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| - Xavier woke up with a start. The back of his head, already sore from where he fell before, thudded back against the cold wall. He cursed inwardly as the pain radiated through him. Once it subsided, he opened his eyes again. They were dry and gritty, but he blinked and tried to let them adjust to the dim light emanating from the small fixtures high on the walls. He squinted down at himself. His combadge, as well as his phaser holster, were missing, but that was to be expected. With his hands bound tightly behind him, he couldn't see his arm, but it throbbed where he had been shot. His uniform was dirty but intact, and he saw no other injuries. His vision was improving now, so he lifted his head up to study his surroundings. He was in an alcove of a larger room or hallway that stretched out to the left. The walls and floor were some manner of stone, clearly natural in origin, but finished and evened out. Perhaps he was still on Erissa IV, in a cave in one of those mountains. Slowly and stiffly, Xavier scooted along the wall toward the other room. He tried, not entirely successfully, to avoid jostling his wounded arm. Xavier held his breath and listened. Now he could hear muffled voices coming from the other room around the corner. He craned his neck as far as he could, but saw nothing beyond the glow of the brighter lights beyond. Xavier steeled himself for another push along the wall, which he realized too late was overenthusiastic. He tipped over onto his right side and scrambled to right himself, but not before he heard the voices stop. One of the aliens rounded the corner and strode toward Xavier. When he saw that he was awake, the alien stopped and hastily drew the hood of his cloak back over his head. Still, Xavier had caught a glimpse of him, if it was a he – it was difficult to tell with their clothing. His face was scaly and dark, with stripes in a brighter green than the muddy color of the rest of the skin running diagonally along the sides of the face. His mouth was small and his eyes were large and red. If there were ears, they were small and not noticeable from this distance. Wispy dark hair sprouted from the top of his head and trailed down the back. The alien continued toward him, clucking at him in a language Xavier didn't recognize. Xavier wasn't sure what to do. The alien probably didn't understand him any more than Xavier did him and his last encounter with one of them didn't exactly end well. He lowered his head in deference and identified himself again. Then he felt the light sting of a phaser on stun. At least it's on a lower setting this time was the last thing Xavier thought before passing out again. Captain Tobias Quinton could still hear the clipped tones of the aide ringing in his ears: Do not make further contact with these aliens. You may continue scanning for your missing officer, but alert us at once if you are able to locate him. Do not engage them without Starfleet clearance. We will study the situation and advise you shortly. And now he was supposed to just sit on his hands. How dare they? Some jumped up Commander parroting some Admiral who's been out of the field too long and telling him not to be doing whatever he possibly could to save a missing member of his crew. Ridiculous. Of course he knew this was a tense, dangerous situation. It was the reason they weren't down on Erissa IV right now scouring the planet for Commander Xavier, ready to fight whoever they had to in order to rescue him. He didn't want to put Xavier's life in peril any more than anyone else did, but if they found his lifesign, they damn well were going to beam him up. And if they couldn't, then he would send that team down to find him and get him back. Nothing was going to stop them, not even Starfleet. Quinton had never abandoned a member of his crew and he wasn't going to start now. Especially not with Franklin. He had nearly thirty years of service in Starfleet, with twelve of those in command of the Bernal. That's why he had gotten the Pioneer last year. It was one of the first Novas to be completed. When you have a new class of ship, you want an experienced commanding officer running it. You don't know what kind of unpredictable problems might crop up in regular use. Can't test every probability. All the more reason not to condescend to him as that Commander had. He hated not being able to do anything. Gerard, Kingsley, and Valok had come up with some good theories, but so far none of them had panned out as far as modifying the sensors to display any life signs on Erissa IV. He hadn't had any good news at all. And Quinton hadn't had any luck identifying the aliens either. There were known species that matched parts of Lyron's description, but none that made sense with the other information they had on them like their behavior, weapon signatures, or current location. It was still such a mystery. He was beginning to worry that it might be too much of one for them to solve. Starfleet isn't going to let us sit here forever. If we can't find Xavier by the time we get orders to leave, they might give up hope. What would he say to Xavier's parents? Quinton had never met them, but Xavier had spoken of them in conversation. Both women were back on Luna, in New Berlin, where Xavier was born. They spoke infrequently, certainly less than most crewmembers spoke with family and friends back home, but then Xavier was hardly the social sort. He did speak of them fondly, however. He had a happy childhood. His family had no connections to Starfleet, but they were proud of his accomplishments. So what would he say to them? Your son's distinguished career, which he was devoted to above all other things, friends and lovers