Rust Bucket (3 page)

      It was inside the star systems where the interplanetary engines were important. They were absolutely vital if we were to be able to maneuver and defend the freighters we were escorting. At interplanetary speeds, it was very possible to see, aim, and fire at each other.

      One of the first things we did during our orbital checkouts was to test fire the weapons. For that, I had to report to my gunnery station. Before we even fired the first shot, we practiced reaching our gun stations over and over again from the most inaccessible portions of the ship that could be arranged by the First Officer. He gave us places to go and waited until we were there. Then he sounded battle stations and expected us to be in our stations within seconds. I think I must have practiced getting to my gun station from at least five different places about the ship. Each of those I must have done about four or five times apiece.

      Then we finally went to target practice. Just to make that harder, we had to go through the battle stations drill again for each shot. We were expected to not only race to our stations, but to line up the right target and get in a shot. That was somewhat different from the Navy. There, battle stations meant getting to one's position. No one fired until the order was given. On our ship, battle stations wasn't ordered unless we intended to fight. We weren't in the position of being in a fleet where we could fire from strength. We were firing to get in the first shot and make it count, because every return hit on us made us that much weaker. Our only chance of survival rested in getting in the first and last shots of any battle. If we were to simply report to our gun stations, then the order was simply "man your battle stations."

      Anyway, I wasn't aware of the firepower of some of the weapons on board the
Thurman.
In space, the impact that some weapons have isn't felt in the ship when they're fired. The targets, put out by another ship for us, didn't give evidence of what was used on them either. What I saw through my monitor and view port didn't give me any knowledge of what else the
Thurman
carried. Had I been watching from outside or from some other ship, I would have been impressed with what the ship carried, which wasn't immediately visible until various plates slid out of the way. The rust was more of a disguise than an indicator of the ship's condition.

      Shortly after our drills and target practice, we departed orbit and met up with the company ships that we were escorting. Then and only then did we learn where our destination would be and what we were guarding, if it was hazardous enough that we needed to know. We were going to planet Adriena with a cargo of toxic chemicals. That meant that we would give the cargo ships a wide berth. We would avoid scorching them with our engines if we had to maneuver in order to protect them.

      Chemicals were a favorite target of pirates and unscrupulous shipping companies who didn't mind stealing when they couldn't get cargoes of their own to haul for a fee. Not only that, but in such cases, they usually stole the ship as well, leaving the crew to drift about space in their suits or a life capsule. Most of them weren't foolish enough to kill the crews and make them that much more desperate to fight against the seizures. For that reason, the companies had to have gun ships to escort their important cargoes. Fortunately, the pirates that existed were few and far between. However, the companies that would steal travelled the same shipping lanes. Just our gun ship's presence would keep the other companies honest, though. Pirates, if encountered, would actually have to be fought.

***

We were out four days on a six-day run escorting the freighters when we had our first action. I was in the laundry cleaning my second set of clothes, standard mesh undies and overslicks. The mesh underwear mostly kept the overslicks from sticking to our skin so that it could breathe and perspire properly. The overslicks insulated us against sudden changes in temperature and prevented us from snagging equipment and switches.

      The drills paid off as "battle stations" was announced. We scurried to our assigned gun stations and fired at the oncoming pirate. We scored a few hits and drove him off before he could do anything to us or our convoy of ships. It wasn't as easy as during the drills, even though the drills were practiced with the ship performing evasive maneuvers, because the target was performing them as well. In practice, the targets were stationary. Regardless, from that one encounter, I could tell that the
Thurman
was more than a mere rust bucket. The ship was very much alive and able to lash out with enough punch to deal with the pirates. My initial impressions dissolved to be replaced with a pride in the ship I was assigned to.

      We stayed on Adriena for a week to pick up cargo so that the freighters wouldn't be returning home empty and earning no credits. The return trip was much less eventful since the freighters carried back less valuable cargo.

      When I got back to planet Beulah, I discovered a bonus in my paycheck because the combat videos disclosed that my gun station made two hits on the pirate. I was already appreciative of what Sarge had done for me. He'd gotten me into space in a job where I mattered. Oh, I know, I was still responsible for recycling, but someone's got to do it or we'd all be living in filth and disease while out in space. Besides, having that position entitled me to extra shower time.

      Probably showering was the only thing I had to get used to in the
Thurman.
The shower was a sealed and scheduled room. That meant that whoever was assigned to take a shower had to take it then with whoever else was assigned. Unlike the Navy, we had a whole lot of women on board and not just a few. Fully over a third of the crew was female. Being entitled to a double shower allowance each day because of my job, it was almost inevitable that I would have to share one of my scheduled showers with a woman.

      If I hadn't acquired such an aroma that I didn't need one of my showers, I could have possibly skipped that one since I wasn't used to taking a shower with a woman. Needless to say, the first shower was difficult for me because of my initial embarrassment. However, she and I did our best to ignore each other and get our showers taken. Then we left the shower after the dryers pulled all the water back from the enclosed room to dress ourselves in our mesh undies and then our overslicks. By the third day, I was quite used to seeing and showering with Wellesley so that I no longer felt embarrassed. I wasn't sure how she felt about it though. She never said a word.

***

We barely spent two days back on Beulah before we went on another convoy escort job. The trip was started in the same way as before. We spent the first few hours practicing battle stations and shooting at targets before we left orbit and picked up the convoy to do our job. The five-day trip was uneventful. Not once did anything threatening approach us. The turnaround took only one day before we were escorting the freighters back. Needless to say, there weren't any bonuses in our paychecks for that trip.

