=/\= PERSONAL LOG =/\=

[rosetto 0]

The wind was blowing viciously and it was everything he could do to keep the vessel righted. This required continuous heading adjustments and minor pitch corrections but they were there, 50 meters over the site and he could hear Nashwa coordinating the beam-out of the campers. He had no time to even look over at her and hoped that she was doing okay. He just waited for the signal that all were aboard so he could get back into orbit. In the back of his mind he remembered that THIS was all a simulated situation; none of this was real, but he didn’t have time to let that surface.

 

“I’m only picking up 16, lieutenant”, reported Beck. “I have no idea where the other 4 people are.”

 

She looked disgusted at him and replied, “Keep looking, Ensign.” And then on the com she continued, “Chief? Let me speak to someone in charge…”

 

From Nashwa, Rosetto received a secondary location. It was near the mountains about 5 kilometers away. Their sensors couldn’t pick up any life signs, however, it was reported that four teenagers were possibly in the caves there. He pulled the ship up and headed for the new site. When they arrived Nashwa told him that the chief and the doctor were beaming down to locate the others. He was to hover here until further notice.

 

The turbulence wasn’t much better here but at least he didn’t have to continually spin. The chaos seemed to ebb as they all waited for word from below. Rosetto even got a chance to look at Nashwa and see how she was handling all of this. She smiled at him, hold onto the console with one hand while tapping in some commands with the other. The old adage ‘careful what you ask for’ kept filling his mind as he continued to make minor pitch corrections to keep the vessel level.

 

“Yes. Aye, sir”, replied Nashwa to an incoming com. “They’re aboard! Let’s get out of here!”

 

With that the pilot pitched up the vessel and thrusted into the clouds. He recalled the Standard Orbit Entry procedures and laid in the program. They would be in orbit again in less than 2 minutes. He waited patiently for the autopilot to engage and when it did he sat back and relaxed in his chair. There was a huge smile on his face and Nashwa had one as well. They did it!