Attack Butterfly (Rust Bucket Universe) Read online

  At night, it was sort of half and half, with her thoughts running over his earlier words and thinking about how to improve the fighter command. Haphazardly, her thoughts ran from one corner of her mind to another before she gradually fell asleep.

  ***

  Susan looked at the instructions and then at the fighter commanders gathered in front of her. She spoke, "Okay, tomorrow we'll be in combat. That's not a surprise to any of us. However, if any of you are forced to land on Leuion, the command has sent down some additional instructions for you to follow. If you are able to, you should undress before getting out of your fighter. The Blues won't be culturally shocked if you wear your boots, weapon belt, and shoulder pack. Try to get with the Blues or one of our marine units if you are forced down. Don't stay with your fighter. The Malakin robots are known to stomp damaged equipment as an apparent precaution of theirs."

  "Our current information is that we can expect to meet real Malakins in the warships tomorrow, so they'll be better than the robots they use for softening up defenses with. But there could also be many of the robot ships still around. The Blues don't have any precise numbers on how many ships are surrounding their planet. Too much of their equipment is in ruins. However, they did successfully wipe out the first wave that came at them so we shouldn't be too greatly outnumbered."

  "We are going in first in two waves. One from the Terra and the other from the Mars. The warships will stand off to fight in deep space. If your fighter is damaged, you'll be able to land on either carrier or Leuion, whichever is closest to you. The carriers will be near the rear flanks of the squadron forming a triangle of sorts with the planet. Make sure your primary pilots understand this. Any questions?"

  "What formation are we going to attack in?" one fighter commander asked.

  Susan answered, "It depends on how the enemy is formed up. We should know that shortly before we launch. I'll pass the word on about that then. Any other questions?"

  ***

  Emily looked at the two plans of action that were possible for them to use the next day. One was for use against a heavy concentration of enemy warships. The other for a light protective cover. Reports, so far, indicated a heavy concentration. The light concentration plan was usually employed against pirates. Then a lightning attack wasn't normally a necessity. With a heavy concentration, their armored transports would attempt to force their way to the planet surface while warships of their own kept the enemy busy or they would stand off, if ordered to do so, in the face of overwhelming enemy forces in space. If they did attempt to force their way to the surface, the transports would be moving at nearly top speed for them. In such a case, it wouldn't likely matter if the transports couldn't lift off again and were damaged on landing. Emily didn't know of very many ships that could take off and gain space successfully against a protective umbrella of orbiting enemy ships.

  ***

  After a half-day more of practice, Susan gave the fighter command the rest of the day off to allow the maintenance personnel to go over the fighters thoroughly and give the crews plenty of rest for the upcoming battle. For herself, she had reports to do and little time to herself. It was probably just as well that she didn't. She wouldn't have been able to concentrate on much besides Allen.

  ***

  After supper, Susan sat at the table with Allen as he rambled on much to her enjoyment. Already, they were alone as they sat opposite each other. Susan didn't have much more which needed her attention. She could finally enjoy some of that same rest she had given her fighter command earlier. Already, she knew that she was definitely in love with Allen. She wondered if he even had an inkling of that as yet. She found it encouraging that he was still sitting with her at the empty table, save for the ashtray and the fake flower arrangement on it that they moved out of the way from between them.

  The topic had already changed several times with hardly a pause in between. If nothing else, Allen could talk when it was opportune to do so. He slipped into a discussion of their fighter tactics, mentioning that Admiral Oden had been the one to revive the wingman concept for use against the faster ships they expected to encounter during the second half of the Ape-oids War.

  "What the admiral did then was fairly remarkable, but what you've done now is outstanding with the Pinball Tactic. He merely revived an old concept, but you created a brand new one for use. I'm impressed with you for that," he said.

  "Why thank you, but the admiral had something to do with that as well," she replied.

  "He did? I didn't know that. What did he do?" asked Allen.

  Susan answered, "Well, for one thing he encouraged me to work on building new concepts and tactics."

  "Well, sure, but I thought you meant he had something more to do with the creation," responded Allen.

  Susan replied, "He did. He gave me the idea in suggesting that I design a tactic for fighters, which he knew I was interested in, that would take advantage of their size and maneuverability. He went on to suggest that too much time was wasted that he could see just in maneuvering about for a shot. He thought that I should look for some way of economizing the amount of effort and time it took to get into position for firing. I think he knew the answer already."

  "What makes you think that?" Allen asked.

  She remarked, "Well, the Pinball Tactic is virtually the only way to accomplish that. The real trick of making it successful is to never repeat the pattern in the same plane. Don't give the enemy a pattern to make it easier for him to get a shot on you. Without that leavening of caution, the tactic soon falls apart. Also, it only works against a globe formation in space and not around a planet. It's also useless against anything else except possibly a flanking attack on a stacked line formation."

