New Dawn (Wandering Engineer) (66 page)

“I see someone hasn't been
sleeping in class,” Trisha teased. Several of the girls giggled as Jen mock
scowled at Trisha.

“The plasma engines can use any
form of material as a fuel, but we use helium waste from the reactor,” Irons
said.

Faith nodded. “Right, only four
electrons right? So it isn't very far from hydrogen, which is the preferred
fuel anyway.” The group nodded.

“It makes sense,” a tech said
from behind Faith. She looked over her shoulder. The woman blushed.

"Hey, it's not like its
rocket science," Irons joked. He stopped and looked thoughtful. "Hmm,
no I guess it is," he teased.

"Very funny." Jennie
growled. "Can we get back to work now?" He chuckled.

"Okay, can anyone tell me
how the subspace engines work?" he asked the eager class. Several of the
girls raised their hands tentatively, but one practically bounced in her chair.

"I can I can!"

 "Of course you can, you’re
an engine wiper!" one of the others whispered.

The excited girl dropped her hand
and glared. "That's not fair!"

He waved his hands down for
quiet. "Okay then, let’s hear it." She stood, looked around and
gulped as the other girls looked at her. A few looked bored, a few looked
curious. "All right, the engines are plasma engines. Fifth generation
plasma engines from the Practel combine. Rolls Royce Ion32-A's to be
exact," she said. He nodded.

"How do they work?" She
looked around then back to him. "We feed them water. They spit the water out,"
she said. She sat down with a triumphant grin.

He shook his head. "A little
simplistic there. Does anyone else know?" He looked around. The girl
looked crestfallen.

 "No? Well, don't worry; the
whole point of being here is to learn." He gave the girl an encouraging
grin. "All right, first off, the engines are plasma engines. That means
they accelerate particles to fractions of light speed with an electric
induction field then allow them to escape through a thruster." He turned
to pull up an exploded schematic.

"What about the water?"
a girl asked.

He turned. "Jezel
right?" She nodded. "We'll get to that in a minute." The room
lights darkened and the hologram turned on.

"I never get tired of
this," one of the girls whispered.

He hid a smile. "Okay, this
is your basic plasma engine. Here is the particle intake, the electric
induction grid, and thrust chamber." He pointed each component out one by
one. "Now, plasma engines have been in use for eons by various
races," he paused, feeling a depth of regret in that last sentence.
Someone cleared her throat. He shook it off. "As I was saying, we've been
using plasma engines for centuries." He sent a command through the net to
pull up the next schematic.

"See the differences?"
he asked. Some nodded. "The first plasma engines didn't have gravity
emitters to accelerate the thrust and give the particles shadow mass." He
fed a program to show the particles moving then a graph of thrust power.

"All right, now as to
getting the particles." He turned and held up a glass of water he had left
on the desk. "Within this clear glass is a wealth of energy waiting to be
liberated. Hydrogen and oxygen, along with trace minerals and even some
isotopes." He watched the class murmur for a moment. "This ship uses
an electrolysis system to separate the basic molecule into its two elements and
then compresses them for use by the reactor and engines."

He put the glass down. "As a
side note, I can draw power the same way." He looked up and smiled.
"Does anyone know what's needed for electrolysis?" He turned to a
tech.

She tentatively raised her hand.
"Yes, um electricity and carbon. That's why we have to trade for carbon
and water when we go to colonies," she replied. He nodded.

“The ship uses its waste helium
as fuel for the plasma engines as well. Eventually some of the space colonies
will begin building helium 3 and deuterium fuel refineries in the orbit of
local gas giants,” he said. “That's my plan anyway.” He looked over the class.

“I've told the Captain and purser
that you can also build automated refineries in orbit of some of the gas
giants, so you can draw fuel from them when you visit a system,” he said.
Several of the girls murmured at this. “As a side project, why don't some of
you form a study group and go over the general plans in the database and come
up with detailed drawings to submit to the engineering board.” He waved to Jen
and Faith. They both smiled.

"This ship, it truly has
changed," Faith murmured. Faith watched as a pair of ladies in white
coveralls painted a hull section. Another girl down the corridor was touching
up lettering. "Amazing." Faith shook her head. "It seems like a
dream." She ducked aside as a robot came flying by. It paused, bobbed,
then turned and went about its business. "Are you sure we're not
dreaming?" she asked, staring after the robot.

