text: [Themes: Science Fiction, science fiction]
  
  > look around
  The cellar is about the same size as the room above, but in slightly better condition. The walls have suffered from centuries of damp, so that little of the original white paint shows through the dark mould and damp stains. The only things of any significance to have survived the ravages of the years are a tall metal cabinet in one corner and the ladder leading up to an open trapdoor in another.
  
  A plain black jumpsuit hangs in the cabinet.
  
  A large mattress lies on the floor in the middle of the room.
  
  Leela is standing nearby.
  
  You can smell the cheese.
  
  Obvious exits: Up
  
  > move the cabinet
  The tall metal cabinet is too heavy.
  
  > go up
  Leela follows you up the ladder.
  
  Inside the Stone Building (standing in the southwest corner)
  The single room inside the building is open to the sky and mostly full of rubble. In the one corner that remains reasonably accessible, the southwest corner, a triangular light fitting remains near what would once have been the ceiling. The doorless exit lies to the north.
  
  A battered cabinet lies half-buried under the rubble in the northeast corner of the room.
  
  An old metal crate sits by the wall, next to the trapdoor in the corner.
  
  Leela scrambles up through the trapdoor after you.
  
  You can smell the cheese.
  
  Obvious exits: North, Down
  
  > Stud
  The drik goes dark.
  
  > Handle
  (the rubber grip)
  The rubber grip is orange, and covers most of the handle. A closer inspection of the end of the handle shows the words "Made on Paran" inscribed there.
  
  > look at the raft
  The raft, which is currently deflated, is made of some dark green rubbery material. The only marking is a small label bearing the manufacturer's name. Attached to the raft are a small red handle and a small green handle.
  
  > tell Soolin about the mallet
  "I found this mallet in a ruined building in the forest," you tell her, "the handle is stamped 'Made in Paran'!"
  
  "That's very suspicious, sir," Sublieutenant Soolin replies, "what in seven score solar systems is a mallet made on the Federation capital doing on Elysium?"
  
  "Quite, sublieutenant," you agree.
  
  > tell Soolin about the raft
  "I found this raft in the basement of the ruined building in the forest," you tell her, "According to the label it was manufactured by the Reldan Raft Corporation!"
  
  "That's very odd, sir," Sublieutenant Soolin opines, "Relda's a Federation world; and what with that Paranian-made mallet you found, that makes two Federation-made artifacts left in that building!"
  
  "Quite so, sublieutenant," you concur.
  
  > ask Soolin about Federation
  "I wonder if the Federation really would have tried to come here and take this place over," you muse.
  
  "I think they're ruthless enough to try anything, sir," she replies.
  
  > ask Soolin about the crisis
  "You realize what that little discovery I made on that orange tab means, sublieutenant," you say.
  
  "Yes, sir," she replies, "it means the Federation is thinking of going to war with us."
  
  > Topics
  You could tell her about yourself, or the mallet, or ask her about the Federation crisis.
  
  > ask Soolin about the mallet
  "I found this mallet in a ruined building in the forest," you tell her, "the handle is stamped 'Made in Paran'!"
  
  "That's very suspicious, sir," Sublieutenant Soolin replies, "especially with that Reldan-manufactured raft as well. That's two items of Federation manufacture you've found in the forest."
  
  "Quite, sublieutenant," you agree.
  
  > examine the rags
  They're dirty, ragged and torn and look ready to fall to bits at any instant. They also look suspiciously like the rags Leela was wearing.
  
  > examine the silver key
  It looks like the key to a maglock; there are no teeth or grooves and the key data is presumably encoded in its plain metal strip. The key is obviously quite new.
  
  > look at the cube
  The small black cube looks like it's made of some kind of shiny plastic, and seems featureless apart from the small slot in the side. Your drik tells you that it is in fact some kind of receiver.
  
  > point the drik at the silver key
  Okay, you point the drik at the small silver key.
  
  > Go north
  Leela follows close behind you.
  
  Here the clearing is more overgrown than the main part of the clearing to the south, and among the undergrowth you can see a series of mounds.
  
  Leela enters the north side of the clearing with you.
  
