Trader Vyx
Page 35
"Captain Kanes has defended your actions and explained that the missing operatives were responsible for recovering an entire transport ship full of stolen Space Command weapons. After further review, they decided that your action was not out of line, given the mitigating circumstances. I think I can assure you that they won't underestimate your abilities or rush to judgment again. Your unique position allows you to countermand Space Command orders to ships in your part of space, but I know that you won't abuse the privilege. Your proximity to the frontier means that you're susceptible to more attacks from the Raiders, so stay ever vigilant. Even though they've got to be plenty shorthanded these days, because of the way that you've consistently decimated their numbers, they're still a very serious threat to your base. And I'm sure that they'd like nothing better than to bring you down. Be very careful. Message me if you need anything. Good luck, Captain.
"Brian Holt, Rear Admiral, Upper Half, Base Commander, Higgins Space Command Base, message complete."
Jenetta sat back to think about what Admiral Holt had just said, but her rumination was interrupted by Lieutenant Ashraf announcing that she had another message from Admiral Holt. Thinking that he must have forgotten something, she tapped the button to listen to his additional words. But instead of Admiral Holt's image, she was greeted by the visage of Mikel Arneu.
"Hello, Angel. Forgive the phony address but I knew that you'd take a message from Admiral Holt right away. I just wanted to congratulate you on your promotion. I've always known that you had it in you to reach the big chair." He shook his head slightly and sighed. "What a team we would have made.
"It's too bad that we missed one another last year. I wonder, would you have been able to take and hold the base if I was still the commandant there? I guess we'll never know, will we? I told the Lower Council that they wouldn't be able to take the base back with just twenty-six ships, but the Upper Council was pressuring them to do something while there were only two warships in port. They thought that if they recovered it, they could push it across the border into the Frontier Zone before Space Command could recover enough to stop them. They put that fool Tolatsak in charge because he had a good record in seizing unarmed freighters and passengers ships. But he was no match for Jenetta Carver.
"I'm continuing to hold your place open at the resort. Some of the Lower Council members wanted to change the bounty back to 'dead or alive' after this latest encounter with you, but I convinced them that you'd be so much more valuable alive. And with you being stuck inside that hunk of rock for the next four years, you pose little threat to us now. So they decided just to increase the bounty on you again.
"So long, for now, Angel. I have a new lab all set up to handle your reeducation when you're brought to me. Be seeing you."
Jenetta scowled as she pushed the com screen down, and then started thinking. Unless Arneu had advance information about her promotion, which she doubted, word couldn't have been sent to him more than fourteen hours ago. Allowing time for the signals to travel both ways meant that he had to be within twenty-one light-years of Stewart. The border to the new Frontier Zone was only eleven light-years away, so Arneu must be within ten light-years inside the frontier. It was unfortunate that he was probably inside the Frontier Zone, but that fact might make him overconfident. It might make him think that he was safe. Jenetta leaned way back in her chair and appeared to be studying the ceiling.
~ finis ~
*** Jenetta's exciting adventures continue in: ***
Milor!
(special preview)
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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
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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.
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Product Decription
Some readers have requested that the product description on Amazon, be included with the kindle copy. I've added it here:
Advanced weapons manufactured for Space Command are being offered for sale on the galactic black market. Trader Vyx, an undercover operative for Space Command, the military arm of the Galactic Alliance, has been sent into the Frontier Zone to procure several weapons from an Alyysian arms merchant, as part of an effort to trace the serial numbers and end the thefts.
All is going smoothly until a Tsgardi mercenary enters the room. He utters a profanity as he recognizes Vyx and immediately reaches for his sidearm. Vyx grabs for his own sidearm, but then has to dive for cover as the weapon merchant's bodyguards open up, turning the room into a killing zone of deadly crossfire.
Vyx manages to kill the mercenary and escape, but is hotly pursued by bodyguards who believe him responsible for the shooting incident that severely wounded their boss. The chase continues through the small Gollasko Colony as Vyx uses all of his skills to evade guards bent on ending his life. Each time he thinks he's lost his pursuers, they turn up again.
While Vyx is fighting for his life on Gollasko, Commander Jenetta Carver is facing her own problems in another part of the galaxy. The Galactic Alliance has decided to expand the border by a hundred parsecs, and Commander Jenetta Carver is venturing into the new territory as captain of a prototype scout ship. An onboard accident sends the small ship flying wildly out of control. They find themselves in a disabled ship, unable to contact anyone, with life support systems beginning to fail. When a passing Raider warship happens across the apparently derelict ship, Jenetta must face the question of resistance or surrender.
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(special preview)
Milor!
