Ghost Station (The Wandering Engineer)

by Hechtl, Chris

  “Don't go throwing bricks if you live in glass houses Sprite. Now let's see if I can get this sorted out.”

  Numiria worked with her staff daily. Training for all was an ongoing process, one that was doing much better now than ever before. Light Touch was doing well with her training, ahead of some of the others in the class. Bloodknife was bitter over the accident. He was showing signs of depression despite their assurances that they would repair the damage in time.

  On another note she was ready to go forward with the first wave of sleepers. Her staff had narrowed the manifest to a bare fifty people who were in the best of shape. They had tailored a treatment plan for each of them. She had submitted the plan to the captain and was waiting on a reply. For some reason the captain was delaying it. She wasn't sure why but if he didn't respond soon she was going to give the first one a shot anyway. Maybe. Or maybe not. She wasn't sure she wanted to push things too far with him right now. She could wait a few more days; the sleepers had waited for years after all. A few more days wouldn't matter. She just wished the captain would make up his mind and let her know.

  Until then she was refining her training. Her staff was training right along with her. Regina was particularly good at trauma; she'd left the older woman alone to handle the primary infirmary so she could focus on training and research. Ezri was shaping up to be a good surgical nurse.

  Regina hadn't been happy about being left to her own devices at first but she'd gotten over it. Most of the injuries were minor, bumps, scrapes, cuts, and bruises she could easily deal with. Anything more serious she could call in Ezri or Numiria.

  Whenever any of the staff complained about the hard workload, she would take them for a walk through the injured wards. One look of pain or anguish on a face would shut them up. They would realize that a true medic would learn anything if it meant easing a patient's suffering.

  Irons was right though, she thought as she looked at the tablet. Right again, she mused. It was too much to just absorb in an hands-on experience. She was curious about the sleep teaching methods he had mentioned briefly. She decided to look into it and made a note.

  He was also right about the staff organization. She needed to work that out a bit more and work on the schedule for both facilities. For years she and the doctors before her had taken a light hand in training and really had kept a loose eye on the titles. Doctors, orderlies, nurses, before they were all the same, people who were learning. Over time and with a great deal of experience a nurse could become a doctor. That was how Numiria had at any rate. Well, she'd actually been interested in becoming a doctor from the beginning she admitted to herself.

  Which was something else to think about. Some wanted to keep updating their skills but they weren't ready or confident enough to handle the higher more riskier things in medicine. Things that really required skilled hands to do on a daily basis. A doctors hands. Or in the cases of some of the orderlies, a nurses hands.

  She was the only doctor on the ship but she had a half a dozen interns including Light Touch. She wondered if she could distribute them in shifts; put one or two on each shift? No, they still had their education to consider. No, she'd have to work something else out.

  “One month to go. Yup, thirty days,” a chimp said. Irons looked over to the fellow nursing a stein. They were in galley three, which was slowly being rebuilt. Most of the trophies and other things on the walls were packed away. One of the walls had been knocked out and the space had been extended to form a proper pub. Now the staff was busy keeping the place clean while patrons knocked a few back and talked. He was looking forward to replacing the wood paneling that had been on the walls. They were going to keep an Irish theme, but keep the wood paneling light, not dark and dank. They wanted a festive atmosphere, a place to unwind, not a dungeon. At least that was what Alice insisted when she had it out with her husband Ralphie over the subject. Their row had echoed throughout the deck yesterday.

  “Getting there,” Irons nodded. There was a video on the flat screen in the corner. He glanced at it and then ignored it. Canned material from the files. Most of it was old. Very old. Since they didn't have very much in the way of current programming the media people were filling in the gaps with old sports games and historical news tidbits or documentaries. The sports games got the most attention of course, documentaries usually dulled people into a doze.

  He was glad a few people like Toni Chambers had stepped up to form a media department. He wasn't sure how they'd convinced the senior staff, most likely Toni's involvement had had something to do with its success in getting past the captain and the miserly ops officer.

  “Heard we have you to thank for getting there faster,” the chimp said, saluting him with the stein. “Health and happiness,” he said.

