Envoy Keehani Ukinix (with Cmdr Iko and Cmdr Hopper) - Death Echoes

[Rebecca Iko]

It has been a fateful start to our misson thus far. Amity's First Officer @Wil Ukinix tragically died at the hands of a Hirogen Alpha named Ravarj--and his second cousin Keehani isn't taking the development well. 

Even though I got impatient and read through the whole of this sim while filling out tags, the little tweaks that were made between then and the time this sim hit my inbox are irreplacable. It's a captivating, heartbreaking scene that hits all the right places, and is a prime example of the fantastic writing abilities of @Wil Ukinix! I can't wait to see what happens with Keehani next.

 

((Flashback – Meeting Room, Copernicus Level 13, Amity Outpost, Stardate 240111.23))

 

Keehani was past being disturbed about sensing that Wil was in the room with her. The death echoes were just that – echoes. Her cousin was gone. She knew it. *He was not there*.

 

But now, as her last “official” act on Amity, the exhausted and sleep deprived Betazoid wanted answers.

 

Keehani: Then you tell me how it was that a vessel was able to decloak right next to the Independence without being detected!

 

Keehani, with her hands flat on the table, stared directly at the human-Klingon hybrid. She was met with an equally fierce stance back.

 

Iko: What the #$*@ do you want me to say?!

 

Robin, her broken arm in a gel cast, wanted to reach out to Keehani – and to Bec. They were both so distraught and Robin... Robin just felt numb.

 

Hopper: Keehani, we had no idea that the Hirogen were in possession of cloaking technology. The other Alphas were caught just as off-guard as we were... Ravarj must have traded for the technology or--

 

The Envoy dropped her head, letting her hair fall to her sides and cover her face.

 

Keehani: No, because Starfleet didn’t do their job. And now the First Officer is dead.

 

She looked up again.

 

Keehani: ::Pointing finger:: All because of your incompetence! ::To Hopper:: And I can’t believe you would even *think* to leave Wil behind.

 

Iko: SHUT UP!

 

Hopper: ::Sternly::  Bec.  ::A breath, then turning to Keehani::  There was a contingency plan in place. Wil knew his job and I knew mine. If things went south, my priority was evacuating...  ::Hesitating::  Was evacuating you. He was to stay behind and take command.

 

Knowing that it had been the “proper” thing to do didn’t make Robin anymore convinced that it was the “right” thing to do – and Keehani’s expression only affirmed her self-doubt.

 

Hopper: The point is, we shouldn’t be trying to assign--

 

Keehani: I’ve requested a transfer to Paris. I’m leaving Amity. Do you really think I could stay here? I’ve lost confidence in Rivi, in Starfleet, ::side eye to Bec:: in the Chief of Security and Tactical on account of, oh, I don’t know, ineptness that got my cousin killed!

 

Iko: Yeah, well the FDC does this stupid thing of ::high pitched, mocking tone:: “Oh, we’re better than Starfleet, we don’t need security officers on our away missions”---If you had let me JUST #%*^@&$ BE THERE---

 

Hopper: ::Losing her cool::  Then you would be dead too, Bec. We would have lost you both. Things are bad – we need you here right now.  ::To Keehani::  We need you too. Please, both of you, just stop--

 

Iko: You had it “ALL HANDLED!” It was all going to be “JUST FINE!”. But now---

 

Bec couldn’t bring herself to say it. In any form.

 

Keehani stood straight, and with a look of absolute contempt, screwed up her nose and exhaled through her nostrils, glancing between them both.

 

Keehani: ::through gritted teeth:: May the Four guide you both. Because someone needs to.

 

With that, she turned on her heel, angrily clip-clopping her way out of the meeting room.

 

Bec stared right at Keehani as she left.

 

Iko: ::quietly:: %^$@%.

 

Watching her leave, Robin was surprised at how little sadness she felt. It was like the part of her that would feel grief was broken or just missing.

 

Hopper: ::Trying to convince herself::  She... She just needs time. We all just need a little... A little time.

 

 

((Terminal A, a few minutes later))

 

With tears visibly streaming down her face, Keehani turned over her shoulder as she made her way towards the gate that would take her back to Earth, via a QSD ship – a “Quesadilla” ship as her cousin colloquially liked to call it, that a death echo chose to remind her and she chose to ignore.

