SD 07/24/04 - "Doggone" They're gone! Just like that. And we don't know exactly what the heck happened, when they left, or a clue where they are now.
I had been contemplating looking into what was going on when another situation came up. A container of some kind of liquid had been sent to us by a shuttlecraft for study, beamed directly to Lera in the Science Lab. When I contacted her shortly thereafter, I got no response. Calling Tarra to check in on her, I heard what sounded like a holo of two animals brawling. Tarra told me that was no holo, but Lera wasn't "quite herself." It turned out the sample was water from planet Junkyeskyo, and somehow it turned Lera into a "Beoman's Wolf," a rare gene-engineered sapient canidoid. Somehow, Lynx had gotten to her after this happened, and they began scrapping like ... cats & dogs.
*sigh* It never ends with those two.
I ordered Tarra to break it up, then Kura intervened and jumped on Lynx. The situation changed in seconds. I'm not sure, but I thought I heard Lynx purring! Maybe it was my imagination, but it might explain a rumor I heard later. Lera herself ran to the Auxilary Lab, and presumably found the cure. I reluctantly gave control of the bridge to Lt. Droolin, which might have been a mistake given how he kept staring at one of the girls, and headed over to see for myself what was going on. When I got to the Lab, Lera was trying to get out and having trouble due to the malfunctioning computer refusing requests, "Say pretty please, with sugar on it." We finally got the door open, and I was met by hundreds of gallons of Moutain Dew and Lera! We flowed down the hall for some distance until the soda ran out. I ordered the replicator making the stuff to shut down, and seeing Lera was scratched all over took her to Medical. As Ennin was with Tarra & Lynx, I had him check Lynx out. Once in Medical, I called the EMH and had it check her out.
While there, I decided to check in on Demian Tempres, who was in nearby observation quarters. I went to the one where he was, and it was empty! Demian had escaped! A later search turned up the electronics had been tampered with, and the failsafe alarm that should have gone off had been shut down by the computer malfunctions. A chattering "furby" was found in an air duct leading to the quarter's vent, so that may have aggrivated his mental instability.
The computer stated that Demian was in the shuttlebay, M'Rander in her quarters, and Dammers in the Auxillary Bridge. Despite the malfunctions, we checked anyway. We did find their badges, but no sign of the three. The clues to what happened are few. We did find that two hyposprays were taken from sickbay and two powerful halucenagetic drugs, one for humans, the other for Caitians. Thanks to a securitywoman with long fingernails, we discovered three of the shuttlecraft were baloon dummies! Someone, most likely Demian, rigged the controls to open the bay doors long enough for the three to get away without alerting the bridge. Thanks to the computer's screwy state, we have no idea when this was. And why were Dammers' and M'Rander's last personal log entries at the time we were at Mynesia. That was months ago.
We've turned back, hoping that this was recent and we'll find the trail of the shuttles' exhaust, but I fear we will find no trace. Demian Tempres could be a pain, but his presence was a needed one between the time of Treki and the "Old Guard," and when we actualy recieved a few competant crewmen. Milton Dammers was one such crewman. Despite his twenty years in cro and a number of quirks, he came through and proved himself again and again. Then there's M'Rander. Her being assigned temporary command of the ship allowed me some small relief at times from the stresses of this ship.
I haven't talked to anyone else about the repurcussions, but even before the discovery rumors were starting to fly. One was that M'Rander was transfered to a Disabled Starfleet Veterans' hospital, or perhaps back to the "Sick Puppy" ward. Lera thinks "Lynx ate her." There are a number of rumors about Demian being committed. Speaking of commited, some are whispering that Dammers got cold feet about his engagement to Lynx and went AWOL. With rumors going back to his arrival that he was in Special Ops, some wonder if he was sent on another mission.
The one person who is most affected by this is Lynx. I overheard one story that she and Tarra dragged Kura back to their quarters, smothering affection on him all the while. Considering Kura's current bodily form, it sounds like a human girl fawning over a gorilla with human inteligence. Poor Lynx, desperate for attention, her fiance and mother, both gone.