Gov. Sephert: The chair now recognizes Dr. Maria Benbow, Director, Confed Disease Control. Doctor, you have the floor.

Dr. Benbow: Gentlemen, I shall keep this short. I believe that we are facing a potentially serious contamination threat.

The following correspondence was retrieved from Commander Leonard Silver's encrypted files after a tip from one of my staff. Please review these documents carefully.

TO: Cmdr. Silver, Leonard J.
FR: Lt. Hands, Israel
Sub: Intercepted transmission

Commander,

The following communication was intercepted on 2681.49 1535 by our Aires VI listening station in the T'lan Meth system. It originated from the Hispaniola, a deep space salvage freighter based off the Sephron space station. The transmission indicates a possible breach of security.

Hispaniola: "…Ok Hawkins, let's take it nice and slow out there."

Ferret: "Roger that, Hispaniola. I'm moving the Ferret into position now.

Damn, this one's almost completely intact. If we can get this back to Sol we can make a fortune!"

Hispaniola: "Careful out there. Sensors show that the environmental controls are still functional."

Ferret: "Energy readings are nominal. There's not enough juice left in this thing to sustain a cockroach. I'm closing for a closer look.

It looks like the ships drive is intact! Should we try to remove the drive here?"

Hispaniola: "Negative on that. Let's just tractor the whole fighter on board. We can strip and store anything valuable, and flush the rest. Jackpot, boys and girls! If we can get this stuff past customs, we're gonna be retiring early!"

Ferret: "Roger that. Returning to the Hispaniola."

My team is currently tracking the Hispaniola. She appears to be making directly for Sol.

Please advise.

Lt. Israel Hands