08-17-2026, 11:11 PM
Hallowette was already reaching for the probe telemetry when Sovar gave the order, bringing its signal onto her display almost as soon as Aeryn released it from the ship.
"Aye, Commander. I have the probe."
The transmission resolved cleanly, and she narrowed the tight-beam relay as it moved away from Artemis, watching long enough to satisfy herself that the connection would remain stable before allowing the computer to handle the routine corrections. "Relay is established, 99 microns by 0, Signal is strong and telemetry is coming through cleanly."
Aeryn's report began turning the collection of anonymous contacts on her display into worlds just as Sovar adjusted their course, and Hallowette shifted easily between the two. "Three-two-three mark zero-six, holding three-quarters impulse." Her fingers moved across the helm controls, bringing Artemis smoothly onto the new heading before returning to the operations display to compensate for the change in their relative position to the probe. The work flowed naturally from one task into the next, familiar enough that neither demanded all of her attention, leaving her free to listen as Aeryn briefed the Commander on what the probe was seeing.
Three gas giants became rings and moons, one of those moons perhaps holding water beneath an alien sky. Another planet possessed an atmosphere strange enough that even the sensors couldn't immediately identify everything within it, earning a small lift of Hallowette's brow as the report continued. She imagined they would be getting a closer look at that one eventually.
Aeryn had been almost incandescent since Artemis entered the sector, and Hally had enjoyed watching it. There was something infectious about seeing a friend encounter exactly the sort of mystery she had spent her life preparing to understand, particularly when every answer seemed only to provide her with several new questions.
Then Aeryn reached the inner worlds, and Hallowette found herself listening a little more closely.
A planet on the edge of the habitable zone was interesting. One squarely within it, roughly the size of Bajor and apparently Class M? That's cool!
Her gaze slipped toward the viewscreen before returning to the probe telemetry. There was nothing there she could distinguish from any of the other points scattered across the darkness, certainly nothing resembling a world, but knowing it was there changed something all the same. Somewhere deeper within the system was a planet no one aboard Artemis had ever seen, orbiting a star that had never been given a name. Perhaps it had oceans? Perhaps clouds moved through an atmosphere no living person had ever stood beneath, rain fell against mountains no one had climbed, or sunlight warmed empty plains that had waited billions of years without anyone there to appreciate the view. There might be life there! Orrr...absolutely nothing beyond geology and weather. They were too far away to know.
Hallowette smiled faintly at her console. I guess that is rather the point of all of this, huh Hals?
She checked the relay again, ensuring the probe remained comfortably within its transmission envelope after their change in heading, while part of her attention wandered toward the conversation developing behind her. Apparently Lieutenant Krid had discovered what several members of Artemis' crew already knew: Lieutenant Commander Calleja possessed a vocabulary considerably larger than regulations strictly required, and Commander Sovar had made the bold decision to ask her to explain it.
Hallowette listened despite herself.
Mara's answer was, beneath the profanity, actually a rather good piece of applied linguistics. She wasn't simply defending the satisfaction of swearing at someone; she was talking about cadence, shock, ridicule and choosing language according to the reaction she wanted from whoever heard it. Hallowette had spent enough of her life around diplomats, and a good portion of that fascinated by the ways different peoples communicated, to recognize the principles immediately. Profanity was particularly interesting in that regard because literal meaning could become almost incidental to cultural meaning. Some insults were devastating in one language and faintly ridiculous when translated directly into another, while others became considerably worse once someone explained what you had actually just said.
Then Mara offered catastrofuck as an example.
Hallowette's lips twitched. "Uhm, There's a Cardassian expression like that." She offered rather absentmindedly.
The observation escaped before she had really considered whether the center of the bridge was the appropriate venue for comparative profanity. She looked up from her console, interest momentarily overcoming whatever instinct might otherwise have suggested restraint.
"...Garak valnek shoth." she said, with no apparent realization that she was butting into someone else's conversation.
Her pronunciation carried the hard consonants and clipped precision of someone entirely too familiar with the language.
"It...literally translates as something close to 'may your genitals become acquainted with the business end of a vole,' but valnek implies the vole is both diseased and particularly enthusiastic about the arrangement."
She paused, considering her own translation with the faintly dissatisfied expression of a linguist who knew Federation Standard was failing her.
"Actually, you know? Enthusiastic isn't quite right. There's an implication of sustained determination." Her brow furrowed for another moment. "Cardassian has several words for that."
Only then did Hallowette seem to become aware that she had enthusiastically contributed an exceptionally vulgar Cardassian expression to a conversation between the First Officer and Chief of Security.
Her gaze moved briefly between them. "It's uhm...quite rude."
The clarification wasn't particularly necessary.
Hallowette's brows lifted slightly at whatever expressions greeted her contribution. "I'll get back to work now..."
Another burst of telemetry arrived from the probe, mercifully — or perhaps unfortunately — giving her something else to occupy herself with. Hallowette turned back to her station without apparent concern, verifying the packet had reached Science intact before settling once more into the rhythm of her duties.
