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As the might oI the alien Arcadian lrrrPirc tightens its hold on our galaxy, the lcadcrs of the secret Earth organization, SAROS, tather their slender resourcesinto one Iast daring and foolhardy mission to strike nt lhe heart of the invaders'home planet. YOU are their last hope. Trained in all the martial arts, equipped with a forbidden laser sword, your mission is lo seek out the underSround resislance and piece togelher lhe vital code you need to destroy the enemy. But time is running out and only YOU stand in the way of the Arcadians' complete domination of the Sala-\y! Two dice, a pencil and an eraser are all you need for this perilous journey. YOU decide which roules lo lake. which danters to risk and which enemies to fight. FIGHTING FANTASY GAMEBOOKS

r8

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Covr illustrition by Alnn C.addo.k

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P U FFI N B O O K S

REBEL PLANET As the rnighty alien Arcadian Empire tightens its hold on the Salaxy, the leaders of th s(ret Earlh orgmiation, SAROS, gather their slendcrlesourcesinto onelast danng . andfoolhardy mission to strile atihe heari of the invadeis' Fully traincd in all the trartial arts, eqdpped wlth a forbiddcn lascr sword (one of thc few @ining on Earth), YoU are theirlast hope. You mi$ion is io setk out the scattred rcmnants of the undcrground resistance on the oiher ocopjed planets,usingyour coveras a tuavelling lrlelchant,and piecetogetherthe viLalcodeyou need Only when you have ihis infoimaiion will you bc able to strike at the central AEadian complex, which SAROS berievcswil brcak thc stnngc powerc of the Arcadians and e l@scn lher domination of the free wodds Two dicc, a penc and an claser are all you nccd to embark on thii thdlling tuturistic adventate, complte with its elaborrtc combat system and a scoresheet to record vour Mmy dangrs li ahead and your suc.essis by no means .ertain. Irowertul advcrsariesare ranged against you and often your only choiceis to kill orbc ki[edl

presenl: StevelacLson and lan Li\ ingstone

BEBEl PT.AiET

Robin Waterfield
IlLusLrated W CaryMayes

Pulfin Books

FiEt Published 1935 R.Pnntd 435, r9tr6 Con(pi cupyrlBhl@ gFve hds.. and !n | ! 8sturc r 935 ' T?\r.opynHhi O n.b,n witcrh<ld rc35 llu!h.i,.ns spyn8hi O Cd|] M:ves 1q$5 All rishts resered PnnGd and bound in GrearBritain bY Cox & WYm,n Ltd, Readng FUmsel ln 1tltpr Linoton Palatinoby Rowland Phototypesetbs Ltd, Bury St Edmunds,suffolk

or America, Ex.ept in the United States tbb h.ot lr 6old subid to th. cmdifan rt$r it !h.ll nol, by vry of hde u dhwi*, hiEd @t, o. oln bc lcnl, F$ld, in ay fm or without rh. publlsh'/3 prid (rc t'lnding d @* dh* than dEt in whi.h ir is publthd .nd uirhdt a similir (udition hcluding this rcnditih tong imFcal on subsquenr PUrdEer

Forlulian, fot lun

CONTENTS

rtIS T OR Y

9
MISSION BACI(GROUND

a3
C O N TA C T WI TI ' AIIENS

L6
A A I LI TI E S

AE

2a
EQUIIMENT AND M O N TY

A D V E N TU R E

SIIEET

28
R E sE L FLA N ! - I

30

HISTORY

It is the year 2,+51Human colonizationof far flung planets of the galaxy began in 2o7owith the first expedition to Tropos, only 6 8 light-years away from Earth. Tropos graduall,v becamea centrein its own right, relievrng the pressurescausedon Earth by too many people 'A home from home,' claimed the glossy brochures designed to attract further colonists,but 'more tefiestdal than terestdals' was nearer the mark, as the lashions and habits o{ the late t\.\'entyfirst century became{ossilzed and fell behind changeson Earth Canny travel agentsused to advertise visits to Tropos as 'journeys back in hme'With the dlscovery o{ ziridium on Tropos, and the invention of the alpha-ziridium system, h'hjch enables spaceshrpsto keep acceleratingrather than srmply travelling at the same speed, more distant planets becamenelghbours The ncxt planet found to be suitable for humans was Radix. One of the unexpectedfactors in inhabiting another planet is that any new species must adapt to sult that planet. Radixis a verv ierhle planet, and the human coloniststhere soon found that so calledl-ruman nature is mainly a product of the planet Earth. Life on Radix was so easyand luxurious that the colonistsqulckly settled into a way of living that, by Earth's standards, was lazy and corrupt. 9

There are very few planets in the galaxy that humans can inhabit; even those which have the ri8ht atmospheremay be too hot or too cold, or have bo much or too Iittle gravity EventuallyHalmuris was discovered,but not before severalexpeditionshad been lost in the abyss of space. Conditions on Halmuris are bleak and bitter: it becamemainly a and explorers,who werewaiting home for scientists to find and be sent to the herl planet. Beforelong they had found it The first unmanned flights brought backpicturesofa planetobscuredby cloud, whose atmosphere,as revealedby spectroanalysis, was a breathable but li8hter version of Earth's. In theiI joy at the thought of getting off Halmuris - though some would remain as a sort of basecamp - they gave the ne\r' planet the peaceful name ofArcadion. But what did the clouds hide?

{P
i
Arcadion consists of three land massessepaGted by huge expansesof water. Because of the separation of the continents, a differcnt sDeoes developed on each land mass. By 2285, when human spaceshipssplit the clouds and came down to the sur{ace of Arcadion, the three specieshad been united for a long time. The inventive and mtelligent

occupantsof the vast horseshoe-shaped continent, which circleshalf the globe from east to west, had conquered the warlike Northern sFeciesand the more artistic Southerners.The Alliance, as it was called,had lasted for centunes. Their technology, however, rvas more pfimitiv than Earth's, and space-travelwasrestricted They wanted to conquer spacejust as much as human beings,for they wantedan Empire. Sowhen thelew human spaceshrps landed, the Arcadianssoon saw the advantagesof alpha-ziridium . . . Thewartookonly twelveyea6, andformostof thai time the Arcadians were building alpha-ziridium fleetsrather than actualy fighting First the outpost on Halmuris was taken by surprise and overrun Radix, to its eiemal shame, gave in without a struggle.The invadersmet with stilfresistance from the lropians, who were eager to keep their tradihonal way of life; but the Troprans,too, were overwhelmed by the greaternumbers and ftghting skills of the Arcadians. Earth itself, with rts bases on Mercury, Venus and the moon, {ell soon a{terwards, and the worst fearsof the prophets o{ doom backedbv the TerrestrialEcoloBy Pat). who never wanted to leave Earth in the first place- cametrue: humdn beingsbecameruled by a grlactic empire The Arcadians r,r,ere badly equipped to control an empire at first, but Arcadians are very adaptable. They built a massiveorganiccomputer on Arcadion binary is natural lor the two-fingeredArcadians11

and implanted into the brain of every Arcadian a receiver linked to the central organic complex by empathy, which had longbeen recognizedto be the quickestform of communication.The Arcadiansbecamelike a hive or an ant colony:eachindividual is a cell of a sprawling, single entity - an entity which cdnconlrolan empirewith merciless efficiency. Arcadion a peacefulname, but for 15oyearsit has been another word lor tyranny. The only hurnan word still spitefully allowed is the name oI the planet: Esperantowas the common ton8ue o{ human beings, but now its use means instant deathHumans are slavesand are only kept alive to serve the aliens and humans do not live for very long these days. The only Arcadian regret is that the human body cannot be implanted with the empathic rcceiver as they discovered a{ter the vivisectionand death ofhundreds of tesFcases. The Arcadians chose to submit their will to the central computer, but human will cannot be wiped out without death. The alienscankeep thetupower only through cruelty. But it has not gone unnoticed on Earth that the weakness,as well as the strength, of the Arcadians is that they rely on the computer: they no longer have any will of thet own, so they would become zombiesif the computerwere destroyed.The weakness of a hive is the supreme imporLanceof the queen ant or bee.The weaknessofthe Empireis the computerqueen of Arcadion and this is where you come in a2

MISSIONBACKGROUND

In times past, the planning and funding of human colonization of other planets was undertaken by SAROS, an international organization promoting 'Search And Research O( Space'. Under the Arcadian Empire, SAROS has had to change: although it seemsto be iust an astronomicalinstitute, in factit has been doing all it can to overthrow the Empire. It quickly becameclear that a full-scale military attack was out of the question, and that the only hope lay in a solo mission to destroy the central comPuter, Prepadng for this mission has been a long and patient task, hindered by the fact that radio transmitters are still not allowed, and contact with the underground on other planetswas difficult. But two factors make the time right now - or as ght as it probably ever will be. First, you are the perfect chorce for the mission: you are resourceful, courageousand dedicatedto liberahon. You have been t(ained for many months in martial arts, and you have acquireda knowledge ofthose branchesof screncethat cotld be at all useful. Finally, your cover is excellent: you will travel as a merchant. For the second factor is that humans are now allowed to travel in space again, though onty as merchants to serve fhe Arcadians You will be a3

taking wheat ftom Earth to Tropos/ ziridium from Tropos to the authorities on Radix, Iuxurv goods ftom Radix to Halmuris, and you have been inshucted to take an imoortant Arcadian from Halmuris to Arcadion. Th; other signilicant aspectoI the lifting ofthe ban on spacetravel is that SAROS hasbeenabletosendspiestogathertheinformatio you ned for your mission.

The piclure drat emerged is still incomplete, becausevital details were lost through traitors- sone humans trying to pleasetheirmastersin the hope of some crumbs of comfort, or ofliving lor a few extra months. This heacheryhasits good and its bad side: the good side is that now you know you will not automatically be able to lrust everv hurnan you meet, because some may be helping the Arcadians; the bad side is that your mission must go ahead now, although the information is incomplete, before the Arcadjansget wind of it- But the knowledge that drd get through is crucial. The building that houses the queen computer on Arcadion can be entercd by using a numerical code of nine binary digits; and the underground leaderson eachplanet mayknow something the tohelpyou discoverwhat number is. The missing details are who the under-

Bround leadersare - you only know codeflames,at best - and, of course, what the diqits are. That is why your cover has been arrangedlo allow you to stop on each planet. You must locate the rebel leaders and leam the digits; then you must destroy the comDutet on

r
CONTACT WITH ALIENS
The three Arcadun species that you will come acrossin this adventureare eachdifferentto lookat. More important, they havedifferentways of behaving and thinking, some of which humans find di{ficult to understand, even after years of contact. Here is a b ef description of each species,taken from the'SAROS Manual': All lhrue arcroughly humatnid in aryearance: lhey species haoe twoatms aildluo Lqss, because nolulionbcVond a certain lnniLell stdge requires matlual dexlerit!, uhicl1 ir1 haoe t n necds an uprightp$ture. AII therncies two 'hand' 'foot' gerc and tlLn locs on eich on each fi
Narthe/nArcadians arcnbolttthlccflEftesttillaf lhefiast TlEyarcspindly,uilh morciointsh theil atns andlegs tha hundns.Thenheads nresquat i nd squatish, bul their nosl distinctiue physicil re is a thick, nluscular tail, feat tipped with n lticiaus spikr,whichis an ertlemcl!us4ul ueapon in bnttLe Northern , and is alsolscnt'orbalancc. Arcadiansure nntterof Jaf,t , n ilitdry tlpes, uho I tke nathilli somuchasa good massacrc They arc tlot'nery intellige l, uhtchis wll! theyarc th?easiest Arcadians lo understaLl SoulhenrAn adians are Iikea tuIy-poly lte4bn ol the Narlher ers- bul do not lel thatlooLyo : the! u f ght if thpywant to. Tlteit chiefplrysicaldiflerences frcm the a6

Norlhefters arethdl theyhape no tail,theyarcsholLel awl squatfef, in.l theV haue twoantennae Thepur9se olthese antennae is not clear,bltt the mostlikely erptarution is that the! prckup feell'i$. W usethese sntenme in a |Eriety of ways,manyof whicharetoosubUe lor a hunan to understand : so il is easyto ot'fend them. Theytend to be sensitiDe, ary\jaV . Theyprier to ,ak in a DerypoeticwaV , which canbecofifusingat Enes, thoughtheyseem to understan.t oneanottur peieclly . Houeoer, ttle! ha?re Iearned to talkdowu'to insenslive hunans Centldl Atcailiafls are the nost pouerful sryies, and are the mosthunwn to lookiL: theydrc usuall! under two metrcs taIL, andhaae thes menumteroljoints fi thetr dnfis and legsashuttins Apatt frofir their snalL tail, the mostoboious differcnce betueell Centrul Arcaitians and humansisthe elongated IEad, uhtch tendsto jut o t ot tighl a desfron thei shoulders.Thehead hasa pulpy crestol tissue.Phy;ically , they areW t'ar theweakest of the three species, but theytMke plorthisWtheilskiLt.In tuttle,lor instance,theyarc oftenabteto uin !ry d6tn ting their oryone t . Their thoughtstend fo beueryabsttuct , and

- ,@
a7

ABILITIES

Your mission involves travelling through the depths of outer space. You must first determine your strengths and wealnesses For this you will need Lwodice, and a pencil to recold your scoreson the AdrEftture (pp. 28-9). As it is possiblethat Sheet you will not successfu[ly complete your mission on your first attempt, you should write lightly so you can rub out your notes, or you could take photocopi,esof the Adoefit /e Srdeffor future use. Skill, Stamina and Luck Roll one die. Add 5 to this number and enter the total in the sKu-L box ol the Adoenture Sheet.Yotrr sxILL score reflects your general Iighting ability the higher the score,the better you are Roll two d ice. Add r 2 to the nunlber rolled and enter the total in the srAMrNA box. Your srAMrNA score reflectsyou! will to suruive,your determinationand your overall fitness: the higher you r srauD.l I score, the longer you will be able to survive. There is also a LUc( box. Roll one die, add 6 and enter the total in the LUc( box. Your rucx scote indicateshow naturally lucky a personyou are. Fot reasons that will be expLainedbelow, skrl-I-, 18

srAMrNAand LUc( scores keep changingduring an adventure. You mugt keep an accuraterecord of thesescores,so write small in the boxesor have an eraserhandy. But never rub out your Initirl scores. Although you may be awarded additional sKrLL, srAMrNA and LUCKpoints, these totals may never exceedyour Inifi'al scores. Restorint sKrLL Your srrll score will not change much during an adventure. Occasionally,a page may give instruchons to increase or decnease yout s(I LL score. Restoring srAMrNA Your STAMINA score will changea lot during your aclventure, as you fight aliens and undertake arduous tasks.As you nearyour goal, your srAMrNA level may be dangerously low, in which case battleswill be particularly risky, so be careful!The most usual ways of restoring srAMrNA are rest and food, which you will have to buy: you will have

a9

opportunities for resting and eating duing the adventure. Healing ofwounds will alsobe provided for during the adventure, though more rarelyj this also restoressrAMINa, ofcourse,

Restoring LUcK Additions to and subtractionsfromyour Lucx score are awarded in the advenfure accordingto circumstances. YourLucKscore will alsochangequite a bit as yoLrTestyour Luck(seep. 25).

