Captain John 1: A Galactic Coming of Age Read online

  Admiral Miller said, “Alright Elvort, I agree to organize and lead this organization, but we need to come up with a better name than the organization. It sounds like a mafia outfit.

  “We had thought to name it the Federation Navy.” Said Elvort. “The Federation will be providing funding.” Admiral Miller said, “that would be OK, but Earth should be a part if we are to lead. Something like the Solar Federation Navy.” Thus, the Solar Federation Navy was formed.

  The Solar Federation Navy, or as it became known the SOL/FED Navy was given a code name of “The Project”. The code name was used to avoid the obvious questions that would arise if the SOL/FED Navy name were to be used.

  It had taken several months to get things up and running. Meantime the Egolari had made contact with the various governments and had begun the process of integrating the Solar System in to the Federation.

  This was an incredible story, and very hard to believe, but Admiral Miller introduced me to Elvort, the Egolari Earth ambassador/liaison, and what he had to say convinced me that this was the real deal. I think I know where this is going and I am not certain I am the person for the job. The truth be told I have questions about my ability to command.

  I finally asked, “what do you want from me Admiral?” Admiral Miller replied “John, I need a Captain that can think outside the box, someone who can help me get this space navy started. I need you to take the lead in getting the ships out of the ship yards and into action. This is real John. You will no longer be a U S Naval officer you will be retired from the service. You will be commissioned as a captain in the Solar Federation Navy, but that will probably change when we go operational. John, I think you’re the man for the job. Are you interested?” I replied, “Admiral, you know I lost my ship and members of my crew in an incident in the Atlantic. Are you sure I am the one to do this job, because I am not so certain myself.” Admiral Miller said, “John, losing people you are responsible for is one of the most difficult things a commander faces. If you didn’t mourn their loss I would have a problem. I have reviewed the secure documents in depth. Do you believe there was any other answer to following your orders?” I replied “I have wracked my brain for a better option and I can’t find one. But, I still can’t help thinking that those men are dead because of my decisions. It happened on my watch.” Admiral Miller replied, “And John, how many lives would have been lost if the terrorists had set off their bomb? And those losses would have included you and your crew. Your command decisions are not in questions and my confidence in you is complete. I truly believe you are the best person for the job.”

  Although I had misgivings, I agreed to take the job. “I will do my best sir, but I would like to bring along my Exec from the Andy Barton, Fritz Baker”.

  Admiral Miller laughed and said, “Fritz is already on board, He wasn’t as hard to get ahold of as you were.”

  And that is how I became a starship captain.

  Admiral Miller said, “John when we are finished here, I want you to go down the Corridor and meet General Terry Giles. Giles is the commandant of the Marine contingent, he reports to me, but I want you to work with him to develop a good relationship between the Navy and the Marines. We are bringing in Dr. Andy Garrett to head up the Research and development division, again he will work for me, but I expect you to work with him to provide him with the requirements for the weapons and defense systems we are going to need.”

  After signing my U S Navy retirement package, I signed all the paperwork required for my move to the new SOL/FED Navy, then Admiral Miller administered the oath. And just that quickly I was on a new career path.

  As I left Admiral Millers office my two marine Sergeants were still waiting in the Corridor, they accompanied me to General Giles office. I had heard of Giles, he was retired Marine Corps General, though how he managed to get that star and keep it is a complete mystery to me.

  General Giles is a hardnosed, by the book Marine, and he didn’t function very well in the new atmosphere of patronage we see in the current day military. He is the kind of man who believes you should earn what you get, not have it handed to you because of your name, that got him into some trouble. You can’t get away with telling the “powers that be” to stuff it where the sun doesn’t shine and expect any kind of longevity in today’s military. It seems to me that General Giles is a good fit for what we are doing here, I am looking forward to meeting him.

