Fool's Gold (The Wandering Engineer)

by Hechtl, Chris

  "I don't want to know," he got up.

  "So you'll do it?" the chairwoman asked.

  "Yeah, I'll get you his schedule and make the call. I'll try to keep the others in check when it all goes down," he said not looking at them.

  "Go on then," the chairwoman nodded as he hastily left. She turned her chair sitting back.

  "Is he going to be a problem?" one of the others asked.

  "Possibly. He's ambitious, but he's had some indoctrination of honor and courage. Fortunately for us it hasn't embedded to deeply yet," another responded picking up his drink.

  "You've got to admit, the Admiral has had his uses. I never thought I'd actually drink a Terran bourbon," he smiled taking a sip then saluting.

  "Any engineer with access to a replicator can do that now. He's outstayed his welcome," the chairwoman said.

  "Getting rid of him is not going to be easy," another said. "Are you sure it will work?" he asked.

  "If I know one thing, the combination should provide all the leverage we need. As long as we apply it properly," she said picking her own glass up.

  "And the commander?" another asked. "I don't like loose ends," he said.

  The chairwoman laughed. "Unlike the Admiral his implants are not as formidable. I think we can arrange an accident. After all, space is a dangerous place." She smiled grimly. Several of her followers chuckled with her.

  "What do you have?" one girl asked.

  "Fluid dynamics and magnetic field dynamics. I can see the magnetics class but why fluid dynamics? I want to be a fusion tech!" the woman said confused. Irons slowed as he rounded the corner to the college quad. He paused.

  "The fluid dynamics class is critical in fusion generators. You have to balance the bottle at all times," he said nodding to the girls. They clutched at their padds looking wide eyed.

  "Tttthanks uh Admiral sir," the first girl said. He chuckled as he passed them.

  "No problem."

  "Did you see that! He's so handsome!" one whispered. Irons felt his ears heat. "Nice butt too!" the other whispered. He turned to see her going weak kneed. He caught her looking and she blushed and started giggling furiously. She turned embarrassed. he went around the corner and bumped into another student.

  "Hey watch it!" The kid looked up. "What do you... oh sorry Admiral." Irons blushed and shrugged.

  "My fault son. Carry on," he said gruffly then moved off.

  "Well, that was fun," Sprite said.

  "Sprite?" he asked tightly.

  "Shutting up now."

  "Right."

  Chapter 26

  The Admiral turned a corner and stopped at the hatch. "Admiral, multiple life signs detected within," Defender reported. He nodded in acknowledgment. Replicators were all in service now, and each of them were running around the clock. Of course they would be have people manning them. That was to be expected after five months with them up and running. At leas the hoped so. He recognized one signature though as his hand palmed the latch control.

  "Angie?" he asked opening the door. "Oh sorry, I didn't know you had a class." He looked around as Angie smiled to him. The class was made up of about twenty students, ranging from early teenager to thirty year olds, it was a diverse group, there were several elves and even a neochimp.

  "Class you all know Admiral Irons," she nodded politely to him. He turned and waved a polite hello. Several of the students stiffened, ROTC students most likely.

  "Relax folks; as you were, I was just dropping in." He cocked an eye at Angie. She shrugged.

  "Hands on goes hand in hand with the class room Admiral. At least for engineering," she explained. He chuckled.

  "Where did you get that one from?" he asked.

  She dimpled. "Logan. I mean Commander Logan. Stole it from him." He chuckled. "Since you are here you can field a few questions some of the engineering students have been asking." She nodded to a couple. "All right Jason," she nodded. He turned to the Admiral and smiled nervously.

  "Ah, Admiral we were wondering how your implants worked. How you make repairs I mean."

  Irons chuckled. "I have several different methods. The easiest is plug and play of course." He hefted his right arm and triggered its demo morph. Several people ohhed and ahed. Some had seen it before. "As you can see I have a plasma torch, micro tools, saws, and other tools."

  "Ah, we heard you had nanites too?" someone in the back asked. He turned. The chimp grimaced a smile at him. He bowed politely.

