Bulk came in so fast after Andros left that Zhane knew he'd been hovering outside the door. The communications specialist looked worried. "We have a problem," he announced softly. "We have a hacker."
Zhane straightened. "It sounds dangerous. What is it?"
Bulk stared at him, then laughed. "Oh, I forget sometimes..." He shook his head and launched into a description of what a hacker was.
Zhane was amazed. "So, someone got into the computer system and accessed our information?" he asked.
"Yeah. The most disturbing part is, it was someone inside the Academy. This didn't come from outside. I haven't been able to find out where it came from, but I do know where they've been. All they downloaded was information on Carlos, after his accident that killed Brianna and Harmony."
Zhane leaned back. "Just about Carlos? Why?"
Bulk laughed at him. "That's the question, isn't it." He sobered. "I'll give you some more information as I get it. And I'm going to tell Cassie. It was her medical logs they downloaded."
"No, let me. I need to talk to her anyway."
Bulk nodded. "I've got Jacob, my best computer geek, tracing the hacker. What do you want me to do when I find them?"
Zhane paused, considering. "I don't know. Let me know who it is, and I'll figure out how to handle it."
"Okay, it's all yours." Bulk stood and turned to go. "How is Cassie?"
"I'm going to find out now," Zhane said with a wry smile.
He walked up medical, trying to figure out why someone would want to know the details of Carlos' accident, and what had happened afterwards. It was weird.
"Zhane," Teena greeted him cheerfully as he stepped into the office. "How can I help you?"
"Actually, I need to talk to Cassie," he said apologetically. She smiled and vanished into the back. He leaned against the wall, staring down at the floor, wondering what he was going to do to the hacker if they caught him or her.
"I don't think I've ever seen you so serious," Cassie teased lightly as she entered the room, and Zhane grinned at her.
"Hey. Got a few minutes? I've got some information you may not like much."
She sobered. "Does it have to do with Carlos or Ashley?"
"Carlos," he said hesitantly, wincing at the scowl that covered her face, "and we will want privacy."
"This way, sir," she said with a sigh and a gallant gesture, and he followed her to an examination room with two chairs. "So, what is it?" she asked as she sat down.
"First, I need to know what the whole thing was about opening Carlos' door on a Medical override," he said, remembering that was why he'd come up there in the first place. "Andros wanted to know what that was about." He sank down in the other chair.
"Oh." She looked angry. "Carlos and TJ got into a fight, and TJ came into medical. Carlos didn't. They did some pretty good damage to each other." She scowled. "I went to find him and see if I could hear his side of the story. He didn't tell me anything. Which is pretty normal for him right now."
Zhane nodded, then took a deep breath. "Second, Bulk just talked to me. Someone hacked into your medical files."
"They what?" she demanded, leaning forward. "What did they get into?"
"That's the weird thing. They were old files. The ones on Carlos, after the accident. That's all they touched, so far as Jacob could tell. He's still working on it, though. They downloaded all of those."
Cassie stood up to pace. "Why would they be interested in that?" she asked. "Who would be interested in that?"
"That's the thing. I don't know." He paused, making a decision, then sighed. "At least, we have a limit on who it is," he said after a minute.
"Why?"
"Because it was someone inside the Academy."
She sank down in her chair again. "Someone inside the Academy. That's either a Cadet or staff."
"Exactly."
"Are you going to tell Andros?"
Zhane took a deep breath. "I don't think so. Not yet, anyway. Ultimately, he's the one that will decide what happens to this hacker, but I want at least a suspect before it gets that far."
"Are you going to tell Carlos?"
Her question took him by surprise. "I hadn't thought about that. Do you think he'll want to know?"
She scowled again, and Zhane decided that he just wasn't going to mention Carlos to Cassie again if it were at all possible. "I don't know Carlos anymore," she admitted. "I don't know if he even read the messages he downloaded from after he left."
