and mugged. “Right.” Proteus went to
work on the panel once more. “Can't help yourself?” he teased.

“Different
car,” Proteus responded. The Admiral nodded.

“Good
to know. Glad you’re fixing it too, we may need it later.” He felt the car jerk
several times as it arrived.

“We're
here,” Sprite reported unnecessarily.

“While
you’re fixing things, can you fix a Wi-Fi node?” Sprite asked.

 The
Admiral snorted. “Add it to the to do list.” He pushed the cart out of the lift
and down the corridor.

He
wrestled the cart to the door and an impatiently waiting and rather smug
looking Junior. The young man ushered him in. He ran down to the shuttle bay
and began unloading his precious cargo.

“Finish
unloading then meet me with the cart in the junk bay for the next load. I need
to dig the satellites out,” the Admiral ordered leaving the boy and cart.

“Great
okay, first up...” He looked around for a moment. Sprite highlighted several of
the small satellites by placing a caret around their position. One was
enshrouded by debris; another was against the wall on a shelf. He nodded.
“Thanks.” He started pulling parts aside to get to the first satellite.

Once
he had the first uncovered he went to the back wall and pulled a tractor collar
off. He wrapped it around the satellite's body and then plugged into it.
“Admiral, you’re going to have to use your own power reserves, this thing's
batteries are fried,” Proteus reported. He grunted as the lights glowed to
life. He felt static electricity dance around him.

In
a moment the collar was charged and the satellite began to slowly rise above
the deck. He turned to see the boy hit the door with a clatter. “Careful, we're
going to need that.” He admonished. The young man stared as the Admiral
carefully maneuvered the satellite over to the cart then lowered it. “One down,
two to go,” he sighed wiping his brow.

“Why
them? Aren't they junk?” Junior asked looking at the satellites.

“No,
they can be fixed; they just need new batteries and new solar panels. Maybe
some fuel for the OMS pods too,” the Admiral replied as he unplugged the collar
and pulled it off.

 “How
did you get that thing to work anyway? It's fried,” Junior waved to the collar
as the Admiral put it back.

“The
battery is dead, but I have my own power supply,” he replied absently.

They
maneuvered the heavy load down through the lock. He patiently waited as Junior
locked up. He was amused to see Junior try to hide the code from him. “Glad you
locked up. I've got a lot on my mind, I may have forgotten.” He nodded to the
young man. “Meet you in the dock?” He asked. Junior dodged a curious couple
then nodded as the Admiral turned to the lift.

“Yeah,
uh, I'll meet you there...” He rushed off.

“Wanna
bet he gets there on a run and spends the extra time talking with the girl?”
Sprite asked with a laugh. The Admiral smiled as the lift doors groaned open.

It
took ninety minutes to get all three satellites out of the Valdez compound and
to the Io. When he brought the last one he met the purser and Anita as they
were exiting. “I've got to run.” Mrs. Valdez shook the purser's hand then
rushed off with a wave.

“What
is that?” the purser asked. Faith looked up from the diagnostic panel.
“Satellite. Weather sat.” She went back to checking the readings.

“Weather
satellite? Why do we... wait, didn't you have us trade some too...” she looked
over to the Admiral in inquiry. He smiled.

 “Right,
you can trade these to your next stop once Faith here gets them sorted out. 
The Braddock continent has some massive hurricanes and tornadoes that flatten
the continent based on the records I accessed. Most of the rest of the planet's
surface was incinerated by antimatter rounds. If they get some warning of
weather...” He looked over to her.

She
nodded. “Right, then they can be prepared... or at least as well as you can for
a damn hurricane.” She shuddered. “Fighter for last?” She asked. The security
chief joined them. The Admiral nodded politely to her.

“Yes,
I can't get that ship out without going through the locks though. We'll need to
go EVA to get her to the ship.” The chief nodded looking the lock over. She
smiled tightly.

“He's
right; there is no way a fighter could fit through this lock,” Faith chuckled
looking at the lock in question. “You got that right!” She straightened and
waved the techs over to swap the satellite over to the Io's pallet. They
carefully fitted it with a grav collar and began to move it. Junior stared at
several of the more interesting women for a moment. The Customs girl Kathy
looked pissed at his sudden interest.

“So
is Kathy going off shift soon?” the Admiral turned to Junior who blushed
fiercely.

