Fool's Gold (The Wandering Engineer) (31 page)

“Right
boss.” Matt checked the tablet. “Okay then, I'll go check on the water plant
then get someone with the padds to swap the batteries and get them out.” He
waved.

“And
on to the next project. It's good to have help with initiative.” Irons smiled.

After
twenty two hours of work he paused to get an update. Sprite pulled up his
outline and faded out the parts that were completed. Then she switched it to a
red, yellow, green map so he would better understand it. "Mrs. Valdez has
been calling for you by the way," she reported.

He
sighed in resignation. "What are we up to?" he asked ignoring that
last.

"My
last census was a half hour ago and put the number at five hundred and fifty
one. Oops, make that five hundred and fifty two," Sprite informed him. He
shook his head. "Sara got some rest and reported for duty but the CMO sent
her back down here with Doctor Standish and a small staff. They re-opened the
medical clinic. I've shifted resources there to compensate," Sprite
finished. He nodded.

"Good,
good."

“Matt
has identified areas with metal fatigue and they have been cordoned off for
safety until engineering can get in and inspect things. Chief Logan has sent
over some inspectors to check the area but they are tied up with sector five's
sewer leak damage.”

“Ew,”
Irons said grimacing. He turned to see a man in a plaid tweed jacket come up to
him.

"You
sir, are you the one they call the Admiral?" he asked, hands on his lapel.
The Admiral nodded. "Fleet Admiral Irons. And you are?" he asked.

"Mr.
Periwinkle. Perry Periwinkle. I am your new teacher. Or one of them at
least." He dodged a pair of children. The Admiral nodded.

"I
prefer teaching basic history, but Mr. Logan has had me teaching basic reading
and math as well. Dreadfully dull and boring." He shook his head in
resignation. "But needs must follow when the devil drives. I understand
you're re-opening the campus?" He looked around.

The
open quad was quite different. Tree saplings were being brought in from the
greenhouses. The food court had been cleaned and was now in limited use. A
robot was busy scraping gunk and graffiti off a wall nearby. The man whistled
softly.

"Yes,
we're working on that now. If you can check in with Mrs. Matilda at the front
desk she can get you set up. Once things are sorted out we'll try to give you
more advanced courses to teach along with the basics." He pointed to the
admin section.

"I
say, I would love to sit down with you and pick your brains about your time
period. Fascinating!" The man ran one hand through his whiskers.
"Truly fascinating, much better than this dark time," he waved.

"Well,
we're going to change that. It's time for a new Renaissance, starting right
here. You'll be making history yourself." The Admiral stamped his foot and
waved to indicate the entire campus. The teacher nodded.

"Good
good! Jolly good! Glad to hear it!" He thrust his fist in the air then
looked around embarrassed. "I'll just check in now. With Matilda
right?" Irons nodded. “Good catch that one, positively ingenious with
managing people and materials.” He nodded,  turned and left.

Sprite
chuckled in his ear. "Where are they finding them? It’s a character
festival!" the AI laughed. He snorted.

"You're
no princess yourself you know," Irons smiled and then turned.

"John
Henry Irons get your butt up here!" He froze at the tone and turned. Mrs.
Valdez and the Doc were glaring at him. Both had their hands on their hips. Doc
looked amused.

"Oops,
busted..." Sprite teased. He sighed as Mrs. Valdez crossed her arms.

"Your
concern is touching. You could have warned me you know," he sighed.

“And
have you duck out?” He opened his mouth to retort but Doc beat him to it.

 "Admiral,
I do believe you have a date with some food and rest." He looked back to
the two women. The Doc was playing with her stethoscope looking amused. Mrs.
Valdez had her arms crossed. Her fingers were tapping in tempo with her right
foot. She was giving him her best "You've been naughty look." Several
people in the corridor beside him looked amused. One girl smothered a giggle.
"Let's go mister. March." She pointed.

He
sighed. "As if I didn't have enough to worry about. Who appointed you two
my keepers?" he asked exasperated.

The
doctor smiled then gave a throaty laugh.. "It's your own fault. Besides,
didn't I read that Admirals had stewards and staff to keep after them? You've
gone two days without sleep so it's time for a break. Matilda can manage things
on her own for eight hours," she smiled. She looked a bit tired herself.

"Yeah
yeah," he sighed. "All right, I'm going, I'm going. I feel like a
teenager caught out after curfew," he said shaking his head as he made his
way to the lift.

"It
will be here when we get back I promise. I'll keep an eye on things,"
Sprite echoed the Doc word for word. He sighed.

"Lead
on MacDuff." He motioned to Mrs. Valdez. She hooked her arm through his
and then led him into the lift.

"You
really are impossible you know that? I thought you'd crashed by now but Matilda
said you were still at it. You're no spring chicken you know." She shook
her head tisk tisking. He felt the tips of his ears blush as the doors shut on
the laughter.

"All
right, it looks like by folding most of the day care specialists into the
elementary and grammar school levels we've covered the basic staff positions
for those two, but we still have holes in our high school and college level
courses. Anyone have any ideas on how to fill the gaps?" Matilda looked
around the table.

Irons
smiled inwardly. Matilda had only been onboard for a couple of days but she was
already proving worth her weight in any rare metal you named. Who ever had
canned her for a newer model was a moron.

The
Admiral shrugged. "If we don't have the warm bodies we can detail an AI to
do the job for now, it won’t be as good as a warm body, but it should suffice
for now."

Obviously
the Trinity project had been compromised. When he had gotten up he'd ended the
secrecy ban as the only member of the Federation Navy remaining. Defender had
not been happy but had taken the order under protest.