  You can smell the cheese.
  
  Obvious exits: South
  
  "Something terrible happened here long ago," Leela shudders, "I can feel it. And just look at all those graves." she turns to you with a sombre look, "We heard stories..."
  
  > check your inventory
  You are carrying a white pillowcase (which contains an old brown sack (which contains a fishing rod and a small black cube)), a small iron key, a purple datatab, a tiny black bug, an ID card, a duvet, a piece of cloth, a mallet, some smelly rags, a small silver key, a rubber raft, a dark green knapsack (which contains a ration pack and a small black comb), a small round mirror, a black datatab, and an orange datatab. You're wearing a purple belt and a white uniform. The purple belt contains a drik. Your right pocket contains a crumpled piece of paper.
  
  You can smell the cheese.
  
  > look at the mounds
  The mounds are remarkably regular, all just under two metres long and set out in straight rows. These rows seem to continue among the trees to the north, but there the ground has become too overgrown to allow close investigation. A closer inspection of the mounds suggests that they could well be old graves, and including those that are starting to be concealed by the ever-encroaching forest, there must be well over three dozen of them. On one of the graves you can just make out a weathered headstone. One or two of the others nearby look suspiciously bumpy.
  
  You can smell the cheese.
  
  > Oops mounds
  You find the rim of an old steel helmet poking out of the top of one of the mounds, and the end of a piece of wood jutting out of another.
  
  "I hope you don't make a habit of digging up graves!" Leela remarks, "What did you find? Show me!"
  
  > look at the headstone
  The headstone is covered with dirt and moss, making it virtually impossible to read the faded lettering that was once incised on it.
  
  You can smell the cheese.
  
  > clean it
  You wipe some of the dirt off the headstone, revealing most of the lettering beneath. The rather crude lettering reads:
  
  b. 4th April 2687
  d. 14th July 2722
  
  R.I.P.
  
  "Mark Villiers," Leela reads, "He's been here a long time. What do IPC and RIP mean?"
  
  "Imperial Police Corps and Rest in Peace," you tell her.
  
  "I wonder who he was and what he did to end up here, among all these other graves," she muses.
  
  (You could ask her where she learned to read, tell her about yourself, the town, Petroc, the orange datatab, the small silver key, or the raft, or ask her about herself, the elders, Elysium, her questions, the stories, the town, markets or meetings, old Jeb, the mallet, or the small silver key.)
  
  > ask Leela where she learned to read
  "Just as a matter of interest, Leela, where did you learn to read?" you ask, a little suspiciously.
  
  "My parents taught me," she replies, laughing, "I know Elysium must seem very backward to you, offworlder, but we're not so backward that we don't have reading and writing!"
  
  You can smell the cheese.
  
  > get the helmet
  You manage to pull the helmet clear of the burial mound.
  
  > get the wood
  You manage to pull the broken piece of wood clear of the burial mound.
  
  > look at wood
  It looks like the left-hand half of a sign that's been broken near the middle. On it is some lettering that reads "IMPERIAL POL"
  
  You can smell the cheese.
  
  > look at the helmet
  It's battered and rusty, and obviously old. It looks as if it was once green, and on the front you can just make out a very faded golden eagle. It looks like it might have been an Imperial Marines helmet, but it's certainly not the current pattern. If the helmet were in better condition, it would belong in a military museum.
  
  > show the helmet to Leela
  "Have a look at this," you say, handing her the helmet.
  
  She takes it and looks at with evident distaste, before handing it back. "What do you think it is?" she asks.
  
  "It's an Imperial Marines helmet, I reckon, but one of a very old pattern. It must be centuries old," you tell her, taking it back from her.
  
  "So your soldiers were here," she remarks.
  
  > show the wood to Leela
  She looks at the broken sign, and reads, "Imperial Pol? Who's Pol?'
  
  "Police, perhaps," you suggest.
  
  > dig in the mounds
  You don't fancy doing any more digging in the graves with your bare hands, and you're not sure you fancy digging up the graves any further in any case: you've probably discovered all there is to find near the surface, and you don't want to start digging up old human bones.
  
  You can smell the cheese.