Fool's Gold (The Wandering Engineer)

by Hechtl, Chris

  He grimaced then nodded. "Right, let me know how it goes. Unfortunately they can't run the hardware check with the code check in progress," he said.

  "I'm going as fast as I can Admiral. Oops, found something..." Sprite said. Lines of code came up in two separate windows. "Looks like something didn't copy right. I'm looking at a bad firmware chip. I've just tried to flash it but it's not taking. The ROM is bad."

  He nodded. "I'm cross checking the other new ROM chips now, hopefully this is a one off that slipped quality control and not an entire run," Firefly reported. He nodded. "Let Shelby know which ROM. Can they... wait, pod three is outboard, they can't get to her electronics from in the ship can they?" he asked.

  The Firefly Avatar shook it's head. "No, it's a dockside job usually. It will have to be swapped out. We could make it easier and do the entire board but handling moly circuit connections with EVA gloves..." Firefly shrugged.

  "Yeah, not a good thing. Okay, tell Shelby to lock it down and we'll have to rebuild the pod when we get back to the station. You can replicate the parts and have them on hand though right?" he asked.

  "Of course Admiral, I even have some already on hand in stores," Firefly pulled up an inventory list and showed him.

  "Okay, just as well. Make sure someone double checks them before we install them. I'll ask Shelby to put a crew together assembling the parts when they can." He nodded as he got up and stretched then yawned.

  "Tired?" Sprite asked.

  "No, just hate meetings. They are boring." The complaint was an old one. They both knew he was a hands on person.

  "Goes with the job," Firefly observed dryly. He chuckled.

  "Yeah, I know," he waved. "What else do we have?" he asked.

  "Not much, acclimation statistics are about where you would expect for the crew, not that we have much beyond Federation baseline statistics to use as a meter stick. I'd say we're about a month or two off from where we would normally be in this sort of recruiting drive with material we had in my last deployment," Firefly said. "Near the end we were catching the dregs a lot." The AI sounded miffed.

  "Couldn't be helped. With fewer systems, you have less people," Irons replied. "That's true. You organics can't replicate like we can. Sometimes I pity you for that," Firefly said. Irons chuckled.

  "Yeah, nature does have its weaknesses. All right, so we're a little behind there, but they are coming along, I noticed improvements in the last two sims. I don't want to overdo it with training, I don't want to burn them out, so maybe we should switch tactics a bit and open up the games and VR lounge..." he suggested.

  Firefly looked confused, then the avatar's eyes began to shift back and forth. “Accessing. Yes, if we give them access during free time it would let them improve their skills and allow them to be more comfortable with their cybernetics. I see." The AI looked up and nodded. "It will also let them get over the rising technophobia and feel more natural to them," he said.

  "I understand. Lounge is up. I am using the old lounge until it is changed," Firefly informed him.

  The Admiral chuckled. "Okay. I'm going to get some downtime before we get to port, let me know if things change." He waved and left the compartment.

  "What's this about?" Irons asked looking around the party. Enrique had paged him here since Firefly was in port repairing the drive firmware issue. He was glad he was in a fresh coverall. Sprite would have been mortified if he'd been seen in public in a stained one. She'd carp at him for days afterward. He just didn't need the distraction right now.

  "Fund raiser. We need you to show the flag a little. Put in a brief appearance and then you can escape," Enrique smiled imploringly. Irons grunted irritably. He flat out hated parties. And this was not the time to be having one.

  "If I must, I must," he looked around.

  "And here is our host Mr. Montoya. Hans, good to see you," Enrique shook hands with a portly gentlemen decked out in a classic tuxedo.

  "It is good to see you, and the Admiral. Such an honor," the man's voice was cultured and refined. He shook hands with the Admiral.

  "A pleasure I'm sure. This is an art museum?" Irons looked around.

  "Oh no, these are all one of a kind originals. Masterpieces all," he waved to a holo display. In the center of the room was a spring. Around its edges were dancing holographic images.

