[Kare and T'Klkk's Apartment, O15 on Underground Level]

Taanik rolls around on the living room floor, kicking ids feet in uncontrollable fits of laughter.

"So then <gasp> T'Klkk walks into the bar and asks Urugg out to dinner," says Tork through short breaths. He rubs his fur-lined gut, which aches from so much glee.

Syzygy's mandibles bend into a bitter frown as he glares out the artificial window in the nearest wall. Beyond the rectangular "window" lies a holographic image of the Laconian desert.

"Ooh, Syzygy," taunts the rubbery Taanik. "I bet they're a-smoochin' right now. BWAHAHA!"

"An ape and a bug?" says Kare with a twisted pout. "Zane! Give me another shot. I'm gonna puke!"

Syzygy looks over at his "friends." "Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up. Let's see where they really are."

The Vrusk activates his wrist communicator and signals Urugg.

"Syzygy," says the male Yazirian, "could you call me back in a few--"

CRASH!

"She's getting away! Quick!" Urugg's face falls out of Syzygy's chronocom and is replaced by the scene of cafeteria wall. The scene yerks around wildly, as though Urugg is running.

Taanik stops in mid-giggle. "They need help. Syzygy, lock onto his chronocom signal and give me the coordinates." The Dralasite hops over to a holographic communication panel. "I've tried this once before. Let's see if it works this time."

[Recreation Area, K7 on Underground Level]

"Security! Stop where you are or we'll drop you!" Urugg sprints after the Human cook. Pots and pans clang to the floor as the Yazirian leaps across the counter to the kitchen. The cook has already passed beyond the back exit.

T'Klkk is ahead of Urugg and dives for the closing door. Vrusk tend to be somewhat faster than Yazirians or Humans.

[T'Klkk REACTION SPEED: 71; Rolled: 71]

The Vrusk manages to fit her arm through the doorway before the door can fully close. The exit's safety device senses T'Klkk's arm and re-opens the door.

Urugg follows T'Klkk through the exit into a narrow hall, just in time to see the Vrusk veer to the left in hot pursuit. "You are to be detained for questioning," says T'Klkk with authority. "Halt, or we will fire. You are surrounded!"

I don't know about the "surrounded" part, thinks Urugg, resuming the chase. But he is mistaken.

Taanik appears out of nowhere, directly in the Human's path. "BOO!"

[Taanik LEADERSHIP: 70; Rolled: 15]

The Human tries to stop, but she is moving too fast. Her feet trip over each other and she finds herself tumbling the same direction she had been running. Her body tosses itself right through Taanik's holographic image and slides to a halt. She barely notices blood dripping down her elbow.

[T'Klkk REACTION SPEED: 71; Rolled: 52]
[Urugg REACTION SPEED: 65; Rolled: 96]

The surprise of Taanik's apparition is a bit too much for Urugg. He shields his face as he tumbles forward into a roll.

[Urugg DEXTERITY: 65; Rolled: 75]

The Yazirian finds himself flat on the back. He rubs his head and looks up into Taanik's holographic eyes.

The Dralasite shrugs with an uneasy grin. "Sorry."

Meanwhile, T'Klkk has assumed an intimidating stance, her eight feet spread wide, her electric sword at the ready. The Human cook lies cowering beneath her.

"Show me your hands!" orders the Vrusk.

[T'Klkk LEADERSHIP: 71; Rolled: 68]

The Human trembles and offers her labor-worn palms to the Vrusk.

T'Klkk calms her tone. "Circumstances require us to bring you in for questioning. You will not be harmed."

She reaches down and removes the Human's opaque sungoggles.

The Human turns away, trying to hide her face, but T'Klkk catches her chin and takes a closer look. The flesh about her eyes is sunken and red.

[Kare and T'Klkk's Apartment, O15 on Underground Level]

T'Klkk and Urugg seal themselves in T'Klkk's bedroom and ask the Human cook to take a seat.

"Why are you doing this to me?" grieves the woman. "I didn't do anything."

"You were spreading a dangerous virus through the food you prepared in the cafeteria," says Urugg.

"I have to work," pleads the woman. "If I don't work, I can't eat."

T'Klkk walks around the woman. "Do you have any idea what you were carrying?"

"No. I swear. All I was trying to do was make a living. I didn't do anything wrong. I was sick. That's all."

"Well, you're okay now," assures Urugg. "I've safely cleared the Red Eye virus from your system."

"How long have you lived on Metrosphere?" continues T'Klkk.

"I don't know. A year maybe."

T'Klkk looks at Urugg. "So she got the disease here."

"How long have you been ill, ma'am?" asks Urugg.

The woman looks down. "Three or four days. I had to take a few days off from work because I wasn't feeling so good."

"Okay," says Urugg. "This is very important, so please think back carefully. We need to know everywhere you went and everything you did prior to getting sick."