  "That I do. They maintain my body and also can be used in making repairs to things including other people if needed." He flexed his hand as it returned to normal.

  "Is that all you have?" someone else asked.

  "No, but most of my other implants are still classified." He smiled at some of the disappointed looks.

  "Can we get them too?" a child asked. Another punched her in the arm. She turned on him glowering.

  "No. You can get basic civilian grade implants when they become available, or you can enlist and get military grade." He nodded to the ROTC students who straightened. "My cybernetics are so... extensive due to injuries I suffered in the line of duty," he shrugged.

  "Couldn't you have had cloned replacements?" the same girl asked. He smiled.

  "Yes I could have. I was asked to volunteer for this. I did," he said. "It's worked out well for me so far." He turned, facing the class. "There are some systems that allowed people to extensively modify their bodies. Some replaced everything but the brain and brain stem." Several people shuddered at this. Irons nodded.

  "Right, even today that practice is frowned upon. Most people who receive implants prefer them to look like natural limbs."

  "You have a Wi-Fi link right?" a voice asked. He turned to an elf. "And a universal translator?" she smiled.

  "Why yes Lieutenant Purple Blossom I do," he chuckled. "It allows me and my AIs to access the system and to speak with other species." He bowed to her. She nodded regally back then blinked. Her tail twitched.

  "I believe you were talking about replicators?" he turned to Angie who nodded. "Does anyone know what happens if you try to make another replicator? Or a military parts?" she asked. He looked around the class.

  A hand raised tentatively. It was a blond male ROTC student. "Yes?" he asked.

  "It doesn't work?" he asked.

  "Yes you're right. If anyone other than authorized people try, it will lock the replicator down." He waved to the replicator. "This is industrial replicator 4. It was locked down when someone tried to make a bomb." Several people gasped at that. He nodded.

  "Right. For the safety of the public certain things are on a restricted access list. Does anyone know what else is on the list?" he looked at them.

  Lieutenant Purple Blossom raised her three fingered hand. He nodded to her. "Nanites. Also anything that could make a hyper drive, nuclear warhead, antimatter, replicator, AI core, or gravity emitter." Irons nodded.

  "Right. Some things on the list can be delegated to others like grav emitters or ship parts. But others require a manual jack in." Irons tapped the controls. A part had just finished replicating. "Your part is done," he said. Angie opened the door and pulled it out.

  "How can we make replicators then?" someone in the back asked.

  "Like this," Irons smiled as he turned and jacked in to the universal port. In a moment the replicator list and a food replicator began to form.

  "How are you... wait, you’re on the list? The access list?" Purple Blossom asked. Irons nodded.

  "Everyone in the military has basic access to some military hardware. But officers receive higher access key codes, and when you get to flag rank, you get almost unlimited access." The glow faded as the replicator finished. he un-jacked and turned. "I can make almost everything on the restricted list."

  "What can't you make?" Purple Blossom asked.

  "Medical nanites. Since I am an engineering Admiral I didn't have a need to know. But medical officers do, so they can," he waved. "People like the doctor can make
medical nanites if they are needed. That is why we have all our regen tanks up now, and why we've started offering rejuv and systematic repair to everyone in the system."

  Several people gasped at that. Others nodded. "It's going to make the population much healthier, and they will live longer, more productive lives." He bowed as the class began to clap. Angie joined in. He felt his cheeks blush.

  Sergio grimaced as he came in and flopped down in a chair. He was still drenched in sweat. He used a towel to wipe at the excess on his forehead.

  “So, how'd it go?” a voice asked. He looked up to see Captain Mayweather in the entry hatch. He started to snap to his feet but she waved him back down.

  “Okay ma'am once we got over the fright and got our brains functioning again.” He watched as she went over to the cafe nook and poured herself a cup of coffee. She brandished the pot but he shook his head no.

  “Yeah, I heard about that. Xeno's huh?” Mayweather smiled.

  “Whoever thought of tossing them at us like that has a nasty streak,” Sergio sighed, leaning back.

