Snoop, Snoop, Ah-oop.

Posted on Mon Mar 27, 2023 @ 8:14am by Lieutenant Commander Zachary Addams & Lieutenant JG Sydney Friedman Jr

768 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: We Will Take Care of You
Location: Sickbay/Walker's Quarters

Zach was closing his tricorder when Sydney returned. "How is the Commander faring?" he said.

"He's concerned, but calm," she said. "And I think he's rather concerned about what he did to you."

"As he should be," Zach bristled. "Anything else?"

"He mentioned some pouch in his quarters, by his bed," Sydney said. "He said it contained pictures of his children. Something for him to focus on, to keep him centered."

Zach nodded. "He mentioned some kind of pouch to me as well. I suppose, if it keeps him calm, it would be prudent to retrieve it..."

"I can get it if you like," Sydney offered.

Zach shook his head. "I need to override the quarantine protocol I put in place. I'll go get it."

Sydney nodded in acquiescence. "All right." As he walked away, she looked after him. "Zach?"

He stopped and turned.

"We both know....it probably wasn't really her," Sydney said. "Don't get distracted."

Zach made a face of distaste but understood her point and nodded. He left Sickbay, walking through the ship purposefully. He stopped in front of the Commander's quarters and took a deep breath, then keyed in his command code.

The doors opened obediently and he stepped inside. Thankfully, the ship had had time to recycle the air, and it was a bit fresher in the room. He still didn't feel comfortable in there, however, and didn't plan on staying long. He went to the commander's bedroom and mentally forced himself to avoid looking at the still rumpled bed. He walked around to the nightstand and immediately saw what Walker was referring to. He picked up the pouch and walked back out of the room and back into the corridor, taking a deep breath again once he did, as if he'd been holding it.

He began the trek back to Sickbay, holding the bulging object in his hand, doing his best to avoid the curiosity needling his brain. He toyed with the opening, partially opening it, closing it, repeating. He was so engrossed in his own mental battle he almost didn't see the engineer coming around the curve in the corridor. He quickly looked up and dodged, offering a quick, "sorry!" but the pouch dropped out of his hand, and some of the contents spilled onto the deck.

He mentally kicked himself for being distracted and gathered up what had fallen. He saw the pictures of Walker's children, taking a moment to appreciate them, then frowned at the folded paper beneath them with Penny's name on it. "If her life or the ship is threatened..." it read.

He stared at it for a full minute, rationalizing that this may indeed be such a situation, but it wasn't necessarily yet, still, if Penny was in danger...

He picked it up and it partially unfolded in his hand. He took that as a sign and opened it, reading the words written. "What the hell?" he said, confused by what was written. Gobbledygook would be an understatement. He refolded the paper and put everything back in the pouch. "Completely nonsensical," he thought. "But...maybe it meant something to her..."

As he walked into Sickbay, he tossed the pouch to a nearby nurse. "Get this to Commander Walker," he said, then looked up. "Computer, where is Lieutenant Naroot?"

"Lieutenant Naroot is not on board the Victory," the computer said.

Zach felt his heart pound hard. "How long has she been gone?"

"Approximately four-point-seven minutes," the computer said.

Zach was ready to kick himself over his luck. He walked into his office and sat down, tapping his fingers. "Computer," he said, finally, "isolate any unusual materials found during the scan of the androids and scan the ship for those compounds."

"Scan complete," the computer said, after a moment.

"Show all locations," Zach said, watching a schematic of the ship pop up and several dots appear. He counted them all and sighed. All androids accounted for, but not her or her doppelganger. They either had sensors shielded or didn't have the same compounds in their makeup.

A moment later, he realized none of the dots were moving. "Did we render them all inert?" he wondered. He put aside that momentary victory and thought again. "Computer, what was Penny's last known location."

"Environmental control," the computer said.

"Did she walk out?"

"Negative."

"What energy signatures were present?"

"Cargo transporters were detected in the room," the computer said.

"Cargo transporters....got you," he said. They were in a cargo bay. It wouldn't take too long to figure out which one. He stood up and ran out of Sickbay.

 

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