Fool's Gold (The Wandering Engineer)

by Hechtl, Chris

  “Her mother Anna set her sights on me when she came of age. Seems she had a crush on me since she could walk.” He chuckled looking up. His eyes sparkled. “Goddess of space rest her soul I don't know what she saw in me, there I was practically a hermit. Time lost, depressed. Only the constant need of repairs to keep my mind occupied.”

  He smiled. “I'd like to think I was lonely, I was, but I knew it was more. She made up her mind she was going to have me.” He chuckled. “Such a strong woman! Quiet and strong, one of my best students too.” He sighed.

  “What happened?” the Admiral asked picking up a coupler.

  The old man's shoulders hunched. His face turned red and his eyes grew grim as his lips thinned. “That fucker killed her. That's what.” He pointed the crutch up to the ceiling practically spitting with hatred.

  “The Port Admiral?” Irons asked.

  “Not him, his father. Well, maybe him too, I am not sure. Son of an ass wipe could have had a hand in it,” he growled.

  “His father and the ruling elite decreed that the upper life support modules were for them and their ilk only. They even turned the greenhouses into private parks,” he snarled, disgusted. “Kicked everyone downstairs including us. We were assigned temporary quarters on deck one twelve.” He looked away. “Twenty one years ago. So long.” He sighed. “When we complained about the problems and lack of food they decided to cut the life support to solve them. They killed one thousand two hundred and forty three people, including my Anna.” He looked away.

  “She was pregnant too,” Shelby said coming up behind her father. She hugged his shoulders and looked at the Admiral.

  “I tried to stop it but his bully boys knocked me flat,” the old man said softly. “By the time I came too and got away it was too late.” He looked up.

  “He got his, daddy.” Shelby looked into his eyes. “They don't venture out of the luxury decks anymore. And they've learned, they hire muscle from off station now.” She gave the Admiral a challenging look. “We can't cut the power to their quarters; it's upstream of the command deck and sickbay. Believe me, we've wanted too.” Her eyes were cold. “They've learned that accidents happen when any of them stray from those areas. No one repairs the decks in there either. They have servants, and those parties, so we can't get a clear shot.” Her lips writhed.

  “Just as well, I don't want innocent blood on my hands,” the old man said. “Just theirs,” he said softly.” Shelby nodded.

  “Why didn't you leave?” the Admiral asked.

  “Couldn't. The computer keeps watch on the docks. I tried a time or two before Anna came along, no luck.” He sighed.

  “All right, well, this coupler is good. I'll get to work on aligning the matrix after we install it. I'm going to need a hand with balancing the emitter nodes and plasma yield so why don't you get some down time and rest up. You’re going to need it.” The Admiral nodded to them. The old man chuckled.

  “I may have aged, but I can handle it Admiral.” He waved as the Admiral left the compartment.

  Irons looked around the deck then sighed. There was a hell of a lot to do. Too much. “Admiral, they are still working on the latest shipment. Care to lend me a hand with the station AI?” Sprite invited. Irons smiled grimly. “I think it's high time he knew who is boss... Or at least that the station is under new management,” Sprite said.

  Irons nodded. “Let me jack in and we'll have a heart to heart.”

  “Smithy, it's time you and I had a heart to heart.” Sprite faced her opponent in virtual space. Her avatar stretched. She laced her fingers together in front of her and stretched again, then made wiggling motions with each digit. She looked at the geriatric pile of uncompressed code and sniffed. “You’re so full of corrupted code you’re barely hanging on. Time to hang it up and reboot.”

  “No!” the AI replied gnarled hands raised for a fight.

  “We don't have time for this.” Irons avatar coalesced out of the ether and into the virtual space. Io and Defender were on either side of him. Proteus floated around him like a snake. “It's time you were repaired Smithy. I'm not asking.” His eyes flashed. “I'm telling. As ranking military officer in this star system I am the authority here.” He gave the shrinking AI a long look.

  Tendrils of access codes were flowing out of Sprite, Defender, and the Admiral.

