New Dawn (Wandering Engineer) (33 page)

"Nope, let’s start with the
mattress shall we?" he ordered and pointed.

"Accessing. Got it. I'm
redirecting it now," Proteus said. The robot turned and scanned the
mattress, then bobbed. It's ultrasonic’s lit and he felt the wash of high
frequency sound over his sensors.

Hastily he moved away. When the
robot was done he tossed a blanket onto the mattress then laid down. "Get
it started on the quarters; I'm going to get some down time," he ordered,
and then closed his eyes.

“Aye Admiral. It's about
time," Defender answered. His lips quirked in a smile.

The Chief led the work crew in
and watched with a smug expression as they set up. The engineer was down for
his nap, when he woke it would all be over. "Set up over there. Make sure
there's nothing left for him to fix," she said and pointed. One of the
guards smirked as she set up the tripod. Two others manhandled the crew service
plasma gun on top and locked it down.

"Are you sure about this? He
hasn't done anything wrong so far,” the guard said.

The Chief nodded. "I'm going
to go rig the computer logs. Get it done. That's an order."

They set in with a will, shooting
the pinnance starting at the bow. After the first few shots they stopped
cheering. After a few more it began to pall into routine. Sure destruction is
fun, but they knew someone was going to catch hell for it. Sparks flew off the
hull and it glowed red under the continuous plasma fire. "Shouldn't we
stop now?" one of the guards asked nervously. "I mean, the Captain is
going to be pissed."

Another shook her head. "Not
on your life. Chief wants a clean sweep." She crouched down behind the gun
and tightened her grip. "Watch this!"

The shot hit the power core and
it ruptured. Fortunately it wasn't fully charged for those on the rest of the
ship. The women in the bay weren't so fortunate however. The core's overload
explosion shredded the pinnance, spraying the bay with lethal shrapnel. In the
armored confines of the bay it was a slaughter, no corner was spared. The drive
shattered the fatigued hatch, and after a momentary groan it breached, sucking
the bay's contents out into the void.

He felt the jar as she ship shook
and opened his eyes. "Report," he ordered getting out of bed as
another shake unsettled dust from the nooks and crannies above and down into a
cloud.

"Hull breach, deck eight, it
looks like starboard boat bay, aft," Proteus reported. He froze.

"Did we leave something
on?" Sprite asked and then paused. "Records of the bay are off line.
But I can access and check things out. Give me a moment," she said.

He nodded. "All right, time
to get dressed." Alarms in the corridor were still wailing.

He exited as the ship bucked
again, steadying the guard there. "What are you doing up?" she asked.

He snorted. "What do you
think?" he growled. He led them out and down the corridor.
"Report." The guard didn't like the command, but instinctively
obeyed.

"I don't know what's going
on," she said.

He grunted. "Hull breach,
deck eight aft," he said.

He maneuvered the beam then heard
a gasp. "Did he say deck eight?" the guard asked.

He nodded. "Let’s get a move
on."

At the conference the Captain's
anger was palatable. Tension sang in the air. Grimly the Chief nodded to her.
"Report, what the hell happened to my ship," she snarled.

He cocked his head. "There
was a hull breach in the starboard aft shuttle bay. Apparently five security
crew members were inside and were killed," Irons said. He turned to the
Chief.

"My condolences on your
department's loss," he said reading her expression.

Her poker face dropped into a
snarl. "Condolences? What the hell is that? What did you do? This is your
fault!"

The Captain's hands knit together
and her eyes flicked between them. "This true?" She looked to Molly.

"Ah, I mean, um, I'm not
sure. The power core of the pinnance breached," she said and then she
shrugged helplessly to the engineer.

The Captain's eyes glittered.
"Unfortunately the records of the bay have been deleted," the
engineer said quietly into the silence.

The Captain looked over to him. "Deleted?
Is that what you said?" she demanded.

He nodded. "Aye Captain,
deleted. By security." He turned a cool look to the Chief.

Her lips quivered. "We don't
know what happened, we may never know. I still say you’re at fault," she
got that out without a full snarl.

