He looked over to her. "Remember that doxy on Centiga 5?" he asked, putting his hand under his head to look up.
"The doxy? Oh miss Albright? Yes, of course I remember her," she sniffed and wrinkled her pert nose in disgust. "Poison pure and simple," she said.
He nodded. “Exactly.”
"By your inference you refer to the minx miss Shari as the same?" she asked.
He nodded. "Exactly," he said again.
"Noted Admiral. Still, it might have been wise to get your... ahem, pipe's cleaned," she said, clearly uncomfortable in bringing the subject matter up. He turned glaring.
"I don't need advice on romance from a busy body AI," he growled. The last came out as a warning.
"Who said it would be romance?" she waved airily. "According to my database, a little recreational sex is good for you. No emotional attachment needed," she suggested.
He grimaced. "And do you think after losing everyone I've ever known it would be that easy?" he asked softly. She froze. "I didn't think so," he said softly. Then turned his back on her. "Night Sprite." "Good night Admiral, pleasant dreams," she said.
Chapter 9
"New Texas?" He turned to Molly who handed him the cable end.
"Yeah. Another agro world, something about ranching," she said. He nodded. "Neo-buffalo, Neo-cattle, and longhorns," she said. He looked over to Trisha who was shaking her hand. "Had an accident?" Molly asked.
"No, fell asleep." She grimaced as she shook her hand some more, then clenched it a few times. "Wait a few minutes."
He plugged the cable in and watched the LED's as the MPU booted. "Okay, booting... green lights." He pulled himself up and out.
"We'll probably take a load of beef or some calves to the next colony," Jennie said. She shook her head at the idea. "The beef is bad enough, we have to freeze it. The calves... They're cute but god they make a mess!" she grimaced. "They poop and pee all over everything, and make a racket."
Trisha grimaced. "Don't remind me, we had some interesting growths in life support after the last time," she said. She wrinkled her nose. "Never could get number three hold to smell right," she sighed. "I swear one of them must have crapped in a vent or something." She tapped the control. "Okay, not working. What happened?" she asked.
Jennie looked over. "Hmmm. Did we cross a wire or two?" she asked.
Trisha looked. "I don't think so." She checked the jacks. "Nope, looks okay."
The Admiral got up and stretched. "It may look okay, but if a wire was put in the wrong jack, it could be messing things up," he said. He checked the leds. "Hmmm...."
"What's this I hear about picking up a few people?" The engineer asked Molly. Things were going a bit slower this go around. A few of the engineers were even getting some much deserved downtime on the surface.
Molly smiled. "Only one of them is for us, there are a couple women who want to be guards, two new scullery maids, one room maid, and the purser snagged two big girls for the cargo crews," she shrugged and wrinkled her nose. Neither mentioned that all of the new recruits had to be women.
"The guards are to replace the fools that went up when the boat bay blew out," Jennie growled. She tossed her sandwich down onto her plate disgusted. "I don't see why we get the shaft; we're the ones doing all the work!" she waved in disgust. Molly shushed her. Jennie sighed. "Yeah yeah. Still, it isn't fair," she griped.
The Admiral nodded. "Not everyone is cut out for engineering Jennie; it takes a hands on knack for a lot of jobs. Those skills take time and nurturing to develop... On an agro world that's almost impossible to get," he said. He nodded to the planet on the wall screen.
Jennie looked over and paused arrested by the view. "Still isn't right," she muttered. "We're under staff as it is. Audrey was out first, and she's a life support tech." She grimaced. "I'm going to stick her on Trisha's team when she's able," she said to her boss. Molly nodded. Audrey had tried to keep up last month but her new leg had cramped up and she had to cut back until the muscles worked in properly with rehab.
"Good idea, they're pretty solid, and they should give her time to get up to speed," she said. She waved to the waitress. "Can I have a refill?" She handed the girl her empty glass.
"Sure," the girl took it and went to the bar.
"I hope they're good looking," Jennie muttered. Molly sighed and smacked her hand. Jennie looked affronted. "Well, I'm just saying!" she shook her head.