  Irons nodded. "That piece isn't original," he pointed to a painting near the door. His host turned. "Why yes, yes it is. I bought it from a reputable dealer at auction several years ago," Montoya smiled.

  "No, that's the Mona Lisa. Classic earth painting by Leonardo Da-Vinci, circa fourteenth century I believe," Irons replied. "I saw a print in the museum of humanity on Mars oh, seven hundred and fifty years ago." Irons shrugged turning back to the men.

  Montoya was in shock. His jaw hardened. "Are you sure?" he asked. Irons nodded.

  "You can see for yourself in the station's historical database," he pointed to Smithy. The AI looked over.

  "The Admiral is correct Senior Montoya." The avatar bowed. Montoya handed his drink to a steward then turned.

  "Excuse me," he said curtly then walked off stiffly.

  "Something I said?" Irons asked innocently. Enrique sighed shaking his head.

  "I just can't take you anywhere these days," Sprite said teasingly.

  Irons chuckled. "And here you are the AI worried about IP rights?" Irons asked.

  "That’s... okay, your right." He watched as the AI saluted him on his HUD. "Touché Admiral. Well said." He chuckled.

  "So what is this dog and pony show about anyway? You said a fund raiser?" Irons asked turning to the exec and AI avatar.

  "Yes well, some of the more well to do people on the station have them to support various causes. It's really an excuse to get together and show off their wealth and socialize." He shrugged.

  "Right. so what is this one about?" he asked.

  "Oh, um, I think it has something to do with raising defense funds. To help you fight the pirates," Enrique shrugged, draining his drink. A steward appeared at his elbow to take the empty glass and refill it.

  "Thanks," he nodded then turned and walked. The Admiral and holo avatar followed. As people passed between the projectors and the avatar it would flicker.

  "So are we going to actually see any of this money?" Irons asked.

  "Probably not. After they factor in the cost of throwing the party, most definitely not," Enrique shook his head wryly.

  "So why am I here?" Irons asked suddenly testy.

  Enrique looked up alarmed. "Why to show the flag of course!" he waved. "To show these people a real hero." He tried to smile disarmingly as the Admiral tried hard not to grind his teeth.

  "Right, well, since we're not going to benefit from this peacock display, I have more important things to be doing." He handed a nearby steward his glass.

  "I'll give them your regrets of course," the AI said smoothly.

  "Yeah, whatever, you do that. We'll talk about that later. When we have more time. IF we have more time," Irons said. The babble of conversation around him paused as people turned to look at him. He knew he was making a scene.

  "Later," Irons nodded and walked out.

  "I really can't take you anywhere anymore can I? All dressed up for the ball and no one could see me but you," Sprite teased. Irons grunted.

  "You could have warned me about that farce. I do have more important things to be doing," he said tightly. “We've got a ship to fix, other ships to get, and a battle to fight.”

  "Noted. I assumed you wanted to see the movers and shakers of the station though."

  "That group of overdressed peacocks?" Irons laughed despairingly. "They couldn't find their ass with approach radar and directions!" He shook his head.

  "No, the real movers and shakers are the people keeping this station together, people like Logan and his daughter and the men and women they trained. The Doc, the exec," he growled. He nodded to the guards as he passed them.

  "Noted. I'll make sur
e to send your regrets for any follow up fund raisers," Sprite replied. Irons nodded.

  "You do that."

  "Admiral, I'd like to talk to you about setting up a museum." He sighed as he turned. He didn't need this crap. How were they coming to find him, and why now of all times? A mousy woman and rail thin man stood behind him. The woman smiled hesitantly.

  He raised his eyebrow. "And you are?" he asked. If this was going to keep up he was going to have to limit his time on the station. He didn't need the distractions.

  "Oh, oh. Um My name is Margret Finch, and this is my husband Gerard." They shook hands.

  "All right, now what is this about a museum?" Irons asked. They were in a corridor near Ops. He looked around. "Perhaps we can take this somewhere more private?" he asked.

  "Got it. Conference room two doors down on your right. It's unoccupied," Sprite informed him.

