JP - Lt. Nathan Richards & Lt. Cmdr Robin Hopper: Discoveries (Part 3)
Robin Hopper
((Shuttle Karakoram, Outside Oort Cloud – Gramineae Star System))
The console in front of them chimed as the shuttle approached the edge of the oort cloud. A moment later and the shuttle dropped out of warp, slowing down to an impulse crawl and giving them their first view of the oort cloud. The still-distant, yet much closer, field of dense space debris was visible – even without magnification. Ice crystals and rock fragments drifted in the distance, some appeared to be as large as a Defiant-class starship, while others were substantially smaller than the shuttle they came in.
Immediately, the ship’s sensors began providing information to them on their displays about the cloud.
Hopper: Looks like we’ve dropped out of warp right on target. ::Relieved sigh:: I guess the telemetry the Hawlat provided was accurate. Now it’s just a matter of navigating that field.
Nathan looked at the readings and nodded. Robin's previous words were left to the air within the cabin as they moved closer to the cloud.
Richards: Time for that fancy flying.
Hopper: ::Sideways glance, smirk:: Let’s not get too fancy, Lieutenant. Just take it slow, focus on getting us through safely.
As they approached, what had previously appeared on long-range sensors (and to their eyes) as gaps between the larger rocks and debris began to read more clearly as smaller fragments. The field was even more dense than they had imagined – no doubt the result of billions of collisions happening over the course of hundreds of millions of years.
Richards: Just…how dense is this cloud? What should I be expecting here?
Hopper: ::Looking down at her screen:: Oof. Well, the good news is most of those fragments ought to be small enough to simply deflect. ::Tapping console:: I’m activating shields, transferring power to the forward screen. As long as you avoid the big boys we should be alright.
Nathan shook his arms out, placing his hands on the console. He engaged ¼ impulse to begin with and slowly took them into the cloud. The shields shimmered as small pieces of ice bounced off and tumbled away.
Richards: Not too bad. ::Smirking, side-eyeing Robin:: I feel like I could have some fun flying through this.
Hopper: Hey – what did I just say?
Nathan chuckled, putting his hands in the air and shrugging.
Richards: I’m joking! I’m joking! I wouldn’t really do anything reckless right now. ::Smiling:: Just having some fun.
Hopper: ::Rolling her eyes:: Don’t make me pull rank on you.
Richards: ::Shaking his head, smirking:: Of course, my apologies Commander.
Hopper: That’s “ma’am” to you now – for the rest of this mission.
Robin turned to look at Nathan, barely containing her laughter. A moment later, the two were cackling madly at the notion.
Richards: ::Coughing slightly from laughter:: You don’t actually want me to do that, right?
Hopper: ::Cracking up:: Oh god. Don’t ever! I think if you ever seriously called me “ma’am” I would have to cut off all communication. Put in transfer papers. Maybe resign my commission.
Nathan leaned back in his chair again to catch his breath. He tilted his head to look at Robin, giving her a small smile.
Richards: Wouldn’t want that, now would we?
Hopper: ::Suddenly ‘serious’ and businesslike:: But, you know, we are still here to do a job. ::A small smirk breaking through:: Tell you what. Once we make it through the cloud, we’ll make the rest of the trip into the system at impulse. It’ll take a little longer, but we can use the time to recharge the shields – and ourselves
Richards: ::Stretching arms above his head:: Sounds like a plan to me.
Robin let out a strained groan, and rubbed her eyes.
Hopper: I don’t know about you, but I was up all last night stressing about this. I was so convinced I would forget some crucial piece of equipment and we’d need to double back to Amity. Not a good look for the station’s newest Lieutenant Commander. ::Rolling her eyes:: You know what I mean. ::Turning her chair to face Nathan:: The point is, I could use a little down time.
Richards: I slept like a rock. oO No you didn’t…Oo Not a care in the world. oO Stressed…Oo I had faith in us. oO…TrueOo. But, downtime is always welcome. What did you have in mind?
Hopper: ::Shrug:: I could replicate some coffee… ::Turning back to her console:: Maybe put on some music. After all, ::gesturing to the viewscreen and the debris field:: you’ve got this, right? ::Tapping at her screen:: A little road trip playlist couldn’t hurt…
Nathan nodded. Robin’s affinity for music had become a staple in their friendship.