  CHAPTER TWO

  THE SOL/FED MARINES

  General Giles office was a clone of Admiral Millers office, his receptionist asked my name and clicked the intercom. “General, Captain Anderson is here.” “Please send him in Jean.” Jean opened the door and I stepped in. General Giles stepped out from behind his desk and held out his hand. He said, “welcome to Marine Country Captain, come in and have a seat. I would like you to meet Colonel Mark Rodgers, it was his Marines who found you and brought you here.” I said, “Colonel Rodgers, nice to meet you. Those are some very shipshape marines you sent, and persuasive as well.” Rodgers replied, “It’s nice to meet you Captain. Shaun and Jaimie are a couple of good young Marines, they are going to do well. They will be with us throughout this project. I have heard a bit about you Captain. I am impressed, I am looking forward to working with you John.”

  After getting acquainted with General Giles and Colonel Rodgers we began to formulate a plan to gather the assets required to bring The Project along.

  The Project had an R&D facility in Nevada. I needed to get to Nevada to get up to speed on where we were and where we needed to go. We decided that I would leave for Nevada tomorrow. General Giles said he would take care of the logistics.

  About an hour in to our meeting, General Giles received a call. Sol-Fed intelligence had intercepted information indicating there were forces at play that were trying to undermine our efforts. Specifically, people who were crucial to the implementation of the new Sol-Fed Navy were being targeted. The entire leadership of the fledgling Sol/Fed Navy were at the top of the list.

  General Giles moved quickly to assign security teams to each of the people on the “hit list”. Within an hour everyone was covered except for Dr. Andy Garrett. Dr. Garrett had just received his Doctorate in Quantum physics. Dr. Garrett had been recruited to work for The Project, for what he thought was a regular research and development position. His work in Quantum physics, specializing in gravitons and gravimetric fields made him a natural for what we were doing. Now there was real danger out there and he had no inkling. He was uniquely suited to develop the defensive and offensive weapons we would require. Dr. Garrett had not been briefed on exactly what The Project really was. That had to wait until he finished his work in academia. Now he and his fiancé are on danger and don’t know it.

  It was paramount we locate Dr. Garrett. He is a vital part of the Sol-Fed Navy development.

  General Giles assigned Colonel Rodgers, Lieutenant’s Finnerty and Daly and Gunnery Sergeant Adam Scott to go ahead and bring DR. Garrett and his fiancé in to The Project ahead of schedule. Colonel Rodgers and his team left at once.

  COLONEL MARK RODGERS

  Do I need to explain what FUBAR means? I didn’t think so. It seems the simplest things can go FUBAR in a heartbeat and that is just what happened. Dr. Garrett and his fiancé had decided to have a special dinner in honor of their upcoming marriage. We missed them at their home but their neighbor told us they were going to have dinner at Bourbon Steak in DC. Hot footing it to the Four Seasons, we were told they had just asked the valet to bring their car around. Back out to the street just in time to see the small Smart car head up Pennsylvania Ave.

  Dammit, we are just one step behind. Blasting down the street we caught sight of them just as they made a left on Georgetown Park. We were using our flashing lights to stop them, but they kept going. Just as they entered the intersection at Georgetown Park and 31st street a huge garbage truck barreled in to the intersection, catching the Smart Car in the driver’s door. As we came to a sc
reeching halt two men jumped out of the garbage truck and started firing at the small car. Shaun, Jamie, Gunny Scott and I began firing at the gunmen, taking out both with our first shots. We had already called 911 and when we approached the car we realized Terri, Dr. Garrets fiancé, had been driving and she had taken the worst of it, she was in bad shape. I have seen plenty of combat wounds and hers were worse than some of those. Thankfully there were no bullet wounds. Dr. Garrett seemed groggy, probably from a concussion, but otherwise OK. We had already called General Giles and had been issued new orders. We were to have the ambulances take both Terry and Dr. Garrett to The Project medical location in DC.

  One of our people was to be in each ambulance and the rest of us were to follow and protect. It didn’t take too much to convince the paramedics to do as we said.

