Fae

Do you wish to go with the forwarded deposition? Yes. You realize what you say can be used against you. Of course. That's one of the things I have to know. Some cultures, you speak truth to power, they'll shoot the messenger. Have to find out if Starfleet has got there yet. And you are speaking truth. Truth plus a good deal of editorializing. I figure you can tell the difference. Why? Cause the Gamma Quadrant is a good deal more important than this ship or this crew. Cause while Corizon said he'd come home, speak truth and take his medicine, it isn't just Corizon. It's not about one or two nuts. You can't treat it like it's one or two nuts. What is it about? Look, from one perspective this (expletive deleted) crew are a bunch (expletive deleted) heroes. They are, sort of almost kinda, ready to put their lives, maybe, and careers, certainly, at risk. They know full well how to obey orders, but they'll only obey orders they respect. They don't respect Starfleet chain of command. I repeat. They don't respect Starfleet chain of command. At least, they respected Corizon a good deal more, and with (expletive deleted) reason. Starfleet chain of command, as of this moment, as it comes down to us, is not worthy of respect. I see… I hope so. Look. Corizon did what he thought he had to do to solve a big problem. He did it his way. He got somewhere, but no where near far enough. I did what I could to help him get as far as he could his way, but at this point I've got to do it my way. The problem isn't going to be solved by half lies, omissions, silence and heads buried in the sand. I can't say Starfleet has any more right to judge us than we have to judge Starfleet. Starfleet has already failed to earn respect in our eyes, just about universally failed, except maybe for one green skinned refusenick. I don't feel a need to redeem myself. I did what I did for reason. From my perspective, though, Starfleet itself, for the sake of a whole (expletive deleted) quadrant, has a good deal of redeeming to do. If Starfleet can't run its efforts in the quadrant right, it's time to go home.

Subject : Pre Deposition of Faeona Waters Classification : Attorney Client Privilege Something is rotten in Camelot. Captain Corizon tried to do something about it. He botched it. With the benefit of twenty twenty hindsight, he got it wrong. Thing is, he is trying to shield his crew from his mistakes. I don't think he can do that. The Excalibur isn't the entire problem with Camelot, but it is a perfect illustration of the rot in Camelot. The rot has got to go. Addressing the problems of Gamma Quadrant is a damn sight more important than Corizon or his crew. Thus, I'm going to say stuff that isn't in the interests of my own defense or the defense of my fellow crew mates. If you're required to defend me, you might want to avoid defending anyone else in this one. Unless you talk me out of it, I'm going to throw myself under the bus, and take Corizon and everyone else with me. Let's start with the obvious. Someone was at the helm of Excalibur when she crossed into the neutral zone. That would be me. Somebody installed that cloak. Somebody led away teams onto planet and ship. A bunch of marines and security people followed her. Somebody patched the wounds that resulted. Corizon wasn't in this alone. Heck, after the planet but before the nebula Corizon held a big meeting. Reviewed what he was doing and why. Asked for recommendations. Got a few. Polled the whole bunch of us on whether we should continue or return to Fed space. Consensus of the group was to continue. There was a quorum at that meeting that could have legitimately removed Corizon from command with all 'T's crossed and 'I's dotted. Not one of us brought up that possibility. Wouldn't have had to. If we had opposed what he intended, he would have closed the op right there. Before he continued his op, he made sure he had the informed consent of all his senior people. I am not sure what phrase should be used to describe this. I shall use the wrong phrase while waiting for a better suggestion. I will call it a cult of personality. This isn't true in one sense. Captain Corizon doesn't have sleek fur, speak with a honeyed tongue, or have glints of light sparking off his teeth when he smiles. It wasn't that he hypnotized us with elegance, charm and grace. I would say, rather, that the crew as a whole, based on considerable experience in Gamma Quadrant, based on logic, reason and evidence, believed Captain Corizon more trustworthy and relevant than interstellar treaty, Starfleet regulation, Camelot's command structure or Starfleet's chain of command. While 'cult of personality' might not be the ideal words, what Corizon proposed made much more sense than the missions we had been given in the recent past. How might Starfleet properly respond to a crew that deliberately chose to reject chain of command? At an absolute minimum, this crew ought to be dispersed. None should serve together. Most should be reassigned back to Alpha Quadrant. Every single one of us meant well. Every single one of us will continue to mean well. Given hindsight, meaning well is not an excuse for treason. But if there was and is a cult of personality aboard Excalibur, make no doubt about it, Excalibur is not alone. There is a cult of personality in Gamma Quad's Starfleet Intelligence. There is a cult of personality in the Camelot command structure and above. If Excalibur needs to be purged and dispersed, it cannot stop there, that's just the start. Part of it is secrecy. You learn stuff out there. What I learned suggests the Dominion is unstable. Planets breaking loose. Multiple governments. Time bombs ticking that will blow up said governments. Yet, other people learn other secrets. Anybody who fought in the Dominion War is going to be looking for Dominion threats, and they aren't hard to find. Thus, the arms smuggling thing. Corizon's isn't the only cult of personality. Corizon isn't the only one who doesn't like the orders being given, responding by cutting their own orders. Corizon isn't the problem, he's an illustration of the problem. The people Corizon was trying to take down meant well too. It also isn't just Starfleet. It isn't just the Federation. The Romulans have their cults of personality too. The Scorpiad, like the Dominion, has cultures that don't want to follow their old chains of command either. Gamma Quadrant is rotten. Starfleet, if not quite making war on itself yet, is flailing at itself with covert actions. We're not alone. The whole quadrant is spiraling down towards an event horizon. Now, I'm not sure who can judge us. Anyone who hasn't been out in Gamma Quad the last several years, with good access to the spook stuff, would need a post graduate level course in shadows and lies to get what's going on. Anyone who has been out there, who has had access to enough spook stuff to have a clue, as likely as not has caught the rot. They will have their own agendas, their own axes to grind, and they will all bloody mean well. Let's say you have a wooden house. Bad roof. Water damage. Dry rot. Insects in the weakened wood. You've got to cut it out. All of it. Every bit of rot has got to go if you want the house to stand. Every creeping crawling wood eating little bug has to go. The Excalibur is part of the rot. A part. I'm doubtful that Starfleet can cure itself. Rot's too deep. I don't give a flying targ for who's to blame, but somebody has to be responsible for trimming the rot.

