Acting Captain’s Log, Stardate 2401.5. Captain Tarven Rix recording. It’s been a week since Fleet Captain Forrester went missing on Janea II, and we’re no closer to finding him than the day he disappeared, even with the combined resources of the entire squadron. There was no ransom, no communication from his kidnappers. We have no idea why he was taken or by whom. But, as frustrating as it’s been, we’re not giving up. He’s out there, somewhere, and we will find him.

Sleep continued to prove elusive. He couldn’t have gotten more than two or three consecutive hours since Forrester’s disappearance. Sometimes he thought that he would wake up to find his boyfriend snoring lightly beside him, and this whole thing would be a nightmare that he quickly forgot. It was a nightmare, but a waking nightmare that Matthias Bentley was living through day after day.

Giving up on sleep for now, Bentley pulled back the covers and reached for a nearby pair of pyjama bottoms that he quickly slipped on before padding downstairs to the kitchen where he replicated a steaming cup of herbal tea. Forrester had once recommended a blend of spiced apple, vanilla, camomile and passionflower to help him sleep and at this stage, he was willing to try anything.

As he settled on the couch with the cup nestled between his hands, Bentley was struck by a strong sense of deja vu. He’d been here before, over fifteen years earlier. Then he was waiting to hear what fate had befallen his husband, Cole, during the Synth attack on Mars. They destroyed the shipyard and set Mars alight, a fire that continued to burn even now more than a decade and a half later.

It took weeks for Starfleet to confirm that Cole was dead. All Bentley could do until he received that confirmation was wait. Back then he’d been able to bury himself in his work but that option wasn’t available to him now. Captain Rix had relieved him of duty out of some misguided sense that he was doing right by Bentley, but it just meant he had more time to think and concoct the worst-case scenarios.

The sound of the door chime cut through the silence of his quarters and brought Bentley back to the present. He was unsure of who would be calling on him at this time of night; a glance at a nearby clock told him it had just gone zero-two-hundred. Placing the cup on the coffee table, Bentley walked to the door and came face to face with the last person he expected to see.

“You look like hell,” Lieutenant Commander Alexander Mitchell, AJ to his closest friends, may have been an unexpected guest, but his greeting was on brand. Mitchell didn’t wait for an invitation and brushed past Bentley.

It took a few seconds for Bentley’s sleep-deprived brain to catch up. “It’s good to see you too.” He closed the door and followed Mitchell into the room. “What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be in the Alpha Quadrant on the Horatio?”

“I took a leave of absence,” Mitchell told him as he picked up the tea and brought the cup to his nose. The smell clearly didn’t appeal to him because his nose wrinkled and he quickly placed the cup back on the table. “I couldn’t sit on the sidelines while Tom’s missing.”

Bentley felt sorry for Mitchell. He and Forrester were like brothers and had been since their Academy days. When Mitchell disappeared over a decade ago, Forrester had been part of the search for the missing USS Hypatia. Now the shoe was on the other foot.

“Do they have any leads?” Mitchell asked as he took a seat in a nearby armchair.

Bentley shook his head. “Every lead we’ve found has gone nowhere, just one dead end after another. It’s like he vanished into thin air.” Without realising it, he began pacing.

“That’s what they said about the Hypatia and we turned up…eventually.”

A snort escaped from Bentley. “Yeah, after ten years.” He could feel tears prick his eyes. “I don’t know if I can do this again, AJ.” Bentley’s voice was uneven. “I’ve already lost a husband. I don’t know if I can lose Tom too.”

“Hey,” Mitchell had suddenly pushed himself out of his seat and closed the distance between them, pulling Bentley into a firm hug. “You aren’t going to lose him. He’s out there somewhere, and we’re going to find him. Okay?”

Bentley wanted to believe him more than anything, but in the week Forrester had been missing, any hope he felt had dimmed considerably. All he could do was cling to Mitchell’s confidence as a life raft to keep him from slipping into the depths of despair.

Acting Captain’s Log, Stardate 2401.5. Lieutenant Commander Mitchell’s arrival three weeks ago provided a much-needed infusion of energy into our search for Fleet Captain Forrester. Now, however, I fear that energy is waning. Every time we follow some clue to the Captain’s whereabouts, it leads us nowhere. The crew is beginning to accept that we may never find Captain Forrester, or learn what happened to him.

The Challenger has been ordered to rendezvous with the USS Horatio at which point the flag officer they’re carrying will be coming on board. The presence of a flag officer this far out is worrying and I believe it can mean only one thing; Starfleet means to put an end to our search for the Captain.

The Challenger’s senior officers gathered in the briefing room, the large windows looking forward over the bow of the mighty Odyssey-class starship. At the head of the table, Captain Rix sat silently as his officer’s murmurs slowly died down in anticipation of what Commodore Wyatt had to say.

She sat at the opposite end of the long conference table with her two staff officers seated on either side of her. “I’ll come straight to the point,” Wyatt announced as she stood up to address them. “I’ve been placed in command of Challenger Squadron.”

“You,” Bentley paused and took a deep breath, “you think he’s dead.”

Rix’s eyes flicked back to Wyatt, who shook her head sadly. “I’m sorry but I do. ” Her hazel eyes softened. “You have my sympathies, Commander. I know this must be an incredibly difficult time for you.”

“He’s not dead,” Commander Mitchell replied vehemently. “We can’t just abandon him.”

Wyatt didn’t get a chance to respond because one of the officers who accompanied her, Captain Axelrod, spoke first. “You’ve been searching for a month, Commander. How long should we tie up the Challenger with a search for one man? A year? Ten?”

“As long as it takes,” Mitchell quickly shot back.

Axelrod looked like he was gearing up for a retort of his own but Commodore Wyatt stepped in to calm things down. “I understand your desire to keep looking but Captain Axelrod is correct, we can’t spare the Challenger any longer. If you’re right and Fleet Captain Forrester is still alive, then he’ll have to find his own way home.”

“Who’ll tell his parents?” Bentley asked in a quiet voice that was a contrast to the more passionate exchange they’d just witnessed.

Commodore Wyatt’s tone grew softer. “When the Horatio returns to the Alpha Quadrant, it’ll travel to Coltar where Commander Daris will inform Captain Forrester’s family.”

“I should be the one to tell them,” Bentley replied. “It should be me.”

Rix met Wyatt’s questioning look and silently communicated his agreement. “Of course. Captain Rix will work out the logistics of your leave. The Horatio will be departing in two hours.” She turned to Mitchell, “I fully expect you to be back at your post when it does.”

“Aye, ma’am,” Mitchell replied begrudgingly.

Wyatt turned her attention to Rix. “Captain, command of the Challenger now falls to you,” That wasn’t much of a surprise. “A memorial service will be held for Fleet Captain Forrester in due course.” She took a breath. “I wish it hadn’t come to this, but I know that Captain Forrester would’ve understood the need for us to carry on with the Challenger’s mission of exploration.” Wyatt looked around the room once more. “Dismissed.”

Rix remained seated while everyone else filed out. Being promoted to Captain of the Challenger should’ve been a happy day, the peak of his career to date. But a dark cloud hung over this promotion. He stepped over to the window and stared out into the depths of space, wondering if Mitchell was right; was Forrester really still out there?