It may be that you were expelled from the lab by its captain.

In that case, you will be unable to search for the lab for a certain period of time. When a captain expels a member from the lab, the captain may decide the duration of expulsion (1 day, 1 week, 1 month, unrestricted (return at any time). You must wait for this period to pass before you may then search for and rejoin the lab.