  At The Project, medical facility, we were met by medical personnel at the emergency doors, both Terri and Dr. Garrett were whisked inside. General Giles was waiting. We explained what had happened. We also explained that we were unable to secure the shooters. General Giles said that by the time our backup got to the scene, the shooters bodies had disappeared, someone had a cleaning crew handy it seems. I said, “Sorry General, we simply weren’t able to catch them in time to prevent this mess.”

  “Mark,” said General Giles, “it was not your fault, we got the intelligence too late to move, but we won’t be caught flat footed again. Recruit some more people like the group you have now, people we can trust. Wherever they are and whatever their situation, if they agree to come on board, I will make it happen. Our people will have first class protection, nothing else matters.” To which I replied, “Yes sir, I will start making calls now. A list of names will be on your desk first thing in the morning.”

  Back in General Giles office, Colonel Rodgers had made his report to the General while I was still there. After hanging up with the Colonel, Giles turned to me and said, “Captain Anderson, I am assigning Gunnery Sergeant Adam Scott to you as your aide and more importantly, as security, until you get ready to go off planet. He was a Navy Seal before he came to us, he is a good man. I’ll introduce you to him now.” “Jean, send in Gunnery Sergeant Scott.”

  Gunnery Sergeant Scott walked in to the office and snapped to attention, “Gunnery Sergeant Scott reporting as ordered sir.” General Giles said, “at ease Gunny, this is Captain John Anderson, he is your responsibility earth side, when he is off planet he will have his own ship security. I would take a very dim view If anything should happen to him.” Scott replied, “not on my watch sir, I will care for him like a new born babe sir.” I smiled at that, “Gunnery Sergeant Scott, it is nice to make your acquaintance,” I held out my hand, Gunnery Sergeant Adam Scott shook my hand with a firm grip, and said, “call me Gunny, sir.” “That works just fine for me Gunny,” I replied. General Giles said, “Gunny, you have access to anything you or Captain Anderson need, if you have any problems, call me direct”.

  Gunny and I left General Giles office and Gunny said, “Captain Anderson, this is a Project satellite phone, it has all the pertinent numbers on speed dial, from Admiral Miller down. Memorize my code so it is automatic, I won’t be far away at any time, but if you need anything, and I mean anything, call me.” Just minutes after he handed me the phone, it rang. It was Admiral Miller, he said “John, General Giles just called me about what happened to Dr. Garrett, he also mentioned that you would be going to Nevada tomorrow. Would you consider delaying your trip for a short time? If Dr. Garrett’s medical condition allows and he is comfortable with his fiancé’s medical status, I would like to have him and some of the other key people ride out with you. I believe it could be a constructive conversation. Do you concur?” I replied, “I do Admiral, let me or Gunny know when he is ready.” “Thanks John, I will give you a call as soon as I have more information.”

  DR. ANDY GARRETT

  My name is Andy Garrett, and I just received my Ph.D. in Quantum physics, specializing in gravitons and gravimetric fields, I had been recruited out of Georgetown to come to work for a company called The Project. Terri and I had gone to the Bourbon Steak at the Four Seasons to celebrate our upcoming wedding and the fact that we were finally ready to move forward with our lives. Escaping academia at last and looking forward to the future.

  Terri and I are a lot alike in that neither of us have any family. My late Grandfather raised me, and Terri lost her folks a several years ago. Terri is my best friend, my lover and the woman with whom I want to spend the rest of my life.

  I don’t own a car, never could afford one, but Terri has one of the small imports cars that look like the whole car had been put in a vise and squeezed together. We were just going through the intersection at Georgetown Park and 31st street when a large truck of some kind came barreling through the red light and hit us on Terri’s side. I remember waking up briefly and hearing someone say, if we don’t transport her immediately we’ll lose her and Dr. Garrett almost certainly has a severe concussion as well.

  Later, as if through a fog, I could hear voices on the periphery of my consciousness. A man was saying, “Dr. Taylor I think we should use the medical nanobots. If we don’t, she will be so brain damaged she will be unable to function on her own.” Someone replied, “Dr. Campbell, we are only using them on our marines’ right now. They aren’t set up for the human population yet, we don’t want to go around making supermen out of the whole human race.”

