New Dawn (Wandering Engineer)

by Hechtl, Chris

  Trisha looked up from reading her tablet and snapped her fingers. "That's why the Gardener shuts the lights off for a shift!"

  He nodded. "Right, too much sunlight can kill a plant. They need down time to process things." Molly nodded. "Okay, so two normal shifts, morning and afternoon, and one night?"

  He nodded. "A night shift is called a graveyard shift."

  Jennie wrinkled her nose. "Graveyard?"

  He shrugged. "That was when graves were dug."

  Trisha shivered. "Ew, can we call it something else?"

  Molly shrugged. "Okay, so I'll take first shift, Jennie, you’re on second, and let’s see... She looked at the tablet then at Trisha.

  "Don't look at me! I like my beauty sleep!" Trisha put her hands out to ward her off.

  "I was going to suggest Keisha," Molly adjusted her glasses.

  "Oh, Keisha? Yeah, she might work." Then Trisha thought for a moment. "Hey, wait, why didn't you want me?" She accused.

  Molly sighed. "There's no pleasing everybody," she said rolling her eyes. The Admiral chuckled.

  “So, where do you get your parts?” The Admiral asked as he sat back studying the girls.

  “Well, we have a machine shop on deck six, but if we needed something fabricated we had to wait until we could reach Pyrax,” Molly said. Molly shook her head, frowning at her tablet. She tapped in a command, and then looked up. “The best they could do was basic stuff, mechanical parts, cables, or electric motors, nothing complex or electronic,” she sighed.

  “They charged a bloody fortune, even when we provided the materials,” Jen snarled, shaking her head. “Damn rip off if you ask me, they're no better than the pirates,” she sighed as Molly and the Admiral gave her a long look. “Well, they are.”

  "Molly, is there a problem with the heat exchangers on deck one?" Molly and the Admiral looked up as the doctor came in, hands in his pockets. "I'm getting reports of heat exhaustion." The man had long black hair and was wearing a trademark white medical smock.

  Molly went over to a life support console. "What's going on over there?" she asked, suddenly waving her arms. "No, this isn't right; it is dumping excess heat up there!"

  The Admiral looked alarmed. "Too much heat and it could fry the electronics." He started for the door.

  "Not to mention the crew on the bridge." The doctor observed.

  "It's more than that doc, if the electronics on the bridge fry, we're dead," the Admiral said over his shoulder.

  The doctor froze. "Okay, not good."

  Molly grabbed a kit. "Come on!" They ran through the corridors, guard escort following. "Get out of the way, make a hole will ya!" Molly called ahead. Crew members flattened themselves to the bulkheads. "Move!" Molly elbowed a girl aside.

  She snarled something but Molly was already past. "This is an emergency, get out of the way!" They got to the life support compartment for deck one and swore as a pair of women were sitting nearby drinking water. "What are you two doing? Molly demanded.

  "Oh, sorry Molly we ran into a problem, it got really hot so we took a break," the girl said. Molly looked inside and then reared back. "Don't go in there, it's sweltering!" One girl was dripping in sweat.

  "I can see that!" Molly slapped the door jam. "What did you do?" she demanded as she whirled. "Oh um, ah, we..." the first girl said. The doctor was leaning over the second examining her.

  "We don't know." The second croaked.

  "I think we need to get them to sickbay," he said quietly. "Dehydration, this young lady has stopped sweating, not good."

  He took her pulse with one hand while the other fished out a med scanner. "I can't get in, whatever they did it is hardware, not software, and I can't fix it out here," the Admiral said suddenly.

  Molly looked over to him and nodded grimly. "So, what do we do? Brave the furnace?" She waved to the door.

  "I have an idea," he said as he turned to the guard.

  "Get someone to get me my suit and another for Molly fast. Mine is in Molly's office." The guard, Tara obeyed, calling in on the communicator. "Molly stay clear of the door. Doc, get your patients out of here." He turned to Tara. "Tara, get everyone out who is not important." She nodded and began to make calls. "Molly, get someone in life support to reroute the cool air to this deck, it may help."