Zhane looked at her, noticing for the first time how tired she looked. There were dark circles under her eyes, and they had lost the sparkle he'd come to count on. "When was the last time you actually got out of this place for more than a night's sleep?"
"Don't you start on me," she said evenly.
He laughed. "Okay, okay, but think about it. You seem more stressed than usual."
"It's your biology I'm stressing about," she told him. "You Kerovans had to go and change things, and I haven't even started talking to them about adopting."
Zhane stared at her, trying to make sense of what she'd just said. "No, I think I don't want to know," he said after a minute, and stood. "I'm sure I could get Teena to kick you out for a day or two."
"Don't, please," she said, softer this time. "I'll take a week or two off after the baby is born, but not before."
"Promise?" he asked. She nodded.
"I promise." She stood, and he gave her a hug that she returned almost desperately.
"Okay. I'm going to talk to Carlos. Try again, I guess," Zhane said with a wry grin.
"Are you going to tell him about this?"
He nodded. "Yeah, might as well. Please, don't say anything about it to Ashley, because I know it will get back to Andros, and I don't want to put any more stress on his head than there already is."
"Done." She opened the door and led the way out. Zhane followed her, hoping that she survived the next few months. "Have Karone call me, okay?" she asked when he reached the door.
"Of course." He left Medical and headed down to where he knew Carlos was, and this is where it got tricky; he was at Andros' door.
An odd sound brought him up short, and he tried to identify it. Shots, his brain told him a minute later. Someone was firing inside the Academy. It was way too early in the semester for that, and usually the weapons were locked up. He started to move towards the sound, softly and stealthily. He looked down over one of the open walkways to the floor to find three of his security force holding off five opponents, who were holding what could only be stolen blasters from the Academy's own store of weapons. He touched his communicator. "Simon."
There was nothing. He stared at it for a minute, ducking as a shot nearly parted his hair, then he spun and raced back to Medical. He had to get Ashley to safety; at least that would keep Andros a little sane. He didn't pass anyone on his way, which wasn't too odd; it was lunch time, probably the perfect time to stage an attack. He thought about going to get the current active team, until he remembered they were on a short mission to the UN, reporting on the activities of the teams around the universe. And if communications were down inside, there was no way to get anything outside. His next thought was Chameleon, until he remembered that the machine was on his home planet, doing his own reporting. That was a relief.
He burst into Medical, surprising Teena and the patient she was seeing. "Where's Cassie?" he demanded.
"Here." She came in from the back, and he watched her go into alert mode. It was one of the most interesting sights he'd ever seen. His next thought was wishing he could see Karone do the same thing. "What's wrong."
"I want you to get Ashley out of here, and somewhere they'd never expect her to be," he said. "There's a firefight in the entry way. Hurry, and I'll try to get word to Andros. Don't tell me where you are going. Communications are down." He stopped, his mind trying to cope. Karone! How was he going to tell Karone to keep out of the way of these people? He didn't even know exactly where she was!
"What kind of password do you want to say when it's clear?" she asked. From the corner of his eye, he noticed Teena and the cadet staring at them in shock.
Her question snapped him out of his worry. "I was just thinking that." He suddenly smirked, leaned forward and whispered to her, "Divatox. You okay with that?"
Cassie laughed flatly. "It's fitting. Go, I'll get her out of here." She spun and was gone.
Zhane turned to the others. "I suggest you two find a place to hide and wait it out. And if you find any other civilians, take them with you. I don't know how lethal these guys are going to get." He turned and left Medical, racing back down to the entry way.
It was empty, the holograms off, obvious signs of a fight in the walls. Uttering a curse that would have made his wife proud or blush, depending on her mood, he spun and raced for Andros' office.
Carlos was gone, and the office was empty. He knew Andros wouldn't have gone to the Commissary just yet, it was too full of Cadets. So, where would he be? Could Carlos have gotten him out in time? He stepped outside the door, and almost into a young man carrying a gun. With a quick leg sweep, he knocked it out of his hand, only to have something slam into the back of his head, and he knew no more.