Starter for @thisisourstar
Eva Stratt knew it was only a matter of time.
Once she was notified that Yao, Ilyukhina, and Grace were received by the astronauts of ISS, and were successfully on their way to Tau Ceti, the clock was ticking. Project Hail Mary, humanity's last ditch effort to figure out a solution to their dying sun, was well on its way. With Project Hail Mary done, the authority vested in her via the nations of the world, would run out soon enough.
Until then, she would do whatever it took to prolong humanity's survival and give Project Hail Mary as much time as she could.
Try as she might, the one thing Eva Stratt could not control, were other people. After the launch of Project Hail Mary, an anonymous post about the existence and purpose of the Petrova Task Force on an internet forum spiraled into a full-blown conspiracy theory. As a result, the government was forced to declassify parts of Project Hail Mary (even if parts of it were heavily redacted).
Page by page, Eva Stratt's deeds were revealed to the public. The more the public scrutinized the files, the more the public demanded accountability for her actions. Newspaper headlines across the globe excoriated her. Scathing article after scathing article, cast her as humanity's villain, who utilized her power and position to destroy the Earth's natural resources for corrupt purposes.
In the midst of all the controversy, Eva Stratt kept working.
As she walked under the night sky, she felt a tingle on the back of her neck. She sees something in the corner of her eye. Without turning around, she utters a single sentence with a calm, matter-of-fact tone.
"Are you here to arrest me?"
