"What are you looking for?" She asked. "Ah...”
He brushed aside some debris and then raised his right hand. "This," he said. He sent the mental signal to his hand, the ring finger morphed into a jack.
"What the hell?" The girl asked taken aback.
He slid the jack home into the port. "Okay, I'm in." He accessed the deck controls. "Virus attack, firewalls are up," Defender reported.
"I have it." In a moment he sent a signal to the life support node, it cleared and the floating debris clanged to the deck. "Virus," He reported. "Okay, you can get your box now." She went over and picked it up.
"What did you do?" she asked curious. She stepped around the zero g section carefully then grabbed her box.
"I zapped a couple of viruses in the node and reinitialized its firewall. Then I shut the gravity module down and did a cold reboot," he replied, removing the jack.
"Well, whatever you did, it worked. Think you can do it again?" she asked, hefting the box. "Hope nothing is broken," she muttered.
"As often as it takes, but it would be easier to train people to do it themselves," he said. He shook his head. "Also, to get the viruses cleared out and restore the mainframe." He gave her a look. She nodded. "Well, I am into computers, so we shouldn't have a problem there. I didn't know about viruses though. How can a computer catch the flu?" she asked, wrinkling her nose. From her tone she was obviously serious. He sighed.
Obviously, she didn't know as much as she thought. "A computer virus is a malicious set of code designed to damage a system's software or hardware." He waved to the deck. "Like that did." She nodded. "Some are pranks, some are to steal information, and some are to leave back doors for hackers to attack a system," he explained.
She nodded. "Okay, so how do we get them out?" she asked. He sighed.
"I'm working on it," Sprite said distantly. He nodded.
"Working on it," he said out loud.
She nodded. "Okay, this way."
"So I hear you’re shaking things up?" the gravelly voice isn't a surprise to him, but apparently to the crew members near. He hid a smile and turns. The Captain is seated in a chair, welded onto a hover pallet.
"Doing my best Ma'am, We should have things in better shape soon," he said. He knew things were a lot better now then before he had come on board of course.
She gave him a long look, then a small smile that touched her eyes into a twinkle. "You do that. Carry on," she said. He nods as she backs up with her guard and turns around. "Oh," she said. He turns back to her as she looks at him over her shoulder. "Do make sure you get some food and sleep sometime, you’re wearing the guards out," she said with a malicious smile.
He smiled wearily. "Aye aye Captain," he said. She nodded and then left.
He looked at the tech helping him. "Does the Captain go everywhere in that?" he asked.
She nodded, looking a little uncomfortable. "The Captain is pretty old now and not as spry as she once was. And that machine can't get her into all the compartments... But she still finds a way to check on them," she said. She has a disgusted look on her face.
He chuckled. "Captains always do. Common trait of command. So, let’s see if we can finish wiring this... hand me that number twenty three coupler will you?"
Chapter 3
After sixty three hours of being up and about, he finally gave in to Sprite's polite insistence and the guards discrete prompting to go to bed. He let the guard lead the way, bemused that they were careful to keep three paces in front and behind him. He was not so bemused when they arrived in the brig. "And what is this supposed to be the Hilton?" he tried to glare, but a yawn escaped.
One of the guards shrugged. "Orders,” she mumbled.
He shrugged. "Well, a bed is a bed I guess." He went into the cell and laid out on the bottom cot. The guards argued about cuffing him, and then one firmly shut the door and grabbed the other by the arm and pulled her away. He shrugged it off and let Morpheus take him.
Defender woke him three hours and fifty five minutes later. A strange male had entered the cell, and was holding his wrist. Before he could stop it, the AI had dumped adrenalin into his system. He woke fast and twitched. "Hold still," a male voice said. He opened his eyes to look at a male in a medical smock. The smock must have been salvaged, it was sooty, had some blood stains, and was a bit worn. The left lapel had a doctor's name and fruit salad. The shoulders had the classic pauldron symbols of the medical core. He'd seen it before but hadn't really looked at it until now. At least not this close.