The Admiral chuckled. "Remember, many of these people are getting away from a slow life of drudgery and constant work from sun up to sun down. I bet they age fast with the work load and lack of medicine," he said. He looked down to the planet, then shook his head and went back to eating.
"Yeah, and they’re going to get the same here right?" Jennie asked.
"Not exactly, here they get adventure," he smiled. "It was the same in my time, join a ship, and see the galaxy." He took a bite and chewed. Molly took the drink from the waitress and took a sip.
"Yeah, there's that," Jennie said, picking up her sandwich. "And they can learn here," She indicated the tablet.
Molly nodded as she swallowed. "Uh huh, and who says they can't switch? We might find an engineer in there given the right exposure..."
The Admiral smiled. "A diamond in the rough... you wouldn't be poaching would you?" He chuckled as the girls tried to look innocent.
"Well, some of our work isn't that hard," Jennie sniffed. "Running a watch on equipment, or installing a fan..." She shrugged. "Baby stuff," she said. He chuckled.
Can we do something about this?"the doctor asked.
Jennie looked up and over to the doctor. "What?"
The Admiral paused as he came in. "That," the doctor waved to the broken window looking into the bay.
"What that?" the Admiral asked and then nodded. "Yes of course. Put it on your budget." He nodded to Jennie and pushed a cart aside.
"Budget?" the doc asked.
"Yeah, your sickbay budget."
The Admiral knelt and morphed his hand into a multi tool. He plugged it into the jack. "Hmmm." He looked over to the doc who was running one hand through his hair looking a bit sheepish. "I must have missed that," the doctor muttered.
Jennie smiled. "Well, you've been a bit preoccupied," she said. She pointed to the tablet. The doctor blushed. "Studying?" she asked.
He nodded. "Ah. Working out the next set of treatments for Faith?" Jenny asked. Half the sleepers were now awake.
Mindy came in bouncing. "Yes isn't it wonderful?! MOM too!" She pirouetted grabbed a chart and then pranced out. Doc shook his head. "So, what did I miss?" Mindy asked.
Jennie shook her head. "Well with distractions like that, I can't say I blame you,” she said to the doctor, ignoring the nurse. She pulled a set of wires out.
"This one?" she asked.
The Admiral shook his head. "Try the other."
She attached a multi tester to another lead. "I think I got it," she said as she smiled. "A couple weeks ago we set up a budget system for each department now that we have a handle on all the major repairs," she said to the doctor.
She looked over to the Admiral as he began rewiring the power jack. "Each department has a budget for power, resources, and replicator time. The ops officers allocate the power as needed." She waved upwards to indicate the bridge. "Now that the reactor has been overhauled and we have better fuel, everyone has been clamoring for more power," she said and then sighed.
But you have to use your budget wisely. For instance would you rather have that repaired or a new dermal regenerator?" the Admiral asked as he screwed the plate back on.
The doc looked over to the window and rubbed his chin in thought. "You're right, I'd take the generator," he said and then nodded. "All right, is the information on the web?" he asked.
Jennie looked up and nodded. "Yes, and your budget is set up in the medical section, check your e-mail." She waved to a tablet.
He scrolled for a moment, murmured his password and then ahahed. "Got it. Thanks," he
said. He hummed as he punched in entries.
"Bow, keel, dorsal, port, stern, starboard, why don't you say what you mean?" The tech looked over to the other exasperated.
Jennie chuckled as she overheard. "You didn't catch the lecture did you?” she asked.
The two of them looked up. "I did," one admitted.
"Oh, what lecture?" the other asked confused.
"On ship design. The Admiral explained why we have those terms and others," she said and shrugged. "Most of it is hold over things from the early days of ships back on earth." She tapped the wall. "Like bulkhead." She pointed to the floor. "And deck... and the bottom of the ship is a keel."
She waved. "Some are carry over things from animals, like dorsal. I think he said it came from a dorsal fin," she said.
The blond tech nodded. "Yeah. Bow and stern, keel, stern, and ventral," She grinned. "Some of them make sense now. I was reading a holo novel, and was terribly confused for a long time," she frowned. She shook her head.