Robin’s fingers danced over the console, setting the sensor readings aside for a moment, as she accessed her personal files and pulled up a list of candidate songs. Choosing the right song to set the right mood was always a challenge she enjoyed. Too slow and it could drag things down – too fast and it could make them frantic. At least, with Nathan, she didn’t have to worry about him judging her ‘old fashioned tastes’ too much. He’d always been more than happy to indulge her unconventional tastes.
Selecting her first song, a Bellamy Brothers’ 1976 classic, she set it to play softly over the shuttle’s internal speakers – a bit of background music to quiet the dull energetic ‘thudding’ of oort cloud fragments against their shields. Nathan recognized the song as one that his parents would listen to and dance together in the living room on stormy nights. He unconsciously swayed as the music played, and began to quietly sing along as the words filtered in.
Richards: There’s a reason for the sunshine in the sky…
He tapped at the console, watching the rocks and ice slowly drift around them and quietly continued to hum the song to himself. For the most part, the shuttle held a steady course through the cloud, only requiring Nathan to make slight adjustments as larger chunks floated into the flight path. He looked down at the shield readings, and nodded. The deflectors were doing a great job at simply redirecting the smaller pieces away from them. He made one last small course correction before leaning back in his chair, putting his legs up and resting the heels of his boots on the edge of the console.
Richards: So, how have you been since we got back? ::Looking in Robin’s direction:: It's been strange not seeing you around. Not hanging out the last little while.
Robin, now at the rear of the shuttle’s main compartment, standing at the replicator, looked over her shoulder. Her face and tone reflected the gnawing disturbance that had been bubbling beneath the surface since they’d returned from the alternate universe.
Hopper: I’ve been… confused. And worried, I guess.
A flash of light in her peripheral vision told her that two caramel macchiatos (Robin’s coffee drink of choice – and Nathan’s as well, though he tried to pretend he liked black coffee) had just materialized there.
Hopper: ::Grabbing the drinks gingerly and bringing them forward:: We’ve been working around the clock in the SRC trying to figure out how and why these anomalies have been happening, but really, I haven’t even had time to process what we all experienced yet. It’s not every day you see how things might have turned out for you if… Well, you know.
He listened to her response, idly running his hand across his cheek and through his beard.
Richards: I think everyone needed some time to step away from everything and regroup, but unfortunately this is Starfleet. Breaks are few and far between. Especially while on duty.
She nodded, knowingly, and passed him one of the two beverages.
Hopper: Careful, it might be hot. ::Holding her drink in both hands:: What about you?
Nathan brought his feet down off of the console and spun his chair to face Robin. He accepted the cup of coffee, he could smell the caramel as the steam rose from the lid. He thought for a moment before answering.
Richards: I’ve been dealing. ::Taking a drink:: Everything was just so different, you know, over there. Seeing a different version of everyone else, seeing how things could be so much different than they are. ::Smirking:: Don’t even get me started on that Initiate Richards character…
Hopper: ::Blowing some air through pursed lips:: Whoooo… yeah, or “Raven” Hopper. ::Scowling:: It’s hard to wrap my head around the idea that with the right ‘push’ either of us, both of us, could be fanatics. Killers even. ::Shaking her head:: Not to mention enemies.
Robin looked at Nathan sympathetically. The thought that the two of them, in any form, could want to undermine and ruin each other was practically beyond comprehension. If they hadn’t seen it with their own eyes, it might have sounded like some sort of sick joke.
Hopper: You know, you’re nothing like him. At all.
Nathan chuckled and shook his head.
Richards: You’re right. He was so…weird. And that mask? What was up with that? ::Taking another drink:: He had some issues.
Hopper: ::Nodding:: They all did. They were all wrong.
Richards: ::Side eyeing Robin:: Raven was…interesting.
Robin scoffed.
Hopper: That’s not the word I’d use. Frankly, the less I know about her, the better.
Absent-mindedly, she reached for her coffee, took a sip. The warm beverage was subconsciously reassuring, and she held the cup close to her chest as she relived the disturbing sight of her own twisted double on the prison colony’s landing pad.
Richards: You aren’t even the slightest bit curious about what she was really like? Well, I guess I can’t blame you if you’re not. I don’t care to find out what kind of person that version of me was.
