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DAY 01: A Fresh Start | Part 2 [1240 hrs.]

DAY 01: A Fresh Start | Part 2 [1240 hrs.]

[ Selena Ravenholm | Sickbay | Primary Care Unit | Deck 07 ] Attn: Auctor Lucan

The technologically altered human pulled herself upright as she adjusted the angle of the her back rest on the biobed.  Her head was still throbbing a bit as she touched the bandages that covered the wounds where the neural to computer interface on the back of her neck once was and then felt the side of her head where the auxiliary memory port once was.  For the first time in a while she was thinking independently.  No voice of that blasted Vulcan in there at all.  She had been told that the captain would have to authorize her to be granted attachment of the computer interface equipment though the memory card port had been approved already still Selena agreed it was probably for the best that the doctors waited for the yes or no on the main neural implant as it would be better to do both procedures at once than separate.  Besides in all likelihood there was still some tissue healing near the implant sites that was needed before the implants could be done correctly.  After all, there were serious burns near both implant sites and the synthetic skin that had been surgically grafted.  

She was scheduled to go into her final surgery to have what implants were authorized in a few ours but before that she had been told to expect a visitor.  Needless to say she was a bit nervous assuming her visitor was likely someone who would be making the decision on whether she would be allowed her computer interface implant.  Perhaps her visitor would be Thea instead she considered. Still she couldn't help but wonder just how much whoever knew of her actual motives and her past after all she had been mind melded recently by the Vulcan doctor and had as a result had her mind and all her secrets opened to her.  She had no clue just how much she had kept in confidentiality and as a result could only imagine the resulting shitstorm that would follow if she were truly found out.

Still now was no time to panic or appear worried. As she heard the door opening she straitened up a bit more trying to focus her half sleep dazed eyes on the door before realizing her visor had been replaced with a more rudimentary light blocking visor while in the physicians care.  Needless to say her sight was less than ideal and from a legal perspective she imagined it would be considered blindness as her ocular implants were far from fully calibrated post the initial surgery.

Re: DAY 01: A Fresh Start | Part 2 [1240 hrs.]

Reply #1 –
After leaving Dr. Nicander's office, Captain Ives changed... to his male form just as he crossed the corridor in the middle of Sickbay. The sliding doors opened for him and he stepped into the Primary Care unit, oaken eyes searching the faces in the area in order to locate the specific patient he had scheduled to speak with. There were several patients there and a couple of nurses, one which acknowledged his presence and quickly brought up the visitation log - seeing whom he was to meet with.

"She is over there in the corner bed," said the nurse, already moving away towards another patient. "The hologrid in here is repaired so you can just ask Thea for some privacy if you need it, Captain."

"Thank you," he said, and his gaze travelled to the indicated biobed in the corner. There sat the civilian who had somewhat recovered from her injuries and her service towards T'Rena and Vasser - the woman Jien had visited in the main Computer Core on the Harbinger down on Theta Eridani IV. Then, very little about the woman had been known to Jien, merely that she had originally been a civilian consultant to Vasser but had ended up running both the Ops and Engineering department on the now destroyed Akira-class ship. Since that meeting, where they discovered something better left unspoken in the ship's database, Jien had come to learn a little bit more from Thea's report. Evidently, the Ship A.I. had spoken at length with this mysterious Selena Ravenholm, and she had learned a great deal more about what she had actually been doing aboard the Harbinger.

Now, the woman was on his ship, and it was up to him to decide upon what she would be doing. She being a civilian under pretence of serving in one capacity simply couldn't expect the contract to be honoured, and especially not when Jien had not signed any contract with her. He did not need a system analyst on the Theurgy, and if the contents of the report from Thea was to be trusted, then the woman had other connections and skills that needed to be taken into account. She might have had many fortes, but perhaps most importantly given the circumstances... she had been an undercover freelance reporter for the Federation News Network.

"Miss Ravenholm," he said as he stepped up to the side of the biobed. Idly, he took in her bedraggled appearance, dressed in a patient's gown and with bandages around her head - likely shaven in places where surgery had been preformed. She wore her mechanical limbs, but it seemed their systems were mostly powered down - her limb movements delayed and slow. There was a lot to be said, and perhaps not all of it meant for all ears on the ship. "Thea, would you please grant us some privacy, please?"

