Fool's Gold (The Wandering Engineer) Read Free Page A

sat down at her
nod. "Get cleaned up gentlemen," the matriarch ordered imperiously.
    Jorge
chuckled. "In here." The Admiral waited as the injured man hobbled
into the fresher and cleaned himself up. He watched casually as they set the
table.
    "That
your gear?" Junior asked pointing to the bags.
    "Yes."
The Admiral nodded.
    "What
did you bring? Besides uniforms," Junior smirked. The girl looked up then
went back to setting the table.
    "Oh
this and that, some tools, data base, skin suit, you know the usual gear."
The Admiral smiled.
    Mrs.
Valdez rapped Junior’s hand. "Ow! What was that for?" He rubbed his
hand looking offended.
    "Mind
your manners, he's a guest," she told him tartly. Jorge opened the door
and the Admiral managed to get into the chamber before Junior could get himself
into more trouble.
    The
refresher was clean as usual. The fixtures were recycled, most likely from a
freighter. The chrome was flaked off the plastic around the seams. "Mind
the floor plate, it likes to fluctuate every hour or so!" Jorge called.
    He
looked down. "Right." He shook his head at the wiring hanging from
the ultrasonic emitters. "So much for the easy way." Carefully he
washed his hands with the gray water, wrinkling his nose at the smell.
    "Nasty.
You don't want to know what is in it Admiral," Sprite reported.
    "Yes
I do, but not now." The Admiral replied as he shook his hands. He wiped
them on a towel and exited the chamber.
    "All
clean?" Mrs. Valdez inspected him just as she would one of her brood. The
girl hid a smile. Jorge chuckled. "He didn't get a chance to get his hands
dirty," he replied.
    The
Admiral chuckled. "Yet."
     Mrs.
Valdez steered him to an empty chair. Two other children came running in and
sat down after having their hands checked. "Aunty is on shift working a
double, she can't make it," one of the girls reported.
    An
older man came in and hung his hat on a peg near the door. "I'm just in
time?" he asked with a smile.
    "Hi
uncle Mickal, nope, you’re just in time!" the pig tailed girl called with
a smile.
    He
chuckled. "All righty then, I'll just freshen up...” He waved to the
others. After a few moments he returned. "I see we have a fresh face at
the table." He smiled politely to the Admiral then held his hand over the
table. The Admiral hastily set the bowl of lettuce down and shook his hand.
    "Nice
to meet you; Mickal right?"
    The
man nodded. "Mickal O'Reilly, last of the O'Reilly clan. I'm a life
support engineer," he smiled.
    "Fleet
Admiral John Irons," Irons returned. The man's eyes widened.
    "Is
that a fact? We're dining with living legends now?" He looked over to
Jorge who nodded.
    "The
Admiral is a sleeper. Juanita's ship brought him in," Jorge explained with
a small smile.
    He
smiled to the Admiral as his wife placed veggies on his plate. "That's
enough dear," he growled. She sniffed.
    "You
know you need to set a good example for the kids," she said softly. The
kids smirked. Mickal chuckled until she put even more on his plate.
    "Hey
now!" He replied suddenly mock indignant. The kids giggled. Jorge smiled.
     "You
need all the veggies you can get too!" Mama Valdez replied. "Clean
your plate." She smiled. Her smile had teeth to it, the teeth of a command
to be obeyed. Hastily he nodded.
     
    After
dinner the kids were put to work cleaning the dishes while the adults sat
around the table. He could see the kids glancing their way and paying more
attention to what was going on with the adults then with the dishes. "You
said the Io has been rebuilt?" Jorge sighed. "To see her in her
prime. We need to get that tug sorted out so we can." He shook his head.
     "Not
going to happen, it will take a month to get help from engineering Shelby said,"
Junior sighed.
    "She'll
be long gone by then." O'Reilly grimaced.
     "Well,
if you want a look..." The Admiral got up and went to his bags. "Do
you have a picture now?" O'Reilly asked genially.
    The
Admiral smiled. "Something like that." He pulled out his