The First Fatality Report

 


YEAR: 52028 HE

SHIP: Matriark II, Super-Frigate Exploration class

SUPERVISORY COMPUTER SYSTEM: Hahaoya X80 (HX80)

LOCATION: Prime-Captain Larkina’s office

IN ATTENDANCE:

PRIME-CAPTAIN LARKINA, SUB-CAPTAIN PINES, SERGEANT FRINTS, PROF SINUAH PHYSIOLOGY DEPT, SHIP’S CORONER BETNA

 

FATALITY REPORT

PINE: At 28:00 Hahao time, we lost private Heart. An unidentified Humanoid emerged from the pond and dragged her under. We were unable to neutralise the threat before she drowned. The hostile target was eliminated with sustained Blade Rifle fire.

LARK: I am looking at you captain. How did one hostile get the better of twenty?

PINE: I checked the pond. The scan came back green.

LARK: Clearly the scan failed. What were you doing gathering water from a pond before virology and zoology had given you the okay?

PINE: I gave no order to collect water. Private Heart operated independently while I was supervising the making of our camp. The footage will back me up.

LARK: I don’t know how you can be so cold about loosing a member of your team. You are responsible for discipline in the field. I have seen the footage. At no point have you issued a command to stay away from the water. I saw how that grey-skinned alien took her under. I want to know why the team were relaxed enough to let it happen?

PINE: I blame the drones. We rely heavily on their scans. The pond was cleared and Heart was off duty. It’s a devastating accident and it won’t happen again.

LARK: It shouldn’t have happened in the first place. You made the decision to let your team relax out in the field. I never agreed to drop the threat level. None of your team should have been off duty.

PINE: We had drones running constantly. There was nothing moving in a twenty mile radius. I can’t account for the stealth of that thing that lurked in the pond. The only positive is we have a specimen to study.

LARK: The specimen is being tested for viruses as we speak. But I want to know from the Sergeant the exact sequence of events that led up to the death of Private Heart. Sergeant Frints you were on watch by the pond, tell us what happened.

FRIN: Heart went down to the pond. She started skimming stones. She had no fear. The scans were green. Next thing I see, a pair of eyes emerge from the water. She reels back but its hands reached out and grabbed her. Before I could get a shot the grey-skin beast took her under the water. When there was no chance of her coming back up. We fired all we had into the pond.

LARK: Thank you Sergeant. Betna, does this match the cause of death?

CORO: The cause of death was drowning. But there were bruises around the neck.

LARK: She must have been terrorised before she died. Whatever this thing is, it fooled our heat and motion scans. We cannot rely on our drones anymore. I still think this could have been avoided if your team had been more vigilant Captain Pines. I am suspending you from active duty for a month. Captain Ortner will take your work load. You will complete a refresher course in leadership in hostile zones.

PINE: I think that’s a bit harsh. We have never encountered cold blooded stealth aliens before.

LARK: That’s all the more reason for you to re-sit your training course. We may encounter worse things during our time here and you need to be triple checking your perimeters, and operating without over-reliance on drone scans.

PINE: That thing could have got anyone at anytime. I shouldn’t be punished for encountering a super-predator.

LARK: You are being re-educated. And if you continue to argue with your superior officer, I will demote you. Do we have a problem with my ruling Captain?

PINE: No problem Captain.

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