Fool's Gold (The Wandering Engineer)

by Hechtl, Chris

  "Shields are up Admiral." He felt his right arm tingle. It morphed into a blaster. The chairwoman's smirk vanished as she shrank back. Then motioned to the rep with the weapon.

  "Jim, take your hand off the weapon slowly. We're not going to threaten him in any physical way. But I should warn you Admiral, there is a dead man's switch," she smiled as she held up a control. Her eyes glittered. "If I go, we all go." He cocked his head.

  "Interesting. I can't hack it Admiral. They've shielded this entire room. That's a hard wired link to something. Its monitoring her vitals too," Sprite informed him.

  "I suggest a tactical retreat is in order," Defender urged. Irons snarled again.

  "This isn't going according to plan," one of the other senators said, gulping and looking nervously from one opponent to the other. "You said he'd cave. You said that."

  "Quiet Bernard. The Admiral is merely being stubborn. He'll come around in time," the chairwoman replied.

  "I can turn this around later you know," Irons replied.

  "No you can't. And If you try, it will be your word against ours," she smiled. "Your power coup is foiled."

  He shook his head, suddenly tired. "You honestly think people will believe I went through all the trouble of setting up a government, handing over the governorship all to take it back?" he laughed.

  "They'll believe what we tell them. We're their leaders after all," another rep said. Irons turned on him then back to the chairwoman when the man wouldn't meet his gaze.

  "You will come to regret this," he said.

  "Don't count on it," the chairwoman grinned. She knew she had him.

  "No, I can assure you, you will," the Admiral shook his head. "You have no idea how much you will.” He shook his head. “All right, I'll leave. I was going to in a couple of years anyway." He shrugged and turned to the door.

  "Admiral no tricks. You will board your shuttle. Dock with the Destiny and not make any communications to Firefly or any other ship or colony," the chairwoman said.

  "Try to stop me. My good behavior is only conditional. My silence isn't. Firefly is monitoring this and broadcasting it system wide even now," Irons gave her a tight smile. "If anything untoward happens, to this colony or to that family, there will be hell to pay. I'll take this rock apart piece by piece, then every other in this system. There will be NO place to hide."

  He gave her a long cold look. Bernard gulped. "Count on it." He walked out.

  "You gentlemen do realize he recorded our entire... reasoning session right?" Governor Paul looked over to the trio of men and women who had helped to engineer their plan. The speaker smiled as she toyed with her drink and watched the admiral leaving on the security monitor.

  "Yes, but the dear Admiral is going to suffer an unfortunate... accident in transit. No need to worry about any loose ends." Mrs. Edever smiled. The others chuckled in appreciation. “Once he's gone this, this will be nothing. We'll bring the navy to heel and the rest will just blow over when the next crisis hits. We can even engineer one to hasten that process along if need be. Then we will be set for life.”

  "Are we really going through with this Admiral?" Sprite asked. Defender plotted the people shadowing him on his plot.

  "Looks that way. For now," Irons replied. "I want that entire conversation, visual, audio, the works on a chip and copies shot to every navy vessel and instillation. Anvil and Knox as well the moment we dock with Destiny," he sub-vocalized. “Hell, do it now on my link. Use a self decrypting packet.”

  "On it," Sprite responded. "Do you think the launch is rigged?" the AI asked.

  "I doubt it. But we're going to take our time during preflight to make sure," he replied. He passed a couple of people who wouldn't meet his gaze. One grabbed his arm then let go. He entered the lock and climbed into the ship.

  "I was sure they would have blown a lock. Happy little accident. No muss, no fuss. State funeral," Sprite muttered.

  "Count your blessings," Irons said. He grimaced as he started preflight.

  "I'm checking the software now. Oh ho! Someone put a logic bomb in the communication's software! The moment you were under power the communications would have locked down. Clever. Admiral this stinks of an inside job."

  "Kill it then send an amendment report when we leave. Check the ship. Find out who got in the launch and boat bay. We've got a traitor to catch.”

