Plague Planet (The Wandering Engineer)

by Hechtl, Chris

  “No, I don't see why you should. Enjoy the party. Wish I was there,” the guy grumbled.

  “Sure, thank you,” Irons replied.

  “Don't mention it.” The phone clicked and then there was a loud beee of a disconnected signal before Sprite cut it off. The admiral rubbed his ear in irritation. “So that's it?”

  “I guess so,” Sprite said. “Do you want to get involved?”

  “No, not really,” Irons replied with a shrug.

  “Concerned it was a distraction to put a bomb in your air car? You did leave it in the secured parking on the field you know admiral,” Sprite said.

  Irons stopped moving and looked up thoughtfully. Slowly he blew a breath of air out. “Now, that's a nasty thought.”

  “I tend to have them from time to time.”

  “Paranoid, but we can't be too paranoid right now, Defender?” Irons asked.

  “Admiral?”

  “Remind me to do a full sweep scan of the port and parking the next time I go there.”

  “Agreed.”

  “Lieutenant, see if you and the commander can gain access to any security monitoring systems in or around the parking area. See if you can access any video or other feeds and check there too.”

  “Warrant?” Sprite asked, sounding exasperated. She had been keeping an eye on things with the cameras around the space port. Unfortunately none covered the parking area.

  “Why, do you ever ask for one?” Irons asked, pursing his lips in wry amusement.

  “Point,” Sprite said. “Just checking,” she added. He snorted.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  It was a nice evening, quite pleasant now that the sun was down and the heat of the day had passed. The bugs were being zapped by electrical devices attached to the electric lights on the streets, keeping their parasitic interference to a minimum. They even offered a degree of additional entertainment.

  Apparently that was a new innovation. He overheard people talking about it, and the wonders of other things to come. Some seemed excited and knowledgeable about the things Io 11 had delivered. Some even knew about Phoenix.

  When several people recognized his clothing as from off world they chatted him up. He exchange stories about space and history during the evening picnic. He was amused when a few people picked his brains about various things, most of them current tech for the planet. Some felt him out for getting stuff out of him. He rebuffed that for now, he was here to relax. Besides, he didn't have that much on him anyway.

  He bumped into a fat man carrying scrolls and booklets while he was on his way to the port-a-potty. The man had bifocal oval glasses and was dressed in a rumpled gray coat. Other people nearby laughed at the rumpled man on the ground. The man adjusted his glasses, looking a bit sheepish as he gathered up his cane and then things. Irons helped him up. “Sorry, sorry, I'm a bit absent minded,” the man said, gathering his things up with a groan. He was short, barely one hundred and thirty centimeters with a shock of unkempt white hair and bushy mustache. He was almost as round as he was tall it seemed. His eyes twinkled and he had a jolly look to him though. If he had had a beard he would have made an outstanding Santa.

  “What are you up to now old timer? Trying to reinvent the wheel?” someone in the crowd of people watching nearby teased.

  “Now that would be silly!” The man said, rounding on his heckler. Irons snorted.

  “So you're an inventor?” Irons asked, handing over the cane. It had a snowflake of all things on the pommel.

  “No, more of an engineer,” the man said shaking his head. He adjusted his glasses and then blinked finally noticing the admiral's different appearance. “I must say are you an offworlder by any chance?” he asked, suddenly excited, eyes wide.

  The admiral snorted softly. “Yes. I am. John Irons, Fleet Admiral.”

  “You...” the man's eyes were round in wonder.

  The admiral nodded. “I'm a sleeper.”

  “Do you have a fleet?” the old man asked. The admiral shook his head.

  “I was in transit between systems the ship I was a passenger on was ambushed. I managed to make it to a stasis pod. The good ship Io 11 picked me up a few years ago and I've been going around doing what I can.”

  “Io... oh! So they dropped you off?”

  “No, I parted ways with them a while back. I've got my own ship now,” the admiral said smiling. The man's eyes went wide in wonder.

  “You don't say,” he gushed breathlessly. “It must be a wonder... and such a letdown to live in our day and time,” he said.

