Ghost Station (The Wandering Engineer) (31 page)

The
admiral paused, looking at the captain and cargo master. O'Mallory was standing
there as well, looking seriously pissed. He caught sight of the captain's wife
behind them all.

“Sorry,
didn't mean to interrupt,” he said with a wave. “I'll come back when you are
free chief,” he said waving a tablet. They had finished the second infirmary
yesterday and he was now onto his next project.

“No
no, you're fine here admiral. Really,” Cora said waving. “I think we're about
done here,” she said, looking from her husband to the cargo master and then
finally settling on the chief engineer. The look she shot the chief was
sympathetic. O'Mallory's jaw set and she looked away, clearly fuming.

“Okay...
We've got infirmary two sorted out chief,” he held up the tablet. “Doc is
moving in as we speak. Since the space was the original ship's infirmary it was
easier to clean up and repair.”

“Ah,”
Cora said, looking at the tablet. “May I see that?” she asked, holding her hand
out for the tablet. Irons handed it over. She looked down at it. “What am I
looking at again?” she asked, brows knit.

“Most
of the list doc put together. Page two is what was left out. We'll have to see
about that later,” Irons explained.

“See,
that's just the problem. This replication has got to stop!” Blur said, waving
his hands. Irons cocked his head. He looked at O'Mallory.

“We're
about done with what we can handle right now. I think we'd all like to do more
but we're limited on material I believe.”

“And
power, don't forget power. You're using a lot of power. Power means fuel. Power
means wear and tear on the machinery!” Blur said clearly incensed.

“You
let me worry about my machinery,” O'Mallory snarled. “Don't tell me how to do
my job,” she growled, eyes flashing. The Telerite took an involuntary step
backwards, bumping the Veraxin ops officer who was coming up behind him.

“Excuse
me,” Hir'ruk said, pushing the Telerite away. “I believe you are mistaken in
your assumptions cargo master Blur. The Veraxin's shoulders were signaling
mournful correction. “Right now, due to the admiral's efforts we are using the
hyper collectors. We are
not
using power from the reactor which in turn
means we're not using fuel from our supplies. I've calculated a significant
savings which I presented at out last meeting I believe.”

“Missed
that,” Blur mumbled looking down at his claws. “But the usage of material must
stop!” he demanded, looking up challengingly to O'Mallory and then the admiral.

“It
seems the chief and the Ops officers have spiked Blur's guns,” Sprite said
amused to Irons. Irons gave a small nod.

“Maybe
you should run an inventory,” Sprite said. The organics looked around before
settling on the admiral. He pointed to his arm and sighed. “That's right,
Sprite, your friendly neighborhood AI,” Sprite said. Irons held up his right
hand palm up so she could project her holo image for all to see.

The
crew hadn't experienced this. Oh they'd seen her avatar a few times but not
like this. Sprite limited the image to a head shot. She nodded to the others
and then continued her report.

“I
have your manifest and it's woefully incomplete. There are entire sections left
off, and I can't update it since the security systems in some of this ship are
broken still.”

“You
have a manifest?” Cora asked clearly interested. Sprite shot her a copy. She
looked down at the tablet in her hands as files scrolled through it and then
stopped. “I've never seen such a complete inventory,” she said, tapping at the
index and then scrolling through it. “Wait, we have bolts of fabric?” She
looked up and at the Telerite.

“I
believe so,” he said with a wary nod. He wasn't sure.

“You
believe so but you don't know for sure?” the captain asked.

“Things
have been a little up in the air. My inventory has been moved around a lot over
the past several months. I've lost track of some of it,” Blur said defensively.

“There
is no optics in some of the cargo bays and storage areas. I did find a set of
army powered combat armor. It's old and damaged but useable,” Sprite reported.
From her tone she sounded interested.

“Interesting,”
Irons mused.

“I'd
like to trade for it,” Sprite said before he could say anything further. He
looked down at her holo image in surprise.

