Breaking Point
Ves pushed his setup to its limits when he failed to get a response. Due to the inverse-square law, the poor little transceiver had to accommodate an increasingly alarming amount of power.
Neither the salvaged energy cells, the improvised power converter or the hastily upgraded transceiver handled the increasing load well. Ves frequently shut down the power to cool down the stressed devices and replace a few of the more delicate components that only hung on by a thread.
His persistence finally paid off when his shabby transceiver finally returned a response. It came in with dense encryption that made no sense if Ves didn't have the right key.
"Why reply with encryption?"
Then he thought about the untrustworthy elements in the expedition. If someone like Commander Keller listened in to their correspondence, then that could lead to a lot of unpleasant consequences.
Acting upon a hunch, Ves applied a unique code that his father hammered into his head to his transceiver.