"That's right."
"How was it stored in there? Filed neatly?"
Sullivan twisted his face in thought, then shook his head. "No. It looked like it'd just been tossed in."
"How old was the oldest unopened mail?"
"Let's see." Sullivan checked his data pad. "The oldest date was 22 August."
Mashiko looked as if he were tasting something unpleasant. "According to the charges, Lieutenant Silver assumed duties as the main propulsion assistant on the Michaelson on 20 August. Is that correct, Commander Carr?"
"Yes, sir."
"Special Agent Sullivan, what sort of games did you find on Lieutenant Silver's terminal?"
Sullivan consulted his data pad again. "I can list them by title if you want. Essentially, they were all action games. Twitch and shoot stuff."
Paul felt like smiling, but repressed it. Shoot 'em up games are common enough on the ship, but the existence of lots of those games alongside unopened official mail creates a strong image of an officer playing games instead of doing his job. Which matches what I know about Scott Silver. Dammit, I shouldn't be taking any pleasure in this. Besides, even if that convinces Captain Mashiko to vote for conviction on the charge of dereliction in performance of his duties, that still leaves all the other charges against Silver and the rest of the members to convince. If I know anything about Herdez, she's wishing she could get Scott Silver alone for twenty minutes while she reamed him out for not doing his job. But what about the rest?
Captain Mashiko cast a long look toward the defense table. "The members have no more questions."
Paul knew the next prosecution witness, even though he wasn't from the Michaelson.
"If the court pleases," Commander Carr asked, "trial counsel would like to stipulate that Chief Warrant Officer Rose is one of the top software engineers on Franklin Station, and in the Navy as a whole."
Judge Halstead gave Rose a skeptical look. "I might agree to so stipulate if Warrant Rose can fix my case management software so it doesn't lock up almost every time I try to update my files."
Rose looked up at the judge. "Milcourt version 9.5, sir? I can fix that."
"See me after the trial. Does defense counsel have any objection to the stipulation?"
Lieutenant Commander Jones shook his head. "No, Your Honor. Warrant Officer Rose's qualifications are known to me."
"Then the court stipulates that Chief Warrant Officer Rose is an expert software engineer."
Commander Carr nodded to acknowledge the ruling. "Thank you, Your Honor. Warrant Officer Rose, during the evening of 19 September the engineering logs on the USS Michaelson were so severely damaged that no data could be recovered from them. Have you examined those logs?"
"Yes, ma'am, I have."
"What was your conclusion?"
"The damage to the logs was caused by a hacking program whose name I've provided to the court but otherwise prefer to keep confidential. It's very hard to detect when this program has been used, but it leaves a couple of markers for those who know where and how to look."
"You're saying the damage to the engineering logs was deliberate."
"Absolutely, ma'am."
Paul glanced over at the members to see how they were taking Rose's testimony. He couldn't decipher the poker faces they were wearing, but they were definitely all paying very close attention. Paul shifted his gaze to defense table, where Lieutenant Silver displayed every appearance of being horrified by the revelation.
"Could you tell the time-frame in which the engineering logs were deliberately damaged?"
"Yes, ma'am. The hacking program activated at 2235."
"At 2235 on the evening of 19 September." Carr looked directly at the members. "According to previous testimony, Lieutenant Silver's presence could not be accounted for from about 2200 to about 2300 that evening. Was Lieutenant Silver logged on to the Michaelson 's system when the damage occurred?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Objection." Jones pointed to the witness. "Warrant Officer Rose can only testify to what he knows, which is that someone using Lieutenant Silver's account and password was logged on at that time."
Commander Carr nodded. "Defense counsel is correct. I'll restate the question. Warrant Officer Rose, was someone using Lieutenant Silver's account and password logged onto the Michaelson 's system when the damage occurred?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"This hacking program you described. How would someone acquire it?"
"Off the 'net, ma'am. Anyone can find stuff like that if they look for it, which is why I don't want to name the program here."
"Warrant Officer Rose, four data coins in Lieutenant Silver's stateroom had been rendered unreadable. Are you familiar with software which does this?"
Rose shrugged. "Ma'am, there's a number of programs out there that can do that."
"Where would you get them?"
Another shrug. "You can buy them, like the government does. We use that type of software to wipe hard drives or data coins that are being disposed of. But there's a number of versions available free on the 'net as well."
"The ability to render data unreadable, then, while still allowing the coin to be reused in the future, requires software for that purpose."
"Of course."
"Then Lieutenant Silver must have had such software in his possession."
"At one time, yes, ma'am."
"Warrant Officer Rose, you're responsible for updating fleet guidance on software which is allowed on military and government systems. Is software capable of rendering data unreadable authorized?"
"Not unless it's the government's program, and only system administrators are supposed to have that one." Rose shook his head and looked weary. "Let the average user get his or her hands on that stuff, and they'll destroy critical data or wipe their hard drives without knowing what they're doing. Users do enough damage without allowing them to have software designed to cause damage."
"Thank you, Warrant Officer Rose. No more questions."
Lieutenant Commander Jones stood up but stayed at the defense table. "Warrant Officer Rose, I'd just like to clarify a few points. Is there any evidence you are aware of directly tying Lieutenant Silver to the destruction of the data in the engineering logs?"
"You mean something with his name on it, sir? No, sir."
"Is there any evidence Lieutenant Silver actually possessed the program which did that damage?"
"I'm not aware that anyone found that program in his possession, no, sir."
"Warrant, do you ever have data on file which you'd prefer no one else ever saw? Personal matters, perhaps?"
Rose grinned. "Everybody does, sir."
"Then even if Lieutenant Silver had somehow used unauthorized software to render the four data coins found in his stateroom unreadable, that doesn't mean whatever information those coins once contained bears on the charges against Lieutenant Silver, does it? Those coins could've contained anything."
"Yes, sir, they could've. We have no way of knowing. Unreadable means unreadable."
"I'd also like you to restate one point, Warrant Officer Rose. If the system shows an individual was logged on at a certain time, that doesn't prove that person was the one who logged in, does it?"
Rose shook his head, looking annoyed. "No, it doesn't. People are too careless with passwords."
Paul tried not to show his dismay. Jones zeroed right in on the weakness of the case against Silver there. We know someone did it, but we can only infer it was Silver. There's no way to prove it, even though it's easy to speculate one of those unreadable coins once contained the program that allowed Silver to damage the engineering logs.
"No further questions."
"Does trial counsel wish to redirect?" Judge Halstead asked.
"Yes, Your Honor," Commander Carr stood, though also remaining at her table. "Warrant Officer Rose, we have established that a spare controller for the power transfer junction was present with Chief Asher in Forward Engineering. The chief engineer of the USS Michaelson has already testified that it required authorization codes from an officer and an enlisted to disable the safety interlocks on engineering equipment. Would those authorizations, and who entered them, have been recorded in the engineering logs?"