[Yes, Captain.]

Around them, nondescript walls appeared, and the sounds from the PCU died as soon as they materialised. When they were alone, Jien folded his arms across his chest and stared at her with his unblinking eyes. "It would seem you have kept a great deal from me, and perhaps at the expense of many lives. Had I known your true ambitions, this mutiny mightn't have become so bloody. As it is, you did come through and aided us as best as you could, but the secrecy of your mission should have been abandoned a lot sooner. Either way, there was far more to you than met the eye, that's for certain."

Jien let her speak then, to learn where she stood after all that had happened to her.

Re: DAY 01: A Fresh Start | Part 2 [1240 hrs.]

Reply #2 –
She had hardly expected the captain himself to be her visitor.  Still his unexpected visit did nothing to unnerve her.  Slowly she straitened up more fully and welcomed him in as best as she could.  She politely waited till he was finished asking her his initial question before she spoke in a professional but softly empathetic and understanding tone.  It was the tone of a woman who knew and understood fine line between secrecy and betrayal that a civilian investigator had to tread for the sake of the sanctity of finding and protecting the truth.  "You are referring to my history of work with the FNN, correct? If so, then here me out as I have a very detailed explanation for the actions I took and I assure you I kept my secret for the sake of journalistic integrity and so as to not involve any Starfleet officers directly in my investigation of Captain Vasser.  Such secrets are maintained for the purposes of preventing the forwarding of tainted information, and to assure no officers are accused of illegal acts of unwarranted investigation should I be discovered.

"If I had come clean with you, I would have potentially been fed doctored information on Vasser or you may have alerted him to my investigation.  The result would have been a corruption of any information retrieved in the investigation thereby making it unfit for publication should it have come to that.  The FNN prides itself on not printing or spreading information that may have been falsified even if the source of the falsification is generally considered an unquestionably trusted source.  In addition, had I told you I would have involved you in an unauthorized investigation of another captain.  Given that there was no authorization for said investigation by Starfleet Command your compliance in said investigation could be viewed as an act of treachery against Starfleet.  Given our current situation this hardly makes any difference, but I can tell you take great care to do things by the book. As such, involving you in the investigation directly could have damaged your reputation with your crew."

All I knew I could do was give you what little information I had already uncovered and hope you would chose to err on the side of caution regarding Vasser.  Besides the information FNN gave me was just to look into his childhood and find out more on how he climbed the ranks.  As far as I could tell I was probably investigating a scandal involving little more than simple nepotism. And his childhood was hidden to cover up that he was the child or relative of a politician or Admiral.  Also, the only real information I had was little more than rumor.  Much of why I was suspicious of him was just a gut instinct that made me feel uneasy when I was around him.  As such the only information I could give you on reason to keep him further than arm's length away was nothing more than ungrounded suspicion and therefore would give you no real reason to be suspicious of him.  Had I told you of the investigation and my current guess as to the results I was likely to find my instincts would appear to you to be nothing more than a tabloid reporter scared they were going to get caught going through some celebrity's garbage.  Frankly at that point in my investigation everything logical in my head said I was likely to find nothing more than a minor scandal.  Still my gut instincts were telling me the opposite so I did what I could to assure you were informed of the actual facts I had found and omitted information that would probably lead to you viewing my info as nothing more than the fantasy of a sensationalist looking for a headline to sell for a quick stack of Fed-Creds.

She paused having explained her omission of information from the captain then resumed answering another likely question.  "As for taking the mater to Thea.  That was because I have enough respect for her as a syntheic life form to not just try and mind link into her systems.  Frankly doing so to such a self-aware computer system who views herself as a person instead of as a tool constitutes in my opinion a form of psychological rape comparable to the mental reprogramming that T'rena committed.  I tended to use a direct mind link with the computer core on the Harbinger; however, I had avoided establishing a full mind link to Thea's "brain."  I one time went into her main computer core and began to access her brain but this was as a means to get her attention so she would show up to said room in a way that would not seem suspicious for her to do.  Had she reported my actions that night and you had asked my intentions I would have then explained my mission from the FNN and that I had done this to get her attention in order to speak with her privately."

