Destiny's Choice (The Wandering Engineer) (44 page)

“All
in a day's work captain.” Bailey reached out and stabbed downward on the
disconnect button. “and that's that people.” He grinned.

“One
of the things that bothers me is that nanites, electronics, and AI are
stagnant. I haven't seen much change now that we've looked into the historical
database. I mean. No offense,” the kid said to Sprite.

Now
that they were in hyper and climbing steadily through the octaves to Beta band
the captain had released the restrictions on the passengers and people were
mingling once more. Irons had found out April had managed all those interviews
virtually. It had been amusing to find out he'd been slightly jealous over it. 
It hadn't taken the eager students long to find him with April in the galley.
She'd given him a hand squeeze, rolled her expressive eyes at the bouncing
students and then smiled a promise of the future as she walked out an hour ago.

“I'm
sure,” she replied dryly. “And you're right. The reason is simple and two fold.
The first is that mankind held a moratorium on nanite and future tech. They
limited growth to keep things under control,” she deadpanned and then shot a
dirty look to the Admiral. “The AI and electronics... well that grew out of
spite.”

“Not
really,” Irons said shaking his head.

“Well,
you have to admit, when you make something sentient you don't have control over
it anymore.”

“Which
explains why investors moved away from research into electronics and AI. When
you invest billions into something and it turns around and bites you in the
ass, you kind of walk away fast. They did the same thing with genomes. Once
sentience is reached it has rights... so why throw away money?”

“There
is that,” Sprite admitted.

“Electronics
started to stagnate a bit before AI crossed over into full sentience though,”
Irons said, returning his attention to the students. “Once you get down to
molecular electronics you can't go much further. Quantum? To use quantum you've
got to have interfacing electronics... which slows it down to the speed of the
interface. Force fields? Again, same problem,” he said as he shrugged.

“Parallel
processing had been fully explored in the early 21st century. It and the
internet led to cloud computers... and distributed networks,” Sprite added.

“There
was exploration with organic computers, and of course people had explored
cybernetics for a long time. But when flash cloning was invented the idea of
replacing a lost limb with a clumsy artificial replacement fell by the wayside
for centuries.”

“Yeah.
I can see that. Why did you...”

“I
volunteered,” Irons shrugged. “We needed something. An edge. Something new. And
I was impatient.”

“Not
curious?” Sprite asked amused.

“Well,
there was that too,” he admitted with a small smile.

“And
spoiled. He doesn't have to worry about where he left his toolkit anymore,” she
said turning to the people around them. A few laughed at that.

“True,
all too true,” he smiled again, eyes twinkling.

The
hop between Agnosta and the empty system known as B452c was quick, a remarkable
two and a half standard weeks against the near six weeks in hyper getting to
Agnosta.  Now that the crew had a handle on the ship's systems they were more
comfortable with the upper bands. Of course they had spent most of the time in
transit in Beta band, which made this journey go quicker in the first place.

He'd
based his initial estimated time of arrival on their hesitant use of the drive.
The navigator's rather eager attempts at getting into hyper had caught him off
guard. Apparently they had been hooked by the god sea. Good. With responsible
driving this ship wouldn't be setting records but she would be moving her crew
and cargo at a fast clip. Faster than any other freighter currently in service
at any rate. Well, any other ship other than the Io 11, but she was a special
case.

Rebuilding
the drive had something to do with the faster transit time too of course. The
drive was running at about ten point four percent more efficient than spec,
something Bailey hadn't anticipated. Irons had, he'd had enough time playing
with drives to know how to get the most out of them.

The
fact of that wasn't lost on Clarke or the others in the crew.  More were
smiling now, or at least not scowling when he walked into a room.

He'd
spent every night with April, at first their every night was a passion filled
affair, but lately they had come together in companionship and mutual trust
over any adolescent lust. Sometimes they didn't make love, they just held each
other and enjoyed the companionship like they had been together for years.

When
they had exited the jump point area Irons dropped a satellite out an airlock
within hours of leaving the jump point. Curious the captain had immediately
called him in for a meeting.

“We've
got a two week transit across the system to the next node. It's an empty
system, so why are you dropping satellites? It seems rather silly,” he asked,
sitting back and rocking his chair slightly.

“I'm
not dropping communications satellites. Or not just communications satellites.”

“Oh?”

Irons
smiled a little. He spread his hands. “Captain, this system is a cross roads
like Pyrax and several other nodule systems. It has four jump points, two which
we are using, one that goes to Kathy's world and beyond that to Protodon and
Horathian space. The other goes to Centennial, a system I've visited.”

“Ah,”
the captain nodded in understanding, rubbing his hands together. He'd known
this but he hadn't realized the Admiral had planned this far ahead.
Interesting. He'd obviously overlooked something in his estimation of the
Admiral. “And this is all in relation to the satellite?”

“Satellites
actually. I'll be launching several more here. One for each jump point and a
fifth that will act as a watch for them.”

“Why?”

Irons
smiled a little. “Each satellite will log traffic and communicate it to the
others.”

The
captain's eyes widened and then he nodded. “So you can know if the pirates come
and go?”

“Not
without a someone coming by to strip the data. But we can get a handle on the
traffic coming through the system and it's general direction.”

“Okay...”
Ferguson rubbed his jaw and then frowned. It looked like he'd reached the next
logical conclusion. “What if they blow them up?”

