Man Of War: To Honor You Call Us Part 28

[The Official Anthem and March of the Union s.p.a.ce Navy, with new verses for the current war, sung to the tune of the "Heart of Oak," the official Anthem and March of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.]

To stations my lads, 'tis to glory we steer, Oh, sons of the Union, we fight without fear; 'Tis to Honor you call us, for Honor we stand; We brothers in valor await fame's command.

(Chorus).

Hearts of steel, that's our s.h.i.+ps; hearts of steel, that's our men.

We always are ready; steady, boys, steady!

We'll fight, not surrender, again and again.

We'll take payment in blood for the debt Krag must pay, And carve them with cutla.s.s when they come to play; Our courage defiant enn.o.bles the stars, Stalwart sons of Ares, strong offspring of Mars.

(Chorus).

We still make them bleed and we still make them die, And shout mighty cheers as they fall from the sky; So, to stations, me lads, and let's sing with one heart, We will win this war if we all do our part.

(Chorus).

GLOSSARY AND GUIDE TO ABBREVIATIONS.

Alphacen Alpha Centauri.

AU Astronomical unit. The mean distance between Earth and the sun, approximately 150 million kilometers, or 93 million statute miles.

AuxCon Auxiliary Control.

Bravo The second letter of the Union Forces Voicecom Alphabet; a colloquial name for Epsilon Indi III (see).

BuDes (p.r.o.nounced "bew-dess") Bureau of Design.

BuPers (p.r.o.nounced "bew-perz") Bureau of Personnel. The naval department responsible for managing naval personnel a.s.signments, recruiting, and similar matters.

c The speed of light in a vacuum, commonly stated as "lightspeed," 299,792,458 meters per second, or 186,282 miles per second.

ca c'est bon (Cajun French) That's good. Equivalent to c'est bon in Parisian French.

Cajun A person descended from the French-speaking Roman Catholic residents of Nova Scotia (which they called Acadia) who were exiled by the British at the end of the French and Indian War because of concerns regarding their loyalty to the British crown and who settled in what was then the French Territory of Louisiana. Most Cajuns spoke their own version of French well into the twentieth century and maintain a distinctive culture to this day.

C'est pas rien (Cajun French) It's nothing, think nothing of it. Equivalent to de rien in Parisian French.

CDR Comprehensive disciplinary record. A complete compendium of all disciplinary actions of any kind taken with respect to a particular naval personnel.

Cherenkov-Heaviside radiation The burst of radiation emitted as an object emerges from a jump (see jump drive).

Chief of the Boat The senior noncommissioned officer on board any naval vessel. He is considered a department head and is the liaison between the captain and the noncommissioned ranks Sometimes referred to as COB (p.r.o.nounced "cobb") and informally known as the "Goat."

CIC Combat Information Center.

CIG Change in grade. Promotion or demotion.

cla.s.s A production series of wars.h.i.+ps of highly similar or identical design, designated by the name of the first s.h.i.+p of the series.

cla.s.s (Krag vessels) The Krag apparently have a cla.s.s system similar to the Union's, producing wars.h.i.+ps of similar design in series. Because Krag vessel names are, however, unknown, difficult to p.r.o.nounce, or impossible to remember, the Navy uses a system of "reporting names" for Krag vessel cla.s.ses. Essentially, when a new cla.s.s of Krag vessel is identified, a name is a.s.signed to that cla.s.s by Naval Intelligence. Cla.s.s names generally start with the same letter or group of letters as the name of the vessel type, with the exception of battlecruisers, the cla.s.s names of which begin with "Bar" to distinguish them from battles.h.i.+ps. In this way, a s.h.i.+p's type can immediately be determined from its cla.s.s name, even if the name is not familiar. Examples of cla.s.s names for each major wars.h.i.+p type follow: Battles.h.i.+ps: Batwing, Battalion, Battleax, Baton.

Battlecruisers: Barnacle, Barnyard, Barrister, Barsoom, Barmaid Carriers: Carousel, Carnivore, Carpetbagger, Cardigan Cruisers: Crusader, Crucible, Crustacean, Crumpet Frigates: Freelancer, Frogleg, Frycook, Frigid Destroyers: Deckhand, Delver, Dervish, Debris Corvettes: Corpuscle, Cormorant, Cornhusker, Corsican, Cordwood clear the datum As a "datum" or "datum point" is a location from which a vessel has been observed, to "clear the datum" is for a s.h.i.+p to move away from a point in s.p.a.ce where it (1) has been observed or (2) it did something that might have allowed it to be observed.

