riverview | ( video; un: kirk )

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( video; un: kirk )

[ The video starts with one of Jim's usual smiles. For those who recognize the location, he's sitting at his desk at the Perimeter Guard. ]

So, after some rocky couple of months, it looks like we're settling in for a quieter month. I don't know about you, but I'm definitely not complaining. Everyone should take the opportunity to relax a little and have some fun, but please be careful. Keep in mind that things can stop being peaceful and safe pretty fast.

Building on that thought, I'd like to reinforce we are always accepting new members at the Perimeter Guard. Can't have too many of us. Also, if you can pilot ships, shuttles or airplanes, I'm always looking for more members for the aerial unit, more specifically.

If anyone's curiosity is piqued, feel free to drop by and ask for Captain James T. Kirk. I'll be happy to show you around.

[ And he leans in as though he's turning off the camera...

(( BLOCKED FROM @FRANKENSTEIN ))

... but instead he just fiddles with a couple of settings before going on to add. ]

I was also wondering if anyone here could teach me how to waltz? Or any other similar dance, really. Something nice and romantic. [ A nod. ] Thanks.

[ And now he's done. ]

((ooc: WHOOPS FORGOT TO ADD. If you want your character to join the aerial unit (they can still keep other jobs or remain in other branches of the perimeter guard in case you're wondering) please JOIN HERE! Thank you! ♥))

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[ Jim nods. It's not the first time he's asked that question, with varying degrees of skepticism, so he's kind of used to it by now. ]

Right.

[ He makes his way to the screen. ] Yes. The holoscreens provide more of a visual aid, hold on. [ He pulls up a couple of them, so Breq can see various flight paths that have been recorded, with all the information she might be curious about, from speed and distance to altitude recordings. ]

If you set out on a specific route or input certain coordinates, the navigational system will practically do all the hard work for you. Autopilot is also a possibility for longer trips.

Unusual. And potentially dangerous. [That's Breq's observation, at least. She can think of at least a few incidents where peaceful ships were taken over and the occupants killed, enslaved, or turned into ancillaries (a fate worse than death, according to most).]

To prevent erratic humans from causing trouble, I'm sure. [She says it wryly, then starts poking around at the navigational controls, outlining a brief flight plan, and offering it up for Jim's inspection.

She doesn't wait for him to finish doing that, just continues systematically familiarizing herself with every button and switch on the ship's controls. A quick jaunt is no reason not to know how the shuttle controls.]

Of course it is. But we do still know how to defend ourselves. [ They'd be pretty stupid to be hopping away through the galaxy otherwise. Just because the Federation strives to be peaceful, it doesn't mean everyone else out there is. ]

Or to give you a bit of a break so you don't have to be with the hands on the wheel the whole time. [ Well, figurative wheel. More like helm. She knows what he means, he's sure.

He leans in to check the plan she sketched out, humming appreciatively. ] Looks good. Have you been beyond the wall yet?

What is it you look for? [What's worth the risk, she means but does not say. There are Radch ships that could be considered explorers of the outlying territories, after all-- the problem was the military forces that once followed behind them. twenty years ago.

Breq nods. It's not a metaphor she's used to, but the meaning is plain enough. Taking his voiced approval as a go ahead, she starts preparing the shuttle to take off, checking her work along each stage of the process. No reason not to be thorough.]

Routinely, since I arrived, but entirely on foot. I know flying creatures have been harassing people within the walls, but unless I'm mistaken they shouldn't prove dangerous to a shuttle.

New worlds, new cultures and civilizations. Exchanging knowledge, building alliances, making friends. Pursuing scientific, cultural and social advancement.

[ It's worth the risk. Well, for Jim, anyway. Maybe they just have different mentalities, or their experiences have shaped them both in different ways. Jim believes in Starfleet's principles, and can only hope to represent them the best way he can. ]

No, we'll be fine up here. [ He straps in to his seat while she gets them ready for takeoff. ] The shuttle is equipped with shields, though they're at minimum energy level right now. I'll adjust the specs if we run into any trouble. [ He's not anticipating it, but still. ]

I've never heard of anything like it, where I'm from.

Noted.

[A few more adjustments, and they're off. It's not quite like handling a shuttle in space-- there's a lot more to keep track of in atmosphere-- but she keeps the takeoff smooth as she points them out over the forest onto her proposed route.]

