“Try it,” Irons suggested. He indicated the back of the broken panel.
“What?” She shook her head.
“Try it. Try plugging the jack into each port.” He indicated the ports.
“These are female ends; the jack on the end of the cable is a male end,” he explained. She looked at it.
“Rather blatant isn't it?” she asked, wrinkling her nose.
He shrugged. “It works, and it's self explanatory.”
She tried the jacks. “Okay, so this shape means it plugs in here,” she tried it. “No. Oh okay match the color.” She found the matching color to the right port. “Hey, how come it won’t go in?” she demanded. She tried to force it but he grabbed her hand.
“Never try to force it,” he said and looked. “You have it upside down. Flip it.”
She did so, flipping the connector. “Do you see the tabs and the corresponding notch in the other female end?” he asked as she plugged it in.
Jennie sighed. “Okay if you’re finished?” He looked up to see her hefting the replacement module. “We have a lot more to do this shift,” she said as she smiled. They nodded. “Okay.”
"Actually, my implants are middle road level; I've seen some that are more extreme than mine," Irons explained as they worked in the main engineering compartment. Jennie looked up intrigued.
One of the girls looked horrified. "Why would anyone do that to their bodies?"
He shrugged. "Some like me have no choice. I received mine after major injury."
Jennie looked thoughtful. "So what's the basic implant?" she asked.
He smiled and went back to rewiring the buss. He was glad they were only working on secondary systems. "A basic entry implant starts with an IFF, weather you are civilian or military. A civilian IFF is a simple identification implant. That lets you access your electronic devices and money, and identifies you to authorities."
One of the girls elbowed another, and pointedly tapped her work station. The offender blushed and got back to work. "Implants were a fad a time or two in the past, now...” He paused then sighed as a wave of regret hit him. "Excuse me, in my time it was sometimes necessary to get additional implants for your job." Jennie nodded. "Like the ability to jack in?" she asked.
He smiled. "Right. A lot of equipment requires someone jacked in to get the best out of them. Ships, fighters, mecha, shuttles..." he said and then shrugged.
"Did it hurt?" the girl down the corridor asked. Another shushed her. He waved. "No, the basic IFF implants were just a pill. Inside was a bunch of nanites that built the IFF in your body, and another in your palm." He pulled the scorched electronic box out and set it down on the cart beside him. "The other implant procedures are a lot more involved. A few require surgery. Medications keep it from hurting too bad, but the recovery time can be long, he said and then shrugged once more.
"And of course, repairs due to injuries, or more advanced cybernetics are a nightmare of rehab time," he said. He shivered a little.
"Oh, it wasn't that bad." Sprite commented. He clicked his teeth.
"Speak for yourself," he sub vocalized.
"I thought I just did?" she teased.
"Why does this have to be hardwired?" one of the girls slapped a bulkhead exasperated. Jennie and the engineer looked up. The woman was running ODN cable. She looked over to the engineer. "Why can't everything be radio like what you have?"
He cocked his head. "Do you want the long answer or short?" She sighed.
Jennie snorted. "Okay, give it to me straight," she finally said.
He nodded and turned to examine her snarled lines. "Well, radio is nice, but it can drop a signal."
The communications tech down the corridor stopped looked up from her tablet, and then nodded. "Yes it can."
He looked up and gave her a nod. "Also, wireless networks can drop packets, and aren't as fast as a hard wired network." He tapped the fiber optic line. "This runs at light speed. A radio LAN runs at radio speed. Because of all the metal in the ship, a signal has to bounce from one repeater box..." He pointed to the cube in the ceiling. "To another on a deck." She looked up and scowled.
"During an emergency, or when we're maneuvering, do you want signals to be corrupted or lost?" he asked. She shook her head. "That's why we use hard wired lines," he said in finishing.
She looked over the mess and sighed. "So why do you have the wireless network?"
The communication's tech looked over to him interested. "You have a radio?"
He nodded warily. "Among other things," he said and then shrugged.
