Paravoid (Rust Bucket Universe)

by Atk. Butterfly

  "Knowing you, you'll get your wish. I hope you do," Juanita said.

  "Thanks. Are you up for tonight?" asked Jane.

  "Sure you don't want to try to get one or more of the Greens in bed first?" Juanita asked.

  "You want to make it a group?" asked Jane.

  "Only if you can guarantee that there's at least one man in it. Your tastes are way beyond mine, Jane. I don't mind a woman once in a while, but I still like men best," Juanita said.

  "What if I can get one of the Ape-oids?" asked Jane.

  "I don't know. What are they like?" asked Juanita.

  "Dreamy. Hung like nothing you've ever had and they usually know how to use it. I know one who does and will participate," said Jane.

  "He'd be okay to try, but I still want a man. I've heard that the hair on the Ape-oids is difficult to get used to. It's not like having skin on skin," Juanita said.

  "I'll do what I can. This could be a big group at this rate," said Jane.

  "If it gets too big, we'll have it in my quarters," Juanita replied.

  "We can? Great! Then I'm sure I can get the right mixture together. Hope you're up to this much fun," replied Jane.

  Captain Savala said, "Meanwhile, try to get that interpretation program ready. We're going to need it."

  Chapter 8

  The Navy ship carrying the diplomats arrived and used the initial results of the interpreter program to carry on a limited conversation with the Greens. They spoke aboard the alien vessel most of the time until some understanding was reached. Then some of the diplomats arrived at the Dust Bunny with several of the Greens.

  "Admiral Oden, this is Captain Shumla. He wishes to express his appreciation to you for the efforts you rendered in assisting his ship. From what we now know, they were caught away from their space suit locker when the accident occurred, not more than a day before you found them. Without power, they couldn't open anything. They would have died in the next day or two from suffocation," the diplomat explained.

  "I'm pleased to meet you, Captain Shumla. However, I must admit that the thanks belong to the cadets who are running this squadron on their own. They made all the decisions and deserve all the credit," Dave said.

  In the background, one of the diplomats was carrying a small device programmed with what Jane derived from her interpretation program. Admiral Oden's voice was picked up and translated almost instantly into the alien language. It wasn't the most elegant translation, but it would improve with time and effort on the parts of both the Union personnel and the Greens.

  Captain Shumla responded, "Still, you are in charge, but to be a gracious survivor, I will gratitude express myself to your cadets. Which cadets should address I?"

  "Captain Savala, front and center," Admiral Oden said quietly.

  Captain Juanita Savala stepped to the front, her naked beauty quite evident as she stood in front of the alien commander.

  "Captain Juanita Savala at your service, sir," she said.

  Again, in the background, the translator converted the languages.

  Captain Shumla stated, "Captain, I gratitude express myself to you for my gracious survival."

  "We were glad to be of assistance, sir," she responded. She noticed the entire time that Captain Shumla's eyes managed to wander from the tops of her non-skids all the way to her head. There wasn't much of her that he didn't observe. She thought, maybe there was a chance, after all, of getting one or more of the Greens into bed that night for fun.

  The chief diplomat said, "Admiral Oden, Captain Shumla's people are at war. Much as he'd like to see our weapons and engines, which I understand are better, he also wants to get back to his mission. He is willing to part with his doctor, considering the doctor's condition, and one other crew member to assist with caring for their doctor. He believes that we will care for them without him having to worry. He figures that, after all, we could have easily taken him and his ship prisoner to do whatever we wanted to with them. If nothing else, they'll be in safer hands here and he's more or less helping to insure his race's survival."

  Admiral Oden said, "I see. Do you know anything of their opponents?"

  "Not much," the diplomat said. "They're humanoid, though closer to reptilian from what we figured out. The Greens, which Captain Shumla has no objection to being called, are new to space. They only recently began exploring outside their own star system. His ship is one of their newest."

