Fiction: The Girassian Debacle

PHOTO: SKANEATELES LAKE, NEW YORK, STEVE JACKSON, OCTOBER 2017

Introduction

This is a short novel, some may say a novella. My Scribner writing program assesses it as a little more than a three hour read. I wrote it in November 2020 for the National Novel Writing Month challenge to complete a 50,000-word short novel in the thirty days of November. It stands by itself but can be adapted to be part of a larger work. I am putting it up on this site as a serial which will be completed in October 2022.

I was reading Patrick O’Brian’s Master and Commander, a novel about a captain of a British ship during the Napoleonic Wars. I was influenced by the technical nature of O’Brian’s narrative and so some detail of decisions made on the bridge by my protagonist find their way into this science fiction novel.

Chapter 1 Rite of Passage

Captain Anthony Maureau would add to an already shaky reputation by the decision he made bringing his ship into Earth’s Alpha One station. He reread the message on his computer tablet in disbelief, its content an order that obliterated a much-needed shore leave for his crew. His corvette, the ULE London, was returning from a long cruise and had just been ordered to join an unnamed mission leaving Earth’s orbit in four terran-days. This short of a turnaround for a ship returning from a long cruise was unheard of.

He handed his tablet to his XO, Lieutenant Commander Kristina Song. Like him, she read and reread the order. “Do you think anyone recognizes we’re just returning from a point-seven year long cruise?” Song said quietly so no-one on the bridge heard her.

“I’m sure they do. Apparently, that is not important.”

“This is not the kind of order you question?” she said.

“I would like to push the issue of having regulation time to re-provision and rest the crew, but you must be careful arguing your ship’s needs when you don’t know what your mission is. If this is what I suspect, we’re being included in the ‘Renewal Mission.’ Losing shore leave hurts, but this would be a historic opportunity.”

“Still, we are owed an explanation for this short turn around,” she said.

“I will question it. I’d expect this order would have included information on our mission. I am charged with knowing why they’re not allowing us the regulation time for provisioning and leave. I don’t expect an answer other than ’stay on mission’. We need to know what our role is right away so we can inform the crew.”

She handed the tablet back to Maureau who studied it again. “I see the Renewal Task Force has already been in place at Alpha One for weeks. The Mission is very public, not a secret. One carrier, four cruisers, three destroyers. If we are added, we would be the lone corvette. Unusual.”

Song also studied the makeup of the Renewal Task Force. “We wouldn’t be the only corvette, Sir. The Chicago is also a corvette, not a destroyer. And the last I knew, it was serving as a training ship for cadets.”

“Now that would be even odder. First, to pull us out of port so soon. Then, pair us with a training ship. All very last minute. Confirm the Chicago’s training status as soon as you can for me.

“How much time do we have at the Station, regardless of what our Mission is?” Maureau said.

Song went to the Navigation Station on the bridge and input data. “We have ninety-six hours to be ready for launch. Ouch.”

“How much time will we need to re-provision the ship?”

She input more data, focused on the monitor and frowned. “If they give us the highest-priority, it will take forty-eight hours. With check-in taking six hours and check-out another six, we’re left with thirty-six hours free for prep after we get provisions on board.

“I know what you’re thinking, and it will be very difficult to do,” she said softly.
“Maybe you don’t,” Maureau said. “What percentage of the crew do we need onboard to process provisions?”

“Half the crew can accept and inventory things.”

“So, we can use the time of provisioning for some of the crew to leave?”

“Yes sir. We can make that happen.”

“We need at least twelve hours for the last returning group to make sure they recover from their leave.” They both smiled. “So what happens if we send two groups, each for a twenty-four hour leave?”

“We can stagger leave and make sure everyone gets twenty-four hours. Let’s just hope that problems are found at check-in so we can work on them before our trouble shoot period.”

“There isn’t enough time for the crew to go down to Earth, given the transit times,” Maureau said. “But twenty-four hours to let loose on the Station is better than sitting in the ship looking at Earth. Once back on board, everyone will be busy.”

“Sir, it will take four to six hours for us to dock. That time either comes out of leave or our prep time. We’re number ten in the queue.”

Anthony closed his eyes and considered options. “We need as much time as possible to prep. How does the line look? How tight is it? Are there any gaps? Give me something to work with, Song.”

Song studied the display of ships coming into Alpha One Station, Earth’s satellite base station for the United League of Earth’s Star Force. She shook her head. “There’s a large gap in front of the ULE Poseidon. Sir?” She raised her eyebrows at him. “Anything much less than a twenty-four hour leave gets to be an increasing dis-satisfier. ”

“If we cut in line in front of her, how much time does that save you to work with?”

“If we skip in front of the Poseidon now, we become number two in line and preserve four to five hours.”

“We’ll cut our prep margin to preserve leave. I’ll risk it. You run a tight ship. Our crew is sharp and I’m counting on there being few problems,” Maureau said. “Giving them ‘twenty-four hours’ looks like we care. Can we skip line safely?”

