Dust Bunny (Rust Bucket Universe) Read online

Captain Abraham led the way as Commodore Sorenson followed and took note of everything she saw.

  ***

  "Captain Abraham, I'm satisfied. You run a good ship. Plus I'm impressed with the state of maintenance. Nor did I find any dust accumulating in the corners or crannies to get into our sensitive electronic instruments. I'd like to meet with the crew in the dining room now," Shirley said upon their return to the bridge.

  "Yes ma'am. I'll see to that immediately," Captain Abraham said.

  "Right. Let the crew know that this will be informal. They should be allowed to get a light snack, beverages, and smoke, if they wish. I want to get a good feel for their morale and any gripes they have. That's all, Captain. I'm on my way there now," Shirley said.

  ***

  Captain Blith ran through the passageways and stopped when she reached the scene of an altercation among crew members. For not the first time, she looked at three individuals who had been in an argument again. "Am I to assume that you two men were fighting again for the same reason?" she asked.

  Neither replied and both glared at each other.

  "Sergeant, throw them all in the brig until they all cool off. I'll deal with them later," she said.

  "You heard the Captain. Move along," the sergeant said.

  ***

  "Yes, Captain Blith. I think we can shuffle some personnel about to keep them from fighting. I presume you're keeping one so I'll only have to move two," Shirley said over the portable radio brought to her in the dining room.

  "Yes, ma'am. They're all good crew members at doing their jobs, so I don't mind which one stays. If only they would decide to cooperate with each other, they wouldn't be any problem to anyone," Captain Blith stated.

  "That's good to know. Hopefully this will be enough to stop their fights. Do you think any of them will start fights with other crew members?" Shirley asked.

  "They've always gone at it with each other. No one else has been involved so far," Diane replied. "I've got them in the brig for now so that they'll cool off some. I'm letting them out in the morning. They'll be available then."

  "Very well. I'll have assignments ready for two of them by then," Commodore Sorenson replied.

  ***

  In the dining room, Shirley was hearing gripes from the third shift of crew members.

  One crew member asked, "Has anyone said anything about the name yet?"

  "I don't think so," another answered.

  The first crew member spoke up and said, "We don't like the name of our ship."

  "What's wrong with the name?" Shirley asked.

  "The Chickenhawk? Can't you see that it doesn't work for a fighting ship? Anytime we go out to maintenance or out to the club, all we hear are clucking sounds. No one remembers that it's a bird of prey. They only hear the first part, ma'am. Or we get invitations to fake barbecues held at our launch site. We're even asked to bring sauce."

  "I've already received a couple of dozen plas-packs of sauce through distribution, ma'am," another crew member complained.

  Someone else said, "They let the Dust Bunny have her name changed."

  Shirley said, "I see. What would you rather have the ship named instead of Chickenhawk?"

  There was some muted discussion among the crew members when one suddenly pointed at a tattoo on the breast of one woman. He caught the attention of others among the crew who then looked at it. "Dragon! We want our ship to be the Dragon, Commodore!" the crew man exclaimed.

  Shirley thought for a moment and then picked up the portable radio from the table. She called communications and had them switch her through to headquarters.

  "Dave, I've got a crew that's disgruntled with their ship's name. Right now, it's Chickenhawk. The crew members I'm talking with now have made a suggestion of Dragon. Is that name taken?" she asked.

  "Not that I know of, Shirley. Guess we didn't do too well with some of the names, huh? I thought we avoided the worst of the birds of prey when we didn't use Slime Hawk. By the way, Northern Hawk is available," Dave replied.

  As Shirley talked, some of the crew left and called others to the doors of the dining room. They were busy asking them about the name while suggesting Dragon as a worthy choice. Shirley happened to glance over a moment later. She noticed that many more off duty crew members were either squeezing into the small dining room or waiting in the passageway and doorways leading to the dining room.

