[End Act 1] Lt. Cmdr Robin Hopper: Someone’s Been Here
Robin Hopper
((Babbage Science Center, “Whispering Wall” Colony – Planet Imza-4521-L))
The hatch was relatively unremarkable, built flush with the floor – only a thin line surrounding it and outlining the handle which popped up when pressed. Robin grasped it and gave it a firm tug, and it swung up and aside, revealing a ladder down into an even darker space below. Shining her phaser light into it, it seemed a short climb down into the ‘guts’ of the colony’s central computer banks.
Hopper: Either of you scared of the dark?
Robin had never been particularly afraid of the dark, at least not when she wasn’t facing it alone. But what was down there – or, rather, could be down there – in the darkness, did have her on edge.
The other two scientists couldn’t have had more disparate reactions. While Niev shook their head, clearly concerned for the safety of jumping down into the unknown dark heart of Interlink, Varati seemed more annoyed than anything that they hadn’t started with that.
Varati: ::sighing:: That was sooo obvious… ::rolls her eyes:: Okaaaay, I’ll go first. Flashlight, tricorder…
Galanis: No, of course not! …But is it advisable to just… go down there? Shouldn’t we at least find a security or tactical officer to escort us? ::they blinked, glancing between the two and doing their best to hide their nervousness:: …Just in case, of course.
Robin tried to offer a reassuring smile to Niev.
Hopper: For now, we’re just taking a look – seeing what we can learn about how it works. Remember, it said it’s designed to resist interference… Something tells me it won’t take kindly to us trying to force a shut down– ::smirking at Varati:: –or blowing it up.
Varati: Sorry, guys… I know I just get a little too emotional sometimes. Must be those barbaric Orion primal instincts. We don’t have to blow anything up… at least not now. ::pause:: Perhaps we can better recognise where there are potential weak points during operation. After all, the thing is still in the development phase?
Hopper nodded, glad to see Varati was getting on the same page after her initial ‘freak-out’ – though she still pursed her lips in uncertainty over the phrase “those barbaric Orion primal instincts”.
oO Might have to have a word with personnel management about that one. Oo
Galanis: No need for apologies. It’s good to have a plan B… or C.
Varati: Let’s consider what we have so far:
1.: A short pulse brings the Interlink-system back up… and even if it has its own power supply, hopefully those few minutes weren’t enough to keep it running continuously. So let’s keep it busy until it shuts down again in hibernation. But we don’t know and can only speculate.
2.: We have a huge dampening field here, but it explicitly keeps communication and Interlink frequencies open. Let’s reverse polarity or isolate these frequency bands, even though they probably overlap. This might allow us to somehow interrupt the transmission; as a workaround, it would help until a better solution is found. And
3.: Without help or an external computer, we can’t analyse the data so quickly… but surely Aitas has Fureri on board?! The bot already provided us with valuable data analysis services on the Miombo – and it’s definitely not Starfleet technology, so it’s not susceptible to any backdoors. Since Interlink doesn’t just read the data but establishes a dynamic connection, it must leave some trace.
Okay, this turned out a bit longer than I expected, but we should keep this information in mind, and it might be important for the other teams as well. I’ll forward my notes to you. ::taps on her PADD::
Varati at last looked up from her PADD (hopefully to take a breath!) and seemed to realize she’d been going on a little longer than she’d perhaps intended. Hopper stood with arms crossed and brow furrowed.
Varati: Do you really think I always want to blow everything up? And the torpedo attack against Ravarj was purely defensive!
“Do you really think I always want to blow everything up?” Robin clicked her tongue quietly inside her mouth. oO Definitely going to have to follow up with personnel management about this… Oo
Galanis: No, it’s quite a thorough report on what we’ve learned so far. Thank you, Ensign Varati.
Hopper: Yes, very thorough – and while the enthusiasm is appreciated, please try to keep time and place in mind, Ensign. Right now, the place is down that hole and the time is two minutes ago. Anything else?
Varati began rummaging through her bag. Robin blinked. oO I was asking rhetorically. Oo
Varati: Where is it? - Ah!
D’Cyra’s green hand emerged from her bag with a chocolate – no, make that three chocolates.
Varati: I need to recharge my batteries too… ::to Niev:: Since it’s your birthday, you get to choose first! Happy birthday, Niev!
Galanis: Oh… well, thank you. I wasn’t expecting a ‘happy birthday’ in a situation like this. But it’s appreciated, truly.
Robin held her tongue, if only for the sake that it felt harsh to refuse the offered chocolate or shoot down the offered birthday wishes, given the circumstances. She took the chocolate, stared at it for a moment, then turned around to stick it into her bag for later.
