Signals

CSCSS Nomad > B Deck > Bridge
It wasn't long after their departure from Novgorod station that the Nomad's sensors detected presence of another ship close to their proximity.

Hearing the sound of the sensors, the Captain smiled and sipped his coffee. "What are you picking up, Mr. Vieregg?"

As if on cue, here was Maddox's chance to check out the railgun firsthand. “Don’t worry captain. I’ll jump into the gunner pod so as to protect everyone on the ship.”

Yoshida grinned, "I appreciate the enthusiasm, Maddox. But let's hope we won't need to use it. Hop on comms when you get down there."

Alistair Maddox made his way off the bridge and to the armory to enter the gunner pod.

"Well, Mr. Vieregg? Are they running silent, or do we have a transponder signal?" the Captain asked playfully, but perhaps with a hint of agitation. Another vessel could be a serious matter and he wondered if Povel had become distracted or was just not quick to respond. "Try to hail them if you can. And SA-Miii, slow our approach velocity and stand by for potential evasive maneuvers."

"Aye, Captain. Standing by," replied the dutiful synthetic pilot.

Povel's gaze remained fixed on the array of holographic and screen displays before him, his fingers dancing across the controls. As the Captain's inquiry reached him, he hesitated momentarily, absorbed in scrutinizing the data streaming from the sensor readings. The delayed response carried the weight of meticulous analysis, something seemed odd. It initially seemed as if transmitting; however, it was just barely running above silent due to the lag. It was message switching instead of packet switching. Interesting.

Finally, with a measured tone, Povel reported, "Captain, they're not running silent. The vessel does have a signal, intentionally message switching. I conjecture that they could have poor or damaged equipment, or trying to minimize its presence without technically doing anything illegal. A vessel of that type would have packet switching networking capability after all. It appears to be a... CSCSS Callaghan, a Lockmart C-90S Corvus-class mining vessel owned by CeriseCorp. They're crossing port to starboard at a speed of 200 km/sec.”

As he spoke, Povel was manipulating his work station with his fingers as if they had a mind of their own and the important specs were transferred to where the Captain was.

Something did not feel right about this most ships don't travel this close to one other thought Garret. Transponders can be faked and pirates or raiding parties do it all the time. Even the Marines would do it to trick others so they could slip by.

“I’ll attempt to establish communication now, but because of their current setup it may be slower on their end to receive and could lag if they reply. Not to worry though, I am confident we could clean up the signal if we run into that issue.”

The sound of the channel being opened to the ship could be heard and Povel gave the Captain a thumbs up to indicate the connection was established.

A voice came in through some static over the long range comms, **This is Captain Torres of the Callaghan. We see your signal as CSCSS Nomad. Confirm? Over.**

"Captain, caution. There is no real reason they should be that close to us. I don't like it. Call it a gut feeling," commented Garret, running through the identification ship banks.

Povel replied, “Affirmative, Captain Torres. CSCSS Nomad. I am sending over our identification codes as we speak for you to validate.” He paused a second. “I notice your transponder signal is failing a third handshake attempt to verify your information. Could you please send again, or perhaps set your exponential back off frequency two clicks negative?”

Povel looked to the Captain to see if he had anything he wanted to add.

For the moment, the Captain shook his head and waited. The next transmission barely came through as more than warbled static.

Povel asked them to repeat after some minor adjustments. There was a brief pause as the signal traveled through space, then a response crackled through.

**Understood. We were conducting a routine asteroid mining mission in this sector, returning en route to Novgorod. Do you copy, Nomad? Over.**

"We copy. This is Captain Yoshida of the CSCSS Nomad, hailing on behalf of Blackwood-Mori Interstellar. We read you loud and clear. Do you require assistance?"

**Wouldn’t hurt. We took some damage to our long range antennae array.**

“Copy that. If you slow your approach velocity we’ll match vectors and pair up,” Yoshida suggested.

**How far out from Novgorod?** asked Captain Torres.

“6 hour ride or so, at your speed.”

**Appreciate the help, Nomad. I know in some sectors the ICC types will fine you for approaching a space port with bad comms.**

“Indeed. Preparing for boarding, Callaghan.”

With that, the transmission ended.

“SA-Miii, you understand?”

“Affirmative, Captain. Matching vectors with the Callaghan for boarding and repair assistance.”

“Goo’hood ha ha,” he chuckled and looked impressed with the fact Blackwood-Mori pulled off such an intelligent and realistic synthetic model, on par (so far) with their rivals.
Alistair Maddox could hear the Captain from the armory as he opened the floor panel airlock and climbed down into the pod.

Yoshida took a sip of coffee and manipulated some of the controls on his console. His voice rang out over the internal comms.

“Sit tight, but don’t get too comfortable, Maddox. Never know with some people.”

Maddox turned the comms on almost immediately after he reached the pod. He positioned everything to be comfortable, adjusting the seat along with the controls to be set and ready for him.

“Right you are captain. I’m ready for whatever may happen. My job is to protect you all. If anything changes, I’ll be sure to do my job.” Maddox tapped at the console and was about to bring up the aiming interface on his screen.

“SA-Miii, stay savvy on evasive maneuvers if anything seems off. And Garrett... stay on the countermeasures.”

"Maddox do not turn on targeting yet. Manually aim for now so we don't look like the aggressors," Suggested Garret now at the set for countermeasures.

"Right," replied Maddox, making sure to aim manually at the vessel the captain is talking about, but without turning on power to the turret unit.

The CSCSS Callaghan slowly grew larger in the viewport.

The Nomad approached slowly andSA-Miii positioned the ship to align with their docking umbilical.

The Science Team could sense the deceleration in speed and maneuvering.

“Science team. This is your Captain. We are halting to assist another ship with repairs. This shouldn’t take more than a few hours. That said, be ready for anything.”

“Mr. Sestero, suit up and meet with Mr. Vieregg at the Port 1 Airlock. You are to assist the Callaghan crew with repairs on their external antenna arrays.”

Povel finished any necessary commands at his console and then left the bridge per the Captain’s orders.

**Roger that, Cap,** answered the disembodied voice of Calvin Sestero over the intercom.

Povel met up with Sestero at the P1 Airlock. He already had his EVA suit on and helmet under his arm whilst equipped with a tool belt, plasma torch, bolt gun, and carabiners.

“First time, kid?”