"That's it, Admiral," he said, as he slid the viewpad back to her.
"Thanks," she said, looking at the list. "I'll see that Arrosian Intelligence gets this information." Jenetta paused for a couple of seconds as she put the pad on her desk. "If I don't see you again for a while, it's been an honor knowing you. I want you know how valuable your services have been to the Galactic Alliance. We're indeed fortunate to have such individuals as yourself and the other members of your team."
"Ditto, Admiral. The small hunk of metal that they've hung on your tunic will never come close to expressing what a difference you've made to this part of the galaxy, and the entire Galactic Alliance. I hope that they do right by you with your next posting."
"Thanks, Trader. Goodbye."
Vyx then did something very unexpected. He stood up and came to attention, then saluted. This was the first sign of military behavior that Jenetta had ever seen him exhibit. As Vyx stood rigidly in front of her, Jenetta couldn't know that it was the first time he'd felt the urge to salute any officer in many years, but she knew it was special. She stood up and returned his salute. He smiled, then turned and left her office.
After he'd gone, she moved to her SimWindow and stared at the activity in the asteroid's port. Perhaps it was because of Vyx's words, but for the first time she realized she was going to miss the base when it was time to move on in a year. Her cats must have sensed something in her mood because they came over and stood at her side, something they never did when she was in the office.
~ finis ~
*** Jenetta's exciting adventures continue in: ***
Vroman Castle
(special preview)
* * *
A Message To My Readers
If you've enjoyed this novel, I hope that you'll take just a few minutes to leave a review on the Amazon site. They are much appreciated, as they often assist purchasing decisions by other readers.
Thank you
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Appendix
This chart is offered to assist readers who may be unfamiliar with military rank and the reporting structure. Newly commissioned officers begin at either ensign or second lieutenant rank.
Space Command Officer Hierarchy:
Admiral of the Fleet (5 Star)
Admiral (4 Star)
Vice-Admiral (3 Star)
Rear Admiral – Upper (2 Star)
Rear Admiral – Lower (1 Star)
Captain
Commander
Lt. Commander
Lieutenant
Lieutenant(jg) "Junior Grade"
Ensign
Space Marine Officer Hierarchy:
General (4 Star)
Lt. General (3 Star)
Major General (2 Star)
Brigadier General (1 Star)
Colonel
Lt. Colonel
Major
Captain
First Lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
The commanding officer on a ship is always referred to as Captain, regardless of his or her official military rank. Even an Ensign could be a Captain of the Ship, although that would only occur as the result of an unusual situation or emergency where no senior officers survive.
On Space Command ships and bases, time is measured according to a twenty-four clock, normally referred to as military time. For example, 8:42 PM would be referred to as 2042 hours. Chronometers are set to always agree with the date and time at Space Command Supreme Headquarters on Earth. This is known as GST, or Galactic System Time.
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Admiralty Board:
Moore, Richard E - Admiral of the Fleet
Platt, Evelyn S. - Admiral - Director of Fleet Operations
Bradlee, Roger T. - Admiral - Director of Intelligence (SCI)
Ressler, Shana E. - Admiral - Director of Budget & Accounting
Hillaire, Arnold H. - Admiral - Director of Academies
Burke, Raymond A. - Vice-Admiral - Director of GSC Base Management
Ahmed, Raihana L. - Vice-Admiral - Dir. of Quartermaster Supply
Woo, Lon C. - Vice-Admiral - Dir. of Scientific & Expeditionary Forces
Plimley, Loretta J. - Rear-Admiral, (U) - Dir. of Weapons R&D
Hubera, Donald M. - Rear-Admiral, (U) - Dir. of Academy Curricula
Ship Speed Terminology:
Plus-1 - 1 kps
Sub-Light-1 - 1,000 kps
Light-1 - 299,792.458 kps or (c) (speed of light in a vacuum)
Light-150 or 150 c - 150 times the speed of light
Hyper-Space Factors:
IDS Communications Band - .0513 light years each minute (8.09 billion kps)
DeTect Range - 4 billion kilometers
Sample Distances:
Earth to Mars (Mean) - 78 million kilometers
Nearest star to our Sun - 4 light-years (Proxima Centauri)
Milky Way Galaxy diameter - 100,000 light-years
Thickness of M'Way at Sun - 2,000 light-years
Stars in Milky Way - 200 billion (est.)
Nearest galaxy (Andromeda) - 2 million light-years from M'Way
A light-year - 9,460,730,472,580.8 kilometers (in vacuum)
A light-second - 299,792.458 km (in vacuum)
Grid Unit - 1,000 Light Yrs² (1,000,000 Sq. LY)
Deca-Sector - 100 Light Years² (10,000 Sq. LY)
Sector - 10 Light Years² (100 Sq. LY)
Section - 94,607,304,725 km²
Sub-section - 946,073,047 km²
Mission Descriptions for Strategic Command Bases:
Strat Com 1 – Base - Location establishes it as a critical component of Space Command Operations - Serves as home-port to multiple warships that also serve in base's defense. All sections of Space Command maintain an active office at the base. Base Commander establishes all patrol routes and is authorized to override SHQ orders to ships within the sector(s) designated part of the base's operating territory.