  "Uh, Dave, from the looks of it, the name Dragon is quickly becoming quite popular with the crew. Give me an okay on the change. I think it would be good for their morale. I've already got reports of them getting barbecue sauce plas-packs in distribution. I'm not sure, but I think they'd have even been happier with Slime Hawk."

  "Shirley, for you the answer is yes. Tell them that it'll be official tomorrow. I'll manage somehow to convey the problem to the naming committee and convince them to give us a little bit more leeway in renaming ships since they're not naming them for planets or continents anymore. It's not like we're insulting anyone's memory or any of the member worlds. The naming committee only went along with the other change I asked for because they were laughing too hard when I told them how it started. They do have a sense of humor, after all. I think they'll understand and not be too miffed since the Dust Bunny distinguished herself already."

  "Thanks, Dave. I'll tell the crew. If there are any problems, I'll give you another call real quick before I make you look silly asking for the wrong name," Shirley replied.

  "Okay, I'll run with Dragon for now," Dave said.

  Shirley put down the radio after thanking Admiral Oden and saying good bye. She turned to the expectant crew members and looked around at them. Every pair of eyes was focused on her and waiting for an answer. "Okay, you want the ship to be named Dragon, you've got Dragon."

  The cheering was deafening as crew members whistled, shouted, and yelled excitedly. The meeting with the crew went considerably smoother from that point on as the main gripe the crew had was dealt with and put out of their misery.

  ***

  Shirley didn't know how far the crew would take the name change until two mornings later. The morning after the name change, a dragon image and the name Dragon was emblazoned on the ship's nose. On the second morning, she realized that no one in the ship other than herself was wearing a uniform top anymore in order to show off their dragon tattoos. Every member of the ship appeared to have a dragon tattooed in the same location as the young naked woman who was first with one and the sole inspiration for the name. Even the ship's officers saw it as a team venture and went along for the whole deal, getting themselves tattoos and leaving off their uniform tops. By that morning, the clucking had stopped. So did the deliveries of barbecue sauce.

  Shirley realized and decided that as squadron commander, she didn't have the right to identify too heavily with one ship over the others. It might have been nice for everyone to sport the dragon emblem, but she had other ships she was responsible for. She didn't want any of their crews, whom she was still meeting with, to get a wrong impression. Of course, it didn't keep the crew from putting the emblem on just about everything imaginable, including her command chair on the bridge or from referring to her as the Dragon Lady.

  About the only problem Shirley had left was what to name the 25th Squadron, which was her prerogative. She wanted something with a little zip and zest in it that would inspire the same degree of pride within the squadron as the name change for her flagship caused among her crew.

  ***

  Captain Diane Blith watched the two men leave to be replaced by two others. It was fortunate that Diane commanded a cruiser. Had either of the two new personnel been moving down in ship size instead of over from another cruiser, they might have resented it. Both new men wore uniforms, bringing down the majority of naked personnel on her ship just slightly. She wondered what they looked like beneath their uniforms and hoped she would get a chance someday to find out, perhaps while showering. Diane liked the male physique and enjoyed seeing everything there
was to see. It was small consolation, for her position as captain kept her from getting too involved with others as much as she might have liked. Being from Echo herself, she knew what the two men and woman she disciplined were going through. It was just too bad that they couldn't get along when they were off duty and enjoy their lifestyle to the fullest in a cooperative manner. She only hoped that both men wouldn't get into trouble on their new ships. If either did, there wouldn't be anymore chances for that one. The Navy could only bend so far in trying to cope with individual problems.

  ***

  More ships and crews arrived each day. More squadrons formed. Mine layers busily placed together a shield of mines that blanketed the near space around each of the outer planets. It would be a very fortunate Malakin warship that managed to survive the thick mine fields and reach any of the planets protected by them.

  ***

  Admiral Oden looked at the gathered admirals in the planning room for a moment. Dave said, "We're almost ready. This time, we'll be making a big push. Admiral Wund will be in charge of the attack and overall coordination again. Admiral Heavywolf will be in charge of the support fleet. Admiral Dickson will be coordinating the marines. We'll stop slinging rocks soon and you're to time your arrival with the last of them. I don't want a large gap to exist for the Malakins to become suspicious about. Benz, take over now and brief us on your plans."

