'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?'
'No question. Yes, ma'am.'
'Then by destroying the data in the engineering logs, whoever committed that act ensured we could not identify that officer, the officer within the engineering department of the USS Michaelson, who provided an authorization to disable the safety interlocks.'
'That's correct, ma'am.'
'How often are the engineering logs backed up, Warrant Officer Rose?'
'Once a week at midnight, ma'am. The process is automatic.'
'Once a week at midnight. They're backed-up to a separate storage area?'
'Yes, ma'am.'
'Then it's reasonable to conclude that whoever destroyed those records was attempting to conceal something which had occurred within the last few days, isn't it?'
'Yes, ma'am, it is.'
'No more questions.'
Captain Mashiko leaned forward. 'Warrant Rose, is there any other possible explanation for the damage to those logs? You are positive the damage was deliberate and caused by destructive software?'
'Yes, sir, I am.'
'Do you know why this deliberate destruction was not detected in the initial investigation?'
Rose looked a bit uncomfortable as he answered. 'Sir, not all experts are created equal. I know the sailor who checked for the cause of the data loss for the initial investigation. He's not bad, he's really very good, but he's not as experienced as some other people. Like I said earlier, you need to know exactly what to look for to spot the evidence that this software had been used.'
'And the investigation's expert didn't know what to look for.'
'He does now, sir.'
Captain Mashiko smiled for a moment. 'Thank you, Warrant.'
Paul watched Rose leave, exchanging brief nods as Rose walked out of the court room. Clever. Carr could've brought out that stuff about the interlock authorization and the recent time period during her first questioning of Rose, but she waited so she'd have something else to toss in front of the members after the defense counsel brought up the lack of evidence proving Silver did the damage.
Commander Carr stood. 'The prosecution has one more witness. Captain Richard Hayes, commanding officer of the USS Michaelson.'
Paul stared at her, then looked toward the back of the court room as Captain Hayes came walking down the aisle. Why the hell didn't somebody tell me my Captain was testifying?
After Hayes had been sworn in, Commander Carr took her usual position in front of the witness stand. 'Captain Hayes, on the night of 19 September 2100, you were paged to return to your ship.'
'That's right. I was informed there'd been an explosion and a fire, which was still being fought at that time.'
'Who informed you of that, Captain? Who paged you?'
'Chief Petty Officer Imari, the in-port officer of the deck.'
'Did you speak with Lieutenant Silver at that time, sir?'
'No. I assumed he was engaged with dealing with the shipboard emergency.'
'You then returned to the ship.'
'Yes. As fast as possible.' Hayes' face had grown progressively grimmer, apparently due to recalling the events of that evening.
'What did you find on the quarterdeck?'
'Chief Petty Officer Imari was fielding calls and information, and relaying those to Lieutenant Silver.'
'Then Lieutenant Silver briefed you on the current situation, sir?'
Captain Hayes frowned. 'He tried when I told him to, but he didn't seem to have a handle on a lot of things. General impressions, but few details. I finally told Chief Imari to give me a rundown.'
'Can you give an example of this lack of detail on Lieutenant Silver's part?'
'Certainly. The, uh, teams sent to assist us from other ships. All Silver could tell me was that some had come aboard. Chief Imari told me what ships they'd come from and what they were doing. She knew the Midway 's people were setting up a temporary airlock to assist our own Damage Control team, for example.'
'Did Lieutenant Silver tell you the accident had taken place in Forward Engineering?'
