Lt. Robin Hopper: With The Current
Robin Hopper
((OOC – Thanks for bearing with me you guys. It’s been a hectic couple weeks IRL (including the current one)! Taking this scene towards a close just to get everything wrapped up prior to mission start this week…))
((Type-6A Shuttle Arbutus – Benemite Nebula, 35AU Distance from Amity Outpost))
The entire shuttle was shaking violently. Flint reached for the controls, trying to move them away, but the helm console flickered, sparked, and went dark. A moment later, the lights in the cabin followed suit, plunging them into darkness, and the shuttle listed to the side. Hopper, the only one on her feet, reached for something to hold onto in the darkness, but the inertial dampers were out, and she felt herself thrown against the side wall of the shuttle with an audible bang.
She heard voices shouting around her as her vision grew dark and fuzzy. She stared past the faces of the others and out into the cosmos beyond, trying to work out how she’d wound up in this funny little predicament. A small smile ebbed at the corners of her lips before her eyes rolled back and shut, and she slipped off into a troubled unconscious sleep.
((Flashback – Keox Conservatory, Da’aden Epestor, Velestus aka “Alpha Centauri IV”))
Hoppy stood on her tippy-toes while she held the gigantic red bloom out in front of her, as if she herself were supporting the plant’s beautiful flower and not its own thick bluish stalk. She lifted her face up to it and sniffed, taking in the intense sweet aroma with enthusiastic satisfaction. It was like nothing she’d ever smelled before. It was so amazing that the forces of nature had somehow led an organism like that to evolve, that it had developed that way to attract polly… oO Polly…? Oo
Hopper: What was that word you taught me just a minute ago, Tsavai?
She pulled her face away from the flower, and looked across the stone pathway to her Tsavai – her grandmother – Phoenyra Keox, who sat on the bench behind her, dressed in a flowing blue and white traditional Centauran robe… a stark contrast to the rich palette of colours that surrounded them.
Keox: Symbioparasitoid Pollinators. You remember, like the nyrida beetle.
Hopper: ::Scrunching up her nose:: Ew, I didn’t like those.
Keox: ::Amused:: Well, you better wipe your nose off then. You’ve got some pollen on you.
The older woman, now in her early 120s, stood – supporting herself on the arm of the bench, as she made her way over to her granddaughter, only 5-and-a-half years old, and brushed orange pollen off her nose. Hoppy shook her head and tried not to sneeze.
Hopper: Thanks, Tsavai. ::Grinning:: I don’t want a beetle to live in my nose! Yuck. ::Looking around, curious:: Are there even any nyrida beetles in here??
Keox: ::Chuckling:: No, young one… Come on, let’s leave the Stylosanthes prunifolium alone, hmm? We’ve almost made it through. Just a little ways to go now – you love the waterfall and the jumping frogs.
Hopper: The Hoppy frogs, Tsavai! They’re like me. I don’t like standing still too long either.
The pair set off down the winding path which led through the massive conservatory. High above them, the force field dome shone and rippled with energy against the bright blue Centauran sky. Hoppy, true to her assertion and nickname, began jumping from one large flagstone to another. They had visited the conservatory every day, at her insistence, since she and Mama and Mavai had arrived two weeks ago for their vacation.
She didn’t really understand why they had come so abruptly, but apparently the last time they’d been back to Velestus had been shortly before Hoppy had been born – so she didn’t really care. There was so much to take in. It was such a large world, and her Tsavai was so impressive. She knew the names of every animal and every plant – and there was a giant statue of her out front of the conservatory because she was a famous scientist!
Hopper: ::Leaping from stone-to-stone:: Did Mavai tell you about my new leg?
Keox: ::Following, watching:: I heard you got an upgrade… No, a whole new one, isn’t that right?
Hoppy paused, turning to face her grandmother, resting her hands on her hips in pride.
Hopper: Yep! And it’s so much better than the last one. I can run really fast and jump and climb and dance just like it’s real. Mama says I can take dance lessons this summer at the community center if I want to. I think I want to. So I think I’m going to. Yes I’m definitely going to.
Keox: Sounds like you’ve got it all figured out, young one.
Hopper: ::Confidently:: Mhmm, I do. First, I gotta learn to keep jumping forever without getting tired like the frogs in the waterfall. Then, I can learn to be the greatest dancer in the whole world. And one day I’m gonna grow up and be like you and Mavai and Mama and travel the stars and learn all the names of all the plants and animals in the universe and build spaceships… and… and…
Hoppy leapt ahead a few more steps, then caught sight of the mist rising from the little falls by the bridge and immediately forgot her plan to hop from rock-to-rock, running excitedly up to watch the funny little amphibians who lived their entire lives leaping against the current. Her grandmother followed closely behind her, and standing beside her on the bridge, lay a gentle hand on her shoulder. Hoppy looked up at her Tsavai with a grateful squinting smile, before turning back to the little creatures.
Keox: Well, don’t go flying off into space just yet, Kinolaisi. You don’t want to end up like one of these creatures, always swimming against the current…
((End Flashback))
Hopper awoke with a start, her eyes flashing open. The rest of her body was a bit sluggish to respond, however. She looked around, her vision still fuzzy, and her hearing still muffled. It sounded as though the rest of the crew was quite busy… oO Why was I sleeping? Oo
It was then she began to realize she was lying on the floor, tucked under the bench on the Type-6A shuttle – and she had a terrible throbbing headache. Slowly, everything began to come back to her.
