Dust Bunny (Rust Bucket Universe) Read online

  Benz replied, "On that, I can answer you that we'll take them. We need ships. Even heavily damaged ships that we must send crews for and repair first will be welcomed. Again, you prove your government's friendship. Were we on my world, I would have all my daughters lined up to pleasure you."

  "Benz, were we on your world, I would do my best to honor your gratitude and make them all pregnant."

  "So, if we can solve the problem of our wives on board warships, then the military would likely have no problem with our joining the Union of Planets?"

  Dave replied, "If you do, I feel fairly sure that the Navy will have no problem. You also have to consider that your world would be supplying a marine unit, too. Take that into your considerations as well, Benz."

  "I will remember that, Dave. Thank you, again. Will you be visiting Leuion some day?"

  Dave replied, "It's beginning to look like I will."

  "Good. My people want to honor you. I think they can be persuaded to honor you in a manner you are accustomed to. You have given me some hope and advice that I can report to my own government. They are already doing what they can to implement some of your human rights."

  "We call them Universal Rights and consider you to be just as included as ourselves," Dave replied.

  The two men continued to chat for a while on a social level. For Admiral Benz Wund, it consisted of telling tales of combat against the Malakins. For Rear Admiral Dave Oden, it was mostly listening and learning how the Blues fought in their last battle. It was information he could use. Admiral Oden knew there was almost always something to be learned simply by listening. After all, talking about what you already knew wouldn't increase your knowledge.

  The war with Malak was less than a half-year old. Both sides had suffered losses in ships and personnel that made it obvious that the war would probably last longer than a few more months. The Union of Planets recovered the ships it lost because nearly all of them were in close proximity to one of its member planets. Military personnel losses were a different matter. Even though many of the ships were being restored to fighting condition, the Union didn't have enough trained personnel to operate them. Dave knew that his greatest problem was staffing the recovered ships after they were repaired to spaceworthy condition. For that reason, Dave knew the war could easily last as much as another year or two regardless of anyone's ability or dedication.

  Admiral Wund was offering a solution that would change that scenario, for the Blues had a surplus of trained personnel, though probably not enough to operate every restored ship. But having those ships manned by the Blues wouldn't do Dave any good if he didn't have control over them so that he could use them where they were needed to counter the Malakin offensive efforts. Dave really didn't care how the Blues conducted themselves aboard their ships while fighting. With modern warships the Blues had already proven that they could fight and win, despite the fact that they mated conjugally while doing so.

  The Union had refused the offer for an end to the war, an offer the Malakins made before the Union recovered two overrun member planets and Leuion, the Blues' home world. Since then the Malakins had withdrawn the offer, obviously intent on retaking those planets again.

  Dave wished for more intelligence on the Malakins, but the Malakins kept their military hidden and far from any spies who had been on Malak before the war started. The only military information the Union had was on what it had seen so far and had mostly destroyed.

  Now the Union was rebuilding its military, gaining plenty of enlistments from the planets that Malak invaded. It was beginning to look as if the Union Navy would have its first 'N' ships because of the high number of recruits coming from Edun and Echo. Their citizens usually entered the Space Marines because, traditionally, it was the only Union force with 'N' units, simply because the marines operated on planet surfaces where the military observed individual planetary laws.

  Officers, however, continued to be in short supply. Dave was ready to propose something he read about in his research of Earth's military powers when it was a fragmented society of many nations. Dave was thankful that Admiral of the Navy Reason did the Navy's politicking in making sure that everything the Navy did was acceptable to the government. However, even if Dave's revival of an old idea for an abbreviated officer training course was accepted, it would still be several months before those officers were available. Dave knew that the only other source of officers was in the Academy. His only options there rested in speeding up the current class at the Academy and increasing the number admitted to the next several classes while accelerating them all. If Admiral Reason could obtain approval, Dave could implement those ideas.

  Now Dave had another proposal for Admiral Reason to push through as a result of Dave's discussion with Admiral Wund. Dave planned to ask for naval acceptance of the Blues without any changes in their traditions of warfare. Dave knew they needed the manpower and ships the Blues represented. He'd even decided on recommending that their units be designated with an 'X' based on an old movie rating scheme that Earth once used. He figured if the Union could accept Echo's sexual permissiveness, then it could accept the Blues' culture. To further bolster his argument was the fact that nearly every planet, except for Echo, possessed established, contained areas called Permissive Zones. If Leuion were accepted, there would be two planets without such specified areas, as Leuion was very much like Echo in its overall permissiveness of allowing public sex almost anywhere. There would then be two planets that could almost be said to be planetary-sized Permissive Zones.

  It didn't matter that Leuion's people were all blue in skin color, either. Glint's colonists had been black. Since becoming a member, Glint's population was still ninety-nine percent black. Acceptance into the Union wasn't based on cultures as much as on a willingness to accept and enforce basic universal rights partly based on the old United States Bill of Rights with a few modifications thrown in.

