Rust Bucket rbu-1

by Atk. Butterfly

  “This is Captain Oden. Our mission is to take the Rust Bucket to the Ape-oid home world and provide escort for Captain George Clark who has headed a rescue mission to secure the safety of the passengers of the ship taken by the Ape-oids. Once they are clear, we are free to attack any and all Ape-oid ships and installations wherever we may find them. Frank, launch the ship! The rest of the Pennyweight squadron will provide us with cover until we reach space. Then they will leave us to provide protection for our families and friends on Beulah. We will be on our own.”

  I was hardly aware that the Rust Bucket was rising sideways until I spotted more instruments in front of me that gave the direction of flight. No wonder, I thought, that Frank was excited. If the enemy thought that we had a secret weapon during the first part of the war, then this would definitely come as a surprise. As we left the atmosphere, the sensors became unencumbered by the planet’s mass, coming alive with more range than any sensors I had seen in use before.

  Then we were in space. Frank was accepting the course from the navigator as he engaged the engines into forward and we started out. As soon as we were clear of the Pennyweight squadron, I ordered battle stations.

  On the panel in front of me, yellow lights flickered at each of the gun stations on the ship diagram as each gun was test fired. I looked at the markings and was soon astounded as I realized we had something I didn’t know existed yet. We had Mark V quads, along with Mark IV quads, Mark III quads, and Mark II quads. Not only that, but there were eight of each. That ship was bristling with firepower. Some of them could even see and fire behind the ship! As I looked at the panel, I realized that it was more than just a picture of where the guns were. It showed the range of each weapon on one plane and was linked to the sensor array so that individual gunners could be targeted. Having started out a few years ago as a gunner, I wondered what the gun stations looked like. I was tempted to take a look, but knew my duty was on the bridge.

  The sensor chimed lightly and I gave it my attention. On the scope, I was seeing what looked like two squadrons heading for Beulah again. There was no way that they would be able to keep that many enemy ships from taking over the near space and atmosphere, even with the Pennyweight squadron helping.

  “Full speed, Frank. Battle stations!” I ordered.

  As I looked out the view port, the planets and stars moved past the ship faster than ever before. Then I realized that it was we who were moving faster than before! Instead of an hour before we reached the enemy squadrons, it was only about forty minutes. Of course, if we had spotted them at the old sensor range, it would have been even less time before we reached them. Before we were in their range, our weapons were firing. I could tell by flashes passing by the ship and by the flickering yellow lights on the panel. Every manned gun was firing, whether in range or not. Already, the Mark V quads were hitting the enemy with more punch than any gun I’d seen before. Then I realized that fewer of the enemy ships were still opposing us and they hadn’t even begun firing yet! We weren’t in their range yet. Then I noticed on the panel that the Mark IV quads were making hits. That doubled the amount of hits we were scoring on the enemy who was thrown into complete confusion as he finally realized that he was facing something new.

  I ordered, “Communications, send the score! Let everyone know the Rust Bucket is kicking ass out here!”

  “Yes sir!”

  I listened to the communications officer giving the statistics of how many alien ships were facing us and how many were already destroyed. There were already five enemy ships out of action, then six, then seven. We were now close enough that our Mark III quads were making hits. The toll of enemy ships continued to go up. I knew that anyone listening in must be thinking that it was impossible for us to make that many kills so quickly. They probably thought this was the Thurman since it was the ship I was known to be in.

  I felt a small vibration. One of the panel lights went on for a moment to show where the hit was. Then it turned to green to show the location was still sound. I liked that ship even more! I didn’t have to wonder where we had been hit. Now the sensor diagram told me without someone having to go take a look, unless, of course, the sensor was damaged I reasoned. But if the sensors were working, then I could rest easy about some of the damage potential.

  We were finally in range of even the Mark II quads. Everything we had was being fired at one of the enemy targets. Communications was having a hell of a time keeping up with the battle score.

  Then it was over almost as fast as it began. We went right by the few remaining enemy ships with our rearmost guns still firing away at them.

  Frank looked back at me and asked, “Do we finish them off?”

  I replied, “Not now. We chewed them up enough that Beulah ought to be able to handle them. We have a priority mission. Just don’t let anyone stop us.”

  Frank said, “Yes sir.”

  * * *

  I listened to the enemy broadcasts as news of our ship spread through their ranks faster than a chain reaction in a critical mass. We soon overtook a scout and blew him apart with our Mark V quads before he even knew we were there. It was my first time in a ship that could overtake a scout. If nothing else, the ship didn’t deserve the name Rust Bucket, although in time it might. It deserved some other name like Victory or Swift Revenge. Then again, maybe it did. I hadn’t even seen the outside of the ship because of the camouflage. Maybe it had a rusty hull as was typical of all Pennyweight gun ships. However, I doubted that a rust coating would ever make a ship that size look old or impotent.