"My second move was my genuine attempt at friendship with her at the festival.  I wished to build a rapport with her and gain consent to mind link with her in the course of my work aboard both of your ships.  I can't say that the entire attempt to mind link with her that night was all business though because in certain ways I imagined mind linking with such an advanced and sapient system may have certain psychological side effects similar to sexual intercourse and I was far from opposed, in fact I was probably a bit over eager to engage in either with Thea that night but she declined and instead we engaged in a competing in few strategy games and talked about general interests and she allowed me to rest within her domicile.  It is my hope that she can forgive me for my actions when under the mental programming of T'rena as I had enjoyed our time spent together even if didn't get to partake in the activities I initially desired." 

She softly sighed as she sunk back into the bio bed leaning back against her pillow relaxing for a moment as she closed her eyes and began to recall things as best as she could.  "I suppose you would also like me to give you as detailed of a report as possible regarding what I can recall regarding my actions while under my former XO's mental influence, what I know about when, where, and how the reprogramming took place, how I managed to act against the mind meld, and what I can recall of the events when able to partially resist the Vulcan's influence."

Re: DAY 01: A Fresh Start | Part 2 [1240 hrs.]

Reply #3 –
Hearing the undercover reporter speak in her defence, a lot of it did make sense to Jien. It was a long-winded tangent, but it gave a modicum ofclarity about Selena Ravenholm's true ambitions. Other things, she omitted, but probably because she had not been asked directly. Her assumption about his query was not wrong, but Thea had told him there was more to it than that.

Towards the end, Ravenholm began to speak about her fancying to have sexual relations with the Ship A.I. and it made Jien frown at her. Whether or not she harboured desire towards Thea was none of his concern, and he found it unseemly that she brought it up. Some things were best left private, and especially when they were far from first-name basis - civilian or not. Of course, Thea had mentioned Ravenholm's fascination about her, but she had merely reported that the FNN reporter had asked questions and played games after the meeting in the A.I. brain core. What had been reassuring in the report, especially so, was that Ravenholm had said that her new primary purpose was to do what she could to ensure the success of the Theurgy's mission and that she had promised Jien access to the FNN information network. That was, however, before she was mind-melded by T'Rena - something Thea mentioned in her latest report from after the battle.

"After your first meeting with Thea, she sent me notice that she recommended that I would hear the story about your assignment directly from you. Ill-fated as the timing were, I did not have the time to speak with you before the mutiny. Perhaps it would have made a difference, perhaps not, but I understand your motivations about not speaking with me as soon as when we met on Theta Eridani IV."

Jien paused and walked to the foot of her bed. He clenched his jaws and put his hands on his hips, his stare remaining on her. "Thea reported that you have several cybernetic implants that are illegal in Federation space. She also reported that there are many unresolved crimes that would fit your profile and the capacity that your implants hold, not to mention that there are several security breaches in the Federation database that had a pattern similar to how you access data. She wrote that you are quite skilled, barely leaving traces, but that your intentions are towards the end of enlightening the public about misuse of authority and power. She said you refrained from speaking about these things too. That you didn't want information held against you in... what was it? 'Any form of Federation, Starfleet, or ship security court setting'?"

Pausing there, Jien put his fists down on the foot of the biobed, and his brow tilted forth - stare unyielding.

"Out here, in this battle for truth that we fight, I need to be able to trust the officers at my side. Something that has been made painfully obvious with yesterday's loss of forty-seven lives. Therefore, while I am in need of the FNN and the access you hold to that information network, and as excellent as I would find you serving on this ship, I won't give you a commissioning." Jien paused again, unmoving, to let her realise the gravity of the situation. "You will not get your cybernetic implants back, and Thea will ensure that you can't access the database in any way or fashion. Your movements will be restricted too, key areas of the ship made unaccessible for you. You won't be given access to any computer consoles, panels or PADDs. If you prove troublesome, know for a certainty that I will lock you up next to Sonja Acreth in the Brig. That will be your fate for the duration of this damned voyage of ours. Unless... you come clean."