 He shook his head. "No,
although we don't have records of the bay, we do have them of the
corridor," he replied. Her eyes widened in shock as the hologram lit and a
four way view of the corridor was displayed. The Chief and work crew were seen
carrying the weapon, entering the bay, and then leaving. The compartment was
utterly silent.

"Everyone out now," The
Captain said with command voice when the image froze. The Admiral and women
backed away and turned. "Not you Chief," she growled. Glittering eyes
locked onto her. "I think you and I have something to discuss."

"So, how are your
quarters?" Molly asked him as they exited. "I'll swap with you if you
want, it's the least I could do." She fumbled her glasses, taking them off
and wiping them nervously. "I'm real sorry about the way you’re being
treated," she said. She looked away.

He sighed. "Well, they're
about clean now, I had a robot clean them while I was asleep. Going to take
time to fix them up though," he said.

She nodded. "I'll see what I
can do to help."

He nodded. "Thanks
Molly." He waved to the corridor exit. "What say we go get some
breakfast and then talk about today's work schedule? He suggested."

She sighed with relief.
"Yeah. I think that's a good idea."

“Think she'll be in a lot of
trouble?” he asked Molly quietly in the wardroom the next morning. She shook
her head. “No, she's the Captain's granddaughter; I doubt it'll last for long,
more's the pity,” she said. She looked annoyed. “She deserves it,” that last
came out scathing.

He shrugged. “I noticed the
guards are... nervous.”

Molly looked over to the hatch
then back and grinned. “Yeah, I guess so.”

 "I heard the chief got
royally reamed yesterday." Jen smiled evilly. "Serves her
right!" She gave the Admiral a look as they walked down the corridor.

"Think she'll be out?"

Molly sighed. "No chance on
that, She told her grandmother she had set up a training exercise and someone
must have gotten carried away, used the plasma gun on the pinnance or
something."

Both girls and the Admiral
grimaced. "Damn, did she buy it?" Jen asked. They nodded to the
guards as the door opened. Inside the security chief was standing near the
window. "Looks like it," Jen muttered.

The chief turned. "What's
this about security being re-prioritized at the bottom of the repair
list?" the chief glared.

Molly grimaced. "Good
morning Em, nice to see you too." She took a cup of coffee from the
steward and sat down.

"I'm waiting." the
chief glared, arms crossed.

"Go ahead and wait, you’re
going to have a long time doing it," Molly replied not looking up.

"And just what's that
supposed to mean?" the chief snarled.

"Oh, it means we have other
priorities now," Jen took a cup from the stewardess and then sat down,
looking at Molly then up at the chief.

"Like what?" Vanessa
asked sitting back.

"Oh like repairing that boat
bay. Fixing all the equipment that was shattered, and replacing all the cargo
that was in there. We're damn lucky we didn't lose the ship," Molly
replied then took a sip

. "Not to mention the five
shuttle craft," Jen added.

"Four, one belonged to the
Admiral," the chief replied with a snide look his way.

Jen met her eye to eye.
"Really, I forgot that. I don't remember the Captain signing it over to
him just yet," she said. The chief's nostrils flared.

"Still, that doesn't excuse
you dropping my priorities!" Molly's temper flared. "After what
happened in that boat bay it will be a cold day in Hades before we get to
you." Her knuckles whitened around the cup. The chief dropped her right
hand to her pulser.

The door opened and the Captain
hovered in. "Good morning, I see a few of us woke up on the wrong side of
the bed again," she said. She nodded to the officers, and then met her
granddaughter’s glare. "Have a seat why don't you," her tone made it
an order. Reluctantly she obeyed.

"Now, we have a few things
to work on, I understand it's going to take some time to make repairs?"
the captain asked politely. The Admiral nodded.

"Weeks," Jen sighed.
"Getting that hatch replaced is going to be a bitch," she said as she
took a sip from her drink. "Sorry for the language Captain," she
blushed.

"And the cargo?" The
Captain asked, picking up her cup of tea and taking a sip.

"Here's the inventory
list." Quietly Vanessa handed over a tablet. "As you can see, we got
off light; I had managed to clear nearly half of what was in there the previous
shift." She shook her head.

