The Admiralty

The Admiralty

Action Adventure

Book Two of the Galactic Pirates Series

Daniel   West

The Admiralty Is a work of fiction.

Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. Places and events have been created for effect

© Copyright 2017: Daniel West and Gestalt Epiphany, Ltd

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States.

Daniel West Author

Library of Congress Control Number

Txu 1-805-206

ISBN 13 978-1-365-81858-5

9  8  7  6  5  4  3  2  1

First Edition

Acknowledgments

"I won’t let you go"—James Morrison

I thank my son and coauthor, Daniel West, Jr., for standing by me all these years and helping produce this book

Other Books by the Author

Dancing in Hell

A Guide to Surviving Your Spouse’s Mid-Life Crisis

Swan Song

Satire

Czech Mate

Psychological Thriller

Acapulco Gold

Psychological Thriller

Deadly MILFs

Psychological Thriller

The Charleston Shuffle

Crime Thriller

The Spider and the Fly

Crime Thriller

DreamScape

Psychological Thriller

Extreme Hunting

Season 1

The Burning Bush

An Epic Fantasy /Anti-War/Satire

Galactic Pirates

Action Adventure

The Admiralty

Action Adventure

Dark Web

Suspense / Thriller

Table of Contents

The Admiralty

Dedication _

The Board of Admiralty _

Alien Invasion _

Seething Darkness _

Tobacco Road _

Pigs of the Apocalypse _

Dreamtime _

Coming Soon _

About the Author _

Dedication

This book is dedicated to Matthew and Mindy Green

Ghost Riders in the Sky - Johnny Cash

This book exists because of you. I was ready to end the story with Galactic Pirates.

For better or worse, the credit for this book existing is yours.

I will do my best to try to write this book and hope that the storyline is up to the quality that this book deserves.

Naval time as marked by the bells

The use of the bells to mark the time stems from the period when seamen (1) could not afford a personal time piece (i.e. - a watch) and (2) even if they could, they had no idea on how to tell time with such an instrument. The bells mark the hours of the watch in half-hour increments. The seamen would know if it were morning, noon, or night. Each watch* is four hours long and the bells are struck thus:

Notes: * - The period from 1600 to 2000 is split into two dog watches. These watches run from 1600 to 1800 and from 1800 to 2000. This alternates the daily watch routine so Sailors on the mid-watch would not have it the second night, and, the split also gives each watchstander the opportunity to eat the evening meal.

** - The end of the watch is considered at 8 bells, hence the saying Eight Bells and All Is Well.

We are born alone, we live alone, we die alone.

Only through our love and friendship can we create the illusion, for the moment, that we are not alone.

~ Orson Welles

The Admiralty

Action adventure

Book Two of the Galactic Pirates Series

Daniel   West

The Board of Admiralty

Matty sat in the outer chamber of the board of Admiralty, waiting on his turn to testify concerning the actions of Captain Ahab during the Polaris incident.

Matty looked toward th door that led into the board of Admiralty. That door was guarded by two Royal Marines. They were dressed in their traditional tailor fitted red and white button down uniforms. The uniforms that gained them the nickname, Lobsters.

They were carrying Brown Bess muskets, complete with the triangular bayonettes attached. Matty was certain that the weapons were not just for show. No one would enter that chamber who was not summoned in there.

Matty glanced toward the outer door of the holding chamber, it was similarly guarded by a pair of Lobsters. No one was going to leave this chamber until the Admiralty decided to set them free.

A military adjutant opened the door to the board of Admiralty, Leftenant Matthew Greene, the Admirals will speak with you now.

Matty stood and entered the hearing room, he walked over and took a seat at the table.

The adjutant motioned toward an officer who was already seated at that table, The Admiralty has appointed Major Kenney to be your JAG Officer during this hearing.

Matty waived his hand dismissively, I hereby relieve him of his duty. I am here to disclose everything I know. I do not intend to withhold, or misrepresent, any information, even to spare myself, or any others, from facing criminal misconduct charges for their actions.    