"Doc, what are you doing?" he asked politely, not moving his arm.
"Attempting to take your pulse. Please be quiet," the man said. He twitched a look up at the engineer, then back down. His lips moved, counting.
"I can't seem to get a pulse," The doc commented, shifting his grip.
The engineer noted the doctor was manacled. He cocked an eyebrow. "Well, that's because that's my artificial arm doc. The real one is over here." He flicked his left hand up and back while cycling his right arm's fingers through quick tool changes. The doctor looked up startled.
"Fascinating," he said as he regained his composure and looked at the engineer. His face was partially hidden by long black hair. He was clean shaven, and had brown skin.
"Why the manacles doc?" the engineer asked sitting up. The doctor sighed.
"I was kidnapped," he said simply. He looked over to the guard standing with her back to the cell, but her head turned to the left, watching them out of the corner of her eye. "It seems there were several injuries and they needed a doctor. I had a small practice in a village near where they landed. They came and told me there was an injury at their ship. When I got to their shuttle I was stunned and woke up here," his deep voice was calm as he flicked his fingers to the brig.
The engineer nodded slowly. "Shanghaied," he said. The doctor looked confused for a moment. "It means kidnapped. Press ganged is the naval version," he sighed as the doctor nodded.
"I was a village healer before, trying to make do with limited training, and limited material. Here I have a little more to work with, but I'm a prisoner. A slave." He gave the engineer a look. "And it seems, now so are you."
The engineer cocked an eye. "We'll see." He got up.
"What are you doing?" the doctor asked.
"I need to get some food and get back to work."
The doctor's visible eye widened. "You were on your feet for nearly three days! You should still be asleep!"
The engineer smiled. "My augmentation allows me to function better than those without it doc. I'm fine. A little stiff on the organic side..." Proteus released local nanites to remove lactic acid in his joints..."But I'm doing better." He turned to their jailer.
"All right miss, we should be getting back to work," he said. She ignored him. He stepped up to the cell door. "Miss, time to get back to work."
She snorted giving him a sidelong look over her shoulder. "You’re in there till the Chief tells you otherwise." He sighed and turned his efforts inward.
"Sprite, got the brig over ride?" He wasn't in the mood to be trapped. Less than four hours of sleep and no caffeine had him grumpy.
"Are you sure about this Admiral?" He flicked his right wrist to the cell door. He called up his power reserves and slammed it hard. The ancient hinges shrieked as they shredded. The door fell with a clang. The guard whirled, gun drawn. "Gee, I guess I'll have to fix that." He gave her a long commanding look. "Put it away. NOW," command voice and sub harmonics turned his voice almost into a snarl. Her jaw was wide. She closed it, fumbled with the weapon. He turned to the doctor, ignoring her.
"Doctor, it was nice meeting you, I will try to expedite the repairs to sickbay so you can help the injured and so they'll let you go," he promised. The doctor nodded, stunned.
He maneuvered around the corridors; giving a polite nod to women he passed. A pair of guards escorting another male in cuffs nearly ran into him at a corner. The male bumped off of him with a "Hey watch it!" He
snorted and stepped back. One of the guards had followed him out of the brig, gaping like a fish at first, and then settling down into a scowl.
"What's this about?" he asked as he looked down. The male was short, about 140 centimeters tall, wearing a green jacket cut at the midriff. He had blond hair, with two pig tails sticking out over each eyebrow.
"None of your business," the guard growled grabbing the male's arm and pulling him back into motion.
The male tried to shake it off, and then wilted. "You gotta help me! They're cruel!" Irons didn't say anything as he turned and watched them leave.
"Okay, what was that about?" he asked the guard behind him. She grunted.
One of the techs nearby shook her head. "He claimed to be a rich guy, offered to pay for passage to another system. Made himself a royal pain in the arse and had us cater to him. Turns out he was a deadbeat. Captain refused to let him go, and is making him work for his passage, room, and board."
He snorted. "Typical con artist?" he asked.
She shook her head. "Nothing artistic about it."