  “You and yours as well,” Irons responded in kind.

  “Yep, wify's been busting her ass right out there with you. Heard you're going out on the hull with her when we pop out of hyper. Take care of her will you?” The chimp asked, giving him a look.

  “Your wife?” Irons asked, searching his memory.

  “Coming up blank myself admiral,” Sprite said in his ear.

  He frowned. “I don't remember any chimp EVA techs,” he said.

  The chimp burped. He had a black security outfit on. Off duty obviously. “She ain't a chimp,” the chimp growled, turning to face him with a scowl. “For your information she's a gorilla,” he said, stabbing a drunken index finger into Iron's chest.

  “Okay, sorry,” Irons said, holding his hands up. “I didn't know. No offense,” he said.

  “Offense taken,” the chimp slurred. “She's my wife mannn,” he slurred and then teetered a bit before steadying himself.

  “Lay off,” a woman's voice said, and a brown furred meaty arm separated the two of them suddenly. Irons leaned back as a gorilla female hugged the chimp and then looked at him. “We have a problem?” she growled.

  “Nope, nuh uh. No ma'am. I just stuck my foot in my mouth. Nice to meet you ma'am,” he said nodding and holding his hands up again.

  “Savo you being a naughty boy again?” she asked looking down at her chimp husband.

  “Nope, he is,” the chimp said, pointing unsteadily at Irons.

  The gorilla turned on Irons. “What's it about?”

  “I made an assumption. When he told me you were on the crew I assumed you were a chimp. I didn't know any better at the time. I apologize for the error,” he said, hand on his heart. People around them were looking at them warily.

  “Should teach you a lesson,” the chimp said.

  The gorilla turned to the chimp. “It's all right Savo, he didn't mean it. Ignorant bigot. We get them all the time. No need to prove your manhood to me,” she cooed. Irons winced.

  “Why that... You were ignorant yes but not a bigot!” Sprite snapped in Irons ear. Irons made a miniscule shrug. He felt his cheeks heating a little.

  “Teach him some manners,” Savo slurred. The gorilla chuffed, taking him in hand before he could take a swing at Irons.

  “Admiral should we call security?” Defender asked. Irons shook his head slightly no.

  “Again I apologize for the misunderstanding,” Irons replied.

  “Bigot,” Savo muttered darkly.

  “He's not a bigot!” Sprite said from the screen. Irons covered his face and sighed. Here we go he thought with a pang.

  “Sprite... not helping,” he ground out.

  “He's not. He's had a lot of chimp friends, including the chief of engineering on the freighter Destiny and the chief's family. Chief Bailey is a good friend. He's a good man. I'll have you know he's had a relationship with a chimp at the war college. She said she was saddle sore for a couple of days after their first encounter.”

  “Sprite, you're killing me here,” Irons said quietly as all eyes turned on him. He covered first his eyes and then his mouth in embarrassment. He felt his teeth grind together and the heat in his cheeks inflame even more. His ears felt like they were on fire.
Damn. He sighed. People were staring. He heard a few snickers. Great.

  There was a reason Terrans were known as kissing cousins. Terrans would get it on with just about anyone if they could wrap their minds around a bioform. Many Terrans over the past millennia had changed themselves to better suit a given fetish for a species. Even before Neo uplift Terran humans were altering themselves or dreaming up ways to get it on with an alien species.

  More than one alien species had been put off by a Terran getting a little to frisky, even if only in fun. Sometimes he wondered about his species sanity.

  “See? Wants to take you away,” The chimp said, trying to lash out. The gorilla chuffed and hauled the chimp off the stool. The chimp was looking over her arm at him, giving him a full threat display, hair up, canines bared, shrieking in anger. She reached down and kissed him to shut him up.

  When the kiss broke he was staring up at her. She stroked his face with a massive hand. “No he's not. He's not man enough for me. So come on lover boy, let’s go see if you can prove your manhood the right way,” she said with an inviting smile.

  The chimp froze and then blinked at the gorilla blearily. Irons watched the impasse like everyone else in the room.

