Plague Planet (The Wandering Engineer)

by Hechtl, Chris

  “Frontier justice at its finest admiral,” Sprite informed him as several people passed him in their haste to join the mob. “And in any group of this size boardom will have most of the population flocking to join it.”

  “Oh,” he stepped aside as a woman brushed him with the back of her hand. She curtsied slightly and kept going on her way. He watched her go. “Dare I ask what he did?” he asked.

  “He allegedly raped a prostitute.”

  “Okay,” Irons said, eyes hard as he studied the scene. There was a preacher nearby giving last rights. Another man was near, grimly watching over the proceedings. Irons recognized him as a judge from the black robe. He noted the black hat and shiny star of a law enforcement officer in the crowd around the accused. Another group further down the street were setting up a rope over a limb and open flatbed under it. After a long moment Irons turned away.

  “Aren't you going to do something?” Sprite demanded as he walked.

  “Nope,” he drawled, still walking. He didn't bother looking back.

  “Admiral, it's a miscarriage of justice! They aren't upset about the woman they are upset about him not paying her pimp! A dead beat. A dead, dead beat in a minute!”

  “Not my problem,” he said firmly, walking on.

  “As an officer...”

  He paused, noting no one was around. “The only people who are authorized to intervene are right there going along with it. There's a law enforcement officer right there as well as the judge. The guy in the black robe.”

  “You have got to be kidding me!” Sprite replied in exasperation.

  “Nope, thats how it's done here Sprite. I'm sure he did something else. They're pretty pissed,” Irons said as the group got to the tree.

  “You could save him....”

  “Save a man accused of raping a woman? Aren't you the one who reminded me about tilting at windmills and trying to keep a clean public appearance?” he asked.

  “Touché'” Sprite replied with a sigh.

  “I know it sucks, but it's the best justice around apparently. Even if it is at the end of a rope,” he said, glancing over his shoulder to see the man standing on the flatbed with the noose around his neck.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  The next morning Irons explored more of the planet using a map and a database Sprite had built up. Ring City in the south seemed like a tourist trap. Sprite had teased him about the various events and rides there. The flume and power station sounded interesting, but he was definitely not interested in the hot air balloons.

  Some of the tropical resort communities west of the city seemed nice, most were into logging, growing a few tropical plants for export, sugarcane, and other forms of farming, nice, but not his area at all. He'd prefer to stay north of the equator and near the industrial centers. That was where the action was as far as he was concerned.

  He was still having trouble with getting the fuel, and getting this sorted out in Hazard was a clear case of hurry up and wait. He'd tried tracking down the fuel trucks but he had yet to pin them down, and their office was a shell company, an empty office in the center of Hazard. It was very annoying. It was even more annoying that he'd wasted all morning trying to chase down the damn owners of the company. On Sprite's advice he'd even gone to the city hall records building to try to get to the owners, only to be turned away with ever so exquisite courtesy. He'd never heard someone say so politely to get lost in his life, at least not until now.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  "Mister Admiral!" He recognized the voice and turned with a smile. Dorah shot at him like a rocket. He reared back as he caught her in his arms with a laugh. Her hands tightened behind his neck. He managed to turn his cheek just in time to get a kiss on it instead of its intended landing zone. "Mister Admiral we missed you!" Dorah gushed, eyes dancing as she broke the kiss.

  Dorah was a character, that was really the only way to describe her. A perpetual teen that most likely would never grow up. She took whatever life threw at her and kept smiling. She was hyper, wearing on even the most sensitive soul who didn't understand her. She seemed to lighten up a room though, and her bubbling intensity seemed to cheer even the most hardy soul over time. Her enthusiasm could be contagious or wearing depending on a person's proximity and length of exposure.

  He hadn't really worked much with Dorah, she preferred small craft like her chosen partner Hibiki. She also doubled as the ship's day care worker and cat care giver. Apparently the captain had either insisted she get out of the ship to get some downtime... or most likely she wouldn't let Hibiki out of her sight.

