Read Online Metal Boxes - Rusty Hinges by Alan Black - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Alan Black
Tags: Science-Fiction, Military, Science Fiction & Fantasy, alien invasion, first contact, Space Fleet
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World with me.”
“Five … well, ain’t that a kick in the head! Okay, Ensign Stone, you’re now responsible for them. See if you can get them housing, keep them busy, and out from under foot.”
Stone wondered where Dollish had taken them. The spacer seemed to know what to do, so he kept his mouth shut and sat back down.”
Butcher took a deep breath. “Down to the real business. Every person on this ship volunteered for duty aboard Rusty Hinges on blind faith, not knowing what the navy has in store for us. The prevailing scuttlebutt is that we’re going on a media tour, propping up the population’s flagging approval for the war against the Hyrocanians, giving tours and interviews. That is false. We’re going to be the navy’s Q-Ship.”
Stone caught his breath. A few of the lower ranks around him looked confused.
Butcher said, “For those not familiar with Q-Ships, they were, or rather, now are merchant ships with hidden weapons sent out to catch pirates, acting as their own bait. We will not be hunting pirates. We’re going to jump through the navigation point the Hyrocanians used to infiltrate this system. We’re to hunt the enemy, seek to find his home planet, destroy his shipping where we can, and if we can’t fight, we’ll try to infiltrate his fleet in disguise to gather intelligence. It’s the navy’s plan that we do this and report back without getting killed.”
CHAPTER NINE
Stone said, “Be careful with those. You could get us killed before we enter Hyrocanian space.”
A small team of enlisted crew was yanking mines out from various piles scattered around the open bay and dumping them into a cart. A couple of the men had gotten lazy. Moving mines from one place to another was monotonous, but the men were doing everything short of throwing the basketball-sized munitions.
Stone picked up a mine. The Hyrocanians had stolen the mine design from humans, but they hadn’t bothered to copy them exactly. The explosive could be set to blow up if fired from a shotgun barrel cannon or when it came in range of a spacecraft if tethered to a stationary point in space. The mine would arm itself once it reached a certain speed and a specific distance when fired from a cannon. Like human mines, it could attach itself to a ship or the shield of a ship. If it managed to reach a ship, it exploded. If it glommed onto a ship’s shield, it would stick there until joined by others, then explode in a massive blast of radiation soaking an enemy vessel. All assuming that one side or the other hadn’t interdicted the mine with an IFF signal.
He rolled the mine around in his hands, holding it up for his team to view. “We all know human mines won’t go off—no matter how roughly handled — until armed by a weapons technician, right?”
“Yes sir,” was the chorused response.
“You learned about these mines both in basic training and in your munitions school, right?”
Before the spacers could answer, a petty officer second class spoke. “Yes, Ensign Stone. I don’t know about these other knuckleheads, but I had a whole section in both places on the proper handling of explosives.”
Stone smiled at the woman. She was a quite a few years older than he was and probably had four or five times his years in service. Yet, he was theoretically in charge. “Thank you, Petty Officer Juarez. I’ve actually dispensed more of these against the enemy than I could count in a lifetime.” Thinking back to his time commanding the UEN Periodontitis, he wasn’t sure how many billions he’d spilled against the Hyrocanian fleet during the incident at Point Alpha-Beta. “This is the first time I’ve had to hump them from one place to another inside a ship.”
“Yeah, why is that — um, sir?” a spacer asked. “If the Hyrocanian’s are smart enough to steal our designs, why aren’t they smart enough to store their munitions close to the guns that need them?”
Another spacer nodded. “Yeah!
“Five … well, ain’t that a kick in the head! Okay, Ensign Stone, you’re now responsible for them. See if you can get them housing, keep them busy, and out from under foot.”
Stone wondered where Dollish had taken them. The spacer seemed to know what to do, so he kept his mouth shut and sat back down.”
Butcher took a deep breath. “Down to the real business. Every person on this ship volunteered for duty aboard Rusty Hinges on blind faith, not knowing what the navy has in store for us. The prevailing scuttlebutt is that we’re going on a media tour, propping up the population’s flagging approval for the war against the Hyrocanians, giving tours and interviews. That is false. We’re going to be the navy’s Q-Ship.”
Stone caught his breath. A few of the lower ranks around him looked confused.
Butcher said, “For those not familiar with Q-Ships, they were, or rather, now are merchant ships with hidden weapons sent out to catch pirates, acting as their own bait. We will not be hunting pirates. We’re going to jump through the navigation point the Hyrocanians used to infiltrate this system. We’re to hunt the enemy, seek to find his home planet, destroy his shipping where we can, and if we can’t fight, we’ll try to infiltrate his fleet in disguise to gather intelligence. It’s the navy’s plan that we do this and report back without getting killed.”
CHAPTER NINE
Stone said, “Be careful with those. You could get us killed before we enter Hyrocanian space.”
A small team of enlisted crew was yanking mines out from various piles scattered around the open bay and dumping them into a cart. A couple of the men had gotten lazy. Moving mines from one place to another was monotonous, but the men were doing everything short of throwing the basketball-sized munitions.
Stone picked up a mine. The Hyrocanians had stolen the mine design from humans, but they hadn’t bothered to copy them exactly. The explosive could be set to blow up if fired from a shotgun barrel cannon or when it came in range of a spacecraft if tethered to a stationary point in space. The mine would arm itself once it reached a certain speed and a specific distance when fired from a cannon. Like human mines, it could attach itself to a ship or the shield of a ship. If it managed to reach a ship, it exploded. If it glommed onto a ship’s shield, it would stick there until joined by others, then explode in a massive blast of radiation soaking an enemy vessel. All assuming that one side or the other hadn’t interdicted the mine with an IFF signal.
He rolled the mine around in his hands, holding it up for his team to view. “We all know human mines won’t go off—no matter how roughly handled — until armed by a weapons technician, right?”
“Yes sir,” was the chorused response.
“You learned about these mines both in basic training and in your munitions school, right?”
Before the spacers could answer, a petty officer second class spoke. “Yes, Ensign Stone. I don’t know about these other knuckleheads, but I had a whole section in both places on the proper handling of explosives.”
Stone smiled at the woman. She was a quite a few years older than he was and probably had four or five times his years in service. Yet, he was theoretically in charge. “Thank you, Petty Officer Juarez. I’ve actually dispensed more of these against the enemy than I could count in a lifetime.” Thinking back to his time commanding the UEN Periodontitis, he wasn’t sure how many billions he’d spilled against the Hyrocanian fleet during the incident at Point Alpha-Beta. “This is the first time I’ve had to hump them from one place to another inside a ship.”
“Yeah, why is that — um, sir?” a spacer asked. “If the Hyrocanian’s are smart enough to steal our designs, why aren’t they smart enough to store their munitions close to the guns that need them?”
Another spacer nodded. “Yeah!
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