  Allen said, "I don't know so much about that. I think a modification of it can be used against a globe formation circling a planet."

  She replied, "Then you're violating one of the tenets against establishing a pattern for the enemy to figure out and use to his advantage. Globe formations around planets are usually only one layer thick, but there's a planet inside that layer that prevents you from crossing over underneath to the same layer from a different plane."

  Allen said, "Maybe at first, but if a large enough force hits at one spot, the enemy might try surrounding it and create a globe formation that can be used to his disadvantage."

  Susan thought and visualized it for a moment. It was risky, but it was possible, provided that the enemy cooperated unknowingly. "Perhaps it could work in a situation like that, but I'd rather see a demonstration on a computer first."

  He said, "Sure, I'd be happy to show you exactly what I'm talking about on a computer."

  Susan said, "Fine, I've got one in my quarters. Come on, we'll check this out now."

  They both finally got up from the table and left the Dining Hall. Within minutes, they were in her quarters with him sitting at the terminal, entering in the information for a defense and offense designed to turn the defense inside out before destroying it. After several minutes of plotting positions of what was possible, the two forces were put into action acting on Allen's parameters. They ran the demonstration several times with different variables introduced. In one scenario, what Allen described actually happened.

  The two of them sat back across from each other and discussed what they had seen. It was possible to invert the defense and then destroy it, but not likely, they finally agreed. Then their talk broke down into more casual topics. Finally Susan noticed for the first time that Allen was acting somewhat awkward. Susan wondered about it for a few moments before she realized that he was looking over her head.

  She thought about what was there for a moment and remembered that her Union Games award for swimming was there. Was he impressed with that, a framed medal with an image of her receiving it? It was a mere second place finish, one of the few times in her life that she ever finished second in anything. But heck, she thought then and now, finishing second on Echo where the gravity was different from her own ho
me planet was quite an accomplishment. She was still every bit as proud of her efforts then when she swam at age 18 in those games just before entering college. Even now at 27, she knew she gave everything she had then to win in that competition and someone else had simply been better. Then she realized that Allen was actually blushing and she stared at him for a moment.

  Allen said, "Uh, perhaps we should exchange seats so I won't start drooling over you."

  "Exchange seats? Why?" asked Susan, before she remembered again that the image was taken on Echo where all the athletes participated in the raw in deference to Echo's culture. Susan wondered if Allen was embarrassed seeing her naked or was he trying to be a gentleman about it? "Oh, the award image from the games on Echo. Is that what's bothering you?"

  Allen cleared his throat for a moment before answering. "Well, I couldn't help but be struck by your overall beauty. You don't look any different now than in that image. Was that taken just before the academy?"

  "No, the Echo games were eight years ago. They won't get to host them for another fourteen years," she answered.

  He said, "Amazing how much you still look like that. But you're right. The Echo games were eight years ago. I guess my mind is becoming all fogged up."

  Susan watched as Allen tried very hard to concentrate on looking at her instead of the framed image that left nothing to be imagined. On Echo, recording an image that deliberately concealed part of the body would have been an insult to its people. Susan's award image wasn't insulting by Echo's standards in the least. It was also in the image archives on every planet and something that Susan hardly gave a second thought to or about displaying in her quarters.

  Gradually, Allen won his battle with his eyes on which image of Susan he was going to pay attention to. Slowly, his conversation became somewhat more relaxed.

  Chapter 10

  Admiral Oden was once again on the decks of the cruiser Valhalla, rather than one of the dreadnoughts at the suggestion of his boss, Admiral Reason. Dave's thinking behind that was that the enemy would probably concentrate its fire on the biggest ships first. The ship had been overhauled considerably since the Ape-oids War and was quite modernized he noticed from the moment he stepped on board to make it his flagship.

  Now he peered over the shoulders of some of the crew, a few of whom he knew from serving with them in that war. If the rest of the crew had any doubts or premonitions, those were most likely dispelled by his presence on board. Dave led a charmed life and success was his sidekick. Anyone who had him watching over a shoulder usually felt inspired to do better and did.

  Dave now calculated their final positions as the task force of thirty-five ships neared Leuion and the enemy fleet. He was leaving nothing to chance. Scouts ranged ahead to increase sensor range and send back images so they wouldn't walk into a trap. Already, he was getting an indication of how many enemy ships needed to be dealt with. He expected as many as a hundred and eight enemy warships or odds of three to one against him. Stiff odds, but not impossible since Dave could count on sixty fighters to help reduce those odds. With their speed and maneuverability, two of them easily outweighed a Malakin robot warship. Thinking of which, he realized it was time for the captain to signal the fighter crews to their stations. His inner timing was almost on the target as the announcement went over the communications channel just moments after his thinking about it. He nodded to himself as he mentally checked off another item in the overall strategy and formula for defeating the enemy.

