Bud Sparhawk's "Clay's Pride": A space opera

I didn't generally get bored by this novella length story - in spite of tired plot that gets rather lame near end. It's standard space opera - aliens, space war, human politics on colonized planets outside Sol, faster than light travel, ...

Full text of the story is available for download.

Story summary.

Dzhou is one of the extra-Sol planets colonized by humans. Fleet is an independent military that once played a role in wars between colonies, & is now essentially a peace keeper. Fleet has a presence on Dzhou too, funded by local government.

Pride is a military warship. Commanded by Captain Win Ha, a spineless Dzhou'ian. Commander Simon Clay, senior Fleet officer, is his deputy, & the main military man of Fleet on the ship; he is a competent soldier.

While returning from a training mission, Pride encounters this alien ship. Looks like a jagged iceberg, moves way too fast, & is on an impact course. Pride changes course, aliens too! Eventually parks itself near Pride. No response to Pride's signals to identify themselves. When Pride fires a warning shot, alien ship simply rams into Pride at high speed & goes away. Major damage to ship. A lot of people dead.

Through this encounter, we see Clay quietly taking charge of the situation, in spite of total action freeze from Ha. This encounter has hurt the pride of Ha, & will feed the later two third of the story - after the ship limps back to Dzhou.

Back home, analysis of some broken pieces Pride had recovered of iceberg-ship will turn out to be several kinds of glass with unknown composition & engineered microstructures - confirming its intelligent origins.

But most of the story back home will be occupied with politics of Dzhou - between the factions led by Senator Ma & Senator Mn Ah. Ha wants Clay prosecuted to get his honor back; Ma makes it a political issue. Some fighting with Fleet bosses, court martial of Clay by Fleet, & his demotion as punishment!

Then comes the really lame part. Ha is not happy with Clay's punishment. Plans his kidnap so he can be made an example of! Some local politics of Dzhou. Eventually, all is well, & Ha & his supporter Ma are isolated.

Fact sheet.

"Clay's Pride", short story, review
First published: Analog, July 2004.
Rating: B