“You think she’s still out there?”  Doctor Jordan Reid stood in one of the five stasis rooms, her full containment suit powered.  Quartermaster Henry Wyatt stood at her side, similarly adorned.  They were starting to power down the stasis pods one by one.

Henry handed her the interface adapter, “There’s no trace of her here, and the teams at the other sites haven’t found anything similar to this under any of the houses.  What little information I have on her suggests she was wily and cagey at the best of times.  Given her dedication to her illicit and illegal craft, I can’t imagine her giving up this dream easily.”  He watched as she worked and tensed as the once secure lid hissed slowly open.  The body remained still.  “The science and communications teams are working on the central computer and the stations.  Given the state of this place, I don’t think she’s been gone long.”

She mused, “Mad scientists are the worst kind of scientists, Mr. Wyatt.  Take the worst kind of scientific integrity and combine it with a genius mind…it never ends well for anyone in their orbit.”  Reid took her samples as she spoke, “These creations were alive at one point—each of them experienced consciousness.  What quality of life that brief time was – I can’t imagine it was pleasant.”  She frowned as the first readings came in, “That’s…odd.  Samples are suggesting this body died a year ago.”  She slotted the samples back in her bag and moved to the next unit, repeating the process.  A few minutes later, the scanner spat a similar report, “Same here.  I’ll need to do a more detailed autopsy back on Douglas.”

Wyatt walked to her side and read from the screen, “I have a bad feeling about this.  I don’t think she’s out there anymore…I know she is.”

Ensign Jake Shaw worked his console, a feeling of dread softly treading across his heart.  They had come into the sector to find answers for Lieutenant Sadie Fowler.  There was a mysterious El Aurian doctor whose demise had gone from rumored to the reverse being true – she could very well be alive.  The sensors searched the space near and far from them for warp trails, communications buoys, and anything else that might give up clues about where she had gone and if she was coming back.  He nearly jumped as the computer thrilled that it had connected with a string of navigational and communication buoys running through the sector and beyond.  Minutes later, he had an answer, “Captain?” Dread shifted to stand beside him and pointed out what he had found: “These old buoys were designed to hold as much historical data as possible – massive computer cores with plenty of storage.  I’ve got the team working on most of the data – but something is interesting.  According to Doctor Reid, the preliminary report on the bodies has them dying a year ago.  A year ago, a ship was tracked leaving this planet and traveling across the route,” he traced the path on the map.

Helena watched the data stream. “Can you isolate that ship and see how far back the historical records go?”  Her mind was working to figure out what game the mysterious doctor was playing.

Jake shifted the data mining process and focused on the ship he’d identified.  The screen shifted, “It looks like the data goes back three years.  That particular ship made trips out of the system every six months and returned like clockwork.”  He played with the data, “That is…until this last time.  There’s been no record of her returning to the system since she left a year ago.”

Dread stared at the screen for a moment longer. “Ensign Shaw, I’d like you to contact ships and stations in the direction she went. See what data they have access to. I want to see if we can build a list of places she might have gone.”

“You think she went to ground?  Or moved her operation?”  Shaw was intrigued.  Suddenly, his hand in an investigation added a different feeling to his position.

“Whatever she did, she’s overdue on her return trip.  I’d rather see her coming than get a surprise.”

“I have never understood the desire for perfection.”  Vocast’s voice was in her head, and there was an unusual tone of reflection in it.  Sadie lay on her couch, attempting to rest.  She had grown tired of arguing with the voice in her head.  Vocast didn’t understand privacy.  Fowler replied, “You’ve lived a long life, Vocast.  You and your sisters were perfect.  You never had reason to wish for something better – the world you live in is controlled by you.  The rest of the universe doesn’t have that luxury.”  She closed her eyes, sharing some of her thoughts with Vocast, who, for the first time, was silent.  The silence lasted for several minutes.

“I forget sometimes how small you and the rest of the universe feels.  It must be hard to be compared against others your entire existence.”

Sadie grumbled, “It is a lifelong experience.  Some people manage to avoid the struggle…I never could.”  Fowler kept her eyes closed, “Did you ever think of leaving your home?  Searching for what was out here?”

“You forget I have been able to see much farther into the universe all these years.  I have seen what is out there.  I have no desire to experience any of that.”

Fowler sat up, “You can see much farther.”

“Yes, I can.”

“Then you could find Dr. Galdrid Ahon.”

There was another silence from Vocast.  Fowler could feel a deep doubt swirling in the back of her mind as the creature contemplated this new idea.  “It is true.  I could find her.  I had not thought to use my abilities in this way.  There is only one problem.  She will be able to find me…or you – depending on the connection she senses.  She will know I am looking for her once I make contact – we cannot cloak our minds.”

Sadie stood from the couch, “We need to do something.  The bodies and the laboratory will only tell us so much.  We’ll need to talk to the captain.”

“Will she be as unhappy to see as she was the last time we met?”

She checked her watch, “It’s all about timing, Vocast.  She’s still on the bridge.  Let’s go.”