text: [Themes: sci-fi, science fiction]
  
  No one on your team says anything as you march out into the open grassland, your hands still raised; you're not sure what the local custom is for signaling surrender with body language, but keeping your hands up satisfies your human intuition. Still, it is humiliating to be banished into the night like this.
  
  You have yet to make your call to Hinju, but your mind has been working as you lead the way out into the stiff grass. You hesitate to speak out loud, lest the Folvans overhear your plans. But you have come up with two options: you can leave the planet just as the local leader has asked you to do, making your report to Commander Diston and Captain Ynthramanni while figuring out what to do next.
  
  Or you can ask Hinju to land and take off as if he were picking you up—while you keep low and circle back through the tall grass toward the Folvan village. You came here to find Dr. Munro, or at least learn what happened to her, and you know there must be more information back in those strange earthen mounds.
  
  > If you sneak back toward the Folvan village, turn to page 180.
  When you are far enough away from the Folvans that they should no longer be able to hear what you say, you activate your comm.
  
  "Hinju, what's your status?" you say.
  
  "Just a short flight away, Lieutenant. What can I do for you?"
  
  "I need a favor," you say. "We ran into a situation down here. Turns out the Folvans are armed with plasguns and seem to already be on the lookout for off-worlders. I don't have time to explain the details, but I need you to touch down about 500 meters ahead of our current position. Land so that the hatch faces away from the Folvan village. Stay just long enough as if we were climbing aboard, and then return to your current position."
  
  "Um, OK," he says. "You want me to come and pick you up, but you won't be there, is what you're saying?"
  
  "Exactly. We just need the appearance that we're leaving."
  
  "I guess I can do that," Hinju says. "I'm on my way. I won't see you in five minutes."
  
  You've been speaking in a low voice, but just loud enough that your teammates can hear you. "You surprise me, Lieutenant," Dansmith says. "I never expected you could be so crafty."
  
  "So what exactly is your plan?" Dr. Wildon asks.
  
  "Don't stop walking," you say. "We can't let the Folvans suspect anything."
  
  Already you can see a bright light ahead of you in the sky, ten times as bright as any star. You recognize it as Hinju's shuttle; he is not bothering with stealth mode this time, having guessed correctly that he is about to make a performance for someone's benefit.
  
  > Page 181
  "OK, so here's what I'm thinking," you finally tell your teammates. "There is definitely something going on in that village. I mean really, Folvans armed with plasguns? Talk of fighting other off-worlders? And what is this 'Anywhere Device' they're so worried about? I don't care if this is someone's coveted grazing ground. We came here to find our people, and I am not willing to leave without any hard information."
  
  "I admit, I'm starting to see it your way, Lieutenant," Dansmith says. "I thought it was reckless to come here at first. But in just five minutes with those Folvans we learned more than we did the other day in our mission briefing."
  
  "I couldn't agree more," Dr. Wildon says. "Everything that we've seen here so far has defied our expectations."
  
  "So you two think we should go back to the village and have a better look around?" you say.
  
  "I wouldn't have an hour ago," Dansmith says, "but I do now."
  
  "Same here," Dr. Wildon says.
  
  You know you're proposing a risky operation, so you want to make sure all four of your people are on board with your idea. You've heard from the doctor and Chief Dansmith, but you want to get buy-in from Lieutenant Hun-Spruk and Starman Quabiss as well.
  
  "Ceta? Sisny?" you say, using their first names. "Are you good with this?"
  
  "Lieutenant, you're my hero right now," Quabiss says. "I didn't join the Navy to run with my tail between my legs."
  
  "Of course I'm in," Hun-Spruk says, sounding a little confused and hurt that you felt the need to ask the question. "When I get a chance, I'll scan the village to see if I can identify any targets to investigate."
  
  "For now, we need to get into position to welcome Hinju," Dansmith says. "For the Lieutenant's plan to work, we need to convince those Folvans we're getting on board and leaving the planet."
  
  Indeed, the shuttle is circling to come in for a landing, its entrance hatch facing away from the Folvans just as you requested. All of the shuttle's lights are on, as if Hinju were landing on the Orion's flight deck, completely unconcerned about who might see him. The Folvan moon is setting, and so the morning is even darker than it was before. You can't see the village from way out here, but you know for sure the Folvan elders are clearly watching you.
  
