New Dawn (Wandering Engineer)

by Hechtl, Chris

  He grimaced. "Okay, so that's out, any other ideas?" He watched as Sprite brought up a list, and then automatically began to weed and discard items. "Wait hold it, the plasma weapons, why not that?" he asked.

  She brought up the indicated one. "To do that would alert the crew to our presence and take away their last weapon."

  He winced. He didn't like it but they didn't have a choice. "No choice, I already discarded trying to splice something or scavenge the shuttles."

  He turned and looked around the bay as Sprite detached his hand and returned it to normal. Junk littered the sides and corners. Shuttles and cargo littered the deck. Some cargo was hanging from nets. "What about the cargo?" he asked, looking around.

  "Scanning. No cargo manifest in the mainframe. Accessing. Found it. It was on an external device. Primitive." He waited. "No, cargo is mostly trade goods, foods, primitive tools, raw metals and material, some seeds, chemicals, and beads."

  "Civilization has fallen that far?" he asked as he made his way to the hatch.

  "Civilization stopped six hundred and ninety two years ago Admiral," she answered him quietly. He stopped with a jerk, and then sighed. "Damn....Damn." He shook his head.

  "Anyone at the hatch?" he asked as they stepped up to it.

  "Yes Admiral, one guard." They felt the ship buck and shudder. "That was a hit, shields are down. Most likely the stern," Sprite answered him before the question was asked. He nodded as she highlighted a maintenance tube hatch. He turned to it.

  He exited near the weapons, glad there was no guard. "Admiral, have you thought about how you’re going to detach it if they are firing weapons? Or move it to the hyperdrive?"

  He sighed. "Good points. Can you access a wireless node?"

  "Yes Admiral, I'm in. I left a back door and was monitoring things." Sprite answered.

  "All right, order a crew member to get a grav cart and work crew here. Then bypass the fire controls and drop this thing into local fire control only. Lock the bridge control out." He went to work, opening the hatch, checking the chamber within, and then moving quickly to the panel Sprite indicated. Proteus rebooted fast, and began reconfiguring his arm. "Work crew on their way. Are you sure about this?" He felt the ship shudder. "Yeah, too late anyway." Proteus reported the cable was serviceable, but near max impedance.

  He pulled the coupler off and removed the cover plate to the thick cable below. "Work crew is at the outer hatch." He turned and exited the hatch. He took the women, dressed in gaudy revealing costumes in one glance. They looked shocked, one had her jaw open and was backing up, a blond in a coverall and tank top was shaking.

  “Molly what do we do?” One whispered.

  "What are you waiting for an engraved invite? Get in here and help!" he used command voice to compel them. Startled they obeyed.

  He snapped out orders to pull the secondary bypass, drain the cable, and then pull it out. "All right, we're going to get this thing down to engineering and replace the broken hyperdrive cable." Sprite highlighted the leader, the blond with the top of her coverall knotted around her waist. "Molly right?" he asked. She nodded, adjusting her glasses. "All right, call down to engineering, have them pull the old cable carefully. We need to get this one installed fast."

  She nodded, coming to a decision. "You heard the man, get to work!" She waved to one of the women to maneuver the gravity cart under the cable.

  He pulled the shunt leads, and then motioned them to move. The ship shuddered; he reached out and steadied the brunette. "You okay miss?" he asked. She nodded, then looked up and got a wary look. "Molly, get this to engineering, I am going to go ahead and get things moving faster. We're near the hyper threshold. The Captain will need the hyperdrive up ASAP." Molly nodded, not even looking up.

  He sprinted down the passage. He ducked hanging wiring, wincing as one wire caught his shoulder and sparked. "Sprite, Proteus, get into the net, see how they're handling damage control and help them where ever possible," he ordered. He felt the AI's shift as data began to flow to his wireless access nodes.

  “That plasma conduit is about to burst. Thermal is going through the roof.” Proteus alerted him as he passed a crew member working on it frantically.

