Penny and Jim were both waiting for me. She said, “Come in, Dave.”
As I did, Jim shut the door. I took the seat that Penny motioned me to and lit up a cigarette.
She continued, “I’m glad you all made it back. Well, you were right in your prediction of them attacking soon. We’ll try to have the ships ready before morning. Jim is going to take over the Thurman then…”
I felt a lump come to my throat for a moment as I heard myself being relieved of my command. I didn’t think I did anything wrong. Had I? My mind reeled almost as much as when I heard the word “dismissed” a long time ago. Suddenly, my world had disappeared.
“…you’ll be a passenger along with the crew members you choose to take with you,” she finished saying.
There was something strange going on. Why would I be choosing crew members to take with me? Where was I going?
“…forty of them. Once you get there, you’ll activate the Rust Bucket and your orders will be unsealed.”
She was holding out an envelope to me. I accepted it with shaky hands. Something was going on, but I still wasn’t sure what I was hearing. “You mean I’m being relieved from command?” I asked.
I think that Penny realized then that she had phrased it badly and I hadn’t been able to follow her properly. She must have seen how hurt I looked and she stopped for a moment. Then she rephrased what she was saying and repeated herself, “You’re being transferred to command of a new ship, the Rust Bucket. You’re not being relieved of command, Dave. You’re the best captain I’ve got and I’m giving you the best ship I’ve got. That envelope in your hands contains your orders once you take over your new ship. I’m sorry you’ll be a little short-handed in manning it, but you can only take two officers and forty crew members with you.”
I was doing my best to put my emotions under control again as I wondered how I could be short-handed with a crew larger than the Thurman normally carried. What kind of ship was this new rust bucket or was that its name? “Yes ma’am. I think I understand. I’m being transferred to a new ship. I’m to take two officers and forty crew members of my choice.”
“Don’t worry. Just pick the people you know can handle anything and be ready to ship out in the morning. You’ll understand better when you get to your destination. Just be glad that George got his message to us in time to get all of you back here now. Now he’s going to need your help and soon. So, pick your people and rest here overnight. You’ve got to be rested. You won’t have much time afterwards,” she finished saying.
Something told me then that I was being let in on another part of the secret, but that I would have to be patient for almost another day. I slowly got up and then went back out to the ship area where I started calling out names while Jim wrote them down and then sent them somewhere. When I finished, he sent me to the same place which was the company billeting area for the night.
Sleep was almost impossible for me that night as specters from the past kept haunting me while I worried about Annie, William, and Angelica. Communications were being limited by the authorities because of the alien land invasion. I only knew that four hundred brave cadets had been activated from the Academy to face them as ground troops. Whether they were winning or not, I hadn’t the slightest clue.
Outside in the ship area, work was going on to repair the Pennyweight squadron of gun ships as fast as was humanly possible.
Chapter 25
We were up just before sunrise with our gear and wondering if the repairs had actually been finished. Except for myself, the others knew even less of what was going on. They only knew I had picked them for a special assignment.
For myself, I only knew I had sealed orders much like I gave to my squadron on occasions before in the war when I served with the Navy. Only, I was on the other end of the envelope. I wondered what was inside that was so important that I couldn’t know about it until I reached my destination?
We left the billeting area just as Jim was coming to fetch us. He smiled and pointed at the shipyard. I led the men and women I chose out to where the ships were. We filed on board the Thurman where another crew was already in position. We had to ride in the cabins, dining area, and crew quarters in order to find enough space to fit in. The ships had been hurriedly patched I noticed while everyone went on board. There were lots of shiny new plates all over the four ships. They no longer looked like rust buckets. They were more like patchwork designs on a metal quilt. We hustled on board with a sense of urgency that somehow manifested itself without any help from anyone. I was the last in before the hatch was sealed and took a position on the bridge as Jim beckoned me to stick close to him.
Quickly, we lifted off. For once, none of the ships went through a battle stations drill as we cleared the planet’s surface. I thought at first that it would be a trip to another planet. Instead, we rode in orbit until we were only on the other side of Beulah where we set down in some very rugged terrain. The other three ships of our small squadron remained in space above us.
Jim said, “This is where you and your folks get off. I’ve got to rejoin the squadron. You’ll find your ship over there. There’s some ship construction people still there who’ll give you some advice before you lift off. Good luck!”
Jim extended his hand. I accepted and shook hands before I left the bridge to make my way for where he had pointed. Behind me, some of his crew were hustling the officers and crew I selected to leave the ship and follow me.
I almost didn’t see anything at first. Then I spotted some of the construction personnel whom Jim talked about. They spotted me at the same time. I started toward them as they waved me onward.
“You must be Captain Oden,” one man said.
I replied, “Yes sir, I am.”
He said, “Pleased to meet you. You should be able to send those Ape-oids packing with this baby. Where’s your pilot?”
“Hey Frank!” I hollered. I saw him suddenly pop out of the crowd and catch sight of me. “Over here, Frank! These men want to talk at you.”
Frank seemed to be caught up in the urgency of the situation and hurried over. One man started talking to him and the other man came over to me.
“Captain, tell the rest of your personnel to follow us and I’ll lead you to your ship.”
I turned to the other personnel and waved my arm for them to follow while shouting, “This way!” They followed as I walked alongside the man who seemed to be enjoying every moment of the short walk. Then I realized that there was a ship in front of me covered in camouflage netting. From the size, I could tell that it was larger than a heavy cruiser.
“My god! It’s huge! What is it?” I asked.
“That, sir, is the Rust Bucket, your new ship. It’s been five years in the making. It’s actually bigger than the ill-fated Liberty. We had to go back into historical archives to figure out what to call it. It’s either a dreadnought or battleship class compared to everything else in the Navy. You’ll have speed and firepower to match anything the enemy has plus some. We were afraid for the last year that our engines had been duplicated, but everything else is inferior to these powerhouses. Wish we could have given it a shakedown cruise first, but it’s needed now. You’ll have to work through any problems while in action, but we did our best. I’d send some people with you, but they’re needed to complete the George and start work on the David. This arrived a short while ago. I was asked to give this to you.” He handed me another envelope that I accepted with shaking hands.