  Every planet enjoyed free trade and no businesses anywhere could be government supported. Even research was conducted by businesses on their own. Businesses either succeeded or failed on their own. Tariffs on imports or exports among the planets dis not exist. Taxes on people were low and regulated strictly by law. Since nearly everything was purchased and sold by electronic credit, there wasn't any corrupt tax agency to threaten either the people or businesses. Taxes were collected painlessly in the background at the time of purchase. That, in itself, kept the size of the government down considerably so that it was manageable. Because the government deliberately took itself out of regulating everyone's individual morals, it made its task easier and further reduced the load on law enforcement at all levels. All the Union planets combined operated fewer prisons than had been on Earth a few hundred years earlier. Very few prisons were needed. All the current prisons had surplus space available. One was even empty.

  Dave could see that it was conceivable for the Blues to gain admittance to the Union, if they could divorce their businesses from government and grant their people the same rights the Union enjoyed. The Blues weren't very far off from the universal rights part, but they would have to do away with their monarchy and institute a democracy or republic style of government. From what Admiral Wund related, Dave could tell that the Blues were serious and concerned enough about their survival to do that. However, they were also justifiably concerned about not losing their cultural traditions. Dave knew that part was up to him to help preserve, even though he didn't share the Blues' cultural perspective. He wondered if the Blues had any factions among them that might oppose such actions by their government. The last thing Dave wanted to see on Leuion was civil strife either before or as they applied for Union membership. At least, he thought, they didn't have religious problems as did Serapha and Opal, both non-members of the Union.

  Serapha was strongly religious and unaligned with the Union. Serapha's government refused to grant its citizens the universal rights of the Union simply because it didn't want any atheists or homosexuals immigrating there. Furthermor
e, oppressive taxes were levied by the individual religions on Serapha. As it was, Serapha had plenty of internal strife among its various religions. Violent clashes occurred frequently. Because of Serapha's background, it was quite obvious that a Permissive Zone didn't exist on the planet.

  Opal was the unaligned planet with no religions present. For that reason, its people likewise refused to endorse the full set of universal rights. Opal refused to permit religions to establish on the planet. However, Opal was quite stable without the problems that Serapha contended with. The citizens of Opal enjoyed a quiet, prosperous life. The government was lightly drawn in granting Opal's citizens the freedom that made them quite compatible with Echo in many regards. Opalian law permitted public nudity, but did not require it.

  Opal and Serapha each possessed modern, though small, armed forces, but neither had bothered the other militarily yet. To do so, they would have to fight across Union territory. Consequently neither wanted to anger the much larger Union of Planets. Their mutual hostility toward each other didn't mean that they didn't trade with each other and with the Union, but they didn't pass up chances to insult one another, either. Their existence and initial animosity toward each other was one reason for the Union to maintain a large modern Navy, even if the Union Navy became political after decades of non-use, other than to explore and occasionally fight some pirates. Dealing with pirates usually involved two or three warships at most along with a unit of Space Marines that did the real fighting.

  Alarms and sirens sounded across the base. Both admirals leapt to their feet and crossed to the door. Each ran outside to his warship. Within minutes, every warship at the naval station was in space, a tribute to their readiness and their crews.

  Dave took a look at the hologram imaging system displaying the known and projected courses of the incoming Malakin warships, his own squadrons, and the few warships of the Blues, who weren't expected to participate.

  "Message, Admiral Oden," the communications officer said.

  "Thanks," said Dave as he took hold of the transmitter and receiver, placing them on his head a moment later so that he could communicate.

  "Admiral Oden, it is I, Admiral Wund. I ache for the opportunity to engage the Malakins in combat. Have you any opposition to our joining in?"

  Dave replied, "Admiral Wund, I accept your gracious assistance in the forthcoming battle and hope that you father children from the stimulation of combat."

  "Thank you, Admiral Oden. Where would you like my forces?"

  Dave replied, "Take the flank nearest Beulah's moon. Attack when you see them in front of you. My forces shall hold position and draw them in."

  ***

  It took longer than expected for the Malakin warships to come into visual sight. Once they did, Admiral Oden knew this battle would be much different from previous contact with the Malakin force. The enemy force was composed of smaller ships of a design he'd not seen before. The Malakin warships were about the size of his own destroyers and were clearly designed to be that size, judging by their lines. There was no way the Malakins had enough time since their last attack to design and manufacture that many ships.

  The Malakin warships moved in fast. They came abreast of the Blue warships that eagerly charged at the crucial moment in order to disrupt the formation. The Blues took out almost twenty of the speeding enemy warships while losing one of their own.

  Then the Malakin warships were upon the Union squadrons. Half the Malakin warships somehow managed to just keep on going right through the formation and onward toward Beulah. The Union fighters and squadrons were busy taking out the half they got while losing only a few fighters and one dreadnought of their own. Even though the Malakin ships were small, thirty or more of them for the few Union ships lost was practically a bargain.

