Trisha looked over the team. Now that Irons had the reactor sorted out they just had a few minor chores in the ship to handle. The doc had been true to his word, Audrey was here now with them. Things were definitely looking up. "Okay, we have a couple broken fans on deck four, I'm going to chase down the leak on deck five, that leaves a sticking pump on deck eight and lighting repairs on deck twelve. Any volunteers?" She looked the group over. None did. They were all veterans now, they could handle it.
"Okay, Audrey, you being new and all to the changes, partner up with Shari and hit the fan repair," she said nodding to the newly released tech. Audrey looked a little bewildered by all the changes but was settling in nicely. This was her first shift back on duty since being released from the sickbay this morning.
Trisha uploaded the file to her tablet. Audrey nodded. "Zara, you get the sticky pump," she said. She tapped in the assignment. The rest of you get down to deck twelve and get to work on the lights there," she finished.
A few groaned at that. "Deck 12 is a shit hole,” one muttered.
"So fix it!" Trisha said exasperated.
"But isn't it haunted?" one of the girls asked, voice quavering. Audrey snorted.
Jennie leaned over. "We figured that out, it was a holo projector someone left on," she said.
The girls settled down immediately. "Oh."
Jennie smiled. "Good luck." She waited till the teams left. "So life support is all handled?" she asked.
Trisha gathered her tools up and nodded. "Yup."
"All right, I'm working on a network node on deck eleven; I can check in on the deck eight and twelve crews in a little while and save you the trip."
Trisha nodded. "Thanks. I'll peek in on the communication's techs on deck four for you," she said grudgingly.
Jennie grinned. "Glad we have it all down to a science," she said. Trisha smiled and left.
"Is that tank supposed to be that clean?" The gardener looked it over.
"Yeah, but before it was filled with crap, so it was dark,” Trisha looked it over and carefully checked her readouts. "Okay, no signs of ammonia or other problems," she said. She sniffed the air.
The Gardener nodded. "So what's that made out of?" She rapped the tank.
"Hmm, Oh, ah... Carbon I think. Diamond composite," Trisha replied mind elsewhere. She looked over the readouts.
"This tank was once used for visiting water aliens," she said.
"Okay, this isn't the problem, it must be upstream." She gathered her kit.
"Water aliens?" the Gardener asked.
"Yeah the engineer said there were lots of them in the Federation. The last two generations of ships even had entire biospheres for them, with swim ways and pools so they could swim through the ship. It must have been like living in an aquarium," Trisha said as she shook her head.
"It would freak me out to see some giant squid thing looking through the glass at me..." she said with a grimace. She shook her head and shivered.
The gardener looked thoughtful. "I dunno, hmmm."
Trisha turned on her... "What?" The gardener smiled, well, you said that tank is for water creature’s right?"
Trisha nodded warily. "So what if we bought some fish on Aquarius? Then we could fill it with fish!" She grabbed her tablet and flicked through the entries.
Trisha edged to the door trying to make good on the distraction to make her escape. "Yeah, here it is! Right here! Fish waste is rich in nutrients! Almost as good as having poultry!" the gardener said triumphantly. The gardener turned her back and looked up at the tank. "Thanks!" She waved and started examining the tank.
“Okay then," Trisha said softly as she made her escape. "Me and my big mouth," she sighed.
"Gymnasium. How can I help you?" a girl sitting behind the desk watching a holo in the corner said, not even looking up.
He scowled. "I'd like to book the dojo for a session." He set his hand on the desk.
She looked up in surprise. "Oh Admiral!" She looked over the list. "Dojo? You mean the padded room?" she asked, wrinkling her pert nose. He nodded. "Are you sure you don't want the weight room or handball court?" she asked hopefully. He shook his head. "Well, there's a group using the pool, so I guess it's okay. Just make sure you don't peek if anyone is in the showers. Or the locker room." She blushed a bright red.
He chuckled. "I don't think you can wear any of the workout clothes." She waved to the rack of clothes behind her. He shook his head; bring his free hand up to drop small duffel on the desk. "I had my own replicated," he said. "I didn't think you had any for men, or in my size."
