UNLIKE HIS OVERWORKED CAPTAIN, DOCTOR CHEN was too pumped up to even consider calling it a day. Had she not gone tried to sleep herself, Chen would have ordered her to try because he knew she was suffering from insomnia for quite some time. It hadn’t been so bad on earth, but for some reason while onboard the Conestoga was when her condition was at its worst. Chen had volunteered to work a double shift, and even do inventory to pass the time since the infirmary was deader than Dillinger. Despite the discover they had made that day, things inside the ship itself felt no different. Of course, people were talking about the sphere, and what its presence meant about everyone’s place in the universe, but that was just the kind of talk he was expecting. He was just thankful that no one was freaking out to the point where they needed to be sedated. The confederacy was very strict about psych evaluations whenever picking crews for ships that were sent out to explore. The last thing anyone wanted was for someone to get deeply religious or even overly self destructive because they were in the presence of something they were unable to explain. Thankfully the crew of this particular ship had been selected because of their ability to keep their cool under such overwhelming circumstances, and the recent discovery of the sphere was putting everyone’s will to the ultimate test. Chen had anticipated that the discovery of the sphere might challenge the crew in ways never imagined, and that was also one of the reasons he had decided to pull the double shift. He wanted to be ready in case there was anyone stressed out about the sphere’s discovery and needed someone to talk to about it. Much to Chen’s surprise, no one had come by that night to seek his council. Determined to make the best of the silence, he was hours deep into his inventory when someone came into his infirmary. A woman came scrambling into the room, and he could tell by the expression on her face that she was worried about something, even terrified. Upon noticing her expression, Chen immediately stopped what he was doing and started to walk over to her.
“Margaret!” Chen called out as he walked closer. “What can I do for you?”
“It’s Johanna!” Margaret called back out as she walked over to Chen. “Have you seen her?”
“I have not,” Chen answered, “Shouldn’t she be in bed?”
“Yes, she should!” Margaret said, looking even more worried. “I put her to bed an hour ago. She never likes to go to sleep and usually fights me every damn time. I normally get asked to read three stories, offer two glasses of water and more than a few kisses before she even tries to rest.”
“I know the feeling,” Chen said, smiling back at her. “I have a few daughters of my own back on Earth. I’m afraid to report her bedtime routine is very common.”
“That’s just it,” Margaret replied, “That didn’t happen tonight. I put her to bed and waited for her usual resistance, but it never happened.”
“She went to sleep?” Chen asked, as he was puzzled. “Just like that?”
“I thought it was weird too,” Margaret said, “Things had gotten too quiet far too fast, so I went to check up on her. When I went into the room, she was gone!”
“She’s not in her room?” Chen asked, stunned to hear that. “And that’s why you’re here… you’re looking for her?”
“Yes!” Margaret said, the panic returning to her voice. “I’ve been checking everywhere for the last hour!”
“Alright,” Chen said, as he looked over to the nurse that was listening in. “You keep doing the count without me and page me if any emergencies come in. I’m going to help Margaret search the ship for her child.”
“Yes, doctor.” The nurse said, nodding to him.
“Come on, Margaret,” Chen said, as he put down what he was counting. “Let’s go find her.”
“Thank you!” Margaret said, as she was clearly on the verge of panicking.
“Come with me,” Chen said, as he took her hand as they left the infirmary.
While Chen was tempted to walk with Margaret to all of Johanna’s usual places and check again with her, the last thing he wanted to do was waste more time and cause the poor mother to stress out even more than she had already. There was a far more reliable option to use, and Chen was determined to more forward rather than just do something Margaret had likely already done. He walked her over to the office where the chief of security was stationed. While Margaret had likely considered going to him, she was likely afraid to bug him over what might be a child hiding from an unwanted bedtime. When they arrived at the office, there was a young man sitting at the desk where Chief Colleen Myers was supposed to be. The young man, whose rank indicated he was an ensign, looked up his visitors with a surprised look on his face.
“Hey there,” he called out, “Can I help you with something?”
“We have a problem,” Chen answered for her, “Someone has gone missing.”
“Missing?” the young man replied, “How?”
“We don’t know,” Chen answered, “That’s why we’re here.”
“Who’s missing?” the ensign asked.
“My daughter Johanna,” Margaret replied.
“When was she last seen?” the ensign inquired.
“She was put to bed an hour ago,” Margaret said, as she appeared to be running out of patience.
“What do you want me to do?” the young man inquired.
Chen was also beginning to lose his patience.
“I need you to wake Chief Myers,” Chen demanded.
