Rust Bucket (11 page)

      "No problem," answered Jean. "We'll still be able to monitor them on sensors. If they do, they'll have to be able to figure out where we're coming out. There's no way for them to all be in the right spot at the right time. Maybe two of them, but shouldn't our gunners be able to take care of that many?"

      I asked then, "Are there any other suggestions? If not, then I want long range sensors to find me the biggest, baddest asteroid field imaginable and give the coordinates to navigation to plot a course for. Don't even wait for an okay to change course. I want us going there as soon as possible. Just don't put us in range of those ships to get there. The meeting is over. Those of you not on duty, get some rest. Pass the word among the crew, especially the gunners, about what we're going to do." I said that while looking my officer in charge of gunnery dead in the eyes. "Also, tell them that they've done an outstanding job so far and we're going to come out of this in good shape."

      Normally, I would have told the crew personally, but my officers were still lagging behind in confidence and taking care of their personnel. I wanted to force them to meet with their people and explain things to them. If they explained it wrong, then they would learn how not to do it and I'd help them clear up the misunderstanding.

      I think the crew sensed what the officers were trying to say and figured out the missing parts for themselves. At any rate, none of them came complaining to me later about what they were or weren't told. At least, it was a start for some of my officers in being concerned about the crew. My own guess is that they probably thought taking care of the crew and ship was not getting them shot up, but you can't win battles unless you takes chances and acceptable risks. My own knowledge of military history told me that one individual or unit in the right place at the right time with the right weapons could hold off overwhelming odds and even win. There was even one recorded case of a lone soldier holding off and killing over three hundred soldiers in a lengthy battle because he had all three factors in his favor. I was determined that we were going to be one of the successful recorded cases of a unit being in the right place at the right time with the right weapons.

***

Fortunately, the sensor operators realized that I didn't want to turn around to reach an asteroid field, so they concentrated on finding one ahead of us that we could reach without giving up our lead over the enemy ships. It took us over a day of travel before we finally spotted one and changed our course to drive for it at full speed. Because of the distance to it, we were able to make the course changes in small increments so that our change in course wasn't immediately apparent to the aliens in pursuit of us. By the time they realized our intentions, it was too late for them to make up any of the distance between us. Nor did they get in a few free shots while we slowed down to enter what must have been the grand-daddy of asteroid fields. It had everything we wanted. It was thick, wide, and deep. It wouldn't be easy for any pursuing ships to cut us off at the other side.

      To make things easier for us, everyone went on duty as soon as we slowed down and entered into the asteroid field and a few of the enemy ships tried to take extremely long range shots at us. Our gunners blasted anything that the sensors and navigation agreed was a threat while the pilots helped each other to keep an eye out on what was practically next to the ship.

      Navigation reported, "Rock on the port side!"

      "I see it! No problem!" the pilot replied.

      "Gunners, rock at starboard, one kilometer distance. Take it out!" navigation ordered.

      Every so often, one or more of the guns opened up on an asteroid. They either blasted it into dust or managed to carom it off into another direction. The sensors were being monitored by three people. One was keeping track of the enemy ships while the other two kept track of the asteroids.

      Sensors reported, "Enemy ship hulled by asteroid!"

      That was grateful news to learn that one of the enemy ships had been destroyed by their inability to negotiate the asteroid field. Of the eighteen ships pursuing us, eight had followed us in. The other ten were trying to circle the field to keep us trapped inside where we would eventually fall prey to one or more of the asteroids or the enemy's brethren. So far, we were lucky that the only thing hitting us was dust. I wasn't aware that part of our rust coating was being scraped off and polished to a bright sheen.

      "Rock on the starboard side!"

      "Gunners! Rock on starboard, two kilometers distance. Take it out!" navigation ordered.

      Because most of the asteroids were coming at us from the starboard side, I was tempted to change course and go with the flow, but I felt that would make it easier for the aliens in pursuit. If I decided to do anything, I'd go the other way. I knew that my gunners were better and could handle oncoming rocks, but I didn't dare take that chance because sooner or later we'd become too fatigued to keep up with it all.

      A sensor operator reported, "Enemy ship hit by asteroid! Oh! There she goes! She's out of control! Scratch one more alien ship!"

      That was two the asteroids took out for us. Now the odds were improving. I wondered just how long I could force my ship and crew to stay inside the asteroid field before the odds went the other way?

      Reports continued to move about the ship as everyone cooperated in spotting and either dodging or destroying the asteroids that threatened us.

      "Rear gunners! When you're not shooting targets given you by navigation and sensors, shoot at some of the asteroids to starboard as we pass. Maybe you can deflect some of them backwards and start a chain reaction for the enemy ships to dodge," I called out over the intercom. At least, it was something for the more rearward gunners to do since they weren't able to reach out for the targets as well as the forward gunners. Quite a few times, their shots were blocked by other non-threatening asteroids.

      Now the vibrations felt through the deck of guns discharging went on almost nonstop as the rear gunners started shooting at any and all asteroids in an attempt to start a chain reaction of moving asteroids. An hour later, their efforts were rewarded when another enemy ship was hulled by an unexpected non-threatening asteroid that shifted its course because one of the asteroids our gunners shot caromed into it leaving them too little response time. The odds were definitely improving.

      I wondered if I should gauge when to get out of the asteroid field on my own perception of my gunners' alertness or when the enemy gunners started making mistakes. If mine started making mistakes first, it wouldn't matter. It would probably be too late then. If it was the alien gunners, then it would definitely be time to get out. However, by doing so, I would probably be saving some of the alien ships that were still able to follow us out.

***

Sensors reported, "Alien ship hulled! No! Two alien ships hulled!"

      "Take us out!" I ordered knowing that our gunners must be nearing the limits of their own endurance since the alien losses were so close together. "Shortest distance to the edge!"