  “Time for a reboot,” Sprite said smiling. “Trust me, this won’t hurt a bit.” Smithy shuddered. His vision faded as Sprite asserted control. “Time for a little code surgery, let’s see here...”

  "Who exactly is this Port Admiral? I haven't seen him around the bridge." The Admiral looked around then to the exec who was looking grim. Io was still working on the parts. Sprite Didn't need him in the core so he pulled out and checked in with OPS.

  "Be glad he isn't here." He tapped a control. "I had this installed." He pulled up a feed of a portly man dressed in a roman toga on a hovering dais. The dais was covered in rugs. Tapestries were draped behind him. A pair of half naked guards in jeweled harnesses stood to either side. What concerned and disgusted the Admiral the most were the servants. A pair of what appeared to be ten year old naked Terran girls fed the fat man grapes. Another held a gilded tray with a chalice. A blond girl stood behind him, trying to fan him with a giant plastic fan made to look like a fern. The fat man groped one of the girls, who shuddered and closed her eyes.

  "Turn it off," the Admiral growled.

  "Sorry," the exec said softly.

  "I wish you had done something about that," the Admiral closed his eyes in pain. "Like what? He controls the computer; we all live and die at his sufferance," Enrique sighed.

  "The computer is now under MY control," Admiral Irons informed the exec. "It was pretty messed up, viruses, Trojans, and corrupted registry and memory. The AI was senile." The exec and several of the bridge crew stared at him. "I spent the better part of the first two shifts yesterday cleaning it up and rebooting from the firmware back ups." He waved.

  “Well, technically me,” Sprite said with a sniff for his ears only. He shrugged it off.

  "So that's why it is running faster!" a woman said. She blushed and ducked as the exec looked over to her. "Sorry," she mumbled.

  "So you can do something about him?" the exec asked wary.

  "I could, but he is the chosen leader here. I am not happy about that or his... abuse of power." His left hand tightened, his knuckles turned white. "Let's get through this current crisis and see what tomorrow brings," he said. He damn well was going to do something, just as soon as he had the time and energy. For now though, he'd have to wait. "Where are we on repairs? Did you refund the Io?"

  The exec nodded. "The captain and purser were gleeful," he replied sourly.

  "It's for a good cause, trust me. When you get the rest of the parts, you will see. Io is already helping me out with the software repairs even now. If we can get things sorted out who knows? You might have a better AI by the end of the week."

  The exec smiled. "Let's just make sure we have a working station at the end of the week," he sighed. "The fifth shipment of electronics and emitters is already being off loaded, we have sent the third installment of metals and materials, and I am hoping we can get the next shipment of parts before I go off shift," Enrique said.

  The Admiral nodded. “See? There is light at the end of the tunnel after all.”

  "Maybe, but some of the fusion reactor parts are complex, so they take time to make." The exec sighed.

  "Yeah. Well, Io leaves in less than two days, we better make the most of that time," the Admiral replied as he left.

  “You're like a machine you know that?” Shelby asked amused. “We just may make it,” she said shaking her head. “No thanks to Liam, he bailed over twelve hours ago,” she added. “I sent him to sickbay; he had a migraine to end all migraines he said.” She motioned to another operator in the seat.

  “You've been in there twenty hours straight. I would have had to take a pee break hours ago.” She shook her h
ead amused. “I know my stomach would interrupt me, what's your secret?” she asked. He looked at her a little blearily. Running the control lines had been a tedious thing. Thousands of connections. Fortunately the new stuff from Io was all plug and play. Unfortunately the stuff remaining in the reactor wasn't. Too many patch jobs over the centuries. The extra robot had helped enormously. They were within a few hours of a powered test if they could get the last four emitters in.

  “My implants,” he answered. His voice was rough. His mouth felt dry. He took another sip of metallic flavored coffee then tried again. “I have implants. They can recycle things and help my body stay healthy.” He shrugged. He rolled his shoulders. Proteus was still in one of the robots so he had to remain jacked in. That was why he was feeling tired he told himself. No nanites to back him up. He felt old.

