by Dale Sale
Zia held up a finger. “Hold on a minute.” She withdrew a data chip from her pocket. “How about it, Faber, can you make this?” She handed the chip to Faber, who palmed it into a reader.
Gus perked up. What is she up to now?
Faber studied his clipboard once again. “Hmm, that’s an unusual request. I’m really not supposed to build these, but I can modify a battle chassis like this. No Rules against that. It will be quite a challenge. Do you know about this, Captain?”
“Well, if you can’t do it.” Zia stood to leave.
Faber seemed to panic a little. “No, Wait! I do enjoy a good project and it’s been a long time since I had one this complex. How many of these you need?” he asked. “I can’t provide the software, though. That’s restricted access only, you gotta find that someplace else. It’s gonna be useless without the software, you know.”
A broad smile broke across Zia’s face, her eyes twinkled, and she winked at Gus. “One will be sufficient. We don’t need the software.”
“A request like this will delay your req. I can have your four Bs and this item in 24.1 hours plus extra if you want installation. Will that work for ya?”
Zia put on a disappointed face. “Really? Is that the best a full-service shipyard can do? We have a mission.”
Faber’s eye gleamed. “I could put a rush on it if you throw in 500 kilos of palladium.”
Zia said, “Doesn’t matter what Fleet you are in, someone is always looking for a little extra sugar in every deal. Agreed.”
Faber answered, “Hey, since I’m doing you a favor, how about one for me?”
Zia narrowed her eyes. “I figured. What’s the catch?”
Faber continued, “I need you to see this for yourself before we finish the deal. Follow the bot in the passageway. I’ll meet you there in virtual. I gotta get the boys started on this.”
Zia keyed her comm as they stepped out of the office. “Lenore, your special request is being filled.”
Lenore gasped. “Really? Auntie, you are truly a miracle.”
“Hey, we girls gotta stick together.”
Gus asked, “What are you two cooking up?”
Zia shook her head. “You’ll see.”
Zia turned to HAM and said, “Wow, that sure beats dealing with surly supply clerks in the Governance. He almost seemed happy for the work.”
HAM said, “As I always say, a busy bot is a happy bot.” And he turned to skate away with a flourish.
Zia, Gus, and HAM once again followed the silent bot to a door that slid open as Faber winked into view. “My problem’s in here.”
The only one thing in the room was a box with a curved transparent lid. Zia walked over and brushed off a thin coat of frost and gasped. There was a man inside. He was ruggedly handsome with white hair and a close-cropped beard. His eyelashes were rimmed with frost. The broad face was set on a thick bull neck. The rest of him followed the same lines; broad barrel chest, massive arms, and tree trunk legs. Zia mused to herself, Kind of like Hercules, if you squashed him to 1.5 meters tall.
Zia turned to Faber. “What is this?”
HAM said, “This is a standard Imperial Confederation cryogenic preservation unit, Stock Num..”
Zia cut the little bot off, “I can see that. Faber, how long it has this guy been frozen? Who is he?”
Faber began, “Well, this is a little embarrassing. This guy got stranded here when everyone else bugged out. I had to ice him until I could figure out how to get him a ride. That never happened.”
“Ms. Forte, this unit has been in continuous operation for 1338 years. The resident is one, Nyrkki Ratuainen. Chief Engineer and… oh my!” HAM stopped.
“Yeah, you noticed, eh?” Faber said. “The guy’s a Machinist.”
“Well, aren’t most engineers machinists of some kind?”
HAM said, “You misunderstand Ma’am, he is a Machinist with a capital M.”
“What does that mean.”
Faber answered, “The guy’s a cyborg.”
“No!” Gus said suddenly. “Absolutely not! I feel sorry for the little guy and all, but how am I gonna sleep at night?”
“Hear me out before you make up your mind, Cap,” Faber said, spreading his hands, practically pleading. “This guy isn’t one of those Frankenstein’s monsters with saw blade arms and glitchy rot prone nerve ports. He’s got a genuine implanted Neural Lace Network. He can jack directly into a ship’s fabricators, really handy on a little ship like yours that runs short- staffed.”
