It was technically midnight for her, and the day had sapped most of her energy. She was ready to sleep and sink into her restless dreams for the night. Yet here she was, sitting in the dusty office of Admiral Gorsin, staring blankly, tired, at the gray wall. He wasn't here yet, and thankfully her operating at this hour meant she’d been able to slip her “assistant”, and so she was alone. She yawned and rubbed her heavy eyes, sitting back in the chair on the opposite side of Gorsin's seat at the oaken desk, and sighed.

This was a nightmare, she thought. A sickness befell her stomach, churning and twisting, and she hunched over for a moment, breathing. The stress was getting immense and she wasn’t sure she could sit in it for much longer. But just then, the door hissed open, and Admiral Gorsin, dressed in white finery, a multitude of ribbons adorning his chest, stepped in and looked down at her.

"Are you alright, Director?" he asked, heading for his seat and trying to get a better look at her.

She sat up and forced a smile. "Ah, Admiral Gorsin. Always a pleasure."

He reached out and she did the same, and they shook hands. Then, Gorsin took his seat and looked at Yu, who swallowed her nerves and sat up. They sat in the quiet air for a moment, neither knowing where to start.

"I got your message, obviously," Admiral Gorsin said, leaning forward on his fist. "Care to elaborate?"

Yu eyed him, and then reached down by her side, where she had parked a briefcase. She pulled it up and opened it, revealing a portable computer terminal. She unlocked it with her thumb, and then she pulled up the reports, turning the briefcase to Admiral Gorsin for him to see.

"These are the reports from Allister McCullinay’s team on MK2," she said, sitting back.

Gorsin took the briefcase and inspected the holoscreen within it. "Allister McCullinay is who?"

"The head scientist on Arrokoth," Yu said. "She was assigned by my father to inspect the third QPF on MK2, after it went dark."

He pulled out a pair of glasses from his pocket and placed them on his nose, pushing them up with a finger before reading more of the report. As he read, his eyebrow crept up, and he looked at her above his glasses, saying, "It says they all died due to a depressurization event with their NRT craft."

"I know," Yu said, taking the briefcase back. She typed into a search bar and pulled up a series of flight logs. "Look. The ship that depressurized was wiped from flight records. I had to do some digging on my side to find the transponder code, and oh, would you look at that, it made it back to Makemake in one piece. It didn't depressurize."

Gorsin's eyes widened as Yu turned the briefcase back around to shown him. Leaning in to read, he said, "Then the fate of your scientist friend is still a mystery."

She nodded. "And, moreover, look at who demanded the flight records be scrubbed. It's in the annotations that, again, I had to do some digging for."

He looked, and sat back, lips tight. "Xiao."

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"My father," she concurred. "He set them up."

"Why?"

She chewed on her thumbnail for a moment, and said, "I'm not sure. But I would wager it has something to do with her research."

He looked at her inquisitively. "Why do you think that?"

"Because," she said, looking away, "their research, well, I know a little more about it than most. I know what they found and so does, I think, my father. I think there was a leak."

"Explain."

"The tholins she was - is - researching are whispering on a subatomic level. My father hears whispering, from what I can gather. I think the two are related, and they both have something to do with what happened on MK2," Yu said, staring intently into Gorsin's eyes. "I think she discovered something she wasn't supposed to. Something my father already knew."

He nodded slowly, understanding. "Well, I should tell you, then, one of my informants went dark on the 5th of this month. I had planted someone close to Xiao and that day, apparently the same day your Allister here went missing, so did he. Which is suspicious."

She hummed in thought. "Did he glean any information?"

"Well," Admiral Gorsin said, "Xiao is certainly acting strange. His assistants aren't allowed in his office anymore; in fact, it seems like nobody is except for him. He has also been talking about Sedna a lot. The man seems obsessed with it."

Yu stared into space for a moment. Her father really was losing it, wasn't he. Her stomach knotted as she thought back to the times at the Grand Park on Earth. To home and comfort food and her mother. A long, long time ago, she thought. Then, her mind snapped to something else.

"Here, look at this," she said, bringing the briefcase closer to her. She clacked at its keyboard for a moment, and then said, "She met with someone named Joshua Shishone, a corporal in the thirty-first armored infantry brigade, under the command of Lieutenant Harrison. He was the only one she spoke to from the initial mission to MK2. I want to know why."

Admiral Gorsin spun the briefcase back around to look at it. On it was Shishone’s face and a brief profile of the man. He read it quickly, before looking at Yu and saying, "I can arrange a meeting, if you'd like."

She shook her head. "I don't want anybody knowing I've got my eye on the corporal. For his own sake. I'll get to him."

Gorsin nodded. "Okay. Well if you ever need my assistance, I am here."

"Actually, there's one more thing I need."

"Oh? What's that?"

Yu hesitated for a moment. It was a big ask. "I need you to hide away transport for me. Just in case."

"NRT or RTP?"

"RTP preferably. But NRT will do if it's all you have."

Gorsin sighed and looked down at the desk. "You're asking a lot. The Corps doesn't like it when their ships just go missing."

"Then label it as derelict," Yu said.

Gorsin's eyebrow shot up. "Good idea, Director. I'll get right on that. I could requisition one from the rear guard, and tuck it away. Anything else I can help you with?"

Yu shook her head. "I think that's all I need. I need to get back to the Tower before anybody realizes I'm gone."

With that, she stood, and so did he, and they shook hands once more. Then, Yu headed for the door, but before she could open it, she heard Admiral Gorsin say, "And anything about my daughter? Please."

She stopped and turned to face him with solemn eyes. "Nothing yet, sir. But I promise, I'll keep searching."

He sighed, and looked crestfallen, but quickly recovered his bearings and nodded stalwartly. "Very good. Carry on, Director. And please, be safe. You're my only ally right now."

She stared at him for a moment, inspecting him, before saying, "Ditto, admiral. Be safe yourself."

And with that, she left.