Jez sat listening as everyone put forward their ideas and suggestions. She was beginning to understand why senior officers looked older than they actually were. It was stress. Jez actually felt bad for the Captain. He had to worry about everything, take everyone's suggestions into account, and somehow make the right decision.
Jez had to fight a smirk as Alex seemed like a teenage boy talking about riding the Bone Buster Hovercoaster on Mars. Except, in this case, it was about destructive little robots destroying an enemy's defenses. She so wanted to send Alex a telepathic message saying, Relax, you're acting a little too giddy, but this wasn't the place or the time. She truly admired Alex's determination. Jez tried picturing Alex as a young teenager having fun, but she just couldn't do it.
He probably was born with a Scientific Data PADD, but that's why he’s the best.
Jez's PADD indicated that she had received a reply to her inquiry from the Chief of Security on Deep Space 9. She glanced at her PADD and read the message.
[ There was no increase in traffic. —End.]
The message didn't contain any data, no numerical averages for Cardassian or Dominion traffic. Yes, Jez hadn't gone into great detail in her message or explained why she wanted the information, but she also knew that if there was a possibility that your messages had been intercepted or someone had decrypted them, it was best practice to act as though you didn't suspect anything. You didn't want to tip off the enemy that you knew they knew.
As Mike had told her many times, “To get smart, you have to play dumb once in a while.” Jez understood what that meant completely: if people think you're harmless, that you don’t know anything, then you aren’t a threat, and they'll feel safe talking around you; thus, more information comes your way.
Still, Jez couldn't shake the feeling that a Cardassian invasion didn't make sense. Starbase 214 wasn't anything spectacular; it was one of hundreds scattered throughout the Federation. In her opinion, this was too big for just the Cardassians to do alone,
What is their motivation here? The Cardassians can't be that stupid to take on the Federation by themselves, can they?
Jez looked around at her colleagues.
“Are we missing something here? Why would the Cardassians invade Federation space? Why run the risk? They still haven't fully recovered from the Dominion War. They aren't on the best of terms with most of the Alpha and Beta Quadrants. Is there something on or near Starbase 214 that they want—something they're willing to go to war over?”
She paused for a moment, considering the possibilities.
“What system is near Starbase 214? Is there anything valuable in those systems? Dilithium, Deuterium, Tritanium, or latinum?”
Jez let her speculation hang in the air before continuing.
“If we knew what their motivation for this aggression was, maybe we could take it away, make it less appealing, or make it so difficult that they'd think twice about pursuing it. Unless this is a diversion.”
She looked around the room.
“You know, do something over here to get everyone looking in one direction, and once everyone is distracted, they do something completely different somewhere else.”
Jez leaned back slightly, letting the implications of her suggestion sink in.
== Tag All.==
Jez had to fight a smirk as Alex seemed like a teenage boy talking about riding the Bone Buster Hovercoaster on Mars. Except, in this case, it was about destructive little robots destroying an enemy's defenses. She so wanted to send Alex a telepathic message saying, Relax, you're acting a little too giddy, but this wasn't the place or the time. She truly admired Alex's determination. Jez tried picturing Alex as a young teenager having fun, but she just couldn't do it.
He probably was born with a Scientific Data PADD, but that's why he’s the best.
Jez's PADD indicated that she had received a reply to her inquiry from the Chief of Security on Deep Space 9. She glanced at her PADD and read the message.
[ There was no increase in traffic. —End.]
The message didn't contain any data, no numerical averages for Cardassian or Dominion traffic. Yes, Jez hadn't gone into great detail in her message or explained why she wanted the information, but she also knew that if there was a possibility that your messages had been intercepted or someone had decrypted them, it was best practice to act as though you didn't suspect anything. You didn't want to tip off the enemy that you knew they knew.
As Mike had told her many times, “To get smart, you have to play dumb once in a while.” Jez understood what that meant completely: if people think you're harmless, that you don’t know anything, then you aren’t a threat, and they'll feel safe talking around you; thus, more information comes your way.
Still, Jez couldn't shake the feeling that a Cardassian invasion didn't make sense. Starbase 214 wasn't anything spectacular; it was one of hundreds scattered throughout the Federation. In her opinion, this was too big for just the Cardassians to do alone,
What is their motivation here? The Cardassians can't be that stupid to take on the Federation by themselves, can they?
Jez looked around at her colleagues.
“Are we missing something here? Why would the Cardassians invade Federation space? Why run the risk? They still haven't fully recovered from the Dominion War. They aren't on the best of terms with most of the Alpha and Beta Quadrants. Is there something on or near Starbase 214 that they want—something they're willing to go to war over?”
She paused for a moment, considering the possibilities.
“What system is near Starbase 214? Is there anything valuable in those systems? Dilithium, Deuterium, Tritanium, or latinum?”
Jez let her speculation hang in the air before continuing.
“If we knew what their motivation for this aggression was, maybe we could take it away, make it less appealing, or make it so difficult that they'd think twice about pursuing it. Unless this is a diversion.”
She looked around the room.
“You know, do something over here to get everyone looking in one direction, and once everyone is distracted, they do something completely different somewhere else.”
Jez leaned back slightly, letting the implications of her suggestion sink in.
== Tag All.==