Turn of the Pipes (A Redpoint One Romance) (17 page)

"It's not the committee I'm worried about, nor
is it the reason I came down," Director Stemski was
saying.

"I understand. It's about the station in
general," Arthur said with a nod.

"That, as well, however still about the show.
We need it to go on," Director Stemski said.

"We've finished all the repairs in that
location as well as finished multiple full inspections," Tish said,
leaning up against a railing encircling the center round
platform.

"We didn't find any other big failures,"
Rachel added as she joined her.

"Yet we did have a life-support issue in the
general area a couple days later," Director Stemski said. He nodded
towards where Damien leaned back in a chair sipping a cup of
coffee. "Not laying blame, nor criticizing the wonderful and
conscientious job all of you have been doing. Only trying to
emphasize how important this show is to Redpoint One. It brings in
a good amount of money to the local economy and good
publicity."

"And grant money," Rachel added. "I'd never
realized how many scientists were here until recently."

"Exactly, Rachel. It is good for this station,
all around," Director Stemski said.

"I think we're all on the same page with
this," Arthur said. "First we ensure the pet show goes off without
a hitch, then we do some deep investigating to find the source of
the odd system failures."

"The sooner the better on that last one,"
Rachel said. A massive failure in the sewer system two days before
was not an event she ever wanted to repeat.

Director Stemski saluted Arthur. "I'll leave
this in your capable hands. Three more weeks and the pet show will
be over."

The moment Director Stemski disappeared,
Arthur called out for everyone to join him at the platform. It
didn't take long for the core maintenance engineers to gather
together, along with many of the bots that looked to
them.

He paced from one end of the raised central
platform to the next. "You heard the Director. The pet show takes
place in three weeks. We need to make sure there are no problems on
Ring Three. Except for emergencies, I want everyone to focus their
time and energy on that ring. Keep your eyes out for anything
unusual or out of the ordinary while you work and report it to me
immediately."

Rachel's attention should have been on Arthur.
Really it should. The pet show was important, as were the strange
problems they'd been having. All the maintenance engineers needed
to keep attentive and watchful, in hopes one of them found the
reason for the system failures.

But, she couldn't, thanks to the three older
ladies hovering at the front door leading into the maintenance
platform, dressed in clothing more suitable in the tropics. Where
did they get the brightly colored tropical shirts and skirts? Daisy
must have made another find at a rummage sale. Good grief, each of
them even wore flowers in their hair.

"Everyone, start taking with you extra raw
materials. Ask your bots for a cart, if necessary. Efficiency and
safety are the keywords now. Let's get this station ready for the
visitors," Arthur said.

A few people turned to run back into the
supply area, while others joined Rachel in staring at the women who
still stood at the main entrance into the maintenance
platform.

Finally realizing some of the crew weren't
moving or paying attention to him, Arthur turned towards the door,
his eyes blinking fast as if he couldn't believe what he was
seeing.

"You are so doomed," Tish whispered to Rachel
before she turned to disappear back into the supply
room.

Rachel wanted to escape along with her, but
instead she forced herself forward. The ladies must be here for
her, so she might as well take care of it before the women got in
the way of the engineers heading out on their repairs.

"So nice to see all of you today, but I'm
about to head out on my shift," Rachel said. Her bot trailed after
her, giving a questioning beep.

"Oh, we're not here to interrupt you," Velda
said. "You just keep right on fixing things."

"You weren't at the last knitting meeting, so
we knew you must be running all waking hours," Daisy said. "As well
as interfering with the next date."

Rachel ignored the comment about a next date,
instead asking, "Then why are you here?"

"To talk with Arthur, of course," Daisy
said.

"Considering how all of you are working so
hard, we thought it should be a priority," Eddie said, reaching out
to pat her on the arm. "It's the only way you'll ever have a free
minute."

Uh oh. Even conservative Eddie was behind
whatever the women were planning. On the other hand, today she was
also dressed in a mumu-style skirt. Certainly not
conservative.

"What can I do for you ladies?" Arthur asked,
leaning against one of the taller consoles to look down at
them.

"Actually, it's what we can do for you," Velda
said. She walked up to the central platform and handed him a
flex-sheet. "You need new recruits."

Arthur lost his composure, shock shouted out
from all of him at the pronouncement. Even Damien stopped in the
act of drinking his coffee to stare at the women in absolute shock.
Rachel knew her expression must be the same.

"Velda, no, you don't need to do this," Rachel
started.

"Of course we need to," Eddie said. "The
department needs help."

"The sooner the better," Daisy added. "It
looks as if you were just visited by the Director
himself."

The flex-paper hung in Arthur's limp hands. "I
appreciate your thoughts and concerns, but this is a physically
demanding job. I'm sure your time would be better suited at other
jobs."

Rachel laughed out loud before she could stop
herself, realizing what Arthur had assumed. He glared at her, and
she sputtered out behind uncontrolled laughs, "Boss, they don't
mean them. Look at the paper."

Arthur gave them all one last glance before
straightening out the flex-paper and started reading it. His
expression of shock returned. "You started recruiting for
us?"

