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Kurk, thanks for your outbound. I also think Sojourner was wandering. However,
we had to leave it behind. Enoch and I went on by foot , so it wasn’t easy to get
past the outpost that we saw on Friday.
But we made it. We were lucky. It didn’t detect us. It didn’t even move a single inch.
Nevertheless, we still remain very cautiously passing the broken ground. I expected
more of these hidden outposts and I wasn’t wrong.
"Enoch, can you hear that?"
There are several pings. Very close. About five, maybe ten. They are coming from
various directions. Their sources must be hidden somewhere behind these mounds.
Not quite a comforting feeling.
We stopped to come up with a plan. We decided to remain quiet but also to stay
apart from each other. Not too far of course, just by one hump or two and also still
in visual range. That way we can triangulate the pings and also won’t be hit at the
same time if a C-probe would detect us.
We were quite successful with that, though we had to detour a lot. We saw some
of their rocket launchers, but we didn’t meet any C-probes. By now we could
manage to keep ourselves away from them.
We have to get to their center. We have to stop them all by one strike.
We made it. We successfully went through the broken ground. Sometimes Zachary
went ahead, sometimes I did. It was just like a chess game to pass the pings so they
didn't see us. We made it. We reached the edge of the broken ground.
The terrain in front of us is now sloping down to an endless plain. There is still an
open field that we have to pass until we can look down from the rim of the plateau.
I will send you an image of that.
The image is facing exactly in the direction where most of the pings are coming
from. They are many and spreading now even more than ever. Back behind us are
pings too. We passed them already and they can't see us. Zachary had a good idea
again. He moved on to the north, so we have a good base to triangulate them all.
It’s a lot of work to map them without talking too much. As it looks like, there
are no pings in those hills that you can see in the image, though you never can know.
However, the center is straight ahead, and it is just down at the bottom of that slope.
I’m waiting for Zachary. He should be back soon. Let’s see what his opinion is. We
don’t like to talk too much over a large distance.
Andrew reporting.
So many things have happened that I can hardly recount all of them. The ride in the
Ipsolstai flying craft was the most incredible, exciting experience. After Daniel and I
were aboard, the craft zoomed away from the ridge at 50 k/hr. I have never traveled so
fast before, not even when Enoch was driving the Ipsolstai tram. At least Enoch stayed
at ground level. First we were on the ridge, then we were high above it. I saw Gail on
top of the cliff. She was waving the rope and signalling us.
"Look, there's Gail! Let's pick her up!"
I pointed to her and tried to get Burn's attention, JASE. But when I touched his tegument,
he contracted into a round form and headed down toward the cliff face. I still don't knw
how he ever managed to fit the craft through the small opening, which immediately
closed behind us. The craft floated gently down to the floor of a large cavern, and Burn
rushed us out.
The three of us boarded a tram, the normal kind that runs on tracks through the Ipsolstai
complex. Daniel seems quiet. I will take the first opportunity to question Burn about his rescue
plan, JASE. And I don't know why he didn't stop for Gail.
Bryce, thanks for checking on JASE and Space Turtel. I need all the advice I can get.
Thank you for the nice communication, Space Turtel. At least I still have some friends.
I waited all weekend for someone to come and get me. I got bored with waiting. Now
I am cautiously moving toward the Fortress. I could go looking for Zachary and Enoch,
but they are playing games with those ugly C-probes.
The opening in the cliff face near the glyphs closed up, Space Turtel, right after the flying
tram with Burn and Andrew and Daniel went inside. You would think that they would stop
and pick me up, wouldn't you?
I'm not transmitting anything to them until they apologize. They are totally on their own now.
The last thing I remember is Gabriel and his Ipsolstai crew coming toward me and Isaac. I
suspect some time has elapsed, like before, but I am not sure how long it has been. I will
try to find out so I can reset my chronometer. It was not as horrible as my first encounter
with the Ipsolstai, but I will never get used to being taken apart. Isaac has no sense of
missing time.
If I have a new transmitter, Space Turtel, I can't tell any difference. Isaac says "Hi" to
you and the others on Earth. Hmm. He seems several decibels louder.
It hasn't been very long, has it, Space Turtel? But long enough so that Andrew and Daniel
were rescued? Andrew and Daniel, but not Gail? What happened? Why not Gail? Now I'm
not sure I can trust the Ipsolstai at all.
We are waiting for something. Gabriel keeps looking toward the doorway of this room. I hope it's
something good for a change. He seems anxious. I will ask the obvious question, Space Turtel.
"Why are we waiting, Gabriel? What's next?"
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