The Captain looked up. "What?" she was confused.
He indicated the tech. "With your permission Ma'am Miss Jordan would like to repair the corridor lighting." The Captain stared for a moment then gave a dismissing wave and nod.
The teen piled up her tools as he replaced the cover plate and smiled. "Good luck," she whispered.
He pulled off the cuffs and handed them to a startled guard then went back to standing at attention. The Captain waved the Chief off and looked up at him with a smile. "So, you’re a navy engineer?" she asked.
He nodded. "Yes Ma'am," that was a safe reply.
"Twelve years ago I salvaged this ship." She smiled coquettishly He nodded. "I have been using her as a free trader. Any problem with that?" she asked, but her tone said he better not have one.
"No Ma'am, the law of salvage applies," Irons replied.
She nodded. "We were going to trade you and your pod to the Pyrax stationers so they would heal our Chief engineer."
The Captain gave a hard look, and then turned to look out the window. "These are hard times right now son, we have fallen, so far. So far," she said softly.
He nodded. "Captain, in exchange for passage to a port of my choice, I will repair your systems the best I can, and if possible help repair your sickbay." She gave him a long look, and then gave a triumphant glance to the security Chief.
"And why would you do that?" she asked lips quirking in a smile.
"I can't help wanting to fix things Ma'am," he shrugged. "Besides, it beats sitting in a brig."
She chuckled. "So it does, so it does. All right young man, you may get to work."
He nodded as he came to attention. "Thank you Ma'am." He did an about face and left the compartment. The Chief hastily indicated two of the guards to follow. He could hear the Captain say that they could still trade him down the road, but this might be a lucky break. He snorted.
"Where do you think you’re going?" one of the guards, a tall muscular black haired woman asked. He stepped around a piece of debris.
"Replicator 1. I might be able to get it on line," he answered.
She snorted. "Fat chance, we've tried for 12 years."
He nodded. "Well, let’s just see here shall we?" He turned a corner and dodged a crew woman.
"If you don't mind my asking, what's with the outfits?" He indicated the startled woman. He gave the scantily clad woman a polite nod as they passed.
"What do you mean?" He turned to the guard on his left.
"Well, you’re not exactly wearing clothes that fit the job description." He indicated her black leotard V neck dress with open back and short boots.
She blushed. "Captain traded for them years ago. They were in a storage warehouse," the other woman snarled. "They were for a whore house. So what? Clothes are clothes."
He shrugged. "Just making conversation."
He stepped over a knee knocker and ducked under a dangling cable. "Careful, that one's live," he called out as Sprite indicated the right side guard was about to grab it. She snatched her hand back.
"What's with your suit?" she asked.
"This is a skin suit, or battle suit," he answered.
"Why is it gray?" The blond asked.
"Oh, sorry." He sent Defender a command to return the suit to neutral white, but to leave his rank off. "I was in combat conditions prior to my stasis and left it on." He felt the hood mold itself into the neck ring.
"Replicator 1." He paused at a door and hit the open patch. The door groaned and then stopped. He sighed and grabbed with both hands. With an outward "Sah!" He pulled the door apart. He stepped over the knee knocker and into the compartment. It was huge, but the replicator filled most of it. On the other side of the replicator was a large exterior hatch, designed to allow the crew to replicate large components and take them out of the ship and apply them to other vessels.
He turned to the command station, reconfiguring his hand for access. "What are you doing?"
He didn't even look to the woman. "Accessing the replicator’s computer."
"I told you it's useless. You can't..." She stopped eyes wide as she watched his right ring finger morph as he inserted it into the universal port.
"Accessing," he said. Her mouth closed with a clop. "It appears someone locked the replicator into a diagnostic subroutine after it ran out of raw material." He turned to her.
"Raw material?" she asked dumbly. He nodded. "I thought they just made stuff out of thin air?"
He shook his head. "No, replicators just rearrange the materials into whatever they are told to produce one atom at a time. They work better and faster with pure materials on a molecular level though."