  Dave said, "They're that far behind us?"

  Mr. Harrelman, the diplomat, answered, "I'm afraid so. However, they're almost evenly matched against their opponents. The Galans, as we interpret the reptilian humanoids to be called, are poor tacticians and very rigid in their battle tactics. They're not inclined to change a battle plan which is how the Greens are able to be called evenly matched since they're outnumbered almost four to one and at a slight technological disadvantage. Evidently, the Galans have slightly longer ranging sensors."

  "I see," said Dave.

  "We've already explained to them our situation about non-involvement and how we accept members into the Union. We're going to attempt to contact both races at the same time to make our presence known. Quite truthfully, I didn't expect this encounter to result in knowledge of another race. Had I suspected that, I would have brought an entire squadron. My problem is simple, can I borrow yours?" the diplomat asked.

  Admiral Oden looked at the diplomat and replied, "You're speaking to the wrong person. Ask the Captain of the Dust Bunny and squadron commander if she wants her squadron to accompany you. I don't intend to step in unless it's absolutely vital that I do so."

  Captain Savala looked incredulously at Admiral Oden as she felt the weight of responsibility fall upon her almost bare shoulders.

  "Well, Captain Savala?" the diplomat asked. "Can I count on your squadron for assistance?"

  "Yes sir. We're ready to proceed. Admiral Oden, would it be appropriate to send the injured Green and his caretaker back to a Union planet?" she said.

  Admiral Oden walked away and took his seat in the rear of the bridge, not answering her at all. It was her decision to make, he felt.

  "Communications, notify the squadron to prepare to follow the diplomatic vessel. Standard exploration formation. Captain Shumla, I hope to see you, again. However, I presume you want to get started on your mission just as much as I want to start on my own. It's been a pleasure meeting you, sir," she said.

  ***

  In the conference room, Captain Savala presided over the meeting with her officers. She wanted nothing to go wrong. They were, after all, heading into a war zone and precautions would have to be taken.

  "Captain Fox, I want your destroyer to protect the transport and support ships. They're your responsibility. Your fighter will be available to assist you in that task. As I understand it, the diplomatic vessel would approach without escort under normal circumstances. These aren't normal, so I'm detailing Captain Weaver and the Spielberg to escort her at all times. As with the destroyer Lucas, your fighter will be with you the entire time. The destroyer Carpenter, under Captain Holland, will remain with the Dust Bunny as a potential strike force. We'll remain out of their sensor range so as not to frighten them. We'll move up only when called for by Mr. Harrelman, the head diplomat. Our fighters will deploy only if we're called into action. Otherwise, I want to keep our true strength hidden. Any questions, so far?" she asked.

  Captain Fox asked, "May I deploy my fighter ahead of time?"

  "I'd prefer that our fighters be a surprise to everyone. Your section will be in the far rear and very much out of their sensor range. The only direction you could extend your sensor range would be to the flanks and you only have one fighter. I don't want your destroyer leaving the support ships alone unless it becomes absolutely necessary and combat can't be avoided. Then you'll likely need to deploy your fighter," she answered.

  "Yes ma'am. I understand," he replied.

  "Have we any specifications on the ships the two sides use?" asked Captain Holland.
>
  "Got those right here," said Juanita. "The Galans use a ship that is globular in shape. It literally bristles with weapons and is very difficult to approach from any angle. However, they can't land on planets easily and have almost no aerodynamics for use in atmospheric conditions. From what we got through the diplomats, the Galans build their ships in space. That makes hitting their shipyards a very difficult affair for their enemies. The shipyards can be moved. Even the ships they're constructing are built so that they can be moved while still incomplete. You've all seen one of the Green warships. They're almost all like that or older and worse. They lack the finer aerodynamic characteristics that some of our ships have, particularly our destroyers and most especially our fighters. By the way, Captain Shumla's ship was their equivalent of a cruiser."

