The maintenance Man 3
Introduction:
Mark and companion brush with death
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Mark paced the room as Nissie looked on, the worry evident on her face. He had been planning what to do all week when they reached the next system. After loading the ship with the anti-hack, anti-virus programs that he had gotten from the head master, he had paced all week after going over the info that had been supplied.
It was a new planet, in a new system that his father had been sent to. Mark hadn’t been sure, so he had reviewed the communique that his father had recieved from earth. Much as he suspected after only an hour of reading and dissecting the messaage, he was able to see through it. It appeared that Tantka was working with the rebels on the planet. The rulers there had been seriously hampered with all of the mechanical failures, not able to defend themselves very well. Again Mark cursed, what was the universe coming to? He was starting to think that the people out here were complete idiots.
As the ship neared the planet he kept his eyes on all scans waiting for Tantka to make another attempt. 2 days out from the planet he tried again, only this time Mark had been ready and did a bounce back at him. Mark could only smile, as he knew that the creep wouldn’t have been ready and would be almost completely unprotected. He could almost see the panic on his face as Mark’s program he had slipped in would have started to delete everything on his comp and would try to reach out to his back ups to delete them too.
Arriving without further incident, Mark and Nissie breathed a sigh of relief. They were met at the space port by a full contingent of soldiers as they were led to the headquarters of the planet’s ruling body and those that had contracted out to him. Fully aware that if he succeeded, the rebellion would fall Mark had taken precautions for the move from the ship to the headquarters. Though the guards were there Mark knew that any of them could be a traitor.
“Nissie” he started “I want you to stay exactly by my side if what I think will happen, happens I want you safe”
Nissie was shocked he really did care about her.
Nearing their destination Mark knew if it was going to happen it was now or never. Stopping for a broken down cart in the road, Mark pressed a button next to his wrist comm and waited. As the soldiers stepped forward to assisst the people in the cart the rebels struck. The soldiers took cover and returned fire Mark calmly stood near by as bullets and energy beams bounced away from him and Nissie.
“Shit retreat!” one of the rebels yelled, “He’s got an energy shield we can’t beat that!” the rebels scattered into the nearby alleyways and buildings and were gone.
Mark smiled as he turned a very small scanner towords the retreating rebels. He had the ones there now, there was no way that they could deny or escape. Continuing on the reached the building without further incident. Reaching the commander, Nissie stepped forward to convey Mark’s words.
“Mr. Mark wishes to know if you have the promised payment” she started “also”
“I do not deal with subordinates” the leader snapped at Nissie.
Mark leaned over and whispered in her ear.
“Mr. Mark says that you will or you will be in breach of contract” she snarled back at him, “and as you have seen you are no match for the tech he possess”
The leader sputtered and signaled as 10 men began to fire at Nissie and Mark.
Mark was pissed, this was the second time this shit was happening reaching to his arm he activated a small device and reached toward the commander. Lifting off the ground the commander began to choke as Mark raised his arm and the commander went higher, then he dropped his arm and the commander hit the ground hard.
“Alright you little pissant, asshole, you get to deal with me directly and when I am done with you, you will know why I had her talking to you. I am not forgiving and you are only a heart beat away from me walking out of here and shutting this whole god damn place down.” Mark took a deep breath and thought that he just might any way, “so you have that long to apologise to her and then me because right now, I’d rather crush your fucking throat than look at you again, you called ME, agreed to MY terms,”
Grabbing his throat and trying to talk the commander knew that he was in deep shit. The president wouldn’t take very kindly at all to him having pissed off the maintenance man.
Gruffy he squeaked out “I most sincerly apologise to you Miss Nissie and you Mr. Mark there will never be a repeat of this again, by anyone here or in this command”
Nissie was floored she was just a slave, slaves weren’t apologised to, she suddenly had a new found respect and affection for Mark. Mark leaned over again and whispered in her ear again, Nissie’s eyes got big as she relayed the message.
