New Dawn (Wandering Engineer) (39 page)

"Back in that time there
were two groups of AI researchers. The first were focused on a hardware based
learning computer. Something that learned by doing, like organics do. The
second was a strictly software based group, who wanted to emulate learning
situations in virtual games," he explained and then he shrugged.

"Both approaches work, but
there were limitations in each. Apparently some hackers managed to get into the
virtual system and stole the AI core code, and rewrote it to be hostile to
human life," he sighed at the thought of such suicidal stupidity.
"From what I learned in my history class, it wasn't intentional to do the
damage it did, more of a prank or a means to cause chaos. But nonetheless, it
did kill millions."

 He grimaced as some of the girls
gasped a little. "Eventually the only ways to kill the AI viruses were to
either unplug the hardware they were in, or root them out with an anti
virus," he shook his head. "But if AI is so dangerous, why do we keep
them? Why do we need them on this ship?" one of the girls in the back
called.

"Well, Lola is it?"  he
asked. She nodded. "Well Lola, we need AI to manage our complex machinery.
We can't fly this ship without it, or balance the hyperdrive, or the fusion
core. It's just too fast for our reflexes to handle. But..." He held up
his hand as the class began to mutter amongst itself.

"But, we've learned from the
mistakes of the past and instituted safety measures in AI. Those are hardwired
into the ship's electronics," he said, voice rumbling. The class quieted.
"I've been rebuilding the ship's AI, but it'll never be as good as it once
was; there was too much damage," he grimaced. "After the war we
created a symbiosis of organic and inorganic that extended itself to other
species as they were encountered." He shrugged. "It wouldn't surprise
me if there are some sentient AI out there. They may be going senile
though." A few chuckled at that.

“I heard that,” Sprite grumped
good naturedly.

“I've been meaning to ask doc,
why the cuffs and sleeping in the brig?I can understand the one guard,” the
Admiral asked as he sat down in the chair.

The doctor grimaced. “Well, I
said a few things when I was first taken. I was rather upset,” he sighed,
studying the far bulkhead.  “I admit, I was unprofessional, I lost my composure,” 
he said. He shook his head. “The chief instituted the sleeping arrangements,”
he grimaced.

“Well, you're human doc,” Irons
replied.

Mindy grimaced. “Still it isn't
fair! We should get you some quarters,” she said stoutly defending him. The Admiral
nodded then got a thoughtful look.

“You know, we just finished
restoring the quarters on deck twelve next to mine, perhaps the Captain could
be persuaded to let you have them?” he asked. He looked over to the startled
doctor. “It'd serve several purposes; it'd give you better sleeping
arrangements, but allow the chief to keep her paranoia by using the guards
outside my door to guard you as well,” he suggested.

The doctor rubbed his chin. “Yes,
that may work.”

“I'll go tell her right now!”
Mindy jumped up and ran out before they could stop her.

“Well, so much for tact and
diplomacy,” the Admiral sighed.

“Hope it works, the mattress in
the brig is painful, I swear the foam rotted and I'm so tired of putting up
with Bart,” the doctor complained, rubbing his lower back.

“Most likely it was used so often
it took on the shape of a body,” the Admiral replied with a nod. “Things wear
out over time. How did you rate one guard while Bart and I have two?” he asked.

The doctor smiled "Just
lucky I guess," he said and then grimaced. "Actually, I believe Bart
attempted to escape a few times so he earned his," he shrugged.

The Admiral grimaced. "While
we wait for the fireworks, why don't we go over the dermal regenerator again? I
have to do some repairs in an hour,” he suggested. The doctor nodded. “All
right we'll do it.”

“So, what's next?” the lead guard
asked as they exited sickbay.

“I have to work on one of the
shuttles, and then see about some food,” the admiral answered. She motioned to
the corridor. “Right this way then,” she said. He followed.

They passed a group of girls and
one separated herself from the group. She followed until he stopped. The lead
guard continued until the trailing one cleared her throat. She turned and
looked. He was looking at their tag along. "Can I help you miss?" he
asked. She shyly looked down, then up to meet his eyes. She had wide blue eyes.
She had to be a teenager, since most of the crew was aging fast under the
workload, she had to be...

