Fool's Gold (The Wandering Engineer) (92 page)

He
smiled. "Balance of incoming material and it's type, power reserves, power
demands, and computer support. Can anyone tell me which was the most difficult
thing to quantify?" he looked around.

"The
uh, materials coming in?" a teen suggested.

"You're...
mister Lewis right?" Sprite placed his seat chart up when he paused at the
"you're."

"Yes
sir."

"I
should have given the Lewis and Clark exercise to you," he joked. Several
chuckled at that. "Anyway, It is a bit of a trick question. Knowing what
we would get in what quantities was a major headache, not to mention the
timetables we would get them in. But equally as big a headache was balancing
the power demands and keeping everything moving. If some part of the system is
idle it's almost as bad as if it is broken."

Several
hands were raised at this. He pointed to the girl with the braid.

"But
shouldn't it have been easy? Power to life support is usually a measured thing,
they can only take so much..." she looked at him confused.

"Yes
and no. When we were in the crisis power demand fluctuated on each deck because
of cascade failures. When life support began to fail people flooded to decks
still working. This put a heavier strain on the life support there. The carbon
dioxide scrubbers overloaded." Several nodded at this. A few looked
bitter. Irons sighed. "The people that were reacting did so, that's
normal. The people trying to keep the life support functioning, that too is
normal. You can't expect miracles all the time. Engineers are mortal too. Well
most of us," he shrugged. Several nodded at that.

“Logistics
is a bit like medical triage, you have to set up priorities and then act on
them, allocating your resources to maximize your impact on a given situation.
And oh yes, another favorite saying,” he smiled and cleared his throat. “Prior
Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance.”

That
earned a titter from the class. “Keep that in mind It bears out for just about
any situation. Have a plan. Whether for logistics or in a battle. Have more
than one.”

“I'm
going to digress for a moment here,” he sat on the edge of the desk. “An
officer's job is to plan. To keep the big picture in mind and plan the next
move. The second half of their job is to make sure everyone knows what their
job is and is doing it to the best of their ability. A noncom's... that's
non-commissioned officer,” he paused giving them a look. “A noncom's job is the
now. The present day. They execute the current orders and bring the officer
information they need to plan the next set,” he grimaced. “Having a good
command team is very important in any situation. Getting to know the people
under you, their strengths, their weaknesses, is vital. Training them to know
what to do on their own, what to delegate, and what information to pass on. It
takes a lot of work to get it right.”

"Now,
back to the subject at hand, I want you to read the logistics section and have
some questions ready. Check out the examples such as the D-day preparations and
the UN invasion of Korea in 1951  for you jarheads in the room, and the logistics
of the Allied fleet ops in WW2 as well as the early solar and star colony
logistics for everyone else.” He looked around the room then nodded.  “There is
an exercise at the end of the chapter, a sim. Take the sim. We'll grade your
performance. I expect you all to pass." He gave them all a challenging
look at that command.

"Right?"
he asked.

"Sir
yes sir!" they answered. It wasn't like they had any other choice. He
smiled again.

"Right,
now, moving on..."

“How
are we doing on recruiting?” Irons asked, studying the manning chart. He wasn't
sure they were where he wanted to be. Then again, they had come along way in
what? Eight months? Eight and a half? Well, eight since he arrived on Anvil at
least. It was getting hard to keep track with so many things on his agenda now.
Not that it mattered.

“Not
bad. The latest crop of candidates is quite a challenge. We've got a long way
to go to train these people, less than thirty five percent know how to read or
write let alone do anything above basic math. Most of those had some experience
with Commander Logan's training seminars,” Sprite reported, nodding politely to
the commander.

“Ah,”
Irons nodded.

“A
few are practically feral. Very few social skills beyond what is needed to
survive. A few were turned over to us kicking and screaming by station
security. I think Judge Farley wanted to use the marines as a dumping ground
but I talked him out of it. For now,” Logan scowled.

“Our
shipyard techs have recently graduated. We've swollen the ranks there to double
our previous size so we've laid the ground work for some of the other projects
on the to do list.”

“Prometheus
and her escorts?”

“Aye
sir,” Logan nodded. He shrugged. “We've got a glut on structural metal so I
threw some of the more experienced people at each of them.”

“I
saw that. Frame is already half complete in less then a month. Impressive.”

“We'll
need you for her replicators, drive, power plant and such sir.”

“Of
course. Let me know when,” Irons replied with a nod. He looked over to Sprite's
avatar. “Continue. You were saying?”

“We
are getting a lot of people that want a free hand out and free medical and
source of implant tech. Gunny Thomas has... disabused them of that,” Sprite
reported. Irons and Logan each grinned.

“The
world owes me a living crowd? That must be interesting,” the Admiral said
smiling. “Did that tailor ah, what's his name ever sign on?”

“No.
And thank the spirit of space he was talked out of it. We've had a lot of rich
folk wanting to put on the uniform and strut around the station with a chest
full of medals. A week in basic has forced them to change their minds and
regretfully resign.”

Irons
snorted. “This Gunny Thomas is quite the DI I take it.”

“Oh
yeah. Gunnery Sergeant Schultz is his Marine equivalent. He's got some of the
rougher crowd shaping up into pretty good marines. They just received their
implants and are moving into the second phase of training. Those that know
fighting are pretty good. We've had some issues with gang members though.”

“Everyone
wants a second chance,” Irons said nodding.