  She scowled. "That's like putting a band aid on a broken leg!" she said. He nodded.

  "Every little bit helps though." He turned to Tara. "I'm going in, when the suits get here have Molly suit up." He rushed past Molly into the room before she could protest. He shut the door behind him. "Okay..." The heat was stifling, over one hundred fifty degrees on his HUD...and climbing a few degrees every second. "Ideas Proteus? Anyone?"

  Proteus highlighted the heat exchange. He checked it over. "Well, this is not good. Every single one is in backward!" He sighed and reached for the first.

  "Careful hot!" Sprite warned. He paused, then clenched his left fist and brought it to his side. "Thanks." He concentrated and sent a neural command to cut his right hand's pain receptors. "Okay, let’s try this again."

  Beads of sweat were on his face, his coverall was soaked. Salt stung his eyes. "Next time head band or suit." He pulled the retaining clips off, and then pulled at the exchange. "No good, they jammed it in." He turned and used his left hand to get the rubber mallet out of a nearby kit. "Damn, hot." There was no use, he had to use it. He tapped the exchanger, then harder and harder until it dislodged. "That's one," he said.

  "Admiral, your core temp is one oh three and rising; you’re in risk of overheating," Proteus reported.

  He sighed. "Yeah, I know." He removed the retaining clips for the next two exchangers, and then whacked them out. "Whack the heat exchange. Beats whack a mole,” Sprite commented. "We can't use shields; you need to use your hands after all. Temperature is rising fast. "

  He slammed the next one. "Don't you think I know that? I can read my own HUD!" He unclipped a stubborn retaining clip then tried again. He noted the shredded coolant lines on the deck. The door opened and Molly came in in a patched suit. "How bad is it?" she asked.

  He grunted. "Just about as bad as it could be. They hot wired a few things backwards, burning them out, and put these in all backward," he explained. He pulled at another clip.

  "Admiral, let me do that, you go get a drink and get into your suit." She took the hammer from him.

  "Okay, but watch it, it's hot." He stepped back and out the hatch.

  "Here Admiral," Tara said as she handed him a drink. He realized the temperature was only twenty degrees cooler out in the corridor.

  "Damn." He took a long swig then looked around. "Where's my suit?"

  “Right here Admiral.” He looked over to Tara who held it up. “I was going to try to use it, but I think it is damaged.” She fingered the right shoulder hole.

  “Give it here.” She tossed it to him. He chugged the water, tossed the cup to Tara then shucked the coverall and tried to make a record getting into the suit. He ignored the gasps and blushing girls.

  As he stood he could feel the seam closing around his right shoulder. He pulled the hood up and watched the visor close.

  “You’re good Admiral,” Sprite reported. He nodded.

  “Good luck,” Tara said as he thumbed the door open. She grimaced and backpedaled. The heat must be blistering.

  “Okay, let's see,” he said. He noticed Molly had managed to remove all the heat exchanges and even get one in properly. “Sprite, get me a link to main engineering, tell them to back flush the heat exchange system with fresh coolant in two minutes.”

  “Admiral, I got one fixed, but the other is stuck. Stupid bolt hole is stripped,” Molly grunted. “Damn fools. Piece of junk.” He stepped around a heat exchanger.

  “Can you work on another while I re-tap it?” he asked. She nodded, moving immediately for the third exchange.

  “It's getting hot in here! What are you doing?” They heard over the suit comms.

  Molly grimaced. “We're
doing the best we can, just bear with us. It isn't a picnic in here you know.” He chuckled. Proteus traced the coolant lines, and then placed a karat around a crimped line. “Crimped coolant line by your feet, watch it.” She looked down, and then carefully stepped over it. She set the exchange down, then reached over and straightened the line. “Best we can do.”

  He felt Proteus change his finger to a re-tap bore then take control of his arm. He moved forward, letting the AI reach in and bore the hole out. With his free hand he checked the fittings of the nearby exchange unit, finding one loose he hand tightened it. “Sprite open a channel to fabrication.” “Channel open Admiral,” Sprite reported.