  After what seemed like an hour but was really only a few minutes the chimp's face loosened into a toothy smile. The gorilla returned the smile with a challenging one. “All right, you're on honey,” he said.

  “Come on sugar,” she cooed. He turned.

  “You keep your mitts off my gal,” he growled. They walked out together. Irons sighed shaking his head.

  “So, you went from bigot to would be adulterer in nothing flat. New record,” the bartender said dryly as he wiped at the counter.

  “Oh shut up and give me something a lot stronger,” Irons said, pushing the stein away. “A hell of a lot stronger. Preferably something over a hundred proof,” he said.

  “Did you really get it on with a chimp?” a girl asked. He turned to her. She was a bar wench, dressed in a blue waitress uniform and stained white apron.

  “Don't... oh spirit of space. Thanks Sprite,” he growled. “How the hell did you know about that anyway? I was a kid. It was long before you were a gleam in your programmer’s eye anyway!” he accused, addressing the screen.

  Sprite's head shot zoomed out so he could see her full upper body. She spread her hands apart in supplication. “I overheard you and Admiral Henesy talking about it when we first met. I believe the Admiral was ribbing you about it unmercifully at the time.”

  “Thanks Sprite,” Irons sighed and shook his head.

  “I was curious about her asking how you did that one move. Apparently it made all the rounds with the girls at the time. Something about a pile driver in zero g? I was curious how that could be accomplished. I still am actually. I've tried to run simulations but the physics involved...”

  “Spirit of... Sprite!” He bellowed, hands over his face. He could hear people laughing. The bartender chuckled and came over with a shot glass and the bottle. He pinched the bridge of his nose. It was going to be one of those nights he realized.

  “Here. I think you'll need this,” the bartender said, still chuckling. Someone slapped the admiral on the shoulder.

  “No what I need is a mute button,” Irons growled taking up the bottle. “But this will at least dull the pain,” he said as he poured himself a shot and then downed the shot. He could hear the other patrons laughing. Someone slapped him on the back again. He shook his head, feeling his cheeks and ears burning.

  The Captain and Cora called Numiria in to discuss the stasis pods twenty nine days before they exited hyper. Numiria met them in the captain's wardroom. She was nervous and off balance. When she entered the room she paused. The walls had been redone; they were now white with discrete lights and holo projection emitters showing the portraits of the previous captains. It looked nice. Better than the dark purple trimmed walls from before. She hated vertical stripes.

  The council table had been refinished into a shiny mahogany and oak trim finish. It gleamed in the light. The chairs had been remade. Some were still the same chairs just cleaned and repaired. Others were chairs or other forms of seating for the non Terrans of the council.

  “You like it?” Cora asked, smiling.

  “It looks great,” Numiria said, looking around. Obviously it had been a while since she'd been in a meeting. She tried to remember the last one. It was last week, they had one every day of course. But she normally attended virtually or not at all. She liked to beg off because of her duties.

  “I like it. I wanted a beige carpet but the ship's crest works as well. Not that you can really see it with the table on top of course,” Cora said looking down at the floor. Numiria looked down and made polite sounds of agreement.

  “The captain will be with us in just a minute,” Cora said. “Rob's checking in with something or other,” she said airily, waving a tiny hand as she sat. “Tea?” she asked, smiling politely in inquiry.

  “No thank you,” Numiria said shaking her head. The captain came in and they both turned to his entrance. He nodded politely and then motioned for her to sit as he went over to kiss his wife.

  Cora smiled up at him as he kissed her and then sat in the captain's chair. It had the ship's crest and his name embroidered on the back Numiria noted.

  “I see someone's been busy,” Numiria said with a smile.

  “It's been a learning experience. Now that I know what we can do I can't wait to redo our quarters!” Cora said. Numiria's ears flicked in amusement as she shot a look at the captain. He was reaching for his coffee mug when Cora had said that. He hesitated and winced. Cora caught the wince and grinned a little at Numiria. She winked, a sure sign she knew of her husband's annoyance at her little projects. After a moment the doctor snorted softly.

