In the forward cargo bay of the Brunel, the shuttle unloaded its contents and powered down. The ship they had found was smaller than expected. Instead of hauling it, they had been able to load it into the shuttle's own transport bay. It seemed inert, but scans still showed it was broadcasting transmissions in the 90 Ghz range at the rate of thousands of pulses a second.
The Brunel's Captain, George Babbage, watched the offloading with unease. It was he who had ordered the communications blackout, and as he watched his senior engineers examine the device he wondered if he had done the right thing. They would have to examine all ships logs to the point of discovery to see if word of this had spread. At the same time, he needed guidance from his superiors. Babbage called over an officer and gave orders that a shuttle be launched to deliver a secret message, eyes only, to fleet command. Transmissions were not to be issued from the Brunel's systems.
The engineers verbally returned their initial report. He listened carefully, and ordered their recommendations be implemented.
"Do we have a faraday cage to contain that thing?" Babbage asked.
"No sir, not in the E band range, that's a three millimetre cage. We can fabricate one. Until then, the multi-phase inverters are our best option."
"Do it. Make the cage a top priority and take all the phase inverters you need. Nothing gets out." He beckoned the security officers over. "Seal the doors and bulkheads to this section. I want armed guards stationed outside every entrance. Nothing gets in, either."
Finally, Babbage sent a message to the senior staff on board. Senior Bridge Officer's conference. Urgent. Classified.
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Far Horizon (Juggernaut #4)
Science FictionWith the mystery of the Far Horizon solved, Tila claims her place on the rescue fleet to find out what happened to her father. Malachi and Ellie find new paths of their own. Ellie's reward for uncovering the truth of the colony mission is to join a...
