Kelly's POV

"What do you mean you've lost her?"

I step onto the bridge and into the middle of a very uncomfortable conversation between Ed and Alara's father, who's staring him down over the viewscreen.

"Uh…uh, let me rephrase that, Mr. Kitan. What I mean is…we just…don't know where she is."

If I could do a facepalm without being seen I would. Ed doesn't always have a way with words. I step up to the plate.

"Mr. Kitan, Kelly Greyson. We met several months ago."

"Hello, commander, nice to see you again. Perhaps you could explain the situation to me better than Captain Mercer."

"Well, I don't know exactly how much Captain Mercer told you, so I'll start from the beginning: Alara's been kidnapped by the Rogues. Our landing party was ambushed by a group of them, three males and three females. They threw some sort of gas canister at us that knocked us out. We were out cold for, I don't even know…five hours?"

"Yeah, that sounds about right. When we woke up it was dark out."

"…And Alara was gone. We don't know where they took her, or why they took her. But rest assured we are working diligently to find her. You have my word. The proper authorities both in the Union and on Xelaya have been informed of the situation."

I end my speech and suck in a lungful of air. Guess I forgot to breathe. The bridge is silent. Mr. Kitan, now pale-faced, just looks at us for about 30 seconds before getting up from his chair.

"Please excuse me; I need to speak with my wife." He ends the transmission and the screen briefly goes black before returning to the starscape in front of us.

Ed sighs and plops down into his chair. He leans forward, elbows resting on his knees, and scrubs his hands over his face. "Thanks, Kel."

"Anytime…" I sit next to him and place a hand on his thigh. I know what he's feeling, because I'm feeling the exact same thing. Fear.