Fool's Gold (The Wandering Engineer)

by Hechtl, Chris

  "Goddess of space I hope so," he said quietly.

  "I think we better find out. Soon," Firefly said in the ensuing quiet.

  "Yeah, you just do that," Mayweather said. "I doubt the yacht will come back. My sister is loooong gone. She won’t come near this sector," she chuckled.

  "Too bad, she's going to miss out on her sister and seeing her as a naval captain," Firefly replied.

  "Flattery will get you an extra ration of amperage," Mayweather said sweetly. Irons chuckled.

  "Well, since Harris is our resident historian, I think I'll tap Dan as Intel officer until we get someone else trained." The Admiral picked up his coffee mug and took a sip. Mayweather sighed. "We need more bodies."

  "We've got them. Twenty two out of thirty six of the sleepers volunteered. All but two were military anyway. Let’s see.” He looked at the feed Sprite put up. “Four pilots, two are potential fighter jocks. I'm commissioning them as jigs for now. A Chad Dresden Zek is listed as a college student who supported himself by working in a shipyard. We'll put him in with Logan at Bu-ships as a lieutenant.” He frowned at the feed.

  “Most of the others are midshipmen or ensigns of various specialties. One is a reservist. A petty officer. I'm bumping it up a grade to chief petty officer. I'd like to go higher or mustang it to a commission but it's record is spotty. It is also in mourning for its species.”

  “It?”

  “Neuter. It is a Malekian. Three genders,” he held up three fingers. “Unfortunately there aren't any others in the system. It wants to join the fleet for a sense of family. They have a herd mentality.”

  “Oh. And a chance to find others of its kind I bet.”

  “No doubt. The Ssislli is also in that category. Unfortunately I haven't found any mention of either species in the databases I've come across,” Irons said. Sprite coughed pointedly.

  “Or should I say Sprite checked,” he smiled as he corrected himself.

  “Thank you,” she said. “It was to be expected Admiral. Malekian neuters are the risk takers of their society. Breeders were planet bound,” Sprite replied quietly. He nodded.

  “We could use the Ssislli sometime down the road. They could shorten interstellar hops by months,” Mayweather said thoughtfully.

  “And get us in and out of areas that were mined,” Irons nodded. “But that's a problem for another day.” Irons shrugged it off. “I've given everyone a single bump in grade and we're sprinkling them over the fleet to plug the holes. I bumped first lieutenant Vargess up a grade to Lieutenant Commander. He's good troop, colonial navy militia captain, reservist, and ROTC trainer. He is going to run Bu-training with Matilda as a reservist, and captain one of the tin cans when she gets out of dock."

  Mayweather looked thoughtfully at the holo Sprite helpfully projected. "Vargess huh?" Irons chuckled as he dumped his coffee cup in the waste and then returned it to the rack. "I'll see you tomorrow at the service." She waved as he left.

  "Did you hear about the captain?" He passed a pair of techs gossiping after the service on his way to the flag wardroom the next morning. He slowed as that bit registered.

  "No, what did she do now?" the other asked.

  "Grapevine says shes head over heels for this new guy, Vargess," the woman stage whispered. Irons froze mid stride.

  "You are going to fall over if you do that too many times," Sprite said, sounding amused.

  "Is this true?" Irons asked as the techs gave him a guilty look, brief salute then rushed off.

  "Is what true? Oh the rumor of Vargess and Mayweather? Looks like it. From their bio readings they were both in heat," Sprite sighed. "You humans and your natural functions. Sometimes I will never understand. Despite the medical texts I can access." The AI's avatar shook her head as Irons continued on his way.

  "Great, that's all I need. Make a note that they're never to serve together in the same command," he said. Sprite smiled. "Noted. Not like that will stop them."

  Irons shook his head. "Wasn't meant to. I want them to get together if they can. Both of them have no roots here. If they find an anchor in each other, so be it," he shrugged. Sprite nodded. "Any chance that you..."

  He froze again. "No, they are all in your command. Silly me," Sprite said, answering herself. He gave a choppy nod then continued on his way.

