Lt. Cmdr Robin Hopper: Oh Captor, My Captor
Robin Hopper
((Holding Cell, Paak Homeworld, Paak System, Barossa Nebula))
Robin’s sleep was uneasy, and her dreams disturbed, as she lay in the hard cot up against the wall of the frigid holding cell. The first day of their tribunal had been a verifiable disaster – with Wil being dragged away for his ‘contempt’ of the local judicial process after trying to make a point about their inability to communicate properly.
She’d tried to ask her keepers where Wil had been taken, when they would see each other again, or at least to know that he was being properly taken care of… but she’d gotten nothing out of the taciturn guards. Now she lay, tossing and turning, in a troubled sleep as she imagined what lay ahead for them both…
((Dreamscape, Hopper’s Brain))
The world was shades of black and white and gray – and a foggy haze filled the air, as if Robin were viewing the world through the lens of a blurry old projector at the drive in theater. But it was real – or at least it felt real… She walked, stumbling and staggering, away from the crash site of her ship, a saucer-like contraption made out of discarded laundry tubing and copious amounts of tin foil. She was distracted by a loud Pop! and the flash of sparks from behind her, as she turned to see the craft burst into flames, and tripped over a root, falling flat on her face.
Soldier: General, over here! I found one of the space creatures…
She looked up at the speaker, a man she could swear looked exactly like Nathan Richards – only his eyes were filled with fear and disgust, and he wore some sort of archaic earth military garment. He carried a rifle in his hands, and the end of it pointed in her general direction. A moment later, a gang of similarly-clad soldiers rounded the long grass and raised their weapons at her as well. Their leader, wearing a fancy grey uniform with a bunch of stars pinned on his chest, was the spitting image of John Carter.
General: Don’t shoot! We don’t know what sort of retribution these alien menaces could bring upon us. Better to take it alive, bring it in for questioning.
Hopper: ::Distraught:: I am not an “it”.
Soldier: ::Jumping back:: It can speak!
She stood up, cautiously, raising her hands in the air to indicate she was no threat. The men chattered amongst each other nervously, and she squinted at them – sure that she knew each and every one of them from amongst her friends back on Amity…
General: Who are you and why are you on our planet? What do you want from us?
Hopper: I, uhhh… I don’t know…
She looked down at her hip and found a ray gun. Had she come to fight? Had she come to conquer? Pulling the ray gun from her holster, she held it up curiously. Why else would she have it? It must be meant for violence…
Soldier: Hey! What are you doing with that?! Put it down!
General: Wait a minute, soldier!
Hopper: ::Pointing the ray gun at the General:: I think I’m here to destroy…
There was a loud bang, and she sat up in bed like a shot.
((Holding Cell, Paak Homeworld, Paak System, Barossa Nebula))
Robin’s heart pounded, and her lungs ached. The air in the room was far colder than she was used to – it must have been something like 18 degrees in there… perhaps a comfortable temperature for the Paak, but hard to bear for her. She shivered, shaken by a combination of her shocking dream, her sudden awakening, and the startling realization that she was still being held prisoner by the Paak. She pulled the meager blanket they had given her after she’d complained of the cold around her shoulders and groaned at the stiffness in her limbs and neck.
After they’d taken Wil away for his insolence, it had been up to her to try and convince the Paak leadership that they had come by accident, that they had good intentions, and that their misuse of the word “Paak” had been a simple misunderstanding… Yet doing so became increasingly challenging once the Magistrate had heard that the pulsar – PAAK as it was apparently called by the locals – had shot them down.
Apparently, the star was revered by the Paak people. She’d managed to assemble enough of the story, piecemeal, throughout the ensuing few hours of the trial, picking up bits and pieces from the testimony of the other experts who spoke… PAAK, in the old days, had been revered as some sort of deity, appearing in the sky to guide the Paak people towards peace and harmony. It seemed to show up during times of great strife and, above all else, seemed intent on preventing (or punishing) the development of weapons and advanced technology.
Of course, as the Paak had grown in knowledge and in ability, most had begun to see PAAK more as the natural astronomical phenomena that it was… A pulsar which sometimes emitted bursts of electromagnetic radiation capable of destroying unprotected technology. As they became increasingly secular and driven by science, the Paak learned to harden their technologies against the interference of PAAK – though some still argued this was sacrilegious. Despite this, the pulsar still managed to interfere with their development, as it had with the launch of their most recent warp–capable probe.
The mystery remained… why did the Pulsar seem to be targeting the Paak? And why was it popping in and out of existence (apparently)? Furthermore, and most troublingly to Robin, was whose warp signature she and Wil had detected in the system, if not the Paak themselves… But answers were not forthcoming, and Robin’s brain felt fuzzy. She hadn’t eaten since they’d arrived on the planet. She wasn’t even sure the Paak ate – or if their food would be compatible with her biology – but she was beginning to lose her ability to think straight, and without that she would stand zero chance of getting her and Wil out of this debacle.
Hopper: ::To the empty room:: Hellooo? If anybody is there, I just want to say – I don’t know how often you eat… Or um, consume nutrients… But I’m starving. And I’m sure my friend, Wil, is too…
She was answered my silence.
Hopper: We usually eat a couple meals a day… I’m not going to be much use in the tribunal if I can’t have something. ::Shaking her head:: I’m not sure if you learned a sufficient amount about our physiology from your examinations yesterday, but–
Suddenly, the door to the room opened – splitting from the seamless wall and swinging inward. Stepping first into the room was one of the fairly standard-looking military Paak, and behind them the scientist who had spoken first at the tribunal the previous day… the one who had informed Robin of the pulsar and its relationship to the Paak people. She also seemed to know something of their warp project. In her hands, the Paak woman held a tray with some unappetizing gray cubes sitting on it.
Scientist: Pardon me. We did not wish to disturb your rest cycle. Amongst our people, doing so can be quite disruptive to the balance of our Paaks. ::Holding out the tray:: Our medical Paak believe that this synthetic food gel should meet your basic nutritional needs. ::Looking down at it:: Though I cannot speak to its taste.
Robin stood, and the soldier Paak twitched. She slowly took a few steps forward, holding out her hands gratefully.
Hopper: Thank you… I’m happy to grin and bear it.
The scientist stepped forward and passed Robin the tray. The science officer accepted it gladly and took it back to her cot, sitting and placing the tray down beside her. There were no implements provided to eat the cubes, so she picked one of the gelatinous food shapes up and examined it briefly before popping it into her mouth. It tasted like wet cardboard.
Scientist: My name is Pa’akia… And you are Lieutenant Commander Robin Hopper.
Hopper: ::Mouth full of cube:: Oo cab juzz call be “Wobin”.
Scientist: What?
Hopper: ::Swallowing:: Robin. You can just call me Robin. It’s like we said yesterday – we are structured like a military, but we’re really just explorers… ::Indicating her uniform:: I’m a scientist. Like you.
Pa’akia moved over towards Robin, taking a few steps forward, and then spoke softly and conspiratorially.
Scientist: Yes. I know. That’s why I wanted to come and speak with you… I believe we need you and your friends’ help…
TBC