included – though now that Quinton thought about it, Xavier had never given any indication of any of the latter – has been ended for him on some barren rock? It was an act of sacrifice, done to save a number of his colleagues. Except it would be different if he had been killed before their eyes. That would almost be better. This uncertainty... having him simply vanish without a trace, when there should be some indication of him that they could find somewhere. All their efforts for nothing, when he had to be somewhere on this stupid planet? How could he admit that they just lost him? That's what it came down to. It was maddening "Dalton to Captain Quinton." Quinton let out an exasperated sigh. He wasn't sure whether to be glad for the interruption or not. "Quinton here. What do you have for me, Doctor?" "You should be receiving my full report now, but I'll give you a brief summary. From Lieutenant Lyron's description, the weapon was set to the equivalent of a heavy stun. It was fairly close range, so I'd assume he has some energy burns. The hit the away team saw was to his arm, so I would say he's not in imminent danger.” “Thank goodness for that.” “Don't be so relieved. That's assuming he hasn't sustained any further injuries. And either way, he needs proper treatment and somehow I doubt he's getting that. The wound is probably going to get infected and that's going to weaken him. How fast is impossible to predict, but he needs to get to Sickbay so he can be treated as soon as possible.” “We all want him here as soon as possible, Doctor. And he will. The second we locate his signal, I'm beaming him back here.” “Of course, sir. But the longer he's there, the more his chances of recovery drop.” “I understand. Thank you, Doctor. I'll be sure to study your report. Anything else?” “No, sir.” “Quinton out.” Just what I need. As if I wasn't already worried. Quinton squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed at his forehead in a vain effort to slow the headache that was already beginning to throb there. Just remember why he's here. Dalton is arrogant and difficult to deal with, but he's an excellent physician and he would do anything for his patients, despite the prickliness of his personality. Everyone is here because you chose them for this. And everyone is pulling together to bring Xavier home. Let them do their work. Don't carry this all on your shoulders. You'll do them no favors if you do that. Quinton leaned back in his chair and took a deep breath. I'll try. The doors to the mess hall slid open and Tolly Gerard sauntered in. He yawned into his hand as he queued for the replicators. Once he had his tray, he turned to scope out the room. Owing to the size of the ship, it wasn't a large room. At most, a third of the crew might be there at any given time. Right now, it was moderately busy. Many of the tables were occupied, but there were some free in the back, by the windows. Gerard stepped between two tables and found himself standing in front of a table with one occupant: Haria Lyron. She eyed him warily as she sipped from her mug. "Hello, Lieutenant Gerard. You may sit if you'd like to." Gerard slid into the chair across from her. "Thanks." Lyron set her mug down and nibbled at her meal. She furrowed her forehead as she looked closer at him. "You look terrible." "Well, thanks. That's just the look I was going for." "I meant that you look very tired. And perhaps unwell." "I am tired, what with all the getting shot at and running away and narrow rescue. This is the first break I've had since we got back to the Pioneer." "What an inconvenience that must be." "Oh, lay off. I've been working in the lab and trying to figure out how to get him back since we left the briefing. I may not have liked that guy much, but he's still the Commander. I don't want him stuck down there any more than anyone else does." "I like him. He's a very good, very stubborn man." "I'll agree with that." Gerard looked thoughtful as he chewed his sandwich. "You were right about us having something to worry about down there." "I don't care about being right, I care about protecting our shipmates." "I know. You were just doing your job. I feel bad about arguing with you. You didn't deserve it." "Why, Lieutenant, is that an apology?" "Yes, but don't let that get around, I don't want to lose my reputation as careless and flaky." He put his sandwich down and leaned toward her. "We're about ready to begin the first round of testing for the sensor modifications. Would you like to come back to the lab and watch?" "Yes, please." Several minutes later, Gerard and Lyron had finished eating, left the Mess Hall, and started toward the main Engineering Lab. As they walked inside, Lieutenant Commander Jasper Kingsley and Lieutenant Valok stood engrossed at their consoles, their backs to Lyron and Gerard. A few other crewmembers swirled around the room, darting between consoles. "Hello, all," said Gerard. "How are we doing?" "Hello, Tolly," Kingsley replied without looking away from his screen. "I'm just making a few more small adjustments. Captain Quinton is on his way. Once he gets here we can start." He continued tapping away at the console. "We have enough power allocated here, Valok?" "Affirmative. Nonetheless, I will monitor while we are testing and boost power levels if necessary." "Sounds good." Kingsley finished his work at the console and turned around the face the newcomers. "Oh, hi, Haria. How are you doing?" She shrugged. "Fairly well, considering, I suppose." Kingsley leaned over to pat her on the shoulder. "Don't worry, we're going to find him. Isn't that right, Valok?" The Vulcan glanced away from his console to them. "Due to the lack of precedence for this task, it is difficult to