New Dawn (Wandering Engineer) (49 page)

"All right, that's the best
I can do Admiral. This ship is a deathtrap. No replicators and it's falling
apart," Sprite commented hours later. "You’re not going to go on this
are you?"

He shook his head as he withdrew
and looked up. "All right gents, the software repair is done. I rerouted
the electronics the best I can," he said. He looked over to Garth who was
scowling.

"I just heard from the
purser, He's trading most of our cargo for the parts we need," Garth said.
He looked bleak. "We'll get a small replicator though," he said.

He turned to the Admiral.
"I'm not sure it'll help," He said with a nod.

"I uploaded some
documentation to help you, and flagged the manuals,” he said after a moment.
"Let me see about doing a few patches while I'm here, starting with that
plasma buss." He sat up straight and set his hand on the console. "I
would suggest trying to repair a cleaning robot or trading for one. The little
things do a mountain of work, and save on energy," he suggested. He waved
at the grime covered walls.

"Been meaning to do
something about that," the Chief muttered.

The guard turned to the engineer
closing her eyes briefly and wrinkling her nose. "I'm sure," he
nodded as he got up. Garth was staring at his hand. He held it up. "See,
all better,” he smiled.

"So, are you going?"
the Chief of security asked him as he returned to the ship. She wrinkled her
nose at his pong. "Gaah."

He shrugged. "Sorry, sweat
goes with work." He sighed wearily, and looked back. "Not on your
life," he replied softly. She nodded looking amused.

"I guess you’re stuck with
me a little longer Chief." He had to be imagining her small tight lipped
smile. Ever since he had started training the guards in martial arts and her
counseling sessions she had seemed to warm to him...or at least turned down her
active dislike and meddling. She nodded to the guard who turned and left with a
sigh of relief.

 "Well, you took most of
your break to gallivant."

He smiled. "It was worth it.
Another ship out there is good for civilization."

She looked him over. "You
really mean that don't you?" she asked softly.

 He nodded. "I know
competition isn't what you want, but you are so far out of their league it
isn't funny." He shrugged. "They can barely hit alpha D as it is.
Months, sometimes years in transit between systems."

She shook her head. "Before
you came along we were almost doing the same, the best we could do was alpha
E," she admitted.

He nodded. "But now look at
you." He turned and walked with her down the corridor. "Beta band,
you're armed, engines overhauled, power core overhauled, industrial grade
replicators, and systems that are almost one hundred percent...or as close as
we can get to that," he said.

She nodded. "Good to
hear."

He nodded back. "With this
ship you could rebuild entire worlds."

She looked up startled.
"Really?" she asked warily.

He nodded. "Yes. The best
they'll ever be is a tramp freighter on the ragged edge of survival," he
said, wrinkling his nose. She nodded.

"So, how did we make out
with Pelican?” Irons asked.

The purser looked up and nodded.
"Um, I think we did all right, but I think they made out a little better
in the long run. I think the data exchange will bear fruit later on once we
have time to go over it in detail," she gave the Admiral a long look.

“I still can't believe you talked
me into exchanging a replicator and those parts for that extra air car. I don't
know what good it'll do in the long run,” she said and then shrugged the
thought off.

"Oh, I think helping them
will help you in the long run, besides, those air car frames could come in
handy once engineering cleans them up and restores them," the engineer
commented dryly.

The Captain looked him over.
"Air cars?"

 Jennie smiled. "You should
see the Ford! Wow! What a beaut! And it can do over two hundred and forty
kph!"

The Captain looked a little
confused then shrugged. "If you say so. Why do we need them?" she
asked. She turned to the purser who turned to the engineer.

"Well..." he drawled,
stalling for time. He came up with a thought. "Well, you can trade them to
planets," he said.

She nodded. "Go on, why will
they want air cars?" she asked.

He nodded. "Well, some will
want them for status. I believe you still deal in gems and rare minerals?"
he asked.

She nodded. "Pyrax and a few
other colonies still like luxury goods," she said.

He nodded and rubbed his chin.
"Well, they can also be used by colonies to move people and goods. A few
of the air cars can be rebuilt into cargo Lorries to carry goods," he
suggested. She nodded. The purser caught on.

