Lt. Cmdr Robin Hopper: Can You Hear The Music?
Robin Hopper
((Scout Daintree – En Route to Fana 2977-B))
The Talon Class Scout rose gracefully and sailed out from Amity’s shuttlebay until it had reached a safe distance to initiate the impulse engines. Entering the necessary coordinates and activating the drive, Robin looked over to Wil, her voice tinged with curiosity.
Hopper: So – you got any theories? About our disappearing star?
Ukinix: Either a sensor glitch, or something disappearing in and out of phase.
She leaned back in her seat, waiting until they had successfully cleared the anomalous regions around Amity before taking the vessel to warp.
Hopper: I assume you looked through the database for precedents already? The only similar phenomenon I can think of off the top of my head is Meridian – sole planet in the Trialus system. It cycles through regular space briefly every sixty years or so. Have you heard of it?
It was one of the more fascinating reports out of the early years’ of Deep Space Nine’s oversight by Starfleet… at least, from a physics perspective – and, after accounting for all manner of phenomena attributed to the Bajoran Wormhole, of course. Robin had attended, and greatly enjoyed, a special lecture series on the Bajoran Wormhole (or “celestial temple”) presented during her second year at the Academy… and it had led her to seek out all sorts of adjacent reports and studies on regional physics quandaries from the area.
Ukinix: Nah, I haven’t had time. Once I got the report from the computer I had to hastily put plans together for us to head out this morning. ::Slight yawn, hand over back of mouth:: Then I had to go and have an early night.
She nodded, silently taking a sip of her coffee and avoiding talking about the previous evening that she’d spent with Nathan – trying not to even think about it, given Wil’s basal empathic abilities (lest he should “pick up” on anything suspicious. Fortunately, she was able to distract herself with piloting the craft while he was distracted reading a brief on the planet she’d mentioned.
After a few minutes, he set the PADD down and motioned to her.
Ukinix: This sounds like a candidate though. Nice spot.
Robin crossed her arms, trying to work something out in her mind now that they were both on the same page. As she spoke, she gestured with her hand towards nothing in particular, spinning it a few times as she listed off various phenomena.
Hopper: Of course, if it were something like that, we’d be seeing a significant build-up of quantum energy, tachyon emissions, and gravimetric disturbances in the system... ::Scrunching her mouth up to the side before eventually sighing:: … I guess we’ll just have to take a closer look.
Ukinix: You know, I was involved in a mission where a planet popped in and out of subspace, and it was related to the Menthar civilisation. Maybe this is a similar thing.
She turned to look at him quizzically. According to Starfleet Academy, the Menthar were an ancient – and notably extinct species. Wil, however, seemed to think nothing of it whatsoever. She shrugged (mentally), figuring if there were more to that, he’d have filled her in… Then again, maybe he needed to be prompted.
She lobbed a conversational ball his way.
Hopper: So – I believe you said something about stories? Laughs? ::Smile:: I take it you have some to share?
The Commander turned in his seat, and turned up the corner of his mouth into a smile.
Ukinix: Why do I have to share first?
Hopper: ::Shrug, cheeky smile:: Because I said so?
Ukinix: Alright then. Well, this one time, at footy camp…
((Hours later – Close proximity to Fana 2977-B))
After swapping a number of stories about their histories in Starfleet – Wil’s adventures as an engineer aboard the Veritas and Robin’s account of her time within the Wall Street’s science labs – as well branching off into subjects like Wil’s extracurriculars and Robin’s discovery of ABBA, she glanced to the chronometer and was surprised to see that several hours had passed. This, of course, was verifiable by the number of caffeinated beverages she’d consumed – at least three (though the last one had been a significantly milder “mocha”).
They had also explored, back-and-forth, a number of bands and favourite songs from their personal collections. Robin had been exuberant, for example, to learn that her fellow old-Earth-music buff was not already familiar with the iconic sororal girl group: Sister Sledge – and was pleased to point out how much of their music sounded familiar because of how heavily sampled they were by other artists.
At the present moment, they were listening to one of Wil’s selections, aptly titled “Kick A Hole In The Sky” (it was a rather eclectic song to Robin’s ears – but she figured if he was willing to tolerate her Disco, she ought to tolerate his pop rock) as he finished off the tail end of a story that had her chuckling along with him.
Ukinix: … and that’s how I became school chess champion, without ever having played one game of chess.
Hopper: ::Shaking her head:: I take it your little ‘nemesis’ didn’t take too kindly to that?