Flint: Veers, when you think we’re aligned, give me the signal to vent the nacelles…
Veers: Right… on my mark. Three. Two. One. Mark. ::she looked towards Flint then McLaren.
Flint: ::Pressing buttons on the conn:: Nacelle ventilation ports open… Nearly there. ::To McLaren:: Go, McLaren.
McLaren: ::rotating dial:: Ok warp nacelles disconnected and isolated from the warp core.
Veers: Well. Time for the ‘it either works, or it’s suddenly not our problem anymore’ part. Fingers Crossed.
oO The warp core…? Oo Robin recalled them reaching the benamite deposit and the readings going wonky. They’d theorized there could be a spatial disruption and moments later everything had gotten… dark? But that was just a second ago. Or was it?
A small groan escaped her lips as she tried to move her limbs, to little avail.
Flint: ::Not hearing Hopper:: Come on… Adjusting heading. Maneuvering thrusters are bloody sensitive… ::To Veers:: You’re sure about our heading?
Veers: Response
Flint: Right, eject it. Now!!!
Robin managed to tilt her head enough to look towards the rear of the shuttle, where she spotted McLaren working on something… oO They’re ejecting the warp core, Oo she surmised. But why? oO Overload the fissure… Oo she figured. oO Flood the ruptured subspace and close it up like a healing wound… Oo
It was a good plan. She wondered who had thought it up – though her hunch was Veers, given the young woman’s aptitude for physics. oO Thank god for that! Oo She blinked hard and then wiggled her fingers, dragging an arm sluggishly up towards her head to try and lift herself off the floor.
McLaren: Ok, looks like the core is away.
Flint: Veers – can you track it? What the status on the anomaly?
Veers: Response
As if to highlight Veers’ report, a moment later there was a brilliant flash of light and the entire shuttle rocked again. Fortunately, this time everyone was prepared – and Robin was still on the floor. A moment later and the ambient brightness of the shuttle rose noticeably.
She watched as Flint leaned back in his chair and let out a sigh.
Flint: Power’s no longer being siphoned away by the anomaly… I think we might be able to get some limited functionality out of the nacelles – and we should have greater sensor and communications range once more.
McLaren: Now we need to find that probe.
Hopper: ::Weakly:: Nice job everyone…
She managed to push herself up from the floor and, resting an arm on the bench, pull herself up into a seated position. Her vision and her hearing had cleared, but she still had a headache – and her entire back felt sore. When the shuttle had been thrown initially, she must have slammed against the wall of the craft and had the wind – and consciousness – knocked out of her.
Flint turned to address her first.
Flint: ::Brows furrowed:: You’ve just missed all the fun, Lieutenant. I hope you enjoyed your nap.
Veers: Response?
She reached down and ran a hand along her left leg, checking for damage. While it was extremely responsive, almost like her own self-grown appendage, it didn’t experience pain – not in the same way at least – and assessing for damage often required a visual and tactile assessment.
Everything seemed to be in order. She decided to try lifting herself onto the bench and had limited success.
Hopper: Oh yeah… It was very restorative. ::Small smile:: Remind me next time we take a shuttle to check out the funny rocks that I might want to wear a crash helmet. ::To Veers:: Cascading subspace field collapse?
Veers: Response
Robin nodded, but quickly stopped the motion, wincing, and instead offered a ‘thumbs up’.
Hopper: Good thinking. ::To McLaren:: And kudos for jumping in when the situation called for it.
Flint: Right, well, I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m fine without a pat on the back – let’s just find Miss McLaren’s probe and figure out how to hot wire it so we can get back to the station, hmm?
McLaren: Totally. I think we are on the right track here.
As the helmsman focused on maneuvering the shuttle using the limited power available to them, he turned to Veers.
Flint: Ensign, if you don’t mind running sensor sweeps again, we have a probe to find somewhere in this field of asteroids.
Veers/McLaren: Response
As the others worked to resolve the situation, Robin leaned back against the wall of the shuttle, closing her eyes for a moment. She did her best to stay present on the conversation, avoid fading off into sleep again… The odds were decent she’d sustained some sort of head injury – though she was sure it was nothing Ikaia couldn’t help her fix.
Hopper: I’m here if anyone needs me… but I’m not really at full capacity.
Veers/McLaren: Response
Flint: That looks like it. Setting a course. We’ll limp over the probe and see if we can remotely reconfigure it to reroute our comms… ::To Hopper:: You sure you’re not up to some programming?
Robin shook her head. If she swam against the current now, she might vomit – and right now, life was telling her to take a backseat.
Flint: Brilliant. Well then, Miss McLaren, looks like you’ll be wearing the Engineer hat a little longer today. Hope you’re familiar with your probes – and Veers, we’re going to need to figure out some way to amplify the signal, cut through all the benamite interference.
McLaren/Veers: Response
As she listened to the others working, for some reason Robin was reminded of the little frogs jumping in the waterfall back on Velestus, over twenty years ago. A lot had changed since then – but she’d bet anything those frogs were still there, still jumping into the waterfall to catch bugs carried over the edge. Somehow, in the grand scheme of things, a bump on the head and their shuttle nearly being torn to pieces didn’t seem so bad… at least she’d gotten to come here, and see all this.
Hopper: Agreed. Let’s get back home. I don’t know about you, Miss McLaren, Ensign… but at least for today, I think my curiosity is satisfied.
END Scene for Hopper
((OOC – Feel free to add additional lines after my last, if you want, just no more tags for Hopper or Flint. Thanks!))
