Destiny's Choice (The Wandering Engineer) (67 page)

“Come
on, spit it out. I don't have all day,” Notuma said, looking decidedly put out.
His face had a puckered look he normally had when he had to pay out of pocket.

Irons
sighed. He looked down at a seat and gathered his thoughts. “Well, I think you
owe me quite a bit for the use of my replicator and of course all my services
here. I've been renting that storage but you've been benefiting from that as
well.”

“I
thought as much,” the purser nodded. He'd heard about the Admiral's work making
spares for the ship. He'd wished they had settled on a price before he'd agreed
to it. Another case of Bailey jumping in feet first without looking at what he
was getting the ship into. His eyes were cold. “So you came to collect?”

“In
a manner of speaking,” the Admiral said with a smile as he sat down in the worn
chair. Sprite had obviously set this up so he might as well play along and see
where it led. “But I have a feeling you are going to tell me why you can't pay
me? A thanks for the help we can take it from here?”

“I
always pay my debts Admiral. Always. Even when we left Briev I authorized our
last payment for port fees. Despite the unpleasantness that happened,” Notuma
said stiffly.

Irons
nodded. Charlie did have his own sense of honor. That was good to know. “Okay.”

“But
we will not stop there again. And I will make sure no one else does either.”
The Admiral nodded, smiling at that. The spacer's grapevine had it's uses.
Blackballing a port did a lot of damage to it's economy over time.

“Good
idea. I should have put a satellite in orbit with a warning.”

The
purser nodded. “I think that would be wise. I'll see if we can make something
simple and drop it off. A way to... pay my debts.”

“I
see,” Irons said, radiating approval.

“That
kid didn't deserve to be killed like that. Gunned down like a dog,” The purser
snarled shaking his head. It took a moment for his hands to unclench and he
obviously had to get control of himself. He exhaled and adjusted his jacket
trim. “But we were talking about you.”

“Got
an idea on the account balance?”

“Will
you take a check?” the purser asked dryly, handing over a tablet. Irons looked
at it and snorted.

“I
tell you what, I get some help, you drop that warning beacon off, I pack the
hold with material for delivery to the fleet, and we do a little gag order and
we'll call the books even. How about that?”

Charlie's
eyes narrowed in thought. He played with a stylus in his hands. “What kind of
service do you need?” the purser asked warily, sitting back.

Irons
smiled a little. “Services plural. One of them is... lets just say vermin
control,” Irons shrugged. “The other is a gag order as I mentioned. I want
whoever is poisoning people against me to shut up. No calling other ships, no
nasty gossip passed along in the bars on Triang. I'm tired of an uphill battle
and I want it to stop.”

“Ah...
I am not sure we can do that.”

“Try.
Try real hard,” Sprite said.

“We'll
see.”

“About
the others...”

“We've
got break out!” the voice was still excited. Irons snorted. Some never got over
the experience, the thrill of the adventure. Those were some of the better
people in his opinion. One should always take what enjoyment one can out of exploring.

He
however had other things on his mind. He was already plotting the locations of
the nearest rocks as the sensor feeds stabilized. With a little luck they'd
find what he needed before they crossed the heliopause.

“Does
anyone else have a question? Better make it quick folks, we've got only a few
more sessions before this is done. I'm getting off here,” the Admiral said with
a smile. They had about four days before they made Triang orbit. He'd taken the
past week to go out and fetch rocks, pulling them in with the help of one of
the other shuttles and a tug bot he'd built. He was giving the tug bot and most
of the fuel to the ship so the captain had authorized a few minor detours on
their route. It had added a few days to their journey but it had also stuffed a
lot of the holds full with metals and materials he was now busily turning into
useful products.

Of
course his actions had the ship's crew abuzz. He wasn't talking and he
generally ignored people when they stopped by to poke their heads into things.
They'd find out soon enough. Harry had lent a hand, shooing a few off and
telling most of them that he was making spare parts for the ship. That had
abated some of the interest.

Of
course that wasn't the only thing people were talking about right now. The
assassin was top of the list of course but they were also excited about the new
planet. The gossips were abuzz over who was going where and what they would see
when they got into orbit.

“Not
going back to Briev?” a student in the back asked with a laugh.

“Oh
hell no,” the Admiral said with a smile. They were in a jovial mood.

“I
was wondering... I... oh never mind,” a kid in the back said. Eugene he saw on
the HUD. A good kid, smart, he'd go places if he could keep his train of
thought and built up a bit of confidence in himself. He needed support and
seasoning. Hopefully Bailey would supply both.

“Spit
it out. I don't have all day,” another heckler said.

“Hush.
Go ahead son,” the Admiral said waving.

“Um,
how does the banking system work?”

“Very
carefully. You pony up or they take a pound of flesh. Literally,” someone in
the back said with a laugh.

“Pretty
close to what is really going on in this day and age. But not quite. You see we
have a system set up. It took me a while to figure it out on Io 11 when I was
first shown it. It is pretty close to the barter system but not quite.”

“Oh?”

“It
is all about economics. Supply and demand. If a good or service is rare, it
deserves a high price. The banking system is based on that standard.”

“Oh.”

“Okay,
lets take an example. Um... New Texas. They have a lot of beef, that's a
surplus, which they supply on demand. But they don't have a lot of processed
materials and goods. Most of their industry is non existent. So that is at a
premium.”

“Oh.”

“And
the services to keep them working are also at a premium. But lets say, Pyrax.
Pyrax has goods a plenty, and raw material. What it doesn't have is a lot of
food, and textiles. Which other planets trade for.”

“So
it is different everywhere we go?”

