JP – First Secretary Keehani Ukinix & Lt. Robin Hopper: Federation Standard (Part 2)
Robin Hopper
((Some time later, Holodeck E – Science & Research Center))
Keehani: How do you operate this thing?
Dressed in a black suit, white collared shirt and a thin black tie, the Betazoid had one hand on her hip as she scratched her head, looking at the antique holographic motor vehicle in front of her.
Hopper: Oh, umm, it’s simple… oO Theoretically Oo …They teach classes on terrestrial vehicles, even some old fashioned ones, at the Academy.
Not that she’d taken one of them. But she had gotten behind the wheel a few times on the holodeck – and with the safeties on, she figured it wouldn’t be possible to mess it up too badly. Robin shifted her shoulders inside her own black suit jacket.
Hopper: One of us sits in the ‘driver’s seat’ and uses the wheel thingy to steer – and you operate the propulsion system with foot pedals. ::Peering into the car:: One of them controls forward movement, and the other is a decelerator… ::Bitting her lip, unsure of which was which:: Anyways, we can figure that out as we go.
Keehani: ::Furrowing brow:: So *I* have to operate the propulsion while you steer? Pfft, we’re in the dark ages aren’t we.
Robin giggled and gently smacked Keehani on the arm.
Hopper: Nooo… Just one of us does all the driving. I’ve ::ahem:: attempted it once or twice before, so I guess that should be me. I’ll do all the mechanisms. You can just sit back and enjoy the ride. oO Hopefully… Oo
Keehani: ::Shrug:: Okay.
Keehani opened the vehicle's door on the opposite side to Robin, who hopped into the driver’s seat and began looking over what she was working with. Typically, these things came with an operator’s manual in the “glove compartment” – which rarely had gloves in them for some reason – but she wasn’t going to embarrass herself by sitting and reading a manual. Instead, she confirmed that all the parts she’d mentioned were, in fact, where she’d remembered them being.
Hopper: Well, there’s keys in the ignition already, so that’s a good sign. ::Eyebrow wiggle:: Did I mention they powered these things with controlled explosions? ::Sighing:: Ahhh, they were crazy back in the day…
Keehani: ::Looking at PADD:: I’m sure the holodeck will help us get to our destination anyway. And according to these notes we’re to drive, and while we do we’re meant to casually talk about… “Hash bars”? And a place named “Amsterdam”? And a particular type of cheese burger?
Keehani dropped the PADD in her lap, then looked at Robin with a lost look on her face.
Robin pressed the pedal she was pretty sure was the brake before turning the key in the ignition. The car roared ‘to life’ – and nothing had gone terribly awry, as far as she could tell.
Hopper: ::Turning to Keehani:: What’d I tell ya? Easy. ::Noticing Keehani’s expression:: What was that about hash burgers?
Keehani: ::looking at PADD again:: I don’t know. Let’s just have our own casual conversation.
Robin smiled, nodded, and looked back towards the road ahead of her. She moved her foot from the brake to the accelerator and gently pressed on it. The car grumbled in protest and did not move. oO Huh? Oo Glancing around the cab, she noticed the stick thingy to her right and remembered that it was necessary to ‘shift gears’. oO Ah. Right. Oo
Moving the vehicle into the “D” gear, which she assumed meant “Drive”, Robin once again gently pressed the accelerator, and the car began to move. She could feel the holodeck gently correcting her lane placement as they began to move and decided, given the circumstances, she would take no offence at the assistance.
Hopper: Okay… ::Turning to look at Keehani:: There we go… So, we’re just supposed to talk? What should we talk about?
Keehani looked down at the holoprogram notes for their characters. Not knowing where “Amsterdam” on Earth was, or its significance, Keehani thought about somewhere else exotic that she *did* know about.
Keehani: Have you ever been to Freecloud?
Hopper: Ooo… No. I had the choice of taking my semester break between University and the Academy on Risa or Freecloud and, well, the Moon Festival was coming up, so… ::knowing look:: Risa it was. But what’s Freecloud all about?
Keehani: Oh, it’s the *best*. Especially Stardust City. Music festivals, partying, exotic nightclubs, Andorian algoraves…
Hopper: ::Jokingly:: Orion Phero-Dancing…
Keehani: No, that’s legal there. Well, kind of.
Hopper: ::Surprised look:: Seriously?
Keehani: Well you can’t just do it anywhere. There’s specific places you have to go.
Hopper: :: Looking at the road ahead:: Wow! Sounds like a pretty liberated place…
Robin turned back to Keehani with an expression that conveyed the unique blend of incredulous and impressed she was feeling.
Hopper: I had no idea you were so ‘free-spirited!’ We should really hang out more often. ::Looking back to the road:: I like to think of myself as a bit of a free spirit as well.
Keehani: Oh, you’d love it so much then! But, you know, Freecloud? It’s not the same as everywhere else. It’s the little details.
Hopper: ::Curious:: Yeah?
Keehani: If you go to a holo-suite there, they offer you a shot of Romulan Ale before you start your program.
Robin let out a little whistle.
Hopper: ::Chuckling:: I guess they know what people get up to in the holo suites.
