Midshipman's Hope
Encyclopedia
Midshipman's Hope is a 1994 science fiction
novel
by David Feintuch
, and the first book in the Seafort Saga
. It depicts the first voyage of UNNS
officer Nicholas Seafort
, and is followed by Challenger's Hope
.
who boards the UNS Hibernia on his first space assignment, a three-year interstellar voyage to the colonies of Hope Nation and Detour. He beats back a challenge to his authority as senior midshipman by Vax Holser, the next most senior. During the trip, he strikes up friendships with Third Lieutenant
Harv Malstrom and an attractive passenger, Amanda Frowel.
A disastrous rescue of a passenger injured while sightseeing on the wreck of the another ship results in the deaths of Captain
Haag and his two senior lieutenants, elevating Malstrom to the captaincy and Seafort to second-in-command of Hibernia. When Maelstrom falls ill with a quick-acting cancer, Seafort, believing himself to be unqualified to command, begs him to promote Holser to lieutenant, but Maelstrom dies without doing so.
The other surviving officers (outside the chain of command
) share Seafort's opinion of his leadership abilities and try to get him to relieve himself, but he cannot find any regulations that permit it. They back down when Seafort points out the penalty for mutiny
.
Seafort is immediately faced with a difficult decision. Malstrom had condemned three crewmen to death for assaulting the sergeant-at-arms in an attempt to conceal their drug-making operation. Their punishment was extremely unpopular with the rest of the crew. However, despite the danger of a revolt, Seafort has two of the men hanged; the third's sentence is commuted to several months confinement. His resolute handling of the situation quells the unruly crewmen. This action estranges him from Amanda, who feels the executions to be barbaric.
Other dangers follow. By thoroughness and sheer stubbornness, Seafort discovers that the ship's sentient computer
, Darla, has been corrupted by careless naval programmers and would have sent the ship hopelessly off-course on the next leg of their journey. Darla was also responsible for the explosion that killed Captain Haag. To fix the problem, Seafort has a backup restored.
When the ship arrives at its next stop, Miningcamp, a small mining colony in an otherwise uninhabitable system, mutineers from the space station try to take over the ship. Seafort single-handedly holds them off until the crew can regroup and deal with the intruders. Eventually, Seafort ends the rebellion and finds out the cause. An ore barge and the starship Telstar are long overdue, which resulted in the panic that led to the trouble.
When the Hibernia reaches Hope Nation, Seafort expects to be relieved, but discovers that not only has the admiral in command of the naval garrison died in a strange viral epidemic
, but a captain has deserted, leaving a Hope Nation commanding officer who is junior to Seafort. Seafort finds himself in charge of all naval forces in the system. During a tour of the planet, Seafort, Amanda (with whom he has reconciled) and one of his officers run into the officer who had deserted. He is hiding in the mountains with his wife because he believes he saw meteors spraying something in the sky shortly before the epidemic broke out. Believing the man to be mad, Seafort dismisses his story as fantasy, but does not force the couple to return to civilization.
Seafort recruits several officers from the local personnel, then continues on to the next stop, Detour. He finds that two of the new men are poor officers, dumped on him by their former commanders. However, he manages to deal with the situation.
Then Hibernias sensors detect the Telstar, adrift in space with massive rents in her hull. Seafort leads a boarding party to investigate and, to his horror, encounters a strange alien life form
resembling an amoeba
in the ship's corridor. When it attacks, it becomes clear that it was responsible for the disabling of the Telstar and the death of its crew. Fortunately, Seafort is able to escape unharmed. After a stop at Hope Nation to warn the residents, Seafort takes Hibernia back to Earth to report the news.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
by David Feintuch
David Feintuch
David Feintuch was a science fiction and fantasy author and attorney. He was the 1996 winner of the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in Science Fiction...
, and the first book in the Seafort Saga
Seafort Saga
The Seafort Saga is a series of science fiction novels written by American author David Feintuch. The novels are set from the late-22nd century to the mid-23rd century and relate the adventures of Nicholas Seafort, an officer in the United Nations Naval Service...
. It depicts the first voyage of UNNS
UNNS
The United Nations Naval Service is a futuristic fictional military organisation created by David Feintuch in his Seafort Saga series of novels. The organisation is heavily based on the Napoleonic-era Royal Navy, including the presence of teenage officers serving aboard major ships, largely...
officer Nicholas Seafort
Nicholas Seafort
Nicholas Ewing "Nick" Seafort is a fictional character and the protagonist of David Feintuch's Seafort Saga series of novels. All the books of the series with the exception of Voices of Hope and Children of Hope are written in the first person from Seafort's point of view, and give a detailed...