20

COMBAT

This adventure involves no combat encountersin space.Under LheEmpire, humans arenotpermitted weaponsof any kind/ and sinceyou are travellingas a merchant anyway, your ship is unarmed. Your journeys between planets will be uneventful as regards external danger - apart fuom the odd shower of meteors, but the ship's force-field will easilyrepel those. Force-fields are ef{ective {or spaceshipsbecause they work by resistance to speed: any missile powerful enough to penetrate the hull of a spaceshipcan be stoppedby the ship's field. Forcefields cannot help individual beings: a missile slow enough topenetratea force-fieldmay stillbe powerful enough to injure a humanbeing or an Arcadian. Besides,the equipmentneededtoproduce an effective force-field is pretty bulky even in this age of advanced miniaturization. There are other problems, too, such as the many obstacles which clutter our environment and inte ere with the field, and the shock-wavescausedby a field resistinga blast, whichcanbe nearly as harmfulas the blastitselt for soft-skinned creatures So there are no personalforce-fieldsin the twenty fifth century, but there are plenty of lethal weapons which have existed for centudes guns, lasers,

r
phasers, photon grenades, gravity bombs and so on Many of these weapons are so lethal that they presented a problem to the Arcadian authorities, who constantlyfear and expectrebellion.The problem was that, although humans are not permitted weapons of any sort, if their Arcadian masters carried them the humans could occasionallyoverpowerArcadians, seizetheir weapons,and build up a powerlul armoury. The solution was obvious: once the Empre was reasonablystable, all lethal weapons were brought back and stored on Arcadion, and all Arcadians were Biven less powerful weapons: laser swords, elect c whiplash swords ('whippies', for short)and evenil so on.Inthisl,''ay, the occasionalArcadran did lose his weapon, it would be no seriousloss \ ou haveacquired a lJser:word,by de! iousmcans It is quite easy to smuggle the laser sword through checkpoints - so long as you are not too closely is no since, until it is achvated, the sworcl searchedhdlow metalshaft,with a more than a hand-sized couple ofbuttons on iti the complexminiature electronic works are hidderr around the inside of the shaft It and yolrr Sothisisyourt'eaponin thisadventure. sKtLL should be enough k) face most of your oPponents, since thel, wrll be similarly armed. If you you may andmakctherightdecisions, arefortunate acquire some more lethal weapons along the wav; on the other hand, you may meet an opponent
22

whose weapon is much better than yours Unless otherwise statedin the book, combatwillbe fought as follows: Recordyour opponent's sxILL and sTAMINAscores in the first e6ply Encounter Box on tljre Adoenture Sreef. The scoresIor eachopponent are given in the book at the hme Then the sequence of combatrs: 1. Roll lwo dice once for the creature.Add its sKrLL score.This tofal is its Attack Strength 2. Determineyour own Attack Strengthin the same way, by adding the roll to your sKrLLscore. l. If your Attack Stren8this higher than that of your opponent, you have wounded it. Proceedto step 4. Ifits Attack Strenglhrs higher than yours, it has wounded you Proceedto step 5. Ifboth Attack Strengths are the same, you have avoided each othels blows start the next Attack Round from step 1 again. You have wounded the alien, so subtract2points 4. from its srAMrNA scole, You may use your LUcK here to do additional damage(seep. 26). ;. Your opponent has wounded you, so subtract2 points from your own srAMrNA score.You may use LUc( at this stageto lessenthe damage(see
P 20)

5. Make the appropriate adrustments to your opponent's or your own STAMINAscores(and your LucK scoreif you used LucK). Z Begin the next Attack Round (repeatsteps r 6)This sequence continuesuntil the srAMrNA score of either you or your opponent hasbeen reduced

to zero (which is death).Thereis no Escdpe option in this adventure Unarmed Combat Sincehumans are invariably weaponless,unarmed combat has been revived and has been developed to a high de8ree o{ experlise. You know all the pressure points and weak spots of the three Arcadian species,as well as those of the humans; and you know just how to use your own body to the greatesteffect, while using your opponent's own rveight and stren8thagainsthimself. lf you everlose your laser sword, or if the book instructs you, you will be involved in unarmed combatin this adventure as well. The conduct of unarmed combatis the sameas for ar_rned combat,excepttor the following 'sudden death' rule: Wheneveryour Attack Shength rs higher thanyour opponent's, roll one extra die. If you roll 1-5, you reduce your opponent's s-rAMrNAas usual But if you roll 6, your opponent has been unable to prevent you from finding a pressurepoint which w l either kill hirn or leave him unconscious.In either case,the fight is immediately over. Note that this rule normally appJies only to you: the Arcadiansare not so skilled in unarmed combat, not having had the need to become so If you meet an opponent who is as skilled in unarmed combat as you, and to whom, therefore, the same rule applies, the book will tell you. 24

,4-ra

Fighting More Than One Opponent lI you are faced with more than one opponent in a particular encounter, the instructronson that page lvill tell you how to conduct the battle. Sometimes vouwilltreat them as a singleoPPonent;sometimes vou will have to fight eachone in turn.
LUCK

At various times during your adventure, either in battlesor in situationswhere you could be lucky or unlucky (deta s of these are given on the pages Lhemselves), you may callon your LucK to make the outcomemore favourable.But beware!Using LUcK is a risky businessand if you are ,nlucky, the results could be disastrous. The procedure for using your rucr is as follows. Roll two dice. lf the number rolled ts equal to or less frrryourcurrentLucrscore, youhavebeenLucky, and the result will go jn your favour. If the number rolled is hrglrerLhanyour cu[ent LUCKscore/you have been Unlucky, and will have to pay the penalty-

This procedure is knowl as Testing your Luck Each li'ne yo\ Testlaur Luck,you must subtract 1 point from your curent Lucx score.You will soon realize that the more you relyonyourLucK, the more risky it will become.If you everrun out ofLUCK,any time the book tells you to Testyour Luck,you are automatically Unlucky. U6inB LUCKin Battles In battles, the book will not give you the option of Testing your Luck,as rt does on other occasions, but the op tion is there in any battle.The effectoI ruc r in battlesis as follows:

Suppose in an Attack Itound you have just wounded your opponent. You miy now Tesfyo!/ Luck. If you are Lrrcky, you have inflicted a morc se ous injury than normal, and may subtract an extra 2 points from your opponenfs STAMTNA However, if you are Unlucky, the injuty tuins out to be a mere glaze and, instead ofthe normal2 points of srAMrNA to be subtractedftom youi opponent, you may subtractonly 1. But supposeyouropponent hasrustwounded you. Again, you may Tes f y our Luck. lf yo-uarc Llrcky , yotr have managed to avoid the full force of Lhe blow, and need only subtractl point fTomyoursrAMrNA, instead of the normal 2. If you are Unlucky, you have taken a more seriouswound, and mustieduce your STAMTNA by an extra 1 point.
26

EQUIPMENTAND MONEY

e You will be an undercover a8ent, so you ca4 carry hardly anything with you: equipmentwould arouse suspicion- Apart from your money and your weapon, you will have to acquire everything else you may need to complete your mission duing trip, including other weapons. You have an -your anh-grav pack, in which you can keep up to six oI the items you will come acrossin this adventure, rvithout loss of srAMrNA. However, you may be a,lvised, before leaving a planet, to get rid of any thrng you think you may not be ableto smuggleon to the nextplanet. SAROS has given you 2,ooocredits with which to start your adventure. Used wisely, thts should be enough to pay for extra equipment, board and lodging during your mission. You may be able to acquire more during your adventure. What you have and what you spend should be enteredin the . This noney appropriate box on th e Adzteiture Sheet is kept in a money-belt around your waist If you run out of money, and meet a situation where you needtospendmoneytocontinue,youhavefailedin vour mtsslon

SHEET ADVEIil]1/URE

MONEY

NOTES and EQUIPMENT COLLECTED

a You settle comfortably into the padded pilot's seat ofyour spaceship,strap yoursellin and examinethe instrument panel This is remarkablv simple, con sisting mainly of a compuier terminal and several screens. The mechanisms of the alpha-ziddium system are hidden deep within the bowelsoI the craft, and there is no need for you to have anything to do rvith them: even if sometbing did go wrong, your robot engineerswould soon sort it out The ship's computer has been pre programmed to takc you to Troposand land there \rxv you ask the computer to checkall liie-support svstems throughout the ship Within secondsits tinnv voice' respondsi'Everything is functionjng correctly.'You contactbasecontrol to tell them you are ready. The shrp's main support towers are torved away by massrverobo-tuucks You flick the s\'\,'itch which activates the drlve apparatus and vou're off !Within minutes, the ill efiectsofthe first thrust requred for take-offdie dor-n, as you leave Earth's exosphereand enter the inkv blacknessof space The gravidrags are automatically tritgered, so that Fjravitvwlthm the shlp is kept the sameas on Earth, allowing you and your robots to move about rreery You switch on the rearview screen,to !\,'atch Eafih gctting smaller behind vou; white cloud formations ' t rrrl. a n d lh e s u n g lint * nf f t nc norl hpr r i c e. . r p Ihough vou have often seen this sight belore on

I I

trips to Mercury and Venus, it never fails to excite you, and this time you feel homesick as well. Will you ever see Earth again? Your mission is so vital . . . and so dangerous-

Time pagses.AJter a few hou$ one of the scrcens flickers into life. The compu[eris alerting you to the presenceof another spacecraft, which is keeping a constant distanceaway from you and seemsto be shadowing you. Will you otder the computerto take evasiveaction (tum to 48), or continue on your i./ay (tum to 398)?

Your only chanceis to rush the guards at one of the main entrances,You choosethe eastem entrance, becausethele ale fewer guards there. Your first assdult takes them completely by surprise, since you waited until they were all looking the other way, and you cul down two of them. This leaves you with only one, and he's a fairly small Southemer.

3-4 GUARD
SKILL O

SAAMINA 8

If you win in four Attack Rounds, tum to 253;if aJter four Attack Rounds you haven't killed the 8uard, turn to 34. 3 Polky's computer is his pride and joy. You willhave robot, to offer him something a personalmassage ifyou have itj otherwise4oocreditswill do. Ifyou do not have the robot or the money - or if you do not lvant to pay him - you will have to fight him in unarmedcombat. PORKY sKrLL6 sraMrNA 10

ns e a e e y

If you win the fight, or if you paid his price, tum to 1a9-

e ,

s l

You slump down to rest. At least you'll 8et some srAMrNA back- You doze oll and, when you wake up, you may restorel srAMrNA Point. You wake uP very suddenly. What is thatrusthng sound?Frantically, you peer through the gloom, only to see, to

eyes glowing maliciously ],or:r horro., it.rr "rable belong to a Radician insect, in your direction. They equivalentis a huge sPider.You whose closestEarth In fact,it is cteah.ue. vile underworld mustfisht this to been released not difficult to defeat,and has only discourageyou fron staying where you are RADICIAN SPIDER sKrLL5
STAMINA

When you have killed it, turn to Z1. 5

not already done so, you poP into the Srocels shoP spending 20 credits on food which replenishes your sraMrNA by4 Points. Then turn to 2o4

6 The problem with this is that you have only one mine, and its blast will not knock out all thlee computers. Which will you choose: the lelt com puter (tum to 2o3), the riSht one (tum to 5a), or the one againstthe wall opposite thedoor (tum to139) If you have an alternative,you may Preferto retuh to 381and chooseagain.

7 Will you go on to the main road, although Arcadia patuols are likely to come and investiSate the dis

8-11

y t, u s o
5

turbance (tum to r32)? Or will you run ba& along the side-street to renew your contact with the underground (tun to 3o3)? 8 There is another passageheading south. W 1you take it (tum to 384) or continue straight on (turn to 23)? 9 You feel wretched, having killed two fellow human beings, but what else could you do? You pick up vour sword. Will you stop and search the house (tum to 117, o! will you leave to tly to find the Frssion Chips (tum to 132)?
1('

P, ur

Ii vou are carryinga staff with you, turn to 49; otherwise, turn to 147.
11

ne ee mhe 9)? h

an s-

The argument soonbreaksuP; someonetellsajoke, and they all roar with laughter, the best of iiiends once more- Their camaraderie makes you feel ionely,being so farfromhome andburdened with a missionwhich you can talk to no one about One of the students notices thaLyou are a bit down in the mouthandcomeg over to the benchwhere you have gone to be miserableon your own She introduces herself as Mehita and asks what's up. You are unprcpared for friendliness even heroeslike your-

-r2.r;,

a2-44

to 2o2)?

s:lf qel rl|ogdl - and find yourselfwdnhnglo con_ fidein her.Willyou do Lhis (turnto 97)or not(turn

11 Ko||one dte.lt the numberis even,tum to r40;if it is odd, tuln to 67.

numberis even, tum to92; ifit is odd, tum to 33r.