Keehani: And I don’t mean a normal size shot, it’s almost a ::holding up thumb and forefinger:: a small mug of it.
Robin glanced over at Keehani to see her gesture, then turned back to the road as it curved slightly through the old fashioned suburban neighborhood.
Hopper: Where do they even make that stuff nowadays? ::Cringing at her own question:: Oof. That’s not a good thing to ask is it? ::Looking over at Keehani with a guilty face:: This is why I could never do what you do.
She shook her head. The notion of ever becoming a diplomat, as much as it has appealed to her as a kid, had always been a bit of a pipe dream. She was too prone to sticking her foot in her mouth.
Keehani sat slightly sideways in the passenger seat and observed Robin as a smile turned up at the sides of her mouth. Diplomacy was far from Keehani’s mind when she had visited Freecloud, and she was still a university student.
Hopper: I mean, how do they even acquire it? That stuff is definitely still illegal.
Keehani: Not on Freecloud, Lieutenant. They’re a "non-aligned Crypto Libertarian Pseudorepublic". Which means just about anything goes.
Keehani looked out towards the road, and smiled again as she thought back to her mid-semester break on the planet.
Keehani: But that doesn’t mean they don’t have laws. So for the purposes of ensuring it’s all above board, they give the ale another name.
Hopper: So what do they call it?
Keehani: ::Matter of factly:: Antiseptic mouthwash.
Hopper: “Antiseptic Mouthwash?” ::Laughing:: Okay — yeah, you know what, I could be sold on a bit of that going into a holo suite. Maybe on the way out too.
Robin glanced at Keehani quickly and stuck her tongue out, making a mock ‘grossed out’ face. She chuckled as she turned back to the road. Keehani looked back at Robin as she drove, tilting her head slightly.
Keehani: I think you would have fun.
Hopper: Yeah? ::Smiling, eyes still on the road:: Well, you’ll have to take me there some time then.
Keehani smiled for a little longer, before looking back at her PADD.
Keehani: Ooh, we’re almost here. Apparently there’s weapons in the back compartment of the vehicle. ::Turning around:: Where’s that?
Robin turned to Keehani wide-eyed.
Hopper: Wait, wha? Weapons? We’re not going to have to–
((Hallway outside apartment door, apartment complex))
Keehani stood next to Robin in the hallway, staring at the wooden door in front of them.
Hopper: –hurt someone, will we? ::Looking around:: Oh, that was a rather jarring cut.
Robin patted herself briefly, making sure everything was still in the right place, and was surprised to find something hard inside her jacket. She reached in, grabbed it firmly, and pulled it out, revealing an antique handgun. The last time she’d handled anything like that, it had been an eye-opening experience.
Hopper: Woah! ::Holding it daintily:: I guess that’s one step saved… ::Putting it gingerly back into the holster under her jacket:: So, um… What’s this next part all about?
Keehani: Well… ::looking at PADD:: first we have to work out who is going to be the “enforcer”. They’ll talk to “Brad” and whoever else is in there, make sure they reveal the location of Marsellus’ suitcase, and then… ::looking up:: we have to, you know…
Robin nodded along as Keehani laid out the upcoming scene. oO Okay, right. Enforce. Talk. Get information… and then…? Oo
Hopper: ::Squinting:: Get burgers? oO Something tells me that’s wishful thinking. Oo
Keehani: “Eliminate” them. ::tapping weapon tucked into belt under suit:: With these.
Hopper: Uhh, hmm… That’s not normally part of the holos I like to play. You sure we can’t work things out with them, you know… Diplomatically? ::Smiling hopefully:: I mean, I know we’re supposed to be ‘hitmen’ but that just seems so gruesome.
Keehani: I don’t know, I guess diplomacy might not be the best option. Maybe “assertive” diplomacy.
Robin nodded, more emphatically.
Hopper: “Assertive diplomacy.” Yeah… Yeah, I can work with that. Like, threats and stuff? I’ve been told I can be very intimidating.
She turned to Keehani, with a doe-eyed look.
Hopper: Unless, you want to be the enforcer?
Keehani: I don’t mind. I deal with people every day, so ::shrug:: getting the information we need shouldn’t be too hard.
Hopper: ::Breathing a sigh of relief:: Thank God! ::Patting her gun:: These things make me sort of nervous. The last time I fired a projectile weapon – a real one – it went flying out of my hands… Watch the recoil if you decide to, umm, ‘eliminate’ them after all.
Keehani: ::Turning back to face door:: Well, let’s see if we can avoid that… although we are assassins. ::Waving hands:: I don’t know. Let’s just go in and see what happens. Ready?
Before Robin could say anything, Keehani lifted a fist and knocked on the door.
Hopper: ::Sing-songy:: Hellooo! Anybody home?
She glanced at Keehani and blushed.
Hopper: I… don’t know what that was… I wasn’t ready.
TBC…
First Secretary Keehani Ukinix
Ambassadorial Aide, Amity Outpost
Federation Diplomatic Corps, United Federation of Planets
V239511WU0
&
Lt. Robin Hopper
Chief Science Officer,
Amity Outpost
V239806K11