Paravoid (Rust Bucket Universe)

by Atk. Butterfly

  "Will do, Admiral."

  ***

  "Captain Savala, well done. I'll be going around the ship for awhile to talk with our folks. They deserve a personal well done for their conduct. I saw a lot of good shooting while we disabled their fleet. You can expect one of two things to happen now," Dave said.

  "What?" asked Juanita.

  "They'll either throw everything they have against us or they'll do some honest negotiating. Hope for the negotiating. If we have to fight them again, we won't be able to just disable them. We'll have to destroy their navy," Dave replied.

  ***

  Several days later, the Plato left for its return trip to Union territory. It was escorted by the Academy Squadron. On board the Plato, several ambassadors and business people from the two new neighbors travelled together for the first time together in peace on the same ship, some reluctantly. Mostly, the members of the two neighbors left each other alone while cadets saw to it that they didn't bother each other.

  On board the Dust Bunny, Admiral Oden continued to make his rounds, slightly glad that he had an extra three weeks in space with a deck beneath his feet. It didn't mean that he didn't miss Annie and the kids, but his first love was still the Union and its Navy. It was something Annie knew before she married him and something she put up with.

  On board the Plato, Admiral Oden's reputation and some of his previous exploits became known to both parties of guests. Each side began speaking with their own governments over the radio quite frequently. They had plenty to talk about considering that the Galan force was disabled by mere cadets still in training, in the Galan viewpoint, with a squadron only a fourth the size of a normal Union squadron. They also learned something about the Union Navy and its true size. The Union possessed more than enough strength, both governments realized, to deal with either or both of them in battle. That, in itself, was a sobering thought in addition to the vivid demonstration given by the cadets.

  Chapter 9

  Admiral Oden glanced back longingly at the Academy Squadron sitting on the landing field. Still, the heavy gravity of Beulah felt good as he climbed into his armored hover for the trip home to see his family.

  The Plato, once they were in Union territory, continued on by itself to Earth where the ambassadors and business people from both governments would be welcomed and given a chance to go about setting up normal relations with the Union. Just before landing, Admiral Oden received a message from the Plato that the Greens and Galans were actually speaking civilly to each other. It was beginning to look like they might make some headway in their own problems.

  ***

  Admiral Oden looked out over the hundreds of third and fourth year cadets standing before him on the academy grounds. He stepped to the podium and spoke, "In another month and a half, I'll be standing here in front of a lot of you. You'll be in your dress uniforms. Well, most of you will, anyway."

  He received some polite laughter from the cadets as they caught the inference to those among them who didn't wear clothing. Dave continued as the laughter faded away quickly. "I'll probably give the first of many boring speeches then that you'll hear while you're in the Navy. However, today is an unusual event. I rarely get to convene a class, let alone more than one, in order to present awards for outstanding deeds. Because of the actions you saw while in space, you were temporarily on duty with the Navy as actual ensigns. As such, you are entitled to awards for various acts of bravery and other deeds or actions that merit official attention. I don't think a single man or woman, be you human, Blue, or Ape-oid, received anything less than two awards for your actions. I know that everyone of you earned them and have the right to wear them proudly for the rest of your life. Now, if you'll bear with me, pun intended, I'll begin the awards presentation. You may all stand at ease while you wait your turn."

  Again, there was polite laughter as the cadets picked up on the Admiral's joke.

  ***

  It was probably one of the longest presentations that Admiral Oden ever made as he went from cadet to cadet, shook hands, chatted very briefly, and presented awards while one of the academy sergeants announced the award and what it was for. More than once, someone following Admiral Oden had to be replaced by another person carrying more awards because there were simply too many to be carried by just one person.

  ***

  "Well, Admiral, are you going to be ready for your training at the senior officer's course?" Sergeant Clark asked.

  "Beg your pardon?" asked Dave.

  "You don't know yet?" George said.

  "Apparently not. Fill me in, please," Dave said.

  "Well, Admiral Heavywolf put in his suggestion for a senior officer course to train the senior officers on all the new innovations in the Navy. It's been adopted. Of course, if you retire or deactivate so that you can run for office, I guess you can avoid taking the course until you return to the Navy," George said.

  "Okay, I remember about Admiral Heavywolf's suggestion. I'm glad it was adopted, but I thought it was for senior officers at the naval bases who aren't on ships," said Dave.

  "That's you. You're at a base, most of the time."

  "George, you're pulling my leg on the training. Aren't you?" asked Dave.

  George said, "Never could pull a good one on you. You're right. You're not going to the training course because you see space duty each year. It's for senior officers who don't and haven't seen space duty for more than three years. From the looks of the training program, Admiral Heavywolf did a good job putting it together."

  "He and about a hundred or more cadets. They had a hand in it, too," said Dave.

  "I know that, but he did most of the work. I saw what they did to his recommendations. Old Wolfie didn't miss much at all. He just worries too much," said George.

  Dave said, "That's true enough."

  ***

  Admiral Oden was mystified at the news on the net. Strangely, despite the fact he did nothing to push along his consideration as a write-in candidate, the press was now attacking him on a daily basis. He read carefully, determined to see what it was that he was doing that made him such a large target.

