Code 11271

The mysterious series of signals known only by its initial content has been heard in numerous places throughout known space for at least the last 250 years, possibly longer. The signals are broadcast over a narrow subspace band and comes from an unknown origin. At first thought to be an anomaly in decoding algorithms that mistook naturally occurring subspace noise for a coherent signal, it has since been proved to be artificial. Though similar in occurrence to Echo Signal Alpha 1 Omega, the signal does not appear to be from a Subspace Deep Echo Array and its origins remain a mystery.

First Occurrence

The first verified occurrence of the signal was in year 2133. An early Warp 1 vessel exploring the edge of the Terran system recorded the signal clearly on their subspace communications system. It was a fluke that they even heard the signal, as the ship had been disabled by an extrasolar meteor shower after an accident in engineering disabled the main deflector dish. The vessel was forced to drop out of warp and conduct repairs. In attempting to call back to the Earth Space Agency (ESA) for technical assistance, they picked up the signal on one of the narrow side-band channels that was generally unused.

Signals

This code appears in multiple signals of different types. It appears to be some kind of alert or attention code, and is in english. Though the vocal components are most likely artificial and not an actual voice.

Signal A Contents

This signal is a voice transmission that is always the same and repeats.

Code 11271. Code 11271. Tango Bravo Alpha Niner Zulu Seven. Confirm 11271. Tango Bravo Alpha Niner Zulu Seven. Confirm 11271.

The carrier signal begins 3.47 seconds prior to the start of the audio transmission and what follow never deviates outside of expected parameters of subspace noise in the region. Once the signal has finished a cycle, the carrier wave holds for 3.47 seconds exactly before the carrier ceases. The signal carries on a cycle for 2 hours repeating at regular intervals.

Signal B Contents

This signal is a morse code transmission, the entire signal takes 58 seconds to complete and transmits 3 times with a 30 second gap before disappearing again.

A complete transmission takes The signal uses prosigns common to morse code transmissions from Earth and translates to:

CODE 11271
CQ PAN CQ PAN CQ PAN
DE DF1A
ABEL OCEAN LONDON FRANK EMILY IDA JIG THEODORE ZULU ZEBRA
ENABLE

The signal is started by a "begin transmission" code (CT) and terminated by an "end transmission" (SK) code. Each line is designated by a code denoting a new line (AA).

While there has been widespread public speculation about this signal, there are no conclusions as to what it means. The signal does, however, fit a single specific format for Solas Tempus, this fact is classified and has not been released to the public. The signal format corresponds to a Solas Tempus Temporal Operative requesting access to the Pandoric Interface. The Pandoric Interface allows operatives to gain access to HAL and BlueNet. The signal format deviates from the standard, however, with the inclusion of Code 11271 which is not, nor has ever been, a Solas Tempus code.

The identifiers CQ PAN and DE DF1A are calls to Starbase Pandora and an unknown ID, DFCOA. While "DF" is an unknown identifier, "COA" is a known identifier. When follow a vessel or station designation it would indicate that the transmission was being sent by the actual commanding officer, personally. No Solas Tempus vessel or facility has ever used the code DF as an identifier. What follows the call for Starbase Pandora and the unknown identification fits the format of a command code. This is standard and would identify the transmission as being from someone with Level 6 or higher access with a 10-token ID. The tokens do correspond to Solas Tempus Phonetic Alphabet tokens. The final line would designate the end of a command code / request to enable special access. No Solas Tempus personnel has ever used these tokens. Due to the signal, the tokens are locked out and cannot be used.

Studies and Origins

The signal does not appear to be localized to any particular area of space and has not yet been recorded appearing in the same region of space twice in a row. The mean time between occurrences is roughly 10-14 months, though there are extended periods where it is not recorded. In 2281 the starship USS Lexington happened to be doing a subspace interference survey within range of the signal and recorded a great deal of data about the signals parameters. On another occasion in 2309 the Klingon vessel the IDF K'Ta was on stealth maneuvers and was able to record vital information about the signal as well, believing it to be a covert human signal within Klingon space, they spent a considerable amount of resources to attempt to locate its source.

So far no attempt to trace the signal to its source has been successful. The closest was when the K'Ta found a signal vector but was unable to verify this vector to establish a distance and bearing.