Ghost Station (The Wandering Engineer)

by Hechtl, Chris

  She frowned. “I... I'd say she's showing some of the classic signs of rape trauma.”

  “Rape trauma?” he asked frozen.

  The psychologist nodded. “And being forced to well, for all intent and purposes live with her rapist isn't helping.”

  Irons winced. He thought back at the incident, trying to see if from an outsider’s perspective. There was a lot on rape trauma in the UCMJ. He could look it up... but hesitated to do so. What Defender had done was correct... but direct. Perhaps too direct.

  “If she were organic I would suggest counseling. Separation of well... her from her partner at least. Counseling for both.”

  He blinked at her. “I...”

  “Part of a way a sentient deals with such trauma is talking about it with others. We are after all social creatures. Sharing pain is a way to mitigate it's effects. To bond over it. To know that someone else empathizes with you helps to reduce the tension and helps to reduce the festering it has on the soul.”

  “I... see...” he said quietly. He wasn't sure what to say.

  Her eyes were intent as she looked into his. “The longer she goes without talking about the incident it is going to fester. Which is obviously an issue. If she were human I'd say get her counseling or... no I was going to say get her drunk with someone she trusts so she can unload but it was someone she trusted that violated her wasn't it? There are definitely trust issues there. Is there anyone else she can talk to?”

  “She has to want to do so I think,” Irons replied slowly. “Forcing her...”

  The psychologist nodded and then sighed. “Would do more damage. I do suggest she look into it though.”

  “I'll...”

  “Getting her time off may help or hurt. It might give her the time to think it over and deal with it on her own... make her face it on her own initiative. Or it could make the festering worse. Making her focus on it when she has no choice could cause...”

  He nodded. “Catch twenty two. I get it. Work is its own therapy in a way doctor. It's helped me with the time shock. Perhaps it will help Sprite a little. At least it's helping her to cope.”

  “But only on the surface. It's there, waiting and building.”

  “I know,” he sighed. “I... just don't know what to do about it.”

  “It's not up to you. It's up to her. I'm available if she needs me,” the psychologist said.

  “I'll think about it,” Sprite said from the speaker in the admiral's arm. It was a simple statement, quiet without any emotion in it.

  “Sorry, didn't mean to discuss you Sprite. I do hope you do take her advice seriously though,” Irons replied.

  “Can we move on?” Sprite asked, starting to sound testy.

  “Yes okay,” the programmer said, deep in thought. The idea of an AI getting raped... and feeling rape trauma was something new and mind blowing. He was used to banking and databases about weather and inventory not... not well this. This was beyond him. It was going to take time to assimilate. Getting a distraction in was a good thing then. “The net protocols...”

  The judicial system faced a crucial test when it faced a major problem when an accusation of rape came to light. The parents of the teenage child were furious and demanded immediate action. The boy who was accused is a tribesman. He claimed it was consensual and seemed rather pleased by the attention at first. Unfortunately the incident happened outside of the view of the cameras. The pair had been something of an item but it had been puppy love, or so they had thought. People began to take sides.

  Some wanted the boy punished, some wanted him spaced, and others wanted him gelded or exiled. Others wanted him to be put in stasis pending an investigation. He is brigged despite his family’s voracious protests.

  Irons refused to put him in stasis, that fell under the cruel and unusual punishment law. Also it is a conflict since he is accused, not convicted of the crime.

  Hastily a police force is brought up from the planet. A retired sheriff, his wife, and a retired judge. Since they have no ties to the station or the former ship's crew and they were impartial they were handed the case.

  One of the cybers volunteered to act as a defense attorney. Kenny volunteers to prosecute.

  The girl complicated the issue by flip flopping on her story when put under stressful questioning by sheriff Derrango. The parents were angry and they take her back to Kiev.

  The girl however broke away from their hawkish view when they were both on duty. She snuck back onto the station and visited the boy in the brig. The sheriff allowed it to happen. What both the victim and the accused didn't know was that all brig conversations were recorded. Counsel sessions were put under seal because they were considered privileged but conversations with third parties were not.

  During the conversation she is angry with him. He however admitted to taking things too far in the heat of the moment. This is immediately brought up at the trial the next day. She received help, he plead guilty to a molestation charge and is exiled to the planet to serve his sentence in a prison there.

  Sheriff Derrango and the judge show no signs of leaving. Derrango liked the station, he liked the tech and he really liked the free medical care he and his wife received. His wife liked the potential and loved that her husband had received medical care for his slipped disk and no longer needed glasses because of the eye surgery. She had insisted on antigen treatments for both of them and they both felt and looked much younger. Both loved to sit and play checkers in the evenings at Ralphie’s. Both of them were approachable, laid back and nice. They joined the card games on the station and the sheriff didn't come down on anyone for minor bets. In less than a week they were accepted by the crew. Eventually things returned to normal.