  “Lock it down, bypass it and drain it fast!” he gave the order, and then turned to view the exposed conduit. The girl didn't even look up. His vision shifted to thermal viewing, he noted the skyrocketing temperatures and went into action. He twisted and pulled the girl down instinctively covering her. She squeaked, and then screamed as the seal ruptured and plasma streamed out. Defender slapped his shields up just in time. His shields took the brunt of the damage. Proteus locked the plasma conduit down through the computer.

  He looked up when the high pitched squeal and crackles slowed. Plasma had burned the upper bulkhead, melting into it and tearing wiring and conduit. Drops had pitted and burned the floor around them.

  “Thanks. Can I get up now?” The girl asked. He smiled as he got up and helped her to her feet with a hand.

  “We better get back to work.” He turned and started off at a jog to main engineering, leaving her gaping behind him.

  "Guards at the entrance," Defender alerted him.

  "No time for subtlety get that door open for me." He sprinted around the corner, and before the startled guards could react, through the still opening doors and into main engineering. "Help them with the cable!" he called back over his shoulder. Main engineering was chaos, not the controlled chaos of a well run ship, but utter hysteria. He took a look around as one guard stepped up behind him.

  The other was trying to call on her comm, but Defender was scrambling it. He reached out and steadied a woman as she stumbled around a piece of debris. "Easy there miss." She didn't even look up as she staggered on.

  "Help the work crew get that cable through the hatch," he called over his shoulder again.

  "She is about to strike you!" Defender warned. Instinctively he twisted to the side as Defender brought his shields up. The butt of the gun clipped his shoulder. His right arm grabbed the gun and twisted, natural limbs no match for his bionic one. She gasped as he snatched the gun out of her hands.

  "BELAY THAT! WE DON"T HAVE TIME FOR THIS CRAP!" he bellowed at full augmented volume. Main engineering sounds abruptly stopped. He turned to glare at the compartment. "As you were, get that cable off the hyperdrive and out of the way NOW!" The women looked at him in shock then bolted, command voice working wonders. A sense of order quickly began to get into the chaos. He turned to the stunned guard.

  "I gave you an order miss. Get that cable in here NOW!" He tossed her the rifle, and then moved to the hyperdrive. Molly and her work crew were near the hatch. He approached the work crew and looked the cable over. The copper was obvious; they hadn't even taken the precaution of jacketing it with an insulator. It was severely scorched and the ends molten and burned. Bits of what looked like flesh were on one end.

  "Do you have it off yet?" he asked the work party.

  "One end, but the other end is stuck.”

  "Get clear then." He yanked the detached end, and tossed it to the side. A woman dodged it. He took a look at the other end as Molly approached. "Molly, get one end attached there. He pointed to the free port. "We'll get this end off while you’re working on that." She nodded and motioned her crew to get the cable off and the end up. They grunted as they muscled the heavy cable up. "Sprite, get into the computer, cut power to that shunt so they don't get fried," he ordered quietly. Sprite signaled okay with an audio trill. He nodded.

  "All right, that leaves the rest of us to get this end off." He looked it over. Proteus enhanced his vision, pulling up the junction and highlighting it. The copper had melted and fussed to the outside of the coupler jacket. He sighed. "Okay, stand back." He motioned them back as he sent mental commands to reconfigure his arm to a plasma torch. Proteus downgraded his vision.

  He heard the gasp behind him, but ignored it as he went to work. Sparks flew, and then the copper melted and flowed.
"Get a set of gloves; get ready to pull on the other end when I tell you." He heard scrambling; he hoped they were doing it. After a few moments he had the entire end ready. "All right pull." He stepped back as the cable moved, then slowly moved back. He stepped in to torch a few areas that were still clinging. Copper dripped down and pooled, glowing on the deck. "Mind that spill, don't step in it." He checked the linkage as the cable moved out of the way.

  "Burned, great," he sighed. "Nothing is ever easy," he grumbled as he turned. "You." A woman looked up.

  "Me?" She squeaked.

  "Yes, you. Get me a new coupling jack. Grab a work crew and scavenge it fast." She nodded and rushed off. He cut the old one off, and then checked over the hyperdrive while he waited.

