by Chris Hechtl
Cristi Lee Gaston-Verkolje-Schotte Eldest daughter of Senator Gaston. Blonde. Widower. 2 adult children, no further children due to loss of uterus from a bleed during a miscarriage during the war. Both adult children died. Became Governor in her father's place.
Jessie Gaston: daughter of Senator Gaston, died during the war. Blonde.
Bogi Gaston-Amsberg: daughter of Senator Gaston. Brunette. Wears rectangular glasses due to eye damage. Husband Jan Amsberg.
Arjen Amsberg (19), Robin Amsberg: Sons of Bogi.
Rachel Gaston-Ferdinand: daughter of Senator Gaston. Raven haired.
Walter Ferdinand: youngest son of Bogi.
Daniel Schotte human male driver of Senator Gaston. Also his aide and body guard while on planet. Married Christi.
Smith family: Luddite dairy farmers. They own the largest dairy in the tri-state area.
Brown family: Amish farmers. Leader of an Amish enclave.
Emmett Brown: Eldest son of the Brown family. Estranged from his family. He went to space, got rich. Owned 7 asteroids worth 10 trillion each plus cash and shares. Wife Maggie, Sons Jules and Vern and baby daughter Clara.
Doctor Phol: Elderly veterinarian and medic who goes around the upper Midwest state area treating farms.
Doctor Scotch: Country doctor.
Santa Maria: Older colonial transport. Can carry 30,000 colonists. Ship captured by Taurens in the Janus star system.
Captain Lauren Kendrick. Butch female, short blond spacer haircut.
Bob: Navigator
Shirley: sensor tech
Toni: bridge tech.
Antigua:
Governor Fin Thrakle: Former ally of Wendy and Yorrick on the Lagroose board. He represented shareholders who own a stake in the company. They exchanged their shares and cash to purchase the rights to the Antigua star system allowing Wendy to avoid a coup attempt. KIA refugee bombardment. Married, no children.
Deidra Thrakle: Wife of Fin. Survived.
Doctor Dreyfus Grayskull: Engineer, scientist, and hermit.
Donald Randall: Lay about. No skills.
Malory: Wife of Donald. Minimum menial skills. Worked as a waitress. Hard worker.
Patricia 11 year old daughter of Malory and Donald. (as of 2232- 13)
Tirel: youngest son of Donald and Malory. 5 years old. (as of 2232 -7)
Faith Hope Randall toddler female.
Birdy: platinum blond thin, tall woman. From the moon. Has low muscle mass, flat chest. A zero- balancer like the Randall family. She lived in skid row and befriended Malory Randall.
Beatrice: Bonobo nurse. Former Lagroose employee. -KIA with governor
Alina Destiny Neocat doctor. Former Lagroose employee. -KIA with governor
Paki Bello former Lagroose Industries Neogorilla guard. Son of Obi Bello. Paki means witness.
Speedwell:
Colony ship that delivered the colonists to Antigua.
Captain Joseph Holt
Rollins: Navigator
Jim: chief engineer
Protodon:
Island colony, poor like Gaston but worse. 30k celtic and mixed passengers. 1/2 lottery winners. another shipment of 30k half lottery winners coming in 3 years.
Claudia McDonald: Teenage sister to Bobby.
Ana Fahed: Botanist/horticulturalist. Shy.
Betty Fahed: Teenage daughter of Anna.
Hubert Humphrey: Vet, biologist.
Luca Hawk -hang-glider.
Bobby McDonald: Female human. Green eyes. chef, leader, sheep rancher.
Adam Ursini: Neobear. Has his own holdings on the mountainside. He lives in a cave and tends to the antenna farm.
Reg Mannolini: Red hair. Irish accent. Suspenders and knitted cap.
Paul Ewing
Taurens:
8 task forces in the fleet. (Base 8) 5 battleships, 3 battle cruisers. 2 of eight cruisers, (16) 3 of eight support ships.(24), 2 of eight dispatch boats. (16) Each task force has 1 BB or BC as a flagship with 2 cruisers, 2 dispatch boats and 3 support ships.
Fleet Herd
Alpha Bull: Fleet Herd Leader.
Beta Bull: Fleet Herd Second in command
Gamma Bull: Fleet Herd Third in command. In charge of the task force that takes Pyrax.