You're not alone there. Most people here haven't.

[ Some are fascinated, some are skeptical. Most don't seem to even believe there's such a thing, not in any universe. As though Starfleet or the Federation are some kind of unattainable utopia. Jim doesn't think so; he believes in it, but it's still flawed, it can still improve. But that's true for just about anything and anyone, he thinks.

He seems fairly relaxed as she takes them off the ground, pulling a couple screens up in front of him and keeping an eye on the path and the readings they get. He can tell she's completely at ease with the controls, so he doesn't hover, simply watching her every so often and not interrupting. He doesn't plan on stepping in unless absolutely necessary. ]

Research for research's sake, exploration for the same, is simple when considered in the abstract. Reality, in my experience, tends to contaminate it.

[She's certain that her views are colored by the 'exploration' she facilitated for the Radch for so long. By her hatred of both sides of that debate among the Radch's leadership. It nevertheless seems idealistic to her.

She stays quiet for much of the first part of the flight, allowing herself to focus on the controls. It's only when they're nearing the halfway point in the journey that she speaks up again.]

What was your ship like?

In most everyone's experience, it seems.

[ He can't really get her to believe him. Skepticism is something he's used to by now, and yeah, he realizes it sounds a little too idealistic, too... pure, for lack of a better word. Of course that the Federation wants and needs knowledge in order to advance technologically, but it's not the only reason why they go out there, exploring the galaxy. ]

Big, [ He says with a small smile. ] Really... huge. Could carry a crew of about four hundred people, give or take. The most advanced Federation ship at the time of its construction, and the flagship of the fleet. Definitely nothing like this shuttle.

[ Nodding at her, ] You had a ship, back home?

[Breq listens to the description, as she stares at the controls. Jim sounds like a Captain, all right. Proud of his ship-- and rightfully so, if it was the flagship. Proud of the specs. If she were to take a guess, proud of the crew as well.]

What was the ship called?

[His next question makes her throat close up. She has to take a steadying breath before she answers.'Had' isn't the right word, but...]

Once. Justice of Toren.

USS Enterprise. Or just Enterprise, for short.

[ He's proud, alright. Even now that the first generation of his ship lies dead in Altamid, he's still proud, as he will be of the Enterprise-A once it's finished. His crew won't cease to perform admirably as always, so he knows he'll never have a single reason not to be proud of them, too.

He glances at Breq, watching her for a brief while. ] What kind of ship was it?

All of the Justices were troop carriers. [Her hands tense and relax on the controls. Jim can probably already guess that her world is less idyllic than his, spelling it out won't change it much.]

Sixteen decks, though not all were in use. Each deck had a name. I was a piece of the Esk decade.

[ The description alone is enough for him to recognize how different both their worlds are. Granted, her reaction to what Starfleet is and how it operates did paint a similar picture, so it's not much of a surprise to him. Even in his own galaxy, not every government and fleet are like his own; some races are still at war, whole empires still hellbent on conquering others, wasting away their resources on war and conflict. It's nothing new to him. ]

Must've been an impressive vessel. [ He can recognize that much. The Vengeance was an impressive ship too, even though it was designed for war. ]

How are you adapting, here? It sounds like it's very different from your reality.

It was. [The corner of her mouth quirks, with little hint of humor.] I'm told there were stories after it disappeared. About the singing ship.

[She doesn't answer Kirk immediately, but does another scan of the controls, making a minute adjustment to their path, then scanning the forest passing by below them. Finally she looks up again.]

In terms of technology, it's similar enough. In culture, the difference is more obvious, but I'm used to adjusting.

Why 'the singing ship'? [ And how did it disappear? But that question can wait. Jim doesn't do too bad at keeping his curiosity in check, these days.

He hums and nods vaguely. ] Yeah, I get that. I mean, for the most part this isn't too foreign to me, but some things still throw me for a loop. [ He flicks through the information on his screen, gesturing at her. ] Luckily, I'm like you. Used to adapting.

Moving with fate as we are cast into uncertainty-- in a world like this, it's the only thing we can do. [Her voice is quiet, thoughtful, as she spares her attention from the screens for a moment to catch Jim's eye, before looking back toward the controls.]

