Fool's Gold (The Wandering Engineer) (43 page)

"We
can't cut the armored panel, it just sucks up the plasma torch," Angie
grunted angrily, throwing the tool away. It spun away then was yanked back by
its cord. She grabbed the end then racked it.

"The
armor is designed to do that, to prevent damage. Let me take a look." They
stepped aside as he floated in. “Here?" he pointed. She nodded. He studied
the bulge. The armor was cracked and bulged over the leak. "Can you cut
the feeds up stream?" he asked.

"Already
done. We can't reroute, everything runs to this main trunk to the
reactor," the tech named Jimmy pointed to the core behind them.

Irons
nodded. "Right, what about running a bypass? Deal with this later?"
He ran his right hand over the bulge.

"Nanites
are the only thing that can cut this Admiral," Proteus reported. He
grunted.

"I
can cut it, but it would take hours." He looked over to Angie who nodded.

"Right,
bypass it is," she sighed.

"Call
Sergio, have him break out the spare hose, Jimmy, Wally, go pick it up as well
as the crimps and fittings we'll need. We'll start working on a fix here."
She studied the lines etched onto the deck. "There is a feed here,"
the Admiral pointed. "The problem is we're going to get some leaks, it is
upstream of the breach but when we tap into that valve we're going to get some
blow back down the damaged section." He pointed his right index finger,
tracing the lines. "Can you get to the pipe on the backside?" he
asked suddenly curious.

"No
chance, there is a spar on the other side. Honeycombed," Firefly reported
over the net.

"Roger
that," he sighed. "Is there fuel in that bulge?" he asked.
Firefly paused. "Most of it has dissipated over the centuries. I set up a
scrubber to grab it, but I was getting only a one point two one percent return
on investment so I gave up after a while." Sprite received the data the
ship sent and projected it. Irons waved it away. "Later. Can you get the
scrubber here? Maybe we can tack a catch basin over this hole to catch the blow
back and send it back into the line?" He used his hands to mime a dome
over the bulge.

"It
will be messy, you'll have leaks but it's worth a try," Angie replied. She
was across the compartment making adjustments to the valve. She grunted as she
muscled the cap off. "Vacuum weld." She hammered at the side for a
moment then heated it with a hand torch. Her partner used a pry bar to muscle
the valve open. "All right, we're ready on this end." She looked over
to the doorway to see lights approaching. "Nice timing as usual," she
smiled as Jimmy came in with a section of hose wrapped around his torso and two
more coils over each shoulder. His partner followed carrying a bag of parts and
a bladder of fuel. "Okay, lets hop to it we don't have all day!" The
Admiral floated backwards and watched them get on with it. After a moment of
watching he was sure they knew what they were doing so he turned to the console
and jacked in.

"What
are you doing?" Angie, the head tech asked.

"Checking
the systems." He watched as Proteus and Firefly ran a rapid diagnostic.
"Looks good. Firefly is warming up the chamber now. Lasers and tractors
are on. We've got good containment, but we're sucking a lot of power from the
micro reactor." He grimaced. It was sink or swim time. They'd have to
chance it. "Sergio, come in." He looked up. After a second Sergio's
startled voice replied.

"Admiral
is that you?" Sergio asked startled. He smiled.

"Roger
that. Sergio, I want you to tie the launch's power grid into the ship. It's
designed to go the other way, but I think we can get it to work. Firefly will
send a bot to help you if you need it." He waited.

"Roger
that. Admiral if we suck the launch dry we won’t have a ride back," Sergio
cautioned.

"We're
going back on Firefly," the Admiral smiled. The crew looked up as they
finished making connections. They were committed now.

"We're
ready," Angie nervously reported, studying her work once more. She wasn't
too sure about an all or nothing approach. Then again, they didn't have a lot
of choices.

"Right,
linking up now, it will take me a few minutes Admiral. Sergio out." The
channel clicked off.

"Are
you sure about this Admiral, I don't want you to be stranded here,"
Firefly said. He smiled.