The High Lord Admiral spoke, I feel that it is only fair to advise you that this is a court martial hearing and that there are only two categories of people who represent themselves in court. Those who are going to plead guilty, and those who are going to be found guilty.

Matty smiled before nodding, I have been so advised and wish to continue on the course that I have charted. I will represent myself in this hearing.

The High Lord Admiral struck his gavel, Let the record show that Lieutenant Greene, of his own volition, dismissed his counsel and has volunteered to answer any questions that this board may ask of him.

Lord Nelson turned to the JAG Officer, You are dismissed, you may leave.

The Lord Admiral turned back to Matty, Your report was thorough and concise. I do however have a few items that I would like clarification on. The first being: Why did Captain Ahab choose to go to the star platform at Thor’s Hammer?

Matty sighed, he could now see that this was going to be a long and in depth hearing, "Our cetacean informed us that the pirate she was blood bound to was on that platform.

"When we arrived, we spotted a derelict ship attached to the dock, but it was broadcasting the signal for the ‘Evanescence’ so we assumed that it was the pirate ship we were seeking and that it was too badly damaged to be repaired.

"Captain Ahab instructed me to dock our vessel directly behind that ship and target the engines with our ion cannon. Then he took the entire contingent of Marines and entered the star platform in an attempt to take the pirates into custody.

"The bulk of the Marines assaulted the pirate ship, while Captain Ahab and a smaller detachment of Marines entered the main facility in search of the pirate Captain.

It was at that point, when the pirates snapped the jaws of their trap shut on us. What we assumed was the pirate ship was actually the battered hulk of the freighter that they had captured. The actual pirate ship appeared out of nowhere on our flank and threatened to destroy the freighter and kill our Marines that were trapped inside, if we did not immediately surrender.

Admiral Halsey interjected, Why did you not spot the fact that this other ship was in your vicinity?

Matty shrugged, Honestly… the ship appeared to be covered with some strange kind of plating. The outer hull had a dark mirror like appearance to it and it reflected the stars and space around it. Combine that with the negative energy dampener they were running and that ship was damn near invisible.

Admiral Halsey reread his notes, You say the pirates were docked on the star platform at ‘Thor’s Hammer.’ Did you happen to find out what that plating was, and do you think it may have been an armor plating?

Matty shook his head, I never learned what that plating consisted of, but I do not think it was an armor plating. I think it is far more likely that the plating was of pure camouflage value.

Admiral Halsey’s curiosity was piqued, Why would you come to that conclusion?

Because, sir, when we opened our rift to Polaris inside that ship and then fired on it, we ripped it open with almost no effort at all. If that plaiting was supposed to be armor, it was a complete failure. That ship was put out of commission within ninety seconds.

Admiral Halsey nodded, That’s a relief. Due to the location of Thor’s Hammer, I was concerned that the pirates had somehow bargained and obtained Mjǫllnir steel plating.

Admiral Nimitz laughed derisively, Unlikely! I doubt that enough Mjǫllnir steel exists in the entire galaxy to cover any star class vessel.

Admiral Halsey defended his statement, We have to explore all possibilities in this hearing. We do not want to be assailed by any more nasty surprises at a later date. The suspect location and the unusual plating, begged the question. Now that the subject has been put to rest, we can move forward with our concerns eased.

He turned his gaze toward Matty, Please continue with your account of the engagement at the star base.

Matty sighed, Our Marines were trapped on a derelict vessel and vulnerable to attack. The pirates on the star base who had been posing as dock workers were storming our vessel, and I was in sole command of the ship, with only a skeleton crew to defend it. I had no choice but to surrender the vessel in order to save the lives of the crew.

Admiral Perry nodded, So you are saying that Captain Ahab had completely misread the situation in his zeal.

Yes, sir. I can understand where someone could safely come to that conclusion, but I would also like to add that it was a carefully laid trap. To make matters worse, I firmly believe that the Thor’s Hammer outpost aided the pirates in setting that trap.

