Voldamar Books
Demesne New Beginnings
Demesne Challenge
Take a look inside the Cassiopeia
"Just what do you think I've been doing, guys, my nails?" Cassie grumbles. "I really am sorry." Then she adds after a few moments, "Okay, I've verified our identity, and the probe is asking to be brought onboard."
"Bring it inside, Cassie," Frank orders, his curiosity peaked. "North, Plackard … meet me in the hangar bay. Let's see what this thing has for us."
The three men converge on the hangar bay as Cassie opens the inner doors.
"Probe coming onboard now, gentlemen," Cassie announces when they enter. Her crew watches silently as the slender, missile-looking object glides to a stop. Nondescript blinking lights glow on its surface to indicate that its systems are indeed active. The probe is black and sleek with a multi-faceted surface intended to scatter sensors and any other energies away from it.
"I'm holding it in place, Captain, and it's scanning you guys now."
"I am Probe 2745M," announces the probe's mechanical voice. "I have been dispatched to contact Captain Frank Walker of the ERS Cassiopeia."
"Something must be very important, Captain, if they're using an AI stealth probe just for courier service," Plackard comments. In his former career, Plackard had extensive experience in the intelligence community before he joined the crew of ERS Cassiopeia.
"I'm Captain Walker," Frank announces to the probe.
"Descriptives and scans indicate that I have reached my objective …" the probe responds.
"It's still not sure that we are who we say we are," Cassie cuts in.
"Captain Walker, place your hand on the probe surface for a cellular scan to confirm your identity," orders the probe, ignoring Cassie's interruption.
Frank steps up and rests his hand on the probe's surface.
"Identity confirmed," announces the probe's mechanical voice, then a panel slides open to reveal a data cube. "Your mission brief is recorded in the data cube, Captain Frank Walker."
Frank reaches in and pulls out the data cube, holding it up to show North and Plackard.
"You now have three minutes to relocate 2 AU from this current position, Captain Frank Walker," announces the probe. "Antimatter conversion in 2 minutes 58 seconds."
"Move to the shuttle now!" Frank orders his crew. "Cassie! Blow this thing out the airlock and get us away from it! Captain's override is authorized!"
The men race into Cassie's shuttlecraft, and just as the shuttle's hatch is closing, Cassie opens the inner and outer airlock doors to space. She holds the probe in place while the air is evacuating, then reverses the gravity and forces it outside when the outer door is open just enough. As soon as the outer door is sealed, Cassie accelerates, pinning the crew in the shuttlecraft against the bulkhead.
Any normal vessel would not have reached a safe distance when the probe finally detonated, and all matter within 2 AU (astronomic units) was converted to antimatter as promised by the infernal machine.
After the last of the detonation waves pass by, Cassie decelerates and notifies her crew when it is safe to exit the shuttle.
"That was some serious precautions," Plackard mutters when he can finally speak. "There are not that many of those probes in the inventory, and to destroy one after using it as a simple message courier is unheard of, Captain."
Frank massages his neck as he listens to his Security Officer. "Cassie, are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Frank," she answers wearily. "Whoever sent that probe knew that I could get clear in time. If we had not been the correct ship, then the data cube would have been destroyed to protect the information. I've already contacted the Dog about it, but she didn't know anything."
"I'm not even going to ask what speed you reached to get us clear of it, girl," North remarks.
"Let's take this to the briefing room and see what was so damned important," Frank growls in frustration.
They enter the briefing room and Frank sets the mysterious data cube down on the table. "Cassie, scan the cube and open the message."
"Scanning," she says immediately, but then it takes a while for her to comply with the command to open it. "This thing has some serious encryption, Frank. I don't know if I can open it."
"There must be a key, some clue to tell you how to do it, Cassie," Plackard adds. "It was meant for us to open it."
"Wait a sec!" Cassie exclaims. "I found some embedded code that I wrote myself, but that was a long time ago … and it had nothing to do with encryption. It was dealing with a condition … Getting the contents now, Captain, and I'll bet that I'm the only one who knows about this. Someone must really know my background …"
"What is it, Cassie?" Frank urges when she pauses.
"You will not believe this, Frank," Cassie continues. "The data actually has coordinates to another location, with a priority directive to meet a transport ship and pick up a passenger. Out in the middle of nowhere!"
"Captain," Plackard adds cautiously. "I've never heard of this type of security measure used to receive a covert military assignment. First, we're given orders to meet the Mortimor, which was a ruse. Commander Bolt knew we were on a support/rescue mission and that we would contact him as soon as we could. Second, when we did contact him, he ordered us to meet a stealth probe, which self-destructed, and the message it carried only held coordinates. Even in my past associations, we never used such extreme measures in this manner."
"Yes, I agree," Frank replies, remembering his former military career. "And I must say, I'm getting curious about what we're in for. Cassie, set course for those coordinates and kill our beacon, then stay within your full drive fields. And when we get closer to the destination, let's look around before we announce ourselves."