  Captain Chambers of the Kiev was shocked but not completely surprised when his daughter transferred to the station four months into their stay in the system. He had thought she had gotten the idea out of her system but apparently the imminent departure of the ship had made her change her mind. Or, she had been planning this all along. Toni is eager to start her new future, she kissed his craggy cheek and told him to be happy for her, and she was a news anchor for the local media station. She even got him onto the station to check out her apartment. Cora made appreciative noises at the size and look of the place. He nodded grudgingly under Cora's watchful gaze.

  Kiev is about ready to undock and try her new systems in deep space. He was eager to get going, to head out into the great unknown. Admiral Irons had tucked away some goods for him to deliver to Pyrax in their travels and he was eager to spread the word about the station and how the universe had changed for the better.

  He had to admit he also had itchy feet and wanted to get away before anything else happened. Or before the station poached any more of his people. He knew his first mate Mr. Warner was on the fence about leaving... Now this? “Now you have a reason to visit more often daddy,” Toni told him with another kiss on his craggy cheek as she hugged him.

  Cora nodded reluctantly but she was unsure. She knew however that their daughter had made up her mind firmly and was adult enough to follow her own path now. “You have to try your wings sometime dear, we know that. And I know you can't live in our shadow forever. I just wish...” she sighed. Her daughter gripped her hand tightly for a moment. Finally Cora hugged her. They cried.

  The captain wasn't happy but nodded grudgingly. She told him she would be fine on the station as she dashed tears with her fingers. She smiled and told him she had a job she had always wanted and planned on getting on the council as soon as she gained more experience. Her father nodded.

  “We've got one more run on the contract and then we're leaving. You've got until then to change your mind honey,” he said gruffly.

  She smiled at him. “Oh daddy, I'll be fine right here.”

  “I know but I had to try,” he said hugging her by the shoulders. She hugged him back and then tickled him. He guffawed and then squeezed her until she stopped and gasped. He rested his head on her hair and str
oked it with one hand. “I'll miss you pumpkin,” he murmured.

  “You're not gone yet,” she said with a watery laugh. “So let me take you out to lunch and then I'll walk you back to the dock. How about that?” she asked.

  “Sounds good to me,” Cora replied with a nod. Captain Chambers nodded as well.

  The new medical staff had their first pair of pregnancies a few days after things settled down again. They were among the tribes; none of the stationers had their surgeries reversed yet since there was a backlog with all the implants. Many of the Kiev people were happy to be able to have large families, like they had always dreamed. They wanted large families as well and began to bombard the medics with requests to remove the contraceptive implants.

  When Kiev returned from her last trip to the planet she carried with her something that had been long in coming. Animals from the planet were brought onboard the station as pets for the first time. This brought a rush on animals and orders for more. Of course the people on the ground wanted to sell their animals so that made for an economic quandary as well as a medical one. Lieandra was more than happy to transport the second wave of pets along with an eager but young veterinarian ready to try her wings out for the first time.

  Also businesses on the ground were awakening to the new market of the station. The factories on the ground were worried about its competition. Some businesses relocated, others opened branches on the station. A bank opened a small branch on the station. A credit union did as well but it turned out to be a scam and folded a day after it opened when it's founder was arrested by sheriff Derrango.

  Chief O'Mallory wasn't happy with the tuning of the ship's drive after their last jaunt. She insisted on some downtime to run the minor but annoying problems down. When she does she found a couple of emitter nodes that had been rebuilt but not replaced were near max impedance. They reluctantly agreed to a contract with the station to replace them for two more runs. One while the station is making the nodes, and a second to test them out and dial them in.

  Captain Chambers wasn't happy about the additional delay however and is pretty insistent that they head out after that. Fortunately Cora smoothed things over.

  Lieandra helped in relocating people along with the Kiev. A bad twister leveled two towns, one of them Plymouth. The damage was extensive, only a few brick buildings and basements were left standing. The station was eclipsing the news daily; the crisis in Plymouth was a page four story.

  News however does eventually make it to the council of mayors. The mayors decide in a publicity stunt to offer free passage to the station.

  In a surprising move the people of Plymouth decided by almost unanimous vote to relocate enmasse to the station. Dismayed the mayors are forced to eat their words as Kiev reaches orbit and began the laborious process of taking the people on.

  When they arrived shops and additional businesses opened up on main street and in one of the malls near the core of the station. An electronic economy is set up. Pay discussions and back pay were argued about frequently over the next week as Kiev returned for its final trip. Irons stayed out of the argument as much as possible.

  A garden and a park were opened and dedicated in paired back to back ceremonies. The Gashg gardener from Kiev is on hand, he handed over a seedling from the Kiev's massive Cornucopia tree. They plant it and a few backups in the center of the garden, and the backups in the park.

  The park has a small amphitheater attached; three bands come up from the planet to perform. Apparently they were a hit with some of the people who had come up from the planet and people chafed through the droning speeches to listen to Clash, the Misfits, and Gem.