"Let's see," says the Human, straining to remember. "I went to work at the kitchen. I shopped for groceries. I. . .went on a few errands."

"Where?"

"Huh? Uh, just groceries. That's all."

[Urugg INTUITION: 75; Rolled: 47]

"You didn't go anywhere else?" says T'Klkk.

Urugg nudges T'Klkk's shoulder before she can get a response. "I need to talk to you outside for a moment."

The two step out the door.

"What is it, team-mate Urugg?"

"I know she's been ill, but her face is much more yellow than it should be. I didn't see that type of symptom on any of the other Red Eye victims."

"Do you believe it to be a latent effect of the disease?"

"I don't think it's caused by the disease. I think this woman is an Ixiol addict."

"So perhaps she came in contact with a tainted supply of the drug?" suggests T'Klkk.

Urugg pulls out his hyposprayer and loads it with telol truth serum.

"There's only one way to find out."

In the living room, Syzygy is using the computer terminal to provide Tork with massive quantities of data.

"Get me a list of all the names of known Star's Arm activists, especially the ones with current addresses," explains Tork. "I also want to look through any records you can find on people who have moved away from Metrosphere, as well as records concerning Streel's enemies and harvest worms."

"That's an unusual combination," comments the Vrusk computer expert.

"And while you're doing that," interjects Zane. "Could you cook me up me a schematic showing the concentrations of Humans in the city? I've got to help organize a team to search for any remaining Red Eye infections."

Syzygy smiles unhappily. "I'm going to need a break after this."

Tork begins digging through the reports Syzygy has generated for him.

He finds 27 people with current addresses who are suspected of Star's Arm participation. None of the Star's Arm participants that gave up their residences and jobs are listed as having left the moon. All residences that were given up were rented out to new immigrants. And as Tork suspected, there are a number of people still around who were roommates of Star's Arm members that gave up their residences.

Tork remembers having seen a picket sign that said, "DON'T KILL THE XXXXX THE HARVEST WORMS." According to the records before him, Harvest worms are used in certain food cultivation processes. There was apparently concern at one time that these worms were being slaughtered instead of being reused. The part of the sign that was crossed out hinted that the sign itself was originally made to protest the killing of some other animal.

Tork scans over a list of well known enemies of the Streel Corporation, suspecting that one of them might have some involvement in the vandalism. The name of a rival company catches his eye: The Gypsy Moon Corporation. An account is given of numerous acts of theft and violence that the Gypsy Moon Corporation has performed against Streel. Tork goes down the list of key Gypsy Moon employees:

Kaytress [vrusk male] - Chief Executive Officer
Pogo [dralasite] - Chief Financial Officer
Blackjack [yazirian male] - Chief Security Officer, charged with corporate raiding and industrial sabotage
Kare [human female] - Chief Technical Expert, charged with breaking and entering, and patent infringement

The list goes on, but Tork has seen what he needed to see.

T'Klkk and Urugg step out of the bedroom with the Human cook. The cook is unconscious in their arms.

"A little telol is all it took," says Urugg. "My best guess is that she got the Red Eye virus from contaminated Ixiol. She purchased a dose recently from a Dralasite peddler in the far west recreation area. We'd better get her to a medical center."

"I'll take her," offers Zane. "I'm on my way there now. I was already going to take the programmer who caught the disease. I'd rather have him not wake up in this apartment."

While the others are making arrangements, Tork seeks out T'Klkk and motions her into a corner of the room. "T'Klkk, I need to talk with you about a potential security issue. In private."

[North Medical Center, I5 on First Landing Underground Level]

Zane takes notice of a young group of Human nurses talking in the hallway. Each nurse is wearing a white, full-length gown that molds to her curves.

Hmm, thinks the Human medical student, I need to spend a little more time in the medical centers and get to know some of these. . .colleagues.

The Dralasite Dr. Pool approaches from an endless sanitary hallway. "Mr. Slayne," id says. "Good news. With your assistance our teams of medical experts and volunteers have located seven more Humans who were infected by the Laconian Red Eye virus. None of them was in the infectious stage. We'll maintain the lockdown for one final sweep, but it looks like we caught this one early enough to stop an epidemic!"

"That's excellent!" replies Zane. "I was just going to check on the four Star's Arm activists who were infected."

The Human and Dralasite pass through two uniformed guards and a fortified door to find themselves in a high security cell. Three Humans lie sedated within the confines of white hospital beds. The fourth is not so fortunate. He is unconscious and hooked up to a dozen life support hoses.

"How's this one doing?" asks Zane.

"He was very nearly killed in the struggle with your associates," explains Dr. Pool. "In fact, he would have certainly died had he not been given a staydose and rushed to our facility. But his situation has now stabilized. I think he'll pull through."

