Attack Butterfly (Rust Bucket Universe) Read online

  ***

  "Sir, you wanted to see me?" she asked as she saluted.

  Dave said, "Yes, I do. I know you and your people are probably tired, but I want you and some of your better personnel to look over this information. Give me your opinions and conclusions. I'd like some feedback by noon tomorrow." Dave handed her a disk.

  "Yes sir. I can do that. May I duplicate this information or is it too sensitive?" she asked.

  He replied, "It's only a proposal right now, but you should treat it as sensitive, so keep track of any copies and be sure they're returned with it. Before I forget it, your command did extremely well today. You did a good job of training the officers. I could tell if only because we had fewer fighter losses than before. You and they all deserve special commendation."

  She replied, "Thank you, sir. Of course, we had far more fighters than before. That helped considerably. It allowed us to take on the enemy ships with more fighters on each one we could get to."

  Dave said, "Then you'll like some of what's in that proposal you're going to take a look at. It's a suggestion for the Navy to increase fighter participation and strength in the fleet. I've tried to look at the entire problem from top to bottom. Hopefully, you and your people will discover any flaws in it that might lose lives later. Be sure that you don't tell anyone where this came from or they won't attack it as strongly where it needs to be. It shouldn't get a free ride simply because I authored it. Well, I'm keeping you from your own business too much already, especially now that I've given you additional work to do. Again, you and your people did a good job today. I thank you personally for your efforts. That's all I have unless you have any questions."

  "No sir," she replied.

  "Good night, Lieutenant," Dave said as he saluted Susan.

  She returned his salute and left with the gleaming disk in her hand. Minutes later, she was calling on men and women from her command to take a look at the proposal. Shortly after that, they made copies of it and assigned different aspects of the proposal to different officers and crews. Soon, the proposal was being studied by sixteen crews in different parts of the carrier as they took up the problem of looking for weaknesses and flaws in the proposal.

  Allen asked, "When did you find the time to do this?"

  "Just what makes you think I created this?" she asked.

  "It bears your signature in the way it's constructed. I don't know of anyone else so involved or concerned with fighters. It even reads in the same way you talk," he answered.

  Susan replied, "Oh? Well, just remember not to give it a free ride since you think it's my proposal. If you don't know by now, I always earn whatever I get. More than that, if we miss a flaw somehow, we'll be hurting men and women who become fighter commanders through this proposal's implementation."

  Allen looked at Susan and remarked, "You really mean that, don't you?"

  Susan responded, "A hundred percent. My conscience can't handle sloppy work on my part."

  "Okay, though my part doesn't seem all that critical. Deciding on which planet to establish a fighter commander academy isn't going to be too difficult," Allen said.

  Susan questioned Allen, "Oh? Give it some thought and tell me the same thing later. If you still feel that way later, then I'll presume that any concerns on that part are exaggerated."

  Allen answered, "All right. I'll do that. I'll drop by later and let you know if I've changed my mind."

  ***

  Hours later, Allen knocked on the door to Susan's quarters. She looked up at the open doorway and nodded her head to indicate he should enter.

  He said, "You were right. The choice of training location is critical. It should be on Beulah. I came up with an alternate solution to the problem. Rather than building an academy on one of the other planets since Beulah is at the front, the academy should be established temporarily on Echo right where the enlisted personnel are being trained. That will alleviate the need for additional instructors and instruction materials such as simulators."

  "Have a seat and go on," Susan said, very much interested in Allen's conclusions.

  Allen took a seat under the new image without knowing it was there. He continued to speak on the conclusions he reached.

  When he finished, Susan asked, "You have that entered?"

  He replied, "Yes. Almost every word the way I just presented it."

  She said, "Good. What do you think of them moving the enlisted training for fighters to Beulah?"

  "That involves plenty of expense and effort. Why do you think it should be moved?" he asked.

  Susan answered, "Simply because the enlisted personnel should have the same opportunity for survival as the officers. A fighter might land on some other planet with an injured officer who's unconscious. One of the enlisted personnel is going to have to take over and lead. We're not building them up as much physically as they ought to be for survival. I estimate that their odds of survival go down fifty percent or more without the guidance of an officer."

  "Makes sense. You think they should go through the same jungle combat training?" he asked.

  "Not quite that far, but a few days in the woods wouldn't hurt them. It'll sure give them more strength for high speed maneuvers, especially in an atmosphere," she replied.

  Allen asked, "What gave you that idea?"

  She replied, "Seeing you and your crew run for cover. You were way out in front of them, even in bare feet. The difference in physical shape was obvious."

  "You sure I was that far in front of them? I thought they were right behind me and practically on my heels."

  Susan glanced up at the new image and shook her head. Then she answered, "I'm positive. You were clearly six meters or more ahead of the closest member of your crew."

  "Six meters! I couldn't have been!" he exclaimed.

  "Images don't lie," she answered.

  "You have images?" he asked as he finally noticed her eyes looking above him. He slowly turned around and looked up at the wall. When he turned back a few moments later, his face was blushing. "I guess it was easily six meters. Are you going to keep that there?" he asked.