  It was in pretty poor condition, but serviceable. There were scorch marks here and there; some looked like from a firefight. He turned to Molly's work crew. They were having a hard time with the jacket connections. He stepped around the cable and lent a hand. A moment of work had the cable end attached. The crew was tentative. "I cut power to this junction." He guessed at their slow actions.

  The ship shuddered. He looked up and motioned to three of the women. “Go back to your duties. Let the bridge know we should have the hyperdrive up in ten minutes.” They nodded and left at a jog.

  "Molly, Shield status?" She looked up surprised. "Stern shields are intermittent. Bow shields are twenty percent," she said immediately.

  He nodded. "Can you take a work crew to check the shields? Be careful of the heat sinks," he ordered. She grimaced and then nodded.

  The woman he had sent to get the coupler arrived with another woman, walking backward, carrying the bundle. He grabbed it before it slipped out of their arms and hefted it. The women stepped back, staring at him. He shrugged. "Thank you, you can return to your duties." The woman mutely stared at him. He wasn't paying attention; he had already turned and started splicing in the jack coupling.

  He made fast work of the connections with the welder, and then hefted the end of the cable. "Okay, here goes." He plugged it in. "Proteus, give me a boot test of the drive, and cable integrity." A wait prompt appeared in his field of vision, blinked a moment, then the hyperdrive stats came up. Not good, the best they could get was the low alpha bands, but enough to get out of here.” He stepped away from the drive just as a security team arrived. He noticed Molly's sudden wary look.

  He nodded to her. "Call the bridge; let them know the hyperdrive is back on line." He had had to raise his voice over the chaos for her to hear him. When he pointed to the drive the compartment went quiet for a split second then broke into cheers. He snorted, they weren't out of the woods just yet. "As you were people, we still have work to do. Navigation and shields, be ready for hyperdrive slipstream on command." He turned to Molly. "What next?" Sprite highlighted the navigational sensors, then the shields.

  "We have a water jacket around the shield heat sinks, but they're saturated," she said. He nodded, wincing at the idea of using water as a coolant.

  They felt a jerk, then the engines hum slowed and the thrum of the hyperdrive began to quicken in pace. "Guess we're in hyper," she said. He nodded. She smiled a relieved smile.

  "I'm going to do a quick overview then settle in to help with the most critical problems. Can you get a work part to police the old cable and debris?" he asked her. She looked confused for a moment.

  "Police?" she indicated the guards.

  "No, remove the old cable for recycling," he explained quickly.

  She nodded. "What about them?" She indicated the confused guards.

  "What about them? Think I should put them to work?" he asked as he tapped into the computer. One of the guards started to protest, but he ignored it. Molly muttered a good luck and left.

  Navigation was pretty primitive, the sensors were nearly myopic. Much like the lady who had just left, reduced to primitive contrivances. "Damn, where to start?" he asked himself. He pulled off an access panel and climbed part of the way in. Cables dangled around him, some shredded. Sprite and Proteus began highlighting cables to fix. A few minutes of patching and splicing and he had the lines repaired. Nanites were great for splicing, melding broken materials quickly and seamlessly.

  He felt someone tap his foot, and then kick it. When he didn't respond he felt hands grab his leg and pull, hard. Defender pulled his shields up just as a boot stomped down, only softening the blow to his chest. "Get off, I have work to do!" He knew it was no use though. He let them cuff him and then heave him to his feet. The compartment was quiet.

  Molly started to protest angry, but he waved it off with a quick curt shake of his head. The angry guards turned to look at her, and he knew he was dealing with amateurs. He sighed. "All right ladies, you now have my undivided attention. Care to tell me why?" he asked, growling.

  They glared. "Captain wants you."

  He stilled. "Okay, lead the way." He motioned with his captive hands, careful not to break the crude restraints. Two led, two followed, escorting him around debris filled and dimly lit corridors to the bridge. He grimaced at the damage, ducking broken wiring, spars, and wincing at open panels and jury rigged repairs. Grime was everywhere, the walls, floor, one guard slipped in something, nearly falling. He stepped around her and followed the others politely.

  Sprite indicated they were at the Captain's ready room. "None of them have augmentation,” Defender reported. He cocked his head as one of the women pushed the doorbell. His enhanced hearing could hear the weak scratchy trill through the hatch.

