him. “I see you were able to find
everything on the list. Great! I want you to start looking at the PeteArmor
specs you’ve been able to gather.” The armor Peter Scholnich designed was
named for him. “Get familiar with them; once we are in Transit that’s going
to be your project, barring the unforeseen.” His eyes cut to the bandage on my
arm and his tone hardens a bit. “After you’ve been cleared by the doctor, of
course. What in the thousand worlds happened?” I follow his gaze. The drugs
are definitely wearing off. It stings now. A lot.
“Oh, this? According to Freddie it’s nothing to get excited
about. But I’ll go get another opinion. By the way, I also picked up a book
on Peter Scholnich, not so much a biography, more like ‘I knew this guy.’
According to Lady Sarah Collins, he knew your ancestor. I’m hoping it will
give me some insight into how his mind worked. You want to read it after me?”
“He did indeed, and yes I would. Sinnair and Scholnich were
quite a team under Lord Collins. Those guys blew up more ships and rattled more
rafters than anyone in those centuries.”
I raise my eyebrows. “‘Centuries’? Plural?”
“I’m not sure if it was after he mastered his psionic
abilities or was named king of the ocean planet, but Lord Collins was able to
slow his aging considerably. He lived for at least two hundred years.”
“Wow. Oh, also, I was talking to Freddie. He’s not happy with
the interface between the Strike Armor and the high-energy weapons. Might
there be a spare set of either or both I can play with or would you rather...?”
I get an epiphany. “Hey, I know. Why not fix the problem at the design phase
while working on the PeteArmor? Good call, Boss. I’ll get right on it. Are
you married to the idea of me starting from PeteArmor or may I start from a
clean slate?”
“That wasn’t my idea and you bloody well know it. Keep
credit where it belongs. Here endeth the lesson. Get with Aria about access
to the tech libraries. She can point you towards a lot of drawings and history
that I don’t have the patience to look for. If you want to start clean, that’s
fine, but I want to see your work. But remember, the Transit drives are still
your top priority.”
“Of course. Those are my babies. Since you insist, I’m off
to see the doctor. I’ll be back.”
On the way to the medical bay I send a COM to Aria
requesting the clearances and passwords Mack was talking about. She assures me
she will take care of it. Within minutes there is a bleep from my perCom. I
have some temporary passwords for secure databases that will expire a few hours
after initialization. Once we’re in Transit I’ll take care of that.
The more I think about Aria, the more I think of her. To be artificial—well it’s hard to believe she is artificial sometimes.
I might look into robotics and the related disciplines. Maybe I can get a job
building androids when this gig is over.
Doctor Traynor directs me to pull my arm out of my
coveralls so she can look at my wound. She peels off the gauze and looks at it
intently. “I know that’s a small graze, but those are the ones that tend to get
infected the worst. That was a nice field dressing though, whoever put it on
knew what they were doing. I’ll get Needa to give you something a little
tidier.” She cleans it a little more than Needa did. But to be fair, Needa
didn’t have a medical cabinet to fetch supplies from.
Needa winks at me as she applies the artificial skin. She
heard the compliment but didn’t speak up. I can keep a secret too. Dr.
Traynor hands me a blister pack containing two weeks of antibiotics and a small
tube of artificial skin. “Peel off the artificial skin before every shower and
apply it after you’re dry. Unless you think scars are cool of course. If you
have your eye on a Trooper he might like it.” She gives me a devilish
everything on the list. Great! I want you to start looking at the PeteArmor
specs you’ve been able to gather.” The armor Peter Scholnich designed was
named for him. “Get familiar with them; once we are in Transit that’s going
to be your project, barring the unforeseen.” His eyes cut to the bandage on my
arm and his tone hardens a bit. “After you’ve been cleared by the doctor, of
course. What in the thousand worlds happened?” I follow his gaze. The drugs
are definitely wearing off. It stings now. A lot.
“Oh, this? According to Freddie it’s nothing to get excited
about. But I’ll go get another opinion. By the way, I also picked up a book
on Peter Scholnich, not so much a biography, more like ‘I knew this guy.’
According to Lady Sarah Collins, he knew your ancestor. I’m hoping it will
give me some insight into how his mind worked. You want to read it after me?”
“He did indeed, and yes I would. Sinnair and Scholnich were
quite a team under Lord Collins. Those guys blew up more ships and rattled more
rafters than anyone in those centuries.”
I raise my eyebrows. “‘Centuries’? Plural?”
“I’m not sure if it was after he mastered his psionic
abilities or was named king of the ocean planet, but Lord Collins was able to
slow his aging considerably. He lived for at least two hundred years.”
“Wow. Oh, also, I was talking to Freddie. He’s not happy with
the interface between the Strike Armor and the high-energy weapons. Might
there be a spare set of either or both I can play with or would you rather...?”
I get an epiphany. “Hey, I know. Why not fix the problem at the design phase
while working on the PeteArmor? Good call, Boss. I’ll get right on it. Are
you married to the idea of me starting from PeteArmor or may I start from a
clean slate?”
“That wasn’t my idea and you bloody well know it. Keep
credit where it belongs. Here endeth the lesson. Get with Aria about access
to the tech libraries. She can point you towards a lot of drawings and history
that I don’t have the patience to look for. If you want to start clean, that’s
fine, but I want to see your work. But remember, the Transit drives are still
your top priority.”
“Of course. Those are my babies. Since you insist, I’m off
to see the doctor. I’ll be back.”
On the way to the medical bay I send a COM to Aria
requesting the clearances and passwords Mack was talking about. She assures me
she will take care of it. Within minutes there is a bleep from my perCom. I
have some temporary passwords for secure databases that will expire a few hours
after initialization. Once we’re in Transit I’ll take care of that.
The more I think about Aria, the more I think of her. To be artificial—well it’s hard to believe she is artificial sometimes.
I might look into robotics and the related disciplines. Maybe I can get a job
building androids when this gig is over.
Doctor Traynor directs me to pull my arm out of my
coveralls so she can look at my wound. She peels off the gauze and looks at it
intently. “I know that’s a small graze, but those are the ones that tend to get
infected the worst. That was a nice field dressing though, whoever put it on
knew what they were doing. I’ll get Needa to give you something a little
tidier.” She cleans it a little more than Needa did. But to be fair, Needa
didn’t have a medical cabinet to fetch supplies from.
Needa winks at me as she applies the artificial skin. She
heard the compliment but didn’t speak up. I can keep a secret too. Dr.
Traynor hands me a blister pack containing two weeks of antibiotics and a small
tube of artificial skin. “Peel off the artificial skin before every shower and
apply it after you’re dry. Unless you think scars are cool of course. If you
have your eye on a Trooper he might like it.” She gives me a devilish
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