Comet Colloquial term for the Wars.h.i.+p Qualification Badge, a medal-shaped like a comet with a curved tail-indicating that the wearer has pa.s.sed either a Wars.h.i.+p Crew Qualification Examination or a Wars.h.i.+p Officer Qualification Examination, showing that he can competently operate every crew or officer station on the s.h.i.+p, perform basic damage control, engage in close order battle with sidearm and boarding cutla.s.s, use a pulse rifle, and fight hand to hand.

compression drive One of the two known technologies that allow s.h.i.+ps to travel faster than lightspeed (the other being the jump drive). The compression drive permits violation of Einsteinian physics by selectively compressing and expanding the fabric of the s.p.a.ce-time continuum. The drive creates around the vessel a bubble of distorted s.p.a.ce-time with a diameter approximately thirty-four times the length of the s.h.i.+p. This bubble, in turn, contains a smaller bubble of undistorted s.p.a.ce-time just large enough to enclose the s.h.i.+p itself. The density of s.p.a.ce-time is compressed along the s.h.i.+p's planned line of travel and expanded behind it (hence the term "compression drive," which was thought to sound better than "expansion drive" or "warp drive"), creating a propulsive force that moves the s.h.i.+p forward faster than the speed of light as viewed from the perspective of a distant observer. This superluminal motion does not violate Einsteinian physics because the s.h.i.+p is stationary relative to the fabric of s.p.a.ce-time inside the bubble and therefore, from the point of view of an observer located there, does not exceed the speed of light. Because the volume of distorted s.p.a.ce rises as a geometric function as s.h.i.+p size goes up under the familiar V = r2 formula multiplied by thirty-four (pi times half the length of the s.h.i.+p squared times thirty-four), even a small increase in the s.h.i.+p's dimensions results in substantial increases in the energy required to propel it through compressed s.p.a.ce. Accordingly, only smaller s.h.i.+p types can move at high speeds or for any appreciable distance using compression drive, which means, in turn, that major fleet operations and planetary conquests require the taking and holding of jump points so that carriers, battles.h.i.+ps, tankers, and other larger or slower vessels can be brought into the system.

compression shear A dangerous phenomenon caused by a compression drive experiencing poor speed regulation, a common occurrence at speeds of less than about 80 c. Compression shear occurs when radical fluctuations in the degree of s.p.a.cetime distortion caused by a poorly regulated drive exert variable and rapidly fluctuating force against the "bubble" of normal s.p.a.ce-time surrounding the s.h.i.+p. As the small undistorted bubble around the s.h.i.+p must exist in precise equilibrium with the larger zone of differentially compressed and expanded s.p.a.ce that surrounds the smaller one, sharp variations, or "shear," along the boundary rupture the bubble and destroy the s.h.i.+p.

Core Systems The fifty star systems located near the astrographic center of the Union, which, although const.i.tuting only about 10 percent by number of the Union's inhabited worlds, are home to 42 percent of its population and 67 percent of its heavy industrial capacity.

DC Damage control.

Egg Scrambler A device fired from a missile tube that, when exploded, scrambles the interface between normal s.p.a.ce and metas.p.a.ce such that for nearly an hour it is impossible for a s.h.i.+p in the vicinity to operate its compression drive (see) or to cause a comm signal to cross the interface to allow faster than light communications.

EM Electromagnetic. Usually short for the term "electromagnetic radiation," meaning visible light, radio waves, ultraviolet, infrared, and similar forms of energy forming a part of the familiar electromagnetic spectrum.

EMCON Emissions Control. A security and deception measure in which a wars.h.i.+p not only operates under what twenty-first century readers would call "radio silence" but also without navigation beacons, active sensor beams, or any other emissions that could be used to track the s.h.i.+p.

Epsilon Indi III The second planet colonized by humans outside of the Sol system, also known as Bravo. A major industrial and cultural center.