Pausing again, Jien straightened, calloused hands making fists at his sides. "You are not just some FNN reporter. Thea's report and those implants she scanned makes it plain that you are something else entirely. This, here, is the only chance to come clean with me, Ravenholm. Good intentions or not, forty-seven people are dead because we failed to work together to uncover the truth about Vasser. Now is the time to stop hiding, because you do not have that luxury any more. How many more have to die because of your secrets and your hidden agendas? On this mission to save the Federation, your crimes may mean nothing, but the trust between the people on this ship, the chain-of-command and the loyalty towards our purpose means everything."

Re: DAY 01: A Fresh Start | Part 2 [1240 hrs.]

Reply #4 –
She sighed softly looking over towards the Starfleet captain.  This was a moment she had known would come one day or another but she couldn't help but be glad that it came on this ship and now.  Her sigh as she sunk into the pillow a bit turned into a soft smile as a look of content seemed to spread about her form and she seemed to relax more than she had been before.  "Yes, you are correct Captain.  The hacker dubbed Anarchy Luna is me.  Were the situation one where it was merely my implants being threatened as well as my freedom I would probably fight your accusations since it is likely you do not have enough evidence to prove I am her. The threats you make don't scare me despite my knowing that they are far from empty ones.  However, we are fighting a war where the greatest weapon is information and spreading that information is quite possibly the only kind of damage we are capable of doing on any noticeable scale."

Pausing a few moments she looked around before continuing.  "Within the memory storage system you recovered from my temple there is a third harder to find hard drive.  There is the removable card dive which I have used publically on multiple occasions, then there is a hard drive that stores general information and runs much of the software that operates much of the prosthetics and supportive gear I wear.  There is a third card-type hard drive hidden within the prosthetic which has a series of encoded folders containing encrypted data.  The drive contains the detailed schematics of all of my hardware and the information on writing their firmware and the various software packages within them, as opposed to the one I gave the surgeon which only contained the schematics for surgical purposes.  It also contains a detailed breakdown on my various hacking techniques and a further encoded record of each data breech I have attempted and or succeeded at.  Within these files is also my network of contacts both inside and outside the Federation.  The information within is a far more accurate record of my activities than any verbal confession I could hope to provide and given the faultiness of human memory probably contains incidents I have long forgot about."

"Upon removal of the drive you should be able to access in a familiar LCARS environment.  The password to access the drive itself and so much as see the general folder structure is the numeral Five, capital L. lowercase U. N. "The at symbol" Capital R."

"The files at the surface are the schematics and programming techniques.  And with the files is a single folder.  Nested in that folder is a multitude of folders and junk files. All but a few of the folders are also junk folders containing nothing but gibberish when encoded and decode into nothing but lorem ipsum style typographical filler documents.  Each folder has nested within it a series of folders and random files.  The sequence to get to the one folder containing information that will decode is to open folders in a sequence that writes out the first line to the preamble of the Constitution of the United Federation of Planets."

"The file regarding my illegal activities themselves and my contacts will appear as a single mundane text file simply titled honey.  Decode the file by using my Genome sequence as the cypher key.  The file should decode into an electronic book.  The information on my contacts is written in a code that I have programmed my ocular implants to recognize and decode thereby protecting their identities above all other data saved on the drive.  I hope you understand that I am prepared to allow you to have my contact' information but I must request that you do everything in your power to not expose them in your efforts to get the truth out.  Many of them are simply news reporters of various agencies whom I contact as if I am a whistle blower within whichever organization I get the information from.  I rely on them using my Intel as a starting point to begin investigating.  As such allowing them to become compromised would only serve to harm people whose only crime would be doing their jobs as journalists." 

She paused then added to make her intents clear.  "As far as damning myself, I am fully aware that I am waiving my constitutional rights afforded by The Seventh Guarantee.  But, I am trusting you to not use my information to cause others named in my files to come to harm."