“And
working in the navy has a sort of glamor. It beats sitting on your ass hiding
in the dark and scraping by on hand outs or what you can steal,” Logan said
nodding. “Most of the stationers are happy that we're unburdening them of the unproductive
people. It's certainly helped station security and life support. Of course many
were people who did their best to help out in some small way,” he shook his
head. “Still, I do agree, we do look sharp in our uniforms. And the idea of
hope, of doing something is appealing to most.” He pretended to dust his
shoulder off then shine his buttons all while looking smug.

“That
it is. Still, I'd say we've got about two thousand five hundred and forty from
Anvil. That's clearing out a significant percentage of the riff-raff. Keeping
them gainfully employed has lightened the load on the station significantly,”
Sprite reported. “Of course not without some sort of squealing from the
assembly about how we're supposed to pay all these people.”

“And
of course not without some squealing about poaching as well. We're taking the
most productive people they have, and making big gaping holes in their watch
bills,” Logan said with a snort.

“Well,
they do have a point. About ten percent of our monthly inductees are from station
personnel. People who do not like their boss or want to do more then sit around
and man a console or kiss some rich ladies assets,” the AI replied.

“And
of course a week in the navy will make them see that the grass isn't always
greener on the other side,” Irons chuckled. “The day in, day out grind can be a
pain.”

“Days
of boredom with brief seconds of awe or terror,” Logan murmured. Irons grunted,
shooting him a look.

“That's
a misquote but close enough,” the AI said. Irons waved a hand. “As I was saying,
we've got problems with the gangs, some have joined as a cover.”

“Ah?”
Irons said sitting back. Logan grimaced sitting back as well. “The old I want
to join to get away from the gang but it's really a cover to expand the gang's
influence deal?”

“Exactly.
A few peddle drugs and illegal materials. They thought that they would have a
free market in the navy,” the AI replied. “They thought wrong.”

“I
take it you've been weeding out the problem children?”

“More...
redirecting their energies. Anyone who has gang affiliations are tagged for
marine training. Schultz has a go at them.”

“Oh
goody,” Logan said chuckling.

“Exactly,”
Sprite said with a feral smile. “When he gets through with them we can ship
them off to recruiting stations on other colonies or on ships. One to a posting
and then monitor them closely. Any illicit contact or breach of regulations and
we come down on them hard with a captain's mast or a full court martial.”

“Oh
that must go over well,” Logan said nodding.

“It
hasn't happened yet but it does do the ticket. At least in the past. A few have
resigned. I think the point is starting to get through. We had a few
altercations in boot, a few rival gang members recognized each other, but gunny
worked it out.”

“So,
another reason to work on JAG some more,” Logan grunted picking up a cup. He
grimaced.

“Exactly
so. Eventually captain's mast isn't going to be enough of a deterrent. We're
going to need to come down hard enough to set an example.”

“Right.
Now about the people we've got in mind... do any have actual legal experience
beyond contract law?”

“No.
That is why I shot Matilda a memo to open a paralegal training course for the
college...”

Firefly's
avatar studied the class. His assistant looked a little nervous. This wasn't
the first time an AI had taught a class, but it was Firefly's first experience
teaching in a formal setting with a class this size. During the Xeno war it had
been quick courses on how to use the systems and briefings as time allowed.
Normally that was a one on one effort or a small group. This was an entirely
different social situation.

He
wasn't certain he would be cut out for this, but it was a refreshing change
from working the day to day work on the ship. Since they were in port he had
the time for the experience. In truth, even after seven months of interaction
with his crew he still wanted more social contact. Nearly seven centuries of
sleep had been a lonely experience he wanted to make up for.

“All
right settle down,” he ordered. The general hum of conversations quieted. The
AI nodded. “Now we're going to do a fast overview of AI for this since I'm your
guest teacher while my ship is in dock.”

“Are
you a part of the ship? Is it your body I mean?” a voice in the back asked.
Firefly's link to the classroom sensors allowed him to pinpoint where the voice
had come from and match it to... no the person was not on the seating chart.

“No.
It is a bit more complex than that,” the AI replied. “I'm sorry I don't have
you on my seating chart.”

“Name's
Prim. Jason Prim.”

“Well
midshipman...”

“I'm
not a navy wannabee dweeb,” the voice said. A young man stood. He had all sorts
of piercings in his fleshy audio sensor areas as well as in his smelling
apparatus.

“If
you’re not part of my class then I ask that you either sit quietly and do not
disrupt the proceeding or leave.”

“You
gonna make me?” the man asked, jutting his chin out. “You're just a light
show,” he said, tossing a balled up piece of trash through the holo. Firefly
shot an IM off to Smithy who promptly responded.

“I'll
ask you again to sit Mr. Prim,” the AI said. Slowly the young man sat.

“Now
I have a limited time here. As I was saying I will be here for another shift
before departing but I must be ready before that. As you know I am a smart AI,
one of a handful left in the system, perhaps in the entire galaxy. There are
multiple levels of AI, from bots to what organics call dumb AIs, really just
reactive programs with a personality core, and smart AIs of various levels.”

“Why
can’t you grow nanites and make more? Thousands?” Mr. Prim asked. He flicked a
hand through his long purple hair.

“Really
Mr. Prim,” the AI shook his head. “To answer that, you'll have to access the
historical database. Specifically the first AI war and the Asimov protocols
embedded in every AI's kernel.”

Firefly
paused and held out one hand. A ball of light particles formed in it. The
lights dimmed. “Nanites, as most of you know are robots. During the AI war some
AIs managed to create distributed networks, or net clouds using them. Nanites
were extensively used during the war by both sides. They wrought terrible
devastation on the human home world.”