"And with more cargo
vehicles they can do trade among themselves right?" she asked. He nodded.
Dawning comprehension flashed on her face, and then she smiled evilly.
"Besides, we'll be the ones to supply them with parts and tools!" she
said with a grin. She turned triumphantly to the Captain who smiled as well.

 "Good!" the captain
said, chuckling.

He chuckled. "What ever
floats your canoe," he nodded to Jennie. "They can also use the
trucks to transport goods to the space port easier."

She nodded. "But it'll also
help them get back to civilization a little right?" she asked.

He nodded. "It's good that
we caught Pelican before they could bring them to Pyrax to have them
smelted," he said. She sighed in relief.

The Captain chuckled. "You
just want a new challenge," she said and then smiled.

"Well, since most of the
ship is now working, why not? I need to keep the girls busy..." he said
with a grin. She grinned back.

“You’re serious about those air
cars?” Molly asked as she leaned over to him and adjusted her glasses. He
nodded. Tia came over and hugged Molly. She kissed her cheek and murmured to her.
Tia nodded and ran off with a backward wave. “Imp.” Molly snorted.

“So, we have a bunch of air
frames to play with... This wouldn't be a sneaky way to get us to learn a
little mechanical engineering would it?” she asked.

He chuckled. “Perish the thought!
I wouldn't be that sneaky would I?” he asked. He gave her mock glower his best
innocent expression. After a moment they both chuckled.

She patted his arm. “Okay, we can
have some fun,” she said as she smiled.

“Any excuse to play with tools,”
Jennie replied, coming over while polishing a torque wrench. “So, when do we
get started? My shift doesn't start for a couple hours,” she asked. She hefted
the wrench to her shoulder and looked between the two of them.

“No time like the present,” the
Admiral smiled as he got to his feet.

"What the heck are you
carrying?" He looked over to the girl trying to juggle plates of metal,
and failing. With a clatter they fell.

"Oh hell," she grumbled
and bent to pick them up.

He went over and picked a few up.
"So what's all this?" he asked. He took a look at one. It looked like
a primitive armor from a combat suit.

"Oh, it's an Avalonian suit
of armor." The girl looked over to him then shrugged. "The planet
below has some nasty predators. They need this stuff to survive," she
explained and then shrugged.

"Dead weight to me,"
she grumbled.

"Okay." He hefted the
armor he was carrying and followed her. The guards looked at one another and
followed. The girl led them to the port forward boat bay.

"Watch out!" She dodged
a hurtling kid. "Watch it twerp!" The girl spun around and stuck out
her tongue. "Little monster," she growled.

He chuckled. "Who's the
munch-kin?" he asked.

She looked over her shoulder.
"Molly's brat Tia."

He felt shock rush through him.
He'd seen the girl with Molly but never put it together. "Molly has a
kid?" he asked.

"Oh, adopted. The pigtailed
runt latched onto her at her last leave. Probably why she hasn't gone on
another," she chuckled.

He could hear the guard’s chuckle
behind them. He shrugged. "She's an orphan, her parents died of a fever a
few years ago. She was begging in the space port, and Molly took a shine to
her. The brat is cute I admit," the girl said. She walked through the
hatch.

He followed, but one of the
guards placed a restraining hand on his arm. "We can't let you in
there," the guard said. He turned. "Sorry Admiral, orders," she
said looking uncomfortable. His eyes narrowed..

The woman returned and took the
remaining armor, not meeting his eyes. "Sorry. I forgot," she muttered.
He turned as she left.

"Care to explain that?"
he growled.

One of the girls gulped.
"Um, the Chief and Captain decided that you’re restricted to the
ship," she said, now thoroughly uncomfortable. He locked eyes with the one
who gulped.

"Oh did they?" he asked
softly, dangerously. Both girls took an involuntary step backwards.

"Um, I think you should take
it up with them Admiral," the blond with pigtails replied.

"I'll do that,” he replied.

He turned to head to the bridge
but a call came from the overhead speaker. "Admiral, we're having trouble
with the port injector again..." He looked up. "Admiral?" the
voice asked.

He grunted. "Be there in a
few minutes."

He looked over to the guards then
left. "Whew! I'm not looking forward to that interview," the blond
muttered.