  “Fabrication 1, this is the Admiral, I want four new coolant lines, two meters long, um,” he paused, unsure of the specs. Proteus helpfully fed him the part number on his HUD. “Part number is uploading to you now.” He waited a moment.

  “Who, what?”

  He sighed. “Sprite...”

  “Got it Admiral, current part on hold, emergency bypass, they are working on it now,” she reported, not waiting a beat. She'd clearly sprung into action when the humans had hesitated. He nodded.

  “Fabrication, make sure someone runs those lines to us FAST,” Molly called.

  “You get that?” he asked.

  “We got it, Dorah will run it. Gotta do something to keep her out of my hair...” the woman muttered as she closed the circuit.

  “Coolant on the move.” Proteus reported a minute later.

  “Lock that one down fast Molly, coolant is coming,” he said.

  She nodded and tightened her wrench. “Okay this one is done, but the fourth...” she said unsure. She turned to see coolant spilling out of the cables. “Great!”

  Proteus retracted his hand. He checked, the hole was ready. “Okay.” He spun and grabbed the exchange unit and carefully put it in place. “Got this one too.” He looked over to her setting hers down on the bolts. She had a problem lining up the holes though.

  “Okay, now the fun part.” He picked up a line and felt it trying to snake out of his hands. Fluid gushed out all over him, and the unit. “Crap.” He managed to get the coupler to the male end of the unit then lock it down. “That's one.” He tightened the head until the dripping stopped.

  “Finally!” Molly sighed in relief as she got the holes lined up and set her unit down. “Damn what a pain! Always happens when you’re in a hurry!”

  He chuckled as he picked up the exhaust line and screwed it on. The line immediately went taught, and then sprang a leak. “I was afraid of that,” he sighed as the pin hole leak sprayed fluid.

  “Where are those hoses?” Molly called irritably. The door opened and Tara tossed them in. “Good.” She grabbed one and started attaching it. “How are we going to do this?” she asked, kicking the shredded line gushing fluid at her feet.

  “One thing at a time,” he said pointing. He checked the stats. “Temperature has leveled off.”

  "Molly when are you going to fix the air conditioning? It's sweltering on the bridge!" Shandra called over the inter ship net.

  "I'm on it. We had a bit of a mix up in the wiring; we're getting it sorted out now," Molly replied. "Preferably before we pass out Molly," The Captain growled. "Why me," she muttered as the nurse came in and put an ice pack on her brow.

  “Honestly, all those repairs and they can’t get that done?” Shandra grumped as she looked over her control board.

  “We're on it!” Molly sing songed.

  “Oops, left the channel open,” Sparks said with a blush as she flicked the control.

  “Well that was interesting!” Molly sat in the corridor, leaning against a bulkhead. She had her helmet off and was shaking. “I need a stiff drink and some sack time,” she sighed leaning back. “Damn that was scary,” she said, mopping at her brow. The Admiral chuckled.

  “What's next?” she asked looking up at him. He stood looking at the crew in suits cleaning up the mess in the room. The temperature had quickly dropped to normal levels.

  “Well, I am going to shuck this suit again, and then check things over here, then check the electronics on this deck, look for any damage.” He looked down at her. She was clearly done in, but still trying to rally.

  “You get some rest, you look about done in. I won’t need rest for a couple of shifts,” he said.

  She smiled. He hadn't gotten any downtime yet. “Must be nice,” she muttered then yawned. “Okay, you talked me into it,” she said. He chuckled.

  He checked in to the replicator during graveyard shift. A sleepy young woman looked up as he and the guards entered. "Can I help you sir?" She was tentative and a little awed.

  "I was just checking in, I thought I should upgrade my tool kit."

  She nodded. "I heard Molly and Jennie were doing that last shift as well." She was sitting at a stool in front of the controls. "Do you think we'll have the other replicator fixed soon?"

  He stepped up beside her and looked over the controls. "Maybe. I haven't taken a look at each of them." There was a part under construction; it was going to be completed in twenty minutes. He looked over to her, then turned and lounged against the console.

  "Replicators? You mean there are more than two?" She squeaked eyes wide.