  Of course, he hadn't been out of sight of the news even while on the training mission. Even so, the journalists made their reports about the cadets mostly. During the last weeks, they were kept busy on the Plato interviewing two newly discovered races of people. For over half the journey, they left him to himself, bored with his routine. Dave had greatly appreciated that after having to go through hell at first with the Daily Bread and its hired pirates.

  Now he wondered why the news services in general were treating him almost as the Daily Bread had done. He wondered if it was some sort of test to see what he was made of. If it was, it was far more insidious than any test he or the instructors had ever devised for the cadets. It seemed as if there were more press services represented outside his Headquarters door on the Academy grounds than ever before. Already, a number of journalists and reporters were asking for personal interviews. So far, he had kept the personal interviews from happening and wondered if that was what he was doing wrong. He wasn't afraid of what the press could do to him, but he was concerned that any attacks on him might also hit either the Space Academy or Navy. Neither of those deserved to suffer any punishment because of his status. Dave made his decision and called one of his sergeants into his office.

  "Yes sir," the female sergeant said.

  "Go ahead and set up times for personal interviews when the press asks for them. We'll only ask them to limit their interviews to an hour. No other restrictions will apply should they ask about what they can cover in the interview," Dave said.

  "Are you sure you want to permit interviews, sir?" Sergeant Pettibone asked.

  "It can't really hurt me. The worst I can do is come off looking foolish," he replied.

  "Yes, sir. I'll start accepting interviews. Do you want a limit on how many of them per day?" she asked.

  Dave replied, "Not more than four. I doubt if I'll g
et much work done, otherwise."

  "I'll try to get some of them to pool their interviews," she stated.

  Dave remarked, "That sounds like a good idea."

  ***

  The reporters were stunned when Sergeant Pettibone answered a reporter's request for an interview.

  "This afternoon at one," she replied.

  Immediately she was swamped with more requests from reporters and journalists she previously said no to. Truthfully, she said no to all of them on one or more occasions during the few days since the admiral's return from the training voyage.

  ***

  "Admiral Oden, Noel Manner with the Edun National Sun. I'm not here to ask you for an interview so much as a photo opportunity."

  "Photo opportunity? I don't understand. Don't you all have or get enough photos and videos of me already?" asked Dave.

  "I'm not saying you haven't provided enough, sir. It's just that our subscribers on at least four worlds would like to see you out of uniform, sir."

  "Oh, in civilian clothes. I rarely wear those," replied Dave.

  "No sir, not in civilian clothes. In the nude, sir. Our subscribers are on Echo, Leuion, Opal, and Edun, sir. They've been e-mailing us to provide nude images of you, especially on Edun," Noel explained.

  "I understand your request now. I'm afraid that the best I can do for you right now is let you make a copy of the image on that plaque on the wall. I'm not into posing nude. I have nothing against it, but I don't care to put myself on display, Mr. Manner."

  Noel looked at the plaque and said, "Well, if this is the best I can do, then so be it. Thank you, Admiral. I guess I'll have to keep trying. Maybe you'll change your mind later. Nude images or videos of you would boost you at least ten percent on Edun where you're being considered as a write-in nomination for candidate to run for Congress."

  "Sir, if I were formally running for Congress as a candidate for Edun, I wouldn't hesitate to let the folks there have a good look at me. So far, I'm not running. The peoples of Edun and Beulah are both considering whether to write me in to be a candidate to run for Congress. That is their decision so far and I have no intentions of trying to sway them one way or the other," said Dave.

  Noel said, "Then if you are, I'll return and hold you to that, Admiral."

  "Noel, if the people of Edun nominate me as a candidate, I'll try to represent them in whatever manner they prefer. If that means they want me to walk around naked while I run for office, then I'll oblige them. Similarly, I would conduct my run for Beulah in whatever manner they preferred. However, until anyone nominates me, I have my own life to live and a job to perform," Dave said.

  "That's a pretty fair statement and position, Admiral. I wish you luck, then. Thanks for your time, sir," Noel said.

  ***

  "Sir, we're being followed. Lose them?" the driver asked.

  "Yes, please," replied Admiral Oden.

  The driver picked up his radio handset and said, "Activate Plan Confusion."

  Five minutes later, several identical hovers pulled up around the admiral's hover and changed places randomly with each other. As they did, the admiral and two guards lowered themselves in their seats so they were no longer visible. The hovers kept on changing places for several minutes until they finally split up to go in different directions.

  "Did we lose them?" Dave asked.

  "It appears so, but don't pop up yet. Give it another minute," the driver said.

  ***

  The hover crossed the small lake to the island where Admiral Oden climbed out and met his wife. The hover moved to a small building and parked inside out of sight.

  "Rough day, Dave honey?" Annie asked.

  "Not really, but I've got news people trying to follow me all the time now. It seems the closer it gets to the nominations, the more news people there are," Dave replied.

  "Well, I saw the news on the net. You jumped five percent on Edun today because of what you said to Mr. Manner," she said.

  "Just stated how I would handle the situation if I'm called on to run. I'm just glad that Echo isn't trying to draft me," he said.

