Dust Bunny (Rust Bucket Universe) Read online

  Chapter 13

  Commodore Sorenson looked at the sensor readings of the now free Ape-oids' war fleet. They were coming toward her position at a seemingly leisurely pace, possibly unaware that her squadron was in their path. She wondered if their sensors were still so out of date. Whether they were or not, they outnumbered her force by six to one in her most conservative estimate.

  Shirley signaled her squadron, "Launch all fighters. Have them hide off to the side with their engines off. Prepare to withdraw our capital warships when the Ape-oids give indication of spotting us. We're going to make them believe they've encountered one of the old Union squadrons that's afraid of the odds. We'll turn and charge as soon as the fighters are behind them. Good luck everyone!"

  She hoped that the fighters would give them back the edge they needed against such a large fleet. Shirley was more than glad that she had two fighter commands worth of fighters hangared inside her mostly modern squadron.

  ***

  Captain Blith watched as her five fighters flew off for the ambush. Then she waited like everyone else as they moved forward slowly in anticipation of the Ape-oids spotting them and beginning their attack. Diane rechecked with her section officers and assured herself that everything was ready. Her crew was standing by at battle stations, but wouldn't fire until the Ape-oids began the pursuit.

  ***

  Shirley watched the hologram imaging display carefully. The fighters barely registered on the sensitive instruments that the Union warships possessed. If the Ape-oids hadn't detected the squadron yet, they were unlikely to spot the fighters. She hoped that the squadron made the withdrawal look realistic enough, though she wasn't exactly sure about what the Ape-oids would consider realistic. She watched the imaging display as the first of the Ape-oid ships reached what was known to be their last sensor range ability. She didn't have long to wonder then. Within a minute after reaching that point, the Ape-oid warships suddenly sped up and moved on a course directly at the squadron.

  When the Ape-oid warships were almost in firing range of the squadron, Commodore Sorenson finally signaled the squadron to withdraw. The brief few moments it took to execute the turn put the Ape-oid warships into extremely long range. A few began firing. Some of the squadron warships reported slight hits that did nothing more than scratch their hulls as the turn was completed. Then the squadron matched the speed of the faster Ape-oid ships as they remained in front of the pursuit.

  Ten minutes later, the Ape-oid warships were completely past the hidden fighters. Shirley waited and watched the imaging display. She was ready to give the order to attack as soon as the fighters flared up on her imaging display because of their engines switching on.

  There! She saw the pips on the sensor scope begin glowing brightly as the fighters switched on their engines. She toggled the switch to her headset and said, "Attack! Attack! All warships attack!" Then she sat back in her Dragon-decorated command chair where she watched the sensor screens and sometimes looked out of the view port to see what was happening with her own eyes.

  ***

  The fighters roared in behind the Ape-oids and immediately began systematically disabling warships from their exposed and unprotected rear. It was almost too easy for the fighters as their heavy Mark VI guns disabled enemy ships with one well-aimed shot. Their appearance was a complete surprise to the Ape-oids even though the Ape-oids probably became aware of them as soon as their engines switched on. Still, the Ape-oids were at a complete disadvantage at the moment, unable to turn or engage the fighters. Close to a sixth of the Ape-oid warships were disabled within the first two minutes of engagement.

  To compound the Ape-oids' problem, the squadron was maneuvering ahead of them and bringing all their weapons to bear, especially the Mark VII's with their longer range and greater effectiveness.

  By the time the squadron was charging at the Ape-oid fleet, the Ape-oids finally reacted. Then the Ape-oids split their fleet into two elements with each one attempting to engage one of the two Union forces. Finally, the Ape-oids then showed the one surprise of their own. Their larger ships suddenly launched fighters of their own.

  ***

  Shirley watched the new turn of events and wondered if she had bitten off more than she could chew. She signaled her squadron, "Don't let their fighters get among us. Use individual initiative to spread out. Leave enough space between us to engage them safely."

