Star Trek: Distant Early Warning (Star Trek: Starfleet Corps of Engineers Book 64) by Dayton Ward & Kevin Dilmore

Author:Dayton Ward & Kevin Dilmore [Ward, Dayton]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Pocket Books/Star Trek
Published: 2006-06-01T00:00:00+00:00

“What the hell did you do, Captain?”

For a brief moment, despite his earlier comment and as he regarded Reyes’s stern, clouded features, Daniel Okagawa wondered if perhaps he might have underestimated the commodore’s response to the report he had just been given.

“It appears,” the captain replied, “that my computer specialist has inadvertently solved our respective technical issues.” Seated once again in one of the two chairs facing the station commander’s desk, Okagawa watched as Reyes’s expression seemed to grow even darker as he digested the answer.

Sitting next to him, Lieutenant Commander T’Prynn turned to regard him with cold eyes, her own features fixed and neutral. “Your crew’s orders were to leave the study of the transmission to starbase personnel.” The statement was delivered in a taciturn manner typical of Vulcans, he knew, but it also was a tone he was unaccustomed to hearing directed at him by a subordinate.

“Actually, Commander,” Okagawa said, hearing his voice hardening, “myorders were to turn my people’s expertise toward finding a solution for the transmission’s effects on starbase systems. Lieutenant T’Laen’s areas of proficiency include computer and communications systems, which she employed to arrive at the theory she then executed onmy authorization.”

“And all she did was create a simple response message?” Reyes asked, his mouth curling into a questioning frown. “As a test?”

Okagawa nodded. “Yes, sir,” he said, before explaining in broad strokes the gist of how T’Laen had studied the mystifying signal’s syntax and created what she believed to be a short, straightforward reply that essentially communicated, “Message received.”

“According to the lieutenant’s status report,” T’Prynn said, “theLovell ’s sensors detected the apparent termination of the original signal seven hours, forty-one minutes, twelve seconds after she transmitted her message. Based on reports subsequently submitted by starbase department heads, no further disruptions in onboard systems have been detected.”

“You’re welcome,” Okagawa replied.

Clasping his hands atop his desk, his face still a scowl, Reyes said, “Your lieutenant’s reports said she thought it was a warning of some kind. Now that you’ve attempted to acknowledge it, has there been any indication that any sort of response to your message is forthcoming?”

“No, sir.” The captain had not expected any such reaction. “It’s our belief that the original signal is automated, and that our response triggered another preprogrammed reaction.” It seemed the likely explanation, given that the message’s behavior indicated a predetermined protocol of some kind. Whatever technology was involved, its creators might even be long dead, and it was entirely possible that nothing of any consequence even remained of their civilization.

So, why does Reyes look worried?

The commodore had been vague from the moment he learned of the carrier wave’s existence and its apparent point of origin deep in the Taurus Reach. Though Reyes had been subtle in his attempts to steer further study of the signal to his own people, there was no denying that more was going on here than met the eye.

“The big mystery,” Reyes said after a moment, “is whether it was supposed to be a warning about something bad happening, or maybe a directive to stay away.

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