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“Kommodor,” Beltsios said, speaking clearly and carefully, “I understand that you were informed of attempts by Imallye’s forces to plant malware in our systems.”

“Yes. I was told such attempts were all blocked.”

“They were, Kommodor! Are you familiar with the standing instructions we software specialists have always had when encountering non-Syndicate ships?”

Marphissa shook her head, frowning. “You mean standing instructions under the Syndicate? You are still following those?”

“Some of them, Kommodor, that do not conflict with the orders of our president,” Beltsios hastened to assure her. “One of those instructions is that when we encounter a ship not under Syndicate control, we are required to test its software defenses to see if it is vulnerable.”

Relieved, Marphissa nodded. “There is nothing objectionable about that. It is a good policy. You tested the defenses of Imallye’s ships, then? Just as her ships tested ours?”

“Yes, Kommodor, and Imallye’s ships were found to have effective defenses against any intrusion attempts on our part.” Beltsios paused, concentrating on his next words. “But, I thought, we have copies of the snake software captured at Ulindi. We have employed it defensively against intrusion attempts. The software we were given after Ulindi does not identify itself as offensive. It self-describes as defensive. But could it nonetheless be used offensively against Imallye’s ships despite their firewalls and other software defenses?”

Marphissa felt a stirring of hope. “And?”

Beltsios smiled triumphantly. “It is possible, Kommodor. I went into the menus and the code and I dug, looking for eggs and rocks and land mines and treasure chests,” he explained, giving the nicknames for various hidden software features, some good, some bad. “And I found something that calls itself Blindfold.”

“What does it do?”

“From what I and my coworker can tell, it is an attempt to use our kinds of software weapons to mimic what the enigma worms did to our sensors.”

That took a moment to sink in, then Marphissa gave Diaz a startled look. “The enigma worms selectively blinded our sensors so our systems could not see enigma ships. If we can get that into Vengeance’s systems—”

She faced Beltsios again. “Can we get it into the battle cruiser’s systems?”

“I do not know, Kommodor. I can tell that Blindfold contains the very latest snake tunneling worms. If Imallye’s ships do not have defenses against those, they can tunnel through the firewalls.”

Diaz gazed at the depiction of Vengeance on his display. “Doesn’t that require our systems to shake hands with the systems on the battle cruiser? Why would they do that instead of rejecting our attempt to link?”

“It does not require a handshake, Kapitan,” Beltsios said confidently. “The tunneling worms and Blindfold itself are contained in the initial contact attempt. When we knock on the battle cruiser’s firewall, the firewall’s defensive responses will give the worms the openings they need to exploit.”

“How did you think to look for that hidden program inside the snake software?” Diaz asked.

“It is a trick used by code monkeys,” Beltsios explained. “Hiding something inside another piece of software. Officially, it is never supposed to be done. Under Syndicate instructions,” he added quickly. “It is something that software inspectors were always searching for when they audited our systems. So no one thought that snakes would employ it. But, I thought, the snakes always had a visible presence, and a hidden presence, so we would never know when we were being watched. Maybe they would also do that in official software, have an open function and a hidden one, even though their own rules prohibited it.”

“Good thinking,” Marphissa said. She checked her own display. “Imallye’s battle cruiser is twenty-three light seconds from us and closing at an ever-faster rate. Send that software to knock on Vengeance’s firewall, and let us see what happens.”

Vengeance could have defenses against that generation of tunneling worms, Kommodor,” Beltsios said. “It is possible our intrusion attempt will fail.”

“It is still a far better option than any other we have,” Marphissa said. “Kapitan?”

Diaz nodded. “Senior Specialist Beltsios, attempt the intrusion as soon as possible.”

“I understand and will comply!”

As Beltsios’s image vanished, Diaz looked suddenly startled and gazed at Marphissa again. “It just occurred to me that even if we manage to blind Vengeance, Imallye will still know that we have to leave this star system through the jump point for Iwa. She can keep heading that way while working to clear her sensor systems of the snake worms. She’ll get there before us and wait for us like a cat at a mouse hole.”

“Damn! Couldn’t you have mentioned that thirty seconds ago?” Marphissa demanded. “Call that senior specialist and tell him not to send that knock yet!”

Diaz hastily conveyed the order. “It had not been sent. Senior Specialist Beltsios will hold it ready to send on our command.”

“Good.” Marphissa frowned, doing the thinking she should have done before too-eagerly ordering the employment of the malware. “Even if we get it into Vengeance’s systems, there is no telling how long it would take the code monkeys on the battle cruiser to neutralize the malware. It might take them hours, or only minutes. More likely minutes, if they are any good.”

“Then no matter when we send it—”

“Now you are being too pessimistic,” Marphissa chided him. “Kapitan, you were quite right that we could not send that malware too soon. We must wait until just the right moment.”

“But it might not work, Kommodor,” Diaz pointed out.

“Then we are no worse off than before,” Marphissa said, thinking that there probably weren’t a lot of ways in which they could be worse off. “But if it works, it can give us a small window of opportunity. Thank you for realizing that we must wait to try it and giving us that chance.”

“Senior Specialist Beltsios should have told us how limited the effectiveness of that snake malware is,” Diaz grumbled, his expression dark.

“Do not blame him,” Marphissa said, shaking her head. “He knows nothing of tactics and maneuvers and combat. Not our kind of combat. His job was to provide us with a weapon to use, and he did that. We are the ones who are supposed to know how to best employ that weapon.”

She checked her display, focusing on not only the position of Vengeance and the battle cruiser’s rate of closure but also on Manticore’s fuel state. “We’re burning through fuel cells, Kapitan. Cease accelerating. Hold our current velocity.”

“Kommodor?” Diaz looked and sounded bewildered by the command. “If we cease accelerating in order to conserve fuel cells, the battle cruiser will overtake us quicker.”

Marphissa nodded. “And without having built up as much velocity, so our relative speeds will still be fairly close. I want an extended opportunity to engage that battle cruiser, Kapitan. Our hope lies in that.”

“You want to be within weapons’ range of the battle cruiser longer? Yes, Kommodor.” Though clearly not understanding why, Diaz gave the orders, and Manticore’s main propulsion units cut off with what almost felt like a collective sigh of relief after the extended period of acceleration. “You have a plan?”

“I have a plan,” Marphissa announced assuredly, knowing that the specialists on the bridge would hear and convey the news throughout the ship so that Manticore’s crew would feel hope.

Diaz shrugged and smiled. “We all have confidence in you, Kommodor.”