The old transmission ‘skimmer’ probe had returned some time ago. Jerich glanced up from his samples to see the flashing emitter telling him the probe was ready to be cataloged. He reluctantly walked to the probe and started the playback device.

“Two outs. Bottom of the eighth here in Detroit…” Jerich watched a moment and clicked to the next skim.

“So just dice the onion and put it into the skillet…” Click.

“Pull up Cougar! Pull up!” Some sort of military training. Click

“…The boys are waiting…my milkshake brings all the boys to the yard…and they’re like…it’s better than yours…damn right it’s better than yours…” A transmitted mating ritual of some kind. Click.

“Bam! Just put that right in to kick it up a notch!” Jerich sighed and clicked.

After watching dozens of images from the probe Jerich switched the system off. He walked to his terminal and scratched out a brief report recommending that another probe not be wasted on this planet for many cycles. He then went back to his sample table.