  "No sign of tampering externally Admiral," Proteus reported. "I would have seen something on the hull scan when we entered the lock." Irons nodded.

  "Yeah, me too, but forewarned is forearmed. I don't think they will pull an assassination. Not this late in the game." He finished the power up sequence.

  "Ship is stable," he nodded. "Right then, let's get this over with. Exile," he muttered.

  The lock irised open. He maneuvered out then turned and set course for Destiny.

  "Signal sent Admiral," Sprite informed him as he approached the freighter. "She tried to intercept the signal. Obviously someone on board is in on it," Sprite said.

  Irons grimaced. "How did they get it past the AI?" he shook his head. "Never mind. Manual," he growled again.

  "My, my, he is a sore loser," the speaker said softly a few minutes later. She was already getting reports of the signals the Admiral had sent out. Her minions had squashed some, but she was pretty sure some were going to get out. Which was unfortunate.

  Her partners grimaced. "You said he wouldn't have a way to communicate!"

  "Yes well, not all things go according to plan. I've intercepted some of the signals. Did your people?" she turned on them. A few mumbled.

  "To the colonies yes, but not the naval vessels or Anvil. He sent a signal to Knox but our agent deleted it. However Knox has been called in to talk with the lieutenant governor for a special emergency meeting," Bernard replied.

  "Enrique can be handled. He'll understand. It's in his long term interests as well. The navy... well, we know how to handle them don't we? Now that we have a... hole at the top we'll just have to find someone... malleable to fill it," the chairwoman smiled.

  "That could be a problem. Horatio Logan, his daughter, Mayweather, Vargess, and Harris all out rank the commander by grade and time served. Trying to promote him over them could lead to a dog fight," Raoul cautioned.

  "Now now, don't fret. I think we can count on the navy to shut up and serve. After all, they swore an oath to do their duty and serve didn't they?" Her Cheshire grin widened.

  "Whatever you say milady," Raul bowed.

  "Good man."

  “Admiral, I am sorry about this,” a pair of men met him at the boat bay lock.

  “Are you involved in this?” he asked giving them a look.

  “Uh, no sir. I'm under orders to keep you confined to your stateroom until we enter hyperspace.” The man looked nervous. “It's this way if you please.” He looked to the other man.

  “All right,” Irons nodded.

  “Admiral, all Wi-Fi has been manually cut out. I can't get into the net,” Sprite warned him. He gave a small nod. “I'm starting to regret letting people know I can use Wi-Fi access,” the AI said with a snarl.

  After a few minutes and a brief lift ride they arrived at his destination. A pair of guards were standing by on either side of the door. “They are here for your protection,” the purser said. Irons sighed as he entered the room. He looked around as the door shut behind him.

  “Cute. They ripped out the communications console Admiral,” Sprite reported thoroughly disgusted. “What now?” she asked.

  “Did the people on the station get released?” he asked.

  “Last I checked on the launch yes Admiral. The conspirators left the colony and disappeared. Most likely destination is either Vesta sixteen or Nuevo Sierra nine. They are the closest.”

  He grunted. “Well, at least the innocents are safe.” He gave the console a look.

  “If you can call them that Admiral,” Sprite retorted.

  “Time to get to work. When we're in the net I want yo
u to find and disable any logic bombs, and monitor the ship's systems,” he smiled. “Oh and go ahead and reset my room security to my control.” He held up his right arm and felt it morph and go to work.

  “Admiral the external communications are locked out. Physically. Someone went to a lot of trouble to do this, I can't fix it with software,” Sprite sounded sour and disgusted. He chuckled. They had been in the net for over an hour now. He'd half expected as much actually.

  “This is a clear case of tearing apart a hero to prove he's mortal,” Sprite said after a moment. The Admiral un-jacked and sighed. “I've dumped the entire sordid thing on every tablet, on every duty station in the ship. Nothing works until they have watched the thing once and answered questions on it. I've got worm programs ready to dump it throughout the system the moment someone reconnects the communications. If they even notice it's down before we leave,” she snarled.