15-18

Fortunately, the corndor outside is desertedj the 5 l u de n l-dr e at theirle(tures. dnd no B UJr d pds\er by to hcarthe noise.Tum to 66.
16

No Arcadian is going to just hand a s\^,ordover to you, the only way you/re going to get one off an Arcadian is by meansofan ambush. yoll rvatchthe movements of the guards for a while, and find thaf

Fortunately, the room rs sound-proofed- no doubt so that the screamsof torture-victi m s do not disturb the spaceport.You draw your sword and leapat the policeman: you are just in hme to prevent h1m theAlrards. Becareft: Pressrngabuzzertosummon he frghts dirtyl sK rLL7 srA M rNA1 o If 1,ouwin without being .!\'oundedtwice, turn to 291.But i{ you are wounded twice, turn to 328
18

S EC R ETPO LIC EMA N

Having no food, your bodv becomesmore vulner able to the cold, and you can hardly sleep at all for

1 9- 20

hyingtokeepwarm Cain only 1 sraMrNApoint.In ihe moming ]'ou follow a Path heading roughly north east until it divides.Will you branch nght (turn to 295)or left (tum to 171)? 19 His remark was an offer to show you around; to this \rour rePly is an acceptance, so you are lumbered lvith him Your disappointment is obvious to his South Arcadian sensitivity, and he is bad tempeied r\.rth you and somewhat hostile. Nevertheless,the archaeological exhibits are fascmating.lt seemsthat there was a civilization on Radix before the human colonists arived in the twenty-second century, lvhich utterly destroyed all its major centres earlv rn the fwenty-first century in an all-out phacium rvar. Phacium bombs leave io traces,but a number of objects irom scattered outposts survivedArchaeologists have even pieced to8etherevidence that suggeststhat these earlier Radioans used to send saucer-shaped scoutsaround the galaxy. You spend an enjoyabletirnelooking around. When vou have finished, willyou ask the lvatchmanwhat is through the other door (turn to 38o), or should you now go to the university (turn to 145)?
20

There is no reply. You wait for a bit and then cautiously open the door, but there is nothing and no one in si8ht down the conidor Mystified, you retum to bed. Tum to 247

2A-22 2a

This was not a good choice. Its deafening howl distracts you as much as your opponents, so no looner have you switched it on than you hull it away to smash in a corner. Cross it off your Equipment List before retu:rning to the scene of aombat.

You step out into the fields, towards a group of humans who are wolking about 1oornehes away, But you are only halfrvay there when a whining noise above you alrd to your left makes you look up. A small, silver, streamhned craft is heading towards \ou You dive into the shrubs as it approdahes and, crouching, head for the cover of the middle o{ the field. But the alien is hackingyou: whercver you go, it hoversoverhead.Suddenlyit spraysflame butat the shrubs, not at you! Again and again flames shoot out, until you ale suffounded by fire. The smokeis dense:you cannot seeyour enemy. What will you do: stay where you are and pray (furn to 53), or ky to break through the circle of fire (turn to 216X

23-25

It is too late. The search-partyis upon you. your mission ends here, in the dust and mildew of the cellars, 24 You have managed to get fid of the two North Arcadiansin the patrol, butmust fight theother two Arcadians simultaneously. Choosi which one you are attacking, and conduct a normal Attack Round

SKI LL

First ARCADIAN SecondARCADlAN Ifyou win, turn to 381.

7 6

8 6

ing, you return to the spaceport.Turn to 213.

26-29 2h

This is the wrong reply Such a worker would be rvearingablue uniform, and carryinga tool-klt You are taken away for inte ogation, from which you rvill never emerge. The feeling of being follolved Srowsto a certaintyas the s4fiecabremainsbehindyou all the way backto your hotel. And once you get there, you discover simultaneouslythat your pursuers are hostile, and that they have a comlink For you are immediately conftonted by a whole squadronof Arcadianpolice, who cut you downwithout mercy.
28

'That noise outside was this stranger killing old Coryus,' says one of your escort. This makes the manbehind the desklook up. 'That's quite imPressive,' he says, callously. 'Corvus was obviously not very important. He was on a job, though, wasn't he?' he asks one o{ the men, who conJirmsthat he was Will you ask what's Soing on (turn to 353),or keep quiet (turn to 321)? 29 After waiting for a while, you decide this is a waste of time you can always check m later. You go upstairs.The whole o{the firct floor is along dorm; tory, which is remarkable for its filth, 8loom and lack of company. Severalbeds are made uP, but

JO-3J their occupantsale out at this time of day. There is one other human, however, who is sitting sadly on a truckle-bed, his body heaving with sobs. Will you 3o and gmb abed nearhim, and strike up conversa tron(turn to 354),orwillyou settleyourself far away iturn to 60)? 3o You are on the easternside of the spaceport.There are various paths which you could take. Will you go east(tum to 245),north (tum to 342)or south (tum to 1E1)?

You ask for a miclocomputer to be brought up to vour room and are told that this will be done simply as paft of the seruice Tum to119.

He soon comesover and unlocks your fetters;your first move is to imprison him in the sameseat-You eat, and rest fof a few houls: restore 4 STAMTNA points. Then tum to 292. 13 At Customs, you tell the Southem Arcadian duty office! that you are a merchantbound for Radix,and she clossesyour name off the registerof off planet humans on Tropos. Then she orders you to hand overyourpack. You doso, and are dismayedto find that the pack will be looked throuBh not by this

J4-15 Southern Arcadian, who is llkely to be more easygoing, but by a hatchet-facedCentral Arcadian, whose multicoloured crestshows thathebelongs to a high military rank. Most of your equipment is harmlessenough to passthe inspection,butdo you still have either or both of a coil of rope and an infra-red scanner?lf you have both, tum to 21o,if you have one of theseitems, tumto 339iifyou have neither, turn to 374 J4 The guard has delayedyoujust long enoughfor you to be caught by the relief squadron, againstwhom you stand no chance

'Yo, have it, then,'you say,and hurl the drinkin his face He glowers at you. 'AIl right,' he says.'Ifthat's what you want.'A space is cleared on the floor; humans and Arcadians alike crowd round for the spectacleof a brawl But before you begin this unarmed combat, Testlour Luck.lf you are Lucky, some of the drink which zuas drugged - went into

36-JB Your opponent's mouth, and you may reduce his sr(rLLby l point otherwise fight him with his usual attributes:

BRAWLER

SKILL

STAM TN A 1 2

Youwillfindhimexpertinunarmedcombat: the suddendeathrule ofp.24applies tohimas wellas you. If vou win, you have no choicebut to leave the club. You are slumping dejectedly in a nearby doorway when rough hands suddenly grab you. Tum to 272. 36 You manage to whip out your sword and bring it down on the machine,beforebeing cut down byhis phaser.Thelast thing you hear is him saying, 'We11, I can always build another one.'

To keep up appearances,you buy a drink of the alcoholicmouthwash they sell humans (deduct 10 credits from your AdaentureSheet). You notice the doorman going over to a group in the corner and whispering somethinB to a young woman, who tlashesa glanceat you, and then gets up to leave. Does this st ke you as suspicious, so that you l:ollowher(turn to75), or will you remain where you are for a bit, and then ask the barman where the \'isiphonebooth is (turn to 81)? 38 'Yes, I thought as much,' he replies 'If you have kr

39-44 askmeall thesequestions,you can't askthe officials, for some reason, can you? Come with me: I know someonewho can help you.'Will you go with him (turn to 399), or leave him and tly elsewherefo! a sword (tum to r37)? 19 The corridor gradually curves around ro the left until you are heading west instead of east.Eventually you come to a junction where you could go north (turn to 277)or straight on (tuIn to 23). 40 Curiously, there is no immediatesign of the shinin8 object the bird was carrying when you first spotted it. Then you notice two deep fissures in the ledge, into which you could insedyourhand. Will you try the left fissure (turn to 14), or the right one (turn to 155)?Altematively, you could decide that drythirg could be living in such cracksand that it would be bestto return to the path withouttaking any furthe! nsks (turn to 147).
/l7.

He takesyou to another house in the street, where vou are blindfolded and led down some steps- Then vou loseyour senseof direction, as yourare ied quite a long way through tunnels that twist and furn, severaldoorways, and partofthe sewagesystem,to judge by the smell, danknessand weird echoing of youI footsteps.The underground on Tropos seems

42-44 to be literally that, and to have a systemofconnecF ing houses. Then, without warning, a heavy blow descendson the back of your heai, and you sin-k into unconsciousness. Turn to 2o7. 42

in your mind as a secondpresence,and will never shakeit off. 43 Your'trial'i9 a farce.The Arcadiansare sure something fishy is going on. What would a merchant from Earth bedoing in a professo/s room on Radir? And why would he have a sword? Yuu are sentenced to death, but the police tell you that the sentencewill be commuted if you teil them what you know about the underground on Radix. Will you spill the beans(turn to345) ornot (tum to 368)?

44 'l'm sorry. I don't understand,'yousay 'Oh, you humans- You are as insensitiveasglrmplr,g, - this is

45-46 a varie$r of Arcadian snail - 'l mean that it is iust north of the Temple of the Five Suns, rdiot- And t almost for8ot: there's 50 Per cent HAT, Human Added Tax, on the items you bought.' You don't believe her she's obviously just makjng you pay for insulting her but you cannotafford to crossher any further. Cross the riSht amount of money off yorv Adoenfure and lose 1 LUcKPoint too Sheef, It is easyto find yourway now, as the temple can be seenhom the street. lf you have not already done so, you pop into the grocer's shop, spending zo by creditson food which replenishesyour STAMTNA + Points. Then furn to 2o4. 45 'I dorf t know what your gameis,' saysthe doorman through the peep hole, 'but you're not welcome here.'He slamsthe peep-holeshut Will you leave the club (turn to 39o), or draw your sword and smash the locks (tuIn to 356)?You can draw your swordunly il you still hdveil, ofcourse 40 When you come to, you have difficulty focusingon who you are, where you are and whatyou're doing here anyway. But you can make out the blurred shape of a hurnan bending over you. Then you remember- your missionl 'How long have I been out?'you ask, trying to 8et up. 'He's coming roun4 Dorado,'calls the man.

47 'Comin& Mizar,' a voice replies Youlve been out for about forty-five minutes,' says the first man, who is evidently Mizar. 'And the Arcadians are almost upon us.' Forty-five minutes! Then there is no time to losel you will scalcelymake it back to the spaceportin time for your flightl You must send one of the men to defend the pass and buy you enough time to talk to the other and escape.Will you send Dorado away (turn to 175)or Mizar (tum to 255)?

47 Customs is no problem on Radix, They are so delighted to have the ziridium that you are welcomed by the rcsident Arcadians,as much as anyArcadian is capableof welcoming any human. It seemsthat your load of ziridium was needed to complete a para-scientificproject oI theirs. You Iind that you have two full days it is now early morning - until you must leave for Halrnuris Once you have registere4 you make your way out of the spaceport, which is so highly mechanized tha t even a terrestria I Iike yourself leels strange. The inhabitants do not believein doinganyworkunless they really haveto. There are robots everywhere, some of them sophisticated5tate-of-thp-arl modelg thai can dlmost think for themselves. Moving pavements c sscrcss the spaceport,which actually make you impatient, becausethey move slowly enough to allow steppin8 from one to another, yet you feel decidedly

48-49 springy on this planet as the gravity is slightly less than on Earth. You soon discover, however, that this does not in lact help you to move any more quickly, sinceyou need somepracticeto achievethe correctcoordination. The personal monorail systemis all you could have hoped for, and you are soon gljding smoothly, but at speed, towards the only ma,or town on the planet, where the underground must be located. On the way you call up on to the screena list of hotels where humans can stay, Only two names sound attractive, one which has gained three stars from the Radicianquality assessors, and one which they haven't bothered to comment on at all. Will '\'oustay at the Zodiac for3Z5 creditsa night (turn to 89), or at Porky's Patacefor 50credits a night (turn to
101)?

48 However much you twist and tum, you cannot :hale oif your follower. fventually, you 5immer down and leturn to a direct route for Tropos The rest of the iourney is uneventful; you passthe time eating, sleeping,exercisingand playing chesswith the computer'slowest logicalmode. Your shadowis nevertoofarawaytokeep an eyeonyou,and asyou approachTropos, he accelerates to land beforeyou. Turn to 154. 49 If you were bltten bya Saw t@thed Rat, turn to 98; othef ise tum to 232.

50-54 5o You quickly find the right key arnong the watchman's bunch and climb up into a side-street.From hereyou can lose yourself in the universig. Turn to a46 51

IDrn lo 177

52 You rush around the comer and ate impaled on the swords and tails of the waiting Arcadians. your mission ends here.
tt

Cod helps those who help themselves- and you have not. The agony is excruciating. Fortunately-i{ you can call it that - you will asphyxlatebeforeyoLr roast. 54 Ihe crowd ison its feet the applauseis thunderous; antennae Flashin approval. As the corpse o{ the Scabrokis dragged away, leavtng a slirny trail of green blood behind it, an alien, whom you recog, nrze as the pison commandant, enters the arena

I
55-56 Obviously, the device stimulates the imaginahve part of the brajn, becauseeverything that happens next js like a strange&eam. to describe in The eprsodes which follow are easrest terms of physical combat, even though they are happemng in your mind Theresultis the same:if youmighL youlose anyo{ the following encounters, you will be a as well have died physically, because puppet of the Arcadian computer and will have no mind of your own. You seemto be wanderingin a mansion with many rooms, Out of nowhere, a monster bars your wayi the passagesbehind you disappear, and there is no other way forward exceptby defeating it. The monster is a Sphinx, the guardian ofknowledgeSPHINX
S (T L L 8
STAM T N A 8

Ifyou win, turn to 251.

r-q

56 You wait {ive minutes . . . ten minutes What is Boing on? The answer arives too soon eight Arcadian thu8s are advancmg towards you, four

57-59 from each end of the street Will you hopelessly draw your sword to defend yourself (turn to 264), hammer on the door Crus went through (tum to 364),or try another house (turn to 121)?