  The five of you are still standing conspicuously in the open as Hinju sets down in the grass before you. The hatch opens, but no one moves toward it. You can see the pilot at his station clearly in the viewport; with the fingers of his left hand he counts down five, four, three, two, one. Then he gestures with his closed fist, seals the hatch shut, and then lifts off into the early morning sky.
  
  > Page 182
  Now the five of you are crouching in the deep grass, forming a circle. Hun-Spruk is already activating her WristComp, scanning the village half a kilometer away. It renders a holographic map in the empty space between you.
  
  "This is disappointing," she says. "You know that high concentration of iron in the soil, the stuff interfering with my scans? Well, it seems to be in the walls of all of the earthen structures as well, because I don't see a single one with an occupant. So I can generate this map of the village, but I can't tell you where anybody is."
  
  The three-dimensional map shows the large dome-shaped structure at the middle of the village, surrounded by a haphazard cluster of thirty smaller structures, just as you observed it from above. All are made of earth and appear exceedingly primitive, more reflective of a stone-age population than a civilization with a social structure and complex forms of governance. The outer mounds seem too small to be dwellings, but the central mound certainly seems to have a significance of some kind.
  
  "But wait, what's this?" Hun-Spruk says. The holographic map shrinks in scale, and one more mound is shown a short distance outside the village. It is almost identical in size and shape to the large central structure.
  
  "I almost missed this one!" she says.
  
  > Page 183
  "Well if anyone's asking me," Dansmith says, "these two big buildings are the most interesting. They seem to be the most important, judging by their placement."
  
  "I agree," Dr. Wildon says. "Not that I'm an expert in Folvan society, but this central structure has got to be a communal gathering place of some kind. Maybe a temple? Maybe a longhouse?"
  
  "But what about this other one, way out here?" you ask. "What would that be? A barn?"
  
  Dansmith chuckles at that suggestion.
  
  "I wish I knew," Hun-Spruk says. "Maybe one of them is where we'll find this 'Anywhere Device' they seem so worried about."
  
  "Hey, guys?" Quabiss says tentatively, as if anxious about the idea of interrupting his seniors. "It's starting to get light over there in the east."
  
  "The starman's right," Dansmith says. "If we want to reach the village under the cover of darkness, and then get ourselves back out, we're probably only going to have time for one or the other."
  
  > If you head for the large structure in the middle of the village, turn to page 34.
  "The biggest issue with getting to that central structure will be in passing through the village," you say. "Hopefully everyone will still be asleep in their beds, otherwise navigating one of those crooked streets will be like running a gauntlet."
  
  "We better get moving then," Dansmith says, "because who knows when Folvans take their breakfast."
  
  Who would have thought that the hardest part about moving across the Grass Planet was not so much the gravity, but the thick vegetation itself? Until now, when you thought of "grass" it was the thin and lacy plant from Earth that has accompanied humans to nearly all of the new worlds they have settled: a docile plant that has never been known to put up a fight.
  
  This stuff, though, is grass in name only; stiff, sharp-edged, tall, and inescapable. Wading through it is almost as slow and tiresome as wading through waist-deep water, in that it offers nothing but drag and resistance. With dawn about to arrive, you will be fully exposed to the inhabitants of the village unless you get on your knees and crawl.
  
  Mercifully, the tall, wild grass of the open prairie gives way to an area surrounding the village where the vegetation has been cropped short, presumably by grazing Folvans. This grazing area seems to have an irregular shape to it—narrow to your left and a little wider to your right—but at the point where you have come upon it, you will face a hundred-meter dash to cover the distance between the tall grass and the edge of the village.
  
  > Page 185
  "OK, before we do this, let's make a check for signs of activity," you say.
  
  "Right," Hun-Spruk says, consulting her WristComp. "The good news is that those village elders still seem to be on the other side of town, at the research post where we left them. Beyond that, I can only get indeterminate readings on another sixty to seventy individuals, mostly underground. The streets do seem to be empty at the moment, though."
  
