I crossed Engineering in less than a minute, aware of my team tracking the movement. They'd gotten used to Dana's presence over the past two weeks, the tiny human engineer who'd somehow earned a place in my department through sheer competence and determination. Most had accepted her. A few remained skeptical. All of them were watching to see how I handled her.
Dana was hunched over her console, her fingers moving across the holographic interface with increasing confidence. She'd learned to navigate Zandovian systems faster than I'd expected, her brilliant mind adapting to foreign technology with the same creative flexibility she'd demonstrated on the burning planet.
"Show me," I said.
She pulled up the variance data, overlaying it with system load patterns and historical baselines. "See? Power draw is fluctuating, but there's no corresponding change in connected systems. Usually variance correlates with load, something draws more power, the system compensates. This is fluctuating without a trigger."
"Which suggests?"
"Either a sensor malfunction giving us false readings, or something's bleeding power from the distribution network without proper load registration." She zoomed in on the variance pattern. "Personally, I'm betting on power bleed. The pattern's too regular for random sensor failure."
I ran my own analysis, confirming her hypothesis. Power bleed. Someone or something was drawing from Mothership's systems without authorization, and they'd been clever enough to mask it as normal variance.
"When did this start?"
Dana pulled up historical data. "First variance was eighteen hours ago, barely noticeable. It's been gradually increasing—point-two percent increments every three hours. At current progression, it'll be obvious enough for automated alerts in another six hours."
"But you caught it now."
"I've been watching this subsection specifically since my first shift. It's been completely stable for two weeks, no variance, no fluctuation, just perfect power distribution. Then suddenly it starts varying? That's not normal equipment degradation. That's something else."
Brilliant observation. Most engineers would have waited for automated confirmation before flagging such minor variance. Dana's survival instincts made her hypervigilant, and that hypervigilance was catching problems before they became critical.
"I'm alerting Security," I said. "This could be unauthorized access, possibly sabotage. Good catch, Dana."
"Should I keep monitoring?"
"Yes. Log everything. If the bleed pattern changes, notify me immediately." I opened a secure channel to Vaxon. "Security Chief, Engineering. We've got a situation."
Vaxon's response was immediate. "Define situation."
"Unauthorized power draw from subsection twelve distribution network. Pattern suggests deliberate bleed rather than equipment failure. Recommend investigation."
"On my way. Secure the area."
I closed the comm and looked at Dana, who was already pulling up additional diagnostic data. "You're staying at your station. Security will handle the investigation."
"But I found it?—"
"Which is exactly why you're staying here. If this is sabotage, whoever's responsible knows their work was discovered. They might try to cover their tracks or cause additional problems. I need you monitoring in case they make another move."
Dana's expression suggested she wanted to argue, but she nodded instead. "Okay. I'll watch for pattern changes."
Vaxon arrived within minutes, his massive frame somehow moving silently despite his size. He reviewed Dana's data with the focused intensity of someone trained to find threats, his cobalt-blue eyes tracking every detail.
"This is sophisticated," he said finally. "The bleed is distributed across multiple nodes to avoid triggering alerts. Whoever did this understands our power systems intimately."
"Inside job?" I asked, not wanting to believe it but knowing it was possible.
"Possibly. Or someone with detailed technical schematics who gained access somehow." Vaxon pulled up Mothership's internal security logs. "I'll need to trace the physical connection point. Dana, can you narrow down where the bleed originates?"
She was already working on it, her fingers flying across the interface. "Give me a few minutes. The distribution network is complex, but I can follow the variance pattern backward to find the source node."
We watched her work, and I found myself impressed again by her methodology. She approached the problem like unraveling a knot, patient, systematic, following each thread until the pattern revealed itself.
"There," she said finally, highlighting a section of the network schematic. "Source node is in subsection twelve, junction forty-seven. Where is that physically?"
I pulled up Mothership's deck plans. "Cargo bay three. Rarely accessed area, used primarily for long-term storage."
