Destiny's Choice (The Wandering Engineer) (15 page)

Bryan
looked startled. “I hadn't known I would be able to sir. I thought you'd like
to trade them,” he said with a pang of remorse. “I'd like to keep one or two.
Jezebell's a rarity sir, her kits are highly prized.”

“All
right,” the captain nodded. “How goes sickbay otherwise?”

“Well,
the Neo lioness is out of there. Thankfully,” Bryan gushed a sigh and then
grimaced as he sat on a guest chair. “Not before tearing one of my beds to
shreds. She is probably why Nara vacated. I caught her making eyes at both
coonies. She said she was joking but you never know with them. They were
looking pretty nervous.” He hadn't wanted her there any longer then necessary
either. Luckily with the Admiral's tuning he'd been able to get rid of her
after one day.

“You're
keeping track of her?” the captain asked.

“Yes,
the Neo is doing fine...” Bryan blushed. “Oh you mean the coonies. “Yes sir I
had a tracker put into the collars. That way I can find them and keep them out
of areas they shouldn't get into.”

“Good
luck with that,” the captain laughed. “Somehow I think this lady can get into
anything she puts her mind to. Or charm her way in at any rate,” he smiled down
at her, stroking her ears until they flicked a few times.

“Yeah,
she does have that gift,” Bryan said, smiling. “I've been accessing the medical
database the... I don't know how... I mean. The AI. Sprite. She's a she right?”

“Yes
I am,” Sprite said from the overhead, making both men jump a little. “Forgot
I'm here?” she asked amused.

“Yes,”
Bryan said shaking his head as the captain dusted his arm and dabbed at the
coffee he had spilled.

“I'm
in the computer net. I will be here for a while. Most likely the entire trip.
I've finally made good on all the software repairs. And I've been busy building
a class one AI for Destiny.”

“You
did?” the captain asked surprised. He'd wanted an AI but they had nixed it for
some reason. He wasn't sure why. He wasn't sure about having a ship that could
talk back now that he's had the chance to experience it. It was a bit
unnerving.

“Not
a smart one captain. Class one. Just a... Call it an interface AI. Something
like Smithy but not nearly as smart since you don't have the computer space.
Smithy was about that level before I got a hold of him,” Sprite explained. “You
were supposed to have one before you left dock since you're a reserve vessel.
Just another thing overlooked for some reason.”

“Oh,”
the captain nodded. “Thank you.” He shrugged then turned to Bryan. “You were
saying Mr. Kelly?”

“Um,
yes,” Bryan snuck a glance up to the overhead then straightened and looked at
the captain. “I've been familiarizing myself with the database Sprite gave me,”
he paused and looked up. “Thanks again for that.”

“No
problem,” Sprite responded, sounding amused.

“I've
gone through the index and scanned the files that pertain to the species we
have on board. There are a lot of bytes to go over though. I'm just glad I've
got it though. I'm in over my head when it comes to the Vesuvian's though. I'm
glad we've got that.”

“A
handy resource,” the captain said nodding. Nara woke and got up. She stretched the
front end, then the back, making the captain chuckle as he dodged her banded
tail which kept sweeping toward his face. “Lets keep the tail out of the face
dear,” he said with a chuckle. He kept his free hand out to keep her balanced
and not teeter tottering all over his lap. She was polite enough not to sink
her claws too far into his trousers.

She
turned and leaned on his chest and patted his cheek then got down to the floor
and went to the refresher. After a moment they heard the flush. Then there was
the sound of running water.

“Bladder
issues,” The captain said, perfectly deadpan. “My wife had that problem when
she was pregnant. Especially in the last trimester. She kept muttering about
perverse kids and playing soccer with her bladder a lot.”

Bryan
snorted. He shook his head as the coonie came out and then plopped down near
his feet for a thorough bathing session.

