“I think I'm glad I was born in this time and not yours admiral. No offense,” she said shaking her head. A few people around them nodded or murmured agreement.
“It's different I'll give you that,” Irons replied.
“What was it like?” Esmay asked. “The golden age of the Federation I mean! Was it everything they said it was?”
“Depends on what they said it was. Was it perfect? No, far from it,” he replied with a laugh. “We had our warts. Disease, accidents, pirates, terrorists, protestors, politics. We had a lot more people, and a lot of tech you currently do not have now. The constitution. Things I took for granted as a given then are hard to come by now. But things are changing. Slowly.”
“Really,” she said looking around.
“Really really. Here,” he indicated the wardroom. “We've been repairing this ship right?” She nodded. He nodded back. “I was picked up by Io11 in the Senka system. I worked with the female crew to restore her even more than what we've done here. Granted we had fifteen standard months where as this...” he shrugged.
“I heard something along those lines,” Esmay said.
“Yes well, I got off in Pyrax and did a bit there too. There are some good people there holding the fort and putting things right. By now I think they've expanded beyond the system if they stuck to the plan. Hopefully they have.”
“Huh,” she said. He was reluctant to get into discussing Pyrax and was kicking himself for bringing it up.
“We're getting there,” Irons said with a smile. “Give it time.”
“All good things come to those who wait?” Esmay asked getting up and busing her plate and cup.
“You'd be surprised what the future will bring if you keep a positive mindset. Today is only the beginning of a brighter future if we work together,” Irons said nodding.
Esmay looked around and then nodded. “I'll keep that in mind,” she replied. Irons saw motion off to the side and turned. A party of elves were around a pair of Talasians. One of the elves looked his way and turned to glare. After a moment the others turned to glare as well. Irons pursed his lips and gave them a polite nod. It wasn't returned. He shrugged the cold looks off as he turned away.
He saw elves climbing in the ducts overhead to drop down with their group. One spat something to fast for him to follow in the crowd. The new group turned to look his way and then back to the others. Some of them went out, moving in between the larger patron’s tables and chairs.
One of them paused at the hatch door to turn and glare at the admiral before leaving. Esmay caught the look and turned to the admiral. “Wonder what that's about?” she asked.
“No idea,” Irons replied with a shrug. He was wondering the same thing. He usually got along well with alien allies. Come to think of it, he hadn't had much exposure with the elves on Kiev. He'd been aboard the ship for two months now and he rarely saw them. They tended to go out of their way to avoid him in fact. He pursed his lips, trying to think of a reason before giving up.
“I'll figure it out later,” he said. “Another match?” he asked. “Best four out of seven?” he smiled invitingly to her.
She huffed a sigh and shook her head. “Unfortunately, I've got a shift in the morning,” she said mournfully, handing off her tray to a busboy. “Otherwise I'd love to pin your ears back,” she said, ducking her head to hide a smile.
“Sure you would,” Irons drawled with a chuckle. “Another time then. Good evening,” he said with a nod.
“Evening Admiral,” she replied with a polite nod on her way to the exit.
Kiev had three greenhouses and several other compartments to supply the crew with fresh food and plant related products. One was run by Numiria. It was a converted utility closet down the companionway from her office she used to grow medicinal and food herbs.
The second greenhouse was a rectangle two decks high. About a kilometer of cubic space designed to grow food for the crew. Now that the food replicators were online and there was power that space was in doubt.
The largest greenhouse was over three decks tall. It was a converted cargo bay and was nearly two kilometers of cubic space. It was oval in shape and did double duty as a park for the crew. Along the sides of both upper floors were railings and walkways. The upper two decks had quarters and balconies overlooking the open center. In the center of the greenhouse was a Cornucopia tree, also known as an Ever tree.