“I can’t do that,” The ensign replied.
“I wasn’t asking, Ensign,” Chen replied, emphasizing on the young man’s rank which was far lower than Chief medical officer who is considered senior staff.
“She ordered me not to disturb her,” the young man protested.
“Let me put this way,” Chen said, as he was losing his temper. “If you refuse to wake up the Chief over what I am telling you is an urgent matter, I’m going to wake up Captain Howard instead. And I can assure you the first thing she’s going to do is order you to wake up Chief Myers. So, save us all the hassle and wake up the Chief!”
The ensign sat there with a worried look on his face and he processed the threat Chen had just made to him. Someone was going to scream at him tonight regardless of what he did, but the real question was who was going to do it.
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“Alright,” the ensign finally replied, “I’ll wake up the Chief.”
The young man made the call he didn’t want to make, but there was no answer. Chances are she was sleeping so he called again. Still no answer. He called again a third time but again there was no answer.
“She’s not answering,” the ensign said, looking up a Chen.
“I can see that,” Chen observed, “Is it like her not to answer?”
“No,” the young man answered, “She gets mad, but she never ignores my calls.”
“What’s your name?” Chen asked him.
“Ensign Davis,” the young man answered.
“Davis, as the Chief medical officer of this ship,” Chen reminded him, “I am ordering you to do a wellness check on Chief Myers. Grab the master key and let’s go to her quarters, right now.”
“Yes, Sir.” Davis said, as he grabbed the master key from the lockbox and followed Chen and Margaret out the door.
It took them only a few minutes, but with Doctor Chen’s authorization, Ensign Davis opened the door to Chief Myers’ personal quarters only after knocking several times first to give her a chance to respond. Upon opening the door there was no one to be found inside. Chen walked into the room, and quickly inspected it. He saw that the Chief’s uniform was folded and sitting on her desk and the bed was unmade. These were all very strange for someone enrolled in the military to do, as Chen was becoming more and more puzzled about this.
“She’s not here,” Chen said to no one in particular.
“Where is she?” Margaret asked.
“I’m not sure,” Chen said, as he turned to face Ensign Davis, “How many security officers are on duty right now?”
“It’s the night shift,” Davis asked, “So, out of twelve it’s only me, and about three others.”
“Contact them immediately,” Chen ordered, “Inform them we have two missing crew members that need to be found as soon as possible.”
“Are you sure that’s necessary?” Davis asked, “What if they’re just strolling around the ship.”
“I’m not in the mood for speculation, Ensign.” Chen cracked at him, “Follow my orders or you can explain to the captain why you were so hesitant to look for our missing crew members.”
“Alright, alright,” Davis conceded, aware Chen was technically in charge at least until he could find his own superior officer. “I’ll get them right onto it.”
“Thank you, Ensign.” Chen said, taking Margaret’s hand. “Come with me.”
“Where are we going?” Margaret asked.
“Back to your quarters,” Chen answered, “I want to inspect Johanna’s room.”
They walked straight back to Margaret’s quarters, and she showed him to the child’s room. Once inside, Chen started to inspect the bed and made what was a very startling discovery.
“This is very interesting,” Chen said, looking at the sheets.
“What is?” Margaret asked.
“Look at the bed sheets,” Chen requested, “They’re messed up but not the way we’re used to seeing them.”
“What do you mean?” Margaret asked.
“When someone gets out of bed, the first them we do us move the blanket off of our legs,” Chen explained, “And it looks like that never happened. I noticed this in Chief Myer’s room as well. It almost looks like the person got out of bed without moving the blanket first.”
“That is odd,” Margaret added, “But what does it mean?”
“I don’t know,” Chen honestly answered, “But I am concerned.”
Before he could say anything else, there was a loud knocking at the door. When Chen returned to the main door, Ensign Davis was there at the door waiting for someone to answer it. Chen opened the door for her and was eager to see why Davis was knocking on the door.
“Ensign,” Chen said to the young man at the door, “What’s going on?”
“One of our security officers didn’t answer their pages,” Davis replied, “And since you left two more people have been reported missing by other members of the crew.”
“That means we now have four people missing,” Chen concluded, “There’s something afoot here, and the ship needs to be put on high alert.”
Chen walked out of the apartment and into the hallway. Once there, he reached out for a com panel and hit a few buttons. Once the line was open, Chen finally spoke.
“Infirmary to bridge, priority one.” Chen called out.
“Bridge here,” a voice replied, “Commander Samantha Jones speaking.”
“Samantha,” Chen started, “I need you to wake up the Captain, right now.”
