pigeon: in a formation of military vessels, the vessel being protected or escorted by the others, particularly if there is only one such vessel and it is of particular importance.
PITA: Pain In The Ass.
Posident: POSitive IDENTification.
Pulse cannon: a ship-mounted weapon that fires a pulse of plasma diverted from the ship’s main fusion reactor and accelerated to between .85 and .95 c by magnetic coils. The plasma is held in a concentrated “bolt” by a magnetic field generated by a compact, liquid Helium cooled, fusion cell powered emitter unit inserted in the bolt just as it is about to leave the cannon tube. When the emitter stops generating the field, either because it has consumed its coolant and is vaporized by the plasma, the timer turns the emitter off at a set range, or the bolt strikes a target destroying the emitter, the bolt loses cohesion and expands explosively. Pulse cannon are rated based on the power output of their coil assemblies which determines how much plasma can be fired in a given pulse; the explosive power of a pulse cannon bolt, measured in kilotons, is roughly 1/300 of the power rating in gigawatts. Accordingly, a maximum power bolt from a pulse cannon with a 150 gigawatt rating will be approximately 0.5 kilotons. If the firing ship is traveling at a high fraction of lightspeed, the speed of the plasma pulse can exceed .99 c.
quaere navis: (Romanovan Latin)—search the ship.
Quartermaster: a non-Commissioned Officer with a rank equivalent to Chief Petty Officer, who—subject to the supervision of the Supply Officer—is responsible for all ships stores that are not weapons, ammunition, galley food, medical supplies, replacement parts, used in the operation of ship’s systems, or intoxicating beverages. For example, the stores maintained, inventoried, and issued by the Quartermaster would include uniforms, cleaning supplies, bedding, linens, boots, toiletries, badges, patches, rank insignia, shoelaces, replacement buttons, surface survival gear, and office supplies. Even on a small ship such as a Destroyer, the Quartermaster’s domain includes roughly one half of the ship’s non-fuel storage capacity and consists of tens of thousands of separate inventory items.
Queeg, Phillip Francis, Lieutenant Commander: fictional commander of the Destroyer-Mine Sweeper USS Caine during World War II in Herman Wouk’s classic novel The Caine Mutiny. The book was made into an equally classic film with Humphrey Bogart playing Queeg. Queeg suffered from Paranoid Personality Disorder which progressed during the course of the novel to Paranoid Psychosis which caused him to give increasingly bizarre and erratic orders to his crew. He had a compulsive habit of rolling two ball bearings around in his left hand and suffered a breakdown while commanding the ship in a storm resulting in the Executive Officer relieving him of command, for which act the XO was charged with and tried for mutiny.
qui inrita ordinem: (Romanovan Latin) cancel that order, belay that order.
Raven: A large anti-ship missile carried by Union Warships. Much larger than the Talon (see) and with a higher top speed, the Raven accelerates more slowly, is less nimble, and is more vulnerable to point defense systems and countermeasures than the Talon due to its larger size. Manufactured by Gould-Martin-Marietta Naval Aerospace Corporation, the Raven finds its target with both passive and active multi-modal sensor homing and then inflicts its damage with a 1.5 megaton fixed yield fusion warhead powerful enough to destroy all but the largest enemy vessels and to cripple any known enemy ship. Ravens are equipped with an innovative system known as Cooperative Interactive Logic Mode (CILM—pronounced “Kill ‘em”). When more than one Raven is launched against the same target, CILM causes the missiles to communicate with one another and attack the target jointly, closing on the enemy from multiple vectors to render defense more difficult and exploding at the same instant to inflict the most damage.
REFSTAMAT: REFerence STAte MATrix—the “virtual ship” representing the precise condition of the warship in the ship’s computer. The REFSTAMAT includes the exact—as tested—performance characteristics of every part or component installed in every system in the ship. The extent to which the REFSTAMAT predicts or matches the actual characteristics of the vessel is referred to as “congruence” and should be, at a minimum, 99.999 percent, known as “five balls. Most vessel engineers prefer their ships to operate at 99.9999 percent, known as a “sixpack.” When a vessel’s congruence falls to 99.99 percent, it is said to be in dire difficulty, that state being known as “fournication” because “you’re really screwed.” The term is believed to be an homage to the NASA acronym REFSMMAT or REFerence to Stable Member MATrix, which was a mathematically-defined fixed point in space relative to which the location of a spacecraft and its orientation in space were measured. The REFSMMAT gave birth to the heroic Captain Refssmat, a mythical “ideal flight controller” who existed in the lore of flight controllers during the Apollo Program.
regardez donc: (Cajun French) An expression of awe and amazement, roughly equivalent to an extremely emphatic “wow.” Literally translates as “look at that.”