, and is followed by Challenger's Hope
Challenger's Hope
Challenger's Hope is a 1995 science fiction novel by David Feintuch and is the second book in the Seafort Saga. It is the sequel to Midshipman's Hope and is followed by Prisoner's Hope.-Plot:Nicholas Seafort, newly assigned commander of UNS...
.
Plot
Nicholas Seafort is a seventeen-year-old midshipmanMidshipman
A midshipman is an officer cadet, or a commissioned officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Kenya...
who boards the UNS Hibernia on his first space assignment, a three-year interstellar voyage to the colonies of Hope Nation and Detour. He beats back a challenge to his authority as senior midshipman by Vax Holser, the next most senior. During the trip, he strikes up friendships with Third Lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
Harv Malstrom and an attractive passenger, Amanda Frowel.
A disastrous rescue of a passenger injured while sightseeing on the wreck of the another ship results in the deaths of Captain
Captain (naval)
Captain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships. The NATO rank code is OF-5, equivalent to an army full colonel....
Haag and his two senior lieutenants, elevating Malstrom to the captaincy and Seafort to second-in-command of Hibernia. When Maelstrom falls ill with a quick-acting cancer, Seafort, believing himself to be unqualified to command, begs him to promote Holser to lieutenant, but Maelstrom dies without doing so.
The other surviving officers (outside the chain of command
Chain of Command
Chain of Command may refer to:* Chain of command, in a military context, the line of authority and responsibility along which orders are passed* "Chain of Command" , the fifth episode of the first season of Beast Wars...
) share Seafort's opinion of his leadership abilities and try to get him to relieve himself, but he cannot find any regulations that permit it. They back down when Seafort points out the penalty for mutiny
Mutiny
Mutiny is a conspiracy among members of a group of similarly situated individuals to openly oppose, change or overthrow an authority to which they are subject...
.
Seafort is immediately faced with a difficult decision. Malstrom had condemned three crewmen to death for assaulting the sergeant-at-arms in an attempt to conceal their drug-making operation. Their punishment was extremely unpopular with the rest of the crew. However, despite the danger of a revolt, Seafort has two of the men hanged; the third's sentence is commuted to several months confinement. His resolute handling of the situation quells the unruly crewmen. This action estranges him from Amanda, who feels the executions to be barbaric.
Other dangers follow. By thoroughness and sheer stubbornness, Seafort discovers that the ship's sentient computer
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
, Darla, has been corrupted by careless naval programmers and would have sent the ship hopelessly off-course on the next leg of their journey. Darla was also responsible for the explosion that killed Captain Haag. To fix the problem, Seafort has a backup restored.
When the ship arrives at its next stop, Miningcamp, a small mining colony in an otherwise uninhabitable system, mutineers from the space station try to take over the ship. Seafort single-handedly holds them off until the crew can regroup and deal with the intruders. Eventually, Seafort ends the rebellion and finds out the cause. An ore barge and the starship Telstar are long overdue, which resulted in the panic that led to the trouble.
When the Hibernia reaches Hope Nation, Seafort expects to be relieved, but discovers that not only has the admiral in command of the naval garrison died in a strange viral epidemic
Epidemic
In epidemiology, an epidemic , occurs when new cases of a certain disease, in a given human population, and during a given period, substantially exceed what is expected based on recent experience...
, but a captain has deserted, leaving a Hope Nation commanding officer who is junior to Seafort. Seafort finds himself in charge of all naval forces in the system. During a tour of the planet, Seafort, Amanda (with whom he has reconciled) and one of his officers run into the officer who had deserted. He is hiding in the mountains with his wife because he believes he saw meteors spraying something in the sky shortly before the epidemic broke out. Believing the man to be mad, Seafort dismisses his story as fantasy, but does not force the couple to return to civilization.
Seafort recruits several officers from the local personnel, then continues on to the next stop, Detour. He finds that two of the new men are poor officers, dumped on him by their former commanders. However, he manages to deal with the situation.
Then Hibernias sensors detect the Telstar, adrift in space with massive rents in her hull. Seafort leads a boarding party to investigate and, to his horror, encounters a strange alien life form
Extraterrestrial life in popular culture
In popular cultures, "extraterrestrials" are life forms — especially intelligent life forms— that are of extraterrestrial origin .-Historical ideas:-Pre-modern:...
resembling an amoeba
Amoeba
Amoeba is a genus of Protozoa.History=The amoeba was first discovered by August Johann Rösel von Rosenhof in 1757. Early naturalists referred to Amoeba as the Proteus animalcule after the Greek god Proteus, who could change his shape...
in the ship's corridor. When it attacks, it becomes clear that it was responsible for the disabling of the Telstar and the death of its crew. Fortunately, Seafort is able to escape unharmed. After a stop at Hope Nation to warn the residents, Seafort takes Hibernia back to Earth to report the news.