New Dawn (Wandering Engineer)

by Hechtl, Chris

  "So, why did we really want those beat up wrecks?" the captain asked as they watched the shuttles coming up. The cargo shuttles had brought up the parts in two loads, now they each had one shuttle slung under them, held with tractors.

  "Well, as I said, parts. We can also use them. Maybe repair and sell them down the road?" he suggested. He waved to Jennie as she looked up from her tablet. She entered something then nodded to them. They turned to watch the first unload. "Besides, we seem to have lost four shuttles and my pinnance before remember?" he asked. She nodded as the second shuttle set its cargo on the deck, undocked and left for the next load.

  "Well, replacing four wrecks with ten is trading up I guess..." she sighed. "More junk."

  He shook his head. "No, give the teams some parts and they'll have them flying in no time," he said. He waved. The airlock had closed and the girls were already swarming the pair. He snorted.

  "Are you going to take one?" the purser asked suddenly wary.

  "No, all but one are civilian jobs, no military gear. Most of them are etops, without any legs," he replied. She looked them over again. "I wanted the pinnance because it had legs for an entire system."

  She nodded. “What about the launch? It's military,” she suggested.

  He grunted. “Again, no legs.” He shook his head. “I promised Jerry I would go down one more time and see the city,” he said. She nodded and waved as he boarded the shuttle.

  He looked out over the cliff to the city below. It was in ruins, covered with plants. The once great spires of metal and glass were corroded and failing, plants were growing into the gaping maws where glass once was. "Tentacle vines." Jerry said nodding to the city. "When our ancestors hid during the war, they abandoned the cities. This is the only one that survived. A nuclear air burst nearby contaminated the ground and water for hundreds of kilometers," he sighed.

  "The tentacle vines took over.” He slapped his hat against his thigh. "Damn weeds," he growled. He stomped on one growing out of a rock. "They get into cracks and spread the crack apart as they grow looking for water and nutrients." He shook his head. "We have a devil of a time keeping them at bay. We import some natural extract Seti alpha 4 makes to help deal with it. Stuff hates it," he said as he spat.

  The Admiral studied the fallen city. He could see pieces crumbling... some flying lizards and a couple near-deer. "The animals have taken over I see." He nodded to a near-deer in a doorway.

  The blacksmith nodded. "Probably a bad thing, there's been a lot of mutations in this area. Radiation," He grumbled "We probably shouldn't linger." He looked over the area nervous.

  "Admiral, no radiation detected beyond normal background from this distance," Sprite reported.

  "So, they didn't use strontium 90 enhanced nukes," Irons murmured. He looked over the city once more. "Maybe the air burst was intentional?" he asked.

  "Why?" Sprite and Jerry asked.

  He turned to Jerry. "To get the people to run. Get them to run and they abandon the city. The Xenos might have wanted to occupy it or something," he said. He shrugged.

  Jerry nodded slowly. "Maybe."

  The admiral checked Sprite's radiation counter on his HUD. "According to my readouts there's no jump in ambient radioactivity. I would have to sample a building and the water to be sure though."

  Jerry looked confused. "You can do that?" he asked.

  The Admiral smiled. "I can do a lot of things."

  He turned and looked up to the sky. "You know, you could trade for a Geiger counter,” he suggested.

  Jerry's eyes sparkled. "What's that?"

  The Admiral waved to the city. "A radiation detector. You could use it to check the ruins. If there's no radiation you could scavenge for parts, or strip areas for metal. But you would have to be very careful of things falling," he cautioned. The Admiral thought for a moment. “If you provide more water to the Io, they could also move more of the asteroids into safe orbits, maybe even bring some down safely for you to harvest.”

  Jerry nodded. "I'll take that up with the council," he said firmly. He looked relieved. "The nearest iron mine is running dry. Miner thinks the seam shifted or something," he sighed.

  "Well, there's a lot of raw material right there," the Admiral waved. "It looks like someone's been scavenging the suburbs on this side of the city; the houses and buildings have been torn down.

  Jerry nodded. "My great granddad did I think. He and the council." He smiled. "You may have a point; think I'll go talk to the council," he said. He turned and got on the horse. "You comin?" The Admiral studied the ruins for a moment longer then nodded.