“What’s going on?” Jones asked, her curiosity peaking.
“We have a situation down here,” Chen replied, “At least four members of the crew have gone missing.”
“Missing?” Jones repeated, “How is that possible?”
“I don’t know,” Chen said, “But I’m declaring an emergency. Wake the Captain up and inform her of it immediately!”
“I’m afraid I can’t do that,” Jones replied, “I’ve been paging her for the last twenty minutes and she hasn’t been answering.”
“She’s not answering?” Chen said, and suddenly he knew what had to happen next. “I’m with security right now. We’re going to the Captain’s quarters to do a wellness check. Chen out.”
Without hesitation or even a need to ask, Chen and Margaret followed Ensign Davis to the Captain’s quarters. After insisting on knocking a few times like he had for Chief Myers’ room, they finally opened up the Captain’s quarters to look inside. Once inside her quarters, Chen and Davis looked around each room to find her. After several minutes it was clear the Captain wasn’t there. Chen walked into the bedroom last and discovered the same bed he had seen in the previous two rooms. The sheets were used, but not moved in the proper way of someone to get out of bed. Much like Johanna and Chief Myers, the Captain was no where to be found. Chen was about to say something to Davis, but the panel in the Captain’s room started to beep again. Chen knew who it was as he walked over to the panel and activated it.
“Chen here,” he said, answering the call.
“Where’s the Captain?” Jones asked, sounding worried.
“She’s not here,” Chen answered, “She’s gone, just like the other missing crew members. For the moment, Commander, you are temporarily in command of the ship. What are your orders?”
“We need to get Chief Myers in on this,” Jones suggested.
“Already tried,” Chen replied, “Myers is also missing.”
“Damn it!” Jones cussed out, “What the hell is going on?”
“I have no idea,” Chen said, as he realized something. “Why were you paging the captain?”
“I had my orders,” Jones responded, “I was ordered to wake her up if the sphere did anything strange.”
“And did it?” Chen asked.
“Yes,” Jones replied, “It did something about an hour ago.”
“I’m on my way to the bridge,” Chen said.
“What about me?” Davis asked, “What should I do?”
“Wake up the entire security team,” Chen ordered, “I want a full head count conducted immediately. We need to find out who’s still here and how many of us are really missing.”
“Yes, Sir.” Davis said, as he wasn’t in the mood to fight Chen anymore. “I’ll wake them all up and start an immediate head count.”
Chen and Margaret went up to the bridge, and once up there Commander Jones could be seen sitting in the Captain’s chair and waiting for him to arrive.
“Doctor!” Jones called out, “How many people are missing?”
“Five,” Chen answered, “And that includes the Captain and Chief Myers.”
“Damn it!” Jones said, “How could this happen?”
“Answer me this,” Chen countered, “What happened with the sphere?”
“It lit up,” Jones answered.
“Lit up?” Chen repeated, “Please explain.”
“No need,” Jones said, turning to Carter. “Put it on screen.”
Carter nodded as he hit a few buttons, and everyone turned to face the massive screen which changed to show a previous recording. It was staring at the sphere which was hard to distinguish because of its dark color, but that soon changed. In a matter of seconds, a part of the sphere started to glow green and mere seconds later the lights were back off and all was dark again. The whole thing couldn’t have lasted for more than a few seconds.
“When exactly did this happen?” Chen asked Jones.
“Time stamp says around ten,” Jones answered.
“What time did you put Johanna to bed?” Chen asked Margaret.
“Around nine-thirty,” Margaret answered, “Do you think the sphere did this?”
“I’m not sure,” Chen answered, “But we have to keep looking here first before jumping to any conclusions. We just can’t write it off as coincidence that people started to go missing at the same time, and right after that happened.”
“Yellow Alert,” Jones called out, and she turned to face Carter. “Send out a message to all departments, and especially security. I want a full head count in ten minutes. I want to know exactly who’s still on board and who’s missing… and I want it right now!”
“Yes, Ma’am,” Carter said, as he started to reach out to the departments.
“We’ll get to the bottom of this, doctor.” Jones said, sighing deeply. “But there’s little I can do if these people are no longer on board.”
“What do you mean?” Chen asked.
“Well, even if the Admiral didn’t order us to keep our distance… which he did,” Jones then gestured to the massive thing on screen. “Where the hell would we even start? We can’t even scan the damn thing, let alone be able to look for anyone.”
“I get what you’re saying,” Chen replied, “But for now we should scour this ship from port to aft and verify that our crew members are no longer here.”
“So ordered,” Jones concurred, “Let’s tear this thing apart.”