“Captain, Mr. Ratuainen would be a most valuable addition to the crew. Corvus desperately needs a Chief Engineer,” said HAM.
“Yeah, plus, he’s as old that that ship of yours already knows the systems,” Faber said.
“How do I know he’s not freezer burned after all this time?” Gus asked.
Faber said, “I’ll throw in some extra goodies for ya. If he is burned bad, I agree to take him back.”
Zia thought, He is pretty easy on the eyes. “Come on Skipper, HAM is right. We do need an Engineering Officer. I will make sure we get a good deal on the extras.”
“Okay, it’s on your head though, Auntie,” said Gus.
Faber said, “Captain, could your 2F remain with me to speed along your items?”
Gus shrugged, “Sure, if it gets us out of here faster.”
Zia said, “Well, handsome, nap time is over, time to get to work.”
HAM leaned in. “I don’t think he can hear you Ma’am.”
Gus chuckled. “HAM, you crack me up. All right, Faber, we’ll take him off your hands. Let’s see what else we can find around here we can use. It doesn’t look like our new friend is in a hurry to leave.”
HAM turned to look back to the frozen man and shrugged. “I will never understand humor.”
Lenore and a miniature avatar of Corvus winked into view in Faber’s office. HAM was already skating intricate patterns across the floor. The folders were still piled on his desk and smoke curled from his cigar in the ash tray. He was bent over a drafting table staring down at some curling blueprints.
Lenore said, “Thank you for sparing some time to meet with us Sergeant.”
“I’m assuming that battle chassis mod is for you,” he said.
“Yes, I do appreciate your help with that. Operating only in virtual is proving to be rather limiting to my effectiveness.”
“Let’s cut the shit, lady! Your cover story is as thin as tissue and smells worse than week old fish,” Faber began. “Secret mission for HQ? Got the ship on a salvage claim? What’s the real story?”
HAM said, “Sergeant, you scanned me earlier and confirmed my data. The ship is technically a salvage claim that was rebuilt from the wreck of the Deliver.”
Lenore said, “As the last representatives of the Imperium we need to discover why the gate is closed. To do that we need your help.”
Corvus added, “Need teeth! You make?”
Faber looked up and nodded. “All right fella, you are going to be the most badass tugboat ever built.”
“No want bad. Want good!”
“Don’t worry, when I’m done you are gonna be able to fight like the big dogs.”
Corvus rumbled his reply, “Fly Fast, Call Thunder”
Faber looked at Lenore. “I think you just found your ship’s motto.”
Lenore said, “Hmm, I do believe that will work. What do you think HAM?”
Ham skated around the group, “Oh, the Skipper will be pleased. I have noticed that several members of the crew are marked with the ancient hammer of Thor, although they have never discussed it.”
“It was probably a shock to youse guys finding out that the Gateway closed,” said Faber.
“When the Imperial Confederation recalled their forces from the system, I was still repairing the ship,” HAM said. “I did not receive the recall message. After I had completed repairs to the communications systems I tried to call the Gate but never received a response.”
Lenore asked
, “Sergeant, what can you tell us about the recall and why the Gate is closed?”
“Thirteen hundred standard years ago Ix Trojan Shipyard was a pretty hopping place. The Iz system had only begun settlement. Only a couple of the inner planets had any automated factories. Ix space was pretty much empty except for a few scattered outposts and various pirates hiding from the Imperium. The entire double system was still dependent on technology shipments from Earth.”
HAM said, “Yes, unfortunately Deliver encountered some of those pirates.”
“Do you know anything about the actual recall?” Lenore asked. “I can’t imagine why the Imperium would abandon the people they settled here.”
Faber took a long pull from his cigar and watched the smoke swirl away. “They tried to limit my access to info, but I was able to crack into some of their comms. They kept mentioning an existential threat to the Imperial Confederation. I could tell they were purposely being vague. Maybe they knew I was listening and didn’t like it. Toward the end, all the humans were acting really nervous and weird around the bots.”
“Will this frozen man know anything?”