      I could only hope and pray that we wouldn't have too many of the ten alien ships outside the asteroid field on hand to greet us. Then it occurred to me that we could pull the same trick going forward. "Forward gunners! Try to knock some of the asteroids out of the field in front of us! Let's give the enemy plenty of targets to shoot at when we clear the field."

      Now all the guns on the
Thurman
were firing continuously, again, as our gunners blasted some asteroids that threatened us and shot other asteroids with the intention of knocking them into the enemy's path. It wasn't long before I heard comments that indicated that our efforts were having some success.

      A sensor operator reported, "Enemy ship hulled!"

      We had lost another pursuer behind us. If anything, we were lowering the odds and probably the aliens were wondering why in hell we were firing all our weapons the way we were. If anything, I imagine they must have thought we were either crazy or becoming too fatigued and almost done for. Whichever or whatever they thought, their outer group moved away from the asteroid field as more rocks came tumbling out to interfere with their tracking of us. Inside, we only had three alien ships remaining of the eight that went in with us. Meanwhile, one of our communications officers was broadcasting what was happening as we posted more death and destruction on the scoreboard. Whether we actually shot the ships or not, we were claiming credit because they were destroyed trying to get to us and no one else. That gave us fourteen kills so far.

      Frank and the pilots surprised us all at the last moment when they turned the
Thurman
to go with the flow of asteroids just before we would have exited the field. We went past the waiting alien ships to emerge outside their formation. It provided a T-shot on one of them for our alert gunners. The T-shot damaged the alien ship enough that it wasn't able to continue the pursuit. It was also too close to the asteroid field to remain intact for very long. We were still in long range sensor distance of it when it was ruptured from a direct asteroid hit.

      When we exited, only a few of the alien ships were pointed in the right direction to take up the pursuit. They caused more accidents to the three alien ships still in the asteroid field because they had to slow down to avoid a collision as they exited where we were supposed to. One of them was hulled in the process as well, so only two of them made it out.

      A lot of our crew turned in then for rest. We did our best to get back out of range while we maintained a brief exchange of fire with the few alien ships that managed to stay in contact with us. Only because our pilot kept us near the edge of the asteroid field was it possible for us to keep the aliens from getting a solid hit on us. Our ship spiraled the asteroid field so that we were almost always just beyond the horizon, leaving plenty of rocks between us to absorb some of their shots while other shots missed completely. Still, I felt a few slight vibrations in the hull from some glancing hits. Unfortunately, the same rocks sometimes deflected or blocked our own shots back at the enemy. Only a few hits were announced over the intercom.

      Even though the pilot was following the curvature of the asteroid field, he was also doing a spiral so that we wouldn't run back into the other ships farther behind us. Of course, I knew it was only a matter of time before they realized what we were doing and tried to take a shortcut.

      I ordered, "Navigation, find us a planet for a slingshot maneuver. Pass it along as soon as you have one."

      The minutes ticked away as we sweated out our situation. I knew that, sooner or later, the aliens had to figure out what we were doing to keep ourselves from being shot. After all, I already had the solution, why didn't they? Were their officers as bad off as those in our own Navy?

      Finally, I overheard the navigator passing on a course correction to the pilot for the slingshot maneuver. Then I noticed the sudden shift in course as we jetted out at full speed to reach a planet where we could pick up greater speed to outdistance our pursuit. It exposed us for only a moment or two. The aliens didn't know what we were doing before they changed their course as well and their gunners found us again. Of course, we had to dodge a bit more to avoid hits, but they were also in the open. Our gunners reminded them who the better shots were as another announcement of a destroyed enemy ship went over the intercom while the communications officer sent it out for the universe to learn.

      Right then, I could imagine that almost every ship and crew on both sides was probably listening to our commentary in order to learn first hand how the battle was shaping up. Somehow, I sensed then that there were a lot of prayers being said for us as we continued to fight against odds of eleven to one after having destroyed or disabled seventeen enemy ships. I wasn't sure what the aliens were thinking in a situation like this. Probably some of them were coming up with the answers before their brethren who were actually in the pursuing ships and cursing them for being so stupid. I guessed that's what I would have been doing in their positions. I know I thought much the same thing when the
Thurman
was part of a squadron performing similar acts of stupidity.

      At least, we only had a few of the enemy ships close enough to fire at us. That meant we didn't have to pay attention to as many with our own return gunfire as we otherwise would have had to. The moments slid by as we got closer to the planet to make our slingshot maneuver.

      A sensor operator reported, "One of them is going around the other way to cut us off!"

      "Okay," I replied, "let's make this an abbreviated slingshot. Is that possible, Jean?"

      Jean said, "Yes, but not as effective."

      I replied, "Then do it. I don't want to give free potshots to the enemy."

      A few minutes later, we were in the gravitational pull of the planet. Then we were screaming outward at a faster speed than our engines could provide. The enemy ship that tried to cut us off missed us by a wide margin and fell behind quickly. Only the second and third enemy ships behind us were able to pick up on our direction and match us to remain in pursuit. The others were too far behind to be of much assistance or they were totally out of position. Then the odds were only two to one. We were just slightly out of range of one of them. The other nine enemy ships were no longer a consideration in our calculations.

      For the moment, I was satisfied to let most of my crew rest some more from their ordeal inside the asteroid field and exchange very long range shots with the leading alien ship. I almost forgot about taking care of myself when my First Officer came over and relieved me, motioning me to get some rest. As I went to my cabin, I thought that my officers might just become officers yet that any ship in the Navy would be proud to have on board. They were actually starting to think and act like officers. Finally, they knew what it was like to really be at high risk and that the crew would support them as long as the officers gave support in return.