To My Close Friends On The Council :

"If anyone expects me to mourn for Captain Jean-Luc Picard, then they are in for a very long wait. While a passably competent officer, I cannot allow myself to forget the long list of his casualties, good people all."

"Did he have to destroy Norah Satie, merely to protect himself? I've always felt that a permanent investigation like hers keeps loose cannons like Picard on deck. And what of Cliff Kennelly, sacrificed so that Picard could protect a Bajoran Terrorist? Not to mention his brutish cutting away of so many good people when the Pegasus effort failed. We would now be a cloak-based power, were it not for Picard and Riker. Of course, Picard fancied himself as some sort of Arbiter when it came to Klingon/Romulan relations. Sisko, another problem child, is shaping up that way with the Bajorans and The Cardassians. How is it that people who spend almost no time on Earth come to think they can better interpret policies made here, in our clear-thinking paradise?"

"His desire to test the ethical purity of his lanky protege almost cost a real choice up-and-comer, Nick Locarno, his Starfleet Career. Picard's rejection of retirement after the Borg incident drew Command rotations to a standstill. His execrable choice in the Hugh Borg matter bordered on pure treason. And why is it that the most powerful being alive chooses his ship to appear on? I take it as a given, as do I'm sure many of you, that Picard's reports on Q are simply chock-full of lies and misstatements. You cannot have that kind of concentrated power in a few hands. Finally, his lack of verve and energy in implementing MY Cardassian Treaty all but created the Maquis movement. My best evidence for this came when I learned that Maquis Traitor Number Two, Ro Laren, turned herself in on DS9 so that she could attend Picard's funeral. My man Eddington wished to squeeze her for Chakotay's location, but Sisko shot that down, as expected. Thank God for Eddington. Its only with the help of officers like him that we will bring the Maquis low."

"But its wrong to speak ill of the dead, right? Well, in his passing on Veridian 3, Jean-Luc Picard awoke a terrible and ancient evil. And Yes, I will call it evil, for no other term is even remotely adequate. What will happen, as that evil marauds its way through?"

"Watch as our level-headed and safety-minded officers revert to maverick cowboys. Watch as the deference to authority becomes a grudging toleration of authority. If any of you grew tired of reminding Picard of his duty, then you have none of you seen anything yet. It may yet come that the false bravado this avatar of chaos always brings with him will require us to staff a roving JAG-based Court-Martial ship--something I've always been for, in any event. But now it will become necessary, to have even the simplest orders obeyed, when certain top-down policies are implemented. I want to drive a stake through this demon, who has haunted Admirals since Komack. Can we forget that he blackmailed Nogura and very publicly gutted Cartwright?"

"Anything and Everything must be done to prevent him from taking a new Command. Like so many of his ilk, he will choose to hold in contempt our cherished policy that peace must be backed up the appearance of peace. People nowadays will never tolerate the messy peaces of yesteryear, that while shorter and more certain in implementation, gave the look of chaos and a lack of overall control. What is peace if people can't see it, right away? I take heart from the private journals of John Harriman, made right after the botched op of The B's Launch. He knew our enemy's true nature. Why is this man so vilified?"

"I'll finish this portion of my morning correspondence with these words, to bring home my critical point. James Kirk has risen from the dead. While he lives, order will be extremely difficult to maintain. If he takes Command Of The Enterprise-E, as his former paramour Uhura seems to want, then that order is gone. Perhaps Forever. We must stop him. One step I suggest is the possible removal from office of Professor and Admiral Kirk. To protect their children, the Vulcan will talk her husband and their uncle down. Other means may become necessary. I have already spoken to Ambassador Troi, and convinced her that her daughter's hero will be the death of diplomacy. She's good for spreading the word. But until he is gone for good, our task remains undone. The Age Of Reason has no use for the T-Rex."
 

"Next week, I will speak to you all on a far happier subject. The plans for The Hall are nearly finished, and our top echelon will finally have a proper social club, freed from field concerns and other deleteria."

Yours Truly,

Alynna Nechayev, Adm.