You find a secludedpart of the perimeter, slip the harnesso{ the small jet pack over your shoulderc and press the i8nition button. It coughs . . . and fails. But it starts on the second attempt, and lifts you easily over the ten-metre fence, before failing again!You fall heavily to the Btonr\d.Test your Luck If you are Lucky, tlirn to 359; iI you are Unlucky, rurn to 3o4, 58 You mutter somefeebleexcuse and leavethe secret ary's office. Will you go to the Science Floor, if you haven't alreadybeenthere (turn to 266),or leavethe university (turn to 235)? 59 As you Brapple with Musca, the phaser goes off and wounds him {atally. The mind of the dying Arcadian seems to clear; he looks up at you and says,'Alsenal. - . 11o 'This doesn't meanan awful

60-6a lot to you You are now getting near Arcadjon, so iurn to 11E60 It is always difficult, particularly for an active type like youlself, to cope with another person's unhappiness-You make up your bed, so that no one jt, and creepout oi the room.Loser I ucK elsetaLes point for being hard-hearted Outside on the street, you must look for the FissionChips. You know that north headsoutoftown, so you turn south Turn to 99.

6a No cablescanbe seen:if this organicmachineneeds them, they must be behind the computer consoles somewhefe, But you can remove the casing of a computer, ifyou like, to seewhatyou canfind closer to the heat o{ the machine(tum to 325).Or you can return to 381and chooseagain,ifyou have another choiceto make,

52-54

62

The coridor bends round to the west, until it joins another corddor, where you may head south, ftom where you can hear the eerie sound oI water d pping in the dust-muffled silence (turn to 154), or north (tum to 23).You'dbetterbe quick: the searchparty rs rightbehind you, by the soundsofit. 63 The grenade explodes, destroying the killer robot. You are free to make your way back to your hotel. Turn to 3o9. 64 He is very thorough, but ftnds nothing to wory him. You need some time to think how to contact Bellatrix.You go over to the bar and buy a glassof the alcoholic mouthwash which humans are allowed to drink (deduct 1o credits);then you look around for somewhere to sit Could any of these people be Bellatrix, or at least members of the

65-58 underground? You decide to join a group of huthey are mans who are sitting in a comer, because h.atchin8you very dosely. Turn to 3o5. 65 'Free you? Yes, of course. I mean, why not?' he mumbles,but only wanders around the room Will you tell lum to hurry up (tum to 241),or will you be patient (tum to 32)? 66 You soon find a rack of computer disks marked 'University Records'.You are only interestedin the twocurentones, and discardthe rest.Willyoulook through them now (turn to 174),or take them away \r'ith you (tuIn to 316)? 67 Your search produces nothing except some very strangelooks. Eventually you slump in a doorway to rest. Time is gethng on; you v/ill have to return to the hostel soon. Just as you are getting up to go, the door behind you opens and rough hands grab you. Turn to 155. 58 Your inquisitors exchange slgnificantglances or so canmakeouLbehmdthe assume from wharyou 1,ou lamp. 'The trial is over,' saysBellatdx 'Anyone who would so readily kill another being, with no evidenceofguilt, goesagainstour codeofhonour. We

t'
69-7o do not think you are a traitor but, as the interim human govemment on Tropos, we take it uPon ouFelves to keep you here-Thereis no point to your like is gainedby amoralPeoPle missionif its success we like, and us, if you yourself. You can work lor will educateyou.' You have failed in your mission. By the time you have convinced Bellatrix of your worth, the opportunlty will have sliPPedaway 69 The butt of his phaser connectssquarelywith your head.l^rhenyou cometo, deduct2 srAMrNAPoints, and tum to 116.

7o '!\ahat?'you say in surPrise.'Are you trfing to trick me? Comices are hiSh on a building, not in the foundaiions. Of course, of (ourse. 5ays the Arcadian. 'Must be the booze ' But you're sule she

baying at the moon'l The drinl perhaps makesher

7a s"aymole than she should, becauseshe seemsto disapprove of using the killer robot, especially when the enemiesare onlystudents. This givesyou the clue you were rvaiting for, and you soon leave for the university- When you arrive,will you plunge straightin (tuln to 46), orwaitaround outsidefora while (turn to 178)?

,@l
You move on down the corridor The gloom becomes less and less, and you search the place thoroughlv as you walk. But there are no escaperoutes Eventually you reach a sturdy door, with a larSe grille. Will you try to barge the door down (hrm to 360),or wait to seewhat may happen (turn to 3o1)?

72-73
t72

'All right,' Grus sayseventually, over ding Indus's protests. He lets you go and spdnls over to get the sword,'No funny businessnow,'he says,'Remember, we have the sword. Out you go.' As you are shoved out of the door, you hea! Indus on the visiphone, telling the police where you are. You leavequickly and letuln to the main road. Until you find another weapon. all your battlesmust be conducted according to the rules for unamed combal. Tum to 132.

You eat your food and go to sleep;regtore4 srAMrNA points- In the molning you follow a path heading roughly no.th-east, until it divides. Will you branch dght (tum to 296) or left (turn to 1F)?

74-75
74 You rin8 ProfessorZachadas at work no reply, But rou 6nd his home number in the directory and ring hirn there. He has heard about the theft of the dtsks, and you identifyyourselfby showing him the print out of his file, He is satisfiedthat you are who you say you a!e, and you make an appointment for eleveno'clock the next morning, in his room at the university. Gain 1 LucK point and tu:rn to a34

Before the doorman has a chance to return to his post you are out of the door and following the rvornan.You arejust in time lo seeher disappeadng round a colner; but by the time you get there, she has vanished. You searcharound for a bit, with no success. Will you now return to the club (tu!n to 45), or continue searching(turn to 13X

/t

76-77 ,,6 There is really not a lot you can achieve herc. will lou wait for a bit anyway (tum to 244),go down to the Science Floor if you haven't already been there (turn to 266),or leave the university (turn to 215)? 77 Porky is out on the steps, sunning himself and admtuing his jewels; he is adorned with rings, bracelets and a pair of ear rings. You sit down and chat with him, exchangrngviews about conditions on Earth and on Radix. He tells you that in some rvays Lfe on Radix has not been altered by the Empire,because the economyhasbeenfixed so that humans can live in the style to which they were accustomed. Nevertheless,of course,there is some resentment at the lack of freedom, which is supported fairly openly by the studentsand staff ofthe university. They ale not very successful, however, since they are concerned with abstract freedom, r!'hile the oidinarypeople ofRadixjust want an end to havins to work for the Arcadians, and a retum to the system where robots did all the work for humans- As it is, both humans and robots serve Arcadians, for the most part. While you talk to Porky, you find yourself changing your opinion of the Radicianhumans: the colruption and sloth {or lvhich they are famed throughout the galaxyisjust a lveird sien of their devotion to an ideal of .elfsufficieniy. You realize that human nature does indeed adaot itselt to circumstances on different

7E pianets, and that therefore humans born and bred on other planetscanbe almostas alien as Arcadians or other species-The discipline of TroPos and the devotion of Radix are the result of livin8 on those planets. with Porky hasbeenmostworth_ Your conversation while, and should enable you not to misjudge people you comeacrosson this Planet.Gain 1 Lucx point. You declde that your best bet is to visit the university next, so you take your leave.The monorail takes you near the main entrance. Wrll you plunge straight in (turn to 146), or wait arouncl outside for a while (tum to 178)? 78 is barred by two guards. YoLuway to the spaceship Your heartleaps in dismay and fear, butittums out that they are just waiting lor your 'passenger'to embark. You see two Central Arcadians cross the field and enter your spaceship;neither of them rcturns It looks as though you have two Passenger9,not one. Then the Suardsallow you on board On the way to Arcadion, you may restore half as much srAMrNA asyour cufient score,roundingodd numbers down/ and remembering not to exceed you.r Inihal score. Remembel also to restore the sKrLLpoint vou lost for the hiSh grauty of Halmu ris. The two Arcadians keep pretty much to them selves dudng the voyage, but one night you are awoken by a rattlin8 atyour cabindoor. Willyou ask

79-8a whoitis, without unlocking the door(tum to2o), or throw open the door (tum to 35o)?

79 You quickly position this so that its powerful beam rvill distract your opponents It will last five Attack Rounds before being knocked over and smashed (cross it off your Equipment List), but you may reduceyourfirst opponent's sKrLLby l iroint for srx Attack Rounds, since Lhe after-effectsare just as distracting as Lhe strobe rtself. Now return to the sceneof combatand resolvethe fight 8o Unfortunately, one of them has a sword, and you are no match for them all. You are beatenand cut to the ground
81

The \.isiphone booth is behind a screen,which is decoratedwith a moving hologram of Arcadiansat rvork in an office. You always fmd it reassuring rthen aliens behavejust like humans even Arcadians want to ring home sometimes and claim r-hey're workinglate at the office!Didyou try to catch a taxi here from the spaceport? If so, turn to 362i rf not, turn to 311.

E2-84

The door cmshes into him and sends his phaser flying acrossthe room to near Musca!You and the other Arcadian draw your swords simultaneously. AR CAD IAN S (ILL 7
S T AMIN A 8

Ifyou win, turn to 261. E3 A coupleofArcadian guardslookyou up and down, refer to the giant screenand check the Picture in their miniature visiscreens - then they start coming towards you, barkjng instructions into their communicators.You have had it 84 You tum away, only to find yourwaybarred by the blackmarketeer'sm-an.Justbelore you go,'saysthe oily voice of the black marketeer behind you, 'tell me what you areup to lmaywanttobecutin.'This treacherymakes you angry. But an8er lends sPeed to your reactions: you cul down the man at the door, beforehe has time to do more than twitch, and spin to face the black marketeer. He moves fast for a neavy man. BLACK MARKETEER sxr|-l 6 5TAMINA ro

During ihe fight, a crate is knocked over and falls into the air-conditioning unii, whrch sparks and then catchesfire By th time the fight is over, the turn to 112. fire is blazing. Ifyou ra,in,

85-88 85 He unlocks the door and you both go down some stairsinto the dusty cellars,whlch are ful of objects in packing-cases,show'cases, or just loose. You look around the tirst cellar for a while, and then shfle an excited cry There. in a show casemarked 'PurposeUnknown - PossiblyReligiousArtefacts', rs something which you with your training in rleaponryrecognizeasa primitive baryon grenadeand it looks undamaged!You must have it. But the \'atchman, whom you have insulted, is on the look out for anything suspicious, and picks up Nith his antennae that something 1sgoing on. He \rllips out his sword and slashesvour arm. Lose 2 srAMrNA and 1 sxtll point and furn to 215, 85 You toss the gienadeand duckback down the stairs b avoid the blast. When you climb back up, thele is little sign of the patrol -or the doors,for that matter. Turn to 381.

Ez
Thedoor has no handleon the inside.You haveno choicebut to press one of the buttons on the desk. Turn to 276. E8 You have to backtrackqLdtea way to find a passage through the clif{s towards the bu ding. But you manage to circle round to the building without

89
i

bein8 detected.You watch for sometime, butsee no guards, so you boldly enter The station is almost degerted; there are no humans in sight, anditis easy to avoid being spotted by the few Arcadians. You searcharound for a while, but find nothing. AII this time has beenwasted, because ifyou are to Betback to the spaceport in fime foryour flight, you will have to leave 1rorr. You have failed to contactthe underground leaderhereand learn the 6nalthree digits of the code. 89 On the way to the hotel, you notice somethin8 odd about the city: in some streets,whole houseshave been demolished, even though the surroundin8 burldrngs are still standing. It is as if a localized ealthquakehad struck. You soon arrive at the hotel, which is extremely posh and luxurious You check m for one night (deductj75 credjts).While you are enjoying a private sauna, the expensebegins to seem woth it. Restore 1 STAMINA point. Eventually, feeling refreshed, you wander downstairs to see what edible delights might be on offer, and to give yourself time to think about how to contactthe underground. You can either eat in the bar, where

90-92 the costis coveredby the cost oI your room (turn to 115),or, for an extra 40 credits, you can dine jn the restaurant(turn to 138)-

90 You talk gently to Musca, trying to persuadehim to hand o\,er the phaser, but he has becornechildish, and stubbornly refuses.Will you try to grab it from him (turn to 59), or continue the gentler approach (tum to 13o)? 9a 'How much?' they ask 'Iive hundred credits,' you reply.'Not enough,' they say, licking theirlips Will vou tell them thaLisall you have got(turn to 22j), or ofler them more (turn to 148)? 92 Itisyourfightingarm thathasbeeninjured. Reduce vour sraMINA by 2 points,and your s(tl-r.by 1- If you have not yet done so, you rnay tly the ofher crackby turning to 355;ifyou decidethat enough is enough, and retum to the path below to continue vourjourney,fum to 10.

,L

93-94
93 This group conslstso{ rather {riendly or perhaps Southern Arcadians You introduce Just drunk humbly as a traveller lrom Earth and ex l.oursel{ curiosrty about the number of dernolished Press housesin the city But they avord the questionand turn the convemahon round to news {rom Earth, -fhis is ftustrahng, but you go along with it. As they give you more ddnks, you feel bolder and bolder, until you pretend to have some knowledge oI the building trade, and reintroduce the topic of the demolished buildings. 'Well, personally, I blame the corniceswe use in our follndahons,' saysone oI the Arcadians 'Do you use cornices in your foundations on Earth?' Will you answer ']'es' (tuln to 248) or'no'(tum to Zo)?

94 You laugh at the absurdity of it: you have been . f f c re d k n o wlc d g e . r^ ealt h and pu\ ^ er . an\ o f rvhich the computer can surely tive, and have resisLed the imthem all As your laughter gro\a,,s, aginary world dissolves, and vou are back in the

,L

95-96 Arcadian'scabin, strappedtothe seat,with thenow uselesselechodesattachedto your skull. You glance over at the Arcadian. Your victory has done something to him: he is gazing around the room, as if searchingfor something he has lost. As his eyesmeet yours, a flicker of recognitioncrosses his face and is gone. This is a delicatesituation: he but you are still maybe closeto total incompetence, imprisoned in your seat Will you order hlm to free you (turn to 65), or wait for a passingrobot (tum to 278)? 95 You turn away, disappointed (lose 1 LucK point) What can you do now? You slump in a nearby doorway. After a {ew minutes, you realize that you can only go back to the hostel and try again tomollow- Just as you get up to go, however, the door behind you opens and rough hands grab youWill you put up a fight (turn to 156),or are you too depressedto bother (tlrtrr to 272r?

