Ghost Station (The Wandering Engineer) (116 page)

“Ain't
that the truth,” Sparks muttered. He sighed looking at the wiring job in front
of him. “Come on. Let's get this done and then move on like the man said.”

“Did
you see that?” Kennet demanded waving a virtual hand. “He could have encouraged
them to revolt! To stop working!” He and a few of the other cybers were
zealously watching the admiral's every move, listening and picking apart his
every word. It didn't help that Irons didn't set himself up for anything, he
just kept working.

Warner
shook his head. “But he didn't.”

“But
he could have,” the other cyber insisted.

“But
he didn't,” Emily said. “He could have encouraged a sick out. A work stop, all
sorts of things. But he's not doing that. It says a lot about the man's character.”

“I'd
say he's beaten and he knows it,” Averies said, sounding unhappy.

“You
don't sound so enthused by that,” Kennet demanded.

“That's
because I'm not. I've gotten to know the man. He's going through the motions
now but he's already thinking of what he's going to do next. Not one move ahead
but six or seven. I've played chess against him. He's a nice guy; he'll give
you the shirt off his back if he thinks it will help, but if you kick him
enough...”

“We
haven't kicked him!” Kennet said indignantly. “We've just asserted ourselves!”

“Haven't
we?” Emily asked softly, watching the admiral as he walked into the replicator
control room. He made his acquaintances with the people on duty and then went
straight to work. “He only wanted to help. We were desperate for that help at
first. We took it like a man in vacuum in need of oxygen. He gave us life once
more. He gave us a reason to live, renewed direction and purpose. He only asked
us to help him. But now we've decided for better or for worse that we didn't
want his direction, and after everything he's done we've shut him out and then
needled him. Well you have,” she said turning cold eyes on Kennet. “You and Fu
and the others. Averies is right. He's an honorable man. It's a pity it has to
be this way.”

Kennet's
eyes flared. “It's... not like that!”

“Really?”

“I
mean he... I... He encouraged them into...” Kennet sputtered, suddenly unsure.

“Into
what? Into going into business for themselves? What's the harm in that? We will
be gracious sellers won't we?” Sid Berkheart asked. “The tide of resentment
over his treatment is increasing. I think the only thing keeping it all in
check is Irons refusal to tap that resentment.”

“He'll
leave soon,” Emily said sadly.

“He
can't! We need him!” Kennet said, aghast as Irons plugged the keys in. He knew
better then to try to clone the keys now. They changed each time apparently.
Irons never had rebuilt the replicator they had fried. When the admiral left...
“He won’t! He won’t go!”

“It's
done. You'll see,” Averies said quietly, turning away.

Irons
was knee deep in replicating parts after three hours. He's amused that they
were watching him closely, ticking off each tray of parts when it's finished.
They even had a cyber watching both him and Sprite in the net while an inspection
team watched him in the real world. Talk about paranoid. The contract had
specified no weapons at all. Nothing for his naval project. He was limited to
what he wanted for his ship and that was it.

He
had retaliated by limiting what he would replicate. In careful thought of what
the legal ramifications of handing such technology over to civilians were of
course. They hadn't seen it that way though but tough. Two could act badly. Tit
for tat. He felt a little childish but damn it they'd pissed him off!

He
also refused to replicate any more then was in the contract. No emergency
requisitions they tried to pass off on him at the last minute. No more, no
less. He ignored any last minute additions or items slipped into the list that
weren't agreed to beforehand. The agreed upon list was all he was doing and he
had his own copy so when they tried to pull that stunt he'd cc's a copy of it
and then left. That was it. They were getting a thirty to one advantage; he
didn't want them getting
greedy
after all.

They
were determined to keep him under their thumb. He could have of course quit,
used the replicators he had to make something, but what was the point? Right
now sentiment was firmly against him. The man on the street was being torn,
most on the station were sympathetic to him but the politicians were steering
things against him. Sentiment on the ground was firmly against him and rising.
Things were going to boil over soon. The media of course was playing a part,
showing tidbits of his recordings. Edited of course, they claimed they were
edited for brevity but they took most of what he said out of context and
twisted it all around. He was tired of the crap and wanted out.

"Admiral,
we've got an issue," Sprite said slowly. She wasn't sure how he'd react to
this set of news. She was annoyed that the cybers had tried to block her from
finding it out. She had thought that the Berkhearts and Warners were allies.
Apparently alliances were shifting in cyberspace. Loyalties had a price. She
wondered what they could have been offered to induce them to go along with
this?

"Oh?"
he asked.

"Yes,"
she said slowly, she looked a little embarrassed and contrite on the HUD.

"Spit
it out Sprite," he said, finishing the key coding sequence for these fuel
injectors. There were thirty on the tray, plus the spare injectors for his
ship's reactor. Each had to be fitted, tested, tuned, and then tied into the
rest of the system and then synched up. If a single piece of microscopic debris
got involved it became a royal headache. There was a reason some manufacturers
had done jobs like this in a clean room and kept the injectors vacuum packed
until assembly. Unfortunately he couldn't.

He
was down to spares now. He'd completed the critical things, his larger more
powerful class one military grade industrial replicator right off just in case
they pulled something. From there the critical lists, his wish list, and now
spares. Or at least spares once these were finished and installed or stored.
Technically they weren't critical, he could get away with using the existing
ones, but why not replace them and be done with it?

"Well,
it seems the Antiguans, or
concerned citizens
have petitioned the court
to take Phoenix back," Sprite's tone had air quotes all over that
statement. He knew who she was talking about. It was hardly surprising someone
would try something, even if it was out of spite.

