Fool's Gold (The Wandering Engineer)

by Hechtl, Chris

  "Crossing shield zone. Wedge is down, RCS primed. Firing." They felt a buck as the ship turned. "Reorientation complete. Slowing approach for dock," Sergio reported. He was totally focused on his display. "Two hundred meters and closing. Approach speed is a bit high. Adjusting now." They felt another buck. "Course correction. We're still going two meters too fast. Correcting again. Ten meters to dock." The Admiral winced as he imagined the ship's armored side grinding into the side of the station dock. There was a slight ripple then the holo blinked.

  "Docking complete. Not as good as in my heyday, but not bad for a civilian," Firefly commented. Sergio blushed.

  "You could say that again. First time he's docked anything larger then a tug or an asteroid," Gutierrez teased. Firefly's avatar swirled into being.

  "You are kidding?!" The roman centurion turned, virtual cloak billowing behind it like wings. "You're not kidding. You let a small craft pilot man the con?" he turned to the Admiral. He shrugged.

  "Seemed like a good idea at the time. There is a first time for everyone. I knew you or I could back him up if he needed it. Fortunately he did okay." He nodded to Sergio who blushed.

  “Those practice sims paid off,” the young man mumbled.

  "Very well. We're going to have to talk about this later Admiral," Firefly turned to the crew. "I have civilians attempting to board." He brought up a holo of the docks.

  "The work crews. Let them in," the Admiral waved. "Just pretend you're in a docking slip Firefly. Same protocols. We're going to do what we can to refit and repair you as fast as possible. Give them access to as much as they need... So long as they don't get access to the weapons and armory without clearance from me." He nodded to himself after a moment. “Lock the bridge down as well Firefly, I'll be back." He had noted Enrique the exec and the doctor in the crowd.

  He made his way to the docks, passing people in the corridors. Some were looking around in bewilderment. Firefly had holo sprites directing the traffic to the best of its ability. "Taking on stores was never this much of a hassle," it grumbled over the link.

  The Admiral chuckled. "Well, they're new, make a list of things to do better next time, but try to be diplomatic about it." He nodded to a passing noncom and then stepped out into the dock.

  "Admiral a moment of your time!" a tech called sounding desperate. He waved to a tech.

  "Just a minute I have a prior engagement." He walked over to Enrique and the doctor. The doctor shook her head. Enrique smile was fit to bust his cheeks.

  "I never thought you'd do it, goddess she's a beaut!" Enrique chuckled, smacking his hands together.

  "Admiral, are you sure she'll be a match?" the doctor asked.

  "Once we get things sorted out, and if we can dredge us some additional supporting units, yes," he nodded. "Doc, I'd like you to check out sickbay. Did you go over the implant tech information I got for you?" She nodded.

  "I don't have the facilities or micro skill... Wait are you saying..?" She pointed to the ship. He smiled and nodded.

  "That's right. Firefly has inducted colonial trainees. The AI can aid your surgical teams in upgrading the crew with implants once they are trained on the basic techniques. Why don't you check out the sickbay with a team while I check in here. I can meet you in an hour?" She nodded and rushed off into the ship. He chuckled.

  "Looks like you made her day as well as mine," Enrique laughed. "Can we really do implant tech? I mean, the Doc has been doing cloning and grafting parts for years but implanting cybernetics..." He shook his head.

  "I admit it is a little different and a bit of a stretch, but I think she can handle it," Irons smiled. He watched as an exoframe towed a pair of hoses into the lock. "Right now we only have fusion two up. My micro reactor and the reactor on the launch and tender are drained. She's got some major life support damage, hull damage, and most of her kinetic weapons have been expended. That is the easy list. Repairing her drive pods, rebuilding fusion one, and three, and her mam reactor are going to be headaches. Hell, the missiles and armor damage will be as well," he sighed.

  "I took a look at Firefly's industrial plant, she can make her own parts and resupply her missiles in time, but not in the time we have. How are things here?" He turned to see Logan approaching. Logan smiled. He came to a sharp parade rest and saluted, tears sparkling in the corners of his eyes. The Admiral came to attention and returned the salute.