Crap, trouble he thought then
nodded.

"I just wanted to meet
you," she murmured. She ran her fingers through her hair near her ear, and
then touched his arm. She had a full chest, and even he wasn't immune to
hormones.

He cleared his throat.
"Thank you miss," he said. She smiled. He realized with a start that
she was flirting.

"You’re kind of cute,"
she said. The hand on his arm stroked it slightly. The guards behind him
shifted a bit. He tried not to grimace at the audience.

"Thank you miss, I find you
very beautiful and attractive," he said. He tried to disengage from her
gently, but she kept a grip.

She seemed to preen at his
compliment. "What's say we meet up at your place when your shift
ends?"she suggested. Warning bells were going off.

"She's trouble with a
capital T Admiral," Sprite said, as if he couldn't guess that.

"Tell me about it," he
said under his breath, catching her cat like look.

"Why not in your
quarters..." Her hand had gotten to his chest, feeling it slightly.
"Um, ah, that is...” he tried to figure a way out of this. She smiled like
a predator.

One of the guards cleared her
throat. "Enough Shari, play later," she growled.

The woman looked over to the
guard, instantly pouting. He let out a low sigh of relief as he turned. The
guard motioned to the girl. "The engineer has work to do; he won’t be off
for a long time," she said firmly.

The girl turned back to him.
"I heard about your long first day...I wonder if you have that stamina
where it counts..." her voice rose into a lilting, teasing flirt as she
stepped back, locking her eyes to his.

He gulped then managed to get his
cool back a little. "Now miss, I need to get things repaired before taking
any...recreational time," he shrugged knowing what he had said sounded
lame.

She smiled and blew him a kiss.
"Until later then...” She swaggered in her tight latex miniskirt as she
walked away.

He gushed a sigh, and then turned
to the guard. "Thanks for the save," he said feelingly

She chuckled. The other was
looking decidedly annoyed, but immediately smiled. "No problem. She's a
hellion."

The other guard chuckled. "A
minx you mean, total slut in bed," she said with a grin.

The other guard chuckled as well.
"Yeah, but it's fun. Watch out though, she's looking to wrap you around
her pinky. She'll use you,” she grimaced.

The other guard nodded.
"Notch on her belt," she agreed.

He sighed; looking back the way
she came then shook his head and tried to get his hormones under control.
"Social butterfly. I had to deal with it a long time ago," he said
and then shrugged. "Some things never change I guess...All right ladies, I
do believe we have a boat bay to fix...”

Two days of work later he managed
to all but put the minx out of his head. Jen had switched work assignments with
him again and he was working down the list.

He pressed the signal button at
the hatch. "Good luck Admiral, you’re going to need it," the guard
nodded to him warily. He froze as the door opened to the quarters. The minx was
there, dressed in a seductive red teddy lounging on her bed. "Come in,
I've been waiting for you," she purred. She gave him a slow seductive
smile, and then tossed her hair. She stretched like a cat, long and lithe, on
all fours. She made sure he got a good look down her teddy then met his eyes.

The door closed behind him with a
wisp. He could hear the chuckle through the door with his enhanced hearing.
"Someone could have warned me," he muttered, fighting natural urges.

"Sorry," Sprite
answered.

"Wasn't my job,"
Defender responded. He watched as she flicked her hair again giving him that
teasing smile.

"So, I was told you'd like
your replicator repaired? I have a half hour before I have to get back to
engineering," he added that warningly.

"Need a rescue?" Sprite
asked. He looked over to the replicator then back to the woman nodding
slightly.

The minx was pouting slightly.
Her charms weren't working. "Oh, I need something fixed all right,"
she purred, and then stretched.

He gritted his teeth. "Okay,
I'll get to work," he said politely and smiled. "You’re very lithe,
do you work out? Do yoga?" he asked.

She froze, and then her eyes
glittered at him. "It isn't nice to ignore me," she growled. He
stopped examining the replicator and turned.

"I wasn't. I came to do a
job. I am on
duty
," he said. She took the opening, sidling up to
him with a hip bump. He had a hard time trying to stifle a chuckle.