The Admiral and Jennie chuckled.
"We're sure," Jennie said. Jennie pointed to another cabinet.
"You remember the electronics cabinet right? Well, we've rewired
everything back to spec." She waved to the girl touching up the paint.
Dorah looked up and smiled. She had smudges of paint on her cheek. "Um
Dorah." Jennie made motions to wash her face.

Dorah gave her a confused look
then ohed. Hastily she took out a hanky and scrubbed at her face.
"Better?" she asked. Jennie gave her a thumbs up and pat on the
shoulder as they stepped past.

"Amazing." Faith shook
her head. Her hair was short hair was still growing back; self consciously she
ran her hand through it. She smiled at Dorah and another crew member.

 "What are you up to?"
she asked.

"Just checking the
filters." Audrey replied.

"Audrey?" Faith grabbed
the girl. "Wha? Let go! Wait Faith?" The girl looked into Faith's
eyes then gushed. She hugged Faith ecstatically.

"They'll be at this all day
at this rate," Jennie observed dryly. Faith wiped at her eyes and then
held Audrey at arm's length.

"You’re looking good!"
Audrey studied her. "Your hair is shorter, but you’re the same old
Faith," she smiled, and then freed her left hand to wipe at her own tear
blurred eyes. "Goddess it's good to see you!" She sighed.
"There's so much to see, it's like a whole new ship! I hardly recognize
anything, or anyone!" She gave Faith's coverall another look.

Faith smiled. "Me too. We'll
have to catch up later," she said. She patted Audrey's shoulder as she
passed.

She linked arms with Jennie.
"Okay, now what?" Faith asked.

Jennie chuckled as they entered
the lift. "Deck four," she said.

“Deck 4 transit commencing,” the
computer acknowledged.

"An AI?" Faith asked as
the lift began to move.

"A rudimentary one. The
Admiral set it up," Jen said. Faith nodded.

"Good we need one, Is it um,
a smart AI?" she asked.

Jennie shook her head. "Yes and
no, it's a learning one, so someday with the right coding, it may grow into
one..." She smiled softly. "We'll have to take good care of
her." She patted the side of the lift. Faith nodded. "So if you're
painting, I take it most of the important work is done?" She looked over
to the ship's schematic projected onto the wall.

Jennie pointed. "Yes, we
have work crews and robots painting inside and out. It's the last major chore.
The rest is fine tuning things and keeping up with the routine
maintenance."

Faith whistled softly. "I
hardly recognize the old girl. She's back in her glory." She patted the
safety railing.

“What are you working on
Admiral?” the tech with him asked. He finished feeding the cables into the
recess then locked the emitter down. “That looks like a force emitter right?”
she asked.

He looked up to the guard and
nodded. “It is. The emitter is for the interior force field emitters.”

He waved to the ring of emitters.
The tech looked confused. “Why do we have them inside? Why not just use the
bulkhead doors?” she asked and then waved.

He nodded. “They suck energy so
they aren't used unless they're needed. Usually during a hull breach, or in
special situations, for security.”

He waved to the two guards
watching. One looked startled, the other smiled. “I like that idea,” she said
and then nodded. “We have them in the brig too, I'm hoping now that the Admiral
showed us how, I can fix those there,” she said and smiled.

He waited for graveyard shift to
approach replicator three. He had repaired all the replicators, so the ship
could in theory rebuild a planet. He just needed to replicate a few tools for
his next journey. “Sprite, excuse, me, Io, I'm going to replicate a few things,
I'll need,” he said.

Io appeared on the LCD display
before him. She had aged to about fourteen, and was sporting a silvery pony
tail. “And you want me to fudge the records so no one knows what you make?” she
asked. She smiled conspiratorially. He chuckled.

“Something like that. I want a
couple things, a portable database, mini replicator, generator, pulser, and a
few additional tools,” he explained.

Io shook her head, smiling. “You
don't want much do you? Well, let’s see if I can skim off some power from
replicators one and two and fudge the records a little...”

