OM Scene 6.1.1

Lieutenant McNair sat at the dog tag monitoring station, on the bridge of Onomatopoeia. He was bored, and waiting for his duty shift to be over, so he could join his friends on the planet, for some leave. He glanced up at the corner, to check the chronometer, when a post appeared in the dog tag list, right below the chronometer. At first McNair thought someone simply got an injection of nanobots and joined the Fleet as an enlisted officer. That would be the only way a new post could appear, but in that case the rank of the new officer would be Spaceman Recruit. The thing that caught the Lieutenant’s attention was that the new post showed the rank Midshipman, Third Class. He looked closer and the name behind the rank read Garcia, Paolo Manuel. The person who’d been reported missing had appeared, out of nowhere. He switched to Map View, with the focus on Paolo’s location.

“Captain,” Lieutenant McNair said. “He's down there, sir.”

“Who?” the Captain said. “If you don't mind, I’d appreciate specificity.”

“Midshipman Garcia, sir,” Lieutenant McNair said. “He's been missing, and now he just appeared, in a structure in the middle of Myrtle's Beach.”

“What do you mean?” the Captain said.

“He turned up on the planet, sir,” Lieutenant McNair said. “As if he just arrived on the planet. One moment we have no signal from his dog tag, and now he's there, in the middle of town. It shouldn't be possible, but that's what happened, sir.”

“Maybe you should direct his friends to him,” the Captain said. “That Corporal Trent, wasn't it? The guy who won't admit he loves Garcia.”

“According to this he’s right there,” Lieutenant McNair said.