Thursday, February 27, 2014

What happened to my Asteroid? Section 27:


Commander Dickerson floated into the transport operations center and closed the door behind her.  She checked the status displays on her way to her duty station.  Several crew members acknowledged her presence and saluted to which she responded in kind.  She tapped Lt. Aiko on the shoulder “Relieving you of control, and I believe it is time for you to rest.”

“Yes, Ma’am.” He released himself from the station.

As the two traded positions the commander asked “When is the shift change?”

“Twenty minutes ago.” Lt. Brown responded.

“Then what are you still doing here?” She asked.

“Same as you.” Lt. Xi filled in.

The radio lit up “Albatross station, transport 2.  One of our survey team just exploded.  Sending the video record now.”

“Transport 2, please repeat your last transmission.”  Lt. Xi was confused “Did you just say your survey team exploded?”

The transmission was repeated.  The entire compartment was silent as Lt. Xi gave the command to stay away from the surface.

“So much for the shift change.” The commander got down to business “Get those video records over to lab 4 immediately and let’s see what else the other teams can find.”  She punched the intercom “Lab 4, you need to analyze those videos and figure out what went wrong.  Yesterday!” She shouted.

“T-Ops, Bridge.”

“Go ahead bridge.” The commander was quite short since she was focused entirely on the report from the transport.

“You are overdue for a shift change.” The captain was clearly annoyed “I need all crews to be at top performance and that means you have to get your rest.  So change that shift!”

“Aye sir!” She responded to the bridge.  “Alright crew, whether you can sleep or not it is time to change.”  She looked around the compartment “Where is the new shift?”

“We’re here ma’am.” One of the officers responded “We’ve been monitoring the situation so the briefing is not needed.”

“Very well.” The commander reluctantly gave up her chair and headed for the door “See you in 8 hours.”

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