The other two women started nodding while
Velda said, "Absolutely. You need help, so we found you
help."

"They are quite interested in interviewing and
perhaps a trial period," Eddie said.

"They'll work out well," Daisy said with a
firm nod. "Their interviews were excellent."

Arthur pinned Rachel with a glare. "Is this
for real?"

"I'm afraid it is. I tried shooting it down a
while ago, but apparently they will not be put off," Rachel
said.

This time she earned a glare from all three
ladies. Velda gave her a very unladylike harrumph before saying,
"Of course we aren't going to be put off. We worked hard to find
the right types of candidates. Not easy, even in the population
base we have at Redpoint One."

"I appreciate the thought, but I have this
taken care of. We do have procedures," Arthur said, trying to hand
the flex-paper back.

Velda would have none of it. She stepped away
from the platform, pretending to not see Arthur holding it out. She
turned towards the other two woman and said, "Bring them
in."

Rachel echoed all the others in another shock.
She asked, "You brought them here?"

"Of course we did. Where else would we bring
them?" Daisy asked as Eddie disappeared around a corner, completely
seriously without any duplicity showing on her face at all. Rachel
had been around the Naughty Knitters Club to know how their minds
sometimes worked. They thought Rachel had a problem, and were
determined to do whatever they could to solve it.

Before anyone could stop them, two men came to
stand in the doorway.

"Meet Gaetan Zamora and Kayo Yamanaka," Velda
said, first pointing to a tall dirty-blond young man, and then to a
shorter muscular asian man.

While both men looked pleasant enough with
friendly faces, they were both plainly nervous. She didn't envy
them being put on the spot in front of practically the entire main
maintenance crew. Glancing back, she realized every rear door was
filled with curious people.

Her bot beeped up at her.

Rachel nodded, whispering to it, "I know. It's
time to go."

Arthur turned back towards the rear of the
platform, saying in a raised voice, "It's time for everyone to
go."

The platform became a hive of activity and
noise as carts were produced, and a few people headed out past the
women of the Naughty Knitter's Club. The two men stepped out of the
way, one of them wearing an expression as if they expected
rejection.

Or perhaps she was reading too much into the
body language. The men would be fine. At the very least the ladies
would drown them in coffee, tea, and cookies afterwards, no matter
how today went. The ladies were great with helping people deal with
disappointment.

"Please get the cart," Rachel said to her
bot.

Her bot took one look at the entrance before
turning to head for the back. That was when Rachel noticed other
passing bots were doing the same. Checking out the two men as they
went back and forth.

Bots usually ignored the humans around them
unless they'd attached to one in particular or they wanted
something. Otherwise, they concentrated on their repairs with a
single-minded focus. The two men stood on the maintenance platform,
therefore of interest as possible partners.

Arthur must have noticed the bot attention, as
well, because he said, "Fine, I'll conduct an interview. Gentlemen,
wait for me over there," and he gestured to the break-room.
"Ladies, I'll take it from here. I'm sorry to be rude, but we are
in a time-crunch."

"Oh, we're fine," Velda said with a big grin
like that of a cheshire cat. Rachel wanted to roll her eyes. Of
course Velda was happy. She'd gotten her way. "Ladies, off to the B
and B. I want to try a new recipe."

The ladies disappeared as Arthur leaned
towards Rachel. "Are they always like this?"

"Nothing stops the Naughty Knitter's Club,"
Rachel said. "You were just hit with both barrels."

Arthur glanced towards the break room. "If it
results in two good candidates at once, I'll almost be willing to
overlook it."

"Careful, Boss. Give them the slightest
encouragement-" Rachel let the threat hang in the air.

CHAPTER
FOURTEEN

"WILL YOU STOP it," Paul yelled.

Ignacio turned his attention from the view
outside the window back to the table-top he was holding in place.
"What?"

Paul's face appeared over the lip of the table
on the opposite side, glaring at him. "First, you almost dropped
the top on my head. Second, twice you've been nearly run over by
forklifts. Third, she'd not here."

"She's still working on the pipes. She's
around here somewhere," Ignacio said. He adjusted his grip on the
table, holding it higher. "For the record, the forklifts were
driving too fast."

"Yeah, right." Paul disappeared under the
table again. "I asked the Damien fellow that is double-checking the
show life-support systems with his new apprentice. Apparently she's
down below tracking down a clog."

Oh no. He'd put Irvine back in his big
enclosure again, thinking he'd found his new escape route. What if
he'd been wrong? What if Irvine were the new clog Rachel was
chasing down?

Paul appeared from under the table again.
"Legs attached. I can tighten them without help. Now, go
home."

"I'm fine. There's plenty that still needs
doing," Ignacio said, setting the table down on the
floor.

Paul pointed a finger at Ignacio's chest. "No.
You, home. Go check your newts. You are distracted and getting in
the way."

"I'm doing fine," Ignacio said, scowling at
him.

Paul wasn't put off by the scowl for a minute.
He pointed towards the door. "Yeah sure. Go home. Check on Irvine
or the babies."