  "Come!" A strong voice called.

  Within was an older woman seated behind a desk and a glaring heavily armed Amazon. The Amazon was wearing peace officer body armor, cut down to fit her. She had a silver jumpsuit on under the armor, and blue hair. Over the chest armor she wore a peace officer shoulder harness with what looked like a stunner on the right side, and a knife on the left. On her hip was another holster in a western style belt. Defender highlighted it then did a burst scan. A karat appeared over the holster, Defender identified it as a neural disruptor, a nasty weapon. Above her right eye was a civilian grade HUD and vision enhancer. It looked like chrome jewelry.

  The woman behind the desk looked old, her wrinkled face full of character. She wore a black robe that covered her body, complete with a loose hood shaped like a shawl. Her sleeves had gold arm bands similar to those of the navy. Her eyes were sparkling blue, live with intelligence and fire. Obviously the Captain.

  He snapped too, ignoring the sudden alertness of his guards. She netted her hands together in front of her, elbows on the desk. A light was flickering in the corner nook behind him cables swayed back and forth. Her face twitched and she winced. "Get someone to fix that before my headache gets any worse," she ordered. One of the guards looked to the Amazon, then pulled out a comm and turned away to give a soft command.

  "So we have you to thank for our escape, eh?" The Captain gave him a long look. He cocked his head.

  The Amazon seemed to protest, and then settled into a smoldering glare. "He cut the plasma gun power coupling. Now we have NO weapons." The Captain cocked an eyebrow.

  He shrugged. "Although it is nice to have weapons, the drive was more important." She gave a small nod, eyes gleaming. The Amazon gave a slow hiss. "Now that we're in hyper the crew are free to repair the damage." The Captain nodded again. The hatch chime sounded, she winced and nodded. A guard leaned over and slapped the controls. The doors opened and a teenager came in. She looked startled, but recovered when one of the guards pointed to the light and cables.

  "So, what do we do with you mister stow away?" the captain asked, clearly amused. He gave her a long look.

  "I was in the life pod." She nodded.

  "I checked the pod, it was empty." The Amazon interrupted.

  He gave her a look. "Of course, I got out of it." The Captain snorted.

  "You fixed the hyperdrive right?" The Captain asked. He nodded.

  He had his senses heightened, he noted the guards were
relaxed, but the Amazon was tense. The teenage tech was about to get electrocuted. "Excuse me for a moment." He flicked his wrists, snapping the cuffs and turned, moving with blinding speed to the tech and slapping her hands away from the live power line.

  "Touch that and you would have gotten killed young lady." The guards were slow to react, but they did after a stunned second, one turned and hit his back with the butt of her gun. Defender's shields absorbed the blow, and he turned. "Sorry Captain, but the young lady was in danger of injury." One of the guards tried to tackle him; he twisted his torso tossing her off. Another tangled around his legs. A loud slap stopped them all. The Captain was standing, one hand flat on the desk. Her anger was obvious. Everyone froze. "Leave him alone," she said commandingly. The Amazon seemed to protest, but the glare of the Captain made her sullenly put away her weapon. Sheepishly the others let go.

  He shook off their hands then helped the tech to her feet. "With your permission Captain may I help this young lady for a moment?" He turned to her. She quirked an eyebrow, then gave a slow nod. He turned to the girl. She still had her hand in his. He smiled. "All right young lady, let’s try this again."

  With quick words he sketched out the different cables in the trunk, she excitedly found the right line and he repaired it. She watched in awe as his arm morphed, fingers turning into a splicer. He spliced the line for her, and then did a few other broken ones. The light came on dim, and then brightened to normal radiance. He nodded. "Okay, remember what I taught you." He pointed out the power line. "Think you can fix some of the lights in the corridors?" he asked.

  She nodded and smiled. “Thanks, my name is Jordan,” she said softly.

  He smiled. “Pleased to meet you Jordan, my name is Admiral Irons.” He had been listening to the argument between the Captain and security Chief and turned to the Captain.

  "With your permission Ma'am?" he asked.