New Dawn (Wandering Engineer)

by Hechtl, Chris

  "Dinner time!" He heard the clatter of a cart and looked up annoyed. The serving girl had it stuck in an open floor panel. "Uh! Ugh!" She tugged it loose then turned back to them, hands on her hips. "I said, dinner time!" She tapped her toes and drummed her fingers on her belt.

  Jennie looked over to him and stifled a giggle. "We're almost finished," she said. He waved to the open trench where they were at; Jennie was straddling the large water line. Cleaning robots buzzed around, cleaning up the mess.

  "I got this Admiral, you go eat," Jennie nodded to the girl with the cart.

  He gave her a long look then shrugged. "All right, I always had a hard time with delegating...”

  She snorted. "Aunty Julie said you're to eat. She made this special for you." The girl turned and whisked off a cover plate. "Chicken ala king, with white sauce, potatoes, and carrots." She waved grandly. "Much better than that algae stuff you eat all the time," she growled. He chuckled

  . "For your information, the algae in the food replicators have all the necessary nutrients to live," he said. He ended that with mock severity as he pulled himself out of the trench and stretched. He looked over the meal; the girl looked him over and wrinkled her nose.

  "What have you been...no, I take it back, I don't want to know,” she said. She edged back. He reached for the plate.

  Like a viper she snapped, slapping his hand. "Keep your grimy paws off the clean silver! Go wash up!" she growled. He chuckled. The girls giggled. "I mean it! Aunty Julie put a lot of work into this after you fixed all the kitchen appliances and uploaded that cookbook for her to look at!"

  He smiled. "But I like algae paste," he teased.

  She growled. "I oughta tell aunty that, she'd probably dip you in a vat of it...or sit on you and spoon feed it to you till you choke." The girls in the trench were laughing outright by now, enjoying the byplay. He shrugged as he went down the corridor and into a nearby head. He came out a moment later wiping his hands.

  "All better?" he teased.

  She made a show of examining them, and then sniffed. "Better. I don't suppose there's a place you can eat privately? Or at least sit down?" she asked. She looked around. The guard’s eyes twinkled.

  "I used to work in the algae farm boss, believe me, a lifetime of eating that dross, and then experiencing fresh food..." Rodriguez shivered. "I'll take the good stuff any day. If you don't want it..." She grinned up at him from the trench.

  He chuckled as he sat on a convenient knee knocker. "I'll eat, I'll eat!" He leaned over and took a whiff. It smelled heavenly. His stomach rumbled.

  "See! You are hungry!" the serving girl said. The girl stood up straight and smiled triumphant. He smiled. "Aunty checked the logs, she was beside herself worrying about you not eating, kept dithering about you being too skinny." He chuckled. Sprite played an audio clip for him, reminding him of the past. The chuckle turned into a laugh. He looked up as she frowned.

  "Care to share?" Jen asked.

  He looked over. "Sure." Sprite took the cue and played the clip.

  "I don't care if you’re a high and mighty Admiral or a newbie enlisted, you’re going to sit there and eat or I will make you!" a voice came over the speakers. The girls looked up, some giggling, some looking confused.

  "Who was that?" one of the girls asked.

  "A voice from my past," he admitted. He shrugged. "I kept that in my audio files as a reminder." The girls giggled some more.

  The food girl tapped the plate meaningfully. "Stop stalling and start eating!"

  He picked up the fork and dug in with a will. "I didn't know your aunt was monitoring me so closely," he commented between bites.

  She was looking over the other girls as they worked. "She keeps an eye on you. Ever since your first long day, everyone keeps tabs."

  He looked up surprised, and then grimaced. "Never going to live that down am I?" he asked.

  She looked over her shoulder to him. "Nope. Don't forget the greens, they're good for you." He chuckled. Her mothering was amusing, and probably good for moral. The story would be all over the ship before he finished his last bite...if not already. Scuttlebutt was the fastest thing on a ship.

  "So, you worked in the algae vats? On the Pyrax station?" he asked Rodriguez. She looked up and nodded, then went back to work. "Algae and a few greens were for the lower deck people, the workers. The upper deck people got the good stuff, the real food," she said. He grimaced and looked her way. She sighed.

