Destiny's Choice (The Wandering Engineer) (40 page)

She
stared at him for a moment, then her smile came back. “I keep forgetting you
are a miracle worker. Do you honestly think it is possible?”

“We
were building half of one in Pyrax before I left,” he said. Her eyes went wide.
He shrugged. “The outer casing at least. It is tabled now that I can't be there
to unlock the tech,” he explained. “But once I find another system, I'll set
one up there. Then when you pass through you or others can buy time to send in
your reports.”

The
ansible was only one of many projects now on a back burner in Pyrax. The San
Diego Bernal sphere was another. For that matter Prometheus, the yard... the
list went on and on. Hopefully something could be done about that soon. He knew
morale in the Fleet was probably in the crapper.

“I
like that,” she grinned. “I like that a lot.” He chuckled. She cocked her head
“There was something I was wondering. Why does the ansible have to be in a
fixed point in space?”

He
smiled. “You mean a L Point or subspace anchor? Because motion affects the
ansible. Too much and it self destructs.”

“Um..
L...”

“Lagrange
point. Like L5 back in the Sol system. It is a stable point in space where an
object can be left and it won't drift and will remain fixed over one point.
Anvil is in such a position. Which is why we were building the docks and annex
as well as the beginning of the ansible station there.”

“But
why not on a planet?”

“It
is extremely difficult to get the cut muons down safely to the planet's
surface. One good buffet of turbulence or jar in a vehicle in transit and they
will... well.. poof!” He pantomimed an explosion with his hands.

“Oh,”
she blinked then smiled again. He started to realize she was flirting with him.
Drawing him out. She tucked her arm through his. “How about you take me out to
lunch. Or I take you out,” She smiled again.

“You
know, I'd like that. I'd like that a lot,” he chuckled softly.

He
pulled a chair out for her. “I'm a little confused by this. You did reserve a
private room,” he said as she sat with a polite smile. He tried to ignore the
side long looks from other patrons, or the woman with children who gathered her
young daughters close and left.

He
wasn't sure who they had been. Either passengers going to Triang or Briev or
someone new they had picked up. Obviously they didn't like him. He tried to put
it out of his mind. Some Skeptics refused to believe nothing but the worst
despite all evidence pointing to the contrary. No matter how many times you
rubbed their noses in the truth they wouldn't open their eyes and ears long
enough to listen and believe. Oh well.

He
had better more important things to do than worry about skeptics. Like enjoy
the company of this lovely young lady. So far no one like her had sought him
out. He wondered what her angle was. It felt like a bit more than just a
reporter looking for a big scoop, he was almost certain of that.

She
smiled a little, dimpling. “Of course. But you do need to be seen more,” she
said picking up the cup of water in front of her and taking a sip. She had an
aura of grace and sophistication, more natural than Willis and Mayfair tried to
project. Interesting.

“So
now you're vying with Sprite to become my publicist too?” he chuckled softly.

“No,
I believe your AI can handle that,” she replied with a soft chuckle of her own.
She gave him an amused look. “Although if the position is open and pays
well...”

His
chuckle turned into a laugh. “Right now it doesn't pay anything at all,” he
said and then shrugged. “That will of course change when time and circumstances
permit.”

“I'm
willing to bank my wages for a later pay day,” she replied with another smile.
He picked up his cup and took a sip. “And of course there are... other methods
of payment.” One finger toyed with tracing a heart on the top of his. He nearly
choked on the water.

She
giggled as he took a napkin and wiped up the mess. “You shouldn't get a man's
hopes up,” he said smiling. “Especially an old man.”

“You're
what? Forty?” she said with a sniff and toss of her hair. “Piffle.”

“Try
again. Upwards,” he chuckled sitting back as he rescued his hand.

She
pouted a little. “Oh yes, the stasis. That doesn't count,” she shrugged.

“Glad
to hear it,” he chuckled again. “And you're still off. By over half my age.” He
watched her eyes widen in alarm.

“You're
serious?” she asked after a moment. He smiled the smile wasn't quite a grin but
it was close.

“Ninety
three. Well, ninety four now.” He shrugged. “The benefits of modern medicine.”

“Oh
wow. You're spry for an old guy. I've seen you work out,” she said batting her
eyes at him and smiling a little.

“You
have?” he asked in surprise. He could have kicked himself. How could he have
missed her red hair? Or that yellow jumper of hers? They stood out like the
sun!

“I've
done my homework,” she replied. There was that sexy smile again. “It does make
me wonder about aging. I wonder if I should do a piece on it?”

“Regen
or aging in general?”

“Both.
Just how spry are you?” she asked as the waiter brought over a tray with food
on it. There was enough double entendre in that question to make him blink
uncertainly.

He
decided to take it at face value. No sense getting worked up about it. Things
will happen or not on their own time table. “Physically I am in my thirties.
And I will remain there.”

“For
a couple of what? Centuries?”

“No,
millenia most likely.” She whistled softly, eyes wide again. “Eons if I don't
shuffle off by some other means,” he shrugged.

Her
eyes widened even more. She paled a little and sat back. Her hands shook a
little as she took up the cup.

“You
are really that long lived?” Miss Willis asked from the table behind them. He
turned to her and nodded.

“It
isn't just the regen though,” Willis asked slowly. “It's your implants too
right?”

Irons
wasn't comfortable getting into the details but he had to say something.
“Correct. Not much can get through to harm me. I cannot be poisoned, I won't
dehydrate, and I can live for days without air and weeks without food or
sleep,” he shrugged at their expressions. They were a mix of awe and horror.
“Though I am cranky when I don't get enough of either.”

