“Was that sarcasm in your voice? You know that it only takes a genetic sample from a couple of sources and a good geneticist can extract the female strands and bind them together. Or just clone them.”
“Yes Sprite, I did know that. Make a note. E-mail this Torg too. Let him know about the marine in Pyrax.”
“Done and done.”
“I think there is more than one though,” he said pausing at an intersection. Down about ten meters away was a work crew working on a section of the companionway. One of them was a Tauren, smaller than the first. “I'm guessing that's Riff?” he asked.
“Sensor readings are that he is a she Admiral,” Sprite informed him. “All the better for their species,” she said sounding smug.
“Good,” Irons replied with a nod. “How's it going there?” he asked, raising a hand to wave. The work crew looked up and nodded politely.
“I was wondering if I could speak with you for a moment ma'am,” he said, turning his attention on the Tauren.
“I'm kind of busy here,” she said looking at him warily.
“This won’t take long.” He quickly sketched out the bolo and asked a few questions. She kept an eye on the crew but told him that there were over a dozen Taurens on Kiev. He nodded and talked with the Tauren as her crew finished up.
He noted that the crew had been rerouting plasma conduits and pulling old patch jobs. O'Mallory nodded to him in passing. The tech behind her had coils of power cables on a hovercart. Apparently the junction had been offline so they had been forced to run power cables along the inside of the companionway to critical equipment. Now that the repairs were complete the bypass was no longer needed. “Good. Now the hatches in this section could be used in case of a breach.” O'Mallory looked smug as she looked around.
“Been a while since this has been fixed chief?” Irons asked.
“A bit. What's everyone standing around for?” she asked, hands on her hips. The crew locked up their tools and started loading up to move on.
“My fault chief. I stopped to talk with the young lady here,” Irons said, indicating the female Tauren. “Miss I didn't catch your name?” he asked politely.
The cow turned to him and snorted. “Gwen. I'm... look I'm a little busy here with my crew. We can talk after my shift if you can find me,” she said with a wave of her hand and nod to the chief.
“By all means. I apologize for the distraction,” Irons replied getting out of their way.
When they were gone the chief turned an inquiring eye his way. He shrugged. “What was that about?” she asked.
“Pyrax put a bolo out on Taurens. Sprite flagged the Taurens down so I stopped to get some information.”
“Bolo?”
“Be On the Look Out. The Pyrax clan was decimated in an accident after a major solar flare. One survivor. We thought the species was near extinction.”
“Oh.” She paused and then her eyes widened. “OH!” she said, catching on. He nodded sober.
“Right. So it's good to see them,” the admiral said.
“I see,” she said nodding. She looked down the way the Tauren had left. “They are great techs. Just about all of them are technically proficient.”
Irons smiled. “They are tinkerers at heart. They were one of the rare space fairing species before the founding of the Federation.”
“Really?” she asked sounding slightly disinterested. Irons felt a pang. Obviously they hadn't kept up some of their history. He wondered if they even cared.
“Yes. Taurens achieved space flight thousands of years before we Terrans did. I've uploaded the galactic encyclopedia to the ship net. I can flag some entries for you chief.”
She waved a dismissive hand. “Pass, I was just curious. How goes the hyperdrive?”
“I'm replicating parts. I've torn her down; her governor was just about worn out. You're lucky,” he said. He had been on his way to work on the hyper sensors while waiting on parts. Dividing his time was annoying. He had to go from one end of the ship to the other, back and forth wasting his time.
She shuddered. “I'd been afraid of that. She has been unstable lately. The crew thought it was the octaves.”
The admiral shook his head. “No. Wear and tear and metal fatigue. Also just plain age. There was a short at one point. Someone did an okay patch job around the damage cutting out the isolimeter for the upper bands. I'm replicating that part now.”
“Huh,” she grunted.
“I'm working on the sensors now. I'd like to overhaul the shields and hyper collectors before we leave the system.”
