[G] PNPC Aron Kells: So Far Away (DeVeau, Bridge)

[Tony]

(( Chief Science Officer's Office ))

:: Lieutenant DeVeau nodded at him to continue, and while he never would have described her as a cold interrogator, she was warmer now than she ever had been. ::

Kells: The truth is, I don't know. It was intelligent, or there was something aboard that was, though whether it was a machine intelligence or an organic one, I don't know. Maybe both. Maybe multiple of both. It was fascinated by me -- and I don't just mean me, or our species, but the very notion of a humanoid species. Well, that was enough to tell me that it was a very alien intelligence, because how could it have missed humanoids? We're -- everywhere! If nothing else, the Drake sent a team aboard during Starfleet's first encounter with the structure-entity-intelligence-whatever-it-is. So I couldn't imagine how it, how they, couldn't know.

DeVeau: Okay.

:: Again she waited for him to continue. ::

Kells: It used a completely novel form of propulsion. One moment, we'd be warping along somewhere, and I could see that, and then all of a sudden we'd be somewhere else entirely. I mean hundreds, thousands, millions of light-years away! We were skipping galaxies, I figured, which was maybe how it didn't know about humanoid life.

DeVeau: Hmm.

Kells: My experience -- my experiences -- weren't all terrible. I learned plenty, too, and I'd be happy to share that with you. It'll take more than a few minutes to tell, though.

DeVeau: Interesting. Okay, another question. You said you weren't here while the other Kells was here. But you're here now. So where is he?

:: Aron's face twitched. That was the question, wasn't it? ::

Kells: I don't know. Neither does Starfleet. It seems that the last contact anyone had with him was my old XO's, Arden Cain, and that was over eight months ago now. Since then -- poof. He either literally vanished, maybe recalled to the Ring, or just dropped off the face of everything.

:: The other possibility, though it made Aron bite his lip to think about it, was that the faux-Kells had succeeded in finding his grandfather. And doing what with him? He didn't know. He shook his head. ::

Kells: I hope we'll find him someday. It'd make me feel a lot better, certainly, to have tangible proof that he's not me.

DeVeau: ?

:: Just then, DeVeau's comm badge beeped. She reached to tap it. ::

Bridge: =/\= ?

DeVeau: =/\= ?

:: The captain's party was coming back so quickly? They must have recovered both Ross and Reynolds easily, Aron thought, or else Egan Manno would probably still be out there searching. ::

DeVeau: ?

Kells: No, I understand. Duty call. Listen, let's get together again soon, okay? You should have shore leave coming up, shouldn't you? Find me. We'll sit down.

DeVeau: ?

Kells: Great. ::beat:: Thanks for listening.

DeVeau: ?

Tag! and TBC!

Aron Kells

Former CO

Current-Past-Always Scientist