Commander Alexis Hopper - Voulez-Vous

[LCDR Aine O. Sherlock]

I've been getting regular updates from some of the crew of Amity Outpost on their current mission. It's been quite fun to learn about their future selves...and this particular person. Last night I was told I needed to read this because Alexis Hopper is being a Hopper, and it did not disappoint.
 

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((Sickbay - USS Glacier))

There was something in the air in the Sickbay. Lex had just arrived by herself, her arms tightly folded across her chest, fingers drumming away on her left bicep. Her jaw was tense and set, giving her a fierce and frustrated aura even as she tried to hold her emotions in check.

It wasn’t like The Commander hadn’t already spent every second on board the Glacier grappling with her personal feelings and her duty. But the bombshell her father had decided to drop on Lex and her mother not long ago had been, bluntly, on a different level.

Irumodic Syndrome. What kind of a sick joke was that? How do you keep something like that from everyone, especially your damned daughter? The part of her that felt guilty for the things she’d said in the Captain’s Ready Room was still drowned out by the livid, frustrated anger keeping her on edge. Even Old Man Orrey was picking up emotional shrapnel – did he know? As Lex broiled in her own emotions, the door slid open. Robin and Wil entered the room, and that tension in the air became practically suffocating.

Two bitter, frustrated Hoppers in one room was a force to be reckoned with.

A. Hopper: ::looking toward Robin:: You took your time.

The younger man next to Robin snapped to attention as Lex approached, but her attention was on the doctor. There were still things left to be said between them.

Ukinix: Captain. Pleasure to meet you-- oh, I can see the resemblance! ::To Robin:: Wow, I can really see it. Proud mum, huh?

Two heads snapped simultaneously toward Wil Ukinix, the combined looks in their eyes burning with the heat of a thousand phasers set to kill.

A. Hopper & R. Hopper: ::Simultaneously::  Don’t.

Sharing a look between them, the mother-daughter team up was short lived. While Robin rolled her eyes, Lex cleared her throat and set her jaw as she quickly looked away. It was a weird day. There was no need to go making it any weirder than it was.

Ukinix: Ooh, awkies. ::changing subject:: So um, I need re-authorisation, because, you know... ::sideeye at Robin:: I’m forty years in the future.

oO Awkies? Oo

A brow raised as Lex processed the word, Wil’s accent beginning to dawn on her. Could he have been from Australia? Lex had always liked hearing about the place back when she lived on Earth – it was one of the furthest places from Minnesota she could imagine. The Commander gave him a once-over, guessing he must’ve been around the same age as her. This was Wil Ukinix? The man all of this fuss was over?

A. Hopper: …Really? That's the best you’ve got?

Orrey: ::speaking up:: Forty years in the future you still can’t string a sentence together without ruffling a captain.

Ukinix: Mate you don’t look a day over forty years older than when I saw you yesterday.

Orrey: You are a liar and always have been.

In Lex’s mind, Jasen was and had always been an old man. It just didn’t seem right to think of him as anything else. Even 40 years ago, his hair must have been as grey as it was today. He’d been a sort of mentor figure to the young woman in her early days. Lex had always figured her father put him up to it, with the payment being hostage to his old stories.

Orrey: Brother, have I missed you.

R. Hopper: ::Clearing her throat::  Gentlemen…

A. Hopper: ::to Robin:: You brought the dead man back. The least you can do is give them a chance to hug it out.

Once the two had their moment, Jansen’s attention turned toward Lex herself.

Orrey: Alexis. You didn’t come by for tea when you were at Command last don’t think I didn’t know.

Eyes widening slightly, Lex tried to think back to the last time she was at Command. That was right before she’d gotten assigned command of the Resilience. In all her eagerness, she hadn’t spent much time going around to visit all her usual haunts. There was a war going on… but it was also her first command. Who could blame her for being a little excited?

A. Hopper: Sorry about that, Old Man. You know how Command likes to like to keep us on the move.

For a few moments, part of her wanted to say more. She wanted to ask him about Nathan, to tell him about the Irumodic Syndrome. He was a doctor – a real, medical doctor instead of whatever her mother was. Why shouldn’t she tell him?

oO Because then he’ll probably want to test you for it too. Oo

Orrey: And Robin you still owe me that Okinawan sweet potato coding for replicators at the Academy. ::glancing at Wil:: They work faster but ingredients still should be locally sourced.

R. Hopper: Actually, I came prepared, Doctor.

Lex watched as Robin handed over the data to Jansen, trying to resist the urge to roll her eyes. Even now, in the middle of breaking more laws than Lex could count, her mother was still obsessed with her damned vegetables. Blech.

R. Hopper: A properly-curated replicator beni imo – along with fourteen preparations from the local restauranteurs… Though, you know it’s actually an American root vegetable, don’t you, Jansen?

R. Hopper: ::Clearing her throat::  Wil is here for his annual physical. Forty years worth of them. Given his temporal displacement, you can probably forego the thirty-or-so prostate exams he’s owed.

Ukinix: ::Head tilted, staring at data module:: I wonder if you could ferment that thing-- ::eyes snapping to Robin:: Heyyy! Hold on a tick. I’m still only thirty-one. Unlike you lot.

Thirty one. So Lex and Amity’s former First Officer were the same age – or extremely close to it – after all. It felt a little absurd to suddenly feel like she related more to the man that died forty years ago than the senior citizens examining him on the biobed.

Orrey: Well you didn’t reverse anything on the trip here..that’s good..Still going to look deeper.

R. Hopper: Were you concerned a pregnant salamander would pop out onto the transporter pad, Doctor? We were very careful – and I’ll add that Commander Moonsong-Orrey, Lieutenant Monroe, and Sam Richards were all integral to successfully carrying out the transport.

