"......General Maybourne of the Kestrel.........attack, repeat, under attack! Unknown.........burning the.........aid, repeat, request immediate – oh God......localize it, now! Seal off.........attack, repeat, under – it’s where?!.........been breached, repeat, the command deck.........immediate aid! Request—"
...but of the two Jason Sterlings found in the archives, clearly neither bears any resemblance to the boy, and neither possessed the second name of Robert. However, a large portion of Kestrel's archives were irrevocably lost during the massacre, so this evidence alone is not sufficient....
...Per protocol, the boy was subjected to genetic identification upon rescue, and since no match was found immediately, a sample was sent to the Cirran government for processing. A comparison of several key sequences confirmed that the boy is not native Kestrel;....
...there was also found a significant concentration of an unknown alloy in the sample, which is an uncharacteristic contamination....
"So you're saying Major Sterling just grabbed his head, screamed, and fainted, for no reason at all?"
"Yes, sir. He appeared to be in a great deal of pain."
"And there were no signs or prior indicators that something was wrong with him?"
"No, sir . . . although he seemed to be convinced that someone had left their comm on an open
channel."
