Left Behind I - Lieutenant Reed's Mystery
"It's strange, sir, but Commander Tucker didn't
show up for his shift either." said Lieutenant Reed with a worried frown.
He had just returned from checking Sub-commander T'Pol's quarters, which
had been empty.
"So two of my officers are missing?" questioned
Captain Archer.
"Three, sir. Dr. Phlox has been reported absent
from sickbay."
"Have you instituted a ship wide search?"
"That was going to be my next course of action,
pending your approval, sir."
"Do it, Malcolm. I want those officers found."
"Yes, sir." said Malcolm. He looked uncertain.
"I don't think they are aboard ship, sir. I don't pretend to know where
they are, but if Commander Tucker were on board, he would have been in
engineering and on time this morning."
"I know, but we have to be sure. Report back
to me when the search is finished."
It was two hours later when Lieutenant Reed
found himself standing in the captain's ready room again. He looked at
the floor for several seconds before he had the strength to lift his head
and speak.
"Sub-commander T'Pol, Commander Tucker, and
Dr. Phlox are not aboard at this time. It is my unhappy duty to certify
them as missing, sir."
"We have been traveling at warp four for several
days. How could they get off the ship, even if they wanted to?"
"The shuttlepods are all accounted for, the
transporter has been off-line for more than a week, and there are no signs
that the ship has been boarded. I cannot even say for certain that they
left the ship. I only know that they are no longer here, sir."
Malcolm had been thorough. He had checked
every possibility, even the most remote ones before he made his report.
Even as he spoke to Captain Archer, security personnel were going over
the quarters of the missing officers and sickbay with tricorders and a
fine toothed comb. If there was any evidence relating to their disappearance,
Reed knew that they would find it. But deep down in the pit of his stomach,
he also felt that it was very likely that there were no clues.
"Sir, I may have more to add to the report
in a few hours." Malcolm told the captain as he looked at the data pad.
"Thank you, lieutenant. I know you will do
your best to solve this mystery."
"I will, sir. I can promise you that."
When the lieutenant had left his ready room,
Archer slowly shook his head and laid the pad aside.
"A mystery." he said softly. Is that what
it was when three crewmen disappeared without a cause and left no trace?
"The middle console, sir." Lieutenant Reed
told the captain, pointing to a panel in sickbay that showed slightly scorch
marks.
"What happened here?" Archer asked.
Reed frowned and said, "It isn't easy to say,
sir. It looks as though the console was in the process of shorting out
and catching fire, but then it suddenly stopped."
"Did someone put it out?"
"No, sir. There would be at least some traces
of extinguishing agents or other chemicals. It seems to have spontaneously
stopped burning."
"And you don't know why?"
"No, sir, but we did find something else here."
"What?"
"Burned skin cells from a Denobulan."
"Malcolm?" questioned Archer, blanching slightly
as he thought of the jovial doctor being electrocuted by a console.
"Oh, no, sir. There were only a few cells.
Dr. Phlox couldn't possibly have been killed or vaporized by the console.
It just couldn't happen." said Reed hastily.
"Good." said Archer with a barely audible
sigh of relief.
"It doesn't really put us any closer to solving
the mystery, but it is a clue. Or at least I hope it's something, sir."
"I have had the entire ship searched, sir.
There is nothing more than can be learned about the disappearances." Malcolm
told the captain, giving his a data pad that contained his supplemental
report.
"Your recommendation?" questioned Archer,
looking the lieutenant in the eye. The armory officer's eyes smoldered
with helpless frustration.
"Reverse course, sir. They must have been
taken off the ship without our knowing. I cannot think of anything else
that makes any sense."
"Fine." said Archer, who had been thinking
of doing just that. "And make one more search while we are en route. It
can't hurt."
"Of course, sir." said Malcolm, his tense
shoulders relaxing. Something was being done.
"And you think this is a clue?" questioned
Archer, leaning down to look at the blinking clock.
"Yes, sir. The only malfunctioning clocks
are in the quarters' of the missing officers and in sickbay. The rest appear
to be operating normally." Malcolm informed him. "I can't believe we missed
it our first time through." he added, mentally kicking himself.
"It's all right, lieutenant." said Archer.
"Do you have any theories about how your clues fit together?"
"The two phenomena, the clocks and the console
in sickbay, are both electrical in origin. Perhaps some kind of electrical
or electromagnetic disturbance ..." said Malcolm, faltering.
"Lieutenant?"
"If you don't mind, sir, I would rather go
over the sensor logs before I begin speculating."
"Do it, and get all the help you need."
"Thank you, sir."
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