Earth Orbital Station VII
UTC 2296:07:11:0942

Admiral Vales looked distressed, moreso than usual.

"I suppose," he said, "you know what this is about?"

"The Aloha mission?" I ventured. The Packard-class Survey Ship Aloha had been dispatched to the Altair
system for a potential first-contact scenario. Hush-hush stuff. I wondered if I'd earned a long debriefing
by Counter-intelligence by admitting I'd heard of it.

"It's been three months. We've had no word. Even allowing for the antimatter storms in that region, they
should have been able to transmit some report to Deneb Ansible Beacon by this point."

"Captain Stanton's a good man. I served with him on EFS Brazzaville. If anyone can do this it's him. And you of all people should know the havoc those storms wreak on communication. The fault may even be with the beacon."

Vales paused. He turned around briefly to glance at the high-definition video screen, currently displaying an
old-growth forest from his native Tennessee.

"It's not Stanton or the Packard class I'm worried about. It's something else. Commander, the Space Corps is badly underfunded. People don't care about exploring the universe, they care about celebrity scandal holos, quack gene therapies, and lower taxes. They think we're dead weight. Plenty of members of the Assembly agree."

"With all due respect, Admiral, what's this got to do with the Aloha?"

"A first-contact scenario is a chance to justify our existence! But we've got to break wide--get interest from
people who wouldn't read a United Earth media-release if you paid them. That's why we sent the kid."

"The kid, sir?"

"Sam Jones. The fourth member of the Aloha crew. Sex, age, and ethnic background are classified. Sam was going to be the face of this mission. But that won't work if the ship is lost. It will be the greatest public relations disaster in our history... if the ship is lost.  You're commanding the rescue mission: theEFS Gandhi launches in three days. If the worst should happen, you're going to rescue Sam at the last possible moment."

"Sir, wouldn't the worst be the loss of all hands?"

"Perhaps, but that's not what you're going to find. The rest of your orders will be aboard the ship. Good luck,
Commander."