***

We were back on Beulah for only two more days before we shipped out again, following standard practicing. It was another trip to Adriena. Wellesley and I were in the shower when the call to battle stations came. We both ran naked from the shower to our gun stations and began fighting the pirate off. That one was more determined. We actually destroyed him, utterly and completely rupturing the hull, in order to protect our convoy. We took one hit ourselves, but quick reaction from the crew kept the damage isolated to the section which was hit.

      Unfortunately, it meant that Wellesley and I spent the next two days naked. We couldn't get to any of the crew quarters to get a change of clothes since the hit was on the showers leading to our quarters. If nothing else, I was glad that we practiced battle stations each time before we joined a convoy. Otherwise, Wellesley and I might both have been casualties. We endured a bit of ribbing about being nudists from Echo, one of the members of the Union of Planets whose citizens were all nudists. However, it was good natured in tone and not meant to harm. Of course, people didn't get too close to me after spending a day working in recycling, either.

      Because of the damage, our ship spent the turnaround time on Adriena being repaired. The company replaced our lost clothing so that we could enjoy some shore leave. We were quite the heroes when we arrived on Adriena because of the fact that we actually destroyed a pirate. Our company received salvage rights on the destroyed ship because we were responsible for its destruction.

      We received just as warm a reception back on Beulah when we returned with a new shower unit installed and other repairs so that we could use the crew quarters instead of sleeping in the corridors. Because of our action against the pirate ship, everyone received a bonus from the company for its destruction and salvage value. The combat videos revealed that I had more hits on the pirate. My check included a bonus for those as well. Suddenly, I was starting to really put some credits of a significant nature into my account. If I ever decided to quit, I'd have enough credits to kick about for almost a year before I would be in dire financial straits. It was a good feeling to know that I had that many credits to my name.

      For a while, the trips to Adriena were almost boring because we didn't have anyone opposing us. Our reputation preceded us. No pirate wanted to tangle with us. Even though the Adriena run was becoming tamer, we still practiced with the same degree of vigor before each run. I guess we made about seven or eight runs before the salvaged pirate ship was commissioned as another escort ship in the company fleet.

***

When the newly commissioned
Edmund
was placed on duty, it took over the Adriena run while we were switched to the Gabriel run. It didn't run as often and it took longer, so our ship being larger was the logical choice since we were capable of carrying the necessary logistical supplies in order to escort the freighters our company sent to Gabriel and back.

      As with any new additions to anyone's fleet, some of the experienced personnel were reassigned to the
Edmund.
New hires were brought in to even out everything on both ships. Suddenly, I wasn't the junior crew member any longer. I still had the same gun station. However, I moved up from recycling to hydroponics. It was still an odorous job so I still had entitlement to a double shower allowance. Of course, the shower schedules were modified to reflect the gain and loss of personnel. I no longer showered with Wellesley during one shower and a man during the other. Now, both of my shower partners were women. At least, I was no longer embarrassed by sharing the shower with a woman. The first time showering with each of them, one of whom now had my old job, wasn't a problem at all for me.

      Because of the many new crew members, we spent several days in space going through our paces, practicing evasive maneuvers, gunnery, emergency procedures, and the like. The
Edmund
spent the same time out there with us. On occasion, we mockbattled with her, winning two of three, the last two after being embarrassed by our overconfidence in the first mock-battle. She wasn't the same ship anymore that we first defeated for real. She had legs on her now and gunners who used to be some of ours, so she had teeth as well. Not only that, but she was being allowed to rust gracefully on the outside much like our ship. I decided then that the rust was merely a disguise meant to convey a false impression to anyone we fought.

***

Our first trip to Gabriel was uneventful, if only because the return trip would be the one with the valuable cargo. If nothing else, it gave us an opportunity to become familiar with the layout of the area in between Gabriel and Beulah. Of course, it would look slightly different coming back, but we knew where some of the likely places for an attack would come from.

      On the return trip, we went to battle stations, but the pirate never got within range and veered off from us. I took my chances on a hit anyway and got a bonus for what would have been a clear hit had the pirate been in range. At least, I learned then that it didn't matter whether or not it was in range. It only mattered that we chased it off or destroyed it. My actions got me recognized on review of the combat videos. I was moved to a more powerful gun, one of the hidden guns that were mostly the reason for our defeating the pirate ship before. Even though I suspected that we had more powerful weapons on board, I didn't know that we had anything like the Mark III duals on board.

They were state of the art, dual-barrelled, swivel-mounted, high-powered, chargedparticle weapons, even for the Navy.

      My actions and the fact that the company was still getting both ships stabilized in personnel resulted in my new gun assignment. It also resulted in a pay increase to my normal salary, even though I was still in hydroponics. If nothing else, I was moving up gradually within the command structure, then being considered a gunner second class instead of third class, handling one of the older Mark II singles.

***

We shipped out again after a week in port and went to Gabriel again. As before, the trip there was uneventful since the cargoes weren't anything all that valuable. Regardless of their value, we practiced diligently before we left.

      While we travelled to Gabriel, I went through some unexpected mail I received from the Sarge. He had sent me some textdisks to study with a short note explaining that if I wanted to eventually captain one of those gun ships, I should finish learning what I would have picked up in my last year and a half at the Academy. It certainly gave me something to do during my few off hours. The first few times I started going over the material, it almost seemed alien, since I had been away from the Academy for so long by then. It actually took me a couple of days to get back into the habit of studying and learning. I hadn't given it any thought until the package arrived, but the Sarge had been right about everything up to then, so I decided it was worth the effort to learn the material.