"Oh?"
he asked focusing intently on what he has going on in front of him. "Fat
lot of good that will do, we covered our back sides already," he said with
a sniff of amusement. Didn't they know Federation courts trumped Civilian?
Since he was the only Federation officer in the system he was it. Besides,
Phoenix had been registered as an official Naval dispatch boat! His navy,
Federal
navy.

She
nodded, eyes troubled. "Which they are finding out right now. You were
right."

"Really,"
he said sarcastically. Something told him this would be the last tray.
Fortunately he had put his hyperdrive parts through earlier this morning and
they were loaded on the ship. He could now make what he needed once it was
assembled. As long as he had power and materials of course. He'd already
refueled the ship so that wasn't a problem.

They
were cutting their own throats if they pushed it any further really. He had the
replicators on Phoenix and his launch; with them he could finish restoring the
ship. Technically he didn't need to continue helping them. It was just taking
time away from repairing the ship. But he had hoped that a last minute outbreak
of sanity would prevail on the opposition’s side. He'd been a fool to think
that. They were too entrenched in their beliefs and ideology. Too committed to
the bread and circuses the mayors had promised.

"Yes.
I think they didn't realize that the Golden Dew Drop ship had been turned over
to the Navy as a dispatch vessel during the Xeno war and therefore was still on
the books as a Naval vessel."

Irons
smiled. DB-1701E. He had to love that choice bit of irony, that they couldn't
touch her. The cyber lawyers should have known better than to have tried.
"True. Why are you telling me this again?" he asked amused. "I
already went over this remember?" They had even filed to change the ship's
name to Phoenix he thought.

"Just
recapping admiral. As I was saying, we filed a Federal salvage claim when the ship
was recovered and it was recognized by the station court and the planetary
courts. When she was restored to partial service we meaning
me
filed the
necessary court documents. I covered the paper trail. None were opposed."
She was pretty certain that they hadn't opposed it for this very reason. At the
time they had
wanted
the admiral to leave. Now they realized he was the
key to the galaxy and they didn't want him going anywhere. Talk about ironic!

"I
know Sprite," he said trying not to roll his eyes. He looked over to the
Veraxin tech working nearby. The tech was busy watching another tray forming
while listening to tribal drums. Veraxin's loved a good drum beat, the low
frequency vibrations were stimulating to them.

"I'm
getting to my point now sir. Apparently they tried to claim that there wasn't
proper time for notification of possible plaintiffs and therefore the previous
court rulings should be nullified," Sprite said formally. He grunted in
irritation.

"Interesting.
A stretch though," he finally said rubbing his jaw. "There aren't any
surviving parties to warrant an intervention. There also isn't a Federal court
to file in. With the right judge though..."

He
wondered how far they would take this. Would he have to declare the ship as
property of the navy, stand his ground and if necessary flee the system as a
fugitive? Wouldn't that be nice! He thought with a bitter twist of his lips.
Quite the feather in his cap. He was really living up to his Pyraxian example
here!

Sprite
shook her head. "That they didn't get. The judge saw through the gambit
when I helpfully pointed it out to him this morning." She was pretty sure
politics were in this. From what it looked like under the surface Randall had
tried to stall their departure and one of his competitors had placed the judge
to squelch it. Or the judge could be a real independent. Who knows, stranger
things have been known to happen.

"This
was going on this morning? Why am I just being told?" he demanded.

"I
found out at the last minute. The cybers tried to keep me out of the loop. And
get this, someone on the station council tried to block my communications
privileges when I found out. I ended up going through Phoenix's systems to
connect to the courts."

"Really!"
he said nostril's dilating in anger. From her tone Sprite wasn't at all happy
about doing that. Nor did she sound happy about having to admit that to him
either. Somehow he was pretty sure she wasn't going to resist leaving as much
anymore.

"Yes,
and I made sure that was brought to the judge's attention as well. He wasn't
amused by it. Access to the courts is supposed to be unrestricted by all
parties. He's ordered an investigation. The plaintiffs in the form of D'red are
claiming a misunderstanding and dropped the suit. That dropped the investigation."

Irons
swallowed a cynical smile. "Funny how that worked out."

"Isn't
it?" she asked. Right on cue a file appeared in his inbox. "But it
looks like this party is at an end. You have an e-mail from the council saying
your services are on hold."

"Oh?
So I'm no longer needed?" he asked amused as he prepared himself to get
up. “I had figured as much already Sprite,” he said as he unjacked. He got up
off the couch when the tray was completed. Robotic arms were swinging into
action in the replicator bay, clearing the tray and then sorting out what went
where.

"Not
exactly. What they are saying is that they ah, get this. They still want your
services, but on retainer. Available upon request in a moment's notice. Open
ended."

"Oh
hell with that," he said shaking his head and stretching. "Please
bring up Paragraph VII clause B. The contract is only good while I am on
station and both parties are acting in good faith. Clause C states that either
party can terminate the contract at any time. And I am leaving. Once I am on
Phoenix and underway it's voided." He didn't like having to tell them
that, but he had no choice.

"I
think I'll wait until you are half way off the station before sending that if
you don't mind admiral,” Sprite said dryly.

“Good
idea,” he said glancing at the Veraxin in the room. He didn't need them
throwing up any last minute road blocks or starting a physical altercation.
Once he was off the station they couldn't try to brig him on some trumped up
charge. “Set it for a delayed return,” he sub vocalized.

“Already
done admiral. I think their little delaying tactic backfired," Sprite
said.

"It
did help my resolve a little," he said getting up and following the
robotic forklift out. He would be on Phoenix in less than an hour as long as
there weren't any problems in transit. The docks and cargo corridors weren't at
max capacity but there were the occasional accidents or bottlenecks now to slow
things up. They were even talking about appointing a traffic coordinator.