[Kare and T'Klkk's Apartment, O15 on Underground Level]

Tork activates the nearest holographic communication panel and connects to Fle'xx's office. The holographic image of the Vrusk appears. . .upside down!

Tork's surprise is too much for Taanik. "BWAAAAAA! Hey Tork! Who turned the room over? Yuk yuk yuk!"

"Are you having technical difficulties with your holo-panels?" asks the upside down Fle'xx.

"Nothing a few well-placed fists can't handle," says Tork, glaring at his Dralasite tormentor. "I've heard a lot a people mention some powerful economic factors on Metrosphere. We can't halt immigration because that would stop a cash flow, and we can't shut down the city's industries because the financial losses would be too great."

"That is correct," admits the Vrusk hologram.

"If this place were shut down, what kind of losses would Streel suffer?"

The Vrusk's antennae shoot straight up--ur, down. "Let's hope that doesn't happen. Not only would you and I be out of jobs, but the corporation would lose about fifty billion credits of net annual income. At least, that's about what it is now. Things are growing so fast. I wouldn't be surprised to see that income rise to a hundred or a thousand times that level in the not-too-distant future."

"That's all I wondering," says Tork.

"You don't think someone's trying to shut down the city, do you?"

"Let's just say I'm considering all possibilities. I'll get back to you."

The image of Fle'xx vanishes, replaced by the upright Vrusk form of T'Klkk--this one in person. The female Vrusk steps up to Tork and speaks in a low voice. "I believe it expedient that you and I speak with our cell-mate."

As Tork and T'Klkk enter Kare's room, they find her alone on the bed, studying lists of items the raiders have stolen.

She looks up. "It looks like our invisible raiders are mostly interested in food rations and survival gear. I was thinking we might move all the food rations to one location, set a trap."

Tork responds with an info pad that he tosses on the bed.

The title of the article on the pad catches Kare's eye: Gypsy Moon Corporation.

"Anything you can tell us about this?" asks Tork.

Kare's large brown eyes burn into Tork with an icy glare. "Well ape-face, if you're so smart, why don't you read it? You can read, can't you?"

Tork is not indimidated. "Ever hear of them?"

"Maybe."

T'Klkk enters the conversation. "We don't want to harbor any misunderstanding, team-mate. A report on the Gypsy Moon Corporation mentioned a Kare who participated in the company's anti-Streel activities. Our intentions are to determine whether or not this is you."

"I'm a stock holder," says the young Human.

"Look Kare," says Tork. "I'm not out to criticize anyone's history. I'm only concerned about the safety of this team, and the security of our mission. If you were active in an anti-Streel position before, I need to know where your loyalties are now."

Kare stands up to tork, nose to nose. After a long pause she says, "You know, Tork. You remind me a lot of Blackjack. You're both ugly."

With this she walks out of the room.

T'Klkk is about to follow, but Tork stops her with a furry hand. "Let it go."

Urugg and Syzygy are waiting for Kare as she enters the living room.

Syzygy lowers his head uneasily as he talks. "Um. . .Kare? Sorry I slammed you with a tangler round and all. It's just you Humans with your exposed, mucous-membrane visual receptors freak me out and when I saw yours go RED, well. . . I dunno. I just really flipped out!"

Urugg is apologetic as well. "Kare, I've been meaning to speak with you since your--ah--illness at the last meeting. I realize you caught a mean case of Red Eye back there, but I've got this nagging feeling that I really didn't help any by busting your chops at the time. Anyway, I picked this up for you down in the commercial zone."

The Yazirian pulls a wrapped pistol needleclip from his tunic pocket.

"It's premium quality. The anesthetic is stronger than standard issue, and it almost never jams. This should replace the clip you wasted on my hide." He winks. "Just try not to spike me with it this time--the last time you knocked my ass out cold!

[This premium ammunition gives its victim a -10 modifier to withstand falling asleep. It will almost never jam.]

Urugg places a hand upon Kare's shoulder. "Whaddya say we pay another visit to our blob friend down in the commercial zone? Something tells me he hasn't spilled all he knows - maybe a visit from a concerned yazirian and his 'Red-Eyed' compadre might loosen id up a little more?"

Kare accepts the gift gracefully. "Thank you. Maybe another time." She steps out the apartment's front door, but at the last minute hesitates and turns. "You're both very kind."

Once she is gone, Syzygy turns to Urugg. "Thirty credits for a nice box of ammo did the trick. I think she likes you."

[Urugg Empathy: 10 (base) + 20 (skill level x 10) + 13 (INTUITION modifier) = 43%; Rolled: 39]

"Kare's very disturbed about something," says Urugg. "She's never that polite."

[Syzygy and Zane's Apartment, N10 on First Landing Underground Level]

Syzygy sits alone with his computer terminal in the darkness.

