Fool's Gold (The Wandering Engineer) (81 page)

"Ah,
Admiral we were wondering how your implants worked. How you make repairs I
mean."

Irons
chuckled. "I have several different methods. The easiest is plug and play
of course." He hefted his right arm and triggered its demo morph. Several
people ohhed and ahed. Some had seen it before. "As you can see I have a
plasma torch, micro tools, saws, and other tools."

"Ah,
we heard you had nanites too?" someone in the back asked. He turned. The
chimp grimaced a smile at him. He bowed politely.

"That
I do. They maintain my body and also can be used in making repairs to things
including other people if needed." He flexed his hand as it returned to
normal.

"Is
that all you have?" someone else asked.

"No,
but most of my other implants are still classified." He smiled at some of
the disappointed looks.

"Can
we get them too?" a child asked. Another punched her in the arm. She
turned on him glowering.

"No.
You can get basic civilian grade implants when they become available, or you
can enlist and get military grade." He nodded to the ROTC students who
straightened. "My cybernetics are so... extensive due to injuries I
suffered in the line of duty," he shrugged.

"Couldn't
you have had cloned replacements?" the same girl asked. He smiled.

"Yes
I could have. I was asked to volunteer for this. I did," he said.
"It's worked out well for me so far." He turned, facing the class.
"There are some systems that allowed people to extensively modify their bodies.
Some replaced everything but the brain and brain stem." Several people
shuddered at this. Irons nodded.

"Right,
even today that practice is frowned upon. Most people who receive implants
prefer them to look like natural limbs."

"You
have a Wi-Fi link right?" a voice asked. He turned to an elf. "And a
universal translator?" she smiled.

"Why
yes Lieutenant Purple Blossom I do," he chuckled. "It allows me and
my AIs to access the system and to speak with other species." He bowed to
her. She nodded regally back then blinked. Her tail twitched.

"I
believe you were talking about replicators?" he turned to Angie who
nodded. "Does anyone know what happens if you try to make another
replicator? Or a military parts?" she asked. He looked around the class.

A
hand raised tentatively. It was a blond male ROTC student. "Yes?" he
asked.

"It
doesn't work?" he asked.

"Yes
you're right. If anyone other than authorized people try, it will lock the
replicator down." He waved to the replicator. "This is industrial
replicator 4. It was locked down when someone tried to make a bomb."
Several people gasped at that. He nodded.

"Right.
For the safety of the public certain things are on a restricted access list.
Does anyone know what else is on the list?" he looked at them.

Lieutenant
Purple Blossom raised her three fingered hand. He nodded to her. "Nanites.
Also anything that could make a hyper drive, nuclear warhead, antimatter,
replicator, AI core, or gravity emitter." Irons nodded.

"Right.
Some things on the list can be delegated to others like grav emitters or ship
parts. But others require a manual jack in." Irons tapped the controls. A
part had just finished replicating. "Your part is done," he said.
Angie opened the door and pulled it out.

"How
can we make replicators then?" someone in the back asked.

"Like
this," Irons smiled as he turned and jacked in to the universal port. In a
moment the replicator list and a food replicator began to form.

"How
are you... wait, you’re on the list? The access list?" Purple Blossom
asked. Irons nodded.

"Everyone
in the military has basic access to some military hardware. But officers
receive higher access key codes, and when you get to flag rank, you get almost
unlimited access." The glow faded as the replicator finished. he un-jacked
and turned. "I can make almost everything on the restricted list."

"What
can't you make?" Purple Blossom asked.

"Medical
nanites. Since I am an engineering Admiral I didn't have a need to know. But
medical officers do, so they can," he waved. "People like the doctor
can make medical nanites if they are needed. That is why we have all our regen
tanks up now, and why we've started offering rejuv and systematic repair to
everyone in the system."

Several
people gasped at that. Others nodded. "It's going to make the population
much healthier, and they will live longer, more productive lives." He
bowed as the class began to clap. Angie joined in. He felt his cheeks blush.

Sergio
grimaced as he came in and flopped down in a chair. He was still drenched in
sweat. He used a towel to wipe at the excess on his forehead.

“So,
how'd it go?” a voice asked. He looked up to see Captain Mayweather in the
entry hatch. He started to snap to his feet but she waved him back down.

“Okay
ma'am once we got over the fright and got our brains functioning again.” He
watched as she went over to the cafe nook and poured herself a cup of coffee.
She brandished the pot but he shook his head no.

“Yeah,
I heard about that. Xeno's huh?” Mayweather smiled.

“Whoever
thought of tossing them at us like that has a nasty streak,” Sergio sighed,
leaning back.

“That
would be the Admiral if I don't miss my guess,” she smiled and took a sip of
coffee. “Typical of him.”

“He...”

“He
has his reasons Lieutenant,” Mayweather said leaning back against the edge of
the counter. “What did you learn from the experience?”

“That
you really can't die of fright no matter what they throw at you? Or that the
catheter system works well?” Sergio said chuckling.

“That
is if you don't let the fright freeze you up and make you a target,” Mayweather
retorted.

“Yeah,”
Sergio grimaced. “The squids are big and bad, nasty fighters, but everything
has a weakness.” He tried to hide his own annoyance. He'd thought he'd known
every fighter they would encounter.

“And
you found their Achilles heel?”

“Not
me, one of the jigs,” he admitted reluctantly. “She remembered an ROTC sim she
did after watching news footage and put the pieces together. Then someone else,
Wyvern, got smart and did some research.”

“On
the fly? I'm impressed,” Mayweather nodded. She took another sip of coffee.

