Plague Planet (The Wandering Engineer) (7 page)

...*...*...*...*...

"Mister Admiral!" He recognized the voice and turned
with a smile. Dorah shot at him like a rocket. He reared back as he caught her
in his arms with a laugh. Her hands tightened behind his neck. He managed to
turn his cheek just in time to get a kiss on it instead of its intended landing
zone. "Mister Admiral we missed you!" Dorah gushed, eyes dancing as
she broke the kiss.

Dorah was a character, that was really the only way to describe
her. A perpetual teen that most likely would never grow up. She took whatever
life threw at her and kept smiling. She was hyper, wearing on even the most
sensitive soul who didn't understand her. She seemed to lighten up a room
though, and her bubbling intensity seemed to cheer even the most hardy soul
over time. Her enthusiasm could be contagious or wearing depending on a
person's proximity and length of exposure.

He hadn't really worked much with Dorah, she preferred small craft
like her chosen partner Hibiki. She also doubled as the ship's day care worker
and cat care giver. Apparently the captain had either insisted she get out of
the ship to get some downtime... or most likely she wouldn't let Hibiki out of
her sight.

Dorah grinned, the freckles across the bridge of her nose
darkening. She had long red hair, a lean body and was entirely too lithe and
graceful for his current lackanuecky piece of mind.

"I missed you too Dorah, but right now I know how Hibiki
feels." He chuckled as he looked over to see the young man raise a hand
and wiggle his fingers in hello. He waved back with one hand, still supporting
the girl with the other. Hibiki rolled his eyes and mouthed “better you than
me.”  Irons couldn't help snorting over that.

Dorah leaned back to get a good look. "Cookie was worried
about you eating right!" She accused as she stared at him.

The admiral chuckled. "Don't worry, I'm just fine." She
smiled her left foot came down to the ground. Gently he set her down on her
right foot as well.

"This is so wonderful!" She gushed. "Did you hear
about Mister Doctor? He got off at his home world and the captain set him up
with a huge hospital!" She smiled. "It was so wonderful! He was so
happy to see his wife and daughter too! I had no idea!" She slowly
released him.

He smiled as Jen came up. "Hogging him all to yourself I see.
Dorah I think you're making poor Hibiki jealous!" Jen teased. Dorah turned
a guilty look to Hibiki who vigorously denied it with a shaking head and palm
up hands.

"Oh, I can give him one too!" She rushed to him. The
Admiral snorted as Hibiki backed away. Apparently some things hadn't changed
much. He nodded politely to Jen who's eyes were brimming with mischief as she
watched as Dorah quickly cornered and hugged Hibiki. It was good seeing her
here.

"Awe geez, why'd you have to go and say a thing like
that?" Hibiki whined. His slanted eyes opened as round as they could. He
caught her midair. "I didn't go anywhere Dorah. Honest, been right here...
um.." she silenced his protests with a kiss. The admiral's eyebrow rose in
surprise as the lad responded to the kiss. Okay, so maybe some things had
changed a little. The Admiral chuckled as he shook Jen's hand. Tara came up
behind her and he nodded to her.

Jen had been an invaluable asset on the Io 11, working in
engineering as an assistant engineer and one of his many helpers. She was good,
a bit of a tom boy but that was fine with him. She was still tall, not quite as
tall as him but close.

Tara was looking good, she had apparently changed her hair to
black hair with blue tips and it didn't quite fit her complexion but she didn't
seem to mind. She grinned, eyes dancing a little when she got closer.

They were looking good, all of them. Well dressed in Io 11 ship
uniforms. The girls had scarves around their necks or in their hair but they
now looked like professional spacers.

"Old home week I see," he said with a small smile. He
shook Tara's hand as well. She pulled him into a bear hug. He grunted in
surprise and then chuckled. "Easy girl, not all of me is as flexible as
flesh and blood." She laughed and set him down. "So I see that Io11
is in orbit," he said unnecessarily.

