Destiny's Choice (The Wandering Engineer) Read Online Free PDF Page B

“Someone didn't make them.”
    “Oh
yes they did,” Irons growled. “I did.” He shook his head as Bailey stared at
him. “I'm the only one who can. I authorized their construction. Food
replicators as well. I was jacked in the entire time.”
    “Oh,”
Bailey grimaced, running a hand over his balding head “I didn't know that.”
    “I'll
bet our dear friends in the ruling council didn't know that too. Or chose to
ignore it,” Irons said shaking his head.
    “So
you can make more?” Bailey asked.
    “With
a replicator,” Irons shrugged.
    “And
it takes one to make one,” the chief sighed. “And we don't have one. Great.
Perfect.”
    “I
didn't say that. You don't,” Irons smiled to the startled chief. “But I do.”
    “You...”
Bailey sat straight. His brown eyes gleamed and his shoulders looked like a
heavy weight had just been lifted from them. “You've got one? Where?” He looked
at the arm. Irons chuckled.
    “In
my shuttle of course. I have a small military grade industrial replicator and a
food replicator there. I also fixed the food replicator that was in my room.”
    “Ah,”
the chief gushed out and nodded in sudden understanding. “Can you ah... I know
we haven't treated you well...”
    “I'll
get on it Chief,” Irons said nodding. “But I'll have to do it from my shuttle.
Which means access to the boat bay. I'll also need the raw materials, and
power. A lot of power. Megawatts.”
    Bailey's
lips pursed. Power was at a premium right now. The lower octaves meant no hyper
collectors, so they were burning fuel. “Oh. What about the plans?”
    “They
are built into the replicator database. Most industrial replicators have a quad
of hard memory for such things.”
    “Oh,”
the chief blinked. “I didn't know that.”
    “Which
is one of the reasons they are restricted access,” Irons said with a shrug. “If
just anyone can make anything... well..”
    “Yeah.
Okay, I get it. But you're okay with it?”
    “Sure,”
Irons shrugged. “I'm a passenger on this ship as well chief. I don't want her
to get lost or have something happen just because I'm in a rough spot. I'm
rather attached to my hide.”
    “You
and me both,” the chief laughed feeling relief for the first time in hours.
“All right, let's do it,” he said slapping his hands together. He nodded as the
Admiral unjacked.
    “I'll
go to my ship.”
    “I'll
clear the way with Ed and the captain and get the power and parts on the move.
Thanks Admiral.”
    “Sure,”
Irons said, nodding. He left.
    “Sure.
They like you when they need you. When they have their... how did you put it?
Hides are on the line?” Sprite said acidly. He shrugged, ignoring the looks in
the bay and corridors as he made his way to the shuttle bay.
    “What
ever. We're not going to be here forever.”
    “Might
as well seem that way. And working under a cloud in a hostile environment for a
prolonged period isn't healthy Admiral. Too many things can happen.”
    “How
many have that attitude by the way?” he asked, feeling a perverse need to know
and not really wanting to hear the answer. He knew he needed to though.
    “Too
many. Despite the evidence I made them watch.”
    “It
could be resentment over being forced to watch it you know.”
    “True.
I haven't undertaken a study to see where the crew's loyalties lie. Do you want
me to check that out?”
    “Not
now. We've got more important things to deal with.”
    “True.”
    “Right,”
Irons nodded. “So a little good will can't hurt.”
“As long as they don't resent you for it,” Sprite cautioned.
    “Bitch,
bitch. Can't have it both ways,” he sighed. He knew she was playing devil's
advocate but it was getting annoying. “I'll do what I can, where I can and do
it to the best of my ability. That's all I can ask of myself or others.”
    “If
you say so Admiral. I suggest you limit the usage to you alone and only
critical parts and systems,” she cautioned.
    “Now
you're getting paranoid. But