  "I'm thinking of keeping it there, especially whenever you visit so that we can both have trouble keeping our eyes on each other," she replied with a wide grin.

  Allen laughed, with Susan joining him, as he remembered the other night in the same room when he had trouble keeping his eyes off the image of Susan receiving her award on Echo. "Yeah, I deserved that," he said when he finished laughing. "Would you furnish me with a copy of it?"

  She replied, "Be glad to."

  ***

  Dave looked at the results of the proposal's evaluation. Much of it passed inspection. Some of it had not. He was pleased, though surprised at some of the recommendations or corrections made to it. He found no fault with the evaluation. It was obviously honest and thorough. Dave said, "Good work, Lieutenant. Pass on my compliments to anyone who helped you. I can see you had help by the number of disks you're returning. They all did excellent work. If I may, I'd like to stand them all to a drink when we get back to Beulah. They deserve at least that much for their efforts."

  Susan replied, "Certainly, Admiral. I'll let them all know and be sure that they know the time and place when you select them."

  Dave said, "Fine. We've got a slight change to make in the meantime. We're leaving the Mars here along with enough fighters from the Terra to bring her back up to full strength. The Blues are going to take her over while they're rebuilding their navy. They're assuming their own defense. We'll be leaving a cruiser and four destroyers as well as our transports. We're in this together and this gift will make us closer friends. When the marines finish, they'll turn over their artytanks as well, after they train Blues to handle them. I want you to select the fighters to send over to the Mars and have accommodations readied for their crews on the Terra. This may not be enough for the Blues to stand off another attack and invasion, but they'll be freeing up our squadron to move about and engage more of the enemy.
When we get back to Beulah, we'll temporarily combine what's left of the Mad Dogs Squadron into the Berserker Squadron. We'll probably have to wait a bit before another carrier arrives to take the place of the Mars."

  "Yes sir. Will we have replacement fighters waiting at Beulah?" Susan asked.

  "Only a few. Industry is gearing up to furnish us with what we need, but that's going to take more time than they've had so far. We're going to have to hold off the Malakins with what we have. When we do get enough fighters, we won't yet have enough carriers to put them on so many of the fighters will be posted at ground stations as planetary defenses. That's the only way we're going to free up enough of our existing carriers for a major offensive."

  "Any idea of when that will be or is that too hush hush?" she asked.

  Dave replied, "There isn't a date set for the offensive yet. If there was, it would be hush hush as you put it. My guess is that the date is going to depend on when industry can provide us with the materials. I would plan on how to train pilots for planetary defense right now. You and many other experienced fighter commanders are going to have to take fledgling crews under your command and train them into becoming experienced crews. You'll likely have orders waiting for you when we return to Beulah."

  "Should we expect to see regular strikes by the Malakins?" she asked.

  Dave replied, "Out here? Yes. At the innermost planets, not likely, but possible. Regardless of the likelihood, we're training every fighter crew as if we do expect them anywhere and everywhere."

  ***

  Susan watched as most of her fighters left the Terra for the Mars, leaving only one wing of fighters on board. Minutes later, shuttles returned with the pilots who took the fighters over. Within an hour, the squadron, minus the ships turned over to the Blues, was on its way back to Beulah. The remaining single wing of fighters was kept busy scouting in advance of the squadron, reduced in strength as it was, so that they could scan more space in front of them and not run into a trap.

  The day before arriving at Beulah, Susan found herself being promoted a grade. Several other officers received promotions as well, mostly because of their combat experience. Almost all of them would be sent to different locations to spread their knowledge of successful tactics as quickly as possible among the other fighter crews of the Navy.

  On arriving at Beulah, they weren't surprised to see that the shipyards had been extremely busy putting destroyed ships of the Mad Dogs Squadron back into service. Only a few remained unfinished. Several were operating near Beulah with reduced crews and waiting for replacements. Some of the replacements would come from among the extra personnel now on board the ships of the Berserker Squadron who left their ships behind at Leuion for the Blues to man.

  The shuttles were kept busy as assignments were handed out and personnel transferred from one ship to another. Ship captains with understaffed ships warmly received them and gave them their new assignments quickly. There still weren't nearly enough to fully staff all the repaired ships, but they eased the burden considerably on the men and women already there.

  Lieutenant Thompson, no longer junior grade, looked at the orders waiting for her and opened them. She initially expected to be sent to the Space Academy on Beulah or to stay with the Terra. She was wrong on both guesses. Instead, she found orders for Echo. She reported to a shuttle to leave for the surface and catch a transport to Echo. The shuttle was crowded with other officers also leaving for new assignments. Allen was among them. So, too, was Admiral Oden. Despite his insistence on being treated no differently from other officers, a natural buffer zone seemed to always form around him, giving him plenty of space to himself inside the shuttle. Even when he spotted Lieutenant Thompson and made his way towards her, the buffer zone followed him as other officers quickly stepped out of the way.

