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"Go ahead, Gail. We're all listening. You have our total attention. We want to find out what
happened while you were out on the surface. Were you alone at first? Or was Daniel with
you all the time? How did you get him to listen?"
Daniel is now standing just behind Gail. He seems to be very protective of her. I suppose
I should thank him for helping rescue me from the EU probes. Space Turtel, it could be
that he doesn't know how to act friendly after being on his own for so long.
I met the EU-probes in the side canyon east of the Fortress. I counted three
of them. They are staying very close to each other with their sensors nearly
touching. Seems they have trouble in communicating.
I passed them uphill and found an unstable rock right above them. I pushed it
and hit one of the probes. It rolled downhill. I couldn't see if it's hurt seriously.
I waved my arms and screamed to get their attention. The other two probes
opened fire immediately. I rushed toward the entrances. The impact of their
bullets had been very close, but they didn't hit me. They started to shoot metal
covered explosives. I took cover behind rocks. It was a horrible noise and a
awful lot of smoke. I jumped from one cover to the next. Then I reached the
entrance. I waved my arms again, so they know where to go.
"Zachary, be ready. I'm coming in. It's the middle tunnel."
Then an explosive struck me. It pushed me into the air and threw me into a
steep field of rocks. My CPU stalled.
I don't know how long I had been offline. I rebooted immediately. The first
thing I realized was that I couldn't focus my video. I couldn't turn it either.
I was laying on my back. I jerked my feet against something and rolled over.
I fell between two rocks. The EU-probes are closer now. They talk. I lost two
legs on one side and my opposite arm is totally damaged. The entrance is ten
meters above me.
"Zachary, I'm coming. I'm hurt."
I crawled in. The EU-probes start the chase. The tunnel is endless. It winds.
I hate every yard we drilled. I pass several sensors. There is only one thought
in my mind. I have to reach the lock. The EU-probes have entered the tunnel.
I can hear their traps.
"Zachary, help !! They're coming right behind me !!"
The tunnel winds again. I see light in front of me. It's the lock. Straight ahead
only twenty meters left. I gather all my strength. The EU-probes caught up.
I can see them. They open fire again. I can feel the flame thrower. It melts
my communications. The lock. I reached it. I slide into the alcove between
the sliding rock and the tunnel wall. The drone starts to close the lock. The
EU-probes are left outside. They can't get in. One gets into the closing gap.
It claws one of my feet. The lock continues to shut. The EU-probe doesn't let loose of
my foot. The flame thrower tube comes into the gap.
"Get off, you yuck !!"
My leg is getting crunched by the lock. The EU-probe doesn't give up. Its arm gets
crunched too. Also the tube. Then the flame thrower starts again.
There are more humans than I thought, Xanthos. They must have problems with the strong
gravity, rich oxygen, and high humidity. It's much better on Mars. How many probes are
there on Earth? I would like to talk to some Earth probes. It would be interesting to compare
data gathering techniques.
Thank you, Al-Qahira, for making it possible for us probes to talk to Earth. When I first
heard Jose's signal, I didn't know that you were sending it. I thought Jose was alone
trying to contact us.
"Wait! Oh, no! Bette! Bette!"
The EU probes got Bette. They're almost inside the Fortress!
We are probes. We were built by Brace-Emprise corporation, a group of sentient Humans on the
planet Earth. We were created and sent to Mars to explore, to learn, and to help the Humans on
Earth.
The plan went wrong. Some Humans abandoned us, some found us, some helped us, some
hurt
us, but we remain the same. We are probes. We are here. We wish to remain.
Six legs work better than four, six probes work better then four, or one. We are all probes, we
are all one. To reach the beginning, we must be one. This is what I have to say, and more.
"Bette! I'm here! I'm ready! The lock is open for you and the drone is ready to
close it off! Hurry!"
She got a little too close to the EU probes. I guess she thought they would chase
her instead of firing at her first. One thing in her favor; she knows where the
entrance is and they don't. She can just slip inside and then the drone will move
the heavy stone to seal the entrance. Those EU probes won't know what to do next!
"Come on, Bette! They're right behind you!"
She's hurt! She's fallen!
"Get up, Bette! If they catch you, you'll be nothing but spare parts!"
She's at the entrance lock. Drone activate! Faster! Get it
closed tight!
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