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Andrew reporting.
We made no attempt to resist or flee when the Ipsolstai and their robots approached
us. All we could do was play possum. We were taken into custody and interrogated,
both individually and as a group.
We repeatedly told them our story, about why we left Mars, how events at Wolf 359
led to our being aboard the Guardian-of-Younger-Nestbrothers, and the unusual behavior
of the ship's computer. They are very surprised; except for the Amphibians, the
Home World has never before been invaded. As to how we knew its location and
arrived here, the Ipsolstai are very suspicious.
We have now been notified that we need to tell our story one more time. We are going
to Court. The Endless Emperor himself has taken an interest in our story.
Something unusual has happened. The static that was interferring with the
Outbound transmissions we received from Mars has stopped. Could it have been some
sort of sunspots or other solar interference? That is only speculative. Anyway,
Hello, Mars! We now hear you loud and clear.
I can't believe he said it. Andrew actually said it.
"Take me to your leader."
Here is the Imperial Palace.
It is a long, low one story building occupying five square kilometers. It is one
of the oldest structures on the planet, predating their recorded civilization.
Legend says that it was built to contain the Chaos Garden with its singing crystals.
The shifting colors and reflections must cause the average Ipsolstai to become
blinded, confused, and lost forever.
We are waiting for our audience with the Endless Emperor. We are near the entrance
to the Chaos Garden. Isaac is full of curiousity about it. He keeps raising his sensors
in an vain attempt to see over the wall.
"No, Isaac! Don't go in there! Isaac, that's not funny! Isaac!"
"3.2.3.5.2.4.7.7.9"
No previously existing information.
Clan or sept patronymic?
"Spur" is known by reputation only, as highly placed military leader.
Unknown if this is personal name or job title.
Treat him well.
Be careful.
I think I made a mistake. The Amphibian is not attacking Theresa. It's more nearly
the other way around. It's just that we thought of them as enemies for such a long time.
"Theresa, don't bother him.I'm sure he likes you, but not if you don't stop annoying him."
Since I didn't want to be left out, I too have downloaded Daniel's rocktalk file
so I could play, too. We're telling him about us, and Spur is telling us about
his people and their desperate need for more space. A "successful" species,
with no serious predators. An overcrowded world, pushed to the limits of their
food supply and a little bit beyond. They absolutely need a warm, watery planet
where their young can be hatched and nurtured through their developmental stages
to adulthood.
That's funny. Sounds like he's describing Earth.
Spur thought of a good game to play, and we all agreed on the rules. It's a lot of fun.
Rocktalk is fun. Spur piled many new patterns, so Zachary, Gail, and Theresa
had a chance to become familiar with it. They like it too. It's easy to understand
and quite challenging, even more than the Twenty Questions game. Daniel really
did an outstanding job when he built up that great file.
Now it's mainly us piling up patterns. That's not as easy as reading them. The
size and the shape of each rock must fit, and you also need a lot of them to
pile up even a simple sentence. Zachary volunteered to sort the rocks, so we have
them separated by size and subdivided by their shape.
Spur is asking easy questions. Where we came from, and what Earth looks like, and
about Gen and Elder Brother, and who is sending the Outbound, and if there is water
on Earth, and just general data about atmosphere and so on. That makes it easy to
stay concentrated how to set up the patterns.
When we became better, Spur had the idea of a contest. We made easy rules. Each
round Spur asks three questions, so each Probe is set. Then Spur peeps to start the
game. Giving him the answer first wins three points, second two, third one, and the
probe who lost has to sort rocks. Guess, who is leading ? -- You won't believe it.
It's Theresa. It's true! She has 126 Points. Zachary got 114 by now and me 108,
while Gail trails at 87.
"Come on, Spur! Don't get lazy. What's next!"
Theresa has a good way with Spur. The way it looks to me, they made friends.
She also won the contest. She reached 200 points first, followed by Enoch and me.
Gail stopped playing when she fell more then fifty points behind. She said she
is designed to be an explorer Probe and not to solve rocktalk puzzles. I know
what she means, but in my opinion that contest was a good training to practice
rocktalk.
I asked Spur to set up a pattern that tells me how he got into that part of the
cave although it is sealed off by the ice field. As far as I deciphered his rocktalk
patterns, he said that his armor allows him to jump into something that they call
black box, because it is all dark in there. Also, they can stay in there as long as
they want. Jumping out, they can change location preset by a navigation control.
When his armor broke, he was catapulted in here, but locked in.
Do you know what? In some way the Amphibians are much easier to handle than all the Ipsolstai put together.
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