First try at a fic
My first attempt at a fic. Still haven't settled on a name. It's a bit unfinished too.
_______________________
Transmission
The signal had simply disappeared from the monitor.
One minute the tracking device transmitting Field Operative Tyler's geographical and temporal location had been functioning as intended, and the next, it had apparently gone dead. This type of equipment failure, while unusual, was not completely unknown, so the tracking officer had not been unduly alarmed. They would simply wait until the next system reboot, and the errant signal would undoubtedly reappear.
Two hours later, it had not reappeared.
The supervisor did not take the news casually. While she was not given to nervousness, this didn't feel right. In the past (past? She mused on that word with a smile. Right, let's say, instead, "in her experience"), there had usually been some type of advanced warning when the system decided to malfunction. This was different. She insisted on reviewing the logs for the day. What she saw confirmed her worst fears.
The transporter had been triggered.
This in itself was not the problem. Field operatives were supposed to trigger their transporters, after all. But the logs showed the ugly fact: the device had been triggered without any programming. Without proper coordinates, who knew where, or more importantly, when he would end up.
____
"Those stinking, worthless transponders!" She cringed at the volume but not the tone of voice. This was the response she had expected to the news. "I'd love to get my hands around the idiot who designed them so small." He was well aware of the identity of the idiot in question. When it had been proposed that the transponders be designed to 'blend in,' be something as small and inconspicuous as a piece of jewelry, he had known that something like this could happen. "Has anyone located his signal yet?"
"No, sir. He could be anywhere, anytime. The transponder's signal would be so weak that he will have to be very near one of our beacons before we can locate him. The beacons can only reach a limited area in time as well as space, so there is another worry. If he has gone back too far..."
"We've lost him completely?"
"Not completely. There is a chance that if he hasn't gone back too far, then proximity to any local transmitting devices might cause a disturbance that we can use not only to locate him, but perhaps even to communicate with him."
"Local transmitting devices?"
"Cell towers, satellite towers, possibly something as primitive as a television or radio device..."
He regarded her with open disbelief. "Television or radio?"
"I doubt you'd be familiar with any of the old technology, but they were devices designed to receive sound and image transmissions..."
"I'm not completely stupid! I've read the history books, I know what they are. What I want to know is, how are we supposed to use them to communicate with him?"
_____
She returned in a rush a short time later. The news she was carrying was not the best it could possibly be, but neither was it the worst.
"We’ve found him, sir!"
The director did not turn around to greet her or her news. He merely nodded his head slightly and asked the single obvious question. "Where?"
"Well, amazingly enough, he doesn’t appear to have moved geographically at all. He’s still in the same city."
The director shook his head. That didn’t answer his question at all. "What year?"
"1973."
"1973. Why then? Did we have any open assignments in that time frame?"
"Actually, sir, we did have an open assignment in that year. According to the records I’ve been able to find, Operative Tyler had in fact already applied for and had been accepted to fulfill that assignment pending completion of the case on which he was working."
"How far along were the preparations? Had Logistics started the project?"
She had anticipated his question. "Logistics says their preparations were nearly complete. They had established a residence, a cover story and all of the necessary paperwork to support it. They also had activated a guide beacon and had notified one of our agents on the scene to be expecting our operative’s arrival."
The director breathed a sigh of relief. "So not only were things ready for him, but he was expected? Well, that’s a small consolation anyway. At least his arrival won't be met with a lot of inconvenient curiosity."
"No, sir. And the presence of the guide beacon explains why he ended up in that particular time frame. When his transporter activated without coordinates, it would have searched for and locked on to the nearest beacon it could find."
"Have you been able to make any contact yet?"
"Not yet, sir. Communications say they have been able to pick up intermittent signals, apparently when his transponder passes close to anything capable of broadcasting or receiving a radio or video signal. They’ve tried sending messages, but there’s no guarantee that the messages will get through without becoming garbled. And there has been no answer of any kind."
"So he’s on his own. Until he can complete his assignment or we can establish a link."
"For the time being, yes. But he is an efficient officer, sir. And according to Logistics, he will be working with one of the best local agents we have."
