| What the Evidence Shows |
| Summary: | Kincaid tells Vandenberg about her hacking her own computer. |
| Date: | 7 Apr 2042 AE |
| Related Logs: | Hacker or No. |
| Players: |
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| Storage Room — Port Side Hangar Deck — Battlestar Cerberus |
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| A supply room off of the main Port Side hangar deck. |
| Post-Holocaust Day: #405 |
The Marine S-Three has been running around like a mad woman ever since returning from the Gemenon Recon. Its no secret what she say with her own eyes - it was no trick of hacked electronics. Ever since the AAR was leaked, one doesn't have to be a genius to guess what she's doing. She's already dove headlong into operational planning and today finds her down on the Deck in a small locker at the aft end that has all the survival equipment in it. There's a petty officer with her sorting through parachute rigging in the armored locker, the two otherwise alone. "We won't be needing flightsuits this time. Just the chutes and harnesses…" she can be heard to say.
"Natalie?" In comes Danny Kincaid in his MP uniform, but he looks — well, he looks like he hasn't really slept. Or changed since yesterday. It detracts from the 'I'm an MP, fear me' look. And it's not El-tee. It's Natalie. "You have a second? Petty Officer? Can we have the room?" He doesn't make it sound all that much like a question.
Vandenberg was probably expecting somebody else when she turns to see who it is using her first name. She blinks a few times at the man and nods. "Lance Corporal," she offers in greeting and looks to the PO2 with her. "I promise, I won't touch a damned thing without you, Leonard. Swear. Cross my heart, yeah?" She does so with a grin and the man gives her a mock-suspicious nod before exiting the room, closing the door behind him. Vandenberg quirks her brow. "You, ah, doin' alright there, buddy? And I thought I looked like hell." At least she can joke about the scars and missing parts of her ear.
Once they have the room, Kincaid lays it out: "I'll tell you the bad news first. Areion Marines arrested Circe Lagana and hauled her off to be tested in their — Gun chamber over there. They arrested her because I gave them her name as a possible suspect; I had to give a name to find out how long they've known about the Gun and, well, the Hybrid did stare right at Lagana right before it died." It's just a rush of air. An explanation. An apology? A bit of both. "I got invited to participate after they nabbed her; I went to make sure that they didn't rough her up or anything. I've been there all night. I was there until they took her back to the cell, and then I got the first shuttle back." And then he just waits for it.
Vandenberg was smiling, sort of. It was kind of a cock-eyed expression to accompany her observation about his appearance. But by the time he finishes, she is most definitely not smiling. "Areion Marines, Areion, arrested Crewman Lagana on suspicion of being a Cylon because you gave them her name?" There's a table in the center of the locker used for packing chutes. She isn't subtle about her emotions when she uses a boot to kick it aside, leaving nothing between the two of them when it topples into the metal lockers. "Are you aware that I had tapped her for airborne training so that she could land on Gemenon with us? That she is supposed to drop on that planet because I can trust her not to frak things up by shooting a Cylon?" Her voice is cold, making ice look like a warm vacation on the beach. "Lance Corporal, why did Constin give you her name?"
"Constin?" Kincaid just looks confused. "Constin didn't give her my name. I gave them her name. Based on what I heard about the Hybrid and staring at her. Look. I know this is bad, but, they'll have her out by tomorrow morning. I'll bring her back myself." But then: "You want to stay on this, or do you want the even worse news?"
"Yes. Constin. The Master at Arms. The man who handles and manages all investigations from the clearhouse end and keeps lists of suspects. Especially suspected Cylons. Remember I said he was the one I told about the list of suspects I saw and he nailed the timeframe for when it was produced? I don't even know who is on his list. I don't even ask. That's why I would assume that he would be the one to give you her name. He or Lieutenant O'Hare would also be the ones to handle the arrest because she is a member of our crew." The Lieutenant seems to be simmering close to boil, but at least she isn't exploding. She keeps her voice low and steady. "We can come back. Get to the worst news."