  "Reporting for duty Admiral," Logan said softly. He was dressed in a regulation navy coverall.

  "I was just about to call you Logan. We've got our power issues licked for the foreseeable future, but the industrial replicators hit a snag," Enrique shrugged. "Why don't you tell him about it." He gave the engineer a look.

  "First things first," the Admiral held up his hand. "Attention to orders!" He intoned. Work noises around them stopped. Logan snapped back to attention.

  "Chief petty officer Horatio Logan, I Fleet Admiral John Henry Irons on this date do commission you in the Federation navy with the rank of commander." Logan looked to protest as the Admiral fished a commanders insignia out of his pocket and then clipped it to his collar. His daughter came up behind the Admiral and smiled.

  "It looks good on you daddy," ,he smiled.

  "I hope so," the Admiral turned on her. "Shelby Logan attention!" She went stiff. "Shelby Logan as the only Federation flag officer during a time of war I hereby induct you into the Federation military with the commission of Lieutenant commander." He turned and attached the pips to her collar. Her father looked shocked.

  "You wanted it, now is your chance to make a new future," the Admiral said to her softly. He stepped back and then came to attention. Horatio and Shelby followed. He saluted and they saluted back. "Shelby, you're my acting chief engineer of Firefly, get back to work. Horatio, your my acting XO of Firefly. Get this mess sorted out," he nodded to the docks.

  After a moment the docks started to become noisy with the babble of people talking and clapping. Logan nodded. "With your permission." He turned and waved. "All right you lot, get back to work!" He started to point. "Bailey get off your fat ass and get that load on board. Follow the ship's guides and for heaven’s sake don't get lost. Marge get me a report from replicator one then clear a path from it to the docks. Coordinate that with Ops." He waved a good bye to the exec. "Let's move it people!" He turned and waved to the group, urging them on. Several of the crowd clapped, then went back to work. the Admiral smiled.

  “Tote that bail, load that barge,” Sprite said chuckling.

  "Well, I can see you have this in hand. I'll just get out of here before I get drafted too," Enrique looked amused as he waved. "I'll catch you later Admiral when things calm down." He made his way through the docks. Shelby chuckled.

  "Shelby I need volunteers for Firefly's crew. One of your first orders is to find them for me. I need a list of volunteers and your recommendations." Irons studied her. She frowned.

  "Recommendations? For rank and position? Admiral I..." She was clearly overwhelmed. He held up a hand.

  “You know these people. I am just getting to know them. I trust you. Get it done. Give me a list. Firefly," he looked up, "did you get all that?" Firefly's avatar swirled into place beside him. A woman dropped her load with a startled oath. The avatar looked at her then back to the Admiral.

  "I logged the orders Admiral. I'm glad we're getting a crew," the avatar nodded to Shelby.

  “I'm honored to be a part of your new crew Firefly,” Shelby smiled.

  "Work with Shelby and her father. I want the enlisted and noncoms inducted ASAP. I'll administer the oath in a mass ceremony when we get underway," Irons cocked his head to the avatar.

  "Very well Admiral. You do realize none of the new crew have had medical, psychological, or for that matter, intelligence background checks? Some of them seem to have a very low level of basic education," the avatar cautioned.

  "Start with the base material and build upward. Any other objections?" the Admiral asked with a tight smile.

/>   "One, regulations prohibit officers of the same relation to serve together on the same ship or station Admiral. I believe you brought it up before though," Firefly finished. The Admiral nodded. "We'll work it out. I'll talk to Horatio. How are your software repairs? Has Sprite and Smithy given you access to my database?" He turned to watch a loader pass close by. He had to dodge. The loader passed right through the holo avatar.

  "Yes, and I've even added to it. It helped a bit. I sent an archive to Smithy as well. It is repairing it's systems as well," the AI reported.

  "Right. Not without protest of course," Sprite commented. He chuckled.

  "The doctor has reached sickbay. I've had to redirect a few tourists from the weapons and off limits stations. I did instruct them to volunteer if they wish to know more. Several seemed interested Admiral," Firefly reported.

  Shelby grimaced. "Give me an ID trace, I'll talk to them." She shook her head, muttering and left. The Admiral chuckled.

