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Authors: Barry Knox
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Petty Officer 2 nd Class Joel West, Electrical/Hydraulics
Petty Officer 3 rd Class Joseph Sipes, Hull Maintenance
Marines Contingent
Officers
Marine Captain Rezin Neubauer , Contingent Commander
Marine Second Lieutenant Gideon Klaxton, Platoon Leader
Enlisted
Staff Sergeant Bartholomew Manelly, Green OPS NCOIC
Sergeant Peter Kindle, Green OPS / VTOL Crew Chief
Corporal Jesse Gault, Green OPS
Gunnery Sergeant Michael Xia, Black OPS NCOIC
Staff Sergeant Reuben Mucha, Black OPS
Sergeant John Tidwell, Black OPS / VTOL Pilot
Scientists
Seth Harper, Physics, Lead Mission Scientist
Heli Jones, Astrophysics
Aaron Kastriva, Quantum Physics (pending assignment)
Rachel Bailey, Cosmic Biology ( pending assignment)
Vashni Qasim, Computer Engineering ( pending assignment)
After reviewing the list, she began scheduling individual meetings, starting with Petty Officer Sipes at 1900 that evening.
Halfway through her scheduling, her desk communication holographic display appeared , requesting her to answer a communications request in the ship’s Triple C. She closed her display and stood there for a second.
“ Anna?” Mary asked.
Anna ’s voice responded. “Yes, Captain.”
“ Please direct me to the Triple C,” Mary said.
“ Yes, sir. When you leave your cabin, turn left and…”
Mary followed Anna ’s directions and in a few minutes was at the Triple C. The Triple C, like all combat control centers aboard US naval ships, was located in the center of the ship because in theory it was the safest place aboard the ship during a battle.
She entered the Triple C and authenticated her identity using her ID card and a DNA scan. No one was there, so she sat at the nearest command console and pulled up a communications interface. She selected “Accept Transmission” from the communications display, and Admiral Frank appeared.
“ Hope I haven’t caught you at a bad time, Captain.” Admiral Frank said.
“ No, Admiral. As a matter of fact, I was going to contact you later,” she said.
“ Great. You go ahead and let me know what I can do for you first, and then we’ll discuss why I’ve called,” Admiral Frank said.
“ It’s really nothing important, Admiral,” she said. “I was reviewing the crew’s personnel files and noted that all of my crew, with the exception of Petty Officer Third Class Joseph Sipes, have either specialized skills or above-average intelligence. Why was Sipes assigned this mission?”
“ Simple, Captain. Our first choice for the position couldn’t report in time for the mission’s planned departure. We needed a hull specialist with plastanium experience, and Sipes was the closest available crewman. He might not be the best and surely not the brightest, but I’m sure you noted during your review of his records that he is dedicated to his work.” Admiral Frank paused for a second and continued. “Does that answer your question, Captain?”
“ Yes, sir.”
“ Is there anything else, Captain?”
“ No, sir.”
“ Good. The reason I called you on an ultra-secure channel is to set up a private, secure communications system between you and I during the mission. We’ll be using QMAC for communications when the Stephen Hawking leaves Phobos, and we won’t be able to communicate privately. There may be, on occasion, some information I want only you to know, and there may be something you only want me to know. We’ll use encryption keys to transfer and receive encrypted messages between our ATCCS—or should I say Anna?—systems when the QMAC is being used. We’ll have our Anna piggyback our messages through the QMAC using the QMAC ship-to-Earth maintenance and status communications channel. Any questions?” Admiral Frank asked.
“ Sir, is there something going on that leads you to believe that we’ll need this secure communication channel?” Mary asked.
“ Not
Petty Officer 2 nd Class Joel West, Electrical/Hydraulics
Petty Officer 3 rd Class Joseph Sipes, Hull Maintenance
Marines Contingent
Officers
Marine Captain Rezin Neubauer , Contingent Commander
Marine Second Lieutenant Gideon Klaxton, Platoon Leader
Enlisted
Staff Sergeant Bartholomew Manelly, Green OPS NCOIC
Sergeant Peter Kindle, Green OPS / VTOL Crew Chief
Corporal Jesse Gault, Green OPS
Gunnery Sergeant Michael Xia, Black OPS NCOIC
Staff Sergeant Reuben Mucha, Black OPS
Sergeant John Tidwell, Black OPS / VTOL Pilot
Scientists
Seth Harper, Physics, Lead Mission Scientist
Heli Jones, Astrophysics
Aaron Kastriva, Quantum Physics (pending assignment)
Rachel Bailey, Cosmic Biology ( pending assignment)
Vashni Qasim, Computer Engineering ( pending assignment)
After reviewing the list, she began scheduling individual meetings, starting with Petty Officer Sipes at 1900 that evening.
Halfway through her scheduling, her desk communication holographic display appeared , requesting her to answer a communications request in the ship’s Triple C. She closed her display and stood there for a second.
“ Anna?” Mary asked.
Anna ’s voice responded. “Yes, Captain.”
“ Please direct me to the Triple C,” Mary said.
“ Yes, sir. When you leave your cabin, turn left and…”
Mary followed Anna ’s directions and in a few minutes was at the Triple C. The Triple C, like all combat control centers aboard US naval ships, was located in the center of the ship because in theory it was the safest place aboard the ship during a battle.
She entered the Triple C and authenticated her identity using her ID card and a DNA scan. No one was there, so she sat at the nearest command console and pulled up a communications interface. She selected “Accept Transmission” from the communications display, and Admiral Frank appeared.
“ Hope I haven’t caught you at a bad time, Captain.” Admiral Frank said.
“ No, Admiral. As a matter of fact, I was going to contact you later,” she said.
“ Great. You go ahead and let me know what I can do for you first, and then we’ll discuss why I’ve called,” Admiral Frank said.
“ It’s really nothing important, Admiral,” she said. “I was reviewing the crew’s personnel files and noted that all of my crew, with the exception of Petty Officer Third Class Joseph Sipes, have either specialized skills or above-average intelligence. Why was Sipes assigned this mission?”
“ Simple, Captain. Our first choice for the position couldn’t report in time for the mission’s planned departure. We needed a hull specialist with plastanium experience, and Sipes was the closest available crewman. He might not be the best and surely not the brightest, but I’m sure you noted during your review of his records that he is dedicated to his work.” Admiral Frank paused for a second and continued. “Does that answer your question, Captain?”
“ Yes, sir.”
“ Is there anything else, Captain?”
“ No, sir.”
“ Good. The reason I called you on an ultra-secure channel is to set up a private, secure communications system between you and I during the mission. We’ll be using QMAC for communications when the Stephen Hawking leaves Phobos, and we won’t be able to communicate privately. There may be, on occasion, some information I want only you to know, and there may be something you only want me to know. We’ll use encryption keys to transfer and receive encrypted messages between our ATCCS—or should I say Anna?—systems when the QMAC is being used. We’ll have our Anna piggyback our messages through the QMAC using the QMAC ship-to-Earth maintenance and status communications channel. Any questions?” Admiral Frank asked.
“ Sir, is there something going on that leads you to believe that we’ll need this secure communication channel?” Mary asked.
“ Not
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