Collective Hindsight (Book 1) - Aaron Rosenberg [8]
Pattie raised a pincer. “I can rig small holoprojectors to each suit. They won’t run for long, but while active they can take whatever appears behind the suit and project it on the front, and do the same with whatever’s ahead on the suit back. So it’ll look like you aren’t there. We’ll have to move slowly, but I think it’ll fool a ship’s sensors.”
“Great. That should take care of anything like lighting, shadows, colors, etc. It will also fool lasers, which used to be one of the best ways to rig a bomb—link it to a low-intensity laser, and the minute the beam is broken the bomb goes off.”
“Very well,” Salek said. “Upon entering the Randall system, we will begin deploying Blue’s modified radio beacons. That will put us in contact with R5-3791, so that we may receive and examine their data on the ship. Once we have collated that material with our own findings, Captain Gold will bring the da Vinci within transporter range. Blue will be beamed aboard the other vessel—her shell makes her more durable, and thus the most likely team member to survive an explosion. She will sweep the ship for any sign of danger. Stevens, you will monitor the situation, and alert us to any change in the ship’s activity, and particularly in its energy levels. Be prepared for an emergency beam-out if you do detect an energy increase that might indicate an approaching detonation. If nothing is detected, Blue will locate a computer junction, and the Bynars will beam to her coordinates and interface with the ship’s system. That should tell us whether we are facing a trap, a bomb, or a derelict. Duffy, you will begin developing scenarios for deactivating the ship’s power source and disposing of it in some manner that will not call attention to this system.” He stood. “We will enter the system in roughly twenty minutes. Blue, please begin preparing the holoprojectors and attaching them to our suits. Everyone else, prepare to release and sync the beacons.” He turned and headed toward the door, leaving his crew to stand and follow him out.
Fabian caught Kieran’s eye and pantomimed wiping sweat from his forehead, and Kieran nodded back. At least this time it wasn’t the two of them walking into the proverbial fire like back on Lamenda Prime….
“We’ve analyzed the data from R5-3791,” Kieran reported an hour later. “The ship entered the system at warp three, then braked to a stop. At the time, the outpost registered over two dozen life signs on board, as well as an energy level of dangerous proportions. The ship began an active scan of the area. Immediately after that, its energy level spiked, and then dropped down to barely subsistence level. The life signs all vanished at the time of the spike. Since then, the energy has begun building again. No signs of life since, though.”
“It is no longer a bomb, then,” Salek commented.
Fabian, however, shook his head.
Salek’s eyebrow rose. “You do not agree? The vessel had a much higher energy level, and then it rose suddenly before falling off again. If it was a bomb, it has clearly already been detonated.”
“Not necessarily,” Fabian said. “Sure, it did something, but that may not have been detonation. Some bombs have smaller explosions leading up to a larger one. They use the initial releases to catalyze elements, altering materials so that the final explosion will trigger a cascade effect from the now-radioactive surroundings. There’s also the subterfuge factor. If I knew someone might be watching a bomb, I’d make it look like the thing had gone off prematurely by setting up a smaller explosion beforehand. Then, after letting it sit dormant for a while, they’d figure the danger was past and would wander in to get a better look. And that’s when I’d detonate the real thing.”
Kieran stared at his friend. “Y’know, Fabe, sometimes you scare me.”
Fabian grinned at him. “What