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The Service of the Sword

"A Ship Named Francis", written by John Ringo and Victor Mitchell, is the third short story in the fourth Honorverse anthology, The Service of the Sword, published in 2003.

Plot[]

Sick Berth Attendant Third Class Sean Tyler, formerly of the Royal Manticoran Navy, volunteers for service in the Grayson Space Navy and ends up aboard GNS Francis Mueller, an obsolete old heavy cruiser that is used by the Graysons to shuffle off all personnel that would otherwise be ballast for the Navy.

Consequently, the ship is commanded by an irresponsible Captain, with a First Officer who would just love to haul half the crew out into space for "slackness", and a ship's chaplain who suffers from both overimagination and insomnia, thus constantly praying over the loudspeakers for the ship to be delivered from all sorts of horrible occurrences.

Tyler also learns that the crew likes to entertain themselves by sliding "down" Axial One, a large cargo tube running down the spine of the ship, on potato sacks. Many crew members are injured in these games, including Captain Zemet, who falls into a coma after crashing into a bulkhead.

While the captain is in the infirmary, his Executive Officer, Lieutenant Commander Greene, takes command and wants to space half the crew. Tyler and his superior, Chief Warrant Officer Robert Kearns, have to trick the XO into believing the crewmen in question are dead, until Greene is finally transferred to Blackbird Base on the order of Rear Admiral Judah Yanakov. After that, the Francis Mueller continues her run as the GSN's "nut-case".

Background[]

This story is by far the most humorous aproach to the Honorverse material, mocking the generally serious undertones of the franchise, as well as the normally very religious, self-confident Graysons in particular.

A Ship Named Francis has a number of elements in common with the animé comedy Irresponsible Captain Tylor, which is also set aboard a disreputable starship where all of a space navy's misfits are sent.

Blackbird, a moon of the gas giant Uriel, is wrongfully identified as a planet with at least six moons in the story.[1]

References[]

Characters[]

Cooper | Greene | Robert Kearns | Kopp | Kowalski | Kyle | Olds | Ribart | Sean Tyler | Wilson | Judah Yanakov | Zemet

Starships[]

Stations[]

Other[]

  1. Most likely an error by the authors, though given the overall competence level of the bridge crew, it is impossible to be certain.


Main Honor Harrington series
HH1 On Basilisk Station HH8 Echoes of Honor
HH2 The Honor of the Queen HH9 Ashes of Victory
HH3 The Short Victorious War HH10 War of Honor
HH4 Field of Dishonor HH11 At All Costs
HH5 Flag in Exile HH12 Mission of Honor
HH6 Honor Among Enemies HH13 A Rising Thunder
HH7 In Enemy Hands HH14 Uncompromising Honor
Spin off Series
Crown of Slaves Star Kingdom
CS1 Crown of Slaves SK1 A Beautiful Friendship
CS2 Torch of Freedom SK2 Fire Season
CS3 Cauldron of Ghosts SK3 Treecat Wars
CS4 To End In Fire SK4 A New Clan
Saganami Island Manticore Ascendant
SI1 The Shadow of Saganami MA1 A Call to Duty
SI2 Storm from the Shadows MA2 A Call to Arms
SI3 Shadow of Freedom MA3 A Call to Vengeance
SI4 Shadow of Victory MA4 A Call to Insurrection
Expanded Honorverse
EH1 Toll of Honor
Anthologies
HHA1 More Than Honor HHA5 In Fire Forged
HHA2 Worlds of Honor HHA6 Beginnings
HHA3 Changer of Worlds HHA7 What Price Victory?
HHA4 The Service of the Sword
Tales of Honor Comic Series
TOH1 Tales of Honor #1 TOH4 Tales of Honor #4
TOH2 Tales of Honor #2 TOH5 Tales of Honor #5
TOH3 Tales of Honor #3 TOHV1 Tales of Honor Vol 1
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