Re: DAY 01: A Fresh Start | Part 2 [1240 hrs.]

Reply #5 –
After he had listened to Raveholm's revelation, Jien took a deep breath, and changed... into her female form. The change of Selena's attitude about her identity caused Jien to change form as well, for she glad that the woman had seen reason. Perhaps she had been too hard on her, the threats of the ultimatum unnecessary, but since Ravenholm had lied about herself, Jien hadn't know what she was dealing with. She was pleased to hear that it hadn't been the sharper aspects of the ultimatum that compelled the woman to come clean, but rather the fact that the mission and their survival was more important than her hidden cyber-crime identity. Somehow, Jien had a feeling that Ravenholm knew this, and therefore made her motivations plain.

She raised her eyes to the ceiling. "Thea, would you please review the audio of this conversation I am having with Selena Ravenholm?"

[Aye, Captain,] said Thea in the small holographic room without a door, [Audio reviewed. Do you want me to decode the "honey"-file for you?]

"Yes, please. The implant and the hard drive should be -"

[Location verified. Stored in the Primary Surgical Suite area along with the rest of Ravenholm's personal affects. I will access it and send you the decoded file, barring the names of Ravenholms sources and contact persons.]

"Thank you, Thea. I will be reviewing the information in my Ready Room."

[Acknowledged.] There was a pause before Thea spoke over the intercom to the woman in front of Ives. [Miss Ravenholm? I am pleased to hear that you have made this decision to reveal your true identity to Captain Ives. My apologies for not reciprocating your sexual desire for me at the given time, but I was not certain that I could trust you anywhere near Kae's prototype hardware.]

Jien had almost forgotten that Selena had mentioned that at the beginning of their conversation, and she cleared her throat a little. "That would be all, Thea. Thank you."

[Aye, aye, Captain.] A chirp signalled that Thea had signed out from the intercom.

Jien looked at Ravenholm and folded her arms underneath her breasts, continuing where they left off. "My apologies for having to resort to threats, but I am glad to hear you understand what is important here. I will review your illegal activities and make up my mind regarding what kind of position you should be holding on my crew. There are also several tasks in our repairs that could use your attention. Yet most importantly, we might need your help to mask our ship's signature... for we aim to go straight through Starbase 84's active tacyon defence grid... undetected. It ought to be a tasteful challenge, and it will enable us to set boarding teams on SB84 before it's defences seals all entry-points."

Pausing there, Jien unfolded her arms and came to stand next to Selena, letting her take in the challenge before speaking again.

"I want you and Commander Trent to solve the problem together, so you should try and get better as soon as possible after your next surgery. If we are to win this war of information that you so aptly put it, then we need a simulcast that can be neither jammed nor ignored, and the same system that signals that Romulan forces are invading the Federation can be set across civilian bandwidths as well. As for your compensation," Jien could not help but to smile, "I can but offer you VIP commendations and a challenge of a lifetime, hacking your way into a Orunal-class Starbase."

Re: DAY 01: A Fresh Start | Part 2 [1240 hrs.]

Reply #6 –
She nodded having listened to the information the captain gave her, "I would be glad to assist Captain.  Far as I am concerned you could give me a crewman's quarters for all I care regarding lodging.  As for the new objective...Ornal class, Starbase 84 you say?  I assume there is the possibility of engagement with another vessel if not multiple vessels in or around the station then.  Am I right in assuming we will need to find a means to rearm ourselves after our previous battle?" she asked.  "Nevermind I am sure you have thought about that and already have a plan in motion to rectify it."  She added as quickly as she had paused before.

"I'm in sir." she stated matter of factly.  "Once my hardware is reinstalled I should begin to make a quick recovery.  Your surgeons did an excellent job at repairing the damage that the Vulcan did both psychologically and the physiologically once I began to resist the changes to my mind she had made.  I suffered little bodily harm and my prosthetics were completely unharmed as well as the spinal connection system.  I should be able to begin assisting with minor coding work tomorrow if all goes well.  The day after I hope to be cleared to attempt to begin the necessary physical therapy to re-acclimate the implants with my limbs and the artificial components of my central nervous system."


