text: [Themes: sci-fi, mystery]
  
  "OK," Starman Quabiss says from the shuttle's entrance. "Who is Selrahc, and what is an Anywhere Device? Those weren't mentioned in the mission briefing."
  
  "The young starman speaks wisely," Dansmith says, switching off the holo-emitters and unplugging the memory node pack.
  
  You look to Lieutenant Hun-Spruk, your team's expert on all things Folvan. But the lieutenant seems just as confused as you are. "This is the first I've heard of these two names," she says.
  
  "So let me make sure I'm getting this straight," you say. "She never once mentioned a Selrahc or an Anywhere Device in any of her reports?"
  
  "Not once," Hun-Spruk says.
  
  Dansmith sighs. "To be honest, Dr. Tligman might have been jabbering about some childhood story. We just don't know."
  
  "So if we want to know everything contained on these memory nodes, we need to take them back to the Orion?" you say.
  
  "That's what I recommend," Dansmith says.
  
  "I'm not convinced we've seen everything here," Hun-Spruk says. "Until we can determine when Dr. Munro abandoned this post and why, our work here is unfinished."
  
  "She's got a point," Dansmith says. "I can save these nodes for later."
  
  "This holojournal log is the only real clue we've found here, though," you say.
  
  "But didn't Commander Diston say he was only giving us one shot at the planet, because of the 2.3 Gs?" she continues. "If we return to the ship, we might not come back."
  
  > If you continue investigating the research post for clues, turn to page 72.
  "OK," you say, with your team assembled on the prairie grass between the shuttle and entrance to the underground research post. There is a glow on the eastern horizon, telling you that sunrise is just a short time away. "Before we leave here, let's systematically search every cubic centimeter of this post, both inside and out. Every drawer, every scrap of paper, every crumb of moldy food. I don't want to leave here until we've wrung every important clue out of this post."
  
  Just as everyone disperses to carry out your orders, you get a signal on your comm. It's Lieutenant Aolin Wyte, your liaison with the Orion's bridge. "Captain Ynthramanni is looking for a status update," he says.
  
  You fill him in: you've arrived at the first of the three research posts; no one is here; the place looks abandoned, in fact; you've found a corroded memory node that may have more information; right now you're scouring the research post to see what else you can find.
  
  "Have you been able to locate any more human life signs?" you ask.
  
  "No," Wyte says, "just the six of you. But for that matter we aren't reading many Folvans, either. It seems that many of them dwell underground, and something in the soil down there prevents us from scanning very deep."
  
  "Interesting," you say. "There is a high amount of iron in the soil here, probably from an ancient asteroid impact. That's what is interfering with our sensors."
  
  "That would explain a great many things."
  
  "So Dr. Munro and her people could just be hiding from us in a bunker somewhere?"
  
  "We don't want to speculate," Wyte says.
  
  > Page 166
  When Lieutenant Wyte terminates the comm link, you are arrested for a moment by the beauty of the Folvan morning. You know there is work to do, but before you step back down into the research post you want to appreciate this moment, with its bands of purple and orange on the clouds building in the east. To the northwest is a string of low, whitish mountains, but in every other direction is an unending sea of prairie grass--tall, thick, and sharp enough to scratch exposed human skin. The Grass Planet, indeed.
  
  A strange sound catches your attention. It came from the south somewhere, beyond the shuttle in the deep prairie, like the lowing of a beast. You step around the shuttle and find that you can hear the sound much more clearly there. Beyond a doubt, some of the local wildlife have gathered nearby, although you can't see much from ground level because of the tall grass.
  
  With your WristComp you can identify a massive herd of large beasts about 1.7 kilometers away, but not which species. You need to find out more, and not just because of curiosity. Folvan has a brutal ecosystem, with apex predators that rule the food chain with bloody efficiency. Humans, with frail bodies born in a weaker gravitational environment, are no match.
  
  The highest observation point around is the top of the shuttle, and when Hinju hears you climbing up the service ladder attached to the outside of the ship, he comes out to see what mischief you're up to.
  
  > Page 167
  "Can I help you, Lieutenant?" Hinju asks.
  
  "We have a herd of some kind not very far from our position," you say, "and I need to figure out what it is."
  
  His curiosity piqued, Hinju climbs the ladder to join you on the roof of his shuttle. Indeed, as the morning light grows brighter, you can make out a swarm of large dark beasts in the distance. They seem to be grazing peacefully on the prairie vegetation.
  
  "Mumpaqs, probably," you say. If you got anything out of skimming through Dr. Munro's reports, it was a listing of some of the more common creatures here in this part of Folvan.
  
