is that you, roby?
yeah, it's you all right.
you look dead.
we made it!
i'm going to buy a cattle ranch.
i'm not kidding. you can get one if you have the credit. look just like real cows, too.
where's irth?
i don't recognize that constellation.
i got it. oh boy.
just short of zeta ii reticuli. we haven't even reached the outer rim yet.
i'll give it to you on number four.
that's it. let me straighten it out.
that's what i'm going to do.
planetoid. diameter, 120 kilometers.
yeah. two hours.
point eight six. we can walk on it.
right.
forget the credit; what we have here is a chance to be the first men to contact a nonhuman intelligence.
hell, we're equipped --
there are no commercial lanes out here. face it, we're out of range.
i'll see what i can do.
activated. vertical drop checked. correcting course. on tangential course now, orbiting. crossing the terminator. entering night side.
approaching point of origin. closing at 20 kilometers, 15 and slowing. ten. five. gentlemen, we are directly above the source of the transmission.
well, line of sight is impossible due to dust. radar gives me noise. sonar gives me noise. infrared -- noise. let's try ultraviolet. there. flat. it's totally flat. a plain.
it's.  basalt. rock.
drop begins.  now! fifteen kilometers and dropping.  twelve.  ten.  eight and slowing. five. three. two. one kilometer and slowing. lock tractor beams.
kill drive engines.
nine hundred meters and dropping. 800. 700. hang on gentlemen.
and we're.  down.
jesus christ!
uh.  no, i don't see anything. we've still got pressure.
can't see a blessed thing.
good! maybe we'll be able to see something then.
not sitting on our butts in here, that's for sure.
are we just going to sit around and wait for an invitation?
close enough to walk to!
i volunteer for the exploration party.
receiving.
looks like a derelict.
let's try and find the control room.
this hole goes up several decks -- looks like somebody was firing a military disintegrator in here.
i'll go first.
but functioning.
a recording. a damned automatic recording.
we've got to go back and take a lot more pictures, holograph everything.
hell, that thing's been dead for years. maybe hundreds of years. the whole planet's dead.
sure, we're ready.
chaz, this is dell. can you come topside for a minute?
well, the sun just came up again, and it seems the wind's died down. it's as clear as a bell outside. there's something i think you ought to see.
take a look.
i was scanning the horizon to see what i could pick up. look there, on that screen.
maybe they built it.
a marker for buried instrumentation?
maybe the rest of the crew is in there -- in some kind of suspended animation, waiting to be rescued.
there's no entrance.
maybe we can get in by the top.
sure.
you guys just wait down here till i say it's okay to come up.
there's a hole at the top.
no, it's too small, only room enough for one person.
i can see.  partway down. it just goes down like a stovepipe. smooth walls. i can't see the bottom -- light won't reach.
no, i want to go in.
right.
okay, i'm in the mouth of the chimney now, and i'm starting down.
it's noticeably warmer in here. warm air rising from below.
yeah, i'm okay. haven't hit bottom yet. definitely a column of warm air rising; it keeps the shaft clear of dust.
yeah, but this is hard work. can't talk now.
i'm way below ground level.
tunnel's gone -- cave or something below me -- feels like the tropics in here; air is warm and humid.  .  high oxygen content, no dust, it's completely breathable --
it's unbelievable! it's like some kind of tomb.  some primitive religion! hey, is anybody there? do you read me? standard!
i don't know if you can hear me, but the place is full of large bottles or jars, just like the one we found on the other ship -- except these are all sealed. also they're soft to the touch.
another funny thing -- i just put my hand on it, and now there are these raised areas appearing where my fingertips were.
 mouth's so dry.  can i have some water.
more.
wretched. what happened to me?
don't remember nothing. can't hardly remember my name.
not exactly, just feel like somebody's been beating me with rubber hoses for about six years.
god i'm hungry.
 i don't know.
no. just some horrible dreams about smothering. where are we?
i'm really starving; can we get some food before we go into the freezers?
i don't know.  i'm getting these cramps!
oh god it hurts so bad!
ohmygooaaaaahhhhh!!!