  The fighters chased after the Malakin warships as they prepared to enter Beulah's atmosphere. Rather than burn up on entry, the enemy warships had to slow down. More of them were suddenly caught from behind by the experienced fighter crews, whose fighters were well-suited to following the enemy down to the surface if need be. The fighters easily took out half of the enemy force permitting fewer than three dozen to evade them long enough to reach the surface of Beulah.

  The fighters went in low and strafed the last of the Malakin warships while Space Marines were called and vectored into the enemy locations. Before the fighters left, none of the enemy warships were capable any longer of lifting off from the surface to escape back to space.

  ***

  Dave wondered what the purpose of the attack was since the Malakins succeeded in losing 81 warships in exchange for only one Union warship and three fighters and one Blue warship. With battles like that, Dave figured he could manage to win and still get the fleet ready for its own offensive at the same time.

  ***

  The Space Marines found almost the same situation at every Malakin warship that was destroyed after landing on Beulah. Each warship was heavily damaged, mostly from explosions inside. The pilots were real Malakins and not robots. Around a few of the destroyed warships, human footprints were found, causing some speculation without alarm among the marines. Though they reported everything they discovered, the marines figured the footprints to most likely be from people who spotted the wreckage and took a look before going on about their business before the marines arrived.

  ***

  Within hours, similar attacks occurred on Edun, Gabrielle, and Echo. In each of the three additional attacks, the results were almost identical. The Union lost very few warships and fighters while only a few of the small Malakin warships reached each planet's surface where they were destroyed.

  ***

  Within two days, Space Marines on four planets were busy searching for small robots that escaped destruction in the Malakin warships bringing them to Union planets. Scaled to human size and designed to look human, the robots carried weapons and internal explosives. The first discovered robot managed to kill a family before being destroyed by a neighbor who heard shouts and screaming coming from next door. He ran next door with his personal weapon and fired at the clothed robot that killed that family on Edun.

  The marines had an easy time of finding and destroying the robots on both Edun and Echo because the robots were fully clothed. Less than two days later, both planets were declared safe again.

  Learning of that, the authorities on Gabrielle asked everyone to make the marines' task easier on Gabrielle by going about business and pleasure for a few days without clothing. Two days after they did, the marines declared Gabrielle to also be safe. Then its citizens returned to their normal routines and dress.

  Beulah followed suit shortly after Gabrielle. It appeared that all the enemy robots were accounted for. Then its citizens went back to their normal routines and returned to wearing clothes as did the people of Gabrielle.

  ***

  Looking at the reports, Dave could see that the Malakins had negotiated boundaries and trade agreements for a year while masking their true intention of making war the whole time. Such ships and robots weren't made overnight nor easily. Though only pieces of the robots could be brought in for analysis, those pieces were still enough for him and others to look at and admire the sophistication that went into making them. The Malakins were clearly capable of building small when they wanted to.

  Dave speculated that if the Malakins had sent only one or two of those small ships with their larger ships chasing it, there probably wouldn't have been any initial suspicions about the small ships nor of what they carried. The Union squadrons would have stepped in and fought off the larger ships, letting the small ships reach the planet's surface without challenge. Then the military wouldn't even have had any indication of how many robots were smuggled onto the planets, either. Not until after the robots did considerable damage.

  Chapter 3

  Earth was long ago granted the honor of remaining the seat of government since it was the source of all the humans of the inhabited words comprising the Union. The
Congress met almost daily though there often wasn't much of anything to decide as the government operated on the principle of minimum governmental interference in people's lives. Of course, the new war was a topic of concern with all the representatives and not just those outer worlds the Malakins were demanding as tribute. The Congress had stood together and said no to the Malakin demands for three member planets to be handed over, even though two of them were fully within Malak's extension of force at the time. The Congress was rightfully proud that the Union Navy had ripped the two member worlds back from the Malakins, twice in Edun's case, and kept the Malakins from taking Echo and Beulah at all.

  In the back offices of the Congress, representatives from Serapha met with selected representatives from the member planets. Lobbying was still a fact of life, despite strict regulations.

  "Stephen, you're looking good. Saying your prayers each night?" Raymond said with a friendly smile and amicable voice.

  Stephen said, "Maybe not always, Raymond, but I don't think God gets angry with me for being so tired that I fall asleep at my desk without saying a bedtime prayer."

  "Burning the midnight oil? They ought to pay you more and give you a larger staff," Raymond responded.

  Stephen said, "I appreciate your concern, but I know you're not here to look after my soul. You're a lobbyist, so what's on your mind?"

  Raymond said, "Serapha is thinking of applying for membership in the Union. I understand that your Navy suffered severe losses in keeping and retaking some of its planets."

  "There's some truth to that. We might be a couple of squadrons short, but we're in no way in any imminent danger of being overrun. I might remind you that the Malakin losses were even more severe than our own. They've lost nearly ten times as many ships. We've already recalled most of our squadrons on exploration missions to fill in some defensive gaps that developed in our perimeter. We've been lucky so far in that the Malakins have attacked head on in only one sector," Stephen replied.