USS Penumbra Sim Narrative, SD 202008.21 Bridge & Main Engineering: . The Penumbra was under MIRAGE, riding in the subspace wake of a Kyrathian Swarm Colony Ship with another just off its port side while two Away Teams with the Cerberus infiltrated the first ship. And all four ships were headed towards a tiny black hole, it's size not much larger than a shuttlecraft but it's impact on the surrounding space a measurable distortion for kilometers. . On the Bridge of the Penumbra, Capt. Zak Taylor paced (again); Lt. Cmdr. Relok sat in the XO's seat looking all calm and collected; Lt. Cmdr. Jason Carter kept both hands on the manual flight controls of the Helm as the ship neared the singularity; Lt. Cmdr. Tabeshk Tibris kept close watch on the power signatures from the Ops station; LtJG. Katarina Hawke stood at the Auxiliary Medical Station monitoring the vital signs from the Biosuits the Away Team wore, and relaying mental messages from her brother, Lt. Denovan Hawke, received over their residual Borg interlink; Ens. Jackson Carshel monitored the sensor feed from the Primary Science Station, mapping the extent of the black hole's influence; and Ens. Filler stood in at the Tactical Station while Lt. Hawke was with the Away Team. . Meanwhile, down in Main Engineering, Lt. Cmdr. Bevin MacArdry was trying to keep the engines at top performance and provide all the power they'd need for the MIRAGE and other systems as required. As usual, she maintained an open comm-feed to the Bridge to stay abreast of ongoing activity. . Zak turned to Carshel, "Carshel, throw that black hole as an overlay on the main viewer." Then he turned to Tabby, "Tabby, you might have to adjust the view on the screen to see around that ship we're tailing." . Carshel and Tabby answered, nearly simultaneously, "Got it!" . Relok added, "Carshel, you speculated those Swarm Ships might want to harvest the energy of that singularity. Just how would they do that? Any ideas?"

. Carshel considered a moment and then answered, "Well all matter is made of energy of certain materials, like how we harvest sun, wind, and water. My theory is they do the same somewhere on the outside of their ship, like a device or panel that's very hard to spot." . Zak heard Carshel's idea and turned to his Tactical Officer, "Filler, anything unusual about the configuration of that lead Swarm Ship?" . Filler stuttered, "I ... uh ... scanning, sir, but ... I'm not sure, they're so ... weird anyway, I ...," he trailed off. . Carshel speculated, "I wonder if all their ships have it. Perhaps a newer model ship built to be eco for the plant's growth rate." . Filler studied the configuration of the Kyrathian ships then announced, "Got something! Yeah, the lead ship has some kind of extra panels. They looked like just wings or solar sails or something. That's probably what they'll use." . There was silence a moment and then the Captain turned to Kat, "Kat, where the hell is my Away Team? They need to get out of there before they get caught in that damn gravity well!" . Kat checked her readings and said, "As far as readings go, they're still on the ship." She sent a mental call to her brother over their Borg interlink, ~Den, where are you?~ . Lt. Denovan Hawke, with Away Team One on the Kyrathian ship, responded, ~We're working on getting out.~ Of course, no-one but Kat could hear his reply. . Kat addressed the Captain, "They're working on getting out, Captain." . Zak cursed, "Damn it, Patterson's cutting it pretty close! Carter, Filler, we're liable to need to help pull the Cerberus out of that black hole. Figure something out." . But it was Tabby who offered a solution. "Grabby Hands?" He was referring to the split-beam Tractor Beams they'd developed during the Omega extraction. . Relok raised an eyebrow, "Grabby Hands, indeed, Commander! Get it ready."