  “That would be the Admiral if I don't miss my guess,” she smiled and took a sip of coffee. “Typical of him.”

  “He...”

  “He has his reasons Lieutenant,” Mayweather said leaning back against the edge of the counter. “What did you learn from the experience?”

  “That you really can't die of fright no matter what they throw at you? Or that the catheter system works well?” Sergio said chuckling.

  “That is if you don't let the fright freeze you up and make you a target,” Mayweather retorted.

  “Yeah,” Sergio grimaced. “The squids are big and bad, nasty fighters, but everything has a weakness.” He tried to hide his own annoyance. He'd thought he'd known every fighter they would encounter.

  “And you found their Achilles heel?”

  “Not me, one of the jigs,” he admitted reluctantly. “She remembered an ROTC sim she did after watching news footage and put the pieces together. Then someone else, Wyvern, got smart and did some research.”

  “On the fly? I'm impressed,” Mayweather nodded. She took another sip of coffee.

  Sergio shrugged. “It's all in the databases and even in our neural nets if we just bother to look,” he tapped his head and grimaced.

  “And the solution was?”

  “Teamwork. See the squids have this massive black hole in front pulling them forward. They have arms lined with emitters to both generate and contain the thing.” He used his fingers to show what he meant. Mayweather was amused, most of the pilots had a tendency to talk with their hands when they talked about piloting or got excited about something or other.

  “The black hole makes it impossible to attack them forward, so they like to keep it toward the enemy and charge with it. The fighters move in a straight line, great for acceleration, but they suck at maneuvering. We also found that they use an AI for a pilot. Well, an AI and an organic computer. Whatever the heck that is.” Mayweather felt a brief surge of amusement.

  “Ah,” she nodded. “So the solution is...”

  “Teamwork like I said,” Sergio said again and then grimaced. “It took a bit of trial and error, but we figured out that if we have one person playing wild weasel, that's ah, a fighter sent out as a decoy...”

  “I know the term Lieutenant,” Mayweather said nodding.

  “Yes Ma'am. As I was saying, we have one person out as a decoy. The others lay doggo and when the squid passes they power up and pounce from other vectors. The squids can fire off bore, that's really how they work anyway, nothing can get through that black hole. But if you attack at the right angle or from more than one vector at the same time then you can get through. Their shields are weak.”

  “And this did the job? Interesting,” she nodded.

  “Yes ma'am. I did a little reading since I got waxed in the first sim and had to wait until it finished. Those fighters are unusual for the Xeno's. I thought they would have something more... subtle.” He shrugged at the idea.

  “You mean they prefer stealth, cunning, and a quick attack from an unexpected direction over a frontal assault?”

  “Yes ma'am. It, I mean it doesn't seem in their nature to use this. It's ah. Crude from what I understand..”

  “Well, it stems from their nature. At least that's what I picked up from my research anyway,” Mayweather shrugged. “According to the Intel of the time, the Xeno's would infiltrate other societies with clones and computer viruses, copy what they can, then hit the weakest points they can exploit. They prefer to keep their forces under wraps for as long as possible. From what Intel gathers most of their tech is grafted onto their fleet from things they gleaned from other races.”

  “Oh.”

  “The main line fleets weren't seen unless and until there was no other option. They aren't innovators. Not as much as other races. I'm not sure if that is because they have become spoiled about getting something for nothing when they conquer other races, or if it was there in their make up as a blind spot the entire time. From what I gathered from the tactical database their soldiers do not adapt well when a situation changes rapidly. Cut off from the chain of command will also mess them up. Keep that in mind.”

  “Lieutenant have you ever seen a Xeno fighter take down a capital ship?” Firefly asked. Both of the officers looked up in surprise.

  “I didn't know they could. With a capital missile I'd think...” Mayweather said.

  “No, just with the drive,” Firefly replied. A holo projection appeared over the table as the light dimmed. A swarm of Xeno fighters bore in on a task force. The point of view was skewed, it was from the one of the ships.

