All That Glitters Ch. 12

All That Glitters -- Ch 12

Big News! Spies everywhere.

Our intrepid news reporter sends out several significant stories, surprising a lot of people. Who is spying for whom?

Because of the amount of abbreviations in this story, I include a glossary:

Adm. Admiral, naval rank (see Cmdr.) -- above a captain

Capt. Captain, in this series a naval rank -- usually a ship's commander

CCO Chief Communications Officer, corporate position

Cdr. Commander, naval rank -- one grade below captain

CIO Chief Information Officer, corporate position

CIWS Close In Weapons System, close in ship defensive weapons

CP Confederation of Planets, referring to the losing side of the Terran Unification War

Cmdre. Commodore, first of the admiral ranks (one star), it is followed by Rear Admiral (RAdm. Two star), Vice Admiral (VAdm. three star), Fleet Admiral (FAdm. four star, in this story a Sector Commander or equivalent), and Admiral (Adm. five star, usually senior command positions such as Chief of the Navy)

Comp Communication device / personal computer, usually worn on the wrist. Everyone has one, though there are levels of sophistication above the ordinary

Coms O Communications Officer, naval position in charge of comms

CV Cargo Vessel (supply ship)

CPV Corporate Yacht, Corporate Private Vessel (i.e. CPV Liramor One)

CPO Chief Petty Officer, a naval rank, in this story it usually refers to the Boatswain, the senior enlisted rank of a ship, who literally owns the ship, he/she signed for it. The ship's captain commands, the Boatswain makes sure everything gets done. One rank below Senior Chief Petty Officer.

CSec Chief of Security, corporate position

Dir. Director, as in Director of Operations, corporate position

EA/PA Executive / Personal Assistant, corporate position

Exec, Ex O Executive Officer, a ship's principal administrative officer. On small ships the 2^nd in command and Ex O can be one and the same. On large ships, they will be separate positions

FTL Faster Than Light, referring to the multi-light year jump drive, military warships and some private/corporate yachts have a thirty-five light year jump capability, while large supply ships usually vary between fifteen to twenty light year capability

HRRC The Human Resources and Refugee Committee, standing TGA committee dedicated to supporting people in natural disasters and conflicts that are beyond the capabilities of planetary recourses

HR Human Resources, an administrative function

IFF Identify Friend or Foe, electronic identification system used between naval vessels to identify friendly vessels

IPPF Interplanetary Police Force, future parallel to Interpol. Union police force dedicated to interplanetary criminal matters

JAG Judge Advocate General, military legal system of judges and lawyers

Lt. Lieutenant, naval rank, one grade below LtCdr.

LtCdr. Lieutenant Commander, naval rank -- one grade below Cdr.

M/A Gen Marilon/Aruna generator, significantly improved Marilon generator designed by Dr. Aruna and business partner to Clark and Samson.

MCPO Master Chief Petty Officer. Navy enlisted Rank, senior most enlisted rank. Senior enlisted rank positions such as Command Master Chief are drafted from this rank.

Maj. Major, a military rank in the Army or Marines, equivalent to navy LtCdr.

Nav O Navigation Officer, officer responsible for plotting a ship's course

Nav Tech Navigation Technician, responsible for plotting a ship's course, does not have same responsibilities as a Nav O

NQM Navy Quarter Master. Master Chief in charge of issuing supplies to ships and navy personnel.

NS Naval Ship (i.e. NS Wimple)

PO Petty Officer. Non-commissioned rank in the TUSN, starting at PO3 and working up to PO1. One rank below CPO.

PSec Head of Personal Security, usually the team lead

PV Personal Yacht, Private Vessel

Ops O Operations Officer

SCPO Senior Chief Petty Officer. Navy enlisted rank, one rank below Master Chief Petty Officer.

SLO Senior Legal Officer, corporate position

SLt. Sub-Lieutenant, a naval rank one grade below Lt. and one grade above Ensign

SPV Passenger Ship, Space Passenger Vessel. Luxury passenger vessels would have cabins available to the passengers and would sometimes be used for interplanetary cruises

SOps Senior Operations Officer

Tac O Tactical Officer, naval position in charge of tactics

TGA Terran Union Governmental Authority

TUSN Terran Union Space Navy

UDC Union Diplomatic Corps, the TGA interplanetary diplomatic corps

VSC Veterans Security Company, a personal security company that Liea uses

There are now a number of navy and other ships, that are directly involved in this story. It might be difficult to track all of them, so here is a list of ships important to the story in order of their appearance:

RH 149 Rockhound 149, ore survey vessel. Raymond Clark's mining vessel in which he found his claim and evidence of aliens. Rockhounds can literally push one kilometer of rock. First seen in the prologue.

CPV Liramor One Ex Tung Class corporate yacht. Principal corporate yacht of Liramor Holdings. First seen in Chapter One.

NS Wimple Fairling Class Frigate, Capt. Bouyé Whatt commanding. Support ship for the Piscium Scientific Investigation Team. First ship in Cmdre. Marsh's command. First seen in Chapter Two.