He has retreated from the rest of the group and secluded himself, as he often does when working on computer-related tasks. Having true partners he can trust is totally alien to him--he has learned over the years to do without friends, being on the run from the Circe colony and living down the rejection of his people for being Zed. But he has never liked it. This group has struck him as different--open, friendly, capable of trust. Such a new experience has prompted him to seek out the familiar confines of his own room, where he has holed up and set to work.

He drops his insectoid head with a sigh. His work so far has been fruitless.

Rejj, the tech support guru, was fully willing to help Syzygy track down who had made the unaccounted for changes in the personnel manager program. But there were no records to find. Nothing. Whoever made the changes had covered his tracks so well that neither name, nor place, nor time could be associated with them. When Syzygy asked Rejj if it were possible to change a core program without any trace, Rejj had said, "Anything's possible. But I sure wouldn't know how to do it. There are dozens of security layers that I'd have no idea how to get through."

It did seem clear, however, that the changes to the program had no intentional link to Syzygy's team. The main things that had changed were the general limitations of access control. With the changes made to the personnel manager, a remote source could have much more jurisdiction over the program--even enough control to lock out local access.

Syzygy had sent a formal inquiry to the supervisor of the infected Human from the Spire, and he received a reply. But the line of investigation seemed to have hit a dead end. The Human in the Spire was a quality control specialist. He had been monitoring food sale statistics when he came under the influence of his "Rage" attack. The Human's function seemed drab enough: monitor entered data and send back anything that looks out of the ordinary. The Human's terminal had been taken over by a replacement immediately after the incident. The replacement had not found anything out of the ordinary.

Syzygy had requested complete statistics on the life support buildings' operational status, atmospheric breakdown, radiation profile, temperature indices and a dozen other environmental factors. The duration of the statistics went back twenty days before the Star's Arm protest and continued after the protest. Syzygy didn't need the help of an environmentalist to see that the protest had brought about no change whatsoever to environmental conditions.

There is suddenly a knock at the door. Syzygy rouses himself from the analytical stupor into which he descends at such moments. The door opens, flooding light into his dark refuge. The doorway frames the shapely silhouette of a female Vrusk.

Syzygy is very surprised to have T'Klkk interrupt his isolation, but in a good way. She was, after all, the only Vrusk in existence that ever regarded him with friendship. Syzygy is extremely excited by the contact granted him by the female. So much so he fails to notice when his bag of pistachios falls from his hand and spills everywhere. When she leans close he awaits the words he's longed to hear...

"Team-mate Syzygy, I want to express again six degrees of appreciation for the flowers, confections, and body oils. The fragrance and appearance of the flowers produce nine degrees of sensory pleasure. The confections, likewise, are pleasing to the eighth degree. Would you care for one? And, the body oils offer nine degrees of luster and smoothness to my carapace. You really did go to too much trouble. I am most appreciative of these gifts." She leans forward and touches her antennae to his, saying the Vrusk word for "brother of mine although from a different hatching of eggs."

...When he hears what she says he is stunned. It is only after she is long gone that it sinks in. "'Brother?'.....'brother?'.....'BROTHER?!?' All that and I'm like a stinkin' brother? Phooey!"

Syzygy closes down his terminal, too disgusted with life in general to continue any serious work. His Dralasite puzzle is sent across the room, a reminder of his sad distractions. Is this his destiny, then? Puzzle-solver? Unworthy of the attention of attractive females? Getting sand kicked in his face while those military types he grew to hate back on Circe run the show?

He has been in this room for nearly an hour, and now he has a pile of confusing feelings to work through. Somehow the emotional detachment between strangers is preferable to this confusing, closed-in familial-unit arrangement the group has going on. His first thoughts are to seek out some nightclub action, but he can think of even graver things to occupy his time with.

Syzygy grabs his gyrojet pistol, all his Tornadium D-19 satchels, his tech kit, his stunstick and the rest of his gear in his back pack. A quick spit and polish makes his ZED mark gleam, as if a physical manifestation of the chip he felt on his shoulder right now. He grabs Zane's portable audio device, slips in a tape of some loud, subversive Vrusk music, and heads for the door--bumping right into Zane.

"Hey, Syzygy," says the newly come Human. "Where ya headed?"

"Aaah, I'm goin' for a breath of fresh recycled air!" Syzygy hesitates, and then reaches for his spacesuit. "Don't wait up for me."

The door whisks shut behind him, leaving Zane alone in the darkness.

"What's eating him?" wonders the Human.

[Starport, B12 on First Landing Surface Level]

Kare looks out an observation window to see a dozen small shuttles and two slightly larger starships. They all sit haphazardly arranged on the starport's glossy black surface, and not one of them is activated. Two Humans on the observation deck begin arguing about the lockdown, which has barred any ships from landing or leaving.

