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Andrew reporting.
I have a new respect for Daniel. I had previously believed him to be unfocused, if
not totally deranged. I was convinced that he had reverted to his old anti-social
habits. This apparently is not true.
He is communicating with the Ipsolstai very effectively. He conducted an extremely long
involved discussion with Commander Perry. And he is able to do this without any kind of
translator box! He must have undergone some kind of modification during his captivity,
before he could talk to us.
We never did determine what happened to him during this period. I intend to ask him
about this at the first opportunity.
What a relief! I thought there was no hope for us and the Guardian-of-Younger-Nestbrothers.
Everything seems very different now. I thought very hard about why it is different. The
thing that was missing before is hope.
It's funny, but everything has changed. Andrew isn't mad anymore, Isaac is cheerful,
Daniel is thinking private thoughts, and I am happy to be with my friends.
Grand Zero, I will discuss the recent events with Isaac. He can see the terrible waste of
the recent battle. I don't want to think too much about the Ipsolstai lives that have been
lost, but he needs to talk and ask questions.
* * NO TRANSMISSION RECEIVED * *
Thanks for your words, Grand Zero. It's true, I advanced quite far since I had my
first contact with Jose, and it's a great honor for me that you call me ambassador
again. I like that title. Also, I'm very proud having you as my friend. With your
advice it's easy for me to trust my judgements. I promise that I'll be a strong and
patient probe. Is that okay?
I asked Elder Brother concerning that twenty question game that we are playing, if
that something that he is thinking about is on Earth, and he said that it's not
yet there. I keep guessing. It's not on Mars, but not yet on Earth.
Hmmm ... Do you have any idea?
I became too busy then to keep on playing with Elder Brother. The caterpillar came
up again. I strapped Gen at the middle unit as I did with Sojourner yesterday, but this
time it's me riding on top. It's scary going down into that black abyss. The caterpillar
is doing fine, but somehow I have that uneasy feeling that there won't be any way back.
No! Do you know what I think? I think that's just fear, and I shouldn't think too much
about it. I'm a Brace probe designed to explore, and advanced functions for
leadership as a strong and patient probe. I'm not going to disappoint Grand Zero.
"Zachary, can you flash me a light beam, so I know how far to go?"
I can see it. We are about half way down by now.
Dissentions unbecoming, unity restoring needful remaining.
Truth actuality determining.
We forge communal thought.
Dead, dead unrecoverable is our Brother, untimely at crux of serviceable span.
Circumstances to be determined.
What's he talking about? I thought we were going to tell how bad Caleb was. Grand Zero,
I want to let all of them know how everything happened, but I don't think I ought to interrupt.
Do you think they would be interested in how our probe society was formed? It really is
our most significant accomplishment. I will tell that part too, if I get a chance.
And I know they will like hearing how Zachary saved Burn.
That's me he's talking about!
Sojourner and Mao are doing fine on that steep slope. Mao put his thin legs deep into
the gravel, so he doesn't slide down, and Sojourner turned its wheels back, so it could
dig them in. It's an efficient routine that it is running concerning that. I think that NASA
did a good job.
I ordered Sojourner to do some soil analyses to keep it busy. Also, to find out about
the composition of the atmosphere down here. There is nothing new about the gravel.
It's mainly basalt, quartz, and some rocks also show a thin layers of limestone. But
the composition of atmosphere changed a little. Sojourner found traces of sulfur in it
and also minute amounts of methyl iodide incorporating Iodine-132 that emits weak
radiation.
"Okay, Enoch. We are down here. Can you see my beam?"
The radioactivity isn't so strong that it could harm us. It's just about 0.05 microcuries.
I asked Mao to check my thermocouple. But it's not leaking. Then I checked Mao's
and Sojourner's power stations, but they don't leak either. So, it must be that methyl
iodide.
"Enoch, about the Twenty Questions, ask Elder Brother if that something is at Wolf 359."
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