  Finally, I remembered the other envelope that the construction man gave me. I had tucked it beside me when I sat down. I reached down and retrieved the envelope. Looking at it, there was no instruction informing me when to open it. Then was as good a time as any I figured to open the envelope and find out what else I had to do. When the flap was out of the way, I could see the beginnings of something official. My hands trembled as I pulled the paper from the envelope and read. Then my eyes watered as I reached the word ‘regular’ just before the word ‘commission.’ There were some other papers with it. I looked at each in turn. One was a promotion to Commodore. Another paper drafted me and the Rust Bucket into the Navy for the duration. The last sheet confirmed the sealed orders as being valid and gave me full authority to chase down the enemy as I saw fit. Nowhere was there any mention of the mystery I still faced. I carefully folded the papers back and returned them to the envelope before placing them in my shoulder pack.

  * * *

  We made good speed, cutting the time between Beulah and the Ape-oid world almost in half. The planet seemed to be surrounded by a swarm of warships, many of them old ships from the first half of the war before the truce. There were also a lot of the newer ships. It made no difference to me. My orders were clear.

  “Battle stations!” I ordered.

  We went in fast with every gun station firing at anything that moved or shot at us. We took a loop around the planet as we stirred up the hornets nest to get everything they had after us. Then when they came at us, we shot them to pieces. Although we were faster and had longer ranging weapons, we weren’t invulnerable. I knew that when a sensor went red and stayed red at one gun station. I had lost a Mark III quad. Still, every other gun station was blazing away at the enemy, usually before he could get in range with his own weapons. We were leaving a trail of destruction behind us as we started circling the planet a second time. The whole time, my communications officer was doing her level best to keep up with the battle and broadcast what was happening while I felt useless again as Frank and the gunners did their jobs.

  After two hours of intense firing, I realized that the sector of space surrounding the Ape-oid planet was ours. Nothing besides us moved on its own. I looked again at the sensor diagram to discover that I hadn’t noticed a second gun station go silent. We had taken another hit and I hadn’t even felt it because the ship was so large.

  The communications officer looked at me for a mo
ment as she switched off her transmitter. “Sir, what now? Should I broadcast as we go in for the rescue team?”

  I thought about it for a moment. It seemed fairly obvious to me that the enemy knew we were here, but would our broadcast alert them to the presence of our rescue party down on their planet if we continued to broadcast? I decided not to risk other’s lives. I answered, “No. Wait until we have them secure. Then tell the story.”

  “Yes sir.”

  “Frank, good job! Now let’s go get our people!” I exclaimed.

  “Right, Dave!” he answered.

  * * *

  A few minutes later, we were settling down to the planet surface after picking up the beacon signal from the rescue party. I thought that we would be taking them on board. Instead, they were waiting for us to escort them in their ships. The passengers were settled into their commercial ship once more while their pilot was staring at our dreadnought with his mouth open. Then I saw Captain Clark and realized that was the same man whom I called Sarge while he was at the Academy. Suddenly, I realized why I couldn’t reach him before. He was on his way to the Ape-oid planet to spirit away the hostages. I just hadn’t realized that he might be re-activated as an officer which he once was.

  The bad thing about seeing him here was that I suddenly felt less secure about Annie and the children’s safety on Beulah since he wasn’t there participating in the action. I know that there were other fully competent non-coms at the Academy and some worthy officers as well. Still, I trusted him more than anyone. I wished that we had finished off the two squadrons of alien ships headed that way. I could only hope that what the Navy and Pennyweight had there was enough to stop them dead.

  Then the Sarge, I mean, the Captain was waving the commercial pilot to lift off as he got out of the way. The commercial ship took off as the Captain disappeared behind a closing hatchway. Then his ship lifted off and we followed.

  In space, we started talking using LOS so that our communications couldn’t be intercepted. “Captain Clark, funny meeting you here. I was trying to call you a few days ago. How can I help you?”

  He answered, “Dave, it’s good to see you. Evidently, Penny got my message about the departing warships and got you back in time. How do you like your new ship?”

  I replied, “Beautiful. I never dreamed something like this existed.”

  He said, “Well, take care of it. For now, just pick the best position for escorting us back to Beulah. Once we get there, you can follow your orders.”

  I answered, “Right. We’ll keep everyone off you. Have a good ride!”

  * * *

  The trip back took twice as long for us, but the normal amount of time for the other two ships since we were travelling at their top speed. With our sensors and long range weapons, we had to send them scurrying twice for cover as we left our position to take up the challenge of some alien squadrons that thought we looked easy. They found out that we weren’t easy and we certainly weren’t cheap.

  I was never so happy as when I saw three of the Pennyweight gun ships meet us to take over the escort duty and free us to continue with our mission. Having monitored the communications net, I ordered the ship to head for Echo where they were still facing a stiff challenge. I could have gone back to the alien home planet and bombarded it again, but I wanted to help our personnel more directly before I took off on the other task. Moving out at top speed, we cut the time to reach Echo in half.