  ***

  Susan was already at her fighter when the intercom blared for fighter crews to report to their craft. She was still busy going over the latest scouting reports indicating that the enemy had in excess of a hundred warships as expected. They were in a globe formation spread out around the planet. Wherever her command hit, they would have a temporary advantage in numbers because the enemy was trying to protect the entire planet from counter-invasion. If her command went in fast enough with their guns blazing as they were taught, they ought to be able to punch a hole for the fleet's own transports to race through down to the planet's surface with their marines. Once the four transports were into the atmosphere, they would be on their own. The transports were built to specifications that included this very maneuver and were well capable of handling it. About the only way that anyone could really get to the transports as soon as they broke through the global cover would be for an enemy ship to chase down after them. However, she knew that they wouldn't be fighting their way up against gravity and presenting a slow target to the Malakins.

  Susan conferred with the overall wing commander on the Mars about which carrier would be punching through. With her five experienced combat fighters, she won the honor. She took her wings into consideration as she decided which of the six would accompany the transports down into the atmosphere. Four transports would require two of the six wings, hers and one other, both of which she judged highest on pilot competence in atmospheric conditions. As the wing commanders gathered about her, she handed out the two assignments of which wing would take two of the transports and which wing commander would lead the remaining four wings in space. Afterwards, she conferred with the four fighter commanders from her individual wing.

  Susan said, "Allen, you're with me on one transport. Fritz, Shirley, and Corine are on the other one. Fritz will lead. I recommend the wingman concept once we hit the atmosphere both for yourselves and the transport. However, use your own judgment if the situation appears to require other tactics. Remember, the transports must get through. This is a chance to show the Blues that we are truly good neighbors and allies. Go ahead and brief your crews now unless you have any questions."

  The fighter commanders left for their own craft. Susan resumed checking out her fighter with her crew. They would probably look at some of the same things more than two or three times apiece, but that was the nature of being prepared and being sure that everything was right. "Attention to detail" was what one sign at the academy had stated. There were probably signs like that at the other military schools on other worlds where the enlisted personnel were trained. Her new crew was every bit as good as her previous crew. She could tell it by the way they acted as they went about performing their duties.

  ***

  Emily went about checking out her individual hover artytank with the men and women who would do the real fighting. She hadn't given any thought ahead of time to the fact that she would be sitting down doing nothing most of the time when they went into combat. Now it was dawning on her that she would have very little to do, even though she knew how to perform every position inside the vehicle. She had one set of controls for use only in an emergency. That was unlikely since the outrigger drones would have to all be destroyed or out of action for some reason before the artytank would ever have to rely on its built-in weapons systems for defense.

  The men and women were already inside switching on systems and verifying that they had everything still working properly. Emily had the difficult task of marking down the results of each test on her terminal. Maybe she should have taken the fighter commander position instead, she thought. The fighters had a full set of controls for the commander's use. However, she knew that she would have been required to stay dressed since the marines were the only part of the military with 'N' units. If the Navy would let her fly naked, she knew that would been the end of one marine career and the start of a naval career.

  The tests were completed. Everyone strapped themselves into position. The hover artytank was ready to take to the atmosphere as soon as the transport got them down low enough or landed. Emily popped open the hatch and looked at the other artytanks that were being readied. One by one, she marked them off as ready as the hand signals appeared from their commanders. Her eleven artytanks were ready.

  Emily allowed her thoughts to wander as she waited with nothing further to be done. She wondered if her unit would be assigned after the war to Echo or Edun. She heard that Edun had mountains with year-round snow and skiing. That sounded int
eresting. It also had a slightly lower average temperature than Echo. Echo's temperature almost always melted the snow on its mountains within a few days of falling, leaving hardly any room for downhill skiing on real snow. She hoped that the 23rd would be kept intact and stationed on Edun. Barring that, she hoped for assignment to one of the other two 'N' units and a chance to visit Edun. Under peacetime conditions she'd even be able to dispense with the camouflage body paint, wearing only enough body paint to show her rank.

  ***

  Dave looked at the communication sent by the Malakins to the Union and Admiral Reason's message concerning ending the war. The Malakins were willing to end the war with the borders to remain where they currently were located based on who held what. Dave remained poker faced as he read the offer by the Malakins to clean up the war debris from Beulah and Echo and to pay for damages up to a certain amount. He wondered if the Malakins were actually trying to become friendly or worried over their failure to knock out Beulah. Maybe they only wanted better intelligence than they first had and planned on collecting it along with the garbage. The statement went on a bit and said nothing in reality after the first few points. Then he read Admiral Reason's message.

  "Until the Congress and President accept any terms, the war is still on. Do your damnedest to the Malakins, especially in light of the fact that Leuion isn't even mentioned. To our knowledge, no offer has been made to their government in hiding on Leuion. We do not let our friends down. On that, I know you feel the same as I. Good luck, though you hardly need it since I know you make your own."