Ukinix: Pfft. I’m not preggers.

Lex’s gaze dropped down to Wil’s stomach along with his own, her head tilting to one side.

Ukinix: ...am I?

A. Hopper: Not yet, anyway.

Orrey: Response

R. Hopper: We detected no cellular degradation in the transporter bay – and we managed to contain and disperse the chroniton particulates and tachyon radiation safely. Jansen, are there any other health concerns we should be worried about…?

Ukinix: Or positive side effects of this science experiment I was the subject of? Pheromone glands or something? Asking for a friend.

Out of the corner of her eye, Lex spotted Robin casting her looks around. Both of them knew what was on each other’s minds – Lex didn’t want to let herself think about it right now. She wanted something, anything to latch onto as a distraction.

Fortunately for Lex, the cheeky Wil’s humor seemed to be striking her funnybone - a flicker of an amused smirk flashed across her features at his words.

A. Hopper: Was he always like this, or is he just trying to impress?

Orrey: Response

R. Hopper: So, we can confirm that this is the same Wil that was alive in 2401 and, given that he was in good standing with Starfleet Command on the date of his apparent death, there’s no reason he shouldn’t be eligible for reinstatement… At least, provisional reinstatement while he gets ‘caught up’.  ::To Alexis::  Commander Hopper – what is your assessment?

Ukinix: Well I can bloody confirm I’m me! Just ask Robin about the Collingwood versus Carlton match I was going to take her to on the holodeck in a few days’ time to show her what a bogan was--

It was like watching someone deflate in the middle of their sentence, reality hitting the poor man like a sack of latinum. Lex couldn’t help but feel for him – ripped out of time and brought into the middle of the worst war the Federation had ever seen. Being displaced through time like that was hard for Lex to imagine going through.

Ukinix: I’m not dreaming am I.

A. Hopper: Trust me, I’d wake you up if you were. You’re in the same nightmare the rest of us are.

Unfolding her arms for the first time since she’d arrived, Lex looked between the three of them before resting her gaze on Wil.

A. Hopper: You seem like you’re who you say you are. Don’t seem like a danger, either. Technically, you haven’t even committed a crime yet… unlike most of the people on board this ship. I don’t see anything wrong with a provisional reinstatement.

Orrey: Response

Ukinix: I won’t accept provisional. Hours ago I was a First Officer. Either I get full reinstatement, or I steal a shuttle and bugger off to The Shoals. Simple.

Brow raising and eyes widening, for a tense few moments, it wasn’t clear how Lex was going to respond. It looked like she was sizing the man up… and then the blonde snorted out a scoffing kind of laugh.

A. Hopper: Go right ahead. Bet they’re doing a lot better out there than they were forty years ago, just like the rest of the Galaxy. It’s a pretty bold move to go demanding things from someone you just met… but fine. Not like it’s going to take any less paperwork.

Orrey/R. Hopper: Response

Ukinix: Fine. Now that’s sorted, can someone bring me something to eat? All this being kidnapped from forty years prior’s made me hungry. Unless there’s any dietary restrictions, Jansen? ::raising finger:: If you say no pizzas...

A. Hopper: It’s been forty years. Who says you can’t live a little? If you’re looking for some tips on how to replicate a pizza…

As Lex spoke, her hand rose and subconsciously wrapped a lock of blonde hair around a finger, lazily but obviously playing with it.

Orrey/R. Hopper: Response

Keehani: =/\= Mother Perennial Keehani Ukinix of the Ninth House, Holder of the Noble Currency Chest of Rixx, and keeper of the Noble Lands of Betazed, summoning Commander Wil Ukinix. =/\=

Ukinix: Ehhh....

Ukinix: Go ahead Keehani.

Ukinix: This is getting worse.

Lex watched as Wil tried and failed to respond to the communication, at first confused why he was reaching for his delta instead of his wrist. It suddenly dawned on her just how old-fashioned the man’s time was. She hadn’t so much as thought about a combadge in years.

Keehani: =/\= Wil?! Answer me! I don’t have all day. Oh... fine. ::scowl:: Your quarters are ready. Get someone to escort you here. Mother Perennial Keehani Ukinix of the Ninth House, Holder of the Noble Currency Chest of Rixx, and keeper of the Noble Lands of Betazed out. =/\=

A. Hopper: …I think I missed everything before and after ‘Mother Perennial’.

Orrey/R. Hopper: Response

A. Hopper: No wonder you’re having problems – I can’t believe Starfleet ever used those old things. Are they even fully compatible with the wricorders?

Ukinix/Orrey/R. Hopper: Response

Placing one hand on her hip, Lex nodded to herself, coming to a conclusion.

A. Hopper: Sounds like you need an escort to your quarters. As the only Starfleet Commanding Officer here not in violation of protocol, I think that duty falls to me. We can get you a real communication device on the way.

Ukinix/Orrey/R. Hopper: Response

A. Hopper: ...Well, I'm sure a resourceful First Officer like yourself knows how to work a replicator... and plenty of other things, for that matter.

There was that finger in her hair again.

Ukinix/Orrey/R. Hopper: Response

 

 

[Robin Hopper]

@Niev Galanis did research for this...

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Robin smiled up at the tall dark and handsome hoverball player, subconsciously wrapping a lock of her chestnut-brown hair around her finger and playing with it flirtatiously.

 

[Nolen Hobart]

I love this part:

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Ukinix: I’m not dreaming am I.

A. Hopper: Trust me, I’d wake you up if you were. You’re in the same nightmare the rest of us are