“Something
like that,” he mumbled guiltily looking over to the girl. She was glaring at
him. The Admiral chuckled softly. Ah the troubles of youth.

Techs
were already loading the cart down with parts. A second cart was pushed out.
“We'll need that back,” the purser admonished.

“I'm
going with him to make sure we get it back,” the chief nodded.

“And
to check out the fighter?” the Admiral asked. She nodded meeting his eyes. He
smiled to the purser. “Your influence I bet. Checking out the goods.” The
purser chuckled and waved.

“Go,
see you in a bit. I'll see if we can get a team out.” She walked into the lock.

“What
do you have left to move?” the chief asked as they waited by the lift doors.

“The
fighter and the weapons pod. I assume you'd like to check both?” She nodded.
“We can just squeeze them into the second shuttle bay. I'll evacuate the air
and we can move them to Io. We can move the larger parts back the same way,” he
explained. She nodded.

They
ignored curious looks from people passing by as they exited the lift and
entered the corridor to the Valdez compound. He was amused to see Junior had beaten
them there once more. He looked winded and harried though.

“Lets
get inside quick; I think there are some bully boys lurking about.” He waved
them inside. The chief looked around for a moment, and then warily followed.

Junior
took the tech to the shuttle bay and then returned to the junk pile. “Why don't
you escort the young lady back to the dock? I'm not sure she should be out
alone.” The Admiral asked giving the boy a look.

Slowly
he nodded. “All right. I'll be back.” He waved and rushed off. The Admiral
could hear the outer door shut with a clang.

“This
it?” the chief asked as she looked the fighter over.

“Doesn't
look like much but its hull and structure are sound. Electronics are good; it
just needs a new drive and fusion reactor. Her's were cannibalized a long time
ago.” The Admiral pointed to the rear of the deadly looking craft.

Gently
the chief ran her hand over the hull. She seemed to quiver. “You know, my
ancestress flew one of these during the war.” Her fingers seemed to caress the
door panel, barely finding the seam. “She's as beautiful as gram said she would
be,” she said softly.

“That
she is. Throttle sticks, but we patched that problem with a software patch in
her first upgrade,” the Admiral smiled as he moved a piece of junk out of the
way. The chief looked at him.

“I
keep forgetting you’re from that time. You flew one?” she asked.

He
shook his head. “No, I can pilot all sorts of things, but fighter craft are a
bit outside my league. I don't have the reflexes of the young anymore anyway,”
he smiled. “Or to put it another way, I'm not nuts enough to try.” He smiled at
her. She chuckled.

“How
are you going to get her up and to the lock?” the chief asked after admiring
the ship for a time. The Admiral smiled as he accessed his implants.

“Allow
me Admiral.” He felt Sprite access the fighter. She came online startling the
chief into stepping back.

“Her
main propulsion and reactor are off line but she has some juice in her
batteries. Enough to power her antigrav.” He waved her aside as static began to
make the air and dust dance and pop. The craft wobbled a centimeter up, taking
her weight off her landing gear. “Right, I don't suppose I could ride in her?”
the chief asked.

“Not
unless you brought a suit. She's not air tight. I checked. Life support is
drained. Heater coils are gone and the seal around the cockpit is iffy.” He
moved aside as the craft drifted out the lock and down the hall. It just made
the turn to bay two, making him wince as a wing came within a half centimeter
of the wall.

“That
was close,” the chief said dryly. “Don't worry, we won’t bang her up,” he
replied.

“You
mean any more then she already is,” the chief replied. He looked at her and she
smiled.

“Let’s
get the weapons pod out too,” she said after a moment. He chuckled and lent her
a hand.

It
took the two of them almost an hour to wrestle the collar around the pod and it
onto the cart. They had been forced to move several other pieces of junk with
the collar to get at the weapons pod. The chief ran her hands over the pod. “A
mark 23 series G Graser pod.. Integrated lidar, self guiding AI, point defense
mode...” She murmured an itinerary of the pods strengths. He tried not to
laugh. Everyone had their kicks and hobbies. This was definitely hers. She ran
her finger tips over the pod as they strapped it down onto the cart.

“She's
a beauty. I wonder what's wrong?” she asked looking up at him. “I don't know. I
didn't jack in to find out,” he shrugged. She nodded. The wrestled it out of
the bay and into the shuttle bay.