Fae wouldn't normally ask for a break so soon on shift. Still, she had listened to the horror stories back at Academy. They were approaching an alien derelict. Once things started, they might possibly go on and on. Thus, a while before things were apt to get interesting, she asked for a brief relief to visit the female humanoid's biological waste recycling facility. She didn't come straight back. She made a brief detour to the observation lounge, trying to find a bit of an out of the way corner. She had three older brothers. The result had been a few years studying karate. Self defense. Really. She was also a vocalist. If one sang professionally, at whatever level, one tried to pick up a little dance, the better to present your performance. What karate and dance had in common was warm up routines. She found them useful for desk work as well. If one was going to sit in chairs for long stretches of time, on the occasions one did get up, one got rid of the kinks. She had worked out a quick series, combining bits from here and there. A little stretching. A bit of isometrics. Just a bit of aerobics, enough to get the blood flowing without working up a sweat. Ops console junkies were athletes too! At the same time, she was playing a little game. There were several guys on the other side of the room pretending not to be watching her. Of course, she had to pretend not to be putting on a show. As she worked her way thought the routine, both sets of pretenses started go get a bit thin... So she ended the routine with a bit of a vocal warm up. She didn't belt it out to rattle the room, but she filled the space quite nicely, thank you. It was just an old old song that had been rattling around her head... The Union forever, Hurrah! boys, hurrah! Down with the traitors, and up with the stars; While we rally round the flag, boys, rally once again, Shouting the battle cry of Union! She grinned, winked, turned, and headed back to the bridge.

Personal Data Name: Faeona Waters Gender: Female Species: Human Age : 24 Place of Birth: Jamaica Plains, Boston, Earth, UFP Marital Status : Single Skin : Very Fair Hair : Auburn Eyes : Green Height : 1.81 m Weight : 63 kgs Family Father : Bartholomew Waters, Journalist Mother : Bridget Waters, Instructor (Primary and Athletics) Siblings : Shannon 32 guitar, Tyrone, 30 Percussion, Kieran 27 Bass Starfleet Data Rank : Ensign Specializations : Signal Processing, Harmonics and Analysis, Operations, Music and Culture Assignment: USS Union Position : Ops and Science Education JT Kirk Elementary Kennedy High Boston Conservatory of Music Massachusetts Institute of Technology Starfleet Academy History An early interest in music led to an interest in alien instruments, musical traditions, and how to synthesize such music electronically. This led to an unusual triple major in music, signal processing and alien cultures, which in turn resulted in attendance in multiple advanced schools. Personality Unusual in a human that her primary sense mode is hearing, not sight. Can become obsessed briefly in technical problems, notably in resonance problems, but is highly extroverted, prefers working with others to solo duties. Gives appearance of not taking things seriously, but often multitasks technical or musical work with the ancient Irish art of Blarney.

Fae continued at her commandeered science console. Over all, an Excelsior sensor package was a fine bit of gear. Better, perhaps, than the command structure. She had said hello to the green person, who had departed without a hint of a job assignment. And so, Ensign at Large Faeona Waters had assigned herself a science console, and even applied for a more permanent situation. A message came in, and there it was. She was in. She smiled. This would be interesting. She logged out of science, and wandered over to the Ops console. Maybe operations would have its act together more than science...