Signals from Outer Space: Part 3
An officer in dress uniform appeared from the adjacent room and stopped beside Commander Iactus. “There’s a call for you. It’s Captain Demski.” The Commander acknowledged the message with a nod and hurried to an adjacent office where he picked up the phone, his profile visible in its frosted glass. He spoke his own name and waited.
“Yes sir. Yes sir. I understand, sir.” After some moments of muffled conversation, the Commander finally hung up and returned from the office. “So you say this thing is some kind of generator?”
“Yes, similar to the one that powers the jump gate,” answered one of the engineers who had taken the lead in examining the device, “except this one seems to have far greater capacity even than that.”
“So it’s not a bomb then, Doctor…” Iactus glanced at his name tag, “Jao?”
“Well, it’s still possible. It can store a lot of energy, and it could be pretty dangerous if it overloads.” Without waiting for a response he added, “Oh, and it has a sort of transmitter and receiver. I guess that’s how it activates if it’s moved. Maybe it’s detecting some signal from nearby.”
“No,” insisted Iactus, “a signal is being transmitted from satellites in orbit. It was just detected.”
“What sort of signal?”
“I was hoping you could tell me.”
Doctor Jao directed the Commander to a computer nearby. “We were able to get this out of it, but we have no idea what to make of it. It’s very simple, mostly a constant signal with simple iterations, but the pattern is unpredictable. It’s not just identifying itself, but actually transmitting some kind of data, apparently in a highly redundant format.”
“I see. So perhaps it’s more like a beacon than a bomb. Any ideas about the second counter, then?”
“Well,” answered the doctor, “it’s hard to say unless we move it and let it run. But at least we don’t have a second device to worry about if the signal is coming from space.”
“Hey,” another man interrupted, “remember Drake just found that component that iterates the counter. He thinks he can freeze it so it won’t run down.”
Iactus was almost excited. “Well that sounds good. If it works we can move it to a safe distance.”
“Yes, he does think he can do that,” Jao replied, “and maybe he’s right, but I suggest we take the time we have to work on it now before we risk blowing it up.”
“Alright. I guess you might as well. I need to make another call.” With that Commander Iactus disappeared into his office.
Signals from Outer Space: Part I
A small disparate bunch of military persons and civilians, learned and laymen, was gathered in a dim room where they waited, visibly impatient, for something unknown to happen. Commander Iactus stepped onto a platform before them as a light came on, illuminating a large blast door behind him.
“Apologies for the poor lighting. We were a bit rushed preparing for this.” He paused for a moment, and the silence was filled with stifled coughs and shuffling feet. “We don’t have much time now,” he went on. “Behind this door is a device of unknown nature and origin. It has a series of lights, which we have detirmened to be a timer, and another set that are currently inactive.”
Expressions from the audience were confused and alarmed, and Iactus made no apparent attempt to reassure them. “To be blunt, it is believed to be a bomb. The timer started counting down soon after we discovered it. In a moment the door behind me will open, and we’ll have just about two days until the time runs out.” He paused again, but this time the room was silent. “Since you all are the only people on the base not already working on something more important, we’re stuck figuring this out.”
“Why not just get rid of it?” asked a short man in the front, amid worried chatter. “Throw it somewhere far enough where it won’t hurt anything when it goes off.”
“That’s a good question,” replied the Commander, “and we did think of that. When the device is moved away from the area where it was discovered, a few feet underground not far from this room, the second timer comes on and counts very quickly until it’s returned. We have no idea what the timer is counting, but it’ll be difficult to get it far enough away before the time runs out. Our best guess so far is that the device is paired with another nearby that we haven’t found yet. But since we still have two days, we have plenty of time to try to figure it out before we resort to tossing it.”
A worker in a white coat appeared from a side door. “We’re ready, and we’re opening the door now if you are.”
Iactus went on. “Any more questions? I probably can’t answer them since you all now know exactly as much as I do.”
“What are we supposed to do?” someone asked.
“We still aren’t really sure what it is or what to do with it. We need fresh ideas. Anything at all.” The door opened, bathing them in light.
Introduction
Hello. This blog has been created to host collaborative works of science fiction. Each post will contain a section of a story, and the writers will take turns until it is finished. The first instalment will be posted soon, and the story will run until we decide we’re done with it. Then maybe we’ll start another.
The story should not be taken too seriously as it is more a writing exercise than a polished work of fiction, but hopefully it will be as fun to read as is is to write.
See you in outer space.
wurdbendur
Justin