. "On it, my dude!" Tabby responded. His fingers flew across his board and a moment later he nodded, "She's ready, sir, give the word." . As they drew nearer, the influence of the black hole grew. The flight controls in Carter's hands began to vibrate noticeably. He cleared his throat and gripped tighter, muttering, "Here we go." . Zak stopped pacing and stood tense in the center of the Bridge, staring at the main viewer showing the two Kyrathian Colony Ships and the enhanced image of the black hole drawing ever nearer. There was no sign of the cloaked Cerberus. He muttered, "Damn, I hope Patterson or AEGIS will turn off their cloak when they leave. Getting a fix for the Grabby Hands will be nearly impossible if we can't see them! Kat, relay that to Den." . "Aye, Captain," Kat answered and did just that. ~Den, Captain's hoping Patterson or AEGIS will turn off the cloak. They're getting a fix for the Grabby Hands.~ . Carshel offered, "If we fired a torpedo at those panels, it should seriously mess them up for a while, as well as keep them busy. Those aren't easy to fix, lemme tell you." . Carter spoke without taking his eyes off the viewer, "And give up our MIRAGE?" . Zak considered a moment and then said to Carshel, "Good idea, Ensign." He turned to the Tac station, "Filler, ready a torpedo and stand by." Then he turned back to Carter and said, "No, Carter, we'll stay hidden, we just need to see them. Though ... if we shoot, they'll probably know we're here." . Filler did as instructed and responded, "Torpedo standing by. On your order, sir." . Carshel shrugged and said, "It shouldn't be risky, if it's a small torpedo. If you're that worried, put MIRAGE on the damn torpedo itself as well as the ship." . But Relok reminded him, "Ensign Carshel, you should know as well as anyone that the MIRAGE system is a complex of holographic emitters all over the Penumbra's outer hull. We can't just reproduce that for torpedoes."

. But Carshel's mind wouldn't let go. "We can mimic it using light reflections and energy waves to disrupt can't we? Stick a magnet on it, that should do the trick." . But his musings were cut off as the gravitational forces of the tiny black hole began to truly exert themselves. Alarms began to sound from the navigational console. Down in Engineering, Bevin readied the engines for a hard pull to get them out of the hole. . Relok was studying the overlay of the black hole from the sensor feed, then pointed, "Carter, there is an irregular deformation of the gravity well at 7 o'clock, see it? That might be a slingshot point." . Carter quickly hit a few buttons to kill the alarms as he said, "I see it." He grunted a moment as he struggled with the sticks and then added, "Gonna be a small target to hit." He paused again then added, "We're gonna lose MIRAGE." . Tabby checked his power boards, confirming Carter's assessment but then said, "Can we put it back on immediately after?" . Carter was fighting the ship's controls in earnest now. "Probably won't have the power for it. Shut down MIRAGE, full power to shields." . Then the Captain said, "OK, if we're losing MIRAGE anyway ... Filler, send the torpedo, let's make sure they don't get the energy they need to pursue." . Filler responded, "Aye, sir!" and launched the torpedo at the collection sails. . Tabby muttered, "Crud, okay," and cancelled the MIRAGE and shifted power to the shields. . But, Filler wasn't quite the shot his former-Borg Chief Tactical Officer was. His shot just grazed the panels. It did manage to partially destroy the panel, and sent the targeted Swarm Ship a little off course. He cursed, "Damn it! Forgot to allow for the gravimetric distortion! Sorry, sir!" . Bevin's strong Brogue came through the commlink, "Daid ye carim ait awff tha ithir shaip?" She wondered whether Filler had caromed his shot off the other ship or something.

. Zak ignored the junior officer's inaccuracy, for now, and instead said, "Where the hell's the Cerberus?" . Suddenly, the Swarm Ship they'd been tailing begins erupting in cascading waves of fire! It veered sharply off course, careening towards the black hole. And the other ship that had been the target of the torpedo was also heading towards the hole on a collision course! . Kat barked out a message she'd received from her brother, "Den says the cloak is down!" Sure enough, the Cerberus now appeared just off the port side of the burning Swarm ship. . Carter saw a blinking light on his console and reported, "Captain! Slipstream fissure on nav sensors! Cerberus is trying to go to slipstream, but the singularity is distorting the bubble!" He gripped the sticks harder, fighting the gravitational forces. "Tabby, can you get a lock on that fissure?" . Tabby barked back, "I will damn well try, Carter!" . Even Relok cursed, "Damn it!" He jumped up from the XO's seat and rushed to Carshel's side at the Science Station. "I'm going to assist in mapping the grav distortion! We'll all get caught if we don't find a way through!" . But the interaction of antimatter bombs, a slipstream fissure, and a black hole had started a subspace tear. A rift was forming right in front of them, dragging them all into it! . Carter studied his nav console and an idea begins to form. But, he doesn't try to explain it, just acts on his gut. He cried out, "Everyone hang on!" and dumped power from both starboard nacelles while over-charging the port nacelles, intending a sudden about-face in their warp field. . But Relok was watching the fissure and muttered, "Oh no." The subspace tear had begun expanding exponentially. "Captain! That tear in subspace will distort any attempts at warp fields ... or slipstream corridors!" . Carter blinked as he realized their situation. "Captain," he began, "we're not gonna make it!"

