To Catch a Predator
Posted on Fri Oct 9th, 2026 @ 9:25am by Lieutenant Christopher Blake & Lieutenant Siadra Molaur
Edited on on Fri Oct 9th, 2026 @ 9:39am
1,516 words; about a 8 minute read
Mission:
Episode 3 - The One Who Got Away
Location: Science Lab Two - Deck 6 - USS Artemis
Timeline: MD003 1600 hrs
Chris walked briskly down the hallway toward the main science lab. He was more comfortable at the helm, but he knew that his skills could come in handy here. It was all hands on deck when it came to something like this.
The door slid open and Chris caught sight of Lieutenant Molaur already at her console working on something. He walked over and gave her half a smile as she looked up and noticed him.
"I've been going over some of the obvious signs and I've started a list of places to look." Chris began hurriedly. "I'm hoping we'll find something that was overlooked by the initial investigators, but we'll find out soon enough."
He stopped then and looked at her with a frown, realizing just how rushed he'd been to get this started. He'd strolled into her department and started right in on work without even so much as a hello. "Oh... sorry Lieutenant. I've just been going over the timelines in my head and I guess I've foregone manners for the sake of getting things moving quickly."
Lieutenants Blake and Molaur I would like the two of you to work the escape problem. In each disappearance there is no evidence of anything. No ship, no warp trail nothing. Even cloaks leave a residual something. So, lets see if we can get ahead of that problem. Captain Kidd had given them an important task.
Those words had echoed through Siadra's mind, prompting her to see what she could find.
Looking up from the console "Its okay, I don't think we need to remember formalities at this point and time." her smile broadening. "how do we want tackle our assignment? Do we want to take the ship on a wild ride or do we go look for traces using a shuttle? We did work together in finding where Vamcet had been holed up."
"I'd like to visit the more recent sites, but we'll also have to go over the data that we've been given." Chris said with a sigh. "Some are old enough though that anything we could have found would be either dissipated or contaminated."
"We could take a couple of the runabouts, load it up with as many probes and scanners as it can hold, and take a trip to the last few sites. Gather what we can and then bring the data back to look into. Create as many data points as we can and look for something that stands out."
Chris brought up the last half a dozen sites they'd had reported. "Can you put together an equipment list and the names of the crew that can operate it? I can get the runabouts ready to go before the end of shift."
"I would be delighted." the science chief responded, with a smile. She looked at the information that Chris had displayed. "I am very interested in finding these horrible people who are preying on the children." the smile having slipped away.
The end of the shift arrived, and so did Siadra and the people she had gathered, to the shuttlebay. The science officer drew in a deep breath, feeling her pulse start to race. This was going to be a process. She looked around for Chris, while those with her were quietly talking amongst each other.
"Lieutenant," Chris said as he came around the front of one of the shuttles. "We've been cleared to use all of the Shuttles and the Leto."
He motioned to the five shuttles. "Load up your equipment to the Luna, Phoebe, Diana, Athena, and Hestia. Pilots are doing their final checks before leaving."
"Siadra, I want you with me in the Leto, We're going to take a few extra things with us to the more recent sites. With the advanced sensors and the fresher trail we might be able to find something useful."
Siadra nodded as she moved towards Chris, as well as the Leto.
She looked towards the others, "You heard Lieutenant Blake, lets get moving." watching with approval as the team that was gathered went to their chosen shuttles.
She stepped inside the Leto taking her position, in readiness for their search.
Chris took the pilot seat next to her and did his checks. Tapping his comm badge he spoke in a crisp and clear voice. "As ordered, Hansen Squadron deploy." As they watched through the front windshield, the other shuttles slowly lifted from the deck and zipped from the hanger.
Chris looked over at Siadra. "Alright, let's catch this bastard."
Unlike the other shuttles, the Leto didn't gently rise and slowly turn toward the hanger bay. Chris knew the limits and he knew what this flyer could do.
The Leto was barely off the deck before it was aligned and shot out of the hanger as quickly as regulations allowed. If not for the inertial dampeners, they'd have been pressed back into their seats. "I've marked the latest reported abduction and I've set a course. We'll be there in a little over an hour at warp."
He finished punching in the coordinates and engaged the warp engines before the stars around them melted into folded space. He turned to Siadra. "I've got a few theories that will eliminate some ship types pretty quick, or if we're lucky pick them out just as quick."
She felt the shuttle lift off and watched as the stars beccame more clear. Out there were some bread crumbs, sometthing that would give them a way to trace the people who had been taking the young ones away from family, just life itself.
Siadra looking towards Chris, as her console came to life, "lets see what has come up during our getting ready for this,"
She turned back to the console, "We had caught traces at Bajor." Siadra said quietly.
"Course set for Bajor." Chris replied as his hands danced over his console. Knowing that time was going to be of the essence on this, he set the Leto for high warp. The console chirped at him, a warning that generally that high of a warp was only for emergency situations. He overrode the warning. Right now an emergency use of warp was what he decided it would be.
"We'll be there shortly. Let's go over what we know and try to figure out where to start looking." He said as he turned to look at Siadra. "And hope we're not too late."
The planet Bajor came into view, slowly rotating before them. The azure and turquoise hues of the planet reminded Siadra of Earth. She gazed out toward it, lost in thought for a moment. It seemed that, at times, things tended to lead back to Bajor, what with all that had transpired on that world.
"Such a pretty world," Siadra spoke softly, "and yet there is the darker, hidden side of those who wish to taint it." Her mouth thinned into a grim line.
Another pause, then she looked at the console to begin to find the trail. She tapped into the communications grid once more, listening for something, anything that might give them a clue as to what they were looking for. An idea popped into her mind, one way that could help to help them in their search was a network of missing people especially children.
A warning flashed over the console,
MISSING CHILD-- LAST SEEN TWO HOURS AGO AT SPACEPORT. PLEASE BE ADVISED. it flashing an Amber coloration.
The advisory was followed by a short news clip. The parents of the missing child stood together, the father's arm wrapped around his wife as she tried to speak.
"We only looked away for a moment." She swallowed, struggling to keep her emotions in check. "It was only for a moment. When we looked back, our child was gone."
The father pulled his wife close, his face filled with guilt, anger and fright. "If anyone saw anything, anything at all, please contact security. We just want our child back."
Siadra flashed a look towards Chris, letting it linger for a moment before she turned her attention back to the console.
She looked through the most recent transponder signals from around the time of the announcement, poring over what was there. One by one she compared them with the sensor readings, looking for anything that didn't match the known ships that had come and gone.
Something caught her attention.
Siadra enlarged the area, looking closer. There, faint amongst the other readings, was the residue of a warp trail, one that didn't seem to match any of the transponder signals.
She isolated the readings, studying them for a moment. The warp signature was Orion.
"There you are." Siadra said quietly. "You did leave something behind."
A Joint Post By
Lieutenant Siadra Molaur
Chief Forensic Science Officer, USS Artemis
Starfleet Criminal Investigations Unit
Lieutenant Christopher Blake
Chief Flight Control Officer, USS Artemis
Starfleet Criminal Investigations Unit
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