"They seem shipshape, well modulated, crammed with data. I can even read some bits having to do with oxygen—plenty of it—in that cave over there, I believe." She pointed, then glanced at Stewart. "There's no malfunctioning at all!"
He retrieved his transmitter and switched from MCW to CW. "That simplifies our task. When we re-establish control, all we'll have to do is reorient the OC."
Randall walked several feet away, kicked a stone, glanced up at the sky and returned. "What now?"
Stewart retuned his transmitter. "Penultimate emergency procedure. I'm going to come down with both heels on the frequency at which it received code signals from the relay base."
"But can you give it coded commands?"
"I'm just going to lock the sending key on a steady impulse. It's a 'stop-everything' order." He hit the lever.
Carol winced. "Ouch. I wasn't ready for that."
"What's it doing now?" he demanded.
"Still transmitting. No interruption."
He released the key. "Well that exhausts our bag of tricks. We'll have to do it by hand."