[ACT 2] Lt. Robin Hopper: Who? What? Where? When? Why? How? (Part 2)
Robin Hopper
((Bridge – A minute or so later…))
As the Starfleet crew spilled out of the turbolift and towards their various stations, Robin tapped Kiani on the shoulder and motioned that he should take a seat at Science beside her. Wil sprinted for the center chair as the back-up crew left their seats, clearing the bridge to attend to other pressing duties.
Ukinix: Everyone, stations and report.
Reade: Warp core intact, minor damage to some internal systems, but we are good to return fire if needed Commander.
Hopper: The Bird of Prey is utilizing somewhat dated cloaking technology… If there are other vessels around, we might be able to detect them. Running a sensor sweep now.
She nodded to Kiani, indicating that she wanted him working on the same.
Iovianus/Carter/Moore/Esma: Response
Ukinix: Open a channel, put them on screen.
Robin glanced over her shoulder for a moment as the Klingon captain appeared on the viewscreen, then did a dramatic double-take as she recognized the woman on screen.
oO No freakin’ way… Oo
Ukinix: ::Standing up:: =/\= This is Commander Wil Ukinix of the… uh… SS Cleanskin, and who are hooooo-ly *crap* on stick! ::Eyes wide open:: =/\=
It was Bec. Unless Bec had a full-Klingon half-sister that nobody knew about. Half the people in the room seemed stunned – and the other half had no idea who Bec was.
oO Well, hot damn… Oo Robin was beginning to re-think just how unlikely it was that they would encounter her own, or any of their other, alternate selves after all.
M-Iko: =/\= Hey, Wil. =/\=
Ukinix: =/\= Response =/\=
Communications were paused for a moment, and Robin’s attention was drawn back to her terminal as multiple signals were detected. Before she could even read them, Ensign Kiani relayed the findings.
Kiani: ::punching a series of inputs into the display:: Commander, I've conducted preliminary scans of the nearby Nuriootpa solar nebula, where there seems to be some limited activity.
Ukinix: Response?
Hopper: ::Looking them over:: Klingon signatures – and Cardassians. Antiquated, by our standards, but unmistakable.
Reade: They do not seem to be a military vessel, mind you though they still have weapons.
Kiani: The small craft posted there match the signature of the Klingon vessel & are equipped with specialist equipment for Benamite extraction. They do not seem to be strike craft.
Ukinix: Response
Iovianus/Carter/Moore/Esma: Response?
Hopper: If they’re mining benamite in the region, maybe they’re aware of the singularity as well… Perhaps we can reason with them, explain the situation?
Reade: I wonder what they want though? This is definitely odd.
Kiani: Initial hypothesis. This has all the markers of an illegal extractive operation in an already claimed system. The Klingon Captain might even be operating independently, to allow for plausible deniability.
Robin shrugged. That level of diplomatic consideration was out of her own wheelhouse. Kiani was clearly a multifaceted individual – but whether or not his speculation was well-founded, she had no idea. Instead, she turned her attention back to her console and tried to deduce what she could from the hard evidence.
Iovianus/Carter/Moore/Esma: Responses
Reade: Hmm good point.
Iovianus/Carter/Ukinix/Moore/Esma/Kiani: Response
Looking over the scans as more and more details became available, Robin began to formulate her own hypothesis – not about why any of the craft were there… but about their mining practices. She turned towards Reade at Engineering and offered a little passing smile to Esma, the Ensign sitting beside him, before getting down to business.
Hopper: Scotty… Look at the long-range scans of the mining craft. Can you compare their technology to that employed by the Federation mining operations from our own universe?
Reade: Working on this now. Standby
She wasn’t going to propose anything just yet – but if they were using antiquated technology, perhaps held back as a result of decades of war with the Terrans and then, subsequently, the Betazoids… Maybe they weren’t being as careful in the mining of the benamite in this region as the Federation’s miners were.
They’d already found the benamite-rich asteroids a remarkably unstable – yet extraordinarily beneficial – source of the vital resource. They were self-replenishing, with benamite crystals reforming after mining within a period of months… However, this replenishability came at the cost of instability, making them exceptionally difficult to extract without causing… Well, issues like the quantum singularity.
Hopper: Send me the results of your comparative analysis when you’re done. ::To Esma:: And feel free to weigh in as well, Ensign.
She turned to Kiani, and spoke softly.
Hopper: ::To Kiani:: Good spotting, Ensign… Now let’s see how deep that rabbit hole takes us.
Iovianus/Carter/Ukinix/Moore/Esma/Kiani: Response
A moment later, the fully-Klingon Bec Iko returned to the viewscreen, looking less-than-amused by the situation.
M-Iko: =/\= You're not very clever, vocalising your allegiance to Keehani to a Klingon. Is that why you're not dead yet? Or have you got another secret? =/\=
Ukinix: =/\= Response =/\=
Robin remained tight-lipped as the exchange continued, not having anything of value to contribute at this point. Once they knew the Klingons weren’t going to try to blow them away… Then they could talk.
Iovianus/Carter/Reade/Moore/Esma/Kiani: Response?
M-Iko: =/\= Let's start from the top, shall we? I'm Rebekah, this is the ngem qul, you seem to be a little Terran boy who's made it all the way out to the delta quadrant, and I want to know how. =/\=
Ukinix: =/\= Response =/\=
With the question of “how” being directed to them now, Robin felt several eyes migrate to her. oO Beats getting shot at… Oo
She turned to face the viewscreen, and spoke over it.
Hopper: =/\= We’ve passed through some sort of spatial anomaly… It led us from our own space station – far from here – to this place. =/\=
She glanced at Wil, hoping her explanation would be sufficient. She’d deliberately left out any mention of an alternate reality, but what she’d said hadn’t been a lie.
M-Iko: =/\= Response =/\=
Ukinix: =/\= Response =/\=
Iovianus/Carter/Reade/Moore/Esma/Kiani: Response?
Hopper: =/\= We’re still trying to determine just how the anomaly was formed in the first place. I’d be happy to discuss the matter with your own scientists, to confirm that what I’m saying is true… =/\=
Already she had begun to wonder just how in the hell they could talk about such things without giving up the proverbial goose – but that was a question that Robin from ten minutes from now could worry about… Assuming they were still alive in ten minutes’ time.
M-Iko: =/\= Response =/\=
Ukinix: =/\= Response =/\=
Iovianus/Carter/Reade/Moore/Esma/Kiani: Response?
TBC