Hopper: ::Shaking her head:: The way she looked at me… I got the sense that, if she’d had the chance, I might have wound up sliced up in some lab… A curiosity for her to study. Spare parts maybe? I dunno… ::Mildly irritated:: I said I didn’t want to think about it.
Richards: Yeah. Let’s not dwell on that. I don’t want that visual.
Nathan took another drink from his coffee, unfortunately having flashes of the horrid scene. He shuddered slightly and set his coffee down.
Hopper: Let’s talk about something more positive? ::Taking her seat, tucking her legs up under her:: Tell me something you’re looking forward to. I don’t care when. Tomorrow, two years from now… Just something that doesn’t take me back to that… other place.
Richards: ::Nodding:: Well, there are a couple things I’m looking forward to. My brother Blake is getting married in a few months. Oh, and my sister Sam is graduating from University. I’m going to be heading back to Earth for those.
At the mention of Nathan’s sister, Robin’s eyes immediately lit up. She set her coffee down on the terminal beside her again and set her hands on her lap, leaning forward excitedly.
Hopper: Really?! That is exciting. ::Trying to remember:: Sam. She’s studying… ::squinting:: exobiology? ::Recalling:: No – planetary science? Is that right?
Richards: Yeah, planetary science. And she has talked about joining Starfleet, but recently she isn’t too sure. She sent me a letter a couple months back. ::Shrugging:: She is nervous, I think.
Hopper: ::Crossing her arms:: Well, you should let me talk to her. I didn’t think I had what it took for a Starfleet career either…
Nathan double checked their course before leaning back in his seat, crossing his arms.
Richards: Yeah? ::Half joking:: Maybe you’ll have to come with me and do just that. ::Chuckling:: What got you through the nerves?
Hopper: ::Chuckling:: Tequila. A lot of it. Really took the edge off the existential dread while I was filling out the application form. Actually, I barely remembered that I had applied until I got my acceptance letter. ::Lifting her coffee in a cheers-like gesture:: Ad astra per aspera, right?
Richards: Ad Astra Per Aspera. ::Holding up his coffee:: We kind of all live by that, don’t we?
Robin smiled, and held her coffee out to touch against Nathan’s before taking another sip.
Hopper: Actually my sister’s getting near the end of her schooling too… ::Gritting her teeth:: Apparently she’s applied to some sort of FDC internship on Amity. Keehani broke the news to me a few weeks ago.
Richards: ::Chuckling:: Oh, boy. I bet you’re excited about that prospect.
Hopper: Excited? No. I’m desperately trying to think up new security codes for all my things. She’s already threatened to steal my record player. There’s no way her intention in applying for this specific internship is not to come and make my life a living hell for ::beat, realizing she was missing details:: however long it would last for.
Nathan dramatically covered his mouth with his hand and gasped.
Richards: Not the record player!
Robin set her coffee down on the terminal again and put her face in her hands.
Hopper: Can we switch siblings? I like the sound of yours way better.
Richards: Not. A. Chance.
Hopper: ::Glancing at the chronometer on her terminal with a frustrated roll of her eyes:: Alright, well that stayed positive for about two minutes. ::Chuckling ironically:: Anything else? Maybe not related to family?
Nathan tapped the side of his coffee cup as he looked out the viewscreen. The vision of the shattered glass from the Targhee’s viewscreen entered his mind. His thoughts drifted back to shuffling around the Cellar, cleaning up the discarded drink trays.
Richards: Well, I cleaned up the Cellar and came up with a pretty great idea that I brought up with Rivi and Wil. I want to try and bring in some new tech down there. Something that would benefit the Outpost as a whole. ::Setting his coffee down, sighing:: It’s not going to do anything to bring the Targhee back, but it could open up a lot of new possibilities.
Hopper: Really? Something new? ::Furrowing her brow forlornly:: I guess that makes sense. There’s no rebuilding the Targhee. She was one of a kind…
Richards: Yeah. She was.
TBC in Part 4…
Lt. Commander Robin Hopper
Chief Science Officer,
Amity Outpost
V239806K11
&
Lieutenant Nathan Richards
Engineering Officer,
Amity Outpost
A239905NR1