Attack Butterfly (Rust Bucket Universe) Read online

  She spotted some asteroids on the screen and then paused. There weren't any reports of asteroids in her briefing. That was something else. She counted the tiny blips as best she could. There were almost enough to be two squadrons of warships. Susan looked at the position of the blips and saw how the Malakins could be hit in the flank if those were squadrons and her fighters held their position. Now she knew! Headquarters was creating a trap!

  Chapter 13

  The Malakin warships followed the fighter wing in towards Echo. Only when they were close did headquarters broadcast its attack order to the fighter commands.

  "Yeeeee-Haaawww!" Susan shouted as her fighter leapt out at the oncoming Malakin warships with the rest of her fighter command around her.

  Their weapons were all firing at the Malakins in a broad shield of firepower that made hits on different enemy warships. Beside her fighter command, another fighter command pulled up and added its firepower to the beginning battle. Still another and another fighter command pulled alongside, adding even more firepower into the battle and increasing the number of hits.

  Susan didn't even notice the sudden change in one screen where dozens of ships suddenly powered up their engines and maneuvered to hit the enemy flank. She did notice as her fighter got close enough for visual identification that there were enemy transports mixed in the attack wave.

  "Attack Butterfly to headquarters. Enemy wave has transports!"

  "Acknowledged, Attack Butterfly."

  ***

  Dave listened to the reports as the squadron took up its firing position on the flanks and fired at the almost surrounded Malakin warships. He expected enemy transports, but not until the third wave. Obviously, the enemy was trying to earnestly take the planet. This was the real attack and there might be more than three waves, he thought, if the Malakins had changed their tactics this much.

  Then he saw that the fighters were inside the Malakin formation while the squadron warships pounded away only at the enemy warships on the edge of the enemy formation. Doing so gave the squadron an advantage in numbers on the enemy ships. They concentrated their fire on the enemy warships and watched them blink out of action one by one every minute the battle continued.

  ***

  As much as Susan wanted to share the news with Allen, she knew better than to broadcast to him that she was pregnant. She wanted nothing to take away his attention from surviving the battle.

  ***

  Allen swung his fighters around and charged at the enemy warships, falling in behind the fighter commands and doing his best to catch up with them. The fighter commands suddenly mixed in with the enemy warships. A minute later, his own wing was in the midst of the ships they initially ran from.

  It was now every fighter on its own as they dogged individual enemy warships and combined their efforts as they took out the enemy ships. They attacked in miniature waves of their own against ships unable to return fire without hitting their own side's ships.

  Allen watched as the enemy warships tried to adjust their formation to deal with two threats. What would work against one threat wouldn't work against the other, especially with transports of their own to defend.

  It was hardly an hour later when the last Malakin warship fired its guns for the last time and the battle ended. Then Allen heard the broadcast that startled him.

  "This is Admiral Oden on board the Australia. Well done, everyone! We expect two more waves for sure and possibly more. Reform your commands and move to position Delta Gamma. Again, you all did a fine job. I'm very proud of each and every one of you."

  ***

  Susan was just as startled to hear the admiral's voice come over her communications stating that he was in their midst. She wondered how he got here without anyone knowing. Forgetting about that for the moment, she nodded to her navigator as the coordinates for Delta Gamma were given to Joe, her pilot, while the fighter command formed on her fighter and proceeded to move to its next fighting position. She did wonder why the fighters weren't taking positions inside the formation of destroyed Malakin warships. It was a trick that worked before, so why weren't they using it again?

  Then she realized that her screen was already showing another wave of enemy warships approaching the planet. Susan realized that someone else from their side was out there picking up on the enemy. She wondered who it was since all the fighters were now in attack positions.