Sergio
shrugged. “It's all in the databases and even in our neural nets if we just
bother to look,” he tapped his head and grimaced.

“And
the solution was?”

“Teamwork.
See the squids have this massive black hole in front pulling them forward. They
have arms lined with emitters to both generate and contain the thing.” He used
his fingers to show what he meant. Mayweather was amused, most of the pilots
had a tendency to talk with their hands when they talked about piloting or got
excited about something or other.

“The
black hole makes it impossible to attack them forward, so they like to keep it
toward the enemy and charge with it. The fighters move in a straight line,
great for acceleration, but they suck at maneuvering. We also found that they
use an AI for a pilot. Well, an AI and an organic computer. Whatever the heck
that is.” Mayweather felt a brief surge of amusement.

“Ah,”
she nodded. “So the solution is...”

“Teamwork
like I said,” Sergio said again and then grimaced. “It took a bit of trial and
error, but we figured out that if we have one person playing wild weasel,
that's ah, a fighter sent out as a decoy...”

“I
know the term Lieutenant,” Mayweather said nodding.

“Yes
Ma'am. As I was saying, we have one person out as a decoy. The others lay doggo
and when the squid passes they power up and pounce from other vectors. The
squids can fire off bore, that's really how they work anyway, nothing can get
through that black hole. But if you attack at the right angle or from more than
one vector at the same time then you can get through. Their shields are weak.”

“And
this did the job? Interesting,” she nodded.

“Yes
ma'am. I did a little reading since I got waxed in the first sim and had to
wait until it finished. Those fighters are unusual for the Xeno's. I thought
they would have something more... subtle.” He shrugged at the idea.

“You
mean they prefer stealth, cunning, and a quick attack from an unexpected
direction over a frontal assault?”

“Yes
ma'am. It, I mean it doesn't seem in their nature to use this. It's ah. Crude
from what I understand..”

“Well,
it stems from their nature. At least that's what I picked up from my research
anyway,” Mayweather shrugged. “According to the Intel of the time, the Xeno's
would infiltrate other societies with clones and computer viruses, copy what
they can, then hit the weakest points they can exploit. They prefer to keep
their forces under wraps for as long as possible. From what Intel gathers most
of their tech is grafted onto their fleet from things they gleaned from other
races.”

“Oh.”

“The
main line fleets weren't seen unless and until there was no other option. They
aren't innovators. Not as much as other races. I'm not sure if that is because
they have become spoiled about getting something for nothing when they conquer
other races, or if it was there in their make up as a blind spot the entire
time. From what I gathered from the tactical database their soldiers do not
adapt well when a situation changes rapidly. Cut off from the chain of command
will also mess them up. Keep that in mind.”

“Lieutenant
have you ever seen a Xeno fighter take down a capital ship?” Firefly asked.
Both of the officers looked up in surprise.

“I
didn't know they could. With a capital missile I'd think...” Mayweather said.

“No,
just with the drive,” Firefly replied.  A holo projection appeared over the
table as the light dimmed. A swarm of Xeno fighters bore in on a task force.
The point of view was skewed, it was from the one of the ships.

“This
is real footage?” Sergio asked.

“Yes.
I was there,” Firefly replied softly.

They
watched soberly as the fighters bore in. They crashed with suicidal intensity
into the barrage of fire, soaking it up with their black hole drives. Then they
slammed into the first ship, a battle cruiser. It's shield buckled, then
failed. Her shield and drive pods exploded like over ripe melons all over her
hull.

The
fighter bored on, right through the hull, it tore through it like it was tissue
paper, then out the other side. A second fighter followed it. But it hit
something vital and the ship exploded, tearing itself and the escaping fighter
apart.

“Damn,”
Mayweather said, shaken.

The
viewpoint shifted to focus on a second group bearing in on the camera. They
felt a thrill of fear. Suddenly the camera jolted and then seemed to move with
explosive force.

“I
discovered that a well timed OMS burst could get me out of the way in time. Too
close and the edge of the singularity disrupts my wedge and shields though. A
larger ship doesn't have this ability, they are too large, and to slow on the
helm.”

“I
can imagine,” Mayweather nodded. They watched the final bit as Firefly's
viewpoint stabilized then weapons fire resumed, this time taking the Xeno
fighters from behind, popping them one by one.

“YES!”
Sergio crowed smiling.

“It
worked that time. But I was lucky. I was one of the few survivors in the fleet.
The Xeno's aren't innovators, we discovered their main battle line prefers this
tactic in a lot of our initial engagements. It's effective against larger
capital ships.”

“Well,
trading a fighter for a dreadnaught is economical for them.”

“True.”

“I
wonder who they got the idea from?” Mayweather asked.

“Oh.
No idea,” Sergio's brows knit. “So back to what you were saying before; this
fighter design isn't original?”

“Nope.
They copied it from someone else. Probably were impressed with it and decided
it would make a great sledge hammer. They forgot that fighters are better used
as rapiers.”

“True,”
Sergio nodded. “You said cutting off the chain of command... Did you have
something specific in mind?”

“What
do you think?” Mayweather asked smiling slightly. “How would you do that with
fighters?”

“Ah,
cut off their communications and sensors with a jammer. Either a dropped sat or
a dedicated craft.”

“Bingo.”

“So
the purpose of the exercise?” Firefly asked from a speaker overhead. Sergio and
the captain looked up.

“I
keep forgetting we're being watched,” Sergio muttered. “Um.. don't do a frontal
assault?” he said speaking up.

“And?”
Mayweather asked. “How did you end up killing them again?”

Sergio's
face cleared as he sat back. “Teamwork.”