The Disappearance
Posted on Sun Aug 29th, 2021 @ 12:41am by Lieutenant Mila Lynn & Sublieutenant Miles Lynn & Captain Freya Mannerheim & Colonel Sehan t'Varis & Major Ashley Rogers
1,654 words; about a 8 minute read
Mission:
Chapter V: The Calm Before The Storm
Location: I.R.W. Ourainavassa
Timeline: 238703.01
The Ourainavassa had been in dock for just over a week, and things were getting back to normal. Apart from occasional scouting missions on Munin or the other small craft, life had been concentrating on gathering information, and preparing the ship for the coming operation against Vulture. Meanwhile, the crew of I.S.S. Amelia had been trying to reestablish contact with the rest of her task force, and even taken a quick trip back into their own timeline.
"So, your new boyfriend, or girlfriend, or whatever Perez is, has gone back to the Amelia?", Miles casually asked his sister as they were sitting down for lunch in the mess hall. Mila went bright red. "For the last time, Perez and I are just friends." "Sure, just friends who happen to be spending every free moment together." Mila waved her hand. "How's Sari, by the way, haven't woken up to find her standing naked in our living room for a few days. Mind you, that was not a bad view."
Miles' face went just as red at the memory. "She's fine. We're fine. Still. Perez went back to the Terrans?" Mila shook her head. "Not permanently. Said they'd left some stuff behind on the ship when they moved. Probably some personal effects or something."
Commander Rogers walked into the Mess Hall, "Where is Perez? I haven't been able to find them all shift."
Mila turned to the Commander. "They said they were going back to the Amelia to pick up some personal stuff they'd left behind. You'll probably find them over there. Why?"
The Commander sighed in frustration, "We were supposed to have an exit briefing before they fully transferred to your ship. They never showed. So where the hell is Perez?"
Mila looked at the Commander, then at her brother. "Okay, this is weird," she finally said. "I mean, why would they not turn up at that, without telling anyone?" She shook her head, and tapped her badge. "Hey, Perez, where are you?" There was no response.
Miles shook his head. "Those things have insane range, right? So that would mean they either don't want to, or can't, reply. Commander, did you check if they are somewhere else on your ship?"
The Commander glared at the boy and resisted the urge to slap him for his insolence, she was still a guest on board their ship. "If I found them on my ship, I wouldn't be here asking your sister if she's seen Perez," the Terran said in a measured tone that barely hid her frustration. She then looked at Mila, "What do you know?"
Before her brother could say anything, Mila stood. "Why would you think I know anything, Commander?" She stepped towards the Terran. "Uhlan Perez is a part of this crew now, yes," she continued, putting emphasis on the rank title. "And they are a friend. What are you trying to say?"
"Calm down, sis, she's not saying anything." Miles had risen from his chair as well, and put his hand on his sister's shoulder. Taking a deep breath, he tapped his badge. "Computer, locate Uhlan Perez, Ezra."
"Uhlan Perez, Ezra, is not currently on this ship."
Miles sighed. "Right. Computer says Perez isn't here, you say they aren't on the Amelia. So, the station. This'll be fun."
"A hell of a friend, Lieutenant if they don't even let you know that they're disappearing," the Commander sneered. "Looks like Perez has deserted both of our crews."
Miles saw the look on Mila's face, and held his arm between her and the Commander. "Don't."
Renee peered out from the kitchen at the sound of escalating voices.
Mila pushed him away. [Don't what?], she signed furiously, before turning to Rogers. "Okay, if you want to be a bitch, be a bitch. I've always tried to get along with you as best I can, but if you want to start something, I'll happily end it." She smiled and tapped her badge. "Computer, lock onto Terran signatures on board and confirm."
"One target detected and locked."
"Mila..." Miles shook his head. "This is really not the time to try that system."
The Lieutenant chuckled viciously. "So, Commander," she continued, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "There are two ways this is going to go down. You are going to cool off the attitude and help us figure out where Perez might have gone, or you're going to cool off outside. The anti-boarding protocols have been engaged. You as much as draw a wrong breath, and it will be your last. Got it?"
The Commander glared at the twins before breaking into a smile, "Are you sure you don't have Terran blood in you?"
