All That Glitters Ch. 08

All That Glitters -- Ch 8

A bold suggestion to the Chief of the Navy, politics

Raymond makes a suggestion to the Chief of the Navy that will lead to many new adventures, new enemies and politics get in the way.

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

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

HR Human Resources, an administrative function

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

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.

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

NS Naval Ship (i.e. NS Wimple)

PSec Head of Personal Security, usually the team lead

PV Personal Yacht, Private Vessel

Ops O Operations 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's interplanetary diplomatic corps

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

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. As always, her help has made this chapter far more legible to the average reader.

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, Piscium Star System, 106 Light Years from Terra

Capt. Raymond Clark, Terran Union Space Navy Civilian Liaison Officer to Liramor-23 and Liramor Prime, sat in conference room one after the party for the honours parade recipients. With him were Fiona Marsh, the Director of Liramor-23, and now Commodore substantive, Admiral George Ramison, the Chief of the Navy, Admiral Rallond Heist, the Chief of Navy Intelligence, Admiral James Hannison, the Judge Advocate General of the Navy, Fleet Admiral Charles Thenton, the Command Admiral of Sector Forty-Two, and their respective aid-de-camps.

Raymond slipped his hand under the table and flicked the lock-out controls and turned on the 'Do Not Disturb' sign. Fiona immediately noted the activation of the security system and raised an inquiring eyebrow to Raymond, as did all the admirals.

"I would like to make a statement on an issue that needs to be addressed soon." Raymond stated. "the second half of my claim will be cut into pieces within the next few days and those pieces will begin delivery here starting within a week, give or take a few days. Once that happens, I will no longer have any reason to stay in the system.

"I came here to heal after the Terran Unification War. The things I did during my time in combat were singularly horrible and, despite the necessity, weighed heavily on my mind. The time I spent here has allowed time for reflection and soul searching. I have come to terms with what I have done during the War. Had I not, I would not have accepted being conscripted back into service during this ongoing situation.

"Now, however, I am ready to go back to civilization, and I have the means and the finances necessary to live a life of leisure. With navy law stating that officers of a certain level of wealth must resign, I will be required to do so shortly." He finished.

"We are aware that you are a millionaire, Capt. Clark. I'm sure that we can come to some kind of arrangement that would allow you to remain in service for say, three years?" and here FAdm. Thenton gave a questioning look to Adm. Hannison, who nodded in return.

"Actually, you are wrong, Admiral. I am no longer just a millionaire. I am now worth several billion credits and getting wealthier every month," Raymond corrected.

"Come again, son?" a shocked Thenton asked.

"My partner, Liea Samson, just received a royalty check for twenty-six billion credits from Liramor Holdings. She will be receiving checks of that amount or more every quarter for the remainder of this year and possibly into the next year. We have a sixty/forty split of royalties with forty percent going to her which means that I will be receiving larger royalty checks every quarter." Raymond explained.

"We have had billionaires in service before, son." Thenton assured him.

"No, sir, you have not." Raymond stated flatly. "The only real billionaire that I am aware of serving directly with the navy in the War, was Stephan Liramor, who retired a captain. Like me, he entered service immediately after graduating from engineering school. His portion of the Liramor family wealth was held in trust for him until after his service was finished. That meant, that while he was a billionaire, he had no access to his funds until he retired from the navy. Technically, he was just another officer recruit.

"All other billionaires working for the navy did so with honorary ranks vice actual earned ranks. Very few of those actually saw combat." Raymond finished.

"I'd have to look up the records," the JAG said, "but I think he may be right, George. That means that under navy law, he would not be employable due to the risk of misuse of the funds he would have at his discretion. We would have to let him go."

"Shit," Thenton sputtered, "I was just getting to like having this officer in my command. Is there nothing that can be done James?" He asked of the JAG.

"Yes, in times of war we could fudge the rules a bit. But in peacetime, things go by the book I'm afraid." The JAG advised. The four admirals looked at Raymond with differing emotions on their faces.

"I'd like to make a proposition. This would remain between us but would be something of use to all of us," Raymond began.

"My mining partner is looking to purchase a personal yacht. She got to ride on CPV Liramor One, which is built around the Tung Class Frigate. The Tung Class are no longer being offered as the navy is now moving to decommission the newer and larger Fairling Class Frigates. Pallanders Shipyard bid recently on some decommissioned Fairling Class but was outbid by other shipping companies. That means they have to wait for the next quarter to possibly get a ship to convert.