“Yes, this crew can do it safely. We can do it well inside regulation, except for violating protocol. The Poseidon is really slowing up the line.”

“Then let’s make it happen.”

“You know, Captain, the Poseidon is Admiral Rankin’s ship? The task force commander for the Renewal. He’s the ‘Lion’,” she said in a near whisper.

“Yes. I’m aware of that,” Maureau said. “Doesn’t change what we need to do for the crew.”

Lieutenant Commander Song set her jaw. “Should we ask Poseidon for right of way? Rankin is a protocol tyrant.”

“No. I don’t want to take a chance they refuse. Just make it happen. Move as soon as possible. I’ll talk to the Operations Center. I know people there and can take responsibility for our move. I’ll play the ‘highest priority’ card. I’ll also try to convince them to let us pilot in without a tug.”

“This will be a reprimand, at the very least,” Song said.

Maureau had already gained the attention of the United League of Earth Star Force Central Command who watched his career carefully. His father, Benjamin Maureau, was Senate Minority Leader and a fierce opponent of military spending, maintaining that it was not only a waste of money, but dangerously provocative to the Mars Federation. He maintained there was no reason for a military buildup. Central Command looked at Anthony with a prejudiced eye despite his dedication and excellence and had intervened on more than one occasion to make his career more difficult. It was making it difficult for him to advance. As a commander, his assignment as captain of a corvette was beneath his rank. They continued to delay his advancement even though under his command the London had excelled in more actions than any other ship of the Star Force in the past year. He wondered if they wanted him to resign.

“As if I have something to lose. I’m not going to worry about a reprimand. They want us for something urgent. Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. With these orders, we need to boldly work with Alpha One to demonstrate for Admiral Rankin that we stayed in compliance with fleet maneuvers.

Song looked at him in bemusement. “I see you’re already practicing for Admiral Rankin.”
He waved the comment off. “By the way, did you know what I was thinking?” Maureau said.

“Kind of. I knew you were figuring out a way to reward the crew. Stepping in front of Admiral Rankin? No way I expected that,” she said shaking her head.

He said nothing and turned to go to the Ready Room. “Time to get this approved by the Operations Center. Send me the flight plan.”

Song took a deep breath before starting to give orders. “Here we go, Captain,” she called out after him. “Get out your g-suit.”

_____

Alpha One Station was the primary military base for the Star Force of the United League of Earth. It circled the earth in a geosynchronous orbit forty thousand kilometers above the the earth. Ships coming back to Earth from Mars started to decelerate a full terran-day before arriving at the station. They gradually increased the retro-thrust which returned some gravity to their crews and avoided the need to use g-suits for high-g deceleration. On approaching Earth, most ships slowed down to a delta of thirty kilometers per hour relative to the speed of the orbiting station. This occurred by twenty kilometers distance from the station to enable tug spaceships to attach and assist in final deceleration, taking over guidance for refined movements.

Admiral Ted Rankin commanded the ULE Poseidon, a behemoth carrier two-hundred meters long that carried ten fighter wings, each with five spaceships. A starship this large needed more conservative handling coming into port than smaller ships needed. Tug ships attached to a carrier a minimum of thirty kilometers distance from the station with the carrier slowed to a delta of twenty kilometers per hour.

The Poseidon required four synchronized tugs working two hours to bring it into position for the Station’s gantries to secure the ship. On this day, the ULE Poseidon had slowed down to the requisite delta of twenty kilometers per hour but out at a distance of fifty kilometers from the Station. This was a very conservative approach that added more than an hour to the wait of the tugs lined up for embarkment to the Station. It was this hour-long gap, which created space for two or three ships, that the London took advantage of to skip line. The London’s XO felt this gap was, frankly, embarrassing for the Admiral.

---

Lieutenant Commander Kristina Song stood next to her Chief Navigation Officer, Lieutenant Ikram Akhtar-Gatewood. “We’ll have to come in hot and decelerate hard to drop in front of the Poseidon,” she said. “I know we will need to go g-suit. Let me know what the parameters of the burn will be.”

Akhtar-Gatewood entered the London’s position, attitude and vector-speed against the Poseidon’s in relation to the tugs awaiting incoming ships off Alpha One. Song stood leaned over his shoulder watching the result of calculations.

“Sir, if we are ready for a burn within ten minutes, we will have good clearance of the Poseidon. We should maintain our current speed for ten minutes in, mark, fifty-one seconds. Then perform a three minute hard burn at four-g’s, to coast into the tug field. If we do this, we will clear the…”

Before he had time to say anything more, Song announced a “Status Yellow in,” she looked at Akhtar-Gatewood who pointed to a clock that had started his countdown, “…forty-three seconds,” she said.

“You were saying, Lieutenant?”

