Scene 2: A Broken Wing (Control Room)
Year 4392 IMC (in the Modern Calendar)


Location: Blue Phoenix Mission Control 


The mission was to go to station IMS-10 (abandoned by Tursa sixty years ago, and therefore available for salvage), a small station still in geosynchronous orbit. The crew of the Falcon IV capsule, which includes Blue Phoenix's first spacefaring astronaut as well as Mission Specialists Kevin Isley and Barbara Williams, were sent there with an eye towards assessing repairs, and the hope of turning the IMS-10 into a base for further missions. 

It was going well. And then it was not - really not: Kevin Isley is dead. Barbara Williams is unconscious. Both Barbara and the last remaining astronaut are in the Falcon IV capsule, and have declared quarantine. 

The surviving astronaut is still in communication and has reported the accidental release of a bioweapons agent; the IMS-10 was apparently a secret Tursan bioweapons research facility. This led to the death of Mr. Isley and the illness of Ms. Williams. If true, this means the capsule may be compromised. Quarantine procedures in place would dictate the destructive sterilization of the Falcon IV capsule, overriding autopilot safety controls so that the capsule burns up on re-entry.
 
At and as Mission Control, Taylor Orkney used the remote auxiliary control systems to detach the Falcon IV capsule from the station and called an all hands meeting for input on the decision. And as per pre-established protocol, this is Mission Control’s call. 

[CHARACTER SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOLLOWS]

Dr. Riley Eckhart
There’s an old, Tursan bioweapons facility up over in the IMS-10?! Well… if Junior decides to let them land, you would like to take a look at what's there. Yes, it goes against quarantine procedure, but it’s people’s lives, and some of the procedures and regulations you saw when you worked for the Ministry of Health were put there by idiots. It’s all on Junior to decide - no real rules here, at least none that deserve any respect. But if the decision is to let the Falcon IV land, you have some thoughts on how to maintain the health of your not-yet-deathly-ill astronaut and reverse the progress of the disease in Barbara Williams - a “bioweapon” isn’t magic. Everyone who’s not yet dead may yet live. 