All That Glitters Ch. 15

"Mr. Sucre!"

"Sir!" the Boatswain called out immediately.

"You will ensure that all the ratings not presently in this room are familiar with this speech. Especially the fact that a Fleet Admiral gave it. Capt. Noor will ensure that her officers are appraised of the message."

A double confirmation of, "Aye, Sir!" was called out by the respective individuals.

"Unseal the door!" Thenton ordered.

As soon as the door was unsealed, Pallanders staff came in with bottles in hand.

"Ah!" Thenton cried out. "An old navy tradition, Grog!"

"Three cheers for the old man! Hip, hip, HUZZAH! Hip, Hip, HUZZAH, Hip, Hip Huzzah!"

"Yeah, I know you bastards. You just want a taste of the rum!" Thenton snarled.

"We'd do almost anything for rum, sir!" quipped a voice from the back to general laughter.

Thenton smiled at Henadi, the mood of the ship's company was good, much better than on a lot of new ships.

Malton University, Terra

When PV The Valour dropped down into the university shuttle port, she drew a lot of attention, especially when a Commodore, a Captain, a Commander, and a few senior navy scientists left her to head to the Linguistics Department.

Because of recent news items, the Princess Class was immediately recognized by many at the campus. But the class was still a rarity, so her arrival at the port caught people's attention. Especially the name, and who the purported owner was.

As the group made their way to the Linguistic Department, they were almost immediately waylaid by the mandarins of senior university officials and asked to join said officials for a 'social'. The scientists in the group were surprised, but Fiona was not. It was something that she had noted when officials like the Liramor Family appeared, everyone deferred to them, and everyone wanted them to see the best of any institution they were coming to.

"Just follow my lead, people," Fiona quietly advised her people. "We are in for a little round of apple polishing from the senior officials of the university." Dr. Hitron smiled at her, this was nothing new to her either.

The party was brought to one of the many meeting rooms on campus which was hastily set up with hors d'oeuvres, sweet meats, and some refreshments. The dean of the university filed in not long after to personally greet the new arrivals.

"Commodore Fiona Marsh, I am Dean Samantha Wiccans, Dean of Faculty and head of the university. This is Professor Brice Handel, Dean of the Linguistic Department. It truly is a pleasure to meet you, especially after the news about the events of the Battle of Liramor-23," she simpered.

"Thank-you for your kind words," Fiona returned. "May I introduce you to my staff? I have Capt. Beverly Davis, Civilian Liaison Office, Cdr. Helga Hellebore, my aide-de-camp. Dr. Sylvia Hitron, Head of the Piscium Scientific Investigation Team, Dr. Kirsten Maalox, Level One Linguist, and Dr. Mark Breem, Level One Linguist."

"Piscium Scientific Investigation Team?" the Dean Wiccan asked, a little confused. "I don't think I've heard of that one."

"You will shortly," Fiona informed her. "News items are being released within the next few days. Safe to say, it will be a Union wide event. Which is why we are here.

"We find we are in need of specialist linguistic programs that only Malton University has," Fiona advised. "We could requisition it through the navy, but we would not likely see the device and program for several months and we need to get on this quickly."

"Linguistic capability?" the Dean Wiccan asked perplexed. "Why would you need linguistic capabilities in a hurry?"

"Because they found a new language," Dean Handel surmised.

"Can you keep a secret?" Fiona asked of the group. "At least for a couple of days until the news becomes public?"

She got confused looks but then heads nodded that they could.

Fiona sighed dramatically and leaned in to quietly give them the 'secret'. The two deans leaned forward, eager to here it.

"We found several alien bodies in the Piscium system," Fiona told them. "A written language and even audio and visual references to the language. That's why we need the program."

Dean Wiccans blinked at her then tittered softly. "Really, Fiona? Little Grey Men?"

"Dr. Hitron, if you please," Fiona commanded.

Sylvia was ready, she pulled up an image from the autopsy report, showing the original Piscium alien.

"Actually, greenish-gold in colour and over two meters in height," Hitron told the deans as she showed them the imagery. She then called up a fuzzy image of what looked for all the world like a news brief but done by the same aliens and in a language they could not understand.

"In a non-related issue," Fiona said, getting Dean Wiccans attention momentarily. "We are going to need about a dozen tutors for our platform, mostly to guide in the formation and writing of BA, MA, and PhD dissertations. Though they could possibly do some actual instruction given some of the classes being selected," she finished with a smile.

"Wait? What?" Dean Wiccans was momentarily confused. She had just been hit with the fact that there were real aliens out there and now this woman was asking about tutors?

"Well it's important for those of us seeking our degrees," Fiona stated matter of factly.

Dean Wiccans, and for that matter Dean Handel, were confused by the two front attack on their minds. A grenade had just been exploded in the room, yet the woman was asking about tutors.

Handel was the first to recover.

"We want our people to be involved," Dean Handel said immediately.

"We already have several level one and level two linguists in our team, we don't need any more," Hitron said.

"Nevertheless, we want to have our people there if you want to use our program," he told her with the smile of an alligator, or a lawyer.

"Dean Wiccans," Fiona began looking directly at her. "The upcoming news events are going to be huge. We can shine a golden light on Malton University, or a black light. We can say that your university was at the forefront of assistance of the Piscium Investigation Team, or we can say that you delayed the investigation team by months out of peevishness.

"What would the reaction of your alumni be to this kind of news? What would those who might be thinking of taking a degree through Malton say when they see this news? A golden light would mean thousands of potential new students. A black light the loss of the same.

"We came here with a limited objective, buy the program and a comp capable of running it. Nothing else. We have linguists, some of the best. We can get the program through other means, but it will cost us time, months, perhaps up to a year. A year that we could have been using to translate a new language.

"The navy has set a strict limit on the number and type of people in the Investigation team. When events evolve, there may be an opportunity to employ more linguists, and we will select from Malton first, but now is not that time.

"Our budget comes from the navy, and they dictate to us. That is my final note on this issue. Now, it lays in your hands what will happen, for the investigation team, for the university, for the advancement of knowledge between humans and a potential future meeting with these aliens," Fiona finished.

She stood up and went over to the refreshment table, picking up some small sandwiches and an apple cider, her people gathered around her.

"Geez, Fiona," Davis whispered, with a smile. "You really don't fight fair!"

End of chapter fifteen.

Please rate and comment but remember to keep your comments respectful.

Thanks, bigtddybr

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.

SPV The Sprawl Sprawl Class passenger liner built around the Princess Class fast ships, makes low cost commercial spaceflight possible. First seen in Chapter fifteen.

NS Betelgeuse Fairling Class Frigate, Capt. Lorain Tuffet commanding. Fifth ship in Marsh's command, dedicated to Piscium system security. First seen in Chapter fifteen.

NS Churchill Whippet Class Escort Ship, Cdr. John Seldon commanding. Sixth ship in Marsh's command, dedicated to Piscium system security. First seen in Chapter fifteen.