Registry Numbers: the unique identification number assigned to each warship, consisting of its three letter class code followed by a number. The class code is a unique set of three letters assigned to each ship class for easy identification. The first letter of the class code is always the same letter as the ship type. Accordingly, the class code of all Destroyers begins with “D,” all Frigates with “F,” all Carriers with “C,” etc. This system doesn’t help the uninitiated tell the difference between a Cruiser and a Carrier and a Corvette just from the Class Code—naval personnel simply have to memorize the forty or fifty class codes in use at any given time. The number is the ordinal number designating where that particular ship falls in the production order of that class. Accordingly, the fourth ship produced in the Khyber Class of Penetration and Attack Destroyers (the USS Cumberland) is DPA 0004. Registry numbers are always written as three letters and four digits, even if the leading digits are zeros, a practice that evolved as a check against the digits being inadvertently dropped in transmission, decrypting, or printing.
Richthofens: fancy maneuvers. From Baron Manfred von Richthofen, better known as the “Red Baron” the famous World War I German fighter pilot.
Robinson, Will: (see Will Robinson).
RRS: Royal Rashidian Ship. Used to identify a Rashidian Naval Vessel much as USS (Union Space Ship) precedes the name of a Union Naval Vessel.
Salt Water Navy: a Navy comprised of ocean-going ships as opposed to one comprised of ships that travel in space. In the Union Navy, the term is particularly used to refer to the Navies on Earth the officers and traditions of which (along with the Air Forces) formed much of the basis for the United Earth Spaces Forces in 2034 (the Navies of the United States and Canada, Great Britain, and Japan were particularly important). Also used as an adjective phrase to modify a tradition or practice that dates back to those days, for example, “Never renaming a ship after it is launched is a Salt Water Navy rule.” Referring to something as being Salt Water Navy is to invest it with great tradition and antiquity and, given the Navy’s reverence for tradition, enormous authority.
Schirra, Walter Edward “Wally”: (born March 12, 1923; died May 3, 2007), one of the original “Mercury Seven” Astronauts, Schirra was known for his precise and organized approach to the task of testing aircraft and piloting spacecraft. He was notoriously opposed to any kind of crash effort or panic in a crisis, believing that the way to get things done was to keep a level head and “pull an even strain.” Schirra’s approach to being an astronaut was symbolized by the Greek letter sigma, which in mathematics stands for summation or, in Schirra’s mind, bringing everything together. The symbol persisted on the emblem of NASA Mission Operations until NASA was merged into the United Earth Space Exploration Authority (UESEA, pronounced “you see”) in 2034 when mankind obtained the technology to explore interstellar space by defeating the Ning-Braha at the Battle of Luna on July 20, 2034.
Schwanzlutscher: (German) cocksucker.
Schweinhund: (German) an insult that d
oes not translate very well into Standard. The word literally means “pig-dog,” but has connotations that go well beyond the translation. It is best understood as meaning that the person to whom it is applied is vile, disgusting, and utterly devoid of decency. It is a fitting insult for someone who steals little old ladies’ pensions, runs a child prostitution ring, or sells out his shipmates.
scones: small, single serving cakes, usually lightly sweet and baked in flat pans, traditionally a part of the English Tea refreshment, often served with cucumber finger sandwiches. Believed to have originated in Scotland. Likely an acquired taste, like cucumber finger sandwiches.
Scotty: the traditional nickname for a Warship’s Chief of Engineering, irrespective of the national origin of his ancestors. Like “Bones,” the nickname is believed to have originated with the Star Trek franchise (see), as “Scotty” was the nickname of Lt. Commander Montgomery Scott, the Chief Engineer of the fictitious USS Enterprise. As the character became incorporated into spacer lore, it was said that Scotty could repair a fusion reactor with nothing but duct tape and a ladies’ hairpin, drank Scotch like weak green tea, and defied hostile aliens with icy ultimatums articulated in a rich Highland Burr.