  Admiral Oden said, "Lieutenant Thompson, hopefully we'll be able to gather the crews and officers together this evening for that drink I promised. I'll look for you at the base club tonight. Would you kindly notify the crews that can make it and let me know who can't so that I can honor them at some later time?"

  "Uh, yes sir. I can do that," she replied.

  He said, "Good. Plan on meeting at twenty-one hundred hours."

  "Yes sir."

  The admiral turned and returned to his seat on the shuttle in time to buckle in before the shuttle landed.

  Susan turned to Allen and remarked, "Well, I guess I'll catch a later transport to Echo."

  "You're going to Echo! So am I!" he exclaimed.

  Susan flashed a bright smile as she realized that they would still be able to be near each other and get together when they had some off-duty time.

  Chapter 11

  Susan glanced at her orders to be sure she was at the right place and then reported into the headquarters building. Several other officers from her wing were with her, including Allen. She led the way as they went into the Fleet Admiral's office and met with him.

  He began speaking, "Well, I'm glad to see you all arrive. Some of you I have quarters for. Some will have to live off base. Those who live off base will be the more senior among you unless you prefer accommodations on the base. I would, however, prefer that the senior officers be the ones who live off base since they have more experience."

  Susan asked, "Have you made any arrangements for where the senior officers should live while off base?"

  Admiral Nick replied, "Uh, you are one of the senior officers then? Uh, yes, I have and I hope you can live under their rules. I had to agree to that in order to get the accommodations close to the base. It was that or make the officers find their own and they still, most likely, would have to go by Echo laws."

  "No problem," Susan said. "I've lived here before. I can handle that aspect. That's not going to cause a problem reporting in each morning then?"

  "Uh, it shouldn't," the admiral replied. "We're already putting up with it in the dining halls and some other facilities that we hire local civilians to operate. You'll just have to put something on when you get the opportunity after reporting in each morning. If you'd rather save time, you may apply body paint instead, for your rank, and no one will say a word. Being on Echo, we've learned to become quite liberal here in what we allow. It helps encourage the Echoans to enlist since they know then that they can continue to live their lifestyle in the military."

  She responded, "Thank you, sir."

  "Getting back to the orientation, everyone. We're having some temporary bases built. Some of you will be farmed out to those new locations eventually. Once you do, you'll be operating under the same circumstances as the lieutenant. Should you desire to get adapted to operating nude before then, you may also get an issue of body paint and go about wearing nothing more than your boots and socks and your rank painted on. This may be difficult on some of you, depending on where you hail from. If you can't possibly make the necessary change in attitude, please make it known early so that we can try to accommodate you. Otherwise, I'll expect you to conduct yourselves as officers and to properly observe the laws here on Echo. Are there any other questions?" he asked.

  ***

  Had the other planets reciprocated in allowing Echo citizens to remain nude while visiting on their planets, Echo would have allowed the citizens of the other planets to remain dressed while visiting Echo. That was probably one of the very few issues of contention among the member planets of the Union.

  About the only planet that didn't get upset, when someone from either Edun or Echo visited and remained naked, was Gabrielle where honor was of the utmost importance. There someone could say they were naked in order to maintain their honor. No one would bother them, not that anyone would likely have asked in the first place. Everyone there was presumed to be honorable until they proved otherwise. Then they were fully ostracized by the citizens, corporations, and even the planetary government.

  The Navy kept out of politics and simply went by whatever planetary laws were in existence wherever the Navy operated. For most permanent base
s, the Union was the governing body and uniforms were standard. In the meantime, the member planet's own laws were in effect on any temporary bases since they would revert back as soon as their usage ended.

  ***

  Susan looked at herself in the mirror as she finished applying the body paint on her shoulders to show her rank. She had the address of her quarters which were a mere two blocks away from the gate. She was also issued a hover so that she could get to work quicker since the training area wasn't near the gate. Susan wondered how many others decided to go native in light of the situation. She figured she'd find out when she saw them. Probably most of them would laugh a little at themselves and each other before they got down to any serious work.

  She stepped out of the bathroom and carried her shoulder pack in her hand to give the body paint plenty of time to dry so that she wouldn't smear it. She reached the hover outside the building and climbed in. The seat was hot. She quickly found a towel to sit on that someone had thoughtfully stashed under the seat. That made sitting on the hot seat much easier. She engaged the hover and drove for the gate.

  The sentry saluted her as she left. Susan drove the two remaining blocks to the home where she would be put up. She parked the hover and walked up to the front door. Susan knocked and watched a woman walk to the screen door to answer her knock.

  "Good morning, I'm Lieutenant Thompson. I understand I'll be living with you for a short while."

  "Yes, I see you're all ready to go. Come on in."

  Susan entered the home and followed the woman to a room where Susan would stay. Her hostess commented on the images when Susan hung them up. The two of them got along real fine from that point on. The Navy had learned long ago that respect for a culture's customs and laws would get them farther along in maintaining good community relationships. Susan's willingness to follow them was merely reinforcing the hard won popular image the Navy enjoyed.