  ***

  Ensign Mike Chalver stood near the gun position and nodded at the woman who wanted to fire back at the oncoming Malakin warships. She aimed and squeezed the trigger. A moment later, there was the sign of a solid hit on an enemy warship. She fired again. Then the destroyer changed course slightly as it evaded the return fire of the oncoming ships. The old destroyer was making top speed while sending out the positions of the enemy fleet. A few moments later, the fleet was in the woman's field of vision again. Again, she fired and scored another hit.

  "Ensign Chalver to the bridge!"

  Mike put the portable radio on the bulkhead, left the gun station, and hurriedly made his way to the bridge. He arrived less than a minute later. "Yes sir!"

  "Easy, mister. First, you're now a lieutenant jg. Second, when we reach Echo, we're going to be swinging around and charging straight at the enemy and mixing with them. We'll be surrounded by fighters from Echo. Make sure all the gunners are ready for this maneuver."

  He replied, "Yes sir."

  "Good. When this is finished, come back to the bridge and we'll discuss you new job responsibilities. Now, unfortunately, isn't a good time for that. We won't change anything until the battles are over."

  "Battles?" he asked.

  "Yeah, this is only the second wave. We're the laboratory test subject. If we do well, the enemy is going to be in for a shock on the next wave. Okay, mister, see about your gunners."

  Mike hurried back to the gunner stations to tell each of them personally what to expect. The Mars City was an old tub of a destroyer, but she still had legs and teeth as he now called the engines and guns. It didn't take very long for him to relay the information to each of his gunners on the old destroyer.

  "The old tub is going to charge?" asked the last gunner to be briefed.

  Mike replied, "We surely are."

  "Oh well, I didn't want to live forever anyway. I'd feel better though if Admiral Oden was in charge of this battle, but he's at Edun, isn't he?"

  Mike said, "I'm not sure where he is. In fact, this is the kind of strange tactic I kind of expect him to pull out of thin air."

  "You've met him?" the gunner asked.

  "Several times," replied Mike. "He's not given to doing stupid things, but he does experiment at times. This, right frankly, feels like one of them."

  "Then he must expect us to do okay then."

  Mike replied, "I suppose so. He doesn't send people into certain death. Well, I know you'll do your best. Let me know if you have any other questions or problems."

  "Thanks, Ensign."

  Mike said, "You're welcome," without making a big deal out of his new rank. The men and women would learn of it soon enough. It wasn't anything to get upset about especially since it hadn't been announced to the ship, had the intercom been working. Mike went over to a bulkhead. He took from it a portable radio so that he could keep in touch again with the bridge.

  ***

  Dave watched as the specks grew larger in the view port. He glanced again at the screens and saw the formation of the enemy fleet. They were avoiding the destroyed warships as he suspected they would. The Malakins might be brave, but they weren't stupid. That trick wasn't meant to work more than twice and those two times had already been used.

  ***

  "Lieutenant Chalver, notify your gunners on the double that we're going to hit the brakes now and let the enemy pass by us so that we can hit their engines."

  "Yes sir!" Mike responded. Then he ran around from gun station to gun station giving the gunners the new information so that they would be prepared.

&
nbsp; ***

  The Malakin warships were almost to Echo when the destroyer reversed the thrust of its engines to stop itself and become almost motionless in space. Then the Malakin warships whizzed by as all the destroyer gunners fired in every direction around the ship at the passing enemy.

  The Malakins were forced to suddenly part their formation lest they have several ships crash into the destroyer and each other. At the same time, the fighters attacked on the front as the squadron moved in from another stealth position on the flank.

  Mike hardly felt the movement of the destroyer as it resumed forward motion. Then it was behind the enemy ships and had the engines of almost every enemy warship exposed to its gunners. His gunners were having a field day as the destroyer zipped about behind the enemy and fired with impunity while disabling enemy ships with most of their hits.

  A moment later, Mike listened on his portable radio as the captain passed on some comments. "Mike, tell your gunners that Admiral Oden on board the Australia commends them for fine shooting and for them to keep it up. Tell them from me, too. They're the best!"

