[Act 3] Lt. Cmdr Robin Hopper – Recognition
Robin Hopper
((Dining Hall – Norsel Corp, Uwe II))
Robin didn’t love waiting. Waiting was hard, frustrating, grating on the nerves. It could be tolerable, of course, when you were waiting for something good – hard as it might be. Far worse than waiting for something good was waiting for something bad. Especially when you didn’t know just how bad that bad thing was going to be. She shot another look at one of the Uwezo guards standing off to the side of the room – a dining hall she might quite enjoy sitting in, if circumstances were different. The guard glowered back at her.
Wong: Well…. We did always say we wanted a word with Norsel. I just didn’t exactly picture it this way.
Saavei: Nor did I. We are fortunate for this opportunity, regardless of the circumstance.
Pulling her gaze away from the guards to her team, Robin felt a small portion of her impatient frustration melting. That Starfleet Brand Optimism did have a way of easing the nerves.
Hopper: Yeah. As long as we can talk our way out of this… As long as he shows up.
Wong: Hopefully, he’ll be interested in having a conversation with us. It feels like he’s already put in a bit of effort to bring us here. I’m hoping it will pay off.
Saavei: I believe you are correct ::she glanced to one of the guards then back to her team:: We shall know shortly.
Galanis: Whatever ‘conversation’ he wants to have, we can safely assume he’s hoping this will pay off as much as you are.
This whole time, Robin had felt like there were pieces of the puzzle eluding her. At least here, if Norsel did in fact intend to engage with them – which the setting for this meeting did suggest he might – they may well find a few more of those that would finally make the image clear, help them slot in the scattered bits they’d found thus far.
Hopper: From what we know of the man so far, I’d be surprised if he wasn’t expecting us to sing and dance for him. As far as I’m concerned, all our usual considerations are still applicable until we know more…
More about, say, why Norsel’s guards had called them “Starfleet” – something they should have no way of knowing. Even Elarrapal, who seemed far more trustworthy than Norsel, seemed to know something was different about them. But this was too specific to be a guess. Norsel knew specifics. The question was how many specifics. Until then the usual considerations (the Prime Directive) still applied.
The wait was finally ended, as the door swung open, and Norsel stepped through. His gait was stiff, formal almost as he eyed them, turning slowly on his heel. His expression was a thin veil of neutrality over something else. Anger? No. Curiosity? Something in-between maybe…
Wong: Well, if it isn’t our man of the hour! I suppose we’ve been expecting each other.
Robin bit the inside of her cheek. She had told Ikaia he could lead the investigation – but even she was surprised by his gusto.
Saavei: Norsel, I presume?
Norsel: Correct. ::Dubiously:: And you’re all members of the “Ministry of Internal Security”, is that right?
Hopper: Yes. We were in Irudaimu looking into the development of a faster-than-light vessel for potential risks to the project. Evidently we didn’t get there soon enough… Know anything about that?
A small hint of a pleased smirk tugged at the corner of Norsel’s lip as he walked slowly closer to the table, crossing his arms.
Norsel: Maybe… I know a lot of things about a lot of things. Things in Irudaimu. Things in Imeris… My people informed me you were looking around the Uropal tree when they found you.
Wong: I wasn’t aware that we would be needing an escort to meet you.
Galanis: …But it’s an understandable precaution to take. Unnecessary, but understandable.
One of the guards stepped forward, towards Norsel, and placed one of their tricorders on the table in front of them.
Guard: They didn’t appear to be armed… ::Pointing to Wong:: That one was carrying medical supplies. The others had these scanning devices. We confiscated them.
Hopper: That’s right. As my colleagues said – your caution is understandable, but we pose you no threat. We’re here to learn, to try and prevent further violence, if that’s possible. Not cause trouble.
Norsel grunted.
Norsel: Nonetheless, trouble seems to follow you wherever you go. You and your friends at Imeris… You almost had me doubting Elarrapal for a moment there. I have to say, your presence here is quite intriguing.
He found them… intriguing? The feeling was not mutual. Robin found Norsel to be abrasive and obtuse, so far.
Wong: I assume you didn’t just bring us here because you like us. You have something in mind, don’t you?
Saavei: I am curious if 'what you have in mind' is of your own volition or that of others.
The man smiled quietly at Saavei’s question before taking his seat at the head of the table, folding his hands together on the table’s surface, fingers interlacing.
Norsel: You mean to say, do I have backers? Support? Suffice to say, for now, that there are others who feel as I do – whose secrets I am not prepared to share just to satisfy your curiosity.
Robin couldn’t help but think he seemed like a villain out of some of the old black and white movies she so enjoyed, trite as they were. All he was missing was a moustache to twirl.
Hopper: So, what exactly are we doing here, then? You cajole and kidnap a group of officials from the Ministry of Security while you’re under investigation. You’ve got to know that won’t end well.
Saavei: You are cunning, Norsel. Clearly you have anticipated a great many details. Yet the end goal of this remains unclear; where do you benefit?
Norsel: Simple. I think, despite some initial misunderstandings, our purposes are actually in alignment. I may not be a ‘prophet’ like Elarrapal, but I can see a very mutually-agreeable outcome forming from this unexpected encounter… Or mutually-assured destruction. But I’d rather avoid that course.
Robin’s brow furrowed.
Hopper: Is that a threat?
Norsel: No. Well, yes. It is a threat – but I prefer to think of it as a practical deterrent from you taking any unilateral actions that might threaten what I’ve built here.
Robin’s brow furrowed deeper. She didn’t care for the way he spoke in riddles, feeding them little bits of information that felt reassuring but ultimately lacked substance. Like he was trying to get them to trip up and reveal something before he did.
