Trading Places

"Well?" Colin asked tersely once the silence became unbearable.

Turek spoke up first, clearing his throat reluctantly.

"There are 86 people missing thus far, but the list is rapidly growing. I have been searching for a pattern but have failed to find one. There is no logic in the disappearances--they appear random."

Mirana Keset had been one such witness. The first, actually. She had been quite shaken by the experience but as Colin Becker noted as he turned his attention to the CMO, she had regained her composure.

"Will you go through it again, Doctor?" He requested. "For the group's benefit?"

Mirana furrowed her brows and frowned.

"It's hard to explain. I wasn't looking at Ensign Lira when it happened--I was calibrating a hypospray. But I could feel a tingling sensation--"

"Like a transporter beam?" Daniel Ryan interrupted.

"No…." she shook her head. "Something else. And when I looked at her again, she had disapeared. The strangest part is that the computer still registered her location as Sickbay."

They had done a deck by deck search for the engineer after the doctor sounded the alarm, but the Bajoran was most definitely gone. Unfortunately, before they realized she was no longer aboard Prometheus, the computer had led them on a wild goose chase, registering Lira Toket in Sickbay, followed by Main Engineering, her quarters, and the bridge. This pattern was repeated after each disappearance, but no crew member was ever found where the computer claimed he should be. Even now, according to the sensors, all the missing crew members were in their quarters, the mess hall, or any one of a thousand locations aboard Prometheus.

"How are the internal sensor arrays, Lieutenant?" Colin asked Rhianna Jorrell, although he had read the engineer's report and already knew the answer.

"No luck, sir. We're runniing repeat diagnostics but they're all coming up green. It won't recognize that any of the missing crew have left the ship. The glitch must be buried pretty deep."

"Then look harder. Find it and fix it. There must be an explanation for this. I need to know where my people are." Colin said grimly. "And what happened to them."

"Could something be fooling our sensors? An intentional glitch?" Mark O'Conner suggested, giving voice to Colin's own suspicions.

Rhianna hesitated only a moment before replying.

"Anything's possible. At the moment, there's no way to tell."

"What's our status?" Colin asked Daniel Ryan. The science officer had taken over some of Naeve's duties in her absence. He consulted his PADD briefly before speaking.

"We managed to dampen our electromagnetic output which has led to a decrease in collisions with the gravitational eddys. Structural integrity and life support are secure and we've shifted all power from back up to primary systems."

He paused to consult the PADD once more.

"Engineering has boosted our shields by 17% and we should have impulse within the next 4 hours."

"External sensors?" Colin said hopefully.

Daniel shook his head. "Long range still isn't likely anytime soon, but we diverted enough power from secondary systems to amplify the range of our short range sensors."

"Anything out there?" Mark asked sharply.

"We're still getting significant interference from the fluctuating magnetic and gravitational fields. There are dozens of them--all varying in size and length--and those are just the ones immediately surrounding us. Depending on the size of the pocket we're in, there could be hundreds more."

He paused for emphasis.

"But to answer your question, no, I don't see any ships out there."

"But there could be someone watching us just outside our sensor range, couldn't there?"

"Certainly." Daniel agreed.

Colin frowned. His fear was that something was indeed lurking in the void with them, undetected by Prometheus' crippled sensor net. Until they could amplify their sensors and learn more about the spacial phenomena surrounding them, they were vulnerable to any potential predators. It angered Colin that he had no visible enemy, no explanations, only more questions.

And no leads as to where his missing crew had gone.

"Doctor, could you….sense anything?" Colin asked reluctantly, his distaste at the very idea apparent on his face.

The captain's aversion to empaths and telepaths was well known, yet he had turned a blind eye to Mirana Keset's talents in an effort to improve their working relationship--with difficulty. However, forced to acknowledge her abilities now, he barely looked at her as he spoke.

"If you would like me to try." She said tentatively, unconsciously stiffening in response to the rejection in his body language.

At his nod, she closed her eyes and carefully peeled away the layers of her mental shields. Ignoring the emotions that clamored for attention from those around her, she turned her awareness sharply away from the chaotic essense she recognized as belonging to Colin Becker. She skirted the minds of the others, extending her awareness beyond the room and across the ship, touching each mind so lightly that she was gone before she could register their feelings. Reaching out to the vastness of space, she searched fruitlessly for other, alien minds which might be nearby, hoping to find something which could contribute positively to their situation. Mirana was disappointed at the immense feeling of emptiness, but quickly turned her search in another direction. Although she did not know most of the missing crew members, she had grown close to Naeve Sevril over the months. She struggled to focus now, searching specifically for the Ops officer's presence.

Her eyes flew open abruptly and she realized that the entire room had been silently watching her as she worked. As she shook off the disorientation of the terminated mental link, she became aware that her tunic was sticking to her back and a sheen of perspiration had developed on her forehead during her efforts.

