Ghost Station (The Wandering Engineer) (80 page)

“No,
got it covered,” Irons said, bringing his shields up manually until they
sparkled and crackled. The guard's eyes widened. “I don't want any more of our
people getting hurt. I'll play nice,” he said climbing through the half opened
hatch. “Or at least try to. Close it behind me. I'll let you know when I'm
ready to come back,” he said looking over his shoulder.

“Your
funeral admiral,” the guy said, slapping the close button. The hatch closed
behind him.

“I
highly doubt it,” Irons said, turning. He had his suit on of course, he could
button up but he didn't bother. He checked his HUD. The nearest group of life
signs were about a hundred meters to his left and one deck down. They were
supposedly trapped. He'd find out in a minute.

He
made his way through the companionways, listening. He could see a heat signal
in front and behind him. more than one behind him actually, though the other
two hung back on the edge of his sensor range. He was aware of a possibility of
an ambush but judged it only moderately likely.

When
he got just outside the tribe's quarters they seemed to react. He started
picking up audio chatter. He frowned. None of it was friendly either. They
weren't sure what to do though. Half were sounding hostile. Can't have that.

A
squad was forming up in front and behind him. No, definitely can't have that.
He didn't want to kill anyone, he came in peace, or was at least trying to do
so. He looked around judging the situation. They thought they had him bottled.
They were defending their home, intellectually he could understand that. But he
was the new landlord and they needed to get some things straightened out.
Namely the lease and the rent.

There
were about a dozen, most of them Terran with a couple Veraxin and one Gashg.
All armored in improvised armor and armed with improvised melee weapons. In
other words no match for him.

He
used his cybernetics to generate a sonic attack that disabled them before they
could attack. The usage of nonlethal force was surprising to some of the cybers
who were watching. He picked his way forward through the fallen bodies, trying
not to step on anyone.
A few of the beings that were made of more
sterner stuff managed to recover enough to take a swing at him. He used martial
arts to subdue them quickly with as little damage as possible.

After
fighting the squad off, he paused at the sound of coughing. He turned,
localizing the source of the coughing. From the heat signature it was a child.
A human child, female. He pulled a cover plate off to find a girl hunched over
in surprise, disabled by her coughing. He reached in and pulled her out before
she could stop him.

“Come
here young lady. You don't sound so good,” he said hefting her. His sensors
scanned her body.

She
stared at him and then was wracked with coughing once more. He can hear a lot
of fluid in her lungs, not a good sign. He set her down on top of a crate and
looked her over. “You need medical attention,” he said. His ultrasonic scanners
pierced her body easily, mapping her internal organs. Her temperature was one
oh three, not good. She definitely showed signs of an infection. But her skin
appeared in good shape. That meant... he tried hard not to frown.

“Doc,
we've got a problem. A young girl, sick,” he said.

He
turned to see a woman rising behind him. He still had his hand on the girl,
propping her up. “Are you her mother?” he asked turning his head to her.

She
blinked at him, furious at his manhandling her child but confused by the
stunner and his actions. “Look lady, peace. I come in peace. Believe it or not
I am here to help.” He turned to the girl. “From the sound of it...” he winced
at her coughing, “You need all the help you can get.”

“We
were fine until you showed up,” she said, coughing herself. Irons frowned,
doing a quick comparison scan of her. Yes, she had a fever as well.

“Doc,
we've got a contagion. I'm told it's from us,” Irons reported.

“Shit,”
Trask muttered over the intercom. He looked up with the others. They looked at
him.

“That
is a doctor. She's here to help.”

“Ghost?”
a Veraxin chittered.

“Not
quite,” he said pursing his lips. “Truce?”

“If
it will help my daughter...” the woman said. He nodded. She nodded back. “No
tricks,” she growled.

“Truce,”
he said. “How widespread is this?”

“All
of us humans have it. It started when you got here,” she said, glaring.

“Not
from me. But I can bet from someone else. They were possibly a carrier of
something and most likely don't know it. It might be something as simple as the
Rhino virus but I doubt it. Influenza possibly. We'll find out,” he said.

“
Sure
you will,” she growled.

“Yes
we will,” he said. “John Henry Irons, Federation Fleet Admiral. I've taken
control of this station.”

She
stared at him. He cocked his head, propping the girl up. Finally he turned and
had her lay down. She popped her thumb into her mouth. He smiled a little. “You
are so much like Sophia at this age,” he said.

The
mother seemed to calm down, looking at him with new eyes. “Doctor Trask?” he
asked.

“I'm
working on it now admiral. I can't do much though. I... we need blood samples.”

“Okay,”
Irons said with a nod. “Sprite?”

“Yes
admiral?”

“I
need your help. These people need your help. Can you handle that?”

“I
suppose,” she said tiredly. Irons made peace with Sprite long enough for her to
help. “You do realize this is a great deal like the Spanish meeting the Inca
right?” she asked after a moment.

“Disease
you mean?” Irons asked frowning. “I should have seen that,” he murmured.

“You
are human you can't think of everything,” Sprite replied.

“Thanks,”
he said.

“It
does sound similar in theory,” Clio said agreeing with Sprite.

“Thanks
for the support,” Sprite replied dryly.

“Sorry,
historian in me. Do I call you step mom?” Clio asked amused.

“Pass,”
Sprite replied with the first hint of humor in her voice in a while. Irons felt
a little bit of himself thaw as well.

“Okay,”
he said turning. “I was planning on introducing myself and having a talk with
your tribe and it's leaders. But this emergency is more important. Can you and
your young lady come with me?” the admiral asked.

“Where?”
The mother asked.

“Well,
believe it or not this isn't intentional. We're going to take you to the
medics. They will draw some blood and do some tests on it. See what's going on
and what they can give you to cure it.”