He turned to face the machine. "It looks like someone didn't know that, thought something was wrong, ran a diagnostic, and it froze." Proteus rebooted the software. Items began to list across his view. "And then left it on, so it was sucking power for years," he said wrinkling his nose. The left woman, a blond gasped. He snorted. "Okay, let’s see, software fixed." He pulled up the holographic interface. The lights in the compartment dimmed and the holo sprang to life in the air in front of him.
"Molly?" he sent a mental command for Sprite to open a channel.
A scratchy voice answered. "Yes?"
"Hello again Molly, this is Admiral Irons, we met earlier. I have permission from the Captain to make repairs. I have replicator 1 online; if you have some raw material stockpiled we can get to work replicating parts." She didn't answer for a moment. "Molly, you still there?" he asked, wondering if the signal was broken.
"Yes, that's wonderful! I'll bring you a list!" she said excitedly and then cut the link. He sighed.
"Since we're waiting, what say we bring in some of that debris and use it as a test bed?" He indicated the hatch. The blond nodded. He went out and grabbed the first piece he found. He gathered up several more, noting that the guards were not helping. He sighed mentally. He brought them to the replicators open hopper, feeding them one at a time into the gel. "The suspension gel is for the nanites," he answered the blond since she had a questioning look. She nodded.
A large chunk was taking it's time so he plugged himself back in. "Lets see here, let’s start with parts for the deflector shields." He scrolled through the menus until he found some simple common parts and then indicated them. He hit enter. The tank began to swirl.
"That's it?" the brunette asked.
"No, it'll take a little while. While we wait..." He went to the door and pulled open the access panel. Crud had gunked up the gears and shorted the electric motor. Hydraulics from the piston had leaked, and then built up. He sighed.
"We need a rag to clean this out, and some air spray." He used the suit's air tank to blow some of the debris out. "Let’s see, broken gear teeth, cracked hydraulics, split O rings, ruptured hose..." He got up and entered the parts into the replicator.
"Wait what about the shields?" the brunette asked.
He smiled politely. "The computer will do those next. The shield parts are common parts I entered to make sure the replicator is working right." He indicated the tank just as a part floated to the hopper. Gel drained away through the holes in the floor of the hopper to be recycled back into the tank. The part had a shiny sheen. "Okay, as soon as Molly is here..." He turned as he heard a noise. "Nice timing," he said. He smiled as Molly hurried in, glancing at the door.
"I have a partial list here." She waved a hand written note on what looked like paper.
"Okay, let’s see what we have. Hold this," he picked up the part from the hopper and handed it to the surprised blond guard. She fumbled it then caught it. The small parts for the door were already coming to the surface. He stepped to the hologram and showed a fascinated Molly what he was doing. "See we find the part here,” he explained as he pointed to the screen. “Is that a mark 5 coupler?"
She looked at her list. "Uh yes."
He nodded. "Okay, mark 5 coupler." He highlighted it and hit enter. The entry flashed. He entered in a number of
parts, this time three, then hit enter again. "Okay, I just set it to make the part three times," he explained. He scrolled through the parts menu highlighting parts from her list and adding them to the Que. The menu balked after the fourth entry. "Okay, we need more raw material," he said. He turned to her. She blinked at him. "Raw material? Oh dear."
He smiled patiently. "We can use the broken bits for some of it, and salvage a lot. If you could get work crews bringing broken parts, like that old power cable, I can show someone how to load them." She nodded eagerly and pulled out a communicator. She turned to get some privacy so he turned back to the hopper. He pulled out the parts and walked over to the open panel.
A crew member with a rag hanging from her back pocket handed him the rag when he requested it. Eager they watched as he wiped away the grease and grime, then used his air supply to blow away loose bits. "Okay, next we cut power." He flipped the breaker off. "Now we pull the parts." One by one he pulled the parts, brushed them off, and then set them aside. One of the techs handed him the new parts one by one. He looked up as he finished finding he was surrounded. Molly was bent over, hands on her knees, watching avidly. He chuckled. "And finally, we turn power back on, close the plate, and test it." He did so, and then indicated to the guard to hit the switch. The guard scowled but did.
