Chapter 9 #2
"Engineer," he said without preamble. "Someone's trying to cover their tracks. Same power modulation technique Bail used, but this time they're using it to erase evidence of the original sabotage."
I pulled up the variance data, saw immediately what he meant. The pattern was similar but inverted, instead of adding power draw, they were redistributing it to mask previous anomalies. Sophisticated. Whoever designed this understood our systems intimately.
"They're still aboard," I said. "Has to be internal. No one external could maintain this level of access."
Vaxon appeared at tactical, his massive frame somehow moving silently despite combat armor.
"Agreed. I've been running crew analysis, cross-referencing system access logs with personnel who'd have the technical knowledge to execute this kind of intrusion.
Got it narrowed down to forty-three potential suspects. "
"Forty-three is too many. We need to narrow it further.
" I studied the variance pattern, looking for signature details that might identify specific engineering philosophy.
"Whoever did this knows Zandovian power systems but thinks like someone trained in human integration methodology.
The distribution pattern follows creative adaptation principles rather than standard efficiency protocols. "
Tor'van's cybernetic eye focused on me. "You're suggesting another human?"
"Or someone who studied human engineering extensively.
Bail mentioned salvaging Liberty technology and reverse-engineering our systems. If someone else found different salvage, learned different techniques.
.." I pulled up Bail's technical schematics from his shelter.
"These design principles share similarities with the sabotage pattern.
Not exact. The saboteur is more skilled, but related. "
"So we're looking for someone who either is human or has extensively studied human technology," Vaxon summarized. "That's still a significant suspect pool."
"Then we bait them." The plan formed as I spoke.
"They're monitoring power systems, watching for investigation into the original sabotage.
We give them something to react to, announce we've identified the intrusion method and are implementing countermeasures.
See who moves to adjust their approach."
Tor'van considered this. "You're proposing using our own power grid as a trap."
"I'm proposing using their methodology against them. Dana proved the power grid can be used for covert communication. We use it to broadcast false information and monitor who responds."
"Risky. If they realize it's a trap—"
"Then we've confirmed they're monitoring our command channels in real-time, which is valuable intelligence by itself.
" I pulled up a proposed implementation.
"I can have the trap configured within six hours.
We'll need Security monitoring all system access points, ready to trace any response back to its source. "
Vaxon studied the plan with tactical precision. "I'll position teams at critical junctions. But Er'dox, whoever designed this sabotage is clever. They might see through the trap."
"Then we make the trap look clumsy enough to be believable. Announce countermeasures that have obvious flaws someone with their skill level would notice. Let them think they're outsmarting us."
"You want them to feel superior," Tor'van said.
"I want them to feel confident enough to make a mistake. Arrogance is exploitable."
Silence fell across the bridge while command staff processed the proposal. Finally, Tor'van nodded. "Implement it. But Er'dox, I want multiple fail-safes. If this goes wrong and they gain deeper system access—"
"They won't. I'll personally monitor every access point." I pulled up Engineering's duty roster. "And I'm bringing in Dana. She caught the original sabotage. She knows what to look for."
"She's been on field operation for eight hours. She should be resting."
"She should be. But she won't be. Not when there's a problem that needs solving." I opened a communication channel. "Dana. Engineering. How quickly can you get here?"
Her response was immediate: "Five minutes. What's happening?"
"Saboteur's trying to cover their tracks. Need your analysis on the variance patterns."
"On my way."
I closed the channel and looked at Tor'van. "Six hours to implementation. We'll catch whoever did this."
"You sound confident."
"I have good engineers. And Dana's proven she sees patterns others miss."
"Dana again." Tor'van's expression was unreadable. "You're relying heavily on a very new crew member."
"I'm relying on demonstrated capability. Her tenure is irrelevant if her analysis is superior."
"Capability. Right." Something almost like amusement crossed Tor'van's scarred face. "Dismissed, Engineer. Build your trap. And try not to get too distracted by your capable two-week crew member."
I left the bridge before that comment required a response.
Dana arrived in Engineering exactly four minutes and thirty seconds after my summons, still wearing her field gear, moving with purpose despite obvious exhaustion.
The rest of my team noticed her entrance, hard not to, given the attention her rescue mission had generated, but they maintained professional focus.
"Show me the pattern," she said without preamble.
I pulled up the variance data, watched her eyes track the information with that intense focus she brought to complex problems. Her fingers moved across the interface, pulling additional data streams, cross-referencing against known baseline parameters.
"This is elegant," she said after two minutes of analysis.
