[CAUSE OF DEATH: ACE OF SPADES: Teagan, Paladin, and Willa]

Teagan was dreaming.

For the cybernetically enhanced woman, dreams were no longer impossible landscapes of illogic and idiom. There were no fantastical creatures, violent traumas, or dashing heroes, no unpleasant emotions erupting with brute force. The cerebral cortex's function as a downtime file sorter had largely been replaced with solid-state computer chips that sorted, collated and filed thoughts and experiences as soon as she had them. Whatever subconscious impulses the psyche worked out in human dreamtime were now lullabies of code and the order of programming sequences, singing her softly into a state that resembled sleep to an outside observer, but was in fact something much closer to deep meditation.

var flag = new Array();
var sock_id = 100;
flag.push(WSAStartup(2,0)); //major=2, minor=0
flag.push(socket(sock_id, AF_FUEL, SOCK_STREAM, 0));
flag.push(fill_addr(sock_id, "ignition set"));
flag.push(bind(sock_id));
flag.push(listen(sock_id, 1024));
flag.push(acceptThread(output=312));

The repetitions were soothing, part of Teagan's consciousness notiing that these were standard, computer controlled engine programs running in standard, predictable patterns for hours and days on end. Over and over the sequences repeated, assuring her there was nothing wrong, just as the output indicators had assured the crew of the Ace of Spades that nothing was wrong.

flag.push(WSAStartup(2,0));
flag.push(socket(sock_id, AF_FUEL, SOCK_STREAM, 0));
flag.push(fill_addr(sock_id, "valve 2"));
flag.push(connect(sock_id));
flag.push(send(sock_id, "valve 1"));
flag.push(fsend(output=312"));
flag.push(closesocket(sock_id));

Signals were passed, valves opened and closed, fuel released in minute quantities to form gaseous sprays, quantities measured in millilitres. Engine outputs monitored, all within norms -- if she still had emotional capacity she'd be pulling her hair out in frustration. There simply was nothing wrong here. Nothing.

That was completely illogical.

Through her data jack she sent the command to jump ahead to the last day of logs on the RQAM chips, feeling herself lulled once again as the sequences set themselves up and rotated through again and again. The control computer insisted everything was fine, was still insisting it even as the engine was tearing itself apart in the fatal explosion.

**Repeat last sequence.**

flag.push(WSAStartup(2,0));
flag.push(socket(sock_id, AF_FUEL, SOCK_STREAM, 0));
flag.push(fill_addr(sock_id, "valve 2"));
flag.push(connect(sock_id));
flag.push(send(sock_id, "valve 1"));
flag.push(fsend(r238532 now), "valve 1"));
flag.push(closesocket(sock_id=null));
flag.push(fsend(238532 now), "valve 2"));


"Computer STOP!" The deviation was subtle; noticing it brought her to full, screaming, waking consciousness and startled her so badly she shouted aloud. "Define code fragment r238532."

"Unknown."

"Find code fragment r238532."

"Retrieved."

"Display, engineering terminal only, full quarantine." This last isolated the engineering terminal from the rest of the computer network on the ship. Eyes that were normally devoid of expression sharpened as the binary code began streaming across her screen, decoded by synapses that had once understood the meaning of a child's smile, or a lover's whispered endearment. The small rogue program had triggered the dump command and, at the same time, overrode the data streams received by the control systems, inserting its own readings.

"Professional sabotage," she murmured, the meat part of her brain mulling this while the rest of it began a full emergency override search of Audacity's own computer systems. If they'd done it to Ace of Spaces, they could have done it to Audacity -- they had all the time in the world while it sat in space dock....

Whoever wrote it had very detailed knowledge about how to get past all the engineering computer's security features and the engine control safeties well enough not only to run undetected, but to have inserted its own data into the data stream.

From a little over a liter of fuel a minute to six hundred liters in one second, enough fuel to push the ship into orbit from an Earth like planet (in about 30 minutes) -- with no commands given to the drive unit to open the thrust chamber, not that it would have helped. The readouts on the bridge would have suddenly gone wild. And then it was over.

"Crew Chief to bridge," she said some time later. "I know what happened to the Ace of Spades."

Hearing the call he answered, “Paladin here. Go ahead.”

"It was sabotage." Teagan straightened and pulled more of her internal attention to the information she was giving the ship's captain. "Professional, subtle sabotage. Someone inserted a fragment of rogue code into the Ace of Spades' engine control programs. It caused hundreds of gallons of fuel to be released in mere seconds and concealed itself from detection by giving false `normal' readouts. It was less than a minute between code execution and the explosion of the propulsion unit."

“Well, that answers that question.” Willa chipped in, “But it brings up a million more. Is there any way to figure out who did it Teagan?”

"Negative, Willa. No fingerprints or signatures in the code. Whoever did this was a pro."

Paladin sighed, a pilot was trained in how to deal and react to countless emergencies, but it all depended on the pilot being able to trust his readings. The poor family never had a chance. “If we can’t know ‘who’ lets focus on the ‘how.’ What would it take to hack the system like that? And what triggered it?”

"It takes only expertise and opportunity to hack into any system, Captain. One assumes from the outcome that the saboteur had both. The trigger is thus far unknown, but I'm rescanning all of Audacity's software for similar code fragments just to be safe."

Paladin nodded, “Good. Lets talk about opportunity, I assume that if this ‘expert’ had physical access he could do it. What about say about something like a virus on a memchip that they uploaded?” He was thinking about maybe a cargo manifest or something. “Or perhaps a radio transmission or other signal that they picked up?” There were suppose to be protections from stuff like that, but Paladin wondered what would it take to get past them.

"No, the saboteur needed direct access. Once they got it, they could have uploaded the rogue code in many ways," the crew chief agreed. "The best way to prevent infection is to prevent access. After that, it's a matter of checking, cross checking, and counterchecking the programs. I'm on that now, and will write a quick program to alert me of any changes in file size to any of our ship's software. Best I can do for now."

"Understood. That leave the window of opportunity for us to be sabotaged to be the time 'they' found out we would be using the ship and the point we took control. Plus if they managed to nick any of the computer upgrade we ordered and installed."

"Unlikely given the data we have at present," Teagan said, more and more of her attention turning toward the diagnostics she was running. "It would help to know `who' though, Captain."