A Cornucopia tree was a genetically engineered plant, made from the RNA up as a plant of wonder, the culmination of farming science spanning back eons. It grew every kind of fruit and vegetable on it's limbs. Vines wound around the main trunk and larger limbs and draped down like willow leaves. These too were also covered in fruit. The tree was huge, about a meter in diameter and was up to the ceiling and spreading out to cover it. It was really outgrowing the space. Roots and branches had become a problem. Branches and vines could be pruned but the roots were spreading into the ship's systems, breaching some of them. The plant was persistent in its search for nutrients and water.
Over the centuries they had many problems with the tree. Still it was treasured for its age and the cornucopia of food it produced.
A fourth space was a swamp for the Gashg crew. It served as part of the recycling for the ship while also growing edible mushrooms. It was two compartments wide and connected to the other greenhouses. Moss and lichen grew on the walls. It was a constant headache for the life support techs. Mold and mildew loved to spread from there into the ship's systems.
Of course with all the greenhouses they still didn't have enough food to feed a population of nearly six thousand. So Blur traded for additional stores when they arrived in orbit of a planet with a surplus. Usually they would trade for enough to either use in the future or sell some to their next port of call.
The head of the gardening department was a Gashg. The Gashg gardener wasn't amused by all the changes. Rumors had spread about cutting back on greenhouse space, adding to the garden staff's dilemma and distress. The head gardener had an altercation with a repair crew after a misunderstanding. They had been sent out to repair the water filtration plant and he didn't want any engineers anywhere near his territory.
Irons was near and caught part of the altercation with his enhanced hearing. “Aren't you going to intervene?” Sprite asked as the shouting match became more and more heated.
He shook his head no as he continued to work on the plasma conduit. He slowed his work though and watched ship's security arrive and try to diffuse the situation without further incident. “They can do things on their own Sprite. After all, they've been doing things on their own and making due long before we showed up.”
“Glad you agree,” the captain said in passing. Irons turned to see him there behind him. He gave the admiral a long look and then went into the greenhouse to find out what was going on.
“You did that on purpose,” Sprite accused him. Irons shrugged but smiled a little.
“I may have noticed he was there.” He shrugged and then turned away. “Or not. Either way it works. Now, you said you've upgraded the antivirus and you were working on better subroutines for the power rooms?” he asked.
“Yes. I'm thinking of growing a couple of bots and running sims. Pick the pick of the litter and clone it a few times. Custom job in other words.”
“Whatever works. Keep the IT people in the loop. Work with them on it if possible please,” he ordered.
“Aye aye admiral. Have to give the fleshies some access I suppose.” She didn't sound thrilled about that. She was still a bit put out over the IT department's polite refusal of an AI, even a dumb AI. She was sure there was an undercurrent of resentment over her kind and how fast she had cleaned up the system. How fast she had cleaned out some of the crap they had turned a blind eye to.
“It's their ship Sprite,” he sighed.
“True,” she said sounding grudgingly amused.
“And there are a lot more of them than us. If a person can do the job, teach them.�
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“I'll keep that in mind.”
“You do that.”
“Admiral, we've got what? Forty four days until Antiguan space? What are we going to do there?”
“Ask me in forty three days,” Irons replied, reaching in and twisting a fitting and then pulling a cable forward to plug it in properly.
“Funny,” Sprite replied annoyed. Irons snorted.
“You asked for it,” Irons replied. “We have little to go on. Which reminds me, do some digging on Antigua. Maybe talk someone up about the place? Or several someone’s? Get some intel that's not in the net. Correlate the intel and give me a brief later,” he said, pushing the plug in until he heard it click home.
“All right, I can do that,” she said sounding miffed. He felt her presence withdraw. Good, that would give her something to do other than get into trouble. At least for a while anyway, he thought with amusement.
Later that afternoon Sprite interjected her presence. He was sitting in the shuttle, reading a tablet while replicating key coded parts for the EPS conduits. “Admiral, I think we've had another incident,” Sprite said, sounding annoyed.
Irons looked up from the replicator and frowned. “Incident?”
“Another bot bit the dust,” Sprite said, sounding disgusted.