  “Not with people like you and I trying to make things better,” the admiral said with a smile. Dewey blinked and then grinned.

  “Well, I dare say you are a wonder. It's great to see someone of like mind! Someone of vision!”

  “I'm an engineering admiral, it comes with the territory,” Irons replied with a snort.

  “Oh I dare say, my manners my manners!” the man fluttered and then juggled his things until he could reach out a hand. “Dewey. Dewey Keeper,” the man said, smiling again.

  “Pleased to meet you Mr. Keeper. Do you have a moment?”

  “I... I'd love to talk but I simply must finish this I have a presentation tomorrow...” Dewey said, feeling torn.

  “I understand,” the admiral said nodding. “A suggestion?” he asked smiling. Dewey blinked at him with blue guileless blue eyes. The portly man reminded him of an old fellow he'd met as a youngster a long time ago.

  “I'd suggest getting a valet case or brief case, or a tablet computer,” Irons said with a smile to show he didn't mean to criticize.

  “My that is an interesting idea. But the computer...”

  “Well...” the admiral pulled out a flash stick. “This is a computer and memory storage in one. It has a tiny computer in one end and you can plug it into a flat screen or holo projector.” As he was talking he sent a mental command to upload as much basic engineering knowledge and blueprints to the terabyte memory as he could think of. Sprite helpfully filled in the blanks in the blink of an eye.

  Dewey reached for it and then paused. “I... It must cost a great deal,” Dewey said, face falling.

  “No,” the admiral chuckled handing the old man the three centimeter long stick. The admiral smiled. “I make them by the bucket load and keep my pockets full of them. It's no trouble. Here,” he pulled out another and handed it over. “A spare. They can link to each other too.”

  “I don't know what to say!” Dewey said, genuinely touched.

  “If it helps you out and helps you help others I'm all for it Mr. Keeper,” the admiral said with a smile.

  “Dewey, all my friends call me Dewey,” the man said smiling broadly as he took the second chip.

  “Dewey. And I'm John.”

  “I...” Dewey looked torn. The admiral snorted softly.

  “Go on. I'll be around for a week or so. Check the net to find me if you'd like to look me up. Go play with that, It's a treasure chest I know the itch to play with it is overwhelming.”

  “So says experience,” Dewey replied with a smile. He wiggled his mustache. “Go to the double X, tell them to put it on my tab,” he said, waving a pudgy hand towards a nearby bar.

  The admiral looked in the indicated direction and then shrugged. “I was looking for a place to have a beer. I take it they have a good selection?”

  “Only the best in town!” Dewey said expansively. He grinned. “Thank you John, thank you kindly. And I will look you up just as soon as I... um...”

  “Deal with work. I know,” the admiral replied with a nod. “Duty before pleasure. I'll see you around Dewey,” he said nodding.

  Dewey nodded and turned, hustling off. He had a short cane that helped him move but his bent back seemed somehow strengthened.

  “That was a nice thing you did,” a woman said nodding to the retreating inventor. “Dewey's a sweet guy, smart.”

  “I sensed that,” the admiral said with a smile. Each microcomputer he handed out helpe
d he knew, and in hands like Dewey's it would be exponentially more of an impact to the population. At least he hoped it would.

  “Come on, I was heading to the double X anyway,” she said tucking her arm into his. He looked down at her in surprise. She had a simple yellow dress on, something that contrasted with her black hair and green bonnet. She was most likely in her forties from her look, a mother from her tone. “I'm meeting my husband when he gets off shift there so we can talk.”

  “Fine with me ma'am,” he smiled politely, bowing slightly and then heading off with her.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  The bar was fairly populated, as was expected. But it wasn't packed, so he appreciated it. They sat at one of the wooden bars and made small talk as they waited for their tray of beers. When it arrived he paid the tab and smiled politely as they found a nearby table. They continued the small talk about various things as they settled into the chairs and each took a swig of the slightly flat beer.

