The following Monday Storm was walking by the command center when Xavier psi-called her and asked her to join him. 

"Yes Professor?" she said as she walked into the command center and noticed the rather concerned look on his face.

"I want you to take a look at this." he said while handing a report to her.  "It involves a popular university in California and several missing students – mostly presumed to have dropped out of college."

"You don't think they dropped out?"

"No, I don't – I think they were removed – quite possibly by force."

"What makes you say that Charles?"

"Well, all 13 students were in the top 5% of their high school classes."

"Yes, but that's no reason to suspect foul play – many colleges only accept the top 10% of their class and still a third drop-out."

"This is true, but that's not what drew my attention to them…it's the fact that until they disappeared, they were all doing well.  One student – Jonathon Delaney was a sophomore with a 3.5 GPA, and another – Elisabeth Taft was a freshman with a 3.3…it just doesn't make any sense that they would drop out while doing so well."

"You're right Professor – that sounds odd, but kidnapping is pretty serious – didn't the police look into it?"

"Well, they were all in the dorms and within their first 2 years of school.  That's when most students drop out.  They all had roommates who reported them gone after returning for the weekend.  All of their stuff was gone as well – as if they spontaneously decided to move out."

"They didn't leave notes?"

"Not in their rooms but some roommates reported receiving emails later stating that they just wanted to get out and experience life before continuing college."

"And that's not enough for you?"

"No, and the main reason is because they haven't actually been seen by anyone since their disappearances; they just plain disappeared."

What about their parents?"

"For those that had parents or guardians, they reported them as missing.  All of them said the missing students never came home or contacted them with any school problems."

"The police still didn't list them as missing?"

"With what little evidence they had, 13 students "leaving" over the course of 3 years wasn't a priority.   They listed all 13 as 'DOR'."

"DOR?" 

"Dropped On Request" a raspy voice from behind her said as Logan walked in.  "It's a military term – mostly used in Special Forces training…what's the word Chuck?"

"We were just discussing a situation in California that I think warrants our attention."

"Izzatso?  Fun in the sun and plenty of beaches eh?  I think I can handle that."  Logan smirked.

"It'll be in the sun, but I don't know how much fun it'll be Logan.  This particular campus is located about an hour from the coast.  It's the University of California in Davis – UC Davis."

"I heard of that school" Logan said.  "Lotta eggheads come outta there – a pretty popular think tank 'cause it's close to the capitol.  They also got a couple bases around there…"

"Well this one has a history of students disappearing."

"Mutants?

"Yes – none have been confirmed by the police, but upon reading transcripts of their interviews with parents, it became obvious that many of them were "concerned" their children's disappearance may have been brought on by their 'differences.'"

"Did they say what type of differences?" Storm asked.

"Not to the police – I think they were afraid the police would have dropped their investigation if they found out the students were mutants – not that the police did anything anyway.  I've been in contact with several parents and they confirmed my beliefs – of the 4 parents I talked to, all 4 children were mutants that had recently discovered their unique abilities.  Some had control over their abilities, others were still very inexperienced with it."

"Enough yap…when do we leave?"  Logan snapped.  Patience wasn't one of his strong points and the thought of "children" being kidnapped because they were mutants seemed to really put him on edge. 

"Not just yet Logan – I want to find out what's going on and we can't do that by showing up in the Blackbird and asking a lot of questions.  We have to be a bit more discrete.  Storm, I've been working on a deep cover assignment for you and have created an identity under the name Arowlyn Montgomery.  You will be an associate professor in the Political Science department at UC Davis.  With your educational background, you should fit right in. 

They are on the quarter system there and school starts in late September so you'll have plenty of time to get there and get situated.  Assemble a team and brief me on your course of action." 

He gave Storm all the information he had then left her to her preparations.  She read through the material and quickly started working on a team to handle the situation.  Because he was so adept at deep cover operations, Logan was a natural; and with his military history, his background worked well with Storm's Political Science cover.  He was also the best "detective" in the entire group. 

Since they had very few leads to go on and needed to attack the problem from as many perspectives as possible, she wanted someone with a scientific background as well.  Beast was the obvious choice. 

In Storm's mind, this left only one vacancy - for someone to fit in with the youthful crowd.  There were two possible choices:  Cannonball and Jubilee.  Both had proven themselves in battle before and both were prime candidates.  They also had distinct advantages and skills.  Cannonball was a heavy hitter – he had gone up against several of the X-Men's worst adversaries and fared well.  He could handle himself in just about any situation and was quick on his feet.  Jubilee hadn't worked continuously with the X-Men for a number of years but had plenty of experience.  She also had been trained by Logan and could handle just about anything that came down the pike – something Logan pointed out to Storm as she made her decision.  In the end, both were deemed qualified but the job went to Jubilee because of her age and relative ease at blending in with the youth of a major university.  Her California background would also come in handy.

She assembled the team and started briefing them.  She wanted to make sure each person was willing to accept their role and responsibilities.

"Logan." she said.  "Do you think John Wraith can help you set up an identity that's associated with the area and university?"

"Sure – whaddya need?"

