the hub
Dec. 08, 2016, 07:27 Earth time.
"I see we didn't manage to leave the paper glut issue behind when we abandoned several billion people." Jack Redstone was astonished the TAC meeting had produced 33 pages of spiral-bound, largely redundant printed material.
Wally O'Brien was peering at his copy. "Not bad on two hours notice, gotta give'em credit for that. At least up here it'll get recycled. They even have copies of my blueprints and schematics. How'd they manage that, I wonder?""
Redstone shook his head and abandoned the topic. "Not our current problem, I'm afraid."
Wally shrugged. "We kind of have to do regular duty until the mission comes back. I've got issues down on Wheel 8, the pieces of crap that Melf's brother-in-law built. I can't tell you how much that surprises me."
Redstone raised his eyebrows. "Anything I need to know about?"
Wally's turn to shrug. "Dunno till I check the pods out, first thing on my to-do list today."
"You'll let me know if there are problems on the new pods?"
Wally cut him off with a wave of his hand and his infectious grin. "You'll be the first one I pass the buck to."
"I live for such moments." Redstone's sarcasm was descending on the ears of a suddenly frozen Wally O'Brien. "What's up?" Jack looked around.
Her smile was quite dazzling. "I'm Commander Hilary Erhard."
Jack Redstone shook her hand first. "Jack Redstone. This is Senior Engineer and Construction Chief Walter O'Brien."
Jack seemed to survive the handshake, so Wally followed suit. "Wally. An honour, Commander."
"So this is The Hub?" Erhard looked around. "I only came up in yesterday's batch, I haven't had the tour yet. Seeing as how they pushed the launch back until 1100, I figured I'd come introduce myself."
Redstone looked around. "Yep, folks were all over the place when the announcement came through. It takes them a long while to get back to the right wheel using the tubes." He gestured to the center of the Hub where a crowd was gathering. "All this was adapted from what was left of Mir and what we could scrounge from the Russians, NASA, and the ESA." He nodded at Wally. "This man here did a great job making something workable out of not much that was."
"I'd say you did one heck of a job, Mr. O'Brien." Erhard was still smiling, clearly making an effort to get off on the right foot with both men.
Both men had a pretty good idea why. Neither man said anything.
"It looks highly organized, pretty efficient." Hilary held her hands clasped behind her back.
Redstone was mentally getting into subtle mode but Wally was on his own clock.
"So I imagine this is when you tell us our asses are yours unless the toilets back up?" Wally didn't look like he was making a joke.
Erhard laughed anyway. "Actually, I'm here to reassure you. I may be a Commander, but I find it best to leave everything in the hands of the best people. Your asses, Mr. O'Brien, are safe in who's ever hands they were resting before I got here."
Both men laughed, a little relieved.
Erhard wasn't finished. "Truth is I don't know how you did it. General Battle told me if I got in your way he'd fire me out an airlock. What I need you to know is I'm highly skilled and experienced in command, and our mutual enemy is time. Thank you for giving us a temporary home in space until we find a planet. If I can be of any help to either or both of you, I am at your service, gentlemen."
Further pleasantries and bonding were delayed as a hand hit Erhard forcibly in the back and she fell forward into Wally and Jack's arms.
"Move it, lady!"
Aggie and Rails were dedicated and purposeful. The man on the gurney with the failing heart never stopped on his journey.
Jack Redstone called after them. "This is Commander Erhard of the ... "
The blonde at the front didn't turn around. "Nice fucking suit, Commander."
The broad-shouldered one at the rear turned back and yelled out. "Keep the hallways clear!"
Aggie stopped dead, her jaw slightly open, leaving Rails pulling the gurney down the hall.
"AGGIE!" Rails knew what had stopped her partner.
Aggie Brooks ran after the blonde with the patient in tow.
"God is she hot!"
"FOCUS!"
"Sorry."
The MedTech version of the Runaway Train headed in the MedLab doors.
"Passionate people." Hilary Erhard's own gaydar hadn't been tested at all. The sight of Aggie Brooks standing slack-jawed in the hall gaping at her had pretty much met the burden of proof of Aggie's sexual preference. Years of training and ambition kept Hilary Erhard anchored in the relatively safe vicinity of Redstone and O'Brien. She managed to call out "SORRY!"