  "Mom would trade for things, and dad's credit line let us get extra...and of course there were a few times things... appeared at the table..." He chuckled as she smiled evilly. "I still remember the yogurt, I'm not sure how mom got it, or why, but the port Admiral having a fit over it missing was funny!" she chuckled then sobered. "But not so funny to some of the people in the galley," she grimaced in thought then went back to tightening a bolt. "All set here, are we ready to purge the line?" she asked.

  Jennie looked up and shook her head. "No, leaky main seal downstream to fix first."

  Rodriguez sighed long and low, as did a few of the girls. He finished up and wiped his mouth with the cloth napkin. He took a look at the silver, noting that it was the Captain's fine silver. "My, she did trot out all the works didn't she?" he asked. The girl bussed his plate and knife, and then set another smaller tray in front of him and a glass of fruit juice.

  "She did, and... she said you get this, since you’re the best person to appreciate it!" the girl said. She whipped off the top to see a piece of pie. "The filling is fabricated, but aunty is happy with it."

  He smiled and cut a forkful. "I'm sure it's fine." He juggled the dripping interior, and then took a careful bite. He smiled around his fork. "Tell your aunt she has a winner."

  The girl smiled for the first time. "Thanks, I'll do that!"

  He ducked and cut another piece, hiding a small smile. "Apple pie I believe, my favorite." He had the bite, and then looked up. "How did she know?" he asked curious.

  The girl smirked. "Auntie has her ways."

  He chuckled. "Well, tell her my compliments to the chef!" One of the girls giggled.

  "Come in come in," the Captain called.

  He stepped into the Captain's ready room and stood before her desk. "You wished to see me Captain?" he asked. She turned from looking out the window to him. She was clutching a mug of tea in her hands.

  "I never get over it," she said.

  He thought for a moment. "The window?" She nodded. "A display," he said and then nodded. All the exterior windows on the ship were actually LCDs. Now that they had managed to repair most of the critical systems, the list had wound down to the nonessentials, like the broken windows.

  "Have a seat," she said. She motioned to the chair beside him with her mug. She watched him over the mug as he sat. "The doctor informs me the last two of his patients have been successfully awoken from stasis and their wounds treated." He nodded as she took a sip. Faith had been awakened some time ago but her recovery was taking a bit long. She had a lot of neural damage to recover from and her rehab progress was slow.

  "He took your advice and started slow, working on the patients with the least complicated and serious injuries first." She set the mug down. “Faith is still in the regen tank for a long dunk, he has her sedated. I understand she'll have a bit more recovery in rehab before reporting for duty,” she grimaced. “He reports that they'll be working on the Doctor next...” He nodded.

  "Her organs are growing nicely. I even took a peek when I was down there for my check up," she said. She was acting more spry, moving around with much more fluid motion. Her voice was still rough, but it had a new subtle strength to it. "He even has me on an exercise regime now." She grimaced a moment, then chuckled. "I thought in my dotage I'd be stuck in this chair getting sore, now I have a new lease on life."

  He nodded. "You’re a few decades younger then I am Captain, I think you should have a long life." He waved to the ship. "You've earned it," he said. She chuckled.

 
"If Faith pulls through the next stage of rehabilitation as expected I want you to bring her up to speed on the training programs," she ordered. He nodded. "I understand you've taken an interest in Pyrax?" she asked. He felt surprise and it showed. Her eyes gleamed. "You’re not the only one who can access a computer. Being the Captain does have some privileges," she said with a small smile. They both chuckled at that.

  "Yes, to answer your question, I was taking an interest in Pyrax. We should be as close to one hundred percent without a full dockside refit, which isn't possible," the admiral said.

  She nodded. "What you've done is work wonders." She touched a control on her desk. A holo of the Pyrax system came up. He was again surprised, Sprite had it on file, but the Captain's was current.

