by A21 Reporter Andy Clems
Concerns are mounting for the lives of Commander John Koenig, Doctor Helena Russell and Professor Victor Bergman. A routine exploratory mission to planet Klandra took a turn for the worse when Main Mission controller Paul Morrow lost contact with the party’s Eagle shortly before the expected touchdown time.
Morrow reports, “All systems were functioning normally, then their signal broke up completely. We know very little about Klandra, though our initial surveys revealed a barren uninhabited world that may prove suitable for terraforming and colonization. Commander Koenig decided that Klandra was worth further investigation and asked Doctor Russell and Professor Bergman to accompany him. Contact was lost for almost two hours, and I was just about to order a backup Eagle to begin a search mission when we received a faint transmission.”
Technician and communications expert Sandra Benes picked up the message from the planet. “The signal was very weak, it’s a miracle we detected it at all. Doctor Russell explained that their Eagle crashed in a mountainous region and added that Commander Koenig had sustained minor injuries on impact. Professor Bergman had been running diagnostics on the Eagle’s systems, but could not find any indication of why the craft suddenly lost control. Commander Koenig has ordered no further Eagles are to be launched until Professor Bergman can determine it is safe to do so.”
The landing party are equipped with survival rations for ten days and their life support systems are functional, but nevertheless some Moonbase Alpha personnel are less than pleased with the delay in launching a recovery mission, as chief pilot Alan Carter explains, “I’m ready to get out on that launch platform now, in fact I’d be on my way right at this moment if not for the Commander’s direct orders. I can’t stand this sitting back and doing nothing approach. I know I’m not the only one. Tony Verdeschi and Bill Fraser are raring to go too, heck a whole lot of us are. Until John Koenig gives us the go ahead, we hold back, but we’re making darned sure those Eagles are ready to go the second that call comes through.”
We will continue to bring you the latest developments in this situation as we obtain them from our transwarp receiver array.
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