The
captain cleared his throat. “And just what would an AI need with a suit of used
combat armor?” he asked.

“I
think the admiral will need a hobby one of these days. Something to pass the
time when he's bored. I know him. He started to get all maudlin and climbs the
walls if he's idle for more than a half hour,” Sprite replied dryly.

“Sounds
about right,” O'Mallory said, shooting Irons an amused look. It sounded like
she was getting control of her temper back. Good.

“What
are you willing to trade for it?” Blur asked. He always loved to negotiate.

“Haven't
they done enough to earn it?” Cora asked amused. Her husband shot her a look.
The Telerite's face was more aggrieved and appalled. O'Mallory wasn't sure if
she wanted to throttle the mole or not.

The
captain looked torn. Cora shot him a look. After a moment under her gaze he
shrugged.

Before
Blur can ask any more stupid questions Cora smiled politely to Irons and then
to Sprite. “It's settled then. The armor is yours then,” she said graciously.
When Blur and the captain looked to object she shot them down with a glare.
“Right?” she asked with teeth in her smile. “Hasn't he done enough?” she
snarled politely. O'Mallory's eyes widened briefly in amused respect. That shut
both males up and made all of them squirm. Sprite was amused.

“I
think we can do a few more things but we're down to just swapping parts now,”
Irons mused.

“More
time for your classes?” Cora asked smiling to him. He shrugged. “Good. You
deserve a break admiral. When we get to Antigua I'll make sure you get some
downside on the planet. That is if you are staying with us for the next
transit,” she said.

He
shrugged, ignoring the looks from the captain, Veraxin, and Telerite. If two
out of three of them had their way he'd stay on the planet.

“We'll
see. What I can do is give you a class one industrial replicator. If...” He
held up a finger as Blur opened his mouth. “If that is we can use the Scarab to
wrangle a rock in Antiguan space and use it for the material.”

“That's
an idea,” the chief said with a nod, looking at the captain.

“It
is a thought,” the captain said.

“And
just think honey, since we are getting to Antigua two months ahead of schedule
we can give the crew plenty of time for shore leave. I so want to visit the
shops again.” She tucked her hand through his arm and then smiled winningly up
at him. “I wonder if they have that nice red number I saw the last time we were
there? I can't remember the shop so we'll have to check them all over again.”

Irons
winced at the captain's expression as the little woman tucked her arm through
his and clasped his hand with hers. The captain was manfully trying not to look
bleak and trapped. O'Mallory's lips pursed in an amused whistle.

“And
of course that also give the crew plenty of time to go about repairing and
rebuilding the ship. Who knows honey! By the time we return we may not
recognize the old girl!” She grinned and started to pull her husband along.
“Wont that be nice? Beta band?”

“Um...”
The captain didn't know what to say. Sprite held her hand up to her mouth,
stifling a laugh. O'Mallory looked ready to burst. Irons shook his head
mentally.

“Oh
Sprite,” Cora turned to the AI in Irons' hand. “I'll have the suit transferred
tomorrow if that is okay,” she said.

“Of
course ma'am,” Sprite replied with a nod.

“Very
good. See to it, Blur wont you,” she said, smiling to the Telerite and then
dragging her husband along. “We have a date with our darling daughter. I
believe that since we've got some material in stores a new bed spread is in
order. I'll see if we can have it done soon. And matching throw pillows. I know
how you like the frills dear,” she smiled. “Carry on,” she said, leaning back
and waving dismissively to them.

Irons
turned with the others. He caught the captain's wince. He hid a chuckle as they
made the turn around the corner and out of site. He turned to O'Mallory whose
eyes were twinkling. She was dimpling a tight lipped smile.

“Yeah,
so pussy whipped,” O'Mallory breathed, too low for the others to hear apparently.

“What
was that?” The Telerite asked.

“Nothing,”
she said collecting herself. “We done here?” she asked.

“Just
about. Cora took my tablet so I'll upload the report to you chief,” Irons said.

