Ghost Station (The Wandering Engineer) (94 page)

He
nodded. “Yes. Oh. If they did return to active duty they would have to be split
up. I don't think they want that. After being married for so long...” he
shrugged helplessly.

“You'd
think they'd want a break from each other,” Sprite joked.

“Maybe.
Some draw comfort from being together. Their relationship is quite tight knit.
I'm afraid if I pressed them they would resign,” he responded.

“Reserve
status?” Sprite suggested.

The
admiral cocked his head, clearly considering the option. “Possibly. Right now
that is how I am looking at them as. At least until things settle down. In time
we can address the situation. What I'd like to do is draw them into doing
things a bit more, if only to help transition them into more powerful
positions.”

Sprite
nodded. “All right, I'll put it on your to do list.”

“Cute,”
Irons replied. “How goes the net repairs?”

“Slow.
Hardware isn't a bottleneck, it's the software. Replicators only keep firmware
programs for basic equipment, and of course they tend to be out of date over
the design life of the equipment. Prime's replicators were a few cycles behind
on their updates.”

“Lovely.”

“So
I'm patching and patching and patching,” Sprite sighed. “I've also had to write
drivers since some of the equipment wasn't designed to work with each other.
That's always fun. Throw in the other AI on the net and the cybers scooping up
new space whenever it becomes available...”

“Wait
what?” Irons asked, pausing.

“You
didn't know about that?” Sprite asked.

“No,
but now I'm wondering why,” he said.

“Oh,
well, I might...” she paused. “Yes I did. I did tell you, you just weren't
listening. It seems the cybers have virtual homes on the net. They use a lot of
processing power and memory to support. Now that more processor banks and
memory is coming online... they tend to fight over it.”

He
frowned. “Lovely. Not a council item?”

“First
come first serve. They ignore the council directives I assume. For a group of
reputed pacifists they tend to get rather brutal and final when they battle
over virtual turf too.”

“Interesting,”
he muttered.

“Tell
me about it,” Sprite sighed.

Doctor
Myers tended to pick an argument with Sprite, Gwen, and Riff constantly. He
wanted to bring the science facilities online and restart old projects despite
the council's restrictions on the effort. He had been shifting resources to the
project, taking them away from more vital projects before the Taurens caught on
and slapped his hand. They had tried to bring Irons in on it but he was busy.
The council was out of session for the week and they weren't sure how to handle
the situation.

Sprite
had to be called in to mediate the situation. They explained the situation in
short blunt statements, radiating anger the entire time. She was exasperated
with Doctor Myers and his timing. Finally she handed him over to Lieutenant
Taylor Warner when they started to argue in circles. She needed to get back to
work repairing the AI and attending to her own duties. Taylor needed a break
from the heavy workload.

Myers
wasn't at all happy about being shuffled off to one person after another. He
took his resentment out on Warner.

Warner
listened as Myers unloaded his resentment and then gave a heartfelt appeal to
the advancement of civilization. It didn't fall onto deaf ears like he thought
it would though.

Lieutenant
Warner pointed out that they do not want to stop scientific advancement, they
just want to get the priorities straight. “It's more important to have a
functional station now than to have tons of research data and everyone is dead
doctor.”

Myers
scowled stubbornly. “But...”

“We're
not saying it won’t be done doctor. What I'm saying, what
they
are
trying to say, is you have to crawl before you can run, walk, or in your case
fly. It would be very bad if oh say an accident interrupted your work correct?”
The doctor scowled but nodded grudgingly. “Or if there was an interruption to
power or data right? The important thing is to lay the groundwork first, to get
those things sorted out and then go from there. To build the network of
computers and scientific equipment you need gradually over time. Can you focus
on the data you do have? And the data coming in? Start there?”

Myers
was mulish. He glared at the organic. Warner cocked an eyebrow at him, ignoring
the threat display. He'd seen it all before after all so it didn't faze him.
Threats from a noncorporeal being didn't bother him in the slightest. “I know
you have quads of data doctor. You are also getting data on the people on the
station, material sciences from the material and how it held up over time and
under load. You are also getting data on any asteroids we pick up; you can
compare it to the initial survey. You will also have other projects. We're not
saying it can't or won’t be done, we're saying prioritize,” he said. “In other
words use what you've got.”

Myers
went into a speech about how the first space race spawned all sorts of
scientific and technological advances. And how the search for the Higgs Boson
by Cern in the twentieth and twenty first centuries spawned the first Terran
internet, cloud computing, research advances in understanding and fighting
cancers and a ton of other things. “Cern's investment was ten billion dollars
over twenty years! Think of what we can achieve now!”

“I
know doctor. I know,” Warner smiled politely. “We're not saying it can't be
done soon, just not right this second. Please focus on the station integrity
and what data you have.”

“But...
but the data is corrupted! It's missing files and entire sections... it's next
to useless with holes in it!” Myers said sounding pathetic

Warner
shrugged. “It is a starting point doctor. You can use it to work out a system
correct? And you can use it and other small projects to train assistants
correct?” Warner asked.

“Assistants?”

“You
weren't planning on doing everything on your own right?” Warner smiled again.
He spread his hands to indicate the station. He knew damn well that wasn't the
case. Myers wasn't the type to do his own heavy lifting, at least not for long.
Gathering data and processing it was grad student work. “I know a couple of
people, who thought of themselves as amateur scientists, came over from Kiev.
They couldn't do much research there and they are eager to work with you. There
may be more like minded people in the gangs. And once we start up the schools
again you can train and educate people. Nurture their interest.”