  “You don't expect everything to go our way all the time do you?” He sat down on the edge of the bed.

  “I can hope.”

  He laughed. “Did you try the launch again?”

  “The outer hull is bouncing the signal back,” Sprite reported. “So what are we going to do now?” she demanded, activating her avatar on his HUD. Her hands were on her hips. “We're just going to go tamely off into the wild blue yonder?”

  “Well, I'm going to take a nap,” he rolled over.

  “But...”

  “Night Sprite.”

  "Are we really going to do this? Going to let him get screwed?" Mayweather asked. She shook her head. Dan and the others looked down. They had watched the video from start to finish. Firefly was going over it several times with the intelligence officer.

  "It's not our decision to make," Dan said smoothly. "It's his," he pointed his chin to the Destiny. The captain had ordered the ship to shadow Destiny to the jump point hours ago.

  "He gave in because they were holding that family, hell the entire colony hostage!" Shelby snarled. "We're not going to let them get away with that. That's treason!" she snarled slapping her closed fist against the armrest repeatedly.

  "My marines are ready and waiting captain, just give them the word," the Major said, giving the captain an imploring look.

  "And do what? Go in and shoot the Representatives of the colonies? That would go over SSSOO well with the public," Dan said with a shake of his head.

  "I frankly don't care," Mayweather said quietly.

  "You can't do that," Dan said surprised and agitated. She looked at him.

  "As you were lieutenant commander. I'm in command. Or did you forget that?" she asked. He blushed and looked away.

  "Dad's in charge now. I'm not sure what he'll do. He's probably trying to get word to Destiny but she's probably ignoring him," Shelby said quietly.

  "Damn it, it wasn't supposed to happen like this," Dan muttered. The Major turned suddenly.

  "What did you say?" he snarled. Mayweather and the others looked up.

  "What did you say?" they asked looking at the Major then to Dan.

  "Nothing. Nothing at all," Dan backpedaled. He paled and tried to leave. The Major blocked his path.

  "Bull. You said it wasn't supposed to happen like this," he snarled eyes glittering. Mayweather stood with a snarl of her own.

  "You were in on this," she said, coming to a conclusion. "You were the one that fed them the Admiral's movements. That call you made," she said nodding. "You set him up. The logic bomb in the launch. XO check the boat bay records and see if the good lieutenant commander was there."

  “Son of a bitch! You’re the one who suggested he go explore the tunnels!” a crew member said suddenly.

  Firefly's avatar looked at him. His eyes burned red.

  "I did no such…" Dan looked frantically from one closed face to another. “You are looking for a scapegoat, well, you’re not going to pin this on me!” He turned to move away. The Major jerked Dan up and slammed him against the wall. He gasped then whimpered. "They made me do it," he sobbed eyes wide in sudden fright. The Major let him go and turned with a snarl.

  "Get this trash off my deck and into the brig," Mayweather said with a snarl. The Major turned.

  "What did they offer you? Money? Power?" he demanded hand on the back of the traitor's neck.

  "Command," Janice said from behind the captain. She turned to her. "Think about it, he gets promoted," she nodded her chin to the commander. Mayweather turned on him.

  "So that's what it was? Command? Fancy yourself an Admiral's billet? Wanted to take a short cut?" she asked voice deep with scorn.

  "No, but Firefly is rightfully mine," Dan snarled eyes locking onto hers. "Not a refugee from a piece of shit yacht."

  "How were they going to do it?" Janice asked.

  "By special appointment," Dan said. "From the legislature." He wiped drool and tears with the back of his hand.

  "That would not have been legal commander," Firefly's avatar coalesced beside his captain. "I would not have accepted it. Neither would commander Logan or the other officers. You should have known better from the beginning." He shook his head. "All for naught. You were a patsy. You threw your career away for nothing."

  "No, they promised me!" Dan said desperately.

  Mayweather's cold glare slid a little. "It was a lie. You should have known better. lieutenant commander. I formally arrest you. The charges are insubordination, conduct unbecoming an officer, sabotage, and treason."