  "Then we better go ahead and do this," Dansmith says. "That street directly ahead of us looks good."
  
  "Agreed," you say. "On the count of three... ."
  
  And then when you give the mark, you sprint as fast as possible across the grazing area and into the cluster of earthen mounds that constitute the village. In your research this week you came across an image of a Folvan city that looked like a single adobe structure with gaping windows and unusual towers that resembled organ pipes. This village has none of that; every structure is a hollowed-out mound of earth, evenly spaced but not aligned in any discernible pattern.
  
  Now that you're seeing them up close, the mounds seem too small to be residences, but then Hun-Spruk did say that most of the people who live here may be underground. These mounds, with their dark, cave-like openings but no actual doors, may simply be foyers for the below-ground dwellings. The street is merely a wide and winding way between the mounds, with a threadbare covering of grass from lots of traffic.
  
  > Page 186
  The street leads past half a dozen mounds on each side to a space that surrounds the large structure at the center of the town. Like all of the other earthen mounds, this one supports its own growth of grass. In this case it is cropped short at street level, but tall and wild higher up where it grows out of reach.
  
  "Does anybody see a way in?" Dr. Wildon says, breathing heavily. The stars are swiftly fading above you as daylight begins to creep into the Folvan sky.
  
  "Over here," Hun-Spruk says, and you all follow her around a corner of the structure. There, at the narrow end of the large mound, is the entrance. It is an arched slot with a cave-like appearance, identical to all the others you've seen, but proportionally larger.
  
  Without wasting any time, you step inside. What you find more or less confirms your earlier theory: these mounds are not living spaces, but shelters for what must be the true entrances leading into the ground. In this regard, Folvans must be like grassland creatures on worlds throughout known space: instead of living in plain view on top of the ground, exposed to predators and powerful storms, they seek safety and shelter in underground burrows.
  
  In this case, the large hollowed-out mound provides shelter to only one humble entrance.
  
  "Hey there," Hun-Spruk says. She's not trying to get anyone's attention; it looks like she's speaking directly to her WristComp.
  
  "What is it?" you say.
  
  "I don't know," she says. "For a second I thought I read a human biosign."
  
  "Here?"
  
  "Again, I'm not sure. I only had it for a second. But it might have been from one of those dwellings we just passed down the street."
  
  > If you you stick to your original plan and explore whatever is below this large mound, turn to page 58.
  "We don't have time to be chasing sensor ghosts, unfortunately," you say. "Let's stick with the original plan and see if anything down at the bottom of those stairs answers any of our questions." You point to the single underground entrance in this entire space, with adobe-like steps leading down into the darkness.
  
  "I can at least tell you there is nobody down there," Hun-Spruk says.
  
  "Then it won't hurt if we use our handlights," Dansmith says.
  
  You take the lead going down the steps. There is indeed a buried room at the bottom, its ceiling only a couple meters below ground level. It is ovular in shape, with few furnishings other than grass mats and oil lamps.
  
  "This is a disappointment," Dansmith says.
  
  "Do you suppose it's some kind of meeting hall?" Dr. Wildon says. "Maybe where the elders convene their meetings?"
  
  "There might be a sequence of chambers here," Hun-Spruk says. "But damn all this iron. We might as well be trying to use ultrasound to see our way around here."
  
  "I don't see any way out of this room except the way we came in," you say.
  
  "It's over here." Hun-Spruk walks over the far end of the chamber and pulls aside a large curtain of dyed grass fibers that you had assumed was just a wall decoration. Behind it is a short tunnel carved further into the earth, with a second chamber less than ten meters away.
  
  This next space is smaller and rounder than the first, but in this case there are three diverging passageways. There is a light coming from the one straight ahead—could that be the Anywhere Device?
  
  > Page 127
  "Starman Quabiss," you say. "Stand watch right here. Notify us at the first sign that anyone is approaching."
  
  "You're going down there?" Dansmith says.
  
  "We might as well," you say. "There's nothing to see here."
  
  "I've got nothing," Hun-Spruk says, referring to her WristComp. "For a second I thought I had that human biosign again, but then I realized I was reading a reflection of myself."
  
