Unworthy - Kirsten Beyer [97]
“Good work,” Eden was quick to interject.
“Thank you, Captain.” Conlon took a deep breath before distributing a small stack of padds to each of the officers. “I believe I have also discovered the cause of the multiple system failures. It was centered in the power distribution hub. It was not, as I had hoped, random, or simply a new bug we didn’t discover during our shakedown.”
“What was it?” Batiste asked.
“If you’ll direct your attention to the program string I’ve provided, you’ll clearly see that the power distribution hub was intentionally damaged by an implanted virus designed to cause numerous simultaneous power disruptions without actually destroying anything. The programming code used was encrypted and was also designed to eliminate all traces of itself once it was initiated. It took a long time to find. By analyzing our backup logs line by line, I tracked it down. The encryption code is identical to that used to disrupt the deflector control and to activate the slipstream drive.”
“It was the work of one person,” Batiste said.
“Yes, Admiral,” the chief engineer admitted, dejectedly.
“And can you identify that person?” Eden asked.
“It was Chakotay,” Conlon said, though it obviously pained her.
“I don’t believe it,” Paris asserted.
“I didn’t want to either,” Conlon replied, turning to him with a sympathetic glance. “But access to the central power distribution hub is command clearance only. Chakotay’s codes were eliminated the minute his command was transferred to Captain Eden. At some point, shortly after he boarded, his command codes were reactivated, briefly. Just long enough to allow him to access the systems he needed to. Further, I have confirmed that the encryption protocol was Maquis in origin.”
Eden bowed her head and briefly read through the report. It was nothing more than a tactic to buy her the time she needed to compose herself. She had allowed Chakotay to join her ship based on Seven’s request and her trust in anyone who had ever worn a Starfleet uniform. Eden struggled to grasp Chakotay’s possible motives.
He wants his command back, her heart warned. And he’ll do anything to get it, short of destroying the ship. A series of malfunctions, followed by an incursion into fluidic space … Command will have me back in the Alpha quadrant quicker than you can say quantum slipstream drive. Batiste had accused her more than once of being naïve. She hated that he had been proved right.
To his credit, when Eden looked up to meet the admiral’s eyes she saw only sadness. They had all been deceived.
Everyone wore the same despondent expressions, with the exception of Commander Paris.
His face reddening and his eyes blazing he said, “I don’t believe it.”
“No, you just don’t want to believe it,” Kim chided him softly.
“No,” Paris insisted. “I don’t believe it. ”
“Based upon this report, can either of you think of another likely suspect?” Eden asked softly.
“No,” Kim said, and Paris did not correct him.
“There’s no evidence that any of the new crewmen has ties to any individuals who might wish to confront Species 8472,” Kim continued.
“And none of those who was aboard during Voyager’s original seven-year journey have either motive or access. If we broaden our scope to consider anyone who simply might want to damage the ship or shorten our current mission, the list gets too long to be useful.”
“What do you mean?” Batiste demanded.
“We’re all Starfleet officers. We go where Command sends us. But a lot of us devoted years to trying to return to the Alpha quadrant and perhaps some were not thrilled about returning to the Delta quadrant,” Kim replied evenly.
“Every officer assigned to this mission was advised that it was a deep-space, long-term assignment and all willingly accepted those terms.”
“With due respect, sir, deep space is one thing,” Kim countered. “The Delta quadrant is something entirely different.” He paused before adding, “The vast majority of the fleet’s current staff, apart