"The Wounded": was Gul Macet aware?

[Ragitsu]

Good afternoon.

In "The Wounded", was Gul Macet kept apprised of his government's (clandestine) actions or was he genuinely ignorant of their plans? I used to wholeheartedly believe he was about to offer Picard a false reassurance before the man cut him off, but I now believe it is possible - however unlikely - that Macet was kept in the dark thanks to compartmentalization of information (i.e., those ships' activities were "need to know" beyond Macet's purview).

 

[AntonyF]

Good evening.

I took it that Macet knew what was going on. Compartmentalisation is entirely possible, but I felt he knew the bigger picture.

 

[Tosk]

I think that even if Macet did not know exactly what was going on, that he at least knew that Maxwell's claims were probably accurate.

 

[Mojochi]

I suppose it's possible that he didn't know the full story about his own fleet's deployments, but that would seem especially risky, on the part of his upper command, to send a clueless Gul into a diplomatic interaction. IF Picard hadn't been specifically order to maintain peace above all else (which Macet couldn't have known about) there's a possibility that he too would want to investigate the transport ships that were suspiciously jamming sensors, to remain covert.

If Macet was clueless, he'd be vulnerable to a blind willingness for allowing such an investigation, & inadvertently expose his own government's seedy dealings. You don't send an innocent to handle a situation where you got something to hide. He knew. The fact he was going to offer a weasely assurance, when it seemed like Picard was turning against him, goes to proving it imho.

In truth, the reason Macet first asked why Picard didn't board the ships, suggests he'd been thinking Picard was a sucker, especially after letting his aid, (Glinn Telle) go free, after he was caught spying on their systems. Macet probably thought Picard was a soft touch... at least until then end, when Picard clears the air fully.

There's really no strategic reason for Picard to divulge that his primary mission was to preserve the peace, above showing loyalty to one of his own, except to make it perfectly clear that Starfleet aren't suckers. They're just taking the high road... This time.

 

[Frightscape One]

I think Macet knew. One thing that leads me to think this is when Worf mentions they can't scan inside the Cardassian ship, Picard looks at Riker... and Macet givee a look toward Picard. The kind of look that says, "Damn... he's going to find out."