by Krystyn Dean
A Galactic Coming of Age
A CAPTAIN JOHN SERIES BOOK
K M DEAN
Copyright © 2016 by K M Dean
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof
may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever
without the express written permission of the publisher
except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Printed in the United States of America
First Printing, 2016
e-book ISBN 978-1-63587-584-3
Galactic Age Publishing
13310 40th Lane North
West Palm Beach, FL 33411
www. GalacticAgePublishing.com
Dedicated to Stephanie
My beautiful Granddaughter, you left us far too soon Honey and we miss you so.
Some may think you are too painful to remember,
I say you are too precious to forget
Author unknown
Contents
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
By K M Dean
PROLOGUE
Board of enquiry
“Captain Anderson” said Admiral Harrison-Langham, “This Board of enquiry has found you responsible for the loss of an American naval vessel. You lost three American Navy Seamen. You sank your ship, and the ship you rammed sank with all hands. Why the Navy has chosen not to Court Martial you for your actions quite escapes me.
The scope of this enquiry was limited by the Secretary of the Navy, if that were not so, our recommendation would be that you serve time in prison for your carelessness. Because this board is limited in the action we can take you will not be demoted in rank. You will, however never be given another command. Strictly off the record, this panel believes your best course of action would be to retire, which you will be allowed to do with no loss of benefits. Nevertheless, should you decide to remain on active duty for longer than ninety days, this panel reserves the right to reconvene and penalize you further. Rest assured you are no longer welcome as a member of the US Navy, your time in service will end within ninety days one way or the other. It is your choice. You are dismissed.”
I replied, “Aye Sir,” I took one step back, did an about face and left the room. The bastards hadn’t even known the names of the men I lost. Nothing they can do to me can come close to what I feel I deserve. Larry, Jimmy and Butch should have a say about my punishment. I am the one that got them killed. That is, of course, impossible, but it should have been me not them.
Well, I have ninety days to make up my mind, although I am already certain what my decision will be.
I graduated from the Naval Academy nearly twenty years ago, I moved through my career path pretty much as expected, but I have always been a bit of a maverick. That jangles the nerves of the Navy powers that be, so I was used to being scrutinized.
This last mission began as a simple cruise and suddenly became a no win proposition. I was the Captain of USS Andy Barton, an Arleigh-Burke DDG-51 destroyer, a model that entered service in 1991. We were in route to Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, Virginia. We were taking the Andy Barton to the Defense Reserve Fleet to be mothballed.
In an emergency dispatch, from United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) we were tasked with intercepting and shadowing a freighter that was suspected of being a terrorist ship. There was intelligence that the ship might be carrying a dirty bomb headed for New York City.
We found the ship. We were unarmed, but we had been tasked with testing some new stealth drones during the trip. We launched a couple of the stealth drones to see if we could find out anything about the mystery ship. Our drone sensors confirmed that the ship was carrying nuclear material. In fact, every crewman on that freighter was already a walking dead man because of the high levels of radiation.
After we had confirmed that the freighter was in fact “hot”, we contacted USNORTHCOM and told them what we had found. We were ordered to take whatever measures were necessary to stop the freighter. There were no other ships near enough to stop the freighter before it caused a nuclear disaster. To add to an already lousy situation, the weather was such that aircraft had no chance of intercepting the freighter. We had no air support. We were on our own.
The course and speed indicated the likelihood that the freighter would move to the area of the Statue of Liberty. Upon arrival, the crew would, most likely, set off the dirty bomb. The bomb would annihilate New York, part of New Jersey and lower Connecticut.
The fallout would make most of the eastern seaboard uninhabitable as far south as Jacksonville Florida. She had to be stopped, but we were completely unarmed. All missiles, and ammunition had been offloaded prior to our departure for Portsmouth.
I had a conversation with Fritz Baker, my Executive officer. Fritz and I had been pretty much together since the academy. For some reason, it just seemed to work out that way. He had been offered his own command, but chose to stay on as my exec. Fritz is a good guy and one of my closest friends.
“Fritz, we are the only ones able to take this bastard out, but without weapons we don’t have a hell of a lot of choices. What do you think?” Fritz said, “Skipper all we could do is ram him.” I replied, “Fritz, if we do that we need to do it quick. If that bomb goes off any closer to the East Coast, it could make the entire eastern seaboard from New York to Florida uninhabitable.”
To which Fritz replied, “Cap, whatever you decide, I’m with you, but let’s do it sooner rather than later to give our people a chance to get out of the way.” “Alright,” I replied. “Fritz, I want all crewman to man the lifeboats, I should be able to handle everything from the bridge.” I got on the intercom and said, “engineering, I want all the old girl has in her, military emergency power now. Once you have firewalled the ship, get you asses in a life boat.”