. Zak turned to Carter, "What?" . And then, the burning Swarm ship collided with the other Swarm ship, both of them erupting in massive explosions. And they were beginning to be pulled into the rift, dragging the Cerberus along with them. . Filler announced, "They're all falling into the hole!" . Tabby cried out, "Grabby Hands, sir?" . Zak barked out, "Tabby, grab the damn Cerberus if you can! We can't lose them!" . "On it!" He barked out, "Firing now!" . Carter punched the ship to full impulse, on a collision course with the tear, trying to close the gap between the Penumbra and the Cerberus. . The Grabby Hands latched onto the small Raven-class fighter, but now both the Cerberus and the Penumbra were being dragged into the rift along with the debris from the two Swarm ships! . Tabby looked at Carter, "Carter, pull as hard as you damn well can!" . Alarms sounded across the Bridge, "External shearing forces straining structural integrity! Shields down to 68%. Power levels at 75% and dropping fast!" . Tabby opened a commlink to the Cerberus, "Patterson, full reverse! Pull as hard on the sticks as you can! If it's a tug of war they want, it's a tug of war they will get!" . Bevin down in Engineering quickly cut power to unneeded areas of the ship and transferred it all to the Grabby Hands, Shields, Structural Integrity, and Engines. But everything was overstressed, and overheating. . Carter said, "I've done every possible theory I can think of in my head. If we fight the damn thing we're all gonna die." . Tabby barked at him, "Shut it, Carter, and just try my idea for once!" . The Captain suddenly went calm, walked to his seat, and sat down. Quietly he said, "Carter ... take us into the rift." . Carter looked to the Captain a moment, then grimly said, "Sir ... aye, sir!" . Filler gasped, "Wha-?" . Tabby snapped, "Are you insane?"

. Kat just relayed the orders to her brother on the Cerberus, ~Captain's ordered Carter to take us into the rift.~ . Relok just raised an eyebrow and turned to Tabby. "Tabby, full power to structural integrity." . Tabby glared only a moment at the two commanding officers, then gritted his teeth, "All right." . T'Lin's voice came over the commlink from the Cerberus, "Penumbra, let us go. We can use the gravitational pull to slingshot us around the black hole. If you are holding us, that will not work, and we will all go in." . Carter shut down all four nacelles and then said, "Course set, Captain. I'll see you on the other side, sir." . Zak tapped his commbadge, "Penumbra to Cerberus. We need you and your intel. We go together." . Patterson's voice responded, "Penumbra, have Carter get as close to us as he can before we hit the apex. I'll try to extend the armor to you. Godspeed, sir. Patterson out." . Carshel took a breath and thought to himself, ~If I die here, make it merciful. Make my life seem worth something and not always on the run. Let me find a home among the stars.~ . Zak mumbled, "This is probably the stupidest thing I've ever done." . Relok replied softly, "I'm sure there will be more, sir." . Zak smiled weakly at the Vulcan Science Officer, "Thanks, Relok, I really appreciate your optimism." . About that time, the gravitational forces of the rift knocked out communications on both ships. In addition, the Borg Interlink between Den and Kat also came to an abrupt silence. The Penumbra and the Cerberus, along with the debris from 2 Swarm Ships get sucked into the spacial rift! Kat's knuckles went white as she felt the utter silence of her interlink with her brother. Her knees buckled and she fell to the floor, unable to stand.

