<div class="floatleft">(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/c7/0b/40/c70b40fa22c31104fc1dd073630d1a4c.jpg)</div>Karn suppressed a sigh. She assumed the science staff was good at their highly specialized jobs- she had no grounding in those fields, and so no way to judge, and so refrained from trying. But they were like<em>verdammt</em>children, needing to be led everywhere, when their lives intersected with the real world. At least they weren't arguing with the Marine officer, the way they had with her so often over the simplest precautions in the field. Perhaps it was true what they said, that a near-death experience focuses the mind.<br/><br/>"<em>Goed</em>," she said with a firm nod. "I have a drone I can send with you, to allow me to monitor your progress from Operations. If you have an opportunity to restore any of the internal cameras over there, it would be helpful, but of course it is not a mission priority." Almost apologetically, she explained her reasoning to Brekke: "We have people unaccounted for in that wing. It is unlikely they still live, but..." She shrugged, as if it were of no great importance. "If any do, they are my responsibility." It would be nice of some had survived, especially her on-and-off lover, but she held no real hope of that. Still, her conscience- or her drive to do whatever she did well, at least, since she was rather sure a conscience was something she did not have- demanded she give them every chance.<br/><br/>Unlocking a bulky case that was suspiciously near to hand, she unloaded a gossamer-winged machine about a meter across. A large part of its dragonfly tail was clearly an RF receiver and boom mike, while its unnervingly insect-like 'eyes' were a pair of multi-spectrum fisheye cameras. Its wings didn't flap, of course, but could deform to provide flight control; the thing was driven by a trio of eight-cm many-bladed fans. "I had intended to send one of these over immediately after the crash," she growled as she checked the levels on the drone's power unit. "But<em>Herr</em>Administrator insisted we do nothing to disturb the wreck until your forces arrived, Sergeant Brekke." This time, she made no attempt to hide her annoyance with and dislike of her boss.