THE SENIOR STAFF OF THE CONESTOGA, or what was left of it, gathered in the conference room adjoining the bridge almost three days after the first crew member was reported missing. Jones had the entire ship scoured from end to end, but the missing crew members where no where to be found. The next evening, several more people vanished the same way the previous had nights before. To prevent a ship wide panic, Jones had the ship put some more space between the ship and the sphere, establishing a new orbit that at least appeared to be a safer distance. She then called the senior staff to meet in the conference room to brainstorm about what their options could be. As the staff gathered into the room and took their seats, as the acting Captain, Jones was determined to solve this mystery and have at least a clue of what was going on before having to report it to command. She took a seat at the head of the table and started the briefing.
“Thank you for coming,” Jones started, “Doctor Chen, can you start us off with an update on the status of the crew?”
“Yes, Commander,” Chen said, as he cleared his throat. “We arrived into this system with seventy-eight crew, and as of this briefing twenty-four of them are unaccounted for.”
“That’s almost a third of the crew!” Jones said, upset by the update. “Talk to me people. Where did our missing crew go?”
“Well,” Carter started, “We all know that massive black sphere has got to be our prime suspect.”
“Are you sure about that?” McGregor asked, “Do you honestly think that we’re relevant enough to someone capable of building something that massive?”
“Then what do you think happened?” Jones asked him.
“I’m not sure,” McGregor replied, “For all we know they could be dead.”
“I highly doubt that,” Chen replied, “I inspected the beds for possible residue that might suggest they were vaporized and found no such trace.”
“Maybe their ray guns don’t leave any trace,” McGregor countered, “But that is one massive piece of crap floating out there. I’m sure they have more than enough room for company if they wanted it.”
“You suspect kidnapping?” Jones asked.
“I think that’s the more likely scenario.” Carter said, “But if that’s the case we have to take measures to make sure more of us don’t join them.”
“How do we do that?” Jones inquired.
“The missing people had two things in common,” Chen answered, “The first being they subjects were all sleeping when they were taken.”
“We can’t tell the crew to stop sleeping,” Jones countered, “What is the other thing they had in common?”
“They were alone when it happened,” Chen answered, “Anyone who was sleeping with someone else present in the room with them were not taken.”
“Okay, that’s something we can work with.” Jones declared.
“How?” McGregor said with a tone that was dripping in sarcasm. “Are we going to start a buddy system and have people joined at the hip?”
“That won’t be necessary,” Jones countered, “Doctor Chen just told us that the alleged abductions only occurred while the person was asleep. So, the answer is rather obvious: we just make sure no one sleeps alone until we get this all figured out.”
“Alright,” McGregor said, sounding excited. “So, who’s sleeping with me tonight?”
“I am,” Doctor Chen replied, “And I snore.”
“I’ve got ear plugs,” McGregor added as he wasn’t so excited anymore.
“This will work for now,” Jones said, eager to move on, “But we also have to confirm where our people are and figure out if it’s possible to rescue them.”
“What if rescue isn’t possible?” McGregor asked.
“We’ll burn the bridge when we get to it,” Jones answered, unwilling to accept that at the moment. “And if our people are inside that thing, we need to figure out a way to scan inside it so we can look for them.”
“I can try to recalibrate the scanners,” Carter suggested, “It might take some time, and maybe a few tries, but we’ve been ordered to stay here anyway so it’s not like I have anything else to do.”
“I like your attitude, so get to it.” Jones ordered, “And in the meantime, we need suggestions on how to get inside that thing if we find out our people are actually inside that monstrous thing.”
“I’ll come up with some ideas,” McGregor said, “If Carter here can get some decent scans of the sphere, we could check to see if there are any doors.”
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“What did you plan on doing?” Chen asked, “Knock and see who answers?”
“Not the worst idea,” Jones countered, “If there happens to be an advanced species inside, I’d rather try knocking on the door than get caught trying to break into someone’s house. We need to look into both options, because I doubt command would really like us to do anything that might be considered hostile. Is that understood?”
Most of the officers nodded to signal their compliance with her orders.
“Then let’s get to it!” Jones said, standing up. “We have work to do!”
As the senior staff got out of their seats to get back to work, Jones managed to grab onto McGregor’s arm and stop him from leaving. He could tell by the look in the first officer’s eyes that she wanted to chew him out for something.
“Alright,” He said, getting ready to take his licks. “Let’s have it.”
“They’re not dead,” Jones said, getting right to the point. “Any suggestion that they are is not appropriate and is most likely to be false.”
“Is that so?” McGregor said, “What makes you so sure?”
“First off,” Jones started, “If whoever made this sphere wanted us dead, why would they bother to steal us from our beds while we slept? They are far more advanced they we are and can blow us out of the stars anytime they feel like it.”
“That’s a fair point,” McGregor conceded, “Why make all this effort when you can just press a button. I can dig that. So, where are they then?”
“Obviously they’re in there.” Jones said, looking at the window and their view of the dark sphere. “I wish I knew where inside it, and if they’re alright.”
