Destiny's Choice (The Wandering Engineer) (30 page)

The
woman had done herself up well, he thought. She had a glimmering purple gown on
that left one shoulder exposed. She had a gold necklace on and lots of gold
bracelets. They glittered and sparkled in the light as she moved. Her complexion
didn't really compliment the purple though, it was most likely because she had
over done it on the make up. Far to much red in the rouge, and too much purple
in the eye make up. She looked a little like a cheap hooker come to think of
it.

Willis
on the other hand... his eyes roved past her, taking her presence in but not
seemingly lingering for long. She was a looker and knew how to show her wares.
She had a white glimmering gown similar to her bosses, but daringly cut so her
ample decolletage was showing. Her makeup was flawless, as was her complexion.
Her hair was done up in a professional looking bun, elegant with a white clip
holding it up. Somehow she'd gotten a fur stole from ground side. It wrapped
around her shoulders and arms. He'd heard a few compliments from the Agnostans.
The woman was smart to wear something from the planet. It went a long way with
some. Good for her.

“Admiral,
I'd like to thank you again for the satellites,” George Custard said behind
him. He turned smiling politely. George and his fellow Agnostans were dressed
in their Sunday best. They seemed somewhat dour compared to the glittering
Pyraxians though.

“No
thanks necessary, I was just doing my duty,” he said saluting them with his
wineglass.

“You
have no idea how much that has helped,” Jim said exuberantly, shaking his head.

“Oh
I think he does,” George said nodding to Irons. He was a wise man, he had the
largest library on the planet. It was one of the reasons he was on this
delegation. He spent his winters bottled up against the snow outside, tucked in
his chair and reading book after book. Apparently none of the Pyraxians had
figured out just how well read he was.

He
wondered if the Admiral knew. Probably. From his look he was a well versed man
himself, one who was good at reading people. He hoped the man would continue
what he was doing. It was certainly making an impact.

“We
managed to get the crops in on the main continent because of you. Just beat the
heavy storms coming in. Blasted weather! All the rocks mucked it up!” Jim said.
“You saved a lot of lives right there,” he said.

Chumly
nodded. Irons cocked his head. Chumly and Jim looked a bit like Mister Custard
in dress but not in size and appearance. Jim was long and dour, clean face
without a mustache or beard but with long brown sideburns. He had gray hair
under his hat.

Chumly
was a big broad man, with a not so serious, slightly goofy expression. He
seemed overwhelmed by everything, really out of his element. Irons wasn't sure
if it was an act or not. “You saved the east coastal towns too. Don't forget
that,” he said. The others nodded, cold sober. “That satellite network warned
us of the tropical storm coming up from the south. It gave us time to prepare
and evacuate. I heard it's touching down now. We'll know more later but I know
the early warning saved a lot of lives,” he said.

“Well
isn't this charming,” Mayfair said off to his left. He'd seen her approach on
his HUD and was actively hoping someone would head the woman off. She'd
undermined herself a lot trying to do her job. He'd wondered if that had been
her purpose all along.

First
moving the meetings to the ship. That had disgruntled the Agnostans by refusing
their home spun hospitality. You don't slap someone in the face like that. The
thinly veiled attempt to salvage it by showing them the ship backfired as well,
it showed just how uppity the Pyraxians were. He wondered if Mayfair saw that
or not. Probably not. She could be as dumb as a post sometimes.

“It
is a nice evening,” Irons said, smiling. Miss Willis smiled invitingly, coming
over to lean next to him. He got the heady scent of perfume... wow. She had
just enough on to make sure everyone noticed, but not quite enough to
completely offend. Well, not the males anyway. From Mayfair's look she seemed
jealous.

“I'd
like to thank you for the hospitality,” Mr. Custard said but then turned. “Or
should I say your's captain?” he asked, smiling politely and tipping his hat.