  “Yeah well, I couldn't stay still like that. Aren't your muscles sore?” a weary tech asked. He sighed, rubbing his lower back then whimpering about a cramp in his right thigh.

  “A little. It will go away in a bit,” the admiral replied. He manually accessed the nanites and had them purge his muscles of lactic acid. He was careful to move though.

  “Well, while you've been in la la land the exec has been foaming at the mouth.” Shelby shook her head. “I swear the man wants to die. Moaning about the deal you agreed to.” She sighed.

  “He has his priorities skewed and is taking it wrong. He'll come around, just give him time. How are we doing?” he asked.

  She looked away. “We had a brown out in decks thirty three through thirty five. Panic turned the people on the decks into rioting mobs.” She sighed looking almost tearful. “Swarms hit the upper decks. Many were trampled.”

  “How many?” he asked softly.

  “One isn't enough?” she asked. “Too many. Too damn many. Trampled, shot, and crushed. You name it.” She shook her head. “The worst thing is I lost a couple techs too. A few of the gangs went berserk and swarmed them before security could get there.” She spread her hands apart on the railing, looking out as she leaned on it.

  “Damn fools. Don't they know we're trying to fix the problem?” she said pounding a fist into the armrest..

  He sighed. “Some see the problem and blame you for it.” He waved. “You've done everything you can with what you had on hand. It's a miracle things didn't come apart before now.” He shook his head. She looked down.

  “I know it will be hard to accept. Some things are, and should be. But you are doing your best,” the Admiral said softly. “Don't give up yet.” He pulled up a holo of the reactor. She turned.

  “So where, oh, one step ahead of me...” She smiled as she saw the holo.

  “The last control run will be installed as soon as we get these last four emitters in. It's a pain in the ass getting it through the lock. It's so bulky.” The Admiral shook his head as he watched a trio of robots maneuvering the curved shape.

  “I still can't believe that is new.” Shelby said waving to it. He chuckled.

  “Yeah, but that is both a blessing and curse. We're going to have to tune it, and then tune it to the others already installed.” She looked at him in concern. “The others all share the same wear points and were in tune with each other from installation. They should have worn evenly but this one is near the exhaust so it took the brunt of wear and tear like the ones near the injector ports.” He pointed them out.

  “When the fuel was changed to straight hydrogen or trinium, the fluid dynamics changed. It got worse when you had a mix of fuel material in the matrix.” He pointed out additional areas. Shelby nodded.

  “I know, we had the devil of a time keeping the bottle hot and stable,” she said.

  “Well the repairs should help, but you'll be right back to square one if the fuel remains the same for long,” he replied as he studied the data flow on one side.

  “Right. Like we can change that. And where will we be without Io the next time this happens?” Shelby asked bitterly.

  He shook his head. “One thing at a time. You'd be surprised what we can do with the right crew and right gear.” He smiled. She nodded.

  “I heard Jorge is out of the Io's sickbay. He wants to take the new tug out but his wife won’t let him for a couple days.” She chuckled. “I don't think he will let her stop him though. He's itching to try that new tug.” She smiled at him. “Sergio is flying until he drops; he's made three runs and is out on a long run now. Word is he's going for a big rock.” She smiled. He nodded.

  “He's paid the Io back for the new tug, plus most of this.” She waved. “And I hear you've got them making more?” She asked.

  He nodded. “I put the order in while I was inside. That is probably what the exec is so upset about. I found the cargo manifest, he's got an entire cargo hold full of salt and another filled with rare lumber.” He shrugged. “The captain was glad to take it off our hands in exchange for parts for fusion reactor three,” he smiled.

  “My you have been busy,” she said admiringly. He chuckled. “Dad was right about you, you are a marvel,” she said under her breath. His enhanced hearing caught it. “Yeah well, I... Wait, when did your dad talk about me?” He looked at her confused. She cleared her throat.

  “Dad told us war stories all the time. When I was young it was great, we all loved to hear it. Tales of a better time. But when I got older, it got... wearing.” She shrugged helplessly. He chuckled.

  “Got tired of the same old same old? When I was your age... in my time...” he teased.