She smiled looking the bag over. "All right Admiral. What about them?" she asked. She looked over his shoulder to his escort.
He shrugged. "I don't know," he said. He turned to the women. "Are you ladies going to hold up a bulkhead or spar?"
They looked at each other confused. "Spar?" Frie asked finally, thoroughly confused. He nodded.
"Can you get them their Gi's?" he asked the clerk.
She looked confused. "What are they?" she asked.
He sighed. "Work out clothes for martial arts." Her expression didn't change. "They are white; they look like a bathrobe or kimono but with pants," he explained.
Her expression cleared. "Oh those!" She went into the back.
"We don't have much call for them..." she called from within the storage room. The guard near the desk had to lean in to catch what she had said; the Admiral just stepped up his hearing. "What sizes?" she called out.
The guards looked confused. "Sizes? He asked." He turned to the blond.
"I'm a 9," she called out.
"Are we going to get a chance to practice fight?" she asked, suddenly interested. He nodded.
"That's the idea," he said.
The other guard looked confused then shrugged. "I'm a ten," she called out.
The girl came out a moment later with two plastic covered packages. "Here you go. There isn't a belt though except these," She held up a bunch of belts, all different colors. "Frie, you'd look good with a blue, it matches your eyes," she said.
The Admiral snorted. "They're actually to denote rank in martial arts," he said. He gave the guards a long measuring look. "Have you any training in martial arts?"
They both shook their heads. "No, I don't know what you’re talking about," the blond Frie said softly.
He smiled politely. "I wasn't sure if you had, you have some of the moves, but they aren't polished," he said with a tight lipped smile. "When in doubt, start over." He turned to the clerk. “Give them each a white belt. We'll work out rank later.” Each of the guards picked up their packages and nodded to the locker. "I’ll be in the men's room. Meet you in the dojo in five," He walked into the men's room without a backwards glance.
five minutes and forty seconds later he was working on his warm up katas when the two came out, fumbling at their belts. "How do they work, they're too long," the black girl with pink hair said fumbling with the belt.
He chuckled. "Well, there's a technique and tradition to it. I'll explain." He carefully untied his own black belt and explained how it works. Both women mimicked his movements. When they finished Frie smiled. "So, how come yours is black with six of those knots?" she asked. She nodded to his belt. "Black is for masters. The knots are the ranks. I'm only a sixth Dan. There are nine," he explained.
Her eyes were wide. "And you’re going to teach us?" she asked. He nodded. "Why?"
He shrugged looking over the battered patched padding. "Why not?"
The clerk watched the girls stumble out, one rubbing her shoulder. "Rough day?" she asked. He smiled at the girl's expression. "I was wondering Admiral, why don't we have more facilities?" she waved to indicate the recreation area. "Handball, zero g ball, the dojo, pool, gym and weight room. But why don't we have other things? Anvil station in Pyrax has a holo suite," she said. He nodded as he cataloged that factoid.
"Well, in the ship's fleet days everyone had implants, so we could jack into the net," he expl
ained. She looked confused. "So?"
He shrugged. "So, we could feed a virtual reality direct to our brain. I wasn't much for real time games, but I did get into strategic ones."
Her eyes were wide. "So, you can jack in and play games?"
He nodded. "Or view mail, or enter virtual worlds. There was even a virtual bar," he explained. She waved. "But isn't it make believe?" one of the guards asked as she came out toweling her hair.
"Yes and no, Virtual reality's a simulation, so yes it's make believe, but it feeds information direct to your brain, so it blurs the line a bit. You can feel pain, see, hear, smell, touch, taste..."
She looked confused. "If you can do all that why have this?" she waved.
He smiled. "Because virtual reality doesn't exercise the body, only the mind. And you need a strong body when the chips are down in a crisis," he said. She nodded slowly. "Besides, it uses very little power and computer time, and it's fun too," he said. Frie joined them. He nodded to the girl behind the counter as they turned to leave. She waved as they left.
Molly picked though her salad and then held up a cucumber. "Neat huh? We grow most of our salad stuff.” Tia smiled. “Did you see the gardens? They stink but they are pretty."
