command staff was watching her. Lieutenant Carver, the ship’s navigator, turned around to see what the noise was before returning to his duties. She sat up straight with a sheepish looking expression on her face. Commander Anderson was busy checking the battle reports from Prime when he heard the fuss.
“Problem, Lieutenant?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.
The officer turned around to face him but she still looked confused.
“While the brute force tools are working, I’ve been checking on the source of the transmission and also tracked its movement. From the logs the signal did hit us first, but was switched off and then re-activated thirty seconds after we passed.”
“So? Maybe they had more data to send?” answered the Commander.
“Maybe. Here’s the weird thing though, Sir. If they intended on continuing communication with our ship, why didn’t they maintain their target lock with us? I’ve checked and they didn’t redirect their transmission to follow our trajectory.”
“It didn’t move to track us? Are you positive?”
“Sir, I have tracked the path of the signal and, based on the time of transmission and our course, it is certain they were continuing to transmit at the exact same location.”
A few metres away Lieutenant Carver moved several objects on his plotting display. He was busy tracking orbiting objects, ensuring their course wouldn’t be interfered with by any debris or unexpected objects. Even though Kerberos was a well establish colony there was always the chance of drifting space junk, discarded satellites, fuel containers or even freak meteors that could spell disaster for any kind of vessel. He had served alongside the Commander in their operations out on the Rim and he had a reputation as an outstanding mathematician. Commander Anderson walked over to him and tapped him on the shoulder. He turned in surprise.
“Commander, sorry, Sir, I didn’t see you there.”
The Commander pushed his datapad in front of him and showed the path of the signal that led from Kerberos. “Lieutenant, plot me a destination point for the signal, using the time and reference point from this data.”
“Sir.” The Lieutenant transferred the data from the datapad to his screen. As he moved the information on the screen he scrunched up his face as though something was confusing him. “You know this signal is sending bursts of encoded traffic to a point in the Rim?”
“No, Lieutenant, that is why I asked you to check,” answered Anderson sternly.
“Sorry, Sir. I’m calculating the exact trajectory now.”
There was a short pause as he checked the ship’s navigation system against the latest mapping details. On the screen he displayed a two dimensional chart with the planet of Kerberos on the left and the beam rushing off to the right. First it moved through where their ship had been, then it continued out of the planet’s orbit and out further into the System.
“Apart from us it is aimed at nothing else in orbit. Tracking it further through the system...” he said, as the beam kept moving.
The chart zoomed out as the beam moved further and further until the millions of bodies in the Rim appeared. The beam entered the outer section of the Rim and stopped.
“The Rim?” he asked to himself.
“Makes sense, Commander,” said Lieutenant Nilsson who was watching from her screen.
“Thank you, Carver, as you were.” The Commander turned and walked back to Lieutenant Nilsson, who was checking her own data on the Rim. Once the Commander was close enough she spoke quietly.
“The signal must have been intended for somebody or some group in the Rim.”
“But who? The Rim isn’t fully charted. It’s a mixture of asteroids, mining stations, refineries and space stations. Is there any way of getting a more precise location from the source of the signal?”
“No, Sir, the best I can manage is the Alpha Three segment of the Rim, but that still includes over three thousand space bodies.
“Problem, Lieutenant?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.
The officer turned around to face him but she still looked confused.
“While the brute force tools are working, I’ve been checking on the source of the transmission and also tracked its movement. From the logs the signal did hit us first, but was switched off and then re-activated thirty seconds after we passed.”
“So? Maybe they had more data to send?” answered the Commander.
“Maybe. Here’s the weird thing though, Sir. If they intended on continuing communication with our ship, why didn’t they maintain their target lock with us? I’ve checked and they didn’t redirect their transmission to follow our trajectory.”
“It didn’t move to track us? Are you positive?”
“Sir, I have tracked the path of the signal and, based on the time of transmission and our course, it is certain they were continuing to transmit at the exact same location.”
A few metres away Lieutenant Carver moved several objects on his plotting display. He was busy tracking orbiting objects, ensuring their course wouldn’t be interfered with by any debris or unexpected objects. Even though Kerberos was a well establish colony there was always the chance of drifting space junk, discarded satellites, fuel containers or even freak meteors that could spell disaster for any kind of vessel. He had served alongside the Commander in their operations out on the Rim and he had a reputation as an outstanding mathematician. Commander Anderson walked over to him and tapped him on the shoulder. He turned in surprise.
“Commander, sorry, Sir, I didn’t see you there.”
The Commander pushed his datapad in front of him and showed the path of the signal that led from Kerberos. “Lieutenant, plot me a destination point for the signal, using the time and reference point from this data.”
“Sir.” The Lieutenant transferred the data from the datapad to his screen. As he moved the information on the screen he scrunched up his face as though something was confusing him. “You know this signal is sending bursts of encoded traffic to a point in the Rim?”
“No, Lieutenant, that is why I asked you to check,” answered Anderson sternly.
“Sorry, Sir. I’m calculating the exact trajectory now.”
There was a short pause as he checked the ship’s navigation system against the latest mapping details. On the screen he displayed a two dimensional chart with the planet of Kerberos on the left and the beam rushing off to the right. First it moved through where their ship had been, then it continued out of the planet’s orbit and out further into the System.
“Apart from us it is aimed at nothing else in orbit. Tracking it further through the system...” he said, as the beam kept moving.
The chart zoomed out as the beam moved further and further until the millions of bodies in the Rim appeared. The beam entered the outer section of the Rim and stopped.
“The Rim?” he asked to himself.
“Makes sense, Commander,” said Lieutenant Nilsson who was watching from her screen.
“Thank you, Carver, as you were.” The Commander turned and walked back to Lieutenant Nilsson, who was checking her own data on the Rim. Once the Commander was close enough she spoke quietly.
“The signal must have been intended for somebody or some group in the Rim.”
“But who? The Rim isn’t fully charted. It’s a mixture of asteroids, mining stations, refineries and space stations. Is there any way of getting a more precise location from the source of the signal?”
“No, Sir, the best I can manage is the Alpha Three segment of the Rim, but that still includes over three thousand space bodies.
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