Arthur grinned. "I get the message. Lead the way."
Probably another problem the bots thought he could handle without their help. They did that often enough. Sometimes he really wondered who was really in charge of maintenance.
No, not true. He knew exactly who, or what, and it wasn't him.
The bot rounded a corner, then another. Then right out of the problem area.
"We're supposed to be repairing the station," Arthur called out to it.
The bot whistled back at him as it turned another corner, leading the way right into an airlock with one of the external maintenance pods docked outside.
Arthur stared at it through the portals while the bot worked on opening the airlock doors. The fact it led him to a pod and an airlock concerned him. "And you want me to do what? Are we in danger of decompression?"
The bot ignored him. With the inner airlock door open it moved on to the outer door leading into the pod.
"Hey, boss. I have this area finished. What next?" Rachel asked.
Arthur cocked his head. He could feel the repairs still going on in the area he'd just left. There was a minor problem with a ventilation shaft not too far away, but it could wait.
"There is a coolant problem near the outer East side. It might be interfering with the hull seal. Can you get to it safely?"
"I'll let you know if I can't," Rachel said, a beep indicating she'd signed off.
The bot let out a shrill whistle. It sat on the floor in the maintenance pod, its eyestalks bobbing up and down.
"I'm coming, I'm coming," Arthur muttered as he headed for the pod. "Do we need to evacuate this sector?"
The bot moved back and settled on the other side of the pilot chair, continuing its whistles and bleeps. The sounds were urgent, but he didn't sense anything panicky in them. If the sector was in danger, the bot would be acting differently. So would the station.
Which meant it wanted him to do something outside the station. Arthur settled in the pilot chair. With the airlock closed he detached the round maintenance pod from the station.
Arthur cycled the positioning thrusters to come to a halt close to the outer hull. He glanced down at the bot. "Okay, which direction?"
A twist and a movement of the eyestalks started him on the journey. The bot didn't look up at him, instead focusing all its attention out the small triangle window next to Arthur's left foot. A wiggle of the body and Arthur adjusted the pod's direction. The bot leaned forward, starting to beep.
He scanned the hull. Below and to the right was where the hull breach had occurred. The local area looked fine, with no external damage at all.
"What am I looking for?" Arthur asked. In response the bot whistled low, ending with a beep.
It was looking, too. Looking upwards.
He brought the pod further up, watching the surface for any signs of another breach. Maybe a problem with an airlock? Or a blown hatch?
A face with wide eyes staring out the portal of an airlock startled him. The bot whistled, nearly plastering itself against the triangle window.
Arthur's heart sunk. The newbie. Great.
"So, we were on a rescue mission." He shook his head, starting the process of docking. "You could have just come out and said it."
The bot ignored his flash of temper, as they usually did. The moment they were docked the bot whirled around the pilot chair to open the door.
"Calm down, I can get it."
But the bot didn't pay any attention to him. It continued working the controls at a furious pace as if it couldn't get to the other side fast enough.
With the door open, Tish Douglas collapsed into the pod. "I'm rescued! Oh, thank you. I didn't know how to contact anyone!"
The bot gave a series of encouraging long beeps, moving back to allow her room to come inside.
"You're lucky there was a maintenance pod near the repair site. Where's your wrist unit?" Arthur scanned the inside of the airlock. "And don't you have any bots with you? Why aren't you with Rachel?"
He reached down to help her up, noting her hair was no longer restrained by the colored holographic hair-bands. Long light brown hair flowed well past her shoulders, softly framing her face. The sight of it did something to him inside.
He stopped when the acrid smell of smoke reached his nose. Good grief, the woman reeked.
Tish waved towards the station. "They stayed inside. Crimson led me to the airlock once the smoke filled the area. I couldn't breathe."
"Crimson?" Arthur echoed, his mind trying to place the name with a face on his maintenance team. He helped her into one of the two jump seats behind his seat.
"My bot. She, I mean he, I mean it insisted that I follow it." Finding him staring back at her, Tish gulped. "I mean, one of the station bots. They're still working. Um, with my belt."
His mind processed the short bursts of words, working to come together with a full explanation. With a shake of his head, he turned back to the controls. When they'd undocked, he asked, "Are you okay?"
"Coughing a bit. It was pretty bad in there."
"Did you see what caused the smoke?"
"Something in the computer relay system." At his groan, she quickly added, "The bots were all over it. They even took my personal wrist computer to make repairs with. I'm sure that's when I lost my identification band, too."
"You wore a wrist computer while on duty?"
Something in his voice must have warned her, because she answered with a squeaky, "Yes."
He took a deep breath, ordering himself to calm down. He'd told her to put everything nonessential in her locker, but maybe he'd forgotten to say why? The past few weeks hadn't exactly been normal.
"For future reference, leave all personal items behind unless you are willing to lose them to the bots. They view practically everything on your person at their disposal for repair work," Arthur said.
"Does that include clothing?"
Arthur had to laugh. He'd asked the same thing when he'd signed on eight years before. "So far, no."
"Sorry to take you away from your work. How did you find me?"
"You can thank the bot."
