The OrionX technical review conference room was designed for confrontation, with a long glass table that offered no place to hide and lighting that made every expression visible to the dozen board members, senior engineers, and federal observers who had gathered to evaluate the navigation system security breach. Eli sat at one end of the table, Milo at the other, with three years of collaboration and competition about to be dissected by people who understood corporate liability better than orbital mechanics.
Dr. Santos presided over the meeting with the grim efficiency of someone who knew that careers would end before lunch was served. To her left sat Agent Rebecca Torres from the FBI's Cyber Crime Division, whose presence transformed what should have been an internal review into a federal investigation with criminal implications.
"Dr. Drake," Dr. Santos began, consulting the evidence report that Dr. Wong had prepared. "Please explain to the committee what your investigation discovered about the navigation system modifications."
Eli looked across the table at Milo, searching his colleague's face for any sign of acknowledgment or remorse. Instead, he found only the carefully controlled expression of someone who had prepared for this moment and decided to reveal nothing.
"Our analysis identified unauthorized modifications to the backup navigation system, made over a three-week period using legitimate access credentials," Eli said, his voice steady despite the personal betrayal he was about to make public. "The modifications introduced subtle errors that would have caused trajectory deviations during critical mission phases."
"And you've identified the source of these modifications?" Agent Torres asked, her tone carrying the neutral authority of someone who dealt with technical crimes as a matter of routine.
"The evidence points to remote access from Dr. Harlan's home network, made during overnight hours when normal security monitoring was minimal."
The words hung in the air like an indictment. Around the table, board members and engineers shifted uncomfortably as they processed the implications of deliberate sabotage by a senior staff member.
Milo leaned forward, his expression shifting from controlled neutrality to something approaching defiance. "That's an interesting interpretation of the evidence, Eli. But there are other explanations for the data Dr. Wong collected."
"Such as?"
"Such as the possibility that someone with administrative access to our network systems planted evidence to implicate me in sabotage I didn't commit." Milo's voice carried absolute conviction. "Someone who needed a scapegoat for navigation system problems that originated from flawed original code."
The accusation hit the room like a physical blow. Eli felt heat rise in his chest as he realized that Milo wasn't just denying the sabotage—he was suggesting that Eli had framed him to cover up his own technical failures.
"Are you claiming that I falsified evidence?" Eli asked, working to keep his voice level.
"I'm claiming that the navigation problems we've experienced are the result of fundamental algorithmic errors in the original system design," Milo replied. "Errors that you've been trying to cover up since the first simulation failures three months ago."
Dr. Santos intervened before the confrontation could escalate further. "Dr. Harlan, do you have evidence to support that accusation?"
Milo produced his own tablet, displaying technical analyses that Eli recognized as legitimate but misleading. "Navigation code from the current Saturn probe, compared with algorithms from the Meridian mission six years ago. The core mathematical structures are nearly identical, despite the fact that the Meridian mission ended in catastrophic failure due to navigation system errors."
Agent Torres made notes while Milo continued his presentation, explaining how Eli's navigation algorithms incorporated design elements from a mission that had killed three astronauts and destroyed billions of dollars worth of equipment. The technical arguments were sophisticated enough to sound convincing to people without specialized knowledge, damaging enough to raise questions about Eli's competence even if they didn't prove deliberate negligence.
"Dr. Drake," Agent Torres said, "how do you respond to Dr. Harlan's analysis?"
Eli felt trapped between technical truth and political necessity. The navigation algorithms did incorporate elements from the Meridian mission, but only after extensive modification and testing that had eliminated the original failure modes. Explaining that distinction would require getting into technical details that the review committee couldn't evaluate independently.
"The Meridian algorithms failed because of a specific calculation error in gravitational field modeling," Eli said finally. "We identified that error during our analysis of the disaster and specifically designed the Saturn probe systems to avoid the same failure mode."
"By using nearly identical code structures?" Milo challenged.
"By using tested mathematical principles while correcting the specific errors that caused the original failure."
It was a distinction that mattered critically to engineers but might seem like semantic games to federal investigators and board members who were primarily concerned with liability and public relations implications.
Dr. Santos looked around the table at faces that reflected confusion, concern, and the kind of institutional anxiety that came from discovering that their most important project might be built on flawed foundations.
"I'm going to call a recess," she announced. "Thirty minutes for everyone to review the technical evidence independently. When we reconvene, I want clear recommendations about how to proceed."
As the room emptied, Eli remained in his seat, staring across the glass table at Milo, who was organizing his presentation materials with the methodical precision of someone who had anticipated this confrontation for months.
"Why?" Eli asked finally.
Milo looked up, meeting his eyes directly for the first time since the meeting had begun. "Because you're going to get people killed with your arrogance, and someone needs to stop you before that happens."
"The navigation systems work. I've tested them thousands of times."
"The Meridian navigation systems worked too, right up until they didn't." Milo's voice carried a bitterness that suggested personal investment beyond professional rivalry. "You think you're smarter than the engineers who designed the original algorithms, but you're making the same mistakes they made—trusting mathematical models over real-world complexity."
Eli felt a cold realization settling in his stomach. "This isn't about the mission. This is about the Meridian."
"My brother was the lead navigation specialist on the Meridian," Milo said quietly. "David Harlan. He died when his perfectly tested, thoroughly verified navigation algorithms failed at the moment they mattered most."
The confession hit Eli like a revelation. Milo's sabotage wasn't motivated by professional jealousy or corporate ambition—it was driven by grief and the conviction that Eli was about to repeat his brother's fatal mistakes.
"Milo, I'm sorry about your brother. But sabotaging the Saturn mission won't bring him back."
"No, but it might prevent other families from losing someone they love to the same kind of engineering hubris that killed David."
Agent Torres returned to the conference room, ending their private conversation and returning them to the formal process of determining criminal culpability and corporate liability. But Eli now understood that the real conflict wasn't between him and Milo—it was between two different approaches to honoring the dead and protecting the living.
Over the next hour, the review committee would decide whether to pursue criminal charges against Milo, delay the Saturn mission for additional security reviews, or accept Eli's assurances that the navigation systems were fundamentally sound despite their controversial origins.
Whatever they decided, Eli knew that the glass bridge of trust between him and his colleagues had been shattered by revelations that made everyone question what they thought they knew about the mission that was supposed to take humanity to the edge of Saturn's rings and back again.