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“Of the ninety pods that are within our scope of operations, we have already determined recovery order,” Pirra said, her voice amplified to reach every Response Officer gathered.
Four full teams sat in the room, an amphitheater-like area with rising seating to let everyone have a clear view of her.
On the screen behind her, all ninety pods were highlighted in either yellow or blue. The majority were blue, which meant that rescue drones would be going for them. But some were in yellow; these were the special cases that would require unique operations to recover.
They couldn’t be sure of all the details just yet, but if there was a question, it was best to go in with a mixed team of people and drones than either alone.
“Sending assignments to each team now. We have ten pods we’re focusing on, which we’re splitting – Team One and Team Two will each take three, Teams Three and Four will take two each.”
The assignments went out, the officers of each team looking to each other, speaking quietly. She let them go a moment before speaking again.
“Due to the fact that the Maria’s Cog did not actually explode, the majority of her debris is moving relatively slowly,” Pirra said. She put a line on the large map.
“This represents the outer border of the largest debris. These objects are big enough that if they hit one of our shuttles or a pod, we can expect a total loss.”
That got some nervous chatter.
“The pods have been burning continuously since launch so that we can have as long a window as possible to get them out,” she said. “But our window is still tight – we will have just under one hour – fifty-eight minutes total to clear every pod.”
“Are we aiming to reorient and burn them towards the Craton?” Lorissa Kiseleva asked.
“No,” Pirra said. “We’re doing a connect and pop – put on a seal, open the pods, get the crew out. Our paths are optimized and the pods are relatively close to each other, but we’ll have just over two minutes to get any given pod emptied before we have to move on. If you have to go over that due to the injuries of the personnel within – you have to make it up on the next pod.”
Dr. Y stepped forward. “I will be remotely operating a drone on each shuttle to assist you in making medical decisions,” he said. “We are expecting contusions, lacerations, broken bones, and burns, both from typical fires and from radiation. All appropriate medical equipment will be on your shuttles.”
Pirra nodded to him. “Thank you, Doctor.” Her eyes went back to her teams. “At fifty-seven minutes I want every team to be done extracting and burning back. The debris threat is too serious for heroics. Am I clear?”
“Yes, ma’am,” the voices all said as one.
“Good.” She glanced at the timer on her HUD; their shuttles were almost, but not quite ready for them to board. “We have one minute for questions,” she said.
An officer stood. He was from Team Three, Pirra knew. “I know Teams One and Two are the more experienced, but you’ve got all the hardest cases for yourselves. If we finish ours first, do you want us to head for another on your list?”
“I cannot rule it out,” Pirra replied. “But most likely – no. I think you’re going to have your hands full enough. I know most of your team has never done a vacuum recovery like this before.”
Team Four’s leader cleared his throat. “How concerned are we about debris prior to the main field hitting?”
“It’s a possible threat,” Pirra said. “But not significant. Just orient your shuttles to minimize cross-section relative to the direction of incoming debris.”
No one else spoke.
“All teams, to your shuttles,” she ordered. “May the wind be at your backs.”
Other Terrestrial 
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