  * * *

  The squadrons at Echo were in the middle of a lull. They almost mistook us for an enemy ship until some of the ship captains who had served with me before recognized my voice and realized that the fancy, new, big ship was actually on their side. We landed at the Grim Reaper Squadron station where they were having the best luck against the enemy. They were so individualistic that they were actually holding their own against the enemy squadrons despite the speed and weapon advantage enjoyed by the enemy.

  We got some quick repairs performed on the two gun positions while we were there and made some plans to surprise the enemy the next time he showed up. I shook a lot of hands before I left with my crew in the Rust Bucket to take my position where the enemy couldn’t see me, but I could see him.

  * * *

  We waited in hiding almost four hours before the sensors gently chimed. I smiled a sly grin as I saw the enemy ships moving into our pre-arranged trap.

  “Frank, time to close the door. Battle stations!” I ordered.

  The Rust Bucket moved into its next position where we did a single ship charge on the rear of the enemy as he started to approach Echo. As soon as we opened fire on their asses, Heather, our communications officer broadcasted the score. Those two actions of ours caught the enemy’s full attention as they forgot the squadrons on Echo and turned to meet us at odds of only forty to one.

  That was what the squadrons on Echo were waiting for as they launched from their pads into space to catch the enemy from the other side where their engines now faced. Now the enemy was boxed in with almost nowhere to go since they were in my gunners’ ranges and the squadrons were closing in on them from several bases on Echo at the same time. The Ape-oids couldn’t outrun me and they couldn’t outfight all of us. Slowly, we began to grind away at them with more firepower than they expected.

  I even got a chance to see some of the tactics get used that I didn’t get to use myself with the heavy cruiser squadron I had and which I never named. From my view, the action was impressive as they used their light scouts to keep up with the enemy ships and get in behind them while a heavier ship kept the enemy ship engaged in front with direct battle. The scouts had just enough punch to knock out the engines as long as the heavier ships kept the enemy off them. Now I knew how the squadrons on Echo had been managing to hold out against superior speed and firepower. It didn’t keep them from suffering losses, but they were making the enemy pay dearly.

  The battle lasted a few hours with us leaving the squadrons behind as we chased the last few enemy ships that managed to wriggle away from them. With our speed and firing range, they couldn’t wriggle loose from us. Then I did something unusual.

  I said, “Heather, go ahead and tell the enemy where we’re going. I want to scare the piss out of him! Set course for Bragh.”

  “With pleasure,” she said with a smile. Then she started telling everyone that we were going to the Ape-oids home planet to bombard the hell out of it.

  * * *

  We got recalled before we reached it.

  Chapter 26

  That time when the war ended, it wasn’t a truce. It was a surrender as the Apeoids suffered losses greater than before. They couldn’t afford to rebuild all their industry again so they surrendered before the Rust Bucket could rain destruction upon them again as they realized that their sudden surprise attack had failed. They hadn’t counted on us making a weapon so superior to what they thought was a giant step in technology. They also didn’t have a history of warfare that was as varied as ours. They were stunned at first when our squadrons and fleets met the challenge of superior weapons with superior tactics that kept the playing field nearly level.

  Although the Ape-oids surrendered, there were a few die-hards who continued to attack until they were destroyed or became pirates. On Beulah, the Ape-oid soldiers didn’t believe their own leaders’ messages to surrender. They valiantly fought to the last Ape-oid soldier.

  Annie and the children were safe in their cavern. They were on hand to greet me when I arrived back at the Pennyweight Shipping Company, even though the last of the Ape-oid soldiers were still being hunted down. The cadets had trained hard and well at the Academy. The first half of the war did us a favor by cleaning the Academy of almost all of the rich kids, leaving a lot of openings for dedicated young men and women who wanted a career in the military. The time in between that constituted the truce was enough time to get the Academy on a full footing once more, despite the politicians. Consequently, the Ape-oids ran into a meat grinder when they tackled the cadets.
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  * * *

  I was faced with a slight predicament when I got home. I finally had a regular commission in the Navy and could stay if I so chose to. Not only that, but I was just a step below Admiral. However, I discovered that if I chose to stay in, the Navy was going to make me Commandant of the Academy.

  With the war’s end, Captain Clark became Sergeant Clark at the Academy once more, to my bewilderment. Regardless, I sought out his advice on what kind of a decision I should make once I found out that the military intended on making me Commandant of the Academy if I stayed in the Navy. I had pictured myself more as being in charge of a squadron in space, not behind a desk or in front of a class. It was either become Commandant or remain with Pennyweight whose secret was still hidden from me.

  Sarge said, “Dave, it’s good to see you or should I call you sir as my boss?”

  I replied, “Don’t get funny, Sergeant or Captain Clark. You’re quite a chameleon. I came to ask for your advice as a friend, so it’s Dave.”

  He said, “Fine, then call me George. I’m getting tired of trying to know what we should call each other, too.”

  I replied, “Suits me, George. Since you already know what the Navy is offering me, you know what my two obvious choices are. I get to either come back to the Academy and sit behind a desk or return to Pennyweight. At least, I’ll see more action than the Navy, as you once put it so grandly to me. Can you give me your insight into this?”