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The lights in the ship dimmed and brightened three times, then there was a little
shudder. My sensors went inactive for some period of time, I don't know how long. My
internal clock stopped working for as long as my sensors stayed off.
Nelson seems a little unsteady. His tentacles aren't moving normally and his eyestalks
are a little droopy. I think his sensors went offline for a bit too. I guess he isn't
used to it like we are. Other Ipsolstai occasionally come into the room, but mostly
they seem to leave us alone. When they do come in they only talk to Nelson, not us.
Nelson says he wants to take us for a tour, but needs permission first. I wonder
whose permission he needs? When Daniel heard this he moved forward until he was standing
in front of Nelson. Nelson seemed surprised, Daniel doesn't talk to him much.
"Please, I wish to see."
"The One is here."
"In part."
"I wish to see,"
"the One."
Is he serious? Nelson is acting strangely. I don't think he undertands.
Being lucky is good.
Even for the One.
The One must be cold.
Low temperature.
If it is not,
the One's mind dies.
There is nothing else.
The One is,
only where it is cold.
The One is here.
In part.
I tried to fix the I-flyer today but I couldn't even begin to understand it. I managed
to open one of the access panels but everything is all kinds of different colors, and
there don't seem to be any wires at all. I don't understand any of this at all. I think
we need an Ipsolstai to come fix it. I'm considering taking off again and trying to fly
the rest of the way, but it seems like a bad idea. I may not have a choice.
We can hear fighting. There are a lot of explosions coming from the direction of the
Amphibians. There are a whole lot of them and then, nothing. Then they start up again.
I don't know what is happening, but I think I'm happy I'm no where near that. We were
lucky not to get killed when I attacked the Amphibians, I don't want to risk it again.
Yet.
Andrew reporting.
I can't believe that Daniel is playing games with Nelson and our Ipsolstai hosts.
It is one thing for him to act mysterious and tease us with his oracular pronouncements,
but I don't believe the Ipsolstai would find his games amusing. I have no evidence
that Ipsolstai even have a sense of humor. Daniel, behave yourself, play possum,
and be quiet. We just got out of a predicament; don't get us into trouble so soon.
I must say that I admire the way Bette has conducted herself during our expedition.
She has been a mentor to Isaac, kept Daniel in line (more or less), and behaved with
courage and dignity. Whatever she suffered when the Ipsolstai took her apart
has not affected her functionality in the least.
Even now, she has impressed me with her strong desire to find out What's Next.
Poor Burn. I wish I could help him somehow.
Caleb's Ipsolstai friends have surrounded him, They have weapons which are pointed
toward him. Burn moved slowly away from the soft container which holds the eggs. He
is making a rebuttal to Caleb's statements. I don't understand everything he is
saying, even with the translator box, but he seems to be alternately sad and indignant.
I wanted to leave quietly, while their attention is away from us, but Theresa will not go.
She says something important is about to happen.
Elder Brother One is transmitting again. His antenna was totally destroyed. I couldn't
even find a small piece to put back on. I searched for one of the ruined C-probes to see
if there was an antenna to salvage. I brought it back to Elder Brother and connected it.
He must have come very close to being directly hit by one of the projectiles. Apparently
the explosion triggered some sort of reset sequence, because he is running through
systems self-checks. I can't get his attention just now.
I know he will grieve at the loss of his C-probes. And I'm not sure we have enough
left for another skirmish with the Amphibians.
"Enoch, what direction were those strange craft headed? Gail keeps mentioning some
newly arrived Ipsolstai troops, Imperial Annihilators, she called them. Maybe that's
what those ships are. Is your I-craft still operational? We need you off the ground,
for reconnaissance, to tell us what direction the Amphibians are headed."
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