  "Looks like someone's going to get reamed. Good. She's learning. Now we need a few noncoms as a buffer," he nodded to the AI. The AI nodded back.

  "Admiral, it's good to see you." Irons turned and nodded to a comm. tech. "If you’re looking for volunteers for Firefly, I'm in," she smiled.

  He chuckled. "Let me clear that with your boss and the exec." He patted her shoulder and moved on.

  He had been getting a lot of happy people congratulating him or asking for positions on Firefly on his way to Ops. He sat down at the main table and waited as Enrique finished a conversation with a pair of techs. A steward set a cup of coffee down at his elbow. "Thanks," he said and picked it up.

  "Admiral, that makes over three hundred volunteers in less than an hour. Not bad," Sprite reported. "We're not going to be able to vet them all and handle everything else Admiral, I can sit in on some of the interviews for you..." Sprite said. He hid a grimace behind his cup. He didn't want to the Ops crew to see it.

  "Right. Remind Firefly, Horatio, and let Shelby know they have authority to recruit enlisted and noncoms. I want to vet the noncoms though. They can recommend officers, but final decision rests with me." He looked over to Enrique who nodded and left the techs.

  "We're getting reports from all over the system, I'm glad you got back with that tender, we need it almost as much as Firefly." Enrique looked tired and flustered. "I never thought we'd have the kind of traffic we're building up too." He shook his head.

  "I noticed we had a lot more traffic, there were several shuttles I didn't recognize coming in," Irons smiled.

  "The pirate attack is all over the system by now, as is your mission to Firefly. People are going nuts. There have been riots on three of the moon colonies. One small colony lost life support and is dying." The exec looked bleak. Irons was startled.

  "How?" he asked.

  "Riot. Someone hit something and it scrammed their reactor. By the time they got batteries online the life support computers wouldn't reboot," the nearby tech explained then shuddered. "Not a nice way to go, gasping for air in the cold and dark." She shivered again. "I'm glad you managed to prevent that here."

  Enrique saluted the admiral with his coffee mug. "Well, we had a lot of help," Irons smiled and took a sip.

  "Any chance Io would come back?" Enrique asked.

  "Hardly. If they stuck to their timetable they should be on to their next stop by now. No way they could have gotten word of the attack anyway. We're on our own," Irons shrugged. "Which reminds me, I'm getting volunteers from all over, including your staff," he smiled.

  Enrique grimaced then chuckled as he sat back. "Can't hold them down on the farm forever I guess. Running Ops compared to being in a starship? Let alone a long lost Federation warship?" he asked running his hands through his hair. "I can't blame them. If you need them, let me know." He shrugged. "Now that you've gotten Smithy straightened out we should be able to manage," he smiled. Smithy waved a fist at him.

  "I heard that," the AI said. He turned. "I'd like to thank you and your AI for rebuilding me Admiral. A few more years and I would have gone into rampancy." The AI shook his head. He was no longer the wizened elderly shell of a an AI. He was regaining his prime step by step with the station and it showed.

  "Glad to help. I know we've got a lot to go over, let's get into it, I have to get back to Firefly and then get some downtime." Irons sat back and listened as the AI and exec took turns briefing him.

  “Admiral, Commander Logan has transferred several tons of uranium and about a kilogram of semi-processed plutonium. I am making the components for the mines and missiles now but I will need an officer's ID tag to go beyond the basic steps,” Firefly reported. They had been at work transferring materials for the past two hours.

  “And by officer's ID tag you mean me since the Logan's aren't in the system,” Irons chuckled.

  “Well, Commander Logan is, but his promotion will require an implant firmware upgrade before I can accept his tags,” Firefly responded. He nodded.

  “Right. I'll be there as soon as I can.” He looked over to the Ops table then back. “Any more on the ships?” he asked softly.

  “Based on the footage and sensor logs Sprite uploaded I have confirmed one of the freighters is a Zanzibar class. They never installed anything above a class one hyperdrive in the class. It is over eight hundred years old. Most likely this one was a tramp freighter. I can't be positive without getting my own read, but I would estimate the window of arrival as six to nine weeks from the initial point of recording,” Firefly reported.

