Communication Issues

Posted on Mon Jun 14th, 2021 @ 11:03am by Nollel Livaam (*) & Captain Rueben Gregnol & Executive Officer Jake Ford & Chief Engineer Michael Burnstein & Jinx Jorasco

Mission: Mission 13: Stowaway
Location: Deck 1 - Bridge
Timeline: MD 08 16:00
808 words - 1.6 OF Standard Post Measure

Gregnol looked at the other ship on the view screen just floating there looking at them in most likely the same way as he was staring at them. He finally turned when the blonde at the communication console let out a frustrated swear word. “Nothing... again,” Nollel commented as the console yet again confirmed that nothing was going out. The woman was dressed in the ship's uniform instead of her usual civilian wear and heels. It was not the time for fashion when things were as dire as they were.

“So what could be causing it?” Gregnol asked the people on the bridge.

Nollel just frowned and undid the console panel to look under it. She was not going to give up without a fight.

“They are probably using a capture effect, or a complex modulation technique,” Jinx said, “since we aren’t getting any noise or static effect,” the small woman noted, examining the data. “The first is an issue of power and distance. The second will be more difficult to break.”

"So not standard subspace jamming, then," Jake replied. "Used to be they'd flood subspace with ionisation particles in the area to block transceivers. This sounds like it might be more localised. Probably a direct block from their ship somehow." He looked back over at Jinx and Burnie to see if they had any further ideas.

“Used to be a lot more simple. That ship is too full of tricks, whilst we have nothing to counteract it.” Gregnol sighed and slumped back into his chair, scrubbing at his face in frustration. He hated how every avenue they tried was blocked by something that was leaving him more and more desperate to protect his people.

Liha tapped her lips, thinking. "It must be localized subspace disruption. If we can work out the phase of the interference field, I might be able to rig something to punch through it."

Nollel stuck her head up from the console she was trying to make sure was working properly. "It would probably be shifting a lot. It is how Equinox operated," she piped up, sitting back on the chair with an exhausted look.

"Smart." Liha nodded, albeit with a frown. "And the shifts are probably random to keep us from finding a sequence to anticipate." Her brows drew down into a V as she mentally turned the problem over in her head. "But maybe we can use that. If I rig to counter a set of phases and we transmit a short message on a loop, we might get one through. Roll of the dice on each signal, but we might get lucky."

“And increasing power to the communications system will give it some punch. It might broaden the frequency range we can get through, even if the message gets a little garbled,” Jinx added.

"Short answer: can you break through it?" Jake asked, getting a little lost in the science talk.

"With enough power and the right phase, yes." Liha nodded. "But we're using the fact their interference field is shifting randomly, so it's a matter of how lucky we are: do we hit the right one before we run out of time."

"What about the Grotto and the stuff in there?" Nollel asked, making everyone look at her. "What? I do know about it. It's an open secret," she muttered. Not the time or place to argue, she had known about it since she had been the bride who blew up the ship. Loose lips had been discussing it in the crew bar. "Just a thought that there might be something in there."

Jinx didn’t know anything about the Grotto other than it existed. She had been told it was off-limits. She shrugged her slender shoulders and looked at those who did know.

"We've not been able to inventory everything down there. Could be that there is something in there we could use, but good luck finding it. I've not been able to understand the filing system since I got here," Jake grumbled.

"Have you asked Cassie about it?" Nollel wondered. The rumour of the ship was it was her pet project since she had woken up. It had given her something to focus on after everything. Nollel could understand needing something to focus on. She had been trying to find her own niche on the ship, especially as some people still did not overly trust her despite all the things she had done to try and get people onside or see that she had changed.

Gregnol did not comment as he was trying to work out the best option for his crew. He trusted every single person on the bridge. "Do what you need to Liha. Turn off deck power and anything you need."

"Okay." Liha cracked her knuckles and looked at Jinx. "Let's get to it."