Now the Admiral looked over the briefing items prepared by Captain Korlov. With the casualties on the flagship Fortress, he had assumed the captaincy. He had kept her well informed on all aspects of flotilla operations as the ships moved toward home. His reports were now informing her on the political fallout that was filtering back to the flagship from the Central Military Committee.
Kupin frowned as she read. She was not one to sugarcoat the results of any event and she wouldn’t start now. The fight had been a draw, and she would agree the raid had fallen far short of her stated goals. She knew many at home would use that against her and they seemed to be gathering now. She would have to fight for her career and for another chance in the field. Fortunately, she had no problem with that at all. She enjoyed a good battle regardless of the arena.
~ ~ ~
The Queen made the rounds among her guests at this royal dinner for the Prime Minister’s cabinet. She spoke briefly with several members and their spouses before moving to the podium for a few brief words before the serving of the meal in the next room. She thanked all those present for their hard work and for attending this event despite their busy schedules. She offered words of encouragement for these dark times, and forecasted a brighter future. She singled out a few people for their recent accomplishments. She ended her brief remarks on an unusual note. “Finally, I wish to offer my congratulations to the Lord Surgeon and his wife. I read with great interest about the fine performance of your son, Joshua, during the recent Battle of the Electra System. Despite being on a damaged ship and being wounded himself, he gave critical medical attention to his own crew and to other ships by providing expertise over the medical communication net throughout the battle. His performance warranted his captain mentioning him by name in post battle dispatches. A rare honor. You must be very proud.”
Both Doctor Windsors nodded and smiled at the Queen although this was the first they had heard Joshua had even been in a battle. The Lord Surgeon added for emphasis, “Yes, Your Majesty. We are very proud of our son.”
Alexis nodded and smiled. She knew that was an outright lie as Hawkins had told her the truth of the family relationship, but the Queen was unfazed. She was used to being lied to and did not mind as long as she knew the truth. She responded, “Of course. Joshua has done very well. Not only in this fight, but in several battles for the Empire.” She paused and then addressed the crowd at large. “Let us adjourn to our repast.”
As the crowd began to turn to the long dining table in the room behind them, the Queen stepped down and moved toward the Windsor couple. “Lord Surgeon, a quick word.”
The couple stopped turning to the dinner table. “Of course, Your Majesty,” they both said in unison. The Queen showed nothing, but she had heard Evelyn Windsor considered herself a co-equal to Lord Surgeon.
The crowd now paused as the Queen would lead the way into the dining room, and she seemed otherwise occupied. Alexis decided not to notice those waiting as she joined the two doctors and spoke directly to the male half of the Lord Surgeon duo. “I understand your son does not have his medical license anymore.” She smiled at Windsor. “I’m sure it is some sort of bureaucracy problem. Based on Joshua’s recent actions and overall performance in this war, I think his license should be restored to him.” She ignored the wide-eyed stares that statement drew from his two parents. John Windsor sputtered, “That would be most unusual, Your Highness.”
“These are unusual times, Lord Surgeon,” she replied instantly. She had been saying that a lot lately. She then added. “In fact, I want to sign the license myself and see that it is sent to your son. It is the least I can do in recognition of his superior performance.”
John Windsor looked slightly embarrassed. “That would be a fine gesture, Your Majesty. And certainly within your purview to do so. However, there would be a potential complication to your signing the document. The Lord Surgeon signs all medical licenses because he or she would be the one to revoke the license if the need arose. If you sign the medical license, the Lord Surgeon could not revoke it. You would be the only one who could do that.”
The Queen gave the two doctors a charming smile as she reached forward and patted the man’s arm. “Yes, I know. Please have the license ready for my signature by close of business tomorrow. I want to ensure Joshua has it before his ship departs Wanderlust Base.” Alexis then lead the way into the dining room.
~ ~ ~
Dylan Whitlock looked over at Gabrielle. She hunched over the long-range sensors and repeated her comment. “Yep, gotta to be at least five out there. Maybe more on the other side of the planet or behind one of the moons. Destroyers and light cruisers. Nothing really big.”
Whitlock nodded as he considered the situation. They had found the gathering place of the Marbellan ships. The planet Mistral and its three moons were perfect for long-term hiding. The pirates had used Mistral for their own meetings on occasion.
Dylan talked as he leaned over his computer typing rapidly. “I’ll get a message to Raferty. We can adjust the numbers later if necessary, but he needs this information now.”
He hit the send key and the message was gone. Whitlock leaned back in his seat. “Several Marbellan ships ready to do Terrant’s bidding, and now a Commonwealth squadron hunting them. Be interesting to see how Raferty handles this.” He shook his head. “Another routine day in the Badlands.”
Glossary
Admin - Administrative.
AOR - See area of responsibility
Area of responsibility - A geographical area assigned to a military unit to secure and control. Commonly referred to by its initials AOR.
ASAP - As soon as possible.
Bogey - An unknown sensor contact. Friend or foe still to be determined. Sometimes spelled bogie.
Bulkhead - Naval term for a wall, in particular the walls of a ship dividing the ship into compartments.
Burgh - Edinburgh solar systems and the natives thereof.
Chairman of the military establishment - Highest uniformed person in the Aurora armed forces. Commonly referred to as the CME, pronounced See Me.
CIC - See combat information center.
CME - See chairman of the military establishment.
CO - Commanding officer.
Cold titanium - A ship at dock or adrift in space with engines secured and generating no power. Slang term is cold tits.
Cold tits - See cold titanium.
Combat information center (CIC) - A shipboard compartment with stations for sensors, communication, shipboard systems monitoring, weapons control, etc. It is the nerve center of the ship. On larger ships, CIC is located near the bridge so the captain can move easily between the two. On smaller ships, CIC and the bridge would be one compartment.
