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After some Sylvan persuasion (we're good at that), I have gotten the Player to write another section of Hybrid Shadows.
Leonard McKnight continues to watch events unfold from orbit.
The new section of the story, Signal Reacquired, has also been added to Chapter 1, The Non-Hybrid, in the Stories section of this capsule.
"Kendra's signal is live again," Lieutenant Goya said, swiveling her chair to face the captain.
"Condition?" Leonard McKnight queried.
"She's... not good. Her vital signs are all over the map. Kendra's heart is racing one moment, and then running at 60 beats a minute the next. Her temperature is down, 34.4 degrees. She might have been injured."
"On screen," the captain ordered.
A moment later one of the bridge's main view screens lit up with view of the valley. It was zoomed out, but a small figure could be seen walking unevenly among the trees. The picture was blurry, and within a few seconds static covered the screen.
"I'm sorry," Goya said. "She is too close the the rim. The atmosphere is interfering with the picture."
The bridge crew had all turned to view the shaky image on the view screen. It was becoming increasingly difficult to analyze data from orbit, or by drone, or by any automated means. There was an unease in the Song about the lack of technical capability planet-side. This was one more instance of what the Celestial Dawn was facing in orbit, and the danger that the interference could pose to the colony below.
"If we lose Kendra Furnandiz, she will be the first colonist to die, though we had some close calls with beasts in the valley." Lieutenant Nickels stated. "Do you want me to send out a drone to pick her up?"
"Will a drone work that close to the valley wall?" the captain asked.
Lieutenant Nickels frowned. Electronics failed more the farther you got away from the center of Parimyr Valley.
"No, hold on that," Captain McKnight said. "She is part of a non-hybrid unit, correct?"
"Yes, captain," Nickels replied.
Leonard's sight faded as he accessed the roster of the non-Hybrid crew. In his mind's eye, he looked at the command structure, those she had worked with aboard ship, and those that were new to her experience working on the planet.
"Kendra seems to have a good working relationship with Matthew Utrasti. They worked together on a larger maintenance ship, a Rozhdenie Zvezd'i. Send Matthew out to get her. Have him take a rover as far as he can, still at a safe distance from the valley wall, and then proceed the rest of the way by foot."
"How do you want this order relayed?" Lieutenant Nickels asked.
"Quitely," the captain answered. "Have it come down through the ranks, quickly, so we get to her, but let's not alert everyone that we are sending out someone to rescure her."
"With all due respect, why are we treating her with kid gloves?" asked Goya. "For her insubordination, shouldn't she been arrest and detained in the brig."
"It may come to that," McKnight answered. "But sometimes we find what we need to know from non-hybrids by letting events play out. We cannot just interface with their thoughts on the Song."
Lieutenants Goya and Nickels exchanged a look, one of the methods of communication that could still be private, not tracked, indexed, and stored on the Song. Goya could tell that Nickels also disapproved.
"I will issue the order," Andre Nickels replied. "We'll get her back inside quickly." He turned his sight inward again, onto the song, and quietly issued the order. He suppressed his feelings.
The captain was being irrational. This would bring trouble.
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