Hak, I presume.

Posted on Mon Jun 29th, 2020 @ 7:11pm by Captain Jane Saulitis (P) & Lieutenant Commander (P) Angus Murphy

Mission: Cruel Meridian
Location: Yorktown Settlement
Timeline: PMD 01
2066 words - 4.1 OF Standard Post Measure

Jane was not going to take no for an answer about stepping off the ship first. If there was no Starfleet then there was no regulation about what she could or couldn't do regarding an away mission. She needed answers and she wanted to see Hak, even if he wasn't her Hak. She wanted to know if he was still, at the core, Hak. It was the ages old argument of nature vs. nurture.

She stepped down carefully debating about her choice not to bring a phaser, thinking that it wouldn't be very friendly like and might not give them a good first impression. She wasn't even in uniform anymore, deciding instead to just dress in civilian clothing. If things were very different here there wasn't any need to show that they belonged to an organization that didn't exist.

Lieutenant Commander Murphy was flanking close behind the captain. He'd brought a standard engineering tricorder which was holstered in a case at his hip, but was also unarmed and civilian-dressed in a grey slacks and a green v-neck shirt with a light jacket.

"You know, it's a shame we never used more green in our uniforms," Jared quipped as they continued along. His attention was being pulled in all directions from the motley collection of shuttles, cruisers, and other space-faring vessels all melded together into an embodiment of necessity. There were some shapes and design cues that the crew would have recognized immediately, but even for a career engineer, Hanover had trouble attributing some pieces of the settlement to a member species of the Federation. Adding to it all was the dull reddish-brown glow of the planet below, the galaxy's universal signal of an infertile, barren rock.

Barr followed the others, looking around and getting a feel for the, settlement? Space station? Whatever you’d called it it seemed odd yet worked well. He surmised that when surviving the most important thing was survival. This place was most definitely a place where you survived.

Cassie, being lowest, so to speak, on the away team's hierarchy, stepped out last. As usual, she wore civilian clothing. Unusually, her attire didn't consist of either a dress or a pantsuit, but something more suitable to the outdoors. Her hair, usually loos around her shoulders, was now tied in a braid.

She took stock of her surroundings; this was definitely not a place she was familiar with. In all her travels, she had never encountered something quite like this, where people fought for survival every single day, as evidenced by the visible infrastructure.

The station commander (a.k.a. Hak) and his chief of security, Meriven, were standing by to greet the small contingent of visitors with some apprehension.

"Welcome, Captain, everyone, to Yorktown Settlement," Hak said nodding and meeting each of their gazes directly with his own dark eyes. "I am Commander Hakala, this is my number one, Commander Meriven."

"Jane Saulitis." She replied, trying not to stare at Hak too much. "Is there somewhere we could all meet and talk . . . privately?"

"There is an available space not too far away," Hak promised with a polite dip of his head. He looked to Meriven who nodded smartly and motioned for everyone to follow her.

Hak hung back, following the group to make sure there were no strays. Meriven led the group through old-style corridors of a rather utilitarian design, it was a short walk with only a few turns. She eventually turned on her heel into a large multi-functional classroom space. The tables were pushed together into a meeting space in the middle and the walls were decorated with educational materials and student drawings. There were a few refreshments set on a table immediately inside the door.

Herbert was one of the last to follow the rest of the group. He noticed Hak head towards the back of back of the group. He guessed that he was making sure no one slipped away from the group. He gave him a respectful nod as he approached. “Like what you’ve done here.” He said as a way to start a conversation with him.

"Agreed. I haven't seen a console like that since the Aeron. Incredible." A wave of nostalgia was affecting the Majestic's executive officer. This particular vintage was from 2367, when he had served on the USS Aeron, a refitted version of a Reliant-class starship that he had served aboard as an engineer. As he continued to look around, Commander Hanover noticed that a portion of the wall bore a recognizable, but well-weathered registration of a starship.

NCC-1704
U.S.S. YORKTOWN

Jane felt, rather than saw Hanover pause and she slowed her walking to glance back at him. "I'm sure Commander Hakala wouldn't mind giving us a tour later." The name felt alien to her as their entire relationship she believed she had only ever called him Hak. It was her way of saying, not now without using the words though she appreciated Jared's interest in history but that they really needed to focus on what they could learn now.

"Oh I'm sorry," Jared realized the level of his distraction and quickly shook off his reverence for the display of raw, unrefined engineering skill on display around them all. His wandering had separated him from the rest of crew assembled in the classroom, so he took a few strides back towards Captain Saulitis and the rest of the group.

Bert was on edge as the group came to a stop, he didn’t have a good feeling about what was about to happen. He hoped he was wrong but his gut feelings were hardly ever wrong. Though, he kept what felt to himself for the time being. He didn’t want to alert anyone without a good enough reason.

