Wandering Engineer 6: Pirates Bane (4 page)

“True.”

“But yes, the sense of wonder was there,” Irons replied, smiling
ever so slightly. “It still is from time to time,” he said, looking away.
Sprite nodded in acknowledgment.

“So, let's see what else we can do,” Sprite said slowly, turning
to the other AI. “Table this project for now. You mentioned other spy things?
Gadgets?” Sprite asked.

The Admiral shook out of his reverie and then nodded. “Spy gadgets
like listening devices we've gotten a handle on. They and the cameras will be
effective in diagnostics as well I suppose,” the Admiral said.

“True,” Proteus replied. “When we can't get eyes on something or
the diagnostics in a system are down.”

“Exactly,” the Admiral rumbled. “But... what about an explosive
device? Or other device?”

“A distraction?” Sprite asked.

“Or something to disable or do something. Like I said, an
explosive. A distraction like a flash bang is nice, but I don't see how we
could implement it easily.”

“Smoke and mirrors,” Sprite mused.

“Possible,” the Admiral replied. He got up and went to the galley
as Sprite ran through some ideas and bounced them off Defender and Proteus. The
Admiral replicated a hamburger, plucked a couple mini tomatoes and popped them
on the burger, then pulled a small onion, cut the bottom off, rinsed it off,
and then added that as well. Then he went and grabbed a couple of mushrooms,
brushed them off and then cut them up.

“Food for thought?” Sprite asked.

“Cute,” the Admiral replied, finishing his preparations. He
replicated a citrus drink and then sat at the small table. “Practical,” he
said.

“The eating or the ideas so far?” Sprite asked.

“Either, both,” the Admiral said, picking up the burger.

“And don't bug me, I'm eating,” Sprite teased.

“Exactly,” Irons mumbled, chewing.

“Don't talk with your mouth full,” Sprite teasingly admonished. He
waved her aside.

<----*----*----*---->

After lunch they experimented with small explosives, or the
replicating of them. He found that the project was dependent on what materials
and time he had available. For most applications, a gram of plastic explosives
was about the best Proteus could make in a five-minute period with materials on
hand; including a remote detonator cap. Something like that would serve as a
distraction, though Proteus did put forward the idea of creating a shaped
charge.

“No, I think it's the best we can. But we've got the scripts and
modules now, and we know what it takes,” the Admiral said, watching the
explosive dissolve as Proteus directed the nanites to dispose of it. “Throw in
ideas like the smoke bomb and distraction. Toss this under something like a
chair or pile of papers.”

“Incendiary device?” Sprite asked.

“Possible,” the Admiral murmured thoughtfully. “I'm not really
thrilled about the direction this is going though, I have no place in special
ops work.”

“Agreed,” Defender interjected.

“And the magnificently dark one has spoken,” Sprite mocked.

“Hush,” Irons replied, cutting off the argument. “I do think there
are other avenues here,” he mused, rubbing his chin. “But we can already do a
lot with nanites. What else can we explore?” he asked.

“Not a lot, you can't fly in the ship,” Sprite said dryly.

“True. And playing with the energy shields is out,” Irons said.

“Not necessarily,” Sprite replied thoughtfully.

“Definitely you are not playing with shields inside me. One wrong
move and pop!” Phoenix replied.

“No, I agree, full power is out,” Sprite replied. “But we could
do computer simulations. I know there are a lot of applications we haven't
tried yet. Off the shelf ideas fo
r one.”

“Okay, list them.”

“What about extending or reshaping the shields?” Sprite asked. The
Admiral cocked his head.

“We can do that already. And I can shift nodes as needed,” Proteus
replied. “Though extending the shields uses exponentially more power. And the
larger the shield surface area the less effective it is.”

The Admiral had a flash of flame and bare flesh and winced in
memory. That avenue was hitting a sore spot with him. One he'd rather forget
but couldn't. “April,” he murmured.

“Hmm? Oh, sorry Admiral,” Sprite said, sounding contrite. The Admiral
waved a hand.

“If we reshape the shields, we could make them more energy
efficient. Current protocol states that the shield come up even but power
shifts to the threat axis...” Proteus said. Irons tuned him out for a long
moment, remembering April.

The woman had been a wonder, a reporter, a beautiful red head with
a love of yellow jumpers and a nose for investigative reporting. She had had a
lively smile, and twinkling green eyes. He remembered her scent, jasmine with a
hint of lavender. He also remembered her sensual touch, her soft skin...

“Ahem. Admiral, we're working here,” Sprite said, bringing him
back to the here and now.

The Admiral flinched. “Sorry, wool gathering. Recap?”

“I have been considering the changes in shield technology we've
learned Admiral. There were some minor improvements in the field since we went
into stasis.”

“Wars tend to drive research and development,” the Admiral
replied, nodding.

“Indeed they do. Our own stint at...” Proteus faltered as the Admiral's
face changed to a severe scowl. “Our own experience confirms that,” the AI
recovered. It was rare for the usually robotic minion to be so tactful. Irons
grunted.

“Unfortunately Firefly had his own misfortune before receiving
many of the reputed upgrades. We know what is possible from the news list, but
we have no access to the data.”

“I know,” the Admiral sighed. Everything he had replicated in
Pyrax, on Destiny, Kiev 221, Antigua, and on Epsilon had used the files built
into him; into his royal DNA and implant files. Both were a few years out of
date, as the AI had pointed out.

“Unfortunately, they say knowing something is possible is half the
battle, but that doesn't do us much good. We know it's possible, but we can't
do much in regards to reverse engineering anything. All we have is supposition
to base our assumptions on. And when you pile that you get a house of cards.
I'm not going there.”