“So would I,” O'Mallory sighed. “But the captain is dead set on holding to the deadline no matter what.”
“Well, if not this time than next. If we can find a nice rock with the right concentrations of metal in it maybe we can wrangle it in. That would go a long ways to restoring your metal stocks and allow the replicator to use new material.”
O'Mallory looked thoughtful. That wasn't the first time the admiral had made that suggestion to her but it was becoming more and more appealing as they tried to labor under the stupid restrictions. “I'll have the bridge look into that,” O'Mallory said with a nod. “Maybe Barry and his Scarab can go out and snatch one for us.”
“Good,” Irons said with a nod. “I've got to check in with him in a bit. I'm making a stop through engineering then the replicator then Barry after lunch.”
“Cool. Keep up the good work admiral,” she said, smiling and moving on. Irons watched her go and then went back to what he was doing.
Irons was up to his elbows helping Barry in the boat bay when the captain and his entourage came in after lunch. Kiev has a complement of eight aerospace capable shuttles of various sizes and four maintenance boats. She also had a pair of battered orbital transfer platforms and a pair of stripped down space shuttles. One was an old yellow school bus. There were a couple of space bots but they were little more than frames. Their sensors, power supplies, and electronics had been scavenged long ago. One was missing it's motors and one arm. He'd have to do something about that later.
The crew had spent the past seven centuries stripping the birds one by one to keep the remaining ships flying. Barry had told him that at one point they had had a baker's dozen of ascraft before they had traded the nearly useless frames to Pyrax as scrap in a desperate move to keep the ship flying with parts they had received in return.
The admiral had been amused by Barry's wistful but bitter look when he had described the old ships. The man definitely loved ascraft of practically any size and shape. A collector in some ways, each of the craft were unique models. Which of course made maintenance and repair a problem. This would be the fourth ascraft. They hadn't had three running at the same time for nearly forty years. It had been nearly two centuries since they had had four working shuttles.
Barry looked over his shoulder at the captain and then back to Irons. Irons had felt and seen them come in on his sensory implants but had so far ignored it. Barry's wary look was also ignored as he finished running a diagnostic on the drive they had just finished repairing.
“Looks good Barry. Give it a couple of hours of burn in and then do a thorough diagnostic to be sure. There might be wear on the turbines. Don't mind the bluing, that's normal,” he said, dusting his hands off on each before pulling out a rag.
“Scorches too. I know the drill,” Barry said with a nod as Irons straightened. He looked over his shoulder to the Captain and Veraxin ops officer and then back to the boat bay officer. The captain and ops officer were staring at the various ships. Work had been narrowed down to the ones they could easily repair with the minimum amount of parts and labor. He and Barry were both hoping to get the remainder flight ready in hyper. Or at least that was their plan anyway. The parts restriction put a crimp on that plan.
“Think they're here to see what's going on?” Barry asked quietly.
“If I could only be so lucky,” Irons replied equally quietly and then sighed. He turned, wiping his hands on
a rag.
“Another shuttle ready to go Barry?” Hir’ruk asked ignoring Irons.
Barry nodded. “Just about. We're going to run the avionics test in an hour then do a flight test around the ship.”
“Clear it with the bridge,” the captain rumbled. “Ahead of time,” he ordered.
“Of course sir,” Barry said soberly, trying hard not to roll his eyes. He knew procedure. He wasn't a shave tail.
“Just what's your game?” the captain asked as they climbed off the shuttle and then onto the nearby ladder. Barry looked at the captain warily.
“No game. Just helping out,” the admiral replied.
“No one is that much of a kiss ass,” Hir'ruk said waving his antenna.
“It's for my comfort too,” Irons said with a smile as he climbed down the stairs behind Barry. When he was off the last tread the tech standing nearby hit the lock release with his foot and then wheeled the portable stairs clear.
“Really. Fixing that is for your comfort?” the Veraxin asked sarcastically.
