EPISODE CLIV - BARNABY BEAR AND THE BACK ACNE BLUES BAND
Reed strode onto the bridge, his agitation evident.
"Mr. Jeffy wasn't any help?", Schultz prodded, vacating the command chair. Reed's brooding silence followed, prompting the science officer to continue.
"The search party has been unable to locate Lt. Schrader's vessel", he informed his superior, "but they're still hopeful."
Reed turned his stoney gaze on Schultz. "What are the chances they'll find him?"
"Not good, sir", Schultz admitted, "there is a great deal of debris in the area, some of it quite large, which is interfering with our sensors."
"So, it's possible we may never find him?", Reed intoned.
"Yes sir.", Schultz said quietly, "I'm afraid that that is a possibility."
Reed pondered the dilemma momentarily. "Does anyone have any suggestions?", he asked of no one in particular.
"I do, sir", VanTedly spoke up.
Reed eyed the young officer warily, clearly reluctant. "And what is your suggestion, Ensign?"
"It was just a thought", VanTedly began, "but it seemed like it might be a good idea if we went and got Schrader's stuff out of his room, and..."
"That's brilliant, VanTedly", Schultz breathed, his eyes widening with excitement. "We should conceivably be able to find something the lieutenant owned, which contains his DNA and feed the data
into the sensors." He began pacing wildly. "Then all we would need to do was amplify the range with the new settings." Schultz clasped the Ensign on the back. "Good work, VanTedly.
I'm most impressed."
That said, the science officer waved for several crewmen to follow him and left the bridge en route to Lt. Schrader's quarters.
Reed came over to where VanTedly stood basking in the warm glow of his crew mates' adoration. "Ensign", he said quietly, "I believe you were going to suggest that we remove the lieutenant's property
from his quarters so that you might move in. Would that be correct?"
"Yes, sir", he confirmed, proudly, "but Mr. Schultz's plan was good, too."