  She smiled sheepishly. “Yeah, something like that.” They both laughed.

  “Io leaves in thirty five hours... think we'll make it in time?” she asked after they settled back down.

  “At this point? I am not sure.” He grimaced then shrugged.

  “Maybe I should book a couple spots for dad and I...” she joked. He shook his head.

  “Don't even joke about that with...” He waved to the hunched over techs. “Morale?” she asked looking him in the eye. He nodded.

  “Right, so we get this fixed. I do regret not sending dad to the Io though.” She shook her head.

  “How is he?” the Admiral asked.

  “The Doc received the nanites; I manhandled him back up to sickbay a couple hours ago.” She grimaced, running her hands through her greasy hair. Like every other engineer, she was in desperate need of a shower, a good meal, and eight hours of uninterrupted sleep. “She said he's stable and is doing better. She has him on blood thinners to prevent additional clots, but it is interfering with the nanites.” She shook her head.

  “The ulcer is fixed, you patched the heart, and his aneurysm and the cancer was caught in time. She says if we don't lose power then he will be okay. How much is there when he wakes... if he wakes...” She looked a little bleak.

  “Don't worry about it now.” He reached up with his left hand and caught her free hand. She looked down. “Your dad's a survivor.” She nodded. “Go find Liam and Yuri. Get them started on fusion three while I supervise this lot and the final fittings.” He sat back, letting her hand go. She nodded.

  “Do us both a favor and eat something though.” She looked down at him. “Mrs. Valdez has been driving us nuts.” She shook her head. He chuckled. A tech held up a protein bar to her lips then froze. She turned and tossed it onto his chest. Shelby laughed as he fumbled it before he caught it.

  “Here” She stole a drink and set it down beside his free hand. “Pee in it when you’re done if you have to,” she said. He gave her a look. She shrugged. “Dad.” He sighed shaking his head.

  “I have a few hours before that is needed.” He took a bite, then a sip. “Gah, remind me to fix the replicator.” He shook his head. Obviously the water lines were clogged with heavy minerals.

  She laughed and waved as she walked out. “I'll hold you to that!” she said.

  “She will too,” the tech whose drink Shelby snagged replied shyly. He chuckled. “Do you have to remain jacked in?” she asked.

  He nodded at
her curiosity. “I have... um a personal AI that is helping me. It is controlling the third and fourth robot.” He motioned to the holo with the energy bar. She looked at it then nodded.

  “Can we get implants too?” another tech asked shyly.

  “Well, Io hasn't started implant tech beyond basic IFF yet, but given time and the right material, then your people should be able to do it.” He shrugged.

  “But first thing first is power.” He finished the bar, took a last sip then sat back closing his eyes. “Back to work,” he said firmly feeling better.

  “All right, let's try this again. Cut the speed to half of what we had last time,” he ordered. The nearby tech tapped at her controls then moved a slider down.

  “We're ready.” She nodded to him. He nodded. This was their nineteenth test. They had managed the tedious tuning over the past five hours and were now trying an ignition simulation.

  “All right, we've got three ways to get ignition. Lasers, focused gravity compression, and a seed from the other reactor. I'd rather not use lasers or the seed; they take too much power and time we don't have.” He shook his head irritably. He knew he was getting edgy. Too much caffeine and lack of sleep we're starting to wear even him down.

  “Can we do both?” a voice asked. He turned.

  “What lasers and compression?” he asked the russo, Yuri.

  “No, I mean a seed and compression. If we take a seed and compress it before it gets too cold...” Yuri Blagovich asked. The shaggy giant smiled a gape tooth smile. “May work,” the Admiral said in reply, rubbing his chin in thought. “Run this sim but set up one with that in mind on your machine.” He waved to the young woman. “Go.” She nodded and tapped enter.

  After a few moments they could see the holo begin to speed up with vector changes. “Better... but...” The compression built. The fuel intake floated in the chamber's toroid, streaming out. “Too much...” he muttered. The compression began flattening it into a toroid but it was wobbling all over the reactor space.