Molly munched the cucumber then rooted around for another. "Yes, they definitely have a...bountiful odor." She fiddled with her glasses then sighed. "I've been meaning to try to do something about that but could never get the time!" she said. She shrugged exasperated. Tia looked embarrassed.
The admiral nodded. "One thing at a time." He looked up as a bunch of girls came in. One had a hand over the side of her face, like she was whispering something to another, but was actually tittering with laughter.
"Giggle quartet has arrived," Molly sighed, not looking up.
Jennie nodded. "Well, that’s it for me, I have to get down to engineering and check on things," Jennie said and then smirked a half smile. "Yeah, we'll catch up later. See you around squirt," she said, tugging on Tia's hair in passing.
“Admiral you’re the perfect person to try this out,” the waitress set a tall clear glass of foamy brown liquid in front of him.
He took a look. “What is it? Nubian? No, looks like a shake...” He looked at it then up to the girl. She grinned. “Cookie says it's a chocolate shake. She replicated the chocolate, but the rest is all made here.” She waved to cookie.
The Admiral leaned forward and waved. The cook was leaning forward, hands spread apart on the counter in front of her. “Well? Aren't you going to try it?” she demanded.
He looked it over. “Well, you’re missing the utensils. I need a straw, or a spoon,” he said. He picked the glass up and admired it. The waitress went over and picked up a spoon, then came back. He tried to ignore her bump and grind walk. Molly chuckled.
“Here,” she said and handed him the spoon.
“Thank you.” He took the proffered utensil and then carefully fished out a spoonful. He took a bite then nodded. “A bit watery, but still good.”
The cook frowned. “Thicker?”
He nodded. “Usually. But it's all a part of the customer's taste, some like it this way.” He took another bite.
“Let me try!” Molly said using her fork. He sighed as she dipped it in. “Oh oops!” The forkful immediately came off. “Okay.” She snatched a spoon off of a nearby table then took a bite. “Oh heavenly!” she rolled her eyes in appreciation.
She snagged the glass and leaned back. Tia tried to get her spoon in, but her mom playfully blocked her. He looked at her then chuckled. “Trust a woman to snag the chocolate for herself,” he said dryly. She looked up and grinned.
"So why does the inertial dampening not work when we get hit like that?" a tech in the back raised her hand and asked. They only had a little over a week left in hyper. His evening classes were now popular, more popular then ever before. So popular a few people had played hooky or switched shifts to attend.
He pulled up a graph. "The dampeners have a limited use. They can smooth out large actions, but there's a lag.” The gaps in the graph were highlighted.
"From the time a motion is sensed, to when it's felt there are all sorts of things that have to be done, the computer's have to calculate the forces involved, and the exact counter forces needed to repel them. Then they have to run it through a safety subroutine to make sure it won’t kill anyone," he explained. Beside the graph code scrolled. "In that time the motion can be felt. With motion that's sharp and unannounced..." He smacked his right fist into his left palm. We feel it," he said. He shook his left hand a moment. The class tittered.
Jen came into main engineering with Trisha on her heels. She looked around then spotted Molly in her office. “I'll see what's going on,” Trisha passed her and walked over to a knot of giggling girls. “All right ladies, break it up,” Trisha growled.
“Yeah right,” Jen said under her breath. She sauntered over to Molly's door and knocked on the jam. “Hi ya boss lady, you about done yet?”
Molly looked up from her tablet and sat back. “Just about,” she said. She swiveled the chair back and forth.
“That today's to-do list?” Jen held out her hand.
“Maybe,” Molly sighed. “Every day we have to add more things. Are we ever going to see the bottom of the list?” She shook her head ruefully.
“Coffee, cream, sugar,” Jen ordered, tapping the replicator controls. After a moment it glowed.
“Make a feline supplement number one,” Molly said, looking down at her tablet once more.
“What for?” Jen asked, gathering up the coffee and turning around. She caught sight of mama cat in Molly's lap. “Oh,” she chuckled silently as she ordered the dish.
