The Mystery of the Locked Doors or Two of our Commanders Are Missing - Part II
Posted on Sat Aug 22, 2026 @ 7:41am by Lieutenant Commander Jason Haines & Lieutenant Commander Curtis Thibideaux & Lieutenant Annora Tessaro & Lieutenant T'Lul & Master Chief Petty Officer Marion Sunday
Edited on on Sat Aug 22, 2026 @ 7:55am
1,583 words; about a 8 minute read
Mission: Jubilee
[PREVIOUSLY]
"Set condition yellow throughout the station. Security Alert One." Billy called out and the lights changed, yellow began flashing on some of the consoles. "Security to Commander Letsul's quarters." Billy sent the order through the comm channels. Wherever the Commander was, the search would begin with her quarters.
[CONTINUED]
OPS
Up in the command deck, Ensign Kasberg was keeping an eye on the internal sensors, as well as any potential threats indicated by the security patrols. Barring anything major, there was no need to inform the command staff. However, he remained ready should a quick brief be requested. There was an expected uptick in incidents with the increased population, but it was all currently under control. He perked up at the mention of Commander Letsul suddenly dropping off comms. A quick inquiry of the computer failed to find her, although she was last reported in her quarters just a few minutes prior.
Security Deck
Petty Officer Pontry read the urgent message from Kasberg. Pulling up the patrol routes, she quickly identified the closest team.
=/\= Team Twelve, requesting a welfare check on Commander Letsul. Last known location was her quarters. =A=
=/\= Understood. ETA, five minutes.
Brater out. =A=
The four person team picked up the pace just enough to decrease response time but not alarm the civilians.
OPS
Back at his station, Kasberg acknowledged the response as he directed his attention to Command Chief Sunday.
"Sir, a security team is enroute to the commander's quarters. They will report their findings once available.”
"Acknowledged." Sunday said. "Keep a channel open. I want to know everything that happens."
Jason tapped his communicator, "Haines to Commodore T'mpest."
There was no response. Even if she were on the planet below, she would get the message. The fact she hadn't replied, bugged him. He hadn't gotten a do not disturb or re-direct, so he worried a little.
He tapped his badge again, "Haines to Commander Letsul."
There was no response, now he was really worried.
Tapping his combadge three times, he said, "Code alpha red." His team would get the message and started hunting for both the Commodore and XO.
Not wanting to do it, because it had only been a month since he got his job, he reached out to Commander Thibideaux.
"Commander Haines to Commander Thibideaux."
Curtis was just about to ask Ace if he was impersonating Fat Elvis, when his comm sounded and the iris of his contact flashed a priority amber, "Thibideaux here, go ahead Commander?"
"Neither Commodore T'mpest nor Commander Letsul are on the station. Neither of them has scheduled departures on their schedules. Do you have any information I'm not privy to?", Jason asked.
"Probably, but not concerning either of them," Curtis responded, frowning. "At least not about their whereabouts. Keep looking. Those two shouldn't have been able to get off the station without leaving footprints. Coordinate with Security and Operations and give me hourly updates."
(Crew Quarters)
En route to the Commander’s quarters, the team had already confirmed no turbolift activity on the deck for the five minutes prior to her disappearance. Visual inspection showed no signs of forced entry.
Brater pressed the door chime and waited fifteen seconds. He tried again. On the third attempt, still unanswered, he nodded to the team.
“Computer. Security override. Authorization, Brater 48M27-Epsilon.”
The doors hissed open. The team fanned out through the XO’s quarters. Bed made, clothes neatly stowed, furniture in place — everything exactly as it should be. The only minor anomaly was the desk chair pushed back at an angle, which matched her father’s account. A check of the comm logs revealed nothing unusual.
=/\= Brater to Security. No one here, and no indication of foul play. We’ll clear the surrounding Jefferies tubes as a precaution. =/\=
They had just reentered the corridor when the response came in.
=/\= Negative. Re-route to the Commodore's quarters. Same scenario. =/\=
(Personal Quarters)
The insistent comm chime finally dragged Annora out of her dream. She glanced at the chronometer, barely four hours since she’d crawled into bed. Only priority channels could reach her at this hour.
Her feet hit the carpet as she opened the channel.
=/\= Tessaro. Go ahead. =/\=
Ensign Pontry’s voice came through over background chatter from the security office, informing her of the two missing officers.
Annora pinched the bridge of her nose. One missing command officer was a headache. Two was a nightmare.