"Which one?" the other tech asked suddenly.
"Um..." The girl was turning red fast as she squirmed. "Uh, the pirate one..." Her voice ended in an upward lilt.
She tried to escape but Mary's lips pursed in a teasing smile as she caught her arm, preventing escape. "What pirate novel?" Mary demanded.
Keisha squirmed, feeling her ears redden.
Jennie chuckled. "I'll just be over here if anyone needs me."
Keisha looked up alarmed, and then tried to hide her head as she whispered something to Mary. "What was that? I didn't quiet hear it?" Mary was a horrible tease and flirt sometimes Jennie thought as she got back to work.
"Freeport?" Jennie looked confused. They were looking at the image of the capital of the planet.
"Yeah, the spaceport, or the one that grew out after the cities were smashed," Molly sighed. "You'd think they'd name it something original!" She tapped her console.
"Okay, why does the purser call them hicks and hillbillies?" Jennie asked. Jennie pulled up an overhead shot of the continent.
"That planet is about as flat as I have ever seen, with only those mountains here and here..." She pointed.
"It's an archaic term," a familiar male voice rumbled in amusement. The Admiral sat down next to them. He cradled a cup of coffee. "Something from the North Americans I guess." He shrugged. "I wasn't much into history unless it was engineering or war related."
Molly snorted. "Yeah, I think we figured that out," she said dryly.
He chuckled then sobered. “The capital of New Texas used to be Nouveau Houston, I guess it was destroyed,” he said, eyes sad. He pulled up the view of the planet. Sprite overlaid a map of the cities onto the sphere. There were a lot of craters pock marking the surface. “Yeah...” He shook his head.
Jennie nodded. “What a waste.”
The hatch opened and the Chief came in. He looked over to her standing there in the entry way, looking over the dojo. "Can we help you Chief?" he asked. The guards looked over warily. The padding had been repaired and patched. New and old training equipment were neatly shelved. She just waved and kept looking. "All right," he said when she didn't say anything. He turned back to the class.
"Now, to disarm an opponent with a weapon you first need to assess the situation and the opponent,” he continued, ignoring the chief as she looked around. He waved to the guard holding the mock knife. “Now, from her stance, I can deduce she's done this before." A few chuckled at this. He caught the Chief watching them. He nodded to her. "Come at me," he ordered. She blinked and lunged with the knife. He turned into her reach. She tried to twist to cut him, but his arm blocked hers, pushing her away.
"Now, I'm inside her reach and guard," he said. His hand snaked out, poking her solar plexus. The woman gasped. His free hand grabbed her extended knife hand. In a second he had flipped her up over him and to the tarmac. He held onto her though, and knelt on her arm holding the knife. He raised an arm to a killing stroke. "And now you have them at your mercy."
She dropped the knife and tapped the mat. He nodded and got up, then helped her to sit. She was gasping. He straightened and pulled his gi belt tighter. "That was a simple move used in many martial arts. I'll teach it to you," he said.
He caught the Chief's eyes. She was looking a little confused. "Why?" she finally asked, genuinely curious. The class turned to her.
He shrugged. "Why not?" he asked. Her face worked. The class kept looking back and forth between the two of them. "Because I can, they asked, and I needed the workout," he said dryly. He patted his stomach. "Getting a little flabby with all of Cookies' cooking," he joked. Some of the girls laughed at that. "Besides, the ship's safety may depend on it," he said.
She nodded. That was an argument she could understand."Room for one more?" she asked with a curious note in her voice.
He nodded. "Yes ma'am." He pointed to the side room. "There are extra gi uniforms in there with privacy to change ma'am," he told her. She nodded and left.
"I think she just wants to take a stab at you Admiral," one of the girls said quietly.
He shrugged. "Wouldn't be the first, won’t be the last," he replied. "But, I have my ways," he said, making it sound evil. A few of the girls chuckled. "All right, why don't you ladies work on the basic training kata to warm up a little?" He stepped off the mat and watched as they got to their feet and stretched.
