New Dawn (Wandering Engineer) (32 page)

Shandra bounced a bit. "Yes,
there's stellar drift, not to mention all the damage from the war," she
said, adding her two credits to the conversation.

Molly cocked her head, and then
nodded. "Okay, but what about how the ship's computer is reacting
now?" She pointed to the console. "It's running much better now,
almost alive."

He smiled. "Well, for one
thing we've been making repairs to a lot of the hardware." She grunted.
"For another I've been cleaning out the viruses and reorganizing things.
I've even cobbled together a ship's AI from the hard back up files and my own
resources," he said.

Shandra shook her head. "I'm
not sure if I like a smart computer."

He shrugged. "As we make
repairs, they become necessary. The crew can't even begin to handle all the
functions on this ship, there's too much to do, and a lot of it has to be done
in microseconds, far faster than a human can handle."

Molly nodded. "That's right,
like the hyperdrive! And the power cores! We can't balance them manually; we
have to let the computer do it." She snapped her fingers and tapped her
foot on the deck. Shandra rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I guess so."

“Admiral, what are you doing
about the port engine feed? We still have a crimped fuel line in between frames
A36 and A37.” He finished the weld then looked up.

“Hand me part 13j23e please,” he
asked. Shandra looked confused.  “The box next to you.”

She looked down. “Oh, Okay.” She
handed it to him and he plugged it in then screwed it down to the deck.

 “Okay, to answer your question,
we may have to bypass the crimp as a temporary fix, then yank the crimped line
and recycle it.”

 She looked confused. “But we
can't get to it.”

He nodded. “Yeah, it would mean
pulling the entire hull section apart. The other method is to do the bypass,
drain the old line, and then flood it with specialized micro robots.”

She nodded. “How can they get to
it?”

He smiled. “From the inside.”

Her eyes widened. “We can do
that?”

He nodded. “Of course.” She
smiled.

"So, what's your problem
with me?" he asked as he and the chief faced off. He glared at the Chief.
"Ever since I've woken up you've had it in for me Chief. Care to explain
why?" he asked.

Her nostrils dilated, and her
stare narrowed. "I don't like you. You’re a risk," she growled.

He cocked his head. "In what
way?" he asked. She shook her head then began ticking off points with her
fingers.

"First, you’re from the
past, with more training. Second, since you woke you've gone your own way.
Third, you’re a cyborg, and may have illegal access to the network. Fourth, you
act as if you’re still in the past," her glower intensified. "The
Federation is dead. DED Dead. You seem to forget that at every turn and order
everyone around," she snarled. He shrugged.

"Chief, First, I can't help
being where I'm from, my skills, or my body. As to the rest, well, yes, I have
been going my own way. I'm following the agreement the Captain and I
forged." He smiled then turned away. He turned back after a momentary
pause.

"You're right though, I have
been burying myself in the job. It's one way to deal with time shock." She
tapped her fingers on the butt of her gun. "Besides, I always loved a
challenge, and restoring this old girl is quite a challenge." He waved his
hands to indicate the ship.

Molly grinned. "You got that
right!" She was excited again. "We still have a lot to do though and
less than nine weeks until we exit hyper! We need to plan! Like the port engine,
it's still in need of an overhaul..." She grabbed his arm and practically
dragged him out of the compartment. He snorted and gave a wave to the others.

He looked over the boat bay and
sighed. "Quiet a piece of work," a familiar voice said behind him.
The pilot and boy came up behind him. He nodded.

The Captain turned. "Think
you can work your magic?" she growled. He shrugged. "You fix them and
get us into Gamma and you can have one," she said suddenly. He turned to
her.

Deidra protested. "But Captain,
we need them for parts..." She waved that off.

"Not since the Admiral
repaired the replicators," the captain said. The woman stopped eyes wide.
"The fleet pinnance and it's a deal." He held out his hand.

"The fleet pinnance? That
hunk of junk?" the pilot muttered.

"Why do you want...?"
Sprite began to ask. "Oh, should have known, you always loved a fixer
upper," she sighed theatrically. The Captain eyed him then nodded. She
reached out and shook his hand.

