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Thursday, October 24, 2019

Strang Sci-fi Tales - All Clear [#131]

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           His job was to monitor space stations, and ensure they always sent an all-clear signal. If they didn’t, or he sensed something fishy, he’d have to report it to his superiors. Thankfully, he was in charge of a tranquil sector of space. The worst he had ever reported was a malfunctioning radio.
           Everything preceded as usual this day until he noticed something odd. A very distant station, one he barely knew existed, had flickered between an all-clear signal and nothing at all. It started with a half-hour of silence, then the signal came back for the same amount of time. Then it went away for about half as long and vice versa.
           Eventually, the all-clear came on permanently, and so it remained. He felt he should be concerned, but nothing was happening that warranted a report. That was exactly it, nothing was happening, at all. Was that a bad thing? Isn’t no news good news?
           If there were a problem, obviously there would be a distress signal, unless the station had lost power. Even then, the station should have a backup distress signal with its own generator. However, those tended to have a shorter range, so if that were the case, he wouldn’t be able to detect it.
           He could report an oddity in the station’s behavior, but he doubted anyone would care. He could draw special attention to it, but the station was sending an all-clear, so what was the point? It should be fine, he’s already done his job. If there’s really a problem, someone else will notice, right? 

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There's also a temptation to push aside work that isn't necessarily yours. After all, someone will do it eventually, right?

Don't forget to take a look at the previous stories in the loose series, Recovery, Shut Out and Distress.

Until next time, Read, Comment and Enjoy
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