“You wrote a software patch for that, didn’t you?” Bowie asked.
“Yeah,” Ann said. “A workaround. It didn’t fix the bug in the program code. It just bypassed the problem, and allowed Mouse to keep working if the error showed up.”
“So what went wrong?” Captain Bowie asked. “Was this some unforeseen permutation of the error? Something your software patch couldn’t handle?”
Ann hesitated before answering. It would be easy to lie here, attribute the problem to untraceable software glitches. Mouse was a prototype, and they knew he had bugs. If she blamed the problem on unreliable software, she’d probably never get caught.
She decided to stick with the truth. It might bring her some grief, but she wouldn’t have any trouble looking at herself in the mirror.
“I screwed up,” she said. “There was nothing wrong with the patch. I just forgot to re-upload it.”
“I thought it was already installed,” Bowie said. “You uploaded it weeks ago, when you were getting the Mouse unit ready to search for the Nereus.”
“It was installed,” Ann said. “But the program parameters needed for this mission were different from the ones we used for the submersible. I decided that our best chance of success would be to get a clean load. Dump the old operating program, and reload from scratch. That gave me a clean slate to work with when I was modifying the operating program for this mission.”
Bowie looked at her without speaking.
Ann plunged on. “I had about a hundred things to do to prepare Mouse to go after this submarine. I had to modify a lot of code to give him the functions he needs to get the job done. And I didn’t remember to reinstall the patch. I just … forgot.”
“You forgot?”
“Yes,” Ann said. “I forgot. I don’t know how. I thought I had everything covered, but I was trying to cram two days worth of programming into a few hours. And I missed something. I forgot the patch. I … forgot.”
“So your Mouse unit found the damned submarine, and — instead of planting the beacon and alerting us to the sub’s position — your robot ran back to its launch position and drove around in circles?”
Ann nodded. “Yes.”
It was the first time she’d heard one of the Navy people use the dreaded R-word to describe Mouse. But given the nature of the conversation, there wasn’t much pleasure in the tiny victory.
Bowie glanced at the wardroom clock. “We could have engaged the submarine seven hours ago. We could have brought this whole tragic mess to an end.”
“I know that,” Ann said. “I’m sorry. It wasn’t intentional. It was an oversight. An accident.”
Bowie drummed his fingertips lightly on the table top. “Are you sure about that?”
His tone of voice took Ann by surprise.
“What do you mean?”
“Are you certain it was an accident?” Bowie asked. “You’ve made it plain since the minute you came aboard. You don’t like me; you don’t like this ship; and you don’t like the Navy.”
Ann started to respond, but he kept talking.
“I don’t know what you’ve got against us, and I frankly don’t care. Your opinions are your business. You don’t have to like us. You don’t even have to pretend to like us. It doesn’t matter to me, as long as you don’t actively antagonize my crew, or let your personal views interfere with the job. But now it looks like they are interfering with the job, Ms. Roark. They’re interfering with the mission of my ship. We had an opportunity to finish this, but I think you might be more interested in jerking our chain than in getting the job done.”
He set his coffee cup down a little too hard. “Between the United States, Russia, and Japan, there are literally hundreds of millions of human beings living under the threat of nuclear extinction because of that submarine. We could have stopped it. We could have ended it seven hours ago. When you’re going over your list of reasons to hate the Navy, add that to your list of things to think about.”
“Wait just a freaking second,” Ann snapped. “You think I did this on purpose?”
Bowie lowered his voice. “I don’t know. Did you?”
“It was an accident,” Ann said. “A stupid freaking accident. I forgot. I made a mistake.”
“The mistake was mine,” Bowie said. “I underestimated your contempt for my crew, and the mission of this ship. I misjudged your desire to see us fail.”
He pushed his chair back from the table, and walked to the door. He reached for the doorknob.
“You’re so full of shit,” Ann said. “Do you know that?”
Bowie spoke over his shoulder. His words were quietly icy. “We’re finished with your services,” he said. “I’m calling for a helicopter to pick you and Mr. Miggs up as soon as possible. I don’t want you on my ship any more.”
Ann felt a lump rising in her throat. This man — this idiot — wouldn’t even listen to her.
“You’re so full of shit,” she said again. Her voice was shaky now. “What happened to that song and dance you were giving me when we were trying to rescue the Nereus? Do you remember? All that crap about how I didn’t sign on for any of this, and you know that Mouse is only a prototype and he isn’t ready for the job, but he’s your best hope. Does any of that ring a bell? You said no one would blame us if the mission went wrong. Remember that?”
She felt a hot tear roll down her cheek. “Well guess what, Mr. Captain, sir? Mouse is still a freaking prototype, and he’s still not ready for this job. But I’m not trying to blame this on the robot. I could have done that, and you wouldn’t have known any better. Instead, I told you the truth. I screwed up. In case you haven’t noticed, you’re not the one who failed here. I am. And I’m not trying to cover it up. I told you the truth because I want the chance to fix it. I want to make it right. I just need another chance.” The last word came out as a sob.
Captain Bowie stood without speaking for several seconds. Then he released the doorknob and turned around. “I did say those things,” he said. “And I told you no one would blame you if the mission went south.”
He walked back toward the table. “Maybe I am full of shit,” he said. “At least on the current point of discussion.”
“You are,” Ann sniffed.
Bowie smiled ruefully. “I’m willing to stipulate that, for the moment. But I’ll have to ask you not to voice that particular sentiment in front of my crew.”
He sat back down in his chair. “Where do we go from here?”
Ann wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “We try again,” she said. “I upload the patch to Mouse’s program code, and — as soon as the sun goes down — we put him back in the water and start over.”
“Do you really think that’s going to work?” Bowie asked.
“Mouse found your damned submarine before,” Ann said. “He can find it again.”
CHAPTER 51