NS Dewfall Burgan Class Battle Cruiser, Capt. Steven Pickering commanding. Often used by FAdm. Thenton or the Sector Forty-Two JAG for transport. First seen in Chapter Four.

NS Kindalla Fairling Class Frigate, Capt. Liana Dostier commanding. Second ship in Marsh's command. Dedicated to Piscium system security. First seen in Chapter Five.

NS Kologn Fairling Class Frigate, Capt. Cèleste Dauphine commanding. Third ship in Marsh's command, dedicated to Piscium system security. First seen in Chapter Seven.

NS Claridge Fairling Class Frigate, Capt. Richard Dent commanding. Fourth ship in Marsh's command, dedicated to Piscium system security. First seen in Chapter Seven.

SPV Katran Luxury Passenger Ship. She is sent to Liramor-23 by the President of the Union to retrieve former slaves. Unfortunately, she also carried Senator Andjuran to Liramor-23. First seen in Chapter Eight.

NS Korman Korman Class Interdiction Ship. A large and formidable interdiction ship designed to lay siege to planetary systems. She was built late in the war and never saw action. She was sold to Raymond and Liea as a private yacht with a difference. First seen in Chapter eight.

PV The Princess Princess Class private yacht owned by Annette Liramor. Small yacht designed around the old diplomat runabout ships. Capable of planetfall and huge bounds. First of her class. Is the smallest of the Princess Class, subsequent ships of the class being built to slightly larger dimensions. A gift from Liea Samson. First seen in Chapter Nine.

PV The Wanderer Wanderer Class private yacht. Ex Korman Class interdiction ship. Private yacht visibly owned by Raymond Clark and Liea Samson but in reality, partially owned, maintained, and controlled by the TUSN. First seen in Chapter Nine.

PV Delilah Princess Class private yacht owned by Liea Samson. She is the second ship of the class and sets the pattern for subsequent ships of the class. The name is derived from the historical story 'Samson and Delilah', wherever Delilah is, Samson will also be. First seen in Chapter Ten.

PV The Valour Princess Class private yacht owned by Fiona Marsh. The name drives from Marsh's highest award to date, the Civilian Cross of Valour. A gift from Liea Samson. First seen in Chapter Ten.

PV The Valiant Princess Class private yacht owned by Raymond Clark. The name is derived from his actions in combat. Clark is one of the most decorated Navy Officers of the Terran Unification War. First seen in Chapter Ten.

There is little attempt to explain the back story, so it is necessary to read previous chapters to fully understand where we are.

As before, I claim sole responsibility for the story line. This story is a fantasy, with no basis in reality. Any similarity that you may perceive to current events, people, or situations real or imaginary is completely unintended. Look no further than the story line for its intent and purpose.

A big shout out to SaddleRidder for all the help she has provided in editing. I cannot stress enough how helpful she has been. If you find any errors still left in this chapter (you're nitpicking), they are mine.

Please rate and comment. But keep your comments respectful. If you rant and rave or are disrespectful in your commentary, it will be deleted.

'Nuff said...enjoy.

VIP Suite, Liramor-23 Mining Platform, Piscium System, 106 Light Years from Terra

Cynthia Stewart was in her element. She had interview after interview set up over the next few days and had already edited the story on The Valiant and its capabilities and had asked for permission to use the FTL comms probe to send it to the nearest planet with an affiliated station of Interplanetary News Services.

That story, which included a two-minute teaser clip, a five-minute extended news clip, a fifteen-minute featurette simplified for the average viewer but still enjoyable for the tech nerds -- including an interview about the ship with Capt. Ward and a short interview with the owner, Capt. Clark, and an almost two-hour long documentary with more comprehensive and technical interviews including a longer piece with soon-to-be Capt. (N) (ret'd) Raymond Clark.

'The' Raymond Clark, a hero of Emporium during the Terran Unification War! The story of Clark's brief retirement ceremony would be the kind of short news clip the entertainment channels would scream for. She would be floating between the tech channels, the shipping channels, the scientific channels, and the entertainment channels. Her face would be everywhere!

And that was only the start. She had a number of interviews still to come on the Battle of Liramor-23 and hours of editing to complete. The information that the news of the battle was being deliberately suppressed would be a shocker to the news services. They would have to find out who was doing that. The interviews would be a multi-episode story putting her face once more over multiple theme channels.

Then interviews with no less than the JAG himself, Adm. James Hannison, on the situation vis-à-vis the ongoing trials of the captured pirates, or at least the limited information he could give her on trials already completed. She was still attempting to get permission to interview a few of the pirates themselves.

Last, and certainly not least, the story on the aliens! Not one, but two alien species, found by no less a celebrity than Raymond Clark himself. She was free to record Clark's initial brief on the aliens in the Piscium system and was free to send the information to the news services, the only admonition being that she could not identify the Piscium system.

Like that would stop the other reporters from trying to jump into the system! It wouldn't take much for an experienced reporter to figure out where Liramor-23 was, and she was free to mention the platform's name in her Battle of Liramor-23 clips.

This would be a long-term investment in her future. She would have to carefully coordinate the release of the reports and interviews and see if she could guarantee an exclusive on the aliens from Liramor-23 for the first little while.