A bot that wasn't at the triangle window. He glance down around the seat, finally spotting the back of the curved body to his far rear left. A reflection in the window told him the thing was facing Tish, watching her intently.
"Boss, problem in Sector 1157," a voice said from his wrist unit.
"Go ahead, Damien." And he hoped it wasn't another hull breach. They still didn't have the first one fixed.
"We have a burst liquid nitrogen valve down here."
Arthur frowned. "How did that happen?"
"Ricardo installed a new valve the wrong direction. On reactivation of the local life-support system twice the line pressure hit it and it couldn't hold. I've evacuated the local area. It'll take a few hours to fix and clean up."
Arthur tried hard to stop the profanity, but it still slipped out. "And the bots?"
"They tried to warn him."
Arthur cut off the connection. He bit down hard to stop a private tirade over the lack of good help. Because he wasn't alone.
He glanced down at the reflection. Tish sat up straight and tense, looking out a side window with the bot still at her feet.
His anger eased. It was amazing how quickly the station and the bots took to someone or they didn't, and they'd obviously taken to Tish if even half her story about how she came to be in the airlock were true. To judge by the bot sitting at her feet it was.
Well, one new technician out of the five who tried in the past month was a better ratio than usual.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
TISH FLINCHED AT the suppressed harsh profanity. Arthur did not sound happy at all.
Why should he? Not only did he have to leave his work to rescue her, but another new hire apparently was making as many mistakes as she was.
The pod accelerated, running parallel to the station hull. Tentatively she asked, "Are we heading back to your repair?
"
"No, I'm dropping you off at the maintenance platform."
Tish's heart sunk.
The bot bobbed its eyestalks at her while an arm carefully cleaned the soot and dirt off her knees and shoes. The small action by the bot was oddly soothing. The things could be so cute sometimes. Already she knew she would miss them with their expressive sounds and watchful eye sensors.
Maybe if she apologized for her mistake well enough she would be allowed to stay long enough to learn how to do things right. After all, she hadn't caused the smoke or damage to the computer relay system. Something went wrong there long before she arrived.
Not like Ricardo, who couldn’t even be trusted to listen to the bots. She knew better than that her very first day on the job.
The pod altered course, moving into a gaping slit running all the way into the center of the body of the station into the transit tube. A freighter slowly moved past as light danced across its skin as any remaining hyperspace radiation was neutralized.
Half-way through the pod turned again, slipping in through an open rectangle. Arthur maneuvered to park along a wide bench in-between several other pods.
As Arthur reached for the door Tish took a deep gulp of air, her eyes darting to the still-open entrance.
"You're fine. Atmospheric forcefield," Arthur said as he opened the side hatch.
Tish let out her breath. "How can you tell the places that have it?"
"Simple. The hatch wouldn't have opened."
Not as complex an answer as she expected. She slipped out of her seat and through the hatch. The bot stayed inside, but beeped a goodbye at her.
She took a deep breath. Time for the apology about her job performance.
But, Arthur spoke faster. "Go through that door. The corridor will take you past the supply rooms and directly to the maintenance platform. Head straight for the medical bay. If they release you, then I will see you at the platform tomorrow morning for your next shift. If they don't then I'll get an update and we can schedule when you start working again."
Tish stared at him, working to comprehend the words. "You mean I still have a job?"
Arthur frowned. "Of course you do. Is that a problem?"
"No, of course not!" Tish said with a big grin, almost bouncing in excitement. She stopped and composed herself. "Thank you for a second chance."
"There was no question about you staying, if you so choose." He pointed a finger at her. "Medical bay, now. No side-trips."
She suppressed the urge to salute, settling on nodding up and down.
Arthur rewarded her with a grim smile. As the hatched closed he added, "Stay out of trouble."
The pod rose up off the platform and turned to fly out the opening. Tish looked around, finding herself alone. No people and no bots in sight.
She missed her three bots. She hoped they were okay and weren't affected by the horrible smoke. Or if that smoke had erupted into fire.
She shook herself. The bots could take care of themselves. They knew the station better than she did. Plus, they'd purposely stayed behind. That must mean something.
Tish turned towards the main door at the back of the platform. A bench to the left lay littered with tools. She laughed to herself. Two benches. One at a height for humans, a lower one that must be for the bots.
Through the door lay a corridor with many doors lining the walls. The first two led into storage units while the third was locked. Leaving the doors alone, she followed the curving corridor.
At the end of the corridor sat the maintenance platform, with the locker room on the right and the break-room on the left. She moved into the break-room and washed her hands and lower arms. While she was at it, she emptied the pot of cold coffee. Someone else must have made it, as it smelled nothing like Damien's brew. She would have to see about making her own if she came through the maintenance platform during the day.
And she had another morning. A grin escaped and she allowed herself a little hop up the step to the central control of the platform. Now to find her way to the medical bay.
"I should stay and help with the remaining repairs," a loud voice echoed down one of the halls leading to the maintenance platform.
Damien emerged, sporting a grumpy expression. He ran a hand through his hair, making it spike even more. "I am the trainer, and I say you will remain here for the rest of your shift. Refill the utility belts, clean the break-room, whatever. The Boss and I will be back in a few hours."