=/\= Acknowledged. Enact Artemis protocol for Eagle and Falcon. Keep it low-key, we don’t need to spook the civilians. I’m on my way. =/\=
Exiting her quarters with a large frosty mug in hand, Annora made a beeline for the Commodore's quarters at the other end of the hallway. She arrived just as Brater's team was exiting.
“Talk to me. What do we have?”
The stocky Bolian holstered his tricorder.
“Not much I’m afraid. Both quarters are suspiciously spotless. No signs of struggle, nothing out of place.”
He paused, peering at the frosty mug in her hand. The charcoal-gray liquid with its bright orange streaks sloshed among the crushed ice.
“What are you drinking, ma’am?”
Despite the circumstances, Annora smiled.
“Sajen, it’s an Andorian concoction, basically their version of iced coffee with a light minty taste. I added extra caffeine.”
“I see.” Brater gave a short chuckle. “I don’t blame you for the extra kick. We may all need it. If you’ll excuse me, we should finish the full sweep of the area.”
Taking a sip, Annora let the team pass as she stepped inside. Commander Haines was still there.
“Well sir… it seems we have not one, but two locked-room mysteries. Any theories?”
"Not yet", Jason replied to her. "My staff have reviewed all video footage of both the Commodore's and XO's outside quarters' doors and checked for site to site transport entries, nothing found. They've verified with OPS that there has been no tampering of logs that can't be found. Planet-side has not seen them either. My team is reviewing the last 24 hours of security cameras. I have a theory based on the station's history, but I need to talk to someone that is rather shy."
She knew the security department would be conducting much of the same checks as part of the Artemis protocol. Start with the more common sources before continuing on with the search. Jason's comment about the station's history piqued her interest. If it was the rabbit hole she suspected, Annora was happy to let him chase it while she focused on the more traditional causes.
"We'll continue chasing down more normal reasons for their disappearances, in the off chance they reveal any clues. Even without the extra population, a full deck by deck search is impractical. However, we can try and pick up on their bio-signatures."
She chuckled.
"Even if it proves to be an exercise in futility, it will be good practice for the junior team members. We'll focus on the out of way areas. If anyone asks, we're simply checking for any wayward visitors who may have gotten lost. Good luck with your theory, let me know if you need any help."
"I will, thank you, lieutenant," Jason said. "Same to you. Let me know if you need any help or if you find anything. Any sign that they went somewhere or that someone saw them." He'd talk to Alanna, too. They had to be on the station, but just in case, she might know if they went down to Pangaea.
Research was something that T'Lul continued to desire. She also was rather curious about the 2XO and his intentions towards her. Dating was a new experience and who better to guide her than someone that was neither human or Vulcan. After all, the Chief Counselor would stand to learn more about emotions and the Commodore would be able to assist.
T'mpest did indicate that she would be willing to have further communications with T'Lul, so the Vulcan counselor tapped her combadge and said, =^= Lieutenant T'Lul to Commodore T'mpest. =^=
The computer responded, "Commodore T'mpest is not on Deep Space 5."
The Vulcan blinked once. That was odd. She did not see a memo about the Commodore taking leave of the Station. The next logical thing to do was to contact the XO to inquire. Part of her was reluctant to contact the XO. She did not completely understand it, other than the XO seemed to think that she could do T'Lul's job better than her. It was illogical to think that, as they had only met the one time before the later odd encounter. However, logic did dictate to contact Commander Letsul, so she hit her combadge and said, =^= Lieutenant T'Lul to Commander Letsul, are you available? =^=
Once again, the computer gave a negative response. "Commander Letsul is not on Deep Space 5."
T'Lul noted that this was highly unusual. There was a chain of command. Yet, the top two were missing. Would Curtis also be missing? Slightly more rushed than the communications to the others, T'Lul called out, =^= Commander Thibideaux, this is Lieutenant T'Lul, are you there? =^=
(To be continued...)
Master Chief Petty Officer Marion Sunday
Chief of the Station
Deep Space 5
Ensign Kasberg
Security Officer
Deep Space 5
Petty Officer Pontry
Security Officer
Deep Space 5
Brater
Security Officer
Deep Space 5
Lieutenant Commander Jason Haines
Guardian
Deep Space 5
Lieutenant Commander Curtis Thibideaux
Head of Strategic Operations
Deep Space 5
Lieutenant Annora Tesaro
Chief Security Officer
Deep Space 5
Lieutenant T'Lul
Chief Counselor
Deep Space 5
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