"It isn't all that hard. It only took a day for the doc to fix Sonja here up," the first girl said. The tall purple haired girl waved to the Asian girl.
Kess studied her then looked down. "Maybe. Maybe," She muttered and turned to leave.
"Think it over," one of the girls said.
He cleared his throat. "Even in this day and age it isn't easy to feel different," he said. They looked over to him. "Your ancestors did the sculpting to stand out, or to better adapt to a planet." He waved to the LCD window of the planet spinning slowly below. It was a recording of course, they were in hyper. A pair of girls sitting at a table in front of the window looked up and then back to the view. "Feeling different is difficult, you feel like you stand out," he said. One of the girls looked him over.
"Yeah, and you fit in," one of the girls said.
He shook his head. "I feel like an outcast as much as you do. More." He held up his right hand and sent signals to morph it. "I'm a visitor from the past," he said and grimaced at their expressions.
"Why does your hand look normal?" Kess asked.
He looked over to Kess. "Just because I have implants doesn't mean that I want them to stand out and mark me as different. It's easier to get things done when people don't get in the way." He looked his hand over.
"We all want to fit into the norm in some small way. Some don't. Some like being different, standing out," he said and then shrugged. "The bio-sculpts had a purpose beyond adapting, they made society adapt to them."
One of the girls snorted. "I can't stand the stares," she said.
He nodded. "Some can't handle that. Some people are afraid of what's different," he said grimacing once more.
"It doesn't help that your ancestors decided to go with a predator theme, it evokes primitive fight or flight reflexes in many," he said.
One of the girls poked Tena. "Maybe you should switch to security?" she joked.
Tena grimaced. "No thank you, a couple days of following orders and I'd want to rip her hair out," she growled. No one said whose hair; they all knew who she meant.
Some of the girls chuckled. "Your eyes can be adjusted, to look totally Terran, or partially,” Irons said. He pointed to his eye. "Mine are a mix of sculpt and implants." His eye cycled into low light mode, slitting, then back.
"I think being able to see in low light is good," Tena said softly. He nodded. "But I could do without the ears," she grimaced and pulled at her ears.
He chuckled. "Yeah, hearing someone flushing two decks away does get annoying over time," he replied. Tena nodded. "If there were more Neos or non-terrans on board you wouldn't feel as different. Unfortunately you don't, so you don't have that example to live up to," he said and then shrugged.
Kess sat down across from him. "What was it like?" she asked. He looked at her."I mean, what was it like living with so many different species!" She rubbed her hair over her left ear then put her right forearm across the table and leaned forward eager. A few of the other patrons leaned forward.
He grunted. "Well, I knew quite a few different species. You've met a few I understand."
He accessed the galley controls and dimmed the lights. The holographic system came on and a Telerite was projected. Some of the girls gasped at the squat mole like alien. "Some were burrowers and nesters like the Telerites or Nubian wasps," he explained. A two meter tall spindle wasp was projected next. "I've run into dozens of species personally, and I can speak many different languages," he said and then shrugged.
"When I received my first implants, they included a language implant so I can speak with most of the known species," he said and then shrugged again. The hologram changed to a Ssilli, then a Gashg. "Of course some of the aliens weren't so alien." He pulled up a Terran chimp, gorilla, whale, dolphin, and orangutan. "Mankind used genetic engineering to uplift some of our cousins to the stars. Neos. Dolphins," The dolphin swam in a circle.
"Dolphins were one of our best pilots until the Ssilli were discovered," he said and then shrugged. "As an Admiral I had to deal with all sorts of species," he grimaced wryly. "Believe me; sometimes trying to deal with the species protocol was a royal pain!"
"Tell me about it," Sprite muttered. He chuckled.
"Fortunately I had good people who kept me relatively straight," he smiled to Kess.
"Why thank you Admiral," Sprite chuckled.
"When I went into stasis there were over one hundred...” Sprite projected a number onto his HUD. "Excuse me, one hundred and twenty one different species in the Federation... and let’s see twelve different versions of mankind not including the neos," he said and then smiled a little in amusement at their expressions. The girls were avidly watching him.