This is the 4th attempt I have made on this reply, each time I got it halfway finished I ended up accidentally closing the browser or not saving the word file it was in or something else.  I was almost beginning to think that attempting to make this post was cursed...

Re: DAY 01: A Fresh Start | Part 2 [1240 hrs.]

Reply #7 –
"Correct," Jien said where she stood by her side, "we do need to restock our photon and quantum magazines, and we have good intel on where we might do so undetected. Commander Trent, our new First Officer, brought the info when he came to us from the USS Archeron."

Ravenholm accepted the terms, and told Jien when she expected she would be ready to attend to the matters ahead, and Jien nodded. "Thea has provided me with the information about you and I will evaluate your past and your illegal activities. If I have any questions or objections towards you serving in an official capacity, you will be notified. If my findings require it, I will cancel the surgeries that will restore your implants, but I have a feeling that you've understood the gravity of this situation and haven't chosen to let the data omit anything that would compromise your credibility. Hopefully, I will be able to give you a position aboard this ship as soon as tomorrow, given that I need to speak with some of the Senior Staff."

Having dealt with the immediate and somewhat unpleasant necessity to verify her nature, Jien was left standing next to a remarkable woman who had gone above and beyond what could be expected of anyone to protect the ship and to preserve Thea's integrity during the mutiny. Yet more than that, she felt sympathetic to how she might feel about the turn-of-events. She had been on to Vasser, and she had failed to confront him with her suspicions, to call him out and let everyone know what he was.

"You were not alone," she said to her, recognising how she might feel, "You might have been able to prevent the deaths aboard this ship, but at the same time, you mightn't. Vasser was not alone, and he could not have done it without the Vulcan. You had no way of knowing the magnitude of their betrayal, and the ease in which they stepped over bodies to leave the tenants of the Federation behind - abandoning all sense of morale. None of us did. You share the feeling with many; that we should have seen it coming with, but even the people closest to Vasser and T'Rena didn't know."

A shard of the counsellor Jien had once been, resurfacing at the sight of the injuries that the civilian had sustained when protecting Thea and the crew aboard her.

Re: DAY 01: A Fresh Start | Part 2 [1240 hrs.]

Reply #8 –
She smiled softly, "Thanks for giving me a chance by the way, Captain."  though there is something the files don't go into which i feel i need to tell you personally, the motives for my actions."  she sighed looking around.  "First of all you should know that I never gained any form of compensation for my illegal activities.  In fact most of my legal work served to provide a means by which I was able to do what i done as a hacker.  Through straddling the law I gained my hardware via certain legal loopholes.  For example there are lays saying that you can't purchase military grade equipment but I circumvented but still remained well within my rights by the equipment being of my own design and/or modified from high end civilian accessible equipment.  Most every current item of my hardware either was built by me or has been modified from legal equipment by me.  In addition due to the wealth my family had and their connections It was not difficult to find the means by which i could have the equipment i had created installed through barely, but still, legal services."

"Once i had these items i was much more qualified to provide the services which i could legally offer such as freelance journalism, cyber security work, ironic i know, cybernetic engineering, etc.  These legal activities were the means by which i was able to support myself and purchase the needed things to do what i did outside of the law.  As for the motivation for my activities it is most heavily influenced by a very literal interpretation of the constitution of the Federation particularly the parts pertaining to what Starfleet has the power to do, the amount of transparency that according to the constitution they are required to have with the civilian population, and the concepts laid out within the constitution regarding freedom of the press."

