"When did you get this?"
"I'm not sure when it came through.I found it in my trash files when I was looking for something else.Did I open a virus or something?"
Freya shook her head."Not that I can tell.However, it's not from here."
"Well, it says--"
"No, I mean, it's not from the Terran Empire."
Caoimhe blinked."How can you tell?"
"Everything that comes through the Terran network has an origination coding.Like a stamp that can't be removed.While some programmers can get really good at hiding it, it's still there if you know what to look for."
"So?"Eleanor asked.
"This doesn't have it."
"Which means, what, that it's legitimate?"
"I wouldn't go that far.I would only say that it originated outside of the Terran Empire.Also, whoever wrote it somehow knew all the security codes to get past the Terran protection and walls to get it into your personal logs."
"That's terrifying," Eleanor said.
Freya glanced at Caoimhe and smiled."You should answer it."
"Why would I do that?"
"Because if you answer, I can send back a tracer code, and we can see what kind of origination it has.They're incredibly good if it's a local system hacker, and I want to break their technique.If it's not local, and it's from somewhere else, I want to know how they got through the security."
"It's security.It can be hacked," Eleanor said.
"Not this.It's like you shooting a knitting needle at the speed of light, through a wormhole, and hitting me in the eye, while I'm on the other side of the galaxy."
"Possible, but highly unlikely."
"Extremely unlikely," Freya said.
"So I should reply."
Freya grinned."You really should.This could be a lot of fun."
"For you, the computing programmer."
Freya shrugged."If I have to wear these dresses, I ought to have fun while I do it."
"Okay," Caoimhe."What should I say?"
