text: Hinju frowns when you say you want to land near the post closest to the lakeshore village.
  
  "This is the site where Dr. Munro and her team probably spent the least amount of their time," Hun-Spruk says. "Being so close to the indigenous people, they were able to make more detailed observations there, but there was a high level of risk involved in getting to and from this post unseen. None of Dr. Munro's recent transmissions came from here, so I wouldn't expect to find much."
  
  "But being that the hour is so early, this may be the only opportunity to explore this post," you say. "We can land at the other sites later, but the only time we'll ever get to this site is while it's still dark."
  
  "OK," Hinju says. "Let's take a look at it from a high altitude and see what the options are."
  
  With a slight twist of his torso, he steers the shuttle in an arc hundreds of meters above the village. Moonlight glistens on the calm surface of the lake, but the small village on the shore is completely dark. The layout of the town is surprisingly simplistic: a few dozen or so rounded structures encircling a larger mound. You expected more out of a civilization with a complex social structure.
  
  After one pass over the crater valley, your pilot presents you with two options. "I can put the shuttle in stealth mode, come in real low across the prairie, and drop you off right behind the blind. It's so early in the morning here that the natives are probably all still asleep; if anybody hears us, they'll think we're a gust of wind. Your team will have to be ready to hit the ground running, though, because I can't afford to hold the shuttle in place this close to the village more than a second."
  
  "What's the other option?" you ask.
  
  "I can set you down about a kilometer to the south," he says. "You'll have to hike across the open grassland to reach the blind, but it's less risky than landing just outside the village.
  
  "I should point out that either way I'll have to take the shuttle back up and well out of sight," the pilot continues. "If you guys get into trouble down here, it'll take me five minutes to return and extract you--but only if there are no implications with the natives. If rescuing you means exposing this shuttle to the Folvans, your hides won't be worth my head. And trust me, I've piloted Captain Ynthramanni around enough times to know he is dead serious when it comes to protecting these low-tech cultures."
  
  "Understood," you say.
  
  > If you tell Hinju to land a kilometer to the south, turn to page 188.
  Even though you've chosen the less risky option of setting down a kilometer away from the research post, Hinju still puts the shuttle in stealth mode, not wanting to take any chances with signaling your presence to the Folvans. The shuttle therefore goes dark, both inside and out, before descending to the grassy plain. Meanwhile your team prepares for the short hike across the open prairie to the site of the research post.
  
  When the shuttle touches down, Hinju tells you, "Remember, I'll be circling up above, out of visual range. It will be at least five minutes before I can return to these coordinates."
  
  "Got it," you say, and with that you step down onto the planet's surface. The hatch closes behind you, and the shuttle takes off into the night sky, leaving you alone on this unfamiliar world with your four teammates. This mission you have been preparing for has finally begun!
  
  Folvan has only one moon, which looms large and dark red above the grassy landscape; the light it reflects is dull, and you find it hard to get your bearings in the darkness. Not only is the prairie featureless, but in the low light the more distant spaces appear to be a vast void.
  
  "This way," Lieutenant Hun-Spruk says. "I have a bearing on the research post." She heads off in the opposite direction of the red moon, and the rest of you--including Chief Dansmith, Dr. Wildon, and Starman Quabiss--turn to follow her.
  
  > Page 61
  You are immediately grateful for all the time you spent in the Gravity Gym. Already you feel out of shape as you try and match Hun-Spruk's brisk pace. She seems undeterred by the pull of Folvan's gravity, like she is on an urgent mission to locate her hero—or, failing that goal, then to at least prove you wrong about this being the best area to search for Dr. Munro. Is the lieutenant really that strong, or will her energy burn off after a minute?
  
  While you had been preparing yourself for the 2.3 Gs, you hadn't given any thought whatsoever to the vegetation. After all, this is the Grass Planet, and what is there to worry about grass? But this isn't the same docile greenery that humans have been transporting with them from planet to planet for almost a millennium. This grass is stiff and tall, with sharp edges that scratch at your exposed skin; as you follow Hun-Spruk you walk with your hands up as much as possible, to keep them out of harm's way.
  
  The grass rises almost to your chest, giving you the sensation of wading through deep water. It occurs to you that vegetation this thick could hide any number of things: wild creatures, poisonous herbs, hidden Folvans, the remains of dead xenoanthropologists....
  
  The terrain is gently undulating, with small hills and shallow basins between them. When you are in the low spots, all you can see are the surrounding hills. From the tops of the knolls you can glimpse the sprawling lake a short distance to your right, reflecting the red moonlight.
  