“Cure?”
the woman asked dubiously. There was only a slight hint of hope in her voice.
She seemed resigned to death.

“Cure.
Antibiotics at least,” he said firmly. The woman swayed a little. “Clean food
and water to help out. Flush your system and stuff. Come on, I'll help,” he
said picking the girl up in his arms. She was limp, eyes almost closed.

The
mother stared at him. He made his way through the group. The squad stepped
aside, not sure what to do. Finally the woman followed.

He
took them to the hatch, then through it when it opened for them. The woman
warily looked at the guards. Stane was there, he rubbed his temple. He didn't
look happy at first at their arrival but one look at the little girl had his
unhappiness in full retreat. The big bald guy smiled a little and then nodded,
tipping a finger to his brow in salute. That seemed to mollify her a little
more. She straightened her back and followed.

The
admiral made his way to the makeshift sickbay. It was in a storage compartment,
not really suited, but the best that was available right now. He'd rather take
them to the Kiev but he knew that option wasn't available. The captain would
throw three shades of a fit over the idea if he suggested it and he really
couldn't blame the man. No one sane wanted to import a potentially lethal
contagion into their ship.

“Doc?”
he asked, setting the girl down on a gurney. The woman went to her side,
shouldering past Irons to hold her hand and stroke her brow.

A
short brown haired medic came up and checked the girl over. “Ma'am?”

“She's
a patient too. Contagion. Influenza like symptoms. Work with doctor Trask and
doctor Numiria to find out what's going on and how to treat it,” the admiral
ordered.

“Broad
spectrum antibiotic,” Trask said from the overhead. “Start with one hundred
cc's. Get it into them now. Water as well; they are more than likely dehydrated
from all the sweating and fever.”

“Okay,”
The medic said nodding. Her hands flashed as she started to take action.

“Then
we'll need blood samples and a check. We need equipment...”

“Which
we don't have here,” the medic said looking around.

“Yet,”
Irons said. “Give me a list of what you need doc, we'll get it for you,” he
said.

“Uploading
a list now. I'd ask you to use the equipment we have but the nearest is...”

“Too
far away,” Irons said as she put a map up on his HUD. “And on the wrong side of
a couple of decompressed areas. No I'll fab up what you need doc. Just let me
get going.”

“We
need to check you as well,” Trask said.

“Later
doc. I'm not a carrier. I'll tell you classified. If you want more information
ask Commander Sprite.” He turned to the mother. “You are okay here ma'am?” he
asked. She stared at him for a moment, stroking her daughter's small hand with
her thumb. Finally she nodded.

“Okay.
Make sure they give you some food too. I've got to get some equipment to help
you. I'll be back,” he said.

“I'll
do that,” she said as Irons moved out.

“Admiral...”
Trask said over the radio link.

“Seriously
doc,” he said not breaking his stride. “Check with her. I'm fine. I've... let's
just say I'm immune to any disease, bacteria, or nanite plague you or anyone
else can dream up. Okay?”

“I'm
not as much worried about immunity as I am you being a carrier.”

“I'm
not doc. Again...”

“I'll
talk to your AI.”

Doctor
Trask started a friendship with Doctor Numiria and the medics. She really hit
it off with Doctor Kraft. Their mutual time period helped to build a quick
level of respect and friendship. They came up with an aerosol in less than
twenty hours that they handed over to the Stewards to inject into the life
support system. It was a combination of vaccine and antibiotic. It won't cure
those already infected but it will help stave off the pandemic long enough for
them to take more direct methods.

The
woman and her daughter were fine, resting comfortably. Irons quietly asked the
medic to make sure a woman is on hand. Security is posted outside just in case
of an incident.

After
a day, they recovered enough to be sitting up and were eager to return to their
own people. They had a lot of stories to tell. They were given fresh new
clothes, something that the mother is wide eyed about. She changed and then
bundled their old clothes, and stuff, she had stolen under her arm. She follows
him back to their quarters with the girl holding her hand.

Using
them as a bridge Irons made contact with the rest of their tribe and then the
other tribes that day. It was hard, they do not trust easily. His appearance as
a real person gets the group over their initial fear, but only so far. Giving
them food and medicine helped a little, but earned a little contempt from some.
He's not sure why.

“Look
folks, I'm here to help,” he sighed. This really was taking up a lot of his
time; time better spent repairing the station in his opinion. He went over to a
flickering light and reached up. He let Proteus go to work, morphing his arm to
repair the wiring. His ability to repair things awed them.

“Romeo
right?” Irons asked the supposed leader. The man nodded, arms crossed.  He was
dressed in Dilgarth skins and rags with a necklace made of Dilgarth teeth
around his thick neck. His cheeks were sunken in, his skin a bit reddish from
the slowly abating fever. “We're here to rebuild the station. Some of these
people are here to stay. I'm going to tell you the same thing...” he paused,
seeing something on his HUD he shouldn't.

“Dilgarth!”
he warned, turning to the heat source.

Romeo
and the others gathered weapons but it was already too late. The alien reached
out as he got too close to an open panel, cutting into his arm. He threw
himself backwards. Irons didn't have a clean shot; there were too many people
in between him and the damn alien. He pulled one aside, and then lunged in as
the alien struck downward in a killing blow.

His
shields caught the scythe before it can cut, bouncing the organic blade off
easily. The alien hissed in surprise. Irons was still in motion, he reached out
and grabbed it by its short stubby thick neck and squeezed hard. Enhanced
muscles and a life time in martial arts proved to be the creature's undoing.
It's filmed eyes pop as he crushed it's trachea and blood vessels in its neck.
A quick twist of the wrist and arm and it's neck is snapped.