Lt Jovenan – The window is bigger on the inside!
Jovenan
((Chez Adea, Dekoa, Betazed))
Another world behind the window opened to them. There was nothing between them, no planks, no glass, no impossibly large chasm of dead space and time as there ought to have been. Nothing. What they were seeing was impossible.
As impossible as the Q and yet they had met.
Elain: Great! Can we go now?
Jovenan turned her face away from the portal. The child had been enthusiastic to go wherever they would, at least since learning their identities, but they needed to admit that they were going to somewhere dangerous. Somewhere where Jovenan would have preferred not to go, and somewhere she couldn’t accept Tevet coming along.
Sadar: ::blinks:: W-We?
Something needed to be said. Doctor Adea hadn’t yet said a thing, so Jovenan leaned a bit closer to Tevet.
Jovenan: We need someone to guard the window from this side, Tevet. You’re brave, I’m sure you can do it.
Tevet pouted. It was incredibly adorable when she did that. Jovenan couldn’t believe this was the same girl that threatened to kill them all with a knife, or basically the same woman she had met just weeks ago. She was a little girl who had no business in historical Romulus killing Senators.
Elain: Fine. I promise to look over the window, but only if you promise to come back!
Smiling a little, Jovenan straightened her back again. Meanwhile, the Commander kneeled in front of Tevet, looking the girl at eye level, and holding a hand on her shoulder.
Adea: We’ll be back sooner than you think. Be brave, be sensible and go in good faith.
Struggling to keep the smile on her face, Jovenan turned away from the lovely goodbyes and faced the window. She stared at the lively image within the immobile frames. A step closer, she could really see how much depth it had; not an image, but a real world just one more step away. She tried breathing steadily as she raised her right leg over the wall and through the window. It didn’t feel like anything. She had a few deep breaths before, despite her best attempts, she closed her eyes and leaned in so that her head and upper body went over the windowsill. Her right foot met the ground, and she opened her eyes.
She was through.
((Walkway, Ki Baratan, Romulus))
((2374))
The other side of the window sat on a high walkway between two buildings. There was no one around them, but looking down by the railing of the walkway, Jovenan could see hundreds, if not thousands of people going along their day. For a moment, she just looked on, a curious sense of marvel in her mind. She hadn’t been to great cities too often. Just from this point, she could see more people, shuttles and buildings that any town in Rubicun had anymore. It was a city larger than the Main Campus City on Hurkos, perhaps even larger than San Francisco or Paris or any other city she had ever been to, though it was difficult to estimate just from one place.
Adea: Right, first thing’s first, we need to get our bearings.
Breaking the enchantment, Jovenan remembered her team and turned to see that Doctor Adea and Doctor Sadar had both followed her already. While they seemed almost as disorientated as she was, she didn’t at first understand why Doctor Sadar was flailing her arms around in the air. It was only then when she realised that the portal was gone.
She felt bad that they might have already broken their promise to Tevet.
Sadar: Well, we have no easy ways of getting out of here aside from that building, or that building. ::sighs::
Jovenan: I doubt we can use either way without being detected.
Adea: Response
Jovenan looked around once more, this time ignoring the hustle and focusing on the landmarks. The architecture was Romulan, there was no doubt. The yellow star – G type as she could easily tell although more precise classification would have required more resources – shone on one side of the city, at an elevation of some 35 or 40 degrees. Considering the temperature of some 10 degrees Celsius – probably some 5 degrees higher on the surface – as well as the presence of leathery-leaved vegetation down on the ground, the putative azimuth of the sun of just under 360 degrees relative to the closer pole, and the cultural clues, she estimated that they were in the mid-latitudes somewhat above the subtropical line in the autumn or spring – sniff – definitely spring. Sniff. There was also something else in the air.
Sadar: ::sniffing:: There’s salt on the air. The ocean isn’t far…
Jovenan: ::nods:: That would be Apnex Sea. I think this is Ki Baratan, the Romulan capital. That would mean the citadel is ::rolls around, points:: that way. I- I think.
She really hoped she was right. Otherwise, she would be sending her degree diploma back to the University.
Adea: Response
Sadar: For something as important as the Senate chambers, I’d assume it would be reachable by key infrastructure. A spaceport on the other hand… The Romulans have access to transporters, right? Surely Senator Vreenek will just transport to the Senate building once he’s in orbit?
Jovenan: Romulans of this era – of any era – are very cautious about everyone, even their leaders. I would imagine the Senate has only a few transporter pads and the rest of the government quarter is protected from air and transporter traffic.
Adea/Sadar: Response
Jovenan walked to the railing again, looking into the distance. Besides her constant anxiety over the inherent danger of the location and their objective, there was something unnerving about the location. It was a beautiful view, sure, and her desire to explore further was tingling, but a time traveller had a burden no one else could imagine bearing.
They knew when all these people would die.
Jovenan: It’s so eery. This place hasn’t existed for fourteen years by our time. ::sigh, turns to the others:: We’re going to need disguises. No offence, but none of us looks Romulan.
Adea/Sadar: Response
Jovenan: And what then? We can’t just walk into the Senate or the Senator’s shuttle before his arrival, even with disguises. And even if we did somehow manage that, we’d still need to make it appear as if the Dominion assassinated the Senator. None of us looks like a Jem’Hadar or Vorta either.
Adea/Sadar: Response
TAG/TBC
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Lieutenant Jovenan
Chief Science Officer
USS Artemis-A
E239911J11