The live feed from outside surrounded the room. Empty ships were floating lifelessly around with barely any energy to function. Suto’s eyes darted from left to right as ships were selected and scanned on various data fragments. The data she saw made her sigh as she tapped her chin for a moment, thinking, ‘What am I looking at here?’

A door appeared behind her as it opened up, letting the figure of Sazra enter the lab. “Got anything to report, Lieutenant?” She looked around as the door closed behind her. 

“Not yet” She didn’t turn around to give her Captain the attention she needed. But was focused on the data that was right in front of her. Suto took a deep breath and pointed at a few ships “These are the ships that were reported to be missing for a few weeks. Rather than sending in the cavalry, they choose to label it as a restricted dangerous area” 

Nodding and looking at the ships “What about the ships, any damage that you found on them?” Sazra couldn’t see any damage on them which means there was more at play. What happened here, why are these ships here, how could it even happen that people disappear “Any life signs?”

Shaking her head “Not really, that is the thing. The scans conclude that they are in perfect condition, just boot up their engines and you are good to go. Operations are up and running and continue daily life. Scans indicate that there are no life signs on any ships out there. But when I tried to scan the ships closer to the outpost I got interference and inclusive data” 

“Meaning that something is interfering with the scans?” Sazra already concluded that from the scans made earlier.

“Not only that” Suto zoomed in on the base. “Commander Ruslanovna already stated that transporting to the location is impossible, I expect that communications and such will become an issue also when investigating the base” Suto shrugged. “I need more data and time to get this figured out if the team that is out there can find the source and send it back to me, I might be able to get more answers out of the situation”

Sazra didn’t like that answer. Her scientific knowledge was ringing the alerts that something was off. She crossed her arms. “In the meantime, we need to contact the Markonian outpost to see if I can get more details about these ships and their crew. Their function, jobs, mission…which I can kinda presume. But at least the Markonian outpost will know that their ships are found, and the respective people can be contacted” 

“Well about that” Suto finally turned her head to Sazra, “I think it is not wise to inform the people that own these ships” She shrugged and looked at the floating ships. “Whatever did this, did it repeatedly good, and we might also be in danger if we are not watching out” 

It was a fair point. She did slightly consider their position in it all. Entering the area made it quite hazardous by itself, but whoever was doing this did have a good grasp of its area. “Are we dealing with a hostile creature? Imperium ships? Maybe biological virus?” Sazra shrugged at the idea of not knowing what they were dealing with. 

Suto looked back at the area and pulled up a list from earlier scans that compiled a list of ships. “These are the known registrations of the ships floating around here. None are indicated to be linked to hostile intention. No ships come from the Imperium” She pulled another info bullet list. “None of the ships have the indication of biological sustains that are unrecognizable to us or known to us to be poison” 

“So we are dealing with more questions than answers. Fun” Sazra didn’t know how to tackle this. Did the cry for help act as bait or was more happening that didn’t meet the eye? “I will order the bridge to start sending out buoys on a designated route as a warning to other ships, or they might meet a different fate than we did and clash into the floating ships” Sazra shrugged. “I will talk with Markonian outpost about the ships we found so far and give them the advice not to approach for now as we are still unknown what we are dealing with” 

Nodding to her Captain “That sounds like a good plan, Captain. I will continue with my investigation and hope we can get the data from the hazard team about their findings at the base” Suto zoomed in at the station. “If you wish to know, the base is functional, the main generator is online, and I can ID that lights are on at various locations. But scans of the base are unsuccessful, and communication to the base is unsuccessful as Lieutenant Asipa reported” 

Sazra looked at the base seeing the condition of it. “Plus there is no visible damage on it, which makes me more on edge and worried. Wondering what we got ourselves into” Sazra was not feeling great about the premises. “Hopefully we can get a peaceful solution from this case. I don’t think anyone is in the mood to be in combat right now” She turned around and walked to the exit. “Keep me updated on your findings Lieutenant. Good work so far” 

With her Captain leaving the lab, Suto’s eyes darted again to various ships. “What is going on here? Give me a clue. Give me a piece of that puzzle. You make me curious about what you are, what happened to you, and why it is like this” Suto’s curiosity was burning brightly. But suddenly she felt a chill down her spine as her focus broke off. Looking around her slowly and not seeing anything strange “Mmm what was that?” She looked at her hand and saw it shaking briefly. “Exhausted? When was the last time I slept?” Suto shrugged at that question. But a shadow disappeared from behind her.