Ghost Station (The Wandering Engineer) (119 page)

"Probably
not," he said absently. He tapped the tablet controls, signing off on the
document then tucked the tablet under his arm and then climbed through the
hatch onto the ship.

"They
are going to need parts factories, materials, forges, the works," Sprite
finally said.

"Some
of which they have already Sprite," he replied absently still not looking
up or really paying attention.

"You're
not listening admiral; they need you, whether they know it now or not."
She sounded almost desperate. That made him pause. “They do sir, they'll come
around. In time.”

He
snorted and paused at the bridge hatch. "Need me Sprite?" He shook
his head. "Yes, a pat on the head would be nice but that's not what we're
here for. We're here to get galactic civilization going again, and we've done
that. Time to move on."

"You're
acting like a child you know. A petulant child who can't get his own way,"
she said in exasperation. "Give it time admiral! They'll come
around!"

"Am
I?" he threw the tablet through the hatch and slammed a fist against the
bulkhead. "Am I? I'm getting out while the getting's good Sprite. This is
one ripe target for the pirates. Perfect. Manufacturing, dense mining, dry dock
slips, Blueprints and a partially educated population. And NO DEFENSES,"
his snarl rose to a full bull bellow.

"True,
but..."

"But
what?" he demanded glaring. "If you're about to say we can change it
then you my cybernetic friend are wrong.
Dead
wrong. The best we're
going to do is beg for the crumbs that they'll occasionally toss our way. Then
when the shit hits the fan, and trust me it
will
, the pirates will roll
over any pathetic thing I've gotten in place and then set up shop and I'll be
helpless to do a damn thing about it." He shook his head. “With my luck
I'll have to put up with the politicians screaming about the useless military
and where you when we needed you crap.”

"Admiral
you don't know that! Not for certain! Warner..."

He
scowled. "The Warner's are two people, new on the station council with no
connection to any of the old guard. They know the importance of it, but they
also know that they can't divide the council. They are also tired and lack the
will to continue."

"So
you'll let it all burn down? Do nothing?" Sprite asked.

"No,
I'm going to
leave
,” he said firmly. “Hopefully Lieandra or Kiev will
get word to Pyrax before the Horathian's find out. Hopefully Horatio will shift
Fuentes or something else here to ride herd on them until they see sense. I'm
not sure. I doubt it. He'll be opening a can of worms on his end if he
does," he shook his head, sitting down in the captain's chair harder than
he intended. he grimaced for a moment and then sighed. The thought of what
Horatio was probably going to have to go through; the political screaming on
his end suddenly hit him. He ran his hands through his hair, thoroughly frustrated
before sitting back tiredly.

He
thought about it, turning the situation over and over in his mind and then
grimaced. There wasn't a damn thing he could do about it. "Sprite this
system is ripe. It only lacks the political will to get the job done. Unfortunately
we don't have it. If they have a close call then it might change. I don't
know."

"If
the pirates were smart they'd ignore the planet and just pick the station
clean," Sprite mused. He winced.

"Yeah,"
he said softly in agreement. "That's what I would do," he said
studying the controls. "How are we doing here?" Phoenix had three
cybernetic cores but for some reason no AI had been loaded in any of them. Well
one had, but it had committed virtual suicide when the ship had lost power.
There had been a great deal of data, all message traffic that was of course
encrypted. He couldn't decrypt it since he didn't have the up to date
encryption key embedded in his implants. If he had he would have been able to
decrypt the purely military message traffic, but over half of the messages in
the bank were government related. They used a different cipher so of course he
couldn't access them.

"Mama
AI is checking now. Baby is still in the oven, not quite ready for
hatching," Sprite said flippantly. Her holo image appeared on the arm
rest. He glanced at it. She was noticeably pregnant. It was odd because she had
decided to go with a dumber AI for Phoenix since she would be tied into the
system as well. He wasn't sure he liked the idea, but then again, she had been right
about making AI into slaves. He'd have to watch that from now on.

"You
do have an odd sense of humor you know that?" he asked amused.

"Comes
from the people I associate with," she said with a sweet smile. "I
can't put a definite time table on it admiral, but I'd say AI Phoenix will be
ready in three or four standard days. Maybe five. At least the electronics
side. I'd still prefer a larger crew."

He
shook his head. "I'm not going to go headhunting or recruiting or whatever
you want to call it Sprite. I'm not going to shanghai people... to drag people
away from their homes when things are changing so fast for the better here now.
New jobs every day, new opportunities."

"Um...
Admiral this ship is for short lengths and normally has a crew of
twelve
with AI support. You can't be everywhere at once. We're just fortunate that it
was built with a smart AI." Sprite knew she was grasping at threadbare
excuses. From his bioscan he didn't buy it. Her virtual heart sank.

"The
AI was purged though," he said grimacing. Phoenix had spent her previous
life as the Golden Dew Drop, running her rich owners around the quadrant before
being volunteered as a courier ship. She'd run out of luck or made one too many
runs without overhauls and had been stranded in the system for the past six and
a half centuries.

"We've
got three, four counting Defender..." Sprite replied wincing. She still
wasn't at all happy about interacting with Defender.

The
admiral nodded in response. "Four AI. Motivated AI who have their own
cybernetic hides on the line so I'm not worried. If we need to spin off another
AI, then we can do that."

"Another
AI?" Sprite asked, raising a virtual eyebrow. She wasn't comfortable with
that idea. Not anymore at any rate.

He
nodded again. "One for the bridge, one for main engineering."

"And
where..." she started to ask. He merely smiled.

"Seriously?"
she asked after a moment, eyes wide.