  “Audrey, Mrs. Audrey Halfson,” she introduced herself.

  “Pleasure to meet you Mrs. Halfson,” the admiral replied smiling.

  “So you're a sleeper? What was the past like?”

  “The past is the past,” the admiral replied flippantly, shrugging off the question as he took a pull of beer. When he dropped the mug from his face he noted her dyspeptic expression and relented a little. “It's hard to talk about.”

  She looked sympathetic for a moment and patted his knee. “I understand.”

  “It's not just painful, it's the frame of reference. You see it in movies and tridee recordings of course but it's not the same as being there. Sure some of it was great, but some of it sucked too. In some ways I envy you, you're not burdened by that, crushed and hemmed in by regulations and expectations. Well, you do one have expectation.”

  “We do?”

  “The one every generation has, to make things better for themselves and the next one coming in behind you. To make a better future for your family.”

  “I... see. I think I understand,” the woman said. Irons nodded.

  “I thought you would. Parent?” he asked. She nodded. He nodded back.

  “Right now you've got your whole future ahead of you. The sky is literally the limit. You can use what we did in the past to guide you, or go your own way. It's entirely up to you.”

  “True. But some things just don't work out. It's not all pie in the sky... I don't know if I'm saying it right.”

  “No,” he nodded and smiled sympathetically. “I understand where you're coming from. Some things just don't work out as planned. They sound good on paper but then when you start to put them into practice things get... well out of hand.” He squirmed a little.

  “Like Pyrax? I've heard of you. Admiral Irons.” She nodded politely.

  “I... yeah,” he sighed. “That could have happened better. I admit I screwed up. I put myself in that situation and the politicians got me. I should never have gone in without someone on hand, and I should have called the marines in the moment I busted out. I didn't know about their threat of blowing the colony until I confronted them. Had my people gained access to the colony they would have secured the exits and it might have been different.”

  “Hindsight is twenty twenty admiral,” Sprite reminded him. His lips puckered in a sour expression before he nodded curtly.

  “A friend reminded me of hindsight being twenty twenty. Being perfect. I get that intellectually, but you can't help kicking yourself over things like that. It's one way of learning from it and making sure it doesn't happen again.”

  “I heard they're still there, but things aren't as good. Something about you not being there?”

  “I've heard a few things about what's happened in Pyrax as well,” Irons said cautiously, setting his stein down on a cork coaster and sitting back. “I gamed out what I could have done, and I do kick myself for not digging in and just swatting the bastards down and taking control. But I'm too.... I'm a product of my generation. I was born in a republic, and I swore an oath to uphold the constitution. We may not like what our civilian commanders do or say, but we have to respect the office. I've got a duty, one bigger than my own image or of the survival of one star system.”

  His audience stared at him in surprise. He snorted. Pyrax was still a bit of a black hole, a lot of ships had redirected away from the system when Carib Queen's report had gone out. Only those in transit or from systems that fed into Pyrax that Carib didn't go to had kept contact.

  Of course it was always like that, someone was in transit when news arrived, or they missed a warning. He'd expected it in Pyrax but that hadn't happened. Apparently the system hadn't had a lot of traffic at the time. Things were picking up however, now that word had spread of the pirate's defeat.

  Sprite had tried to gain some information, most of it was limited. A freelance freighter had made the run up from Seti Alpha 4 after he'd left. They'd transited to Gaston and later here to Epsilon with news of the pirate squadron's demise and the Renaissance and his fall. Most of what had been brooded about had been dismissed as wild stories. Still a bit had filtered into the people. Unfortunately they were a bit light on details on what had happened after he'd left. Most of what Sprite had dug up was second or third hand and none of it very helpful.

  They knew for instance that governor Walker was still firmly in charge and that the speaker had been in hiding with some of the assembly involved in his exile. Some of those involved were denying it, others were under arrest. They weren't looking for her very hard though, that much was obvious.

  Commander Logan had kept any news of the state of military affairs as secret as possible. The admiral fully understood and agreed with him, no sense letting the pirates know what their stats were, that was just stupid. Still, he would have liked to have gotten some news, even if Logan was still alive and in charge.