  “This is real footage?” Sergio asked.

  “Yes. I was there,” Firefly replied softly.

  They watched soberly as the fighters bore in. They crashed with suicidal intensity into the barrage of fire, soaking it up with their black hole drives. Then they slammed into the first ship, a battle cruiser. It's shield buckled, then failed. Her shield and drive pods exploded like over ripe melons all over her hull.

  The fighter bored on, right through the hull, it tore through it like it was tissue paper, then out the other side. A second fighter followed it. But it hit something vital and the ship exploded, tearing itself and the escaping fighter apart.

  “Damn,” Mayweather said, shaken.

  The viewpoint shifted to focus on a second group bearing in on the camera. They felt a thrill of fear. Suddenly the camera jolted and then seemed to move with explosive force.

  “I discovered that a well timed OMS burst could get me out of the way in time. Too close and the edge of the singularity disrupts my wedge and shields though. A larger ship doesn't have this ability, they are too large, and to slow on the helm.”

  “I can imagine,” Mayweather nodded. They watched the final bit as Firefly's viewpoint stabilized then weapons fire resumed, this time taking the Xeno fighters from behind, popping them one by one.

  “YES!” Sergio crowed smiling.

  “It worked that time. But I was lucky. I was one of the few survivors in the fleet. The Xeno's aren't innovators, we discovered their main battle line prefers this tactic in a lot of our initial engagements. It's effective against larger capital ships.”

  “Well, trading a fighter for a dreadnaught is economical for them.”

  “True.”

  “I wonder who they got the idea from?” Mayweather asked.

  “Oh. No idea,” Sergio's brows knit. “So back to what you were saying before; this fighter design isn't original?”

  “Nope. They copied it from someone else. Probably were impressed with it and decided it would make a great sledge hammer. They forgot that fighters are better used as rapiers.”

  “True,” Sergio nodded. “You said cutting off the chain of command... Did you have something specific in mind?”

  “What do you think?” Mayweather asked smiling slightly. “How would you do that with fighters?”

  “Ah,
cut off their communications and sensors with a jammer. Either a dropped sat or a dedicated craft.”

  “Bingo.”

  “So the purpose of the exercise?” Firefly asked from a speaker overhead. Sergio and the captain looked up.

  “I keep forgetting we're being watched,” Sergio muttered. “Um.. don't do a frontal assault?” he said speaking up.

  “And?” Mayweather asked. “How did you end up killing them again?”

  Sergio's face cleared as he sat back. “Teamwork.”

  “Which was probably the real purpose of the exercise I bet,” Mayweather shook her head. “Pilots are an independent lot, you rely on your gut and the craft's computer to do things. Fighters are hot shot throttle jockey weenies with an itchy trigger finger and a suicidal immortality streak for an ego. You've also got a competitive streak an AU wide.”

  Sergio looked to protest but the captain leveled a cool gaze his way. He shrugged.

  “Normally fighters fight in pairs or in groups. I've seen enough of your fur balls, trying to make head or tail of it can give even super AI like Firefly a headache.”

  “Order from chaos is the nature of battlefield analysis captain.”

  “Shut up,” Mayweather growled playfully her eyes twinkling and her lips curving once more into a smile. “My point is, sometimes you need to get over yourself and put your ego on hold. How many traps have you done?”

  “Ah...”

  “Simulated I mean of course.”

  “Ah.. None,” Sergio shrugged. “We usually jump into a space flight, run the combat sim, then do a debrief,” he explained. Suddenly that sounded like a lame excuse.

  “Hmmm... No, that's not good. It's not realistic,” Mayweather shook her head.

  “Not realistic?” Sergio asked looking at her.

  “Remember what you've done as a tug pilot? The boredom? The finicky work of docking and undocking? Communicating and coordinating your efforts with others?”

  “Ah... yeah...”

  “So? You think every time you strap a fighter on it's going to be an instant free for all?” Mayweather shook her head and chuckled at his sheepish look. “Grow up kid, it's not all fun and games.”