  With Quabiss standing guard at the intersection of the passageways, you lead the way in the direction of the light. Again, after another nine meters or so, you reach the next chamber.
  
  Another grass-fiber curtain covers the entrance to this one, and when you push it aside you see an interesting scene. This chamber is only half the size of the first, but it features a raised platform carved into the side wall, like an inset bunk. You see no one, so thinking the chamber is empty you step all the way in.
  
  But then you see the second platform on the opposite wall, where a Folvan lies in a deep sleep. Its stomach is grotesquely distended as if it is in extreme distress. You freeze at the sight, but the Folvan is sound asleep and completely unaware of your presence.
  
  Dansmith and Hun-Spruk stop at the entrance to the chamber, hesitant to enter what appears to be a private space. But Dr. Wildon steps between them and scans the Folvan with his medical-grade WristComp. "My, my," he says. "We're due to have a whole litter of babies any day now."
  
  > Page 196
  "This is what a Folvan woman looks like?" Dansmith says, still refusing to step any further into the chamber. "Except for the belly, she doesn't look any different from the men."
  
  "I think I remember reading the Folvans have no gender," Dr. Wildon says.
  
  "Dr. Munro did write some studies on Folvan procreation," Hun-Spruk says from her spot beside Dansmith, "but I'm embarrassed to say now I didn't read them. That was the one topic I thought would be least useful in our mission."
  
  "Hey, does anybody beside me think we shouldn't be here?" Dansmith says.
  
  "Yeah," you say. "We were looking for the Anywhere Device, and I'm pretty sure this isn't it."
  
  "Let's get out of here," Hun-Spruk says.
  
  But as you're turning around, a small chip of hardened clay skids across the floor. Dansmith sees it too. "I think Quabiss is trying to get our attention."
  
  You rush down the short passageway to where you posted your security specialist. "Shhh!" he whispers. "I've been hearing lots of voices, but with all the echoes I can't tell from where."
  
  "Voices?" you say. "Not ours?"
  
  "Not yours, no," he says. "Folvan voices."
  
  Everyone hushes, and you hear what Quabiss has been hearing: several distant voices, source unknown. All of the walls down here are lined with a hard clay-like substance, and even the slightest sound reverberates off them. There is no way to tell if the voices are coming from the main entrance you followed or from a side chamber.
  
  If the goal is to get back out of this village with a minimum of Folvan entanglements, it seems the best options right now are to make a straight shot back the way you came—meaning that you will be out in the open until you can reach the tall prairie grass—or to take refuge in the passageway to the right, which seems pretty quiet right now.
  
  > If you try going back the way you came, turn to page 128.
  You know there is only one way out of this underground network of chambers and passageways: the same way you came in. "I hope everybody has one more sprint left in them," you whisper.
  
  "Just lead the way. We'll follow," Dansmith says.
  
  You begin by slowly following the passageway back to the first chamber, brushing back the grass-fiber curtain and finding the room to still be empty, just as it was a few minutes ago. But you do still hear the voices. They are not coming from down here, but from up above.
  
  You gesture to the others to remain down here in the dark antechamber while you climb the stairs to the street-level entrance under the giant mound of earth. The cave-like space is empty, but you can hear people moving about outside. Keeping to the shadows, you step up to the narrow opening and look outside. You see Folvans emerging from their underground residences and heading down the side street leading to the grazing area. None are coming toward you. They must be heading out toward the edge of the prairie to feed. This means that for the moment you are not in danger.
  
  "Psst!" you call down the stairs into the darkness. Your team members climb up and join you under the mound.
  
  "Hun-Spruk, try your scanning the village with your WristComp now," you say.
  
  Her eyes light up, as you figured they would. "I'm reading people everywhere now," she says.
  
  "Of course. They're all above-ground now," you say.
  
  > Page 152
  "Can you tell where they're all going?" you ask. "Is there a way out of this village where we won't be seen?"
  
  "Yes, I think so," Hun-Spruk says. "Most of the Folvans are heading to the northwest side of town. We don't want to go south, because it looks like those elders might still be down that way. But northeast looks clear."
  
  "What's to the northeast?" Dr. Wildon says.
  