"On one other condition, you
get a full medical work up by the doc." He held her hand, staring into her
eyes. "This ship needs a Captain, one in good health," he growled.

The Captain chuckled.
"Setting terms?"

He nodded. "Just
respectfully requesting," he replied.

She smiled. "We'll
see." She sat back once he freed her hand.

"All right." He nodded
to the boy. "Understudy?" The Captain chuckled.

"Something like that,"
the pilot muttered. "Go check on the diagnostic Hibiki." The pilot
waved to the boy.

His shoulders slumped. "Awe,
I never get to hear the good stuff!" he huffed off, kicking his feet. The
Captain and engineer chuckled.

"Kids," they said in
unison, and then looked to one another chuckling.

"Something’s never
change," the Admiral observed.

"Nor should they," the
Captain replied as she turned. "All right, I'll leave these projects in
your capable hands."

He nodded. "Aye aye
Captain." He rubbed his hands together.

"All right which do you want
to overhaul first?" he asked. He turned to the pilot. She nodded her chin
to the cargo shuttle. It was a trash hauler, he was amused to recognize it as
the ship that brought his cryopod in.

"That one of course, it's
our primary craft," she said. He'd heard they had replicated a few parts
for it but not a whole lot. She shook her head. "I don't see what you
think you can accomplish..." He waved to her to precede him. "Well,
we can make a list."

A half hour later she was shaking
her head. "I never knew, never," she said over and over in wonder.
She sighed as he unjacked.

"Well, the shuttle's now
virus free, and the software has been recompiled. I'll have to finish some of
the backups later,” he said and then shrugged. I uploaded a list of parts to
engineering and to your e-mail." The pilot looked bewildered.

"How? You were in...” she
tapered off as he smiled.

"I can multi task." He
tapped the controls. "Okay, I can realign the port emitter, but the rest
will have to wait for parts," he said. "It may take a little time;
we've a backlog and limited supply of material." He waved to the other
shuttles. “How about them next?"

The pilot looked up startled.
"Okay," she said with a smile. She started to get with the program.
"Yeah, how about the personnel shuttle...over there in the corner,"
she suggested.

He nodded. "Okay, let me get
that emitter fixed, and then we can take a look."

"There are twelve shuttles
in the bay." He pulled up the hologram deck plan of each of the shuttle
bays. "This ship can have up to thirty six, since she's a tender and
designed to handle them in her four boat bays." He flicked through them
one by one. "There are four cargo shuttles, all civilian grade, one
pinnance, two short range civilian passenger shuttles, and a couple work
pods," he said. The hologram displayed each one by one.

"From the ship's records,
you've been cannibalizing the others to keep the one remaining cargo shuttle in
good repair." He looked over to the pilot who nodded. "Now that the
replicators are on line, we've made minor repairs to the second shuttle to get it
flying, and now can begin to repair the other shuttles," he said. Her eyes
widened at that.

"The Captain has agreed to
trade me the pinnance for my continued services, so I'll repair that on my
own."

She cocked her head. "That
thing is a wreck you know that right?" she demanded.

He nodded. "I always loved a
challenge," he said with a smile.

She snorted. "It's going to
need a miracle."

He chuckled. "Okay, since
this ship is an interstellar freighter, I would suggest first focusing on the
cargo shuttles, specifically these two, which are atmosphere rated."

“Vanessa how's the Admiral doing
in his new quarters?” the Captain asked as she went over the figures Vanessa
had brought to her.

“Um er.. Quarters? I'm not sure
what you mean?” Vanessa looked confused.

Exasperated the Captain set the
tablet down in front of her. “The quarters you were supposed to have set up for
him? Remember? I ordered you to set them up months ago!” She waved her hand
then glared at the squirming Purser.

 “Um, ah...” Vanessa gave the
security guard a look. “That's to say, Emily came to me and said that he was
fine where he is,” she said. She fidgeted under the Captain's icy gaze.

“She did did she? I want this
rectified
.
Now,
” she growled. Vanessa nodded defeated. The captain turned and left
without a further word.

