"If, indeed, we are located underground, it is probable that contact will be difficult or even impossible." It wasn't that much of a stretch, after all, that the frequencies they used to communicate were blocked by the nature of being beneath the Earth. Beaming became more dangerous- to the point downright impossible- the deeper one wanted to go into the planet, imprecision making the act too dangerous to attempt. But then, it was also possible that the ships weren't even there, considering their strange location. That, however, was a possibility that he didn't want to consider, though his logical mind certainly did anyway.