It was after midnight, so Jenetta’s mother and the children’s nanny should have been asleep as Jenetta stepped into the nursery. Before they were even five feet into the room, the trio was silently greeted by both Jake and Ruby, the young Jumakas who had bonded with the twins and who served as their fulltime companions and protectors. The two young Jumakas had heard the trio approaching the door and silently padded over to greet them. Jenetta rubbed a hand over the head of each Jumaka in silent greeting and then walked to the beds of her children as the young Jumakas greeted their parents.
In three months, the twins would celebrate their fourth birthdays, and they’d moved to twin beds a year ago. Jenetta knew that in the coming years they’d need separate bedrooms, and she wondered how they’d adapt to being apart. Although she had two twin sisters, they’d never encountered such issues as privacy when they were young because her two sisters were clones, born long after Jenetta had graduated from the Space Command Academy. In fact, she was a senior officer at the time.
Jenetta straightened the slightly disarrayed sheets and blankets and re-tucked the children, bending to lightly kiss each child as she finished with the bedding. She wished their father was there, but life in the military imposed certain difficulties and absences not normally encountered in civilian life. She hoped Hugh would be able to come for a visit before the children’s birthdays in August, but she had long ago promised herself that she wouldn’t interfere with his schedule. Once Space Command had completed tests of the Personnel CJ Gates and they’d been approved for biological transports, Hugh would be able to come home much more often, no matter where he was. Jenetta sighed silently and left the nursery, with Tayna and Cayla following her out. She didn’t need to worry about the safety of the twins with Ruby and Jake present in the room. They were safer than if a Terran guard stood nearby or an entire bank of cameras was focused on their beds.
As Jenetta gently closed the door once the Jumakas were out and turned, she came face to face with her mother.
“You’re home very late, dear,” Annette Carver said. “Problems?”
“Always, Momma.”
“Do you want something to eat?”
“No, thank you. We ate at the A.B. mess hall.”
“You’re almost never this late. What’s the problem?”
“It’s nothing.”
“Don’t give me that. I know when you’re hiding something, and I know from your look that this is serious.”
“Okay, walk with me to my bedroom and I’ll tell you once we’re out of the corridor.”
A few minutes later they were in Jenetta’s bedroom and she was removing her tunic.
“It’s the Denubbewa again, isn’t it?” her mother asked.
“What makes you say that?”
“Whenever you’re having problems with the Denubbewa you clam up and I have to get the story from others. Your father’s much more open with me because he knows I can take the news without getting flustered. I’ve been a Space Command wife for a lot of years. You don’t have to shield me. I won’t go to pieces.”
Jenetta smiled before saying, “I guess I tend to forget you’ve seen and heard so much during your marriage to Daddy, and I do try to protect you and the children from bad news.”
“So what is it this time? And don’t tell me someone sent a Level-Five alert and it didn’t mean what we both know it means.”
Jenetta smiled again. “Okay, Momma. Here it is. One of our ships spotted a gathering of Denubbewa ships just outside G.A. space in unclaimed territory. We assembled a taskforce to destroy them, but when the taskforce was ready to move in, the Denubbewa ships had disappeared.”
“And you’re worried because they might be preparing to attack the G.A.?”
“Yes. The A.B. spent the afternoon and evening in closed session while we tried to figure out where the Denubbewa might have gone and what their target might be. They wouldn’t have assembled those ships unless they had a plan. Our taskforce was assembled from every available ship within sixty days’ travel. The remainder of our ships were then reassigned to cover Regions Two and Three as best they could, but coverage in some areas is sparse.”
“There have been no sightings of the Denubbewa since the first one?”
“No. We didn’t want to risk them being alerted to our presence.”
“I understand why you’re worried. What will you do now, dear?”
Jenetta turned and walked slowly to a window. She sighed as she stared up at the stars, and then said, “Every ship in Space Command has been put on Level-Five alert, and we have patrols out looking for Denubbewa. But I fear we may not find them before they strike somewhere.”
She was silent for a minute, then said, “The sky looks so very peaceful tonight. I can’t help but wonder if that’s a reflection of the situation, or if it’s merely the calm before the storm.”
After another minute of silence, she said, “Angels 62, where are you?”
~ finis ~
*** The exciting adventures of the Carver sisters will continue ***
A Message To My Readers
I hope you've enjoyed this installment of the AGU series.
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Thank you
* * *
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:
Carver, Jenetta Alicia - Admiral of the Fleet
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
Holt, Brian D. - Vice-Admiral - Deputy Commander of Fleet Two Operations
Plimley, Loretta J. - Rear Admiral (U) - Dir. of Weapons R&D
Yuthkotl , Lesbolh - Rear Admiral (U) - Dir. of Nordakian Forces Integration
Hyper-Space Factors:
IDS Communications Band - .0513 light years each minute (8.09 billion kps)
DeTect Range - 4 billion kilometers
&nbs
p; 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
Light-450 - 134,906,606.1 kps
Dbl. Envelope - Light-9790 (9793.48) = 2,936,011,441.57384 kps
26.81308692711052 light-years per day
Marc-1 – Light-14,685.7 = 380,390,005,478,931.8 kps
40.2072553045859 light-years per day
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
* * *
TOC
This map shows Galactic Alliance space when maps were redrawn following the end of hostilities with the Milori, and the war with the Uthlaro, Tsgardi, Gondusan, and Hudeerac. Unclaimed territories between the three regions were claimed in order to have one contiguous area. Regions Two and Three are so vast that exercising control and maintaining law and order has been largely impossible to this date.
* * *
The only purpose of this two-dimensional representation is to provide the reader with a basic feel for the spatial distances involved, and the reader must remember that G.A. territory extends through the entire depth of the Milky Way galaxy.
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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/maps.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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The Invasion Begins Page 35