Sarcasm is an adjusted stress reaction.

My impression from the dialogue about Maddox recruiting her out of Starfleet, them coming so close, and her knowing so much about his theories (the necklace symbol, for instance) is that they had to have been working together before the Mars attack. (It's also not clear how long a lag there was between assault and ban.) PatStew is 79, but Picard is 93; there could be a similar presumed gap in Jurati's case. I'm sure we'll find out more soon.