. Seeing her distress, Tabby attempted to reach out to her, even as he tried to strap himself into his seat. His face bore that classic "It'll be all right" look even as she fell to the floor. . Carter fought his instincts telling him to take the sticks and fly the ship out of there. Instead, he allowed the rift to take them. . From who knows where, Carshel produced a small teddy bear (that he'd gotten from T'Lin at some point in the past) and clutched it for comfort as the ships plunged through the rift. . Suddenly, a bright light, an intense whiteness, engulfed them. Flashes of weird colors streaked past them and nearly everyone with "ordinary physiology" felt an awkward sensation on their nerves. Many people succumbed to the effect and lost consciousness. . The Captain, sitting in the Command Seat, blacked out. Carter at the helm passed out. Relok, standing near the Primary Science Station slowly lost consciousness and collapsed to the floor. Filler passed out, slumping over the Tactical console and then sliding to the floor. Tabby lost consciousness at the Ops console. Carshel, the genetically enhanced person he was, fought off the sensation, muttering to himself, "Someone ... has to ... see!" . Down in Engineering, Bevin struggled, fighting to stay upright and keep the engines going with whatever they had left, but eventually succumbed herself, sliding down the side of the warp core. . The computer's voice, unaffected by the strange neurological sensations, announced, "WARNING! Structural integrity at 49%. Shields at 33%. Power levels at 28%." Carshel, the only person on the Bridge still conscious, strained to sit up in his chair to check the scans. . And then, suddenly, the Penumbra and the Cerberus, along with the debris from the two destroyed Kyrathian Swarm Colony Ships, were "spat out" on the other side of the rift and drifted aimlessly across empty space.

. Carshel glanced around groggily. "Dear God, that sucked!" he mumbled. Then he straightened. "Wait ... I'm alive! Why am I ...? I don't understand!" . Relok groaned, slowly regaining consciousness. Carshel looked down at his superior, "Relok!" he blurted out, the first time he'd used the man's actual name, "Are you all right?" He unstrapped from his seat but slid to the floor crawling over to the moaning Vulcan. . Zak, Filler, and Carter were still unconscious as Relok stared at Carshel's face. Finally, recognition dawned on the Vulcan's face. "Carshel?" He struggled to his feet, a bit shaky, then noticed the others. "Captain!" he cried and started moving over to him. . Carshel grabbed his arm, "Shh," he said, "I'm aware of our circumstances, Relok. We need to lay low, check vitals." Away Teams: . Two Away Teams were aboard a Kyrathian Swarm Colony Ship. Team One consisted of Lt. Col. Travis Patterson, Dr. Shadow K'Trevala, Lt. T'Lin, and Lt. Denovan Hawke. Team Two was MstGny. Derek Hines, Gny. Khal'Gon, SSgt. William Davies, and PFC Homer Kyle. . Team One was crouched in a corridor near a Kyrathian Plant Node where T'Lin had hacked into their Node Network attempting to download useful intel. Team Two had gone to what passed for an Engineering Section on the ship to sabotage the ship to prevent pursuit. . But their time was rapidly running out. Patterson glanced over his shoulder at T'Lin. "Time's running out, Lieutenant." . "I am working on it, Colonel," she responded, fingers flying over her PADD that was connected to the Node. . Hawke nodded, agreeing with Patterson on their rapidly shrinking window, "Just a little bit." . Shadow nocked another Merasha-laden arrow in case it was needed. The powerful drug should prevent the telepathic connection of any Kyrathian injected with it and hopefully prevent any that saw them from relaying that knowledge to all of the other Kyrathians, potentially on both ships.

. Patterson took to a knee and opened the secure communication link to the other team. "Derek, what's the status of your team down there?" . Hines' voice came back over the whole team's link, "Just getting the Mother-in-Law primed now, sir. Time to detonation?" The "Mother-in-Law" was their code word for a massive antimatter bomb they were planting in the engineering section. . Suddenly, T'Lin noticed an order come across the Node Network for Builders and Soldiers to investigate the "unusual" sign-in at Node 327. This was most certainly an alert to check on her attempt to use a random Builder's name as a login to prevent her "unauthorized access" earlier. She said, "Uh-oh. Time to go boys! They are sending Builders and Soldiers to investigate." . Over their Borg interlink, Den heard his sister call for an update, ~Den, where are you?~ . Den was holding his rifle in a vertical position, crouched at a corner he was using for cover. He answered her, ~We're working on getting out.~ . Patterson looked at T'Lin. "Sever the link. Move!" he gestured for them to exit as he opened the link to Team Two. "Hines, set for 90 seconds and haul ass! I'll meet you at the hatch." . Hines set the timer then gave his team a nod and a knife-hand gesture, "Let's move, gentlemen!" . T'Lin quickly injected Merasha into the Node from a hypospray Shadow had prepared earlier, and disconnected from the Node. Shadow shoved a Miracle-Gro packet of plant food laced with herbicides and Merasha into the thickest cluster of plant fibers near the Node. He hoped it would cause some communication problems for the Kyrathians as they withdrew. T'Lin nodded and said, "Come on!" . T'Lin put her tricorder away and unslung her rifle. She glanced at Patterson and asked, "Are the others on their way back to the ship?" . Patterson waved them on and ran behind them urging them to move faster. "Move it! This ship is gonna blow in a minute!"