Admiral Nelson was curious, Why would you believe that to be the case?

"Sir, there are many reasons. First of all, even if they were captured, as they say they were. After the pirates abandoned the station, the station made no attempt to alert the authority of the incident. They also made no attempt to come to our aid or help us in any manner.

Secondly, when we managed to rescue ourselves from being marooned on planet Niðavellir, the director of that platform refused to give us access to any sub space communication devices and delayed the repair of the transport for an inordinately long time. So… Yes, sir, I believe that the people aboard that space platform aided the pirates.

Admiral Nelson nodded, We may have a problem on that colony, we will look into that matter, in depth, to make sure that they are not in rebellion or heading in that direction. Please continue with your account of the incident.

Matty resumed, "The pirates contained our crew in one of the holds of the Björnhöld until they transported us down to the surface of Niðavellir.

We would surely have died on that planet, without a trace of our existence left behind, if, for her own purposes, Selene, had not left one of the shuttles behind for us to find on the planet surface. That was the sole reason that we were able to escape from that dreadful planet.

Admiral Nelson interjected, Do you have any thoughts as to why she did that?

Matty sighed, Maybe it was her final act of compassion before she became a full pirate. When she was aboard our ship we treated her with respect. Later… I understand that she became the consort of this, Captain Kidd, and that she assumed command of the Hispaniola in his name. So she may be a pirate captain in her own rights. So, no sir, I do not know why she aided us, but I am grateful that she did.

Matty paused, "After the substandard repairs were completed on the derelict transport, Captain Ahab decided to try to recover the Björnhöld instead of returning to a Galactic Authority base and reporting the incident, as he was required to. I believe that he cared more about losing his command than he did for doing what was best for his crew.

Our cetacean located the pirate ship. Hearing the distress call from the Hispaniola, and hearing that the Björnhöld was one of the ships involved in the attack, Captain Ahab ordered a rift to be opened directly inside the pirate ship in order to split it in half.

Admiral Nimitz whistled in awe, That was a bold move. Tell me, what was the effect the portal had on that pirate ship?

Instant destruction, sir, and damn near total annihilation. It was a devastating attack.

Admiral Nimitz considered, Do you believe that this is an attack that a cetacean could intentionally do to a target within visual range?

Matty tilted his head as he thought, I don’t see why not, sir. Cetaceans can be very precise with their portals.

So a talented captain could use this as a battle strategy against an Alien fleet that is notoriously hard to target, due to their use of deflective shielding?

Yes, sir, but that captain would be limited to the use of that particular maneuver only once every eight hours and would not have an emergency escape route handy if that battle went awry.

Unless they had multiple cetaceans at their disposal.

"Yes, sir, having multiple cetaceans onboard would certainly change that particular concern… and, yes, I believe it would be a most devastating battle strategy.

"However… the Admiralty would have to change the law stipulating that a rift cannot be opened inside planetary systems. Or at least modify it to allow rifts to only be opened inside star systems by military vessels during a time of war.

Neither of those two acts would justify nor mitigate Captain Ahab’s use of that particular strategy in this case. He did, in fact, willfully violate standing orders when he opened that rift.

Admiral Perry spoke, You were the navigator on deck at the time. Were you not the person who ordered the cetacean to open that rift?

Yes, sir. I was given a direct order, and I obeyed it.

Despite the fact that standardized Admiralty orders specified otherwise.

Yes, sir. I did.

Why?

Because, on a ship, the captain is the highest authority. He is the person on the spot making the judgement call. If the Admiralty does not trust the judgment of any individual, they should not make them a captain.

Admiral Nelson sighed. Admiral Perry had just found his scapegoat. Someone needed to hang for this public embarrassment, and both of the captains involved were dead. He shook his head, he was starting to like the spunk and honesty of this man, he did not want to send him to the gallows.