"Different kinds of humans? Like bio-sculpts?" Tena asked. He nodded.
"And heavy worlders, cyborgs like me but even more changed and different genies," he explained. Sprite projected a few of the people of each he had met. He turned away from the holo with a pang of remorse.
"You miss them," Kess said. He looked up to her cat eyes. "
A little. Hell, a lot," he admitted and then sighed.
"Many of the species are now dust on the wind," he finally said. His face was bleak.
She patted his hand. "I'm sorry I brought it up." She started to withdraw and he held her hand.
"No, it's not a problem.” He waved to the hologram. "Lets see if I have my flag commissioning ceremony on file."
Sprite took the cue and projected it. He blushed a bit as he watched Vice Admiral Danforth award him the star of valor and promote him to Admiral. The girls were mesmerized at the tall tree like alien. "He was really in the navy?" one asked. He nodded as someone shushed the first.
"Can you turn it up?" someone asked in the back. Sprite obliged without prompting. "Thanks," she murmured.
He sighed. "What's that?" one girl asked and pointed. Someone shushed her.
"Delquir, they were called fairy people by Terrans. Hollow bones and gossamer wings," he replied. They watched as the pixie like creature fluttered up to him. "She was the ambassador of their people; she's thanking me for saving their world." He shrugged and waved the holo off. Some of the group grumbled at that. He grimaced.. "Okay okay, I'll put it back on." Sprite returned to playing the scene. "I'll leave it up," he said. He waved and left.
"Faith's right arm will need to be replaced from the elbow down. I'm replicating a new one now. Her inner organs are being replicated now as well. Due to her exposure most of her abdominal muscles and skin will need to be replaced too," The doctor looked up from his chart. "So far so good,” he said in his report. He turned as a pale Keisha came in cradling her over extended tummy.
The woman cradled the baby cooing softly to it. The Admiral approached tentatively. She looked up and smiled, then looked down at her baby. "Isn't she darling?" Mindy cooed softly. "What's her name?"
Keisha looked up and smiled. "Molly." She rocked the child gently as the Admiral felt his eyes mist.
"She'll never know her godmother, but she'll carry her name," Keisha said, sitting back. Tears welled in her eyes.
Mindy wiped her own eyes, and then used her hanky to wipe Keisha's. "That's a lovely name. Don't you agree Admiral?" she asked.
He nodded, patting Keisha's ankle. "Yes, I think it's a great name. She was a good woman," he murmured.
Keisha smiled. "I think you have company."
He turned to see a tech standing in the doorway. "Take care," he said. He patted her ankle again and went to see what the tech wanted.
"Keisha had her baby?" she asked.
He waved her back through the hatch. "Keep your voice down." The girl craned her neck around the Admiral, trying to catch a glimpse. He moved to the side so she could get a better view. "What is it?" she demanded. She looked forlorn.
"A girl,” he replied. She smiled. "She named her Molly," he told her softly.
The girl looked torn, and then wiped her eyes. "Yeah." She looked up. "Trish asked me to find you," she said.
&nbs
p; He shook his head. "She could have paged me."
She shrugged. "I wanted to see the baby anyway," she said.
He nodded. "Don't keep her too long, she had a long delivery." The girl looked again, and then nodded. "I'll just pay my respects," she murmured.
He nodded "I'll be in engineering."
He went on his way. "That's nice," Sprite commented, subdued.
"Yes it is," he sighed as the lift doors closed. "Engineering, deck eight," he ordered. The lift started.
"I understand it's hard on you Admiral, you've lost so much," Sprite murmured.
He nodded. "Yeah, Molly was my first friend in this time," he said. He looked at the polished door, then away. "Damn," he muttered.
The lift paused at another floor, the door opened and a crew member squeaked. "I can catch another," she said.
He stepped back and to the side. "By no means, come in," he said. She daintily stepped in.
"Hold the lift!" someone called. He reached out and palmed the door, making it go back for a moment. Another crew member came running up, wrestling with a giant Teddy bear. "It's for Keisha. Sickbay," she said.