Recommended rank of Commanding Officer: Rear Admiral (U)
Strat Com 2 – Base - Location establishes it as a crucial component of Space Command Operations - Serves as home-port to multiple warships that also serve in base's defense. All sections of Space Command maintain an active office at the base. Patrol routes established by SHQ.
Recommended rank of Commanding Officer: Rear Admiral (L)
Strat Com 3 – Base - Location establishes it as an important component of Space Command Operations - Serves as homeport to multiple warships that also serve in base's defense. Patrol routes established by SHQ.
Recommended rank of Commanding Officer: Captain
Strat Com 4 – Station - Location establishes it as an important terminal for Space Command personnel engaged in travel to/from postings, and for re-supply of vessels and outposts.
Recommended rank of Commanding Officer: Commander
Strat Com 5 – Outpost - Location makes it important for observation purposes and collection of information.
Recommended rank of Commanding Officer: Lt. Commander
* * *
This map shows Galactic Alliance space after the second expansion. The white space at the center is the space originally included when the GA charter was signed. The first circle shows the space claimed at the first expansion in 2203. The second circle shows the Frontier Zone established with the second expansion in 2273. The 'square' delineates the deca-sectors around Stewart SCB, and shows most of the planets referenced in Books 4 through 6 of this series. The image below this one is an enlargement of that area.
No attempt has been made to show the thousands of stars, planets, and moons in this small part of G.A. space. The only purpose of these two-dimensional representations is to provide the reader with a feel for the spatial relationships between bases, systems, and celestial objects.
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.jpg and .pdf versions of the maps created for this series are available for downloading at : http://www.deprima.com/ancillary/agu.html
should the names be unreadable in your printed
or electronic media, or if you simply wish to gain a better overall perspective.
* * *
Product Decription
Some readers have requested that the product description on Amazon, be included with the kindle copy. I've added it here:
Terrorists are creating a climate of fear on the planet Arrosa, and although no demands have been made, nor claims of credit taken for the attacks, the Prime Minister believes that the government of their neighboring planet, Selax, is solely responsible. As commander of the only Space Command base in that part of space, Captain Jenetta Carver is responsible for maintaining the peace, and the task of preventing a system-wide war falls squarely upon her shoulders. Since the dispatched diplomatic corps hasn't yet arrived at the base, she must resolve the disputes without their assistance. The people of the two planets share a common ancestry and common genus, and Captain Carver manages to convince the two planetary governments to accept binding arbitration, but one party ingeniously stalls the talks for their own purposes.
Meanwhile, several Milora have been discovered in the company of an arms merchant's Tsgardi henchmen. The Milori, an ugly warlike race often compared more to cockroaches then humanoid life forms, come from a home planet well outside Galactic Alliance borders. There's an old saying in Space Command that, like cockroaches, if you see one Milora, there're probably a thousand more concealed nearby. And Jenetta knows that a thousand hostile warriors in GA space can only mean serious trouble is brewing. She immediately dispatches a ship to investigate an Intelligence Section report that Milori ships have been sighted near a planet in the GA's Frontier Zone.
The GSC destroyer Ottawa, following up on the lead, locates a task force of Milori warships exactly where the report states they might, and the captain demands an explanation of their presence in GA space. The Milori respond with action rather than words, leaving little doubt about their intentions, and events begin spiraling out of control.
* * *
(special preview)
Castle Vroman
Chapter One
~ October 1st, 2277 ~
"Is this true?" Emperor Maxxiloth roared, with all the intensity his body could produce! One of his four tentacles darted out and clenched a portable electronic pad so tightly that the device began to warp. He suddenly smashed the pad down onto the table with such force that the officers and ministers, most of whom had averted their four eyes to avoid his stare, jumped in their seats. "Did our First and Second Fleets, the pride of the Milori Empire, run away from a fight with a convoy of merchant ships?" he bellowed. "Have we sunk so low that we fear to have our finest warships engage lightly armed food merchants and baggage handlers?"
Considered by most Terrans to be the ugliest sentient species so far encountered since first moving off Earth, just looking at a Milora can make a person's skin crawl. Terrans often compare them to giant cockroaches, perhaps because of their four bug-like eyes. But the placement of the single color eyes offer them peripheral vision far superior to that of Terrans, and the brown, stringy hair that covers most of their torso, is reported to be keenly sensitive to sound vibrations. Generally about the same height as Terrans, they have what pass for two arms. But instead of hands, the arms terminate in claws. When a claw is open, two opposed digits, like fingers on a Terran, are visible. The digits provide dexterity not possible with claws, while the claws can clamp down onto something like a vise.
A Milora also has four tentacles; and it's probably that fact that upset Terrans so much. The loose cloaks they wear completely conceal their tentacles when at rest, but eyewitness reports indicate that they can dart out to coil around you, then crush you to death, as would a boa constrictor on Earth.