SDMF: Self Destruct Mechanism, Fusion. A fusion munition carried on all Union Warships prior to the Battle of Han VII for the purpose of destroying the vessel as a last resort to prevent it from falling into enemy hands. It was issued in three versions, imaginatively named the SDMF-Mark I, the SDMF-Mark II, and the SDMF Mark III. The Mark I had a yield of 0.2 kilotons, the Mark II of 0.6 kilotons, and the Mark III of 1.5 kilotons, to accommodate different vessel sizes. The largest Battleships and Carriers typically carried two Mark IIIs or a Mark III and one or more Mark IIs to ensure that no part of the vessel would survive from which the enemy could obtain any useful intelligence or engineering data.
Senate: generally and historically, this term refers to the upper chamber of a bicameral legislature of either a State of the United States of America, or of the United States of America itself. In current usage, this term refers to the Union Senate, also called the “New Senate” (although this usage is becoming less common) one of the two bodies of the Union Parliament (the other being the Union Assembly). The Senate consists of five members chosen by the Congress of each of the Estates: The People (the “Voters”), Agriculture (the “Farmers”), Manufacturing (the “Makers”), Shipping and Transportation (the “Movers”), Academia and Science (the “Thinkers”), Extractive Industries (the “Miners”), the Information Media (the “Reporters”), Retail and Consumer Sales (the “Storekeepers”), Lending, Deposits, and Investments (the “Bankers”), Architecture, Construction, and Civil Engineering (the “Builders”), Public Employees (the “Governors”), the Armed Forces (the “Warriors”), Health Care (the “Doctors”), Attorneys, Brokers, Accountants, and similar professionals (the “Lawyers”), and Publishing, Cinematic and Broadcast Tridvid, Trideo Game design and sales (the “Entertainers”). The New Senate, with representation based on the Estates, replaced the Old Senate with membership consisting of two members from each Major World or Inhabited System after the Revolt of the Estates in which the Estates determined that a government in which representation was based on population and locality failed to reflect the economic communities that had arisen in Human Space and that such a government tended to impose unfair burdens on some estates in favor of others. Accordingly, all changes in taxation and declarations of war, as well as significant changes in the Union Budget require the unanimous concurrence of all each Estate represented in the Senate.
SEUR: Safety and Equipment Utilization Regulations (the acronym is pronounced “sewer”). Regulations promulgated by the Navy governing the appropriate use parameters for virtually every imaginable vessel, device, system, or piece of equipment issued by the Navy. For example, the SEURs for a warship include it Gross Vehicle Mass Rating, maximum sustained speed, maximum emergency speed, maximum G load, maximum linear acceleration, maximum angular acceleration, maximum external pressure, maximum reactor pressure, maximum reactor temperature, maximum personnel supported by on board life support, and similar limits.
SIDU: Standard Interstellar Data Units. A unit for measuring quantity of data. One SIDU is equal to ten of the standard data “packets” agreed upon by the old Earth Confederacy, the Pfelung Association, the Kraal League, and the Gheyan Federation in 2225. A SIDU is equal to 4.333 gigabytes.
SIGINT: Signals Intelligence—the branch of Intelligence that attempts to determine the dispositions, intentions, and capabilities of the enemy by intercepting his communications, sensor emissions, navigation beams, and other signals. With regard to communications, often valuable intelligence can be gleaned even if the signals can not be decrypted or translated, as skilled intelligence officers can draw meaningful conclusions from the location, volume, length, signal strength, and other characteristics of communications.
six: shorthand for “six o’clock position,” or directly astern. The term is a holdover from the days of propeller-equipped, subsonic aircraft that were not equipped with RADAR to provide precise bearings to enemy aircraft. Rather than giving bearings to targets in degrees, which would have been a rough estimate anyway, crewmen who spotted enemy aircraft were trained to give their bearings in terms of their angular positions on a hypothetical analog clock, with twelve o’clock being directly ahead of the aircraft, and to say whether the target was “high,” meaning above the horizon or “low,” meaning below the horizon.
SOP: Standard Operating Procedure.
Sparks: The traditional nickname for a warship Communications Officer. The term is of considerable antiquity and may be the oldest such nickname, as it appears to date back to the early days of pre-voice radio equipment of the Salt Water Navy days. Apparently derived from the “spark gap” that was a part of that equipment. While the exact date of the term’s origin is obscure, it was well-established by the beginning of World War II.
speak, friend, and enter: a reference to J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. The phrase was written (in secret writing visible only in moonlight and only after the uttering of magic words) over the West Door to the Mines of Moria, also known as Khazad-dm, a vast underground realm of the Dwarves which, at the time of the story, had been abandoned by them as it was occupied by an ancient and powerful monster known as a Balrog of Morgoth. The door would open upon utterance of another magic word, “mellon” which is “friend” in Elvish.
