Lone Stowaway

5

Shadow immediately tried to contact Maureen. Turning on her comms, Shadow tried to contact her. Static.

"Guys..."

"What is it?" asked Judy, comforting Penny at the same time.

"Your mother isn't there. I think something happened to her that caused the explosion."

Will, Judy, Penny and Shadow sat at the HUB table. Will was frantically trying to send a Morse code signal to his father. Whatever he was doing, it wasn't working.

"Maybe it's the repeater. I'm still adjusting," he said softly.

"Will."

"Or the wrong frequency."

"Will, we can't reach him."

"You don't know that."

"I saw it," said Penny, attempting to keep herself from crying.

"What color was the explosion? Was it red?" asked Will. "Red could indicate low temperature combustion, which proves part of the ship could still be intact."

"It wasn't red," said Penny quietly. Shadow bowed her head.

Will tried again. "Did you see any pieces fall to the ground?"

"I don't know," murmured Judy.

"Dad was wearing a suit. He'd have oxygen. He could be fine. We don't know for sure-"

"Okay, but here's what we do know," said Judy, cutting him off. "Dad would not want us focusing on him right now. He'd want us to find Mom."

"How?" asked Penny. "Dr. Smith could've taken her anywhere."

"Exactly," said Judy. "But the fact that she took her tells us something," she continued. "It means Smith needs her. We figure out why... and we'll know where to find them."

"...How is that gonna help her?"

"I don't know, but she had it," replied Will.

"...The robot head?" asked Penny, visibly creeped out.

Shadow winced. "Why would Smith need General's head? What, to see better?"

Will ignored her. "Yeah, and Dr. Smith said she could bring him back."

"But why would she need Mom for that? If anything, she would've needed you," said Penny.

"Yeah, I agree, it doesn't add up. There's gotta be more to it," added Judy. She turned and started to walk away. "Where are you going?" asked Shadow, confused.

"Sitting here doesn't help, they can't have gone far," replied Judy.

"Wait, I'm coming with you," said Will, getting up after her.

"Will, no. Okay? Just stay here," said Judy.

"But I can help."

"No, you've done enough!" snapped Judy. Shadow fixed her gaze on Judy, piercing her soul.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't... I didn't mean that," she said softly.

"No. You're right. It's my fault. I let her out. It's okay, go." said Will, eyes watery. Will turned, took his radio and left the room.

Shadow facepalmed as Judy left. "Where are we even going? We don't have a clear idea of what Smith is doing, how do we know where to go?"

"We don't."

Will suddenly opened his door again. "GUYS!"

"Hey, what's going on?" asked Judy, running into Will's room. Shadow peeked around the corner. "What's that smell? Yeuch," Shadow hissed, recoiling from the musky odor. Penny sniffed and groaned. "Ugh, seriously, what is going on in here?"