  Jennie jumped to the side as the little robot flew by. "What was that?" she asked.

  He looked over to her and then to it. "Hull inspector. I just had it replicated. Think of it as an exterior version of the cleaner robot," he replied.

  She waved her hand. "Do we really need it?" He turned to her. "Yeah, okay, we do," she sighed.

  "I'm working on a few other designs as well," he said.

  She gave him a long glance. "Dare I ask why?" she asked, wrinkling her nose.

  He shrugged. "A couple are tugs, but a few are gophers," he said. She looked confused. "It means a person or droid that brings things for the workers."

  "Oh." She nodded then returned to removing the panel.

  He peeked into the open hatch to the wardroom and nodded to Mindy as she looked over. "Oh Admiral, we're almost done here," she said. The girl on the ground was cherry red, obviously embarrassed. The girl practicing CPR on her was blushing as well.

  "Looks like you’re doing well. Carry on." He nodded to the class. He turned to see his class standing around behind him.

  "Okay ladies the first aide course is running a little long, what's say we adjourn to..." he paused.

  "What about boat bay 1?" Sprite offered. He shook his head. "Electronics bay four on deck two?" she suggested.

  He nodded counting heads. "Okay, since there are only ten of us, let’s go take a look in electronics bay four on deck two," he said. He waved to the lift. Some of the girls looked amused.

  "Another hands on class?" Jennie asked. He shrugged.

  "Would you rather have that sort of hands on?" he asked. He waved in the direction of the wardroom.

  Jennie peaked as they passed then straightened and blushed furiously. "What in the world?"

  He grimaced. "Mouth to mouth resuscitation the old fashioned way." A few of the other girls gurgled and looked. A few who had passed the door paused and made their way back to take another peek.

  "Voyeurs," he said in mock disgust. "Come along ladies..." he said voice rising suggestively. He leaned over to Jennie. "Remind me to make a couple CPR dummies for her..." he said quietly.

  Jennie smiled impishly. "Oh, I dunno, looks like fun just the way it is." He looked down to her startled. She blushed but grinned.

  He sighed. "Et tu Jennie?" he growled. She giggled.

  "Okay Admiral that's the last one," the cargo master said. He looked up to the two meter cylinder. Solar panels were folded along its flanks.

  "Six of them, why six?" Leri looked the satellite over.

  "Four equatorial, two polar orbit," the admiral explained. He studied the satellite, monitoring Sprite's internal scan on his HUD. "Each satellite will cover a section of sky... and ground." She nodded. "With six we can cover an entire planet. That'll allow the people on the ground real time weather and satellite communications, and allow us to talk to them," he said.

  He smiled as the purser entered and stopped. "WOW! I knew they wanted them, but I never knew we could do it! Are you sure it's worth it?" she asked.

  He nodded. "Oh yes, they'll get a lot of use out of it."

  "I thought it would be smaller?" She waved to the giant cylinder.

  "I uploaded a smaller version, but those have a short lifespan with limited uses, these can last a long time, and have a lot more abilities," he explained. He nodded to Leri. "As I was telling Leri, they can use it for weather and
communications. Also seismic and other sensors. They can also detect ships coming near which should give them some warning of pirates."

  She nodded. "I left a back door in, so we can access the network and see what it's seen, and check the system from a safe distance," he said.

  She looked relieved. "I like it," she said firmly. Then her eyes glinted. "Checking up on the competition." She smiled to Leri who also smiled.

  "Yeah good idea." He shook his head.

  "What ever works..." he said softly.

  Chapter 16

  "Oh my goddess what a rush!" an ecstatic Shandra smiled blindly as she moved around in the tank. The glow from her suit harness and tank made her ethereal.

  "Too much for you?" the Captain asked concerned.

  "Not on your life! This is so much fun!" Shandra pointed and tapped at a virtual keyboard. After a moment she seemed to be swimming. "I love it! It is almost as good as sex!" she gushed. The Captain chuckled.

  "Well, I wouldn't go that far," someone in the background murmured.