"I was thinking someone with a military background that interacted with the campus.  They have an ROTC program; that's one possible avenue.  Another is some sort liaison between the military and the government agencies there.  That way you can travel without suspicion…you can also guest-lecture from time to time on some of the issues involving the military and politics.  What would you feel most comfortable with?"

"I'll talk to John – see what we can come up with.  I'll have something for ya later on today.  But I don't know about that guest-lecturing crap…"

"It would be a great opportunity for you to pass on some of your knowledge to future generations…"

"Yah, whatever..."

"Good – make sure your last name is Montgomery."

"Montgomery?  What kinda Nancy-boy name is that?"

"It's MY Nancy-boy name…and you're MY Nancy-boy husband in this investigation!"

"Oh.  Um…Montgomery it is…"

"Beast – obviously someone with your unique talents could be useful in several ways.  The most effective choices are either as another faculty member or as a student.  I was thinking of a postdoc.  What do you think?"

"A postdoctoral scholar?  My stars and garters – the chance to live the life of a student again.  It seems too appealing to pass up." 

"Good – talk to Scott and set yourself up as a postdoc.  Graduate school is on a different schedule there so you will have to work quickly to get yourself situated.  That leaves you Jubilee." She said as she turned to the youngest X-Man.  "You have the simplest yet in some ways, most difficult assignment of all."

"Really?  What's that?"

"You get to be a student…again."

"That doesn't sound too difficult Storm."

"Well, you're also opening yourself up to a potential kidnapping – you're our intended target."

"Oh – that sounds…eeeww!"

"Hopefully we'll have this wrapped up before anyone targets you."

"Yeah – HOPEFULLY!"

"Beast – could you implant a subdermal homing device on her?"

"Ingenious Storm – a surefire method of keeping track of our Jubilation."

"You're lojackin' me?  Double ewww!"

"Quit yer yappin'!  It's fer your own good." Logan said in a somewhat fatherly voice.

"Well do I at least get to keep my truck?"

"HMMWV!" Logan growled.

"I don't see why not."  Storm laughed.  "It'll fit in so well with all the other cars.  Logan – can you get her a California tag?"

"Sure.  I'll put Gumbo on it.  He can lift – I MEAN ACQUIRE – California tags without a problem."

They discussed the intricacies of the mission down to the last detail then started preparing themselves.  Because it was already August, there was a real need to get established. 

Setting Jubilee up was easy.  With a few well-placed keystrokes, she was UC Davis' newest freshman.  Her new name was Kim Lee and she was from Long Beach.  She had enough history with the area to pull off any unexpected questions about her background.  To make her a more appealing target, Storm opted to leave her parents dead – of a recent car accident.  The more alone she appeared to be the better target she would make.  Storm just hoped they would uncover the fate of the missing students before anything happened to her.

Jubilee's major was listed as undeclared – that gave her reason to take a broad range of courses – form political science to chemistry to anthropology.  She was housed in the Emerson Hall dormitory.  It was the largest dorm on campus and also the location of where 7 of the 13 students disappeared.  Two more of the remaining 6 students were from Webster Hall – part of the area that Emerson was in, called Cuarto.  The other 4 students disappeared from 2 different housing areas:  2 from Tercero - a large set of traditional dorms – and 2 from Segundo; the oldest and most centered dorms on campus.  Emerson hall was nice – it consisted of 2 and 3 bedroom suites and had a pool and a spa – much to Jubilee's delight.  She was already looking forward to her mission.

Beast's new name was Harrison Jones.  He was a brilliant postdoc that had recently moved out from Stanford and was very interested in some of the research UC Davis was doing on genetic alteration in agricultural products.  UC Davis was the number 1 agricultural school in the US and had pioneered agricultural innovations for many years.  It fit perfectly for the genetics-interested mutant.

Storm's position was based in the college of Letters and Sciences.  At first that concerned her because she knew there were 3 undergraduate colleges at UC Davis:  Letters and Sciences, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, and Engineering.  Upon reading the university history though, she concluded that the 3 separate colleges were intertwined enough to give her exposure to faculty, staff and students from each area.  She would teach one lower division course and one upper division course during the fall quarter.  The lower division course would give her the most exposure to students and the upper division course would give her plenty of material to shmooze with other faculty members at the University Club – the faculty hangout.

That just left Logan, whose identity was carefully being crafted by his trusted friend and government contact John Wraith.  It was nice that he wasn't directly connected with the University because he wouldn't be scrutinized like Ororo and Hank.  There would also be very little record of his involvement with them - thus cutting down on the chance of being detected or investigated.  The only things needed now were physical disguises.  For Hank, it wasn't a problem – a few minor adjustments to his holo-emitter gave him the identity of his choice.  This wasn't a problem for Jubilee either – she already looked the part and because of her history so far away from California, nobody knew her.  That left Ororo and Logan.  When Storm told Logan he'd have to cut his hair and shave his sideburns, he about went through the roof…

"Well how do you expect to be a convincing military expert if you look like a fugitive from the Sasquatch family Dear?"

"With my mutant factor, I'll have ta shave at least 3 times a day ta look like I'm in the military!"