Delta Bull: Fleet herd Fourth in command. In charge of Antigua invasion.
Echo Bull: Fleet herd Fifth in command. Left behind by Beta bull at jump point to hyperbridge network to Sol.
Romeo Bull: also known as Broken Horn: Fleet herd sixth in command. In charge of the Protodon invasion.
Ship's Alpha Bull: the lead male of each starship. Equivalent of a ship's captain.
Broken Tooth: Leader of the ground forces in the Pyrax expedition.
One eye: crushed by a selkie walrus.
Broken Jaw: Guard bull assigned to protect research team.
Dreamer: Engineer assigned to research Terran tech.
Red Eye: Security bull on Pyrax. KIA to Sergeant Maltese.
Reading Order:
Time line of the Engineer Universe:
Chronological reading order
Founding Series:
*First Steps
Stepping Stones Founding Stories 1
To Touch the Stars
The Island of Moreau -Short Story Multiverse 2
Bumper and Boomer -Short Story Multiverse 2
The First AI War
Cornerstone: Tales of the Founding of the Federation 2
The First Terran Interstellar War 1 Desperate Defense
The First Terran Interstellar War 2 Waking the Sleeping Giant
The Good Ship UFSP Lollipop-Short Story Multiverse 2
Higher for Higher -Short Story Multiverse 1
Siren Call -Short Story Multiverse 1
Ragnarok series:
Wandering Engineer:
*New Dawn
Fools Gold
Jethro Goes to War
Destiny's Choice
Ghost Station
Jethro First to Fight
Plague Planet
13 Degrees of Separation
Pirates Bane
Lewis and Clarke -Short Story Multiverse 2
Jethro No Place like Home
Ghosts From the Past
---Federation Reborn----
Bringer of Fire and Light -Short Story Multiverse 1
Battle Lines
Jethro Recruiting Drive
Pirate Rage
Tales of the Federation Reborn 1
Retribution
Horatio Logan Chronicles: 1 Enemy of my Enemy
Jethro 5 Ares God of War
Shelby Logan Chronicles: 1 Convoy
Horatio Logan Chronicles 2 Court-Martial (forthcoming)
Appendix:
My blog:
http://cyberforge3d.blogspot.com/
The Facebook Fan group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/582559128466667/
The Wiki:
http://federation-datanet.wikia.com/wiki/Federation_AI_Historical_Datanet_Wiki
Military:
http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/the-navys-giant-electromagnetic-railgun-looks-terrifyin-1793603182
http://gizmodo.com/military-officials-say-we-need-to-prepare-for-space-war-1793774231
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Artisan_(ABSD-1)
https://www.engadget.com/2017/01/05/UK-laser-weapons/
Inspiring Art:
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/RJPmy
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/6zmox
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/K1rP9
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/24Xbx
Other:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isoroku_Yamamoto's_sleeping_giant_quote
http://gizmodo.com/the-prospects-for-life-on-trappist-1-keep-getting-bette-1792763190
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Repair_ship
http://coolconversion.com/math/binary-octal-hexa-decimal/_decimal__288_to_octal_
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservat
ion_of_energy
http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/10667-do-i-not-destroy-my-enemies-when-i-make-them
Sneak Peek:
The following is a raw excerpt from Court-Martial, book 2 of the Horatio Logan Chronicles
Captain Edgar Clayton waited in the anteroom. He declined to sit, instead standing with his cover under one arm. He felt like an errant school kid being called into the principal's office, even though he hadn't done anything wrong.
Or had he? He had submitted to Admiral Toronto and the orders to arrest Admiral Logan. Even in the depths of his mind he flinched internally at calling Logan an Admiral and not going with the rest of Admiral Childress's supporters and denying the Ansible promotion.
He felt like he'd been wrung through the wringer with the trial. It sucked. Fortunately, his time on the stand was over, he had nothing left to contribute.
“Sir?” the Yeoman startled him out his revere. “The Admiral is ready for you now,” he said, pressing a button to buzz him in.
The Captain nodded once and then again to the MPs at either side of the door. He took a deep breath and then pushed into the room. He kept his expression vacant as he marched up to the desk and then stopped at attention a meter from it. “Sir, Captain Clayton reporting as ordered,” he said, saluting the other man.
“I've got orders for your ship Captain. Your ship will take on fuel and stores, no more than necessary to complete your mission,” the Admiral said gruffly, pushing a chip over to the Captain.
