Given the way the discussion had gone to this point....she knew it was pointless to offer anymore input on the subject.   But she knew there were things out there that could and would pound the snot out out a ship the size of the McNair, Multiphasic shields or not.  Species 8472 was able to tear apart Borg Cubes without breaking a sweat.  How much resistance could they put up?  An Alliance Battlecruiser from the Mirror Universe made even the biggest Klingon cruisers look absolutely pitiful.  It was an I Told You So that she did not want.  So Northrop offered one more thought.<br/><br/>But she was going to put her thoughts on the record.  The Archeologist-turned-Intelligence-Officer kept her tone even as she spoke, "Captain....I understand your position....but I would offer that having the big stick and using the big stick are two totally different things.  One of my field archeology professors in school once told me that when planning for a dig, it was better to have something available and not need it than it was to need something and not have it."<br/><br/>Alyssa paused a moment, "That is only my opinion, Sir....the decision is, of course, yours alone to make.  But I felt that I should at least put my thoughts out there for consideration."