96 Theblackmarketeeriswellpleasedwithyourwork: you have made him a hdy profit. You decrdethat it

97 is safeto ask about a sword 'No problem,' he says'I managed to get hold o{ a batch a couple of weeks ago. Becauseyou have worked for me, I'll let you haveit for or y 2oocredits ' He sendshis man the only otherperson in theroomnow-to get it. When you have it safely in youi hands, you pay him and turn to go. Turn to 84 97 You tell her that you have heard the university encourages revolutionary ideas, and that you need to get in touch with someonewho knows aboutthis. 'Is that all?'she laughs. 'Listen, there are very, very few students who would spy for the Arcadians. Even those who aren't activelyinvolved in demonstrations or anything aren't unsympathetic. We're students- that's what it's all about. The only students you have to watch out for are memberso{ Lhe BlackEye group. I think you should go and have a chatwith old ProfessorZacha asin Lhe Arts Faculty upstairs Tell him Mehita senLyou. Take a note of his room number, 2J9j otherwlse the floor's like a mazeand you'll never find him.'Mehita's cheerfulness Lfts your spirits, and you may add 1 LUCK point. But will you go upstairsas she suggests (Lum to 258), or will you decide it ls saler to leave the umversity (turn to 235)?

96-99 98 Testyour Luck If you are Lucky, you fall down the last bit of the cliff for 2 srAMrNA points of bruises, and you break the end off the staff; but you keep the rcst with you, having risked so much to bring it down. Then turn to 147to continueyour journey. lf you are Unlucky, you (all from a great height and are smashdon the pathbelow. 99 As you walk along, you notice thatthe city ls laid out very regularly on a squaregrid pattem. The hostelis at the north end of North 2l - East5 Street,and the nextblocksouth startsat the top ofNorth 22-East 5 Street.The buildings areall very alike, exceptfor the Temple of the Five Suns, which towers above the rest of the city and is a famous lalldmark; it is the centre of the Imperial reli&ion on Trcpos - the five sunsbeing the suns of the planetsofthe Empire. After wandering along the main roads (or quite a way, heading generally south and east,you realizc that this is getting you nowhere fast Therers hardly likely to be a $ignpostsaying, 'FissionChlps- thtd block on the left - rebels and spies welcone!' Yott are also getting tired and hungry: reduce you! srAMrNA bv 2 points. You decideyou had betterask the way in a shop, but there are only two small shops around: the rest are auLomatedhypermarkets. Will you ask at the grocels (tum to a52)or the hardware shop (turn to 382)?

100-l()2

aoo As you go fu rther into the cave, you notice a smell of sulphur, or something like it It is not too strong, however, and you takeit asa good sign. If thereis a slight vent to the turbulent volcanic inteior of the planet, then the caveshould stay abovefreezingall night. You find a reasonablycomfortablespot and settle down. If you have some food. turn to 73; otherwisetum Lo18.
1()1

On the way to the hotel, you notice somethingodd about the city: m some stleets, wh(te houseshave been demolished, even though the surrounding housesare still standing. It is as if a localizedearthqLrakehad struck, You soon arnve at the hotel, Porky, who is sitting on the steps outside, has certainlyeamed his nickname - he is very fat. You check into your ioom for one night (deduct 50 credits),shower, changeand eat a snack.Restore2 STAMrNA points. Now you feel ready to tacklethe problems facing you. You decide to start by ques honing Porky Will you ask him about Radix in Seneral (turn to 77), or ask him to explain the phenomenon of the demolished houses (turn b lo5)?
'io2 Thc humansin blue uniforms nre the engineering and technical staff. You approach one &.ith your question, and he tells you that the agricultural

000

1o3-104 station is about ten kilometres to the north-east of the spaceport, ovet rough and undevelopd Sfound- He saysthat ifyou have a pass, the shuttle helicopteris efficient otherwise it is a difficultjou!ney on foot. Will you askhim how to get a pas6(tum to 38), or will you leavehim and try elEewhere for a sword (turn to 137)?

ao3 You chat for a while about the weather, and gradually bring the conversationround to politics and lessinnocenttopics. But theseattemptsto draw the others out fall on deaf, or perhaps cautious, ears. One of them, a young worwtn, gets up to leave.On the way out she whispers something to the doorman, who goes ovet to the barman. W l )'ou follow her (turn to Z5), or stay put (turn to aEo)? to4 He is not expecting this; the dooi crashes into him and sends his phaser flying under the sensoramaconsole You both draw your swords simultaneouslyARCADIAN sKrLL7
STAMlNA 8

If you win, tum to 315.

105 105

'At the risk of making you suspiciousof me,' you say, 'l must ask you for proof that you are the underground. My mission is so imPortant that I cannottell you about it unlessI know who you are.' 'I can tell you only this,' repliesBellatrix.'We follow without it we are no a strict codeofhonour, because better than Arcadians.' You can tell ftom her tone that she'soff on one of her Iavouritetopics. Shegoes on {or quite a while, but her'code'boils down to two points: that liberation is possible,and thaLno one not even an Arcadian is guilty without evidence You don't quite follow the more abshactpartsof her speech,but she is a fine speakerand you can see how she might be the leader of a grouP of tough nen. More to the point, herpassionisunmistakably genuine and, since you already know that the underground on Tropos has a st ct code, you are convinced that you are in the right place. TuIn to
168

1o5-108 106

The crowd goes wrld with delighted approval. But vou scarcelyhave time to draw breath belore the appears.It goes Satewaygapesagain,and a Scabrok on six legs, eachof which is tipped with long claws; its tough hide is coveredwith short, spiky hair. If _rou know the Scabrok's weakness, turn to the relevantreference.Otherwise,just fight rt. SCABROK sKrLL8
STAM I N A 14

IIyou wm, turn to 54.

TheArcadian is unprepared for suchan assault On this planet they are not used to coping with violent rcbels,so he is unarmed. Beingarrned,you mayadd r sKrlr point for this fight only; you can use the rulesfor unarmed combat,ifyou prefer. ARCADIAN SECRETARY
SKILL 7

srAMrNA 8

lfyou win, TesL your Luck If you are Lucky, tum to 15iifyou are Unlucky, turn to 15o.
108

You foliow the wrnding path for a couple oI kilometres.Suddenly, your attention is caughtbv a shadow on the path. It's not that the shadow is particularly odd in itself it's that there is nothing around to castit!And it is moving towaids youl When it is about a metre away, it stops To your

109-11()

amazement, a shaft of light emerges from the ground where the shadow is. Within the shaft is a form ofsome kind, which is constantlychanging.lf this is science, it is beyond human or Arcadian knowledge. You appear to be in the presence of some unlnown force. It does not sesmhostile, but being alien ir is difficult to judge. Will you run away from this encounter (tum to 12o), or wait and see what happens (turn to 235)? 109 When you get there, there is no sign o{ the Adolpho, Could the grocer have been misleading you? Or have youmade a rnistake? At any rate; curfew is not far off. You have to take a chance and ask an Arcadian policernan th way. There are plenty arouJrd, and vou apprcach a group of thrce. 'Excuse me, sir.' 'ly'y'hat do you want/ prrft?"Canyou tellme the way to the Adolpho videorama?''Ofcourse:due south for a block. But it was shut down for showing subversivemovies, with human heroes Here - let rflegive you a show: you can seesome stars'He whacks you on the head \r'"iththe shaft ofhts sword (deduct 2 sraMrNA points). You reel away, followed by the ha$h laughter of the policemen.Turn to 2o4110

Now you are inside an arsenal, which stretches away underground for many metres It would be an understatementto say that you could start a revolu-

111

tion with this lot you could,annihilatethe Balaxyl Butyour requirementgare not so extreme You have iimeto takeany frooofthe followinB:a sealedtube of elmonite explosive, a limpet mlne, a photon Brenade,a hand-phaser,and an infra-redscanner.Note down what you take, and turn to 348aaa You have interpreted his rernark correctly as an o[{er to show you around, which you want to refuse The archaeological exhibits are fascinating It seemsthat there was a civilization on Radix before fhe human colonists arrived in the twenfv second (entury, which utterlydestroyed dll it\ mdjor centres early in the ha/enty-firstcentury in an all out phaciumwar. Phaciumbombslear.e no traces,but a number of objectsfrom scattered outpostssurvived. Archaeologists have even piecedtogetherevidence that suggests that these earlier Radiciansused to sendsaucershaped scoutsaround the galaxv. You spend anenjoyabletime lookingaround When vou have finished, will you ask the watchmanwhat js throughtheotherdoor(turn to356), or do youfeel that you have spent enou8h hme on thrs and that now you should go fo the university (tum to 46)?

aa2-144 472

The fire is preventing you from making what could have beena veryprofitable search.You havetime to Brabonly one object Roll one die. If the number is even,turn to 122iifit is odd, tumto25j. 1at You succeedin getting an arm free, while at the same time landing a kick on Indus s instep. The fightis on. This is unarmed combat/so follow those rules, and you must fight both of them at the same time. That deans that you must chooseeachAttack Round whoyou are attackingand conducta normal Attack Round againsthim You must also roll each time for your other opponent, but nothing will happen unless his Attack Strength is higher than yours, in whrch casehe will injure you: you cannot injure him under any orcumstances, until vou chooseto attack him.
SKIL L

CRU S I ND U S If you win, turn to 9.

5 6

8 8

aa4 Your path winds through a rocky gorge, which narrows until there is only room for one person to sq eeze between the two cliffs Then, lard out in front of yolr on a plain, is the agricultural station. There are lields of experimen tal sh rubs being tested

115-116

for survival in this harsh dimate, which are being tended by human workers; and beyond the fields is the station itself, a building insulated within a thermodome Will you back into the rocks and make vour way round to the building (turn to 88), or approach sohe of the humans in the fields, who appearto be unguarded (tum to 2t)?
415

The bar is very crowded. It is obviously a popular meeting-place, and today Lhereis a rception on as well, apparently for a South Arcadian wedding. Severalof the guests are already a bit the worse for drink. You get a drink and some food (gain l srAMrNApoints if you have not dined already),and then drift around the room, eavesdroppingon conversationsto see if anyone here might be of use to vou You hear what's on at the sensorama,and severalversions of what the bride's mother said to the in-laws, but you also hear snatches of two conversationswhich could be interesting. Which group will you join: the one discussingthe possibility of human rebellion (turn to 289). or the one discussing the rebuilding programme in the city (tum to 93)? aa6 You realizethatyour onlychanceis to go alongwith this vile expeliment. Your scientific training tetts vou that therc is a weaknessin the device: if you haveenough wrll-power to resistthe brainwashing,

aL7-rag sinceyou will be linked directly to the Arcadian's brain you may be able to tum the device against him lt's sky, but it's your only hope. Because the knows no otherexistenceexceptas part of -{rcadian the colony or ant-heap, this possibility has. not occuned to him. He reckons that what is true for hirn what he calls the 'glory' of working for the aomputer-mustbe true for everyoneelsetoo, Turn ro 3oo
417

They obviously used the house as a place to stash lheir stolen goods. You decidenot to stay long, but \'ou soon uncover 5oo credits, a ziridium-plated bracelet,and an infra-red scanner You may take any of theseitems and then leave.Turn to 132.
118

l\Ihen you arive at the spaceportof the capital city ofArcadion, you dare not take thephaser,rn caseof being searched. You quickly get through the spaceportofficials, on the pretence of takmg this opportunity to see around 'the glorious centre of our illust ous Empire', as you put it You calculate :hatyouhave a lead of about half an hour, while the i:ryoArcadians are missed and dlscovered,and the authorihesguesswhereyouhave gone;so youmust not spend too long getting to the computer build-ng.Turn to 185.

aag-r2o aa9 It doesn't take long to find the information you are looking for. A certarn Professor Zachaias in the history department oI the Arts Faculty is on record as possibly being the rebel leader on Radix You make a print-out of this infonnation. If you killed Po-rkyto get this information, turn to 2o9; otherwrse/ turn to 74.
120

You head across the counhyside to your right, hoping to rejoin the other branch of the path. But after a short while, you have to stop and rest: the going is extremelydifficult And there is the shalt oI li8ht beside you! This time it speaks: 'Earthlin8, where zplaran?' At least, that's what the last word sounds like. The voice is strangely metallic and hollow; it certainly doesn't come from any living being that you can imagine. Perhapsit 1sa robot of some kind. If it is, then you could attack it. Is thrs what you chooseto do (turn to 179),or will you try to talkback to it, as it inchesever closerto you (tum to 195)?

124

There is no time to move further down the street you will have to try the house opposite. You have hardly starledyour uigent pounding when the door swings open 'Quicklyl' hissesa human voice. 'This door will only hold 'em off for a few minutes ' He shuts and bolts the aneph wood door, and takes you into a room in the back oI the house The Arcadians are already splitting the door with their weaponsi but youi new-found friend seems strangely confident- Just watch this,'he says. As the door givesway, hedetonatesa mine, whichwas buried under the floorboards. When the smoke be8ins to cleal and the deb s has settled down, you clambr over the bodies into the street. One Arcadian is limping awayr the others are all dead 'Very successful,'says the man, 'but the last of my expiosives I hope you're worth it Now come wlth me Don't worry about those scum opposite Grus and his ftrend- we'll dealwith them. We set up this housetokeepan eyeon them.'Willyougowithhim as he says(tum to 41), or say ihatyou must go after the escapingArcadian (turn to 28j)?
422

The object you grabbedwas a pair oI wire-cutters The fire is bound to attract unwelcome attention You decide to leave the spaceport immediatelv TLLrn to 3J6.

