Ghost Station (The Wandering Engineer) (88 page)

“To
get our feet wet? Trial run maybe?” Warner asked.

“Find
out please,” the captain said handing him the tablet. He paused and then locked
Warner's eyes with his own. “I want sixty percent though.”

“Okay.
Will that be straight water, hydrogen, or deuterium?” Warner asked in return
taking the tablet.

“De...
um...”

Warner
nodded. “Deuterium is the best captain. We don't have a separate storage system
though. Right now everything's running hydrogen.”

“Um...
Which is... wait, Irons said that deuterium is the best...”

“Aye
captain.”

“But
we'd have to set up a separate fuel system?”

Warner
nodded. “Or run all our hydrogen through processing to turn it into deuterium
as well. Which will take time but can be done. We'd be able to store a lot more
and we'd get a great deal more energy.”

“Not
to mention less wear and tear,” O'Mallory said coming into the room. “Am I
missing something?” she asked.

“Barry's
going out ice fishing,” Warner said turning to her with a small smile.

She
nodded, face clearing. “Ah. Good. I was going to suggest it,” she said smiling.
She had a knot on her chin.

“What
happened there?” The captain asked, pointing to the welt.

She
grimaced, hand raised to the bump. “Breaker bar slipped on me. Caught me just
right. I probably have a fat lip too,” she grimaced.

“Valve?”

“Yeah.
Damn bolt sheered too.”

Warner
winced. “Ouch.”

“In
more ways than one apparently,” she replied, touching the sore again. “How are
we doing otherwise?”

“I
was going to ask you the same thing,” the captain said with a snort. He looked
at her hands. They were cut up and bruised.

“I've
been up to my elbows in rebuilding things. We've got the nodes online. All but
the ones we're waiting on I mean. Any eta?”

“We
were about to work that out right now,” the captain said as Barry called for
permission to depart. The tech manning the communication console looked up to
the captain. He met her eyes and nodded. She touched her hush mike and passed
on the assent.

“If
Barry's doing that...”

“I
was going to send over one of the boats,” Warner said.

“That
would make it easier. We wouldn't have to drop and swap boats. I like it,” she
said nodding. “Scarab's a bit small though.”

“Okay.
We'll pass the order chief.”

“Sublight
drive is back up. I want to work on the fuel system. If we've got the time I
want to rebuild the reactor too,” she said. She wanted to finish what the
admiral had started.

“Not
a problem chief,” the captain said. Both Warner and the chief stared at the
captain and his suddenly complacent change in attitude.

“What?”
he asked amused. “It's going to take another week to get everyone who wants off
over to the station.” Over three thousand had indicated they wanted to go.
Fifteen hundred had transferred over. Another two thousand people seemed on the
fence about the whole idea.

“Are
we really going to move the damn thing?” Warner asked suddenly.

“No
way are we having a hand in that,” the captain replied, shaking his head.
“That's Fu's bright ass idea. I don't envy Irons for having to figure out that
headache. Or dealing with the jerk who caused it,” he said firmly.

O'Mallory
grimaced and nodded. “Yeah,” she murmured.

Sprite
felt the others join her in the cyber chat. She turned, furious. “Are you
serious?” she demanded. “Are you out of your little mind? Do you have any ideas
what's involved in moving this station?”

“Yes,”
Fu said simply, hands in the folds of his robe. “More so than you little AI
since we've done this before,” he said patronizingly, tucking his arms behind
him.

Sprite
reared back in surprise. She looked around to the others. “And you all think we
should do that first?”

“Not
at first,” Myers said shaking his virtual head. “But soon definitely,” he said.

“Did
you think about talking about it with anyone else before making that
statement?” Sprite asked. “Anyone else? Anyone at all? Like the people you are
asking to make it happen?”

“I
have no need to discuss it with the others. I know their minds on this
subject,” Fu said simply.

Around
the virtual room the others looked uncomfortable but nodded under Fu's gaze. A
few were reluctant to nod though Sprite noted.

“Did
you even think about the logistics involved? About asking the organics
their
opinion?” They were oblivious though. She can tell, the decision had been made.

“We
have work to do,” Fu said, using a hand to motion to the others to get back to
work. Silently they nodded and disappeared. He was the last to leave, giving
her a look of amusement.

She
fumed for a full second before giving up the angst as a wasted effort. She
switched to other projects and decided to let Irons deal with it. Knowing the
admiral as she did... he'd do it. That's what galled her. She knew he could,
whatever the admiral put his mind to doing, he did. It bothered her though that
Fu was easily manipulating the situation. The admiral didn't see the opening
moves in this political game. Again he was setting himself up to be burned and
he wasn't paying attention.

Fu
hid his amusement well, looking around the virtual landscape of the net. It was
changing now, changing exponentially. Things were coming to life, long dormant
systems were coming back online. He'd already added to his virtual grotto, but
he was letting his spouse deal with restoring it to its former glory. Hishina
seemed pleased at the task.

“I
told you he would react in that way,” Fu murmured to the others.

“He
is right, it is a big project. We have only just started to repair the station.
Can't it wait a little while?” Doctor Trask asked.

“He
must be contained. This project will keep him busy,” Fu murmured, brushing the
concerns of the doctor aside.

“At
what cost?” Myers asked. He was anxious to get the science division back on
track. Fu understood his colleague’s eagerness to restore the station's former
glory to what it once was. But they needed patience now more than ever.

“We
must practice patience. Some sacrifices must be made in order to win the game,”
Fu said, ever the master.