The staff filed into the wardroom
talking quietly amongst themselves. The Admiral followed. This would be one of
his last meetings with the crew if things went well on Anvil station. They were
a week out from the station. “Coffee Admiral?” He turned and nodded politely to
the steward. She handed him a cup as he sat down.

“Sit down, sit down, we have a
lot to discuss,” the Captain surprised them by walking in under her own power.
The doctor smiled.

The chief stared at her
grandmother then her eyes sparkled. “Glad to see you up and about grams,” she
said softly as she took her seat. The Admiral nodded as each of the officers
murmured politely.

“Nice uniform,” Faith commented
looking over the Captain's outfit.

“What this old thing?” the
Captain demurred, but her eyes twinkled. She had changed into a bridge uniform,
but kept her trademark black shawl.

“Before we begin Captain, I
believe it's time to introduce you to one more member of the crew,” the Admiral
said after clearing her throat.

“Oh?” the Captain sat in her new
chair and smiled as she took her tea cup from the steward. She took a sip then
set the cup down in front of her. “And just who is this?”

The Admiral nodded to the
holographic projector as it sprang to life. “Well technically, someone all of
you know,” he said. A short black haired silver skin teenager in a gold uniform
appeared and looked around. She blinked white eyes that quickly changed to
blue. Some of the officer’s stared open mouthed, a few gabbled.

“Is this who I think it is?”
Faith asked. The Admiral nodded.

“Ladies and gentlemen, let me
introduce you to Io11,” he said. As the Admiral spoke her image changed. Her
skin texture morphed into flesh tones, and her uniform changed to silver with
gold and glowing blue trim.

“Such a colorful young lady,” the
Captain commented, taking a sip of her tea. “She'll fit right in.” She smiled
eyes bright.

The AI image locked eyes with
her, then lowered hers and bowed. “Why thank you Captain. I'll do my best.”

“So we have an AI now?” Vanessa
the purser commented, studying the holo.

The AI turned to her. “I'm in my
one point one build now, ma'am. I've been on line for several months,” she
replied. She stepped off the table, and over to the Captain. She stood at her
side and then turned to the bridge crew.

Shandra, Kendra, and Jennie were
grinning in delight. They each waved hello eagerly. The AI smiled. “Since Io is
a newborn AI, she's a little unstable, much like a teenager. As she interacts
with the crew she'll learn and grow, and therefore mature,” the admiral said.
The Admiral nodded to the Captain. She took another sip of her tea and studied
him.

“Will she interfere with the
systems?” Kendra asked.

“No, unless something is
endangering the ship. She will however inform you if there's a conflict or
problem,” the admiral replied. The Admiral took a sip of coffee then set the
cup down.

“Think of me as another crew
member Kendra, someone who is always on duty,” Io said. They both nodded.

“Is she a security problem?” the
Chief eyed the AI.

“No. In fact she can aide you in
that regard. She'll manage a lot of her own functions, and can protect herself
if someone tries a cyber attack,” Irons said.

The chief nodded. “I'm still not
convinced though,” she said. She stared at the AI. The AI stared back.

“You do realize I don't really
need to blink right?” the AI commented after a few moments of silence.

The moral officer chuckled.
“Well, I'm convinced. At least she has a sense of humor,” she waved. “I've been
trying to set up a virtual reality sim, but the Admiral has been too busy,
perhaps you can help?” she asked hopefully.

The AI smiled and turned her
attention to the moral officer. “Of course ma'am, that's part of my job. Since
it's my hardware and software you'll be using, I'm more than happy to help.”

The Captain raised her hand. “You
can do that at a later time; let’s get on with the meeting.” She nodded to
Kendra.

The young woman cleared her
throat. “Well, ship status is optimal, shields are at ninety nine point three
four percent. H&A, um, I mean Hull and Architecture are at ninety four
percent, and drives are at ninety two percent. Our power reserves are topped
off, and there are no problems with the reactor.”

Faith nodded to Kendra. “We have
a few minor repairs still ongoing, mostly nit picking or routine maintenance
things. Computer repairs are one hundred percent complete, we're, I mean Io is
still working on programming.” She nodded to the AI who smiled and rolled her
eyes.