"You wanted to see me, Captain Wolder?"

"Yes. The ambassador has ordered me to recall the satellite immediately."

"OK...I can start on that as soon as it's back in range. About four hours."

"I presume it will be a fairly complex process, maneouvering it back into our orbit?"

"Well, fairly."

"Lots to go wrong?"

"Not really; the computers do all the calculations."

"And if the engines- just for example- didn't fire?"

"It would stay in its current orbit, gradually decaying. But that's really not very likely, Captain. They worked yesterday."

"It was in storage a long time before we launched it. I think it's quite likely that there will be problems. And then, of course, we'd have to send a shuttle to retrieve it."

"Oh. The shuttles aren't really equipped for that kind of work. We'd have to get a special one sent out. It would take weeks."

"Yes, it couldn't possibly be done any faster. Well, when the satellite comes back into range please recall it. We'll just have to hope those engines behave themselves, won't we? Carry on."