“We are concerned about your emergency,” he said. “How may we help?”
“Well, Doctor, it seems we’ve had a theft,” said Tighe. Whenever he talked to any of the Japanese, he found himself exaggerating his natural drawl. He assumed it was an unconscious reaction to their clipped, formal manner of speech. “Seems some enterprising person downloaded a set of files from the computer in the American module. I’m not myself concerned about the guilt or innocence of any particular party. I am concerned about those files because there was a bug written into them that will jam any computer used to access it. If that bug gets into the mainframe from any of the terminals, it’ll shut the whole station down.”
“So you disconnected the terminals from the mainframe as a precautionary measure,” said Oyamo. “I understand.”
Tighe waited for more, but Oyamo floated impassively before him.
“Well, Doctor, you’re the first person who’s grasped the situation without sticking it back in my ear.”
“You have been to the European module?”
“I have.”
“Dr. Ramsanjawi was uncooperative?”
“Dr. Ramsanjawi was Dr. Ramsanjawi,” Tighe said. “He promised to let me know if anyone on his staff was responsible.”
“I will consult with my staff and inform you immediately,” said Oyamo. “If you will excuse me.”
Jeffries rejoined Tighe as the six Japanese huddled in the center of the module. “Jaeckle’s pissed, sir,” said the crewman. “He didn’t appreciate being escorted.”
“I don’t care what he did or did not appreciate.”
“He wants to lodge a formal complaint.”
“With who?”
“Beats me. Maybe you, sir. He wants to see you after the power is restored.”
“I guess I’ll see him,” said Tighe. How the hell can you avoid anyone on a space station, he added to himself.
They watched the meeting of the Japanese. Oyamo seemed to do all of the talking. The others simply listened.
“What do you think, sir?” asked Jeffries.
“I think we’re in the wrong module, if you ask me.”
Oyamo floated back toward them, his face as impassive as a blank wall. But he was unconsciously rubbing one hand across the chest of his crisp white smock.
The Japanese director deftly slipped his feet into the nearest floor loops and made a slight bow to Tighe.
“I regret,” said Oyamo, “that I am unable to help you. None of my technicians seems to have the offending computer disk in his possession.”
Tighe thought that Oyamo was choosing his words as carefully as a lawyer speaking into a tape recorder.
“The power-down will have to remain in force until I am certain that the bug will not infect our life-support program,” he replied, equally stiffly.
Oyamo bowed again, nothing more than a dip of his chin, actually. “I understand your concern. However, it would not be advisable to continue the power-down indefinitely, would it?”
“No,” said Tighe, “Certainly not.”
“Therefore, perhaps the best that can be hoped for is the assurance that whoever copied the American files will learn of the virus implanted in them and will refrain from attempting to read the files.”
He’s telling me to go stuff myself, Tighe realized. Very politely, but the message is loud and clear.
“Furthermore,” continued Oyamo, “even if someone should hand you the offending disk, it would be impossible to know if it actually was the one with the copied data on it. Any attempt to read it would cause precisely the disaster you are trying to forestall, would it not?”
He’s got me there, Tighe admitted to himself. “Yes,” he replied aloud. “It would.”
Oyamo’s face betrayed no hint of emotion, not the slightest flicker of triumph or even satisfaction. “Indeed, even if someone did hand you such a disk, there would be no way to know if he had made another copy of it.”
Tighe smiled grimly. “It can’t be copied without activating the bug.”
“Ah so. Of course.”
Out of the corner of his eye Tighe saw Jeffries watching like a spectator at a particularly intense chess game. Behind Oyamo’s thick frame the Japanese technicians huddled together like a bunch of school kids, not daring to move.
After long moments of silence, Tighe finally said, “I guess you’re right. The best we can hope for is that whoever copied the files won’t be foolish enough to try to download them.”