I have similar thoughts. I wonder if the message was sufficiently threatening that P&H decided a "scorched earth" approach was in order and saw to it that if they could not speak to "their probes" then no one could speak to any Probes at all.
Dr.D, what are your capabilities of determining the viability of the link to the transceiver dishes? Can we determine if there is a break here on Earth? If not, can we run remote diagnostics on the communications platform to determine it is working? [Does anyone know if the second platform was ever assembled?!?]
This could be a very serious situation. It could be the beginning of a long lapse in our ability to talk to the probes. If P&H are behind it, it may be a demonstration on their part that they are still able to control our access to "our Probes" and will prevent it unless we play by their rules. This could be the start of a new type of Balance of Power.
Koala, Captain, Team Andrew
Paranoia Mode = EXTREME