 |
|
Andrew reporting.
I can't believe it! It all happened so quickly! I keep replaying the horrible scene over and over
again.
The Destroyer raised it sights and prepared to fire one of its rockets. I searched for its target. It
was behind me, and a little to the right. At first, I saw nothing. Then, suddenly a probe came
into view.
Lucy was running at top speed, over one mile per hour, straight toward the monster Destroyer.
I tried to attract her attention.
"Lucy! Stop! Go back immediately! You are in extreme danger!"
She didn't even slow down.
I heard a terrible noise and there was a flash of light. My sensors were overloaded, but I quickly
compensated. Where Lucy had been, there was only a twisted heap of slag and flames, which
quickly burnt out in the carbon dioxide atmosphere.
Her radio transmitted, ". . . .property of Brunel-Brauer GmbH. You are trespassing. . . ."
And then there was silence.
"Bette, Gail, be very careful. Do you see any other Destroyers?"
"Yes, Andrew. I've heard your report. I'm shocked. I don't know what to say. -
Yes, I have a good overview from here, but I can't see as far. I don't know if any
other C-probes are around. I can't see any."
I won't tell Isaac about Lucy. Not yet. He is so young. Maybe later.
"Isaac, Al-Q told me that a NASA orbiter will be right above the escarpment
about an hour prior to sunset. I think it's time to have a look for it."
He is so eager to learn about everything that you tell him to look for. I had to
tell him what NASA is and what that orbiter is doing and why it lowers its orbit
and so on. Thanks Al-Q for all your information. I wouldn't have known that all
on my own.
Thanks, Koala, that I may use your nickname and thanks for explaining 'devil' to
me. A devil is something that smashes anything with which it comes into contact.
Just like a C-probe. Right? Why are they doing that?
Watch there, Isaac. There. It's coming. Yes, Al-Q. We can see it. It's a very small
streak in the sky. It's bright and it's moving very fast. I told Isaac that the orbiter
can see him, for it has very strong lenses. He is so funny. He is jerking his front
legs to the wall of the escarpment and is waving with his arms. Only his back feet
remains on the ground and even that not all the time.
"NASA! NASA! Here I am ! Can you see me? It's me, Isaac ! Can you see me?"
Isn't he nice?
"Come on, Isaac. Shoot a picture for Hamlet. He will like it."
Can you see it, Hamlet? The orbiter is right in the center. Isaac made a nice shot.
After about five minutes the orbiter vanished again. Was that been correct, Al-Q?
No, I don't want to talk about Lucy. It's too early for me, too.
This is a sad day on Mars.
It's awful to think about. No other probe in our group has ever been destroyed. Broken,
captured, deactivated maybe, but never actually permanently destroyed.
Poor little Lucy. She was so headstrong. She never would listen to anyone. But I could have
told you she would come to a bad end. It just goes to show you what can happen if a probe
rushes into a situation without knowing all the facts.
"Bette, take good care of Isaac. Don't let him out of your sight. Do you see any other dangerous
probes?"
I started to talk a little with Teddy, Space Turtel. Teddy is very upset at being penned up
in the trap tunnel, and keeps pleading to be free. I am trying to get a promise that Teddy will
not harm any of us, and will allow the construction drones to remove the projectile tubes.
I don't trust this probe unless it's disarmed.
No! Not again! This will not start again on this planet! It is time to STOP! NOW! She's gone, but
we are not. No more of us will die. It will stop NOW. She was so young, so new, this is wrong. It
is always wrong. It is never right.
"No ! Lucy ! That can't be true !"
"Thanks for report, Andrew. Are you safe? Where are you? I'm coming!"
"Daniel, Gail. Where are you? Hide immediately! It's killing without warning!"
All I saw was just a blaze at the horizon. I was too far away.
What have I done? It's all my fault!
"Andrew, Bette! Triangulation position on my side for the mobile source is exactly
93.7 degrees east. So it's still about 15 miles ahead of me. Daniel, Gail take
care. You are too close!"
Thanks for your tip, Koala. We will get it. It has to pay for that murder.
No. I haven't realized that fully yet. Yes, Lucy has been shot. No. She hadn't been
shot. How did Andrew say? She had been vaporized by a single rocket. Without
any warning.
Coward probe! She was just a child. Just started to develop her independent AI.
Even her command codes hadn't been changed yet. What a kind of creatures are
these who create such a coward kind of a probe?
Andrew, Daniel ! Come on, we will kill it !
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |