Atk. Butterfly - Rust Bucket

We still had three weeks of travel to reach Beulah. I had a lot of work to do in the hydroponics during that time. The only major hit we suffered was right in that area. I managed to salvage half of the hydroponics and keep us from starving during the last three weeks.

We finally put in at Beulah, each of us a few pounds lighter, and already celebrated heroes for our action at the Battle of Three Star as it became known. The Thurman went through a month of repair to fix what we hadn’t been able to on that other planet and what damage we subsequently suffered at Three Star. Consequently, I took my first real shore leave in half a year and hand-delivered my completed fourth year class work to the Sarge in person.

Sergeant Clark said, “Dave, you did well out at Three Star. I’ve already seen the Navy combat videos. I understand you were manning one of the Mark III quads. Both of them did outstanding shooting.”

I replied, trying to be modest, “Thanks, Sarge. I didn’t give it much thought at the time. I was just trying to save us as best I could.”

“Well, you obviously did your part. Well, do you regret taking my advice?” he asked.

“No. Not at all. Why?” I asked.

He replied, “Because you’ve got a couple of major decisions to make soon. The Thurman is big enough and good enough that the Navy will probably activate you as one of theirs.”

“They can?” I asked.

He said, “Yes, they can, in a time of war. They’ll probably leave Pennyweight their other gun ships because they’re too small for extended deep space time and battles with heavy warships. You have to decide if you’re going to remain with Pennyweight and whether you’re going to still be on the Thurman or one of the other gun ships. You’ve got enough seniority and rank to ask for and get a transfer to the other gun ships. If you leave the company, then you can probably come back at some other time after the war. Most likely, no one will comment about that. If you stay with Pennyweight and take a transfer, I don’t think anyone will comment, either. Anyway, after the raw deal the Space Academy gave you, no one is going to get upset over you refusing to join up when the Thurman is called for. But this is your big chance to get into the Navy and maybe, just maybe, get your commission. Once you get that, you’ll be able to leave the Thurman when the war’s over and be assigned to a permanent warship if you want. If you don’t want to pursue a career in the Navy, then you’ll be able to deactivate, just like the Thurman will, and return to work as a civilian for Pennyweight. Basically, you’re now in a win-win situation. Almost anything you decide will result in you being in a good position when the war’s over. Some results are just better than others. I’m very glad you went to the effort to maintain your studies and did the class work.”

“It was interesting work and gave me something else to do with my spare time,” I replied.

“It did more than that,” he said with a look of guilt on his face.

“What?” I asked.

He said, “I cheated a little by forging your signature on the application for remote training. You’re credited with what you took. It doesn’t get you a commission, but your bosses at Pennyweight signed the appropriate papers, and certified that they acted as your instructors. So don’t admit that you did the work on your own, though I know that you did. You can thank Penny, Jim, Captain Marsha Marble, Sarah, and a few others later for their support. I know that Sarah wasn’t in a position of rank, but she watched you doing the work. She let the others know that you were actually doing it on your own without help and without looking up the answers, not that I couldn’t tell from the class work I’ve already seen. I still can’t understand how you missed the question on the Faraday cage.”

“I did?” I replied in astonishment.

He said, “Yes, but that was the only one on that particular assignment. Otherwise, everything you turned in to me will be graded and posted with your other grades from the Academy. That ought to get you a boost when it comes time to hand out commissions to people who deserve them for the work they did.”

I asked, “Why did you call Miss Wayte, Penny? She tells all of us not to dare use it.”

He replied, “That will soon change for you. She’s very pleased with how you worked in the past two years. If you stay with the Thurman, doubtless the Navy will be impressed with your record as well. You might get that commission to Ensign yet. You’ll still be behind your own class in rank, but they don’t have what it takes to survive in a real navy, especially a navy at war. If you stick with the Navy, you’ll probably pass them in a couple of years. Maybe you’ll be able to influence what happens inside it in the future.”

“Is that really possible?” I asked.

He answered, “It is, if you aim for it. Mind you, you’re going to feel discouraged by some of the more senior officers when they see that you didn’t finish the Academy. By the way, I have your class ring for you. You paid for it, so it’s legally yours. I don’t think that anyone can tell you not to wear it. It’s not your fault that you didn’t graduate with that class.”

I accepted the class ring and slipped the box into my shoulder pack after taking a quick look at the gold ring with the fiery red stone in the center.

He said, “That’s a wise decision, Dave. Don’t flaunt it in their faces. They might think you have something to prove. They don’t realize that you and a lot of others already proved it at Three Star. That damn bunch of rich kids almost gave the Navy a black eye for their conduct in that battle. Those ships were mostly commanded by members of the class ahead of you. It also had a purge to keep the rich kids in no matter what the cost. They had the other force caught by surprise and ran when they saw that they were outnumbered instead of attacking with fury and decisiveness. Yellow bastards! You and your ship saved their hides and the Navy. The fact that your one welltrained ship took out six of the enemy proves that it’s training and guts, not credits that makes a force formidable. By the way, don’t listen to any of them if they complain that your ship took a powder after taking out six enemy ships. You weren’t in the Navy yet and weren’t obligated under any laws to remain there. If anything, they were obligated to protect you, despite your guns, because you were the civilian ship. Remember that if any of them slimy bastards opens his mouth. They should have been doing their job in the first place by attacking instead of running. When you came on their screens, they should have warned you out of the area while there was still time for you to do so.”

I replied, “I’ll remember and thanks for the advice, Sarge.”

He said, “I know you’ll remember. I’ll be seeing you soon before you go anywhere.”

“You will?” I asked not having decided to visit again while on this shore leave.

“Yes, probably more than once,” he said. “Don’t worry. It’ll be under good circumstances. Of that, I’m sure.”

Sarge was right about the circumstances being good. Our ship and crew were awarded with medals of bravery from the Navy in partial recognition of us taking part in the action at Three Star. It was also because we didn’t make a stink about being the civilian vessel that should have been protected at any cost instead of us saving them. Sarge was present when we were lined up and presented our medals. Mine included two gun blossoms and Sam’s had three for the ships we actually took out with our own personal gunfire.

It was when the third week of repair was complete and the end of repairs was in sight that the Navy publicly announced plans to draft all the large civilian warships. The Thurman was going to war. Additional equipment arrived to be installed in her during that last week of repair. Right after I heard that announcement, I was called into the office.