"What would it mean to you, Chief of the Navy, JAG, and especially to you, Chief of Navy Intelligence, to have a private yacht owned by an 'active' captain? A ship that could go wherever the whim of the owner takes it?" Raymond asked.

"We couldn't order you to go anywhere we wanted unless you wanted to go there." The JAG interceded. "That makes it a moot point."

"Not really," Raymond said with a smile. "What if the navy still owned the boat? What if the sale of the boat was for an 'undisclosed' sum, affordable by a billionaire, but kept quiet because it was a private sale? What if the ship was secretly still listed on the navy rolls but didn't appear to be? And was partially manned by navy rates? Wages paid for by the billionaire but supplemented by the navy. That would give the navy the right to direct the ship when and where the navy needed it." Raymond finished.

"To what end, son?" Admiral Ramison asked.

"Sir, the situation here is going to become common knowledge fairly soon, by the end of this year at the very latest. What then? What will the politicians do?" Raymond asked, looking at Fiona.

"They will hesitate," she said, with a knowing look. "They will try to suppress the data as long as possible, much to the detriment of the scientific community and to the detriment of TGA/Liramor Prime good will. Some news affiliate will 'accidentally' discover that the Union is withholding evidence of aliens and provoke a shit storm. Liramor Holdings will see to it because they want to benefit financially from the findings in the Liramor controlled Piscium system. Of course, nothing will be able to point back to Liramor Prime nor Liramor Holdings as the instigator.

"The worst part though, is that the TGA will likely try to suppress the information for 'the good of mankind' just when we need the navy to act in finding the former Piscium's new home world. This would be a political bombshell on Liramor Prime and may embolden those who are still pushing for separation from the Union, especially if Liramor-23 was attacked when such an attack could have been prevented by the TGA." Fiona concluded.

There was silence in the room as the senior levels of the navy thought about what was just said. They knew that Fiona was correct in her assessment.

"How would you prevent that?" Thenton asked of Fiona.

"Hit TGA politicians now," Fiona advised. "Make them aware that known space is watching them. That scientific knowledge of this magnitude cannot and should not be suppressed. Nor should the social knowledge of the presence of aliens be supressed.

"They will tell you that humans are not ready for aliens. They will tell you that mankind will react badly to the knowledge that we are not longer the only people in the galaxy. This is bullshit. There will always be people who are not ready. People who will fight against the existence of aliens, especially those on the religious right. But mankind has been ready, even eager for the existence of aliens for 400 years now.

"We need to remind the politicians that the genie is now out of the bottle and it cannot be put back into it. Too many scientists know of what is coming out of this system. Too many people are aware of or suspect what we have here. We have more than 8,000 workers on this platform, many of whom will be ending their contracts soon. They will be the forefront of the news that we have here. There is no way we can stop them from going once their contract ends.

"We need to remind the politicians of the TGA that they need to lead the way forward, not backward. The politicians on Liramor Prime, with prompting from Liramor Holdings, would do their part in this.

"The TGA will ask for your intelligence assessment on the situation in this system. Make them aware in your assessment of the need to protect Liramor-23 and the possible loss of the alliance with Liramor Prime if the TGA fails in its commitments.

"Make them aware that finding the new home world of the original Pisciums would be the ideal solution to this crisis. If we know where they are, we can go to them and make contact. We could negotiate with them before they come to attack us. If they still insist on attacking us, well, we will know where their home world is and could get to it with FTL while they would be restricted to high sub-light speeds between the systems. A major drawback for them, a major advantage to us, IF we know where they are," Fiona emphasized.

The Admirals thought about this for a moment before Admiral Ramison asked Raymond, "Why would we need this ship?"

"Sir, while the politicians hesitate, we could investigate," Raymond said. "A private yacht could go wherever its owner wanted to go in known space. Especially if that owner is as wealthy as I will be. A Navy vessel would go wherever it was ordered to, thus getting around certain restrictions on private vessels, which are generally discouraged from exploring beyond known space.

"The ship would have to remain on the navy listing as it would need to be armed, but that armed state would have to be hidden. I would have some mechanical boxes made that would conceal the heavy weapons. However, that also makes them slower to bring into battery.

