Captain Allensworth paced around his ready room. He had a lot on his mind at the moment. He had to stay on course to Bajor but he wanted to reverse course and look for Kyou and Ryou. The only thing he could think of doing was begin his log.
"Computer, begin captain's log. Stardate…"
He was interrupted by M'Press's purr like voice.
"Captain, there's an incoming message for you."
"Is it Admiral Burrell?"
"Negative, sir. It's…the mirror Captain Allensworth. He's demanding to speak with you."
Allensworth raised an eyebrow. He was intrigued by his counterpart's sudden message but he also felt a bit of apprehension. He walked over to his computer terminal on his desk.
"Put him through."
The screen switched on and Jermaine felt he was looking into the mirror.
"Ah, Captain Allensworth. It's always a pleasure to speak with you." Mirror Allensworth said.
"Still calling yourself captain I see. I'm surprised you having assassinated anyone to become admiral." Jermaine said.
"I prefer the rank Captain, for the time being. Until at least the Empire wins the war, then I'll become admiral. Then who knows after that? Fleet Admiral, Grand Admiral, Emperor even."
"How about Empress's puppet." Jermaine shot back.
The mirror Allensworth smirked at his counterpart's retort. "Oh, Captain. Such comments show deep misunderstanding of the political system of the Empire. With the Empire…"
Allensworth was getting annoyed with the mirror Allensworth. "You can justify yourself later, Allensworth. I'm a busy man."
"We know you have one of our officers in your custody. We tried taking her back once and that obviously failed but then I figured I might act like one of you and ask politely. I never imagine that such a tactic could actually work. We're used to taking things by force. To be blunt, we want her back."
"That's not asking politely." Jermaine said. "I will take your request with a grain of salt. However, since the Federation doesn't recognize your government and that the Terran Empire has never agreed to an extradition treaty with the Federation, you shouldn't get your hopes up." Allensworth said with a smile before ending the communication.
He sat there thinking a moment about his counterpart's communication to him. Then he decided to get back to his log.
"Computer, resume…" He was cut off again, this time by the chime of the door. "Come in." The door opened and allowed Lieutenant McKenzie to enter. "Yes, Lieutenant."
"Sir, we ran a scan off Commander Zofchak's quarters. There isn't much to report. Our tricorders did pick up something but they almost missed it due to the small amount there was."
"What is it, Lieutenant?"
"Some sort of mineral, sir. Barely noticeable."
"Mineral, eh. Looks like we can put our new geologist to some use." Allensworth said. He tapped his comm. badge. "Lieutenant Dowey, please report to my ready room."
"On my way, sir."
Dowey was still on the bridge when he received the order so it only took him a second to reach the captain's ready room.
"You wanted to see me, sir?"
Allensworth motioned to the readings on McKenzie's tricorder. "We found some evidence in Commander Zofchak's quarters about the disappearance of Kyou and Ryou. It appears to be some kind of mineral."
Dowey took the tricorder and looked it over. "It appears to be moon rock, sir. I'd have to see the evidence itself to be completely certain."
Allensworth nodded. "McKenzie, take him to Dustin's and Hoshi's quarters."
"Aye, sir."
McKenzie turned around and led Dowey out of the ready room and to the turbolift.
Shortly later, Dowey walked into the quarters of Commander Zofchak and Commander Sato. Dowey knew that the two were married but he wondered why Hoshi continued to go by her maiden name instead of taking her husband's name. He figured it would avoid confusion since they both hold the same rank. He saw the married couple scanning the room with their tricorders, hoping to find some clue as to who or what took their daughters.
He pulled out his tricorder and began scanning the room, looking for traces of moon rock. He walked over to the cradle where the twins were laying before they disappeared and he found what he was looking for. He crouched down and to visually examine the very small amount of dust just below the cradle. He took his tricorder and scanned the evidence more closely. He studied the information his tricorder gave.
"Sirs," Dowey called to get the attention of his superiors. "I found some traces of moon rock just below the cradle." He stood up and faced the two parents. "The traces left behind show elements of Iron, Magnesium, Calcium, Silcon and Oxygen. It's Pyroxene. It has a color ranging from maroon to black. The grains appear to be more square suggesting that whoever took your daughters had been in the highland region of Earth's moon, Luna."
McKenzie stepped over and placed her foot next to the traces of Pyroxene. She looked around, judging the distance from the Pyroxene and the cradle.
"The traces of Pyroxene are right where someone would step when they are picking up the children. It would appear that whoever took your daughters, had tracked in some moon rock dust and left without realizing they had left any evidence. It would suggest that the twins were taken by someone then beamed out, instead of being beamed out directly."
"It must've happened very quickly." Hoshi said. "I had stepped out of the room for a second and then when I returned, they were gone."
"Let's talk to the captain and see what he has to say." Zofchak said.
A short time, Hoshi, Dustin and Nathan stood in front of Captain Allensworth. Allensworth sat there with his hands clasped on the table, listening to his officers.
"So, you have reason to believe that someone from Luna beamed into your quarters, took the twins and beamed out?"
"Yes, sir." Zofchak said. "I also believe the twins are still there."
The captain nodded. "I see. The question now is who would do that?" Allensworth asked. "I'll contact Admiral Burrell to tell him of our situation, until I figure out what we can do, return to your stations."
"Thank you, Captain." Dustin said before leaving.
The three officers left the captain's ready room. The captain then turned his attention to his computer console and pressed a button.
"Computer, set up a subspace link to Admiral Burrell." Allensworth said.
The United Federation of Planets logo was on the screen and seconds later it switched to the face of Admiral Burrell.
"Yes, Captain?"
"Admiral, while we were en route to Bajor, the daughters of Commander Zofchak and Commander Sato have come up missing. We have reason to believe that they were taken before we left the Terran System by someone who had been previously on Luna."
"And what makes you think they're still there?" Burrell asked.
"We have no evidence to support that they're still there but we need to at least look."
"You're under orders to head to Bajor, not go snooping around Luna for someone that might not be there. I'm sorry to hear about the children but you have your orders. Burrell out."
Allensworth sat there for a few seconds thinking to himself. He then got up and left his ready room.
"Helm, what is our current course?" He asked.
Dowey was a bit confused by the question but responded anyway. "The same thing it has been all along, sir. Straight course to Bajor."
"All stop. Set a course for Earth. Maximum warp."
"Aye, sir."
Allensworth took a glance around the bridge. "At the moment, we are under orders to rendezvous with the Defiant. However, I'm about to commit a direct violation of our orders. Any of you who wish to object should do so now, it will be noted in my log."
There was nothing but silence on the bridge. Each crewmember were part of a family and knew the importance of heading back to Earth to look for the twins.
Dowey turned around in his chair. "Captain, I may be the newest member of the crew but as a father of twins myself, I say to hell with Admiral Burrell and his orders. The Defiant can handle the Tzenkethi. We have other priorities."
Dustin and Hoshi smiled at Lieutenant Dowey. Captain Allensworth sat down in his chair. "Hit it."