 "Okay soldier boy, time to
follow MY orders...” she said seductively, hands on his chest. He smiled
brushing his right arm along her cheek. "Your hand is cold!" she
said. She looked at him suddenly the mood was broken.

"Sorry. Artificial," he
said. She reared back and then sat on the edge of the bed. He turned and sent a
mental command to the arm. The right finger tip morphed into a diagnostic tool.
He pulled the cover plate off with his left hand.

She gasped hands at her throat.
"This shouldn't be long," he said. He bent over and began to check
connections. He heard her subsonic snarl, but tried to ignore her. The less he
focused on her, the more he could control his raging hormones.

"You’re not going to ignore
me metal man!" she snarled, but he only gave her a cursory look.
"Don't worry; I'll be out of your hair in a moment. It looks like your
replicator’s tank is shot," he said. He turned back. He heard a scrabble
behind him and her approach.

"Watch out!" Defender
alerted him, spinning his shields up. He twisted, and felt the heavy object hit
his right shoulder.

Defender took control, spinning
his body to confront the attacker. She tried to hit him with the object, some
sort of book end, and then threw it at him. Defender blocked, it hit the fully
energized shields and sparked, bouncing off them. "Get out you
monster!" she shrieked, grabbing a vase.

The door opened and the guard
leaned in. "What the hell?" she demanded. The vase smashed into the
door jam. "Now just a minute here!" she said. The guard ducked out of
the range of fire.

"Get out! Get out!" She
grabbed a tool from his kit and tried to stab him. He took control, letting her
come at him, blocking her stab with his right arm block, then snaking his hand
around her wrist and using the pressure point to break her grip on it.

She snarled and twisted. She
kicked, hitting his shin. She screamed and jumped on her good foot, her
offending toe pounding in pain. "Knock it off," he growled, and then
tossed her onto the bed. She bounced back up hands curled into claws. He
brushed her off, but one of her blows landed dangerously close to his genitals
despite the shield it set him off. "I said, STAND DOWN!" he bellowed
it, and then slammed her solar plexus.

She gasped, dropped to the
ground, writhing on the deck. He felt adrenaline ebb. Quickly he gathered up
his scattered tools and put them in the kit. He checked the girl. "You'll
be fine in a moment," he said quietly.

He got out fast before she fully
recovered. Still she managed to weakly throw a knick knack after him. The
guards were in the corridor laughing. "Some help you two hyena's
were!" he  growled and then glared. They tried to sober up, but then fell
into snickering. He sighed. "Least you could have done was save me!"
He grumbled and shook his head. "Now, if there aren't any more unpleasant
surprises? I guess we need to report that to the Chief," he said, eyes
suddenly narrow.

That sobered them fast. "Um,
ah..." He walked off down the corridor. "Crap," one muttered.

"What's a hyena?" he
heard behind him.

"Contact the Chief, ask for
an interview," he ordered. He looked over his shoulder to the trailing
guard.

She held up her comm. "I
can't get through." The woman responded with a sigh.

"Sprite?" he asked
softly, turning a corner.

"Admiral, that witch is
talking to the Chief. Care to take a wager on the subject?" she asked,
clearly amused.

He shook his head.
"No," he grimaced as they entered the lift.

"Do you want to listen
in?" she asked.

He shook his head. "Spare
me," he muttered. The bridge lock out flashed, but one of the guards
entered her code and the lift continued.

The lift doors opened and he
leaned out. "Permission to enter the bridge?" he called out.

"What?"

"Who said that?"

"Why did he ask?" the
girls asked each other.

"DENIED," the Chief
called. "I ordered you to the brig.”

He shook his head. "I guess
we didn't catch that, since your communication's channel is busy."
"Enter Admiral," the hoarse voice of the captain said. He came onto
the bridge and nodded to the Captain.

"Thank you Captain."

She nodded regally. "So,
what's this about?" she asked. She gave the Chief and guards a curious
look.

He grimaced. "I received a
work order...”

The Chief interrupted. "He
assaulted a crew member, and is therefore confined until an investigation is
held," she said sounding triumphant. He gave her a look.