Renee chuckled to herself quietly and went back to cooking, seemed like the kids can handle themselves.
"Must have been around you for too long," Mila replied, her voice and expression unchanged, her hand still not moving away from the badge on her uniform.
Miles groaned. "Enough of this bullshit already." He tapped his own badge. "Sublieutenant Lynn to Major Rogers. We need you in the mess hall, urgent. Perez has disappeared, and your counterpart has pissed off my sister enough that she wants to space her."
The Commander looked over at Miles and rolled her eyes, "Of course..."
Renee took the time to make her way to the entryway of the Mess Hall, hoping to intercept the Major before she came in hot and making the situation worse.
Major Rogers was in a sprint when she nearly collided with Renee outside of the Mess Hall. "What the hell is going on in there?"
Renee spoke slowly and calmly, "Perez is missing and your counterpart is being quite Terran and accusing Mila of knowing more than she does. She's actually holding her own against the Commander. And if we let this go on any longer, there might just be only one of you for us to deal with."
The Major furrowed her brow, "Why would she think Mila knows where Perez is? And why don't we know where Perez is?"
Renee rolled her eyes, "Go in there and make sure you don't get yourself beamed into space."
The two of them walked into the Mess Hall and into the standoff between the twins and the Commander.
"Someone want to fill me in on what's going on?" the Major asked.
The Commander turned to the Major, "Seems like you're not doing a great job maintaining accountability of your crew. Perez is missing and no one seems to know where the hell they are."
The Major looked over at Mila, [Are you okay?]
[I'm fine. The Terran seems to want me to try the anti-boarding protocols on her, though.] Mila sighed. "We've established through the internal sensors that Perez is not on this ship. The Commander says she can confirm that they aren't on the Amelia, either. Which leaves the station. In short, we have no idea where they are, or why they went there."
"Maybe I can shed some light on that," a voice rang out, as Captain Mannerheim walked into the mess hall, with Raven following closely behind. Freya addressed the Commander directly. "Get back to the Amelia. Your assignment to this crew has been suspended."
The Commander set her jaw and nodded before she got into more trouble with her Captain. "Yes, ma'am."
Raven nodded. "Don't think we don't know about the little showdown you two had. We'll have a chat about appropriate use of the ship's defenses later, Lieutenant. For now, our priority is finding our missing crewmember."
"As I mentioned, I might be able to help with that," the Captain chimed in. "Thirty minutes ago, there was an unauthorised launch from one of the shuttle bays on the Amelia. All crew are accounted for, so that makes it pretty obvious who it was."
"Did Perez mention anything to you about wanting to leave or why they would leave without letting anyone know?" the Major asked Mila.
The Lieutenant shook her head dejectedly. "Last time we spoke, Perez was talking about going over to the station for dinner with Miles and Sari."
Mannerheim nodded. "Right. The shuttlecraft's transponder was disabled, so we can't track it. You guys have a small fighter, right? Take it and do a sweep of the surrounding systems. We will send a team over to the station, just in case, but we can only stay here for another day." She put her hand on Mila's shoulder. "I know you're worried, but we'll find Perez."
Ash looked over at Mila and nodded supportively, "Let's go find Perez."
Moments later, the twins and Major Rogers were heading down to the hangar bay, when Mila suddenly stopped in the middle of the corridor.
Miles, who was walking next to her, span around. "Everything okay, sis?"
Mila shook her head. "I have a feeling I know where Perez went. We won't find them anywhere near here." She pulled out her PADD and looked at a map of the Beta Quadrant. "Right, we're here. Drozana station, Donatu sector. So, to get to the Sol system..."
Ash froze, "Sol? Where specifically?" Don't say Earth... don't say Earth...
"You know exactly where I'm thinking. Down to the exact address. I'm so stupid." Mila shook her head. "I've let Perez use my extranet access since theirs didn't seem to be working." She turned the PADD around, showing an advertisement for a teahouse near Osaka. "They accessed this last night. This is where they are going. I am certain of it."
"Of course...." Ash said slightly uncomfortably. Earth is a big planet... her family is still in San Francisco, there's no reason that she needed to see them. "Let's go."
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