The Captain bent slightly and picked it up and then palmed it in his fist.
“I'm not going to sugar coat this; it is not your typical mission. Ilmarinen is to go to the B-102c star system and destroy the Ansible platform there.”
“Sir, that is... destruction of naval property,” the Captain said slowly.
“I know that. Can you handle the job? If not, say so and I'll have you up on charges for refusing to obey an order. And I'll find someone else who can handle the job.”
“I can do the job,” the captain replied quietly.
The admiral gave him a long searching look for a moment. Finally, he grunted. “Any questions?”
“What of the people on the station sir? What if they object?”
“They can object all they want. Just get it done. That Ansible has been a sore in my side long enough.”
The captain thought fast. “What if there is a warship there? Caroline?”
Admiral Childress shook his head. “Our last report said she was laid up with significant damage from her last transit through the Ansible. She won't be there.”
“But what if she is? Or another ship sir?”
“She won't be,” the admiral insisted harshly, making the captain rear back in surprise. Omar forced himself to smile slightly and cool off a bit. “Look, they have no reason to picket the star system at the moment. There are no warships to salvage either. Just get it done.”
Edgar didn't like that little bit, the they in that statement. The us against them bothered the hell out of him, but he was wise enough to keep his face impassive, or so he hoped. He nodded once when he saw the admiral waiting for a response. “I see sir.”
Admiral Childress stared at him, long and hard, gauging his commitment to the mission. Finally, he rose and came around the desk. He leaned against it with his backside, and crossed his arms in front of him. “Any warships will most likely be headed here. Or Nuevo. So don't worry about them. I've got supplementary orders to extract our people off the station on the chip,” he said, pointing a finger down to the captain's hand. The captain glanced down at it and then back to his superior officer. “It boils down to this. Can you do this?”
“I'll get it done sir,” the captain replied quietly.
The admiral stared at him for a long moment then clasped his hand on the other man's shoulder briefly. “Good. I see stars in your future. In fact, as soon as this mission is complete I'll pull you from that ship and give you a real command. We've got a lot of holes in the chain of command to fill. I think a man of your caliber can handle a squadron.”
“Thank you sir. But first I've got to get through this mission.”
“Yes indeed.”
@
Captain Clayton read his full orders once he was back aboard his ship.
He grimaced at the rat's nest he was entering. No, not a rat's nest, more like chum filled waters with hungry sharks. All with cuts all over his body, he thought as he scanned the mission brief bleakly.
It was just as bad as he'd feared. Not only was he supposed to destroy the Ansible, but he had other orders. They were all billed as non-discretionary, and his eyes only. Wonder-fracking-ful, he thought with a glower. He couldn't even vent or plan with his bridge crew. Not good. And just as he feared, there were no contingency plans.
He wasn't certain what he'd do if there was a warship there. Bluff? Wait? Or surrender? He'd have to decide if and when it came to that. For the moment, he had to stay the course. He continued to scan the orders.
His orders included provisions to board and take Sweet Revenge and any transports there, as well as the station itself. That explained the extra personnel coming on board. They were all MPs, not one was a Marine. He was to ignore calls from the Ansible. His orders were to take the ships and evacuate the station, then destroy it and make it look like an accident.
He snorted. Fat chance of that, he thought. What he was doing would be considered treason against the Federation. In fact, it was, but he saw no way out of it. His crew would be kept in the dark until the last moment, but the new people, they were adherent supporters of Childress and Draken. They were armed and they'd make certain they followed through with their mission, no matter how unpalatable the captain thought it was.
And that was what bothered him the most; he was caught in the middle. He wuffled a sigh and touched a control on his tablet to reach the bridge.
“Bridge watch, Lieutenant V'n'll. How can I help you Captain?” a helpful voice asked.
“How goes the loading?”
“Just about done sir. There is no mission brief however.”
“We're going to B-102c. I'll...” he caught himself and then grimaced. “We'll be checking in there,” he said lamely. I'll let the rest of the senior officers know once we're underway for the jump point.”
“Aye aye sir. We're scheduled to complete the loading by O seven hundred.”
“Then have the ship buttoned up and ready to get underway by O eight hundred.”
“Aye aye sir. The order has been logged.”
“Good,” the Captain replied as he sat back. “Good.”