 Matilda
nodded slowly. "All right, I agree, though I think we can find someone. We
will also need substitute teachers. Can we shift some of the priorities from
electives to basics and build around the core program? Maybe get some of our
specialists to teach basics as well?" she asked.

He
nodded. "Good point. They can teach at least one or two basic courses,
especially if they are related to their field of interest. That should plug a
few holes and let them identify new students with the same interests as they
rise through the ranks."

He
nodded to Periwinkle who frowned then nodded reluctantly. "I can teach a
high school course or two in history. I think we can swing Kevin to do an intro
to music and math." He looked over to Matilda who nodded. The Admiral took
a sip of coffee and sat back.

It
had been an interesting week getting things set up, but now things were
settling in nicely. The entire station, at least the non luxury castes were
realigning neatly, almost like iron filings to a magnet. There had even been a
journalist down here taking notes and something about a broadcast later that day.

Doctor
Standish and Thornby had complained about being swamped with eager people, but
she had picked up a few midwifes and self taught healers and was already
hammering them with class room theory. Their real world, hands on approach made
it much easier for her to get past the basics but she was complaining about
having to un-teach a few bad habits.

"I'm
glad the clinic's up, we needed it," Matilda smiled softly. Her routine
checkup had turned into anything but, Doc had detected a small tumor. A single
nanite made pill had dissolved the tumor in less than an hour. The scare had
put her focus on the program with a strong conviction to make sure it worked.

"I've
got a parent teacher meeting in twenty, I'll read this other brief and give you
my notes on it later," Periwinkle got up and shoved his notes into his bag
and left. Matilda nodded. "I hear you've got the first platform out to the
gas giant, did you really have some of your lecture students in on it?"
she looked over to the Admiral who shrugged.

"Seemed
like a good idea at the time. I didn't expect one of them to spill the coffee
on the second platform though." He grimaced. That accident had been
costly, the entire electronics module had been soaked in coffee, forcing them
to rebuild it from scratch. The last thing they needed was to get the platform
out into space then have the thing short out. That had cost them a day. After
that his fabrication team were a bit more circumspect about letting any food or
drink within their domain, let alone on their deck! They were learning clean
room procedures the hard way.  Sometimes experience was the only way to learn.

"We
lost a couple days but they did learn a lesson so I guess it helped in the end.
Sergio is going out to pick up the first load sometime next week." Sprite
pulled up a calendar. "Right, he's going out Friday. He should have quite
a load." He shook his head. "What about the diplomatic efforts you
were doing, did that bear fruit?" she asked. He shook his head with a
grimace.

"Not
as much as I would hope. We've got some interest in a few places, but more
charity requests than trade or partnership. Help us but we'll call you, don't
call us we'll call you." He shook his head. "When they hear I am an
Admiral they usually clam up and tune out or turn off. The Port Admiral really
poisoned people. The very idea of working with an Admiral is anathema to
them." He sighed as he stretched and got up.

"Well,
keep at it. What am I saying, you will anyway." Matilda chuckled as she
left. He looked over to Sara who was trying to hide a smile.

"Cute."
He shook his head. Matt chuckled. Matt was representing the hands on trade
classes. Sara was the representative for the medics. She groaned as she got to
her feet. Matt looked concerned but she waved his reaching hands away with a
smile and light pat on her belly.

"I
can't wait until I pop. I think all this weight is going to be the death of
me!" she shook her head. The Doc had been treating her with supplements,
large amounts of food, and even a nanite cocktail designed to restore her body
to its proper weight. She had filled out in the past week and her cheeks
weren't so sunken. Her hips had widened and her belly had started to bulge.

"You
think this is bad, wait a month. You'll wish you were back to this stage,"
the Admiral chuckled. Matt gave him a dirty look but relented as Sara smiled at
him. He had to admit, she was practically glowing.

 "You'll
love me anyway right?" he thawed and then started to smile.

"You
know it." She wrapped her arms around him. The Admiral chuckled as he
left.

"Admiral
I am getting another call for an interview from mister Knox the journalist. I
think you should take it," Sprite informed him. He paused and turned then
went into a nearby empty room and stopped.

"You
know how I hate reporters Sprite," he said through clenched teeth.

"Yes
Admiral, but if you want to get word out, and get through this resistance to
your diplomatic efforts then this is the way to do it. Sometimes you just have
to take your medicine." Sprite pulled up her avatar and sat across from
him. She was dressed conservatively, in a dark business suit, glasses, and hair
bun.

He
chuckled. "Cute, but you’re not a civilian remember?" He raised an
eyebrow at her.

“Oh
very well,” she said disgusted. She frowned then twitched. Her image changed
back into her silver uniform.

"Better,"
he sighed as he began to pace. "What I hate most is that he can spin me
anyway he pleases. If he is in the pay of someone else..." He shook his
head.

"I
have not received any indications that he spins material for others that often
Admiral. True he does do infomercials and commercials for products on the
station, but that apparently pays for his power and life support. Most of his
pay comes from donations." The AI pulled up a chart.

"Right.
Can we subsidize him? Give him a little carrot to keep him in line so we don't
have a problem?" he asked pausing.

"I
don't see how, he refuses to be bought. He does accept help from the Logans and
others from time to time though," Sprite informed him.

He
nodded. "A man of principle. I can work with that. If he isn't a reborn
liberal flack with tofu for brains." He shook his head.

"I
think you need to do this Admiral. It will get the word out and it might bring
him to our side. That could accelerate your time table." Sprite pulled up
his outline but he waved it off.

"When
can we meet?" he asked.