  She watched the sensor screens as the Ape-oid fighters assembled into a formation, giving her side precious few moments to react, instead of attacking swiftly. Shirley ordered, "Communications! Send a message back to Beulah headquarters advising them that the Ape-oids have new warships carrying fighters. Further advise them that we are engaging the enemy and give them our position. Keep them posted on the progress of the battle."

  Shirley then turned her attention back to the displays and watched to see what would happen next.

  ***

  Captain Blith suddenly had an inspiration that would change the situation more in favor of her side. "Helm, change course. Take us at full battle speed directly at the Ape-oid fighter formation. As soon as we reach the enemy, put the ship into a roll! All gunners, be ready to fire on rapid rate of fire from a locked gun position while the ship performs a roll! Good luck to us all!"

  Her cruiser left the formation suddenly and charged at full battle speed at the center of the oncoming Ape-oid fighter formation. Without Captain Blith knowing it, a destroyer peeled out of the formation and took up a position on her rear to give her cover.

  ***

  Shirley watched the two ships peel out of formation and wondered what kind of idea they had. Shirley's formation was heading toward half of the enemy's capital warships. Could two of her ships possibly have a chance against what appeared to be a full-size fighter command or two? Or were they throwing away their chances to give everyone else a better chance? She could only watch the monitor to see what Captain Blith had in mind.

  ***

  "Mars City is on our rear, Captain. They appear to be providing cover."

  Diane said, "Advise them of our intended maneuver. Wish them luck for me."

  ***

  "A roll?" Gail said. She pressed her intercom and asked, "Mike, can we hold together enough to perform a roll with all weapons locked into position on continuous fire?"

  Mike pressed the intercom switch and answered, "I think so. I could be wrong, but we won't know that until we try. I'll start advising our gunners. This should be interesting."

  "Good luck to you, Mike. Pass that on to the gunners."

  ***

  The Dust Bunny suddenly began to spin on its axis as it slipped inside the enemy fighter formation. Fire came from light guns on the enemy fighters that Captain Blith could see were modeled more like the Union scout ships of a decade ago.

  She switched on her communications and broadcast to the other ships of her squadron, "Dust Bunny to squadron. Ape-oid fighters are like our old scout ships." Then she concentrated on keeping her eyes on the sensors without looking out the view port. It helped some to prevent her from getting a slightly dizzy feeling as the Dust Bunny rotated. Every gunner fired at a rapid rate of fire. The bolts shooting out of their barrels were almost a continuous blade of energy slashing outward from the ship as bolt after bolt was generated and quickly spat out.

  The effect was dramatic as fighter after fighter was suddenly chewed up by the fire, not once, not twice, but three and even four times as fire from different guns rotated onto them. Even then, they weren't through being chewed apart. The Mars City followed behind the Dust Bunny, performing the same maneuver, chewing the chunks into smaller pieces.

  ***

  Commodore Sorenson watched the two ships lash out spectacularly at the enemy fighters that were caught completely off guard. She didn't even look at any of the other fighting going on as the two warships of her command executed the maneuver with an effectiveness that more than decimated the enemy fighters. Only the fighters in the rear were able
to suddenly and quickly evade the deadly effects as they hurriedly changed course to escape from those deadly tongues of electricity reaching out to French kiss them.

  "Dust Bunny, you have enemy capital ships breaking away from their formation to challenge you."

  Commodore Sorenson heard the warning given by someone in operations. She turned her attention back to the sensors. It was true. There were at least five, no six, enemy warships leaving one enemy formation to challenge the two ships.

  ***

  Gail heard the warning to Dust Bunny and pressed the intercom switch. "Everyone keep your heads up. The enemy didn't like what Dust Bunny and Mars City just did. They're gunnin' for us. Let's not let them get her or us!"

  Mars City did her best using the wingman concept to keep the enemy ships off the rear of the Dust Bunny. Time after time, the Mars City got between an enemy ship and the Dust Bunny so that the cruiser could maneuver. Time after time, the Mars City took a hit intended for the Dust Bunny.