anticipate the probability that our efforts will be successful. Ideally, they will and Commander Xavier will be safely returned to the Pioneer." Lyron smiled broadly and let out a laugh. "Oh, I hope so." "Haria, have you met my new assistant?" Kingsley gazed back over his shoulder at the other officers working on the other side of the room. "Jensen? Do you have a minute?" Jensen scurried forward. "Sir?" "Lieutenant Haria Lyron, Lieutenant junior grade Tricia Jensen. Lieutenant Lyron is Chief Security/Tactical Officer and my best friend. Jensen here is my new assistant chief. She really knows her stuff." "Unlike the last one?" said Gerard with a smirk. "Don't even get him started," Jensen replied. Kingsley glanced at her. "You've already met the Captain. Did you have a chance to meet Commander Xavier before... all of this started?" "No, I didn't." "Ah! He's quite a character. Arrogant, nosy, snobbish, aloof, cranky... I sure miss him." Jensen frowned. "I don't think I understand." “The first time we met, he was pushy and dismissive. The second time, he got all upset after he eavesdropped on a private conversation–” Lyron held up a finger. “Which we shouldn't have been having in public. You were being rude.” "Well, we worked things out eventually." Kingsley turned back to Jensen. "No, he's really all right. I'm sure he could have gotten a transfer by now. I know he must have wanted one when he got here. But he's stuck with us and he's one of us now. I respect that." The lab doors opened with a whoosh and Captain Quinton walked in from the hallway. "Confident, Lieutenant Commander?" "Yes, sir. I think we have this problem sorted out." "Excellent. Let's see it." Gerard and Kingsley returned to their stations near Valok. Gerard took a deep breath. “Okay. First test sensor configuration loaded on the main sensor array. Bringing the array online.” “Power levels stable,” added Valok. “Sensors functioning normally. We're ready to proceed,” Kingsley said next. Gerard nodded. “Turning our attention to Erissa IV, then. Locating our start point... northern portion of the eastern hemisphere, there's the mountain range. Scanning initiated.” Quinton walked toward Gerard's console. “So how long will it be until it's finished?” “Well, it's supposed to alert us when it does find life signs, but otherwise, it shouldn't be that long before the full scan is done. I have it set to just check the area we were in when the aliens appeared, but if there's no results there, we can widen the scope to the rest of the planet.” Gerard, with Kingsley and Valok, answered some more of Quinton's questions and eventually everyone fell into various conversations as they waited for the scan to finish. Just a few minutes later, Gerard's console beeped, and everyone returned their attention to him. Grinning triumphantly, he strolled back to his station and checked the sensor report. His face fell, and he glanced back at Captain Quinton. “Ah... I'm not seeing any lifesigns. Either they've moved and we're not looking in the right place, or we were wrong about these configurations.” Kingsley strode forward to see. “We can run the rest of the planet and if there's still nothing, we can try the other versions on a global scan and see what we get with those.” He turned to the captain. “This was our best guess to elude the sort of blocking technology they probably have, but we have some other configurations to try. I'm sure one of them will work, sir.” Quinton frowned. “Well... carry on, then.” Gerard quickly widened the scan's scope to encompass all of Erissa IV. Indeed, Gerard, with the help of Kingsley and Valok, initiated the second, third, and fourth test sensor configurations with an increasing level of urgency after each successive failure. After the computer beeped again to mark the failure of the last effort, Gerard turned to Quinton with a guilty look. “Captain, I'm sorry, but I think we're going to have to start over with this. There's obviously something we're missing.” Quinton's jaw tightened as he listened to Gerard. “Lieutenant, I'm very upset. You've been working nonstop on this, I don't understand how you could mess this up.” Quinton's voice edged louder as his scowl deepened. “This is an extremely critical situation and we don't have a lot of time to try to find Commander Xavier. We need to get him back very quickly. These mistakes are unacceptable. I want you to reassign all your other duties to subordinates. You will work on this exclusively and you will come up with a working solution or else we will be discussing a change of assignment for you. Am I making myself clear, Lieutenant?” Gerard stared at him. “Yes, sir,” he whispered. “Good. Keep me informed.” Quinton glanced around and the other officers and gave them a quick, curt nod before turned and striding toward the lab doors. As they slid shut behind him, Gerard staggered back and leaned against a wall for support. His face radiated shame and he averted his eyes from the others. Jensen gingerly walked toward him and whispered something to him. The others exchanged looks of surprise, confusion, and concern. “I've never seen the Captain speak to anyone that way,” murmured Kingsley. “Not even me, after I started complaining about Commander Xavier in the mess hall that time.” Lyron shook her head. “I've never seen him actually angry. Serious is one thing, this is very different.” “Such an uncharacteristic outburst may be a sign that the captain is becoming emotionally compromised by the current crisis. This information should be reported to the relevant personnel,” replied Valok. “You might be right.” Gerard took a few steps away from the others and pressed his combadge. "Gerard to Watley."
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