“I've
copied the database to a couple of flash drives so we have back ups and can
pass it along as a trade good. Although, in the spirit of the Admiral's
generosity, I'd say it would be better to give it to others as a gift.” He eyed
the captain uncertainly. He wasn't sure how he would take it. Traditionally
medical care was freely given to those in need. You haggled over some sort of
compensation later if it was needed.

Fortunately
the captain agreed with a nod. “Information of that nature should be treated
that way. I agree. I'll see about getting you additional flash drives.
Improving the health and welfare of other colonies is part of our mandate I
believe,” the captain smiled. “And spreading the good will does help smooth
over any bumps we get when we first make contact. Sort of a house warming
gift.”

“I
like that idea,” Sprite said. “I'll keep that in mind. The Admiral is like
that. He's also copied other files here and made hard copies for your purser.
Unfortunately he hasn't accessed them for some reason.”

The
captain scowled slightly. Charlie was being an ass again. That was getting old.
“Oh? I'll have to take a look then,” the captain said with a nod. “Are you
getting everything you need in sickbay?” He turned his attention to the medic.

“Yes
sir. Chief Bailey and the Admiral sorted us out. It turns out a lot of the
equipment we have was either not calibrated properly, or was clogged with
contaminants or dried materials, or had minor repair issues. They've since
sorted it out and even scheduled a tech to come around once a month to double
check everything.”

“It
makes sense. After all, their health and the health of the crew depends on your
equipment functioning properly,” the captain nodded sitting back. He stretched
his legs. “Ah,” he nodded. “Feels good to stretch.”

“I
know the feeling sir,” Bryan said getting up and gathering the coonie up in his
arms. “Thank you for the company sir.”

The
captain nodded. “No problem. Dismissed.” As Bryan turned to leave the coonie
chattered then leaned over and waved goodbye to the captain. Chuckling and
shaking his head he tapped at the console and went back to work with a light
heart.

“Did
they finally get up a band?” Irons asked. He had a free moment in engineering
and wanted to know what was going on. He'd heard scattered talk about how slow
they were going. He wanted to know why. It wasn't engineering, he was sure of
that. There was nothing wrong with the ship's hardware or software. They were
sure of that now.

Main
engineering was nice now, nice and tight, the way it should be. They had plenty
of room for training, something he was planning on asking Bailey about soon.
Bailey he was sure knew it was needed. He'd heard the chimp had taken courses
on Anvil.

Destiny
did have a class room of sorts. It was small and cramped, unused and under
equipped since it hadn't been a critical thing to repair. Clean yes, but not
set up properly apparently. Other things had been more important. He'd seen it
in their bout the other night.

Of
course if they needed another space to train they could always take it to the
galley, a ward room, or an unused store room. Classes could be held right here
in main engineering if they didn't distract the crew on shift. Obviously not a
good idea, but if they did it right... he put the thought aside.

“Not
quite,” Sprite answered. She sounded a little disgusted.

“Why
the hell not?” They'd dropped to the lowest octaves of Alpha band to deal with
the crisis. They'd risen back up to the B octave but had held there for the
past week.

“In
a word, power. They used a lot of fuel replicating parts. More than they should
apparently,” Sprite replied.

“Crap,”
Irons said rubbing his brow. He'd forgotten that. Normally they could draw
power from hyperspace, at least from higher bands and stable octaves. But to
get there you needed fuel. In other words it took vast amounts of energy to get
to the so called free energy.

“It's
not all doom and gloom actually. They have enough fuel to get to Agnosta and
through the empty system beyond. The problem is they ate into their reserves
more than they liked.”

“So
we're stuck puttering along at this speed?” he demanded.

“I
think it's not just the fuel issue,” Bailey said pulling a chair up and sitting
down.

“Oh?”

“Clarke.
Or at least him and his team. The kid's good, but he's not a selkie. He played
second fiddle when we were held by the pirates. The pirates kept Deja on double
or triple shifts so the kid never got much time to fly.”

“Oh.”

“So
it's a confidence problem?” Sprite asked after a moment.