. As they ran, T'Lin and Shadow each dropped a few Merasha canisters, grenade- or tear-gas-like devices that would slowly spray the drug into the hallway behind them as they fled. Den lead the withdrawal, scanning hallways as they ran, his rifle up at the ready, with Patterson bringing up the rear. . When they reached the last corridor heading to the Cerberus, Patterson turned on his heel and called Team Two again. "Hines, Team 1 is at exfil, where are you?" . Hines' voice came back, "Turning the corner down the hall to your right! Thirty seconds 'til detonation!" . Den received another call from his sister and relayed it to Patterson. "Colonel, Kat says we're supposed to turn off the cloak once we move away." . Patterson gave him a curt nod. "Get everyone on the Cerberus!" Down the hallway he caught a glimpse of a Kyrathian Solder arriving at the Node then looking down the corridor at the fleeing Away Team. . Patterson opened the commlink again, "Hines, we've got contact! Hot exfil!" . Den snapped back at Patterson, "You go first. I've got it covered, kinda my job." . Hines' voice came back over the link, "Got it, Pat!" The sound of WAR rifles echoed down the corridor, Hines' quick pap-pap-pap followed by the precise sniper shot from Davies followed again by pop-pop-pop of Khal'Gon's rifle. . Shadow, too, took advantage of having a shot. He loosed an arrow into one of the Kyrathian Soldiers, an arrow laced with Merasha to further confound their telepathic link. . Suddenly, the Merasha-laced "mines" went off. The Kyrathians are momentarily "blinded" by the drug and seem utterly confused. Patterson nodded at Den and moved quickly up the ramp and into the Cerberus. As he did he called out, "AEGIS, disengage the cloak, full power to shields ... arm the warheads."

. AEGIS, the Cerberus' on-board Artificial Intelligence, responded, "Decloaking. Shields to maximum. Warheads are armed and standing by ... multiple contacts in close proximity. Shall I execute emergency beamout procedure?" . Patterson glanced back over his shoulder and called, "Den, Shadow, T'Lin! Get the hell on! AEGIS, lock onto all Pathfinder transponders. Beamout in 10 seconds!" . T'Lin came sprinting up the ramp and into the Cerberus, then spun and crouched beside the door, peeking around the corner. "I am in!" she called. . Shadow followed right behind her, diving for the Cerberus and rolling to the far side. Den chased him towards the ramp, the sounds of WAR Rifles and the chaotic scuffling of confused Kyrathian Soldiers behind him. He slid to a stop, making sure everyone else was on-board before he climbed into the Tactical seat behind Patterson. . Patterson noted Team One was aboard and said, "AEGIS, punch it!" He switched to the commlink and called, "Hines, emergency beamout imminent!" . AEGIS immediately sealed the hatch and kicked the throttle to full power. A second or so later, the AI beamed the Pathfinders aboard, and another second later fired off both antimatter warheads aft into the Colony Ship's cargo hatch! . The dual warheads collided with the Colony Ship and "burrowed" into it, and as the Cerberus speeds away, the Mother-in-Law timer hit zero, and it and the two warheads all go off simultaneously, sending explosions cascading along the spine of the Swarm ship. . The Swarm ship they'd boarded began careening towards the black hole, and its sister ship. That other ship was trailing sparks from a damaged panel and it seemed the two ships were on converging courses.

