Bad News

Almost as soon as it was light in Serenity City, Logan and Will had returned to the medical centre. After a quick check-in with the departing night-shift, Will came into the room where Rahel and Karissa were still lying side-by-side unconscious.

“There was nothing new to report.” Will announced. “The girls have remained in their current state all night. There was a brief increase in their brainwave activity about two hours after we left, but that disappeared within a minute.”

“Is that good or bad ?” Logan asked.

“Hard to say…..” Will admitted. “….their life-signs are stable, so they’re not in any pain or under stress and their brainwave patterns are normal, given that they are linked telepathically. That’s all good news, but unless we can figure out how to separate them, then they’ll probably remain in this state for ever.”

Just as Will finished, Shara stepped into the room.

“Anything new ?” She asked.

“Nothing…” Will replied. “….Shara are you getting anything from them at all.”

“Nothing.” Shara admitted. “I can feel their presence, but nothing more. I can’t tell you what they are feeling or thinking, you’re probably getting better information from your scans.”

“Can you stay a while.” Will asked.

“Afraid not.” Shara stated. “I’m covering a duty shift for Ensign Sung, apparently he’s picked up some kind of flu, nothing serious, but he’d unable to work…..I just needed to find Logan.”

“Why ?” Logan asked.

“The security office received a message from Lake Town, apparently Starfleet Central has been attempting to contact you since yesterday. When they couldn’t find you, they passed the message on to us.” Shara reported.

“Did the message say which department ?” Logan asked.

“No.” Shara answered.

“I’ll come with you and see what the problem is.” Logan stated. “Probably some personnel problems.”

“Speaking of personnel….” Shara added. “Have you heard ?”

“Heard what ?” Will asked.

“Commodore Hunter……” Shara continued. “Apparently he resigned from Starfleet yesterday.”

“That can’t be true….” Will replied. “…it must be a lie.”

“There was a report in the daily security logs, we’ve already deleted all his access codes.” Shara stated. “He’s gone….”

“Why ?” Will asked.

“No one knows…..or if they do know, they’re not saying. Shara suggested. “We’d better be going.”

Logan rose from his seat and looked across at Will.

“I’ll let you know if anything changes.” Will replied.

Logan entered the Security office and headed into a vacant office, taking a seat at the console on the desk. He entered his Security access codes and the console in front of him sprang to life.

“Computer, access all messages for Logan McQueen.” Logan requested.

<There are two messages…..> The computer reported.

Logan read the header for the first message, noticing the department that had sent the message. A sudden wave of cold air passed through Logan’s body. It had been a long time, but he knew that a message from family services was bad news. The last one he’d received from them was when his parents had been killed. Fortunately his sister Lana had survived, leaving her in his care. This message could only mean one thing, Lana was in serious trouble or even dead.

“Play message.” Logan requested.

The console image changed, but instead of seeing some Admiral from Starfleet central, he saw an old, familiar face, one he’d not seen in years. The time index on the message was over a year old, but the years had been kind to her.

[Hello Logan.] The woman on the screen started. [It’s been a while since we last spoke….about nine years. As you know my parents, like yours where killed defending the Federation. Now David’s parents are getting too old to deal with a teenager. For the past couple of months, Bridie has been staying with friends, but now she’s with us…..]

“Pause playback.” Logan ordered.

For a moment he sat back in the chair and let out a deep sigh. He couldn’t think why Dawn would be sending this message to him, especially now. He’d never been a big part of his daughter’s life and informing him of her present whereabouts was odd.

Logan had met Dawn whilst they were in the third year of the academy and they had fallen in love whilst on their placement together. Although at the time neither of them knew it, their daughter was created during that time. At the end of the third year of the Academy, Logan had been ‘forced’ to leave when his parents had died, leaving him to bring up his kid sister.

Dawn had also left the academy to give birth and start to bring up the baby. She’d returned two years later and completed her training. She’d then moved off Earth and been assigned to Deep Space six, where she’d met and fallen for David Benson. The two were married six months later and David officially adopted Bridie a year later.

Logan had no knowledge of his daughter until he received the paperwork for the adoption. At first he had felt betrayed and angry that he’d been kept from his daughter for so long. But as he spoke with Dawn, he realised that she’d never meant to hurt him and he’d finally let go for good. The day he’d signed the papers was the last day he’d seen any of them…..until now.

“Continue playback.” Logan ordered.

[…..If you’re receiving this message, then something has happened to me and David.] Dawn continued. [I’ve recorded this message with orders for it to be forwarded to you upon our deaths…..]

“Pause playback.” Logan ordered.

Dawn was dead, as was David. Something deep in side of him knew what Dawn was asking and a big part of him wanted to refuse.

“Continue.” Logan said.

[…..which means there’s no-one left to look after Bridie. So she’ll either go into care and be put up of adoption or……..she could come and live with you. I know it’s a lot to ask, you know so little about each other, but she’s a bright kid Logan and she soon worked out that David was not her father. We’ve never hidden the truth from her, but until now she’s never asked why she has hazel eyes when we both have blue. Now that we’re gone, I’d like her to have a chance to get to know her ‘real’ father. I’ll miss her so much, but knowing that she’s with you will make the after-life that much easier. Good bye Logan and thank you.]

The message ended and the screen when back to the list of messages.

<Second message attachment…awaiting response.> The computer announced.

“Save message in my personal database.” Logan ordered, a tear rolling down his cheek. “Play message attachment.”

The screen changed once more to show the image of a Starfleet Admiral, female in teal.

[Lieutenant Commander McQueen.] The young woman announced. [As you will have just heard, Commanders Dawn and David Benson are deceased; they were killed during a battle with pirates on the edge of Federation space. Their daughter Bridie Benson was enroute to Earth to visit her grandparents for Christmas; she has not as yet been informed of their deaths. As per the Benson’s wishes we require an answer as to whether you intend to take custody of Bridie Benson. We wait your response.]

The screen went back to the message list once more. The second message was the daily report of activities around Lake Town and Logan quickly read through the report.

“Computer, send a message to Starfleet Central…Family services.” Logan said.

<Message recording.> The computer responded.

“As per your request, I am informing you that I will be arriving on Earth at the earliest possible opportunity to collect my daughter.” Logan dictated. “End message and encode for transmission immediately.”

<Message encoded and ready to send.> The computer responded.

As Logan finished, Shara stepped into the room. Sensing something was wrong, she asked Logan if he was alright.

“I’m fine I guess.” Logan admitted, wiping the tears from his eyes. “I need to see Will ASAP, would you do me a favour whilst I’m at the medical centre ?”

“Sure.” Shara remarked.

“I need you to find me the fastest way to get back to Earth.” Logan asked.

“What’s on Earth ?” Shara asked.

“A daughter I hardly know…..” Logan continued.

An hour later, Logan had explained the situation to Will, ensuring that he’d keep Logan informed of Rahel’s situation. By the time he’d got back to the Security office, Shara had found an Intrepid class vessel heading directly for Earth and Logan was on it and away. In five days, he’d be on Earth and seeing his daughter for the first time in nine years.