Page 20 of Warrior’s Mate

"This packet went north."

Kaiven leaned closer. "It was sent south."

"Exactly."

"Network load balancing?"

"Not for emergency telemetry. It should take the shortest authenticated route."

"Could someone be redirecting traffic?"

Maelis looked at him. That was the question she had been avoiding because once it was spoken, every harmless explanation became smaller. Kaiven touched his comm. "Daratu to regional command." Static crackled. Then a clean tone.

"Regional, Captain Daratu. Priority inquiry."

The response came quickly. "Go ahead, Captain." Kaiven summarized the delays without embellishment.

Maelis watched him while he spoke. His voice had changed from the one he used with her during the route inspection. There was less friction in it now, less need to defend authority simply because he wore it. He gave the facts, distinguished what they knew from what they suspected, and asked for a network integrity check.

The answer took too long.

"Captain, regional is showing normal operations."

Kaiven's gaze shifted to Maelis. She shook her head.

"Request verification beyond regional routing," he said.

Another pause.

"That requires theater authorization."

"Then request it."

"Captain—"

"Request it."

The line went quiet. Maelis folded her arms. "You know they're going to tell you we're imagining this."

"I know they're going to tell me they need more evidence."

"That's the polite version."

He ended the connection and faced her. "Can you get me more?" She almost laughed. Twelve hours ago she would have expected him to order her back to approved procedures. The change in him caught her off guard.

"What kind?"

"Something that proves the delays are not local infrastructure."

Maelis looked back at the display. The answer was not in the exchange systems. Those could always be blamed on outdated software, a damaged relay, or some farmer's nephew installing an unauthorized booster in a grain shed. She needed something distributed. Something ordinary enough that no one would have thought to manipulate it.

Her eyes landed on the water telemetry.

"Household meter pings."

Kaiven frowned. "Explain."

"Every agricultural household sends usage data to its local water cooperative. The cooperatives aggregate it before sending totals to the district authority. Different hardware, different networks, different routes."