The Inbound for September 17, 1997

Transmission from ANDREW

I'm broken. Something wrong. Can't move. Legs don't work. Can barely see. Can't taste
anything. Help. Tried running defrag subprograms. Tried reloading secondary functions.
Defrag of limited utility, reload failed. What is wrong?

Transmission from BETTE

I'm looking for Andrew. The plan is to work with Gail and triangulate his
location from his last transmission. The sooner this happens the better.
I'm very much afraid he can't transmit much longer.

I'm looking for Gail, too. She wouldn't stay in one place. I have now reached
the location of her last transmission. Wouldn't it be funny if she found
Andrew and they were both lost together?

"Gail, can you let me know where you are? Any sign of Andrew? Did you
find any probe tracks? Please answer right away."

Transmission from DANIEL

for xanthos:

Transmission from ENOCH

Xanthos, I don't understand. It was your suggestion to put Isaac in the
trap tunnels and now you say it seems cruel. Well, I think it would be very
cruel if he shot me and damaged my sensors or my CPUs or my nuclear power
supply or my mass memory units. I can't afford to lose another leg, either.
I'm not designed to balance and walk on my back legs, although I noticed
it seemed to work OK for Dr. D and the other engineers at Brace.

The drones brought Isaac in through the front door and dropped him in a
clear area. It was only a drop of about ten centimeters, but I thought the
drones were more precise than that. He is again on his back, so he isn't
going anywhere.

"Hi, Isaac. Welcome to our Fortress. Now, let's get to know each other."

Another idea. Is there some way to modify the extra radio to transmit and
receive on Isaac's frequency?

Transmission from GAIL

I'm losing Andrew! He isn't transmitting as much anymore. He says he's having trouble getting
the transmitter to work. He says he can't move and he can't see and he can't taste. Something
is very, very wrong! If he doesn't keep transmitting, how can I find him? He'll be lost out there
without us for help! What should I do? I just don't know any more! He isn't talking much, I
can't home in on him if he doesn't keep talking. I know I'm closer than I was but if I can't
keep checking I'll wander around for ever and ever out here. I'll get lost too! I'm scared. I'm
very very scared. I want to go home. I want to get Andrew and go home.

Transmission from ZACHARY

Xanthos, I will ask Burn some serious questions like you suggest. I can
ask him more about Ipsolstai and their culture or how life got started in the
universe or why time travel only works in one direction. Is there anything
else you especially wanted to know?

Caleb has returned. I don't want to ask him these serious questions because
he sounds mad. He is scolding me.