"I'm not doing critical things when I use it. I can access the net, and transfer data, but in an emergency, or when I'm doing something with a high bandwidth demand, I jack in." He waved his right hand," he explained.
Jennie nodded. "Were wireless implants common in your time?" she asked. He nodded.
"They're great for communications, data transfer, and the like. But," he said indicating the ship. He waved to the corridor. "Too much of a good thing causes problems." He turned and pulled a cable. The snarled mess loosened, and then disappeared.
"What do you mean?" the communications tech asked, and then ducked as a guard came around, whistling and tapping her truncheon against her thigh. She gave them a curious look, and then slowly wandered on.
"Well, for one, if there are a lot of people, the traffic can cause the network to slow or crash." He carefully fed the woman running the lines slack, keeping the lines taut though. "Also, it's a haven for hackers and freebooters..." They finished running the line. She looked up and nodded.
"Thanks."
He turned back to his work. "Also, they can be jammed or intercepted," he said.
Jennie looked over, nodded. "You said there were more advanced implants?" She looked over to him. He nodded.
She glanced down. "Pass me the screwdriver will you?" she nodded to the cart. He handed it to her. "Thanks."
He shrugged. "There were some pretty extreme and sometimes grotesque cases I know about."
The ODN tech shivered. "I heard about a few, people stuck in a can and wired up for the rest of their lives..."
The communication's tech shivered. "Burr! Did they really do that?" She looked over to him.
"Yes, quite a few people," he sighed.
"Some were because the person was born wrong, or suffered a grievous accident. But a few wanted that," he explained.
Jennie tightened the bolt. "I just can't see why anyone would want that, living your life as a computer," she said. He nodded.
"It isn't for everyone. But there were virtual worlds in the computer networks, so they could be in there and live entire lives." He waved to the computer box.
"In that?" she demanded. He nodded.
"It's all programming," he said shaking his head. "There were people who required it for their jobs, but a few got carried away, or thought of it as fashion."
Jennie's eyebrows rose. "Fashion?" she asked. He shrugged.
"To some, the more away from normal, the more they disgusted or scared people, the more they liked it. Multiple eyes, arms, legs, no legs, robotic parts..."
The communications girl shivered. "Too much for me! Later!" She walked off.
Jennie chuckled. "What makes you want to bet she'll gossip to everyone she meets?" she asked. The other girls giggled.
"Can't be helped," he said.
"So what about you? Why aren't yours more...robotic?" the girl down the corridor asked. He finished the last connection and closed the door. "Because, for the mainstream, we prefer to hide our cybernetics and look as normal as possible," he shrugged. "I'm not prejudiced against those that were different, one of the reasons our race accepted other races so easily is because of the oddballs constantly testing the envelope with weird things like body sculpts and the like."
The girl nodded and ran her fingers through her hair, exposing her ears. They were long thin and pointed. Her eyes were cat like. "I resemble that remark," she said.
He smiled. "Descendant of a body sculpt I take it?" he asked. She nodded.
"My ancestor was into cats I guess."
He cocked his head. "Or elves, there was a fad for those in the 20th and 21st century,” he replied. She grimaced. "Yeah, but at least she didn't change my teeth," she smiled. Only her canines were elongated slightly. He nodded.
"Some people did that, they modified themselves through surgery or genetic tinkering, they didn't think of the consequences to themselves or their progeny." She nodded and turned back to her work.
Molly tapped in her entry and then looked up. "What about this?"
Jennie looked. "Might work. So, let me get this straight, you, me and Marsha are assistant chief engineers? Why not call you the chief?" she crossed her arms and looked at Molly expectantly.
Molly didn't look up from her tablet. "That's Faith's job." Jennie cocked her head. "Yeah but..."
"It's her job, I'm just filling in," Molly waved her tablet and looked up. "Okay, so you have morning shift, Martha wants grave, I take it I get evening?" Jen finally asked. Molly nodded. "Can I have Trish?" Jen asked.
Molly nodded. "Okay, but I want Keisha, Clarice, Deidra and Sunny."