"Still, we lost a lot, and a
lot of the water containers," she sighed.

"We'll just have to make
more won't we?" the Captain asked then smiled.

After another marathon session
tracing leads he decided to take a break and get some work done on his
quarters. It'd be nice to at least get the head and shower working. He
negotiated the corridors waving to work parties he passed. It was a relief not
having the entourage, some of the women were professional, but others had
showed open hostility that had jarred on his nerves and made him edgy.

He turned a corner and was
pleasantly surprised to see the floor panels had been replaced. The lights
repaired, and the debris was gone. A pair of girls were sweeping the corridor
down near the next junction. They turned and waved. He waved back. Molly came
out of his quarters, turned and smiled. She fiddled with her glasses and then
shrugged.

“I cleaned the head, and your
robot had to be dumped. It's down the corridor.” She waved in the direction of
the girls. “How does it clean like that?” she asked.

“Oh, a combination of
ultrasonics, infrared beams, and a gravity pulse emitter,” he answered as he
passed her.

She turned. “All that in that
little thing?” she demanded. He smiled as he took in the quarters.

The lights had been repaired, as
had most of the electronics. Even the mini replicator had been replaced. He
wasn't sure how they'd pulled that off, he was the only one who could make one.
Wait, he had made spares. Ah... that explained it.

He nodded and waved her back in.
“Miniaturization. Ultrasonics are used in a lot of things, from sensors,
cleaning, showers, and stunners.”  He indicated the head to include it as well.

“Oh, I forgot about that. I
didn't know you could take a shower with sound though,” she said. She fiddled
with her glasses. “Does it really work?”

He smiled. “Yes, it vibrates the
dust and grime off your skin. Of course it doesn't do it alone; there are fans
and an infrared lamp as well.” He checked out the desk, and then traced a
finger along the replicator’s power button. It lit. “Coffee black,” he ordered.
The machine's small enclosure lit, then the sound of liquid began to pour.

“I see you've been putting your
skills to work,” he said with a smile of approval. He took the cup out, saluted
her with it and took a sip. Steam waved over the cup.

Molly blushed. “We have you to
thank for that,” she murmured. He smiled. “Can you work on the port OMS
tomorrow?” she asked. He nodded.

It had taken a long time, but he
finally had the port OMS pod cleaned and repaired. It would need a bit more
work to recalibrate the thrusters, and a space walk to make sure the variable
thrusters were not clogging or getting kinked. He heard voices and sat there,
stretching slowly. They were outside the hatch.

"So, has anyone flipped the
sheets with him yet? a voice asked and he realized it was a group of gossips.
He stood up and stretched more, getting some of the kinks out.

"No, I mean, he has been so
busy, and there are guards with him all the time," another girl said. He
froze.

"Did anyone get a good look
at him?" another voice asked whistfully.

Okay, they could be talking about
that other guy Bart. "No, and that robot arm is kinda scary," the
first voice said. No such luck. He grimaced.

"He's kinda handsome, and a
war hero. But old," one of the girls giggled.

"Well, it isn't that bad, I
mean, if you ignore the stasis..." she petered the sentence off
suggestively.

"Yeah, I caught a look at
him with his shirt off, he has nice pecks!" the second girl said giggling.
He shook his head blushing.

One of the girls squealed.
"I'd love to run my hands all over them..."

"Or his butt!"  the
first said.The girls giggled again. He sighed and covered his face with his
hands.

"But I heard he's older than
the Captain," one girl said confused.

"No way! He can't be that
old! Doesn't look it!" several girls said. He grunted.

"Oh gross, that'd be like
sleeping with your great grandfather! EWWW!” the natural response from
teenagers started. He chuckled.

The voices faded as the guard
murmured. He palmed the door open and gathered his tools. He looked up to see
the girls on the other side of the hatch, frozen. He froze himself.
"Evening ladies," he said politely. They just stared, red faced. He
straightened and shouldered the kit, then stepped over the hatches knee
knocker.

"Next," he said as he
motioned the guards to the next job. They followed. He could hear the whispers
behind him, but actively suppressed the urge to listen in.