  "Oh, you and your old stuffed-shirt ideals! There's nothing illegal about what happens on Echo or anywhere else. I'm surprised that we've never really talked seriously about having another wife or husband in our family," she said.

  Dave said, "Wildcat, you're plenty for me. I don't need another wife. I hope that I'm enough husband for you, not that I'd object if you were to add another to our family. I'd be somewhat disappointed, but I wouldn't object, you know."

  "I know that. You want me to take your clothes inside so you can play with the kids before supper?" she asked.

  "I suppose so. Where are they, anyway?" he asked.

  "They're exploring the lake bottom. I've got a tank set aside for you over on the west side of the house. Your fins and mask are there, too," she replied.

  Dave undressed, mostly to please Annie who preferred to live a nude lifestyle. She managed to do so when the Universal Rights Bill weren't fully enforced Union-wide by making sure she owned enough land to pursue her rights without any neighbors complaining. She even permitted anyone to visit her property provided that they went nude to accommodate her wishes. Otherwise, she didn't want them around. Her only exception, so far, was granted for the driver and guards who took care of her husband. Annie took Dave's clothing and carried those into the house.

  Dave went to the west side of the house where he easily found his scuba gear. It took only a moment for him to put the gear on and walk to the water. He could see where the kids were by the fine traces of disturbances in the otherwise glassy appearing water. There was very little wind and the waterfall wasn't causing much of a disturbance on the surface very far away from itself. He entered the water, felt its warmness against his bare skin, and swam out to where the kids were.

  ***

  Dave motioned to the kids that it was time to return to the house for supper. They nodded and swam towards the island. As they reached the shallow water, they stood, removed their fins and masks, and then walked up onto the beach. It wasn't until they reached the beach that the kids turned it into a foot race to reach the house. Dave let them run since they had plenty of energy to use up. He wasn't tired and certainly could have run with them easily, but he was still thinking about everything going on around him day to day.

  ***

  Admiral Oden looked over the assembled cadets from the third and fourth year classes. He stepped to the podium and spoke. "I really didn't expect us to meet again so soon, but this seems to be a year for unusual events as you all know. At least, some of you are getting plenty of use out of your dress uniforms."

  There was polite laughter among the cadets that faded as soon as Admiral Oden resumed speaking. "It seems that we're not finished handling out awards for good deeds and heroism. Although all of you had some part to do in the rescue of Captain Shumla's warship, which was damaged by an asteroid, there were some of you who were closer to the action. For their efforts, those individuals are being recognized by the Federation of Planets. It doesn't mean that the rest of your efforts weren't needed or appreciated, but rather that the individuals being singled out did more than what was expected under Federation of Planets criteria. Without further ado, I now introduce Ambassador Meimi Obolon of the Federation of Planets to present the awards. Ambassador Obolon, the stage is now yours for the ceremony."

  Ambassador Obolon smiled and stepped forward. "Thank you, Admiral Oden. Don't leave yet, please. You are also to be honored. It is my honor to present you with the Federation of Planets Award for Valor from my government grateful for dealing with the Galan fleet when they threatened the negotiations on the Plato. I also award you for your part, however small choose you to call it, in the rescue of our warship, the Federation of Planets Award for Service."

  Admiral Oden, slightly surprised, stepped forward to the Ambassador and bowed his head so that each of the awards, a flashy medal on a sash, could be placed around his nec
k. He stepped back and saluted sharply out of respect and then moved back out of the way, leaving the stage to the Ambassador, again. The whole while, the cadets were applauding and cheering him as his medals were awarded. They quickly quieted down as he moved out of the way, so that the Ambassador could continue.

  The ceremony moved along briskly with several dozen cadets receiving honors from the Federation of Planets. A few, like Admiral Oden, received two awards, one for valor and the other for what was roughly equivalent to humanitarian service. Most of the cadets received awards for valor during the quick battle between the squadron and the Galan fleet. Brut and Lydia were honored last and received three each, their third being an award for saving the life of the doctor from the Green warship.

  ***

  "Admiral, your cadets are very enthusiastic. Have I used right word?" Ambassador Obolon asked.

  "I think you chose an excellent word, Ambassador, to describe my cadets. I believe that they truly appreciate your government's recognition of their acts, even though they did what they did without expectation of reward," Admiral Oden replied.

  "They were not expecting these awards?" Ambassador Obolon asked.

  "None of us were, sir. I only received notification of your arrival and purpose but an hour before you arrived on the academy grounds. I think that it is a great honor for your government to recognize their efforts," the admiral replied.

  "I understand that you are the Union's most decorated officer," Ambassador Obolon stated.

  "I've heard that's so. I've never bothered to check, however," Admiral Oden replied.

  Ambassador Obolon said, "Well, we were lucky to have you there when the Galans tried to attack the negotiations. We have a few officers with abilities such as yours. I wish we had more. If you ever feel the need to have a ship beneath your feet, let us know. We can be very, uh, grateful?"

  Dave replied, "I appreciate the offer. However, I feel I'm still needed here, even if I don't get a ship beneath my feet as often as I'd like. I understand that you would like to observe some of our training. Would you care to observe the cadets now?"