  “Right, so we've got another four to seven weeks on the outside to get things sorted out. I'd say at least three, then a four day transit to the jump point. That gives us time for some working up exercises to get some of the kinks out. Maybe even time to pick up another ship or two. Good.” He nodded. “Do you think they will stick to jumping out and coming in slow?”

  “Possible. If they were wary they would cut the jump short by a couple of hundred million kilometers and get the lay of the land before coming in. However if they are avoiding wear on their equipment or are just overconfident, then they could come in at the normal point. Pirates from our time would come in slow to judge the target. However we can't assume that they will follow that model.”

  “So in other words, they come in cautiously or fat dumb and happy,” Irons sighed running his hand through his hair. “That's a broad range of possibilities.”

  “From the general equipment status of most systems and the fact that they are hitting a target that can't run, I would lean more to the fat dumb and happy modus Admiral,” Sprite interjected. “We've seen a fair sampling of the general knowledge and equipment maintenance levels in over a dozen systems. Since the pirates are using antiquated equipment they must be pressing captured systems and possibly personnel into their service.”

  The Admiral grimaced. “You mean slaves. Great.” He grimaced at the idea of hostages. “All right, I've got a couple more things here then I'll be aboard. I'm not comfortable running off assumptions, but maybe we can split the difference.” He looked up to see Enrique approaching. “We'll try to refine this later.” He nodded to the exec.

  "I have Lieutenant Commander Logan trying to reach you Admiral," Sprite informed him as he passed a group of people on his way back to Firefly. Several waved, many smiled.

  "Open a channel. Shelby?" He waited. Shelby knew better then to contact him with anything trivial. She'd been up to her elbows in the repairs ever since they docked eight hours ago. He was curious if he'd have to get onto her about getting some down time.

  "Um, yes Admiral, I ah, was wondering if you could help me with a recruiting mission. I have someone in mind for tactical but he is being reluctant," Shelby finished in a gush. He paused.

  "Tactical?" he asked.

  "See he's a bit of a gamer and loves war games. He used to drive dad up the wall for war stories. He's even gotten into trouble for hacking the mainframe to run sims of famous battles," Shelby replied. Irons chuckled.

 
; "Confirmed Admiral. I believe you mean Mr. Dwight Harris?" Sprite asked. "Yeah, uh, who is this? Oh wait you're the AI. Right. Yeah, Harris. He's in his thirty's. Computer programming expert," Shelby finished.

  "I'd think you'd want him in cybernetics then," Irons said thoughtfully as he entered the lift.

  "No he's a natural tactician too. Dad and I played against him a few times," Shelby finished.

  "All right, I'll meet you at his quarters," Irons replied.

  "Thanks Admiral. He can be a pain, but when he sees you, he'll fall all over himself to join up," Shelby finished. Irons chuckled.

  "All right." He closed the channel and brooded for a moment.

  "I have the directions to his compartment. Rerouting the lift now," Sprite informed him. He grunted. "I've accessed his public files Admiral, he is good. Better than trying to train someone up with no experience," Sprite said. He nodded, fist under his chin.

  "I'm not comfortable with the whole hero worship thing," Irons replied then looked over to the map. The lift car had been restored to almost factory new. They were really getting a handle on the station maintenance.

  "I suggest you use it to your advantage Admiral. Use every weapon you've got. By the way, we're here. Down the corridor third left turn, then two more rights and his apartment is on the left," the AI informed him as the doors opened. He followed the directions and slowed when he heard an upraised voice.

  "Lieutenant Commander Shelby," Sprite informed him. As he got closer he recognized it. He made the final turn to see her in a navy coverall talking to someone in a doorway. From the look of things he didn't have the door open very far. He looked down to see Shelby's foot in the door.

  "Look Harris, I just want you to talk with him," she turned and caught sight of the Admiral. "Admiral!" she smiled.

  "Admiral? You mean the Port Admiral?" Harris started to retreat.

  "No, my name is Irons. Fleet Admiral John Henry Irons," Irons rumbled. The door swung open. A man in his late thirty's stood there slack jawed and eyes wide.