"Nothin gets past you does it?" the security chief growled
good naturedly from behind him.

He turned and smiled. "Good to see you too chief," he
said eying her. She nodded again slightly. She still had her short silver hair
and pixie look, but she also had the hard agate eyes and no nonsense look about
her that was her trademark. She'd traded her sexy silver unitard in for a ships
coverall with silver shoulder boards but had kept her trademark blaster on her
hip. Her  uniform was cut well, and unzipped to mid line to her breasts to show
a silver tank top underneath. From the look of the native women around them
they were properly scandalizing them. Which was just fine with the admiral, he
like the other spacers could care less what they thought of their appearance.

She cocked her eyebrow, clearly studying him. "Don't tell me
you need another ride?" she asked coolly.

He chuckled immediately when Jen froze. Slowly he shook his head.
"No, I have my own ship now, Phoenix. You pinged her in orbit," he
explained. He'd just gotten the word a few minutes ago. He should have listened
to Sprite's earlier report but he'd been distracted.

Jen nodded. "That's right we did, that's yours?" she
asked. Her eyes widened when he nodded.

"It's just a yacht that had been converted into a courier
vessel during the war, nothing fancy. Class one hyper drive, really it's all
ion engine and hyper drive," he explained with a diffident shrug.

Jen grinned as she eyed him. "Somehow I think you found a way
to spice her up."

He chuckled  in appreciation as the shot went home and then nodded.
"Maybe,” he admitted with a hint of a smile.

Tara's smile turned into a grin. "No maybe about it,"
she teased, eyes glimmering with mischief. She shook her head. "So what
brings you here?" she asked, clearly amused.

He chuckled once more. "Just in the neighborhood, I was
checking things out."

She nodded. "Is that your platform in orbit of the gas
giant?" Jen asked.

He nodded. One of the first thing's he had done upon entering the
system was to put the platform up in the atmosphere of the largest Jovian in
the system. The little platform had its own micro fusion reactor for a power
supply. It's first order of business was to suck in gases and fill it's
balloons as its' force emitters arrested its' fall. After the balloons were
inflated it had them flushed with hydrogen and then shut the force emitters
off. The balloons kept the platform balanced in the atmosphere, and the energy
saved from not using the force emitters was then put into the refinery process.

 It was a small platform though, with limited storage so he'd set
it up to focus on Helium 3 primarily, with a bit of Deuterium to supply the
reactor. But was taking it's sweet time pulling in Deuterium and Helium 3. He
had wanted to be out of here sooner but the gas giant was a bit too diffuse for
his time-line. Which was one of the reasons he was here on the planet, looking
for additional fuel... and picking up other supplies and getting some face time
in while he had the chance.

He wasn't sure what was going on with the Helium 3. Normally it
was deposited on the various planets in the system from solar wind. Here though
it seemed to have been stripped off... or the local sun kept most of it for
itself. The study would make for a fascinating astronomy paper in the future
though, he thought wryly.

"Yeah, Its' pretty efficient, remind me to give you the
blueprints. With it I can refuel my ship." He waved to another set of
techs from the Io. They gawked for a moment, then came over smiling.

"Move along people." He turned to see a  smartly dressed
constable nearby. The short gruff man studied the gaggle of women before
settling his gaze on Irons.

Irons nodded to him. After what he'd witnessed earlier in the day
he didn't want or need official attention. The last thing he needed was a lynch
mob dogging his heels here. "Sorry officer, unexpected reunion." He
waved the girls and Hibiki to the nearest bar. "What's say we go for a
drink, my treat?" he asked. The girls laughed.

Jen smiled and tucked her arm through his. Tara took the other
side. “You're on. Just so you know, Jen here has a hollow leg.”

He looked at Jen. She shrugged and grinned a bit more.

“Well, we'll see about that.”

...*...*...*...*...