  Gail struggled into her suit as the bridge was perforated. The cabin air evacuated through the rent hull, throwing the bridge into turmoil. Other personnel near her did the same. A few lay on the deck, killed by the penetrating bolt. For a few moments, the ship was without control or command. Then Gail was back in command just as the ship came back under control and moved back into position on Dust Bunny's rear.

  Gail wondered what was holding the Mars City together. She knew it was well built, but it was also old and nearing its retirement. It couldn't possibly hold together much longer. Already, half of her bridge instruments were inoperable. Half the ship no longer responded to intercom calls. She toggled on her radio and called out, "All sections report status!"

  Mike finished dressing into his suit in time to hear the instruction. Quickly he switched his radio to transmit and reported. "One A-side gun station left in action. Only two gunners left there. B-side guns are all out of action. No gunners left there. Still on my way to check out C-side gun stations. Will advise you as soon as I reach them."

  Captain Gail Gott knew that her ship couldn't last much longer. It was almost asking too much of the Mars City with hardly any firepower to throw back at the enemy and most of her instruments dead along with a large portion of her crew.

  "Ensign Cargille from the engine room. Engines still holding together. Be advised, maintenance didn't remove the spiro-nut, but it's holding!"

  Gail heard his report with alarm. Had she known that the temporary repair was still in place, she never would have attempted the roll. She was only glad that somehow it did hold together and was still doing so. More reports came in from parts of the ship. Gail began to feel more lonely than ever. Most of her crew was dead, splattered about on the decks and bulkheads of the ship compartments while doing their duty. She didn't have anymore time to worry about the temporary repair. Too many other things were happening.

  ***

  Captain Blith felt the sudden vibration from the rear of her ship. She knew instinctively that her engines were hit. "Status reports!" she ordered.

  "Engine room hit. Have to shut them down or we'll never be able to repair them!"

  "Communications, alert Mars City of our situation. Advise them we're shutting down our engines. Tell them to save themselves, if that's possible," Diane ordered.

  ***

  The Paris peeled off from the formation almost unnoticed. It charged at top speed at the enemy ships giving all their attention to Dust Bunny and Mars City. Her captain wasn't doing it to save them, but because he suddenly saw enemy ships with nothing protecting their backsides. He intended on putting them out of action before they could rejoin the enemy formation or gain covering protection.

  His destroyer, as old as the Mars City, still had life in her because of good maintenance. His gunners were every bit as good as others in the squadron and even in the entire Union fleet. The enemy ships never even knew he was there until two of them went dead from precise shots from his accurate gunners. Then his gunners disabled another enemy ship while Dust Bunny defended herself, even though her engines then went off line.

  ***

  "Captain, Mike here. C-side gun stations are all dead. No gunners alive, either."

  A sudden vibration hit the ship. Moments later the engines were shut down.

  "Ensign Cargille here, ma'am. I just now manually shut down our engines before they could blow up. I'm making repairs on them now."

  Captain Gott listened to the reports. Then she realized that there weren't any vibrations from the A-side gun station. "Mike, check A-side again," she instructed.

  "On my way, Captain," Mike answered.

  A moment later, Gail felt and saw the hit on the bridge as the enemy hit it again. She saw the rest of the bridge crew fall to the deck and not get up. More instruments ceased to function. Her own suit began to buzz with an alarm. She looked down at herself to see that she was missing a foot and her suit was leaking air quickly. Gail reached for a repair kit and slapped it open, not caring what happened as long as she got to the sealer in time. She could already feel her blood begin to boil. She was gasping for air when she got the sealer in place and hit the switch on it.

  Almost instantly, her suit stopped leaking air as it was sealed where her foot was missing. She knew she was out of action and used her last reserve of energy to call Mike. "Mike, I'm hit. . . You're in command now. Good luck to you."