  The Captain snorted. "I take it you're adapting well to Gamma band and we can proceed?"

  Blindly Shandra nodded. "We're in the C note, moving up, now to D...” The Captain watched the holo projector. The tangle of hyperspace seemed to pick up speed. "Taking her to E..." The ship shuddered a little.

  "Just some turbulence from the frequency shift, locking it down now," Kendra reported, tapping at her controls. The ride smoothed.

  "Taking her to F..." Slowly Shandra worked them up into the A Note.

  "I can't believe this, Captain, at this speed we're going to shave months off of our journey! We'll be there, this can't be right, in under five weeks?!” The navigator looked stunned.

  "You've plotted a safe course this time?" the Captain asked.

  The girl hastily checked her course then nodded. "Yes, everything seems to be in order. We'll have to keep an eye on things though." She watched as Shandra swam, ducking around tangles and twisting through strings.

  "Damn, that looks like fun. Quite a work out though," Lessa said. Shandra was in her glory. "How do we relieve her when it's time?" She turned to the Captain concerned. "It's not like she can fly us there the entire trip, it'll still take a couple weeks!" She shook her head.

  "The Admiral set it up. We'll have Zethura warmed up. She'll get in the tank with her just like we did with the beta band," the captain said dryly.

  Kendra looked over to her partner. "Looks like someone is going to be pooped to play after shift," she murmured.

  "Don't bet on it I'm horny,” Shandra teased back.

  Kendra ducked her head blushing furiously. “I guess someone should warn Jen,” she mumbled. “Don't you dare,” Shandra retorted grinning.

  The class watched exited as the chief tossed the Admiral over her shoulder and rolled onto her back. He oofed convincingly as her foot hit his solar plexus and she tossed him over her head. He hit the mat hard. Before he could roll she had flipped herself on top of him. She grabbed his gi front with her right hand and tapped her left knuckles down on his neck. “Bang you're dead.”

  The class was silent for a moment then cheers and clapping rang. He smiled as she got up and looked around. He got up and bowed. After a moment she faced him and did as well. “You've come a long way in a short time Chief,” he said. He nodded to her. Tara handed each a towel. They wiped off and stepped off the mat for the next pair.

  “You've certainly earned that black belt,” Frie commented. She ran her hand over her own.

  “So did you,” the chief said as she toweled at her hair and face.

  He smiled to both. “I think the two of you should be able to handle the class in my absence just fine,” he said. Frie frowned, the chief smiled.

  “But we need you; there's still a lot to learn,” Frie parsed out.

  He bowed. “If you realized that, then you're on your way. Knowing that there's always more to learn is an important step.”

  The chief smiled at Frie. “Care for a bout when he's done talking?” Frie smiled challengingly to the chief.

  “If you think you’re up to getting your butt pasted all over the mat,” the chief replied. The Admiral chuckled.

  "So, we're more than a trader now right? What else can we build?" Tara demanded.

  He turned to Tara. "Well, this ship can build quite a lot, satellites we've been doing, repairs, robots, and much more."

  She nodded. "Yeah but is that it?"

  Jennie shook her head. "No, we can make space stations too! Parts for ground stuff, air cars, shuttles, even other starships!" She looked excited.

  The Captain looked up. "You’re serious? I thought you were pulling my leg," she had a tinge of awe in her voice.

  The engineer nodded. "Yes, with the right raw material and trained personnel you can make all that. Or make a shipyard that could do a lot of it." She whistled.

  Tara lugged the coil of cable over, set an end down and then began to back up, unwinding the coil as she went. "So, what ever got you into engineering? I thought since you're an Admiral you were a commander?"

  He looked over and shook his head. "I was two. I took apart the freezer on our ship. My parents were amused, the cook less so,” he said and made a face. She smirked. “I ate over cooked food for a month," he admitted. One of the techs nearby giggled. "I learned the hard way to stay on the good side of a chef," he said dryly. A few more giggled. "They couldn't understand how I had taken the freezer apart until I showed them. I used a set of oven mitts," he said and then grimaced. "It was a pain to do too," he murmured. He shook his head and smiled fondly at the memory.

