- Missing: them cobbling their equipment together, - sending the remote activation sequence + Michelle and James drag the comms unit off the truck bed and carry it + inside. Jack grabs a large box filled with all sorts of cables and spare + parts and follows them. Annie follows not long after, carrying a stack of + thick binders of documentation. They walk up the stairs and set their + things down somewhere off to the side. Then, they go for round + two, fetching a generator, some tools, two other + things from the truck. + +
+
+ They have tried cranking the dish around by hand
+ at some point before this. The tilt mechanism is completely seized up,
+ the pan mechanism spins freely and doesn't work.
+ Jack begins to disassemble the gearbox for panning the dish around.
+ Michelle looks up at the tilt mechanism and gets an idea.
+ James, help me up there.
+ With his help, she jumps up to the dish and clings to its underside.
+ From there, she climbs up to the center.
+ She calls down to James: Can you pass me
+ a screwdriver? Need a large flathead.
+ He gets one from the toolbox.
+ Catch!
+ Thanks.
+ Sitting on a thick cable hanging from the dish, she begins to remove
+ the cover of the gearbox in front of her.
+ Jack looks at her and says: Be careful with
+ your fingers up there.
+
+ After a while, she gets the cover loose and it falls towards her.
+ She struggles to keep her balance for a moment as the cover lands wedged
+ between her legs and the central post? beam?
+ holding the dish. With some effort, she manages to wrangle it to th other
+ side of the cable.
+ James, Annie, can you catch this? Careful,
+ it's heavy.
+ They do and Michelle turns her attention back to the gearbox in front of
+ her. It is completely dried out and the large gears appear to be stuck
+ together with some dark brown gunk.
+ I think this one just needs to be cleaned and
+ lubricated.
+ Jack says: Wish I could say the same for down
+ here...
+ She looks at the gearbox Jack had been taking apart.
+ One of the gears inside has been partially stripped of its teeth and
+ another one is broken. Jack has already removed one of the gears and
+ is using a screwdriver as a pry bar for the next one.
+
+
+ missing section
The oscilloscope shows a thick wobbly line. Michelle slightly adjusts
@@ -16,29 +73,34 @@
Michelle picks up the receiver and listens.
Beeeeep. Beeeeep. Beeeeep. Beeeeep.
+ It takes a while for someone to pick up.
A female voice greets her: Hello?
- She gestures for Jack to flip the switch back and says:
+ Michelle gestures for Jack to flip the switch back and speaks into the
+ phone:
This is ground support facility 53. Do you
hear me?
Yes, I can hear you. So good to hear
someone's voice.
- Jack who had heard it says quietly: And I
- thought we were the ones facing unexpected difficuties...
+ Jack hears it and says quietly: And I thought
+ we were the ones facing unexpected difficuties...
Michelle notices the carrier strength gradually dropping and says:
Listen, we don't have much time.
We're on makeshift equipment. Please turn on the radio in front of
- you and tune to some frequency or
- channel.
- The person on the other end says: Understood.
- Please stay on the line.
- As long as possible. If not, we'll be
- back in 24 hours.
- Michelle hears her quietly mumbling to herself:
+ you and tune to
+ some frequency or channel.
+ Understood. Please stay on the line.
+
+ Michelle says: I give it about ...
+
+ She looks at the oscilloscope.
+ ... three minutes until the connection
+ drops out.
+ The voice on the other end quietly mumbles to herself:
How's this thing work...
- She turns the receiver away from her mouth and says:
+ Michelle turns the receiver away from her mouth.
Jack, I need the manual.
He opens it at one of the bookmarks and hands it over. The page depicts
- what the control panel on the other end should look like.
+ the control panel on the other end.
Speaking into the phone again, Michelle says:
There should be a button labeled
EGCR-1. Push that in and flip the switch next to it up to
@@ -75,6 +137,25 @@
facility 53. Do you copy?
A few repeats later, the female voice answers:
There we go... Loud and clear.
+
Missing: they introduce themselves, Lena says
something along the lines of "everyone is dead"