All That Glitters Ch. 14

This chapter is all over the place!

This chapter contains several vignettes that tie the story together without moving forward any. Sorry, but it has to be done.

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, 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.

Conference Room One, Liramor-23 Mining Platform, Piscium System. 106 Light Years from Terra

Fiona was absolutely livid. Her anger was almost palpable and most of her entourage eased away from her momentarily, not that they feared for themselves, but they had never seen Fiona in such a state.

Cynthia Stewart was watching the interplay with interest. In her time as a reporter, she had seen a number of important people lose it, and how they lost it was a big indicator of the kind of person they were.

"Fiona?" It was the Navy JAG who spoke. Adm. James Hannison was worried about the young commodore and what might become of her reputation if she lost it in front of her people. Though from the looks of it, many of her people were ready to support whatever Fiona would ask of them vis-à-vis Senator Andjuran.

Fiona suddenly stood and walked stiffly to the great window, standing quietly in front of it. Cynthia knew the view was spectacular. She was just as certain that Fiona could not see that beauty right this moment.

No one at the conference table said a word, though several concerned looks passed between the people.

Fiona turned and made her way back to the table, standing behind the chair she had recently vacated.

"You are ready to forward the news articles on the battle?" she asked the reporter.

"I am," Cynthia assured her. "They are cued in a sequence that will distribute the information over the space of a week," she informed them.

"Once that breaks in the news, the suppression order will probably fall apart as it will then appear unlikely that anyone on Liramor-23 is in league with pirates." Fiona said. "However, you can bet your next paycheck that this will not come back to hurt The Spider. I'm sure he has something up his sleeve that will point elsewhere for the source of the suspicion."

"The Spider?" Cdr. Beverly Davis, Fiona's aide, asked. "I thought he was The Snake?"

"The Snake is a religious reference," Celia Corden, the IPPF agent offered with a smirk. "We'll use that term to show what he is doing from that point of view. The Spider is very appropriate for the number of plots he seems to have ongoing."

"What's his next likely move?" Fiona asked the group. "I don't think he will have anything legal he can pull on us, so what does that leave?"

"You are correct," the JAG commented, "his move to 'suppress on suspicion' will leave him few avenues on the legal front. We need to know how the News Nets established that this was a bogus order. That would help us determine for sure what options he and we, would have legally.

"Ms. Stewart, you will have to pump your bosses on that one. They may not want to divulge anything about what they have discovered behind closed doors. If you want to get their attention; you might send them Capt. Clark's brief on his finding the aliens, with the admonition that they cannot air it until you are certain there will be no repercussions from Andjuran.

"I'm sure that if you told them how many hours of news articles you have on the subject of the aliens they might be more forthcoming, especially if you remind them that you are an independent news reporter and not beholden to any network that might do something that threatens your life," Hannison suggested.

"That's what he'll do," Davis suddenly said.

"Explain?" Fiona demanded.

"He already sent pirates after us once, commodore," Davis stated formerly, making sure everyone understood the potential gravity of the situation. "We don't think the pirates will do so again, but Andjuran will push them against us once more."

"How can you be so sure?" Cynthia asked.

"Military tactics," she stated simply. "If you are ambushed, you don't go to bed before you make a sustained counterattack to drive the enemy from their ill-gained positions in your territory. Since most of the pirates are ex CP navy personnel, they will understand that concept. So, when Andjuran suggests that they hit the platform to take out a possible thorn in the pirate's side, they will likely listen."

Fiona was watching her navy staff and noted all were nodding to Beverly's words.

"Only this time, we won't have the advantage of surprise," Fiona stated. "Andjuran has been here. He has seen for himself some of our capabilities, despite our best efforts to keep them from him. And there is no guarantee that he doesn't have a second spy on the platform."

"We're going to need to change our tactics," Capt. Henadi Noor, the Civilian Liaison Officer, said. "I guarantee you, the pirates will."

Anur Say, Capital City, Planet Anuura, Caiden System, Fifty-Six Light Years from Terra

Zallene Falta, only wife of Penat Herlan, was waiting patiently at the costumes exit of the spaceport for the capital city of Anur Say. With her were her two eldest daughters, twins Zerra and Herra Herlan. The twins were married, though not to the same man. Their respective husbands were away working off planet, so the twins were sharing time with their mother.

They were at the space port to pick up Zallene's youngest daughter, Junelliea. Junelliea had been betrothed three times, but none of the matches had proved viable.

Her first was to a young man who had boasted publicly, and rather graphically, what he would do to his bride on their wedding night. The resulting imagery was not pretty. Unfortunately for the young man, his father was there to hear him boasting and immediately called off the wedding as 'punishment' for his son, not caring that he embarrassed the House of Harlen in the process.

The second betrothal attempt was destroyed from within the house that was pushing for the match. The third wife of the house wanted another woman for her son and used the facts of the previous embarrassment to the House of Harlen to convince her husband that the match was not propitious. They ended the contract and the son married the other woman; the house soon discovered that she was not what was expected.

The third attempt had been a contract sought out by House Habwat and was pushed strongly by both the parents and the intended. It looked like a good match until the bank finally allowed Junelliea to look at the house's books, mere days before the marriage. That was when she discovered that House Habwat was in severe debt and needed the money her dowry would provide.

Dowries were supposed to be an insurance for the bride in the event that they are divorced or widowed, but dowries were often used by the dutiful wife to help the house she joined.

Some houses, however, pilfered the bride's dowry for their own use, with no prospect for the bride's future. Unfortunately for Junelliea, her intended's family's only interest in her was as a cash cow to her father's wealth.

Zallene remembered the confrontation that Penat had with the senior Habwat. It took place in a public square and Penat had beat the man near to death. The house of Herlan would have been severely censured but for Junelliea's testament on the true purpose of the Habwat marriage contract.

Penat was obliged to provide for medical costs to the man he had beaten, but the family Habwat was hauled into bankruptcy by the bank as soon as their plight became public knowledge and left the city of Aereet in disgrace.

Herlan had allowed his daughter to go on what was to be her honeymoon voyage, a trip to Terra. He couldn't get the money back and didn't want the trip to go to waste. Being eighteen and now an adult, Junelliea was allowed to go alone. Zallene had worried about her daughter for eighteen days, the worry relieved only when she saw her child walking towards the threesome, two porters following in her wake.

But the person who was coming towards them was not the shy, lost, unhappy girl that left eighteen days ago. Instead, a poised and incredibly beautiful woman was striding towards them with confidence. The composure and serenity on Junelliea's face was in total contrast to the girl who had left only a few weeks earlier.

The woman was wearing the traditional long gown of the Andanii, this one of purest white. The passage of her movement through the air forced the material against her exquisite form, showing in limited detail the graceful body of a true woman. People stopped to stare at her as she passed by, completely unaware of the effect she had on those around her.

Her soft brown hair made a halo around her heart shaped face. Large, bold eyes of the deepest blue looked out from under long dark lashes. She had the eyes of her sisters, of a blue so deep they were almost purple, a family trait.

All three of her daughters were exquisite beauties, but somehow, Junelliea made her sisters look almost frumpy as she crossed the open space to them.

"Is that Junelliea?" Zerra asked, surprise in her voice.

"What has happened to her?" Herra asked in her turn, both having noted the difference.

Zallene no longer saw a frightened child. She saw a strong woman, filled with confidence in herself. It upset her to think what might have happened to change her daughter so. The only thing she could think of was...NO! She had been to Terra alone! She had been tempted, and likely fallen to temptation!