He was surprised to see them there, the odds of their crossing
paths again... He shook his head slightly in bemusement. He shouldn't have been
surprised, it was a small sector and the ships in it tended to follow circular
paths. Apparently Io 11 was using its' newly repaired hyperdrive to their
maximum benefit, covering far more space between systems and hitting just about
every system worth going to. That was good, that was what he had hoped.

Io 11 had been a tramp freighter on its last legs when he'd been
picked up. It had been a case of mutual interest to repair the salvaged fleet
tender. That and he had no interest in bumbling around in the lowest hyperbands
of hyperspace spending nearly a year in between jumps wondering what would
break next.

It had worked out, though there had been some tough spots along
the way. He hadn't intended to bond with the crew, they had just been a means
to an end, but overtime they'd gotten under his skin and some of his love of
education and engineering had rubbed off on them.

It had been a strange combination though, one of only four men on
an otherwise all human female crew. Something for a tacky holo sitcom maybe, or
a boring holonovel but not something he'd expected to ever happen in real life,
let alone
his
life. Okay, maybe when he was an adolescent and in puberty
he admitted with a wry smile.

He'd trained the crew and together they had rebuilt the ship from
stem to stern, nearly replacing everything in the process. Or it just seemed
that way, he thought wryly. It had been an interesting challenge, and a good
way for him to get over his time shock. Work, especially hard work tended to do
that for him.

He'd surprised himself by making friends among the crew. First in
the temporary acting chief engineer Molly, and later Jennie, Shandra, Tara, and
the other girls. His errant wandering thoughts returned to one though...
Molly...

Now there was a bitter, painful thought. Molly had deserved
better. Just as they were getting the ship sorted out and Faith was about to be
awakened she'd been snatched from them, killed in a cruel twist of fate on
Centennial by savage desperate people. Killed trying to protect her fellow crew
women from rape. It was a stupid senseless death, one that...

He shook himself mentally. There was no need to go further down
that well-worn road. He'd been down that road too many times already. He knew
from his training he'd lose people, he also knew it would haunt him. Molly's
death haunted him more because she had been his first friend in this time
period. He waffled a sigh, smiling a little at Dorah's concerned look.

Still, the crew looked good he thought, nodding to her. He was
curious if they'd gotten over their recruiting methods. The captain chose only
fallen women, or children, all human females. She rarely ever took a human male
in. Partly due to her and her core crew's experience in their home system of
New Dublin most likely. Being thought of as second class... hell, treated as
little more than a slave, an animal, sometimes brood mare with no rights by the
patriarchal males in the system had to be infuriating to a woman with her
mindset. How she had not been beaten down by that system was a testimony to her
character and stubborn will to not only live but thrive. Of course part of that
was spite too he recognized.

The captain... yes she was a piece of work. Her and her partner.
The purser had never let on that the two of them had been lovers, but he knew.
Hopefully Io had kept them on their toes, kept them growing after he'd left.

Io had left him in Pyrax, where he had other adventures. He sized
them up. From the look of them they had a few adventures of their own. They
were more... mature. Or at least some of them were, he thought. Some things
however never changed, he thought, hiding a slight smile at the antics behind
him.

He glanced over to Dorah and Hibiki. The almond eyed girl was
dragging the young man along but he wasn't nearly as reluctant as he was
pretending to be. At least that was how Irons read it. The boy was playing hard
to get, that was for sure, but it wasn't all ingrained, some of it was
definitely a way of play fighting with Dorah.

She in turned seemed slightly more mature, but only slightly. She
finally settled into hooking her arm through Hibiki's and snuggling up to him.
That got him moving faster, if only to get away from her and into the bar.

As they entered the bar he found out Io was picking through the
belt and had dropped them off as sort of an advanced party. Hibiki implied it
was to get the girls out of the captain's hair. They were leaving in a couple
hours and no he wasn't drinking.

The admiral nodded politely to the barkeep who waved to a semi
secluded booth off in the corner. It was dark but the leather seats were
relatively clean and intact. He nodded and took a seat with them, making sure
the ladies sat first.