  Benz walked over to the hologram imaging system and nodded to a sergeant. "We are going to follow the rocks in. Around us and just in front will be a standard torpedo spread just to keep the Malakins off guard. Admiral Nick will launch those so that we will have all our torpedoes available. Right, Nicky?"

  "Right, Benz. I've got a new supply of 'em to go along with my evil intentions," Admiral Nick replied.

  "The support fleet will be spaced behind the lead elements as if it was another batch of asteroids being propelled at the planets. If they are scanning for rocks, our ships will resemble those somewhat in spacing and because our engines will be off. Another element will approach directly from Union territory at the same time in the Trojan ships. They will be followed by the bomb ships and another element of our warships. If all goes well, we may be hitting the Malakins from the front, flank, rear, and inside their formation all at about the same time. They should sense those ships rather than the ones behind the asteroids since those ships will be moving under their engine power and be more readily detectable. From that point, all hell breaks loose as we keep the enemy engaged in space while the transports are landing. I still am not sure how you got me eleven squadrons, Dave," Benz stated.

  Dave said, "Admiral Heavywolf, what are your objectives?"

  Admiral Heavywolf said, "We will set up support at positions M and N so that any of our ships can reach one regardless of which Malakin planet they are attacking. We will have two squadrons as our perimeter guard. They will also be reserves to throw in should the battle start to swing wrong. I've overseen the modifications made to all the support ships, except the hospital ship for obvious reasons. All support ships will have at least one heavy weapon on board to help with their own defense. All our personnel have taken courses in gunnery and some of them are quite good with the computer-assisted weapons. They're able to line up the gun after the computer swings it in the right direction and fire at the known weaknesses of the Malakin warships. We will be ready."

  "Admiral Dickson? What about the marines?" Dave asked.

  Admiral Dickson said, "We're going in with twice as many as before since our planets are now mostly secure against those damn robots. Enlistments have been strong in the marines since the war began. We're got more than the usual twenty-two units. Part of that is due in thanks to Admiral Wund's planet. We received five full units from Leuion."

  "My people want to show they are with the Union all the way," Benz stated.

  "I don't doubt that," Karen said. "None of them wanted to be stationed on Leuion as its defense. They thought every other planet was more important. I sent a unit from Edun there and then spread the five Leuion originated units among the other requirements we have. We're leaving a marine unit on each of the outer planets and have others in transports so they can remain mobile and transport immediately to any trouble spots in the Union. Two of the Leuion-originated units are in the attack on Malak. Two are on the outer planets and one is in the mobile defense force. Fourteen full marine units are going in to attack the planets. We're taking two in reserve. The six outer planets each have a unit in place and ten units are in the mobile defense. That's all the marine units we have available right now. There are another ten in training. However, they're not ready yet and shouldn't be used unless it's an absolute emergency."

  "Admiral Nick? What's happening on your end?" asked Dave.

  "Well, we move around a lot as usual so the Malakins can't find and attack us. Then we throw the rocks we find and shoot the torpedoes. When the attack force gathers, we'll send off a spread of torpedoes just like normal. We won't do anything extra that might give them away. Then we'll be standing by awaiting instructions and gathering more asteroids to toss in case they're needed. Personally, I think Benz has a good plan put together with Derek and Karen. Our rocks shouldn't be needed, but we'll continue to find and collect them in case the Malakins manage to somehow come up with something new that throws a wrench into the plans," Admiral Nick answered.

  "Admiral Kruler, are your plans ready?" Dave asked.