He glanced over at Admiral Nimitz and Admiral Halsey, he could tell by the look of frustration on their faces that he had allies who also respected the integrity of this officer.

Admiral Halsey cut in, When Captain Ahab had you removed from the bridge, instead of running to safety, you ordered the shuttle pilot to land on the deck of the Hispaniola and you tried to help them repel the pirates. Why?

Because it is my duty to assist any Galactic Authority vessel that is in distress, even if it costs me my own life or freedom.

Admiral Halsey tried again, Lieutenant Suarez, XO of the Hispaniola surrendered his ship to the pirates. Would you have done likewise under the same circumstances?

No sir. Lieutenant Suarez put the lives of his crew above the interests of the Galactic Authority. I would have destroyed my ship rather than give that much money, and a weapon of that magnitude, to our enemies.

Admiral Nelson saw what Admiral Halsey was trying to do. There may still yet be enough wiggle room to allow this man to slip out of the noose on the gallows.

Admiral Perry cut the exchange short, I believe we have heard enough testimony from this witness. I move that we dismiss him and bring in our next witness. He looked down at his papers, Who is our next witness? I am reading, Lieutenant Suarez."

Admiral Halsey decided to risk everything he was trying to do to save Lieutenant Greene, in an attempt to break this next witness. He felt that this young Lieutenant was too honest for his own good, someone who was actually guilty needed to be ripped apart on the stand. He seconded the motion to dismiss Lieutenant Greene.

Admiral Nelson was less sure of this strategy, but decided to play along, So moved. The witness is hereby dismissed, but is confined to the grounds of the Admiralty until such a time as a final verdict is rendered.

Matty stood and saluted the Admirals before he exited the room. He waited in the outer corridor until the guards arrived to escort him to his quarters.

Two guards wearing the traditional Lobster uniform and armed with their Brown Bess muskets arrived and led him, seemingly at random down the winding corridors of the Admiralty. At the end of one of the long walkways they emerged onto a terrace with a panoramic view of the compound.

Matty stepped forward to admire the view. This was his first visit to, New Petersburg, on the planet Petrograd, in the Magellan star cluster.

The buildings appeared to be crafted out of pure gold. Tall golden spires rose into the heavens, each of those spires was capped with an oversized, onion dome, Fabergé egg styled, minaret. Each of those domes was crafted from a metallic ruby colored material, and lavishly encrusted with large diamonds.

The sky was breathtaking. A pastel lavender sky spread out as far as the eye could see. It was broken only by the wispy strands of purplish white clouds.

Matty gazed into the courtyard below. The only thing that marred this idyllic setting was the roughhewn, wooden, gallows that dominated the courtyard. The bodies of four men hung from the gallows. By the clothes they wore, three of those men had certainly been pirates, but the fourth man was, without a doubt, a Galactic Authority officer.

Matty sighed, this fellow officer may have been hung for a crime no more serious than a momentary lapse of judgement. He shook his head as he thought, I may be guilty of far worse offenses.

The guard stationed at the porticos leading to the gallows looked apologetically at Matty and shrugged, If you take the King’s shilling, you’ve got to do his killing.

Matty smiled and chuckled at the man’s wit, Don’t worry about it, we’ve all got our jobs to do. He motioned toward the gallows, Am I needed out there?

The guard shook his head, You aren’t on today’s appointment list. I hope that doesn’t change for you anytime soon.

Matty nodded toward his escort, Show me to my quarters, and the nearest bar. I intend to make the most of whatever time I have left.

The guards led Matty down a corridor that paralleled the route that they had just taken to arrive at that particular terrace. Matty almost laughed at their inept attempt to mask the fact that they had led him there on purpose.

The group quickly arrived at a dark, wooden, inn. A large open pub dominated the main area, and a stairway led to the guest rooms above.

Matty thanked his escorts for their kindness and asked if they were assigned to guard him.

The burlier of the two men shook his head, Not at the moment, but you are not to leave the compound.

Matty nodded, "I understand. I