"Civilian ships today have permission to have guns up to a certain level for self defence. The larger the ship the larger the guns available, however, the largest guns available to most civilian ships would be Mk-48s. Those we could legitimately leave exposed for immediate self defence.

"I would also arm the ship with some twin-rail fifty-millimeter rail guns." Raymond postulated.

"Why fifty-millimeter?" Fiona asked.

"Fifty-millimeter shot would do significant damage to FTL vanes and to sub-light engines. Coupled with a competent sensor system, it would be strong enough to engage any missile/torpedo fired against the ship. It is small enough to allow us to store and fire many thousands of rounds. We could easily store ten thousand rounds per rail in the turrets, more in onboard munitions stores.

"I would prefer a plasma gun or pulse cannon but, to be effective, they would have to be too large to be fast enough to use as a CIWS. An effective CIWS is the one thing that we seriously lack on our ships. I would put a pair of the fifties the lateral lines, one behind the other facing fore and aft, replacing the Mk-48s usually found there.

"I would put the Mk-48s on the ventral gun deck and leave whatever heavy weapons systems on the dorsal gun deck covered in the boxes." Raymond finished.

"Sounds like you have been thinking on this for some time," Admiral Thenton noted.

"Since I had to modify the Rockhounds for platform defence, sir," Raymond admitted.

"What would you need?" Thenton asked.

"Sir, a good-sized ship, one of the larger Fairling Class. That would give us some Mk-12s on the dorsal gun deck. Missiles and torpedoes as per an armed ship.

"The ship would be heavily automated because it would be a private yacht, that would reduce the number of ratings the ship would need, however, those that come to the ship would have to be very good at their jobs to make up for the lack of numbers.

"A marine company. Some Union Diplomatic Corps personnel who would be advised of the true nature of the ship but would be under navy law except when doing negotiations for the TGA. Some scientists that would be attached to the ship as navy personnel so they could be controlled.

"The scientists and the UDC personnel would be attached to the ship for five to ten years. Not something that usually occurs except on science vessels. That wouldn't be an issue for the ratings or the marines as that is normal fare for them." Raymond concluded.

"We might not find scientists who would be willing to sign on to a ship for five to ten years if it is not a science vessel." Thenton told the room.

"Actually, sir, I know where we can get four very willing scientists," Raymond said with a smile.

Thenton frowned then smiled as he caught on to what Clark was suggesting. Yes, they would indeed be willing to sign on for that length of time.

"Do you have a ship in mind, Charles?" Adm. Ramison asked.

"Yes, the 'Korman'," Thenton said.

"I don't know that ship, sir." Raymond said.

"She was designed as an interdiction ship," Thenton explained. "Specially built near the end of the war, however, she didn't see combat as the war ended within months of her commissioning.

"Built around the basic format of the Fairling Class, but really, she is a class on to her own. She is 500m long and 300m abeam. Because of her size, she carries quad-gun Mk-10 pulse cannon turrets in the same configuration as the standard Fairling Class, two on the dorsal gun deck and two on the keel gun deck. She has four twin-gun Mk-48 cannon turrets on the lateral line, two port and two starboards.

"She has six 360cm, ten 280cm, and twelve 150cm missile/torpedo tubes on the bow and eight 150cm tubes aft. She has a very large capacity to hold mines in the aft end of the ship before the engines. It can hold 3,000 to 10,000 mines dependent on the type. It can lay a minefield and back up that field with its guns and tubes.

"She has large shuttle decks, cargo decks, and storage decks, so can take plenty of material or equipment with her. She can carry a battalion of marines and has the shuttle capacity to move them around. And she has a crew of more than 450.

"She was never used for her intended purpose, as an interdiction vessel, and now she is going to be decommissioned. Because of her size, we doubt that anyone would buy her for anything more than scrap. A rather pitiable end for such a vessel."

"We would have to legally sell him the vessel," said the JAG, "but a token credit might get noticed. We normally get between C250 million and C300 million for a Fairling Class. But we probably can't sell the Korman for repurposing. She would go for scrap and that would mean we would only get between C75 - C100 million. We would ask you for the low end of that figure, but we could help by making the modifications on the guns for you before sending her to refit for duty as a 'pleasure craft'." He said with a smile.