Fool's Gold (The Wandering Engineer) (29 page)

"I'm
shocked you’re not at the ball?" he half teased, half asked.

"I
didn't have a proper date. Besides, your charges gave me the excuse I needed to
get out of it," she half grimaced, half smiled.

 "Between
you, me, and the bulkhead, I hate parties too," he chuckled."I'm glad
you’re going to open another clinic or two. I think that will help a lot. There
are several old ones that were closed on the lower decks. I can get them
cleaned up for you or we can renovate some other space if you would like."
He cocked his head as he brought up a station diagram on his HUD.

"No,
the old facilities will work, at least they have the right power and plumbing
connections. Hell, they might have some gear there. Not that I would dream of
using anything that's not clean or functional." She shook her head.
"In fact, I do have a free clinic I open monthly a few decks down. We can
start there. It's functional," she nodded. "Right, I've put in the
work order Admiral. We need more manpower though," Sprite informed him.

"The
order has been logged Doc, I'll see if I can scare up some bodies to get things
sorted out. I suggest looking into opening the college medical clinic as well.
It's not as big as this facility, but it's close." He nodded to her
getting up.

"You
do that. I'll see if I can send down an RN and a couple trainers tomorrow. I
may even have Sara there so she doesn't have to walk so far. And Admiral,
thanks," she smiled. "You've given me hope that we really can
change."

"Good.
But this is just the easy part Doc, wait till we start getting to the hard
stuff like oh, politics or cybernetic augmentation..." he smiled at her
from the doorway. "Implants!" She looked startled. His smile widened.
"You are not... you are. Damn you.. you’re going to have me so wired I
won’t be able to sleep tonight. Get out of here before I have us both
sedated," she waved dismissively. He chuckled and left.

"Admiral
your two wayward waifs are bringing in more," Sprite seemed amused as the
AI pulled up footage from a security camera. He smiled as he watched the duo
explain to a group of people. there was no sound but he could just imagine how
it was going. A few looked wary but several peeled off to tell others.
"What do you want to bet each of them will tell two or three others and so
on and so forth? You’re going to be inundated with recruits Admiral. I think
we're in trouble," Sprite laughed. He shook his head.

"Ask
Logan for a couple volunteer life support techs to report to the dorms with
some basic parts and tool kits. Let’s get this show on the road." He
nodded to the guards at the lift.

He
made it to the dorm corridor just as a crowd descended. "Ladies and
gentlemen, if I can have your attention!" He raised his hands and volume
as the crowd slowed to a stop. "All right, thank you for coming here. For
those of you that don't know or who are not sure what is going on, this section
is now the temporary dorm of the Anvil trade school and community college.
Those of you that volunteer will be assigned quarters and will receive food,
clothing, medical care, training, and later, pay for your services."

Matt
and Sara made their way through the crowd to their door. He nodded to them. The
cleaning robot had finished one side of the corridor, he indicated it.
"Here is a start. As is this." He nodded to Matt who palmed the door
open. The robot inside floated out, spun, then began working on the dirty side
of the corridor. Several people ducked in and exclaimed. Apparently some had
known what the rooms looked like before hand.

"For
those who don't know, a few hours before it was like this." Irons tapped a
nearby door control and stepped aside. Several looked in then looked at him.
The faces ranged in gender, age, and race. There were several Tarq in the
group, and a pair of elves. More elves were hanging around the Tarq' s
hindquarters. He smiled. "I know you've had it rough, but with some elbow
grease and time we'll get things turned around. Matt can you get a crew
together working on a couple of the quarters while I check on the rest?"
he asked. Matt nodded. Sara smiled.

"I'll
get the food and drinks." She ducked into her quarters. A moment later she
ducked out and grabbed a girl's arm. "Come on Keisha, you can help."
She dragged her into the room.

The
Admiral chuckled. "Okay, I know a few of you would like to freshen up, but
since we're dirty already, we might as well get this mess sorted out." He
felt a brush of air as another pair of cleaning robots floated in.

"Courtesy
of Chief Logan," a tech said following them. She wrinkled her nose.
"We really do have our work cut out for us." She sighed shaking her
head. "These the volunteers?" she asked. Her partner looked around.

The
Admiral nodded. "Yup, with more to follow. You've just been drafted as a
teacher and tech," he smiled at her startled look.

"Me?"
she asked surprised.

"You.
It comes with a promotion and pay upgrade. Grab a couple of people and get
started." He waved to a trio of people. They looked nervous.

"Where
do we begin?" the woman asked.

"Best
to start at the beginning. Work on the basics. Power, lights, gravity, life
support, the food replicators, and refreshers. We'll worry about admin and
paperwork later." He waved down the darkened corridor. She nodded.

"Right,
all right you lot, follow me." She palmed a door. It failed to open. She
shook her head and took a pry bar tool from her belt and then pried the doors
open. She pulled out a flash light and then entered the room. The trio
followed. Her partner picked out another trio and entered an adjacent room.

"Do
you wish to leave your baby with miss Sara for now?" he asked the Tarq.
The six legged hammer headed alien shook its head. two eyes focused on him
while another pair rolled back to eye it's pouch on its back. "All right.
What about you two?" he turned to the elf pair.

The
elves were a bipedal race, small arboreal primate descendants. Like most
sentient species they were omnivores. They had large widely separated black
eyes with horizontal white or green irises. Each long arm ended in a three
fingered hand. They had little fur like the Tarq, most of it in a mo-hawk that
extended down their backs. Their skin was olive shade.

Above
each eye thick whiskers projected out. Their ears were long and pointed, with
whisker hairs on the tips. They constantly twitched at the noises around them.
Their legs were short much like the stocky Tarq, making them hunch over and
sometimes knuckle walk. Unlike the Tarq they had a prehensile, rat like tail.
It was curled up in a vertical spiral ready for action.