He shrugged off the literal reference. "Carry on," he nodded his head to her work area.
When he entered the mess hall he was almost resigned to the level of chaos and apathy. Sure it was relatively clean, the deck panels were all there, but the ceiling panels had been lost. Bulkheads had stains on them. So did some of the tables. One was a platter of fruit, obviously way past season. The wall screen was shattered. One of the guards went over and spoke softly to the cook, while the other stood by the door. He was amused at the addition, he had noticed when she had joined his tail, and had subtly prevented her from getting in front of him by alternating his pace.
She was stocky, like all the other guards, and had the typical scowl. He turned to survey the patrons. They in turn were surveying him. Some had food, what looked like gruel or porridge. Others had crackers and pieces of fruit. He shook his head and went to the food replicator. "Coffee black." It didn't light up or respond. In the quiet behind him he heard a snort and snicker.
"It doesn't work. Like a lot of things on this ship," a voice quipped.
He turned to the voice. "We'll see about that." He took off the panel and examined the inner workings.
The food replicators worked by tapping a local food material substrate, then recombined it with nanites to form any food programmed into its memory. The substrate container had been yanked out, a hose had breached and what looked like fungus was growing on the back wall. He plugged his right ring finger into the access port. Data flowed into him, he felt Sprite go into action, slamming a firewall up and slapping down virus attacks. She entered the computer and cleaned house, then gave him a report.
Typical, the database had been corrupted with the viruses. Some of it was unrecoverable. The hard ROM was protected though, so basic things could still be made. He felt her reboot the system, run the diagnostics, then give him a report. He looked over to the waitress wiping her hands with a rag. "Ah, one of the things I need. Do you mind?"
He put his left hand out. She gave him a look, and then slowly handed the rag over. He carefully wiped out the fungus and encrusted goo, then sprayed the area with his nanites. In moments the remainder had broken down and flowed to the bottom edge, then with Proteus controlling them, back into his arm. He picked up the hose, checked it over, and then used nanites and the welder to patch the holes. It wouldn't work for long, but long enough for a day or two.
He looked around. "whatcha need?" the waitress called from the back near a table.
"I need another substrate container, a full one," he answered.
She nodded, clearly amused but interested. "Cookie will set you up." The cook nodded and hefted a half filled jar up and then onto the counter, slamming it down.
That would have to do. He nodded. "Thanks." She nodded. "Okay, let’s see here...” He plugged the hose back in, then carefully inserted the substrate container and plugged it in. It began to burble. "All right... let’s see..." He flicked through the menu, and found what he wanted. "Coffee. Black."
The computer gave a weak beep, and then the hopper lit. In a moment a cup was there, and then a brownish black liquid flowed into it. He nodded. He took the cup up off the hopper and looked around to the sudden silence. "Computer, breakfast protein bar number four with banana and strawberries," he said. The computer beeped again. He looked around; everyone was still quietly staring at him.
"What? Is my coverall on backwards?" he was amused at their stunned silence. "Just needed a little repair job, and some antivirus work to get it running again." He shrugged as he turned to the bar and took a sip. Even the cook was staring. She had patties of gruel grilled on an improvised stove top. He nodded to her.
The waitress came up, washing her hands on her apron. "It works better if you use existing silverware," he told her as an aside as he took his meal out. She pointed to an empty stool. He sat, setting the food down.
"Can I try a bite?" she asked. He smiled and broke a piece off. “It isn't salmon, or anything fancy, I have a simple palate," he shrugged at her. She was tentative, looking down then up at him. "Sure, knock yourself out." She took a spoon and cut off a sample. She brought it to her lips, looked over them to him, and then took a small bite.
Her eyes widened. "Wow! This is sugary!"
The compartment became abuzz for a moment. "Ohhh nice. I like it." She took another bite. He snorted. "Computer repeat last order," he called as he leaned back. Someone in the audience chuckled.
