“Thank you, Mr. Krueger. Squadron orders. Prepare to make way. Course –”
“Three-three-five minus zero-one-five on the sun, Ma’am,” Krueger said.
“Three-three-five minus zero-one-five on the sun, at one gravity.”
“Yes, Ma’am. Squadron orders, three-three-five minus zero-one-five on the sun, at one gravity. Orders transmitted.”
It was still several days to Hutan from the published system periphery, which Commonwealth ships were scrupulous to use in non-combat and non-emergency situations. No sense letting every foreign-flag commercial ship in the system report back to their planet what the Commonwealth’s capabilities were.
“All ships report prepared to make way, Ma’am.”
“Squadron orders. Space on the mark.”
“Yes, Ma’am. Space on the mark. Five... four... three... two... one. Mark.”
Apparent gravity on the flag bridge gradually came back up to one gravity as the ship’s engines were throttled up.
“All ships report under way at one gravity, Ma’am.”
The alarm system sounded the soft ding-ding of standing down from maneuvering and hyperspace transition.
Campbell and Childers were in her ready room reviewing the mail they had picked up on coming into the Hutan system.
“Oh, my,” Childers said. “I got an AAR from Admiral Rao. Duval did attempt another incursion.”
“What happened?”
“CSF cleaned their clocks. And Jessen was right. There was a second force. Four heavy cruisers lurking in hyper as back-up.”
“Wow,” Campbell said.
“Yeah, but the signaling destroyers were a clue to their presence, as Jessen had warned, and Admiral Novotny waylaid them. Duval’s total losses were a division each of heavy cruisers, light cruisers, and destroyers.”
“What about CSF losses?”
“Minor shield damage,” Childers said. “No losses of ships or personnel.”
“Well, that’ll teach ‘em.”
“And in the mail with the AAR, Admiral Rao says she put in for promotion to Senior Captain for Tien Jessen. She wants to put him on Novotny’s tactical team.”
“Smart move,” Campbell said.”
“Yeah.” Childers scanned down the rest of her mail. “That’s the big stuff. What about you.”
“I got a note from Admiral Birken.”
“Birken, not Durand?” Childers asked. Admiral Birken was the head of the Intelligence Division.
“Yep.”
“Wow. What’s it say?”
“ ‘Nice job.’ ”
“Nice job?” Childers asked. “That’s it? No medals or promotion or anything?”
“That’s not how Intelligence Division works. Medals or a promotion would be a public acknowledgement something happened, and I was involved. That would not be good.”
“I can’t believe you put your life on the line and dig out a major espionage ring and, and do that other stuff, the messy stuff, and you get nothing.”
“A personal note from Admiral Birken, saying ‘Nice job?’ That’s not nothing. That’s everything. That’s as good as it gets. And there’s one more thing.”
“What’s that?”
“Intelligence Division never forgets.”
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Appendix
Inhabited systems mentioned (capital city)
Earth (New York City)
Members of the Commonwealth of Free Planets:
Anders
Bahay (Kabisera)
Bliss (Joy)
Boomgaard
Calumet
Courtney
Hutan
Jablonka (Jezgra)
Kodu
Meili
Mountainhome
Natchez
Pahaadon
Parchman
Saarestik
Shaanti
The Yards [Doma]
Valore
Waldheim
Outer Colonies
Alpen
Arramond
Becker
Brunswick
Coronet (Jewel)
Drake
Duval
Epsley
Feirm
Ferrano
Grocny
Guernsey
Lautada
Melody
Mon Mari
New Carolina
Nymph
Oerwoud
Paradiso (Corazon)
Refugio
Samara
Seacrest
Stadt (Dorf)
Svobodo
Tenerife
Villam
Wolsey
Notes on Navigational Notation
The Commonwealth Space Force uses the following standards with respect to navigational bearings and distances.
Navigational bearing and distance are specified as:
rotation mark/minus elevation (on point) (at distance)
All such references are with respect to a point, a baseline, and a plane.
If no point is specified, the point is the ship, the baseline is the long axis of the ship projected through the bows, and the plane is defined by the plane of the ship with the command cylinder(s) considered to be 'up'.
If another ship is specified as the point, such as 'on the enemy', the point is the enemy ship, the baseline is the vector of the enemy ship's velocity, and the plane is the plane of the ecliptic.
If a planet is specified as the point, the point is the planet, the baseline is a line from the planet to the sun, and the plane is the plane of the ecliptic.
If a sun is specified as the point, the point is the sun, the baseline is a line from the sun to the primary inhabited planet, and the plane is the ecliptic.
If the galactic center is specified as the point, the point is the galactic center, the line is the line from the galactic center to the ship, and the plane is the plane of the galactic lens.