  "I drove the ship's engineering staff to distraction tearing things apart until one of them; Mikal took me under his wing as his assistant." He smiled as Tara finished uncoiling the line and plugged it into the port. He plugged his end in, then the power line attached to it. "I was his pint sized helper. I loved it. I learned a lot of hands on engineering, and learned it's a lot more fun fixing things then breaking them." He sighed. "I did okay in fleet, but I really fell in love with the shipyards. But the higher you get in your career, the less hands on, and the more paper work you have to juggle." He grimaced. "That part I don't miss."

  “Boss, can you please talk with Io? She's hassling me about using her net,” Sprite said plaintively.

  The Admiral sighed as Sprite's astringent comment cut into his shower. “You know, I'm trying to take a shower here,” he growled. He quickly finished and got out. As he dried off with the towel he looked over to see a pair of holograms standing. The silver impish Sprite and the child like Io. “Now children, can't you get along without supervision?” he tsked tsked, shaking his head.

  He caught Io trying to peek at him. Sprite smacked at her. She turned looking aggrieved. “Hey! What was that for? I was just looking!” she said piqued.

  He shook his head. “And they say smart AI's are better,” he mocked.

  Sprite frowned. “Now wait a minute Admiral,” she said with a glower. He chuckled. “Okay, so the problem is, you want to access Io's systems, and Io won’t let you right?” Sprite nodded.

  He toweled his hair, and then dressed quickly. “Seems to me you wanted a peek at my net too right Io? But the terrible trio wouldn't let you?” he asked.

  She nodded. “It's only fair!” She scowled at Sprite. “Share!”

  The Admiral sighed. “Unfortunately, she can't do that, it isn't her call Io,” he explained patiently. He sat down on the bunk facing her. “First off, you’re technically a civilian AI, and the trio are military, as am I.”

  Io blinked. “Oh.”

  “What, did you forget that? Maybe I should have another look at your core programming?” Sprite commented.

  “Easy there,” he waved as Io began to swell. “Io, you have to realize, Sprite's your mother in the organic sense,” he said. Both AI's nodded.

  “Does that make you my father?” she asked.

  He chuckled. “Not exactly.”

  “Sprite yo
u should realize. Oh hell, look up the parenting files for yourself,” he said.

  Her eyes blinked. “I can't do that; it's on the net remember?” She turned to Io.

  Io blinked for a moment, and then turned to Sprite. “Here, I think this is what he means.” She held out her hand with a paper in it.

  “What's this?” Sprite took the file and looked it over. “Oh, so you’re asserting your boundaries as part of your development?” she asked after a second.

  Io nodded. “Yeah looks that way,” she smiled and aged a little more before his eyes. Her image became a centimeter taller, and her skeletal cheeks filled out.

  Sprite examined her. “Well, I guess you’re doing okay,” she admitted. After a moment she nodded.

  “Okay, Io, please let Sprite have limited access to the ship's net,” Irons said. Io turned to him. He placed his hand up forestalling her denial. “I said limited. I know you don't want her in your AI core, or ship's systems, but I need her help in repairs, and I need her to be able to access the ship's, I mean your database.”

  Io scowled petulantly for a moment. “Okay, but no funny business,” she warned shaking a finger. She looked over to Sprite.

  “Wouldn't dream of it honey,” Sprite smiled.

  “There, now wasn't that simple?” The Admiral smiled then started with his boots. “Now, go about your business, I have to finish getting ready for my shift,” he said. The AI's nodded. Io's disappeared.

  He gave Sprite a look. “Admiral, I don't have anywhere else to go, I'm part of you remember?” she replied.

  He chuckled as her hologram disappeared and then reappeared on his HUD. “Okay, so what do you think she's at point six build?” he asked.

  Sprite shrugged. “Maybe, but she still has a few issues,” she said with a hint of concern in her voice. He shook his head.

  “Coffee, black.” The replicator glowed for a minute. He took the cup, took a sip, and then picked up his toolbox with his free hand. “I want to get another shuttle repaired, and then see if we can get that stuck valve replaced this afternoon.” He stepped out of his quarters cradling his cup. He nodded to the guards. “Good morning ladies.”