FabriFax The brand name of an industrial-grade, computerized machine fabricator that uses advanced numeric, microrobotic manufacturing techniques to construct machine parts rapidly from a set of digital specifications-the distant descendant of the three-dimensional printers of the twenty-first century.

fils de putain (Cajun French) Son, or sons, of a wh.o.r.e. Used as an insult when an English speaker would say "son of a b.i.t.c.h" or "b.a.s.t.a.r.d." It is not, however, appropriate to use this expression in those places where an English speaker uses "son of a b.i.t.c.h" as an impersonal expletive as in, "Son of a b.i.t.c.h, I left my wallet at home."

finum nuntiante (Terranovan Latin) End of message, terminate communications.

flamer A particularly scathing Report of Disciplinary Action that becomes a part of a man's Comprehensive Disciplinary Record.

frame A vertical cross section of a wars.h.i.+p, numbered from bow to stern for the purpose of describing the location of damage the s.h.i.+p's structure or to large areas. A destroyer might have as few as eight frames, whereas a carrier has hundreds.

FTL Faster than light. Superluminal.

FUBAR f.u.c.ked up beyond all recognition.

genau (German) Exactly, precisely. Often used to express agreement.

greenie Colloquial term for a recruit s.p.a.cer. So called because the Working Uniform for that grade is light green in color.

goat Informal name for the Chief of the Boat (see).

Gynophage An extremely virulent viral disease launched by the Krag against the Union in 2295. The disease organism is highly infectious to all humans, but a gene sequence unique to the human "Y" chromosome prevents disease symptoms from manifesting in all but a tiny fraction of males, thereby keeping infected males contagious but asymptomatic. It is believed that left to itself, the disease would have proved fatal to virtually all human females in the galaxy. It was disseminated by thousands of stealthed compression drive drone vessels launched by the Krag in the early days of the war, each of which launched thousands of submunitions that exploded in the atmosphere of human-inhabited planets. The disease kills in a manner similar to Ebola, by breaking down the tissues of the internal organs, but operates at a much higher rate. Once the disease begins to manifest, the subject is dead within minutes. The disease is currently treated or prevented by the Moro Treatment, a combination vaccine and antibody devised by a team led by the brilliant Dr. Emeka Moro (see).

HASG See M-22.

hypergolic Of or pertaining to two substances that, when combined, will ignite and combust without need of an ignition source, a term used in the Navy primarily to describe fuels for missiles and thrusters.

IFF Identification, friend or foe.

inertial compensator The system on a s.p.a.ce vessel that negates the inertial effect of acceleration on the crew and vessel contents (known as "G forces"), enabling the s.h.i.+p to accelerate, turn, and decelerate rapidly without killing the crew and ripping the fixtures from the deck.

jawohl (German) "Yes, indeed"; emphatically yes.

je concours (Cajun French) "I agree."

jump drive One of the two systems that allow a s.p.a.ce vessel to cross interstellar distances in less time than it would take to travel at sublight speed (the other being compression drive [see]). The jump drive transfers the vessel in a single Planck interval from one point in s.p.a.ce, known as a jump point, to another jump point in a nearby star system, and never less than 3.4 or more than 12.7 light years away. Jump points are generally located between 20 to 30 AU from a star, and almost always lie at least 45 degrees away from the star's equator. For some unknown reason, systems either have no jump points, three, or a multiple of three-but most commonly three-usually located several dozen AU from each other. Jumping is always more energy efficient and much faster than traversing the same distance with compression drive.

