Another mystery

Posted on Thursday, 17 September 2020 - 1:02pm by Captain Barret Stillwater & Lieutenant T'Lanna Vali

Mission: Operation: Dreamweaver
Location: Various
Timeline: MD4

{ON}

T’Lanna stirred from her slumber, what of it she’d managed to get. Sitting up her body ached, something that she’d put down to not sleeping well or finding Raith’s bed a little hard. Rolling over she expected to find Raith still sleeping peacefully next to her but the covers on his side of the bed were pulled back and the bed itself was cold to the touch.

“Raith?” She sat up and picked up her nightdress putting it on she walked to the bathroom but there was no sign of him there. “Raith are you here?” She was starting to worry, her senses and their bonding was telling her that her Imzadi wasn’t near and she was starting to panic. “Raith ... Where are you?!”

The silence was deafening “Computer where is Raith Kolani?”

Raith Kolani is not on the ship

“What!?” With that she ran into the bedroom and grabbed her dressing gown and slippers. She picked up her comm badge and hit it. =/\= Vali to Stillwater ... Raith is missing! He’s not on the ship! =/\=

Commander Stillwater had rolled over in his bed to answer the comm badge. When Lieutenant Vali reported that Lieutenant Kolani was missing, Stillwater immediately checked on Talarn, finding the Cardassian in bed asleep next to him put his mind and soul at ease, but only for a brief selfish moment.

Another one of his crew were missing. It was his Chief Operations Officer, a valued member of the crew and a man Stillwater was slowly but surely befriending. "T'Lanna, can you sense him at all. His presence anywhere near?" he asked as he threw on pants and started putting a uniform together. "Put security on alert," he added the order to his questioning.

“I can’t sense him!” T’Lanna was sounding unusually panicked, she wasn’t normally one to panic. “Our bond isn’t picking him up which means he’s either not onboard ship or he’s shielded from me somehow.” She paused and took a deep breath she needed to calm herself, panicking wouldn’t help find Raith. She returned to the bedroom and grabbed her uniform quickly putting it on. “I’ll meet you on the bridge Sir.”

"I'll be right there," replied Stillwater. "Though I suggest we meet in conference room. I do not want to arouse too much attention among the crew. We have a small vessel and a capable crew, but if word hits that more than Soral is missing, we are going to have a panic among the lower decks."

"Aye Sir" T'Lanna finished dressing and quickly headed out of Raith's quarters. It didn't take long for her to arrive at the conference room. Walking inside she offered a nod as she greeted Stillwater, walking over to the replicator she got herself a chilled water before moving to the table and taking a seat. "I don't understand this ... What is going on?!"

"I checked with Lieutenant Vadoma," Stillwater said reassuringly. "You're right. Lieutenant Kolani is not aboard. It's the same with Lieutenant Commander Soral and what I suspect happened to the Vomnin science team."

Stillwater ordered himself a tea. He took a deep breath. "I haven't summoned the Senior Staff yet, but that's the next course of action. We need every department head and essential personnel aware of what's going on... unfortunately, I don't have those answers yet. We are losing crew...disappearances randomly happening. First it was Soral. Now, Kolani."

"Soral is missing too!?" T'Lanna looked shocked as she massaged her back muscles which were aching. "How long has he been gone? Is Alex coping?"

"Lieutenant Commander Soral is missing," replied Stillwater. "You were to be made aware of matters shortly, but Raith's disappearance has rushed that information. Security searched the ship for Soral. He was not found and there was no signs of struggle. Lieutenant Kingsley has assumed the position of Acting First Officer."

T’Lanna nodded. “I understand. Do we have any ideas where Soral and Raith might be?” Her mind drifted to the memory of a nightmare only this time Raith wasn’t being held down by Borg it was something else, something she couldn’t remember no matter how hard she wanted to.

"None," he replied swiftly. "I do not mean to worry you any more than you already are. We will find them. The Standing Bear will not leave this region of space until they are recovered."

T'Lanna nodded as she listened but her mind started to wonder. “Raith being restrained ...” her words were disjointed as her memory tried to recall. “But it’s not ... the Borg it’s ....” She shook her head giving Stillwater a confused look. “Sorry Sir, I drifted off there for a moment.”

Stillwater was troubled with what Vali had uttered. "Lieutenant, we cannot afford to speculate and throw around conjecture right now. You're under emotional distress. Any 'sensing' you may have, any flashes may not be authentic."

T'Lanna nodded. "I know, I've been having the same nightmare for a few nights now. I've not been sleeping properly and it's starting to have side effects." She sighed. "There have been reports of others experiencing nightmares, some are just not sleeping properly. I don't know if it's all linked in some way or whether it's just mad coincidence."

"Talarn has been experiencing night terrors," replied Stillwater. "I thought it was just the usual Psychological scaring from being assimilated, but I've had some restless nights as well" noted Stillwater. "That's an awful mad coincidence, Lieutenant...I'm going to summon the Senior Staff."

T’Lanna nodded. “I think that’s probably a good idea Sir.”

"Agreed," replied Stillwater. He tapped his comm badge "Stillwater to Grol, summon the Department Heads, both the Chief Medical Officer and Assistant Chief Medical Officer. Have them report to the Briefing Room...immediately."

"Aye sir." Grol had been awake and ready when Stillwater had called. "Sir....I was just about to call you... we have a problem."

"What is it?" asked Stillwater.

"We have another crew member that is missing."

This was not what Stillwater wanted to hear. "Who?"

"Petty Officer Nolen from Ops, sir."

Stillwater shook his head. "We are not going to have anyone at Ops at this rate," replied Stillwater. "Thank you for letting me know. Now, assemble what's left of the Senior Staff while we still have a crew."

"Aye sir." Grol turned off his coms badge and started sending out the word.

Commander Stillwater looked at Vali. "I'll be back for the meeting. I just need a few moments...alone to clear my head," said the Captain of the USS Standing Bear as he proceeded to leave the room.