  "Anything we need to worry about?" Hinju says.
  
  "Nah, they're herbivores," you say.
  
  "But they look massive...." Hinju says.
  
  "On a planet this size, everything has to be strong," you say.
  
  The mumpaq herd is certainly an interesting sight, but you're not here on safari. You need to help your team analyze the research post so you can get out of here soon.
  
  But just as you start to turn away you catch sight of something odd. It looks as though something has leaped high above the mumpaq herd, straight out of the prairie. You look back and see it more clearly: something resembling a giant grasshopper leaping high into the air and descending back toward the herd.
  
  Then another, and another.
  
  Seconds later, the sounds reach your ears: the horrible screeching sound of predators on the warpath, and the increased rumbling and lowing of the frightened prey. You can only assume that the leaping hunters are garda beasts.
  
  > Page 168
  The mumpaqs start to run, but their progress is blocked by the sudden revelation of a fourth garda beast. Despite the size of the herd, the four leaping predators seem to have cut off every avenue of escape. Rather than driving the herd in one direction to pick off the stragglers, the garda beasts seem to be trying to corral the mumpaqs in one location.
  
  You look at Hinju and see that he is clearly fascinated by these events, which are still happening quite a distance from you. But you have a hunch this life-and-death struggle could take an unpredictable turn.
  
  The mumpaq herd shifts within the circle created by the four advancing garda beasts, as if they are about to arrange themselves in a defensive formation. But then, as if to confirm your fears, the lead animals in the herd find a gap in the circle and break free, charging at full speed across the open prairie. Immediately the leaping gardas switch from pounce mode back into pursue mode, hoping to reform their perimeter around the herd.
  
  But the mumpaqs are moving too fast. When one garda beast tries to leap ahead of the herd, all it does is force the mumpaqs to change direction--straight in your direction.
  
  Quick! You have to react.
  
  > If you attempt to flee in the shuttle, turn to page 25.
  "Just so you know, Lieutenant," Hinju says after he jumps back down to the ground with you, "it's going to be tight getting this shuttle started on time."
  
  "Do what you got to do," you say, but there is no time to discuss it with your pilot. You have to get everyone out of the research post.
  
  You rush down the steps into the main room. Dirt is starting to trickle through gaps in the ceiling, and you can hear the rumbling ground vibrations from the advancing mumpaq herd already.
  
  "What is that sound?" Dr. Wildon says.
  
  "I'll tell you later," you say. And then shouting: "Everyone, on the shuttle now! We have to get out of here!"
  
  You get puzzled looks from all four people, but they all follow you outside. The rumbling is getting much louder up here, but still nothing can be seen from ground level. You can tell that Hinju is firing up the shuttle's thrusters, but they are not yet at full charge.
  
  You step to the side and make sure everyone who was in the bunker makes it onto the shuttle. Lieutenant Hun-Spruk is carrying a handful of papers, but when one escapes her grasp in the morning breeze she starts to go back after it.
  
  "The shuttle, Lieutenant, now!" you shout, but Hun-Spruk retrieves her wayward sheet anyway.
  
  When you are all on board, the pilot says, "Thirty more seconds." But it might as well be thirty minutes. The ground vibrations caused by the stampeding herd seem to be amplified by the sway of the shuttle.
  
  > Page 26
  "Can someone explain what all this is about?" Dansmith asks.
  
  "Four garda beasts are chasing a herd of mumpaqs," you say. "The mumpaqs are stampeding straight for us."
  
  The shuttle begins to rock more wildly, but you notice that Hinju has cut the launch sequence short and is engaging the thrusters. With a lurch the shuttle lifts off, and you move up to a seat just behind Hinju so you can see what he sees.
  
  The mumpaqs, still goaded onward by the leaping garda beasts, are running straight for the research post, probably unaware that it is even there. They are gray with four rows of tusk-like spikes down the sides of their bodies, and they are trampling a swath of grass a kilometer wide. Had you stayed, you would have been right in their path.
  
  Seen up close, the garda beast look more mammalian than insectoid, with grayish-green fur and black stripes, crouching on powerful legs that stick out from the side of its body, each as thick as a tree trunk. Those long and 'hopperish hind legs are the distinctive feature, though; they are built to propel the animals high into the air, defying Folvan's strong gravity.
  
  Just when you think you've cleared the mumpaq herd and have escaped danger, one of the flying garda beasts clips the shuttle in midair. For a terrifying second the shuttle spins wildly, but Hinju performs a masterful move with his torso to regain control.
  
  With no further ado, he zips you back to the Orion and out of harm's way.