Ghost Station (The Wandering Engineer) (109 page)

"Oh
I am, but we're rapidly coming to a crossroads. I had planned on continuing the
repairs of the station while shaving off ten percent of production for
supporting projects and laying the groundwork for defenses for the star system
but that hit a... shall we call it snag?" he asked taking a sip of coffee.
It tasted like used motor oil. He hid a grimace as the mayor's face worked. He
flicked a glance out the dirty window and then to his host.

"Other
projects?" Mayor Randall asked politely after a moment.

The
admiral nodded. "Yes, apparently the planetary council has put in orders
for other things and overridden me. I'm curious as to why. They aren't taking
the long view into account. They have yet to propose how they plan on
paying
for all the changes as well."

"I'll
ah... um..." Randall sputtered. “Pay?” he suddenly asked.

The
admiral nodded virtuously. “Of course. People don't work for
free
Mr.
Mayor. And the materials and power doesn't come free.”

“I...
um...”

“And
of course if you just hand things out to people it can be good and bad for your
economy,” the admiral continued. “Bad for those currently in business. They
tend to go
out
of business when something like that happens.”

Mayor
Randall looked decidedly uncomfortable with that little tidbit of news. “I'll
have my staff look into that. I have a plan.”

The
admiral smiled slightly. “But you aren't willing to share it until after the
election. Of course,” Irons said with a knowing nod.

“Oh
of course,” Randall said, smoothly smiling. “I'm glad you understand,” he said.

"He
didn't expect you to call him on the carpet I take it?" Sprite said amused
for his ears only. He twitched a finger but didn't respond. He needed to focus
on this. Randall was a cool customer.

"He's
slick I'll give him that. Politician through and through. He didn't admit to
anything, and didn't commit to anything either," Sprite said in disgust
hours later as they made their way back to the space port.

He
snorted, feeling and hearing the clickety clacks of the train as it moved along
the rails. "You expected anything less from a person in his
position?" he asked. He hadn't expected any form of commitment. He just
wanted to feel the man out, put the man on notice, and try to get him on board
with his overall plan. He wasn't sure how well that would work. Hopefully the
man would work out in the long run. He had a look about him, the look of a
dreamer who had the ability to
lead
. Someone they desperately needed if
his plan was going to succeed.

"I'd
hoped," she said disgusted.

The
admiral snorted. “Wishful thinking Sprite, keep hoping. I think he's a shoe in
for the governor's house if he can keep his head out of his ass and project
that suave charm to the public.”

“Great,”
Sprite sighed in disgust. He looked out the dirty window to see fences rolling
by. Beyond were farms, acres of farm land. There was the occasional pasture
filled with all manner of animals. That was a good sign.

“Now
what?” Sprite asked.

He
puckered his lips and blew them out in a silent raspberry. “I don't honestly
know. I seriously don't know. I've never been in a situation like this. They
are ignorant of their own potential and ignorant of their own needs.”

“Time
to educate them?” Sprite asked as the train whistled.

“Sorry?”
he asked.

“Oh
never mind,” Sprite said in disgust. She knew the answer already. Irons would
try but things were not going to go so easily as either of them had hoped. His
hands gripped the arm rests as the train entered a tunnel. “Dark times ahead,”
she said.

“Yeah,”
Irons said. “But eventually there is light at the end of the tunnel. We have to
hold out until then,” he replied.

“Easier
said than done,” she murmured in his ear as darkness descended.

When
Kiev had left last month she'd had a pared down crew of only three hundred and
nineteen people, a steep change from the seven thousand four hundred and twelve
she had before. Seven thousand eighty one people remained on the station or had
transferred to the planet. Over five hundred of the sleepers had survived and
had transferred to the station or to the planet. A few had opted to remain on
the ship in order to transfer to some other world.

The
Lieandra had left behind four thousand five hundred and seventy nine of her own
brood before she'd left the system for the jump to the empty B459c red dwarf
system and the Protodon jump chain yesterday.

Irons
wasn't happy about their destination but had no way of changing it. Fortunately
they were only planning on going as far as Kathy's world before turning south
back to Pyrax.

He
had been of two minds about giving them the load of material and equipment he'd
fabricated and Sprite had assembled in her auction hunting. Most of it would be
useful in Pyrax, more useful then here for some time to come. Besides he could
always make more.

But
what really concerned him was any of it falling into enemy hands. He'd taken
steps to prevent their misuse but he knew that once they were out of his sight
just about anything could happen. He may never know what happened if Lieandra
disappeared.

Her
crew had been pared down to a measly two hundred and twelve people. Both ships
were carrying parts and news of the changes, they would be the first stones to
ripple out from the Antiguan pond into the rest of the sector.

The
more he thought about it the more he resented the lotus eaters. The hippy peace
love and happiness group led by Fu. That was one way of thinking of them.
Hippies. Peace love and happiness indeed. They didn't have a clue how the real
universe worked.

Lately
he'd drawn an analogy to Odysseus and his journey home in the Odyssey. Of
course the analogy didn't fit perfectly but the more he thought about it the
more he identified with Odysseus and the desire to move on before apathy set in
with him as well. He'd recognized the signs and had fought it off twice but now
it hovered over him like a constant cloud.

Really
they were Lotus eaters before he'd arrived he realized. That's what it really
was. The apathy was over not being able to do something to change the situation
and helplessly watching as the station slowly tore apart around them. But the
cybers had it different now, in no small part to his own efforts. Not that they
saw it that way.