Colin Becker regarded her warily.

"Well?"

"I'm sorry, sir. I couldn't sense anything out there. I'm not strong enough to mentally cross large distances."

"Can you tell us anything at all?" He persisted.

"Only that Naeve Sevril is alive. I could sense her clearly."

Colin visibly relaxed. If she was alive, there was a good chance the others were too.

"Could you communicate with her?" Mark asked eagerly. "Or locate her position?
"No. I'm only a rudimentary telepath and I could only do that with someone I had a strong bond with . All I could sense was her anxiety." Was her unhappy reply.

Colin stood up abruptly, his chair scraping against the carpet. Looking to each officer in turn, he rapidly fired off orders.

"Daniel, continue working on enhancing those sensors. I want to know the minute we can see more of what's out there. Turek, update me hourly on our crew census and go over the information we have again. Maybe there's something we're not seeing. Rhianna, get me impulse power and fix that computer glitch. Doctor, inform me immediately if you sense anything-anything at all-out of the ordinary. Commander, you're with me. It's time to come up with an offensive plan. I wont stand by passively while my ship falls apart and the crew disappears one by one."

Grimly, he dismissed his senior staff, his eyes on their retreating backs as they filed out of the room.Prometheus wasn't about to go down without a fight. He had no intention of letting it.

*************

Rhianna slamed her fist against the uncooperative console in frustration as the image it projected wavered and disappeared, leaving a blank screen.

"Careful. You don't want to break it." A much calmer Ari Denyri pried the diagnostic tool from her viselike grip and held it carefully, managing to keep it just out of her reach.

"So what?" she snarled. "We can replace it."

"I meant your hand." He said dryly, pausing for emphasis as he recalibrated the tool.

Although the chief engineer was naturally surly and irritable, lack of sleep did not favorably affect her mood in the least. At times like these, he was the only engineer with the courage to approach her, partly because he was unintimidated by her behavior and always had been.

Rhianna shrugged, smoothing her dark hair back from her face, where the unruly strands had been distracting her. She ignored the dull throb which was spreading slowly but insistently down the side of her hand.

"I feel like we're missing something. Like if we only knew where to look, we'd find an explanation for all of this."

The CEO knew the inner workings of the ship like the back of her hand. She could have drawn its schematics from memory, blindfolded, if need be. She knew how much juice each gel pack held and what each speck of dust would do to her systems. There was nothing she disliked more than admitting the mysterious sensor problem had no ready answer. Her inability to repair the glitch made her even more determined to give Colin Becker impulse power.

In record time.

"Give me that." Her tone brooked no argument as she held her hand out for the tool.

Ari passed it back to her, commenting casually,

"It won't make a difference. You scanned that node 10 times. You already know what the results will be."

"Eleven's a charm." She responded stubbornly as she activated the device.

**********

As the turbolift silently descended past several decks, Daniel stole a sidelong glance at Ariada D'all, who stood at the far end of the 'lift, her eyes on the sealed doors. Although he couldn't put his finger on it, something was different about the botanist. She remained as friendly as always, but some of the openness they had shared in recent weeks was gone. A reserve he had never noticed before seemed to have sprung up between herself and the others, and particularly with him. It was barely noticeable, but he had become so attuned to the Deltan's moods that he had immediately sensed the change in her. Although he knew something was wrong, she repeatedly and adamantly denied it. She was certainly entitled to her privacy, but a small part of him was stung by her reserve. If something was wrong, he would certainly have done what he could to help. Perhaps he had erroneously assumed their friendship ran deeper--obviously she didn't feel that way.

The 'lift slowed to a stop, disrupting Daniel's thoughts, as it's doors slid open to Deck 16.

Turning to him at last, Ariada said softly, "This is my stop."

She smiled and he was pleased to note her eyes hadn't lost their sparkle as she murmured a polite farewell. Gliding gracefully past him, she stepped into the corridor, leaving a faint scent of lavender in her wake.

The 'lift resumed course, and he prepared to resume brooding when the floor trembled as if in warning of the upcoming impact with another gravitational eddy. Although the collisions were less frequent, they continued to occur, and Daniel winced as he lost his grasp,hitting the wall with an unpleasant thud. The vibrations ceased after only a few moments, and the 'lift continued on its way as if nothing had happened. Rubbing his back, Daniel groaned inwardly as he sensed the nausea returning. He hadn't been able to eat lunch and dinner was a 50/50 proposition at best tonight. If it kept up, he would be forced to go to Sickbay.

As the 'lift deposited him in Main Engineering, the cooler temperatures appeased his offended stomach and offered some relief. The heart of the ship was bustling with crew members in gold tunics working feverishly to restore propulsion as they shouted orders to each other.

"Excuse me!" A Vulcan female carrying thick coils of wire side stepped him reproachfully, making it clear if he remained in his current location, he would most definitely be in the way.

