Destiny's Choice (The Wandering Engineer)

by Hechtl, Chris

  “Okay people, lets move,” Bryan said, all business. He motioned for them to get out of the way as SBA's came in with a hover stretcher.

  “Is he going to be all right?” a tech asked as they came out.

  “I don't know,” Irons said.

  “What happened?” another tech asked, coming up behind them. Irons recognized the kid Everette, one of the better E-techs on this shift.

  “Poison,” he said. He nodded as the guard escorted the steward out in cuffs. “You'll know more later. I suggest you get back to work. Does anyone know where the steward got the food from?”

  “Over there,” Everette said waving as the security chief came in at a run. Everette pointed to a cooks' cubby near the door. “He keeps a pot on hand for everyone at all times. The chief's cup is usually hanging there or in his office.”

  “Joy,” Irons grimaced as he waved the security chief over to the cubby. The chief patted the chimp on the arm as they passed him then came over.

  “I heard. Your AI briefed me in the elevator. What do you want?”

  “Check this area,” Irons reached out and stopped him from touching anything. “With a scanner.”

  “Oh.”

  “Someone poisoned the chief. If they dumped it here then the steward is a patsy.”

  “Ah. I see where you're going. There may be prints or DNA.”

  “Or video. Which there isn't. Somehow the camera's don't cover this part of the room. Convenient if you ask me,” Sprite said from the overhead speaker.

  “Ah. That was what I was going to ask next,” Irons said looking up.

  “Nary a thing. If they were smart it was in a time released gel or some other agent. Something that kept them far away from the scene when it went down.”

  “Has anyone else gotten sick?”

  “We wouldn't know. It takes time for it to kick in in some species,” Irons grimaced. “We may need a full tox screen of everyone who's had coffee in the past two days.”

  “And the security video buffer, can you pull anything off of people going in and out of the dead zone?” he asked as a tech came over and handed the security chief a scanner. Another guard came in with a forensics kit. Irons nodded, backing away to give them room. He looked up to the bulkhead above.

  “Doesn't record that far back unfortunately. Less than a week. I had to overwrite it when we had that little virus problem. I just restored it an hour ago actually,” Sprite reported, sounding a little guilty.

  “Great,” Irons grimaced. “Do what you can with what you have.” He shook his head watching the chief work.

  “Don't I always?” the AI asked.

  “How is he Doc?” Irons asked, looking up at the bulkhead two hours later. Sprite had just connected them. Harry hadn't been happy about what had happened. The Admiral had been careful to avoid stepping on any toes. He'd made it clear he would follow Harry's orders. That seemed a little disconcerting to the bald assistant, but he'd accepted it after a few minutes.

  “Too cantankerous to die that damn easy. Never thought coffee would do me in. I thought it'd be a pissed two bit hooker wanting a tip,” a scratchy simian voice said in the background. Irons grinned at the sound.

  “Good to hear your voice you old coot. Can't keep a good chimp down.”

  “Definitely. Especially since all the damn nurses in here are male. None to harass properly. Sorry Doc, I just don't swing your way.”

  “No offense taken,” the amused paramedic said shaking his head. “You were correct, he had a near lethal dose in him. He's doing well now. We pumped his stomach and scoured his throat to get anything we missed. His digestive track is scoured clean. And I do mean clean. I'm keeping him over night just to be sure,” he chuckled softly. “One way to put him on a danish free diet.”

  “Thanks Doc,” Irons said, smiling as Sprite disconnected the intercom. A few of the people around looked relieved and began to smile. He looked around. “Don't worry folks, he'll be climbing the walls and cussing you all out before you know it.”

  Harry the assistant snorted. “And we'll all be suspects for this,” he grimaced and waved his hands helplessly. “Okay folks, show's over, lets get to work before the hairball does come back. Last thing we need is for him to find out we slacked off and decide to tie us all in knots.”

  “Yeah. Think they could keep him longer? Just in case I mean,” someone muttered. Irons shook his head.

