Baby shit: Yellow, evil smelling engineering grease.
Black Void Rum: Trenchard’s favourite tipple.
Boat / Ship: Ships carry boats. A submarine is always a boat not a ship. This tradition has clung on and so Hunter and Wolverine class vessels are referred to as boats.
Breech Sealant Foam: An instantly setting foam that is sprayed into hull breaches to seal them.
C.C.N: Central Computer Network. The future equivalent to the World Wide Web.
Cold iron: The whole ship shut down.
Cuff-link Bracelet Radio: Communications device worn on wrist with built in emergency beacon and G.P.S. Also capable of projecting tactical holograms.
Data Cube: A digital storage device, usually a black cube about one inch on each side.
Dolphins: Hunter-killer vessel basic training badge. On completion, there is a ceremony on deck where the Captain gives the sailor a glass with their badge in. The Captain puts his fingers into the glass and the rum is filled to the top of his fingers. The sailor drinks the rum and catches the badge in their teeth.
Drop-ship: A vessel to surface shuttle for ferrying troopers into battle. It is capable of reaching escape velocity after a slow climb to high altitude. The vessel has four wing mounted jet engines placed on the tips of two wings. The configuration of the craft leads to the nickname “H-lifter” or “big H”.
E.V.A. Suit: Extra-Vehicular Activity, space suit.
FUBAR: Fucked up beyond all recognition.
Guardian Computer: A software-based artificial intelligence that automates many systems aboard Space Navy vessels. It is installed onto every ship in the fleet and linked to the C.C.N.
Gun-ship: Capable of flying in space or an atmosphere. A variety of weapons and missiles can be mounted on these versatile attack craft.
Goldilocks Zone: That area of a solar system where the conditions are just right for life. Not too hot, not too cold; liquid water and temperatures within acceptable limits.
Heavy Suit: An inner suit worn underneath regular clothes with heavy weights sewn in and elastic straps to keep the muscles under tension. It increases load on the body in micro gravity and helps to prevent muscle wastage on long trips.
High Command: The highest ranked officers of the space navy, headed by Admiral of the Fleet Adisa with Admirals Fife, Turner, Thomas, Mahmood and Lee.
Honour, strength and unity: The motto of the space navy.
I.E.D.: Improvised Explosive Device. Bomb.
I.N.N: / Intergalactic News Network. Daily news reports are sent to every colonised planet. The show is usually hosted by anchor-man Alexander Robertson.
Insurgents: Terrorists who want to break the colonies away from the rule of the United Worlds and become independent and self-governing. Also known as R.D. or Rubente Dextera.
Mag-boots: Metal soled boots that can be magnetised electronically to stick to the deck of a ship or its outer hull. Automatically disables when gravity is restored.
Micro Pressure Body Suit: A thin jump-suit that is worn underneath regular clothes that can exert pressure upon different parts of the body. Used primarily in hologram simulations to add realism.
Mike’s Bar: Local hang-out for the troopers on Cairn.
Morgenstern: Prototype battle robot, built by Pap-Corp. Also known as the Sentinel project.
N.A.C.I.N.: NAval Communication and Intelligence Network. Messages are carried by a series of way stations that transmit data via Watters’ space.
Nines (two weeks): Punishment. Extra duties and leave cancelled, possibly a fine.
O.M.N.I. / Omni-bot: Ocular Mobile Naval Intelligence, flying robot equipped with cameras and sensors. The robot can also project holograms and provide navigational assistance. In extreme circumstances, this flying drone can be turned into a small bomb.
Old Speckled Gobshite: Trenchard and Dasilva’s favourite beer which is served in Mike’s Bar on Cairn.
Papaver Corporation: The biggest manufacturer of weapons, ships and technology in the United Worlds. Owned and run by Frenchman, Claude Papaver.
Perisher: Hunter killer Commander training course. If you fail, you never serve on one again.
Rubente Dextera: The original terrorist organisation from which the galactic wide insurgent movement sprung. Referred to as the R.D. or the “red right hand of Mars” they were responsible for the uprising in Belatu-Cadros.
Section 42: An amendment of the criminal code allowing arrest, rapid trial and public execution of criminals.
Sewage pipes: Term of endearment used by sailors to describe the hunter-killer vessels. Refers to the smell that develops when water is rationed on board and washing is limited to a quick rub over with a wet cloth.