Kare accesses a terminal and scans over the lists of arrival and departure schedules. She then proceeds to check out the capabilities listed for every ship and shuttle expected over the next several days. Her position on Metrosphere seems to be taking a bad turn, so she decides to be prepared--should she need to leave the system on short notice.

Deciding that it might be best to work alone for a while, she decides to get a first hand look at the life support buildings. No significant damage from the Star's Arm's demonstration had been reported, but that report sounded a little too good to be true.

[Ore Refinery, N16 on First Landing Surface Level]

T'Klkk and Taanik gaze out of a refinery window, 60 meters above ground. Below, outside First Landing's protective shell, is an open paved road that runs to the south for several kilometers--vanishing into the moon's dark horizon.

"This place feels pretty creepy with the lockdown in effect," says Taanik. "With all those empty airtubes, I thought for sure something was going to jump out at us."

"What did you intend to examine here?" asks T'Klkk.

"Look down on the road. See how there's a steady flow of robotic trucks hauling in ore from the south. There's a mine at the end of that road, and according to what I've read it's totally automated with robot labor. Not a single Dralasite, Human, Vrusk or Yazirian in the thing. I think that's something worth checking out. If there are criminals around, Lost Point might be a bit too obvious a place for them to be hiding. What do you say we put on our spacesuits and take a look?"

"Your idea merits sixth degree consideration, team-mate. However, our provided map defines the distance to that mine as ten kilometers. If we are to distance ourselves from First Landing to such an extreme measure, I make tenth degree recommendations that we do so in greater numbers."

"Hey!" says a voice from behind them.

Taanik jumps onto T'Klkk, nearly knocking her down. Both turn to see the Yazirian foreman that let them into the building.

Taanik climbs down and recomposes himself. "See what I said about this place being creepy?"

"I didn't mean to disturb you all," says the Yazirian. "But when you came in you mentioned that you all are investigating the raids that have been going on. I thought you'd want to know that the two storage pods at the south edge of the city have just reported being broken into and robbed. A few armfulls of survival equipment and food were stolen. No one saw anybody, but the thieves did a lot of damage. Sounds like another one of those jobs."

"Thank you, kind sir," says T'Klkk. "We shall investigate immediately."

[Monorail Tube, I16 on First Landing Surface]

[Syzygy Operate Machinery: 50 (base) + 20 (skill level x 10) + 10 (LOGIC modifier) = 80%; Rolled: 10]

Syzygy admires his handiwork.

He had examined the monorail station for about half an hour, but found it to be empty and abandoned. Whether this was due to the lockdown or a simple lack of use, he didn't know. But the fact that he had to pick the lock to get into the station suggested the latter possibility.

The monorail runs through an airtight tube which has been laid just above ground. Syzygy takes a closer look at the rail.

[Syzygy INTUITION: 70; Rolled: 42]

A few sections of the rail are poorly lubricated and badly scathed. Many of the scratches are shiny, as though they have been inflicted recently.

"Well," says Syzygy within his space helmet. "This gizmo should tell me whether anyone is still using the monorail." He looks one last time to make sure that his wire-whip counting device is set up properly. Should a monorail car pass by the counter, a number in the device will be incremented--and Syzygy will be notified by chronocom.

WHISSK!

Syzygy looks up. The sound seemed to come from an airlock in the side of the monorail tube.

He takes a closer look. There are a number of airlocks, and each has a green light above it. But the airlock that made the sound is sitting below a red light.

Syzygy's head tilts inquisitively in his spacesuit helmet. Someone must be coming inside. He draws his gyrojet pistol and presses himself up against the wall near the airlock. Whoever it is, he's going to be ready!

The inner door of the airlock opens, but no one comes out. Syzygy waits, his breath growing louder in his helmet. After about fifteen seconds, the inner airlock door closes again.

Syzygy waits a few more seconds and activates the control to open the airlock.

No one is inside.

He passes into the chamber and activates the outer door. The inner door closes and the air pressure in the chamber begins to drop. After about thirty seconds, the outer door opens, revealing a lifeless black landscape below an eternal starry night.

Syzygy steps outside onto a flat surface of rock. The impossible silence confirms that the moon is devoid of any atmosphere. The lack of sound beyond Syzygy's spacesuit greatly accentuates the echoes of breathing in his helmet.

The gargantuan tubes of First Landing glow to the right side of the spacesuited Vrusk. To the left side, crater pocked dirt stretches out to a jagged horizon of darkest mountains: black peaks against a black sky. About the only way to tell the difference between mountains and sky is to look for areas of black that do not have any stars.

Syzygy turns his compound eyes back to the city. The air seems to ripple with heat waves. This seems odd. First of all the average temperature of Metrosphere's surface is about -150 C. Second, there is no air to ripple.

The curious Vrusk takes a step forward and strains his eyes. The lines of First Landing's ground structures seem somehow. . .distorted. He turns toward the solitary air tube that shelters the monorail. More distortion.

