Junior cut up

Yesterday, Rome, Rei and Bonnie came upon a scene where they knew nothing good could have transpired. Rome's parents, Commander Ursay and little Aason were nowhere to be found. Since Rome could not contact Aason and technically, she wasn't supposed to be on Earth, they had to find another way. Luckily, MINIMCOM figures out what to do by tracking down his son, MINIMCOM, Jr.:

     While Rei was trying to calm Rome down, Bonnie walked over to the other desk and examined the objects still lying there. None of them made sense to her. There was a black, vaguely gun-shaped object, lying on the desk, with an empty glass tube in it. Next to it was a stand containing three other tubes filled with liquid, one yellow and two blue. The stand had some holes where some other tubes might have sat. She shrugged and turned to wait to see what Rei and Rome would do next.
     Rei took a deep breath. He rocked Rome back and forth, stroking her head. “Romey,” he said, “I know this won’t make any sense but he’s probably alright. They want us, not him. If they hurt him or worse, they’d never be able to use him to lure us into whatever trap they’ve set.”
     While this was supposed to make Rome feel better, all it did was make her sob more. Rei turned and looked at MINIMCOM helplessly.
     “I will try to reach Junior,” MINIMCOM said. “If we can find him, we can probably find your son.”
     “Good idea,” Rei said.
     MINIMCOM held perfectly still but broadcast in a frequency that both Rei and Rome could hear internally.
     “Junior. Son,” the livetar called out. “Can you hear me?” There was no reply. MINIMCOM tried again but once again there was no response.
     “The EM transmitter has a limited range,” MINIMCOM said. “Perhaps the three of us could try together, as we did with the Stareater. That would increase the range of the signal.”
     Rei agreed and released Rome. “Can you do this?” he asked her.
     Rome nodded. She wiped at her tears and closed her eyes. Together, the three of them called out mentally, “JUNIOR!”
     A tiny voice, barely a whisper, said one word and one word only, “Dad?”
     The livetar’s mouth slit curled up in an approximation of a smile. “Where are you?” he asked.
     “I’m kind of a mess right now,” the younger starship replied. “They cut me up into little bits. I can’t really move.”
     MINIMCOM’s eye slits opened wider. “Where are you?” he asked as worriedly as a former computer could be.
     “I’m not sure,” replied Junior. “I don’t think they moved me anywhere. I’m probably nearby, somewhere.”

Remember that funky hill I mentioned a few days back? The one covered by a metal mesh? What do you think is under there?