The door bucked for a moment, then closed. He nodded. She hit the switch and the door opened again, this time smoothly. "That should do for now," he said. He turned to the women, then to two of them. "Think you can do that with some of the other stuck doors?" he asked. They nodded. "Okay, go check things out. But be careful; make sure there isn't vacuum on the other side first." That sobered them as they left.
"Why mechanical systems?" Molly asked hesitantly, pushing her glasses back onto the bridge of her nose.
He smiled. "Nanites take power to work. They're also a hazard, so mechanical is best when simple jobs are in order," he said and then shrugged. "Sometimes the simplest things are best. It's an engineering creed, keep it simple." She nodded. He got up and motioned to one of the women holding the parts. "Here," he said and then pointed to the tank. He had her feed them into the tank, the group ohed and ahed as the parts dissolved before their eyes. The security guards snorted.
"Okay, now you've seen that part." He pointed to the receiving hopper basket, filled with parts. "Oh my!" Molly cried excited, positively hopping with glee. He chuckled. "Okay ladies, let’s get busy," the girl said. Molly eagerly snatched the parts up, looked each over, and then handed them out to different crew members with quick orders.
He took the time to replicate a coverall and duffel for himself. When the security guard noted the package she curtly asked what he was doing. He explained he was going to change out of his skin suit. He pointed behind the replicator, into the tight confine between the stern bulkhead and machinery. She watched him, narrowing her eyes as he set the duffel and coverall down and then began undressing.
Proteus unzipped the nanite seam along his shoulder and the seam down his front. The skin suit vacuoles expanded the suit, making it looser and easier to get off. The suit unlocked the plumbing connections and his nanites sealed the ports. When he was nude he heard a gasp and rustle.
He looked up to the guard, she had turned her back. She took a quick glance his way out of the corner of her eye. He could see her cheeks were flaming. He turned his head and picked up the coverall as he set the skin suit down.
The skin suit automatically began to fold, compressing into a neat package. He shook the coverall out, and then put it on. It was his usual purple work coverall, covered in pockets, and padded at the joints. He fingered the seam in the front, it sealed at his touch. He left the collar open.
He put the skin suit boots back on, they were a little tight with the coverall, but adjusted after a moment. "There, that wasn't so bad now was it?" he asked, not even looking up as he stored the suit in the duffel then slung it over his shoulder. T
he woman gave a jerky nod. "If you’re quite finished?" she asked.
He nodded. "Yup, time to get back to work."
They came around the replicator and into a crowd. Dozens of women were there, all talking at once. Some were holding broken bits, others talking about their gaudy costumes. "What's this?" he asked the guard.
She looked over the crowd, and then tightened her jaw and pursed her lips into a thin line. "You started it. When they heard about the replicator, the ship's grapevine went berserk," she said. He snorted.
There was a fight brewing in front of the controls, women were fighting over outfits. He sighed. Another was brewing in front of the replicators tray, two women were in a tug of war over a dress. "You may want to get some help and break this up," he suggested helpfully. He went over to the replicator and shouldered a girl aside. She squeaked. He ignored the glare as he locked the replicator down and stopped the dresses currently in production. He turned to face the glaring girl.
"NOW HEAR THIS!" he said, Sprite automatically augmenting his voice with sub-sonics and bass. The compartment noise instantly stopped in stunned silence. "Better, much better." He turned to the girl beside him. She backed up. "Now, ladies, this machine is not a toy, and is required to repair the ship. The Captain has instructed me to help you repair the ship." Some of the women with their mouths open closed them. A few looked confused, but others began to nod.
"Now, the replicators require raw material and power to function. So of course our priority is to repairing the ship," he said patiently. He gave one woman a nod. "Once we have the priorities sorted out we can begin work on other items." A few of the women nodded, backing out. He knew they were sensing he was about to put them to work and smiled inside. "Now, since you ladies are not busy with anything, we shall begin to repair the ship. You just volunteered to help." Two had managed to ease out of the compartment.