“Mr. Mark says that the price has doubled for the work you want, he needs an answer in an hour” with that they walked out and headed to a small table they had seen outside the building. Sitting down Mark was proud of the way she had handled her self. Food was brought and Mark looked around at all the machinery that was idle. Again he thought that these people were almost complete idiots. Back in the building everyone was almost in a panic after the commander had called the president and told him everything.
“You tell him what ever he wants double or triple oh, and by the way you are relieved of command til further notice. Before you leave and report back here you better make DAMN sure that he will do the work, from what I hear he is one of the best.”
The commander scurried out to find Mark and Nissie, after relaying the message he thanked them and left as a new commander stepped up and asked if there was anything else that they needed.
Standing Mark looked at Nisse as she started. “Mr. Mark would like to be taken to the main comp, any spare parts you have bring them and…” she paused to take a breath “you bring them yourself only with soldiers that have been with you for years” the commander nodded as he quikly started barking orders.
Entering the comp room Mark was taken aback at the mess he saw what the fuck had these people been doing? Having Nisse get the soldiers with the new commander start to clean up, Mark walked around the room at odd intervals stopping and touching the wall making his way back to them he touched his arm again as a shield appeared around the outer walls.
“Tell me when all the comp parts are here they will be scanned as they are brought in.” Mark breathed out this was one of the few times he deemed it necessary to talk.
After a few hours Mark had isolated the begining of the problems and actually had power to the main frame started. Within an hour he had most of the parts replaced and the repair bots had been armed and modified. Mark watched as they started withing the room at alarming speed and were done in an hour. Slowly as the spread out into the building the shield was expanded and soon the first two floors were not only secured but repaired. It wasn’t until they reached the third floor that they encountered a small group of rebels. Mark had the bots converge as they shot all the rebels with their paralysing beams taking them all alive, something unheard of during the whole uprising.
The troops moved out and took the prisoners and tied them up as they awaited the arrivial of the president. After he went in Mark went back to work restoring the power to the city, communications, and any shields that he found that were still operational. The president walked out 3 hours later as Mark finished the first of his upgrades to the city systems. His face was grim as he walked up to Mark.
“Mr. Mark, do you, by any chance, have satellite surveillance back up?” he said as he looked at Mark then Nissie.
Nissie stepped forward, “yes it’s been up for almost an hour, why do you ask?”
“We just recieved information about your father and the leader of the rebellion, it seems that your father was on his way to talk to him when they grabbed him.” the president looked at Mark a minute then continued, “you wouldn’t know why he was on his way there do you?”
Mark got a little miffed as he looked at the man. “I do not communicate with my father anymore, if you think or this is a ploy to curry favor with him through me you are VERY saddly mistaken, I am only here to carry out my contract.”
The president nodded his head as he handed the info to Mark. Scanning it over Mark began to see a pattern here, a pattern that he was really starting to not like.
Moving aside Mark fed new instructions into the comp satellite system. Unbeknowest to those present Mark reprogramed the satellite system to not show where they were as he brought up the screen.
The president wasn’t happy when he didn’t see what he wanted to.
“We are in need of sleep where can we go I can finish this tomarrow” Mark said as he and Nissie headed to the exit.
The president had a cautious look on his face as he had soldiers lead them out as Mark heard the crack of rifles and the screams of the prisoners as they were executed. That son of a bitch Mark thought and here he had been told to take them alive. Walking into their room Mark activated another device on his belt.
“Now we can talk,” he started, “I am going to slip out and find father, the info I got was very informative and if what is going on is true, then I am glad that I took the precautions that I did, here,” he said as he handed her another shield generator.
“What is going on?” she asked afraid of what he might say.
“I have to confirm a few things first, then I’ll be back and we will go” he said as he began to show her how to run the shield and a few other devices that were attached to it.
Clicking on another device Mark shimmered and almost disappeared stepping to the door he moved out into the hallway and down to the front door. Making his way out of the city he headed due south for an hour as he walked to where he had seen his father on the orbital scans. Walking into the camp and directly to his father he whispered in his ear, “are you all right?”