 

She took one last glance at Amity. The Outpost had become her home. She would miss its cosmopolitan feel, its upmarket facilities, and its beautiful park.

 

But the death of Wil, and the strategic failure of the attempted treaty with the Hirogen was a disaster that she worried she’d never be able to heal from. There was no containing her anger, nor her sadness. She knew they were a dangerous cocktail.

 

It was a sign to her from the Four. Time to move on. She’d requested a transfer, and the only position available was a diplomatic communications review role in Paris on Earth. Not ideal, but not necessarily permanent. With patience, she would diligently perform her duties, waiting for the next opportunity, on her path to one day become an ambassador in her own right.

 

And now she had new motivation – to be more cautious, and not to repeat Rivi’s mistake of being too conciliatory.

 

oO Keehani... don’t leave... Oo

 

She squinted her eyes shut, shaking the death-echoed voice of Wil out of her head, as she walked through the gate.

 

 

((Room 65-235, SS Gecko, Cool down phase – 3 weeks later))

 

Rather than allow herself to be buried in grief, and allow death echoes to traumatise her, Amity’s now former Chief of Staff buried herself in PADDwork. She had requested Paris send her things to do, and they had complied. She’d also spent many of her hours writing up her final Amity report, expressing her view of the failures of Ambassador Vataix and Starfleet that had led to Wil’s death.

 

Part of her mind kept telling her she was externalising. But she pushed that down...

 

Sitting on her bed with PADD in one hand and a stylus pressed against her bottom lip, she was interrupted when the console in her room informed her of an incoming personal message. Whoever had sent it, it would have taken days, if not a week, to get to her.

 

She hopped off the bed, placing the PADD and stylus carefully on the sheet, then sat at the console, pressing to accept the message.

 

On the screen was the forlorn face of Son Astrad Ukinix, grandmother’s brother and Wil’s grandfather. The friendly, older man who now helped her Matriarch grandmother Vaxa with the administrative affairs of the Ninth House looked far from the young man in his twenties who’d had affairs with two Matriarchs from other houses.

 

The recording started playing.

 

Astrad: // Keehani. Um... I’ve been searching for the words... it’s your grandmother. ::Tears welling:: Her condition, it’s worsened. She didn’t take the news of Wil’s... ::swallowing:: passing well. //

 

Keehani: ::Hand over mouth:: Oh, no.

 

Astrad: // She’s become paranoid that the family’s going to fall apart again. It’s sent her into a spiral, and I’m sorry to be the one to tell you this, but with her neural condition, she may not recover. The doctors think she may only have a few months left. //

 

Keehani: ::crying:: Oh, by the Four, no.

 

Astrad: // I’m letting you know this now so you can make arrangements to transfer to Betazed once you arrive on Earth. Hayley, Anacem, the whole family from Earth are already on their way here-- //

 

Keehani watched as Astrad covered his mouth, trying not to cry. If ever there was an example of how Earth’s culture had unnecessarily taught the Betazoid man of supressing his emotions, it was on display on the screen in front of her.

 

Astrad: // Stay strong, Keehani. I know you always are. //

 

The transmission ended. In a fit of rage, she moved towards the bed, picked up her PADD, and flung it at the nearby wall as hard as she could. She placed one hand on her forehead, the other on her hip, and sobbed loudly.

 

That’s when she felt Wil’s presence again. As if he was in the room, telling her he understood, and that it would all be okay.

 

But it wasn’t Wil. It was yet another insufferable death echo.

 

Keehani: ::Screaming, crying:: GO AWAAAAAAAAAAAY!

 

The Envoy collapsed onto the bed in the foetal position, arms wrapped around herself.

 

((End Flashback))

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

========================================================== 

 

  

Envoy Keehani Ukinix 
Chief of Staff, Amity Outpost

Federation Diplomatic Corps, United Federation of Planets
V239511WU0 

 

With very special guests

 

Lt. Cmdr Robin Hopper (she/they)

Chief Science Officer & Second Officer,

Amity Outpost

Character Wiki Page

V239806K11

 

&

 

Lt. Cmdr Rebecca Iko

Chief of Sec/Tac

Amity Outpost

A239810RI3