To the men she said. "Well, I'm going to walk around and see where everything is, have a good day, gentlemen. I look forward to working with you both."
"Bye." Wally said.
"See you soon." Jack Redstone's parting shot.
"Odd."
"What is?"
"She's going to MedLab." Wally found that puzzling.
Redstone grinned. "After her meeting with MedTech Brooks, probably she's looking to see if there's a bed free."
Wally grinned. "Yeah, she's a hot one, that Aggie ..." Light reluctantly dawned in Wally's head. "Oh."
"Yeah." Jack Redstone was writing up his own list of things to do. " 'Oh' is right."
Wally was forced to cross two names off his fantasy to-do list, one a very recent entry.
Redstone had finished. "I'm going to check on the Gvot pod, make sure they're not having any problems seeing as how our scientific ace-in-the-hole lives there. You'll let me know about the last section of pods?"
Silence.
Redstone turned, noticing the noise across the waiting room. "Jack, I need a hand."
Redstone followed Wally's eyes. "What's up, Obie?"
Wally was stepping forward quickly, and Redstone followed his lead, moving swiftly into the horde in the waiting area.
Redstone could hear loud words, but couldn't make out anything. Wally was scything through the crowd to the source of the noise.
"Stay away from my kids!" The angry man was obviously American, with a New York City accent he'd have until he died.
Redstone arrived at his first view of the scene in time to see a disheveled man lying on the floor, the offended man backing away with his kids behind him.
Given the scene, Jack was more than a trifle surprised when Wally punched the NYC man in the gut and bent over the rough-looking man on the floor, cradling his head in his hands.
Jack knelt. "Friend of yours?"
Wally looked up. "Leon Freedman. Served in the 'Nam in the delta. He got ... caught up in things up river."
Jack nodded. "You stay here, I'll go get help from MedLab."
Wally's eyes were wet. "Thanks, Jack."
He looked down at Leon Freedman, a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Hang in there, buddy, help is coming."
"I see we didn't manage to leave the paper glut issue behind when we abandoned several billion people." Jack Redstone was astonished the TAC meeting had produced 33 pages of spiral-bound, largely redundant printed material.
Wally O'Brien was peering at his copy. "Not bad on two hours notice, gotta give'em credit for that. At least up here it'll get recycled. They even have copies of my blueprints and schematics. How'd they manage that, I wonder?""
Redstone shook his head and abandoned the topic. "Not our current problem, I'm afraid."
Wally shrugged. "We kind of have to do regular duty until the mission comes back. I've got issues down on Wheel 8, the pieces of crap that Melf's brother-in-law built. I can't tell you how much that surprises me."
Redstone raised his eyebrows. "Anything I need to know about?"
Wally's turn to shrug. "Dunno till I check the pods out, first thing on my to-do list today."
"You'll let me know if there are problems on the new pods?"
Wally cut him off with a wave of his hand and his infectious grin. "You'll be the first one I pass the buck to."
"I live for such moments." Redstone's sarcasm was descending on the ears of a suddenly frozen Wally O'Brien. "What's up?" Jack looked around.
Her smile was quite dazzling. "I'm Commander Hilary Erhard."
Jack Redstone shook her hand first. "Jack Redstone. This is Senior Engineer and Construction Chief Walter O'Brien."
Jack seemed to survive the handshake, so Wally followed suit. "Wally. An honour, Commander."
"So this is The Hub?" Erhard looked around. "I only came up in yesterday's batch, I haven't had the tour yet. Seeing as how they pushed the launch back until 1100, I figured I'd come introduce myself."
Redstone looked around. "Yep, folks were all over the place when the announcement came through. It takes them a long while to get back to the right wheel using the tubes." He gestured to the center of the Hub where a crowd was gathering. "All this was adapted from what was left of Mir and what we could scrounge from the Russians, NASA, and the ESA." He nodded at Wally. "This man here did a great job making something workable out of not much that was."