  "This way." He led them to the conference room and then sat at the head of the table.

  "All right, you want to set up a museum? What type?" he asked. He checked the clock on his HUD. He had about twenty minutes to go through with this farce. Then again, maybe some good will come out of it in the long run.

  "Oh a full museum, not an art one. We have plenty of art galleries and art museums," Gerard replied with a sniff. “There is one private museum but it is filled with vehicles. We want to be more of a general museum.”

  Margret nodded enthusiastically. "You see, we found a storage room filled with materials! It was being transshipped to the museum on the planet I guess. It has some interesting materials we'd like to use, along with patterns for skeletal structures. We've talked to the doctor, she offered us her anatomical database as well," Margret sounded enthusiastic.

  "Several people have offered copies or outright loans of their personal collections to help build up our catalog," Gerard said with pride. Irons nodded thoughtfully.

  "So a general museum geared for all things? Anatomy, sciences, history? You’re talking about a real museum not a virtual one?" He looked from one to the other. Slowly they looked at each other then back to him and nodded. "All right, I can contribute as well. You need my permission?"

  They looked surprised then eager. "Yes, but we need space and power as well. And workers," Margret waved. "We've got a space in mind but it is occupied," she sniffed.

  "Where?" Irons tapped the conference controls. The lights dimmed startling the Finch's until the holo projector came on, emitting light. The light formed into the station schematic.

  "Here," Margret pointed to the college deck.

  "I'm afraid we're using that for the college," Irons answered.

  "Oh. Dear me, we didn't know that." Margret turned to her husband.

  "What about here?" Irons asked pointing to a section three decks high shaped like a rounded pie slice. The tip was cut out for the core of course.

  "No, that won’t do, it's all vertical!" Margret sounded distressed.

  "Besides it's very far away from the proper parts of the station," she waved to the luxury quarters.

  “So is the college where you wanted the museum in the first place. This space was set up for a museum.”

  "There is a lot of riff raft in that area, we want to keep them out," her husband said in disdain then sniffed.

  Irons froze for a moment. "Those riff raft are your fellow citizens and have every right to experience a museum," he said quietly. The Finches flinched.

  "As far as it not being a linear museum, well, that is the best I can do. It will give you several decks so you can spread things out. Sciences on one, history on another, art and culture on another," he shrugged. “It has a spiral sloped deck so people can enter on one deck then move up or down and exit the other deck.”

  "It will also let you assemble large structures if needed." He pulled up a list on his implant. He started to scroll through different animal names.

  "Allow me Admiral," Sprite sounded amused. A tyrannosaurus skeleton appeared on the ground floor. It stretched up to the top of the second deck. It was posed like it was roaring to the heavens. The Finches oohed and ahed. Irons chuckled.

  "I didn't know they were really that big!" Margret turned in awe to the Admiral. Irons shrugged. "That's actually a medium sized dinosaur from Earth. Some were much larger. And of course that's just earth's history, there are many animals from the Federation. A whale from Janus for example.” Sprite replaced the Rex skeleton with a long whale skeleton. It spiraled up to the top of the museum. Of course you’re going to need warehouse space to store displays not in use so you can cycle through new material periodically.” He shrugged. “I've got a few things in my database that you can use as templates to make copies of.” He frowned at the display after a moment.

  “You can also do an exploration of the old Federation. Their worlds and people. And even a few of our allies and citizens," he nodded. Sprite switched the whale out for a spiral view of the planets of the Federation, then replaced that with a squid like being. It's body was large, a fully adult Ssislli Irons realized. He had seen them before of course, they looked like a cross between a Terran plesiosaur, lion fish, blue whale, hammerhead shark, and a humble squid.

  "What is that?" Margret reared back.

  "One of our alien citizens. A Seti Ssislli. Also known as a Ssisilruk. Their species name tends to change depending on what colony or sea they are from. They were water creatures. The best hyper navigators in space. They had some incredibly intricate three dimensional art as well which you may be familiar with. They also did some incredible things with sonics." Irons shook his head.

