HMSS Broadside Day 319: Night Shift Part 2

Personal Journal Serene Falk Captain, HMSS Broadside

Mission parameter – Hunting Ghosts

Classification – Secret (Captain’s eyes only)

There was a stunned silence as the bridge turned towards where Clyde’s voice had come from. And equally, as I stood trying not to gape at the message, something started to occur to me.

Because when surprised, human or extraterrestrial instinct has a strong reflex to seek clarification of the event by tracking whatever it was back to its source. It is a way of confirmation. It enables us to process what just happened and then decide whether to run or fight.

Could that be what was happening here?

“Clyde, show me that message in full.”

“On screen, Captain.”

BROADCAST COM Para Location: 

289.444.314.988.774

Signal Strength: 4 GHz

Received: 05:51 SST

Standard Naval Encryption: SIG 347394873987V

FOR THE ATTENTION OF CAPTAIN SERENE FALK

SERENE. COME AND FIND ME.

Yours faithfully

“The message is perfect, as per the original Penrose signature. The location quadrant exactly mirrors our heading and destination. Format and encryption are valid.

“As far as I can tell, it’s a real message from a point inside the Exion Nebula.”

Back at my chair, I signalled for Hux to come over and lowered my voice.

“Hux, I thought we were being played back at Tellas. Now I know we are.”

“How so?”

“Because every one of our responses so far has either been by the book or purely instinctual. And it feels as though something, or someone is studying us.

“For what ends, I don’t know. But I’m pretty sure whatever it is won’t be good.”

For a couple of seconds Hux regarded me with the look usually reserved for when he was thinking:

Can I get away with giving it to a ranking officer straight between the eyes?

“Then change the status quo. Stop responding and start acting independently, Sir.”

I felt my eyes flash as I turned to stare at him.

There are very few officers who can talk to me like that.

Hux is one of them.

Basically because he has a good soul.

And he is invariably correct.

I felt a small smile erase some of the rising panic that had started to hound me.

“Yes. Let’s stir it up and kick the fucking hornets’ nest. Then see what flies out.”

I turned towards the main display.

“Bonnie, alter our course setting to twenty-five degrees starboard, away from our current trajectory.”

“Course correction scheduled in two minutes, Captain.”

Now, call me suspicious, but the level of backchat from Bonnie and Clyde had dramatically dropped off since we had started receiving the transmissions.

And although it made a change, I had got used to being challenged.

Because often, amongst the frustrating friction, there were pure nuggets of genius.

I was just considering how exactly one ran a diagnostic on a pair of fully aware AIs when Clyde interrupted my thoughts.

“Captain. Incoming message. Addressed to you.”

“On screen.”

BROADCAST COM Para Location: 289.444.314.988.774

Signal Strength: 4 GHz

Received: 06:33 SST

Standard Naval Encryption: SIG 347394873987V

FOR THE ATTENTION OF CAPTAIN SERENE FALK

Serene, why have you changed course?

Yours faithfully

I felt the silence again as those on the bridge absorbed the message.

And its possible connotation.

“Bonnie, has that correction been made yet?”

“Thirty seconds to correction, Captain.”

“Cancel it. Change course to twenty-five degrees off the port bow, away from our existing trajectory.”

“New course correction scheduled in two minutes, Captain.”

Clyde’s voice broke in.

“New message, Captain.”

This time it appeared automatically on screen.

BROADCAST COM Para Location: 289.444.314.988.774

Signal Strength: 4 GHz

Received: 06:45 SST

Standard Naval Encryption: SIG 347394873987V

FOR THE ATTENTION OF CAPTAIN SERENE FALK

Serene, why have you changed course again?

Make the rendezvous.

Yours faithfully

“Bonnie, give me manual navigation control.”

“Yes, Captain.”

Hux, who had been double-checking the comms-gated and firewalled systems, made his way across the bridge to stand beside me.

“Captain, with respect, do you know what you are doing? Stellar navigation is no walk in the park. After all, it’s why we have dual AIs running the nav-comps for us.”

“Right now, Chief, it’s not about where we are going. It’s about finding out how deep the security breach has gone aboard the Broadside.”

With a sigh and a nod of agreement, Hux sat down at the adjoining console.

“Okay, at least let me do it. After all, it won’t be much good knowing who, what and where our systems have been compromised if we fly into the nearest star.”

Four minutes later Hux looked up from his console and nodded.

“All set.”

“Okay, Chief. Let’s see what happens next.”

Then, with a sinking feeling, Clyde’s voice broke the tension.

“New message, Captain.”

BROADCAST COM Para Location: 289.444.314.988.774

Signal Strength: 4 GHz

Received: 07:04 SST

Standard Naval Encryption: SIG 347394873987V

FOR THE ATTENTION OF CAPTAIN SERENE FALK

Serene, I have cancelled the manual entry and put the Broadside back on its scheduled heading towards our rendezvous.

Yours faithfully

As the message appeared on the screen, the silent recognition of the Broadside’s security breach was palpable across the bridge.

As now it was obvious.

Whatever was sending the messages didn’t just have comms access.

It was listening to every communication.

Every internal command.

And, more importantly, it had full override access to the Broadside’s navigation systems.

“Bonnie. Clyde. Lock down all control systems to my command only. Authorisation Falk EXD33Z7.”

Hearing my command, Hux immediately repeated the two-person protocol, adding his authorisation code to mine.

Seconds later, the lights on the bridge dimmed.

Banks of red warning indicators illuminated across environmental subsystem control.

Clyde’s voice came through the sudden darkness.

“Captain, you have Nav-Com.”

A pause.

“But someone else has taken control of our atmospheric and environmental systems.”

Another pause.

“And turned them off.”

Unrecoverable data.

Corrupt data 317 -318 00000000000XXX11111XXXXX1111111100011000110100010001001XXXXXX100011001000100100000000000XXX11111XXXXX1111111100011000110100010001001XXXXXX100011001000100100000000000XXX11111XXXXX1111111100011000

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About the Author

HMSS Broadside is created, authored, edited and published by Rob Frankson. Artificial intelligence is used to assist with research, initial drafting and supporting imagery. All articles are reviewed and, edited by Rob Frankson before publication. The opinions, editorial position and final decision to publish remain the author's.