A.I. #12A00

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ASSIGNMENT: AREA OBSERVATION
Area: Command and Control - Long Range Sensors
Date Assigned: 1/1/2250
Monitoring Period: INDEFINITE.
Transcript ref number:003MIL-0000HFG-000034.1

Date: 11/03/2358 Time: 06:32

VISUAL SCAN - Corporal Maria Rivera trades typing between a computer console and the control console for the aft sensor array. She is obviously confused by what she is looking at. After a few seconds duty officer Lieutenant Huang Wei Wu and Ensign Lyle Anderson join the young woman at the console.

			ENSIGN ANDERSON
	Show the Lieutenant what you showed me Corporal.

			Corporal Rivera
	Yes, Sir.

Corporal Rivera brings up a star map on the large computer screen in front
of her.  A simulated picture of the aft end of Genesis is displayed on the 
left side of the screen.   A red blip is displayed on the right side of the screen.  The Corporal points at the screen.

CORPORAL RIVERA This is from three days ago. Notice this object. The Corporal points to a cross mark on the sensor display. LIEUTENANT Yeah. A piece of cosmic debris. So? CORPORAL RIVERA That's what I thought. If you follow it's trajectory it could be a comet fragment or mass of stellar dust that Genesis picked up in it's gravity well. The Corporal punches a few keys. CORPORAL RIVERA This is todays scan.
LIEUTENANT It's gone!? CORPORAL RIVERA It should be on our aft sensors for another week. LIEUTENANT Did you check the equipment. CORPORAL RIVERA Ten times. I've crossed verified with scans off of the aft outrider satellites. It was there and now it's not. LIEUTENANT That's impossible. Are you sure it didn't collide with something? Maybe one of the fighter pilots used it for target practise. CORPORAL RIVERA I checked all those possibilities, Sir. It's just gone. ENSIGN ANDERSON Tell him the rest. CORPORAL RIVERA I couldn't get a spectral analysis on it. It's like it was masked. LIEUTENANT How big was this thing? CORPORAL RIVERA About three meters long by one and a half wide. It was cylindrical. LIEUTENANT It's too small to be a fighter. ENSIGN ANDERSON Any kind of fighter we know about. LIEUTENANT What's that supposed to mean Ensign? ENSIGN ANDERSON What if it were an alien craft? The Lieutenant shoots the Ensign a disgusted look. LIEUTENANT You aught to stay away from the netloids, Ensign. I want this kept under wraps. You are to tell no one about this, both of you. Is that understood? ENSIGN & CORPORAL Yes sir. LIEUTENANT I want you to concentrate on the aft scans Corporal. If another object shows up figure out a way to get a lock on it. I also want you to go back through the logs and see if there are any other of these... anomalies. CORPORAL Yes, Sir. The Lieutenant gives the screen a look one more time, shakes his head and leaves.

Date: 11/04/2358 Time: 10:32

VISUAL SCAN - Corporal Maria Rivera stands at parade rest in front of Ms. Cannon and duty officer Lieutenant Huang Wei Wu.


			MS. CANNON
	Your absolutely positive this isn't some kind 
	of stray electronic anomaly Corporal?

			Corporal Rivera
	Yes, Mam.  I've gone over these systems ten
	times since yesterday.  There is just no way
	they could be wrong.

			LIEUTENANT
	How about the old logs?  Was there anything in 
	them that mirrors your findings?

			Corporal Rivera
	I've only been able to go back a month, Sir.  I haven't
	found anything yet.

			MS. CANNON
	How about a hacker?  Could someone be playing
	a prank.

			Corporal Rivera
	No Mam.  These systems are isolated from the net
	and I've check for any bogus hard links.

Ms. Cannon rolls this over in her mind.  The two navy personnel study
her as she thinks.

			MS. CANNON
	What's your gut feeling Lieutenant?  What do you
	think's going on?

The Lieutenant is hesitant.  He turns to the Corporal.

			LIEUTENANT
	You're dismissed Corporal you can go back to 
	your post.

			Corporal Rivera
	Yes Sir!

Corporal Rivera salutes her superior and marches off to her station.

			LIEUTENANT
	Gut feeling Ms. Cannon?  I've been through these
	systems myself.  They've been debugged for over
	two hundred years now.  In the last fifty no one's 
	reported anything like this.  If there have been 
	anomalies they've always been explained after
	going through the logs or by double checking
	other systems or cooberating evidence with the pilots.

			MS. CANNON
	So your telling me you believe the scans.

The Lieutenant stares intently at Ms. Cannon.

			LIEUTENANT					
	I'm telling you I think something landed on Genesis.

Ms. Cannon's normal poker face is broken by surprise.

			MS. CANNON	
	Why didn't you report this to the Admiral?

			LIEUTENANT
	I owed Mr. Stryker a favor.  He's asked me to
	report this kind of... activity to him first.

Ms. Cannon mulls this over for a second.

			MS. CANNON				
	Report it.  I want the Admiral to do a search
	of the surface.  Suggest it to him.

			LIEUTENANT
	He'll probably laugh me out of the room.

			MS. CANNON
	Tell him it would be a good exercise for the
	Marines. 

The Lieutenant brightens at that idea.

			LIEUTENANT
	Hey, that's a good idea.  He might go for
	that.

			MS. CANNON	
	If you register any more of these anomalies
	call me on my locater immediately.

			LIEUTENANT
	Yes, Mam.

Ms. Cannon spins on a heel and disappears from the control room.
The Lieutenant watches her go with an appreciative look.  Here is a
woman with brains and looks, someone to be careful around.

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