Bearing angles are always specified as 'number-number-number'. Designations such as 'ninety-three' and 'one-eighty' are not permitted. These are correctly specified as 'zero-nine-three' and 'one-eight-zero'. An exception occurs for 'zero-zero-zero', which may be stated simply as 'zero', such as in 'zero mark zero' or 'zero mark one-eight-zero'.
rotation is specified as 'number-number-number' in degrees clockwise from the projection of the baseline onto the plane when viewed from above. Leading zeroes are included, not dropped. number-number-number runs from zero-zero-zero to three-six-zero.
If the point is the ship, 'above' means from above the ship with the command cylinder(s) considered to be 'up'.
If the point is an enemy ship, a planet, or the sun, 'above' means from the north side of the solar system as determined by the right-hand rule: with the fingers of the right hand in the direction of orbit of the planets, the thumb points north.
If the point is the galactic center, 'above' means from the north side of the galaxy, as determined by the right hand rule applied to the rotation of the stars about the galactic center.
elevation is specified as 'mark/minus number-number-number' in degrees up/down from the plane. 'mark' is used for bearings above the plane, and 'minus' is used for bearings below the plane. 'Above' is defined as for rotation. Leading zeroes are included, not dropped. number-number-number runs from zero-zero-zero to one-eight-zero.
distance is specified in light-units, most frequently in light-seconds.
CSF ships mentioned, by class
First ship in class is underlined
Battleships (BB)
CSS Amazon
CSS Artemisia
CSS Boadicea
CSS Cleopatra
CSS Jean d'Arc
CSS Kriegsmädchen
CSS Lakshmibai
CSS Tomoe
CSS Zenobia
CSS Akbar
CSS Alexander
CSS Belisarius
CSS Genghis Khan
CSS Georgy Zhukov
CSS H
annibal
CSS Julius Caesar
CSS Marlborough
CSS Napoleon Bonaparte
CSS Scipio Africanus
CSS Sun Tzu
CSS Ulysses S. Grant
CSS Zheng He
Heavy Cruisers (BC)
CSS Aluna Kamau
CSS Anderson Lail
CSS Donal McNee
CSS Gerald Ansen
CSS Guadalupe Rivera
CSS Hu Mingli
CSS Ikaika Kalani
CSS Jane Paxton
CSS Jacques Cotillard
CSS Manfred Koch
CSS Matheus Oliveira
CSS Mineko Kusunoki
CSS Nils Isacsson
CSS Patryk Mazur
CSS Roman Chrzanowski
CSS Sania Mehta
CSS Willard Dempsey
Light Cruisers (CC)
CSS Aquitaine
CSS Caribbean
CSS Catalonia
CSS Great Plains
CSS Gujarat
CSS Kansai
CSS Midwest
CSS Provence
CSS Schwarzwald
CSS Sichuan
CSS Tuscany
Destroyers (DD)
CSS Bennington
CSS Brenau
CSS Clermont (DD-ST)
CSS Elmhurst
CSS Emery
CSS Hamilton
CSS Howard
CSS Knox
CSS Maryville
CSS Middlebury
CSS Pomona
CSS Whittier
CSF ship capabilities, by class
Battleships (BB)
Classes: Cleopatra, Alexander
Crew Complement: 2400
Maximum Acceleration: 1.1 gravities
Guns, number: 6
Guns, type: 'battleship-grade', 'super-heavy'
Guns, range: 10 light-seconds
Heavy Cruisers (BC)
Classes: Gerald Ansen
Crew Complement: 1200
Maximum Acceleration: 1.4 gravities
Guns, number: 3
Guns, type: 'heavy'
Guns, range: 7 light-seconds
Light Cruisers (CC)
Classes: Tuscany
Crew Complement: 800
Maximum Acceleration: 1.7 gravities
Guns, number: 3
Guns, type: 'medium'
Guns, range: 5 light-seconds
Destroyers (DD)
Crew Complement: 400
Maximum Acceleration: 2.1 gravities
Guns, number: 3
Guns, type: 'light'
Guns, range: 3 light-seconds
Major Awards and Decorations to Jan Childers
The Commonwealth Charter Medallion
Battle of Kodu
CSF Combat Medal, with three clusters
Battle of Parchman
Battle of Feirm
Battle of Kodu
Battle of Earth
CSF Science Medal, with cluster
Calculation of the system periphery; hyperspace modulation
Calculation of the inner and outer system envelopes
Distinguished Service Medal, with three clusters
Battle of Valore
Battle of Saarestik
Battle of Calumet
Battle of Feirm
Victorious Action ribbon, with one gold and one silver star
Battle of Valore
Battle of Parchman
Battle of Saarestik
Battle of Pahaadon
Battle of Feirm
Battle of Kodu
Battle of Earth
Theater of Service Ribbons
Valore
Parchman
Saarestik
Pahaadon
Calumet
Bahay
Waldheim (with star)
Courtney
Natchez
Meili
Bliss
Hutan
Mountainhome
Shaanti
Kodu
Jablonka
The Earth Medal
Acronyms and Terms
AAR – After Action Report.