He looked over to the two guards. The one that had caught up was carrying his duffels and tool kit. "Ladies, we have a busy day ahead of ourselves, I strongly urge you to eat while you can." They just stood there, stoic. He shrugged. "I warned you." One of them looked to the other, and then went to the replicator. He pulled out the tray, and then showed her the menu. She found a simple dish, and after entering it, it appeared. She took it out, juggling it.
"What's the matter?" One of the other patrons asked.
"It's hot!" She replied shifting it from one to the other and shaking her free hand.
The room became quite. "Microwave emitter," the admiral told them, he shrugged. "Blow on it. The microwave wave guides might be a little off. No telling when it was last calibrated."
She nodded. "Oh hot!" Managing to juggle it to the bar without spilling it. Cookie handed her a spoon. She took a bite, her eyes widened. "Oh wow! I haven't had this since I was a child!" Awe was in her voice. He nodded, looking down at his plate as he ate.
He felt someone crash into him and turned in alarm. "Oops, sorry," the girl said, blushing. She reached up and clicked the wrap around Walkman off. "Sorry, I guess I wasn't paying attention to where I was going." He tried to get control of his annoyance.
Jennie didn't. "You need to look where you’re going Shell! We're in the middle of a delicate moment and you could have killed us all!" The girl paled. "What are you doing here anyway? This corridor is off limits, didn't you read the sign?" The girl blushed and looked down.
"She can't read," the guard said quietly. He looked over to the guard, then back to the girl. Pity was now replacing anger.
"Is that true?" he asked softly. She mumbled something and nodded. He sighed. "Then it's high time you learned don't you think?" he asked.
She looked up startled. "But no one will teach me!" Her eyes sparkled with tears.
He sighed. "Okay, I can, or some of the others can. You can't live your life in ignorance child; you need to be able to read, especially on a starship."
She looked down at her feet. "Yes sir."
He sighed. "Okay, let us finish this, and then we'll see about getting you on your first lesson."
She looked up her face bright eyes shining and crooked teeth gleaming in a grin. "You mean it?" He nodded.
"I got it Admiral." Jennie said.
He looked over. "Balancing the load is hard enough with implants Jennie, almost impossible without."
She shook her head. "I can help Admir
al," Tara said softly. She waved to the girl. "All I need to do is watch the readouts and balance these three bars right? Keep them in the center?" She looked at the controls. "I've watched you often enough."
He nodded. "All right, give it a shot. Go as slow as slow though," he ordered.
She nodded. "You don't have to tell me twice, I don't want to get burned." She gently touched the controls. "They're sensitive." He nodded. "Right."
He grabbed the girl's elbow. "You're Shelly right?" he asked. She nodded as he escorted her down the corridor a ways. "All right Shelly, let’s see. You’re wearing a Walkman right? Is it hooked into the net?" She shook her head.
He checked it over. "Okay, it's on, but it's locked out by the firewall." He focused for a moment.
"Accessing, I'm in, password set up. You’re logged into the net." Sprite reported as the girl grabbed her ears.
"OH! There was a ping!" She looked up and smiled. "There's a song now... Oh it’s over." Her face fell.
He pulled out his tablet. "Okay, we're going to do a quick exercise while I work. Here's a tablet. I have a simple file here." He accessed the net and dumped a short text file to the tablet. "Now, I want you to run your finger under the words."
She looked confused. "Try it," he urged.
She reached out and ran her finger under the text, then gasped. "It's reading really fast!" Her hands went to the earphone.
"Right, go slower."
Her finger repeated the move, this time slower. "Okay, now, I want you to do that for each word, and then say it," he said patiently. She nodded.
"Try it." She practiced with a short sentence and looked up. "Is it really that easy?" she asked, seemingly excited.
He shook his head. "A little bit, but some of it's harder. I can see about writing a reading program for you later. Right now, try that." She nodded. "I'll be back in a bit." He turned and went back to the team. "That was fast,” Tara said not looking up. "We have the first three balanced, but there's a sticky valve on the fourth line. I think it's a coolant line to the super conductors."
New Dawn (Wandering Engineer) Page 7