Wong: Response
Saavei: I see.
Galanis: There isn’t any need for this to get out of hand.
Norsel gestured towards Niev.
Norsel: I quite agree.
Hopper: Okay, well, then, since you ‘invited’ us here, Norsel – maybe you can enlighten us as to just what it is you expect to be ‘mutually-beneficial’ about this meeting… or what you think our ‘purpose is’ that supposedly aligns with yours? Because at the moment, I’m struggling to follow your implications.
Her irritation was only barely veiled. Norsel, for his part, seemed relatively dispassionate about the whole thing. (Which really only irked Robin a little more!)
Wong: Response
Galanis: Perhaps things would be more civil if we started over with introducing ourselves? This isn’t meant to come off as an interrogation. On either side. Nor are we here for any underhanded attempts to sabotage you.
Norsel: Alright. ::Looking at the guards:: Leave us. Stand outside the door. If you hear trouble, seal the door…
The guards did as they were told, exiting the room.
Norsel: You go first.
Robin sighed – but she complied. At this point, at least they were talking. A moving conversation was better than being locked in a cell or something. Even if it accomplished nothing else, it was buying them time.
Hopper: Rob’Ynne Hawza, Senior Minister of Security. These people are my team. As I said, we’re here looking into the potential threat of the anti-warp movement…
Norsel: Indeed.
Something in the way he said that made her doubt that he believed anything she’d said – except maybe for her intentions. There was a lilt to it that rang to her ears like the voice one uses when they accidentally uncover their own surprise party and don’t want to break it to the ones throwing it for them…
Wong/Saavei: Response.
Galanis: And I’m Na’ev, security analyst and here to assist Minister Rob’Ynne. Whatever you think you’ve learned about us or our identities, I encourage caution about assumptions. There are sayings about making assumptions with old, deep roots.
Norsel rapped his knuckles on the table a few times and then spoke.
Norsel: Alright then. My name is Norsel. My home is far from here – but not too far. I’ve always been fascinated by the Great Trees… Knew there was more to them than met the eye. So I made it my mission to uncover their mysteries – not the ‘old’ ways of the religious folk like Elarrapal, but using modern tools.
Hopper: So, you’re behind the mining efforts?
Norsel: Not directly. I try not to do anything directly. But I’ve influenced the government researchers to consider the dilithium as an important resource to the project.
Robin tilted her head in confusion. She thought Norsel was part of the anti-warp movement, like Elarrapal. The one behind the bombing at the warp project… If he was, why would he sabotage a project he was indirectly supporting?
Wong/Saavei: Response.
Galanis: This could be an exchange. We’re all ultimately working for the greater good of the planet, aren’t we?
Norsel: I like to think so. But there are many who don’t see it that way. Sure, you have the fanatics, like Elarrapal, who believe the trees are speaking to them, but then there’s the general public – who are swayed by people like her – and the environmentalists, and the overly-cautious fools at the top who constantly backpedal to appease the masses. It’s like this in every society…
At this point, Robin felt like she had to cut in with the question that she simply couldn’t wrap her head around. A question she’d been waiting to ask.
Hopper: Mr. Norsel, the way you’re speaking – it sounds as though you want the warp project to succeed… But we have reason to believe you were involved in the bombing…?
The question in her eyes was evidently clear enough for Norsel to understand what, precisely, she was asking.
Norsel: Why plant the explosives? Why kidnap Greeta? To move up the timeline, of course. The government won’t be so inclined to listen to the opposition if they think they’re radical lunatics, or terrorists. They’ll crack down on the dissenters and finally permit the use of dilithium in the project that I, and Greeta, have been pushing for.
Wong/Saavei/Galanis: Response.
((OOC – Feel free to add in additional questions/tags for Norsel here if you want, and I can backfill them))
Robin shook her head. Norsel’s logic made sense – in a weird, convoluted, machiavellian kind of way – even if she couldn’t understand his rationalisation of it all… playing each side against each other when there was surely a more honest and direct path to achieving his ends.
Hopper: Alright, let’s say we buy what you’re telling us. That you’ve been manipulating things to try and expedite the research at the warp facility. If you know so much about dilithium, why don’t you just tell the government what you know?
Norsel: That’s just it. They won’t believe it if it comes from me. I’m no eminent scientist. Just a businessman. A miner. They’ll see my interest as an attempt to profit at the expense of the government. But if a man like Vaarig Greeta – scientist, family man – tells them. They’ll listen.
Wong/Saavei/Galanis: Response
((OOC – Same, again)
Norsel: The problem was you. You showed up and threw off all my plans. I know you’re off-worlders. Aliens. When my men told me, I logically assumed you were Hovans… But now I know better. ::Pointing to Saavei:: Vulcan. ::To Wong:: Klingon. ::To Galanis:: Centauran. ::To Hopper:: My genetic scanners don’t quite know what you are.
Robin stuttered, bewildered. All the research they had done before coming to Uwe told them that the Uwezo were unaware of their stellar neighbours – or of any other spacefaring civilization. How could Norsel know all this?
Hopper: You know about the Hovans?! About… The Federation?
At this point, the proverbial cat seemed out of the bag. In fact, it was more like peeking in the bag to see if the cat was still in there only to realize the cat had never been in the bag at all, and instead you were carrying a bag of potatoes.
Norsel: Of course I do… I am Hovan.
Wong/Saavei/Galanis: Response
TBC
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Lt. Cmdr Robin Hopper (she/they)
First Officer, Amity Outpost
V239806K11