“It’s a two-day trip.”  Jordan Reid sat in Sadie Fowler’s expansive science chief’s office.  “Plenty of time to get ready for whatever’s going on out there.”

Fowler sipped ‌her iced green tea. Her console lit up as she played with the data on the screens at her desk.  “Emphasis on whatever.  I’ve been working with the initial long-range sensor reports and then putting them up against the updated long-distance readings we’re getting as we get closer.  Never mind the schematics operations pulled from the databases on Montana.”

Jordan suppressed a smile at her friend’s natural curiosity and her tenacity when something bothered her.  Some would ignore the curiosities or put off investigating until they were closer.  Sadie was none of those things.  She enjoyed unraveling the situation completely.  “I saw.  Could just be outdated.”

Fowler put them up on her screen.  “Maybe.  But there’s a structural change on at least three of them.  It looks minor from the outside, but I spent some time watching the shipyard operations on Montana Station.  Minor on the outside could mean major on the inside.”  Her eyes traced the before and after images, brows furrowed.

Reid couldn’t suppress the smile any longer.  “I’ve missed you and that brain of yours.  I’d never have thought to look there.”

Sadie gave her a sidelong glance.  “You haven’t said a thing about the roster lists.”

Jordan blew out a long sigh.  “It’s a mess.  I’ve got tracers working their way through dossiers, crew lists, and everywhere else.  Out of 2,000 souls, I’ve only been able to confirm 50 as actual people.  And they could have stolen those identities.  The medical records they transmitted are just as bad.  Piecing them together has the medical team frustrated.  Nothing is where it should be, and reconstructing the data is taking time.”

Fowler stared at her screen and looked at Reid.  “What if that’s the point?  Confuse us, get us all twisted up trying to sort out all the mysteries.”

Jordan took her mind down the path Sadie was building.  “We come in thinking we’ve got a complete data set finally, and then…none of it matches.  We then have to go back to the beginning.  Every medical test, every science scan.  We’re stuck trying to figure out the actual story.”

Fowler wondered, “Trap?  They have to know we’re bringing the Zephyr.  She’s not lightweight.”  She shook her head.  “That’s a lot of lengths to get us out here for an ambush.  Maybe it’s not a trap, but something else.”

Reid sat back in her chair.  “What if they’re being chased?  They got far enough ahead, but something went wrong.  Now they’ve got a limited amount of time before they catch up.  Call in Starfleet, tug at our heartstrings.  We’ll send a big gun to ensure Cushing’s safety.”

Sadie leaned forward.  “That sounds plausible.  Who would they be running from?”

Reid didn’t like the options.  “There’s plenty of known bad actors out here, never mind the ones we don’t know about.  Start a list.  I don’t like how this feels.”  She stood and headed out the door.

Fowler muttered as she began the process, “Neither do I.  Neither do I.”