“Yes. We will clear the Poseidon by twenty kilometers. Plenty of clearance between us.”
The crew was used to sudden changes in velocity, especially ones that transitioned them into weightlessness.

Song adjusted her headset. “We go Green in T-minus ten minutes post 0-g. Prepare for four g’s times three minutes,” Song said. She sounded the alert to suit up. This was an unexpected, urgent maneuver and the crew scrambled for their suits. Digital panels, viewable in all compartments of the ship, displayed the countdown from ten minutes. She repeated the announcement two more times.

The retrorockets cut off and they coasted at a steady speed becoming weightless. The crew was used to weightlessness and had no problem getting into their g-suit while floating off the deck. Song trained them hard for battle readiness even though they rarely encountered pirate ships. During the current cruise, they had the extremely unusual occurrence of running into two pirate groups.

Akhtar-Gatewood was nearly done putting his g-suit on when he relieved the helm so she could put on her g-suit. There was five minutes left on the clock until the retro-burn.
The personnel board at the operations station showed yellow lights blinking to green as a g-suit was secured and put in ready mode. With two minutes left on the clock, everyone was green except for Maureau, still in the Ready Room, and the helm.

“Captain, we go into hard burn in two minutes,” Song said, knowing he would be able to have his g-suit ready in time. Maureau had won competitions in timed-readiness, adept at spreading out the g-suit in 0-g suspension while making sure his helmet and gloves did not drift away as he took off his boots.

Maureau floated out of the Ready Room putting his boots back on, helmet already on with visor open. “Have the calls come in yet?”

“No, sir,” Song said.

“A bit sloppy, don’t you think, Navigation?” Maureau said. “I would expect you to react and report a ship that was going to cut in front of us.”

“Yes sir,” the helm said while wrestling with her g-suit. Ahktar-Gatewood watched her without helping.

“I’ve talked to the people in the Operations Center, and they are onboard and supportive of our need to maximize time in port. They have authority. Don’t have to clear it with Poseidon. A courtesy call for advance notice needs to come from us. I asked OC to call when we go into our burn. A bit late, but the Poseidon has not contacted us, yet? I cannot believe that.”

“This is no good,” Song said. She retrieved the helm’s helmet that had drifted off away from her with less than a minute until retro-burn. “Buckle in,” she said.

---

On the bridge of the ULE Poseidon the Action Information Center (AIC) officer watched the unusual movement of the ULE London as it stopped decelerating, held its speed and closed in on the Poseidon. The London passed ships. The AIC officer flagged its identity on the display of ship traffic around Alpha One Station and repeatedly glanced at it to assess its course.

After five minutes she noted that the London was passing the seventh ship in line with no change in its speed. It was accelerating relative to all the other ships in line that continued their deceleration as they closed on Alpha One. The London clearly was skipping line and the only question was how far it was going to skip ahead. There was a large gap between the Poseidon and the rest in line for berthing, a good gap for the corvette to drop into. Becoming the second ship in line, the London would immediately be towed into port.

The Action Information Center officer notified the bridge of the action six minutes into the London’s Status Yellow cruise.

“Where does it look like it’s going to fall into line?” the Officer of the Watch said.

“It looks like it will pass us,” the AIC officer said.
“Will they be within Collision Safety Parameters?”

The AIC officer took a moment to get the data. “They will have to break hard to stay compliant. At at least two or three g’s depending on how soon they initiate the retro-burn.”

“Hard-g is not necessary on approach to the Station,” the OOW said. “Give me the London with an open channel to the Operations Center.

“Poseidon to the London and Operations Center. Your speed exceeds standard entry speed and you are out of line. You will pass us in just over one minute. Confirm your flight plan with us and the OC.” Poseidon’s Officer of the Watch used an open channel to the London and the Operations Center. The nearby ships could follow the communications.

“This is Lieutenant Commander Song of the London. We are going into g-deceleration once we clear you. We request the rite of passage, ah… the right of way.”

“OC confirm their flight plan. This is quite irregular, the OOW said.”

The Poseidon’s Action Information Center officer said, “They need to decelerate within two minutes.”

“We have sent you our plan,” Song said. “The Operations Command has already approved it. Acknowledge when reviewed.”

“Plan received.” He switched to the AIC officer. “Does this plan safely transit them past us?”
“Yes, it does, Sir,” she said.

The Operations Center confirmed approval of the flight plan. Poseidon’s Officer of the Watch waited in frustration. “Sir, the London has executed their plan and are in a four-g deceleration. The OOW had no choice.

“This is Officer of the Watch, ULE Poseidon. We acknowledge your plan and cede right of way per Operations Command approved flight plan.

“ULE London. Admiral Rankin will be most interested in your justification for this breach of protocol.”

“We look forward to discussing it with him,” Lieutenant Song said.

[on to Chapter 2: https://onthebeachatnightalone.com/2022/08/15/fiction-the-girassian-debacle-chapter-2-taking-on-the-lion/