"Like
it or not, our fate rests with you old friend. Time we committed to that."
He nodded to Angie. "Open the valve." Angie gulped and turned the
valve with the pry bar. She seemed to spin in the air, not moving it for a
moment before she tucked her body down and then locked her feet around the
exposed valve.

She
grunted then managed to turn the valve. "Here it comes..." She looked
up. Proteus was showing him a feed of the fuel as it entered the plumbing and
approached the ignition chamber.

"Burn
baby burn," Jimmy muttered softly.

"Come
on, light..." Angie said equally soft. The other tech Wally crossed his arms
looking bored. As the deuterium entered the ignition chamber it began to swirl
within the torus. After a moment it met the incoming stream and began to
compress.

"I
still don't have enough power for ignition... wait one, power from the launch
is coming online, drawing power, got it." Firefly sounded more and more
excited as the chamber's temperature rapidly climbed. Lasers and tractors
flared.

"We
have ignition!" the Admiral reported with a smile. Angie crowed, slapping
Jimmy on the arm. After a moment the lights brightened.

"Reactor
at one percent. I don't think we should take her above two point four percent
until we get more fuel Admiral. I'm going to have my hands full keeping it
stable at that low an output," Firefly cautioned. He nodded.

"Agreed."
He turned to Angie.

"Jimmy
you've got the watch, Wally, we need more fuel bladders. Start pushing them
here, I'll be along in a minute." She patted the man's shoulder he nodded
and floated out without a word. "What's next Admiral?" Angie asked.

"Well,
we're going to ensure the fuel supply then start patching critical
systems." He waved to the lights. "Make sure there aren't any kinks
in the hoses.” He looked to make sure there weren't then nodded. “We're going
to leave the gravity off for now, we don't need it, and to be honest it will
hamper moving the fuel and heavy parts." Angie nodded.

"Right,
I'll help Wally then report in to Shelby." She wiggled her fingers in a
good bye then floated out of the compartment. Jimmy floated up beside him.

"What
do I need to know? It's like the reactor on the station right?" He looked
at the controls.

"Right,
Firefly is keeping it balanced. Just back him up. Don't let the fuel run out
and keep an eye on the core temp." He pointed out the salient features
then un-jacked and floated backwards.

"Admiral,
we've got a plasma leak on deck two section four port side. I'm rerouting now.
I've rerouted around known leaks but some are cropping up," Firefly
reported.

"Unknown
damage or damage from micro meteors?" Jimmy asked looking up.

"A
bit of both I assume. My armor is strong but it isn't perfect. It could also be
expansion joints, this long in cold and vacuum doesn't help fittings and metal
fatigue could also be a factor." Firefly sounded annoyed. Jimmy chuckled.

"Nothing
is perfect," Jimmy said nodding as he studied the controls.

"Right,
I'll leave you to it." The Admiral waved and left. "How is Shelby
doing?" he asked.

"Shelby
here, we've got main engineering up. We're receiving power now that you've got
the reactor online. Sergio reports the micro reactor is tapped out. I sent him
back for more fuel. Drive is off line, it's going to take a lot more power to
bring it up. Goddess Admiral this ship, even damaged is incredible!" She
sounded awed. He chuckled.

"That
she is. Once we get the damage repaired, the pirates don't stand a
chance," he said as he smiled.

"Roger
that. I've got a work party tracking down EPS leaks. Can we get some heat?
Maybe some more air?" she asked.

"Working
on it," Firefly reported.

"Right
sorry," she sighed. He chuckled.

"So
far so good Admiral, we've nailed down three more major and two minor leaks. I
think it is safe for the tender to come in," Shelby reported tiredly
nearly three hours later.

 "How
is the drive?" the Admiral asked.

"Warming
up now. Inertial dampeners are primed. Our limited fuel supply will barely get
us home. You're right, Gutierrez isn't going to be happy, but vampiring his
ship for the fuel will get us home three times faster than with him trying to
push us." She shook her head.