“Done,”
Sprite said smugly. She pretended to buff her nails.

“You
are a cheeky miss aren't you?” O'Mallory said, looking down at the AI.

Sprite
looked up, hands on her hips. “Oh you have no idea,” she replied with a smile.
Irons rolled his eyes. She turned her torso to look over her shoulder at him.
“I saw that,” she said.

“I
know you did. But as I was saying, I think we've just got basic maintenance and
cleaning left chief. For some reason we're running into problems with the
cleaning bots. I've been too busy to look into it but if I get more free time
I'll take a look.”

“I'll
get George or Yvonne to look into it,” O'Mallory said with a nod. “See what
they come up with and then compare notes with you. Nothing from your end?” she
asked, looking at Sprite.

The
AI shrugged. “It's happening out of sight of the cameras. Whatever is going on
it's not accidental, that I'm pretty sure about.”

“Intentional?”
Hir'ruk asked.

“It
looks that way. Once? Twice? But three times?”

“Once
is happenstance, twice is coincidence, three times is enemy action,” the
admiral murmured.

Sprite
nodded, eyes flashing virtual fire. “Exactly. Something doesn't like the robots
poking around in the recesses of the ship. Areas like the ducts. I'm not sure
what it is or why.”

“We'll
find out,” O'Mallory said grimly.

“Hopefully
soon. Whoever or whatever is doing this is getting cute. Now they aren't just
destroying the bots, they're making the parts disappear so we can't use the
broken bits to replace them.”

“Wait,
breaking the bots? Something's breaking them? Physically? Smashing ship's
property? Sabotage? Spirit of space! Why would anyone do that?” Blur demanded.

“If
we can catch them in the act we'll ask them. If they can answer,” O'Mallory
said with a nod. “I'll check in with Teela and Bert.”

“The
security chief?” Irons asked.

O'Mallory
turned to him. “Haven't run into him yet? I'm surprised,” she said.

“I've
been busy,” he answered with a shrug.

“Bert,
short for Q'Bert. A nickname the Naga chose. Based on an ancient Terran video
game character,” Sprite said, cocking her head and looking up and away.

“If
you say so,” O'Mallory replied with a shrug. “I know he's been sick off and on.
He's an old Naga but wily. The life support has messed him up over the years.
Doc's got him straightened out now so he's back on duty.”

“Ah,”
Irons said with a nod. Naga's were desert dwellers. They didn't do well in
atmospheres that had a lot of water vapor in them. When exposed to a lot of
humidity for even a short period of time they developed respiratory ailments.
Sometimes the pneumonia was fatal if left untreated for long. Their skin also
needed a certain amount of UV to function. It was odd, Naga could swim if they
had to, they swam like a snake but they couldn't handle a lot of humidity in
the air.

“He
tried to keep to the dry sections of the ship. I think fixing the security
cameras and locks is a good idea. That way he can keep an eye on things,”
O'Mallory said, giving the Telerite a look. “Right?” she asked.

“I...
Yes. Yes, we don't want anyone stealing anything. Not that I'm saying anyone
would have course, I'm just saying it's something we need to...”

O'Mallory
held up a restraining hand to stop the Telerite. “We get the picture. I'm more
concerned about a Denubian rat or some other pest myself.”

“Yes
yes, vermin! I've always had such problems with them in the food stores!” The
Telerite bobbed a nod. The spikes on his back flexed.

“The
elves like hunting them,” Hir'ruk said. His antenna flicked. “I believe they
have dozens of recipes for Denubian rat.”

O'Mallory
wrinkled her nose. “They would,” she said.

“I
understand it's quite the challenge to hunt the rats given that they are nearly
the same size as the elves,” the Veraxin mused. “I believe it is religious
somehow. Something of a coming of age rite. They hunt with just a spear or
archery set. Primitive.”

“Interesting,”
Irons mused. He hadn't heard of any such coming of age rite for elves. He'd
have to look into it later. It might be something that grew up on the ship.