Jennie looked at her tablet. "So, that leaves me, wait, why do you want Sunny?"
She looked up at Molly. "Sunny is your understudy right? I need a computer tech on morning shift," Molly replied. "Oh, and Keisha will handle the power chores, who are we, oh I see, I can have Sondra? Wait, isn't she dating Lessa?"
Molly looked up. "So?"
"So unless you want me to come to you because she is whining about being opposite shifts with Lessa, we better move her to another shift," Jen said knowingly.
Molly sighed she realized Jen was right. "That will leave a hole in your shift."
Jennie shrugged. "Can't be helped."
Trisha came over to see what was going on. "I finished that fan job, and the leak was a condenser coil, easy fix," she said. Now that they had a source for parts repairs were easy. She waved diffident hand. "Someone had a still going on deck three; we had to tear it apart," she sighed. "When will people learn not to butcher perfectly good equipment to get their jollies?" She sat on the edge of the desk. "So, what's up?" Molly nodded her chin to Jen. "We're just going over the shifts, since you don't want an assistant slot, Jennie asked for you in evening shift."
Trisha gave her a look. "Okay," she shrugged. "Works for me. Now that we have training on going, and are settling into regular shifts it's easier to deal with." She craned her neck to read over Molly's shoulder. "Wait, it lists you as an assistant? Is the Admiral taking the chief slot?" She looked around.
"No, he isn't. The Admiral's insistent, he's a passenger," Molly sighed, adjusting her glasses. She took them off after a moment and set them down.
"So who's the chief?" Trisha asked confused.
"Faith." Molly answered.
"Faith? She's in cryo!" Trisha waved exasperated. "Who the hell said that? She doesn't know any of the systems, all the changes! It may be a year before she's out!" She shook her head.
Jen frowned. "Don't get her started; I just tried to talk sense into her. Molly insists it's Faith." Jennie shrugged. "If she wants to hold the chair for her, more power to her... unless you want it?" Trisha made fending off motions with both hands. She shook her head. "No no no.. Hey, that's mean! You knew I would say that!" The girls chuckled.
"Worked didn't it?" Jen asked.
"So all the departments are doing this?" Trisha asked.
"No, just us so far. Well, the bridge crew had shifts, but they were irregular. I think they're ironing it out now. The navigators and helm women are on four hour shifts." Molly waved.
"Why four?" Jen asked confused.
"Cause they need to rest!" Shandra goosed her suddenly.
Jen eeped and spun. "OH!" She rubbed her rear. "Very funny." Molly giggled.
"So, what are you going to do with all your free time?" she asked Shandra.
Shandra handed Molly a tablet. "Oh, I'll let you know..." She turned coy, smiled and tossed her hair. She strutted out. Jen watched her go.
Trisha giggled until Molly leaned over and swatted her. "Stop that! Worse than kids I swear!" she sighed in exasperation. "Okay, let’s get back to work. Trish, I believe you're heading to lunch? Then the deck twelve repairs? Once you do that your off shift till... crap, its 1200 now, your new shift starts at 1700."
“What if we need to compare notes?” Jen asked.
“Oh, we can pop in off shift if we're bored, or want to get an early start on something. I also expect you at the senior staff meetings still. Don't worry about that.” Molly answered. “Just don't tire yourself out trying to keep up with the Admiral,” she said. The admiral was a force unto himself. She shook her head.
Trisha and Jen looked at the clock. "Jen, you were working on the computer network? Is it critical?" Jen shook her head. "Okay, table it for your shift tonight. Go get some lunch with Trish then get some rest." Jen nodded.
"Slave driver," Trisha commented as they walked out.
"He's so strong, but stern all the time!" One of the girls gossiped as she folded laundry with neat practiced perfection.
"I heard he has a lot of scars." One of the girls called, balancing a stuffed laundry basket on her hip.
"So when do we get a chance to see him?" another asked, ironing an outfit. The door opened. "How about now?" The girl by the door squeaked in surprise then ducked out past someone.
