Episode Ten--A Glimmer Through The Clouds
Vance hardly even had a chance to react to the flare of the explosion before his systems went down...so nobody could hear the string of profanities that slipped through his lips. Or so he hoped, at least...he had a reputation to maintain, after all.
He watched with trepidation as Phobos inched marginally closer, waiting for the reinitialized systems to come back online. Orbital mechanics being what they are, and the law of inertia being in full effect regardless of the status of the systems, the plane continued to drift along at more or less the same orientation to Phobos as it had been, until thrusters were available to make the needed adjustments.
He weighed Cain's argument. There was, no doubt, a strong appeal to being the first people to re-establish contact with the SDF-1...but there was another consideration.
"<TC>I don't know...if we go in, and the support ships for the battlepods close in, we could be cut off from Ranger. Our orders were to assess the intentions of the enemy, see why they were massing at Mars, and we've got that intel. We can go connect with SDF-1, sure...but how does the Ranger get word on our situation? We're outside comms range, by design, so the aliens can't possibly trace a comm signal back to their position. If we get back to the Ranger, Captain Wilson can set up an intercept course, try to rendezvous with the SDF-1 away from the planet...and Ranger can get word back to Earth, so they can prioritize finishing the other space platforms and get some support out here."
He decided it was time to let Lt. Edwards start learning some of the lessons the hard way. "What would you advise, Echo Five? Do we go alert Earth that the SDF-1 is coming home and we need to brace ourselves for another round of alien attacks? Or do we let the SDF-1 know that there's another Earth ship out here...that only has two effective Veritech squadrons left, one of which is a bunch of barely-trained rookies? Which one provides the greatest strategic benefit to the Human race?" He paused...his tone was calm, still, reasoned, and he was actually asking for input. "Keep in mind, the SDF-1 apparently has problems with their comm system, because they have thus far been unable to get any word to Earth of their continued existence, so the only way Earth is going to get word is either from the Ranger, or from SDF-1 approaching Earth close enough for orbital sensors to pick them up. Until then, all Earth will see is a large object on an intercept course, with no way to determine if it's one of ours, one of theirs, or just a very long asteroid that's apparently going to plow into the planet."
He paused again, and added, "But if you can make a solid strategic argument for going to Gloval instead of back to Wilson, I'll do it."