Chapter Four

Carter was sitting in her lab, her eyes glued to the screen of her computer, and more than a little glossed over, when someone set a coffee down next to her. She jumped, looking up to see who it was.

"Carter." Jack said, taking in her tired eyes and disheveled hair. "Would it kill ya to take a break?"

Carter smiled, "Actually sir, I did take a break. Is that for me?" she gestured to the coffee next to her.

"On the condition that you come with me to get some breakfast. I hear there's waffles today!"

"I think I can do that sir." Carter said, giggling.

"So," Jack started as Carter followed him out of her lab and towards the commissary, hot coffee in her hand. "Have you guys found her yet? It's been months!"

"Well, we've managed to narrow it down a bit. When we started out, we noticed that there were several music colleges that have had incidences in the past ten years of students going missing."

"Incidences you say…"

"Yes sir. Of these colleges, most have had ten to twenty students just disappear from campus."

"And no one noticed that a good portion of their flock simply disappeared?"

"Flock sir?" Carter asked, amused.

"It's a term."

"Right. Well, they have all notified the parents, and had investigations, but nothing has ever turned up. The students just seem to go missing. There is one name that turns up in each case though; Abby Thomas. And every time her background story is the same; orphaned as a young girl and raised by the system. Thing is, the system doesn't have any record of her ever being in it."

"Red flag."

"And something else; the story is always the same; that her parents were archeologists who both died in a tragic accident on a dig somewhere."

"So?"

"Well, we're doing extensive background checks on every Abby or Abigail Thomas we can find in all of the music colleges on the east coast."

"I sense a 'but'."

"Well, sir, do you know how many Abby Thomas's there are out there?"

"How many?"

"A lot."

"Tell me something Carter, why are you and Jacob so determined about this? I mean, I get that the whole Gou'ald stealing college students being bad thing, and we definitely want to put a stop to it, but you and Jake, you just seem so... focused."

Carter stopped dead in her tracks and looked at him, surprised. She hadn't realized how wrapped up she'd been in this, she definitely didn't realize it was bad enough for the colonel to notice. And now here he was, watching her expectantly, waiting for a reply.

"I guess... It all kind of goes back to when I was a teenager, sir. I never told you this, but I used to have a sister." Jack gave her a shocked look, but allowed her to continue on. "She was between mine and Mark's age, two years older than me. She had just turned eighteen when my mother passed away, though her and my mom where never close, she was always daddy's little girl. But she wanted to be a musician. And she was talented, one of the best cellists in our state, she won several awards, and as soon as she graduated from high school, she went on to a music college in California. A few months after my mom passed away, her and about fifteen of her classmates simply.. disappeared. We tried to look for her, but it was like she just dropped off the face of the planet."

"And you think it had something to do with this "A Bit" Lady."

"Maybe.. or maybe it was something different all together. I honestly don't know. But.. Knowing what it was like to have someone you love simply disappear.. I wouldn't wish that on anybody. And I hope that maybe, we can find this Gou'ald soon enough, before she abducts any other innocent people." And with that, Carter started walking again, heading towards the commissary.

"I'm sorry Carter." Jack said, following her.

"That was a long time ago, sir. It's not as if we hope to find her, even if it was Aabit that took her, she could be anywhere, even dead by now. And besides, we've.. moved on."