He stepped back as another engineer dragged a large panel past him, narrowly missing his toes.

"Watch it." The Bolian grumbled, unconcerned.

Realizing he would most likely be trampled and die a horrible death if he stayed where he was, Daniel stepped further into the room. Threading his way through the working bodies, he headed purposefully for Rhianna Jorrell, whose voice he could hear barking orders from clear across the room. As he approached, she noted his presence with a softening of her features and a brisk nod. She greeted him briefly, readily dispensing with pleasantries.

"Do you have the new specs?"

"Right here." He obediently handed her the PADD detailing the newly calibrated sensor arrays.

Skimming it briefly, she made several approving noises. After a brief conversation with Ari, she brushed off her knees, beckoned for Daniel to follow and headed towards the door without looking back. Rushing to keep up, Daniel quickened his pace and fell into step beside her.

"Are you alright?" She paused long enough to ask, studying his face closely. "You look a little grey." She added suspiciously, a hint of concern in her voice.

"I'm fine. " he said a little too quickly, changing the subject. "Where are we going,anyway? You still haven't told me your idea."

"To do a little tinkering with the deflector dish."

Rhianna hoped to modify the dish to act as a large makeshift antennae. With the new sensor calibrations that Daniel had made, she hoped to magnify and enhance the area of space they could see. Daniel matched her brisk pace as they strode down the corridor, only half listening to the engineer's technical explanation.

As she spoke, Daniel stopped abruptly, stiffening. A load roaring noise filled his ears and Rhianna's words seemed tinny and distant. The hair on the back of his neck rose and he felt a strange tingling sensation. It passed within seconds, and he looked in Rhianna's direction, curious as to whether she had had the same experience. But to his dismay, he was alone in the hallway. The engineer had disappeared.

It took only a few moments to get over the shock. There was no time to get upset. He would file a report with Turek later and hope that wherever she was, Rhianna Jorrell was safe and unhurt. He just hoped he wasn't next. Daniel clenched his fists in chagrin. Of all the crew members to vanish, it had to have been the chief engineer. And, to his dismay, he realized she held the PADD with the sensor specs.

With mounting frustration, he rode a turbolift to the science wing,, where he would have to waste time inputting the new sensor information into another PADD for Ari Denyri . As he entered the laboratory area, the first thing he noted was the silence. The wing was sparsely populated, only a few people clustered around the consoles in each lab section, murmuring quietly to each other. They seemed so absorbed in their work, they didn't even register his presence. Frowning, he glanced into the doorway of astrometrics. The room was eerily silent. A discarded PADD lay perched on a corner table. A readout was flashing with rapidly accumulating streaming data, but noone was at the console to collect it. The entire astrometrics department must have gone on an unsanctioned coffee break.

Angrily, he tapped his commbadge.

<< Ryan to Tolarro >>

He waited impatiently, but there was no reply. With growing anger, he addressed the empty room.

"Computer, locate Carmine Tolarro."

<< Ensign Tolarro is in astrometrics. >>

Like hell he is.

Trying another tactic, he summoned Ensign Melina Toriceau on his commbadge. After a brief silence, he queried the computer.

<< Ensign Toriceau is in astrometrics. >> was the toneless reply.

With an increasing sense of foreboding, he activated his commbadge a third time.

" Ryan to Captain Becker."

It was time to tell the Captain crew members were disappearing at an alarming rate. To his dismay, there was no response to his signal. The growing feeling of unease increased. His indecision lasted only a moment. Not bothering to try and contact him a second time, Daniel marched determinedly to the nearest turbolift, quickly stepping inside.

"Bridge." He demanded, tapping his foot impatiently as the 'lift ascended at a leisurely pace. After an endless moment, the doors slid open and he rushed through the entrance. Charging onto the bridge, he stopped abruptly, his eyes briefly scanning the room in search of his commander. The area seemed desolate-- the stations were unmanned aside from two Ensigns who were huddled over the sensor display, conversing anxiously. They looked up in astonishment at his unexpected entrance, apparently stunned into silence.

Daniel's apprehension grew further.

"Lieutenant!" One of them managed to say. "Are you alright?"

"Where's the Captain?" Daniel interrupted impatiently. "I need to see him immedietely."

The Ensign who had spoken first looked at him as if he had asked him to sprout wings and fly about the room.

"But Sir…he's still missing." He answered slowly in a tone that implied this was common knowledge.

Although Daniel had suspected the answer, he couldn't hide his dismay at the confirmation of his fears. He became acutely aware of the scarcity of bodies on the bridge. If the Captain was gone, Mark O'Conner should have been there. Or Turek. Or another officer.

"Who's in charge up here?" He demanded.

"I am."

The familiar voice came from the entrance to the adjoining ready room. Naeve Sevril stood in the doorway, surprise etched on her face.

"Daniel." She asked in wonderment. "Where have you been?"

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