Squeaker: a particularly young or puny Midshipman. Also squeekie, deck dodger, panel puppy, and hatch hanger (the last for their habit of standing in the hatches while holding the rim, thereby blocking the way).
SSR: Staff Support Room. A compartment located in the general vicinity of the CIC containing between three and twenty four men whose duty it is to provide support to one CIC department by performing detailed monitoring and analysis of the sensors or equipment for which that department is responsible at a level impossible for one or two people assigned that function in CIC. For example, in the Sensors SSR, one man would be monitoring graviton emissions, one man the output from optical scanners, another man neutrino flux, yet another a given portion of the EM spectrum, etc. The CIC officer communicates with the senior officer in the SSR who, in turn, assigns tasks to the other personnel in that room and then communicates their observations and conclusions to CIC. The SSR has the capability to communicate with CIC by voice, text, and by transferring data files and controls one display at each CIC console, known as “SSR ATTN” which represents the display that the SSR wishes the CIC officer to see.
Standard: the official language of the Union; also, the official language or a widely-used second language on virtually every non-Union human world. Standard is derived mostly from the English that was the most widely spoken second language on Earth and was the language of international science, commerce, shipping, and aviation in 2034 when the first human space forces were formed. Although an English speaker could probably, with a reasonable amount of eff
ort, understand Standard and be able to make himself understood to a Standard speaker (an attribute linguists call mutual intelligibility) there are several important differences between the two languages. First, while Standard retained the Roman alphabet used in English and many Earth languages, it abandoned English’s chaotic spelling in favor of a phonetic spelling system in which each sound in the language is rendered by a unique letter or combination of letters, such that if one can spell a word one can pronounce it correctly and if one can pronounce a word one can spell it correctly. Thus, in Standard, “thought” is spelled “thoht, “phonics” is spelled “foniks,” and “neither” is spelled “neether.” Standard also incorporates extensive vocabulary from Earth languages other than English, particularly Japanese, from which many technical terms are derived, mainly terms related to Robotics. In this book, Standard is rendered as weakly idiomatic early twenty-first century English, with vocabulary and spelling appropriate to that era. While Standard is a nearly Universal Human Language, there are differences in how it is spoken from world to world. For example, the Standard on Nouvelle Acadiana is more relaxed and idiomatic than the Standard on New Istanbul, which is more formal and elegant, a fact which the author attempts (with only limited success) to render here by different shadings in characters’ use of English.
Star Trek: an influential television and motion picture franchise—arguably, in terms of science, technology, and space exploration, the most influential entertainment franchise in history--best remembered for the episodes aired on the NBC Television Network from 1966 through 1969. The program followed the adventures of the fictional starship USS Enterprise, an FTL vessel that functioned both as a warship and as an exploratory vessel, as it explored the galaxy. After rediscovery of digital recordings of the programs in October 2314, it is becoming increasingly apparent that this program had an extraordinary influence on the early U.E.S.F. (see). The traditional naval nicknames for warship Chief Engineers (“Scotty”), Chief Medical Officers (“Bones”), and for a particularly brilliant and daring Captain, (“Jim Kirk”) all appear to derive from this program. It also appears that the CIC layout of the first generation of Orion-type warships launched to reclaim the moon from the Ning-Braha was strongly influenced by that of the “Bridge” of the Enterprise. There are remnants of that design in current CIC design, such as the placement of a “command island” in the center of the compartment with the Maneuvering station directly in front of that structure. It is also believed that the program is the source of the term “Jeffries Tube,” and is the reason some early naval documents refer to compression drive as “warp drive.” On the other hand, there appears to be no similarity between the design of the vessels depicted in that program and any warship design, as the television designs if actually built would be structurally weak, dynamically unstable under acceleration, subject to enormous bending stresses when maneuvered, contain comparatively little interior space per unit of weight and hull material, and are highly impractical for many other reasons. The term “red shirt,” meaning “expendable personnel,” an expression heavily discouraged by the Navy and Marines, appears also to have its origin in this program.
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