“But...
I was never into teaching,” Myers said sounding upset and off balance.

“If
not you than who? Someone has to take care of the next generation doctor,
nurture the seeds of tomorrow as one of my science teachers told me a long time
ago.”

Myers
blinked at him. Warner smiled. “No doctor I'm not one of those untutored hicks.
I do have a college degree. I am, or was a sleeper.”

Myers
face cleared. “Sorry, I forgot,” he mumbled.

“It's
okay,” Warner said, smiling a little. “We all tend to do that over time. What's
important is where we go from here. I suggest you think about it. Can you give
me an initial plan? Start small?”

“I
guess I got excited,” Myers admitted sounding a bit sheepish.

Taylor
nodded. “Commendable enthusiasm doctor. But let's see if we can at least get
you more computer space and memory. Maybe restore one of the science computer
cores? You could recover some data there. Maybe there are some projects that
are still on file but lost in the limbo of a flash drive?”

Myers
smiled politely. “I see what you are trying to do. Distracting me from my
goal.”

“It's
not so much a distraction as it is a side trip doctor. Hopefully a worthwhile
one. I can round up a couple of people to help out. I know a couple of the
tribal kids are interested in science, I bet they'd love to play gopher. Then
you can transfer your data to the cores freeing up space in the primary
mainframes.”

“I...
see,” Myers said with a reluctant nod. “I'll think... no I think we should go
with that for now. But the rest of the council will be told about this.
Reestablishing our research is important.”

“Indeed
it is doctor. I can't wait to see you and other scientists hard at work,”
Warner smiled. He picked up a tablet and made a note. “I'll go see if anyone is
available. I think we've found a couple of science facilities.”

“The
nearest is a material science department,” Myers admitted. “I think the people
that checked it out just did a cursory inspection though.”

“Then
we will need to go over it properly and set it to right,” Warner said with a
nod.

When
Myer's consciousness had retreated Sprite appeared whistling softly. “You
handled him well,” she said admiringly.

“A
little ego stroking and a sympathetic ear,” Warner said not looking at her. “I
dealt with his kind on assignment a few times. It helped that I had a couple of
college professors like that.”

“Oh.”

“Can
we free up some people to lend a hand with this project? I'm not talking about
a lot. A couple of...”

Sprite
nodded. She had kept a bot near to listen in. “The amateur scientists and a
couple of volunteers. A cleaning bot and a couple of other bots. I think we can
manage that but I'll have to run it past the Berkhearts. Throwing hundreds of
people and half the station's current resources at it no.”

“Start
small.”

She
nodded. “A seed like you said. Thank you. You are good at this.”

“For
now,” Warner sighed. He rubbed the small of his back. “I wish I had more time,”
he said.

“Time?”
Sprite asked confused.

Taylor
looked away. “Doctor Numiria confirmed something in my medical record. I have a
rare but terminal medical condition. A timed genetic disorder. It's why my
health has been failing.”

“I...”
Sprite looked at him uncertainly. “I don't know what to say lieutenant.”

“There
really isn't anything to say. I've got six months. I'm going to do what I can
in that time period. To help my wife, to help our son, and to help you and the
admiral.”

“You...”
Sprite felt helpless all over again.

He
turned to her, eyes intent. “We do what we can for the ones we care about. And
for the next generation. Remember that commander.”

“I
will,” she said softly and transferred out.

Fabric
extruders were found and were brought online with little difficulty. There were
warehouses filled with material and of course many of the quarters on the
station had clothing and other fabrics that could be recycled... A few had
unfortunately been breached by animals and had been used as shredded bedding,
but a few others had been stuck in vacuum. Running the material through the
extruder again gave them new fresh bolts to work with.

 The
crew received new uniforms over the course of a week just after the planet
called back. They took pride in it, or at least the people from Kiev do. The
people from the tribes like having new clean clothes but aren't sure about the
loss of their identity. When the shuttle pilots bring word back to Kiev a trade
ensued. At first it's low level, individuals wanting a new fresh outfit trading
for one with a bottle of hooch, a book file, or some other good or service.

Blur
ignored the trade until the captain's family became involved. Toni was
interested, but Cora was enthused. She asked for new material for everyone. The
captain, resigned to being bullied by Cora into it allowed the project to
proceed. They traded much needed fruits and vegetables plus seeds for the new
uniforms. He was amused when she took pride in his newly tailored fresh
uniform.

“It
is so much better to see everyone in fresh clean outfits! And ones that fit!”
Cora said with a smile. The tailor nodded, equally excited albeit exhausted.
She had been working flat out since the project started.

“Now
we need a set of formal wear!” she said when the tailor was finished with the
last set. Captain Chambers groaned until she glared at him.

“Yes
dear,” he said in mock resignation, trying hard not to roll his eyes in front
of her. Her hands had been smoothing his lapel; they froze as her eyes flashed.
He knew what was coming and flinched. She poked him anyway, making him grunt.

“Behave,”
she growled.

“Yes
dear,” he sighed.

“That's
better,” she said; glare softening into a telling smile. “Since we're getting
the clothing now I think we should just get the bedding and new drapes on the
planet. Which reminds me, when are we going?”

“Soon
dear. Just as soon as the ship is ready,” he replied as she tugged on the hem
of his coat. Not soon enough, Toni was still agitating to jump ship. So far
he'd talked her out of it because it was too dangerous. That argument was now
fading as more of the station came online. He wasn't sure what he could say to
dissuade her. Every once and a while he wondered if he had the right to try at
all. It was definitely something to talk to Cora about.