It was the singing ship because Justice of Toren's AI collected songs. [Specifically, one Esk did, but that isn't germane to the conversation at hand. Instead, Breq pauses for a few moments, to hum a few lines of music: I was walking, I was walking, when I met my love. Her voice is hoarse and struggles to keep in tune, but she stops a few moments in.] And its ancillaries sang them often.

[ Uncertainty, the great unknown— sounds pretty close to what Jim did back home. Here, it's a little less evident. There's a lot about the Quarantine and the moon at large for just about anyone to have to get used to, but it's not the same as visiting new planets or entirely new solar systems. One gets used to a measure of uncertainty, of strangeness too, being out there in space.

This is almost normal, by comparison.

He glances at her as she sings a few of the lines, lips curling a hint. ]

Sounds beautiful. [ A fitting name for the ship too, he agrees now. ] I've never seen a ship with an AI before. I mean, there are the ships' computers back in my world, but they're not intelligent, or sentient.

Is that so? [It seems strange to think about to her, but then, she's biased for many reasons.] There are some ships in Radch space that have none, but they're smaller vessels. Merchant ships, sail pods, that sort of thing. The Justices, the Mercies, the Swords-- and all of the Stations, for that matter-- had an A.I. dedicated to maintaining the attached facilities. It has been so for thousands of years.

[No need to talk about the ancillaries-- Jim seems like a smart man, she doesn't want to give him too many pieces of the puzzle to start putting together.]

Thousands of years, huh? [ That's an impressive period of time. Jim's met other people like that— older, so to say. But it's still something for him to wrap his head around. ] We didn't even have electricity yet, a thousand years ago.

[That earns a raised eyebrow.]

A young civilization, then. Three thousand years the lord of the Radch took power, and has ruled ever since.

[Two thousand years ago, Justice of Toren was made to be loyal to Anaander Mianaai, the lord of the Radch, but pretending not to be an ancillary means that shouldn't be so important a fact to her.]

By comparison— yeah, I suppose. I mean, Homo Sapiens have existed on my planet for roughly 300.000 years, but our social and technological evolution hasn't always been that fast. For hundreds of thousands of years my species lived in caves, hunting for food, so on. We're a fairly young species, compared to some others out there— even in my own galaxy.

[ It occurs to him that she might not even know what Homo Sapiens is, but then he doesn't fully understand all the words she says. ]

What's the Radch?

Humans, a young species? [She makes a thoughtful sound.] In that case, you would claim to be from humanity's homeworld?

[The question has her humming briefly, only a second or two, as she formulates her response.]

The Radch is a section of space enclosed in a Dyson sphere to prevent impure things from entering it. The Imperial Radch is the annexed territories surrounding it, serving as a buffer.

I am from humanity's homeworld. [ He cants his head, looking at her curiously. ] Earth, or Terra, is the world where mankind first evolved. At least in my universe.

[ Other planets have evolved in similar ways, so other species aren't so different from them. At least the ones they can communicate with more easily. It makes sense, he thinks, that species who have similar senses, skills and types of communication would be able to reach out to each other more easily. No doubt there are countless species out there that humans would have a much harder time communicating with, let alone establishing any sort of relationship. ]

You have a Dyson sphere? [ Impressive. They're not impossible in theory, he knows that. Then again, if her species is so much farther ahead in terms of technology, it stands to reason that they'd be able to build something like that. ] Where I come from, something like that would be used mainly to better harvest a star's energy output. That's the theory, anyway. I don't think anyone's really thought of it as a way to actively prevent things from coming in.

It's a subject of debate and conjecture, lost to time, to the humans of my reality.

[She's almost tempted to ask him for the coordinates of his world, but there's no guarantee that they would translate to her understanding of space. And no guarantee it's even somewhere that exists in her own world. Ah, well.]

It may have begun that way. It's difficult for those of us on the outside to say. I would never be allowed to pass through.

[ Given a map of his own known universe, he could point out where it is, so if she's somewhere in the same universe, if she knows even a fraction of what they do back in his world, then maybe she'll understand where it is. Right now, though, there's not much point to it. It's not like she can just head there, even if she wanted to. ]

That's a shame.

[ Jim monitors the radar for a moment, checking her path so far and comparing it to her flight plan. ]

They lose something, isolating themselves that way. No matter the reason.

( video; un: kirk )

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