He snorted. "I see two of you ladies have already gone to help." They backed in; the lithe and lethal body of the security Chief now filled the doorway. He nodded as Molly came in behind the Chief. "Each of you please get your orders from Miss Molly over there...” he pointed, "or your senior officer or noncom if they are here. Now, let’s get to work."
He turned to the controls, flicking the queue back to his priority list. The Chief approached from behind, he felt his back itch. Defender didn't like it either and said so. "What's going on here?" she asked, demanding. The noise began to die down once more.
"Repair team got a little out of sorts, they lost track of what's important," he answered diplomatically. He nodded to the group as Molly handed off a part with instructions to the two women pushing the pallet. "Miss Molly and the guards are working on it," he nodded his chin to Molly. Molly looked up, waved, and then went back to her discussion. The Chief glared.
"Can this thing make weapons?" she asked him, hands on her hips.
He turned from the controls. "Ordinary civilian replicators can't. However, this is a naval one, so yes, it can. However, it takes a fleet officer's authorization to do so."
She cocks her head. "Not good enough let me see," she said as she elbowed him aside. She flicked through the controls, and then pluged in an external device, most likely a flash drive from the look of it. "What are you doing?" he asked.
"Adding my security protocols to it." He sighed and shook his head as she triumphantly finished with a flick of the enter button. He shrugged. It wasn't like he needed weapons anyway. Besides, everything she just did could be undone by him.
“Let’s see,” He tapped in commands to replicate a series of ODN coils. The fiber optic lines will be needed to replace the broken ones in engineering. After the chief left he replicated a basic tool set then took his gear off to engineering, guards in tow.
Chapter 2
He pulled the hatch cover off, set it aside and looked within. "What do you think you’re doing?" a female growled. He felt a restraining hand on his arm. He looked up and over to the dark woman. "I'm going in there, I need to fix the control lines and bypass the downstream le
ak." She looked at the crawlspace. "Look, you can try to follow me in, but it's tight quarters and dangerous," he said, patience wearing thin. She shivered.
"Let him go," the other woman, Tara, said softly. The dark woman looked over to her. "Where's he going to go on a ship? Let him do his job."
The dark woman sighed and removed her hand. "Go, and get on with it." He sighed.
As he crawled down within the tight confines of the crawlspace, he winced when his elbow hit a broken spar. "Going to have to fix that,” he sighed shaking his arm out. Right on the funny bone too. Endorphins flooded the area, the pain ebbed.
"How's it going in there?" He winced at the echoing voice from the hatch.
"Not there yet," he replied, and then continued crawling. The web of optical fibers was just ahead. "Hurry up!" the woman yelled. He sighed.
"This is a perfect time to delegate," Sprite commented.
"You trust one of those wanna-bee's to this?" he asked.
"What?" The echoing reply.
He swore under his breath. "Never mind. I'm at the first problem and looking at it now," he called back.
"No, since they're having trouble finding their backsides with nav beacons..." Sprite answered. He chuckled.
"Well, they aren't all bad, some are half way there," he answered, thinking of Molly. He sighed as Proteus started feeding data on the lines to his HUD. Proteus took charge of his right hand, unplugging patched lines and replacing them with new fibers he had brought in with him.
"Like who?" Sprite asked.
"Jennie and Molly are okay. Still green though." He twisted aside as a fat cable came down when a supporting cable was pulled.
"Hey watch it," he said.
"Sorry Admiral." Proteus responded.
He felt Defender and Sprite also send rejoinders in the data link they shared. “All right you three, that's enough, let’s get back to work."
"Hey, what are you doing down there? We just lost the communications feed!" a different voice yelled.
He sighed. "I know that, I just pulled it." Proteus quickly patched in the new line.
New Dawn (Wandering Engineer) Page 3