“Oh?”
A holo appeared. The view was of the inside of an air return duct. It moved along for a moment at a good pace, using its ultrasonic’s on the sides to clean the gunk off. It had brushes on its underside and sides, whirling about cleaning what the ultrasonic’s didn't knock off. It passed under a vertical shaft, paused before it reoriented and then kept going. Suddenly the image jerked hard to the left and right, fuzzed and then started to spin uncontrollably. After a moment it ricocheted off the sides of the duct and then scrapped itself down the bottom of the duct to stop. The image flickered and then went out. Irons saw a glimpse of something but wasn't sure what it was.
“How'd it happen?” he asked.
“It was attacked from behind and above,” Sprite replied.
“Any ideas how? In a duct I mean?” Irons wrinkled his nose. Tight quarters. It might be a rat or some other critter. Hell it could be something small and predatory that preyed on the rats... wait that sparked something he thought, suddenly pensive. He wasn't sure he liked the thought though.
“The vertical shaft,” Sprite pointed out. A holo cross section of the duct appeared. A red object was at the top of the vertical shaft. It dropped down to impact with the drone. The drone image flashed red. “According to the telemetry from the bot something gummed up its lift fan. Something hard because the fan destroyed itself and threw shards through the bot and around the duct.”
“Another mess to clean up,” Irons sighed.
“Admiral, this has to stop. I've dispatched another bot to check on this one but I'm...”
He held up a restraining hand. “Don't. No need to send credits down the toilet. Go back.”
“Go back?”
“To the last image. Or the last second or two. I thought I saw something. Filter the image, separate the sensor feeds. Maybe the overlap filtered something out.”
“Perhaps you did,” Sprite replied. There was something to be said about organics and their instincts. It was sometimes annoying to an AI when they played out over straightforward logical analysis. The cross section dissolved to be replaced with the last second of the bot's life. “Going frame by frame.”
He watched as the sensor overlay separated itself into the separate layers. They split into their own screens. Frame by frame they ticked away in sync. Suddenly he saw what had caught his attention and lunged forward pointing. “There. Go back one frame. Steady it and scan it.”
Sprite went back a frame and then stopped. “What am I looking at?” she asked.
“Don't you see it?” Irons asked. “I do. I know who's doing this now,” he said, pointing to the visual image. She brought the image up to fill the screen. “Enhance the left side. The corner junction.”
“Enhancing,” Sprite zoomed in. The image pixilated and then smoothed out. When it did there was an image of the straight line and a couple of fingers and the crown of a head. Enough for Irons to recognize.
“Well I'll be compiled into an accounting program,” Sprite said awed. “How did you see that and I didn't?” she demanded.
“The mind filters out what the eye sees but the mind doesn't need. Organics are good for some things. We have hunches,” Irons said with a nod, eyes narrowed. “I bet this little bugger is the culprit. Him and his friend up at the top of that vertical shaft. He let the other know when to drop the bar.”
“Huh,” Sprite said. “Why? Why would the elves do that?”
“Let's find out,” Irons said getting up. He felt the cables retract.
“Admiral, I think this is a matter for ship's security,” Sprite cautioned as he headed for the hatch. He slowed and then stopped out in the bay.
“Damn it you're right,” he said, sighing. He looked around.
“Patching into the security system now. I have the officer of the watch. A female Terran named Teela,” Sprite informed him.
“Yes?” Another female voice said.
“This is Admiral Irons. We've just had another bot incident. This time we've got a suspect,” Irons said.
“Oh?”
“Uploading the data now,” Sprite interjected. There was a long pause as the security officer played it back.
“Circumstantial at best admiral,” Teela finally said. “It could be a bystander or a witness. But it is a lead however slim. I'm on my way to their quarters,” she said.
“Okay...” Irons said.
“Care to join me?” she asked, sounding annoyed. Irons cocked an eyebrow.
