HELIOS

Chapter 12

"Sir. We are approaching the last known position of the ISV Hyperion." The young ensign Basilio says, with a bit of a nervous expression on his face.

"Run a thorough sensor sweep of the area, and ensign."

"Yes Sir?"

"Steady." He takes a deep breath nodding his understanding of what I mean. Fear. It's like a disease that spreads, so you need to nip it as soon as it rears it ugly face. As I watch the passing stars I can't help but wonder what the Hyperion's crew felt in their final moments, was it any different than how Karen felt? Suddenly the sound of something solid hitting us makes me come back. "Report!"

    Ensign Basilio checks his instruments and rechecks them. "Sir, it's debris. We're entering a debris field that's wide spread." I look out of the main viewer and there is quite a bit of it floating around; This can only be one thing. "Sir I have an object, larger than the rest, at point 3 starboard point 4 down."

I look at the data on my personal screen and nod my head. "Helm, distance to the object?"

"Twenty five hundred kilometers, Sir."

"Put us right next to it." I hear someone come behind me on my right; I turn and glance seeing Mandy standing there, looking straight ahead. She's still upset with me after almost three days; I also have to acknowledge the fact that I've not tried to speak to her as well. The object appears small in the viewer. "Can you magnify the image?" The viewer's still work in progress, but it's getting there slowly.

"I'll see what I can do Sir." Replies the helmsman. The image increases bit by bit until we have a clear picture of the object. I sit back into my chair and fold my arms shaking my head. Before us is the aft section of the Hyperion, still somewhat intact. The whole forward section is gone; good God, no one survived that. It was a catastrophic pressure loss, even if the bulk heads came down it was over. There were only thirty eight crew members aboard the Hyperion. "Sir, any more than this and it will distort the image."

I nod. "This is fine Lieutenant; just park us right next to what's left of the Hyperion." I turn to Mandy. "Perhaps we can send a team in to see what can be salvaged, what do think Major?" Mandy looks at me and I notice a softening in her eyes, which makes me feel better. I'm sure it made her feel better that I deferred to her authority in this matter.

"That sounds like a good idea, and we can also perhaps recover some of the bodies of the crew." She faintly smiles, knowing how much of a sensitive issue this is for me, to recover some of those brave men and women would most definitely be important to me. They were my fellow explorers and friends, people who I spent much time around.

     "Alright then, let's get a team of Marines ready, to head over there check the wreckage."
I turn towards the Com officer. "Lieutenant Carrera Please contact Lieutenant
Monroe and Gunny Wilcox to come to my office."

"Yes Sir." She turns to do as ordered.

"Ant." I look at Mandy. "I want to go with that team and help recover anyone in their."

"Mandy..."

"Please Ant, let me go." It's a plea that strikes me home; back in Africa I denied her to go on a mission that might have had a disastrous result for her. I was glad that I didn't let her go, but her reputation took a hit as the commanders favorite. It's something she's never lived down.

I let out a breath and look at her pleading expression. "I have to let you know that this goes against my better judgement, as tactical commander." I see the set in her jaw, the raw determination in her. "Alright, but the Lieutenant and the Gunny will have operational command on this one." She looks down. "No argument on this one Major."