  > Page 11
  To your relief, Hun-Spruk stops for a break on top of one of the knolls. So it's true, she feels the burden of all this extra weight as much as everyone else. You've only been hiking for ten minutes, but with this oppressive gravity it feels more like an hour. You look around, and your entire team looks spent from trying to match Hun-Spruk's pace.
  
  "My hands are getting all cut up by this sharp grass," Dansmith says.
  
  "Remember our mission briefing," Dr. Wildon says, "especially the part about large apex predators on this planet. We could be running right toward a pride of sleeping garda beasts and never know it."
  
  "Nothing is showing on my WristComp," Hun-Spruk says. "Besides, we're only another ten minutes, tops, to the research post."
  
  "Still, I wonder if it would be easier walking down on that beach over there," Dansmith says. You look down in the direction of the lake, and sure enough it appears there may be a wide, sandy beach separating the prairie grass from the water.
  
  "We could do that," Hun-Spruk says, switching her WristComp display to a topographic map. "But it would double the time to the research post."
  
  > If you continue hiking through the tall grass, turn to page 100.
  "On second thought," you say, "let's not start doubling the walking distance. I can bear walking through this grass another ten minutes."
  
  "Me too," Dr. Wildon says. "I'll take your word on the lack of garda beasts in our path. I have a salve in my pack that will make these scratches go away in a heartbeat, once we're at the research post."
  
  So you press forward. From the top of the knoll you can faintly make out the Folvan village ahead of you, a shadowy collection of mounds that seems to have no organization. It looks like a herd of giant beasts resting on the prairie. Then from the top of the small hill you drop down into the next shallow basin.
  
  You notice the air here bears a sweet scent, as if there were a perfumed cloud trapped between the knolls. Perhaps there is an herb growing in this basin that you haven't encountered yet, although in the moonlight it is hard to tell. The grass feels different, too: shorter, softer, with what feels like a bed of moss under your boots.
  
  For a second you think that conditions are improving--until you feel something crawling on the back of your neck. You reach back to flick it off, and your hand brushes what feels like a small mouse. It has a firm grip and doesn't let go. Behind you in the dark, Chief Dansmith gives a startled shout, and you turn to see him frantically trying to brush something off him.
  
  One by one, all of your companions seem overtaken by this same urge. And then you feel many somethings now crawling over your entire body.
  
  > Page 169
  You struggle to gain control over your reflexes so you can turn on your handlight. When you do, you find all of your companions infested with tiny, furry creatures. You shine the light on yourself and find you are no exception. Thousands more cling to the prairie grass, awaiting the opportunity to latch onto a passerby like some kind of furry tick.
  
  "What are these things?" Dansmith shouts. Hun-Spruk for once doesn't have an answer, as she is consumed by the effort to try and clear her body and clothing. The fur-ticks are seeking out your exposed skin and are latching on tightly. Are they drawing blood? Are they carrying alien pathogens to which you have no immunity?
  
  "Dr. Wildon," you say, "any idea what these things are up to? Do these things pose a health risk?" But he is too busy furiously trying to brush the fur-ticks off himself to provide a response.
  
  Your training tells you that you need to return to the Orion for decontamination, but that would probably mean the mission to find Dr. Munro will have to wait. On the other hand, if Dr. Munro is in the research blind just a short distance ahead of you, she may be able to help. It's a big gamble, but it might be better than simply cutting short your mission.
  
  > If you return to the Orion for treatment, turn to page 99.
  The shuttle pilot can barely understand you when you raise him on the comm.
  
  "Lieutenant, repeat yourself," Hinju says. But the sting of dozens of fur-ticks, as well as the panic over what they might be doing to you, is preventing you from thinking straight or putting words together coherently.
  
  After a moment, Hinju seems to get that you're in trouble and need to be retrieved. "Lieutenant, if you can understand me, try and return to the landing site," he says. "I'll be there in five minutes."
  
  You try and comply, and the other team members follow you through the grass, but in truth you are only half aware of where you're going. But then as you get some distance away from the sweet-smelling area, many of the fur-ticks start dropping off. By the time you see the shuttle touching down with its lights still off, only a few remain still attached to your skin, and the moment of panic has passed.
  
  When you return to the Orion, the medical staff require all of you to go through an extensive decontamination process before you can rejoin the general population. By the time you're done, you learn that Lieutenant Aolin Wyte has put together an alternate team and is already down on the planet trying to complete your mission. You hope he encounters better luck than you did.