  "Well, we can't have something like that scaring people," the woman waved her hands. "All tentacles, eyes and... and things." She shuddered. Her husband gravely nodded.

  "Well, it can be discussed later," Irons said as Sprite flashed him a warning he was late.

  "All right, I'll talk with the command staff then let you know how the proposal goes. I suggest you get Mr. Knox to endorse this and ask for volunteer help. You're going to need people to repair the space, renovate it, and man it after all.” They blinked at that then nodded. “In the meantime I suggest you get with your backers and work on your catalog and document the history of each item. If you can, try to research and document it as well." He nodded as he stood.

  They hastily stood. Gerard held out his hand. Irons shook it. "Pleasure meeting you two. I'll be in touch." He exited as they murmured together.

  "That was interesting," Sprite said. Irons chuckled.

  "I didn't expect their xenophobia though. You'd think after nearly a thousand years we'd be over that sort of thing," Irons replied.

  "You organics have a tendency to regress through ignorance Admiral," the AI said smugly. Irons chuckled again.

  “I didn't need the distraction, but hopefully something good will come of it.”

  “You always were a softy for educational ventures,” Sprite teased. He nodded.

  “All right, where were we?” he asked, eyebrow arched.

  “A ten thirty appointment, check in with Ops, then you need to swing by the doctor to have a chat. She's having issues and wants to bend your ear. By that time Chief Logan believes her crews will have the pod straightened out. I believe the scheduled departure time is fifteen hundred.”

  “Okay, lets be about it then shall we?”

  “Something up Doc?” the Admiral asked watching the doctor study a text file. She looked up with a irritable grimace.

  “Yes I was hoping Firefly had something on the implant procedures for the elves.”

  “Ah?” Irons asked, arms uncrossing from his chest. “Oh, the scale?”

  “Yes. Their neurology is extremely dense. I'm having trouble sorting it out. It's definitely a nanite job, no question about that. But I'm concerned about their size. There is only so much I can cram into their bodies.”

  “Doctor; Elves and a few of the other smaller citizens know this and they know they will get only the implants their bodies can handle,” Firefly said softl
y. The holographic image of the centurion briefly came on then flickered and went out as the projector started sparking.

  “Damn,” the AI said from the overhead speaker, sounding vexed.

  “Put it on the repair list. Bottom of the list,” Irons said with a sigh. “You were saying?” he said looking up to the nearest camera.

  “Yes. As I was saying the elves receive the nanite enhancement pack, we clean them out and they receive the artificial liver but that's about all we can fit into the thorax without displacing or removing something else.”

  “Yes I see...”

  “There is a notation about carbon nanotube fiber sheaths?” the doctor said pointing to a page.

  “Correct. For muscle and skeletal reinforcement,” the AI replied.

  “Okay, how does all that get powered? Where do we stick the power plant?”

  “We don't. They get a couple of one centimeter long superconductor batteries embedded in their femurs. Since they have the structural reinforcement they can fit in without a major loss.”

  “So your saying almost a complete rebuild,” the doctor said sighing. “On a micro scale.” She groaned softly, head in her hands.

  “What's this about?” Irons asked flicking his attention through the text. Medical jargon was just that... jargon to him. He didn't get half of it. Then again, engineers have been told their own material was hard for others outside their profession to read. He shrugged and closed the window.

  “Um?” Doc said then looked up and rolled her shoulders. “I've got a couple requests for elves who have signed onto your navy.”

  “Indeed?” Irons asked, eyebrow cocked. He turned his attention to the camera again.

  “Indeed. I just checked the new recruit roster,” Firefly replied. “Uploading it to you now Admiral.”

  “All right.” He nodded as the file appeared on his HUD then scrolled fast. “Anyone we know?”

  “A few. Purple Blossom for one,” Sprite reported from the desk speaker as the file stopped.

  “Ah.” He nodded. That explained Oberon's comment from a week ago.

  “She's passed the academy entrance exam. She's got some good tactical skills. Top ten percent. She wants a bridge slot,” Sprite said.