Ukinix: You should have seen her face. I’ve never seen a Vulcan angry like that. Admittedly, she was still a teenager, but… ::shrug::, ah, she deserved it.
Robin shut her eyes briefly, switching from shaking her head to nodding, pursing her lips tightly before responding with a beleaguered–yet–amused affirmative.
Hopper: Yeah. Fair enough. Teenagers can be awful. Species doesn’t seem to make much difference.
Ukinix: And what about you, any school shenanigans you got up to?
Hopper: ::Hemming and hawing a bit:: Ehhhhhh… Welllllll… You know, Theta VII was – is – a small world. I grew up in a farming community outside of the capital city, so you know reeeally extra small. Nothing too crazy happened.
She looked away, not sure she felt like broaching the subject of high school with her XO. Sure, they may have gotten to know each other better over the past year, and she liked Wil well enough, but they weren’t close in the same way that she and Ikaia or Nathan were, or even his cousin, Keehani.
Perhaps that was, simply, because of their difference in rank. Maybe it was even unwarranted for her to think that was the case. After all, he’d never been anything but friendly to her. It could be entirely in her own head… All the same, those years had been awkward and delving into them would likely only make her look worse in his eyes. Precisely why she had barely discussed her youth with anyone on Amity – not even with Ikaia, Nathan, or Keehani.
She was suddenly pulled out of her uncomfortable reminiscence by the tone of her console, alerting them that they were nearing their destination.
Hopper: ::Happy for the reprieve:: Oh! Looks like we’re there. Guess we’ll have to shelve that for another time. ::Glance to Wil:: Shall I?
Ukinix: Alright, take us out of warp, let’s have a sticky beak.
Hopper: Got it. oO Also, that term is gross… Oo Taking us out of warp in… 3… 2… aaaand here we are.
They dropped out of warp near the edge of the system, the distant glow of the sun revealing a few tiny specks of silhouette – the planets encircling it.
Hopper: No sign of our disappearing pulsar just yet, but I can take us in at impulse, poke around a bit.
Ukinix: Oh, and my song’s just ended. You pick one.
She nodded, laying in an exploratory course through the system, then – as the shuttle began piloting itself along her planned itinerary, she attempted to select an appropriate song.
Hopper: ::Eyebrows raised:: Alright – this one’s a little departure from the rest. Remember when I said “small farming community”? ::Slipping into a slightly-rural near-Midwestern accent:: Well, ‘round those parts we still listen to a fair bit of classic country…
The upbeat folksy guitar of Willie Nelson’s On The Road Again began to play softly in the background as they sailed towards – and then past – the outermost planet of the star system.
Hopper: ::Smiling:: Look at that view. Ain’t she purty? ::Pressing a button on her console, voice going back to normal:: Running some preliminary scans…
Ukinix: I’m picking up eight planets in the system. Two gas giants… in fact, three rocky planets in the inner part of the system, wow in some ways it’s similar to Sol. There’s a nitrogen/oxygen atmosphere on the third planet-
Wil’s console beeped once more with a notification.
Ukinix: ::Slight gasp:: Hey, check it out. Warp trail remnants!
Wil moved a little to let Robin see, and she stood, peering over his shoulder, eyebrows way up.
Hopper: A warp trail? ::Squinting:: Just locally by the looks of it, or I’m sure our long-range scans would have detected it.
Ukinix: ::Pointing:: Look, it starts right outside of the third planet, goes to the outer system, and does a U-turn back to the planet. That’s consistent with a warp test.
She nodded.
Hopper: A very rudimentary one, at that. I remember there was a little model of the solar system at the Cochrane Community Center back on Theta VII that showed the path The Phoenix took.
It suddenly dawned on her that Zephram Cochrane’s test ship had launched in Montana – Nathan’s home state… She wondered if that might be part of the reason for his phoenix tattoo. But her wondering was quickly interrupted by the much-more-pressing current situation as Wil raised a pertinent observation.
Ukinix: ::Smiling:: I think we may have found a new civilisation to make contact with!
Hopper: ::Startled:: Oh! Holy crap, you’re right. Uhh, wha, umm, what do we do?
Robin had inherited none of her mama’s natural diplomatic skills, despite “plenty of good advice going in one ear and out the other”. As a scientist, the prospect of meeting a new species for the first time was absolutely thrilling. However, the prospect of shaping their first impression of The Federation was… mildly terrifying.
Hopper: I just mean, we’re not going to, um, make first contact right now, right? ::Hopeful:: That’ll be Rivi’s job, surely?
