Lt. Robin Hopper: Quantumania
Robin Hopper
((Transporter Center 1, Terminal A - Amity Outpost))
Robin had been set to investigate strange readings he and Commander Ukinix had discovered while poking into transporter logs. The question had been raised as to whether or not the increasingly-common fissures scattered throughout the benamite fields near Amity could be involved. As Chief Science Officer, it was her job to explore that possibility. Fortunately, it was something she’d already been looking into – though, in a different capacity.
Hopper: =/\= Hopper to Ensign Premkumar. Can you isolate the larger anomaly we recorded yesterday, shortly after the Targhee departed? See if it’s still present and, if so, check for tachyon particle emissions or chronometric distortion patterns. =/\=
As she waited for the stellar cartographer to respond, she took a sip of her chai latté, then nodded to her Canadian companion. She’d never been to Scotty’s home country, but her limited research had left her a bit confused about which of its unique customs were real and which were just jokes.
Hopper: ::To Scotty:: How’s your double double?
Reade: Great! A perfect blend of sugar and milk.
He took a sip and smiled, seeming to enjoy it genuinely. oO Okay, so the “double double” is a real one… Next, I’ll have to see if a “Canadian Tuxedo” is a real thing. Oo
Premkumar: =/\= Running that analysis for you now, Lieutenant. Give me a few minutes. =/\=
Hopper: =/\= Acknowledged. Take all the time you need. =/\= ::Back to Scotty:: Alright, Rivi was transported to Sickbay and treated, so I might need to get clearance to examine her records from Ikaia. Who were the other two that transported aboard?
Reade: Ah, give me a second, I wrote the names down in my PADD.
Robin nodded as Scotty looked through his PADD. She couldn’t blame him. There were practically enough Betazoid nobles on the station to found a new civilization. Keeping all their names straight was hard enough, let alone their respective titles and the Houses they belonged to.
Reade: :: fumbling through PADD:: Here, it was Tri’lea Polgonz and Wil.
She paused for a moment, scrunching her face up in confusion. There were several Polgonz’ lurking around – that much she knew – but why had Scotty been confused about Wil. Surely he was talking about Wil Ukinix..?
Hopper: Tri’lea Polgonz and… “Wil”? Our Wil?
The look on Reade’s face seemed to convey that he was as confused as she was. He looked back down at his PADD.
Reade: That is correct.
oO Huh? Oo Then he looked back up.
Reade: This “Wil” I am unsure of who this is at the moment.
oO Oh… Oo
Hopper: Another Betazoid named Wil? ::Shaking her head:: Why do they have to make it so hard to keep track of them all? ::Sighing:: Well, whatever, let’s look at their records, see if they have the same desynchronized quantum signatures. If so, we’ll have something solid to work with.
Reade: Sounds like a plan. Shall we?
She gestured to the console in front of them, inviting Reade to pull up their biosigns as well. In her head, she began running through the limited details she’d picked up from Nathan about their travel plans. Rivi and a handful of other Nobles – including the one he’d shtupped – were traveling to Idrustix in the Targhee. Of course, she hadn’t bothered remembering their names… But she was pretty certain if he’d said some woman named “Wil” was joining them, she’d have remembered that.
As the data came up on the console, she set those thoughts aside and sipped at her chai daintily before leaning in to look it over.
Hopper: Let’s start with Polgonz – after all, we’ll have her records on file already. That much I know. We can have the computer run the same quantum variance analysis and compare to her existing biometrics.
Reade: Ok, so far it seems that Tri’lea has the same desynced signatures. Though, they are slightly less desynced than the ones from Rivi.
Robin picked up the PADD as Scotty handed it to her, with the detailed breakdown in focus. She scanned it quickly, noting the minute differences between the expected quantum signature for Tri’lea Polgonz and the one detected by the transporter pattern buffer. Next, she compared with the scans from Rivi.
Hopper: Hmm… You know, I’m growing more and more confident in the result we’re going to get back from Ensign Premkumar. After all, the most straightforward way to alter an atom’s quantum signature – at least speaking within accepted theory – is to have it travel faster than the speed via subspace without proper shielding.
Scottty nodded towards her, still focused on the analysis the computer was running on the terminal.
Reade: Hmm. you make a good point.
She set the PADD down, crossed her arms, and tapped her chin in thought.
Hopper: The difference between Rivi’s alteration and Polgonz’ is so minute, this could easily be accounted for by something as simple as passing near the event horizon of a subspace fissure a nanosecond earlier than Rivi – assuming one of those anomalies is involved. But it would certainly be a neat and tidy explanation for what we’re seeing here.
Reade: This is odd.
She turned around to get her attention, and she quickly sidled up next to him again, looking over his shoulder.
Hopper: What’s odd?
Reade: I cannot find any desynced data from this Wil, though everything looks clean, at least from this level.