“Well,” Irons looked back to the ascraft and then back to the officers and shrugged. “To be honest I'm a sucker for ascraft too. When I was a kid I loved tinkering with them. I never grew out of it I guess. Probably never will.”
“I haven't,” Barry admitted wiping his hands on his own rag and then cleaning his tools as he put them away.
“I thought you were working on the hyperdrive?” the captain finally asked.
“I did. I'm waiting on parts being replicated,” the admiral explained.
“Oh.”
“I can multitask,” the admiral said with a shrug. “I like to keep busy too. There is only so much time before Kiev breaks orbit so I'll do what I can with that time.”
“Who asked you?” Hir'ruk demanded.
“The chief. If you want me to stop just say so. I'll stop here and now,” Irons said, eyes narrowing. “Of course your hyperdrive is in pieces right now and you'd spend the rest of eternity orbiting Triang but that's your choice.”
“No one's asking you to stop,” the captain admitted. “We'd just like to know where you are going with all this. And why.”
Irons sighed. “Captain, no offense but I've told you. I am an engineer. I like to keep busy. Secondly, no thirdly I like to repair things. It's part of my nature. Fourth I don't like the idea of bumbling around in a ship that's well, no offense, falling apart. Fifth I also don't like the idea of taking five or six months in hyper to go a couple of parsecs.”
“If you don't like the transit time you could always debark and wait for another ship,” Hir'ruk said suggestively.
“I'm a spacer,” Irons replied with a smile. “Sitting on the ground twiddling my thumbs waiting for the next ship to come along isn't my style. I'd be chewing the bulkheads of my ship in less than an hour,” he replied with a small smile.
“Probably,” Barry said with a laugh. The captain and Veraxin glanced his way. He wasn't sure if he was being chided for the interruption or the eavesdropping. “If you gentlemen will excuse us we've got work to do. A timetable to complete. Right?” he asked, raising his right eyebrow.
The captain gave him a long look and then a slow reluctant nod.
“I believe the basic computer repairs should be complete by the end of the shift or the middle of midrats shift ops. Just to keep you informed,” Irons said. The Veraxin looked at him, clearly confused as Irons finished that statement. His antenna bobbed in inquiry for further information. The admiral shrugged. “Actually, I've been out of the loop for most of the software and hardware repairs. My AI are handling it. Sprite?”
“Yes Admiral?”
“Report on IT repair?”
“Wireless nodes are the last project to be initiated. We've rebuilt or replaced what was nonfunctional. Fortunately the system is adaptive and plug and play. I'm cleaning up a few software bugs now. The driver database has come in handy. Hopefully no one will be bothered by them but I can't make any promises.”
“Memory?”
“Cleaned and repaired or replaced. I've spun off cleaner bots to help with that. I do need to report that another repair bot has been destroyed.”
“Oh?”
“Air shaft cleaner. I unfortunately do not have any data on the cause. That is the second cleaner in twenty four hours. It bears investigating,” Sprite said. She didn't like anyone abusing bots.
“Captain?” Irons asked, turning his attention on the captain. The captain blinked caught off guard. He nodded, looking down to Irons. Irons hid a smile. When responding to a disembodied voice Terrans tended to look up.
“I'll look into it,” he said gruffly.
The admiral nodded sagely. “Thank you. The life support repairs are important. I'm still having trouble accessing some of the network control nodes on decks four and five and in some of the converted habitat levels. The greenhouse is a mess as well,” Sprite reported.
“The greenhouse is always a mess,” Barry muttered.
“I'll look into it,” the Veraxin chittered, flexing his mandibles and feathery antenna. “Anything else?”
“A complete report is in your inbox Ops officer Hir'ruk. You can view it at your convenience,” Sprite replied politely.
“I'll look into it,” the Veraxin said. “If you'll excuse me?” he asked, looking at the captain. The captain nodded.
“Dismissed.”
“Thank you captain,” the Veraxin said and left.