“Here you go,” she said. The cat looked up, then stretched and got down. She stretched as she moved, purred, then got into the important business of eating.
Molly chuckled, stretching herself. “Finally!”
Jen saluted her with her cup. “You could have moved her you know.”
Molly smiled. “And get a dirty look?”
Jen shook her head in resignation. “Molly, Molly, you're too much of a soft touch.” The door to engineering opened and they could hear the patter of feet. “Speaking of trouble...”
Tia burst into the room and handed Molly a picture. The pigtailed girl bounced. “Look at it mommy look!”
Molly smiled and took a look. She sat back, examining the portrait. “Is this the Captain?” she asked.
Tia grinned. “Yes she posed for us. I think she fell asleep though,” she said. Jen chuckled.
“Wouldn't put it past her,” Molly commented, grinning at the girl, then Jen. Jen reached out and tweaked a pigtail, then sat back fast. The girl whirled and glared, taking in her innocent look and not buying it for a second.
“Oh, hey squirt. Survived Dorah's Day care once more I see... well maybe we'll get lucky tomorrow,” Jen teased. Tia frowned and then kicked Jen's shin. “Oh OW! Why you little brat!” Jen grabbed the girl before she could bolt, and then settled back, tickling her into a shrieking squirming ball. Molly chuckled.
“Careful, that's a new outfit, I don't want her to pee her pants,” Molly cautioned. Tia squealed. “Mommy help me!”
Molly sighed theatrically. “If I must I must, here, let me tickle her feet!” she said reaching out.
Tia squealed louder. “I said help me not her!” she said between gales of laughter. Jen chuckled and let the kid rest.
Tia panted for a moment, and then sat up. “What a work out,” Jen sighed, giving the girl a hug.
Molly got up. “Okay, I just wanted to go over a few things here and here...”
Trisha came in. “Hey boss, oh hi ya squirt!” she gave Tia a mischievous look. Tia shrank back, then squirmed free of Jen and hid behind her mom. Molly smiled as she handed over the tablet.
“Make sure you check the deck one electronics in bay twelve, there's been some lost data packets and a couple voltage spikes, we may have some issues from that overheating incid
ent,” Molly said. Jen grimaced.
“Check over the ducting and heat exchange systems, if you have time, see if we can purge a couple of the lines and replace them with new,” Molly continued.
Trisha grimaced. “Messy,” she sighed. “Okay, anything else?”
Tia managed to get around Molly and edged to the door with her mom in hand. “Come on mom! I gotta go!”
Molly chuckled. “Just a sec dear.”
“No I mean I gotta GO!” she said even more urgently. Molly noted her hunched over and doing the pee pee dance.
Molly rolled her eyes. “Duty calls. Or at least the call of nature,” she said with a twinkle. She handed the tablet to Jen.
“Have fun with the tyrant twerp!” Trisha called after them. Tia spun and stuck out her tongue, then dragged her reluctant mom out. Trisha chuckled. “She has her hands full with that one. So, let’s get started shall we?”
The class was settling down and he nodded. "Okay, before we get into the scheduled lecture I'm going to take a moment to answer some of your questions." He looked over the sea of faces until Sprite highlighted a heart shaped one. "Nara is it?" he asked, nodding to the girl. She looked surprised then nodded. "Nara go ahead."
She got up and brushed her hands on her hips then cleared her throat. "I was looking over the background and I was confused about how the computer can see the data. How it translates it from electrical and light impulses to code?" she asked and then sat down abruptly.
He nodded. "Okay to understand that we need to take a little time trip." He turned and the holo projector sprang to life.
"Some of you may notice this is a new projector, it has a built in board ability." He poked a finger at the hologram. A ripple emitted from his finger as it stopped. "Force field," he said as the class ohed softly. "Okay, now, the basic impulses that make up code are binary ones and zeros." He wrote that on the board as a one and zero. “Now a one is an on. And a zero is an off." He turned to class and sat back on the lip of the desk. "When you translate that, it means a one or on means a pulse of light. An off is the off time when there is no light," he explained. Some of the heads nodded.
New Dawn (Wandering Engineer) Page 28