A Galaxy Unknown
Page 42
"Medal of Honor? Me?"
"Yes, you, Commander."
Jenetta took another deep breath. "Is that all, sir?"
The admiral chuckled. "Isn't that enough?"
"Oh, yes sir. Yes sir, definitely. I just want to pinch myself now and wake up. This has to be the best dream ever, and I want to record it on my personal log ring so I don't forget a bit of it."
The admiral laughed robustly and the officers in the room joined in. "It's not a dream, Commander. It's better than that. It's real."
Jenetta pinched her leg hard, just to be sure. "Yes sir. It certainly seems to be."
The ceremonies over, the attendees began to introduce themselves and personally congratulate Jenetta. She smiled, shook hands, and did her best to remember all the names. Officers began to filter out after congratulating her and the room was almost cleared when Jenetta thanked the admirals and was dismissed.
The morning had brought a rollercoaster of emotions, beginning with the fears that she might either be re-arrested or bundled off to a research lab somewhere for endless experimentation. The revelation that the court-martial had been a sham, of sorts, had both shocked her deeply and temporarily filled her with resentment, but she understood why she hadn't been informed beforehand. She probably couldn't have emoted the necessary reactions if she'd known in advance that she'd be cleared of all charges. Then to be promoted three grades and have numerous honors heaped upon her had been both exhilarating and numbing. Lastly, to learn that she was now the second officer aboard the Prometheus carried her to a dizzying height. Her elation was almost too much to suppress. She wanted to scream, as she had when she'd learned of her posting to the Hokyuu, but as the newest Lt. Commander in Space command, it just wouldn't be decorous.
She still had an hour until lunch so she walked back to the science section to get the few personal things that she had in her desk. On the way, she stopped just long enough to replace the science officer insignia on her collar with the new line officer insignia and single pip. Using her reflection in a thick polycarbonate door at the entrance to the science section, she insured that they were properly positioned, and then admired their appearance on her collar.
Immediately spotting the new Lieutenant Commander rank insignia on her epaulets, Lieutenant Kesliski accosted Jenetta before she was ten steps into the room.
"Are you insane? They just finished court-martialing you for wearing captain's bars and now you show up wearing the rank insignia of a Lt. Commander." Kesliski grinned slightly. "I can't let this slip, Ensign. I'll have to report this breech of conduct to Base Security."
"It's Lt. Commander Carver, Lieutenant Kesliski. I've been promoted and reassigned as second officer aboard the battleship Prometheus, leaving shortly for Earth. If you have any questions, you're welcome to call Admiral Holt's aide and verify my promotion and posting. But if you call Base Security without first checking, I'll have you slapped in the brig for making false accusations against a superior officer. Now get out of my way, Lieutenant!"
Lieutenant Kesliski practically jumped aside at the crisply spoken command, her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open. Jenetta walked calmly to her desk, retrieved her personal items, and then headed for the door, stopping where a shocked Lieutenant Kesliski was still standing.
"Close your mouth, Lieutenant; you look exceedingly foolish like that. I know that you haven't approved of me, and intended to make my life as miserable as possible while you were my supervising officer, so it's a real pleasure for me to say farewell." Reaching into her tunic pocket, she produced the science officer insignia that she had just replaced on her collar. "Here," she said, holding out the insignia to the lieutenant and depositing them in Kesliski's hand when it was extended, "perhaps you'll find some use for these. As you were."
Jenetta turned and walked from the room. Telling Kesliski off had been the best few seconds that she'd had in that office.
Lt. Kesliski looked down at the collar insignia in her hand as the door slid closed. Her surprised facial expression changed to show the frustration and anger that was beginning to boil over inside her. She screamed loud and long before throwing the insignia against the nearest wall with all the strength she possessed.
As she walked down the corridor, Jenetta heard Lt. Kesliski's emotional outburst. A smile momentarily lit up her face, before being replaced by the staid expression she felt was expected of a senior officer on duty.
~ The End of the Beginning ~
*** Jenetta's exciting adventures continue in: ***
Valor at Vauzlee
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Thank you.
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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 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.
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Admiralty Board:
Moore, Richard E - Admiral of the Fleet
Platt, Evelyn S. - Admiral - Director of Fleet 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 (Androme
da) - 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 km
Sub-section - 946,073,047 km
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No attempt has been made to show the thousands of stars, planets, and moons in this small part of G.A. space. The only purpose of this two-dimensional representation is to provide the reader with a feel for the spatial relationships between bases, systems, and celestial events referenced in the first three books of this series. The mean distance from Earth to Higgins Space Command Base has been calculated at 90.1538 light-years.
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.jpg and .pdf versions of the above map are available for downloading at : http://www.deprima.com/ancillary/agu.html
should the names be unreadable in your printed or electronic media.