  The Admiral looked up over his shoulder to see Shelby coming onto the bridge. "I see you've been busy," she smiled indicating the holo projections that surrounded his couch. He chuckled.

  "Just looking over the latest Intel. Is the captain still awake?" he asked. She shrugged.

  "I'm not sure. Firefly?" she asked looking up then over to the avatar.

  "Um, the captain is... otherwise occupied," Firefly said after coming over to them. It pitched it's voice low so it could not be heard by the rest of the bridge crew.

  "Occupied?" Shelby asked. "What does that mean? Spill!" she glared at the AI.

  "The captain is... in flagrante delicto at the moment and is not to be disturbed," the AI answered delicately. Irons smothered a surprised laugh with a cough.

  "What is... oh never mind. I was just here to check in and then head over to talk with commander Vargess. I wanted to pick his brains a little..." Shelby said. Firefly shook his head.

  "You mean..." she asked. "No! No way!" Shelby started to giggle. "Well! That was quick!" She shook her head as some of the watch turned to her. She turned so they couldn't see her laughing.

  "Well. It takes all kinds I guess," she said, getting her voice under control with difficulty. Irons chuckled.

  "That it does, that it does. I'm just glad they are building new bridges," he shrugged. Shelby smiled.

  He waited until the next morning before calling them. "Commanders, my wardroom at your earliest convenience," he said then cut the channel.

  Mayweather jerked awake. Vargess lunged out of bed, falling to the deck with his legs tangled in the sheets. "Shit did we oversleep?" he snarled blearily.

  "Looks like it," Mayweather said stretching like a cat. She curled her toes and then shook the last cobwebs of sleep from her mind. She delicately rose off the bed and then padded off to the shower, naked as a jay bird. Vargess froze pulling his pants on. She looked over her shoulder to give him a coy smile. He followed.

  "You do realize 'at your earliest' from anyone wearing stars to us lesser mortal beings means yesterday right?" he asked. She stretched, muscles rippling, taking his breath away. Until last night it had been a long long time. A damn long time. He missed his late wife sorely sometimes.

  "Since I'm going to get an ass chewing, why do it smelling like a goat?" she asked tossing her towel over his slack jawed face.

  "Of course it could go a little faster...or slower if I had someone to scrub my back," she smiled at him as he pulled the towel off.

  "Oh what the hell... If we're going to get an ass chewing anyway..." he said then met her smile with one of his own as he started to pull his pants off.

  Irons felt a nearly overwhelming urge to look up as the compartment door opened. He waited until they came to parade rest in front of his desk before he set the tablet down. He took a sip of coffee then set the cup down to study them. Vargess looked a little guilty. Mayweather looked defiant. Both were damp.

  "You took your time. Caught you both in the shower?" he asked mildly. He saw the shot hit home as their eyes widened then Mayweather's narrowed.

  "Sir it is none..." He held up a hand. Vargess stepped on her foot. She frowned and turned on him.

  "If you about to say it is none of my business, you're right... and you’re wrong." She turned back to the Admiral. He gave her a long look. "Check out the regs on fraternizing with members of the same command chain, and with officers fraternizing with others. You'll find relevant quotes to both."

  He paused. "But since Commander Vargess is going to be assigned to another ship, they are a moot point for now. I've made a notation that the two of you cannot serve in the same ship or chain of command," he shrugged as he sat back
.

  "We were discrete," Vargess mumbled. Irons snorted.

  "You two only thought you were discrete. It's all over the ship." Both commanders colored at that. "This ship, any ship has ears. Firefly tried to cover for you, but it was all over the ship even before last night’s events." Vargess seemed to squirm.

  "I thought we were discrete," he mumbled again giving Mayweather an apologetic look. She was staring at the bulkhead above the Admiral's head and wouldn't look at him. Her cheeks colored though.

  "You two should know, the only way to be discrete is far, far away from the ship." Irons shook his head. "Commander, since we're almost to Fuentes, you're going to be reporting to Fuentes as soon as she docks later today. I want an in depth damage report and estimate on repairs and upgrades in my in box by twenty one hundred."

  "Yes sir," Vargess replied, thoroughly miserable.