  He shrugged. "There are four large industrial replicators, eight medium general purpose ones, and six specialty replicators. There are also four in the sickbay. Then of course there are food replicators in the galley and quarters," he explained off hand.

  She gasped eyes wide. "All those? Where are we going to store all the stuff we make?" She waved her hands. "We don't have the room as it is!"

  He shrugged. "Well, this ship class has a lot of cargo space. From what I've heard there's still cargo holds that are unused because they were breached. We'll fix them."

  She shook her head, clearly overwhelmed. "Wow! I didn't think it was ever possible to fix that sort of stuff! So we can make parts to do that?"

  He nodded and pointed at the tank. "That's what it's doing now. It's making parts. I believe that's an EPS T junction."

  She nodded. "Nera said it was for deck three," she said. She looked it over, and then studied the controls. "I wish I knew how to use this, I'm just babysitting the machine," she said plaintively.

  He smiled. "It'll come with time. Look, see here?"

  He turned to the console. "This is the matrix view. These..." He pointed to another display. "These are your axis view cameras. This...” He pointed to another panel. "This is your material Queue list. Over here are your power controls, your raw material stats, heat, and a link to the parts database."

  She nodded. "What's this?" she asked pointing to big red button. He brushed her hand aside before she punched the button. “

  That's the emergency stop.” He pointed to another group of controls. “These are your communication controls."

  She nodded. "I figured that part out." She glanced over the console again and then looked up. "Thanks." She gave him an impish grin.

  "Right now we have a long list and a limited supply of raw material so we have to prioritize what we want." He scrolled up and down the list. "Once we get more material and the other replicators on line we can parse this file to each machine, so we'll be making more things faster."

  She nodded, and then paused. "What about power?" she asked as she looked over to him. "We won’t have enough for everything!"

  He nodded. She was clearly catching on. "Good point. That's why we'll do things in stages, and rebuilding the fusion reactor core is a priority."

  She nodded relieved and then checked the controls. "Almost done here," she said as she checked the status bar. "Do you want the basic tools?"

  He jacked in to the port. "Actually, I have most of them here."

  Her eyes were wide. She looked at his hand, then back to him. "Wha, how?"

  "Implant. I have an artificial arm." He gave her the standard lecture on his implants as the replicator finished his toolkit.

  “Mister Ad
miral, I have some lunch here in the office if you want to take a break?” He looked over to the young woman Brie.

  “Yeah, that might be a good idea.” He got up and wiped his hands off on a rag.

  "Brei, there's still a pump making a tip-pity tock sound in the garden." They looked over to the small woman standing nearby.

  "Jeez Kess, can't I finish my lunch?" Brie asked, tossing down her napkin. The small woman blushed. She had short blond hair that just covered a pair of elven ears. She hid her hands; the Admiral caught a glimpse of long fingers and spots on her arms.

  "I'm sorry, I'll come back later." Kess ducked her head and turned to leave.

  He grabbed her arm. She froze. "No, sit with us for a moment." He pulled her to a chair. Reluctantly she sat. "Okay, so a pump is making a weird sound. Which one is it?"

  She blushed. "I'm not sure, I can never get a handle on the machines, I'm better with plants," she said softly. She looked up to him. He caught her small smile and nodded. She had a slight lipse; most likely because of her gene sculpt ancestry.

  He nodded. "Okay, we can go over the parts so it'll be easier." Brie shook her head taking a bite. She chewed and swallowed.

  "Don't bother, Kess is a genius with plants, but can't work a can opener to save her life." Kess blushed at that but nodded.

  He looked over the wiring closet's door and shook his head. Someone had drilled through the lock on it. "Cute," He grunted. The compartment part of the main computer bus, so it had to be protected. Obviously the key had been lost... Or someone had been in a hurry to fix something. He mentally shrugged and opened the door. A rat’s nest of wiring sprang out. He sighed. "Great."

  "Oh it’s not so bad." Proteus answered his sigh. True enough, computer cables were fiber optic, and power lines were electrical. They each had their own gauge. "The problem is that it looks like someone ripped wiring from other things to patch things." He looked at the back of the door, soot and smudges marked it in different spots.