“Agreed,” Proteus replied. Irons nodded. He was okay with
overseeing research, he liked to tinker, but he didn't have the obsessive
compulsive mindset to create a testing system and then methodically plod
through it. He didn't have the patience at all.

“So, to recap, you can move nodes, and alter the field strength
and shape. Can you use just a few nodes? Like oh, say project a limited two
dimensional field?”

“Are you thinking arm shield Admiral? How quaint,” Defender
interjected.

“It's something to consider,” the Admiral replied to the put down.
“Consider a single axis threat and a power reserve scenario.”

Defender cocked his head. He drummed smoky fingers on his armor
briefly, then gripped his war hammer tighter. “Agreed. Proceed.”

“Thanks for the approval Lieutenant,” Sprite replied.

“Can you do it?”

“The problem is, a shield's natural inclination is to form a
bubble Admiral. A sphere. Force fields are much like soap bubbles.”

“I know the analogy. I'm wondering if it is possible.”

“By reshaping the field emissions... I think the minimum needed
would be three. It wouldn't be two dimensional, but...”

After a moment an image of the Admiral formed on his HUD. Then the
avatar raised his right arm. Three nodes, two in his forearm arm and one in his
bicep just below his shoulder joint came to life. Proteus projected lines
indicating field interactions. They looked like magnetic field lines. At first
the AI projected a sphere, cutting the Admiral up. Irons opened his mouth to
object but the AI moved past it. It methodically worked through the problem,
working to alter the shaping and strength variables in the sim.

“I can work on this in my free time. Part of the problem is the
interactions but I think the formation of a triangle is key,” Proteus said.

“I can help with the simulation,” Sprite said. “After all, we know
it is possible. Force fields are used in boat bays and security all the time,”
she said, glancing at Defender.

“That is true. But a field uses nodes along the perimeter
Commander,” Proteus replied.

“It is also two dimensional,” Phoenix replied. The AI sounded
distracted however.

“Busy?” The Admiral asked.

“A bit. A tangled patch I'd rather have you dealing with sir,” the
AI said, sounding like he was struggling.

“On my way,” Irons said, finishing the cleanup of the galley. He
looked around, noting one of the cubs snoring softly on the ultrasonic laundry
appliance. It was Goldie, she loved the rumble and warmth the device put out.
“I think he likes the vibrations. Or he thinks his purring helps,” he said,
shaking his head.

“She. You keep getting the gender mixed,” Sprite replied absently.
The cub flexed her paws, toes spreading; then a yawn of needle teeth. The cubs
were filling out slowly. They wouldn't get any bigger than a house cat. They
were of course lean, and small. As genetically engineered pets they had been
designed for slow maturation to maximize their cute and cuddly time.

“Whatever,” Irons said, headed to the bridge.

<----*----*----*---->

“So anything?” the Admiral asked when he finished another
marathon session of piloting. He was getting seriously twitchy about those, and
knowing that, he was starting to become reluctant to pilot the ship. He
wondered briefly if he was developing a mental complex.

“Some Admiral. First some background,” Proteus replied as the Admiral
fixed himself a sandwich and petted the cubs. Blaze of course had to take that
as a challenge and pounced on his hand. He wrestled with her briefly before
soothing her with a cheek rub.

“Let's keep it light, I'm not in the mood for a full blown
science lecture at this point,” the Admiral said.

“Understood. Now, exploring the two dimensional field
applications led me to research. Which pointed out that the fields aren't
really two dimensional at all, they are three.”

“Oh?”

“It's like the Magnetic Monopole Admiral, nature likes balance. A
monopole is theoretically possible, but incredibly difficult if not impossible
to replicate in the real world.”

“Off track Proteus, you lost me,” the Admiral said, pausing in
his bite. “KISS.”

“Keep It Simple. I thought I was,” Proteus replied.

“Your analogy drifted. I'm still waiting for you to connect the
dots and make this relevant.”

“Understood. For the record I was getting there,” Proteus
replied. The Admiral nodded and took a bite of his sandwich. “What I was trying
to get to is that the nodes in a two dimension field are actually projecting a
three dimensional field, just flattened.”

“Okay...”

The AI projected a simple airlock field arrangement. He watched
the field form a concave form. That form nagged at him a little. The AI
projected moving arrows simulating field strength lines. The swirling pattern
looked chaotic and complex, but with an underlying order to it since the lines
formed loops and swirls.

“Which is why, in that application, the field strength is
strongest at the nodes but not in the center of the field. Engineers have
compensated for years by ramping up the power. But if you go too high...”

Irons nodded. “You burn out the nodes,” he said, wiping crumbs
off his mouth. “Gotcha.”

“Exactly. So, in this application, what we've done...”

“I helped,” Sprite replied smugly.

“What we've done is create a flattened spherical shape. The edges
have an energy bleed off issue however, and are thin. The shield is strongest
at its center where the nodes are. Also, Admiral for this to work you would
have to keep your arm flexed in a fixed position for the shield to function
properly. Any movement and it would throw the triangle out of alignment and the
field would destabilize.”

“All right,” the Admiral nodded. The AI projected the field
simulation on his HUD. He watched it form a radial field as his avatar raised
its arm. Field lines were projected. From the shape it was an old fashioned
round shield, slightly convex in shape. That opened all sorts of interesting
possibilities in his mind.

“Are you factoring in radial magnetic fields from, oh, for
example a radio speaker transducer?”

“That's what got us on this path Admiral. But this is a
simulation. There is no guarantee it will work. It could even do damage to
you.”

“A possibility? To the nodes?”

“To the nodes and to you if things don't work out. Which is why
Defender has forbidden we attempt it.”

“Hmm...” Irons grumbled. “So, could we replicate this outside of
me? With nodes on a test jig?”