1.23-7.25

r21 as it culves round to the follow the passage You north Eventuallyyou cometo a junction where you may head west (tuln to 8) or east(turn to 39). On your way back, you run into a No h Arcadian. 'Halt!' he cries.'This areai6 prohibited Ior humans.' You rush into the attack,but reduceyour sKrLLby 1 point for this fi8ht for being unarmed. NORTH ARCADIAN sKrLL 6 sraMrNA 8

The Arcadian has room to swing his tail. Every Attack Round, whatever the result of the dice rolls, loll an extra die: on 5 or 6, the Arcadian has succeededin swiping you with his tail, and you must reduce your sraMrNA by 2 Points. Ifyou win, you may take his sword, but you will have to leave the spaceportimmediately, sincethe hunt will now be on Turn to 151.
L25

The doorman reappearshy your side, 'Now, will yoLrdo asyou're told and beatit?' he hiEses 'You've shownhow goodyou are with a swotd and allthat, but the dub will be closed down now, thanks to you.'The sound of a Patrol apProaching at the double can already be heard Will you ins$t on stayinli, perhaps to Pretend you were an innocent bystander(turn to 184),or leave(tum to 252)?

7.26-a27

a26 Central Arcadians are well known for their alro

be used on humans. I am taking poor Musca back tor Interrogation, and then he will be the first Arca dian to undergo the.new process.you have earned the honour of being the first human., He locks \4usca in your cabin and frogmarchesyou back to his room. Will you attempt to escape (turn to 34o)or not (tum to 3EZ)? You scrapeyour legagainstd packing-case and ( ut it badlyon a proiecting nail. Loser srAMtNApoinl. The passage leads into another cellar, with one exit straight ahead and another in the southem wall lvill you go shaight ahead (tum to 33J) or south ' turn to 221)?

e n t

423-425 423

You follow the passageas it curves round to the north. Eventuallyyou come to ajunctionwhere you may head west (turn to 8) or east(tuIn to 39).
424

On your way back, you l'Llninto a North Arcadian. 'Halt!'he cries.'This areaisprohibited forhumans.' You iush into the attack,but reduceyour sKrLLby 1 point for this {i8ht {orbeing unarmed. NORTH ARCADIAN sKrLL6 srAMrNA8

The Arcadian has room to swing his tail- Every Attack Round, whatever the result of the dice rolls, roll an extra die: on 5 or 6, the Arcadian has succeededin swiping you with his tail, and you must reduce your srAMrNA by 2 points If you win, you may take his sword, but you will have to leave the spaceportimmediately, sincethe hunt \^.illnow be on. Turn to 151.

The doorman reappeamby your side. 'Now, will you do asyou're told and beatit?' he hisses.'You've shown how good you are with a sword and all that, but the club will be closed down now, thanks to vou' The sound of a patrol approaching at the double can already be heard. Will you insist on staymg, perhaps to pretend you were an innocent bystander (turn to 184),or leave(tum to 252)?

a26-a27

a26

Central Arcadians are well known for their arrogance.'Yourpuny threatsdon't worry me, human,' he replies. 'I can pilot this ship as well as you. But you have more pluck than most of your kind In siead of killing you now, I will use you in an experiment: a courageous guinea pig would be interesting.I myselfhave developedadevicewhich is more reliable than the empathic receiverl]rd can be used on humans- I am taking poor Musca back for interrogation, and then he will be the first Arcadian to undergo the,new process.You have earned the honour of being the first human.' He locks Musca in your cabin and frogmarchesyou back to his room. Will you attemptto escape (turnto34o)or not (tum to 382)?
427

You scrapeyourlegagainst a packing-case and cut it badly on a proJectingnail. Lose 1 srAMrNA point. The passage leads into another cellar,with one exit straight ahead and another in the southem wall Will you go straight ahead (tum to j33) or south (turn to 221)?

1 2 8 - a 3O a28

lV l you risk using the iet pack, despite its lack o{ tuel, to propelyou over the fence? Ifso, turn to 57;i{ not, turn to 2
429

^1ouliel' shouts the policeman 'You know full well that there are no space-pirates thesedays. We rule space with an iron fist; no prate dare show so much as a tail Jet You musthave somethingto hide let's End out what.'He presses a button on the desk: guards pour in and pin you to the wall You are helpless to prevent them ftom searchingyou and findrng your laser sword. 'So,' sneers the policeman, 'you desireorily to serve,eh? I wonder iI this Swordworks , ' \lot only have you failed in your mission, but the chancesare/ with Arcadian techniquesof torture, that you w l be forced to confesswhat vou know a b o u t 5 A RO 5 . \ u u hav e let down t he hhol e o I mankind.

*'-+

430

and you canbegrn -{t lasthe handsihe phaserover, io question him. But it soonbccomes clear that you

aJL-r13 are going to get nowhere. If you havea mind Probe, vou give u p you cdnusethdt (turn lo t5Jl;otherwise and turn to 118 a3a knowthatthere Now whatwillyoudo? You alreadv is no escapefrom the passa8e tehind you, and aheaclthere is only the alena You still have to win the tho fLghtsin the arenabefore the alienswili let you go. What a waste of valuabLe srAMrNA Turn to

432 You lose yourself in the crowds on the main street. You really must find your way to the FissionChiPs soon, or it u'illbe curfew. AIso, you are getting ver]' hungry (deduct2 5TAMINA Points) You decjdeto go into a grocer's shoP to buy some food and perhaps ask the way as n'ell: it is one o{ the fe!\ small shops around, the rest are vast automated hypernarkets. Turn to 152 433 When you get your free attack on the Scabrok,you fail to wound it Particularlybadly, and causeit onl)

434-a35

2 sraMrN^ points of damage.Soyou fight the beast as follows: SCABROK sKrLL8

lfyou win, turn to 54. 414 Cain 4 srAMrNA points for a fine dinner and a good nrght's rest If you have an appointment to keep in the norning, turn to jZ6; otherwise, tu.n to 117. 415 The dead Throttlebush still provides excellentshel ter, for this night, at any rate. Do you have any Iood? If so, you may eat it and restore2 STAMTNA points, and then 2 more {or the night's rest. If you do not, restoreonly 2 points for your sleep. In the mormng vou follow .r path heading rorrghly norfheast,unfil it divides WiII you branch right (turn to 171)or left (turn to 1o8)?

,s-a

-.-2.>-8 tt tttilttUlll) WtiltltNtlillL@l,tilttt fu,

t
a36-a]9 a36 A{ter a while, the man's sobsdie down, and he lies back on hrs bed, staring vacantly at the mouldy ceiling. Suddenly there is a commotion downstajrs. You jump up, justas one of the guards from outside th hostel runs rnto the room brandishinga whippy 'The receptionist has been murdered,' he shouts. 'Whlch one ofyou dogs did it? Not that it matters ten human lives for every Arcadian, and you two will be filst.' He approaches your companron,who has remained lying on the bed as if he didn't careabout death or didn't believehe would die. You cannot stand still and let a fellow human die You pull out your sword and leap into the attack. CUARD
5K I LT 6 STAM I N A E

Every other Attack Round, roll one die Ii you roll 5 or 6, the guard has managedto get a hit on you wrth his tail, whatever the result of that Attack Round otherwise,and you must deduct 2 s aAMINApoints lf you win, tum to 268. 437 You decidethat your bestbet is to get a sword from an Arcadian Turn to 16. 138 You have a fantasticmeal (cross40 credits off your A.laentL\e Sheet). The Radicians, who enjoy the good things in life, have perfectedthe art ot cooking food

439-L41 which is pleasingto borh the eye and thetaste buds, and also highly nutritious You 1nay restore J STAMTNA points, The waiters in the restaurantaae all human, apart from the impe ous head waiter,

hjm you've had plenty, and get up to leave.Will you go to the bar (furn to 115), or do you have an appointment to keep (turn to 194)? 439 Tvrn to a77.
440

on you to halt. You make a run for it Test lour Luck. lf you are Lucky, turn to 233j if you are Unlucky, ruanro 33o. 141 By clearing your mind, you becomecalm and fearless, which preparesyou for the comlng test. you may gain 1 s(lLL point while thls mentalbattlelasts, even if that takesyou over your Initidl score.Turn to 55

I
I
442

442-a45

You find yourself in a cellarwith further exitsin the easternand western walls. Will you turn back(turn io 221),west (turn to 324)or east(tuIn to 333)? 443 You fall on io one of the spikes of rhe plant, which your leg. Deduct 2 5TAMTNA Prerces points, and hobbleon into the cave.Tum b 1oo.

444

145 Inside, you are led past stacks of crates and boxes up to a healy-jowled human, who is srtting behind a

a46-144 desk. 'What is going on here?'he demands, with scarcelya glanceup ftom his papers.If you killed a human on the way here, tum to 28; otherwise tum to 187. 146 The university, which is only for humans, is a small affair these days, occupying a single large bu ding on the outskirts of the city. Arcadian guards are everyvl here,sinLe theyha\ e 1omakelheir prc\ence felt in this hotbed of.possiblerebellion. Will you go to the Science Floor (tum to 266)or to the Arts Floor (turn to 258)? 447 In a short while, your path is joined by another to the left. Will you continue straight on (tuln to 114), or take this branch (tum to 1o8)? 148 You've fallen for the oldest con trick in the book, and have just signed your own death wairant As soonasyou letthemknor{ thatvou arein a position to barBain, Lhey realirelhdt\ uu h.rrea lui oi mone\ on you. With one swift move, Indus follows up a jab to the solar plexus rvith a rabbit punch on the neck While you are dazed and rvinded, Crus gets your sword . . Your adventureis over

149-154 449 This is a very handsome,very finely craftedpieceof equipment - but of no use whatsoever under the present circumstances. If you have an altemative, return to 381 arld choose again; if you have no alternative,you have failed.
150

AnArcadian guard happens tobe passingdown the co[idor outside. He stops to investigatethe commotion, and bu$ts into the room just as you are finishing o{f the secretary. Now you will have to fight him, too. He's an ugly specimen:his face is disfigured by a long scar running ftom eye to mouth. GUARD
sK rL L 8 sr A M r N A 10

If you win, tuln to 66.

Testyow Luck.If you are Lucky, turn to 336;if you are Unlucky, turn to 249.

t
452-454 452

As you enter the shop, your hunger really gets the betterofyouand,to theastonishment ofthe human grocer, you purchase20 credits' worth of fruit and nuts and gobble them down on the spot 'Must be some new terrestrialfad,'you hear the grocermutter to himself, but he is pleased to see a human spendrngmoneyon suchluxuries. Breadand oori, a porridge made from Tropian beans,is staplediet for humans. 'Ah, that's better,'you declare(restore4 srAMINApoints) Will you now askhim the wav to the Fission Chips (turn to 335) o! to the Adolpho videorama(turn to 260)? 453 You know that using the mind-probe will alrnost certainly destroy what's left of his mind, but you feel you have no choice. After clearing through a morassofjumbled information, you find somethmg useful: one of the Arcadian arsenals is locatcdin the basement oI the computer building and has an entry-code of 11o. Gain 1 rucK point and turn to 118,as you ate nearing Arcadion 454 You find yourself rn a wash-room and it has a hatch out on to the streetl The hatch is lockd, however, and the search-partyis right behnd you. Rollonedie.Ifthe numberiseven,turn to 165; ifit is odd, turn to 50.

I
155-r57 155 'The bltter sea,'you reply 'l know none of the digits,'he begins, and your heaftsinks'Alllknowisthatthewholesequenceof digjts is a palindrome - rt is the same witten h)r wards or backwards ' Gainl LUcKpoint. Thisshouldbeenoughloryouto complete the code. He also gives you some food, a grey uniform which you colild use lor getting back into the spaceport,and enough quandar-rootlotion to heal4 srAMrNA points ofinjuries. You thank him o\reryour shoulder as you raceoff Turn to 163

156 There are too many to overcome - and they're humdn: You suLceed ,,nlJ rn reducing your STAMINAby 2 points before being knocked out. Turn to 2o7 157 Your opponent has no weapon elther, so this is unarmed combat, HALMURIAN
s (tL L b
STAM I N A d

I
158-160 lf you win, you mav searchthe body (tum to 12) or leave(turn to 124) 158 Palace, turn to 3i ifyou areat the Ifyou are at Potky's Zodiac, turn to 31. 459 the DraSon ts Piled high with The room beyond treasure, including the fabledMinarong crystal lvith its all-healingpo\ .ers. Maybe some of this imaginal,v treasurewill hetp you in the imaginary world you are in. Wil you tale some (turn to 42) of not (tum to 391)?
150

Testlour Luck lI you are Lucky, he merely confiscatesthe items (crossthem o{f your Equipment List),but lets you throu8h turnto374 Ifyouare Unlucky, he hauls you away for intense intedogation, from whlch you will eventually emergewlth vour bodv broken and your memoly erased

I
t'

L61.-a62

a5a Theair in the centre,where the trunk is, is notfar off stifling, but at leastitis warm. Butwhatis this?The lendril". havingiu redyou to thcircore. drepres.ing around you in a solid mass, apart from the few that are snaking forward to cafch your arms and legs. This plant is perfectly adapted to the Halmurian environmenti its warmth keeps it alive and also attracts other cieatures, which then become its prey. You will have to earn your night's rest by fighting this Throttlebush. It has srAMrNA 14, but no sKrLLto speako{;so, dependinghowmuch LucK vou use, you l-EVeat least sevenAttack Rounds ir'I which to defeat rt, by hacking away at its nerve centre, the trunk. Roll two dice for each Attack Round.II the numberrolledis 1 6, the Throttlebush has reducedyour sreMrNA by 2 points; ifit is Z r2, vou have reduced its srAMrNA by 2 points lf you win, turn to rJ5.
a62

ii

You liet off and jump on to the escalatorto sfeet lcvel l,ooking up behind yon, vou can see two Arcadians, still coming after you, and talkmg into thcr comlinks Once on the street,yotl duck down the first side street you come to. Testlo1tr Luck II vou are Lucky, furn to 183;ifyou are Unluckv, turn to 373.

a63-1.64 a53 Your journey back to the spaceportis uneventful, but tiring in this high gravity, You would lose sTAMINA ifit werenotfor thefood thatDoradogave you. Willyou use the greyuniform as a disguisefor getting back into the spaceport (turn to 344), or would you prefer to use wire-cutters, if you have them (turn to 3o2)? a64 When you have disembarked, you register your visittoTropos, as all off-planethumans arerequired to Then you enter Customs, under the keen eyes notjust of the Customsofficer, but alsoofa squadof soldiers They do not give you a body-search, however. since they rely on a metal-detector.But your sword has been chemically treated to avoid such detection, and your money-belt has no metal in it. You breathe a sigh o{ relief and passthrough Customs, but you are immediately surrounded b)' the soldiers, who march you off to a room m the spaceport. Sithng behind a desk is a Central Arcadian who, though he \./ears civiLan clothes, somehow has such an air of cruel authorlw that he can only belong to the SecretPollce-You notice that the desk has two buttons on it, but you do not knoh' what they are for. The policeman dismisses the [pards to wait outslde, and barks out his quesiion: 'Why did you attempt to escapeyour escort?'Will you try to bluff )'our way out of the situation(tufn to :45), or draw your sword and fight it out (tum to a7)?