The captain looked around at the ships. “Barry give me a tour,” he said waving to the shuttle behind them. Barry looked over his shoulder and nodded. “I haven't seen the old girl fly since I was a teen,” the captain murmured, one hand gently caressing her wing root.
“She'll fly again soon sir,” the boat bay officer said indicating the open cockpit door.
“We'll see,” the captain murmured. Irons watched them go and shook his head. He had other things to think about though, so he put their animosity aside. Time to check on the drive.
ñChapter 7
“Kiev 221 this is Kiev gamma, bay is depressurized and we are under our own power,” Barry said over the radio an hour and a half later.
“Roger that. Good flight,” the communications tech responded. Irons cocked his head. He was in the boat bay observation blister watching the aerospace craft maneuver out for its trial run. Irons watched Barry take the repaired shuttle out.
The pilots did a fly around the ship and then returned for tuning. “She's a little sluggish but we've got a working ship. A little fine tuning and I think she'll be ready for a drop,” Barry said climbing out of the craft. He was all smiles despite the needed tweaking. Irons nodded. Barry sorted the repairs and bugs out in a couple of hours and then he took the shuttle downside for a run.
Irons turned at the sound of familiar footfalls. His hands kept moving under Proteus's control however. “How are we going with the hyperdrive?” O'Mallory asked.
He knew that was coming. The chief and the ops officer had asked him every two hours since he tore it down. Now that he was almost half finished and he had started rebuilding it they seemed even more anxious to get it repaired. “Working on it. I can't replicate all the parts at once so it's a pain in the ass. I've had to nanoweld a few of the governor parts together by hand.”
“Did you get enough penetration?” O'Mallory asked, looking at the parts to the governor. There was a giant spring nearby. She wrinkled her nose at it. It was a little disconcerting to see something that got them into hyper had mechanical parts in it.
“With a nanoweld?” Irons asked amused. “Full penetration. Seamless bond. It's actually stronger than any other form of weld. The metal will break somewhere else before it breaks the weld.”
“Oh.”
“I'm getting there,” he said. O'Mallory didn't seem like the type to breath down his neck. Then again they were pretty close to the deadline.
She cleared her throat and looked a little uncomfortable. Irons paused what he was doing and turned to her. �
��The captain wants to be out of orbit in two hours.”
“Right on schedule?” Irons asked. She nodded. “He can maneuver; there is no problem with the engines. I'll have this back together in three hours. I think.”
“You think?” she asked, hands on her hips. “You don't know?” she demanded.
He paused and let out a disgusted huff of annoyance. “Chief you and I both know things can and do go wrong sometimes. I only repaired what I had to repair and it takes time to tune something this complex. It's a work in progress.”
“And sometimes things get overlooked,” she nodded and then sighed. She ran her hand through her hair. She knew that from experience. They were running into that problem all over the ship. Her crews were strung out and fatigued. Fortunately there were so many people on board she could stand them down and bring another crew into play. The oldsters weren't quite up for a full shift but they could handle small tasks easily. Under supervision of course, some had lost some wits over the years. The teens and the younger generation she had mixed emotions about. Some had the skills but didn't have the seasoning. Others she wouldn't trust with a wrench to save her life.
“I scanned every part. I can only do a surface scan, but I didn't find any other damage. Of course that doesn't rule out an internal flaw. But if there was one it would have cropped up long before now,” he said. Which was true. An internal flaw would have formed a micro fracture while under load and snapped the pieces of the governor, spalling them all over the interior of the hyperdrive casing and possibly destroying the ship. Since that hadn't happened he only had to deal with the wear and tear on the parts. Some of the gears had been worn down to nubs.
“Stranger things have been known to happen. Engineering is perverse in that regard. You of all people know that,” O'Mallory said disgusted, brushing her hair out of her eyes again. She needed a trim again but could never find the time.
“Murphy. I do indeed know it well. We'll get it done,” Irons said with a nod.
Ghost Station (The Wandering Engineer) Page 15