"We need to install a new valve," Ricardo said, trailing behind him. "Give me a stupid bot and I'll do it."
Damien went straight to one of the control panels. He pointed to the break-room without looking up, "Go, now. I have work to do."
"So do I. It's my job as well," Ricardo said. Damien didn't respond. Ricardo glared daggers at his back.
He stalked towards the break-room, coming to a stop in front of Tish, his black eyes sweeping her from head to foot. "And you are?"
She bristled, disliking him even more than the day before. First he didn't pay attention to the bots, and now he didn't even recognize her face? "Tish. We met yesterday."
"Right, the other newbie. Welcome to the insanity." He glanced towards Damien. "Where is everyone? I could go with another trainer."
Damien might have his back to them, but Tish could see him tense. She quickly answered, "Busy with repairs to close a hull breach."
He sneered at her. "Like you would know. And what did you fall into? You stink."
"At least I listen to bots," Tish shot back. She bit her tongue, glancing at Damien. Not a good thing to say in front of a trainer.
Damien straightened up. "Break-room. Now."
Damien's voice didn't rise, but hard force filled it. The same kind of strength she'd heard in Arthur's voice. Ricardo rolled his eyes, taking his time to walk in the direction of the break-room.
Damien watched him go, saying nothing. Tish stood silently, wondering if he would mind her asking for his help. Probably would. If he was having to fix the mess with the valve and repair the life-support systems from yesterday's failure, then he wouldn't have much time.
"You're helping with the hull breach?" Damien asked once Ricardo disappeared.
"Yes sir, and got into a bit of a mess with a computer relay. My bots are still working on it. I couldn't breathe anymore," Tish said with a shrug.
"My bots?" Damien parroted with a half smile.
Tish gulped, realizing she'd done it again. "Sorry, sir, the station bots."
He turned back towards the console, his hands busy on the surface. "No apology necessary. It's a good sign you said it in such a manner."
His face might look hard, but the man's voice sounded nice. She took a chance and asked, "Do you know where the medical bay is? Arthur said I was to go straight there."
Damien snapped up erect, giving her his full attention. "What's wrong?"
"Smoke inhalation. That's all," she said quickly.
"Not 'that's all.' Smoke can be dangerous." A bot with a hollowed out space in its back appeared from one of the halls. Damien gestured towards her as he stepped off the platform. "Come with me. I'll drop you off on the way back."
Damien scooped a box out of the back of the bot as he passed. She heard a crash from the direction of the break-room. As Damien didn't pause to investigate, Tish ignored it and followed.
The medical bay sat directly off a main transit platform allowing them to arrive faster than she expected. Two large waiting rooms on either side of the entrance of the medical bay were filled with people. But, upon hearing she was a part of the maintenance crew, she was ushered right in.
"They'll take good care of you," Damien said, settling the box against a hip. "If you aren't given any specific orders, take the rest of the day off and report back to work tomorrow morning."
Tish nodded and watched him walk away, wondering if she would be able to find her way back. Fortunately for her, Damien's request for her to return to work the next morning mirrored Arthur's. Anot
her reinforcement she was still doing well.
Doctor Ambrose walked into her cubicle a few minutes after Tish arrived. The woman made quick work of the physical, including a scan of her lungs.
"You're fine. A little irritation, but it should be gone tomorrow," Dr. Ambrose said with a smile. "Rest tonight and tomorrow you are cleared to work. Come back if you have any breathing problems."
And that was it. Tish stood on the transit platform contemplating how to get back. A small maintenance pod stopped behind the larger car quickly filling up with passengers. Two men in expensive-looking dark suits tried to push past her to get in but a loud computer voice announced, "For maintenance personnel only."
The two men jumped back. With her face red, Tish climbed in. The men glared at her before rushing to board the larger car.
As the door slid shut, Tish looked over the controls, only there were no controls to use to drive. She licked her lips. "Main maintenance platform?"
The travel pod slid forward, moving around the larger car to take the lead into the fast-travel of the tube. The end of the short ride lifted her spirits considerably. She recognized the platform. Good, she didn't get lost getting back to home-base.
She was well, uninjured, and still had a job. Her mind turned to getting rid of the smoke stink rising up from her clothes, skin, and hair. Finding a computer terminal at the entrance into the maintenance platform she said, "I need to find my room. How do I get there?"
A beep at her feet announce the arrival of the tiny bot with the blinking light on its back.
"Don't count on lasting long." Tish's head jerked up. Ricardo stood on the other side of the raised center of the maintenance room with his arms crossed over his chest. "No one lasts long around here."
"I will. I like working here," Tish said.
"No one lasts. The station doesn't let them."
"Tell that to the regular maintenance crew," Tish said back.
He dropped his arms and started walking towards her, skirting around the raised platform. "Then explain the missing maintenance crew?"
Tish took a step backwards. "Missing?"
He shook his head at her. "You really don't know? Haven't you noticed how strange this station is? Some who go in don't come out."
Coffee Cup Dreams (A Redpoint One Romance) Page 8