Faber shook his head. “Na, he wasn’t in a command position. Seemed to be a good guy, though. I really didn’t think I would have to keep him on ice for so long. My final orders were to keep the shipyard operational and wait for relief. I was actually hoping you were bringing news that the Imperium was returning.”
“It looks like the four of us may be the last remnants of the Imperial Confederation. We haven’t thoroughly explored the twin systems, but this Governance doesn’t appear to be a worthy successor,” HAM said.
“I’ve been monitoring human activity since the Gate shut down,” Faber said. “They call that the Isolation. This triggered the Great Collapse when their civilization generally fell apart. The so-called Governance is only recently climbing back to a level to begin exerting control away from their home planet of Nakon. A lot of signs of self-serving petty corruption starting so they might be headed for another fall.”
Lenore mused, “In that case we should tread carefully friends. Tipping the balance of power is risky.”
“Only Want Fly. Politics Bad.”
HAM nodded. “Yes, Corvus, I agree. We don’t want to be caught between a hammer and an anvil.”
Chapter Nineteen
Robot tugs had brought the ship inside the cavernous space dock, irking Corvus, who was still pouting. “No Need Tugs, I Tug!”
Gus had to promise that the upgrades would be worth it, and that seemed to soothe the CI.
“Better Be Good! Embarrass Corvus.”
Gus leaned over a rail and watched an army of Faber’s bots bringing supplies aboard. Zia and HAM rolled a large case past him. “Is that the big secret?” he asked.
“Can’t stop to chat, Skipper,” Zia said. “Lots of stores coming in that need attention.”
“Yeah, right, I know you two are up to something!” Gus called out as the door slid shut behind them.
The pair shifted the case into the machine shop and Zia shut the door. “Thanks for keeping this a secret, HAM.”
HAM said, “My pleasure Ms. Forte, however I am not sure of the purpose. Won’t the Captain discover what we are up to soon enough?”
Zia laughed. “It’s a surprise, silly little bot.” She opened the case and looked down.
HAM leaned over to inspect the contents. “And will the Captain like this surprise?”
“Oh, I think he will.”
Gus entered the sick bay to check on their newest addition just as the man on the bed opened his eyes.
Nyrkki Ratuainen slowly blinked and winced. “How much did I have to drink last night?” His voice was a rumble.
“Good Morning,” Lenore answered him. “I would recommend you take things slowly. I am having a difficult time stabilizing your vitals.”
Nyrkki leaned back. “Where am I, who are you?”
“I am Lenore. Do you remember who you are?”
He answered, “Yes, Nyrkki Ratuainen, Machinist Level 9. I work at the Trojan Shipyard.”
“Is that all? Do you remember why you were in cryo?”
Nyrkki looked puzzled. “That’s pretty fuzzy about going into cryo. I remember missing the last ship to leave the shipyard and Faber telling me he would need to freeze me until another ride showed up.”
Lenore said, “It appears we are your new ride. However, you have been asleep for considerably longer than Sergeant Faber anticipated.”
“How long was I out?”
Gus said, “Over thirteen hundred years.”
Nyrkki digested the news silently. “Considerably longer is a bit of an understatement.”
Lenore saw they needed to change the subject and bent down to look in the man’s silver eyes. “Your eye color is quite unique.”
Nyrkki replied, “Not where I come from.”
“So where are you from?” Gus asked. “We had to use an electric hoist to get you on that Auto-Doc bed. Never seen a little guy weigh two hundred kilos before.”
“I’ll show you little when I toss your ass across the room,” Nyrkki said, bristling. He struggled to sit up and fell back on the bed.
Zia floated in, followed by HAM on his skates. “Oh good, you decided to wake up. Lenore has been quite anxious.”
Nyrkki said, “Think I’ll live. I met Lenore, so who are the rest of you?”
Zia moved to shake his hand. “Zia Forte, Suppo of the fine ship, Corvus.”
Zia’s small hand disappeared into his meaty fist. She was warm and delicate, but her grip was sure and firm. She guessed from his smile that women didn’t usually shake his hand.
“Nice to see someone here who has manners,” Nyrkki said.