“Sparks, get off a dispatch and let USNORTHCOM know what we are doing, don’t wait for a reply, once you transmit, set a repeating SOS and get off the ship.”
“Fritz, I need you to take command of the lifeboats, head south and keep them together.” Fritz said, “Captain, I should stay here with you.”
I replied, “Fritz, I need you on the boats, they need a leader with them. If that bomb goes off it won’t make any difference where any of us are. Now go and take good care of my people. And make damn sure they all get on the lifeboats”.
The fog was dense, but we still had first class radar and I had the freighter lined up. The good ship Andy Barton was making speed like she never had before. I don’t believe the terrorist ship ever saw us coming, she never changed course or tried to evade and by the time a lookout saw us it was too late. I took her at amidships, slicing through her like a knife through butter. The collision was brutal. Even though I was prepared I still caught the top of the ships wheel on the side of my head. I went out like a light. The next thing I remember is floating in my life jacket, gently, in the calm seas. I have no idea how I got off the Andy, but apparently, there was no explosion. I dozed again, only to be awakened by gunfire. Terrorists in a lifeboat had seen me and were trying to take me out. Just then I heard the sound of a pair of speed
ing engines and two of the Andy’s lifeboats were approaching at full tilt, the terrorists began firing, but after firing several rounds at the boats the terrorists sped off.
Aboard the lifeboat, Fritz was seeing to my head injury and we were rendezvousing with the other boats. I said, “Fritz, is everyone OK?” Fritz shook his head and said, “the terrorists got lucky, they took out Jimmy Copeland, Butch Dunham and Larry McNeil.” “Dammit” Fritz, I ought to have the whole lot of you court-martialed for coming back for me.” He replied, “You can’t Cap, you put me in command of the lifeboats and the crew was just following my orders. Besides I would have had a full-blown mutiny on my hands if I hadn’t come back.”
This was a nightmare I have had since I started making command decisions. Having people killed or injured on my watch was something I had not experienced before and it hit me hard. What right did I have to ask these people to take risks for me. I began to wonder if I should be in command. I began to question my ability to command. Now I must let the families of my men know why they are not returning. A letter won’t be good enough. I need to explain their loss personally, if I can.
The fog began to lift overnight and the next morning we had calm seas with no sight of either the Andy Barton or the freighter. A couple of hours after sunup, a coast guard cutter pulled up and plucked us out of the water.
The Navy confirmed the freighter was on the bottom, too deep to salvage any of the nuclear material. The USS Andy Barton lay not too far away. A fitting resting place for a ship that accomplished her mission with honor.
Unfortunately for me, the “powers that be” had decided that the American public could never know just how close we had come to a nuclear disaster. The spin was that I had steered the Andy into a freighter while operating without radar in low visibility conditions.
I was no one’s favorite in the flag ranks, so I was the sacrificial lamb. And I was ordered not to have any direct contact with the families of my men. The Navy would take care of the notification.
Admiral Harrison-Langham and his merry band of REMF’s (for those of you who don’t know what REMF stands for, ask a Marine) had no idea what had really happened and probably wouldn’t have agreed with what I had done anyway.
And so here I am, at the end of my Navy career with no idea what I am going to do next. Except, maybe, drown my sorrows in a bit of Trigo Reserva Añeja rum.
CHAPTER ONE
HOW I BECAME A STARSHIP CAPTAIN
The phone was ringing, who the hell was calling me at six AM. It had been a wake/celebration/pity party and I had no idea how I got back to the BOQ, but I had no plans and no intention of getting up at this hour. Goddammit, I was being cashiered out of the Navy so I had no responsibilities except to figure out what was next. Screw the phone. I unplugged it.
An hour later there was pounding on the door that sent lightning bolts through my skull. They continued and showed no signs of going away. Finally, out of desperation I opened the door and said “what the hell do you want?” “Sir, I am Lieutenant James Finnerty and this is Lieutenant Shaun Daly, we have been asked to escort you to Admiral Leland Millers office ASAP. Will you please get dressed and come with us sir?” These didn’t look like U S Marine corps uniforms, but there was little doubt these young men were serious. I also had the feeling this was not a request and the two Lieutenant’s made a rather intimidating presence so I agreed.
I dressed in yesterday’s uniform, it was a bit wrinkled and obviously ready for the cleaners, but what were they going to do, court-martial me?
I was escorted to a huge building just off the Clara Barton Parkway. We passed through heavy security and proceeded down a long wide Corridor to an office. The Marines stayed outside the door and motioned me inside.
A pretty receptionist looked up and said, “May I help you?” I replied,” Captain John Anderson to see Admiral Miller.” “Ah yes, the elusive Captain Anderson.” She clicked on her intercom and said, “Admiral, Captain Anderson is here.” A voice replied, “Send him in Kathy, thank you.”
