Er'dox was beside me instantly. "They're probing the countermeasures. Testing to see if the encryption protocols we announced are real."
"Which confirms they're monitoring command channels and believed the announcement." I traced the signal origin. "Sourceis on deck seventy-three, junction eighteen. That's crew quarters section."
"Vaxon," Er'dox said into the comm. "Deck seventy-three, junction eighteen. They're testing our defenses."
"Moving teams now. Encrypted channels only."
I watched the timing pattern continue for another twenty seconds, then stop abruptly again. "They cut it. Same as before, detected the security approach and evacuated."
"How?" Vaxon's voice was tight with frustration. "We're using encrypted tactical channels. They shouldn't be able to monitor our movements."
Er'dox and I looked at each other, the same conclusion forming simultaneously.
"They're not monitoring communications," I said. "They're monitoring something else. Something that tells them when security teams are moving toward their location."
"Life sign scanners," Er'dox finished. "Standard internal sensors track all crew movement for safety protocols. If they've accessed that system?—"
"They can see security teams approaching any location they're occupying." I pulled up sensor logs. "And the sensors are integrated into the power distribution network, which they've already proven they can manipulate."
"So they've given themselves eyes on every corridor, every junction, every section of Mothership," Vaxon said. "Making them effectively impossible to surprise."
Unless we used their own system against them.
"Wait." I was already working through the logistics. "If they're monitoring life sign sensors through power network access, that monitoring has to leave traces. Tiny power draws, timing correlations when they query sensor data. My algorithm should be able to detect that too."
I modified the detection parameters again, this time specifically scanning for the power signature of someone accessing internal sensor feeds without authorization. It took three minutes to configure, another two to verify the logic.
"Enhanced detection is live," I announced. "If they access sensor feeds again, we'll catch the correlation."
"And then?" Vaxon asked.
"Then we hit them before they can see us coming." Er'dox was already coordinating. "Vaxon, keep teams dispersed but ready for rapid deployment. Dana, the moment your algorithm detects sensor access?—"
"I'll pinpoint their location and you can move before they realize they've been traced."
It was an elegant strategy. Using their own surveillance methodology to locate them, moving faster than their monitoring could detect. It should work.
Assuming they took the bait again.
Two more hours of waiting. Two more hours of watching data streams, searching for the pattern that would give us their location. Around me, Engineering continued its work, but I could feel the entire department holding its breath.
At 1823 hours, my algorithm detected sensor access.
"They're monitoring internal sensors," I said quietly. "Pulling crew location data from... decks forty through fifty, all sections. They're doing wide-area surveillance."
"Trying to track security team positions," Er'dox observed. "Which means they're planning another move."
I traced the sensor access back through the power network. "Source is deck forty-seven, junction nine. That's engineering storage, restricted area, and requires level-four clearance."
"Vaxon," Er'dox said. "Target location deck forty-seven, junction nine. They're actively monitoring sensors right now. Move fast."
"On it. Teams are converging from three directions, minimizing their advance warning window."
I watched the sensor access continue, watched the saboteur pull crew location data with the confidence of someone who believed they were invisible. Watched the timing pattern that meant they were too focused on monitoring to notice they'd been detected.
Then the pattern stuttered.
Not stopped, stuttered. Like someone had suddenly realized something was wrong but hadn't fully reacted yet.