Khyber cla.s.s A cla.s.s of destroyer, the first of which, the USS Khyber, was commissioned on 24 April 2311, making these vessels a "new" cla.s.s in 2315. The Khybers are exceptionally fast and maneuverable, even for destroyers. The thrust-to-ma.s.s ratio of these s.h.i.+ps is in the same range as those of many fighter designs; accordingly, it is said that they handle more like large fighters than escort vessels. They are equipped with pulse cannon as powerful as those on many capital s.h.i.+ps (although they have only three of these and a smaller rear-firing unit whereas a capital s.h.i.+p might have a dozen or more). s.h.i.+ps in this cla.s.s are extremely stealthy, possess a sophisticated ability to mimic the electronic and drive emissions of other s.h.i.+ps, and have a highly effective sensor suite. They are also equipped with SWACS (see). The trade-offs made to optimize these characteristics include highly Spartan crew accommodations-even as compared to other destroyers; a radically reduced number of reloads for her missile tubes (twenty Talons and five Ravens versus a typical destroyer loadout of sixty and twelve); a small crew, making for a heavy workload for all personnel; modest fuel capacity; and a reduced cargo hold. Unsupported endurance is rated at 75 days (as compared to 180 days for most destroyers) but in practice is somewhat shorter. It is believed that the cla.s.s was designed to make quick stealthy raids into enemy s.p.a.ce and destroy supply lines and means of communication, thereby disrupting enemy logistics and command/control/communications. Ma.s.s: 16,200 metric tons. Top sublight speed: .963 c. Compression drive: 1575 c cruise, 2120 c emergency. Weapons: three forward-firing Krupp-BAE Mark x.x.xIV pulse cannon, 150-gigawatt rating, one rear-firing Krupp-BAE Mark XXII pulse cannon (colloquially known as the "stinger"), 75-gigawatt rating. Two forward and one rear-firing missile tubes. Standard missile loadout of twenty Talon (see) and five Raven (see) antis.h.i.+p missiles. s.h.i.+ps in this cla.s.s are named after historically significant mountain pa.s.ses and ocean straits. Length: ninety-seven meters; beam: nine and a half meters. Commissioned s.h.i.+ps in this cla.s.s as of 21 January 2315 are Khyber, Gibraltar, Messina, c.u.mberland, Hormuz, and Khardung La. The projected size of the cla.s.s is eighty-five s.h.i.+ps.

kill Military slang for "kilometer." Replaced the former term "klick" beginning in the 2150s, when humans encountered and fought a brief war against a race of aliens known as the "Khlihk," at which point the similarity in p.r.o.nunciation between the two words became confusing, as it was sometimes ambiguous whether "fifty klicks" was a distance or a moderate body of enemy troops.

Kuiper belt (rhymes with "piper") A belt of bodies, made mainly of frozen volatiles such as water ice, methane, and ammonia, found in the outer regions of many star systems.

lentement (Cajun French) Slowly.

Lumat.i.te A registered trade mark of APG-Owens-Corning Corporation for its transparent armored viewport material for s.p.a.cecraft, consisting of a t.i.tanium-silicon nanocrystalline matrix microlaminated with frequency-specific EM-rejecting polymer films. The resulting material is as durable as wars.h.i.+p hull material and is opaque to all forms of EM except visible light. It is, however, more expensive, kilogram for kilogram, than gold.

M-22 (Model 2222) Also known as the HASG (p.r.o.nounced "haz-gee"), the Naval-Military Systems, Inc., heavy automatic shotgun is an "eight-gauge," belt-fed, swivel-mounted, fully automatic shotgun designed specifically to repel enemy boarders at the close ranges and in the confined s.p.a.ces found on board a wars.h.i.+p.

M-62 Model 2162 Pistol. One of the two sidearms approved for use by Union s.p.a.ce Navy Personnel (the other being the M-1911), the M-62 is a ten-millimeter, semiautomatic, magazine-fed handgun with a fourteen-round magazine. It is manufactured by the Beretta-Browning Military Arms Corporation.

M-72 Model 2072 Close-Order Battle Shotgun. The Winchester-Mossberg Arms Company Model 2072 is a semiautomatic, twelve-gauge shotgun designed for close-order battle against boarding parties or for use by boarders.

M-88 Model 2288 Pulse Rifle. The Colt-Ruger Naval Arms Corporation Model 2288 is a 7.62 51 millimeter, select-fire, magazine-fed battle rifle issued to Navy personnel for boarding actions, s.h.i.+p defense, and ground combat. It is similar in form and function to the M-14 battle rifle issued by the United States of America in the mid-twentieth century. It is called a "pulse rifle" because coaxially mounted below the rifle barrel is a launcher, from which can be fired the MMD ("Make my day") pulse grenade, a thirty-five-millimeter, self-propelled short-range projectile containing a shaped chargeequipped pulse slug capable of penetrating the armor on a Krag fighting suit at a range of fifty meters and then exploding, killing the occupant. The MMD is also effective against lightly armored ground vehicles.