"Oh I am...” the other said
gleefully.

“Sprite is this in the database?”
he sub vocalized as he stomped to his next destination. He seethed, but a
lifetime of military discipline made his outward appearance look the same as
ever. He even nodded politely to a passing crew member.

“Checking. There's some new
security on the ship's security net, I'll just try the back door...I'm in.”

He went past a crew member and
nodded to her. “Well?” he growled.

“Admiral, you’re not going to
like this,” she finally said.

He shook his head. “I already
have a pretty good idea. Spit it out,” he growled.

“Item, restrict Admiral to the
ship. The person known as the Admiral is not to leave the ship. He is to be
denied access to the boat bays unless specifically given permission by the
Captain or Chief of security. Use of force to detain is authorized,” Sprite
paused. “That's in the general orders.”

He grunted, shaking his head.
“First she can't get rid of me fast enough, now she won’t let me leave? Women,”
he growled in disgust. He smiled as a nearby girl looked up indignant. “Not
you, it was a...oh never mind,” he said and waved. He passed the confused woman
and went on his way.

"Who's that?" he nodded
his head to a tousled raven haired boy wearing parachute pants and a Japanese
style kimono top.  It had taken a quick and brief interview with the captain to
get the order barring him from the boat bays rescinded.

"Oh, that's Hibiki. He's
Charlie and Hanna's son. Charlie died a few years ago. The pilot Diedra took
him on because he's a natural," Jennie explained.

He nodded. "He's what
fourteen?" he asked. He turned to Jennie.

She gave him a long look.
"We have to grow up fast Admiral, or not at all," she rebuked
quietly.

He nodded. "I'm not complaining,
just asking," he said. He watched as Hibiki checked over the shuttle, and
then nodded to the pilot. The hatch opened and a red haired streak came running
in.

"Hibiki!" Hibiki jumped
and ran.

"Dorah?" he asked as he
nodded at the girl as she chased the boy around the shuttle.

 "Dorah," Jennie
sighed. "She has a major crush on him."

She shook her head. "Mindy
is jealous, and so are some of the other girls on the ship. Since he's one of
the few males..." she gave him a long look.

He smiled and waved his hands
apart. "Nice to be wanted sometimes," he said. He looked back to see
Hibiki had been cornered. "Not all the time though," he chuckled.

"Heads up!" Jennie
looked then ducked with a gulp. The ball sailed over her head bouncing off a
bulkhead and then dribbled down the corridor. She looked up with a glare,
shoulders still hunched. When Dorah and a group of kids came around the corner
she glared. "Um..." Some of the younger girls looked a little
embarrassed. "How many times have you kids been told not to play in the
corridors?" Jennie snarled. "I could have been carrying something
dangerous! Or there could have been an open panel!" she growled. She shook
her head.

The kids all ducked their heads
down. "We're sorry," one said. Jennie readied herself for another
blast.

"What seems to be the
problem here?" the Captain's gravely voice startled Jennie again.

She turned. "Oh, sorry
Captain, I didn't see you there!" she said surprised.

The captain nodded. "I hear
you’re reading these crew members the riot act eh?" She turned to give the
miscreants a stern gaze. "Maybe a night in the brig will help settle them
down eh?" she asked. She tapped her fingers on her arm rest.

One of the kids looked up
horrified; a few looked like they would like a camp out. "Dorah, Mindy,
take your charges to the rec deck and confine them there while we discuss
this," she said. She glared at the kids, but her eyes twinkled. The kids
stepped past her, heads down, mumbling apologies. When they were out of earshot
the Captain sat back and chuckled. "Young whippersnappers," she said.
She shook her head. "It wasn't too long ago I chewed you out for doing the
same thing Jennie!" she teased. Jennie blushed.

"I remember you were a
terror with your corridor pickup games, and wasn't it you that got caught in
the locker with that brunette in cargo a year ago?" the captain asked, not
ready to let up just yet. The Captain turned her gaze on Jennie. Jennie
squirmed, blushing furiously. One of the Captain's guards sniggered. The Captain
turned her gaze to her. The guard stifled the laugh and returned to a polite
mask of attention. She nodded then returned to Jennie.