These are our confessions

Posted on Wed Oct 1, 2014 @ 11:01pm by Lieutenant Cassandra Kennings & Fleet Captain Rhea Kennit & Lieutenant Penelope Naroot

1,929 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: All this has happened before...
Location: Captain's Ready Room
Timeline: 1400 hours

[Bridge]

Cassandra walked onto the bridge and gave a small, soft whistle towards the helm. She caught Penny's eye, nodded at the Captain's ready room and angled towards it.

Penny put down the tools she'd been using to tinker and jumped to her feet, coming up beside Cass, wiping the dust off her uniform.


[Captain's Ready Room]

Seated at her desk, a double espresso held in one hand as she sipped from it, the Captain had a slight frown on her face as she read a series of incident reports which had been been transmitted out to them over night. More reports of raids on Federation flagged colonies established in this region of the quadrant, missing civilian ships.. Descriptions of the vessels involved in the attacks were sketchy at best. A fact which she found completely annoying.. one would think that the civilians on the various colonies here would pay attention to at least a few details to help Starfleet protect them..

Idiots.

Someone had figured out a way to make the political issues plaguing the Federation a little easier. With all the idiots here running colonies on the other side of the galaxy that made life back home undoubtedly more pleasant...

The door to the ready room opened, and Captain Kennit lifted her head just slightly to cast a side-long gaze towards the door to see who was coming in.

"Good afternoon, Captain," Cassandra said as she and Penny stepped up in front of the Captain's desk. "I appreciate you seeing us."

Swiveling her chair to face the two new arrivals, the Captain gestured towards the two chairs in front of her desk indicating they should have a seat as she answered, "Not a problem Lieutenant Sanders, Lieutenant Naroot. Please.. have a seat."

Cassandra sat down gracefully while Penny dropped into the seat next to her. Cass opened up her handbag and pulled out a padd, handing it to the Captain. "This is a copy of Special Orders for Classified Data, Level 11 authorization, signed by Admiral Alan Markus, Starfleet Intelligence," she said. "It's in regards to the crew files of his former staff." She took a moment to let the Captain assimilate that and then pressed on.

"For certain members of his crew, their medical files have been redacted and the censored parts removed to avoid confusion and curiosity," she continued. "However it is left to the discretion of those officers whether or not they choose to bring someone into their circle of trust. If you put your thumb to those orders, signifying your compliance with the containment of classified data, we would like to discuss our situations with you. I've found it's prudent to bring a Captain in on things, to avoid complications in the future."

Kennit was well aware of who Markus was, she'd spent her entire career in Section 31 and frankly, she thought Starfleet Intel was a joke. Still.. she nodded as she pressed her thumb to the orders. "All right..."

Cassandra smiled and took the padd back, although inwardly she was somewhat surprised. She looked at Penny and shrugged. "Suppose we should ease her into it. Why don't you go first?"

Penny shrugged and looked back at the Captain. "So, my file says I'm human. Most medical tricorders say the same thing. Turns out, I'm not."

"Less vague, Pen," Cass muttered.

Penny sat up a bit straighter and her Hawaiian accent dimmed slightly. "Almost a century ago, a man named Harcourt Fenton Mudd crash-landed on a Class-K planet outside of Federation Space. He found a facility used as an outpost by a race from what you call the Andromeda Galaxy. The facility was run by a collection of Androids, who had never encountered humans before and found Mudd to be fascinating; so fascinating, that they wouldn't let him go. So, he persuaded them to capture a Federation Starship; namely, the USS Enterprise."

"The Androids decided Humanity was too much of a danger to itself, and had plans to take care of them and protect them from themselves. Your Captain Kirk decided to reject that favor, short-circuit their central processor--and, incidentally, risk destroying them--and then used them to retain and torture Mister Mudd."

She shrugged gently. "Needless to say, Mudd eventually got away and the Androids had a long time to think about what they learned. After about sixty years, they decided some recon was due, but they knew Humanity's lack of logic and common sense was a threat. So, they decided to construct an android better suited for dealing with humanity."

"I," Penny said, suddenly sounding a bit guilty, "was the 121st attempt at an individual Human-esque android." She cleared her throat and glanced at Cass. "After they finished a version, they would have it watch the security tapes from the original Enterprise crew's takeover attempt. The first hundred androids shorted out. Another dozen walked out, but stopped cold about an hour later after it finally all sank in. A few physically sparked and exploded, and I'm pretty sure the one before me actually ripped his own processor out."

She shrugged. "I saw it...and laughed. They figured they got it right. I was number 121 and they'd dubbed the new female attempts the 'Penelope Series', so they called me Penelope Naroot, the square root of 121 being 11, and Sodium, 'Na' has an atomic weight of 11. It was about as creative as my 'parents' got."