If he didn't know better, Syzygy would say that he was underwater. The distortion increases, crowding him in on all sides.

Syzygy steps back.

One of the forms begins to take shape.

[Syzygy and Zane's Apartment, N10 on First Landing Underground Level]

Zane stares at his chronocom with horror. "What the hell is he doing?"

He uses the wrist communicator to contact T'Klkk and Taanik at once.

"Greetings, team-mate Zane," says T'Klkk. "We have just received the report of two more raids and are on our way to investigate." She examines Zane's face. "Something is wrong, team-mate?"

"I need your help! Syzygy's been checking out the monorail terminal alone, so I've been monitoring the coordinates of his chronocom. According to those coordinates, he's now riding the monorail--and he's halfway to Lost Point!"

"An unwise decision, even for a Zed. Have you tried contacting him?" suggests the female Vrusk.

"I can't. He wanted to lay low, so he set his chronocom to block any incoming calls. His chronocom's still supposed to vibrate when I try to contact him, but he isn't responding."

Taanik's formless head stretches into the chronocom viewpanel. "Bring your spacesuit. We'll meet you at the terminal."

[Park Dome, G15 on First Landing Underground Map]

The first thing Tork notices is the trill of birds. How long has it been since he has heard birds? Then the aromas of ten thousand plants fills his nostrils. He breathes more deeply.

"I see what you mean, Urugg. This place is like something out of paradise!"

Flowers, bushes, trees and streams practically glow with vibrant greens, blues, reds, yellows, lavenders, and dozens of colors that Tork had forgotten existed.

Tork gazes around with an open mouth. "How did I miss out on this place?"

Urugg closes his eyes and listens to the insects chirping. "Without the park domes, I think this tin-can of a city would have taken my sanity long ago. Even if all of this is artificial, it reminds me of the lush forests I came from."

The most amazing spectacle rises up in the center of the dome. Four or five trees of unworldly size stand like giants in a green land of midgets. The trees must be more than 100 meters tall! Each has a thick network of wide, flat branches--some measuring two meters across--that intermix into a gnarled maze. The ground below is cloaked with blackest shadows and is so thickly entwined with roots, tendrils and thistle-laden vines that it is impossible to pass between the trees.

Urugg notices Tork's wonder. "Those are Bachanda trees, imported all the way from Volturnus. I've heard that on their native planet, they can grow to twice that height. Now where's this wise-woman you were talking about."

"I don't see much of anybody," says Tork.

"I understand you and she are both from Hentz. Are you familiar with her splinter sect of the Family of One? I did a little anthropology work while I was on Histran, but that was only a sideline to get a better understanding of rural ecosystems inhabited by small hunting and farming groups. This should be interesting--if we can just find her and get her to open up."

"I am from Hentz, but I haven't heard of Cimmy's sect. The Family of One I grew up with was rather. . ." Tork pauses, thinking back to an unhappy time. "They were somewhat strict and intolerant. I was unaware that the Family had any splinter groups. It would be most interested talking to her about the 'Shadows' and her beliefs."

A woman's voice catches the attention of the two Yazirians. "Let me go. Let me go."

A Human policeman with two security robots is removing a wrinkled Yazirian woman from the park by force. "Everyone has to leave the park during a lockdown, ma'am. Those are the rules. I don't make 'em, but we need to follow 'em. Now where do you live?"

"That's her," says Tork. "That's Cimmy."

"Officer!" hollers Urugg, showing his ID card.

The policeman waits for Urugg and Tork to come closer.

"It's okay, officer," says Urugg--slightly out of breath. "She's with us."

The policeman examines the ID card and throws his hands in the air. "Fine! Do what you want with her."

Tork and Urugg can still hear him grumbling as he and his robots leave the premises.

"You is kind to an old woman," says Cimmy as she straightens her tattered white robe.

"We were looking for you, priestess," says Tork--forcing an air of politeness. "We wish to know more about the Shadows."

[Tork PERSONALITY: 65; Rolled: 51]

The Yazirian woman's eyes light like candle flames. "Oh! You is true bel-EE-vers." She smiles enigmatically. "Come."

Cimmy's home is not where Tork or Urugg would have expected. The woman crawls onto some of the larger Bachanda roots and--with startling agility--leaps to the overhead branches. The two Yazirian men follow her along branch after branch--deep into the heart of the Bachanda forest.

The flat-leafed waxy foliage is so thick within the shelter of the trees that Urugg and Tork are forced to remove their sungoggles. A non-Yazirian race without night vision would be lost entirely.

After all this climbing, Tork wonders if they are not sixty or seventy meters above the ground. He is about to ask Urugg his opinion when his night adjusted eyes catch the sight of something ahead. . .flickering with an eerie orange glow.