I
165-a66 165 One oI the Arcadian guards {ollorvs you from the spaceship. By the time you are in rhe desertedparts of the spacepoft, his suspicions aie thoroughly aroused, and he stops you and demands to search vour pack, which rs full of contraband, You will have to 6ght him- Reduceyour sKrLLby 1 point for this fight for being unarmed.

CUARD

s(rLL 6

STAM I N A

I'

lf],ou wn, you ditch the items ftom your pack:you haveno {urther use for the blackmarketee;,because vou cantaketheguard's sword.Butyou willhaveto leavethe spacepoltimmediately, because the hunt will be on. Turn to 336.
L66

You fumble with the watchman'sbunchofkeys and fail to find the right one. You are cut down where vou stand.

a67-a68 a67 You tell the Arcadian thatyou knowwhat's uP with quietll in a comer Muscatwho i. by now gibbering of the room), and point out that he cannot kill you, just in casehe needsa pilot on this trip You add that you r^.i11make sure that this damaginginformahon gets out to other humans So you have thrown down the gauntlet. What will his reactionbe?Tum to a26.

a68 YoLr take the plunge: surely, they must be the underground. You tell them everything about your missron, and even drop the names of one or two people back on Earth who they might know of, to make your story more plausible. Once you have finished, the three humans huddle together.This is a good sign: i{ they were traitors, they would have finished with you by now. At last, they separate. Bellatrix speaks againr 'Very good. You seem to know more about this mission than any Arcadran spy would know There is just one last thing we wantl'ou to do. Thebarman at the FissionChipsis a double agent return there and kill him.' Do you agree(turn to 6E)or not (tum to 274X

.l

I
169-a7a a69 The door to the basement is ten-centrmetrerein forced laser-proofcriton. No way are yolt going to 8et through that!But there is a smallpanel similarto the one you encountered on the outside of this building If you know the code, turn to the paraBraph whose decimal number looks the same as this binary number. Othern ise you return to the computerroom (turn to 381). 470 The lecture theatre is fairly packed. Professor Zachadasseemsto be popular, but you cannot see why. His subjectis history, and he drones on about Arcadian-human relations in the twenty-fourth century.You find yourselfdriJhngoll to 5leep. You wake up with a starl when your shoulder is joggedby a janitor who is cleaningthe room which is otherwise deserted! You race back to Pro{essor Zacharias'sroom, or y to find a messageon the door: 'Called away on urgent business. Back lomorro\,.r, r r d,m, You turn away, (ur\ing your doziness Lose I LUc( point, but restore 2 srAMrNApoints for the rest.Leavethe university by turning to 235. r7a Youwalkon foraboutanhour, and thenstop to rest and shelter ftom the heat: gain 1 srAMrNA point While gazing idly into the sky, you notice a large bird coming into land on the rock-faceaboveyou.

I
What strikes you in particular is that the bird is carrying something which flashesas it catchesthe sunlight. Do you want to invesligate this further (turn to 383), or carry on with your joumey (turn to 1.47)?

$ -+

472

After severalfurther more or lesspolite attempts to wake him up, you decideto go round to the back of the rcception countet so that you can nudge hirn awake. As you walk round, something glinting on the floor catchesyour eye, and you stoop to pick it up. Itis a largebutton, {rom ajacket, on which Lhere is a curious designofan eaBle clutchinga scrollinits talons. Then, from your crouched position, you notice something else - a pool o{ blood under the Arcadian's chair. He's been murdered! You pocket thebLltton,realizingthat it could bea clue, and start to move back But in your haste, you trip over a robo-mop, which lets out a protesting whine and briigs the two guards rushingin from outside. 'He'sdead!'yor-r gasp 'Butit was. mean . ,' . itwasn't I

l.

173-a75 'Murdererl' says one of the guards. 'We've caught \'ou red-handed!'They advanceon vou, whippiesat the ready They are clearly not going to listen to reason - you will have to fight them. From your position behind the reception counter, they can onlv approach you one at a time, and tnere ts no room for them to usc their spiked tails
S K I LL

STAM I N A

First CUARD Second CUARD

6 7

During the fight another human comes.ton'nsralrs If vou win, turn to 266. a7J O[ the human" on thc b.1\c, \omc arc nearinggrcv unifoms, some bluc You want to ask n'herc the agricultulal stationls. Will you ask someonem grey (turn to 31o)or inbiue (tum to 1o2)? 174 \fter a !\,hileyou hit the jackpot. A sectionoathe tile is devotedto'Activists and Actral' You - Potential are so engrossedin the details that yorl do not hear the approachingguards until lt 1stoo lat. 'No!r',Mizar,'you sav, autho tatively, '1 must go. But tirst tell me what you know aboutthe digit$of the Arcadian cornputer '

1.76-r78 'What on Halmuds are you talking about?'says Muar, as the Arcadians overwhelm Dorado and pour into the clea ng. Whether or not you escaPe this immediate danger, 1-ou have failed m your mrssion, a76 A smooth vorcelrom the computer says:'So sollv keepTropos Taxisare not allowed in the city Please iree o{ pollution. As you are tellestrial, I w l take 1 LUcK vou to the hostel.'Turnto 195,but subtract pomt first 477 You dash outsrde to wait for the explosion - and comefacetolace witha platoon ofNorth Arcadians, spiked tails restlessly swinging from side to slde. Cu ously, they sensethat you are erpecling something, so they do not immediately rush in for the kill, but wait to seewhat will happen The explosion scems to take {or ever in coming but there ii is! Tre, the Arcadians closein you must have done something h,rong , 178 Ihcbuildrngs, evenhere onthe outskirtsof the city, are impressive- The architects have taken full advantageoI the low gravity o{ the planet, and vast towers and archessoar gracefuliyinto the sky. The colour of the local stone is very pale blue, but dif{erent coloured synthetic materialsare also used

479 and look very attractive Near the university is the archaeologymuseum, which you decide to visit, having heard that it is rather interesting The museum consistsof a single large room, with show casesaround the walls and two rows of ex hibits down the centreof the room. Thereis a closed door at the other end oI the room At tne en.rance, there is an armed South Arcadian watchman, who callsyou over, butit seems he onlywants to passthe timeof day. 'A ziridium mine in the desert,' he says- 'Yes, I'd noticed that there aren't many vNitors,'you reply, correctly. He nods. as if his next remark follows logrcally:'As it is writtenin the BookoftheFiue Sw1s, "Contact costsnothing; if there rs cost it is not pure contact."' Will you reply, 'No thanks, l'tl browse around my self' (turn to 111), or'It's niceto seesomeone taking his job seriously' (turn to 19)? 479 'So? Earthling, in me all forms. This one for you ' The shimmenng cloud within the shaftof ljght takes on a h()rrifving appearance,which is so alien that you can hardlv believeit really exists.You seem to seea creaturewith four arms sprouting lrom a body; each hand is arned with a scimitar,axe, ctuo or scythei her hair stands up like living fire and js adorned with a tiara of shrunkenheads.A cobra

I.

1gO

wincis itsel{ around her hips. 'Now, unbeliever., this image seems to say, in a voice which is sur

SHAPE-CHANCER

s(rLL ro

STAM I N A

14

lf you win, the thing reverts to its lorm as a shaft of light, which then disappearsback into a shadow anct speeds a\ray You haven't the faintest idea irtat has been going on. Turn to u4.

' .' /

i --l

'!*--;.1!|:-=,r,,,,

18o You press the button and wait, heartin throat. you don't have to wait long Guards pour into the room to answer the call They don't need to ask you what has been gorng on: your own dishevelledstateand the mangled corpseofthe policemantell their story dll too cledrly. \ ou draw \ our swordin desperdtjo;. but dre overwhelmedby sheerforceot numoers, You have failed in your mission.

181-182 181

You walk for half an hour in a southerly direction, tio n for someshelter searchingin increasingdespera from the ireezing night. But all in vain. The sudden drop jn temperature catches you still out in the open, and you fall, as ifpoleaxed, to the ground. a82 You pass the time pleasantly, eating (deduct 2{) credits and gain 2 srAMrNA points) and chatting with sfudents.They are fascinatedto know thatyou are from Earth, which they regard as a mixture of paradise and a stone age settlement. You have a struggle to set them ight on both scores.Just as you are about to leave, a student, with a badge portraying a large black eye, Setsup and begins to make a speech.Beforehe has got very far, the place is in uproar: a mini-riot erupts It is not too serious, but it delaysyou. You raceback to ProfessorZacharias's room, only to find a messageon the doori 'Called away on urgent business.Back tomo o\,v, 11 a.m' You turn away, cursingyour ill fortune (loseI LUcKpojnt), and leavethe university (turn to 235).

183-185 183 You lose yourself in the shadows, hardly daring to breathe and your pursuers pass bv on the main moving pavement. You {ollow the twiljts and tums of the side streets, always keeping the overhead monorailin sightto guideyou in the right direchon for your hotel Turn to 285

184 'I'm sorry,friend,'says thedoorman. 'Youleave me no choice.' Wlthout further ado, and beforeyou can react,he deliversa killing punch to your windpipe Hopefully, he will have savedthe rebeloperationon Tropos, but you will never know. 185 There are very few humans on Arcadion, and you have no hme to waste. \'ou approach the first human you meet and ask him the rvay to the computer burlding. He tells you the way with some enthusiasm,as d he was proud to help a strangerfrnd the centre of the Empire If you go straight to the computer building,turn to219 Ifyouneed toknow where an arsenalis and, bearing in mind that yoll will probably meet no other humans, you want to ask this person where it is, turn to 284

!
186-188 186

You are walking along a dusty corridor. The statue of a grotesqueancient god looms out of the dark ness, fora moment LoselLUCK scaringyou witless point. There is a passageoff to the south (tum to 384),or you can continue straight on (tum to 254) a87 Will you askif he can supplyyou with a passfor the shurtle service to the agricultural statlon (turn to 385)oi wrth a sword (tum to 286)?

18E You clearyour throat no response.You say, 'Oyl Excusemel'- no response.Will you now wait (tum to z9) or will you keep fying to attracthis attention (turn to 122)?

!
189

189 The man thanls you and oflers you some food, u'hlch you gratefully accept Gain J srAMrNA points. Wh e you are eahn8, he explains that he used to work at the nearby a8dcultural station but rvascaught stealingiood to supplementhis meagre rationsj now he'll never be able to go back.You tell him that within a few days he may {ind himself ftee of his masLers; then you ask i{ he knows anything about the underground. He does not, but he tells you that at this time of day there are no humans in the station itsel{: they are all out in the fields- He C ai n | | I ( K J irc c l\ y o u t o t h e d gric ult urrl "Liiion. point, and turn to 114.

T
L90

a9o-a9a

You run through the twisbingstreetsand lanes,but whereve! you run. the robot {ollows, adjusting its speed to yours exactly,and staying out of range of the destructivethumps which itsends outatirregular intervals. You rcalize that you r/villonlv exhaust \ o u r\ e lf t o n o p u rp o s eif y ou c onLinLr e r un \ r ' u to must stand and fight. STREETFICHTER sKrLL9 srAMiNA 16

Its attackswillincrease in effectiveness as thebuildings around get weaker lts first successful Attack Round will causeyou 2 srAMrNA points of injury, thenext j, the next4, and so on, as largerand lar8er piecpsof mrsonD strileyuu. {\ou cdn use I u( l. in the usual way to reduce the injudes by r point each time.) If you carrv on the fight as normal and win, turn to 3o9. But does the robot have a weakness? Roll two dice. l{ the nunbet rolled is greater than your sKrLL, turn to 227;if the numbcr rolled is less than or equal to your SKILL,turn to 282,
L9L

En route for Halmuris, vou may restoreyour srAMINAby half asmuch againas your currents rAMrNA score, rounding odd numbers dou'n. and re membering that you cannot exceed your lnlirl score.You review the problems vou face.vou have no equipment or weapon/ though you still have your money/ and there is a spareanti-grav pack on board your ship Halmuiis is a bleak planet. the

I
191

terrain is wild and mountainous, and some of the mountains are activevolcanoes.It is a planet which is still gorng throu8h the last vlolent stageso{ cre ation. lt is very hot in the daytime, and fatally freezing at night, when the hot, blueish sun sinks below the horizon and the three moons become visible. The moons causevast hdeson the planet. lf you have to spcnd a night out on Halmuris, you would be well advised to choosesomewherewann and far away from waterr The inhabltants live in small settlements,which were o ginally scientific research establishments,and are clustered quite close together, with the spaceport, on the hiSl) plateau region in the south o{ the planet - this is k) avoid the hute tides \^'hich ravage the lower lying areas, which are punctuated by sudden rnhospit ablecragsThc.omputer feedsyou all thesedata, and also infotms you that the alien inhabitants are mostly Central Arcildians, lvho naturall)' took over thc scicntific facilities ofthe planei Allyou knorr about Lhc underground leader is that he ol she is an assista)rl at the agricultural research settlemcnt When you land on llalmuris, you find that )r)ur limbs fcel healy. Thc hrghergraYityof this planet means that for the (luration of vorrr stay here, yoll rnust lose J sKrlr pornt. This rrakes fincling I wcnpon even more vital There are rrone of the Custornsand immicration hasslesthat vou exhlstead, 1'ou are simpll' orderecik) remarn Pectt-cl.