“Did you hear that even Tara is
afraid to go to deck twelve? I guess it really is haunted!” one of the girls
passed and Vanessa looked up.

The Chief smiled evilly. “Well,
isn't that nice. If he's so interested in getting his own quarters, perhaps we
can put him down there,” she suggested. Vanessa nodded. “And just think all
sorts of accidents happen down there all the time,” the chief whispered. Emily
drummed her fingers on her pulser. Vanessa looked around suddenly nervous. She
felt relief that the Captain and crew were out of ear shot down the corridor.

“Em, we still need him,” She
cautioned, not meeting the Chief's gaze.

The chief's lips quivered then
stilled for a moment. “For now. Only for now,” she growled. Vanessa shivered as
the lethal amazon moved off.

“I spoke with the purser and had
quarters assigned to you,” the Captain told the Admiral as she approached.

He turned wearily. “Thank you
Captain,” he said.

She smiled. “You’re about done
in, let the ladies finish up here and get some rest,” she said.

He gave Molly a look. She nodded
and smiled. “We can handle it,” she said.

The Captain smiled. “That's an
order.”

He nodded. “Aye aye Captain.” She
chuckled as she turned the chair and left.

He was tired when they left to go
to his newly assigned quarters. The lead guard led him down one passage after
another. Sprite kept a running plot on his location on the HUD; they were down
on deck twelve, near the stern. He was both dismayed and amused to have to walk
a beam to get there, sections of the corridor floor had been removed.

"Why can't we come in the
other way?" he asked the lead guard. She shook her head.

"Hull breach, can't get in
there unless you can suck vacuum. You fancy pants engineers missed that
one," the lead guard growled. She gave him a challenging look over her
shoulder then moved on.

“Thanks for pointing it out,” he
muttered.

 In front of a section of
quarters there was a pile of debris, topped with a battered cleaning robot. He
shook his head. The corridor was a mess, wiring hanging down, debris
everywhere, soot and stains all over the walls.

One of the guards thumbed the
control to the door. "Here you go. Don't expect room service," she
smirked. He entered and dropped his duffel with a sigh. The room was dark, only
one weak light worked. But his enhanced vision was enough to see the stains,
debris and filth. He turned as one of the guards closed the door. He thumbed it
open, but it refused. He snorted as he jacked in.

In a second the door was open.
The guards gaped. One of them recovered faster than the other.
"Problem?" she asked, in a tone that indicated there better not be.

He smiled. "Just need to get
something." He stepped out and over to the pile.

"Please tell me we aren't
going back to work, I need a break," the other guard muttered. He hid his
smile as he crouched down and took a look at the robot. It was a CJ series 4, a
hovering general purpose cleaner. From the singe marks someone had used it as
target practice. He picked it up and turned.

"What do you think you’re
doing with that?" the lead guard asked, indicating the robot.
"Homework," he said as he passed her and her partner and closed his
door behind him.

He swept the junk off the table
to the floor then carefully set the robot down. Reconfiguring his arm, he
jacked in and checked it out. Fortunately his USB jack could power it, the
batteries were exhausted. Most of the damage was superficial. The ultrasonics
were intact, as was the computer, lift drive and power supply. He used his tool
kit to make repairs to the damaged eye and broken power cable, and then dumped
its collection bin. "Now, how do we power it?" he asked softly.

"Sensors indicate there is a
live power jack port side," Proteus reported. A karat appeared on his HUD.

He nodded. "Thanks." He
pulled a cable from his tool kit and plugged it in, then the free end into the
robot. Its status bar lit and began to pulse.

"That did it. Going to have
it clean?" Proteus asked.

He nodded. "Starting with
the mattress." His nose wrinkled. "No way am I sleeping on that as it
is," he growled. He scraped off the crud from the toilet, did his
business, and then checked the robot. "Okay junior, here you go."

He unplugged the robot and
watched as its drive started to spin. It wobbled, and then with a low whine
took off. It hovered around in a circle, waggling its control vanes, and then
set to the port wall