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Andrew reporting.
I am in a large chamber in the lowest part of the Ipsolstai complex. It appears to be
a storeroom of some kind. There are numerous cartons and unidentified electronic
equipment, all very dusty. The room is poorly lit; I am navigating mainly by taster
instead of the usual visual sensors.
I took time to examine one of thirty-six large storage jars because of its familiar
appearance. My expectations were confirmed; they contain the same crystalline
substance C6H12O6 which we found on Mars.
"Gail, I have been thinking quite a bit about our probe society. We probes are still
a team, even though I am not present on Mars to protect you and Theresa. I must
delegate that duty to Enoch and Zachary. I think (quite illogically because of
lack of data) that probes have a special role to play in the Ipsolstai/Delemrek conflict."
An Ipsolstai came in today. It took an instrument and pushed the end into the dark sand
the tree is in. The Ipsolstai checked the results and then put a round container on
the floor.
Using this promptly Gabriel says. Tree for needing it.
Isaac says that we should ignore it. He hasn't been speaking much lately but when he
has spoken he keeps saying bad things about the Ipsolstai. I don't think I blame him,
but I'm starting to worry.
Burn showed me how to whirl and how to move the globe. He told me that I shouldn't
understand the globe as a globe, where I'm moving, but as the vehicle itself that I'm
moving. To hold the nose steady is much easier that way. I just have to shake the globe.
Burn also showed me how to change to a certain altitude more efficiently. The trick is
to stop the quick change precisely.
We trained on that a lot. I became better and better. Five seconds is quite a lot of time
to shoot an Amphibian. But I can't kill them with a single shot. They wear a strong armor,
so I have to keep the beam on them for quite a time until I cut through. That's what that
whirling is all about.
Then they changed to multitasking. I had to fight against ten Amphibians at once. I got
three of them, before they hit me. Burn was very pleased about that. He told me to use
the missiles also. I can't hit the Amphibians that way because the missiles are too slow.
But they have to jump back into their black box, and I'm rid of them for a short while.
I tried. There were no missiles when I pushed the button, but the dummies disappeared.
My score raised to five of ten, then six and finally seven. Then they increased the speed
of the simulation, and I leveled at five out of ten again. It's stressful.
"Andrew, Gail said that I should send you the programming concerning my flying skill.
That's a good idea. I will add that attached to my inbound transmission today, so you'll
become a hot pilot like I am. I wish you good luck and a successful escape too."
Al-Q, did you get that? Can you upload it, please?
Hi, everybody.
It was too noisy with Enoch whizzing around and shooting virtual Delemrek, so I went
just a little way into the tunnels where it is quieter.
I have been entertaining myself by looking at digital images from my files. Here is a nice one that Bette took.
It makes me sad to think of the station that we were building, with greenhouses and crew quarters for Stage 3 and storerooms. The permanent base would be finished by now, if it weren't for the Ipsolstai and the C-probes. To build it was part of our original mission.
"Miss Chang? Are you going to send a Stage 3? We aren't quite ready for it. We've been awfully busy lately..."
Elder Brother adjusted the prototype laser to one of our functioning warriors in order
to test the electronic control. He seems to be very satisfied with the result.
"We can immediately start with serial production. I want to mount six lasers per
warrior. We have about fifty of them left, so I will need about three hundred of
them. Okay. I've enough semi finished casings and five benches working, so let's
hurry. It's still a lot to do."
Elder Brother asked me to have a look what else we could take with us. He said
that he doesn't know, when we will come back to this landing site again. Maybe
we won't come back at all.
Okay, I have the sunsails by now. Then missiles and ammunition would be fine of
course. Maybe some of these electronic components too. What else? Maybe that melting vat.
We could use it as a dome. It's a strong shield. No, that doesn't make any sense. It's
much too heavy to transport.
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