  Dorah grinned, the freckles across the bridge of her nose darkening. She had long red hair, a lean body and was entirely too lithe and graceful for his current lackanuecky piece of mind.

  "I missed you too Dorah, but right now I know how Hibiki feels." He chuckled as he looked over to see the young man raise a hand and wiggle his fingers in hello. He waved back with one hand, still supporting the girl with the other. Hibiki rolled his eyes and mouthed “better you than me.” Irons couldn't help snorting over that.

  Dorah leaned back to get a good look. "Cookie was worried about you eating right!" She accused as she stared at him.

  The admiral chuckled. "Don't worry, I'm just fine." She smiled her left foot came down to the ground. Gently he set her down on her right foot as well.

  "This is so wonderful!" She gushed. "Did you hear about Mister Doctor? He got off at his home world and the captain set him up with a huge hospital!" She smiled. "It was so wonderful! He was so happy to see his wife and daughter too! I had no idea!" She slowly released him.

  He smiled as Jen came up. "Hogging him all to yourself I see. Dorah I think you're making poor Hibiki jealous!" Jen teased. Dorah turned a guilty look to Hibiki who vigorously denied it with a shaking head and palm up hands.

  "Oh, I can give him one too!" She rushed to him. The Admiral snorted as Hibiki backed away. Apparently some things hadn't changed much. He nodded politely to Jen who's eyes were brimming with mischief as she watched as Dorah quickly cornered and hugged Hibiki. It was good seeing her here.

  "Awe geez, why'd you have to go and say a thing like that?" Hibiki whined. His slanted eyes opened as round as they could. He caught her midair. "I didn't go anywhere Dorah. Honest, been right here... um.." she silenced his protests with a kiss. The admiral's eyebrow rose in surprise as the lad responded to the kiss. Okay, so maybe some things had changed a little. The Admiral chuckled as he shook Jen's hand. Tara came up behind her and he nodded to her.

  Jen had been an invaluable asset on the Io 11, working in engineering as an assistant engineer and one of his many helpers. She was good, a bit of a tom boy but that was fine with him. She was still tall, not quite as tall as him but close.

  Tara was looking good, she had apparently changed her hair to black hair with blue tips and it didn't quite fit her complexion but she didn't seem to mind. She grinned, eyes dancing a little when she got closer.

  They were looking good, all of them. Well dressed in Io 11 ship uniforms. The girls had scarves around their necks or in their hair but they now looked like professional spacers.

  "Old home week I see," he said with a small smile. He shook Tara's hand as well. She pulled him into a bear hug. He grunted in surprise and then chuckled. "Easy girl, not all of me is as flexible as flesh and blood." She laughed and set him down. "So I see that Io11 is in orbit," he said unnecessarily.

  "Nothin gets past you does it?" the security chief growled good naturedly from behind him.

  He turned and smiled. "Good to see you too chief," he said eying her. She nodded again slightly. She still had her short silver hair and pixie look, but she also had the hard agate eyes and no nonsense look about her that was her trademark. She'd traded her sexy silver unitard in for a ships coverall with silver shoulder boards but had kept her trademark blaster on her hip. Her uniform was cut well, and unzipped to mid line to her breasts to show a silver tank top underneath. From the look of the native wo
men around them they were properly scandalizing them. Which was just fine with the admiral, he like the other spacers could care less what they thought of their appearance.

  She cocked her eyebrow, clearly studying him. "Don't tell me you need another ride?" she asked coolly.

  He chuckled immediately when Jen froze. Slowly he shook his head. "No, I have my own ship now, Phoenix. You pinged her in orbit," he explained. He'd just gotten the word a few minutes ago. He should have listened to Sprite's earlier report but he'd been distracted.

  Jen nodded. "That's right we did, that's yours?" she asked. Her eyes widened when he nodded.

  "It's just a yacht that had been converted into a courier vessel during the war, nothing fancy. Class one hyper drive, really it's all ion engine and hyper drive," he explained with a diffident shrug.

  Jen grinned as she eyed him. "Somehow I think you found a way to spice her up."