She sighed gently. "They sent me in a small probe casing to Earth, figuring if we're going to start, go to the source. I made it to Earth, but there was some damage en route. I must have hit a meteor shower or some such, because my memory core was damaged and instead of landing safely near a populated area, I crash-landed in the Pacific Ocean.

"When the pod opened, I initially thought the planet was entirely underwater. I picked a direction and started walking. Two days later, I walked onto the shores of Hawaii. A family found me, took me in, and all I could remember was the name I was given. They helped me, cared for me, 'raised me' for a couple years and I believed I was human, that walking across the Ocean was just a dream from landing in the water. It wasn't until I joined Starfleet and joined the Admiral's crew that I found out the truth."

She shrugged again and looked back and forth at them, then at the Captain, smiling and pulling her silver scanner out of her uniform waist hook, twirling it between her fingers. "Any questions, brah?"

Cass leaned over and whispered out the side of her mouth. "I keep telling you, Captains don't like being called 'brah'."

"An android..." the Captain echoed. "Well, that's different..." And then, with one eyebrow raising slightly she added, "and Lt. Sanders is quite correct. I do not approve of being addressed as 'brah'."

Penny gulped and sat up a bit straighter. "Sorry Sir...Ma'am..."Sir Ma'am..."

"Beep, beep Penny," Cass said quietly, glancing at her. She then turned her focus back to the Captain. "My situation runs a bit less technological. Our ship encountered a planet in Romulan space populated by descendants of beings from an inter-dimensional planet called Megas-Tu. They had been on Earth approximately 800 years ago, but ancient humans forced them to flee, or be killed for 'witchcraft.'" She shook her head sadly. "They pulled themselves away from all other humans for fear that we would either continue to hunt them, or continue to learn to use their abilities but for nefarious purposes."

She glanced at Penny then back at the Captain. "They still maintain some contact with their home through inter-dimensional fissures, from which they also draw their 'powers.' However, exposing humans to it will allow them to begin to manipulate their energy-matter conversion powers as well." She blinked her violet eyes and tucked a lock of her rainbow hair behind her ear. "I'm not entirely human, but it still worked on me."

She leaned back in her chair. "The Megans weren't very happy when we arrived. They jailed us in an attempt to hold us until they could figure out what to do. Unfortunately, the Romulans had plans to colonize and had sent ground troops. By that point, the CMO and I had learned how to use their powers and helped defend the planet, but in doing so, we seemed to show them that humans couldn't refuse the power and couldn't be trusted. They 'magicked' us back into our shuttle and flung it halfway across the galaxy...right into the galactic barrier."

She blinked and her violet eyes were replaced with a swirling miasma. "It acted like an amplifier," she said. "My abilities are permanent it seems, but limited." She blinked again, her violet eyes returning. "They require a substantial amount of energy--and with my metabolism I eat a lot as it is." She offered a small chuckle. "And I will use them for defense only. My people have a promise to this galaxy never to hurt anyone again, if we can avoid it. I can't promise miracles all the time, but if I can provide one, I'll do my best."

"Exactly what sort of abilities do you have Lieutenant? And are there any negative side effects on you physically?" the Captain asked. "If so, you'll need to discuss possible health needs with the Doctor at greater detail."

"I'll be happy to discuss them with Doctor Anderson," Cassandra said, nodding in deference, "however the only danger to me is if I over exert myself. I do need to continue 'refueling' as it were." She snapped her fingers and a violet pentagram appeared in front of her, swirling and reforming into a bright red apple. She plucked it from the air and took a bite. "Fortunately, little parlor tricks don't take much," she said after she swallowed. "Bigger tricks take more, but again I'm limited by where I am, and how much energy I have at my disposal."

"Interesting.." the Captain replied, wondering in the back of her mind exactly what it was that had brought an officer with such an unusual skill set to her ship, here.. at the very edges of Federation territory. So far out in fact, that the idea of the Federation was considered by some of the local civilizations to be a bit of a laugh. "Do be sure to speak with the Doctor in regards to your.. unique talent set so that in the event of an emergency she is fully informed regarding your needs."

"Thank you, Captain. I'll speak with her immediately," Cassandra said. "I appreciate you taking this in such stride. It's comforting to know you can roll with a surprise or two."

"Or three," Penny said.

Cassandra gave her a look and smiled at the Captain again. "We appreciate your time, Captain. You'll have to stop by my office for coffee."

"I'll take you up on that..." the Captain answered. "Coffee is a weakness of mine...one which I've been often admonished for but refuse to give up."

"Splendid. I'll see you at 1600," Cassandra said, standing up, Penny standing next to her. "Thank you again for your time, Captain," she said.

Rising as well, the Captain walked around her desk to shake both officer's hands. "You're always welcome to come speak to me if you need.." she told them.

"We'll keep that in mind, Ma'am," Cassandra said. They both nodded and left the ready room, Penny heading back to the helm and Cassandra to the turbolift and her office.

 

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