“They
are small targets and don't have any active systems. Totally passive. They are
solar powered, so there is no energy trace to pick up easily. They won't
communicate if you don't know they are there.”

“True...
but what if?”

The
Admiral shrugged. The answer was obvious to him. “Then we'll definitely know
someone came through that isn't a nice guy right?”

Ferguson
blinked and then nodded. “Okay, I'll admit that.”

“Right.
The system is set up so we, we being the military, can strip the data and
service the system, so you don't have to worry about it captain.”

“But
this is a reserve vessel.”

“True,
but I'm... well, you're right.” Irons felt a little sheepish over that thought.
“I'd prefer it be handled by military personnel though.”

“Fair
enough,” the captain said stiffly. “We've got a week and six standard days  to
cross the system, will your other satellites be available by then? Do I need to
maneuver to make their flight times easier?”

“Each
of the other three have kick engines that will position them. I've got them
ready to go. The last one we'll drop at our exit point.”

“Ah,
okay.”

“Thank
you anyway captain.”

“Think
nothing of it.”

“He
really said that? Think nothing of it?” April asked, propping one hand up under
her head to get a better view. He shrugged.

“What
else was he going to say?” he asked. He was aware his pillow talk with April
was compromising some confidences, but in this case it was such a minor deal he
wasn't worried about it. They'd grown accustomed to talking about their days
when they relaxed.

They
still had separate rooms, more for safety than for comfort. That way they could
randomly choose which room to go to. Or a supply closet or handy cubby. What
ever worked. Hell, they'd even used a few reasonably flat vertical surfaces
over the past couple of weeks before things had started to cool. Sometimes with
somewhat embarrassing results. Word about their relationship had gotten around
after that and April had insisted that they retire to less scenic places to
play.

“Oh
I dunno...”

“He's
a good person April. He's caught in a vice here and walking a fine line. On one
side is me, on the other are the politicians who sign his pay stubs.”

“True...”

“Not
everything is as black and white as we'd like. Some people live in the gray.
Most people do. I'd like to say we're all idealists, but I know better.”

“You're
turning cynical now?” she asked amused. He smiled at her.

“Ninety
four years of experience tends to do that to you from time to time.”

“And
your visit to Pyrax must have made you even more cynical.”

He
snorted, laying back and looking at the ceiling in the dark. “Let's just say,
even with a lifetime of experience you still get surprised and caught in the
works sometimes.”

“True.”

He
waited a moment then cleared his throat. “What?” she asked.

“I
just ah, remembered. I need you to keep that satellite system to yourself.”

“Ah,
no broadcasts about it?” she teased, smirking.

“Please
no,” he said. Her eyes turned serious. He looked at her, sober. “I, we need to
keep our hole cards a secret. I want...” she put a finger tip to his lips and
smiled.

“I
get it. I'm no dummy.”

“I
never said you were,” he said as she withdrew her fingers. He caught the wrist
and kissed the finger tips, and then the inside of her wrist. She smiled at
that.

“I...
god, ninety four years.” she said, laying on her own back and rubbing her brow
in thought. “The mind boggles at that.”

“Want
an example of what that kind of experience can achieve?” he asked
mischievously.

She
dimpled and blushed on cue, laughing as he rolled on top of her and kissed her.
Thought receded after that.

Sometime
later he was holding her. She wasn't quite asleep, but getting there when she
smiled and traced her fingers in his chest fur. “You're pretty spry for an old
guy,” she said softly. Her old tag line. She seemed to love it.

He
rubbed his cheek against her ruby hair. “Thanks. I think.”

The
empty system was a red dwarf system. The captain had them shape a course away
from the direct line, using one of the gas giants as a sling shot. There
weren't many planets in the system, a couple of super gas giants, one with
rings, and a lot of rocky moons and little else. Since the system didn't have a
belt and seemed to be low on rare metals it had been overlooked in the sector's
colonization. Or at least that was one reason why anyway.

Most
species avoided dwarf star systems. Oh they'd pass through them, but unless
something of keen interest was in or nearby no one really wanted to stop and
set up shop in one for very long. They just didn't offer a lot to gain from the
relationship when there were so many other G type stars out there.

“It's
weird no one came here to terraform.”

Irons
thought about the twist of fate, he'd been thinking of the reason while she'd
been thinking about the question. He snorted mentally and then answered.
“Planets are mostly gas giants. Big ones that have a lot of radiation. There
are one or two rocky planets but they are too close to the star. The moons are
all rock, silicon and iron. No rare materials to mine. No one wanted them.”

“Oh.”

“Just
a cross roads.”

“We're
getting an object, derelict...” the sensory officer said looking up in concern.

Immediately
tension filled the bridge. They were about half way on their journey, the
perfect place to be ambushed. To far away from the relative safety of a jump
point. Great, captain Ferguson thought blackly. They had gotten complacent
where they least needed to be.

“Let
me have a look.” the captain said. He frowned at the image. After a long moment
of study he grunted and then looked up to the communication's tech. “Send that
to the Admiral, I don't recognize it. Maybe he will.”

After
a moment a signal beeped. The captain touched a control on his hand rest. “Yes
Admiral?” he asked as the vid link opened. “Got something for us?”

“Courier
drone captain. Unmanned.”