"What is that?" asks Tork.

Cimmy pauses. "My home."

Cimmy's home is a makeshift tree-shack, built from mismatched planks of wood and garbage. A few of the pieces of wood bear sections of the Streel logo.

Several gourds and similar vegetables have been carved into heads representing a dozen bizarre races and expressions. Each carved plant head glows from the inside with a lit candle--the source of the orange light that Tork saw. One might wonder if they represent dieties or spiritual protectors in Cimmy's beliefs.

There is a single crate in the middle of the room, on which lie wooden bowls of fowl liquids, bones, feathers and a partially burned ID card with the name "Simeonne Arielle."

Cimmy's voice has taken on a frightening sense of sobriety. "Sit," she rasps, her face distorted in shadows cast by the glowing heads. "Cimmy tells you about the Shadows.

"In the beginning is there 200 souls, come from the skies to the Sphere. The Sphere is devoid of life and creation.

"'I fill the void,' says the Great One. 'I bring creation. . .and light. . .and life.'

"But the Evil One hears this and says, 'Follow me. I builds the Sphere in my image, and for my glory.'

"A fourth of the souls follows the Evil One and builds the Realm of Shadows, a domain of suffering and misery.

"The Great One ignores the evil Realm and builds the Great City, he does. And in its wealth of food and light, the Great City mocks the misery of the forgotten Realm.

"But the Realm is not to be mocked, for it lies guarded by the Lord of Shadows. The Lord of Shadows comes to the Evil One and says, 'I gives unto you power to destroy your enemy, power to defeat the hated City. I gives unto you power to be Shadows. None shall see. And none shall hear. For the Shadow fears not light and conquers all.'"

[Urugg Psycho-Pathology: 30 (base) + 20 (skill level x 10) + 5 (LEADERSHIP modifier) = 55%; Rolled: 41]

Urugg's brow twists with perplexity. He whispers to Tork, "Something's not right about this lady. She's definitely not playing with a full hyperdrive. Notice that weird face twitch she has, and the way she limps when she walks. My best guess is that she's suffered brain damage. If I had a medkit I could tell for sure."

[Monorail Tube, I16 on First Landing Surface]

[Zane INTUITION: 70; Rolled: 37]

"Stop the train, Taanik!" says Zane.

The Dralasite tech expert brings the monorail train to a stop, less than a hundred meters out from the First Landing terminal.

"You saw something, team-mate Zane?" asks T'Klkk.

"Yes. There, outside on the moon's surface." He points beyond the monorail tube's transparent walls where a silvery insect-shaped space suit lies motionless on an uneven rock surface.

"We can use one of these airlocks in the walls of the tube," suggests Taanik.

In less than a minute, the group has passed outside, to Metrosphere's dark, pressureless environment.

T'Klkk is the first to reach the motionless form. Her voice sounds hollow as it transmits into Zane and Taanik's helmets. "It is team-mate Syzygy."

Zane rushes to the body and turns it over. Syzygy's arm rolls out and flops to the ground, as flimsy as the arm of a lifeless doll. The Vrusk's chronocom is missing, as is the rest of his equipment. His helmet is crusted inside with dried yellow blood.

The Human pulls out a medscanner and runs through a frantic series of life-sign checks.

[Zane Diagnosis: 60 (base) + 20 (skill level x 10) + 10 (INTUITION modifier) = 90%; Rolled: 57]

"He's alive. But he's taken several wounds from blunt instruments, and his helmet's leaking oxygen. We've got to get him out of here!"

[Park Dome, G15 on First Landing Underground Map]

Syzygy's chitonous faceplates are swollen and discolored. His neck and mandibles are stained with yellow bruises. He is now conscious, but very dazed. [He has sustained 34 points of damage.]

Taanik, Tork, Urugg and Zane are sitting around him on the park grass. T'Klkk is standing in front of the group.

"Team-mates. I have called us together so that we can all touch base and come to a common agreement on how this team should proceed. So far, I have managed to locate everyone but team-mate Kare."

"Where is Kare, anyway?" asks Urugg.

Tork and T'Klkk make eye contact. Both look concerned.

"I don't know where she is," says Taanik. "She must have turned her chronocom off. I can't trace her."

[East Life Support Building, K9 on First Landing Surface Level]

Kare climbs atop a rectangular shaft and looks up. A security camera near the ceiling has been smashed, apparently by a blunt weapon. She looks around for other signs of damage.

There is a lot of heavy machinery around her: atmosphere regulators, storage tanks, pipes and vents galore. Every piece of equipment sparkles with good condition. As a technician, she could lose herself in a place like this.

"Excuse me. What are you doing here?" asks a voice from below.

Kare looks down to see a young Human male with goggles and a white lab coat. The man looks a little nervous, and tries to keep his eyes from going to Kare's shapely figure. He is not very successful.