Startled his father recognized his voice and nodded his head.
“I am fine Mark come out we are friends here” shimmering Mark appeared as many of the men there were surprised and reached for their weapons. Mark’s father held up his hands as they stood down.
“I want you to meet the REAL president of this planet” as he led mark to an intelligent looking man.
“Sir, this is my son, the maintenance man a first class, a-1, modern advance sytem repair, master tech.”
Mark was embarrassed, noone had EVER used his full title or listing, he guessed his old man had kept up on him after all.
“I hope you didn’t repair all the systems for them,” the man asked, “might be hard to retake the capital if you did”
“No, I did not, by the way father I traced the message back to Tantka it appears he is now after me and you are one of the ways he is trying to get to me” Mark spat as his father saw the rage building in his son.
“That little short bastard that you always beat in scores, times and mechanics?” his father asked
“Yes, the same he has made 3 tries on me now, the last will cost him dearly as he lost a comp and at least 2 backup systems” as his father laughed.
“So Mr. Mark” the real president started, “can you get us back in? I heard that you repaired the comp, I am surprised that they aren’t here after you”
“No, not now, I was using a partial cloak experimental, took me hours to assemble, a nice piece of work one I plan to improve on” Mark said matter of factly. “It shouldn’t be too hard to get you back in, I hold all the codes and commands in here” as he pointed to his head, “shouldn’t be too hard at all”
Mark looked at his comp as he saw Nisse back at the room so far no alarm had been raised.
“I have to get back, here” he handed his father a wrist comm, “I’ll call you when it’s safe” with that Mark shimmered and left the encampment.
Making his way back to the building he walked inside, as he noticed the guards looking around he began to walk faster afraid that they had detected him or had noticed that he was gone. Quickly he ran for his room and walked in whispering to Nissie as he walked up behind her.
“Get ready we’re leaving in an hour” he whispered as she started to move to the bed. Touching first the nullifier, then deactvating the cloak, he stepped forward and helped her pack up their gear.
As they made their way to the lower floor the fake president stepped in front of them. “Leaving so soon?” he sneered as he drew a weapon that Mark recognised as one that he had designed. “I take it you recognise this little beauty” he sneered again, “I want to thank you for fixing the computer Tantka will be able to repair the rest and anything that you might have screwed up on purpose” he began to laugh as Mark touched a very small box at his side. The fake president noticed it and quickly fired, the beam hit the different colored shimmer around them, screaming as it bounced back at him and he was slowly roasted to death with a blood curdling scream he collapsed on the floor and was dead.
Shutting the comp down Mark signaled his father as he and Nisse made their way away from the building as he heard the forces enter the city, swiftly moving forward and securring the entire city in just two hours. Reaching the comp Mark reactivated it as he took the blocks off it. Taking a week to finish the rest of the repairs Mark and Nisse slept for almost two days afterward.
As they recieved their pay Mark and Nissie turned to leave as Mark’s father made his way to them.
“You’ve made my job easier thank you Mark,” he said as he shook Mark then Nessie’s hands.
“No problem, just try to give more warning next time so I can be better prepared, by the way father this is Nessie my …” Mark started
“I am his slave, til the king pays” she again rushed out Mark, growling at her.
His father’s eyes opened wide for a second then he smiled wide.
“I see, so you are bound by the law til such time as then, I thought so, I know you don’t take company well you never have, if you need help you know how to reach me, and try to not be a stranger for so long this time” as he started to walk away then came back.
“I really wish you and the others would reconcile but that is between you and them I am not about to open that can of worms.” he said as he shook his head and moved away again to talk to the president.
Mark was more than grateful, his father always seemed to know what to say or in this case NOT to say. There were times that Mark wished that he had that gift but only at times. He also knew that his father loved his family and wanted them together again and if there was a way he’d have found it by now. Mark and Nessie made there way to the ship as they were led aboard Mark noticed that there were now a few company guards with the crew it, appears that they were taking the threat more seriously. It was about damn time the near destruction of 3 of their ships 2 of them brand new Mark, was glad they were finally serious about the whole thing.