He watched the ritual unfold from the hangar control room. The pilot brought the shuttle in smartly, landing with the rear hatch facing the door. When the hatch was closed the straw boss was the first on the hangar deck. The pilot dropped the ramp and smiled, handing her a stalk of what looked like grass with a bow and flourish.
Taki smiled, took the grass stalk and clamped one end between her teeth. "All right girls, let’s get her unloaded," she said. The work crew sprang into action. In a few moments he watched amazed and dismayed to see them float out plastic containers. Another group was rolling out what looked like wooden barrels! The girls had a song going. He shook his head.
"I must have missed this last time," he murmured.
Jennie looked over. "Well, we were kinda busy with hull repairs," she said.
He grimaced. "Well, we need to work out a better system," he said. She nodded.
The loading of the two meter tall neo-cattle and neo-buffalo was a headache all in itself. "Captain, this is the last one, we're getting the bull calf in now. With these we can pay the port fees and buy all the goods on Proxima that we want!" Vanessa said. She looked smug. The Captain nodded sagely. They were approaching the hatch.
"They're in there?" she asked. The Captain pointed to the door.
The Chief nodded. "Watch out!" someone screamed. The hatch clanged. In a moment it opened and a guard stumbled out coughing blood.
The Chief ran to her. "What the hell?" There was a crash then angry bellow.
"Look out! It’s loose!" The bull rushed through the hatch, tossing a rope around its neck. Another rope dangled from its waist. It bucked, kicking back and forth, then ran down the corridor. It knocked over a cart loaded with glassware, smashing glass all over the floor.
The startled crew member reared back. The bull smashed through the glass, then lashed out a kick in passing. The woman went down, coughing. "Damn!" the chief snarled. The emergency door slammed shut in front of the bull. "Okay," the chief said, clearly furious. The Chief helped her guard to her feet. "Where is it?" she demanded as she turned. "Gram, get out of here." She thrust the guard behind her.
A woman came out of her room, clutching a towel around her waist dripping wet. "What the hell is going on here?"she said. She shrieked at the sight of the bull and backed up. The bull tossed its head and she was tossed like a rag doll. She landed san's towel sobbing in the corridor. The bull entered her quarters and began smashing things.
"Great. What else could go wrong?" the chief said. The bull exited and turned to face them. Muttering an oath the Chief lunged in front of her Captain.
"Get out of here!" she
screamed, drawing her gun.
"Not on your life little one," the captain said. The bull charged. A bulkhead door slammed down behind it. "Well, that didn't work," she said.
The Admiral entered at a full run, slamming into the bull. It twisted, trying to gore him with its horns. "Oh no you don't,” he snarled. Veins popped under his skin as he got a grip on the horns.
"I always liked to take the bull by the horns, but this is ridiculous," he grunted twisting.
"Get it down!" the woman in the entryway called. She was looping a lasso.
"Get clear, I'll shoot it," the Chief called.
"Easier said than done," the Admiral grunted. If he let go the animal would go right through him.
He went down on his left knee, but the bulls head went down as well. With a bawl it sank to the ground, then onto its side. "Good," the Admiral grunted. He held it there.
The animal's tongue lolled out, and then its eye rolled white. "Oh, now you want to be friends?" he grunted as it panted. The woman with the lasso managed to catch the rear hooves. Another woman went in, roping them together. A front hoof clipped her in the back. She hissed, but managed to finish her lashings.
The woman holding the lasso kept it taut. "Wish I had something to tie this off too," she grunted. "Get another rope on the front legs," she ordered. The Admiral felt a rope brush his back, then drop beside him.
"Watch it," he grunted.
"I got one leg," the woman called. She pulled the rope taught, then followed the lead wrangler's directions and roped it to the rear feet.
“I have the head," another girl called. The Admiral looked up to see the girl had managed to fish out the rope from under the animal's side and then tied it off to a knee knocker.
"Okay, will that hold?" he asked. She nodded.
"Wait," the lead wrangler said.
Another rope was wrapped around the beast's neck then tied off at an opposite corner. "There, you can let go now," she said. He tentatively loosened his grip. The animal thrashed, but couldn't stand.
New Dawn (Wandering Engineer) Page 30