"I am aware that there has to be a degree of secrecy in order for a military to work, don't get me wrong I understand this.  That said the constitution is worded in such a way that Starfleet ,officially, does not have such a right to secrecy for security.  On the official books it is said that Starfleet keeps no secrets from the people of the Federation.  I know this isn't how the real world works and I would agree that Starfleet has this right to operate in such gray areas, except.  If they do then the constitution should outline that it has that power and the people of the Federation should be made aware that Starfleet sometimes has to keep such secrets.  The Federation likes to say that there is no greed, or wealth anymore, that we live in a utopia where everyone has equal footing.  That just inst true, if it were then I couldn't have managed to have my equipment installed because of certain resources my family had at their disposal.  In the end I don't want to destroy anything.  If any changes were made I would prefer that the constitution be rewritten so that it is honest about the world that the people of the Federation live in admitting that Starfleet sometimes has to keep secrets for security's sake and that there are certain black ops that we can not declassify because security is sometimes more important than transparency.  Hell far as I am concerned SI and sec 31 can go on and do what they do.  the constitution or an official document of equal weight should at least spell out that the Federation is allowed to do this so that they are not breaking their own rules and pretending that they are infallible and uncomfortable.  So, I use a liberal interpretation of freedom of the press to justify doing what I can to ensure that Starfleet is held to the standards that they claim to hold for themselves. 

"I known I  am wanted for being an information broker and a spy.  I wanted you to know from my own words that the info I obtained were usually sent only to Federation civilian news sources and never sent to any military sources of enemies or allies and never pertained to activities of an ongoing operation so as to not endanger the lives of Starfleet crews out in the field. and i always sent the information anonymously and never so much as attempted to gain any form of compensation for the information i released.  I do have morals, dispute SI and Sec 31's claims about me after all."

Re: DAY 01: A Fresh Start | Part 2 [1240 hrs.]

Reply #9 –
Listening to Selena, Jien somewhat understood her reasoning. Intentions aside, however noble and right in the greater ethical sense, and regardless what the honey-file - the honey pot of her hidden secrets - would reveal to her, Jien was under the impression that the greatest crime Selena was committing was her recklessness with military secrets. If given to the public, or the FNN, it was synonymous with giving it to the Federation's enemies. In terms of risk, it was a far greater risk that civilian institutions were infiltrated by people passing on information to the other super powers in the Galaxy. At least the people at Section 31 and Starfleet Intelligence were screened, even if double agents and leaks remained a more unlikely risk.

"I hear what you are saying," she said, changing... to his male form where he stood by her side, and he continued in his more masculine tone of voice, "and while changing the constitution might be required, I would think there are better ways than to undermine the very fleet you have no trouble seeing empowered by that constitution. Better yet to be pro-constitution changes and enlightening the public about all the good Starfleet can accomplish."

As if a dark cloud passed over his features, Jien glanced away. "Or could, at least. Hopefully, we can not only restore Starfleet to what we used to represent, but also have the constitution changed. Something which, in light of past events and our current enemy's successful infiltration... might be a bit more difficult. Some days, I think about the aftermath of all this, and I don't know which the public will think was worse. The enemy's machinations, or the means that we had to resort to in order to make it right. We might be the guiding light... but too many people have died in our glare."

Looking back to Selena, Jien forced a quiet smile. "You must think me a hypocrite, trying to represent something good but having to go to such extreme lengths to achieve it - things unforgivable in the eyes of the surviving families. And here I am, lying blame on you for substituting your missing limbs and questioning your ethics."

Re: DAY 01: A Fresh Start | Part 2 [1240 hrs.]

Reply #10 –
She nodded. "Strangely no, it isn't hypocrisy,"  she said softly looking up at the Captain.  "You are an officer of the Starfleet of the UFP, correct?  Like the model our constitution was based on, that of the United States of America before World War 3 on Earth.  Like that constitution Starfleet has an oath you take, correct? An oath stating to defend the Federation from all enemies both foreign and domestic.  This threat was a foreign threat which has invaded into the echelons of Starfleet and the Federation and seeks to destroy us from within.  This constitutes a domestic threat, the very thing that I was deemed through my actions."

She then sighed and continued. "The domestic threat, though, holds the power to order others in Starfleet to stop you from protecting the Federation. You did not kill them. Our enemy killed them. They are serving in many ways to protect the Federation from you, a domestic threat, and you unfortunately have to do what you can to ensure the truth gets out to defeat the greater domestic threat infiltrating our leaders.  As a very wise part vulcan once said 'the needs of the many' - in this case being the whole of the Federation and potentially the whole of all life in the universe itself - 'outweigh the needs of the few'. In this case the families killed by doing what we must do to fight a potential unstoppable enemy."