M-1911 Model 1911 Pistol. One of the two sidearms approved for use by Union s.p.a.ce Navy Personnel (the other being the M-62), the M-1911 is an 11.48 millimeter (sometimes referred to by the archaic designation ".45 caliber") semiautomatic, magazine-fed handgun invented by perhaps the most brilliant firearms designer in the Known Galaxy, John Moses Browning, who was active in the United States of America on Earth in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

mais (Cajun French) Literally, "but." Often used to intensify or to give emphasis to the expression that follows. Accordingly, "mais yeah," is an enthusiastic or emphatic "yeah."

mids.h.i.+pman A boy, between the ages of eight and seventeen, taken on board s.h.i.+p both to perform certain limited duties and to be trained to serve in the enlisted or officer ranks. Mids.h.i.+pmen are commonly referred to as "mids."

mids.h.i.+pman trainer A senior noncommissioned officer, typically the second most senior chief petty officer on the s.h.i.+p, in charge of the training, housing, discipline, and welfare of all mids.h.i.+pmen on board. A well-liked mids.h.i.+pman trainer is generally known by the nickname "Mother Goose."

MMD See M-88.

moi aussi (Cajun) French for "me too."

Moro, Emeka Physician and medical researcher born in Momba.s.sa, Kenya, Earth, on 28 March 2241. Winner of the n.o.bel Prize for Medicine in 2295. Perhaps the foremost expert in human infectious diseases in the galaxy, Dr. Moro headed the effort to devise a treatment or preventative for the Gynophage (see), an effort that involved more than a million physicians and researchers on more than four hundred planets, at its peak consuming 43 percent of the interstellar communications bandwidth and 15 percent of the computing capacity available to the human race, and costing more than 300 trillion credits. When early research work began to indicate that neither a vaccine nor an antibody-based treatment would be more than 25 percent effective, it was Dr. Moro who personally had the insight to combine a vaccine with a set of broad-spectrum antibodies synthesized not only to match the current disease organism but also the nine most probable mutation-induced alternate phenotypes of its external protein coat, thereby creating a combination inoculation that prevents infection in those who are not infected and prevents manifestation of the disease in those who are infected but asymptomatic. It is believed that the vaccine also provides some protection to asymptomatic individuals above and beyond that provided by the antibodies alone. (For the s.h.i.+p, see Emeka Moro. The USS Emeka Moro, an Edward Jenner cla.s.s frigate commissioned on December 8, 2295, is named after Dr. Moro.) Mother Goose The semiofficial t.i.tle for the mids.h.i.+pman trainer (see).

officer rank abbreviations:.

GADM: Grand Admiral (five stars).

FADM: Fleet Admiral (four stars) VADM: Vice Admiral (three stars) RADM: Rear Admiral (two stars).

CMRE: Commodore (one star) CAPT: Captain.

CMDR: Commander LCDR: Lieutenant Commander.

LT: Lieutenant LTJG: Lieutenant junior grade ENSN: Ensign.

PC-4 Patrol Craft, Type 4. A sublight only, high-speed patrol and light attack craft used for system and planetary defense as well as for light intrasystem escort duties. Length: twenty-seven meters. Beam: three and a half meters. Crew: one officer, eight enlisted. Armament: one 75-gigawatt pulse cannon, five Raytheon-Hughes Talon (see) s.h.i.+p-to-s.h.i.+p missiles. Top speed .97 c.

percom A wrist-carried communication, computing, and control device worn by all naval personnel when on duty.

point defense Weapons, or integrated systems of weapons and sensors, designed to destroy incoming weapons and attacking s.h.i.+ps at close range. All wars.h.i.+ps from destroyer on up are equipped with sophisticated, multilayer point defense systems that must be penetrated by any incoming missile in order to reach the s.h.i.+p.

poo yai An inarticulate exclamation of amazement used by Cajuns and occasionally by Creoles, roughly equivalent to "my goodness" or "wow."

posident POSitive IDENTification. The identification of a contact as hostile, neutral, or friendly by at least two different phenomenologies from two different sensors.

pulse cannon A s.h.i.+p-mounted weapon that fires a pulse of plasma diverted from the s.h.i.+p's main fusion reactor and accelerated to between .85 and .95 c by magnetic coils. The plasma is held in a concentrated "bolt" by a magnetic field generated by a compact, liquid heliumcooled, fusion cellpowered emitter unit inserted in the bolt just as it is about to leave the cannon tube. When the emitter stops generating the field, either because it has consumed its coolant and is vaporized by the plasma, because the timer/fuse turns the emitter off at a set range, or because the bolt strikes a target destroying the emitter, the bolt loses cohesion and expands explosively with the force of a small nuclear munition.