"Aye Captain, setting course," replies his ship's AI. "We'll teach them a thing or two about being sneaky!"
"Bring it inside, Cassie," Frank orders, his curiosity peaked. "North, Plackard … meet me in the hangar bay. Let's see what this thing has for us."
The three men converge on the hangar bay as Cassie opens the inner doors.
"Probe coming onboard now, gentlemen," Cassie announces when they enter. Her crew watches silently as the slender, missile-looking object glides to a stop. Nondescript blinking lights glow on its surface to indicate that its systems are indeed active. The probe is black and sleek with a multi-faceted surface intended to scatter sensors and any other energies away from it.
"I'm holding it in place, Captain, and it's scanning you guys now."
"I am Probe 2745M," announces the probe's mechanical voice. "I have been dispatched to contact Captain Frank Walker of the ERS Cassiopeia."
"Something must be very important, Captain, if they're using an AI stealth probe just for courier service," Plackard comments. In his former career, Plackard had extensive experience in the intelligence community before he joined the crew of ERS Cassiopeia.
"I'm Captain Walker," Frank announces to the probe.
"Descriptives and scans indicate that I have reached my objective …" the probe responds.
"It's still not sure that we are who we say we are," Cassie cuts in.
"Captain Walker, place your hand on the probe surface for a cellular scan to confirm your identity," orders the probe, ignoring Cassie's interruption.
Frank steps up and rests his hand on the probe's surface.
"Identity confirmed," announces the probe's mechanical voice, then a panel slides open to reveal a data cube. "Your mission brief is recorded in the data cube, Captain Frank Walker."
Frank reaches in and pulls out the data cube, holding it up to show North and Plackard.
"You now have three minutes to relocate 2 AU from this current position, Captain Frank Walker," announces the probe. "Antimatter conversion in 2 minutes 58 seconds."
"Move to the shuttle now!" Frank orders his crew. "Cassie! Blow this thing out the airlock and get us away from it! Captain's override is authorized!"
The men race into Cassie's shuttlecraft, and just as the shuttle's hatch is closing, Cassie opens the inner and outer airlock doors to space. She holds the probe in place while the air is evacuating, then reverses the gravity and forces it outside when the outer door is open just enough. As soon as the outer door is sealed, Cassie accelerates, pinning the crew in the shuttlecraft against the bulkhead.
Any normal vessel would not have reached a safe distance when the probe finally detonated, and all matter within 2 AU (astronomic units) was converted to antimatter as promised by the infernal machine.
After the last of the detonation waves pass by, Cassie decelerates and notifies her crew when it is safe to exit the shuttle.
"That was some serious precautions," Plackard mutters when he can finally speak. "There are not that many of those probes in the inventory, and to destroy one after using it as a simple message courier is unheard of, Captain."
Frank massages his neck as he listens to his Security Officer. "Cassie, are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Frank," she answers wearily. "Whoever sent that probe knew that I could get clear in time. If we had not been the correct ship, then the data cube would have been destroyed to protect the information. I've already contacted the Dog about it, but she didn't know anything."
"I'm not even going to ask what speed you reached to get us clear of it, girl," North remarks.
"Let's take this to the briefing room and see what was so damned important," Frank growls in frustration.
They enter the briefing room and Frank sets the mysterious data cube down on the table. "Cassie, scan the cube and open the message."
"Scanning," she says immediately, but then it takes a while for her to comply with the command to open it. "This thing has some serious encryption, Frank. I don't know if I can open it."
"There must be a key, some clue to tell you how to do it, Cassie," Plackard adds. "It was meant for us to open it."
"Wait a sec!" Cassie exclaims. "I found some embedded code that I wrote myself, but that was a long time ago … and it had nothing to do with encryption. It was dealing with a condition … Getting the contents now, Captain, and I'll bet that I'm the only one who knows about this. Someone must really know my background …"
"What is it, Cassie?" Frank urges when she pauses.
"You will not believe this, Frank," Cassie continues. "The data actually has coordinates to another location, with a priority directive to meet a transport ship and pick up a passenger. Out in the middle of nowhere!"
"Captain," Plackard adds cautiously. "I've never heard of this type of security measure used to receive a covert military assignment. First, we're given orders to meet the Mortimor, which was a ruse. Commander Bolt knew we were on a support/rescue mission and that we would contact him as soon as we could. Second, when we did contact him, he ordered us to meet a stealth probe, which self-destructed, and the message it carried only held coordinates. Even in my past associations, we never used such extreme measures in this manner."
"Yes, I agree," Frank replies, remembering his former military career. "And I must say, I'm getting curious about what we're in for. Cassie, set course for those coordinates and kill our beacon, then stay within your full drive fields. And when we get closer to the destination, let's look around before we announce ourselves."
"Aye Captain, setting course," replies his ship's AI. "We'll teach them a thing or two about being sneaky!"