“We’ll find out soon enough.” McGregor said, “If we can’t scan that thing, the other ships enroute have more experience dealing with this and they’ll crack the nut when they all get here. We’ll get to them… eventually.”
“That’s better,” Jones said, “We need to nix any talk of our missing crew as dead. We need to remain positive and not jump to the worst conclusion until we have a reason to do so. I prefer to remain hopeful, and I’m ordering you to do the same. Are we clear on that, chief?”
“Crystal,” McGregor said, quoting his favorite movie. “Apologies, Commander. It won’t happen again.”
“Very good,” Jones said, satisfied with the outcome. “Dismissed.”
McGregor didn’t look pleased as he left the conference room but said nothing as he b-lined straight for the elevator where Chen was holding the door for him. The moment the door closed McGregor didn’t hesitate to cuss out.
“Bugger,” McGregor started, “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.”
“Chewed you out, didn’t she?” Chen said, smiling.
“You know she did,” McGregor confirmed, “Just getting chewed out for thinking logically, but she made some good points too. Odds are they are alive and in that bloody thing, but we can’t find a way to get in or talk to them.”
“We do need to address that,” Chen said, “And I have a few ideas.”
“I’m listening,” McGregor said, as he was eager to think outside the box.
“We tag someone,” Chen said, “Give someone tech that can’t be tracked and use it to open a line of communication.”
“I supposed that’s worth a try,” McGregor replied, “I don’t hate the idea, but who is going to be the bait? Do you even think Jones will sign off on letting someone else go in there?”
“Probably not,” Chen answered, “And that’s why we’re not going to tell her.”
McGregor couldn’t help but chuckle, and grin at the doctor.
“I knew there was a reason I liked you,” McGregor said, “Better to ask for forgiveness rather than seek permission, am I right? We have people depending on us, so I think we get someone strapped up and in there asap.”
“As much as I want to do that,” Chen replied, “We only have so many spare crew members to work with. We need to be careful in who we “accidentally” send over to the big sphere.”
“We also have to assume if they are being taken,” McGregor added, “We need to find a way to hide tech on them or implant it to avoid it being taken away.”
“Implanting a tracker,” Chen repeated, “That could work.”
“I think we’ve got something here that might work, so I’ll find it.” McGregor said, as the door opened on his floor. “Do you really snore?”
“Find some ear plugs,” Chen said, smiling as the door closed.
“Duly noted,” McGregor said, as he departed form the elevator and started to walk back to engineering. While he was on his way back there, a younger tech walked up to him eager to get something off his mind. The boy was a bit of a chatter box, but McGregor put up with him because he was damn good at what he did.
“Sir,” the young lad started.
“I get it, Stuart.” McGregor cut him off, “You’ve got a lot on your mind and need to dump it on someone who can at least remotely understand it. Just give me a chance to get a cup of Joe, and then you can let me have it with both barrels.”
Stuart Charlesworth was a bright and up and coming engineer, and he was going to do the confederation proud, but right now he was McGregor’s issue as he was sometimes a little too much to handle. Stuart knew his boss was going to reply that way and held up a premade cup of coffee already go to.
“Thank you,” McGregor said, taking the cup. “Alright… let’s have it.”
“Do you really think the missing crew are dead?” Stuart asked.
“Honestly, no.” McGregor replied, “Jones made a good point during the officers meeting. Why go through all this trouble when you can just hit a button. Seems a little over the top way to kill people.”
“Kinda like a kid frying ants with a magnifying glass, right?” Stuart asked.
“Something like that,” McGregor replied, as he didn’t like the visual. “Also, what purpose would it serve to have them disappear like that?”
“Instill fear?” Stuart suggested, “Maybe scare us away?”
“I doubt it,” McGregor countered, “If you wanted to instill fear, you leave behind bodies for people to find. Leave no doubt, and that would scare the piss out of them.”
“That makes sense,” Stuart said, thinking about it. “So, they’re in the sphere?”
“That’s the current consensus,” McGregor confirmed, “We just need to prove it.”
“Are the prisoners being scanned for tech?” Stuart asked.
“We have to assume they are,” McGregor said, “So, we need to install something that can’t be tracked by a basic scan.”
“Good luck with that,” Stuart said.
“That’s why you’re here,” McGregor said, smiling. “I have some ideas.”
“That’s good to hear,” Stuart said, “We need all the ideas we can get.”
“It includes sending someone there,” McGregor added, “Someone who can think, and problem solve in real time.”
“Oh, you mean me,” Stuart said, as he grasped the idea rather quickly.
“Once you get in there,” McGregor started, “Assess where you are, how advanced or not things are and use whatever they have to make contact with the ship so we can know what’s what.”
“That seems easy enough,” Stuart confessed, “I mean as long as it’s not the dark ages over there and the tech is reasonable, I should be able to make do.”
“That’s the spirit,” McGregor said, as he was feeling more confident, “But in order for this to work, I’m going to need you lend me your hand.”