Irons
nodded politely with the others as the captain came closer. The captain was in
his formal uniform, white slacks, shirt, jacket, and cover. He had the cover
tucked under one arm. The cover and his uniform were trimmed with gold braid.
He had the ship's name and crest on one shoulder. One star on his lapel
indicated his first hyper command. There were of course no medals or ribbons.
He did look sharp though, better than the others. The gloves looked
uncomfortable though.

Irons
read his expression in an instant. The captain looked slightly put out. He
looked like a man determined to defuse a bomb but wary of setting it off.
“Thank you. It was my pleasure,” he said.

“I've
sent up some proper tipple for you folks for what you did and what the Admiral
here did,” Jim said smiling to Irons. “Some of it's from my personal stores so
enjoy.”

“I
will indeed,” the Admiral said with a polite smile.

One
of the minor delegates decided to show off some hologram of the planet.
Intrigued Jim and the others took their leave with a nod and wandered off to
mingle and gawk. Irons smiled watching them go. His cheeks were starting to
bother him with all this smiling.

“What
the hell are you doing here Irons?” Mayfair hissed, coming closer. “What are
you trying to play at? First you hijack my mission, then you... you...”

Irons
turned to her but the captain held up a restraining hand. “Had the Admiral not
intervened  your mission would have been a failure before it even began. Or had
you forgotten that?” he asked quietly.

“Actually,
that was commander Sprite's intervention,” Irons said, turning. Sprite's avatar
was nearby. She excused herself from the flock of admirers around her and
quickly came over. She smiled at them politely.

Mayfair
and Willis looked at her with misgivings written all over their faces. Irons
snorted softly. He looked over to captain Ferguson. The captain was amused by
the intervention.

“Hiding
behind your subordinates?” Mayfair accused.

“No,
actually giving credit where credit where credit is due,” he replied quietly.
“Of course you know nothing about that.” He turned and bowed slightly to
Sprite. She had attended in an undress uniform like he had. It wasn't quite the
formal dress uniform, but it wasn't their usual work day uniform either. It
sort of bridged the gap between the over dressed Pyraxians and the under
dressed homey Agnostans.

Her
face flushed as her temper soared. She'd thought she'd marginalized him by
telling her version of the events in Pyrax to the Agnostans. That had backfired
as well. She seethed. “You've been undermining me from day one,” she snarled
between gritted teeth. “The government will hear about this...”

“Which
part? You spreading rather vicious untrue rumors about me? That backfired by
the way,” Irons replied. “The truth is always better than fiction. You
undermined yourself by lying and then getting caught lying.” He took a sip of
his drink. “I have no sympathy for you. None at all. You did it to yourself and
you know it.”

She
gritted her teeth. She really hadn't anticipated his video and she admitted
that had been remarkably stupid of her. Willis had warned her and she hadn't listened.
“That may be true but you have no business in these affairs. You are supposed
to...”

“What?”
Irons asked, smiling politely, ignoring her rising voice. It wasn't quite
shrill yet but it was getting close. The captain winced, looking around. A nearby
steward was looking decidedly nervous.

“I
have decades of experience in diplomatic affairs. And may I point out I didn't
initiate contact with the Agnostans, they came to me. I'm not sure if it was to
see what was true or not.” He shrugged. “I do know that they weren't happy that
you moved the meeting to the ship and spurned their hospitality. A first year
diplomat would have easily picked that up.”

She
grimaced. She had hated the planet, the air, the wide open areas. The dirt...
goddess of space, the filthy dirt! The wretched wooden chairs... Willis had
thought them quaint, she'd seen them for what they were, the poor trappings of
dirt side hicks. She'd moved them to the ship for her own comfort and sanity.

She
tried hard not to snarl. He was so smug, so self righteous it made her want to
scream. “You were supposed to stay quiet...” Her hands writhed as she fumed,
mangling the linen napkin in one hand. If she could she would have clawed him.
She seemed on the edge of self control.

“Since
when does he have to do that?” the captain asked, looking at her. “He is a free
man. We do have the Constitution in place. He can do and say as he pleases.”