Hopper: ::To Galanis:: It’s your birthday, Lieutenant? I’ll have to buy you a drink or something–
She was going to have to look at Varati’s file again after the mission and confirm that the chocolate was not medically necessary before following up with the junior science officer about proper ration requisitioning procedure. When she turned back around, D’Cyra had already unwrapped and started eating her treat.
Hopper: ::Exasperated:: –After we’re back on the station, of course.
Varati: Ok, after the little celebration, we should leave now before Interlink gets any stupid ideas…
Robin did another quick check with her phase pistol light, in case anything had changed down the hole and – seeing that it remained a ladder into a black pit lined with metal and computer components – looked back up to her two teammates, hoping they were ready to get a move on.
Varati: ::humming:: inter-LINK… inter-LINK… meh!… what a big $#!@ THING!
oO I think that chocolate might have been a little more of a ‘pick-me-up’ than she needed. Oo
Hopper: ::Clearing her throat:: Ahem. Are we ready now?
Galanis: Ensign Varati is right. We should get moving before anything else has a chance to bring itself back online. Shall we?
Niev moved over to the hatch and, while Robin watched from above – her phaser pointed down the hatch to both illuminate and guard against anything that might happen to be down there – the Lieutenant began to descend into the basement.
The ladder wasn’t long, just a single floor down, and it was only twelve or so *clinks* of Niev’s boots on the rungs before they made contact with the floor with an audible *thunk* as they touched the floor plating.
Hopper: ::To Varati:: I’ll go next, Ensign.
Varati: Response
Seeing that Galanis had activated their own light, Robin tucked the phaser back into her holster temporarily and began the climb down as well. Most surprising was the relative heat and humidity – usually something to be avoided in computer storage. She wondered if the system being powered down for so long might have affected its ability to maintain homeostasis as well…
Hopper: ::Reaching the bottom:: Okay, D’Cyra, come on down.
She turned to see where Niev had gone, drawing her phaser again and activating the light. Galanis had already moved off several yards, investigating the blue glowing panels and systems that filled the large (yet cramped) space.
Galanis: I think we can make a very good guess at what all that cabling was running to… though it doesn’t explain why it was laid out so haphazardly…
Hopper: Well, it was either shoddy workmanship or – more likely – someone tried to interconnect every system via hardwire as a safety precaution… Given how things went on Frontier Day, I can understand and appreciate that. I can’t imagine their hasty attempt to disconnect it all made things any more organized up there.
Varati: Response
While the other two worked on examining the CPU systems themselves, Robin decided to poke around in the opposite direction, ensuring there was nothing else down there that could provide them with some evidence of what had happened to the colonists.
Galanis: …Are we to investigate further now, or regroup and share our findings?
Hopper: My gut tells me we’re close to having something tangible to bring back, Lieutenant. We know that Interlink has connected with the Indy – but we don’t yet understand how it’s maintaining that connection, or have any idea how to safely sever it. Now that we’re down here, I’m hoping to get a ‘look under the hood’.
Varati: Response?
She paused for a moment, thinking, as she tried to work out how they might get Interlink to reveal its processes.
Hopper: Work together to see if you can spoof it, get it thinking one of your PADDs is another ship or something. We can prompt it to make the connection then monitor and record how it does its thing…
Now that there wasn’t a panel of shielding between it and them, she hoped, they might actually get a clear reading on how it worked.
Galanis/Varati: Response
While they worked on that, Robin turned back the other way, noting a staircase descending to a secondary level. Panning her light down to the floor, the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end as she noticed drops of a dark reddish liquid near the top of the stairs.
Hopper: Keep me apprised of your progress – I’m just going to check this out.
Galanis/Varati: Response
Moving forward carefully, Robin kept her phaser raised, and tried to keep her breathing and heart rate calm. As she reached the top of the stairs, and peered down over the edge, she gasped.
A woman in a black-and-blue Starfleet uniform lay at the halfway landing, crumpled against the wall – a dark splotch covering her chest and abdomen, and some sort of metal object sticking out of her.
Hopper: Holy buckets– There’s someone down here! ::Rushing down the stairs, exchanging her phaser for a tricorder:: She’s been stabbed with something– her condition is critical, and she’s out cold…
Gliding her tricorder over the affected area, she took a quick internal scan of the wound and the weapon – gasping again as she realized what she was seeing.
Hopper: She’s been stabbed with a Daqtagh!
Galanis/Varati: Response
Hopper: It’s definitely time to reconvene the team… Starting with– ::tapping her combadge:: =/\= Medical emergency! =/\=
TBC