She smiled softly understanding the conflict that the captain must have to deal with. "Secondly, you are the captain of a ship. The duty of a captain is first to obey orders of the fleet, but it has been proven that the fleet is corrupted.  Therefore, the captain's duty - if I understand correct - is to: One, protect the Federation from its enemies, and two, ensure the survival and well-being of his or her crew, even at the cost of their own life and reputation.  Yes, you may have to send a crew member to their death, your orders may sacrifice someone who trusts you with their life, you may even end up ordering someone to kill their own blood relatives. Regardless, those orders end up saving the rest of the ship or serve to save the Federation."

She then looked into the captains eyes. "Your crew is obviously loyal, but not to the idea that you do what you can to save them. They are loyal because if the need arises, they will die under your orders to ensure the life of their fellow crew members. They will kill on your orders and die on your orders knowing that what they do is to preserve the lives of their friends, and hopefully, save known space from an enemy that threatens to take away everything they all hold dear."

"You aren't a hypocrite, Captain. You are a person faced with a horrible decision and is taking the only path that exists to preserve the lives and well-being of those who can't fight," she said. "Sure, we could run like Vasser and T'Rena wanted. Sure, it would avoid getting the blood of other Starfleet officers on our hands.  But it would instead stain our hands with the blood of everyone we might have tried to save by opposing our enemy."

"You questioning my ethics?  This is obviously an extension of protecting your crew and the mission we are on. On the surface hypocritical? Maybe. Analyzing the options you have and the scenarios you are faced with, in the end you are making the same decision in both cases, for the same reasons."

Re: DAY 01: A Fresh Start | Part 2 [1240 hrs.]

Reply #11 –
Apparently, Selena Ravenholm had a far better understanding about Ives' motivations than he had initially thought, erroneously thinking that she was motivated by her agenda to enlighten the public rather than seeing the depth of difficulty that he and his Senior Staff was facing. Hearing her say the things she did cast his decisions into garish light, but the way she portrayed those choices made them seem less unkind to the eye. There were, in essence, no choices to make, because there was only one choice that anyone in their right sense of mind - and with the interest of the entire Federation's survival - could possibly make in their situation. Or at least that was what Jien had thought up until the mutiny.

Evidently, Vasser and T'Rena had seen another alternative as better than his, but it had been too remote for Jien to even fathom the reason behind it. He could never abandon the people of the Galaxy without a fight. He could not forsake the societies and the thousand-years old civilisations out there, to let them all die and all those worlds perish. No, he could not give up on the hope that everything and everyone could be saved. If he gave up hope, he would not be able to lead the crew. There would be no reason for him to continue fighting if he did not believe that they could defeat even this enemy.

"You are quite right," said Jien, a bitter smile ghosting across his lips, "I have obligations, and I mean to fulfil them. Considering what is at stake, I am willing to pay the price in order to see this foe vanquished and this crew returned to their homes, and chances are, they will all return as heroes despite what have ordered them to do. The right way is seldom a primrose path, but never had I imagined that this path I have set us on would have held the kind of ordeals we've faced. I regret every life lost, every day that the enemy'd hold on power grows stronger... but my regrets do not grant us any favours. Rather the opposite. Therefore, I will stay true to our course, and let my fears say their prayers."

Having said this, Jien ended the brief meeting with the undercover reporter. "Thea, please remove the walls," he said, and as the sight of the rest of the ward as well as the sounds of the people around them returned, Jien spoke to Selena again. "After reviewing the honey-file, I will tell Nicander and our medical team to green-light your implants, and from what I heard, we even have a few upgrades aboard. We will get back to you in regard to your future rank aboard this ship as soon as we've managed to discuss the matter among the Senior Staff. For the time being, you are a civilian with some liberties in your security clearance. Get well soon, since I have a feeling we will be needing you in the days to come."

Then, Jien left after Selena said her parting words.

Re: DAY 01: A Fresh Start | Part 2 [1240 hrs.]

Reply #12 –
OOC: ((I'd call that a good end to the thread))
 
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