  “That means do your homework ahead of time. You'll find the ship's class documents and blueprints in your inbox, along with her current stats and observations we've made so far. Make sure you familiarize yourself with her before we get to her.”

  "You've got your work cut out for you and a long hard day ahead of you. I'll poke in later today to let Sprite and Firefly do the electronics and software check. The AI's are working on streamlining a neural lattice. If it works they will set up a smart AI for you and the Damocles." Irons grimaced, he was still unsure it was going to work but the AI's were determined to try. "The corvettes are just too damn small," he sighed.

  "Oh, I dunno, if we pulled some of the crew we might be able to swing it," Sprite said over the speakers. Mayweather frowned. “Or we could try for a micro AI like me.”

  Irons shook his head. “No. Dumb AI, Something along the lines of Smithy. We've got enough pain in the butt know it all AI's as it is.”

  “Aye aye sir,” Sprite said, smiling. She wasn't the least bit put out by that statement. “Although a little spunk can be a good thing.”

  Irons smiled as he shook his head then shrugged. "You know the drill, to get something in, you usually have to take something out. And even then there's no guarantee it will fit without persuasion," Irons grimaced then turned his attention back to the two commanders.

  "You two go get some breakfast and get to work," he waved. Mayweather turned but Vargess came to attention. Irons nodded.

  "Oh and commanders," Mayweather turned, hand on the latch. "Congratulations. Don't ever make me take official notice... that is unless it's in the form of a marriage contract." Vargess blushed until his ears turned red. Mayweather's eyes were wide. "Dismissed," Irons said, picking up the tablet and looking at it. He waited until they left then chuckled softly.

  "Think that will be all over the ship?" Firefly asked.

  "You should know, you are the ship remember?" Sprite asked amused.

  "I'd say yes, at least I hope so. It's time we start to polish some rough edges," Irons smiled to the two as they projected themselves on his HUD.

  "We've got a core of vets from the old time, with some good people like Mayweather and Shelby to leaven things. They make a good core to work around. Once we get our feet under us, we're going to start shaking things up," Irons smiled.

  Firefly nodded. "Perhaps I will... lend a hand with the gossip. Suitably embellishing it with your reading the both of them the riot act for both being late and being indiscreet," Firefly suggested.

  "Play down the indiscreet thing. If they do it again, it would look like defying orders and make a mess. But go ahead and twist their tales a little about being late. Vargess should have known better."

  "He did, Mayweather talked him out of it," Firefly chuckled. Irons grimaced.

  "Some women can be a problem," he growled.

  “Holy crap,” a tech breathed, looking at the image. Irons grimaced.

  “Spirit of space. Now that's a Dutchman,” Vargess said shaking his head. “Usually that's a candidate for the breakers. Are you sure Admiral?”

  Irons shrugged. “We won’t know until we do a survey,” he said. From the looks of things Fuentes had been through one hell of a fight. Her port side was gone, literally shredded like tissue paper. Both port nacelles were gone.

  Debris dangled from her flanks, drifting to bang into the hull from time to time. From the looks of things most were still attached by a few strands of wiring or shreds of metal.

  Most of her shield and wedge emitters on the port side were split open like over ripe melons. She was rolling on two axis, it was a wonder that Firefly had gotten her this far under her own power. Vargess let out a low whistle. “I'd agree with you but beggars can't be choosers at this point. We'll take what we can get,” Irons said grimacing.

  “RCS pods firing. I have tractor lock. Ships are in synch,” the coxswain said, looking at his display then over to Janice.

  Mayweather nodded. “Right then. Boat bay's one and two you’re a go when ready.”

  “Aye aye ma'am,” the voice of boat bay one's officer said over the intercom. Launching now.”

  “This is boat bay two, work pod and bots are in flight,” the voice of Boat bay officer two said after a beat.

  “Let us see it.” Mayweather nodded. Firefly turned and the holographic plot changed to a view of the small craft moving deliberately toward the wreck.

  “We're really going to fix that?” Vargess asked. One of his former ROTC students nodded and looked around.

  “You'd be surprised what we can do. Have a little faith Commander,” Janice said smiling.

