I must apologize. I have not updated in forever and to be honest, I feel that this chapter is not up to par. For one, this is painfully short. I did not want to keep you waiting any longer though. Like I said many, many moons ago, this was originally going to be a short story and still is! I am hoping to finish this story in less than 20 chapters!
Amanda lay in her bed staring at the ceiling. Earlier in the evening she had somehow managed to find her way back to her quarters, showered, changed and lay in the bed of the temporary quarters where she was to stay. The lights were off and the only source of light she had in the room was the blinking light of her tablet. The purple blinking glow indicated it was still charging and was still bare of any messages from her family.
She decided that she needed to find some sort of sleep. Since she woke up that morning on Earth, she still hadn't slept. It had been well over twenty hours. The ship ran on some sort of schedule, and as far as she could tell it was late in the "night" with all of the graveyard crew out taking care of the ship.
Amada sighed, moving in her bed. She was the only one in her quarters, luckily enough. It was quarters that every Starship had in the case of visitors, or so she was told by Lario.
Lario … Even thinking of his name put her stomach in knots. What had she done? Had she been leading him on? She hadn't meant to, not in the slightest. She couldn't imagine him taking it that way. She thought back to every time they were together.
No, she didn't do anything to make him believe she was into him. Had he been dropping hints all that time?
And the look on Sarek's face.
Amanda cursed at herself, turning over again. "Damn it, Amanda, you're so stupid."
How had she managed to get herself into that situation?
She slowly drifted to sleep but not without a fight.
The holographic alarm next to her bed woke her the next morning. She had managed six blissful hours of sleep at least, but wouldn't allow herself any more, not while her family was away.
She splashed water in her face from the small sink in the bathroom she had and stared at herself in the mirror.
What she wouldn't give for make-up. Concealer to cover the dark puffy circles under her eyes, blush to bring back life to her white pasty skin. Anything that would make her dull brown eyes brighter, her skin less wan.
She looked really sick.
Raking her fingers through her long hair, she placed it in a high ponytail, dismissing her appearance.
First things first.
She picked up her tablet and stopped dead.
A signal.
Her tablet showed as connected, the messages she had sent her were transmitted but no response.
She had to tell someone.
She dressed quickly, finding a black Starfleet uniform in her size in her temporary closet. Zipping up the back, she barely stepped into her boots before she sprinted down the hallway.
Amanda could see that the video had been disabled on her sister's tablet. She typed, "Doris?"
She still didn't receive a response by the time the doors wooshed opened.
The Captain of the Starship had a room with various instruments. Many of them were found on the ship's bridge but these were on a smaller scale, used for some scientific research and mapping Space that had never been reached before.
Some of the instruments were being used presently to track the ship.
"Someone help!" She yelled over their conversations.
She didn't otice him across the room. Lario rushed forward, there was no worry on his face. In fact, she couldn't identify anything on his face. "What's wrong?"
She pushed the tablet towards him. "Doris's tablet, it's active. It hasn't been active since they disappeared."
He took her tablet and walked to the middle of the room, where other uniformed men stood.
"Is there a way to trace back-"
"No, try here –"
"No, do this instead –"
Amanda could feel her hands shaking. Finally, something, something that could help them find her family.
She scratched the back of her neck, a sudden tingle itching her.
"There!"
She breathed a sigh of relief. They found something.
She pushed her way to them, "What did you find?" She scratched the back of neck again.
"It's faint but it's there," one of the men said.
Amanda reached for the tablet but stopped.
Her hand … was disappearing.
She looked at it baffled. There were blue and white swirling lights around her hands. "What's happening?"
Everything afterward was a blur and happened in mere seconds.
Lario yelled out over everyone's head in the room. "Someone get a trace!'
"There's no way to trace it!"
"She's being transported-"
"Who is doing this?!"
Amanda looked at everyone's stunned faces. "What's happening?"
She look down, her feet were doing the same. They were disappearing and the faint blue and white lights were around them too. Amanda began hyperventilating. "What do I do?"
"You're being transported, Grayson." One of the officers –John?- said.
She felt a sudden pain in her stomach and she doubled over in pain, screaming. Lario fell to his knees next to her. She felt her insides burning, aching, (so much pain!) she began to cough. Amanda put her hand to her mouth.
Her heart dropped. Blood.
She was coughing blood.
She looked to Lario, tears creeping to her eyes. "Wh-What do I do?"
Lario tried to grab her by the shoulders but failed, they went right through her. "We will find you, Amanda!"
Her body of its own volition convulsed on the floor.
The last thing she saw was the silhouette of her favorite Vulcan in the doorway before she blacked out.
Please let me know what you think! I will finish this story soon!