[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

are held for batch transmission, ordinary sublight radio, to the nearest mail
facility. Anything serious - death, discharge, that kind of thing - can be put
on the low-link with clearance from the
Communications Officer, who may require the captain to sign off on it.
The initiating officer's code goes on each transmission. That means
whoever authorized it, not who actually punched the button - right now you're
Page 43
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
not booked to initiate any signals. The actual operator's code also goes on
it; whoever logs onto that system transmitter automatically gets hooked to the
transmission. Incoming's always accepted, and automatically dumped in a
protected file unless its own security status requires even more. Accepting
officer's code - and that's you, if you're on duty right then - goes on it in
the file. If it's the usual mail-call batch, check with 'Tenant Cardon; if he
says it's clear, then let the computer route it to individuals' E-mail files."
"What about other incoming?"
"Well, if it's not a batch file message, if it's a singleton for one person,
you have to get authorization to move it to that individual's file. If it's a
low-link message, those are always Fleet official business, and that means
route to the captain first, but into his desk file, not his private E-
mail file. We don't get any incoming on high-link or SOLEC, so you don't have
to worry about them. Now if it's something on the IFTL, that's routed directly
to the captain's desk file. Pipe the captain, wherever he is, and no copies at
all. Nothing in main computer. Clear?"
"Yes, sir. But do I still patch on my ID code, on an IFTL message?"
"Yes, of course. That's always done."
Some days later, Sassinak came into Communications just as the beeper rang off
on the end of an incoming message burst. Cavery, who had already discovered
the new ensign could do his job almost as well as he could, pointed at the big
display. Sassinak scanned the grid and nodded.
"I'll put it down," she said.
"I've already keyed my code on it. Just the mail run from Stenus, nothing
fancy."
Sass flicked a few keys and watched the display. The computer broke each
message batch into its component messages, and routed them automatically. The
screen flickered far faster than she could read it. She liked the surreal
geometries of the display anyway. It hovered on the edge of making sense, like
math a little beyond her capability.
Suddenly something tugged at her mind, hard, and she jammed a finger on the
controls. The display froze, halfway between signals, showing only the
originating codes.
"Whatsit?" asked Cavery, looking over to see why the flickering had stopped.
"I don't know. Something funny."
"Funny! You've been here over six standard months and you're surprised to find
something funny?"
"No . . . not really." Her voice softened as she peered at the screen. Then
she saw it. Out of eighteen message fragments on the screen, two had the same
originator codes, reduplicated four times each. That had made odd blocks of
light on the screen, repeating blocks where she'd expected randomness. She
looked over at Cavery. "What's a quad duplication of originating blocks for?"
"A quad? Never saw one. Let's take a look - " He called up the reference
system on his own screen. "What's the code?"
Sassinak read it off, waited while he punched it in. He whistled. "Code itself
is Fleet IG's office . . . who the dickens is getting mail from the IG, I
wonder. And quad duplication. That's ..."
She heard his fingers on the keys, a soft clicking, and then another whistle.
"I dunno. Ensign. Some kind of internal code, I'd guess, but it's not in the
book. Who're they to?"
Sassinak read off the codes, and he looked them up.
"Huh. 'Tenant Achael and Weapons Systems Officer . . . and that's
Tenant Achael. Tell you what. Ensign, someone sure wants to have
Achael get that signal, whatever it is." He gave her a strange, challenging
look. "Want me to put a tag on it?"
"Mmm? No," she said. Then more firmly, as he continued to look at her.
"No, just the receiving code tag. It's none of our business, anyway."
Still, she couldn't quite put it out of her mind. It wasn't unknown for the IG
Page 44
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
to pull a surprise inspection - and not unheard of for a junior officer to be
tipped off by a friend ahead of time. Or someone - presumably 'Tenant
Achael - might have made a complaint directly to the IG. That also happened.
But she couldn't leave it at that. She was responsible, whenever she was on
duty, for spotting anything irregular in the
Communications Section. Two messages from the IG's office - two messages sent
to the same person by different routes, and with an initiating code that
wasn't in the book. That was definitely irregular.
"Come in. Ensign," said Commander Fargeon, seated as usual behind his desk.
She wished it had been some other officer. "What is it?" he asked.
"An irregularity in incoming signals, sir." Sassinak laid the hardcopy prints
on his desk. "This came in with a regular mail batchfile. Two identical strips
for Lieutenant Achael, one direct to his E-mail slot, and one to Weapons
Officer. The same originating code, in the IG's office, but repeated four
times. And it's in code ..." She let her voice trail off, seeing that
Fargeon's attention was caught. He picked up the prints and looked closely at
them.
"Hmm. Did you decode it?" [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]