However, she couldn't wait too long once she sent out the first chapter of the aliens' story. There may not be a lot of interest outside of specialty nuts among news reporters to the other stories, but once the aliens story hit the airways, there would be no stopping the number of reporters seeking to crash Liramor-23!

Conference Room One, Liramor-23, Piscium System

"We're going to need more ships," were the first words that were spoken in the conference room once all the senior officers were present for the morning brief. Included were Adm. James Hannison, Adm. Rolland Heist, FAdm. Charles Thenton, Commodore Fiona Marsh, Capt. Henadi Noor, Capt. Bouyé Watt, Capt. Liana Dostier, Capt. Cèleste Dauphine, and the aide-de-camps of the various admirals, including Fiona's new aide, Cdr. Beverly Davis, and soon to be retired Capt. Raymond Clark. The only senior officer missing was Capt. Richard Dent, whose ship, the NS Claridge, was again out on patrol, and of course the reporter, who was being deliberately kept away from the navy's morning tactical brief.

Having spoken the words, Fiona looked around at the other admirals and dared them with steely eyes to oppose that consideration.

"You're getting one, The Wanderer," Thenton quipped.

"An exploration vessel, and technically not mine, it will just roost here," Fiona returned, hardening her tone and the look of steel.

"Oh, she has perfected that 'you've been a naughty child' mama look!" Hannison laughed. "Doesn't work on us, Fiona," he said with a smile.

"But she does have a point," Heist agreed. "The Battle of Liramor-23 story will hold the interest of some for a bit, but confirmation on not one, but two alien species? The platform will be flooded by reports and thrill-seekers."

"I want three more ships," Fiona asked politely, mollified now that an Admiral had topped the Field Admiral.

"Two," Thenton replied.

"Three, I will need to start sending those ships down the anticipated tracks from those alien planets," Fiona stated.

"I will give you two ships for system defence," Thenton returned. "I'll give you another Fairling Class and an escort ship. You can include the Fairling in the mix you have now, but the escort will be used for platform defence. I'll send you another sixty FTL probes and you can send those down the tracks.

"If they show anything within five light years, we'll talk about additional ships. However, we'll wait for The Wanderer and its UDC members before we engage anything found in those tracks," Thenton finished.

Fiona had the good sense not to push things and nodded her acceptance, looking like she had swallowed a lemon, but secretly quite happy that she had negotiated two new ships.

The remainder of the brief was tied to how they would use the probes to scout down the tracks outward from the platform in half-year bounds. With the thirty-six probes she now had, she could spread them out in lines of four, at their max scanner range of one-quarter of a light year. That would allow her to do eight bounds in each lane, or four light years, every month. Add to that the sixty on the way, and she would be able to quickly cover the distance to both worlds.

"Adm. Heist has finished his investigation of the data from the pirate ships. He and I will be leaving tomorrow. We will need to borrow transport, Fiona," Thenton mentioned and the end of the brief.

"No problem, I can lend you The Valour," Fiona said with a smile. "She needs to stretch her legs some."

"In that case, since I will have to return the ship to you immediately, I will borrow Capt. Noor. There are some instructions about her new ship she needs to be appraised of and I can return her to you probably the same day," Thenton said.

"For now, lets introduce you and your gang to your new personnel," he said as he opened the lock on the door and requested the presence of the platform's new Naval Supply Officer and Navy Quarter Master."

NS Wimple, Alien Station, Piscium System

Cynthia had interviewed Dr. Hitron and had scored an invitation to the alien station and the opportunity to interview doctors, at the top of their fields, who were part of the team. The Wimple was now in a parking orbit around the site two minutes light or thirty-six million kilometers from the platform and was preparing to commence scientific activities.

Cynthia had wanted to go to the original site, referred to as 'The Cemetery' but that was now restricted due to the activities of four scientists from this same group. However, Dr. Hitron had made imagery and reports available to her to add to the now feature length documentary that she would be sending out in a little over a week's time, including on the activities and trial of the four doctors who had actually smuggled an alien body on board! The re-internment of that alien, with full military honors, would splash across the news nets!

Cynthia Stewart was quietly pinching her leg, still in disbelief, as she sat in the mess of the NS Wimple while conducting a 'coffee interview' with a couple of the scientists from the Piscium Investigation Team. These two were linguists from the team and were explaining to her how they were trying to break down the writing systems from the two different species.

They had used comparative linguistics to show definitively that the writing styles were from two completely different species, alien to each other. They were trying to explain to her, and ultimately the viewers, how the qualities of language families worked. The gist of the attempt was to show that the two languages did not belong on the same language family tree.

However, what amazed the linguists the most, was that there seemed to be more than four unrelated writing styles of distinct family groups that they could interpret from the written forms on the alien station. The linguists were attempting to show how important this was as it indicated unrelated family groups of speech and possibly even thought patterns, comparing it to family groups such as the Latin languages, and Asian languages among humans. Cynthia was only able to follow a small part of what they were saying, but she was sure that the science nuts would be all over these interviews.