"Try
telling him that though, he's going to be pissed!" Irons chuckled while
running his hand through sweat soaked hair. Even his implants and suit were
hard pressed to keep up with the hard pace they were on. In the past three
hours they had run from one leak to another, locking them down and avoiding
hull breaches. The last leak had been scary, it had been dangerously close to a
scuttling charge. Had the drifting plasma ribbon hit that charge, the excited
electrons could have set it off, setting off a chain reaction that would have
destroyed the ship.

"She's
a mess but repairable. Once we get the leaks sorted out and a reliable fuel
supply she'll run rings around anything in space," Shelby smiled.

"And
once those are done we'll get her other systems sorted out," Irons smiled
as Wally studied the controls then looked up with a thumbs up.

"You
two do realize you’re talking about me right?" Firefly interrupted
sounding amused.

"Right,
sorry," Irons smiled as Shelby looked startled. She blushed and then took
a sip of water. "I have a channel open to the tender Admiral,"
Firefly reported. He felt the link open onto his HUD.

"Right,
Captain Gutierrez, please dock at boat bay two with the launch. We're going to
use your power to get her home to Anvil under her own drive." He waited a
moment as the Captain grumbled.

"Captain,
Firefly will get us home three times faster, and you can spend the time out of
your cabin. You can even get out of your suit once we get the life support
repaired." He looked up to the bulkhead above with a patient air.

"I'll
just check on Sergio, make sure he hasn't gotten into mischief..." Shelby
said softly and left.

"All
right." Gutierrez finally relented.

"I
promised you a tour of the ship Captain, we might as well do that while you’re
here," the Admiral smiled. The Captain chuckled.

"You
don't have to lay it on that thick Admiral, I'm coming. I'll be docking in
twenty minutes. Gutierrez out." The channel closed.

"They
are interesting," Firefly said diplomatically.

"You
mean prickly? It comes with the times and being a civilian I suppose. Once we
get things sorted out we'll rebuild the fleet," Irons smiled tiredly.

"Your
mad Admiral, rebuild the fleet?" Firefly asked, suddenly wary.

"Why
not? We have four military AI, one flag officer, one slightly damaged and aged
noncom, and your ship and a mess of volunteers. It's a start." He smiled
as he locked eyes with the nearest camera in the corner of the room.

"Right,"
Sprite replied. "Admiral, we've got the launch drained of fuel, should we
move her crew and gear to better quarters?" Sprite asked. He nodded.

"You
two handle it. Keep them clustered close to critical systems so we can
concentrate life support and inertial dampening to those decks. Get Sergio
briefed on the helm. Captain Gutierrez as well. Give them a carrot and they
will bend over backwards to help." He smiled as he nodded to Angie. She
came in and set her tool box down.

"That's
it for decks three and four. I think we've got the worst leaks taken care of.
We can't be sure until we get a lot more fuel though, we may have pinhole leaks
we're not picking up." She shook her head. Sweat was beading along her
sweat band. Her breath fogged around her. He nodded.

"How
is it that we can get pinhole leaks, but we can't breach that with a plasma
cutter?" She waved disgustedly at the armored fuel line shroud. He looked
in the indicated direction then chuckled.

"When
the ship was damaged splinters of material ricocheted inside. Also plasma leaks
from the EPS conduits and possibly ordinance going off. Not everything is
armored like that is," he indicated the shroud. “Many of the systems are
designed for easy access for repair or replacement." He shrugged.
"We'll have to go through the ship deck by deck and make repairs as needed.
The good news is Firefly has its own replicators and the AI is pretty
advanced." He nodded to the camera. "We'll get it sorted out."

Angie
held up a tablet. "Well I was thinking, we're focusing on drives, helm,
the bridge, minimum sensors, and life support for the critical decks we need
right? Well I was wondering, if we reroute power here from the hyper drive
controls to the port drive pod then we can test each of them from the power
room. We don't need the hyper drive now, so we can bypass it. I know her
governor needs a trickle charge, but..."