AO – Area of operations.
ATO – Assistant Tactical Officer.
ATS – Advanced Tactics School.
below decks – cylinders on a ship containing enlisted quarters and mechanical areas such as propulsion, weapons control, etc.
BMS – Brunswick Merchant Ship.
bogey – an unidentified contact, such as on radar.
BSF – Becker Space Force.
BSN – Brunswick Space Navy.
BTS – Basic Tactics School.
building book – designing a book of maneuvers.
bulkhead – wall on a spaceship.
CCM – CSF decoration, Commonwealth Charter Medallion.
CCS – ship prefix, Commonwealth Colony Ship.
CFP – Commonwealth of Free Planets.
CIC – Combat Information Center.
Class 1 secured facility – the highest rated facility for the use or discussion of classified materials.
CM – CSF decoration, Combat Medal.
CNO – Chief of Naval Operations.
Commonwealth – Commonwealth of Free Planets.
CPS – ship prefix, Commonwealth Passenger Ship.
CSF – Commonwealth Space Force.
CSL – Commonwealth Star Lines, commercial passenger company.
CSS – ship prefix, Commonwealth Space Ship.
deadhead – make a trip aboard ship while not serving; guest; ferry.
deck – floor in a spaceship.
deckhead – ceiling in a spaceship, with a room directly above.
division – half of a squadron; in CSF, four ships.
DNA – deoxyribonucleic acid; a molecule of genetic instructions.
door – physical closure on a doorway; may not be airtight.
doorway – opening in a bulkhead.
DSM – CSF decoration, Distinguished Service Medal.
DSN – ship prefix, Duval Space Navy.
ENS – ship prefix, Earth Navy Ship.
Enshin – martial art combining karate and judo, founded in 1988.
Exam – Citizenship Exam of the Commonwealth of Free Planets.
Fleet Book (of Maneuvers) – CSF standard book of maneuvers.
flotilla – two squadrons under one command; usually destroyers.
g – one gravity, the amount of gravity one feels on Earth.
GMD – Galactic Mail And Defense Corporation.
geosynchronous – west-to-east orbit in 24 hours; geostationary.
Goat Locker – Chief's Mess on a ship.
hatch – airtight cover on a hatchway in a deckhead or overhead.
hatchway – opening in a deckhead or overhead, with a hatch.
HQ – Headquarters.
inner envelope – calculated volume inside the published system periphery allowing hyperspace cruise but not transition.
IS – interstellar.
JAG – Judge Advocate General, the legal arm of the CSF.
JTO – Junior Tactical Officer.
ladderway – opening in a deckhead or overhead, without a hatch.
light-second – distance light travels in one second; 186,282 miles.
light-year – distance light travels in one year; 5.88 trillion miles.
low-g – low gravity; gravity under 0.2 g.
metroplex – city and its suburbs; metropolitan area.
LNS – ship prefix, Lautadan Navy Ship.
MP – Military Police.
NOC – Naval Operations Center at Sigurdsen Fleet HQ.
OCS – Officer Candidate School.
outer envelope – calculated volume inside the published system periphery allowing hyperspace cruise and transition.
overhead – ceiling in a spaceship, without a room directly above.
PhD – Doctor of P
hilosophy; the most advanced degree in a field.
ppm – parts per million.
PR – public relations.
PSS – ship prefix, Paradiso Space Ship.
red team – attacker in a war game exercise.
R&R – Rest and Recuperation.
SM – CSF decoration, Science Medal.
SMH – Sigurdsen Military Hospital.
section – half of a division; in CSF, two ships.
squadron – group of ships under one command; in CSF, eight ships.
SSN – ship prefix, Samaran Space Navy.
STO – Senior Tactical Officer.
system periphery – published boundary inside which hyperspace cruise and transition are dangerous to the ship.
topside – cylinder(s) on a ship containing officer's quarters and command & control areas like the bridge, CIC, etc.
TNS – ship prefix, Tenerife Navy Ship.
UCS – Unarmed Combat School.
UJ – University of Jablonka.
VA – CSF decoration, Victorious Action ribbon.
VR – virtual reality.
XO – Executive Officer, First Officer.
zero-g – completely weightless; in free fall.