. Patterson grunted and tried to form a slipstream corridor to make their escape. As he did he called, "AEGIS, transfer all power to warp integrity!" But then he noticed the slipstream corridor wouldn't quite focus. It seemed that the interaction of antimatter bombs, a slipstream fissure, and a black hole had started a subspace tear. A rift was forming right in front of the Kyrathian ships, dragging them all into it! . Patterson said, "AEGIS, clean that field up!" He turned his head and said over his shoulder, "Den, any ideas would be useful!" . Den quickly sent a message to his sister, ~Cloak is down!~ and then he turned to Patterson. "All right, we can ... dump the core. We'll detonate it and the shockwave will push us away." . "Can't dump the core," Patterson shook his head. "It's a quantum singularity, directly interlinked with the ship itself." . "Um," Den thought, "got a normal warp core, doesn't it? Dump that." . Patterson again shook his head, "There's four auxiliary reactors ... but that's the only thing keeping us from careening into the damn thing as it is!" . "That's the idea!" Den said. "Then they will get us out of it from the explosions of that magnitude. It also should close the fissure." . And then, the two Kyrathian ships collided. With multiple explosions cascading along both ships they began falling into the rapidly expanding rift ... and dragging the Cerberus along in their wake! . Kat called her brother from the Penumbra, ~Den!~ . He answered, ~We're working on it!~ . AEGIS provided his input, "Probability of success is less than 2.4%. With the rate of expansion of the subspace fissure ... I cannot calculate any possible escape vector or velocity." . Suddenly, two Tractor Beams reached out from the Penumbra, the famous "Grabby Hands" technique they'd developed during the Omega incident, and latched onto the Cerberus. But now, both ships were being dragged into the rift.

. Patterson studied the Heads-Up-Display on the main viewer of the Cerberus and then said, "AEGIS, activate emergency life support systems. Engage the transphasic plating, and transfer all power to shields. Disengage all weapon systems and navigational control." . Then a call came from Lt. Tabeshk Tibris on the Penumbra, "Patterson, full reverse! Pull as hard on the sticks as you can! If it's a tug of war they want, it's a tug of war they will get!" . T'Lin suggested, "Slingshot around the black hole, right before we go into it, take a sharp right." . Den received another message from his sister, ~Captain's ordered Carter to take us into the rift.~ . But before Den could relay the message, AEGIS reported, "The Penumbra is altering course. They are on a direct collision course with the Rift." . T'Lin opened a commlink, "Penumbra, let us go. We can use the gravitational pull to slingshot us around the black hole. If you are holding us, that will not work, and we will all go in." . Den asked, "Why in the hell are they doing that? I thought we had a plan to close it!" . The Captain's voice came over the comm, "Penumbra to Cerberus. We need you and your intel. We go together." . T'Lin grumbled, "Idiots and fools, the lot of them. We can send the intel remotely, if we go in we could all die." . But Patterson just called back, "Penumbra, have Carter get as close to us as he can before we hit the apex. I'll try to extend the armor to you. Godspeed, sir. Patterson out." He turned his seat and faced the people on his tiny ship. "Strap yourselves in ... and put your helmets back on." . They all quickly did so, and then the gravitational forces of the rift knocked out communications on both ships. In addition, the Borg Interlink between Den and Kat also came to an abrupt silence. The Penumbra and the Cerberus, along with the debris from 2 Swarm Ships get sucked into the spacial rift! . Den muttered softly, "She's gone silent."

. And then a bright light, an intense whiteness, engulfed them. Flashes of weird colors streaked past them and they felt an awkward sensation on their nerves. . Patterson's nanites kicked in, keeping him conscious, though he was growing groggy and losing motor control. But, before he did, he extended the powerful triphasic shields from the Cerberus to augment those of the Penumbra. . Den's senses were momentarily overwhelmed. He blacked out for a second or two, like a pilot pulling too many G-forces. And then his own Borg nanites began rerouting the impulses until he came to and mumbled, "Ow." . T'Lin, who's strange D'Vir customs from her N'Ereon culture back on Vulcan had her infused with two distinct souls, her own plus an Elder Guide, was able to resist the mental overload. She muttered, "Oh, good Grandmother, do not kill us for our stupidity, please?" She was "spaced out" but conscious. . Shadow had a remarkably focused mind and was able to sustain consciousness in spite of the effect. He projected his mental strength as far beyond himself as he could to shield and protect as many as possible. . All of the Marine Pathfinders found themselves unconscious in their harnesses. . And then, suddenly, the Penumbra and the Cerberus, along with the debris from the two destroyed Kyrathian Swarm Colony Ships, were "spat out" on the other side of the rift and drifted aimlessly across empty space. . Shadow quickly unfastened his safety harness and began assessing the others in the small craft, administering hyposprays to bring them back to consciousness. . T'Lin and Den both began scanning their surroundings, trying to figure out ... where are they?