A Return Begins

I fought the urge to kick in the synchro-drive and run in the direction of the pairs. It was important to become adept at using the links to get reliable data, and the tendency was to move to improve the reception. To keep the test and training working, I need to stay put so that I would avoid the need for a marker pulse. Part of the training was for the pairs to work their way back using regular communication.

The nearly simultaneous "Under Way" taps that washed up in the navigation channel began to overlap and became more difficult to decode. I could hardly blame the stationkeepers, as they could not have easily heard anything on the channel other than me, and I was just listening. Putting more stationkeepers in position was one way to solve this, but that was a future solution.
The pairs remained split, with the stationkeeper shifting role to Driver. The away Electron continued to work with their singleton recruit, occasionally pairing up with the Driver to communicate status. In conversation with their counterpart Driver on the other Shorty, they exchanged updates with each other as I monitored the navigation channel. Progress was being made with the recruits, but there were some difficulties in dialect. That was when I noticed a slight shift in frequency at the end of a transmission.