  “It is a bit more beat up than I was, but not by much,” Firefly said. Vargess looked over to the avatar then nodded.

  The comm. tech looked up. “Ma'am, sir, we've got good seal on the ship. The bots are doing a spiral now.”

  After an hour the impatient Vargess began to pace. Irons smiled. “I know the feeling Commander,” he murmured as the commander came close. Vargess paused then snorted.

  “Report,” he said turning. “Can we tow her?”

  “I'd prefer not to until we've done an extensive H&A study. From what we have gathered so far, it will be tricky to get a lock that wont tear the ship apart under power commander,” a tech said looking up.

  “Great,” Vargess sighed. He shook his head. “I'm going to head over there. Might as well breath down their necks instead of pacing here. Who knows, I might be able to fix something.”

  Irons chuckled. “All right, I think I may join you. Since they have life support and emergency power up.”

  “They do?” the ensign asked. “Can ah...” She looked nervous. Her partner did too.

  “Yes you can come. Get your skin suits and report to boat bay one. The launch is RTB now. We'll bump some cargo and hitch a ride.”

  “Admiral don't you think you should be...” Mayweather started to say. Irons turned.

  Sprite's avatar appeared beside him. She put her hands on her hips and gave him a long pitying look as the others turned their attention to her. “See, I knew you couldn't shuffle papers for long! Go on, go play with your spanners while we do the real work.”

  Firefly looked annoyed but Mayweather surprised everyone with a throaty chuckle. She caught Vargess's eye and nodded. “Be careful.” He nodded back.

  “Quite a piece of work Admiral,” Vargess said, looking around. The spotlights from his suit moved around, lighting their way. The shadows were sharp, everything seemed different in vacuum. The corridor was littered with debris. Ice crystals floated around bumping into things. A body was tied down to one bulkhead. Fortunately someone had covered the helmet's visor with tape.

  “I've seen worse,” Irons replied, dodging a crewman running a cable. He just managed to dodge a loose wrap of line from wrapping around his extended arm. “Secure that sailor.”

  “Aye sir,” the man said, moving the coil against the torn bulkhead. “We're trying to keep it from getting snagged though sir. We're not sure we have enough line to reach.”

  “Good point, we'll be out of your hair in a minute. Is there a tempora
ry bridge?”

  “Engineering and the bridge were breached and pretty chewed up sir. Since she's a tin can she doesn't have a back up and her CIC is blocked. Ah, I think commander Logan has set up in computer room three sir.”

  “Suits,” Vargess said nodding. “Near the core of the ship, heavily protected.”

  “Aye sirs. Ah, it's online. Part of the ship's AI is nested there. It's a closet though, tiny.”

  “Oh. Good,” Vargess said nodding. He moved off. Irons followed.

  They met up with Logan and a group of techs in computer room three a few minutes later. “She's a bit banged up but we can work with her,” Logan said nodding to the two of them as they floated in. It was indeed tight quarters. “Admiral we've got some good news, a third of her core computer was cut off from the net by battle damage and shut down. Ditto for two of her three auxiliary micro reactors. We're running line now.”

  “I'd be damn careful turning that computer loose commander,” Vargess cautioned, grabbing a handle and clipping his safety line to it. They all knew the dangers of a rampant AI that had been trapped in a closed net. Even micro seconds without input could drive an AI insane.

  “Yeah, we've ran into that problem before. Fortunately her data lines are severed so the computer can't do anything we'll regret. We think. Still if you or better yet Sprite could take a look Admiral....”

  “Yeah, that's a good idea,” Irons nodded. He jacked into a universal port and felt power flowing through him to the computer. Firewall warnings sprang up then an alert signal popped up.

  “She's trying to vampire our system. I'm allowing it for now to get something back. Ah got it,” Sprite reported.

  Irons felt a sudden virtual battle. It was brief but intense. Defender threw up an additional series of firewalls when he felt a spike heading his way.

  “Well! That was rude!” Sprite said coming back. She dusted herself off on his HUD. “Nasty customer here Admiral. She's senile and more than a little insane. It seems the AI lost its sensors and data feeds before it lost power. She's a borderline smart AI, or at least was. She's a shell of her former self.”