No Matter What's Different, Nothing Ever Changes

[Atragon9 0]

::A9 sits at the desk in his Ready Room, trying to find some new and different info among the data dump provided to him by Precip. No matter how he parses it, however, it still shows that the one glaring personnel anomaly in Engineering at the time of the pirate transmission was Lt. Commander Roget. He tosses the PADDs on his desk in frustration and squeezes his eyes closed with his hand::

 

Megan, Margaux, it's the same. Aries, Manticore, it's the same. She's with me, she avoids me, it's the same. We love each other, we sneer at each other, it's the same. And now this? She worked for the Blackest of Ops before and now what is she doing with a transmission sent from Romulan space? I shouldn't be surprised, really, but here I am employing a cheap narrative trick to go through my thoughts. I have been studying the data and no clear path presented itself, so maybe if I speak my thoughts out loud, something previously unforeseen will surface.

 

::sighs:: Or I end up confirming the suspicions of people like Garnoopy, who wouldn't be surprised that I sit here talking out loud to myself.

 

Could it all be simply a crew that has been overworked and needs a break? Was it malice and a deliberate breach of Security or just being sloppy due to our recent stresses? I must agree with Jami, that the crew needs a rest. I've had enough of a rest to last me for a long time, but the rest of the crew has been through the crucible with this Romulus affair. I can see it in their eyes and in their body language - people are very close to the breaking point. Yes, I will chalk this up to crew exhaustion and not a deliberate act on behalf of Margaux or anyone in Engineering. With her history in Black Ops and in Security, she *knows* the risks of what was done. If it was, in fact, her that sent the transmission, it did not bring about the destruction of the ship and we have accomplished our original mission. Heck, we even took over the mission from the Black Ops team and performed beautifully. Yes, it was just a snafu that I will let pass, it is just...

 

+OPSGUY+ Admiral, there is a call coming in from the Inspector General, sir.

 

+BRIDGE+ Yes, I was expecting him to check in with us upon our return to Federation space, put him through.

 

+OPSGUY+ Yessir.

 

::He takes a breath and composes himself as the image of I.G. Morris swims into focus on his console:: Inspector General, I have been expecting your call so I can brief you on the Romulan plague mission and our results.

 

+MORRIS+ Sorry Admiral, I am not calling about the Echococcosis, we can have a formal briefing later. Right now, we need to talk about Margaux Roget

 

::stares at Morris, all attempts at composure gone as he wonders if his Ready Room has been bugged::