Chapter One
~ January 11th, 2275 ~
The sound of his footsteps echoed hollowly off the gray granite walls of the splendiferous palace and raced fleetly ahead of his shadow as he walked in determined silence. Magnificently attired potentates and prime ministers eyed him jealously from oversized portraits lining the hallways. Their time had faded, and Nadeil Marueck now held the high office of Prime Minister on Arrosa. He had steadily climbed, some would say clawed, his way up during decades of government service, and he now stood at the pinnacle of political accomplishment on his home world. The planet still supported a royal family, but the King and Queen functioned merely as figureheads to an adoring populace. Marueck held the real strings of power, and he held them tightly, lest someone as ambitious as he try to wrest control from his vise-like grip.
As he entered the large outer office with his usual arrogant gait, the people hoping for an audience rose quickly from their seats. Without so much as a glance in their direction, he crossed the room and disappeared into his large and lavishly appointed inner office. Stopping briefly to prepare a steaming cup of Gyxorna from a beverage synthesizer, he continued on to his desk and sat down in the ostentatious chair that was just one more symbol of his supreme power. The seat back rose at least two feet above his head, strongly but silently proclaiming its occupant to be a person of unparalleled importance. It’s not that the sixty-three-year-old ruler was short. At four-foot five-inches he was actually taller than ninety-seven percent of a planetary population where the average height for males was three-foot one-inch, and Arrosian women averaged three-foot five-inches. Marueck just felt that the stately chair made him seem even taller and more imposing to the people that were privileged enough to visit his office.
Marueck prepared his mind for the day ahead while he sipped at his Gyxorna and listened attentively to his computer as it read off his appointments. Suddenly he yelled at the computer to stop, put his cup down so quickly and forcefully that the beverage sloshed over onto his desk, and jumped to his feet.
"Mirva," he yelled in a loud and angry voice as he strode purposefully into the outer office to confront his secretary. "I told you that I didn’t want to see that idiot Tiksetti under any circumstances. Why is he listed on my appointments schedule?"
"I’m sorry, Prime Minister, but the King made the appointment for Professor Tiksetti. I couldn’t very well say no to His Majesty."
"You can and will when I’ve given you instructions contrary to one of his eccentric whims. Now contact Tiksetti immediately and inform him that the appointment has been cancelled."
"Yes sir. Right away, Prime Minister."
As she stretched out a hand towards the com unit on her desk, the entire room suddenly shook violently! Plaster dust fell thickly from newly opened cracks in the ceiling and filled the office with a dense, choking, white cloud that all but obscured visibility, while decorative objects dislodged from the walls and crashed to the floor. Waiting visitors in the outer office, having again jumped to their feet in the presence of the Prime Minister, went stumbling into one another before falling. Marueck himself, unable to keep his footing, wound up lying on the floor like the others.
As the shaking ended, Marueck got to his feet and staggered to the doorway leading to his inner office. Pushing open the door, he saw that his massive desk was now a dozen feet closer to the door than it had been just minutes earlier, and the wall immediately behind his desk was completely gone. Large chunks of masonry, wood, and plaster covered the floor and everything else in the room. His magnificent chair had been pushed against his heavy desk with sufficient force to smash the chair to kindling. The room was in total disarray. A breeze, flowing in through the new floor-to-ceiling hole, prevented plaster dust from settling, and kept loose papers swirling about the office. All color drained from Marueck’s face as he stared at the carnage. If he hadn’t lost his temper and rushed to the outer office, he’d have been killed for sure.
Several bodyguards, brandishing laser weapons, burst into the outer office from the corridor and ran to the Prime Minister, identifying the plaster-dust covered ghost-like figure solely by his height. Fearing that there might be additional danger, they grabbed his arms and pulled him away f
rom his position by the inner office door. One guard then cleared the way ahead as the others half-pushed and half-dragged Marueck out of the office to a special elevator shaft. Within seconds, the prime minister was being whisked down to a secure room in a bunker deep beneath the palace. In the minutes following the explosion, a number of other ministers and deputies were likewise collected and brought down to the War Situation Room.
"What’s happened?" Marueck demanded of the young officer in charge of securing the room as he shook his head to dislodge some of the plaster dust that caked his hair and made him seem older than his years by turning the light brown to snow white.
"We don’t have all the details yet, Prime Minister. We know that there was a large explosion outside the building in the vicinity of your office, but we don’t know what exploded. It could have been a missile, a mortar round, or a transport bomb. The matter is being investigated. Colonel Dejemnik immediately ordered that you and the other ministers in the palace be brought here until we can determine if there’s any additional threat."
Marueck paced the underground room restlessly until word came that there didn’t appear to be any additional danger, then walked from the room with a trail of ministers behind him. The lift only accommodated six at a time, leaving room for just two ministers in addition to Marueck and his three main bodyguards for the first trip. Pulling his Minister of State Security and the Minister of Intelligence into the car, he nodded to a bodyguard to close the door.