  “I'll be going. Bailey wants me to work on your hyper drive. I'm going to see what Sprite can tease out of my database on it's specs and see if maybe we can pull a higher octave or beta band out of her.”

  “Ah,” the bald assistant Harry looked nonplussed for a moment and then nodded. “Good idea. Don't let the door hit you on the ass on the way out,” he said dismissing the Admiral from his attention with a curt wave as he looked elsewhere.

  Irons snorted and shook his head as he walked off. Clearly the chimp had rubbed off on his crew.

  “Was that a hint Admiral? About the hyper drive?” Sprite asked.

  “What do you think?” he asked.

  “Great,” she sighed.

  Irons paced back and forth in the control cabin of the launch. He didn't really have the room for this, the cabin was only a few meters across to begin with. Throw in things like seats for the pilots and the consoles and it got tight indeed. He grimaced, trying to think but not getting anywhere. “You didn't get anything? Nothing at all?”

  “No prints, no DNA. Whoever did this is good,” Sprite replied. She projected a holo of herself sitting on the dashboard of the shuttle. “And by the way you're wearing a path in the deck you're not happy about that.”

  “You know me so well,” Irons sighed, flopping down into the pilot's couch. “Did you cross reference people who had access with those who could have put the cyanide in the coffee dispenser?” The seat tried to conform to his shape but he was restless. He kept shifting about.

  “Yes. I didn't get anywhere. No one was eliminated as a suspect. In fact I've added four more. But that is only if you were the actual target. He did piss that hacker kid off,” she pointed out.

  Irons scowled. He'd forgotten that. It could be a case of someone getting it right after all. Or in this case damn near getting their target. If he was the intended target. “And he's on your list?”

  “Yes. The steward has been cleared by the way. The security chief scanned him during the interrogation.”

  “And you ran it?”

  “Truth across the board. I don't think he's going to be happy with you about being accused though,” she grimaced. She knew it wouldn't be that easy. “It wasn't in the dispenser. The security chief checked. There is residue in the cup of a foreign substance. I'm betting someone used a self dissolving packet.”

  “And how did they get it into the right cups?”

  Sprite crossed and then uncrossed her hands. Her feet kicked together like an adolescent on a swing. “For the chief it was obvious, his is marked chief in gold lettering after all,” Sprite replied. He grimaced.

  “Forgot that,” he mumbled, toeing a divot in the deck. “But that still doesn't rule out an attempt on me,” he sighed.

  “Possibly. Once, twice, three times enemy action. We do have a serious problem.”

  “That kid? If he's not a suspect then I don't have a problem with him,” Irons grimaced. He wasn't sure how the kid could get the poison in the first place. He knew that the replicators wouldn't make poison. Not on it's own anyway. Oh some alien food was poisonous to others of course, but cyanide in a self dissolving packet? Something most likely clear so it wouldn't be seen as a stain or as a dirty cup? Sprite shook her head, legs tucked up.

  “Its not that you have a problem with him, its the other way around. You know, skip it,” Sprite said, shaking her head. Her feet crossed then kicked together back and forth. “Someone could have been after you though,” she said.

  “I thought you said the target may have not been me?” Irons sighed. “Make up my mind Sprite.”
>
  “I'm just saying. You've been keeping a regular schedule, breakfast brunch meetings every morning with the chief. And you know that's a big no no. Keeping a regular schedule makes you an easier target.”

  “Sprite is correct Admiral,” Defender chimed in, right on time. Irons grimaced then held up his hands.

  “Point. Valid one. I'll try to be more... um..”

  “The term you're looking for is erratic,” Sprite said smiling.

  “Something like that,” Irons said shaking his head. “Any ideas on what else they could pull?”

  “If they are desperate, getting off at Agnosta it could be any number of things. It all depends on their skills and how far they are willing to go to complete their mission.”

  “You think it's a murderer for hire?” Irons asked surprised.