Queeg, Phillip Francis, Lieutenant Commander Fictional commander of the destroyer-mine sweeper (DMS) USS Caine during World War II in Herman Wouk's cla.s.sic novel The Caine Mutiny. The book was made into an equally cla.s.sic film, with Humphrey Bogart playing Queeg. Queeg suffered from paranoid personality disorder, progressing during the course of the novel to paranoid psychosis, which caused him to give increasingly bizarre and erratic orders to his crew. He had a compulsive habit of rolling two ball bearings around in his left hand and suffered a breakdown while commanding the s.h.i.+p in a storm. This resulted in the executive officer relieving him of command, for which act the XO was charged with and tried for mutiny.

Raven A large antis.h.i.+p missile carried by Union Wars.h.i.+ps. Much larger than the Talon (see) and with a higher top speed, the Raven accelerates more slowly, is less nimble, and is more vulnerable to point defense systems and countermeasures than the Talon, due to its larger size. Manufactured by Gould-Martin-Marietta Naval Aeros.p.a.ce Corporation, the Raven finds its target with both pa.s.sive and active multimodal sensor homing and then inflicts its damage with a 1.5 megaton fixed-yield fusion warhead powerful enough to destroy all but the largest enemy vessels and to cripple any known enemy s.h.i.+p. Ravens are equipped with an innovative system known as Cooperative Interactive Logic Mode (CILM-p.r.o.nounced "Kill 'em"). When more than one Raven is launched against the same target, CILM causes the missiles to communicate with one another and attack the target jointly, closing on the enemy from multiple vectors, to render defense more difficult, and exploding at the same instant to inflict the most damage.

regardez donc (Cajun French) An expression of awe and amazement, roughly equivalent to an extremely emphatic "Wow!" Literally translates as "look at that."

salt.w.a.ter navy: a navy comprised of ocean-going s.h.i.+ps as opposed to one comprised of s.h.i.+ps that travel in s.p.a.ce.

Schweinhund (German) An insult that does not translate very well into Standard. The word literally means "pig-dog" but has connotations that go well beyond the translation. It is best understood as meaning that the person to whom it is applied is vile, disgusting, and utterly devoid of decency. It is a fitting insult for someone who steals little old ladies' pensions, runs a child prost.i.tution ring, or sells out his s.h.i.+pmates.

Scotty The traditional nickname for a wars.h.i.+p's chief of engineering, irrespective of the national origin of his ancestors. The term is of great antiquity and uncertain origin.

SDMF Self-destruct mechanism, fusion. A fusion munition carried on all Union wars.h.i.+ps prior to the Battle of Han VII, for the purpose of destroying the vessel as a last resort to prevent it from falling into enemy hands.

SIGINT (also SigInt) Signals Intelligence-the branch of Intelligence that attempts to determine the dispositions, intentions, and capabilities of the enemy by intercepting its communications, sensor emissions, navigation beams, and other signals.

six Shorthand for "six o'clock position," or directly astern.

SOP Standard operating procedure.

squeaker a particularly young or puny mids.h.i.+pman. Also "squeekie," "deck dodger," "panel puppy," and "hatch hanger" (the last for their habit of standing in the hatches while holding the rim, thereby blocking the way).

SSR Staff Support Room. A compartment, sometimes called a "back room,' located in the general vicinity of the CIC, containing between three and twenty-four men whose duty it is to provide support to one CIC department by performing detailed monitoring and a.n.a.lysis at a level impossible for one or two people a.s.signed that function in CIC. For example, in the Sensors SSR, one man would be monitoring graviton emissions; one man, the output from optical scanners; another man, neutrino flux; yet another, a given portion of the EM spectrum, and so on. The CIC officer communicates with the senior officer in the SSR, who in turn a.s.signs tasks to the other personnel in that room and then communicates their observations and conclusions to CIC. The SSR has the capability to communicate with CIC by voice or text and by transferring data files. Frequently, the SSR will indicate to the CIC officer which sensor display he should be reviewing, allowing the CIC officer to pull up that display on his console.