Fool's Gold (The Wandering Engineer) (24 page)

“Incoming
call from the Port Admiral.” A communications tech said looking up concerned.

“Put
it up on the main holo but keep the camera tight on me. Everyone quiet.” The
exec ordered then nodded to the tech. He tapped a code and then turned to watch
the show.

“I
say, what's going on up there. Do I need to come up and bash some heads?” The
portly port Admiral wiped his jowls with a napkin.

“I'm
sorry sir can you be more specific?” The exec replied obviously stalling for
time while he put up his best confused look.

“Enrique
I am getting word that we have a power problem? Do we need to cut off those
lazy louts in engineering? Shut down a few decks?” The Port Admiral replied.
“We've had a serious problem sir, our remaining reactor became unstable and Mr.
Logan was injured trying to repair it.” The exec explained.

“That
ass Logan?” The Port Admiral grunted a few times. “That old man is still
around? I thought he died?” He looked at the camera with beady pig eyes.

“Ah
no sir, that was his wife.” The exec tried not to sweat as he faced his boss.

“Harrumph.
Very well. My condolences.” The Port Admiral waved his napkin. “Jacob send some
flowers to the family.” He waved it off. “Now, the power, what do we need?
Should I seize the Io?” He looked at the exec. Faith stiffened. Irons put his
hand on her arm. She looked down and then at him. He shook his head slowly then
nodded to the exec.

“That
won’t be necessary sir; we have set up a trade agreement with the Io for the
parts and materials we needed.” Enrique quickly tried to divert his boss.

“Are
you sure? I have plenty of guards...” The Port Admiral replied.

“No
sir, Io has been a tremendous help to us. As I was saying we've rebuilt one of
our nonfunctional fusion reactors and it is now powering up with their help.”

“And
just what is this going to cost us?” The Port Admiral stared. “Mostly rocks
sir. And we had to wave the port fees.” Enrique sighed.

“What?
Well I never!” The Admiral grunted face turning red as he turned to face away
from the camera. “Did you say rebuilt one of our reactors?” He turned back to
the camera.

“Why
yes sir. It's functioning at forty five percent and climbing.” Enrique smiled.

The
Port Admiral grunted. “I didn't know we had more than one. Are you sure it's
good? Make sure it works and get some of our money back. I don't want to waste
it on lazy incompetent freighter bums.” He shook his head. Faith's lips rippled
in a suppressed snarl.

“We've
already made the trade sir; in fact they are almost finished with the last
load.” Enrique replied.

“Well,
make sure I do not have any more power fluctuations or disturbances. I am
planning my evening party and I do not want to be disturbed.” The Port
Admiral's fat finger tapped a link and the holo went dead.

The
exec stared for a second then shook himself. “Sorry about that.” He murmured to
Faith and the Admiral as he straightened his uniform.

 "I
don't understand, why not replace him?" Faith asked pointing to the holo.
The natives of Anvil each looked away.

"We
can't he's encoded into the AI." The exec replied.

The
Admiral nodded. "DNA encoded into the kernel of Smithy right?" He
looked over to the exec who reluctantly nodded.

 "Yes
he's the AI. If anything happens to him, the computers shut down." He
threw his hands up helplessly.

"Wait,
does each successor recode the DNA pattern? Otherwise it would drift over
time..." The Admiral pointed out. The doctor looked up.

"Well,
he's a clone." The Admiral spun.

"You’re
kidding me! That's illegal!" He growled.

She
nodded. "After the war the Port Admiral set up a system of government.
He's actually the fourteenth." She jerked her thumb down. The Admiral
shook his head.

"Wait,
he's the fourteenth? With anti-aging treatments... well, maybe the cloning
limits things..." He looked at the Doc who shook her head in disgust.

"No,
plain living in excess. Each clone lives a seditary life style filled with
gluttony and foods that clog the arteries in next to no time. Throw in a
complete lack of exercise and..." She shrugged. The exec nodded.

 "I
can't do anything Admiral, as the staff pointed out I am encoded to him."
Smithy looked apologetic. Sprite had repaired what she could but had been
forced to release the AI during the crisis for more pressing tasks. Obviously
they needed to do some more work.

"If
the Port Admiral passes unexpectedly his clone automatically decants."
Smithy pulled up a holo of a body in stasis.

"Isn't
there a problem with a copy of a copy? Something about errors creeping up in
the DNA over time?" The Admiral asked.

The
doctor shook her head. "They are all cloned from the original." She
sighed and sat down.

"Well,
I have control of the rest of the station now." Irons growled. "I'm
not too keen on hacking your kernel access programs Smithy." He gave the
AI a look.  “At least not while we're in a crisis and while we need you to run
the life support.”

The
AI shrugged. "And I would be forced to resist it while the Admiral is on
station." He shrugged.

Faith's
eyes lit. "What about if he left?" She asked.

"There
is a contingency. If he removes himself and his clone is not ready I am
programmed to self destruct." Smithy replied with a dry voice.

"Okay
that's out. What about a kid? Descendant?" She waved to the holo.

 "The
Admiral has a policy of destroying any unwanted offspring to not cloud the
title." The exec replied as a tech handed him a tablet. He looked it over
for a moment. "There is one living offspring unaccounted for, Juanita
Valdez." Smithy replied. The doctor and Exec looked up sharply.

"You’re
kidding. That piece of..." Faith snarled waving her hands. "You mean
to tell me he tried to rape his own daughter?" She asked.

"No
the Admiral did not know of her biological origin. Had he known she would have
been aborted or killed." Smithy replied looking away.

Irons
cleared his throat. "Right, well, that leaves an opening. I believe you
have the Federation Constitution and local star system laws embedded in your
kernel correct Smithy?" He looked at the holo studying the gaunt gray
whiskered apparition. The AI nodded.

