The ComCon

The Comcon was a tough, simple model...it had to be to survive on Tau-Ceti Two for long periods, without regular maintenance. That meant it would almost certainly not have retinal scanning or DNA fingerprinting . Access would instead rely on something as simple as a password.

But that could be almost anything....a series of numbers, a word, an alphanumeric. The chances of getting the right code would be billions to one, and the consequences of getting the wrong one... well who knew? Some kind of booby trap,almost certainly. An alarm loud enough to be heard for miles around, definately.Too great a risk. With one final frowning look at the display, Calvo rose to creep away.

And froze.

He looked back at the ComCon, not quite believing what he was seeing. A slow smile spread across his rugged face. Whoever had set the environmental controls for the **** dome that day, had simply, and incredibly, left the device in open mode, not bothering to secure it with a code. It was understandable...the chances of a prisoner escaping, and then stumbling across the device must have seemed too slim to even consider. Calvo almost laughed aloud. It was his lucky day.

With a few quick touches, he brought up the environmental menu.....