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

both regret.” He finished
pouring the water then handed it to the boy.
    The
boy popped the pills in his mouth then chased them down with the water. “Are
you reading my mind?” he asked after he swallowed. Irons chuckled.
    “No,
years of experience again. This time for reading people.” He put the pitcher
back into the cooler then went over to the replicator.
    “It's
broke. Best we can get out of it is gray water and paste,” Junior said,
watching him. He sat back, one arm cradling his side.
    “Well,
let's just have a look,” the Admiral replied as he pulled the panel off. He
hummed as he jacked into the universal port.
    “You’re
not bothered you needed a rescue are you?” Irons asked. Junior groaned. “A
little,” the young man replied. At least he was honest.
    Irons
chuckled. “Don't be. You’re lucky to be alive. Three against one when they are
armed and trained?” He shook his head. “Count your blessings and try to learn
from the experience.” He looked at the panel.
    “Looks
like the EPS tap is good, there is a kink in the paste feeds, software is
corrupted, but I got that fixed. Okay, hmm, matrix needs reinitializing... oh,
electronic power cable is shredded to it.... leaky gaskets too. Nasty. No
wonder you only get flavored paste. The leaks have stuff growing in here.” He
wrinkled his nose then sighed.
    “See,
it's not worth it,” the boy replied.
    Irons
gave him a look. “If everyone did that, sentient life would have bought it a
long time ago. I don't give up easy. You shouldn't either. Buckle down and take
the long road. That's what your parents do,” he nodded to their room. Junior
flushed.
    “First
thing to learn about space is to have patience. Second is to have patience,”
Irons quoted. Junior snorted a laugh as Iron's let Proteus go to work. The AI
rapidly made repairs, absorbing and breaking down the fungus and leakage, and
repairing the gaskets with his nanites. In minutes the matrix was cleared.
    “Need
a hand?” Junior asked behind him. He turned to see the boy standing, looking
over his shoulder.
    He
smiled. “Sure, I need a couple things, a new cable, two food feeder lines and
my tool kit in the other room.” He glanced at the boy who was staring at his
arm and the replicator. Small manipulator arms had extended out of his bicep
and forearm. They tore into the system as if they had a will of their own.
    “Don't
worry about it.” The Admiral smiled.
    “How,
I mean, did they really cut off your arm to put that on?” Junior asked as he
turned.
    “No,
not on purpose. I lost it in battle with my legs and eye.” The Admiral smiled
as the young man retreated.
    A
few minutes later the boy returned with the requested gear. He carefully
explained what he was doing as he made the repairs. He finished and put the
cover panel back on.
    “Okay
test object. Ice pack. Perfect.” He tapped in the request and waited. The tray
lit and the matrix began to bubble.
    “It
can do that?” the young man asked fascinated.
    “That
and more,” the Admiral replied. In a moment an ice pack was finished. “Here.”
He handed it to the boy. He grimaced and put the pack on his abdomen.
    “Wow,
it's really cold,” Sergio said then shivered.
    “That's
the whole point. I'll replicate a couple more then I'll see about a snack.” The
Admiral waved him to go sit. Weakly Junior hobbled over to the chair and sat.
The right side of his face was starting to bruise. Right on cue the young man's
mother and Aunt came in.
    They
stopped dead in the doorway then rushed to the boy's side. The kids followed in
behind, babbling. The babbling faded as they noticed something was wrong.
    Anita
was at Junior's side, checking him over. “He's okay as far as my scan can see;
he's got some spectacular bruises coming. I'm not sure about internals though,
I'm not a doctor,” the Admiral tried to caution them. Anita ran her hands
through Sergio's hair.
    “What
happened?” His aunt asked looking at him.
    “We
ran