  "Not much. A section of the lakeshore, but from what I can tell no buildings and no people."
  
  "I'm not sure what Hinju will think of landing the shuttle on the lakeshore," you say, "but we can deal with that later. Right now, let's just get out of here."
  
  You wait until it seems that most of the local residents have cleared the streets and have joined their neighbors in the grazing area you sprinted across a short time ago. Then you make your way northeast out of town, running from hut to hut for cover. So far, this is going exceedingly well.
  
  When you reach the northeastern side of the town, you see why no one is grazing here: the quality of the grass near the lakeshore is very poor. There is more sand than soil here, so the vegetation is very sparse. You are able to use this to your advantage, though, by hurrying away without the need to wade through the awful inland vegetation.
  
  When it is clear you have escaped the village undetected, you take a moment to enjoy this setting. The sun has risen over the lake, but clouds have quickly overtaken it and blotted out a large portion of the sky. It seems that a storm system is moving inland off the lake toward the small mountain range to the northwest.
  
  > Page 59
  You raise Hinju on the comm so that you can negotiate a pickup, knowing that he is going to have a shopping list of concerns about picking a landing site.
  
  "I have your location," he says. "It looks like you're about half a kilometer outside the village."
  
  "Half a kilometer?" you say. "It feels like we've gone three."
  
  "Well let me know when you really have hiked three kilometers from the village," he says, "and I'll come get you."
  
  So you continue following the lakeshore, which you decide is one of the more beautiful spots you've seen so far on this world. Strong waves are rolling against the sandy beach as the front moves inland, but other than some random spray off the lake there is no rain here.
  
  "What is that?" Hun-Spruk says, pointing to a large structure that is only faintly visible on the far shore. She points her WristComp in that direction but looks disappointed with the results. "We would've been better off with a pair of binoculars," she concludes.
  
  Three kilometers is a long distance to cover, considering where you are what you've been through in the five hours you've been on this planet. Although you don't have to wade through the thick grass, the soft sand presents its own challenges.
  
  You also raise Lieutenant Wyte on the comm to check in with the bridge. You explain that you're all in fine shape and that you're currently heading to a rendezvous with Hinju further up the beach. You decide to save most of the details for later, when you return to the ship.
  
  > Page 129
  The coordinates that Hinju gave you for the rendezvous turn out to be a wild and secluded section of the lakeshore, well out of sight of the village. "We're here!" you say triumphantly upon your arrival.
  
  "All right," Hinju replies. "I'll be there in five."
  
  Your team takes a seat in a small dune while you wait, and everyone starts rifling through their packs in search of NutriRations. It may be morning here, but back on the Orion it is evening. You haven't had a proper dinner and you're starving.
  
  "I think I can finally say I'm done with this planet," Dansmith says. "I promised you all I wouldn't wuss out, and I didn't. But I've had enough for one day."
  
  "After all this running around we did today in 2.3 Gs, I'm going to have to order cardiovascular tests for everyone," Dr. Wildon says. "I think we've all been holding up fine, but man, this has been a stressful mission."
  
  "There's the shuttle," you say. "Right on time."
  
  Hinju is flying in from the southeast where, for all you know, there is nothing but a vast expanse of open prairie—and thus no one to observe him. The shuttle slows as it nears your side of the lake so it can prepare for its vertical landing.
  
  But then a flash of light emanates from the far shore—from the precise spot where Hun-Spruk earlier thought she saw a structure—and a moment later you hear a distant blast. A pulse of energy zips across the sky, striking the shuttle's engines squarely. They explode in a brilliant fireball, and wreckage rains into the lake. The cloud of smoke quickly disperses in the breeze, leaving no further trace of the shuttle.
  
  You are left stunned, sitting on the dune, slowly comprehending what you just saw: a burst from a plasma cannon on a planet that is supposed to be technologically primitive—and in one shot it destroyed your shuttle.
  
  "Guys, it gets better," Dansmith says. He taps your shoulder and points back down the beach, in the direction of the village. A dozen figures mounted on swiftly-moving animals are riding your way. They are riding in formation, suggesting that this is a military unit. You are directly in their path, and you estimate they should be on you in a matter of minutes.