  "Yes. I'll be with the mobile defense force. I'll have a squadron hidden among their ships. We'll be fairly near the midway location between Serapha and Opal. Intelligence indicates a ship construction surge on Serapha. Opal has gone back to a lesser degree of alertness but they're not sleeping, either. They still have their defenses in place. I estimate they could probably get the rest of their force into space within two hours at the most. Even a sneak attack, though I doubt that Serapha is capable of surprising Opal, wouldn't be devastating to Opal. Their inactive forces are well spread out on the surface. Only a very few ships might be caught on the ground if Serapha is able to go in fast and hard enough to get by their outer defenses. Intelligence on Opal indicates that they believe they will truly be on their own if a war breaks out. If Serapha takes advantage of the majority of Union forces being at Malak to attack Opal, we will remain hidden and let them fight it out. We won't show our hand unless the Union is threatened by anyone," Admiral Kruler replied.

  "Okay, that leaves me in control of the outer planets' defense and in position to coordinate everything. I don't think any of you have left out anything. I wish you all luck and hope that you all return with as many of your ships and people as possible. I wish I could give you all more squadrons to do your jobs with, but we're not the only outer planets in the Union. We just happen to be the closest ones neighboring Malak and the ones they usually attack. I've got the rest of the squadrons spread out on our entire perimeter with a concentration here. If they bypass us, then Kyle will be the first to reach and reinforce wherever the Malakins are trying to break through at. I'll send another squadron to take the center position from here and reinforce Kyle if he sees the need for it. Our date of attack will be designated as I-day. Again, good luck to you all," said Admiral Oden.

  ***

  I-day began to draw near. Squadrons practiced well inside Union space on the maneuvers they would use to attack with.

  Chapter 12

  Admiral Oden monitored the movement of the invasion fleet, checking in occasionally to be sure that it wasn't walking into an ambush. In his mind, the Malakins were dangerous, not only because they threw away massive amounts of material in their attacks, but because of what he knew to be their ultimate intentions for mankind. He didn't want his children or anyone else's to grow up as slaves.

  ***

  The invasion fleet arrived at the latest coordinates where Admiral Nick's group was busy tossing asteroids at the Malakin worlds. They waited until the last scheduled rocks were sent off and then moved out as soon as the proper interval pas
sed. Just in front and around them, a few dozen torpedoes were fired in the same direction. The torpedo engines shut down shortly. The fleet did the same with their engines. They would all coast in toward the Malakin home worlds even though it would take days. Behind them, Admiral Nick's group continued to grapple with asteroids, using space tugs to do the job with.

  On board the ships, constant battle station drills without firing were practiced. At the same time, a careful watch was maintained. The invasion fleet was determined that they wouldn't be caught off guard by any enemy ships intent on intercepting what might have been asteroids. It would take only one enemy ship to spot them and lose the element of surprise.

  ***

  Admiral Oden looked at the latest intelligence dispatch with concern. He hadn't thought of a natural meteor shower hitting Bragh and destroying enough of the mines to create a window of escape for the Ape-oids. Worse yet, he was sure the Ape-oids were already in space since they would have detected the opening first because they were closer. There was no way that Dave could send a few destroyers now to end the Ape-oid threat. Quickly, Dave sent a message to Commodore Sorenson and instructed her to scramble her squadron to leave immediately and take on the Ape-oid force.

  ***

  Shirley looked at the message and realized that she had an important mission. There was no telling how many warships the Ape-oids had left, but she had to presume that her force would be outnumbered greatly. Within only a few minutes, her entire squadron was in space where it proceeded to move quickly toward Bragh.

  ***

  Like Admiral Oden, Admiral Kruler was also busy monitoring the situation. However, he was deep inside Union spatial territory. The news of the presumed Ape-oid breakout was just as unexpected to him. Commodore Sorenson's assignment to the problem meant that he wouldn't have to worry too much about them. Still, he could easily expect Serapha to be more likely to take advantage of the situation.

  ***

  Admiral Cain was unaware of the Union's predicament when he issued his orders to launch the fleet. The Seraphan fleet launched from the surface to join with those ships already in space as a matter of defensive policy. It took almost four hours for the fleet to assemble, something that Admiral Cain seemed unable to do much about. If his planet's government hadn't been so fragmented with so many different religions trying to run the show, he was certain that he might have assembled the fleet in less than one.