Tom marched heavily into starboard flight control from the shipside hatch. His eyes were burning at the rims, and he almost bumped into Boss Munro as he squeezed them between his fingers. Munro was hunched over a terminal speaking in hushed but intense tones to the control officer. Both were bathed in the wiregrid glow of the terminal and Munro didn't look up at the pilot as she crossed to the observation window.
"What's the rush Boss?" Tom asked, stepping around a hurrying Ensign.
"It's Captain Blair." She said curtly, as if a complete response.
Tom waited for another Ensign to step away from handing her a PDA, then asked quietly, "What about him?"
Munro finally looked into Tom's eyes, and hers were almost as tired as his. "He's been off-comm for three hours, Freeman."
Tom felt his whole world explode into clear focus for the first time since his last communique with Shaw, and tried his best to keep a look of professionalism about him as he followed Munro to a quiet part of the O-Deck.
"What's..." Tom paused, trying to be diplomatic and not overstep his bounds, "Uh, being done?"
Munro looked up sharply, her features softening somewhat but not what she had to say. "Admiral Trotter won't send out a search party while we're facing a shooting war."
Munro quickly moved to get away form him, but Tom began to stalk her around the O-Deck, "Won't? Has he asked for volunteers? Is he only considering Hornet, or will Apex be considered?"
The Boss whirled on him then, in the middle of the deck, clenching the PDA close to her side, "I've got one pilot MIA and an empty space in my hangar. The Admiral is facing the biggest armed crisis of the century out there, we don't have time to search for a downed recon flyer and you know it."
Tom found himself stepping forward to press the issue but, in the manner of the very stressed and exhausted, quickly switched his mind to a remembrance of his rank and position, and instead left the O-Deck for his quarters. Inside he switched on the wireless transmitter while he connected to Shaw's frequency. The intel agent spoke to him from the pilot's seat of his ship, the unnamed wetwork operative sitting in the shadows behind him. "Got all that," Shaw said before Tom could explain, "And I've already got a remedy for you." Shaw flicked a switch and the lights in his cockpit darkened. Tom's wall-mounted comm unit chimed and Shaw spared him a wink before the channel swtiched off. Tom got up from his chair and hit the response stud on the wall panel.
"Freeman." He said, rubbing his eyes again more in bewilderment than anything.
"Meet me on the flight deck Silencer," Major Halverson said over the comm, "I'll brief you en route."

- Shaw 'disables' his own ship and sends out a distress call, Monolith responds with Apex and Campbell sends Spider and Silencer.
- Shaw knows where Blair disappeared and why, but doesn't know where he is now.
- CIB sent an emergency order to Blair mid-mission to scan a civilian freighter. That freighter was carrying weapons to Italian front line forces and they fired on Blair. Shaw lost Blair's fighter in the gunfight but doesn't think he was killed.
- The Apex pilots escort Shaw to the Monolith where he inroduces himself as a pro-Confed privateer. Unbeknownst to anyone on Monolith, Shaw's landing was a cover to get Snake/Fisher onboard.
- Shaw leaves, promises Tom he'll find Blair. Snake/Fisher begins surveillance and prepares for sabotage.