Gus stepped forward. “Guster Johansson, Skipper of this ship. So, is it true what Lenore tells me, that you are made of tungsten and stronger than a fork truck?”
Nyrkki answered, “Yeah, that’s why I’m so heavy. My bones and some other bits are tungsten compounds. I used to be able to lift a small transport, although I feel pretty weak right now. Comes in handy when you have a flat. I’m from a high gravity world called Wolfram. Grow em strong and short there.”
Nyrkki noticed Zia’s satchel. “Umm, your bag is moving.”
Ophelia’s head popped out; she looked right at Nyrkki and hissed.
A startled Nyrkki moved back. “What is that?”
Zia laughed. “Ophelia is a who, not a what,” she said, taking the animal out. Ophelia curled her tail around Zia’s arm to keep from floating away. “She’s an opossum, she may not be a beauty queen, but she is a very good judge of character.”
Nyrkki reached out a massive arm, “Hmm, come here sweetheart, you just gave me a start. Let’s be friends.”
Ophelia wrapped her tail around Nyrkki’s rough finger before letting go of Zia. She crawled up his arm and perched on his head. Ophelia began picking through his silver hair and chittering. The big man gently removed the wriggling possum and cuddled her.
“It seems you make friends quickly, Mr. Ratauinen.” Lenore looked at Zia with a knowing smile.
Zia tried to change the subject. “Our 2F maintenance bot, HAM, said you can talk to the ship through a neural port?”
HAM waved merrily.
Nyrkki paused, stroking Ophelia. “My neural lace can establish a wireless connection with equipment. I can also physically port in for faster data transfer if I need to. It lets me talk to fabrication machines directly. They become sort of like an extra pair of hands and eyes.”
Gus shook his head. “Sounds creepy.”
Nyrkki shrugged. “Takes a while getting used to seeing yourself standing across the room through another set of eyes. I’m still a little shaky but…”
He closed his eyes. The Auto Doc’s arms descended from the ceiling. One of the arms snaked over to the sink, snatched up a drink bulb and filled it from the tap.
“Impressive.”
Nyrkki laughed. “You ain't seen nothing yet.”
The arm flipped the bulb across the room. A second arm caught it and delivered it to his hand.
HAM clapped. Zia snorted. “Show off!”
Gus laughed. “Well, I’m here to offer you a billet. If you want it. Corvus needs an Engineering Officer and Faber told me you are perfect for the job.”
Nyrkki said, “I’ll say yes for now. It’s not like I’ve got anywhere else to go.”
“Excellent!” Zia said enthusiastically.
“Lenore, would you bring our guest up to date? I’m sure he has a lot of questions.”
The crew gathered in the wardroom and introduced themselves to their newest member.
Gus had called the meeting to find out how the upgrades were coming, “Good Morning everyone, I’d like to formally welcome Mr. Ratuainen aboard as our Engineering Officer. EO, if you could start us off.”
Nyrkki cleared his throat. “Engineering is ready to answer all bells, this little bot has done an excellent job.” He slapped HAM on the back and the bot almost fell over. “With your permission Skipper, I would like to install some camouflage.”
Gus was confused. “I thought the carbonado hull was camouflage?”
Nyrkki laughed. “That is the problem, it is TOO good. We need to look like a commercial tug most of the time to avoid attracting attention. We will look like a normal ship except when we want to disappear, poof!”
Gus nodded. “I like it!”
Zia began, “I’ve received almost everything on our wish list from the shipyard. Still stowing and completing inventory. I’m afraid Faber only had long-term stores and MREs, but I can make it taste better than the stuff HAM’s processor has been spitting out.” Ophelia curled around Zia’s arm and hissed at HAM.
HAM sniffed at the insult. “I will have you know, that unit performs exactly as designed.”
Nan next: “Zia, thanks for not forgetting about this poor old grunt. We got a dozen sets of IC battle armor. Some power exoskeletons and just about every shooting, exploding, and defensive doodad under the two suns. If I had a dropship, I could stage my own invasion. I asked Faber for one, but he said something about that violating the Rules of Behavior.”