  "I keep my important files off the network," she told him. She tapped the keyboard in front of her then sat back as the hologram played a movie. "Here's the system. I identified twelve major space colonies, there may be more. They have inner system trade with the station being the hub," she briefed him. The scene tightened on a spindle shape, then zoomed in. When the scene stabilized the station drifted in front of him. Battered, but he could make out lights along her flanks. "It has a population in the tens of thousands, but watch out for the port Admiral, he's a corrupt bastard." He felt his face freeze as she scowled off to the bulkhead. "He's as corrupt and vile as they come so watch it on station," she growled. He nodded.

  "The next system after this is Seti alpha 4, the doctor's home system," she said. He cocked his head. She nodded. "Yes, I'll give him the chance to leave, with a load of medical gear and supplies," she said to his unasked question.

  He nodded wary. "Or..." She looked up. "You could offer him a permanent posting, and offer to take on his wife and children," he suggested. She froze, and then slowly nodded.

  "That might be worth it. It would at least keep Dorah and Mindy busy," she growled. He chuckled as her face scowled but her eyes gleamed. She punched up the controls and studied the LCD facing her. "According to this, we should reach Pyrax in less than a week," she said. She shook her head amazed. "I still cannot get over the speed you got this old girl up to!" she said.

  He smiled. "It wasn't just me Captain, you have a good crew," he said.

  She nodded. "Well, we'll be in Pyrax for less than a week that's all I can tolerate of those port fees," she grimaced sourly.

  "Johnny Appleseed!" Sprite said suddenly.

  "Don't do that!" he snarled as he stilled his hand. "I need to focus here." He returned his attention to the microscopic manipulations his hand and Proteus's nanites were performing. When he finished he sat back with a groan. "Okay, now what?" he demanded. He tapped the controls.

  "Sorry Admiral, I just realized your plan," Sprite replied. He looked confused.

  "Plan?" He stood up and stretched. Hours remaining still during micro or virtual manipulation took more concentration, and therefore more energy out of him, then entire shifts on his feet.

  "Yes, this ship, a mobile manufacturing center, and now the school slash university?" Sprite responded. "Not to mention the doctor and hospital..."

  He sighed tiredly. "Your point?"

  An image was projected onto his HUD. "So, this," a Terran stood before him, wearing a pot as a helmet, and carrying a sack. "Johnny Appleseed. I indexed his file a moment ago and the connection was made."

  He shook his head. "Do you need your neural net recompiled?"

  Sprite projected herself onto his HUD. "No," she replied. She shook her head. "Routine diagnostic shows my network is working at eighty nine percent efficiency."

  He grunted. "So, who's this Appleseed?" he asked. He leaned over and pulled out a canteen. He took a sip.

  "He's a character from American Mythology. According to the myth he went across the North American Continent to spread apple seeds. Therefore his name," Sprite responded. He nodded.

  "Okay, I get it. And you see our work on this ship and connected the analogy?" he asked. After a moment he nodded.

  "Yes Admiral." She waved and a star chart appeared. "This is the circuit the Io 11 takes. Now if they make a small but significant impact on each world, and build it up over time..." He watched as the worlds changed color. "Each color shift denotes a change in civilization level. The time index is one to twenty," she explained.

  He nodded. "Good, I'm glad you’re catching on." He stood up and gathered his tools.

  "You share head space, you think you know a guy..." Sprite grumped good naturedly.

  "When were you going to let me know?" she finally demanded.

  He chuckled. "It's not my fault you’re slow sometimes," he teased. He waved to the door controls.

  "Cute," Sprite responded. "You do realize that all your eggs are in one basket right? If anything happens to this ship..."

  He nodded to the guards and pointed his box to the lift. They followed him silently. "One more reason to move on," he sighed as they entered the lift and the door closed. "But not just yet. Deck two."

  "So I hear you've be'en muckin about wit my engines?" a voice heavy with a scottish bur cut through the normal chatter in engineering.

  Jennie looked up and squealed. "FAITH!" She grabbed the woman and danced around. Some of the other techs looked up, a few came over.

  "Easy, easy, not so hard or you'll put me right back in der doctor's clutches!" Faith said.

  Jennie giggled, brushing tears from her eyes. "I'm so glad you're okay," she sniffled. A few of the other girls did too.

