The Woman Behind the Podium

Posted on Mon Feb 22nd, 2021 @ 9:46pm by Captain Jocelyn Blake

The Woman Behind the Podium
Who is Jocelyn Blake really?

By: Kuda
RIGEL COLONIES (RNC) – “I decided that Captain Blake was deserving of such an opportunity to prove herself.” Fleet Admiral Sturnack, in a surprise move, took the podium at yesterday afternoon’s Starfleet Command press briefing to answer the reoccurring question of how Earth-native, Captain Jocelyn Blake, was awarded her position over Admiral Claudia Janney, a favorite among Starfleet’s brass. The regularity of this question has led this news service to take a closer look at Captain Blake to provide our readers with a clearer picture of who the new Press Secretary actually is and where she came from.

Much has been made of the new Captain’s appointment as the “face” of Starfleet to the press, a great deal of it relating back to her explosive expose on Admiral James Leyton in 2373 asserting that the Admiral had not only taken an extreme xenophobic stance in the highest reaches of Starfleet, but had also attempted to overthrow those who would oppose an alleged mandate for all visitors to Earth to undergo mandatory testing in order to weed out Changeling subversives. Though several press outlets, the Rigellian News Coalition among them, picked up the release Starfleet had already dealt with the matter internally and so, while salacious, the expose did not appear to cause any change in the day to day workings of Starfleet Command. Some have contested the assertions since, accusing Blake of a smear campaign against Admiral Leyton and asserting that he was forced into retirement for reasons unrelated to the claims in Blake’s expose.

But beyond this, and the various press statements and pieces that round out Blake’s portfolio, little is known about the woman who is currently occupying the office of Press Secretary. Her Starfleet career is straightforward enough. Graduating high in her class she was promptly assigned to the role of press liaison for Starfleet Academy, a position which she held until her expose was released in 2373. Since that time she has been filling the equivalent role for Starfleet’s Research and Development department, a space which, undoubtedly, ensured she was much more removed from the spotlight and other potentially embarrassing situations. Until her elevation to Press Secretary she had advanced to only the rank of Lieutenant.

We spoke with Blake’s parents who consented to an interview after experiencing vandalism of their property attributed to teenagers, but with the message Jocelyn Blake is a Liar included amongst the damage. Warren Blake, a history teacher in a nearby school district, spoke fondly of his daughter highlighting her many strengths. When asked about the veracity of her writing he described a woman with a fanciful imagination. “She always loved to tell stories as a girl. She would come inside and tell us about a fantastical world she had imagined or an exotic encounter between two people she had created in her head. Honestly, we thought she would choose to be an author rather than enter Starfleet, but we have been so proud of her and all of her journalistic accomplishments.”

Warren Blake’s words do not evoke great faith in Captain Blake’s ability to tell a story without bias, however, one can’t discount a person’s entire adult vocation on the hobbies they held when younger. This does not leave our readers with a great deal more insight. We can, at least, know that Jocelyn Blake is a master craftsman of weaving a narrative. The only question that remains is whether the strands with which she weaves are those of the cold uncalculating truth or the fanciful creations of a deeply imaginative mind.