  They started with small talk and then get to the heart of the matter. After a few minutes though the captain got bored with dancing around the subject. “I know you're wondering why you are here,” he finally said.

  “I didn't think it was for small talk. Or for practicing Japanese diplomatic practices,” Numiria commented indicating the tea.

  Cora's eyes widened slightly. “Ooooh! Japanese! I wonder what a minimalistic viewpoint would do to our quarters? Or oh, rice paper pagodas? I wonder where we can find them? Maybe when we go shopping... I'll add it to the list,” she said bouncing in the chair.

  Again the captain winced. Numiria hid a laugh with a cough. “Water?” Cora asked concerned as she picked up a tablet off to her side and jotted a note.

  “Yes please,” Numiria said, getting up and going over to the small wet bar and pouring herself a cup of water and then coming back to sit at the table. The chair she had was comfortable, suited for a neo with a tail. She sat and tucked her tail through the loop. She didn't have to feel like her tail was going to fall asleep anymore.

  “We've talked it over,” the captain said. “We've agreed to a pilot program. The program you've proposed I believe. I'd prefer that you start with only a few people though. No more than a dozen or so,” he said, nodding to her.

  Numiria was both elated and terrified. Her brown eyes were wide as she stared at them. Cora smiled, stirring her tea. “Thank you,” the doctor finally stuttered out. “I wasn't planning on doing them all at once. More like one at a time. We're still not sure if we can save them all,” she admitted.

  “If it can't be done, it may be best to leave them,” the captain said.

  “Or end their torment,” Cora said. The doctor sighed and nodded. Her ears flicked and then laid flat for a moment at the thought of that. It was a hard thing for a doctor to handle. They fought an endless battle against the reaper, one they knew they would eventually loose. Dealing with that on a daily basis had driven more than one medic to retire or worse.

  “Some of them are beyond even my help. Some of them are technically clinically dead. I'm not sure why they were put into stasis. Sentimental effort to save them I believe. I'm not sure. Wha
tever the case I will try to find a way to save them,” Numiria said.

  “We didn't come at this decision lightly. And it will have a consequence,” the captain rumbled.

  “Oh?” Numiria was surprised and suddenly wary. She felt like the other shoe was about to drop. She didn't have long to wait.

  “We are going to hold off on allowing pets again. At least for the time being. Also we are keeping a moratorium on breeding.”

  “Cora!” Numiria stared at them. “Captain!”

  Cora winced and then sighed elaborately. “It's for the best. We can't really afford the extra right now. Rob, I mean the captain is right. We're going to need the extra life support for those you awaken,” she patiently explained.

  “It's also an incentive for some people to leave,” the captain rumbled. Numiria stared at him.

  “We're also considering Chief O'Mallory's proposals. I think the asteroid one is a shoe in. We're not so sure about the station or ship idea but it is a possibility however unlikely. A station is actually more practical and doable,” the captain said sitting back.

  “You mean without the admiral's help,” Cora said, turning to her husband.

  “He's not going to be with us forever dear,” the captain replied looking at her.

  Her eyes searched his for a moment. “True,” she finally admitted and then nodded. She bit her lip. “So we do need to use what we've got. And learn as much as we can while we have him onboard.”

  “True,” Captain Chambers admitted.

  “Speaking of which...” Cora nodded to the medic. “On a different subject, I heard you've integrated the elves into the infirmary. I'm glad.” She shot her husband a glance and then looked at Numiria again. “We're both glad. We need more departments to follow in your lead.” Cora complimented her on taking on the Elves. “Long overdue,” Cora said.

  “Yes it is. I wish I'd known sooner,” the doctor sighed. Bloodknife had lived. Unfortunately the surgery had been an incomplete success. He was paralyzed from the waist down, for now at least. She'd repeatedly assured him and Light Touch that they would do everything they can to repair the damage and to make him walk again. Light Touch had taken it on as a personal project. They knew it could be done; they just didn't have the right skills and materials to pull it off. At least not yet.