  Mike moved about the gun stations and was especially glad to stop at one gun station and give the news. He said, "Admiral Oden said you're doing well. He's on board the Australia and likes what we're doing. The captain thinks we're all doing fine and said that we're the best. He's right. I know we're the best."

  "The admiral is here?" the gunner exclaimed as he fired at another target of opportunity.

  "Good shot!" exclaimed Mike as he saw the hit. "Yes, the admiral is here in this battle."

  "Thanks. They ought to promote you, Ensign."

  Mike replied, "They already did, but thanks for the thought."

  "When?"

  Mike answered, "Just a while ago, when I was called to the bridge was when the orders came in."

  "Well, congratulations, Lieutenant."

  Mike replied, "Thank you. All right! That's another good hit! Keep it up!"

  "I will, Lieutenant."

  Mike moved from gun station to gun station, giving assurances and letting everyone know how they stood.

  ***

  Dave listened to the reports coming in from deep space. It was as he thought. The Malakins were sending more than three waves. They were definitely after Echo and trying to cut off Beulah. If they succeeded, the war would go on for too long. If they failed, he could foresee an end to the war within a year and no more than two. That ending would result in a Union victory, he was sure.

  The second battle lasted barely longer than the first. Again, there were transports inside the Malakin formation. Like the first, there were also manned ships mixed in among the robot warships.

  Dave, however, barely paid attention to the battle as he continued to work on new plans for ending the war as soon as possible.

  ***

  Susan formed up her fighter command. Despite all the hard training, there were losses as she expected. Only their dominance in fighter numbers kept the losses low. She kept up with her status reports and concluded she was a fighter wing short. Quickly, she communicated with her command and reorganized them into fewer wings so that none of them would be at a disadvantage when they attacked next. While forming, she was surprised to hear headquarters order them to land on Echo.

  She radioed, "All right, everyone, you heard the orders. Land at your bases on Echo. We'll know soon enough what's going on."

  ***

  In deep space, a squadron of destroyers waited at the edge of a real asteroid field for the Malakins to come by. They didn't have very long to wait for the enemy to show. As soon as the enemy came abreast, they powered up and took up pursuit, hitting the invading Malakins from the rear. As the Malakins attempted to turn about and face the threat, cruisers and dreadnoughts powered up their engines and hit the Malakins on their flank.

  The Malakin formation fell apart as the robot ships reacted differently from the Malakin-manned warships. Immediately, the destroyers took advantage of the break in the defenses to slip inside the Malakin formations and shoot at point blank range, giving them the most effective firing results they could hope for. From outside the Malakin positions, the cruisers and dreadnoughts continued to use their heavier weapons as they kept the Malakins off balance and defending in two directions.

  The battle lasted less than an hour if only because the destroyers could deliver more concentrated firepower on individual targets than fighters. As soon as it ended, some of the destroyers concentrated on finding survivors on both sides and getting the salvageable Union warships back to Echo where they could be worked on by space salvage crews before being sent to Beulah for major repairs.

  ***

  Dave listened to the reports and nodded. So far, he was having his way. It wasn't over by a long shot. He knew that there would be more waves in light of what happened so far. Likely, what would have been sent to Leuion had the attack on Echo been successful would now have to change plans and attack Echo in order to cut off Beulah.

  Dave said, "Send greetings to Admiral Wund of the Blues. Tell him we have been successful. He should be able to sneak up on them as planned and get revenge for his planet's rape."

  "Admiral, you want it phrased like that?" the woman in a sergeant's uniform asked.

  Dave replied, "Almost word for word. It's a cultural thing. They'll come out like angry hornets. I'd hate to be in a Malakin ship when the Blues are mad. There won't be any prisoners when the Blues finish."

  "Yes sir," she answered with a slight shudder.