Ukinix: Start running scans to confirm, but the computer is reporting ninety-one percent confidence at the moment. Once we have confirmation, procedure dictates we should head back to Amity and let Ambassador Vataix know we have a new neighbour to visit…
oO Oh, thank god… Oo
As if he had read her thoughts and decided to torture her, Wil grinned with a fire in his eyes that made Robin uncomfortable. It was the same look he’d had on his face when she’d returned to find a little essential oil diffuser full of eucalyptus doing its business all over her XO’s seat aboard the Jemison.
He turned back to his console and furiously started making adjustments. Robin’s brow furrowed.
oO Oh, hell… Oo
Ukinix: But instead, you and I are going to do a lap of that planet and check it out before we head back to Amity. This is bloody exciting. I’m adjusting *everything* to reduce our footprint so we don’t get detected. Think you can plot a course to avoid any sort of crafts, probes, or satellites they may have around the place?
She let out a little sigh – practically a whimper – but was grateful he only intended to get a closer look. Leave the scientific study to the scientists and the diplomacy to the diplomats.
Hopper: One lap… Yes, I think we can manage that without knocking out any of our new friends’ saturday night alien-ball feeds. ::She looked at him, cautiously:: I’ll try to run as many passive scans as I can, get an idea of who’s down there without, you know, tipping them off.
Ukinix: ::rubbing hands together:: Let’s go check out this planet!
((In high orbit of third planet))
Looking down at it, Robin could have almost forgotten that the blue orb below wasn’t Earth. She’d only seen the human homeworld from space a few times – on her arrival there, in 2299, and again on her departure, in 2397. During that eight year span, she’d been up only once, when her class toured Starbase 1 – and even then, the real eye candy planet had been Jupiter. She wondered, now, if the planet below them rivaled Earth’s beauty… a planet she had come to love in her time there, fleeting as it still seemed.
The two of them, however, still had a job to perform, aside from sightseeing. Robin’s passive scans were picking up a considerable amount of electromagnetic radiation from the planet’s surface, most of it bouncing back and forth (and between) the net of satellites which orbited the planet several hundred kilometers closer than the Daintree now coasted.
Ukinix: What are you detecting?
Hopper: ::Smiling, despite her earlier worries:: They’re a chatty bunch! By which I mean there are a lot of radio wave signals down there. Definitely a global communications grid – I would say more advanced than the one Earth possessed when it achieved its first warp test flights.
oO If high school me could see where she was going to wind up… Oo Robin thought to herself, hearkening back briefly to Wil’s earlier question, oO Things would’ve been a lot better. Oo
She tapped at her console, bringing up another result.
Hopper: And surface imaging seems to suggest a fairly rugged and robust wilderness. Surface temperatures, ocean and climate systems, massive forests – they all seem quite well maintained. Aww, they’re taking care of their planet.
Ukinix: To think they’ve only just mastered the basics of warp… ::looking at console:: two days ago, the computer says.
Robin let out a small, impressed whistle.
Hopper: It’s crazy to think about how alone they must think they are in the galaxy… and here we are, sitting and having a chat about their environmental stewardship and telecoms. ::Shaking her head, in awe:: It almost makes me want to say “hi” after all. Just to let them know they’re on the verge of something so life changing.
Ukinix: Reckon you can get in a little closer?
She nodded, her “first contact” jitters beginning to wear thin, overridden by the insatiable curiosity that drew her to the stars in the first place.
Hopper: Well… Okay. Sure. I guess it could be helpful to snap a few pictures, maybe. Bring something “juicy” back to the station – maybe get a sense of how developed their metropolitan areas are if–
Just at that moment, the shuttle was suddenly pushed towards the planet by a burst of energy, Robin and Wil saved from being splatted against the walls by the SIFs. Multiple klaxon warnings began to sound.
Hurriedly brushing her hair out of her face, Robin looked to Wil, bewildered.
Hopper: I didn’t do anything yet!!! ::The shuttle shook again:: What’s going on?
Ukinix: Warp and impulse are offline! Shields at sixteen percent! Navigation systems offline! We’ve being pushed towards the atmosphere.
As the shuttle began to shake and rumble as gravity took hold, Robin did her best to try and maintain a stable ‘flight path’ (if you could call plummeting towards the planet below a flight path).