“Win
what?” Sprite asked entering the conversation. She checked the log before he
could delete it. She flicked a disappointed glance to the others. They looked
away. She turned on Fu. “I think you and I and the admiral need to have a
chat.”

“I
do not see the reason. I have work to do,” Fu said, drawing himself up
straight.

She
glared. “Which you haven't been doing in years. You've left the
real
work to others. This won't take long. I needed to report to admiral about my
concerns about this project of yours anyway.”

“Your
concerns?” Doctor Myers asked, turning to the AI.

“Of
course.
My
concerns,” she said shaking her virtual head. “What you
thought that was the admiral's arguments? I'm not a talking mouthpiece, if he
wants to say something he will. Those were
my
own concerns.”

This
admission seemed to surprise the others. She frowned. “I'm skeptical of the
project, I know how difficult it is,” she turned on the Asian male. “And for
the record I do know what is entailed in moving this station, in building it,
and in building everything up to and including a Stargate and a Dyson sphere. I
am attached to an engineering admiral you know. Also, I know he's probably
already busy planning this move if I know him. So let's just go see what he's
got in mind. Okay?”

Fu
wasn't sure what to say so he nodded. He decided to call the AI's bluff. He was
certain Irons would be reluctant, and if he maneuvered the military man
properly he would give him plenty of material to play back to the others later.
That would prejudice them against him and his efforts further. Together they
disappeared.

Sprite
found the admiral working on the second fusion reactor. It was simple for her
really; she was a part of him. Fortunately he was jacked into the net, working
on the project through the sensors of a bot.

“Admiral
a moment of your time?” she asked.

“A
moment Sprite, I'm a little busy here,” he said, noting Fu's presence with the
AI. He handed the bot off to Proteus for the moment and turned to them. “What
can I do for you now?” he asked looking at them both.

Sprite
explained the discussions. She laid out her point of view, even bringing in
logistic charts and diagrams to further her case. She knew the admiral; she
knew he is of two minds about the project.

Throughout
the explanation Fu remained silent. When she was finished the admiral only
slightly surprised her. He of course agreed with Fu. Both the AI and the cyber
were shocked and surprised. Sprite was for very different reasons than Fu
though. The admiral was using a little of his own political Jujitsu on Fu,
turning his own argument against him.

“Actually
I was thinking of moving the station already. It's current location is
suboptimal right now,” he said with a shrug. “But moving the station is down
the list.”

“It's
not even on the list!” Sprite pointed out. “Is it? Did I miss something?” she
demanded. Fu stared at him, stroking his beard, uncertain. His plan on keeping
the admiral busy with such a herculean task didn't appear to be working as
intended.

Irons
shook his head. “No. I'm just stating that it isn't important as say, adding a
second fusion reactor or rebuilding the rest of the computer core.” He
indicated the project he had just recently been working on.

“Oh,”
Sprite said. “How far down the list?” Sprite demanded.

The
admiral spread his virtual hands. At this point he had no idea; he couldn't and
wouldn't put a date on something until he'd gotten the other priorities sorted
out. Fuel was a big one. “I'm not sure. We will have to explore what is
involved in it. How did you get the station out this far in the first place?”
He turned to Fu, raising an inquiring eyebrow.

“We
used the tugs,” Fu said simply.

“We
burned them up,” Sid interjected. “Sorry, I was listening in and wanted to get
my two credits in.” His virtual avatar formed up next to Fu. Fu's expression
and body stilled, he wasn't happy about the additional witness. This wasn't
going according to his plan.

“Oh?”

“We
can make more,” Fu said. His hand came out of his sleeve to make a brief
brushing motion as if the effort was unworthy of thought.

“But
I take it not then? What stopped you?” Sprite asked. Her eyes glittered.

“We
ran out of fuel and materials,” Sid admitted, sounding exasperated. He turned a
glare on Fu. “
Some
people forgot that part in their calculations.
Another case of a grand plan not meeting expectations. And not looking at the
real consequences of the actions once they unfold. You can't base a plan on the
most optimistic assumptions and not plan for things to go wrong. Draco and the
others tried to tell you that.”

The
admiral winced, everything Sid had just said was true. Every engineer, every
good military officer knew better than to form a plan under those conditions.
Even some politicians had learned that lesson, or at least the better ones had.
“Okay,” Irons said, looking from one avatar to the other. Sid was rehashing an
old argument, that part was obvious. Fu looked resigned but stoic. He snorted
softly. Ever the patient master in appearance.

“I
have work to do,” Fu said, retreating after a moment. Irons nodded. He turned
to Mr. Berkheart.

Sid
Berkheart shrugged. “I don't think that went according to the script he had in
mind,” he said looking on.

“Tough,”
Sprite said, proud of the admiral and glad Sid had intervened. Fu wasn't likely
to attack Sid Berkheart. She knew he was leveling his sights on the admiral,
trying to marginalize his influence with the others and distract him.

“How
are things on your end Sid?” Irons asked with a polite smile.

“Fine.
I just finished up the sector three alpha ring corridor. I was taking a break
and this caught my attention. Apparently the others have also been listening
in,” he said, looking up skyward.

Irons
took the pointed hint. Don't have a discussion in the net unless you wanted it
to be overheard. He'd have to be careful and hold conversations with Sprite
internally from now on.

“It's
going to be a bit longer before we get this sorted out.” He'd considered just
rebuilding the electronics that had been slagged but then had rejected that
idea. Oh they could, but since the reactor was down anyway they might as well
tear into the other things that needed to be fixed. Get it all done while they
could, there was no telling when they would have the chance again.
Unfortunately the project was more complicated than he'd first planned for.