Making the checks with Nissie at his side, he found first his anti hack was in place, he updated it and checked the anti-virus which wasn’t complete but was enough to have kept most of the crap out. After the updates he began his checks with Nissie, the engineer and the captain following close behind. All three of them were amazed at the things that he checked as Mark explained through Nissie what he was looking for and the few (very few this time thank god) things he found wrong. Completing his repairs the captain informed him that the company had now instated a policy with him and any with him that they went along for free and that 30,000 were deposited in his account each time unless he had to make major repairs then more was added as to what he did.
Jumping into hyper space, Mark opened up a secure line to the head master. “Hello head master, I have confirmed it was Tantka that was involved it the take over of the government here.”
Sighing the head master nodded, “I had assumed it was he seems to be trying to get his fingers into everything as far as you are concerned. I also assume he was trying to get to you through your father?” he asked.
“Yes, everything I saw here had his hand his hand in it. Have you set up the new guards on the comp system at the school I sent you?” Mark replied the worry showing on his face.
“We implemented them as soon as you sent them, it also appears that he had been trying to get deep into our systems for over a year now. The fixes you sent have him completely blocked out now and they have been attempting to repair the rest of the system that was compromised. I estimate it will be 3 weeks before we are at full capacity.” Mark nodded his head he was glad he had added that part of the program.
“We need to take care of him soon he is doing everything short of being here himself to try and kill me.”” Mark sighed, he had a few ideas now on how to take care of Tantka but he would have delay his repair contracts in order to do that. He wasn’t sure he wanted to do that, the more he worked on the less that fucking little creep could use to get near him or his family. He may not be talking to them but he did still love and miss them. “I have sent you the info on what I did on his last ship take over”
“Yes, we traced it to an abandoned office building in central, there were 3 burned out comps and a fourth that had been wiped clean. Apparently he had been trying with a 4 comp combo to increase power and speed. So it had cost him a bit it might be a few months til he is back up again.”
Mark nodded “I know I was hoping that the tracer I sent to him might reach out and find his other back ups let’s hope so, problem is he was also good at rewritting his hacks as I was. Damnit I wish I had taken care of him back then.”
The head master only shook his head , “not too worried much about him getting to you but I am worried about your father and mother, the rest of your family”
“I took care of father though he doesn’t know it and the others as soon as he meets up with them, their comps will be updated too but I am afraid that til then they will be in danger too” Mark cursed his luck now he just MIGHT have to see his mother and sister again and THAT he wasn’t prepared for.
“We and the security force will keep our eyes on them but til you have your programs in place they are at risk” as he watched Mark’s reaction he knew that, Mark’s main problem with his family was about to come to a head.
Taking a deep breath Mark also had a feeling that he was going to have to break the silence that he had maintenaned all these years with the female half of the family too. (Something that he definitely wasn’t going to enjoy that was for sure)
Nissie looked at Mark after he had ended his conversation with the old man, somehow she had to get it out of him what was wrong, as a slave to him it was her job to take care of him in anyway she could. The only problem was Mark was more tight lipped than the most secure airlock and almost twice as hard to get to open up. The look on his face was all she needed to see to know that he was extremely worried, now she had been around him enough now to know. As Mark laid down she used the comp he had given her to contact a few friends she had in the capital, Mark wasn’t the only one with friends there and hers, (she laughed a moment) could be a lot more subtle than even some of Mark’s programs.
Clicking open a young looking beautiful woman appeared on the screen, “Nissie!” the excited woman started, “It’s been too long! is this about pleasure or to talk?”
Nissie could only smile as she explained to the woman what she had in mind, as Nissie got further into the plan the young woman’s smile got bigger as a twinkle of mischief shone in her eyes.
Afterward as Nissie was getting undressed to get in bed with mark she chuckled no man could resist a hot body except maybe her master but then again he had alot of baggage too, as she laid down and snuggled into Mark’s back.
(wasn’t sure if this would be the end but at least one more part now) (if you guys want it)