A moment later, they passed through the network of satellites. Any keen-eyed observers below might now be able to spot them, looking perhaps like a tiny meteorite about to burn up in the atmosphere. Fortunately, their hull plating and inertial dampers still seemed to be functioning – and while they had lost warp and impulse engines, their basic maneuvering thrusters were still operational. She leveled them out as well as she could.
Ukinix: It was the radio pulsar. It appeared again, and directed some sort of beam at us, then disappeared. It pushed us in.
She looked at him incredulously.
Hopper: It pushed us? What the #$%@ does that mean?!
Robin braced herself as the atmospheric entry continued buffeting them and the thrusters attempted to stabilize their descent. She glanced at Wil and found him doing the same. The vibrations were making it hard to even read her console clearly.
Hopper: I don’t think the thrusters are going to be able to get us back into Orbit… ::Gritting her teeth:: Unless you’ve got some sort of trick from your engineering days, the only way we’re going is down.
She wished, to herself, that Nathan where there. He was a capable pilot and an engineer who specialized in “holy crap we’re all going to die” just in the nick of time solutions.
Ukinix: Then we’re going to have to land. We’re losing propulsion all together. ::Tapping console:: I’m detecting a large vacant launch field where their test warp vessel is in the large continent in the southern hemisphere, set us down there.
That was hardly ideal. In fact, it was about the most conspicuous possible place for a landing aside from dropping right down into a city square. And it was hardly as poised as the Vulcans’ first contact with humanity.
Only two days ago, these people had launched a vessel into the cosmos and achieved their first successful test of subspace-bending warp flight – and in less than 48 hours, an alien craft appears and practically crashes right in the same spot their own vessel landed… A very ‘un-graceful’ way for them to welcome their new friends to the galactic community.
But Wil was right. They had little choice. Robin did her best to use the maneuvering thrusters and the on board course computer to plot a gliding descent towards the surface.
Hopper: ::Tapping at her controls frantically:: Right, okay. Heading there now. I think.
As they passed through the cloud cover, the ground seemed startlingly close to Robin, though her control panel assured her that, accounting for glide ratio, altitude, and the planet’s gravity, it would take nearly fifty seconds to descend the 4 kilometers before they ‘landed’. At least, as they had begun gliding (as gracefully as a Talon class scout could glide in an earth-like atmosphere) and the shaking had improved.
Hopper: ::Nervous:: Okayyy… I’m going to try to program in as soft a landing as possible… But we should probably brace for impact… ::Side-eying Wil with a concerned glance:: We may want to activate a distress beacon.
Ukinix: Response
The ground loomed closer and closer and, as they neared, features of the landscape began to resolve on the view screen in front of them – green splotches became groves of trees, grey masses formed into rocky hills and, directly ahead of them in a large prairie stretched their intended landing site… the launch field, encircled by machinery undoubtedly purpose built for the momentous test flight.
Hopper: Firing reverse thrusters to reduce lateral velocity.
Robin braced as the shuttle shook again, the last of their propulsion system’s juice going into slowing them down. A moment later, the bottom of the scout grazed against the hard field below, skidding and spinning as it dragged along the ground with a rending screaming metallic groan.
Eventually, after they had slid along the field for several hundred meters, the craft finally came to an unceremonious stop, the pair of Starfleet Officers within lurching forward into their panels.
Ukinix: Response
Hopper: ::Breathing heavily:: Well… Hey, look on the bright side. At least they didn’t shoot us out of the sky on sight. ::Nervously, uncertain:: Maybe they’re friendly.
Ukinix: Response
Robin did a quick check of her extremities and, finding nothing amiss, stood quickly and made her way towards the back of the little crafts “bridge” – looking over their supplies. She tossed a tricorder to Wil and took one for herself, clipping it to her waist.
Hopper: Phasers?
Ukinix: Response
Hopper: ::Nodding:: Right. Yeah. Of course.
Not a second later, their tricorders emitted a tone in unison – a proximity alert. Something, or someone, was approaching. Robin looked up to Wil and took a few deep breaths through pursed lips before lifting her tricorder and looking over its report.
Hopper: Ooohhh boy… Oh boy. ::Lowering the device:: They’re coming. A lot of them. More than I can count at a glance. I think we definitely got their attention.
Ukinix: Response
Robin fell into step behind Wil, thankful that, even after her promotion, he was still the senior officer between them. If she was going to be with anyone in this situation, Amity’s First Officer and Starfleet Attaché seemed like as ideal a candidate as she could think of… She just hoped that they weren’t about to be overrun and carted off to some laboratory for classified ‘testing’.
