AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He shifted in his chair, stifling a groan as his muscles protested the movement. The morning's training session had been grueling. His training group had pressed him hard. They'd ganged up, raining blows down on him in the sparring circle, the strikes so thick and fast that he'd had to be strategic about what he blocked and what he let through. The sparring had been so furious that the other groups in the hall had paused to watch. But then, he and his group were some of the best-trained and most experienced warriors on the station. The others looked up to them.
Which meant that he wasn't going to utter a word about how much he ached or allow it to show by even a flicker of an eyelid, even if he did want nothing more than to soak in a tub with regeneration salts for about a week.
He almost groaned at the thought. But… duty came first. With another sigh, he leaned forward and dragged a dataflex off the top of the pile. It was a maintenance request for the ventilation systems in the human quarters. There were complaints about a bad smell in one of the sectors.
He looked over the top of the flex to the line of burned-out TX-14 chips on his desk. Each chip had been recovered from one of the station's sub-routers, and most were charred and unrepairable. The one he'd taken from the sub-router near Sadie's quarters was at the front, nearest to him.
"Draanth it," he muttered under his breath as he sat up. Putting the report aside, he grabbed his input console to pull up the station maintenance and acquisition records. His focus intent, he followed the digital breadcrumbs back through the station's records, linking each fried chip to the specific system it had been installed in.
The TX-14s were integral to the station's running, so this kind of mass meltdown wasn't something he could afford to ignore. And there were too many of them to be accidental. He drilled down through data streams with the same kind of single-minded focus that the Krin hunted their prey with. There had to be a reason for the meltdowns. Previously stable components didn't just decide that this month was the one for spontaneous combustion. Perhaps they had all been from the same production batch… a fault in a material, and they'd all failed at the same time?—
But no. He frowned as the installation and batch records appeared on the screen. They were all from different purchase batches and manufacturing plants.
"What the…?"
He dug down, cross-referencing locations, and, finally, a pattern emerged. The damaged chips spanned across residential areas, communal spaces, and even tucked away in corners of the station he didn't even know existed. But they all shared one thing in common: they played roles in systems crucial to daily life—ventilation being one of them.
"Computer," he said, his voice breaking the silence in his office. "Analyze the distribution of damaged TX-14 chips and identify any sections unaffected by these malfunctions."
He sat back, watching the data as he waited for the computer to finish its search. Vague shadows moved behind the screen, engineers going about their duty shifts.
"Analysis complete," the computer said. Its tone was neutral, but it had a B'Kaar accent. One day, when he had more time, he would get it re-coded. "All sections have reported incidents of TX-14 chip damage except one."
"Which one?"
"The Mate Program offices."
He leaned back in his chair, steepling his fingers.
"Check and validate your findings. Confirm that the Mate Offices are unaffected," he ordered with a frown.
If it was right, then this was a significant development. The Mate Program offices weren't integral to the station systems, but they should have been just as susceptible to chip failures as any other department.
"Computer," he said. "Display schematics for the Mate Program offices' systems. I want a detailed comparison with affected areas."
The screen shifted, blueprints cascading before him like an unfolding map. He studied each line and circuit system, looking for the reason why one department wasn't affected.
"Analyze and give me any noticeable differences between the affected and unaffected areas."
"The Mate Program offices' systems were updated three months ago with enhanced security protocols and reinforced hardware," the computer said.
He nodded. That made sense. The Mate Program was highly classified, and security in that entire area had been uprated to protect the precious females. "List all the enhancements that were made."
"Enhancements include the installation of triple-reinforced Varanium steel for all access doors and bulkheads."
He grunted. Varanium, while incredibly strong, was also expensive and rare, even for a station as important as Devan. The fact that they had allocated such resources spoke volumes about how seriously they took the security of the Mate Program.
"Additionally," the AI said, "all glass panels have been replaced with impact-resistant DuraCryst plexiglass."
He nodded, only half-listening. His gaze drifted across his desk to where a fragment of DuraCryst sat amongst his various projects. The material could withstand direct blaster fire; it was almost indestructible. But it was standard protocol in high-security areas, so it was nothing of note here.
"The air filtration system has been upgraded with a secondary backup and is now lined with micro-filtration mesh capable of filtering out contaminants up to 0.001 microns."
His eyes narrowed. An upgrade like that would defend against most known airborne toxins… which was a level of paranoia suggesting that the powers that be were preparing for more than just an average system failure.
"Cybersecurity measures have been enhanced with multi-layered encryption protocols, including biometric locks on all data terminals."
"Biometric locks are standard and easy to bypass for anyone with B'Kaar level technology," he said. "Specify enhancements beyond Imperial standard protocol."
