"Human practice. They process grief through ritual and remembrance. I've been researching their psychological needs. They're remarkably similar to Zandovian approaches, actually communal mourning, structured ceremonies, physical monuments to loss."
I filed that information away. "How long before Bail is mobile?"
"Three days, maybe four. His physical recovery is progressing well. Emotional recovery will take longer." Zorn'swarm golden-brown eyes tracked Dana through the window. "She's strong. Stronger than she realizes. But even the strong need support."
"What are you implying?"
"That she trusts you. That your opinion matters to her in ways that go beyond professional hierarchy. That you could help her process what she's carrying if you chose to." Zorn's expression was unreadable. "Or you could maintain appropriate boundaries and watch her struggle alone. Your choice."
"I'm her supervisor. Appropriate boundaries are?—"
"Necessary, yes. But there's appropriate and there's distance. You're trending toward distance, Er'dox. Just something to consider."
He left before I responded, which was probably intentional. Zorn had a habit of delivering observations that required processing without offering solutions.
Inside Medical, Dana was explaining Mothership's structure to Bail, the crew complement, the rescue operations, and the sixteen other human survivors he'd soon meet. Her hands moved as she talked, animated by enthusiasm and exhaustion in equal measure. Bail listened with the intensity of someone drinking in information after years of isolation.
They were speaking in English, that melodic human language that the VR pods hadn't fully prepared me for. I couldn't understand the words, but I recognized the rhythm of connection being rebuilt, community being formed, hope being shared.
My communicator chimed. Message from Captain Tor'van:Need you on the bridge. Power distribution anomaly in sector seven. Possibly related to the sabotage Dana detected.
I pulled myself away from the observation window and headed for the bridge, compartmentalizing Dana's presence inmy thoughts into the appropriate professional category where it belonged.
Except it didn't quite fit there anymore, which was becoming a problem I'd need to address eventually.
Just not today.
Multiple displays showing power variance patterns, tactical overlays highlighting affected systems, and Tor'van standing at the center with his cybernetic eye glowing brighter than usual, never a good sign. All the chaos of something gone wrong.
"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 distributionpattern 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."