He waved. "I just came from there; you'll have to wait a moment."
She huffed. The other girl cooed at the Teddy. "Oh isn't she just darling?" she squealed. She petted the faux fur. "Where did you? The replicator?" she asked.
The crew member nodded. "I found a way to program it into the replicator, it took forever!" she said and then rolled her eyes. "It's pretty neat." she smiled smugly. "I even made another just for Dorah," she giggled. "It's blue."
He sighed as the two of them went into the usual gossip chatter. The lift opened and he made his escape. "Have fun," he waved. They didn't look up as the doors closed.
"Well, glad they’re learning," he murmured and then shook his head. "Teddy bears?" He waved to a passing tech. She nodded then returned to studying her tablet.
"Well, at least she learned how to do it, and did it without help." Sprite answered.
He nodded. "Yeah, good to know." He entered engineering and looked around as the guards caught up to him.
Trisha looked up from her console. "Over here Admiral," she said. He stepped around a cart load of parts and over to her console. "I've been working on the roster, moving things around. I'm still in charge of life support, but Jennie wants a shift leader for first shift," she said and then grimaced. "I don't know any of their skill levels, and neither does she," she replied.
He nodded. "Well, in the interim, I can cover it," he offered.
She nodded. "Yeah, but you have that class in the morning, and another in the afternoon. It seems all you’re doing is teaching lately," she accused.
He smiled. "Yeah, I miss getting my hands dirty." He shrugged. "The ship is pretty much up to spec now, we just have routine maintenance and a few repairs on the list left."
She nodded. "That's true, and I hear Faith is up next for surgery." She smiled but looked nervous.
"What's the matter? Worried about her?" he asked.
She nodded. "Yeah, and I was a bit worried about what she'll think of all this, and losing Molly."
He nodded. Jennie came up behind him. "Figure anything out?" she asked.
He shook his head. "I was telling Trish, I can handle the watch, but she pointed out I have a couple classes," he said.
Jennie nodded. "Yeah." She waved a tablet. "I narrowed it down to three." she said.
He caught the tablet as she tossed it to him. "Hmmm... Well, we can have them fill in while I'm in class, sort of a trial run," he suggested. She nodded.
"Each of them in turn?" she asked.
He nodded. "Yeah, that'll give us a chance to evaluate their leadership skills, he said."
Jennie sat down. "Hmm... Yeah, I forgot that. I was looking for people with the technical chops," she said. She sat back in the chair and picked up a screw driver. She tapped it in her hand.
"Yeah... getting some of the techs to move in the morning is a royal pain," she admitted after a long moment of thinking. She shook her head. "One of the reasons I switched shifts with Molly." Her eyes were clouded.
"Um Jennie? You’re talking..." Trisha looked concerned.
"What oh?" She looked up confused. "Sorry," she sighed. "Well, we can try it."
The Admiral nodded. "Okay, that leaves a hole in their teams though, what about Keisha as a fill in?" Trisha asked. "Oh wait, she just had the baby," she said and then grimaced. "How long until she's back on her feet?" she asked Jennie.
Jennie spread her hands apart. "I have no idea," she said. She looked over to the Admiral. So did Trisha.
"I um... I don't know, but usually there was a one month leave period post birth in the navy," he replied. He shook his head. "It's up to the doc, and Keisha I guess," he said.
Trisha nodded. "Yeah."
Jennie frowned. "I heard Keisha is looking at taking the open ops shift too," she said with a frown.
Trisha looked up alarmed. "Well!" She squirmed a little, tapping at her tablet, frowning.
"It's not disloyal you know." The Admiral sat back. "She's bettering herself. Let it go."
Trisha nodded but didn't look up. "She'll still be on the ship, and involved in engineering. At least for now, if the Captain has you building another ship..." he said and then shrugged.
"Build another ship?" Jennie asked in disbelief. "After we just finished fixing this one?" Consternation warred with disbelief on each of the women's faces.
He smiled. "The Captain is considering it." He crossed his arms. Jennie did as well.
"Well if she wants us to do it after all the work we did...” she growled. She shook her head. He smiled.
