I've heard. [He's actually surprised to hear it out of her, finally, and he actually looks a touch sympathetic despite everything. It was a terrible mistake, one that shouldn't be taken lightly.] But if I believed that were the case I wouldn't be asking you now. [And he knows she's trapped here with a whole ship full of people she indirectly harmed; one or two was bad enough for him. Harper didn't make his opinion of Rhade much of a secret. People holding her accountable for the wrong thing would be more unceasing misery than any punishment that the wardens could agree on.]

It's a pitiful way to find common ground. [He knows she needs help, and he's upset about what she said. But in the end, she's still the person he brought back a gift for. She's still more like the Harper he knew to him than the Harper that was here.]

Was your dataport initially deactivated when demotions occurred, leading you to correct the error manually? Or did the Admiral only deactivate it after control of the ship is returned. It's an important question, because it means that the changes to the ship were occurring even after you were unhooked and out of control.