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<blockquote data-quote="Radiating Gnome" data-source="post: 2862347" data-attributes="member: 150">&quot;Make no mistake, we will not be shouting from the rooftops -- we are turning this investigation over to the nearest imperial military authorities.&nbsp; If this is a counter-espionage operation, they will be in control and best able to keep things quiet. &quot;A more paranoid person might assume that IF this is a counter-espionage operation the best way for the imperium to bury any news about the story would be to disappear us and our passengers, but I'm not that paranoid and I'd encourage you to not be that paranoid.&nbsp; &quot;Making backups of the data is a mistake, I think.&nbsp; If this is espionage, then making copies of the data makes us spies as well. Once we've made copies, there's no clean way to deal with them -- if we turn them over to the authorities, then we're repentant spies.&nbsp; If we keep them, then their discovery can put us in hot water at any time.&nbsp; If we destroy them, there's no way to prove they were destroyed, and each one of us could prove to be a witness against the others -- while more than one of us lives we will be living under the (albeit distant) threat that the others will testify against us and turn us in as spies. &quot;That's not paranoia, that's life experience talking.&nbsp; Once you take a step down that path there's no taking it back.&nbsp; I've seen too many lives and careers ruined this way -- a simple act that, while breaking the rules, seems to make sense at the time, but that single act snowballs, making gradually more and more terrible things 'reasonable', turning friends and allies against each other.&nbsp; &quot;The only safe course is the straight and narrow.&nbsp; Package up our evidence, take some time to prepare written reports for the investigators, and don't talk about our change of course. Once we're in system we'll contact the escort fleet and ask for permission to dock.&nbsp; With any luck I'll know someone in the fleet who can help us find the right people to talk to.&quot;-rg</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Radiating Gnome, post: 2862347, member: 150"] "Make no mistake, we will not be shouting from the rooftops -- we are turning this investigation over to the nearest imperial military authorities. If this is a counter-espionage operation, they will be in control and best able to keep things quiet. "A more paranoid person might assume that IF this is a counter-espionage operation the best way for the imperium to bury any news about the story would be to disappear us and our passengers, but I'm not that paranoid and I'd encourage you to not be that paranoid. "Making backups of the data is a mistake, I think. If this is espionage, then making copies of the data makes us spies as well. Once we've made copies, there's no clean way to deal with them -- if we turn them over to the authorities, then we're repentant spies. If we keep them, then their discovery can put us in hot water at any time. If we destroy them, there's no way to prove they were destroyed, and each one of us could prove to be a witness against the others -- while more than one of us lives we will be living under the (albeit distant) threat that the others will testify against us and turn us in as spies. "That's not paranoia, that's life experience talking. Once you take a step down that path there's no taking it back. I've seen too many lives and careers ruined this way -- a simple act that, while breaking the rules, seems to make sense at the time, but that single act snowballs, making gradually more and more terrible things 'reasonable', turning friends and allies against each other. "The only safe course is the straight and narrow. Package up our evidence, take some time to prepare written reports for the investigators, and don't talk about our change of course. Once we're in system we'll contact the escort fleet and ask for permission to dock. With any luck I'll know someone in the fleet who can help us find the right people to talk to." -rg [/QUOTE]

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