"Why
not?" he replied as he shrugged. "You've done fine with the other AI.
We can use Proteus as a downer AI and if necessary me. You can map my neural
net and use it and Proteus as a template for an engineering AI. Or we can go
with dumb AI for now. They can decide to run the ship or they can get off when
we can build another core and deposit them somewhere else."

The
mere thought of that was in some ways appealing... in others appalling. First
off he had no real inkling of what sort of work was involved in combining a
human intellect with a diverse AI like Proteus. "Admiral..."

"What?"

"That's...
I don't even begin to have the capacity for something of that complexity. Nor
the computer reserves in the system. We can't do that when we're in hyper for
one, the ship will need all its computing power to focus on that! Too..."

"We've
got time Sprite," he said shaking his head. "Plenty of time. Think
about it," he said. "When they reach sentience we can give them the
choice of staying on or being dropped off in a system of their choosing."

"That
fits the context but not the spirit of the AI creation laws admiral,"
Sprite mused.

"Just
think about it Sprite," he said tiredly. He was tired of talking about it.

"Yes
sir,” she said. After a moment she smiled again and brushed hair over her ear.

“What?”
he asked.

She
snorted. “Just reading your e-mail. You've got about a dozen requests for consultation
work. Mayors and industrialists wanting your input on how to set up all those
factories I mentioned.”

He
frowned. “Joy. Send them references from the Galactic Encyclopedia and get with
Proteus to jot out an outline. It's all there, logistics.”

“Hmm-mm...”
She didn't sound all that convinced.

“I'm
busy Sprite. I tell you what. Jot it out, a basic thing than if you want my
input let me know and I'll take a quick look. Toss in some of my lectures on
logistics and manufacturing as well. Hell, give them most of what I've got on
that anyway. Shoot copies to any interested parties and any colleges as well.
Charge a nominal fee to cover the basics I suppose.”

“Right,”
she said nodding. “I've already filed most of your lectures with the online
college. I'll give them links to them though.”

“Good.
Now if you'll excuse me, we've got work to do,” he said firmly.

“Aye
aye sir.”

“Dismissed
commander.”

The
admiral nodded to the holo of the Warner’s as he approached the airlock for the
last time. Well, last time on this station for now, he mused darkly. He subtly
glanced around. A few of the ruling council were around, hovering in the
background. Glad to see him gone, he thought cynically.

He
didn't care. He had his launch on board, the ship was fully fueled, and he'd
said good bye to a few of his favorite students a few minutes ago. He'd smiled
politely while they had their going away party and had graciously accepted
their gifts. He knew he'd really appreciate the food gifts in time; even he got
tired of replicated food after a while.

Security
had been conspicuous in its absence during the party. He'd felt a little
nervous, but had accepted the invitation in order to keep on good terms with
the students. They after all were the future. Had it been a trap it would have
gotten ugly. Fortunately the Warner's had kept a lid on things. Now it was time
to hit the space lanes and see what else was out there.

Savo
had taken the day off to attend the party. It had been a bit bitter for
everyone, a little painful for all but he'd attended.

Making
his good byes to Sparks, Mr. Freeze, Savo, and the others had been difficult.
They were all good people. Hopefully this wouldn't get them down.

"Admiral."
he turned to Mr. Warner and nodded politely. This was one good bye he'd anticipated
but had been left to the last minute. Lieutenant Taylor Warner had yet to
resign his commission. Irons hadn't called him on it in this entire time. He'd
never lean on the man, though he had hoped the Lieutenant and Ensign would have
come forward on their own initiative to help him. "Admiral I wish you'd
change your mind," he sighed. "But I know at this late a juncture you
won’t." He looked at the admiral and then to his avatar wife.

Her
virtual hand wrapped around her husband's. "Give it a year admiral,
they'll come around. It's euphoria and, well, stubborn stupidity," she
said softly.

"I've
never been a barnacle Lieutenant Warner, Ensign Warner, I don't intend to be
one now," he growled. He shook himself mentally as they straightened
instinctively. He firmly got a grip on his temper. He didn't need to take out
his ire on them. "I accomplished a part of my mission anyway; Civilization
is taking root here once more. That I can leave in your capable hands. I'll be
around. If I don't find anything near I'll be back in oh say a year or so.
Eighteen months tops. Maybe things will have changed by then."

"Thank
you admiral," Warner said, he suddenly looked relieved. He unlike the
admiral had spent nearly one hundred and twenty years bumming around on the Kiev.
He knew Pyrax and Antigua were the best places to set up shop. “We'll leave a
light on for you,” he said, smiling a little. Irons nodded.

Warner
held out a holographic hand and then stopped. "I can't shake your hand
anymore but well, I can do this." He came to attention and saluted.

His
wife did with him. Irons instinctively dropped his duffel and came to attention
and returned the salute.

"Are
you two willing to take on one more assignment?" he asked amused. He
hadn't been sure this opportunity would present itself. He wasn't sure how they
would handle it but he had to try.

"Sir?"
Lieutenant Warner asked cautiously.

The
admiral straightened, looking at both of them with his hands behind his back.
"You two were never formally discharged from the military. I can do that
now, or..."

Rasha
glanced at her husband and then back to the admiral. "Or?"

The
admiral smiled slightly. "Or I can transfer you to the reserves. That will
allow you authority over the military hardware I've left in system until
someone of higher rank comes along." He had the refinery and a few bits
here and there he'd left behind. Then there was the Kiev refinery. Both
refineries would still be shipping their fuel to the station so someone had to
look after his interests and the interests of Kiev.

They
exchanged looks. The ensign nodded and smiled. Warner cleared his virtual
throat and nodded, eyes going to Irons. "We'll take it sir,” he said
formally.