Reckall nodded at Ishikawa’s approach.

“Captain Ishikawa, this is Captain Llarenos of Wellentänzerin. Although we had an unfortunate incident during my descent, she has agreed to lend her assistance in recovering the other pods.”

Ishikawa wisely did not ask about the burn marks surrounding the lieutenant’s suit countermeasure tubes, and simply let him continue.

“We are recovering the other pods that made the Meer der Vergessene Träume, but two pods made hard landings in the mountains. Drone Two is with one, and they require medical evacuation and treatment for whiplash and concussion.”

He pointed upwards, and, realising that Ishikawa had no heads-up display, feathered a comms laser at ultra-low amplitude over the captain’s retina to draw a blue box moving slowly across the sky.

“Shuttle 2 recovered Drone Four successfully, but is in the blackout stage of its descent. Once stable atmospheric flight is achieved, we can confirm its safe re-entry.”

The box wobbled and started moving more quickly.