“If I'm not interfering,” Irons replied diplomatically. He'd spent time and energy building the bots. He wanted to know why they were being broken.
“By all means. I'd like to keep the audience to a minimum though admiral,” Teela said.
“Roger,” Irons said with a nod, swinging into motion once more. “I'm on my way now.”
Teela was waiting at the door to the elf's quarters when Irons rounded the corner. She had another guard with her. The exec came pounding up at a trot. She nodded politely to him as well. The woman was tall, about a hundred and sixty centimeters with olive skin and reddish brown hair done up in a tight bun. She had a white leotard on with a high stiff collar. It was trimmed in gold, with a gold roman kilt. She had on red boots trimmed in fur. Her silver wrist gauntlets were probably weapons he realized. One had a radio built in but he picked up the tell tale signature of a laser in each cuff. She was every inch the warrior Amazon. She'd fit right in with the ladies on Io 11 he thought.
“Let's do this then,” she said, reaching down and turning the hatch wheel and then stiff arming it open. Irons followed Warner in. The other guard stayed outside the hatch.
He looked around the chamber, getting his bearings. It was a good sized compartment; the elves had dressed it like a forest. Cables dangled from the ceiling and wall fixtures. The walls were painted like a forest. The ground was littered with trash. There were small bags hanging all over the place.
Elves of all ages and genders were staring at the tall human interlopers. Irons cocked his head and bowed politely to the oldest one. He had a white mane sticking up and running down his back. White mutton chops framed his face. A stringy white goatee finished off his look of a Zen master. The striper looked at Irons and seemed to bring himself up to a straight stand with difficulty.
“Is there a problem?” The ancient elf asked. He stroked his goatee and looked at the three Terrans. “What is the nature of this intrusion?” he asked.
While he talked Irons heard some of the elves talking in their native tongue. Sprite filtered it for content, and highlighted word strings. His eyes narrowed as she caught one conversation about the bots. “Do you think the giants know we are breaking their toys?” That was the evidence he needed.
“Why are you breaking the robots?” Irons asked. Warner turned to look at him in surprise. Teela did as well, rolling her eyes.
“And just who says we are? You?” the elder asked.
“You're people just did,” Irons replied, locking eyes with the oldster. “Sprite?”
Sprite replayed the recorded message loud enough for the entire compartment to hear, and then the translation for the other Terrans.
“We also have a video of the last encounter,” Sprite said. “I want to know why you are doing this. It doesn't make sense!”
“Doesn't it?” The oldster said. “You wish to replace us with machines,” he said, picking up a cane and using it as a crutch to move across a platform to better view them. He rested a hand on the railing. His tail wrapped around his feet.
“No we don't,” Teela denied, looking at Irons and then Warner. “At least I don't think we do,” she said.
“No, we don't,” Warner said shaking his head. “Not in a million years. We need every hand. You know that. There are many things the robots can't do,” he said.
“True,” Irons said.
“That is true,” the oldster said. His eye narrowed.
“And we need to make sure they do what they can, and then someone else can come in and finished the job. Someone to go where they can go and do the job and hit the places they missed. Let the robots to the tedious work and then come in behind them.”
“That leaves little work for my people,” the oldster said.
“Why would you say that?” Irons asked. Warner stepped to the side to allow the oldster to see Irons. “I mean, there are a lot of chores with robots. Emptying their baskets, cleaning them, charging them, repairing them...”
“Which you humans tend to do.”
“Only because you haven't applied for the job. It seems to me you can do it better than we can,” Irons said.
“We?” An elf scoffed, coming forward. She had a baby clinging to her back. The baby stared at them, sucking on a thumb.
“Why can't you? A long time ago your people did these things and much more. You are spacers.” He indicated the compartment around them. “You are in space. You are used to menial tasks but you have sharp minds, strong hearts, and can learn. There is nothing this crew can't do if they put their minds to a problem and work together. I've seen it. You've seen it.”
Ghost Station (The Wandering Engineer) Page 23