Quantum Fold II – A plot emerges - Chapter 10/1
Axiom10 limped forward on only two of its four drives, chasing the faint ion wake of the Corogin battlecruiser—the one that had seized the escape pod carrying Voltar and Kayla. But at half speed, there was no hope of overtaking the Corogins.
K’hall’s voice cut across the bridge. “What does it take to unlock the subspace transmitter?”
The communications technician answered, not looking away from his screen. “Voltar entered an unknown lockout code. The system is locked up tight and is blocking all incoming and outgoing messages.”
“Can you break the code?”
“I have not been successful. The lockout code uses a form of phase-shifting encryption. Without the code the only solution is to wipe and reload the entire comm program. Comm will be down for at least two cyclics.”
K’hall exhaled sharply. “It is useless now. Just do it!”
The dyno lift hissed open and Bext strode across the deck.
“Commander—I have inspected mercury plasma accelerators two and four.” Both are beyond repair. They were damaged when the crew tried to restart them in reverse. We will need a space dock and new compressors.”
K’hall’s jaw tightened. He stood in silence for a beat then pulled Bext aside and spoke, his voice low. “We cannot turn back. We must reach Aion. What about the experimental drive?”
A faint smile touched Bext’s face. “The Axiotemporal Collapse Drive does not rely on the damaged compressors. I must run a full diagnostic check to make sure nothing was tampered with.
K’hall hesitated the spoke quietly. “Tampered with? Explain. What caused the drive failure we experienced?”
“Lines of code were deleted from the drive matrix source… the deleted code contained the fail-safe programming that should have prevented activation of the Axiotemporal Collapse Drive while the AF drives were engaged.”
K’hall’s eyes narrowed. “Deleted code? Explain.”
“Someone tampered with the source code,” Bext said. “Partial segments of a block of code had been removed. The work was very specific… the program was sabotaged. The crew has not been trained on the new drive, and the fail-safe programming would have prevented the problem we experienced”
A low growl escaped K’hall. “So, this was all planned.” He straightened. “Run the system check. Make certain everything is in order. If we are going to reach Aion we have no choice but to use the experimental drive.”
He crossed over to the sensor array. “Lieutenant… Ke’zem? Is that correct?”
The young officer stiffened. “Yes, sir—it is Ke’zam.”
“Ke’zam, have you tracked the Corogin ship long enough to project its destination.”
Ke’zam’s fingers danced across the console. “Yes, sir. There is a 98.7% probability their trajectory leads to Aion.”
K’hall murmured. almost to himself, “Voltar… old friend… I have misjudged you. What game are you playing?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You can view Quantum Fold episodes in order from the beginning in the album titled, "Quantum Fold":
www.flickr.com/photos/199076397@N02/albums/72177720326169...
You can view Quantum Fold II episodes in order from the beginning in the album titled, "Quantum Fold II":
www.flickr.com/photos/199076397@N02/albums/72177720331313...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is an A.I. image generated using my SL avi.
I hope my pictures make you smile ♥
If you like what you see, please toss me a fav and follow me. I love seeing your comments. They make my day and keep me motivated!
I love my followers. You guys totally ROCK! ♥♥
And if you're taking time to read this you are SO awesome!!! Thank you!!!! ♥♥♥
Quantum Fold II – A plot emerges - Chapter 10/1
Axiom10 limped forward on only two of its four drives, chasing the faint ion wake of the Corogin battlecruiser—the one that had seized the escape pod carrying Voltar and Kayla. But at half speed, there was no hope of overtaking the Corogins.
K’hall’s voice cut across the bridge. “What does it take to unlock the subspace transmitter?”
The communications technician answered, not looking away from his screen. “Voltar entered an unknown lockout code. The system is locked up tight and is blocking all incoming and outgoing messages.”
“Can you break the code?”
“I have not been successful. The lockout code uses a form of phase-shifting encryption. Without the code the only solution is to wipe and reload the entire comm program. Comm will be down for at least two cyclics.”
K’hall exhaled sharply. “It is useless now. Just do it!”
The dyno lift hissed open and Bext strode across the deck.
“Commander—I have inspected mercury plasma accelerators two and four.” Both are beyond repair. They were damaged when the crew tried to restart them in reverse. We will need a space dock and new compressors.”
K’hall’s jaw tightened. He stood in silence for a beat then pulled Bext aside and spoke, his voice low. “We cannot turn back. We must reach Aion. What about the experimental drive?”
A faint smile touched Bext’s face. “The Axiotemporal Collapse Drive does not rely on the damaged compressors. I must run a full diagnostic check to make sure nothing was tampered with.
K’hall hesitated the spoke quietly. “Tampered with? Explain. What caused the drive failure we experienced?”
“Lines of code were deleted from the drive matrix source… the deleted code contained the fail-safe programming that should have prevented activation of the Axiotemporal Collapse Drive while the AF drives were engaged.”
K’hall’s eyes narrowed. “Deleted code? Explain.”
“Someone tampered with the source code,” Bext said. “Partial segments of a block of code had been removed. The work was very specific… the program was sabotaged. The crew has not been trained on the new drive, and the fail-safe programming would have prevented the problem we experienced”
A low growl escaped K’hall. “So, this was all planned.” He straightened. “Run the system check. Make certain everything is in order. If we are going to reach Aion we have no choice but to use the experimental drive.”
He crossed over to the sensor array. “Lieutenant… Ke’zem? Is that correct?”
The young officer stiffened. “Yes, sir—it is Ke’zam.”
“Ke’zam, have you tracked the Corogin ship long enough to project its destination.”
Ke’zam’s fingers danced across the console. “Yes, sir. There is a 98.7% probability their trajectory leads to Aion.”
K’hall murmured. almost to himself, “Voltar… old friend… I have misjudged you. What game are you playing?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You can view Quantum Fold episodes in order from the beginning in the album titled, "Quantum Fold":
www.flickr.com/photos/199076397@N02/albums/72177720326169...
You can view Quantum Fold II episodes in order from the beginning in the album titled, "Quantum Fold II":
www.flickr.com/photos/199076397@N02/albums/72177720331313...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is an A.I. image generated using my SL avi.
I hope my pictures make you smile ♥
If you like what you see, please toss me a fav and follow me. I love seeing your comments. They make my day and keep me motivated!
I love my followers. You guys totally ROCK! ♥♥
And if you're taking time to read this you are SO awesome!!! Thank you!!!! ♥♥♥