"Sithspawn!" Flidan momentarily regretted swearing and then immediately decided the current situation warranted it. He assumed his colleagues were having similar thoughts. The Watchful Eye's viewscreen typically displayed the same unchanging sight - the planet's surface set against space's starry blackness. That unchanging view was now currently altered - it was chaotic and traumatic and confusing. Flidan did not enjoy experiencing any of those emotions.
Debris was spreading across the viewscreen, slowly expanding and filling the inky expanse. Chunks of metal and rock floated in every direction, and the debris field's expansion matched Flidan's growing anxiety.
"What happened?" Dr. Taare's question transported Flidan's thoughts back to the control room. He glanced at his colleague, her eyes wide and glistening, and he couldn't decide whether fear or sadness were to blame. Maybe it was both.
It appears to be some sort of collision, Doolan coolly responded. Despite being obvious, the Rodian doctor's words rang hauntingly true from across the control room. It must have occurred as we passed behind the planet.
This fact was also quite obvious to Flidan. The Watchful Eye's centuries old technology was hardly cutting-edge. In fact, any being that considered it state-of-the-art had disappeared from the universe long ago. As a result, the crew was essentially blind to everything outside its field of view - that's how it had been explained to Flidan when he joined the research team. Normally those limitations weren't an issue. Today was a glaring exception.
Of all the days...anxious knots replaced Flidan's quiet lament and they started taking root in his stomach. Time was limited before the Watchful Eye's orbit traveled back behind the planet. Tendrils of frustration were weaving themselves among his anxiety, and Flidan felt his chest tighten. He'd never missed a day's observation in nearly 3 years. He clenched and unclenched his right hand, channeling his frustration into the balled-up fist. The pointer and middle fingers' metal parts whirred with the motion, and the sound filled the silent control room. The highly educated trio continued staring at the viewscreen, completely unaware of what to do next.
Doolan eventually broke the silence. We need to collect more data about this event. His intelligence was unmatched, but the Rodian's observation in this instance was unnecessarily obvious. I recommend we send the probe to evaluate the debris field.
Flidan relaxed momentarily at that suggestion. They definitely needed to find out what had happened and whether the debris field posed any threat to the Watchful Eye. Flidan relaxed further as he realized he could attempt some work while they awaited the probe's return. He stopped clenching his right hand. Perhaps he could still salvage something from the day.
Flidan turned to his green-skinned colleague. "I concur. Launch the probe but ensure it can't be seen from the planet's surface. We don't want this affecting our observations, so only launch when we're sure nothing down will see anything."