"My Lord," Exalted Lord Space Marshall Berquyth said softly, hoping to calm the emperor, "the intelligence information appears to be accurate, but Supreme Lord Space Marshall Dwillaak couldn't have known they were freighters. They were positioned behind a line of Galactic Alliance warships of the highest caliber, and so far distant that they were barely registering on the scanners. Space Command's senior officer in the area, an Admiral Carver, tricked Dwillaak into believing that the convoys were fleets of warships, and the ship sizes, as recorded by our own DeTect systems, certainly make them appear to be battleships, cruisers, frigates, and destroyers.
"This Carver," Berquyth continued, "is their most able admiral. It was she that annihilated our Third Fleet. Although outnumbered seven to one, she suffered only minor damage to her task force. Her exploits have become legendary throughout the Galactic Alliance, and she is generally credited with forcing the giant Raider organization to its knees. Even they admit to that. At one time, they had placed an astronomical bounty on her head. Two armed assassins died trying to earn that reward; one by her own hands, and the other by a bite from one of her pets. We've obtained a picture of her from one of their news broadcasts."
Berquyth turned to gaze at the enormous wall monitor in the War Planning Chamber where an image of Admiral Jenetta Carver, jumped into focus. Taken during an awards ceremony, the image showed her receiving her third Space Command Cross. The SC Cross is Space Command's highest military award, and second only to the Galactic Alliance Medal of Honor.
"Is this the most recent image of her that we have?" the Emperor raged. "Surely someone of such importance must have her picture taken regularly. My regal visage is captured dozens of times every day."
"This image is just a few weeks old, my Lord. It was part of a live broadcast from one of their news services at the ceremony where she was decorated for defeating our fleets. I know that you're unfamiliar with their military insignia, but if you'll notice her shoulders, you'll see two stars on each. They mean that she's risen to the second level of five, in Space Command's topmost ranks. Her rank and seniority place her sixty-seventh in their top hierarchy of two hundred seventeen flag officers."
"But from what I know of the physiology of these ugly, almost hairless creatures, she looks like a mere child," the emperor said, speaking a bit more rationally now that he had become intrigued.
"She's the youngest admiral in Space Command history, by quite some measure. Chronologically, she's forty-two Earth years old, but she was in stasis for eleven of those years following an accident that occurred aboard her ship while she was a junior officer. Her escape pod, damaged in the explosion of the ship, went undetected by the rescue vessel and she drifted in space until discovered accidentally by a freighter. Space Command, for purposes of calculating years to retirement, records her age as just over thirty-one Earth years."
"Thirty-one Earth years? Isn't that the equivalent of about twenty of our annuals?"
"Yes, my Lord. Twenty-point-seven-seven of our annuals."
"How could someone so young rise to such a powerful position. I distinctly remember hearing that Space Command promotes on some strange sort of merit system instead of the time-honored tradition of clan ascendancy. Is her clan so well connected that she has received special promotional consideration?"
"No, my Lord. Her sire is a mere ship's captain. Her ancestry chart evinces a proud lineage of military service, but as far as our agents can determine, she has not exploited political connections for favorable treatment. She was captured by the Raider organization nine or ten Earth years ago, after sneaking into one of their bases to gather intelligence information, and was subsequently slated for work at one their brothels. But she managed to escape. During the process, she destroyed the entire Raider base along with dozens of warships and tens of thousands of Raider personnel. She still carries the slave brand and is officially registered as the property of Resorts Intergalactic in many systems within the Uthlaro Dominion."
"And this young, escaped slave is responsible for destroying one of our fleets, and greatly humbling the others?"
"Yes, my Lord. The Space Command task force was under her direct supervision, and one of the battleships that faced Dwillaak served as her flagship."
"And she only had twelve warships, not the hundreds
that Dwillaak thought?"
"It certainly appears that way, my Lord. She is incredibly clever."
"Then she is indeed a worthy opponent, despite her young age," the emperor said. Beaming, as if he had already defeated Carver, he said, "Her mounted head will fit in well with the other trophies in my study. You will issue orders for Dwillaak to immediately reverse course, engage this child and her fantasy force again, and bring me her head."
"Uh, there is a difficulty, my Lord."
"What is it?" the Emperor asked angrily. "Is Dwillaak afraid to take on this child again?"
Calmly, Berquyth said, "Not at all, my Lord. He is most anxious to restore his clan's honor. But our spies report that at least nineteen more warships have arrived at Stewart since the confrontation. Carver now has at least thirty-four first-class warships in her command."
"Only thirty-four? We'll crush them to space dust. Dwillaak has almost two hundred left of his invasion force."
"We also know that Space Command has scrambled its entire fleet. We estimate that as many as two-hundred more warships are under way to the border at top speed. We've definitely lost the element of surprise. We can still engage Space Command, but it's extremely unlikely that we could even get near Earth now. At best we might only succeed in destroying much of their force, at the expense of our own."
Milor! Page 33