  He chuckled in appreciation as the shot went home and then nodded. "Maybe,” he admitted with a hint of a smile.

  Tara's smile turned into a grin. "No maybe about it," she teased, eyes glimmering with mischief. She shook her head. "So what brings you here?" she asked, clearly amused.

  He chuckled once more. "Just in the neighborhood, I was checking things out."

  She nodded. "Is that your platform in orbit of the gas giant?" Jen asked.

  He nodded. One of the first thing's he had done upon entering the system was to put the platform up in the atmosphere of the largest Jovian in the system. The little platform had its own micro fusion reactor for a power supply. It's first order of business was to suck in gases and fill it's balloons as its' force emitters arrested its' fall. After the balloons were inflated it had them flushed with hydrogen and then shut the force emitters off. The balloons kept the platform balanced in the atmosphere, and the energy saved from not using the force emitters was then put into the refinery process.

  It was a small platform though, with limited storage so he'd set it up to focus on Helium 3 primarily, with a bit of Deuterium to supply the reactor. But was taking it's sweet time pulling in Deuterium and Helium 3. He had wanted to be out of here sooner but the gas giant was a bit too diffuse for his time-line. Which was one of the reasons he was here on the planet, looking for additional fuel... and picking up other supplies and getting some face time in while he had the chance.

  He wasn't sure what was going on with the Helium 3. Normally it was deposited on the various planets in the system from solar wind. Here though it seemed to have been stripped off... or the local sun kept most of it for itself. The study would make for a fascinating astronomy paper in the future though, he thought wryly.

  "Yeah, Its' pretty efficient, remind me to give you the blueprints. With it I can refuel my ship." He waved to another set of techs from the Io. They gawked for a moment, then came over smiling.

  "Move along people." He turned to see a smartly dressed constable nearby. The short gruff man studied the gaggle of women before settling his gaze on Irons.

  Irons nodded to him. After what he'd witnessed earlier in the day he didn't want or need official attention. The last thing he needed was a lynch mob dogging his heels here. "Sorry officer, unexpected reunion." He waved the girls and Hibiki to the nearest bar. "What's say we go for a drink, my treat?" he asked. The girls laughed.

  Jen smiled and tucked her arm through his. Tara took the other side. “You're on. Just so you know, Jen here has a hollow leg.”

  He looked at Jen. She shrugged and grinned a bit more.

  “Well, we'll see about that.”

  ...*...*...*...*...

  He was surprised to see them there, the odds of their crossing paths again... He shook his head slightly in bemusement. He shouldn't have been surprised, it was a small sector and the ships in it tended to follow circular paths. Apparently Io 11 was using its' newly repaired hyperdrive to their maximum benefit, covering far more space between systems and hitting just about every system worth going to. That was good, that was what he had hoped.

  Io 11 had been a tramp freighter on its last legs when he'd been picked up. It had been a case of mutual interest to repair the salvaged fleet tender. That and he had no interest in bumbling around in the lowest hyperbands of hyperspace spending nearly a year in between jumps wondering what would break next.

  It had worked out, though there had been some tough spots along the way. He hadn't intended to bond with the crew, they had just been a means to an end, but overtime they'd gotten under his skin and some of his love of education and engineering had rubbed off on them.

  It had been a strange combination though, one of only four men on an otherwise all human female crew. Something for a tacky holo sitcom maybe, or a boring holonovel but not something he'd expected to ever happen in real life, let alone his life. Okay, maybe when he was an adolescent and in puberty he admitted with a wry smile.

  He'd trained the crew and together they had rebuilt the ship from stem to stern, nearly replacing everything in the process. Or it just seemed that way, he thought wryly. It had been an interesting challenge, and a good way for him to get over his time shock. Work, especially hard work tended to do that for him.

  He'd surprised himself by making friends among the crew. First in the temporary acting chief engineer Molly, and later Jennie, Shandra, Tara, and the other girls. His errant wandering thoughts returned to one though... Molly...