"Admiral
I am a level one AI, it is, was required when I was brought online." The
Admiral nodded. "I predate the last conflict and fall by nearly a
century." Smithy sighed. He was hunched over. His left arm held his hammer
loosely. "So many years. Even I know I need a rest." He shook his
head.

"We'll
see if we can get you another reboot. At least a refresh and new
hardware." The exec said softly. Smithy nodded.

"Perhaps
I should not be here, that way I cannot report anything I shouldn't hear. Good
luck." He nodded to each then left.

The
Exec sighed and set his tablet down on the table. "As hard as it is on us,
it must be a nightmare for him." He shook his head. "We can leave. He
can't." He responded to the doctor's questioning look. She nodded.

“Admiral
I'm getting a call from the captain of the Io.” Sprite informed him as he
worked.

“Put
it through.” He replied.

“Admiral?
This thing working?” The gravelly voice asked.

“Here
captain. What can I do for you?”

“You
wouldn't have fuel would you? The damn fuel here has gone up ten times more
than my last visit. The docking fees too even though you got them waved. I stay
here much longer I'll lose money.” She sighed. “I'm glad you rebuilt my ship,
we'd be in a world of hurt if you hadn't.” He smiled.

“Then
again, stocking up with fuel on our last stop was a good thing too.” She said
smiling slyly. He chuckled.

“Yes
ma'am. That it was. I'm sure the electrolysis machinery has paid for itself.”

“Oh
it has, it has. And this current crisis has inspired some of the more wealthy
people here to leave. They're paying through the nose for it, I've got to make
up some of this damn fee. Vanessa is filling every nook and cranny of the ship
with people. Vanessa even tried to get me to give up my wardroom.” She laughed.

“What
did you say?” He asked smiling, knowing the answer.

“What
do you think? A captain has to have some privileges.” She said chuckling
herself.

“Yes
ma'am. It goes with the job.” He replied with a knowing smile.

“All
right, I'll get to the point. I've caught a lot more scuttlebutt that this
station is about to fall apart. She's on her last legs and it isn't very
healthy place to live. In fact word is that it is about to shut down for good.”

“Yes
ma'am, I know, I'm working on it now with the others. We've got the crisis
under control. I'd prefer that your passengers don't know that though.” Irons
answered patiently.

“Somehow,
I thought so. If you still need a ride, let me know Admiral.” She cackled. “I
think I have a spare broom closet around here, or you could warm my bed. I'll
make you work your tail off for passage one way or the other though.” He
chuckled with her.

“I
wouldn't be surprised in the least captain. I hope you don't mind if I do my
best to disappoint you in this instance.” He replied with a smile and a slight
bow. She chuckled.

“Good.
I'm glad you’re on it.” She said. He nodded. “Very well. Let me know if you
need more help. You've got about two hours now that you've finally finished
with my AI. Out.” He smiled fondly.

“Well,
that was interesting. Who would have thought of a polite how do you do from the
likes of her?” Sprite sniffed. He shrugged. “Back to work I suppose.” The AI
said with sniff.

“And
you have something better to do?” He asked with a laugh.

“Admiral
you’re needed in the Valdez compound.” Io's voice had a distinctive hint of
suppressed humor in it. He looked up tiredly.  Irons had gotten less than an
hour’s sleep in the past five days. They were finally out of the woods though.
Four's bottle was stable and carrying the stations load.

“Is
it important?” he asked wearily.

She
laughed. “Very. Get going Admiral. I'm leaving port in less than an hour.” He
nodded.

"So
what did you need me for? One last good bye?" The Admiral leaned over
smiling at Jen. Her eyes twinkled. She had met him at the front door.

"Now
why would we want to do that? Some are glad you’re gone. Hell, after the past
couple days you put us through..." He laughed. "Not naming any names
of course." Her smile turned into a grin.

"Right."
He smiled back. She waved.

"Since
you've set up shop with the Rodriguez-Valdez family we should go there."

He
shrugged. "Okay." They entered the room and she took the lead, moving
with obvious foreknowledge to the shuttle bay. "What are you up to Jen?
Junior and Jorge took the tugs out on runs this morning." She smiled over
her shoulder as she entered the lock. "Okay. Not going to tell me,"
he sighed as he looked down to step over the knee knocker.

He
looked up on the other side of the lock to the fleet launch and a crowd of
techs. "Surprise!"

He
shook his head in wonder. "When did you do this?" He admired her
graceful curves and lines.

"Oh
we were working on it with the hospital stuff after we left Gaston. She isn't
quite finished, but I think you had a hand in that right?" Faith smiled as
she clasped his hand. He chuckled.

"Yeah,
well, all for a good cause," he replied.

She
nodded. "If you can get the rust and crud out of this place and make it
halfway decent again, yeah. Worthy effort in anyone's book."

He
chuckled. Jen smiled. "Just another challenge right Admiral?" He
looked over the craft.

"Yes."
Sprite's handshake protocol bounced back. "Still needs a lot of
work," he smiled.

"We
managed to give the sub light engines and life support an overhaul. As you can
see, the hull too." Faith patted the newly painted and restored hull.
"She's missing some of her electronics, and interior furnishings."
She shrugged. "Power plant has been rebuilt, but this beauty preferred
antimatter, tissant a stitch or molecule to be had between here and the void
though," Faith waved despairingly.

"We
pulled her antimatter core and swapped it for a fusion core from one of the
etops," Deidra came over smiling. He shook hands with her. "She flies
like a brick right now with her electronics messed up, but I bet you can fix
that." He nodded studying the ship once more.

"Yeah,
I think she will come in handy," he said. Deidra chuckled.

A
jingling sound made Faith curse and grab at her hip. "Damn." She
flipped her communicator open. "Yes?"