"Of course," Hak smiled politely at Jane's suggestion of a tour. He hadn't purposely ignored the other comments, but it was a rather good sized group and he was focused on getting to the point of the visit. "We're planning for a tour right after we talk. First, perhaps you could tell us who you are and how you came to be here. That would help us understand what's brought you to us," he motioned for everyone to take seats around the central table.

"We're a bit confused about that ourselves." Jane wasn't sure exactly what to say. He was Hak and yet he wasn't, not at all. She was Starfleet and also there was no Starfleet, no one to give her orders or reprimand her for saying too much. "We entered some kind of anomaly I think. Time appeared to move differently in it. Suddenly we were out with little more explanation than how we got stuck in it in the first place." She shrugged.

"Your ship, the Majestic, is a class and design I am unfamiliar with, yet it carries the markings of Starfleet and a very high registration number," Hak observed, trying to be as open minded and as neutral as possible. "It's very new by outward appearances... it leads me to believe that Starfleet is still in operation where you are from."

She glanced back at some of her officers. "It is. Majestic isn't even that new. It was completed in 2379. Where we came from there are much newer vessels." She was attached to her ship though. It wasn't the most powerful or the fastest but it had been home for a while now and it was her first command.

The corollary to Commander Hakala's statement loomed large. Gears began to turn in Jared's head as he began to fit the pieces of the puzzle together. The mishmash of equipment surrounding them was recognizable, but nothing was newer than what would have been the mid twenty-third century to them. Starfleet was gone. People were banding together just to survive, and now they had arrived with technology that was potentially a full century ahead of the station's current capability. Commander Hanover shifted his weight on his feet ever so slightly, combating the uneasy feeling rising in him.

"Commander," Jared addressed Hakala, "if we seem incredulous, we are. Our incredulity is not out of distrust or lack of hospitality, but rather born out of a paradigm shift that is only just beginning to sink in. I'm afraid we might need an abridged version of events of the past two centuries or so. What happened here?"

Murphy glanced around the room as the adults talked. He casually stepped over toward a display of student artwork and took out his engineering tricorder as discreetly as he could to run some structural scans.

"Of course, Commander," Hak nodded at Hanover's question. "We'd be happy to supply you with access to Yorktown's historical database. It seems to me that in your universe your Starfleet somehow defeated the Ooare." As soon as he said the last word, he realized by the look on their faces and the confusion in their emotions that the Majestic's officers had no recognition of the name, certainly no fear. "I see. You have no idea who the Ooare are." He paused as he thought about how to explain.

Hak continued, "They came through portals with massive ships and wiped every planet they encountered of resources, destroyed entire fleets, left nothing in their wake. They didn't even pause, no questions, no demands... they just took everything and moved on. Where they are now, we don't know. It is still a source of fear and concern for many, especially elders who lived through it. Most believe they've moved on to other quadrants or somewhere else, maybe where they came from."

Jane couldn't imagine the devastation they must have lived through. The only thing close to it would be the Borg and somehow Starfleet had survived that. "How long ago was this?" She asked politely, not wanting to pry but wanting as much information as she could gather.

‘The Ooare?’ Thought Barr, he hadn’t heard of them before but if they could do this to the Federation then they must be very powerful. However, he hadn’t ruled out that this was all an elaborate ploy for them to play along with and jump through hoops so they can get what they want.

Cassie had to admit that she was also curious about the Ooare, but said nothing, preferring to listen. She also wondering why they were known here, but not in the universe she had come from. However, she made a mental note to look into any records relating to this interloper: she definitely wanted to learn more about them.

"Over a hundred years ago," Hak replied to Jane, not ignorant of the skeptics in the room. "One hundred and seven, to be exact." He'd expected nothing less than that they would verify his account, it's what he would do if he were in their shoes. "Anyway. I look forward to figuring out this mystery with you and in the meantime, offer you safe harbor in this new world. You're welcome to take all the scans you want, go anywhere, ask questions," he cast a look over to the Majestic's engineering officer. "I just ask that you respect the people who live here. Many of them are very wary of outsiders, so you'll all have escorts during your stay. For everyone's safety."

"That means no one wanders off by themselves and stays together with at least one other person from the ship." Jane said glancing behind her to make sure everyone got the point. She was deadly serious. Sure, they might be extremely friendly and welcoming, that didn't mean they needed to take any chances, especially given that it appeared they'd traveled much farther form home than they initially realized.

Cassie nodded. "Buddy system. Of course," she whispered.

"We will be considerate," Jane nodded to Hak. She glanced around at the creation of this station and sighed slightly. For all they knew they might be seeing a lot more of it if they couldn't figure out a way to get home.

---

Captain Jane Saulitis (P)
Commanding Officer
USS Majestic

Commander Hakala
Yorktown Settlement, pnpc Murphy

Lieutenant Commander Angus Murphy
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Majestic

Herbert Barr
Mission Adviser
USS Majestic

Commander Jared Hanover (P)
Executive Officer
USS Majestic

Cassandra Leblanc (P)
Chief Diplomatic Officer
USS Majestic