“Make
that very cranky,” Sprite said dryly for his ears alone. He snorted softly.

“I
never knew,” Willis murmured.

Irons
shrugged. “Not many do. Regen treatments, metafactors, and gene-factor
engineering can double, triple, or extend a life span by four or five centuries
as long as the subject is careful and receives regular medical care. That is why
people like Commander Logan are still around. He had only the most basic regen
treatments in the service at the beginning of his career but he was still
functional after over a century of life outside stasis. I do admit, I was
hoping to see more though.” That last part came out a bit wistfully.

“Well,
there was a war on,” O’Neill said, catching his hand again to get his undivided
attention. He was surprised that she seemed jealous. It took him a moment to
realize it was because he was paying attention to another woman.

“True.
Too true,” he sighed. He patted her hand in thanks for the comfort.

“You
lost everything. Your friends,” she shook her head. “I'm sorry. You must hope
to run into some,” she looked down, looking a little lost and forlorn.

“I've
come to grips with it,” he sighed, jaw tightening then relaxing. “I had hoped
to see my family again, but that is most likely impossible,” he grimaced and
then shrugged as she looked up, meeting his eyes.

“Family?”
she asked surprised. He smiled a crocked sad smile.

“I
had a son,” Irons said quietly and softly. “I was married a few times but I
only had two children. My daughter died before the war. She was in the explorer
corps. My son was your age when I went into stasis...” He shrugged to indicate
he didn't know more.

“Ah,”
she nodded. “He could still be out there somewhere. Or his descendants.”

He
nodded. “Maybe. I doubt it. He unfortunately followed in my footsteps and
became a spacer like his older sister. It is a hard life even in peace time. In
war...” He shrugged and spread his hands helplessly.

“I'm
sorry I brought it up, opened old wounds,” she murmured.

“No,
some things have to be said. To be dealt with so you can move on. Sprite has
been after me for a while to talk to someone about it,” he rumbled softly and
then sighed. He looked behind him as Willis got up and left.

April
seemed to relax a little. She picked up her fork and started in on lunch.
“Aren't you going to eat? You may need your energy for later,” she said smiling
a cat like smile.

“Oh?”

Her
smile widened a little into a distinctive mischievous grin. There was enough
anticipation there to surprise him. “Yes. I heard you're into martial arts. As
it happens so am I. Think you can handle a bout or two?” she asked taking a
bite and smiling a challenging smile.

“Depends
on what kind of bout you had in mind?” he said, finally getting his own back as
she blushed and squirmed a little. Her cheeks dimpled nicely. She had a nice
smile he thought.

“We'll
see.”

Irons
glanced around the dojo. It was a small compartment, little more than four
meters square, but adequate for the ship's company as long as they kept the
bouts and audiences limited.

Apparently
Ed the security chief and Bailey had combined forces to get this out of Charlie
and the captain. It couldn't have been easy, the purser was a stringent pain in
the ass. Apparently they'd sold the room on the fact that it was a good work
out place for security to hone their skills... and just so happened to be a
good place for the practitioners of yoga to use when they wanted.

Before
it had been used as a storage closet instead of as it's intended purpose. With
the cargo from Agnosta unloaded they now had the room to consolidate a lot of
the other rooms, freeing up space.

It
was off the small gym, practical in that it was located near the tiny public
locker room and showers, but unfortunately it didn't have sufficient sound
shielding. They could occasionally hear the metal on metal contact of weights
nearby.

Equipment
was velcro strapped on the walls here and there. Blocking pads, a shield,
practice swords, an emergency first aid kit, all the basics. There was a small
locker for safety equipment. They had the basics in the room and that was what
mattered.

Ed's
security people had started to get into the martial arts, even going so far to
start a formal match between opponents once or twice a week. They used cameras
around the dojo to project the match to those who wanted to view it. So far no
one had had the gumption to challenge him.

Yesterday's
match had been pretty good. Sprite had shown him the video. Not bad. They
weren't black belts but they moved like they meant business which was
important.

April
seemed to be settling down, she bounced a little, working the kinks out and
stretching. Her face schooled into a proper neutral mask. Good. So she did know
a little about martial arts.

He
bowed to her as she grimaced and adjusted her belt. He'd gone to change in his
quarters. She apparently had her outfit ready in the locker room. Interesting.
She returned the bow hastily and then went into a horse stance. His practiced
eye told him she was confident but not centered just yet.

“Are
you ready for this?” he asked, fighting amusement. He was torn for once, not
wanting to outpace her but also not wanting to make it obvious he was going to
go easy on her. She'd insisted on going free hand, sans pads. He wasn't
comfortable with that idea.

He
had to admit she looked good in a gi, then again, he'd had a lackluster
personal situation for entirely too long. Just about anything walking upright
in a skirt was starting to look good. Except the dour Mayfair he thought with a
wry twist of his lips.

“The
question is, are you?” she asked, eyes flickering with mischief. Her smile
tightened into a small feral grin. It hadn't taken her long to get into the gi
once they'd settled on the doing this.

She
dodged his exploratory kick with ease, moving into his space and sweeping his
leg. He flipped to get away but she rolled and grabbed his arm as it hit the
mat and yanked. He came down hard right on top of her.

“Sorry,”
he muttered. She oofed then laughed as he rolled off her. He grunted as she
held on to the front of his gi and rolled with him.

“Not
quite the roll in the hay I had planned but it will do,” she grinned down at
him, red hair flaring out in a halo around them. She pinned his shoulders for a
moment then brushed hair out of her eyes. She locked eyes with him then kissed
him. He returned the kiss in surprise. His free hand reached up and stroked her
hair gently.