"I'm doing an inspection, four-eyes. You got a problem with that?"

[Kare PERSONALITY: 50 + 0 (Human to Human racial modifier) = 50%; Rolled: 67]

"Uhmm, I'm afraid you're going to have to get a contractor permit to do any work in this area. Please come down."

One more pencil pusher to deal with!

Kare drops to the floor with the fluid agility of a cat.

The man steps back and avoids her with his eyes. He blushes slightly.

Kare's dark red lips lift into a venomous smile. "You're not going to make this easy, are you?"

The man in the lab coat fidgets with his hands and takes another step back. "Ma'am, we have regulations that we need to. . .follow."

"Exactly, and just what do you see up there?"

"Up where?" asks the worker, craning his head all the way back.

"The security camera. Tell me why that wasn't replaced."

The worker swallows. "I don't know. A lot of little things were damaged during the protests this morning. We haven't had the time to--"

"I want to talk to your supervisor now!"

"As you wish," says the man. He seems to jump at the chance of shifting the responsibility to someone else.

"One more thing," says Kare, stopping the man on his way out. "Where does this go?" She motions to an electronically sealed vent cover in the wall. The cover is about one meter high and one and a half meters wide.

"We don't use those anymore, ma'am. In the early days we had direct life support tubing to important areas of the city. But ever since we installed the microtube lattice, we haven't needed the big tubes. We only keep them operational in case of an emergency."

"Go get me your supervisor," orders Kare in a voice filled with whip-cracks.

"Yes ma'am."

Kare watches the young Human pass out of sight and looks around hastily. She only has moments before the supervisor arrives.

It is not really the security camera that Kare is interested in. She steps up to the vent cover and examines it more closely.

[Kare Analyze Machinery: 40 (base) + 20 (skill level x 10) + 3 (INTUITION modifier) = 63% ; Rolled: 24]

Whoever sabotaged this cover knew what he was doing. The attachments to security devices have been rerouted, and the mechanical locking mechanism has been disabled--all without any visible signs of tampering. It looks like somebody wanted to make it very easy to pass through this vent at a later time.

Kare pulls the cover off with ease. The tube inside is blanketed with a fine sheet of dust. She touches the dust with a gloved finger and examines it.

[Kare INTUITION: 55; Rolled: 25]

Doesn't look out of the ordinary. But the dust in the tube is undisturbed. If it was someone's intention to crawl through the tube, he hadn't done it recently.

"Where does this tube lead to?" asks Kare in low voice.

It is only seconds later that the man in the lab coat returns with his supervisor.

The supervisor folds his arms and scowls. He is not amused.

"She was here. I swear it!"

[Government Building, I7 on First Landing Surface Level]

[Kare Detect Alarms/Defenses: 60 (base) + 20 (skill level x 10) + 3 (INTUITION modifier) - 20 (alarm level) = 63%; Rolled: 32]

Kare examines the vent cover at the other end of the tube. Whoever disabled the locks and security on the first cover never got to this one. The cover is very much fixed in place, and the alarm connected to it is very much active.

Through the tiny ventilation holes in the cover, Kare can see what looks like a storage closet. Expensive computers and office supplies are neatly stacked on varnished real wood shelves.

"Expensive," mutters Kare.

But where this room is, she has no idea. Nearly an hour of crawling through this tube has robbed her of her sense of direction.

There is only one way to find out where she is.

[Kare Deactivate Alarms/Defenses: 40 (base) + 20 (skill level x 10) + 3 (INTUITION modifier) - 20 (alarm level) = 43%; Rolled: 22]
[Kare Open Lock: 50 (base) + 20 (skill level x 10) + 3 (INTUITION modifier) - 20 (lock level) = 53%; Rolled: 03]

Kare deactivates the security system and defeats the lock like a pro. She slowly removes the cover and lowers it to the floor.

The little closet she finds herself in has one door leading out.

She is about to put her ear up to the door when it whisks open.

A Human woman in a solemn gray business suit enters and gasps at the sight of Kare. "Who are you? How'd you get past security?"

Kare uses the first line she can come up with. "I'm fixing the vent."

"Not in the Executive Office you're not! Where's your security clearance?" The business woman notices the needler at Kare's hip and softens her tone. "Heh heh. Excuse me."

The woman flees out the door. "Mr. Streel. Call security! There's an armed woman in there!"

"What?" says the familiar voice of Selson Streel. "How did she get in?"

Just as the closet door slides shut, Kare glimpses four Yazirians in black-and-white uniforms with polished brass. Security guards!

Referee's Comments

The next turn begins with the meeting that T'Klkk has organized. You can assume that your characters are unaware of Kare's location and situation, unless she specifically calls for help. Experience Points will be awarded in personal e-mails over the next few days. Feel free to spend them in your upcoming turn.

One more thing. . .

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!