Station.”
“I am aware of that,” Portus said, “If
you could tell us more; we could help you identify the particular signal you
are looking for.”
“If I can’t find it myself I will ask
for help,” Jag said.
Portus turned to the keypad and entered
a code followed by the floor number and the elevator came alive with
suction-like noise.
“Are you able to catch all the signals
sent across the frontier space?” Jag asked as the elevator slowly made its way
up.
“Unless the signal was weak in which
case it would fray before reaching its destination…”
“It almost certainly reached its
destination,” Jag said.
“Then our automated signal gathering
machines would have caught it,” Portus said, “Are you aware of the basics of
signal gathering in space?”
Jag shook his head. He had never taken
any interest in the technical matters.
“This black hole is the best piece of
good luck for our country,” Portus said, “The sheer gravitational power of the
black hole means tiny fragments – and I am talking nanoscale fragments here –
of signals sent across space get caught and pulled towards the black hole. We
try to grab them before they enter its event horizon. We can spy on all the
interplanetary communications within the core regions of Nestorian Republic and
we can catch fragments of signals from the frontier regions but only if they
are very strong. In this case, they would have to be to reach Starfire space.”
The elevator came to a stop and Portus
exited first. There were guards in front of a computer room and Portus gave
them his ID and they let both of them through. The computer lab was filled with
around twenty computers and all of them were individually separated from the
others by a private glass booth. Portus opened one of them for Jag and said,
“Take your time. I will be outside.”
Jag entered the private booth and
locked it from inside. He started the computer and began the search for
long-range signals sent to Planet Bravo and entered the date range around the
time of VC Remus’s visit. He had a theory that whoever sent the assassin must
have sent a final, confirmation signal. An assassination with huge political
consequences was not something any conspirator would take lightly and would
want to keep his options open till he thought there was no other way for his
aims. His past as a police detective had taught him that criminal masterminds
did not take haphazard actions.
His search came up empty but he was not
surprised. Next, he entered the authorization codes of VC Remus which would
have in theory provided him access to any signal archived on this station. This
time the search returned a single record of a signal that met the query
criteria and he tapped it with his finger. Once again he took a photograph of
the detail. The signal had originated from Planet Nectar which was not
surprisingly located only one star system over from Planet Beacon.
He hit the key for ‘Analysis’ and the
computer spit out ‘No Analysis Possible’ message.
Jag tapped on the glass and called
Portus over. He pointed to the screen and asked, “What is this?”
“Not sufficient signal fragments were
captured to allow for an analysis,” Portus said, “We have a saying: people talk
loudly but we hear whispers. Signal capture declines with the distance and
Planet Nectar was the frontier planet just two generations ago.”
As Portus walked out of the booth, his
words lingered in Jag’s mind and he had a hunch and typed in ‘Location of
Boutrous Golus offices’ in the search and on top was the message ‘Headquarters:
Planet Nectar’.
Jag Manus smiled and shut off the
computer. He allowed Portus to escort him to his spaceship and then took his
leave. After he was cleared for takeoff, he accelerated away from the Whisper
Station and punched in the coordinates for Planet
“I am aware of that,” Portus said, “If
you could tell us more; we could help you identify the particular signal you
are looking for.”
“If I can’t find it myself I will ask
for help,” Jag said.
Portus turned to the keypad and entered
a code followed by the floor number and the elevator came alive with
suction-like noise.
“Are you able to catch all the signals
sent across the frontier space?” Jag asked as the elevator slowly made its way
up.
“Unless the signal was weak in which
case it would fray before reaching its destination…”
“It almost certainly reached its
destination,” Jag said.
“Then our automated signal gathering
machines would have caught it,” Portus said, “Are you aware of the basics of
signal gathering in space?”
Jag shook his head. He had never taken
any interest in the technical matters.
“This black hole is the best piece of
good luck for our country,” Portus said, “The sheer gravitational power of the
black hole means tiny fragments – and I am talking nanoscale fragments here –
of signals sent across space get caught and pulled towards the black hole. We
try to grab them before they enter its event horizon. We can spy on all the
interplanetary communications within the core regions of Nestorian Republic and
we can catch fragments of signals from the frontier regions but only if they
are very strong. In this case, they would have to be to reach Starfire space.”
The elevator came to a stop and Portus
exited first. There were guards in front of a computer room and Portus gave
them his ID and they let both of them through. The computer lab was filled with
around twenty computers and all of them were individually separated from the
others by a private glass booth. Portus opened one of them for Jag and said,
“Take your time. I will be outside.”
Jag entered the private booth and
locked it from inside. He started the computer and began the search for
long-range signals sent to Planet Bravo and entered the date range around the
time of VC Remus’s visit. He had a theory that whoever sent the assassin must
have sent a final, confirmation signal. An assassination with huge political
consequences was not something any conspirator would take lightly and would
want to keep his options open till he thought there was no other way for his
aims. His past as a police detective had taught him that criminal masterminds
did not take haphazard actions.
His search came up empty but he was not
surprised. Next, he entered the authorization codes of VC Remus which would
have in theory provided him access to any signal archived on this station. This
time the search returned a single record of a signal that met the query
criteria and he tapped it with his finger. Once again he took a photograph of
the detail. The signal had originated from Planet Nectar which was not
surprisingly located only one star system over from Planet Beacon.
He hit the key for ‘Analysis’ and the
computer spit out ‘No Analysis Possible’ message.
Jag tapped on the glass and called
Portus over. He pointed to the screen and asked, “What is this?”
“Not sufficient signal fragments were
captured to allow for an analysis,” Portus said, “We have a saying: people talk
loudly but we hear whispers. Signal capture declines with the distance and
Planet Nectar was the frontier planet just two generations ago.”
As Portus walked out of the booth, his
words lingered in Jag’s mind and he had a hunch and typed in ‘Location of
Boutrous Golus offices’ in the search and on top was the message ‘Headquarters:
Planet Nectar’.
Jag Manus smiled and shut off the
computer. He allowed Portus to escort him to his spaceship and then took his
leave. After he was cleared for takeoff, he accelerated away from the Whisper
Station and punched in the coordinates for Planet
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