  In the speeches the Admiral's efforts were marginalized by Fu who emphasized the efforts of the people over any one individual. Sprite fumed over it but Irons brushed it off since he had skipped the ceremony in order to make repairs on another fusion reactor. He realized Fu had scheduled the repair of the reactor to coincide with the ceremony in order to get rid of Irons but he was actually on board with it since he didn't like ceremonies and public speaking anyway. The council heard a bit of the rant from Sprite and his reaction. The rant alienated a few further. Some were disturbed or amused by the admiral's nonchalant attitude and work ethic.

  Sprite is amused that the next project opened was a water park less than a week later. It's a mark of how far they have come that they have excess water to use for such a purpose. She's also amused by the spacers; none had ever played in water like that before. A zero G park would have made more sense for them.

  Spacers had played in zero g before but this was something completely different. All that wet stuff was dangerous but exciting. The former dirt siders were amused as they show them how to have fun with water. Some of the country folk had played in creeks and streams as kids and knew what a slide was but had never seen one made out of plastic before. Nor one that curled about into tunnels and other shapes. There were a few incidents of near drowning before life guards were hired but overall the water park was an immediate hit.

  The park opened up a dilemma though, some of the population wanted to open up the zoo next, others wanted the aquarium, others wanted a museum. A debate ensued, getting heated from time to time as people took sides. Irons rolled his eyes when he heard of it. He's not amused that they were drawing equipment, power, and resources away from reviving the station.

  Word of the first theme park in centuries to open made it back to the planet and hit the media. Irons was amused by the news accounts when he took the time to read them. He's even more amused by the people lining up at the space port to buy nonexistent tickets to come to the station just to go to the theme park. He tried to point out that since no one had an aquarium ground side and no one had experience running one, nor did they have access to the animals that was a dead project before it started. It was best to start with something simple.

  “What they could, what I mean is what they should do is offer the usage of the facilities to companies or a consortium on the ground. Rent the facilities out, have the company pay the overhead and a lease and charge tickets to pay for their employee wages and overhead.” He watched as the AI digested the suggestion. “That way it builds a legal defense against the inevitable accident or injury. Also it allows the station's council to focus on the well being of the station, not be bogged down in details trying to micromanage theme parks. Also right now they really don't have the population anyway.” which was partially true, the population was now hovering around thirty four thousand.

  “True,” Sprite replied. “And they can charge for food, lockers, and other things. The workers’ wages will go to pay for upkeep and improvements as well as into the local economy to pay for goods and services... which will in turn help to get the economy going. Banking would help immensely as well.”

  He wrinkled his nose. “We have banks.”

  She shook her virtual head. “What we have here are a couple of banks who are setting the prices and tone. What we don't have is healthy competition admiral,” she said. Reluctantly he nodded.

  “Tell you what, write all this up as a proposal and shoot it to the Warners and others you think may listen on the council. Let them think it over,” he suggested.

  “It won't go anywhere. You know that,” she said caustically.

  He seemed to look thoughtful but she knew him better. “Hmmmm... I dunno. It might.”

  “Someone will take credit for it,” she cautioned.

  He shrugged. “I don't care as long as it's implemented.”

  “Right,” Sprite sighed, turning her attention inward. “Fine then,” she said sounding resigned. “I'll get right on that. Shouldn't take me more than a minute.”

  “You know what? Don't bother with my name, use yours. It is your idea after all, well, most of it. Let someone try to tamper with that,” Irons said after a moment.

  “I'll... I'll do that,” Sprite said. Someone taking his glory she wouldn't fight. Someone taking her credit was something all together diffe
rent.

  Accidents continue to plague the station, including sudden changes in the artificial gravity, and the occasional power surge. Most were written off as damage and wear and tear. Some, Sprite came to realize were the acts of malicious mischief from some of the not quiet sane cybers and the still missing AI. She tried to bring it up to the council but was ignored. The admiral was too focused on rebuilding the replicators at the time to pay attention. “Sheriff, I don't know what to do about this,” she said, talking to Derrango.

  Sheriff Derrango was a nice guy. He was laid back, older, more of a frontier justice sort of man than a hard charging sheriff. He meant business though; more than one punk came up hard and short against him when they tried to test him.

  He'd just had a full medical exam too. Sprite didn't know the particulars because of doctor patient privilege but the sheriff was moving around a lot better, he seemed stronger and more limber. It seemed the visits had taken years off his age. It had definitely taken twenty kilo's off his waistline.

  His main deputy, Fife was a character. Bug eyed like his boss, but a tall gangly guy with ears that stuck out and a very nervous disposition. The man was a bit scatterbrained, jumping all over the place and was a stickler for the rule book. He was still learning that the rules were a bit different in space. His high pitched nasal voice had more than one person edgy around him.

  “Anyone get hurt?” the sheriff asked as he cleaned his stunner. He liked that he had it. Too often he'd had to kill someone back on Antigua with his now retired six shooter. It had helped his reputation sometimes but it had hurt it as well. He didn't like it that people thought of him as a shoot first type. This gave him more options.