  “Don't you? Revenge is a possibility, but I eliminated the Neo cats as prime suspects as soon as you had that last encounter with Hera. The injured one in sickbay. She is more of a hands on person. Tooth and claw and all that.”

  “You are saying they lack the technical sophistication to pull this off?” Irons asked.

  “Yes. Also the bathroom. There wasn't a single hair, nor a single DNA trace. I suppose they could have done it in a suit to keep from shedding, but I would think someone would have noticed a cat running around in a skin suit.”

  “Unless they carried it with them, put it on outside his quarters then went in,” Defender responded.

  “You're not helping...” Sprite sighed looking annoyed. “All right, I'll keep it in mind.”

  “You mean I will. Security of the Admiral is my primary function,” Defender responded. “I would like additional access to the systems of Destiny.”

  “How..? Sure fine. You want my suspect list as well?” Sprite said disgusted.

  “I already have it. And your reasoning tree. Which is sloppy. It relies to much on human intuition and supposition and some of it has no basis in fact.”

  “How did you..?”

  “We share a data core remember? Everything you know I know Lieutenant Commander. Everything,” Defender replied. “I am the security AI remember?”

  “Oh,” Sprite's avatar blinked then a bright line ran up and down her. “I'll keep that in mind.”

  “You two are narrow minded you know that?” Irons asked. “And you apparently narrowed it down to one suspect prematurely. We might be dealing with more than one.”

  “You're talking about a team of assassins?” Defender asked. “The possibility has occurred to me.”

  “Or individuals working on their own without any coordination,” Irons said.

  “Ew. I don't like that. We could be getting false positives and going around in circles,” Sprite said.

  “Which is a problem,” Irons grimaced, trying to think of something but not coming up with much.

  “Admiral, I would normally recommend remaining in this launch since it is a secured location. However it is far to easy for an assassin to vent the bay to hyperspace. Or attach an explosive device to the hull of the launch.”

  “Which you would detect,” Irons replied. “And you'd see the person in the bay which would reveal who it is,” he grimaced. He tried not to mention that someone could use an innocent patsy as well. After all, they had done it before with the steward. “I don't think they would be that stupid. But I'm not planning on remaining here much longer,” He sighed.

  “So why are we here then?”

  “Safe place to think. No bugs. No chance of someone coming in and over hearing something they shouldn't.”

  “Ah,” Sprite nodded. “And you avoid the party the engineering staff is throwing for the return of the chief?”

  “That as well. I'm still something of a third wheel there. Out of sight out of mind.”

  “Okay.”

  Bailey scowled as he turned the corner. He shifted his tool belt then squared his shoulders as he hit the door controls. Doc had kept him over night in that damn hospital bed. It had been a cold night. He'd wanted one of his gals with him but Doc had kicked them out before he'd handed the keys over to that cheetah lady.

  At least he'd finally gotten out of his clutches this morning. Clean bill of health the doc had admitted. Now he had to go see what his people had done to his pristine engineering. Probably mucked it up a lot knowing them. Hell they probably tied all the wiring in knots! Or had a wild party while he was gone. Yeah, that' s it, a party. He knew it. He'd tie Harry into a pretzel if they had. No one was celebrating until he was safely dead damn it!

  The doors opened but he froze. The lights were out. Something was very wrong, the lights in engineering dimmed during the night cycle but were never out completely. “What the devil?” he said scowling as he shifted his belt, looking inside. “Hello? Someone want to tell me what's going on? Did we forget to pay the light bill or something?”

  The lights came up in a flash. He blinked, stepping back to see a bright welcome home banner and the entire engineering staff standing around screaming welcome home. He snorted.

  “Gone one day and I get this kind of response?” he said gruffly, touched. “I'm touched really,” he said coming into the room. He pretended to wipe a tear form his eye.

  “Yeah, touched in the head. We know boss,” Everette joked with a smile.

  He brandished a fist. The kid stepped back, hands up in mock fear. “Just for that I'll make you eat my fist. And don't any of you have anything better to do?” he asked as the big eared Everette hid behind a tech. The group shuffled around while a few laughed at his expense.