“Haven't
you been paying attention? We got all that fleece and furs in Agnosta kid,” a
girl in the back said. Her name was Shiela. She seemed like a good kid, a
twenty something brown haired girl who happened to be a friend of Everette. He
wasn't sure if it was a friendship with benefits situation or not. From the way
they had been kissing in the hall... “I picked out a silver mink I plan on
wearing just as soon as we get back.”

“Right,”
the Admiral said as some of the guys whistled and leered. “Pyrax has
re-established the fed credit banking system. So instead of barter, you have a
payroll, which you will receive the rest of when you arrive. Right now it's in
escrow.”

“I
hope,” Sprite said quietly.

“But
a part of it will be removed for taxes and for those of you buying a share of a
ship,” he kept going, ignoring Sprite.

“So
the standard is different... wait, doesn't that get complicated? How do we
handle that?” the girl asked. “How do we handle things when we go from one
planet to the next?”

“Negotiate,”
the Admiral explained sitting back. “The purser looks up the economic index of
a planet then calls ahead to negotiate with them. They settle on a system to
use. Then he lets you know.”

“Usually
he gives us gold or some other metal... or a piece of plastic to show them.”

“Well,
if it is gold, most likely you're being ripped off. Gold is rare and precious
for it's bauble uses on planets, but in space it is only used in thin layers
for insulation. And we can get many metals just by picking up an asteroid,” the
Admiral smiled. “If it is the plastic card, what that is is a debit system.
They take down your info then charge the ship. The purser then pays them. If
you want to know more I suggest you ask him.”

“But
we're changing things,” Sprite interjected. He turned to her holo avatar. “We
are trying to restore the Federation. As systems claw their way back to
electronics, they will start to accept electronic banking. Which will make it
easier to do business. Everything will be on a set standard, and you can just
use a card for transactions, or an identi-chip.”

“Oh,”
Everette said. “Is that how it was done before?”

“Yes.
We kept track with ansibles,” Irons said, heading off the obvious question.
“The banks would send notices out through the ansible network. For those places
that didn't have one, they would send a note on a passing ship or send a
courier.”

“But
didn't some get ripped off?”

“Yes,
that was a problem,” Sprite said dryly. “Some shady characters would create an
account, then go from system to system making withdrawals ahead of the update.
If the bank was late it was taken for quite a lot of money.”

“Which
is why there is insurance, and why banks required DNA samples and other things.
When they say that a bank makes you sign in blood, they meant it,” Irons
replied with a chuckle.

“The
identi-chips, do they hurt?” the girl asked, rubbing her arm.

“You
still haven't gotten one?” Everette asked. She shook her head 'no' mutely.
“Sheila...” he said exasperated. She scowled at him until he suddenly shut
down, obviously intimidated.

Irons
frowned. He'd been sure that everyone had one now. He'd have to have a talk
with Ed Chambers about that.

“It
doesn't hurt. Not at all. It is like getting a shot. It is a little granule,
about the size of a grain of rice for the basic set up. That one sends a signal
with your information to a receiver.”

“I
heard there are others though.”

“Of
course,” Sprite said indicating the Admiral. “He's living proof.” The Admiral
held up his left hand. “In here there is a chip,” she said. A holo appeared
over his hand. It made it look like the hand was being peeled back to reveal a
grain sized chip and set of wires.

“This
is a civilian chip. It's more modern than the basic set up. This one sends and
receives information and sends it up this network of fiber optic lines to a
processor in his chest, then up to his eyes.”

Lights
traced along the path of the wire into his body. “I can see a transaction or
other information when I use this implant. It is a civilian implant, one I used
for my personal banking. I haven't used it in, well, centuries,” he shrugged
and dropped his hand.

“Oh,”
the class looked around.

“The
simple granule identi-chip tech is now used by Io 11 and Pyrax. You may get
other implants like this soon. Clarke and the other hyper navigators already
have gen 2 implants to make it easier for them to navigate.”

“Will
that one hurt?” the girl asked nervously, indicating his hand.

“This?
No. You swallow a pill. A pretty big pill, but it's just that. Well, that and a
booster pill. It is a bunch of nanites.” He paused as the group began to
mutter. He raised his voice to be heard. “They are harmless. They build the
implant then dissolve in your large intestine. Your body flushes them out with
other waste. No muss no fuss.”

“nanites
are robots. They do just what they are programmed to do,” Sprite said as the
class looked around nervously. “If you ever want to have antigen therapy, use a
replicator to replicated things, like oh, the clothes you're wearing... or have
a body part replaced, or go in a regen tank, you'd better get over this fear.
nanites are tools. It is how you use them that matters. They aren't inherently
evil. Just the people who use them for evil are.”

“Ah,”
some of them murmured. Some of the class looked thoughtful. Most weren't
convinced.

“And
yeah, I am so getting tired of beating that subject into you,” Sprite sighed,
shaking her virtual head. Irons glanced her way.

“Just
a thought people. I've got my hobby horses, she's got hers. Just do your own
research now that you can and then think about it. Don't let old prejudices
contain you. Think for yourselves, that is all we ask. Right?” He turned to the
AI who nodded.

“Right?”
she said nodding and turning to the class in challenge. They nodded back.

“Right.
Moving on...”

Irons
paused in the corridor as Everette came running up behind him. “Admiral a
moment if you please.”

He
turned to the freckled young man. “Yes?” he asked. He'd gotten used to being
approached in the corridors. Waylaid really, by any of the crew, his students
or anyone with a question or an ax to grind. He'd thought he'd get the willies,
with an assassin running around paranoia was normal, but he'd seen the kid
coming this time.