  Lieutenant jg Mike Chalver suddenly felt the weight of command settle on his broad shoulders as he realized it was now up to him to save the ship. He was almost to the A-side. He could tell by the lack of vibrations that the gun was probably dead. For all purposes, the ship was dead leaving him in command of a hulk, an empty, dead hulk. Still, there were things to do in order to save as many of the crew as possible. He moved toward the A-side gun that was firing the last time he checked.

  ***

  Ensign Cargille heard the Captain's release of command to Mike and knew they were in a tight spot. He worked on the engine, getting first one part in place and then another. He had no doubts in his ability to fix the engines. He owed part of that confidence to his formal training and part to Mike's mentoring. He might have even owed part of it to his conversation with Admiral Oden, but he was scarcely aware of that.

  ***

  "Captain, our engines can't be fixed."

  Captain Diane Blith took the news with serious concern. "What's the problem? Why can't we fix them?"

  "The hit took out the repair parts' cabinet as well as part of an engine. If we try to restart them, we'll probably be unable to control the ship. We might even lose the engines permanently as a result, to be perfectly honest."

  "Okay, you've done your best. Get to another battle station and lend a hand. We've still got some enemy ships bothering us," Diane replied.

  ***

  Paris took out a third ship and then fired on a fourth enemy ship. The captain instructed the helm to maneuver behind the largest enemy ship. He watched a minute later as his gunners methodically tore the larger ship apart.

  ***

  Captain Diane Blith watched as the last of the enemy ships fell silent. She switched her radio to transmit. "Well done, Paris. We'll work on repairs. You're needed still. Thanks for the assist. We deeply appreciate it."

  "I understand," the captain of the Paris replied. "Good luck to you. If you keep your guns quiet, they might not come back."

  "Thanks for the advice. We'll keep that under consideration unless it looks like you all need the help," Captain Blith replied

  "Captain, the Mars City is drifting with us," a bridge operator reported.

  "She is? See if you can raise her and find out her status," Captain Blith ordered.

  ***

  "Mike, I've almost got our engines ready to go back on line. Are you ready to take control in the bridge?"

  Mike replied, "Almost, Wade. I'm on my way there now. Be advised that we don't have any guns left in action. As soon as you get the engines on line, get the hell out of the engi
ne room. Report to the bridge with any survivors you come across."

  "Right, Mike. I mean, Captain," Ensign Wade Cargille replied

  Mike entered the bridge and looked at the carnage and destruction present. He checked the nearest personnel to him and eventually got to Captain Gott. She was still alive and he quickly found her injury. There was nothing he could do for her while she was in her space suit. He could only hope that the sealer also sealed her wound along with her suit. It was supposed to operate that way. "Wade, I'm on the bridge right now and it's a bloody mess. I'll let you know as soon as I check out the helm. Captain Gott is alive, but unconscious. Everyone else here is dead as far as I can tell. I'll be ready in a moment for you to engage the engines."

  Mike noticed the blinking light suddenly come to life on the communications panel. Unbelievable, he thought, something still works amid all this mess. He floated over to the panel and plugged his suit into it. He still had radio communication without video.

  "Dust Bunny to Mars City. What is your status? Dust Bunny to Mars City. What is your status? Can you hear us?"

  He toggled the switch and began speaking. "Mars City to Dust Bunny, Acting Captain, Lieutenant jg Mike Chalver speaking. We're about to put our engines back on line. That's about all we have left."

  Captain Blith heard the reply and took over the radio call. "Captain Chalver, this is Captain Blith. Can you give us a tow when your engines are back on line?"

  "One moment, I'll check. Please hold," Mike answered before he switched to his in-ship radio. "Wade, can our engines stand to tow the Dust Bunny?"

  "Negative. They'll finish wrecking themselves apart if we try to pull that much mass. They're not going to pull full power as it is. Best we can do is limp away," Wade replied.

  Mike switched back to ship to ship. "I'm sorry, Captain Blith, but we're not going to have enough power to give a tow. We can transfer your crew to us if you like, but we don't have any operable guns left to defend ourselves with."