  “Not that I'm not grateful or anything, but we do have a ship to run.”

  “Which can wait chief,” the captain said coming in behind him. “Sorry I'm late.” He smiled as the crew came to attention. “Just be here a minute.” He nodded as he rested an arm across the chimp's shoulders. “Your people did wonders. They did everything scheduled for today last night to clear the time for this. Don't ruin it for them banana breath.”

  “Yeah,” the chief said gruffly, looking around. “Yes sir,” he grimaced then nodded. That did touch him. His crew was good. He had a good team and was proud of them. Not that he was going to tell them that. They might get a swelled head or something. Get cocky. “Thanks,” he said with a gruff nod.

  “No problem. It's not every day any of us have a close call like that. Hopefully it will be the last for a long time. I'm too much of a realist to think it will be the last,” he shook his head.

  “Pessimist.”

  “Comes with the captain's chair,” the captain replied with a soft smile. He patted the chimp's shoulder then nodded to the group. “All right folks, he's counseled so he'll be on his best behavior or as close as the grump can get. Have a good time. Don't drink and drive. You've done wonders for this ship. Keep up the hard work. That's an order,” he smiled and waved as the group chuckled and laughed.

  The captain waved and walked out as Bailey felt self conscious and rubbed the back of his head. “Damn. One day you are all making me tear what little hair I've got out, the next, this.” He shook his head.

  “Just buttering you up like you said chief. Wouldn't want to disappoint you,” his assistant said laughing as he handed the chief a piece of cake.

  Bailey snorted, taking the cake. “Where's you know who?” he asked softly.

  “No idea. Most likely keeping a low profile,” the assistant said, turning and speaking quietly. “I'm not complaining. I wish he was here though, he does deserve some credit.”

  “Yeah,” Bailey shrugged. “I'll have to remember that.”

  “Eeny meeny pitsy teeny,” Irons said coming into the laundry room. Since the engineers were in full party mode he had decided to get some long overdue chores done. Which was about time, his uniforms were a bit ripe despite his nanites best efforts.

  He'd absented himself for a strategic reason, the party was from the crew to their chief. He would have been seen as a sort of wet blanket, an outsider. He'd watched though though the vi
deo cameras. The captain's brief appearance had been a cap on it.

  Which was interesting in a way. The captain had come in to voice his approval of the party and dampen the chief's natural annoyance at being the center of attention. He'd been diplomatic enough to stay just long enough and then left gracefully to give them tacit leave to have a good time without him watching over them. Good. The man had some skills there. All well and good.

  There were two chimp females, bridge officers there too. He wondered about that. Galiet and someone else he didn't easily identify. Apparently friends of the chief. Of course it being a small ship and the three of them being the only simians on board, it was natural for them to get together on occasion.

  They'd even visited the chimp in the small infirmary. That was good. Maybe the chief was dating one of them? Stranger things could happen. Bailey might be a little rough around the edges and he was definitely a character but any woman who saw past all that would find a man worth having. Worth keeping, he thought with a small smile.

  “Shhh!” the old woman said, waving a dishtowel at him. “Hush,” she whispered, eyes on the LCD in the corner near the door. Irons came in and looked up, craning his neck to see a soap opera on.

  “Okay,” he muttered shaking his head with a soft chuckle. The woman settled back down onto her stool and kept folding. The woman shook a towel out and then folded it with expert flips and folds.

  She wasn't that old, at least to him. She was aged, and her hands were gnarled with arthritis. Since her face was turned to the vid screen he couldn't get a look at it but from the back she was well proportioned, short for her age, about one hundred and forty four centimeters tall. Her hair was blue but highlighted with a lot of gray.

  According to his scans she was in her mid seventies, for most Terrans before the fall it wasn't even middle age. You didn't get to middle age until after your second century in his time. Here and now it was considered old. He felt a pang over all that had been lost while he slept.