  The person called Dr. Campbell replied, “I understand Dr. Taylor, but this is a special situation, he needs her, and we need him. In my opinion, it would be better to be a bit of a super woman than to be in the condition she will be in if we don’t.” “Give her the Nanobots, on my responsibility.” I found out later that Dr. Campbell headed up The Project.

  I awakened much later in a darkened room, no windows, low light, and surrounded by medical equipment. I tried to call out, but I couldn’t make a sound, I sensed there were people near, but none close enough for me to see. A door opened and someone approached me. It was a nurse. She said, ”your throat must be dry Dr. Garrett, here, take just a sip for now.” After a cool drink, I could speak, “where am I, what happened, and where is Terri?” “Dr. Garrett, Dr. Campbell will be here soon and he will answer all your questions, just try to get a little more sleep.”

  Hours later I awoke again. A man was sitting in the chair by my bed. He said, “Dr. Garrett, glad you are awake, I am Dr. Aaron Campbell. How are you feeling?” I recognized him. Dr. Aaron Campbell, an astrobiologist who had worked at SETI (the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence). He was rumored to have retired with early onset Alzheimer’s a year or so ago and hadn’t been seen since. Now I know why the ruse was necessary

  I had met Dr. Campbell some years ago, at a conference, but found it hard to believe he would remember me after all this time. “Dr. Campbell,” I asked, “where am I, what is going on, and where is Terri.” Dr. Campbell replied, “Andy, Terri was badly hurt, she is in intensive care. We are using an amazing new advance in medical treatments. The treatment was experimental, so we are monitoring her closely to see how she responds, but the doctors say she will be as good as new. We will let you see her soon, but for now, how do you feel?”

  I said, “Terri is in intensive care, I find it hard to even think about anything else. Terri is the most important thing in my life.” Dr. Campbell said, “I understand Andy, take some time to rest. When you feel like it, ask the nurse to take you to see Terri then call me when you are ready to talk, I will explain what this is all about.”

  A few hours later, I asked the nurse take me to Terri. Terri was asleep, but she looked good considering how serious the accident was. I sat with her for a while, then I asked the nurse to call Dr. Campbell. Dr. Campbell responded with a message that he would have someone come by and bring me to his office later that afternoon. After lunch a Marine introduced himself as SOL/FED Marine Sergeant Bill Everest, He told me that he had been assigned as my aide he also explained that he would be prov
iding personal security for me as well, he was armed with what looked like a Colt 45 and he seemed very serious. I said “Bill, what the heck is going on? I am going to do research for The Project.” “I am no one special. Why would I need security?”

  “Those explanations are above my pay grade Dr. Garrett; I need to let Dr. Campbell take care of that end. Come with me. I’ll take you to his office.” As I got on board a golf cart, I realized that we were still inside. This was one large building. Bill dropped me outside Dr. Campbell’s office, he said “I’ll be right here when you are ready to go back”. “OK Bill, I’ll see you when we have finished.”

  As I sat down in his office, Dr. Campbell said, “first Andy, please call me Aaron,” then he began to explain. “This is the administrative location for a top-secret entity known as The Project. You were recruited to do research for us regarding your specialty, gravitons and gravimetric fields The purpose of The Project, is to develop a space navy and construct ships that will function in outer space. Not shuttles like we used in years past, although shuttles are part of the picture. We are talking about large armed vessels, vessels that will be capable of extended missions in outer space and the supporting ships necessary to put a formidable fleet in action around our solar system and beyond.”

  This was jaw dropping stuff considering we had barely had the technology to keep the shuttles flying to our space station in Earth orbit. To my knowledge, the technology had not progressed that far since.

  “How can that be Aaron, we simply don’t have the expertise, materials or science to make that happen?” Dr. Campbell said, “We do now, thanks to some new-found friends.” Then he went on to explain that several months ago, an alien species called the Egolari had made contact. The Egolari were members of a wide spread coalition of alien species that made up a galactic organization called the Federation of Space Faring Systems.