Elves
were the common human name for their species. Their species native name and
tongue were completely impossible for unaugmented humans to reproduce. They
spoke in ultra high frequencies. He opened his universal communicator and
tapped it. "Do you two have a job preference?" he asked in their
native common tongue. The two looked startled. Wide eyed they stared at him.
The female reached out and touched him tentatively. He tried not to smile, a
show of teeth was a threat to both the elves and the herbivore Tarq.

"My
name is Fleet Admiral Irons. I am a sleeper from the distant past. I have
implants." He slowly raised his right arm. He ran his intro sequence,
watching as the group stared as his arm morphed then returned to normal.

"We
can sweep, or clean air ducts," the male said after a moment. He looked at
his mate.

"You
can do much more than that if you’re willing to learn. Menial tasks for now to
get the quarters sorted out. Robots will take over when they become available.
I know you have great potential." He bowed to each of them. Slowly they
each bowed in return.

"We
thank you for your hospitality and generosity. It is much appreciated and will
be forever remembered." The male pointed to an unused room. "May our
clan use that room?" he asked.

"Your
clan is welcome to use that room. We can change it to better suit your needs in
time." He nodded to them. The elves and Tarq entered the room. Several
other Elves broke from behind the crowd to join them.

"Um,
we need a new bed Admiral?" The female tech came out. "This one is
shot, the foam has been chewed." She tossed the ragged mess into the
corridor.

"Right,
new bed foam coming up. Also bedding and other materials, I'm putting in an 
order now. Tutorials as well," Sprite said. Several more people started to
come in around the corridor. "A very large order," Sprite amended. He
chuckled.

“Pitch
the old gear out. We'll get garbage bins. Matt, get someone to run garbage to
the nearest replicator so they can recycle it.” Matt poked his head out the
door waved and went back to work.

A little
while later they had the groups sorted out. One pair was keeping watch,
introducing any newcomers and setting them to work. Sara made the rounds,
handing out food and drinks. She surreptitiously checked each, and informed him
of several problems. He nodded. Several of the people were medically unfit,
some were limping with withered limbs. There were several entire families, and
over a dozen children. He knew he was quickly becoming swamped. The head count
so far was over two hundred and climbing rapidly. "Sprite..."

"We
need cavalry. Got it. I'm calling Shelby, she'll send a couple more techs and
more bots. The first load is coming now." He turned to see a worker
pushing a floating cart.

"Load
is here," a girl called, excited. He smiled. Sara had made new outfits
with the food replicator and had managed to get some of the folks into clean
clothes. The elves looked relieved. They had been wearing scraps, human infant
clothing, or cast off doll clothing. Some had not been amused at wearing
tattered frilly outfits. Now they were in their traditional togas.

He
turned as one came out, then another and another. He peeked into their room to
see over a dozen of them. Wiring had been pulled from the ceiling and reworked
into a network of hammocks. "Right, hopefully none of that is live."
He shook his head.

"No,
it’s okay," one elf replied in basic while passing him. He looked startled
then nodded.

"Right,
genie?" he asked. Elves, or at least natural Elves couldn't handle basic
speech. Their vocal cords weren't designed for it. She looked confused then her
face cleared into a mischievous smile.

"Oh,
no, we're descendants actually. Most of us anyway." She waved to the
others. Several newcomers had infants they carried on their backs. One had a
pack of material tightly wrapped in his tail.

"Right,
okay then, let’s get this sorted out. Matt?" He nodded to Matt who nodded
back. "No problem boss." Matt smiled tight lipped. He whistled and
several people came out. In moments the push pull was clean. The startled worker
looked bemused then shrugged and left.

He
felt a tug at his pant line and looked down. A female elf looked up at him with
wide eyes. "Thank you for your kindness Admiral." He nodded to her.

"And
you are?" he asked.

"My
name is Purple-Blossom." She ran a hand through her purple tipped mo-hawk.
The hairs were actually long stemmed feather structures. They fluffed briefly
then settled down. "My father is Oberon, he passes on his thanks."
She looked around nervously.

"I
was wondering about the Tarq, it is unusual to see only one." He nodded to
the six limbed alien.

"Sh-rack
is one of the last on the station. She was... " The elf looked away for a
moment then met his eyes squarely. "Her mate distracted the security goons
allowing her to escape." He sucked in a breath. "They like to hunt us
for sport," she practically spat. He sighed suppressing his emotions.

"All
right, if you can identify those responsible, do so. I will handle it." He
stepped aside as a pair of people came by with a mattress. "If your clan
needs supplies please inform the computer, Matt or myself." He waved. She
nodded.

"We
will. I am the day caretaker for the clan, I should be going." She turned
and sprinted off. He chuckled softly.

"You've
got a lot of them aliens here." A voice said from a shadowed corner. He
turned to it. A frail body huddled under the blankets. From the shape it was
human.

"All
are welcome who wish to work." He nodded to the person. Sprite overlaid a
thermal scan. The person was male but was obviously underweight.

"You
don't get it, they ain't good for nothin  'sept cleaning the ducts or runnin
messages." The man took a swig from a drink then wiped spittle on the back
of a mottled hand. "No good alien scum. Security should space the
lot," he growled.

The
Admiral stiffened then knelt next to the man. "I don't care for your tone
or your message son. You want to express your opinion, it's your business, but
poison the morale here and I WILL make you regret it." He locked eyes with
the man. Yellow eyes burned at him then fell. "This is a second chance for
anyone, regardless of species. We're going to rebuild this station, then the
system, then the galaxy. You can help or you can sit in a corner and
watch," he gave the man a long cold look.