Statzia watched the counselor out of the corner of her eye as she sat down at the desk. Mille sat in one of the sofas in her office, her arms wrapped around her knees. A series of videos sat in the woman’s incoming communication folder. The coding of these messages had slipped past the security system, much in the same way as another collection of messages had bypassed their safety protocols. Statzia pursed her lips–she’d have to make sure those systems were examined again.

“It’s okay–” Millie said softly. “You can watch them.”

Statzia opened the first message, dated four months ago.

~~~~~~~~~

A young woman stands in an office setting, and it’s clear she’s been crying. As she places objects into a container, she speaks softly. “Millie, I..uh….they’re being very careful with the news, I don’t know how or when they’ll finally make it public but James is dead. He was killed this past weekend. I don’t know details, they won’t tell me, but someone shot him. I thought you should know, because you deserve to. Things here are getting weird. It’s always tense, but this is a whole new level. I’ve been asked to vacate my office until my new employment is approved. I’m so sorry.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Who’s the woman?” Statzia looked up at the screen.

“Her name is Marcy–I don’t know that I ever got her last name.” Millie let her chin rest on her knees. “She was his assistant.”

“And James is…?”

“My father.” Millie let her eyes lift to meet Statzia’s.

“Mr. Wolf.” Statzia made the connection, nodding. “The man who kidnapped you when we thought you were lost in the transporter.” When Millie went quiet, Statzia opened the next video file, dated a month after the first.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next video message shows a private apartment. In the distance, there are the sounds of a bustling city, a couple of sirens wailing in the background. Marcy sits at a desk, wearing an oversized sweatshirt. “I never got a reply, so I hope you’re okay. Better than me at least. The new job didn’t come through, but I think that’s because our market is plummeting. They announced James’ death, though they made up a bullshit story about him fending off an assault team. Big corpo-state funeral. Then the stock fell and fell and fell. There are some small protests in the streets, which, as you can imagine, are being met with force. The Nadalls are only issuing statements through the media, nobody’s seen them in two weeks.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Statzia looked up from the screen. “She kept messaging you?”

Millie nodded. “There’s four messages altogether, each about a month apart.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The apartment looks a little dingy, and the sounds from the street outside are much louder. A lot of voices, many more sirens, and some gunfire. “It’s getting bad. The protests keep getting bigger, and the response is bigger and back and forth. We’re locked down in this building under martial law. The power is holding up—usually. But it’s like a war out there. My neighbor said they’ve been listening to an underground transmission and they heard the Nadalls are no longer on the planet.” Marcie walks out onto a balcony and shows the streets below where there is a large mob, an even larger military presence, and several fires in the distance. “It’s coming apart at the seams.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Statzia clicked on the last message.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The apartment is very smoky, explosions are heard close by, and much more gunfire echoes in the background. Marcy looks tired and scared. The door behind her has been barricaded. “I don’t even know if you’re getting these, but I wanted to, uh, say goodbye. A week ago, the military evacuated the city, and now it’s mob rule. A lot of looting and other stuff. Right now, the building is on fire and none of us can get out. They’ve gotten their hands on some of the equipment, and they’re just firing missiles at any big building with the Nadall name on it. We got hit an hour ago.” She coughed at the smoke which was beginning to bellow. “I don’t know what’s being reported but there’s going to be…..” The video suddenly went black with a huge and loud rumbling, and about ten seconds later, nothing but silence before the video ends.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Both women sat quietly for several minutes. Statzia finally got up, crossed to the sofa, and sat next to Millie. She put an arm around the Counselor’s shoulders.

“I…don’t know how I’m supposed to feel right now.” Millie let herself lean against the older woman.

“You don’t have to feel a certain way about anything.” Statzia let her cheek lean against the top of Millie’s head. “We both won the crappy father lottery–and it’s okay to be angry that he’s gone, but it’s also okay to feel sad about it, too.” 

“I–I tried contacting Marcy back.” Millie gave a sniffle and wiped her nose with her sleeve. “The message wouldn’t connect. I don’t know if it’s been damaged–”

“Or if the political unrest is causing communication blackouts. Right.” 

Millie sat quietly for several more minutes. “Do you–know anyone who might be able to find her?”

“The secretary?” Statzia’s brow furrowed. “I can reach out to Starfleet, but I don’t–”

“I didn’t mean Starfleet.” Millie finally shifted, and looked up. “I meant–your…other people.”

Statzia went still. “I…I haven’t made contact with anyone from that time since the bonding ceremony. I gave the Chief my word.”

“Oh–” Millie went quiet, looking down at her lap.

Statzia gave a quiet sigh. “You’re worried about this secretary, aren’t you?” The expression on Millie’s face was her answer. “I can’t make any promises that I can find her, but…I’ll see what I can find out.” She seemed to give a resolute nod. “Tea. You need tea. And then we’re going to let you vent all that you need to.” Statzia stood, crossing to Millie’s tea setup. “And after your shift, if you need to beat the crap out of something in the holodeck, we can do that, too.”