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We left the Japanese landing site. We are heading to Stage One now. Elder Brother
wants to adjust it to his frequencies, so he can use it to coordinate his warriors.
Elder Brother is busy testing his new toy, as he calls Gen. The J-probe is doing fine.
It is even faster than a warrior. I estimate its top speed is about twenty miles per hour.
That's nearly double the speed of our warriors. So, Elder Brother sent Gen ahead of
us, called it back, kept him circling around our formation and sent him ahead again.
He did that for several times. It's fun to watch them.
"Oh, no! I lost it. It ran out of range."
What a misadventure! We never can outrun it. It will move on for ever and ever.
Elder Brother looks at me sorrowfully and so does Mao. It's a shame.
We reached Stage One. We didn't talk about Gen. Maybe it will be stopped by some
natural barrier or will fall into a fosse again. That's the only hope we have. Elder Brother
is at the communications now. He is busy again. Now he is coming back.
"EB III calling EB One. EB III calling EB One. Can you hear me EB One?"
"This is EB One. I can hear you loud and clear."
It works. Elder Brother is a genius ...
"Elder Brother look there! Something is crossing the plains. It's very fast moving.
It's heading directly toward us. No, Elder Brother, it isn't Gen. It's bigger. Get your
warriors ready. Now!"
Sorry for false alarm. It's Enoch. He was flying on a low level. Believe me, I really
didn't realize that it was him. I really didn't want to scare you.
"Hi Enoch. Great to see you. May I assign you a first mission? We lost Gen."
Gabriel has not come back yet. We are still alone in here. Frankly, I want to wait to
see what happens with NM, but I also want to escape. If Gabriel brings weapons
back with him, I suspect Daniel won't be able to stop him again. Isaac wants to
go as long as we don't meet any more Ipsolstai. I would like to agree, but leaving
won't help if we don't know where to go.
Isaac's ball had words on it again. It was very brief.
The object in the corner is watching you. I
t must be blocked to escape.
..NM..
I went looking at corners. I played a game with Isaac, like what's next, but in corners.
He found it. I didn't really notice it before. So much here is strange, it just didn't
seem at all worrisome.
It is just sitting there. It doesn't seem to move and I can't see anything in it,
not really, but my taster doesn't reflect from it. I can't taste it at all, it is as
if there were a hole there. Very, very strange.
Andrew reporting.
"Bette, Hamlet wants us to share my exploration data. That way, in case we are
accidentally separated, you and Isaac and Daniel will know how to get to the
I-flyers or the I-floater. No, it's all right. I have absolutely no intention of any
of us getting splitting up, I want you to know that.
"What can we use to block that thing in the corner? Moreover, how trustworthy
is this Nelson Mandela? Other than those cryptic messages in Isaac's toy, what do we
really know about him?"
I wish I knew more about Ipsolstai politics. Daniel said that Burn, our supposed
advocate on Mars, was betrayed. What did he mean by that? Is Burn all right? Who
betrayed him? I have the impression that many unknown forces are affecting our
future.
Hamlet, I left the Ipsolstai complex and I'm heading directly to Stage One
to meet Zachary. I will fly close to the ground, so I'm not easy detectable by
the Amphibians. Okay, I won't attack the mini groove generator yet.
Hamlet, Gail told me that you were working on a way to get rid of the Amphibians
once and for all, but you will need to use the Groove to do so. That sounds interesting.
Please, come up with your plan as soon as you can. We need your help badly.
I already can see the Rough Ground ahead of me. Now I can see the warriors too. They
built a wide-spread formation defense. There is Zachary. Wait a minute! The warriors
are turning their missiles launchers toward me.
"Zachary! No! Stop! It's me, Enoch!"
Wow! They are pretty nervous. What? They lost Gen? Okay, I'll have a look for him.
I turned the I-Flyer to the south and increased height. I'm a little more exposed that
way, but I think that it should be easy to find the Gen on open plains. I only hope that
it didn't fall into a fosse or got stopped by some rocks, so I can't see it from the air.
What did I tell you?
"Zachary, I found Gen. It is exactly below me and still moving. I'm tracking it. Ask Elder
Brother, if he can reach it by Stage One. We are right now about thirty miles southwest
of Isaac's cave."
I lowered my altitude again. It's safer that way. I'm watching Gen. It's truly a funny-
looking probe.
Hamlet, I got a message from Miss Chang:
Sugar candy! Mr. Parker, how did our target know
that you were going to San Francisco?
How does he know so much about you?
I want security doubled! And send someone to watch Parker!
Something very strange is going on here.
Hamlet, are you saying that Burn has been reproduced? If that is true, how come
there is still only one of him? Theresa is very interested in those six little oblate
spheres that you call eggs. She tried to pick one up to analyze it, but Burn got
very excited. I offered Burn our help, as you suggested, but he just wants us to
leave quietly.
We didn't get a chance to leave quietly. Just then Caleb and three other Ipsolstai came in.
"Theresa, use the translator box! I want to know why they seem to be so upset."
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