I went through the door that Kathy indicated, marched to front and center and said. “Captain John Anderson reporting as ordered Sir.” The admiral said, “Relax John, this is no ass kicking session. This is an opportunity. One for which I believe you are uniquely qualified.”
I replied, “you do realize, sir that I am being retired and that further opportunities in the U S Navy don’t exist for me?” To which the admiral replied. “This opportunity doesn’t involve the United States Navy, Captain, now sit down and relax, that is if you can sit down after Raymond Harrison-Langham and his gang of horses’ asses finished sticking the ugly stick up your butt.”
Admiral Miller began by saying, “We know what you did, you should be getting the Congressional Medal instead of this crap. Be that as it may I have a proposal for you. Take a load off and let’s talk.”
The Admiral then began to tell me an incredible story. Several months ago, humanity finally made contact with Aliens. Actually, Aliens made the contact. Dr. Aaron Campbell was the director of SETI, which was about to be shut down because of lack of results, when he was contacted directly by an alien by the name of Elvort. Elvort is a member of a race called the Egolari. The Egolari are humanoids, their appearance is such that they can be mistaken for human, except that they are just a bit taller than most human adults. They prefer not to be seen in public, but are quite comfortable in small groups with people they know. The Egolari are an old race from a system in the Perseus arm of the Milky Way. Their home planet is known as Gorganos. The Egolari were a space faring people long before we were plying Earth’s seas in wooden boats. They are a part of an organization called the Federation of Space Faring Systems. Elvort has been assigned to be the Ambassador/liaison between the people of Earth and the Federation of Space Faring Systems.
Normally Federation members are not allowed to contact developing races. Races operating within their own planetary systems are to be left alone until they begin to develop the ability to travel at FTL (faster than light speeds).
When the ability to travel at FTL becomes apparent, one of the members of the Federation is nominated to help ease the newcomer through the Galactic citizenship process.
Unfortunately, not all the galaxies systems belong to the Federation, and some of those systems are much less than friendly. The last several decades have seen the development of war like societies that systematically loot developing planets. They take the water, and other precious resources, including slaves, leaving the remaining native inhabitants a barren planet. Without resources the population simply dies a slow death.
The Egolari are here because we, meaning the people of Earth, happen to possess a skill set and an aptitude that is critical to the needs of the Federation.
The major problem within the Federation is that virtually all the members have, for centuries been living in peace. They have developed a society that is not well suited to counter the growing violence presented by the nonaligned races. In short, they have no way to protect themselves, let alone protect the fledgling races just arriving on the galactic scene.
Enter Earth. Of all the emerging races to become future galactic members, one has a superior potential to face the violence threatened by the nonaligned races. You guessed it, Humanity.
The Federation realized that to continue to function as an organized galactic society, they would have to develop a military arm that could provide the Federation and emerging systems the protection of a fleet of space vessels and marines. Humanity was the race most capable of leading the development of that military organization because we had not progressed so far that our war like tendencies had begun to erode.
Although we were not yet ready for galactic membership, we were a necessity that could fill the need, thus we were getting a crash course in how to travel the galaxy, protecting ourselves and the Federation with the full expectation that we would go where no human has gone before, and kick some alien ass.
The splintered nature of the earths administrations would certainly complicate the process and take time the Federation simply didn’t feel the Galaxy had. Thus, Dr. Campbell was tasked with finding someone to begin the building process.
Dr. Campbell was well acquainted with retired Admiral Leland Miller. He felt that Admiral Miller was the best choice to put together the fighting force the Federation needed. He contacted Admiral Miller and the Admiral agreed to listen.
After getting a complete briefing by the Egolari, Admiral Millers’ first response was, “I am not interested in simply forming a mercenary force to help the Federation. I will agree to lead this organization. But only if Earth, and any other emerging systems who contribute to the effort, are going to be brought in to the Federation as full members of the Alliance.”
The Egolari ambassador, Elvort said, “Admiral, the Federation feels it is only correct that Earth, and any other of the systems that may become involved in the defense of the galaxy, should become full members. However, we have found that first contact can be a traumatic occurrence for the citizens of an emerging system if not handled properly. Also, the job of getting Earth factions to work together is going to take time.”
“Our suggestion is that we build and arm the nucleus of the proposed military force covertly while utilizing our normal “first contact” protocols to begin the Solar Systems entry into Galactic society.”
“We have developed measures that ease the transition. If not done carefully, Earths governments and the people of Earth could very well experience global chaos that could take decades to recover. Our expectations are that it will take at least two Earth years for the global governments to arrive at a consensus and the population to accept the fact that they are not alone.”