Now
they loved to meddle, to micromanage. It wasn't just for the social
interaction; apparently they all craved the attention. No now it was about
putting their own stamp on things and controlling everything on the station.
Forcing others to follow their directives and beliefs. Of course using
blackmail and other methods were counterproductive. Kennet's meat rebellion had
been something they hadn't anticipated or been at all happy about.

He'd
settled into teaching at the newly restored college and making himself
available to the engineering staff to repair or replace parts and equipment on
the station. By establishing himself with the college he calculated that he
would have some sort of impact in the students there while seemingly out of the
way of the station council. Reactor five was now online and a quarter of the
replicators were now up and available. They really didn't need him right now, the
remaining reactors and equipment needed a lot more people and AI to run than
what they currently had. They also needed ten times the supply they currently
had to use them properly.

Most
of the replicators were tasked, which was annoying. They were booked for months
in advance now. He could no longer siphon off one for his own projects.
Businesses ground side were purchasing equipment to update themselves now that
their competitors were doing so. The station council was positively gleeful
about all the competition for their attention and services.

Of
course they'd let him use the replicators to test them for a while before they
had gotten wise to what he had been replicating. He hadn't made any weapons,
just parts and equipment for the ships under construction in Pyrax. He'd sent
them out in Kiev 221 and Lieandra with hopes that they'd arrive within a year
or so. Now as he repaired each, someone was there to take over before he could
make anything with it. That was annoying. They were using him with no thought
of compensation for
his
efforts and service. He didn't do it for thanks
but he didn't like the subtle abuse. He wasn't a doormat.

He
of course had retaliated a bit by being busy when they needed him. That hadn't
endeared him to the council or the people trying to get the equipment up and
running of course. Sprite had warned him that sentiment was running against him
in some quarters.

Another
freighter had entered the system from the B459c jump point several days ago and
only this morning had called in. The station council was already at work
communicating with the ship, working out a trade for parts and repairs in
exchange for goods and services.
 
It would be another day or so before
they got a response back of course.

It
wasn't all good news; Sprite had just picked up an interesting tidbit in the
feed. News from the freighter Cassidy that was particularly alarming to him but
apparently not the cybers. Apparently pirates had raided the Destria star
system last year. Destria was south of them, it was a cul de sac system with
only one jump point in and out. Details were sketchy but from what Sprite had
picked up the system had been not only raided but invaded and occupied. Cassidy
had barely made it out ahead of a frigate that had tried to run her down.

He
checked the star map and encyclopedia. The Destria star system is or at least
was a lonely agro system, a small farm colony on a battered moon orbiting a gas
giant. It didn't make sense that the pirates were not only raiding it but
setting up shop like they intended to stay. Unless of course they intended to
use it as a base of operations? But again why? Destria was well off the beaten
path!

Destria
had four empty systems north of it before it reached the arctic Kathy's World
and the chain leading to Antigua and more settled space. He was fairly certain
they wouldn't make the long jump to Epsilon Triangula, only a fool would take a
ship in their current condition that far.

South
of Destria was mostly empty systems leading back to Horathian controlled space
and Bek. He wasn't sure about Bek; he'd have to find out more sometime if he
could. So far no one he had talked to had known of the system. At least they
hadn't mentioned it. Sprite hadn't found any word of it in the nets she'd been
in either.

He
didn't want to draw attention to the Bek jump chain if no one knew about it. It
wasn't that he was concerned about a private party... but if the pirates ever
got wind of the system... that could pose a problem...  that is if the system
was even still there.

Could
there be something unique on Destria? A medicine? He wasn't sure. From the
sound of it the planet had a barely habitable atmosphere with only a few
thousand people living on it. Sprite had scoured the net but their information
was limited. She'd come up dry after an ten minute search.

“Word
is getting out about Destria. One of the communications techs has a girlfriend
in one of the media outlets,” Sprite reported.

Irons
grimaced. The media had grown rather quickly, filling in the television
stations and other media functions with surprising speed. Toni Chambers now had
competition and from her occasional dirty looks she didn't like it. He'd been
at first gratified but then the tone of some of their reports on his actions
had registered. He hadn't liked how they questioned his every action or
decision.

It
was like they were building up to something, building up a case against him.
Making him look like a bad boy, a dilettante who did more harm than good. That
bothered him. It bothered him a lot, and was bothering him more and more each
day. He wasn't sure what was behind it, if someone was orchestrating it or if
it was a band wagon thing. Either way it was a familiar and extremely
frustrating problem.

As
word of the pirates hit the news media just in time for the evening news a
little hysteria bubbled up with the public. He was not amused when he found out
that pirates had been spotted by Cassidy in the Kathy's World system as well.
Somehow Sprite had missed that in her initial report. Or she'd thought it was a
unsubstantiated rumor and waited for confirmation. Either way it didn't do his
mood any good.

When
a reporter had tracked him down for an interview he'd kept it blunt and simple,
stating that he'd look into it. When he'd seen the report on the evening news
he'd been seriously annoyed with the results. The editors had been busy. They
had played him up like a lunny, someone spoiling for a fight instead of someone
ready to defend the system. It galled him.

So
did this, he thought as he sat in the observation lounge. He'd been regulated
to an observer status with the council now that they had a full body. His
opinion apparently no longer mattered. They didn't ask for anything, just
informed him of what they wanted from him. Sometimes they informed him by e-mail
or instant message, not even bothering to ask in person. Sometimes he went
along with it... and sometimes he ignored it. They of course expressed their
dislike when he ignored things for too long. That was tough for them. Well, he
planned on using the first amendment to give them a piece of his mind tonight
anyway.