Read Online Fool's Gold (The Wandering Engineer) by Chris Hechtl - Free Book Online Page B

you’re out the nearest airlock,” the leader said softly. Too softly,
Junior was past hearing. The goons were laughing. Junior lunged at the nearest.
He nonchalantly pulled out a black jack he had palmed and smacked the kid in
the solar plexus. He went down. Berneky tried to muscle the Admiral into the
door but he had had enough.
    “Not
on,” he snarled as he reacted. Berneky went flying back as he shrugged him off.
He stepped into the first goon's reach and took him down with three quick
blows. The second goon had been kicking the fallen boy. He turned on the
engineer trying to pull a needler. The engineer's cybernetics went into
overdrive. He rushed the man, grabbing the gun and snapping it to the side,
snapping the man's arm.
    He
howled as he fell to the ground. Casually the Admiral tore the weapon apart.
Junior crawled away from the man and then gasped and sobbed his way to his
feet.
    Berneky
had picked himself off of the bulkhead and was staring as the Admiral casually
pulled his goon's cut down plasma carbine out and tore it apart.
    Cowed,
the two goons scrambled back on their asses. Junior tried to stand but was
hunched over. The Admiral grimaced then caught Berneky's eye. “Don't come back
here again.” He said softly. He keyed his right arm to morph it into a plasma
gun, then back. He held the gaze until he saw the man's eyes widen and his
Adam’s apple go up and down in a gulp. He gave a choppy nod and took off.
    “Go
on, get out of here,” Junior gasped out. Trying to kick one of the guys but
failing as the Admiral caught him.
    “Let's
get you inside,” he said softly.
     
    Inside
he locked the door then supported the boy to the living quarters. He scanned
him as he sat the boy down. He had a spectacular set of bruises beginning to
form under his skin, but no permanent damage the Admiral could detect. The kid
had managed to regain his breath and was trying to sit up.
    “Open
a channel to the ship,” he sub vocalized. After a moment he heard Io's mellow
voice answer.
    “Hello
Admiral, miss me?” Io sounded impish like her AI mother.
    He
smiled. “A bit Io, Just a bit. I bet the trio misses you more. I'm with Sergio
Valdez, he's been assaulted. I'm reading contusions but I am not sure if he has
internal damage. Is a doctor available?” he asked all business.
    “Let
me check. No, both are in surgery with Mr. Valdez senior. I believe they are
repairing his internal organs. Is this a normal thing for this family?” she
asked, humorous. He shook his head. “The way this station is run, I'm not sure.
Sprite will upload my scans so you can get someone to take a look later.” He
nodded as Sprite fed the data through the linkage. He looked over to Junior.
    The
boy was staring at him. “I'm using my implants to talk to the ship,” he
explained. Slowly the boy nodded.
    “Nurse
Ratchet recommends ice and some pain medication until they can get a look at
him,” Io responded after a pause.
    He
nodded. “Will do, thanks Io.” He felt Sprite sever the link.
    “The
medics have their hands full with your dad, but they suggested an ice pack and
analgesic until they can get to you. Hopefully the blood thinning properties of
the analgesic won’t be a problem.” He sighed as he went over to his room. He
paused the current build and jacked in. He watched as a pair of pills coalesced
in the matrix. He plucked them out and then left the machine to work on the
latest part.
    “Here.”
He handed the boy the pills and went to the cupboard. He pulled out a cup and
then the water from the cooler. He turned to see the boy staring at him.
“What?” he asked as he poured the drink, looking away. Junior shook his head.
    “Nothing
I guess,” Sergio croaked. He was staring though. The Admiral smiled.
    “Years
of practice and training.” He answered the unasked question. The young man
looked up at him. “And no, I won’t teach anyone who can't keep a cool head.
Your too liable to use it to do something we would