Skimmer: Crew of any ship other than a hunter-killer. The term refers to an ancient rivalry between surface crew and submariners; “He’s a fucking skimmer!”
Space Elevator: Cargo is carried up carbon nano-tube cables which are stretched between a base station on Konstantin Island in the Atlantic Ocean and the Buoy space-station in orbit of Earth. Transit into orbit is slower than by rocket, but much cheaper and more reliable. The first S.E. was destroyed by the insurgents. The disaster is referred to as “the drop”.
Star-spires: Headquarters of the U.W.S.N., located on Unity Island, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean on Earth. Named after the motto “Aspirare Astra” - aspire to the stars.
Technologists: A trans-humanist religion. Followers do not believe in god but rather the improvement of one’s self by technological augmentation.
United Worlds: The term used to describe the colonised planets, ruled from Earth.
United Worlds Space Navy (U.W.S.N.): A military police force that was raised to keep order throughout the United Worlds. The navy has the same rank structure as the British Royal Navy and is governed by High Command.
VICAR Assault Rifle: Void Capable Case-less Assault Rifle. Semi-automatic, case-less round firing rifle, fitted with an internal warming mechanism to allow the rifle to be fired without jamming in the freezing vacuum of space.
Virtual Reality Command Chair (V.R. Conn.): The Captain’s command chair which sits at the centre of the control room or bridge. The Captain’s legs are strapped in to braces allowing their torso and arms to move freely and operate virtual controls. A black visor with electrodes fitted to the temples allows the computer to interact directly with the brain.
Wardroom: Officers mess and meeting room, often decorated with photos of ancient underwater vessels. On a large ship there will be a “dirty shirt” wardroom where most of the aircraft crew eat and working uniforms are permitted.
Watters’ Drive: A method of propulsion that enables star-ships to travel faster than light. It is a variation upon the Bussard Ramjet, combined with an Alcubierre drive. Particles of hydrogen are taken in via a huge collector at the front of the ship. They are then compressed by magnetic fields until thermonuclear fusion takes place and then the energy is shot out of the rear exhaust at incredibly high speeds to propel the ship forwards. Inside a star system, the Ramjet is sufficient for slower than light speed propulsion. During interstellar travel the fusion power is used to create an Alcubierre metric field which contracts space in front of the ship and expands space behind it. This shifts space around the star-ship so that it can “surf” a wave in space-time and may therefore arrive at its destination quicker than the speed of light. At full speed, one light year distance takes approximately twenty-four hours to traverse. Large vessels frequently have to drop out of Watters’ in order to traverse obstacles such as asteroid belts. They are particularly susceptible to attack by pirate vessels during this time. Steering is impossible during Watters’ drive, where navigation is undertaken by a “point and go” method. Steering is only possible at slower speeds during Ramjet operation and usually requires augmentation by gravity slingshot around planets.
We hide with pride: The motto of the hunter-killer service.
Table of Contents
PROLOGUE “Mars”<
br />
CHAPTER 1 “A Man of War”
CHAPTER 2 “Memories”
CHAPTER 3 “A Bird in the Hand”
CHAPTER 4 “Lessons”
CHAPTER 5 “The Might of Fortitude”
CHAPTER 6 “Wild Times”
CHAPTER 7 “The Onibaba”
CHAPTER 8 “Smiler”
CHAPTER 9 “Space Walk”
CHAPTER 10 “Alpha Mike Foxtrot”
CHAPTER 11 “Debriefing”
CHAPTER 12 “How to Make a Monster”
CHAPTER 13 “Shame”
CHAPTER 14 “Bad News Travels Fast”
CHAPTER 15 “Genevieve Noir”
CHAPTER 16 “Nerves”
CHAPTER 17 “Cold Iron”
CHAPTER 18 “Quoth the Raven”
CHAPTER 19 “It’s Alive”
CHAPTER 20 “Trapped”
CHAPTER 21 “Revenge”
CHAPTER 22 “The Warmonger”
CHAPTER 23 “A Drink and a Think”
EPILOGUE “Genesis of the Morgenstern”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
GLOSSARY
The Space Navy Series Books One & Two: Including the Kindle novellas Josiah Trenchard and the Might of Fortitude & Josiah Trenchard and the Morgenstern Page 23