As the hatch to the shuttle opened, they took their first breaths of the air on Fana 2977-B III. In the back of her mind, Robin mused that at least they could ask the locals what they called their planet. It was bound to be a less unwieldy name than that. Stepping down to the field below, Hopper did her best to appear dignified and friendly – though her wide-eyed and stiff appearance probably completely betrayed her frazzled nerves.
A line of transport vehicles rolled towards them on omnidirectional treads, their occupants shielded from view by smooth metal and dark-tinted glass.
Hopper: Here goes nothing. Put on your best “first contact face”. ::Looking to Wil with a nod:: You’ve got this, Commander.
Ukinix: Response
The lead vehicle came to a stop several meters from them, and a panel opened in the metal siding, revealing one of the planet’s inhabitants, who quickly hopped out of the vehicle as others followed it, forming a linear array.
They were roughly humanoid in shape and proportion, she thought, though their uniform flowing garb hid many of their physiological details. If they had sexes or genders, they were not easily identifiable at first look – though she suspected the beings they were seeing so far were intended to appear like some sort of guard, or military unit, given the similarities in their outfitting. Last out of the vehicle, was a pair of inhabitants who wore more unique clothing – though still in the loose-fitting style of their compatriots. One wore robes of silver, and the other robes of deep lapis blue.
Most striking about their appearance, though, was the way their iridescent prismatic skin caught the light of the twin suns above, scattering and refracting the light, giving the curves of their bodies an almost rainbow-like glow. It was beautiful, and Robin caught herself gawking. She quickly ensured her mouth was shut.
Ukinix: Response
The one in blue stepped forward, studying Wil’s gesture. While it was hard to be certain, Robin thought she sensed that this representative was nervous as well – but when it spoke, all bets flew out the window.
Being: ⋆⋆⋆ ♪ ✦ ♫ ✧ ⋆⋆⋆ ♩ ✦ ♪ ✦ ⋆⋆⋆ ♫ ✧ ♪ ✧ ⋆⋆⋆ ♬ ♪ ♪ ✦ ⋆⋆⋆ ♪ ✧ ♩ ♫ ⋆⋆⋆
Robin blinked. The language of the locals was… unique, to say the least. And the Universal Translator hadn’t seemed to have made heads nor tails of it. Pressed to describe it, one might say it was ‘melodic’, not unlike some sort of song comprised of simple harmonic resonance frequencies shifting delicately in pitch. It was like
(( OOC – For an actual “representation” of the sound of the locals’ vocalizations, I suggest watching this YouTube video on 2x Speed! ))
The science officer looked, uncertainly, to Wil and gave a subtle ‘shrug’ gesture. Her best guess was that their vocal structures were totally unlike their own, and that their language’s complexity had not been immediately translatable. She delicately lifted her tricorder – hoping not to startle any of the delegation before them.
Hopper: The UT is working on it… ::Smiling nervously:: Try talking to them some more, get them speaking?
Ukinix: Response
Being: ⋆⋆ ♪ ♩ ⋆ ♫ ♪ ⋆⋆⋆ ♬ ♩ ♪ ⋆⋆⋆⋆ ⋆♫ ⋆⋆ ⋆⋆⋆⋆ ♪ ♫ ♬ ⋆⋆⋆
Ukinix: Response
Being: ((Semi-Translated)) ♩ ♪ ♬ ✦ ⋆ ♪ ♬ ♫ ⋆⋆ ⋆⋆⋆ Planet ⋆⋆⋆ ♫ ♩ ⋆ You ⋆ ♪ ♪ ⋆⋆ ⋆⋆⋆⋆ ♪ ♫ ⋆⋆ Us ⋆⋆ ♩ ♩ ♬ ⋆⋆
Hopper: It’s working. Slowly. And I can’t vouch for its accuracy, but try saying something now… They might be able to understand it if you use very basic phrases.
Ukinix: Response
Being: ((Semi-Translated)) ⋆⋆⋆ ♪ ♪ ♬ ⋆ Bring ⋆⋆ ♫ ♪ ⋆ You ⋆ ⋆♫ ⋆⋆ ⋆⋆⋆⋆ ♪ ♫ ⋆ Leader ⋆ ♩ ♩ ♪ ♬
Robin chewed her lip subconsciously, her brow furrowing ever-so-slightly as she did her best to continue appearing optimistic about the situation.
Hopper: ::Quietly, to Wil:: Are they saying they’re going to… “Bring us to their leader”?
Ukinix: Response
TBC