Irons
thought for a moment. He was pretty sure that was the main culprit. Confidence
not only in their own skills but possibly in using their implants. “Well, that
and like you said, fuel. We can't pull up to a station and fill up in Agnosta
you know. And that empty system is a problem. There is discussion about
changing our plan too.”

“Yes
I heard that,” Sprite said.

“Why
am I just now hearing this?” Irons asked looking up to the ceiling. He ignored
her image on his HUD for the moment.

“I
was about to bring it up, honest Admiral,” Sprite said sounding chastened.

“Right,
continue,” he said gruffly. He looked down and away. A couple of nearby Human
and veraxin techs nearby flinched a little. Not many had heard Irons in command
mode. And Irons never went into a snit like the chief did. He just sighed and
rolled up his sleeves and went to work. The change made more than one sit up
and take notice.

“As
the chief was saying, we've got enough fuel for two of our jumps but not all
three or four. Technically we will be in the red in Agnosta.”

“So
we need more fuel,” Irons said with a nod.

“And
to conserve power. At least until we can convince the skipper to lean on Clarke
and get us up to a higher band,” Bailey said with a sniff.

“Which
is most likely not going to happen. Mister Clarke keeps making excuses. Now
that I see the confidence angle I think I understand it. I couldn't before.”

“Okay,
so...”

“So
we tell the skipper there is no engineering reason not to go to Beta. That is
after we check the systems over once more,” Irons said giving the chimp a look.
“If that's okay with you.”

“No,
no, you're right. I agree. We do need to get the hell out of this rut. We're
bumbling along so slow people are getting a bit stir crazy.”

“Ouch.”

“Yeah,
speaking of which, there was another fight. Bryan's got his hands full. Again.
He asked me if you could drop by, something about something or other on the
fritz again. I'm not sure he knows what it is.”

“Sure,”
the Admiral nodded. “I don't have anything else on my schedule... unless of
course you want to add to it.”

“Well,
now that you mentioned it, I'd like you take another look at the hyperdrive
before we brace the captain.”

“Sure,
just let me handle this and I'll get on it,” Irons said with a nod. “Be there
in twenty or so minutes.”

“Yeah,
I'll be puttering around with the reactor,” Bailey said with a dismissive wave.
“Nothing better to do,” he muttered.

Irons
grimaced as he  watched the paramedic stitch a wound. “Nasty,” he said shaking
his head. He watched the Gashg flex his claws. He'd been amused and a little
dismayed at the large amount of security in sickbay again. It was becoming
something of a habit, something that shouldn't happen. Which gave all the more
weight to speeding the ship along.

“Gee
thanks. I try my best,”  the paramedic said, not looking up.

“Sorry.
Just thought you'd use a laser. Or glue,” Irons said shaking his head again.

“Trying
to tell me how to do my job?” Bryan asked amused. He shot the Admiral a look
and smile before shrugging. “In this case, it's the patient's request.”

“Yes
scars are good. Manly,” the Gashg said  eye stalks moving around to take in the
room. “Many scars are appealing to females.” His mouth opened and closed. The
human guards flinched.

Gashg
had a mouth in their abdomen, below their shoulders but above their hips. It
was large, and had some sharp teeth on the sides.

Their
bodies were long, at least their heads were. Their biology was a bit strange. Whatever
they ate ended up going up instead of down in the body. It was processed in a
convoluted path before spiraling down in the intestines and then coming out the
stubby, scale covered beaver tail.

The
Gashg didn't look comfortable on the gurney. It's double legs had massive feet
with large claws. The tail looked like it bothered the alien too. It was
uncomfortable from the look probably because it was kinked the way it was.

He
had scales on his shoulders, his elbows, the knuckles and back of his tridactyl
hand, around his rubbery lips and on his knees and the back of his ankle and on
top of his big feet. Scars were mixed in with the scales. The rest of the
greenish white body was a rubbery skin. Gashg were hairless of course, with a
pair of eye stalks and a pair of nostril stalks on top of their elongated head.