Where Have I Been?
When Commander Tucker opened his eyes, he was
lying in bed. But unlike most mornings, he did not feel sleepy or out of
sorts. In fact he couldn't figure out why he was in bed at all, especially
since the lights weren't even turned off. He glanced at his clock. It read
all zeros. The glitch reminded him of something. But what?
He climbed out of bed only to find that he
was in full uniform. Trip just stood there looking at himself for a moment,
trying to remember something that he had forgotten. It seemed very important,
but it was so elusive.
"Oh, hell, it'll come to me." he finally decided.
When he stepped into the corridor, he looked
around. It was very quiet and very empty. He had an odd, inexplicable feeling
of déjà vu. Then he heard wearily trudging footsteps. Turning
toward the sound, he saw a very downcast and unhappy looking Malcolm Reed
walking his way.
"Hey, Malcolm, what do you know?" he called,
rather pleased to see the armory officer.
Lieutenant Reed's head jerked up as the voice
reached him. From a distance one might have thought he had been shot. He
just stood there with his mouth open for a few seconds before dashing down
the corridor toward Commander Tucker, who had the terribly uncomfortable
feeling that Malcolm was about to hug him.
"Commander! Is it really you? I thought we
would never see you alive again!" gushed Malcolm with extreme relief written
on his face.
"Did I miss a meeting?" asked Tucker, frowning
as Malcolm clapped him heartily on the back.
"I'll say, commander. You've been missing
for almost three days."
"That's not possible, Malcolm. Are you pulling
my leg?"
"No, sir. Sub-commander T'Pol, Dr. Phlox,
and yourself have all been absent from the ship since shift began two days
ago."
"How can that be?"
"We think a temporal anomaly of some kind
was to blame. I have several reports on the matter, sir, if you want to
look them over."
"Of course. I think I would like to see them."
"Sir?"
"Yes?"
"Where were you?"
"Did you check my quarters?"
"Naturally."
"Then I haven't a clue, Malcolm."
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