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

holographic
emitter and set it on the table.
    "Holo
emitter?" Jorge asked. The Admiral nodded. The kids stopped cleaning and
came up behind them. He smiled and turned it on. Sprite uploaded a 3D image of
the Io 11. It sprang to life then began to slowly turn around her X and Y axis
like a top. The kids oohed and ahed.
    "We
had our hands full with the hull and exterior repairs; Juanita did an excellent
job keeping her crew safe." The Admiral pointed out the damaged areas.
"She's about as good as we can get outside a dry dock. Her drives have
been fully restored and she can get into the low octaves of Gamma band
now." The Admiral explained the highlights.
     The
group watched and listened in fascination. He pulled up a holo of Juanita
working. Mrs. Valdez clutched at her husband's arm. "Here is Juanita
working with a crew. I have a few others including her doing the intro to EVA
speech with a group of rookies." He smiled. "I can upload them to
your home mainframe and you can watch them or dump them on a chip." He
shrugged.
    Jorge
nodded as the scene concluded and faded out. "Thank you for this, for
seeing our girl safe and happy." He smiled. Mrs. Valdez looked up and
nodded.
    "She's
a good leader with a good head on her shoulders; you did an excellent job
raising her," the Admiral smiled.
     
    "Junior
why don't you show the Admiral around while we look over your sister's
message." Jorge waved to Junior.
    O'Reilly
smiled. "I'll be along in a minute lad. Admiral." He nodded as the
two got up.
    The
Admiral followed the sullen young man out. "You've seen the shuttle bay,
this way to storage." He waved. They toured the storage bay, machine
shops, the closed lock doors to two other shuttle bays, small living quarters
and ended up in the giant junk yard room.
    "Wow."
The Admiral looked around and smiled. He spotted several familiar ships. Sprite
pointed a few details out. There were shelves around the perimeter of the room,
but it looked like the center pile had taken over. He was curious if this was
stuff they had traded for, or stuff they had gathered from outside. It was
definitely a magpie nest.
    "I
can't turn the lights on; we're in a severe power crunch right now."
Junior said.
    "Yes,
your mother mentioned it earlier I believe." The Admiral said as he
examined a pile of parts. The junkyard was filled with damaged and junked gear,
but it was organized. He studied a battered fighter. "She'll never fly
again," Junior replied, catching his glance.
    "You
never know." The Admiral shrugged. "You are working on the tug, is it
the only one your family has?" He turned to the young man.
    Sergio
nodded. "We have two other bays, but they are empty so I didn't bother
show them to you."
    Irons
nodded. "That's a lot of space for a small family." He followed the
young man out into the hall.
    "Yeah,
we supplied the station with most of the water it needs. And we have it because
we can pay our rent. Most of the time," Junior growled face down, hands in
his hip pockets. He kicked at a cable for a moment.
    The
Admiral's mental antenna quivered at that last bit. "It has been hard to
make ends meet with your dad injured," the Admiral observed. Junior
growled. "His injuries are extensive. That arm is broken in two places and
not healing correctly. His knee cap is broken. His internal injuries are not healing
well either. He is running a temperature, a clear sign of infection," the
Admiral observed.
    Junior
stared at him. "How do you..."
    O'Reilly
entered ducking through the lock door. "So what'd I miss gents?" He
smiled at the two of them.
    The
Admiral waved. "Just getting the lay of the land. Junior was showing me
the family parts pile." Irons smiled and nodded politely to the young man.
    "Right
he's interested in the old ships in there," Junior replied slowly trying
to get his bearings.
    "I
remember you playing in them a time or two," O'Reilly chuckled. "For
that matter, your pops and I did too when we were hiding from grandam," he
chuckled. Junior