He once again sent the data to her PADD. Robin stared at it for a moment. After a minute, she responded dryly.
Hopper: I’m not convinced. ::Furrowing her brow:: The data’s insufficient given a single sample. The problem is we have no baseline data for this “Wil” lady, whoever she is. ::Holding the PADD out to Scotty:: If anything, all this suggests to me is that she’d never visited Amity before this… If she had, we’d have biometrics on file for her.
oO But why would that be? Oo
Hopper: Could she had beamed aboard the Targhee from one the yachts? Maybe after they left Amity’s shuttlebay? ::Shaking her head:: God knows why they’d do that though.
Reade: It could be that. I can send the data over to Crewman Batnam down in engineering, he is really good at reading the transport logs, never hurts to have another set of eyes look over this data.
Hopper: ::Nodding:: Yes, sure. Why not? Send it over.
Reade: Sure thing, I will give him a call now. =/\= Crewman Batnam, I am sending a transport log down to you for review; please let me know if you find anything out of the ordinary. =/\=
Something was still irking her – though she couldn’t put her finger on any specific thing. It was more the apparent disorganization of it all. That didn’t seem like Rivi to her… and come to think of it, if both Rivi and Polgonz, not to mention whoever this Wil person was, were back on Amity… who was continuing on to Idrustix?
Batnam: =/\= Understood, Lietuent, I will get that started right away. I will alert you if I find anything out of the blue. =/\=
She tried to remember what Nathan had said, but the names escaped her. Was it just Nathan and that woman from Betazed? That would be weird. Surely they’d just turn around and come back… But Rivi and Polgonz and their companion had transported aboard the station. Why wouldn’t Nathan just bring the Targhee back…
Reade: While we wait for that to be looked over, is there anything else we should look into?
Hopper: Yes – but, uh, something on sort of a different wavelength. Bear with me, Scotty… Can you pull up the communications logs registered from right before these three beamed to Amity?
Reade: Response
She watched, her suspicion mingling with confusion, as he pulled up the logs and located the appropriate stardate and time.
Hopper: Check the transmitter identification number on the incoming comms from their vessel. ::Pointing to the console:: Yes, there…
She stared at it for a moment, blinking.
Hopper: That isn’t the Targhee’s transmitter.
Reade: Response
She shook her head. If it were any other shuttle, she’d have to admit uncertainty – but not in this case.
Hopper: No, I’m positive. I’m the one who assigned its unique identifier. I had to use an old v13 key to spoof the fail safes that let it integrate with the on board communications platform. There’s no way that’s the Targhee.
There was a moment of silent contemplation as both of them tried to make sense of the fact that Rivi and Polgonz, who had irrefutably left the station aboard the Targhee, had been beamed back to Amity from some other vessel. But their pondering was cut short by the voice of Crewman Batnam.
Batnam: =/\= Batnam to Reade. I’ve looked over the logs, sir. They’re a bit unusual, but I don’t notice any issues with the logs themselves. They haven’t been tampered with, they’re just strange. Maybe some sort of unfamiliar tech involved… What ship were they transporting from? =/\=
Hopper: ::To Reade:: That’s exactly what I want to know.
Reade: =/\= Response =/\=
Hopper: Scotty, there’s something weird here. Spatial anomalies, altered quantum signatures, unfamiliar Betazoid nobles… and where’s the Targhee? ::Tapping her combadge:: =/\= Hopper to Premkumar. How’s it going, Sunita? =/\=
A moment later, the stellar cartographer’s voice answered. Robin was sure that she sensed uncertainty in the woman’s voice.
Premkumar: =/\= I’m here… The distortion is still there, ma’am, but… =/\=
Robin glanced to Scotty, her eyebrows rising. Sunita never called her “Ma’am.” The situation had to be serious.
Hopper: =/\= But what? =/\=
Premkumar: =/\= I double-checked the data. Actually, ma’am, I triple-checked it. This anomaly is different from the others. It seems to have stabilized. =/\=
Robin gasped.
Reade: Response
Hopper: That is definitely abnormal…
Before she could explain further, another voice came over their comms – this time chirping both their badges. The sudden interruption, mixed with Robin’s preexisting worry, made her jump.
Ukinix: =/\= Ukinix to Carter, Iovianus, Wong, Hopper and Reade. Report to the situation room in ten minutes. Priority one. Ukinix out. =/\=
Robin looked to Scotty, wide-eyed.
Hopper: Priority one? Oh, Scotty… Something very unusual is happening here…
Reade: Response
She tapped her combadge.
Hopper: =/\= Hopper to Premkumar. Thanks Sunita… Please transfer your findings to my PADD and then… Then delete the records. =/\=
END Scene for Hopper
((OOC – Will pick back up shortly for the briefing scene!))