  "What?" exclaimed Captain Weaver, "That was a cruiser? My god, what do one of their destroyers look like? His ship is just barely larger than my destroyer."

  "Well, cut your ship in half and add about a meter. That's what their frigates look like. Their destroyers are about one-third the size of Captain Shumla's ship. The only fighters they have are carried piggy-back and used only for planetary defense since they can't retrieve them. Their fighters have to land on their planet when they finish fighting. It's the only ship they have that is aerodynamic at all. It's a two-man ship, smaller than our own fighters. Captain Shumla was quite surprised to learn that our fighters were fighters. He thought they were patrol ships, another classification they have," said Juanita.

  "What's a patrol ship? What's it used for?" asked Captain Weaver.

  "They launch patrol ships to carry on most of their planetary defenses. Their fighters aren't capable of leaving their planets on their own. Their patrol ships are. They're very short range ships capable of launching and staying out for perhaps a week at most," replied Juanita.

  "They have two inhabited planets, right?" asked Captain Holland.

  "Correct. They lucked out when they got into space and found that their nearest planetary neighbor was suitable for settling without any terraforming. I'm not really giving this as official policy, but I suspect that they had a few things come too easy to them when they got into space. Had it been a little more difficult, they might be a little farther along technologically. However, that's for the Greens and our own social scientists to speculate on properly. Now for the good things," Juanita said.

  "There are good things?" asked Captain Holland.

  "Yes. The Greens are very much like us politically. They have a democratic society and federation in existence. They had to go through a planetary war to reach it, but they have it now. That's where their Navy developed. It wasn't much of a war and didn't last very long or cause much devastation. That's how come they have so many types of ships. They combined what they developed and that became their Navy. They came to their senses, according to their own testimony, and ended it when they realized that they all were the same race and wanted the same thing. They are very compatible with us, politically, socially, and anatomically. In fact, they're as compatible with us as the Blues are. They studied our Universal Rights Bill and were very complimentary of it. They also couldn't help but notice that we have human, blue, and ape-oid races represented aboard our ships with equal rights and responsibilities. They were very impressed with that," said Juanita.

  "Did they ask to join?" asked Captain Holland.

  Mr. Harrelman answered, "No, Captain Shumla expressed his regrets at not being a suitable representative of his federation for that purpose. Anyway, he also knows that his federation can't ask while they're involved in a war. I didn't correct him about Leuion's joining during a war. I'm thinking that maybe we might influence them to stop fighting, but I'm not pinning my hopes on that. From what I understand, they have a lot of differences to cover between the two of them before that can happen. The best our presence can do is show them that there are others besides the two of them in the universe and that cooperation is the best way to survive."

  "How many worlds do the Galans have?" asked Captain Holland.

  "Five that the Greens know of. They've been extremely busy protecting their own territory, so they're not sure," the diplomat answered.

  Captain Savala said, "Anyway, our ships are faster. They're bigger than those of the Greens. From what we know, our weapons, as well as our sensors, are superior to both sides. We're not untested in combat, but we're all hoping that this mission will be peaceful. If it comes to a demonstration, we'll try to keep it limited to blasting apart some asteroids at not quite full range. We have almost two weeks of travel in front of us before we reach their territories. We'll practice during that time. Admiral, will you be arranging another changeover since we're going to be out another two weeks or more than originally scheduled?"

  Admiral Oden felt everyone's eyes turn to him in the back of the conference room. "It's an option I haven't eliminated as yet. I'll keep you all aware of any changes if those do occur."

  ***

  Not far from the two territories engaged in war with each other, Captain Savala deployed her forces. The diplomatic vessel, Plato, and the Spielberg took the point. The support vessels with their destroyer escort brought up the rear. The Carpenter and Dust Bunny traveled apart from each other and out toward the flanks so that it looked almost like a diamond shape could be drawn using the points of the formation. Having the Carpenter and Dust Bunny apart gave them a wider sensor range altogether.