"More sophisticated than the original sabotage.
They're using multi-phase distribution to mask the variance across dozens of nodes simultaneously.
By the time our automated systems detect it, the redistribution is complete and the evidence is gone. "
"Can we trace it?"
"Maybe. They're using the same power modulation technique Bail developed, but refined.
Better integration, more efficient distribution, harder to detect.
" She zoomed in on a specific variance spike.
"But here, see this microsecond delay between node activation?
That's processing lag. They're not running this locally.
They're controlling it remotely through some kind of interface. "
I saw it immediately once she pointed it out. "Which means there's a command signal. If we can isolate that signal—"
"We can trace it back to its source." Dana pulled up a detection algorithm. "Give me three hours. I can build something that'll identify the command signature without alerting whoever's sending it."
"You've been awake for eighteen hours."
"I've been awake for longer with less sleep. This is important."
I wanted to argue. Wanted to order her to quarters, to rest, to take care of herself the way she took care of everyone else.
But I recognized that stubborn determination—it was the same drive that had kept her alive on the burning planet that had made her insist on searching for Bail when logic said stop.
"Three hours," I agreed. "But you're working from my office where I can monitor your status. If you start showing signs of exhaustion that compromise your analysis—"
"You'll force me to rest. I know the drill." She was already moving toward my office, pulling up additional data streams on her portable interface. "Er'dox? Thank you. For trusting me with this."
"You earned the trust. Keep earning it."
She disappeared into my office, and I returned to coordinating the trap implementation with my team. Krev caught my eye across Engineering, his expression knowing and slightly amused.
I ignored him with practiced efficiency.
Two hours and forty-seven minutes later, Dana emerged from my office with an algorithm that was, frankly, brilliant.
"It monitors power distribution across all nodes simultaneously," she explained, displaying the code structure.
"But instead of looking for variance, which they're masking, it looks for the timing correlations between nodes.
The command signal has to propagate through the network sequentially, which creates microsecond patterns in activation timing.
Those patterns are harder to mask because they're fundamental to how the network operates. "
I reviewed her work, found it technically sound and creatively inspired. "This is advanced network analysis. Where did you learn this?"
"I didn't. I improvised it based on principles I know and assumptions about how their command system would have to function." She rubbed her eyes behind her glasses. "Might not work. But it's worth trying."
"It'll work." I began implementing her algorithm into Mothership's monitoring systems. "Get food and rest. We'll deploy this in eight hours when the trap is fully configured."
"I should stay and monitor—"
"Dana." I made my voice firm. "You've done exceptional work. But you're at your limit. Eight hours of sleep, actual food, then you can return to obsessively monitoring power networks."
For a moment, I thought she'd argue. Then exhaustion won out over stubbornness, and she nodded. "Eight hours. But you call me if anything develops before then."
"Deal."
She left Engineering, moving with the careful precision of someone running on fumes but maintaining professional composure through sheer will.
My team watched her go with expressions ranging from respect to admiration.
She'd earned their regard through demonstrated capability, not seniority or authority.
Krev materialized beside me once she was gone. "That algorithm is exceptional work for someone who's been awake eighteen hours and running on crisis adrenaline."
"Dana's exceptional. We've established this."
"We've established that you notice it more than is strictly professional."
I rounded on him. "Do you have an actual point, or are you just providing commentary on my apparent transparency?"
"Point is simple: you care about her beyond professional obligation. Which is fine, she's earned personal regard. But you need to decide if you're going to act on that or maintain boundaries. The middle ground you're occupying isn't sustainable."
He was right. I hated that he was right.
"Not now," I said. "We have a saboteur to catch. Personal complications can wait."
"Personal complications usually can't wait. But you'll figure that out eventually." Krev returned to his station, leaving me alone with uncomfortable truths I wasn't ready to process.
I had eight hours to prepare the trap, implement Dana's algorithm, and coordinate with Security on response protocols.
Eight hours to focus on the mission instead of the brilliant, exhausting, fascinating human who'd somehow become essential to my department's operations in two weeks.
Eight hours to convince myself that professional boundaries were sufficient when everything about Dana made me want to breach them.
The trap would work. Dana's algorithm would catch the saboteur.
And after that, I'd deal with the personal complications then.
My console chimed, priority alert from the security grid.
The timing pattern had triggered. Someone was accessing the power network right now.
"Vaxon," I said into the comm, my voice deadly calm. "I've got them."
The next forty-eight hours became a blur of monitoring and analysis.