Storm laughed as she ran her fingers through his hair.  "We'll get Beast to fit you with a holo-emitter.  It'll help with the times you can't get to a razor.  It'll also help with changing your identity when you're out investigating.  If it'll make you feel better, I may have to cut my hair as well."

"That's a shame Darlin' – seein' as how much I like playin' in yer mane.  I guess you are pretty identifiable though… S'pose yer gonna dye it too?  What color?"

"I don't know – what do you think?   Perhaps red?" she said with a coy smile. 

"Nah – red would make you look like a party girl.  You're too classy for that.  No one would take you seriously either." he said while running his fingers through her long hair and giving her a kiss.

"Well thank you." she laughed.  "I'll be sure NOT to mention that to Jean."

"Who? Oh, yeah…that'd be a good idea."

I suppose I could dye it black – it's most popular and least identifiable.  Perhaps I'll leave it long…after all, I wouldn't want to deprive you of such an obvious source of enjoyment."

"Never pictured you as a brunette – might be an interestin' look."

Later on that evening after an interesting conversation with John Wraith, Logan reported back to Storm with his new identity.

"Got a cover – ties in plenty well with the mission too."

"What is it?"

"DOD liaison for military/state affairs."

"Department of Defense?  Sounds pretty fancy – what do you do?"

"Sit and listen to a buncha crybabies yap."

"What?"

"It seems that with all the base closures of the 90's, some of the city economies in California went to crap.  That left the local governments in a pretty foul mood.  The existing bases requested a liaison between them and the local gov's…I'm their man – based outta the Governor's office in Sacramento and workin' outta my car.  Who could ask for a better cover?  I even picked up the rank of a full bird colonel."

"I see – so you listen to the concerns the local governments have with the existing military bases and make sure things run smoothly?"

"Yah – like I said…sit and listen to a buncha crybabies yap.  The lighter side of things is that I get ta check in on the ROTC units at both UC Davis and Sacramento State – the other college in that area."

"Check in on?"

"A rolling C.O. so ta speak…make sure they're tough enough."

"YOU?  Make sure THEY are tough enough?  By the Goddess Logan – don't hurt them."

"Hey – they gotta be ready for…"

"I know – 'anything that comes down the pike…' When do you leave?"

"Saturday."

"So soon?"

"The key to a good cover is background…gotta get there early and establish history.  It'll also give me time ta settle inta my new job before Jubilee arrives."

"Yes, I'll come with you – I need to get situated at Davis and find a nice place for us to stay.  By the way – what's your cover name?"

"Logan.  Logan Montgomery"

*****

The Dragon's Lair

"Status?" a well-groomed man in his mid forties said from behind his ice-cold sunglasses.

"We're moving along according to schedule" was the reply from a slightly younger man in a lab coat – obviously some sort of scientist.  "But subject UCD-4 isn't adjusting well.  Her vital statistics have slowly been degrading.  If it continues I think we'll have to stop using her."

"How long?

"Four – five weeks tops if she continues at this rate."

"Have you learned anything from her?"

"Plenty."

"Good – then it wasn't a waste…get what you can from her then get rid of her."

With that, the man in the lab coat maneuvered his way through countless 9-foot cylinders to one marked UCD-4.  Each cylinder he walked past was filled with a blue fluid and had an unconscious mutant submerged in it with a SCUBA type breathing apparatus attached to their face. 

He stood in front of the chamber marked UCD-4 and typed a few keystrokes into a small keyboard attached to it's control panel.  A small light came on at the top of the cylinder and a slight hum started emanating from it.  A few seconds later the hum stopped and a small monitor attached to the front of the cylinder came to life with activity.  He recorded the mutant's vital statistics as stable but abnormal then looked up at her.  She was about 5'5 and looked to weigh about 110lbs.  As he observed her nude body, the smallest hint of remorse could be seen in his face.  She was only 21 years old…young enough to be his own daughter, and there he was experimenting on her like she was a lab rat.

The light at the top of the cylinder clicked off and he refocused on the issue at hand.  He quickly turned around and started the same procedure on several other chambers.

Later on that day a commotion stirred in the laboratory as another mutant was brought in.  He was already unconscious and strapped to a stretcher when they wheeled him in. 

"Who do we have here?" the man in the lab coat said to the three men wheeling him in.

"This one's from Bakersfield."

"He's come a long way hasn't he?"

"Yeah – and it took a lot to get 'em here.  This little freak has the ability to put his own force field up.  We got him while he was asleep but every time he twisted and turned in his sleep, that damn field went up.  We couldn't touch him and he kept breaking all our straps."

"Well hurry up and get him into one of the chambers.  His designation will be CSUB-3."

"Yeah – he's all yours…we gotta go ta LA next.  There's a suspected mutant at UCLA that our team down there'll need help with."

The mutant was about 6'3, 220lbs., African American, and in pretty good condition.  They injected him with an anesthetic then stripped him down and put sensors all over his body.  After checking the sensors, they fitted him with a mask and put him in the chamber.  As soon as the chamber was sealed, the lights came on and the hum of the machinery sprang to life.