Citizen X - BP01

by DePrima, Thomas

  Sydnee flopped onto her bed when she returned to her quarters. With communications restored through the portable equipment, her mail queue had filled up with vids, some bearing dates that showed them to be several months old. But she didn't feel in the mood to start dealing with her correspondence just then. Learning that the war in Region Two was over had come as a blow, but seeing several messages from Katarina dated after the final battle made her glad that her best friend was safe. She had always held out hope that while the war was raging, she might find an opportunity to transfer from the Perry, but now that the opportunity might be within her grasp, she didn't know if she really wanted to transfer. She had made a number of wonderful friends aboard the Perry.

  She decided she would just have to wait and see what the fate of the ship would be and what would happen to the crew if the Perry went to the scrap yard.

  Besides, she thought, smiling, she still hadn't discovered what Jerry Weems had done to deserve being sent to the Perry. She couldn't possibly leave without learning that.

  ~ finis ~

  *** Sydnee's exciting adventures will continue ***

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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-hour 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.

  Admiralty Board:

  Moore, Richard E - Admiral of the Fleet

  Platt, Evelyn S. - Admiral - Director of Fleet One 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

  Map

  This map shows the positions of the planet Diabolisto and Simmons SCB (see inset square on left) near the Clidepp Empire border relative to the core planets of Region One.

  No attempt has been made to show the thousands of stars, planets, and moons in this small part of GA space. The only purpose of this two-dimensional representations is to provide the reader with a basic feel for the spatial relationships between bases, systems, and celestial objects.

  * * *

  .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.