"I'd say you did one heck of a job, Mr. O'Brien." Erhard was still smiling, clearly making an effort to get off on the right foot with both men.
Both men had a pretty good idea why. Neither man said anything.
"It looks highly organized, pretty efficient." Hilary held her hands clasped behind her back.
Redstone was mentally getting into subtle mode but Wally was on his own clock.
"So I imagine this is when you tell us our asses are yours unless the toilets back up?" Wally didn't look like he was making a joke.
Erhard laughed anyway. "Actually, I'm here to reassure you. I may be a Commander, but I find it best to leave everything in the hands of the best people. Your asses, Mr. O'Brien, are safe in who's ever hands they were resting before I got here."
Both men laughed, a little relieved.
Erhard wasn't finished. "Truth is I don't know how you did it. General Battle told me if I got in your way he'd fire me out an airlock. What I need you to know is I'm highly skilled and experienced in command, and our mutual enemy is time. Thank you for giving us a temporary home in space until we find a planet. If I can be of any help to either or both of you, I am at your service, gentlemen."
Further pleasantries and bonding were delayed as a hand hit Erhard forcibly in the back and she fell forward into Wally and Jack's arms.
"Move it, lady!"
Aggie and Rails were dedicated and purposeful. The man on the gurney with the failing heart never stopped on his journey.
Jack Redstone called after them. "This is Commander Erhard of the ... "
The blonde at the front didn't turn around. "Nice fucking suit, Commander."
The broad-shouldered one at the rear turned back and yelled out. "Keep the hallways clear!"
Aggie stopped dead, her jaw slightly open, leaving Rails pulling the gurney down the hall.
"AGGIE!" Rails knew what had stopped her partner.
Aggie Brooks ran after the blonde with the patient in tow.
"God is she hot!"
"FOCUS!"
"Sorry."
The MedTech version of the Runaway Train headed in the MedLab doors.
"Passionate people." Hilary Erhard's own gaydar hadn't been tested at all. The sight of Aggie Brooks standing slack-jawed in the hall gaping at her had pretty much met the burden of proof of Aggie's sexual preference. Years of training and ambition kept Hilary Erhard anchored in the relatively safe vicinity of Redstone and O'Brien. She managed to call out "SORRY!"
To the men she said. "Well, I'm going to walk around and see where everything is, have a good day, gentlemen. I look forward to working with you both."
"Bye." Wally said.
"See you soon." Jack Redstone's parting shot.
"Odd."
"What is?"
"She's going to MedLab." Wally found that puzzling.
Redstone grinned. "After her meeting with MedTech Brooks, probably she's looking to see if there's a bed free."
Wally grinned. "Yeah, she's a hot one, that Aggie ..." Light reluctantly dawned in Wally's head. "Oh."
"Yeah." Jack Redstone was writing up his own list of things to do. " 'Oh' is right."
Wally was forced to cross two names off his fantasy to-do list, one a very recent entry.
Redstone had finished. "I'm going to check on the Gvot pod, make sure they're not having any problems seeing as how our scientific ace-in-the-hole lives there. You'll let me know about the last section of pods?"
Silence.
Redstone turned, noticing the noise across the waiting room. "Jack, I need a hand."
Redstone followed Wally's eyes. "What's up, Obie?"
Wally was stepping forward quickly, and Redstone followed his lead, moving swiftly into the horde in the waiting area.
Redstone could hear loud words, but couldn't make out anything. Wally was scything through the crowd to the source of the noise.
"Stay away from my kids!" The angry man was obviously American, with a New York City accent he'd have until he died.
Redstone arrived at his first view of the scene in time to see a disheveled man lying on the floor, the offended man backing away with his kids behind him.
Given the scene, Jack was more than a trifle surprised when Wally punched the NYC man in the gut and bent over the rough-looking man on the floor, cradling his head in his hands.
Jack knelt. "Friend of yours?"
Wally looked up. "Leon Freedman. Served in the 'Nam in the delta. He got ... caught up in things up river."
Jack nodded. "You stay here, I'll go get help from MedLab."
Wally's eyes were wet. "Thanks, Jack."
He looked down at Leon Freedman, a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Hang in there, buddy, help is coming."
