Yeoman Freid enters the bridge and said "Has anybodidy seen my SW scanner? I thought I left it on my bunk but it's not there"
"You mean this one?" said Yeoman Harris holding up the device.
"Yes, where did you find it?
"It was on a table in the café." Replied Yeoman Harris
"Thanks. I can't imagine how it got there" said Freid
"I guess the culprit was the same person who ate my food disks the other day. I only left the table long enough to get a drink and when I got back half of them were gone."
"Same person who left the equipment room door open I guess" put in Yeoman Stubbs.
"And the navigation room door. I found it open a second time this week. I walked past it yesterday and was closed but, on the way, back it was open. I doubled checked the log and it showed it wasn't opened by anybody in the crew." said Yeoman Jones from his position on the helm.
"Must be a Poltergeist," said Buck Rogers.
"What" asked everyone at once
"A poltergeist it's a ghost or spirit that plays tricks on people" he replied.
Wilma looked up from the communication console amused at everyone's reaction to Buck.
"Don't you have a survey mission about now?" She asked
"Yea I guess I had better get to the launch bay. It shouldn't take too long though. You guys have fun playing with our poltergeist." Replied Buck
Buck reached the launch bay, and the survey ship was in position and waiting for him. Alongside, also waiting was another member of the crew; a petite brunet who told Buck her name was Marilyn Monroe.
"Well come on, the sooner we get started the sooner we get back" he told her. The two entered the ship and after a brief check it was launched on its way to the small planet the Searcher was orbiting.
Sometime later Wilma's console buzzed, an incoming contact from the planet surface.
"Searcher here come in" she said
The vid screen flickered on, and the brunet appeared. Wilma could see the survey ship in the background but not Buck
"Searcher this is survey ship 001. We seem to be having a small problem and will be returning to home base later than scheduled." The brunet said but she added a wink and a broad smile as she nodded her head in Buck direction.
Wilma displayed no emotion, just said "understood I will notify launch bay. Searcher out"
Buck arrived back on the Searcher with the ship in ill humor. They had just barely managed to survey the planet surface and he was annoyed at Monroe for her lack of assistance.
"I think there's a problem with the propulsion unit on this thing, you may want to have it looked at" he told the maintenance personal.
By the time Buck is done on the launch bay Wilma has finished her shift and has returned to her cabin where Buck found her. She too is not in the best of moods.
"Hello beautiful. Well that survey didn't go as planned that for sure. Stupid ship broke down before we had gotten very far." Buck tells her when he entered.
"I know" she replied with just a touch of frost.
"What's the matter?" Buck asked a bit confused
"I got the impression from your companion that you were enjoying the delay" she replied
"Not sure where you got that impression, but I certainly didn't enjoy my mission and since Marilyn Monroe was no help at all I am surprised we managed to complete the survey"
"Was that her name? I didn't…" Wilma didn't finish her sentence before Buck broke in.
"Yes, and before you get all tied in knots. Marilyn Monroe was a cultural icon in my day that's why I remember this, ah this lady's name. She was basically useless." He spoke.
"I am sorry, but my insecurities are showing" Wilma said as she turned away.
Buck laughed and caught her around the waist. "You have absolutely no reason to be insecure and in my day, I would take you to a real fancy restaurant like the Top of the World for dinner and some dancing" he told her as he swayed with his arms around her. " Not sure what we would do in New Chi…." Buck broke off in mid-sentence with an odd look on his face
"What?' Wilma asks
"I just remembered what she said that was odd. She said we needed Hieronynum Fox to fix the ship. I didn't think there were any Genesians on board. The only people who would know about him were the Genesians or people in the security detail at the time."
"She wasn't on the security detail as far as I remember, there were a limited number of terrains involved. And I don't recognize her from that group," said Wilma
"Now that is odd," said Buck. "I wonder what her status is on board here. She sure wasn't much help earlier"
Buck released Wilma and walked over to her vid screen trying to bring up crew lists, but he has never mastered these fancy things. Wilma, with a sigh came over to do it for him. Buck moves around behind her his arms around her with his chin on her shoulder watching.
"That's strange there is no listing for Marilyn Monroe on the crew manifest."
"She had a blue thingy so that's scientific department right," said Buck
Wilma accessed that dept and again no listing for Monroe. Next she pulled up the photos of all of the females in that dept but Buck didn't recognize any of them.
"Maybe her name isn't Monroe, maybe she changed her name."
"Not likely. Once your chip is programed your name is your name. Unless you work for a security directorate and then they can reprogram it as needed," said Wilma
"Reprogram it?" asked Buck
"Yes, mine is reprogrammable since it wouldn't help if I go undercover as Jenny Jones, but someone has a chip reader, and it pops up Wilma Derring".
"Interesting. So maybe this woman is or was working for a security directorate. Why don't you contact Dr Huer and see if we can figure out who she is"
"Buck I am not contacting Dr Huer over something minor like this."
"Wilma, I don't believe in ghosts, and I am beginning to think all of these odd happenings are related. There are just too many of them not to be."
"Alright I will contact a friend of mine in the security directorate once we are in the right communication zone and see if they have any information on your friend Marilyn"
"Not my friend. And while you do that, I think I will take a walk down and have a chat with Dr. Goodfellow. Maybe he can shed some light on Ms. Monroe.