  Dan's eyes went wide. "You can't do that!" he said suddenly desperate. Treason was a death penalty offense. He looked around the bridge, but didn't find a single ounce of support in any of the people there. Cold accusing eyes stared back at him.

  "I just did," she answered, eyes cold.

  "But," he looked wildly from one person to the next, finding solace in none of them. "But..."

  "You betrayed our commanding officer in a time of war," Shelby said, arms crossed.

  “But...” he hung his head, knowing he was defeated.

  "She's the captain. Time to go," the major stepped aside to let a pair of marines pull the man to his feet then out the lock.

  "Damn," Mayweather said wearily. "Is the Admiral right? The rot that deep?" she murmured.

  "No. Not in the military. He's a political animal. The conspirator's lap dog. He'll pay for it now. They won’t protect him. My money is that they cut him loose," Firefly said. “I am checking the boat bay logs. I believe one of the boat bay officers may have also been involved so they are all in custody as well.”

  “The last thing we need is a witch hunt,” Mayweather muttered. “You're right, I bet they will cut him loose. Especially after these recordings hit the public.”

  "Don't bet on it. If he's their only link they may try to protect him," Shelby replied, arms crossed.

  "They can try. But we have our own system of justice. I'm glad the Admiral insisted we set it up," Mayweather smiled grimly. "I'm just sorry it will have to be put to the test this early." She shook her head.

  "Don't be. That piece of garbage isn't worth sympathy for what he did," the major sniffed. "To think I knew the kid," he growled.

  "It's still not going to help though is it?" Janice asked softly.

  "No. No it's not. We're going to send a message to them though. One that they will pick up loud and clear," Mayweather answered.

  Logan stared at the hologram with a heavy heart. Irons was there, standing at parade rest. The admiral had compressed it and squirted it to him in an encrypted file along with a complete copy of everything he had seen during the fiasco before he'd boarded Destiny. The quality wasn't good, he'd had to cut it down so his launch could send it, but it got the message across.

  “So you see, it's in our best interest for me to make a tactical retreat at this time. No matter what the outcome of this so called impartial investigation my reputation is stained and effectively ruined.” He looked away for a moment then continued.

  “The people who set this up are good Horatio, but not chess players
. They did a real bang up job putting this together, but like any criminal, they forgot to plan the aftermath.” His smile was more grimace then grin.

  “By running me out of town before I can testify they will be causing all sorts of questions to be raised. Since I've dumped my copy of the entire conversation to everyone I think some people are going to be uncomfortable and looking over their shoulder's for some time to come.” He shook his head.

  “But that doesn't change the fact that I am running. I know it,” he sighed, shoulders slumping a little. “You and I both know that alone looks bad. I can't change that. I can't undo everything that has happened over the past couple of days. The only thing I can do is try to learn from it and move on.” He looked away. “That's all any of us can do. Move on.” He shook his head, resigned to that fact.

  “Hopefully when things settle down people will start to look over this mess with a clear eye,” he smiled. “They always say hind sight is twenty twenty. Who knows, the people running me out of the system may regret it themselves shortly. In fact I'm pretty sure they will.” His grim smile was almost feral but brief.

  “I had planned on leaving in a year or two, or possibly going out with Prometheus to the nearest colonies to begin sorting them out. I guess we can say I'm getting a jump on that time line. One we didn't anticipate with a send off no one saw coming.” He shook his head.

  “Anyway, Horatio, you've got the fort as senior officer. I wish I could be there, but I think you and the navy have come a long way now and can stand on your own. With you riding shot gun things should go along... if not well or smoothly at least move in some general direction toward what we want.” He grimaced then chuckled.

  “Try to stick to the blueprint we roughed out, but by all means adapt and overcome any problems you run into. Remember the old saying they taught us in boot. Adapt and overcome. An obstacle is just something you haven't gone around, over, under, straight through or used to your advantage. Remember that.”

  “I'll see if I can set up other seed colonies and try to get them in contact with you. If things on your end change who knows, maybe I'll be back in a decade or so,” he rumbled.