Comm - Communication, communications.
Close hold - Slang for operational security.
Cyclic rate of fire - Firing a weapon as fast as possible.
Earth day - Twenty-four hour period running midnight to midnight. Planets have different rotations resulting in different lengths of days. Earth days are used in space to ensure all ships are using the same universal unit for the measurement for time. Also called an eday or standard day. Same principle also applies to earth hour (ehour) and earth year (eyear).
Eday - See earth day.
Ehour - See earth day.
Evac - Evacuation.
Executive officer - Second in command of a ship or unit. The executive officer is responsible for the oversight of the administrative work of the unit, and he/she is considered the enforcer of discipline. In short, the commander is the nice guy, and the executive officer is the hard guy. Executive officers often move up to be commanders in their own right. Commonly called by the initials XO.
Eyear - See earth day.
Flag officer - Generals or admirals are called flag officers because they have their own flags adorned with the appropriate emblem of their rank. These flags fly at their headquarters, or are displayed aboard ships if the officer is pres
ent.
Flag rank - See flag officer.
Flagpole officer - Disparaging slang term for officers who spend the majority of their careers at headquarters or rear area establishments working for high ranking officers and other power brokers in an attempt to be noticed and to gain powerful patrons. They only come out to the operating forces to command so as to get the "command" check mark on their records. Term comes from the fact there is always a flagpole at headquarters buildings and they are never far from it.
FTF - Face to face.
Freq/Freqs - Frequency, frequencies.
Hallucinate tattoo - A tattoo on the body that changes when it is viewed from different angles. When the body muscles flex or move, the tattoo changes.
Hallie - Slang term for a hallucinate tattoo.
Head - Naval term for a bathroom.
Identify friend or foe (IFF) - An identification number assigned to each ship. This number will appear on the screen of a sensor when the sensor scans that ship. Slang term is squawk.
IFF - See identify friend or foe.
Intel - See intelligence.
Intelligence - Information gleaned from all sources that gives insight into other forces operations, weapons, methods, and SOPs. Usually this information is thought of as applying to the enemy, but it actually applies to everyone including your own forces, neutral forces, and civilian/commercial entities. Commonly called intel.
IntelO - Short for Intelligence Officer.
Kilometer (km) - A measure of distance based on the metric system. It is 1000 meters long. A meter is just less than 40 inches. One kilometer is 5/8 or .62 of a statute mile so 100 km is approximately 62 miles. Slang term is klick.
Klick - Slang for kilometer.
Log dogs - Slang for logistics personnel.
Logistics personnel - Crewmembers responsible for obtaining and distributing material and supplies needed for unit use or mission accomplishment.
Noisemakers - Slang term for small decoys used to imitate a ship’s engine emissions and heat to fool long-range sensors.
OD - See officer of the deck.
Officer of the deck - A senior crewmember put in charge of the ship in the absence of the captain. Exercises all the authority of the captain. Commonly called by the initials OD.
Operational security - Keeping plans, operations, methods of operation, SOPs, capabilities, and other relevant information restricted to the people who need to know. No discussions with outside sources. Commonly called OpSec. Slang term is close hold.
Operations officer - Person in charge of planning and carrying out the operations for the ship or unit. Usually, he/she is the third in command after the CO and XO. Commonly called the OpsO or Ops.
OpSec - See operational security.
Ops - See operations officer.
OpsO - See operations officer.
Overhead - Naval term for ceiling, particularly aboard ship.
Net - Term for communication network with multiple units on one communication channel for command and control coordination.
P4 - See personal for.
Personal for - A private message sent between commanders that bypasses normal communications channels so nobody else can read/hear it. Often used to convey bad news or to discuss personal or embarrassing topics. Commonly called a P4.
Rack - Naval term for a bed.
Return to force - Friendly units returning to friendly territory or joining other friendly units. Usually requires following a given route and having current IFF codes and passwords. These procedures keep enemy units from coming into friendly territory or approaching friendly units by impersonating friendly forces. Often referred to as RTF procedures.
RTF procedures - See return to force.
Sitreps - See situation reports.
Situation reports - Reports sent to higher headquarters or other units as required to keep them informed on the situation and the status of the sending units. Units send them on a regular basis or as required by circumstances. Usually the report has an established format that is filled in to ensure all aspects of operations, logistics, personnel, intelligence, etc. are covered. Commonly called sitreps.
Snakes - Slang for the Mamba class destroyers of the Marbellan Navy.
SOP/SOPs - See standard operating procedures.
Squawk - See identify friend or foe (IFF).
Standard day - See earth day.
Standard operating procedures - Established procedures, which all members of an organization know so as to reduce briefing times and, when faced with any given situation, all members will react in a given way so the response is coordinated and cohesive. Commonly called by the initials SOPs.
Table of organization - A list stating the number of people, their rank, and the number and type of equipment a military unit should have. Commonly called the T/O.
Tac screen - Slang for tactical screen. Screen brought up on computer that shows all sensor returns so as to show the current situation.
T/O - See table of organization.
United Against Slavery (UAS) - Organization headquartered in the Aurora Empire dedicated to the eradication of slavery throughout the universe using peaceful protests, economic boycotts, and lobbying for new laws.
Vacuum - Slang for outer space.
White phones - System used to listen for ships in subspace and used by ships in subspace to listen for ships in real space. Akin to present day sonar.
XO - See executive officer.
About the Author
Sean Benjamin is the pen name for the author. He has two sons named Sean and Ben who live in Australia. He also has a lovely wife named Lynnda and three cats, all residing in southern California. He is a retired Marine Corps pilot who fought in Desert Shield/Desert Storm. This is his fourth book.
Echoes from Yesterday: Pirates of the Badlands Series Book 4 Page 34