"Not up for the challenge?" he teased. She glared.
Trisha sighed. "Oh not the challenge, just the sheer drudgery..." she said. He chuckled. Jennie's eyes gleamed.
"Think of it this way, you get the chance to build a ship from the keel out, the first people to do it since the fall of civilization?" he said suggestively.
Jennie's eyes began to gleam. "And the more ships we build... who knows, I might be a Chief engineer!" Jennie said with a gloating grin.
Trisha looked up alarmed. "Hey now, don't be promoting me to your spot!" She fended off the motion with both hands.
The Admiral chuckled. "With this ship you can build a fleet, who knows Trish; you could be a Captain someday," he teased.
Trisha looked alarmed then amused. "Me in the Captain's chair? Not bloody likely!" She chuckled. "Besides, that's a long ways off. Let’s focus on the here and now," she said. She waved to the tablet. "So which of our three do we start first?" she demanded. He chuckled at her downplay.
“Admiral, thanks for the new guitar,” Miley leaned over his chair and kissed him on the cheek. He blushed.
“No problem,” he mumbled. She smiled as she walked around his chair and to her usual seat. She tuned the guitar then began to strum it lightly.
“This is nice,” Jen commented, shifting Tia a little.
“For you maybe, I have the end that bites,” Shandra mock grumbled.
Tia looked up from her place in Shandra's lap and smiled. “So Admiral, has your family always been in space?” Tia asked.
Bonny sat down across next to him and took a sip. “You’re Admiral Irons?” she asked.
He nodded. “Of the Iron family?” she demanded.
He chuckled. “Guilty.”
She shook her head looking a little bemused. “Yes Tia, he's a born and bred spacer.” She shook her head wonderingly.
“How do you know?” Jen asked, curious. She looked to the nurse, then back to the Admiral. “If that doesn't bother you,” she said.
He grunted. “No, it's okay. Yes it bothers me a little, but it's part of history now.”
“You see, my first ancestors in space were the Mario brothers,” he explained. He was met with blank looks. “They were named after famous characters in video games,” he said.
“Mario and Luigi Irons,” Bonny s
aid and nodded. “The first on Mars.” She sat back triumphant.
Irons nodded. “Well, Mario was on the first team, but not the first. I understand it was a team effort,” he chuckled. “Luigi was ground control; he was crippled in a vehicle accident,” he sighed. “His brother took his place.”
“So they went to Mars?” Tia asked.
He nodded. “First team of humans on another planet. Like Neil Armstrong on the moon in 1969.” Her eyes were wide. “Oh.”
He smiled. “They didn't have a tenth of what we had, they flew on liquid fueled rockets, and landed with thrusters and parachutes,” he said.
Deidra came over and chuckled. “The good old days of flight. I heard about that. I checked your historical database, some of that is hard to believe.” She looked over to the other women. “Imagine riding on a rocket, filled with explosives that can go off at the slightest spark,” she said and then shook her head. He chuckled at the expressions around the room.
“Anyway, Mario and his team secretly built a base on Mars, much to the consternation of the politicians in power at the time,” he said.
Jen chuckled. “Did an end run around them?” she asked.
He smiled. “Well, they were a few million miles away.” Shandra chuckled. “He ended up extending his tour, and eventually had a child on Mars since he was married to one of the scientists. They had the second child born on another world, Jonathan.”
Tia looked amazed. “Is that why you’re named Jon?” she asked.
He shook his head and chuckled. “No, I'm named after another guy in history, not an ancestor. John Henry Irons, mythical iron man of the railroad,” he said.
Tia's eyes were wide. “Come on squirt, time for bed,” Shandra hefted her up and to her shoulder, then got up. “Good goddess your heavy! Too much beans and brustle sprouts!” she mock growled, tickling the squirming bundle. Tia giggled. She waved goodbye to everyone as Jen followed them out.
He handed the tablet to Jennie. "So, out of the three, who do you think can handle first shift until Faith is out of the doctor's clutches?" he asked. Each of the three had been in charge of their shift for three days, now it was time to get the decision over with.
New Dawn (Wandering Engineer) Page 44