  "You have so much to see!" She waved her arms around.

  Faith looked around and smiled. "In good time." She nodded to the techs. Some stepped back, smiles on their faces. A few returned to work after giving her a thumbs up. The Admiral finished the diagnostic and then straightened. The cluster of girls had moved out a few meters.

  "I wish Molly could have seen this," Jennie sighed, saddened.

  Faith patted her shoulder. "I'm sure she'll look in on us from time to time lass." She nodded to another tech who came in. "I like the new look, that's the greatest compliment to Molly anyone could have done." She nodded to the coveralls. "I'll have to get another set," she said. She smiled down at her worn outfit. "Mindy saved this for me, but it's a bit tighter then I remember," she said, smiling wryly. A few girls chuckled at this.

  "I see you've made the leap to tech status," The Admiral waved a hello to Jen and Tara.

  Tara set her toolbox down and grimaced, rubbing the small of her back. "Okay, that thing's heavy! Even for me!" She grimaced at Jen's chuckle.

  "Welcome to our world."

  "So, you're on Jen's shift?" Irons asked.

  Tara smirked. "Nothing gets by you does it?" she growled.

  He smiled. "Only the obvious from time to time," he joked. He shrugged as they chuckled.

  "Yes, miss butter fingers was assigned to me, to my everlasting horror," Jen rolled her eyes in mock horror.

  Tara rounded on her. "You're never going to let me live that down. I miss one handball catch and I'm butter fingers for life?" she mock demanded.

  Jen grinned. "If the shoe fits..."

  "Look who's talking little Miss Klutzy," Trisha teased.

  Jen groaned, hands over her face. "You would bring that up."

  It was Tara's turn to grin evilly. "Oh, I didn't hear this, just how did she earn this nickname?" she asked.

  Jen rounded on Trisha as she opened her mouth. She shook her finger. Trisha's mouth closed with a clop. "Perhaps it's a story for another time and place," she smiled at Jen who wrinkled her nose.

  "Never would suit me just fine,” Jen scowled. They all laughed at that.

  "Now I know why the Captain feels so old, dealing with you pups," the Admiral smiled.

  "Pups?" The gravel was unmistakeable. "You're quite correct Admiral, putting up with these pups has put years on this old body of mine," the captain said. She waved to her seated form but her eyes twinkled. Tara came to attention. The captain looked at her with a twinkle in her eye. "Keeping you
busy I see, I'm glad you're finally doing productive work. I think Bart missed doing KP."

  Tara grimaced but then nodded. "Aye Captain, thank you."

  The Captain nodded. "Carry on." She moved away down the corridor.

  “Admiral, I still don't see the comparison between shield technology, gravity emitters and subspace plasma engines, I mean, I get the whole shield and gravity thing but the rest?” Faith shook her head as she traced her fingers along the holo. “It still trips me to actually feel something.” She shook her head as she took the virtual engine apart.

  “Okay, back oh, in the early 21st century scientists built the first magsail,” Irons said. The Admiral moved the image of the engine aside and uploaded another.

  “What's that?” Jennie asked. “It looks like a, well; I mean I'm not sure what it is!” The ancient craft rotated around on each axis.

  “Magsail ship. Actually, the very first, the Hudson I believe.” He used his hands to move the hologram to the center of the table, and then expand it.

  “What are these hoops?” Faith asked intrigued.

  “Those are near room temperature superconductors. They're the magsail,” he explained.

  She nodded tracing them. “Wires?” She looked over to him and raised an eyebrow. He chuckled.

  “Superconductors. You see, the craft induced a charge on the wires, they were then...”

  “Magnetized!” Jen said snapping her fingers. “Yeah, I get it, superconductors 101.” He nodded to her.

  “Well, for the rest of us who didn't take the class?” Faith drawled.

  Jen smiled sheepishly. “Sorry.”

  “The magnetic field did two things. First it shielded the crew from solar and cosmic radiation. In doing so it acted as a sail. The solar wind would push on it, giving it a net acceleration,” the Admiral explained.

  “Ah, okay, now I see where this is heading,” Faith nodded.