  “In the time I was in charge, a little seven standard months before the system's new constitution was ratified and the new governor was elected, I managed to get a lot of repairs in place, and set up the seed of a decent navy. Unfortunately there wasn't any shipping in that time so the word didn't get out to other systems.” He frowned.

  “But you'll go back?”

  The admiral shrugged, clearly uncomfortable with the idea. “Maybe someday, but not now. No. The people behind my so called exile are still in power, or those that served them or were secretly behind them are. No, I'll work around the area, help where I can until I can find another system to start another seed.”

  “Like here?”

  The admiral smiled. “It's a possibility,” he said, not admitting it was a remote one. This system just wasn't suited for a space naval presence. It had a very sparse asteroid belt and little interest in space. No, he'd already written this system off. It would serve as a secondary seed, a place to continue the expansion of the renewed Federation, but no, it wasn't a place where he needed or wanted to set up shop. It was a good cross roads though so it could serve other purposes right now.

  “You could go back though. Take over.”

  The admiral frowned. “If I wanted to do so... yes.” He admitted slowly. He knew Logan and others would jump to serve, and some of their civilian friends would back him, but it would, could get ugly. No, he didn't want that. “But like I said, I'm a product of my generation. I don't go stomping all over the population’s wishes unless I have damn good reason. John Q public may be venial, short sighted, and fickle, but I can't just ignore them. Can you imagine if I did? I'd have no end of problems. People who did support me before would be on the fence, we'd have to worry about terrorists, assassination attempts, sabotage, all sorts of crap. No, they got what they wanted.”

  A woman nodded, eyes sad. “But they'll learn eventually what they wanted and what they needed are two very different things though.”

  “Like a spoiled child growing up and facing the cold realities of the world for the first time,” another mother said. The crowd shifted, uncomfortable.

&n
bsp; The admiral nodded, reminded of Antigua. “Speaking as a parent myself I agree. I have no doubt those in industry are sorely missing my presence, and some are resenting it. Hopefully they resent the people who drove me out instead of me for letting them do so,” he said shrugging.

  “Why?”

  “I... let's just say I'm the key master. I hold all the replicator keys.”

  “Oh.”

  Another woman blinked, parsing that short simple statement out. He could see the wheels turning. Finally she looked up, eyes wide. “Oh!” she said, now in awe. “Oh my!” Her right hand went over her heart.

  The admiral nodded, completely sober now. “Exactly. The one, the only as far as anyone knows. One of the reasons your government likes me so much, I made that new fusion reactor for them.”

  “That was you? I thought we traded for it?”

  “You did. I made it.”

  “I.... see...” the first woman said, scratching her scalp. She was clearly off balance. “So what are you going to do now?”

  “I'm going to visit some of the towns and cities while I wait for the last shipments to finish, then load up and jump to my next destination.”

  “I.... Goddess speed on your travels Admiral,” she said, holding out her hand. He took it and shook it, noting the man waving to her. The man scowled, most likely her husband. He snorted, wondering if she had used him to make her husband jealous, or to make herself feel better. Most likely a little of both. She smiled politely as they disengaged.

  “Thank you. To you as well madam. May the spirit of space guide and comfort you in your darkest hours.”

  “Thank you Admiral. Good luck,” the woman said backing away. Slowly the crowd dispersed with her. Irons nodded.

  “Well! That was interesting,” Sprite commented. “Did you mean for that to happen?”

  “For what?”

  “For the gossip! Stories of you are going to go out all over this retched mud ball. Spacers will eventually pick up on it. You know how they are, superstitious lot. It's a great story.”

  “True,” he replied in an aside to the AI.

  “You know she charged her drinks to your account?” the bartender asked. Irons snorted, shooting the woman a look. She was talking with her husband, smiling and shaking her hair out. “Her husband doesn't give her a tab, doesn't like her out of the house. Most people don't mind since she's a charmer,” she said warily. He snorted.