  Except for the Plato, all the ships maintained radio silence. The Plato broadcast its presence loudly and clearly in as many dialects and on as many channels of the spectrum as it could manage. Old-fashioned radio and light waves were used as well. Even the newly learned Green language was used. Nothing was being left out if it could be avoided in the efforts to make peaceful contact. In the meantime, the squadron continued on and slowed to move at a normal planetary speed through open space between the two territories, waiting for an answer, hopefully in the form of a positive reply.

  ***

  Admiral Oden wasn't at all concerned about how Mr. Harrelman might be feeling that the admiral wasn't leading the squadron. After all, neither the Greens nor Galans knew of his reputation. To them, he was just a man in an admiral's suit. He was an untested quantity whose greatest threat to them rested in his advanced technology. If the Greens or Galans respected anything, they would respect the technological edge the Union ships possessed.

  Admiral Oden knew that they didn't know much about Mr. Harrelman, either. He was just as much an unknown quantity, waiting to be tested. Mr. Harrelman's chief weapons were the presence of three races among the cadets in the squadron he was borrowing. They were his proof that the Union practiced what it preached. For one of the few times ever, Admiral Oden was glad that the Navy was the most ardent practitioner of the Universal Rights Bill.

  Even though all the worlds of the Union practiced the Universal Rights Bill fully now, the citizens still continued to congregate on favorite planets according to their individual preferences. One was still more likely to find swingers on Echo or Blues on Leuion than anywhere else. About the only thing that really changed was that the Permissive Zones weren't officially consolidated into small areas on those worlds where they existed. They still remained in the same areas, but those were no longer officially recognized as being the only places where things were condoned on each world in deference to the other worlds' cultures.

  Also, despite Captain Savala's inexperience, Admiral Oden was certain that she could handle the task. Anyway, he was still available to offer advice or even take over, if necessary.

  ***

  The first ships to approach the Plato were from the Greens' Federation. On board one of those was a Green contingent of diplomats eager to make friends with new neighbors. They already knew of how a ship of theirs was rescued and assisted. The two Greens, on board the Plato since the ships deployed into their last formation, were happy to see others of their kind and express how well they were treated.

  At
first, the Green diplomats expressed dismay about only finding two ships. That was until they learned the others were deployed in defensive positions because of the ongoing war between the Greens and the Galans. That they took in stride as being reasonable under the circumstances.

  Even as broadcasts continued to go out in an effort to contact the Galans, the Green diplomats began negotiating the usual things between governments, such as the exchange of ambassadors, government recognition of each other and each other's territory, trade routes, and a host of other often seemingly trivial details.

  ***

  The Galan reaction to the sudden negotiation between the Federation and Union was probably best described as stunned. They were given free access through broadcasts in the Green language of the ongoing negotiations. What the impact might be to them was left to their own speculation. If anything, they quickly realized that they were being left out and finally sent their own delegation to the Plato after almost a week of broadcasting.

  A small squadron of their globular ships arrived near the almost stationary ships of the Union and Federation. Only the Spielberg appeared continually in motion as it varied its course around the Plato with irregular course changes. If someone violated the neutral area around the Plato by firing on it, the Spielberg was ready to move into action in its defense.

  One of the globular ships moved as close as it dared to the Spielberg and performed an analysis of the new neighbor the Galans now knew they had. While that went on, another of the globular ships contacted the Plato for instructions on how to send a diplomatic team aboard.

  "This is Wartain Spelcok of Galan to the leader of the Plato."

  "This is Captain Newman of the Plato. How may I assist you Wartain Spelcok?"

  The Wartain replied, "Please advise how to transfer diplomats to your ship for negotiations."

  Captain Newman asked, "Do you have a shuttle craft to transfer your diplomats with?"

  Wartain Spelcok replied, "No. We do not use such toys in deep space. I want to know how to dock my ship with yours."