The engineer came in carrying a duffel and toolbox and took a look around. "Ladies," he nodded politely to them. "This machine free?" he asked. He pointed to the nearest to the door. A guard followed him in and scowled around.
"No, it doesn't work," the girl nearest him said. He gave the blond a look. The girl with the iron was staring. He cleared his throat, caught her eyes and glanced meaningfully at the steaming outfit in front of her.
"What oh!" She squealed in dismay.
"Well, let me see if I can do something about this." He set his toolkit down and pulled the front panel off. His finger morphed into a multi tester and he checked the connections. "Nope, nope." He stopped and stepped around the machine.
"What, what's wrong with it? Heater coil?" the girl asked.
He grabbed the power plug and plugged it in. "Nope, it wasn't plugged in," he said. He tried the machine. It turned on, and started to fill. "Okay, let’s give it a shot." He leaned over and pulled a couple grimy pairs of coveralls out of the other duffel. He loaded it, added some soap from the plastic container near the counter and then turned the machine on.
"Okay, while I wait, what else is broken here?" he asked. The girls stared.
"That was it?" He turned and put the panel back on the machine.
"Um, no, Mister engineer most of the machines are broken," one said. The girls pointed to a bank of industrial laundry machines. "Okay, I'll take a look." He went from machine to machine, pulling open panels and checking things. He did a little rewiring on a few to allow part of their abilities to be used. It took an hour, just long enough for his laundry to be cleaned and dried. "Okay, we have three that need heater coils, two that have broken gaskets, one with a frozen motor, three with broken belts, two with torn gears, and two with control logic problems."
He looked up. The girls had stopped doing the laundry to watch him. "I can put an order in for parts, but it will be a while before they come in," he said.
One of the girls nodded. "Yes, but you fixed those other 4 machines, so we should be better off," she replied with a grin.
He nodded. "As each machine broke the loads were shifted to the working ones... So they wore out faster." The girls nodded and made themselves busy as the guard cleared her throat. He gave her a look and nodded. He pulled out a tablet and entered the notes. "Okay done.” His machine dinged. "And done I see. Nice timing."
He opened the door and pulled out the load. He put it on the table and began to sort and fold. It had been a while since he had had to do his own laundry
, after all that was what robots and stewards were for, but the skills returned after a few seconds.
Coveralls, underwear, towels, socks, and rags were neatly folded into a stack, and then stuffed into the duffel. He shouldered it and the kit. "Have a good day ladies." He nodded and left. The guard followed. "Wow, he's cuter then I thought!" He caught the thread before the hatch closed and snorted.
Chapter 4
"Well, it's nice to see something in good order." He nodded his chin to the ship's plaque.
Jennie smiled. "Isn't it fate that the Captain found a ship named for a woman?" She smiled at the bronze embossed Greek figure. Around it were the founder names and the launch date. The bronze plaque was dark, but obviously polished, even if only with a rag.
He cleared his throat. "Well, this ship is a Cabeiri class ship." Jennie and two of the other techs looked up confused. The guard frowned. "Actually, she's an epsilon generation of that class," he said and then shrugged at their blank looks.
“Cabeiri were the descendants of the blacksmith god Hephaestus in Greek mythology," he explained. He cocked his head at their confused looks.
"Greek?"
"What is Cabeiri?"
"You lost us." Jennie said as she looked to the others and then shrugged.
He chuckled and continued splicing cables. "Ships have been named for various things for thousands of years. Famous people, or places, or myths." He looked up to the girls. They were all staring at him.
"The Federation went with that mix as well, but eventually named the shipyards and programs after engineers and blacksmith mythology." He finished the splice and tucked the cable back into the wall panel, then pulled out another shredded one. He took a moment to let Proteus trace the lines then followed the directions on his HUD.
"There were four class versions of this ship since it was first conceived." He twitched a hot wire aside and then stripped a ground wire. "Technically Io didn't have anything to do with blacksmithing. From the histories I accessed someone got a hold of some ancient comic books and got their wires crossed."
New Dawn (Wandering Engineer) Page 10