"The...uhm, Relay remains stable, Aeryn..err...Commander Miller."
"Aye, Commander. I have the probe."
The transmission resolved cleanly, and she narrowed the tight-beam relay as it moved away from Artemis, watching long enough to satisfy herself that the connection would remain stable before allowing the computer to handle the routine corrections. "Relay is established, 99 microns by 0, Signal is strong and telemetry is coming through cleanly."
Aeryn's report began turning the collection of anonymous contacts on her display into worlds just as Sovar adjusted their course, and Hallowette shifted easily between the two. "Three-two-three mark zero-six, holding three-quarters impulse." Her fingers moved across the helm controls, bringing Artemis smoothly onto the new heading before returning to the operations display to compensate for the change in their relative position to the probe. The work flowed naturally from one task into the next, familiar enough that neither demanded all of her attention, leaving her free to listen as Aeryn briefed the Commander on what the probe was seeing.
Three gas giants became rings and moons, one of those moons perhaps holding water beneath an alien sky. Another planet possessed an atmosphere strange enough that even the sensors couldn't immediately identify everything within it, earning a small lift of Hallowette's brow as the report continued. She imagined they would be getting a closer look at that one eventually.
Aeryn had been almost incandescent since Artemis entered the sector, and Hally had enjoyed watching it. There was something infectious about seeing a friend encounter exactly the sort of mystery she had spent her life preparing to understand, particularly when every answer seemed only to provide her with several new questions.
Then Aeryn reached the inner worlds, and Hallowette found herself listening a little more closely.
A planet on the edge of the habitable zone was interesting. One squarely within it, roughly the size of Bajor and apparently Class M? That's cool!
Her gaze slipped toward the viewscreen before returning to the probe telemetry. There was nothing there she could distinguish from any of the other points scattered across the darkness, certainly nothing resembling a world, but knowing it was there changed something all the same. Somewhere deeper within the system was a planet no one aboard Artemis had ever seen, orbiting a star that had never been given a name. Perhaps it had oceans? Perhaps clouds moved through an atmosphere no living person had ever stood beneath, rain fell against mountains no one had climbed, or sunlight warmed empty plains that had waited billions of years without anyone there to appreciate the view. There might be life there! Orrr...absolutely nothing beyond geology and weather. They were too far away to know.
Hallowette smiled faintly at her console. I guess that is rather the point of all of this, huh Hals?
She checked the relay again, ensuring the probe remained comfortably within its transmission envelope after their change in heading, while part of her attention wandered toward the conversation developing behind her. Apparently Lieutenant Krid had discovered what several members of Artemis' crew already knew: Lieutenant Commander Calleja possessed a vocabulary considerably larger than regulations strictly required, and Commander Sovar had made the bold decision to ask her to explain it.
Hallowette listened despite herself.
Mara's answer was, beneath the profanity, actually a rather good piece of applied linguistics. She wasn't simply defending the satisfaction of swearing at someone; she was talking about cadence, shock, ridicule and choosing language according to the reaction she wanted from whoever heard it. Hallowette had spent enough of her life around diplomats, and a good portion of that fascinated by the ways different peoples communicated, to recognize the principles immediately. Profanity was particularly interesting in that regard because literal meaning could become almost incidental to cultural meaning. Some insults were devastating in one language and faintly ridiculous when translated directly into another, while others became considerably worse once someone explained what you had actually just said.
Then Mara offered catastrofuck as an example.
Hallowette's lips twitched. "Uhm, There's a Cardassian expression like that." She offered rather absentmindedly.
The observation escaped before she had really considered whether the center of the bridge was the appropriate venue for comparative profanity. She looked up from her console, interest momentarily overcoming whatever instinct might otherwise have suggested restraint.
"...Garak valnek shoth." she said, with no apparent realization that she was butting into someone else's conversation.
Her pronunciation carried the hard consonants and clipped precision of someone entirely too familiar with the language.
"It...literally translates as something close to 'may your genitals become acquainted with the business end of a vole,' but valnek implies the vole is both diseased and particularly enthusiastic about the arrangement."
She paused, considering her own translation with the faintly dissatisfied expression of a linguist who knew Federation Standard was failing her.
"Actually, you know? Enthusiastic isn't quite right. There's an implication of sustained determination." Her brow furrowed for another moment. "Cardassian has several words for that."
Only then did Hallowette seem to become aware that she had enthusiastically contributed an exceptionally vulgar Cardassian expression to a conversation between the First Officer and Chief of Security.
Her gaze moved briefly between them. "It's uhm...quite rude."
The clarification wasn't particularly necessary.
Hallowette's brows lifted slightly at whatever expressions greeted her contribution. "I'll get back to work now..."
Another burst of telemetry arrived from the probe, mercifully — or perhaps unfortunately — giving her something else to occupy herself with. Hallowette turned back to her station without apparent concern, verifying the packet had reached Science intact before settling once more into the rhythm of her duties.
"The...uhm, Relay remains stable, Aeryn..err...Commander Miller."