"Well, I think the Areion marines didn't care all that much about the chain of command. They nabbed her without talking to Constin or O'Hare, as far as I know." But then Danny moves on, getting to the even worse news. "I brought in Magnus Dekker — the computer genius — come in and try to get to the bottom of the hacker that got into your computer during the trial. You want to know what he found? That there was a poorly-executed instruction in your laptop telling it to print in the word processor 'Sunlight is the best disinfectant' and then delete itself. He also found that you hacked the files you're talking about, the list of suspects and the Marine information, and used a poorly-programmed mask to try to hide your ID. That's what the evidence showed." It's not accusatory, but it's delivered straight.
"In Operations we call that a 'hostile boarding action', Danny. Its considered piracy." Its delivered without humor or emotion. A stated fact that Vandenberg delivers and moves on. To the rest, her brow rises, hands lifting to rest on her hips. "Did I? Gods, I knew I should have taken my computer hacking classes someplace other than an online college." One could eat that sarcasm with a fork. "So someone stole my login, accessed files I didn't even know existed, which by the way one of them I don't even have the clearances to access, and dropped myself a cryptic message? Nice. Makes total sense. I did all this while I was- what? In jury deliberations? The extent of my hacking skills ends with opening my email account and deleting spam."
"I'm telling you," Kincaid repeats. "What the evidence shows. There's no sign of a hacker except your ID. No sign of files being put on your computer from an outside source. Nothing." Again, straightforward. "So either that's what happened or someone manufactured it to make it look like what happened. And if someone did manufacture it, that's person was either a human of Dekker's level that worked for months at it or." A pause. "Or a Cylon, Natalie."
"If I wanted to change my vote I don't think I'd need to go through the trouble of trying to do all that. I'd just change my vote and never would have reported it. Nobody would have been the wiser. Unless I'm a Cylon and trying to get myself caught unconsciously during my waking, Cylon-despising hours." Vandenberg delivers that with more of the dry, flat sarcasm that seems to have latched into her mind. Though it shows a tiny little chink in that armor when he mentions the last. "Tell me you a frakking joking, Lance Corporal." Eyes wide, she seems to stand taller as the mortification builds.
"I'm not kidding. Now, look, I believe its a Cylon. I believe there's a Cylon agent sabotaging us, that's behind this. But I have no proof of it. Hades, everything I have says the opposite. But. The good news?" Kincaid might as well have some good news. "The only three people that know this is me, Dekker, and some faceless squint from CIC that was supervising Dekker. Nothing in writing. No higher ups. And I'm willing to keep it that way. But I wanted you to know and I wanted to let you know we need to get to the bottom of this."
Vandenberg takes a long breath, finally looking away as she shakes her head. "Un-frakking-believable. Well, it had to happen sooner or later." Her gaze settles back on Kincaid and she nods a few times. "Agreed. Its not surprising, though. I'm a good target. If the Cylons can discredit me, it screws my entire investigation into their operations and motivations." She still looks pretty angry, but the ire is kept in check. "Months salary bets its Nikephoros in CIC. Anyhow, what do you need from me? Want to arrest me, see if we can smoke this dipshit out?"
"Nikephoros? She's a suspect?" Kincaid, apparently, did not know that. But he moves on. "No. I won't arrest you. Best keep this under wraps. Right now, the evidence is too good. People would actually believe it. We'll keep it under wraps; keep working. I'm trying to work the profiles of the jurors, the security teams. Try to figure out how someone found out you were leaning 'not guilty.' I'll let you know what turns up."
"Nikephoros is on my shit list. I don't know that she is a suspect of Constin's. The people that I have discussed with him are names I won't repeat regardless." Some of that ire is directed towards Kincaid. Probably due to the arrest of Circe. "Fair enough. Do whatever you need to. I've got an operation to plan and land, anyway. I appreciate you letting me know what you found on that computer. If you need me to do anything, just ask. If we've got a godsdamn skinner in the system, I'll do whatever we need in order to get them out."
Kincaid nods once. "All right. Back to it, El-tee." Kincaid looks like he wants to protest about the Lagana issue, but, well. There's not really much he can say. "I'll keep you posted. If you need anything, just yell." And, like that, Kincaid is off again to whatever else he has his nose in.