The data recorder on the other shuttlepod had ‘mysteriously’ malfunctioned, and, if Travis had actually obeyed his unspoken orders to return to Enterprise the moment Commander Reed and the two MACOs were deployed, he probably wouldn’t be aware of it either. Instead, though, he’d loitered over the mining facility, cloaked and unseen, wanting to be on hand to help out if the mess deteriorated, and as a result, he now had damning evidence that Malcolm had violated the rules of engagement laid out by Commander Hernandez when she authorized the mission.
“Minimal casualties,” she’d insisted. “We’re trying to prevent a war, not start another one.”
All of this boiled down to two options, neither of which were especially good. One, Malcolm’s definition of ‘minimal casualties’ was significantly di