Irons
chuckled, taking some of the heat off the captain before Mayfair could blow. “I
never promised anyone I would stay quiet. I left, yes. I didn't say I'd stay
gone. Or that I'd just run and hide,” Irons said.

“I
think you'll find the people behind the Admiral's exile will be out of office
when you get back,” Sprite said sounding decidedly smug.

Willis
looked wary. Mayfair smug. She finally knew the AI had overstepped herself. “I
don't think so.”

“Oh
I do,” Sprite said, smiling evilly. “Terrorist acts? Against a Federation
officer? That is a Federal crime.”

Mayfair
smiled smugly. “They are members of the government. There was nothing criminal
about their actions. They are immune.”

“Maybe
in local courts,” Sprite replied laughing. It wasn't a particularly
nice
laugh Irons thought. Of course he was thinking rather nasty thoughts himself at
the same time. “In Federal court? That's an entirely different field. By
targeting an officer of the Federation they elevated it to a Federal crime.
Making criminal threats against innocent civilians? And of course it's all on
video...” she smiled. “I believe Firefly and Commander Logan will have taken
them into custody by now.”

Mayfair
blanched, pale now. So pale her make up stood out making her look like a clown.
She turned to Willis who cocked an eyebrow and then nodded. “I thought you
knew,” she murmured.

“It
seems your political patrons are going to be in a great deal of hot water.
Terrorism has a mandatory mind wipe or death penalty attached to it,” the
captain said, twisting the knife a little. “Right Admiral?” he asked, turning
to Irons. Irons nodded.

Mayfair
made a quiet excuse and then retreated. Willis sighed, shaking her head as her
boss left the room. When one of the others came over she made a polite
statement that Mayfair had a headache and needed to go lie down. That seemed to
smooth things over.

“She
asked for it,” Sprite said. Irons snorted softly.

“I'm
bored,” he sighed, sitting back, watching the display count down. He really
should be finding something else, anything else to do right now, but damn it,
he needed a break. Even he needed down time.

He
glanced at the clock on his HUD. Time was running away from him. They only had
a short period before the ship left orbit and went on it's merry way now that
most of the passengers had debarked and the cargo had been off loaded.

He
tried to think of something, anything constructive to do, but gave in after a
while. To hell with it, it's time to see a little of the planet they are trying
so hard to save. He snagged a tablet off a cluttered work station, propped his
feet up on another stool, sat back and turned it on and linked in to the
satellite system. Time to veg a little. To look for the sake of looking and
admiring.

He
didn't bother looking at the growing capital around the space port. Now that
they had some modern equipment the natives were rebuilding their civilization.
It would only have one city until they were certain that it was safe. He'd have
to shoot Logan orders to get a frigate out here ASAP. He scanned outward, idly
playing with the view.

Irons
was amused to note the polar regions of the planet were populated by animals
from the resurrection project. It seemed they were given a second chance. He
was glad they hadn't died out.

He
idly zoomed in and watched a herd of woolly mammoth trekking across the tundra,
groups of other animals followed behind, including some sort of elk with giant
antlers. Downwind of them a pack of giant cat creatures also followed.

“Life
finds a way,” he breathed, smiling. It was amazing that life existed at all on
this little dirtball. It was a terraformed world. It had been opened for limited
agricultural and scientific colonization only a decade before the Xeno war. It
was amazing that the planet's fragile artificial biosphere had held out over
the past seven centuries. The planet looked like it was in a mini ice age, but
the animals down there, they were thriving in such a world.

Most
of the civilization was centered around the equatorial zone where it was warm.
They formed a belt line of small farms, towns, and ranches within twenty
degrees latitude north or south of the equator. The equator was the hottest
area on the planet, with some of the lowland plain areas rivaling Africa on
lost Terra. Even though they were warm there were few deserts on the planet.
Plains and grasslands a plenty, but no sandy deserts like the long lost Sahara.