Date: June 3, 3301
Subject: Federal Pilots Not Convinced by Official Starship One Report
Now that everyone has had a chance to disseminate the official report concerning the drive failure on Starship One, Federal Navy pilots are not entirely convinced by the report’s findings. In fact, some are outraged. Speaking on condition of anonymity, members of the Daedalus Heavy Reconnaissance wing in Sol, the unit colloquially known in the navy as “Thug Life”, angrily denounced the report.
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“It’s absurd, a farce,” Remarked one pilot. “To think that the Federal Navy would outfit Starship One with drives known to be defective? Its pure nonsense and it makes us all look bad. That ship was impeccably maintained. Tested over and over to the highest standards for safety. The security around that ship is impenetrable. To suggest that it simply ‘blew up’ of its own accord is insulting to every Federal service man or woman in uniform.” Said another, "I know some of the guys that work on that ship. They're the best at what they do, else they wouldn't be assigned to SS1. They don't make mistakes and they don't let anything take off that isn't 100% safe. The 'S' class FSD does not have 'notoriously high maintenance requirements', rather, as it pertains to SS1, they are 'notoriously well maintained.'"
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Not wishing to remain anonymous was Ensign Don Alvarez of the FDS Vengeance. “Where’s the backlash? We’ve just lost the President of the Federation, I’ve just returned from a week long assignment in deep space to find a new administration in place and all this neatly swept under the rug, with not a single court martial or job lost over the affair. The Navy doesn't operate that way. People are held accountable, so no doubt some strings were pulled to get this fictional report published. I want to go on record so maybe President Hudson will look into this matter a bit more seriously so he is not the next to get immolated in Hyperspace. First these strange artifacts start showing up, terrorists rail against a government cover up and then we lose Starship One. You don’t need to be an admiral to put two and two together. Even at my pay grade you hear rumors – whispers about things like ‘undocumented cargo’ on Starship One.”