text: [Themes: sci-fi]
  
  You are disappointed, because you had hoped that by coming so close you would get more answers. But three kilometers later, you know no more than when you first saw the two Folvan soldiers. In the dim light you can see the two figures tending to their mounts, leading them to the water for a drink. They seem relaxed in their actions, as if there are no threats to be on guard against on this calm morning.
  
  Then, after a minute, the Folvans and their rides disappear into an opening near the base of the large, artificial hill.
  
  "Did you see that?" Dansmith says. "That thing has a door."
  
  "Lieutenant," Quabiss says to you. "Permission to look inside."
  
  "That's too risky!" Dr. Wildon says. "This could be a fortress for all we know. And once the sun starts to rise we'll have no cover."
  
  "Yeah, but we're not going to find out what's inside any other way," Dansmith says.
  
  "I feel this whole thing is taking us farther away from our real mission, which is to find Dr. Munro," Hun-Spruk says.
  
  "But those were naval plasguns you detected, right?" Dansmith says.
  
  "Yes."
  
  "Then it stands to reason they got them from Dr. Munro," Dansmith continues. "I hate to say it, but the answers we seek may very well be inside that structure."
  
  "I do agree with Dr. Wildon, though," you say. "There is a high level of risk involved in what we're talking about here. At best only two of us should go. The others should wait out in the cover of the grassland, where Hinju can get to us in the shuttle."
  
  "I volunteer to go," Quabiss says without hesitation.
  
  "Me too," Dansmith says.
  
  That's two people, but as the mission leader shouldn't you be going?
  
  > If you let Dansmith and Quabiss go to investigate the structure, turn to page 106.
  Quabiss and Dansmith seem eager, and you need to know what's inside this mound. Dansmith, though an engineer by training, has the experience in these kinds of missions, you assume. Quabiss has the training but lacks experience. The two of them together should be fine.
  
  "It will be dawn in about an hour," you say. "The rest of us will be out in the grassland keeping cover. Use your WristComps to home in on us."
  
  "You can count on us," Dansmith says. A moment later he and Quabiss are off, making their way toward the structure.
  
  Meanwhile you lead Lieutenant Hun-Spruk and Dr. Wildon out into the grassland. Each step away from the lake brings you into taller and taller vegetation, and the sharp edges remind you of why you sought the beach to begin with.
  
  After hiking about a kilometer you decide you've gone far enough. Turning back, you see that the Folvan structure is still not that far away, and Hinju will probably prefer a more distant landing site. But to go any farther could be too far for Dansmith and Quabiss.
  
  You have Lieutenant Hun-Spruk make contact with Hinju and arrange for him to land nearby while there is still darkness. She finds a slight basin amid the prairie knolls and directs the pilot to set the shuttle down in that spot, where it can't be seen from a distance.
  
  You, on the other hand, assume a spot on top of one of the low swells so you can keep your eyes on the Folvan mound. Nearly half an hour has passed since your team separated, so Dansmith and Quabiss should be past the turning point in their scouting mission, you estimate.
  
  > Page 131
  But then you see flashes of light at the base of the mound--silent, like distant fireflies. When the sound reaches you, there is no mistaking what you just saw: plasgun blasts. Just then your WristComp trills, and you look down to see that someone has initiated a data transfer to you. It's Dansmith—he's sending you whatever it was that he just scanned.
  
  "Are those plasgun blasts I just heard?" Dr. Wildon says, joining you on the high ground. Lieutenant Hun-Spruk is below, discussing something with Hinju at the entrance to his shuttle.
  
  "Yes," you say. "Look."
  
  Shadowy figures on those long-necked steeds you saw earlier are pursuing something into the open prairie—straight in your direction. They fire at their quarry, and a moment later pull up in a circle around something that is now motionless in the grass.
  
  Dr. Wildon, with a growing sense of horror, studies the scene with his WristComp. "Dansmith," he says, his voice nearly catching. "He's dead."
  
  A chill goes through you.
  
  "Quabiss too," the doctor continues. "His body is up on the—" He can't finish the sentence.
  
  You are stunned, watching the distant scene unfold, hoping the information isn't true and wondering how you can intervene to save your companions.
  
  Dr. Wildon tugs on your shoulder. "Come on, Lieutenant. We need to leave. There's nothing we can do for them now."
  
  He's right. You stand up and follow him into the waiting shuttle.
  
  > Page 132
  Hinju and Hun-Spruk seem surprised by your sudden urgency, but then Dr. Wildon explains in a few words what just happened.
  
  "We need to leave," you say.
  
  "Yes, Lieutenant," Hinju says, rushing back to his controls. A moment later the shuttle is airborn, speeding on a low trajectory away from the lake before launching upward.
  
  There is a long silence as you begin the return flight to the Orion. Then Hun-Spruk speaks up. "Did we have any contact with Dansmith and Quabiss? Do we know what happened?"
  
  "No," Dr. Wildon says. "It looked like they were trying to run from the alien structure, but the Folvans were mounted on those creatures of theirs. They ran them down and shot them."
  
  "Then we have no idea what they saw?" she says.
  
  "Yes we do," you say. All this time you have been staring at your WristComp, and the DATA TRANSFER COMPLETE message. "Chief Dansmith transmitted his scans to me. I haven't looked at them yet."
  
  Dr. Wildon sees that you're upset, and figures correctly that this is the first time you've ever lost anyone under your command. "It can wait until we get back to the ship," he says.
  
  Yes it can, you think. You just hope that whatever information your mission uncovered was worth the lives of two good people.