  Now there was a bitter, painful thought. Molly had deserved better. Just as they were getting the ship sorted out and Faith was about to be awakened she'd been snatched from them, killed in a cruel twist of fate on Centennial by savage desperate people. Killed trying to protect her fellow crew women from rape. It was a stupid senseless death, one that...

  He shook himself mentally. There was no need to go further down that well-worn road. He'd been down that road too many times already. He knew from his training he'd lose people, he also knew it would haunt him. Molly's death haunted him more because she had been his first friend in this time period. He waffled a sigh, smiling a little at Dorah's concerned look.

  Still, the crew looked good he thought, nodding to her. He was curious if they'd gotten over their recruiting methods. The captain chose only fallen women, or children, all human females. She rarely ever took a human male in. Partly due to her and her core crew's experience in their home system of New Dublin most likely. Being thought of as second class... hell, treated as little more than a slave, an animal, sometimes brood mare with no rights by the patriarchal males in the system had to be infuriating to a woman with her mindset. How she had not been beaten down by that system was a testimony to her character and stubborn will to not only live but thrive. Of course part of that was spite too he recognized.

  The captain... yes she was a piece of work. Her and her partner. The purser had never let on that the two of them had been lovers, but he knew. Hopefully Io had kept them on their toes, kept them growing after he'd left.

  Io had left him in Pyrax, where he had other adventures. He sized them up. From the look of them they had a few adventures of their own. They were more... mature. Or at least some of them were, he thought. Some things however never changed, he thought, hiding a slight smile at the antics behind him.

  He glanced over to Dorah and Hibiki. The almond eyed girl was dragging the young man along but he wasn't nearly as reluctant as he was pretending to be. At least that was how Irons read it. The boy was playing hard to get, that was for sure, but it wasn't all ingrained, some of it was definitely a way of play fighting with Dorah.

  She in turned seemed slightly more mature, but only slightly. She finally settled into hooking her arm through Hibiki's and snuggling up to him. That got him moving faster, if only to get away from her and into the bar.

  As they entered the bar he found out Io was picking through the belt and had dropped them off as sort of an advanced party. Hibiki implied it was to get the girls out of the captain's hair. They were leaving in a couple hours and no he wasn't drinking.

 
The admiral nodded politely to the barkeep who waved to a semi secluded booth off in the corner. It was dark but the leather seats were relatively clean and intact. He nodded and took a seat with them, making sure the ladies sat first.

  The Chief of course sat with her back to the corner, eying the room with a professional air. He saw her hand twitch, she of course was making sure no one would come up behind her and she had a clear view... and clear access to her weapon when or if needed. He nodded in approval when their eyes briefly met. Her eyes cut away. His infrared caught a slight flush in her cheeks.

  He and the Chief hadn't been on good terms for most of his trip on Io. In fact she'd done her level best to get rid of him for a while, usually out an airlock without benefit of a suit. Eventually though she'd seen him as an asset, and then to his amusement she and her Captain grandmother hadn't let him leave for a while! He'd been amused and annoyed at the sudden paradigm shift in her thinking.

  When they had been forced to work together, first in various projects related to ship's security but later in crises like the hostage rescue on Centennial they had grown to a grudging respect of one another.

  The barmaid came over and took their order, jotting it down with chalk on a piece of slate before leaving. Irons snorted when Dorah caught Hibiki looking and kicked his shin under the tile covered table.

  “Some things never change. How are things?”

  “Well...” she paused as the barmaid came with their order. The admiral paid her and then nodded as she placed a bowl of stale pretzels in the center of the table. He smiled politely and thanked the woman but she was already gone.

  They exchanged stories. They told him about the doctor being set up on Seti Alpha 4 and reuniting with his family. The captain had given a grudgingly heartfelt apology for abducting him. The doctor's response had been dry but he'd appreciated the hospital they had set him up with, along with the all the school books and equipment for his wife the teacher. “We really didn't need two full doctors on-board, though it was nice. Now he's passing on everything he learned to his own people and others who come by. And using all the supplies and stuff we gave them to help make sure a lot more people live longer,” Dorah said earnestly.