Fool's Gold (The Wandering Engineer) by Chris Hechtl Page A

Braddock continent has some massive hurricanes and tornadoes that flatten
the continent based on the records I accessed. Most of the rest of the planet's
surface was incinerated by antimatter rounds. If they get some warning of
weather...” He looked over to her.
    She
nodded. “Right, then they can be prepared... or at least as well as you can for
a damn hurricane.” She shuddered. “Fighter for last?” She asked. The security
chief joined them. The Admiral nodded politely to her.
    “Yes,
I can't get that ship out without going through the locks though. We'll need to
go EVA to get her to the ship.” The chief nodded looking the lock over. She
smiled tightly.
    “He's
right; there is no way a fighter could fit through this lock,” Faith chuckled
looking at the lock in question. “You got that right!” She straightened and
waved the techs over to swap the satellite over to the Io's pallet. They
carefully fitted it with a grav collar and began to move it. Junior stared at
several of the more interesting women for a moment. The Customs girl Kathy
looked pissed at his sudden interest.
    “So
is Kathy going off shift soon?” the Admiral turned to Junior who blushed
fiercely.
    “Something
like that,” he mumbled guiltily looking over to the girl. She was glaring at
him. The Admiral chuckled softly. Ah the troubles of youth.
    Techs
were already loading the cart down with parts. A second cart was pushed out.
“We'll need that back,” the purser admonished.
    “I'm
going with him to make sure we get it back,” the chief nodded.
    “And
to check out the fighter?” the Admiral asked. She nodded meeting his eyes. He
smiled to the purser. “Your influence I bet. Checking out the goods.” The
purser chuckled and waved.
    “Go,
see you in a bit. I'll see if we can get a team out.” She walked into the lock.
    “What
do you have left to move?” the chief asked as they waited by the lift doors.
    “The
fighter and the weapons pod. I assume you'd like to check both?” She nodded.
“We can just squeeze them into the second shuttle bay. I'll evacuate the air
and we can move them to Io. We can move the larger parts back the same way,” he
explained. She nodded.
    They
ignored curious looks from people passing by as they exited the lift and
entered the corridor to the Valdez compound. He was amused to see Junior had beaten
them there once more. He looked winded and harried though.
    “Lets
get inside quick; I think there are some bully boys lurking about.” He waved
them inside. The chief looked around for a moment, and then warily followed.
    Junior
took the tech to the shuttle bay and then returned to the junk pile. “Why don't
you escort the young lady back to the dock? I'm not sure she should be out
alone.” The Admiral asked giving the boy a look.
    Slowly
he nodded. “All right. I'll be back.” He waved and rushed off. The Admiral
could hear the outer door shut with a clang.
    “This
it?” the chief asked as she looked the fighter over.
    “Doesn't
look like much but its hull and structure are sound. Electronics are good; it
just needs a new drive and fusion reactor. Her's were cannibalized a long time
ago.” The Admiral pointed to the rear of the deadly looking craft.
    Gently
the chief ran her hand over the hull. She seemed to quiver. “You know, my
ancestress flew one of these during the war.” Her fingers seemed to caress the
door panel, barely finding the seam. “She's as beautiful as gram said she would
be,” she said softly.
    “That
she is. Throttle sticks, but we patched that problem with a software patch in
her first upgrade,” the Admiral smiled as he moved a piece of junk out of the
way. The chief looked at him.
    “I
keep forgetting you’re from that time. You flew one?” she asked.
    He
shook his head. “No, I can pilot all sorts of things, but fighter craft are a
bit outside my league. I don't have the reflexes of the young anymore anyway,”
he smiled. “Or to put it another way, I'm not nuts