  Dave went back to his planning, confident that the Blues would respond, not only for that reason, but because the Blues felt particularly close to the cultures of both Edun and Echo because they were the only nude human cultures. Sending troops composed of personnel from both Edun and Echo to fight off the robots on Leuion had only made feelings of friendship even stronger among those three planets.

  Dave wondered if the Blues might even ask to become a member state of the Union. Certainly they would be welcomed, but it was up to the Blues to decide that. The Union didn't ask anyone to join. It left it to everyone else to ask for membership. That way it was always a positive action and no one felt victimized or forced.

  There were still two human inhabited planets inside what was considered Union space territory that hadn't asked to join and went about their own business without worry or concern about the Union around them. They each traded peacefully with the Union. Each maintained a modest navy of its own and kept it mostly for convoy protection against pirates. Pirates rarely operated within their spheres of influence.

  A few minutes later, the female sergeant came back with a reply. "Admiral Oden, Admiral Wund sends his greetings and hopes you, uh …"

  "Go on Sergeant, that's the way the Blues feel about things. You won't embarrass me," replied Dave.

  She said, "Sorry sir, but I've never quite seen a message like this before. He, uh, hopes that you've got your dick in many pussies and are fathering many children. He will be most glad to castrate the Malakins for their rape and thanks you for advising him of their presence. He wants to know if you want some of the Malakin penises to hang on your mantle."

  Dave answered, "Tell him that he has all rights on the Malakin manhoods and I hope that he has to build a bigger mantle when he's not fathering children."

  "Should I phrase it the way he put it?" she asked.

  Dave thought for a moment. Then he said, "No, just use my choice of words. They tend to get touchy if you repeat things back like a parrot."

  "Anything further?" she asked.

  Dave replied, "No, I'll save some of my more colorful wishes for after the next battle when we communicate again. Thank you, Sergeant."

  ***

  Susan used the time on Echo to have her wing of fighters looked after by the maintenance personnel. Otherwise, she and the fighter crews got something to eat and drink while exchanging ideas and stories of their close calls while out in space. For Susan, the food and drink was desperately needed consid
ering how she threw up everything earlier. She felt much better with a meal in her stomach again. Because she was back on the surface of Echo, she was able to take some time to talk with her other crews at the other temporary bases, especially one crew whose commander was a big interest to her now. She finally got around to his station last, so that she might have the most time to talk with Allen.

  "Hi Tiger."

  Allen asked, "Butterfly, what took you so long to call me?"

  Susan answered, "Just wanted to talk to you last so we'd have the most time. Still have to get reports out of the way, you know. Had a new entry to make today. I had to report a crew member as being pregnant."

  "Really? You're flying with someone pregnant?" he asked.

  She replied, "Yes, Tiger. Me."

  "You, Butterfly?" he asked.

  "You heard me right. You can be a daddy if everything turns out right. How do you feel about that?" she asked.

  Allen paused for a brief moment before answering. "I feel stunned. Happy, but stunned. Do you want me to marry you?" he asked.

  Susan said, "Silly Tiger, I didn't call you up to get you to do that. You know we've already had discussions about that. I just wanted to let you know that despite our precautions, you're going to be a father anyway."

  ***

  The female sergeant stopped next to Dave and looked at him for a moment.

  "Yes, Sergeant? You have a question?" Dave asked.

  She said, "Well, I didn't really want to disturb you. You look so busy."

  "I need a break anyway. Go ahead and ask away," Dave replied.

  "You've met the Blues?" she asked.

  Dave replied, "A few of them. Admiral Wund is one whom I've met."

  She asked, "What are they like? I mean, I've never heard such language before except on Echo, but never in that context."

  Dave answered, "Well, basically, they're very civilized, but they don't take shit from anyone. Admiral Wund has the privates of a number of pirates actually hanging from his mantle. It's a barbaric carryover that they feel isn't so barbaric. When you come right down to it, they could be right since they're hardly ever bothered by pirates. For one thing, they were very disappointed to learn that they were initially fighting off robots to liberate their planet."