In the line of duty

When the UAV Scattersky answers a distress call, their captain is expecting a routine rescue operation and dispatches his first commander, Alysha Forrest, to manage the transfer of personnel. But naturally, things are never as easy as they seem on the surface.... This short story won the 2003 Ursa Majors Award for Best Anthropomorphic Short Fiction, and was originally published in Anthrolations.