Witness for the Prosecution

[Atragon9 0]

::Sitting, propped up, in bed in a private ward in the Sickbay, A9 pulls a PADD over to his lap and begins recording::

 

Begin recording, Personal Log, Atragon-9, password *********

 

[click, buzzzzzz] ::he whacks it on the side:: [click, whirr]

 

I finally woke up this morning and felt close to normal, although sitting here without the exo suit does keep my movements limited. I can only assume that it is part of Dr. Mele's plans to keep be here and resting for longer. Jami just went back to our quarters for some much-needed rest after I assured her I would not be getting out of bed while she was gone. She slowly told me more details about my takeover by the silicon entity and Sovak's attack on me to save the ship. I have also reviewed the ship's logs and recorders on it all.

 

It turns out that shooting me did not free up the ship or keep up from arriving at Bynaus, although it did free me from the grip of the entity. There was no way to know if shooting me would have helped the ship, but of all the people who might have figured out the sheer logic, pure science of its decision-making, I would think it would have been Sovak. I understand why he shot me, I would have done the same - but was it the logical thing to do? And what about the phaser setting, could he have tried it set to stun first? It reads like a very ... emotional reaction for him and I have to wonder just how stressful the time was for my First Officer to drive to make a rash decision in the heat of the moment.

 

I can't complain too much, I suppose. I am alive and I am free of the entity. Then again, we continued to Bynaus and the entire ship is now free of the entity. Could it have been purged from me at the same time? So, here I sit, with a length of composite Titanium permanently in my back to replace disintegrated spinal column. One of only two exoskeletal suits ruined by a deadly phaser blast and myself incapacitated for a week or more, depending on the skill of my Medical staff and the healing powers of my body.

 

Questions, questions, what about some answers? I had a superior officer once who would chide me if I just brought up problems and didn't offer solutions, so where do I go form here? The ship is back to normal and on it's way away from Bynaus, my wounds have healed and no one was killed after the initial appearance of the entity. All in all, just another mission on the USS Manticore, the unluckiest ship in the fleet. Terrible events, great moral issues raised, mechanical stresses on the great lady of Manticore herself and, in the end, we limp off into the sunset. So, what is my solution? Learn not to favor the bad leg and start walking normally, it's time for a new mission. I will allow myself to say it just once more and then I will never speak of it again.

 

Sovak shot me ... in the back!

 

Right, now it's time to get my other exo-skeleton on and get out of here, these same four walls are starting to bore me.

 

EOM, EOT, Recorder off

 

[whirr, click]