_______________________
Transmission
The signal had simply disappeared from the monitor.
One minute the tracking device transmitting Field Operative Tyler's geographical and temporal location had been functioning as intended, and the next, it had apparently gone dead. This type of equipment failure, while unusual, was not completely unknown, so the tracking officer had not been unduly alarmed. They would simply wait until the next system reboot, and the errant signal would undoubtedly reappear.
Two hours later, it had not reappeared.
The supervisor did not take the news casually. While she was not given to nervousness, this didn't feel right. In the past (past? She mused on that word with a smile. Right, let's say, instead, "in her experience"), there had usually been some type of advanced warning when the system decided to malfunction. This was different. She insisted on reviewing the logs for the day. What she saw confirmed her worst fears.
The transporter had been triggered.
This in itself was not the problem. Field operatives were supposed to trigger their transporters, after all. But the logs showed the ugly fact: the device had been triggered without any programming. Without proper coordinates, who knew where, or more importantly, when he would end up.
____
"Those stinking, worthless transponders!" She cringed at the volume but not the tone of voice. This was the response she had expected to the news. "I'd love to get my hands around the idiot who designed them so small." He was well aware of the identity of the idiot in question. When it had been proposed that the transponders be designed to 'blend in,' be something as small and inconspicuous as a piece of jewelry, he had known that something like this could happen. "Has anyone located his signal yet?"
"No, sir. He could be anywhere, anytime. The transponder's signal would be so weak that he will have to be very near one of our beacons before we can locate him. The beacons can only reach a limited area in time as well as space, so there is another worry. If he has gone back too far..."
"We've lost him completely?"
"Not completely. There is a chance that if he hasn't gone back too far, then proximity to any local transmitting devices might cause a disturbance that we can use not only to locate him, but perhaps even to communicate with him."
"Local transmitting devices?"
"Cell towers, satellite towers, possibly something as primitive as a television or radio device..."
He regarded her with open disbelief. "Television or radio?"
"I doubt you'd be familiar with any of the old technology, but they were devices designed to receive sound and image transmissions..."
"I'm not completely stupid! I've read the history books, I know what they are. What I want to know is, how are we supposed to use them to communicate with him?"
_____
She returned in a rush a short time later. The news she was carrying was not the best it could possibly be, but neither was it the worst.
"We’ve found him, sir!"
The director did not turn around to greet her or her news. He merely nodded his head slightly and asked the single obvious question. "Where?"
"Well, amazingly enough, he doesn’t appear to have moved geographically at all. He’s still in the same city."
The director shook his head. That didn’t answer his question at all. "What year?"
"1973."
"1973. Why then? Did we have any open assignments in that time frame?"
"Actually, sir, we did have an open assignment in that year. According to the records I’ve been able to find, Operative Tyler had in fact already applied for and had been accepted to fulfill that assignment pending completion of the case on which he was working."
"How far along were the preparations? Had Logistics started the project?"
She had anticipated his question. "Logistics says their preparations were nearly complete. They had established a residence, a cover story and all of the necessary paperwork to support it. They also had activated a guide beacon and had notified one of our agents on the scene to be expecting our operative’s arrival."
The director breathed a sigh of relief. "So not only were things ready for him, but he was expected? Well, that’s a small consolation anyway. At least his arrival won't be met with a lot of inconvenient curiosity."
"No, sir. And the presence of the guide beacon explains why he ended up in that particular time frame. When his transporter activated without coordinates, it would have searched for and locked on to the nearest beacon it could find."
"Have you been able to make any contact yet?"
"Not yet, sir. Communications say they have been able to pick up intermittent signals, apparently when his transponder passes close to anything capable of broadcasting or receiving a radio or video signal. They’ve tried sending messages, but there’s no guarantee that the messages will get through without becoming garbled. And there has been no answer of any kind."
"So he’s on his own. Until he can complete his assignment or we can establish a link."
"For the time being, yes. But he is an efficient officer, sir. And according to Logistics, he will be working with one of the best local agents we have."
posted by Tregina at 8:13 PM
0 comments