I
1.92-1.94 in the spaceport area untrl your ship is Lrnloaded is ready to embark late the next and your passenger day. lt is now mid-afternoon, with Iour hours to go untilsunset. Will you first investigate the possibility ofgettinghold ofa sword (tum to 273)or of learning the whereaboutsof the agricultural station (turn to

an)?
192

This action is very noble o{you-buteven nobility is misplacedsometimes.Youare marchedaway to the Arcadian police headquarters. Before you die in agony, you r,r'ill reveal all - the codenames,your with SAROS.You have tuissjon,your connection failed utterly. 19) You narrowly miss impaling vourself on one of the vicious looking spikes of the plant- You pick vouiselfup and enterthe Bloomof the cave-Turn to 1oo 494 You take the monorait to the public park and find the waiter at the main entrance 'We'vc beenexpectt" to ing you,'he says 'Earthsentanothcr"merchan warn us of your allival I don't know all the details of your mission, except that vou havc to meet our leader.I don't kno\'\'who this is - we work on the basis that each person has contact only with his immedjate superior but I think you could startat the university ' You thank him, and may acldr t-ucx

a95-a95 point You head for the university. There is a monorail drop station just outside. Will you plunge straightin (turn to i46), or wait around outside for a while (tum to 178)?

You pause to think. It occtirsto you that it need not necessanly be a robot: themetallic tone of the voice could come from some languagetranslationdevice. What is'this zplalrh it's asking about? It can speak enough Arcadian to cover everyday objects, it seems.If you have a strangestaffor a mind-probe, you could seeif one of theseis what it wants. Will you try the stafl (tum to 267)or the probe (turn to 226)?lf you have neither of these,or choosenor ro give them up, tum to 179-

196 The hostel is a semi-dereljct,flea-riddenbuildinqdnd Tropian flea' have to be seento be belie\;dl Two Northern Arcadian guards stand by the dooi, and inside a scruffy Southerneris sitting in a chair, leaning back against the w-all, apparently asleep. What an odd set-up! No robot receptionistor com puterized check-in. And outside everything is just as old-fashioned. There are no personal or public

497 overhead monolail systems; the buildings are mostly late twenty-first century and lowlying- and the pollutionl To think they haven't yet got around to dealing with it! A sign on the wall says:'Remember - no vehicles in town Offenderc will be prosecuted.'A typically p mitive solution to a primilive problem. Will you wait for the rcceptionlsttonotice you (tum to 29), or diaw his attention to your presence(turn to 18E)?

497 The man in greylooks atyou with teuorand scuttles off down a passage, out of sight. Wrll you ask someonein blue instead (turn to 212),o! try to get one off an Arcadian (tul.Irto 16)?

1g8-2O1 198 You have time to grab one of the followtng, rf you have it in your pack and $'ant it. Otherwise, retuIL to the scene o{ combat.

A can of engine oil A hand-klaxon A benelo-phosphate strobe

Turn to 256 Turn to 21 Turn to Z9

199 You are acutely conscious of the pounding of Arcadian feet, as you get rid of the last few strancls oI wire and struggle to get through. But in,vour haste you have not made a hole that is quite lar8e enough, and you get thoroughly tangled up - an easylarget. You! mission ends here
200

To your horror, you realize that there 1sa massive identifit hologram o{ you in the spaceport,with the It is not an exact caption:'ENEMY or rHE EMPTRE' likeness, however; the Arcadian who escapedcan only have caught a glimpse of you from a distance Testyour Luck If you are Lucky, turn to J18, rf you are Unlucky, turn to 83
204

He pockets the 5oo credits (cross them off your Adte11ture and seemsprepared to do as vou SheeL), suggest But rn fact you have insulted his Radjcian senseof dutv. Turn to 85.

2O2-2O4 202

You look at Mehita. She is not much younger than. are worlds apart.You feel you, but your experiences you cannot talk to her about anything serious You m{rmble some excuseand leave. Will you go to the Arts Floor, if you haven'talreadybeen there(turn to 258),or leavethe university (tum to 235)?
20J

Turn to 177.

204

The Fission Chips is in the bascmentof the folmer A ncon sign,'ith rnanybulbs Adolphovideolama. inissing, stiLl adverhsesthe last feature, a classic sciencefiction comedy from the tr^'entiethcenturv, .ailed'Star Tlek' You godown thestepswhichlead to the cntranceto the ciub. andknock on the door A human lace appearsat a peep-hole. 'lvhat do you want?' it savs aggressively 'To get in the club, of us to yo , coulse,'you repiy. 'Who recommended strangcr?'asks the doorman, emphas;zingthe lasi ','ord What u'ill you repli/i

2O5-2Ob

,SAROS'? 'Bellatrix'? 'The Grand Vizier ofTropos'? 'No one l'm from Earth'?,
205

Turn to 287 Turn to 24o Turn to 45 Turn to 326

You have {allen for the flnal trap the machme was olfering power over itself, and thereforeover the whole Arcadian race. The computer is subtler than you: you have lowered your defencesand are now its slavefor ever
206

The guarciis not expecling the attack, so you get in one free assault. Since you are unarmed, roll one die If 1,oLt roll 6, you incapacitatelhc guard im mediately II nct, you !\,'ill have to fight hinl as lollows

CUARD
to 1J1

S K rrL 7

S T A M r ^_A8

lf vour dcfeat him, vou ma,vtake his sr,ord. Iurn

I
207 207

You slowl)' climb back to consciousnessThe first thing you are aware oI is a splitting headache(deduct 2 srAMrNApoints I jf you have not eaten today) The second thing is that even when you open your eyes,it's still pitch-black Onceyou have realjzed that you are not blind, but that wherever you are is in darkness, you clamber to your feet you lmmediatelv, a bright light stabsyour eyeballs, instinchvely cover your lace with your arm Behind the light you canjust make out three human shaPes, two sranding on either side of the third, lvho ts seatedat the table

A wonan, \a'ho is apparently lhe one seated, addresses you: 'You seemto know somethingofour business.Thai could mean one oI two things:either vou are an Arcadian spv, or you are one of u5 llom Earth. If the latter is the case, I apologize for the rorgh treatmentyou havereceivedfuomtrs, but You will understand why thrs h'as necessary No\\', explain yourself ' 'I'm looking for Beilat x,' you begin

I
208-210

'So you know my codename,' she says 'That in itself doesn't prove a thing: we may have been infiltlated.' This is a tricky situation: they are not convincedthat you are from SAROS, but are you entirely sure that they are rebels?Will you try to convincethem that you are who you sayyou are (turn to 168),or askfor proof of their identity (turn to 1o5X
208

Itis surprisingly easyto push yourway through the foliage: the tendnls seem to part and then close behind you. This makes you feel uneasy Will you dashout beforeyou have gottoofar (turn to327), or Presson to the centre(turn to 151)?
209

You cannot stay in Porky's Palace, but you can easily find another cheap hotel lor 75 credits. You must deduct 2 LUCK points {or what amounts to the murder of a lellow human. Then turn to 74
210

You tell him that the rope is for rock climbing on Halmuris, and that the scanneris for checkingyour ship's heating system,but he doesnot quite believe )rou: the presenceof ta'ounlikely items in your Pack has aroused his suspicions.Roll one die. On r-2, turn to 396ion j 6, turntol6o

'

'f
214-242 2 ta

However much you strugSle,vou cannot get free. But the fact that they are thievesgives you an idea 'Look,'yousay,'youalready havemy sword,which is a rare qnd valuableweapon thesedays. Nobody's gojngto beany thewiserilyou just let me go.'They exchange greedy glances, but don't reply im mediately.Will you offer them some money as well (turn to 91),or wait a bit (turn b 72)?
212

'What? Oh, yes,' he says; then a spasm of pain passes overhisface'Who areyou?Whatam I doing here? You'relramanl Guardsl'Thisis one confused Arcadian.No guards arrive, ofcourse, but his shout brings the otherArcadian into the corndor- and he is carrying a phaser! 'What's going on here, Musca?'he demands of the first Arcadian, buL thereis no reply. 'Your friend has a headache. I'll get the medical robot,' you say eventually. He takes the first Arcadian, Musca. back to his room, and you notice that he doesn'tput his phaser away Cudouser and cu ouser: phasers are onli issued rn extreme circumstances.Could the confused Arcadian actually be under guard? In the morning, will you try to find out more (turn to 29o), or wrll you bide your time (turn to 247)?

I
2a3-2a6

When you arive at the spaceport, you find that there are a great many Arcadian guards mingling with the crowds If you let an Arcadiane\capein Grus's street, turn to 2oo;ifnot, turn to J1E
244

You had imagined a human secretary,but find a burly South Arcadian Of course: the Arcadians would want to keep an eye on the files- He looks at you in surprise: you do not exactly look like an ordinary student. 'Can I help you?'he asks,but his antennaeare waving alarmingly. Willyou fighthim so that you can investigatethe files (tum to 1o7),or considerthat they areprobablynotworth the bother (turn to 58)?
245

Resolveyour fight

WATCHMAN

sKrLL 7

STAM I N A

If you win, you can take the grenade Turn to 32o216

Eys streamin8, and choking in the smoke, you race,sometimesleaping, sometimeszigzaggingbe tween burning bushes. fesf vour Luck If yo[ are Luckv, turn to 323iifyou are Unlucky, tum to 389.

'l

It
21.7-2a9

You pick vour man carefully, choosing someone who looks tough and self-sufficient. At last he leavesthe group hewas with, and makesoff across a lobby. You catch him up after a lew metres, and come straight to the point: 'Whateveryou do, don't show surprise on your face,' you say, 'l need a srvord. Can you help me?' He looks you up and dor'r'n,and then says, 'No, J can't But I know who can,ifanvone can.Come with me.'Willyou go with him (turn to 399),orleave him and try elsewherefor a sword (turn to 137)? 2a8 'You're all sa)-ingthe same thlng, really,' you say. The students look at yoLr In disgust. You should knorvbetterthan to butt in on a group of students: thev are argurng becausetlley are ftiends, not be(J U\ et lre yd is a E re \ e r it h cac holher. I hev S i v cr o u t h e c o ld s h c ' rrld e r. . rndv olr d, (rc lelo go up 1u l h e Arts Floor',if ) ou haven't bet\r there alreadv(furn to r58). otherwise\'ou leave the universlty(turn to 2Ja)
249

You are nearjnllthe end ol'yolrrmisslon You hnve reachedIhe outside o{ the loj1g,]ou' buildin8 !\ here the queencoDputeris hcrused but \,ou kno\ that an Arcadian patrolis not far behind, On thc rvallby the entlance is a panel consistingof a li(luid crvstal displayand hvo buttons,marked1 and o- This rs

220

what yolll whole adventure so far has been aiming at- do you have the correctcode?You will have to enter the code for the door to oPen. Convert the binary number to decimal, and turn to the Paragmph with that number. If rhe paragraphmakesno sense,you have not entered the coEect code, and w l be caught by the Arcadian Patrol. If you do not know how to convert binary to deomal, here is a table:
DE CIMAL DT NARY

Ii

256 128 64

16

Enter your binary number in the sPaces Provrded Each time you enter 1, that decimal number is which contains relevant you can ignore eachsPace o. Add together all the relevant decimal numbers: the total is the decimal equivalent of the binary number.
22(,

The guards let you through wlthout further delay Once inside the spacepo buildn8s, you shedyoui disguise and make your way to your sPaceshiP. Turn to 78

Ii
* ;

221,-223

fr
$

You find yourselfin a cellarwith further exitsin the eastem and western walls. Will you turn east(turn to 186)orwest (tum to 324)? Turn to 4oo.

223

i
I

'Al1 riBht,' Crus says eventually. He releases you and spdnts over to Bet the sword. 'No funny businessnow - I've got the sword.'You hand over the 5oo credits from your money-belt, disguising the {act that you have more by pretending to searchfor the last 1oo-creditnote and by looking depressed about the transaction.Crossthe 5oocreditsoffyour Adoenturc SheetAs Grus shovesyou out ofthe door at sword-point, you hear lndLrson the visiphone, telling the police where you are. You leave quickly and return to the main road. Until you find another weapon, all your battlesmustbe conductedaccording to the rules for unarrnedcombat.Turn to 132

'

'lf
224-225

Somesixth sensealertsthe guard to vour approach, and he wheels round to face you For this fight, reduce your sKrLL by 1 point/ becauseyou are unarmedARCADIAN GUARD sKrLL6 srAMrNA10

lf you win, you may take his sword, but you will have to leave the spaceportimmediately. Turn to t6. Suddenly, a miracle occurs. Humans pour out of nearby buildings, hurl bricks and tiles ftom the roofs and rush in behjnd the Arcadians. Though few of them are armed with more than clubs, they make shoit work of the Arcadians. You join in the fight and do your share, losing only 2 srAMlNA points of injury, but resto ng l LUc( point {or your escape. Afterwards, panhng and in pam, but g nning from ear to ear, you thank your savrours Some of them havealready melted awav, and othersare knocking in the door of Grus's house It turns out that you have been followed ever since the affair at the spaceport.'Anyone the Arcadians want to hurt is a potential{riend oI ours,'explains one, who appears to be the leader. 'But now we must take you to see Bellat x we \a'antto know more about you' 'But lh J l 5 wh u I wd n t L omeet . y ou e\ c lrrm . W e l l - c e , is the laconicreply

I
226-227

Rough hands blindfold you. You are taken into one of the nearby houses, down some steps, and then you get confused.you are led through tunnels that twist and turn, several doorways, and part of the sewagesystem,tojudge by the smell, danknessand weird echoing of your footsteps.The underground on Tropos seemsto be litemlly that, and to have a systemof connectinghouses.Then, without waming, there is a heavy blow on the backofyourhead, and you sink into unconsciousnessTurn to 2o7
226

'ls this what you want?'you ask, offedng the mindprobe. In response,the shimmering seemsto groi! more intense, and a sudden blast ofheat makesyou drop the probe and stand back. The probe melts on the ground. If you have the staff, you can try this (turn to 257);rfyou don'twant to, oryou don't have rt, turn to 179.

If the robotdoes have a weakness,you cannot think ofit there'sno time and too much pressue. Retum to 19oand fight it normally.

;Q,-.r

|.

I
228-229 228

Ihe shock-r,r'ave of the ziridium blast knocks you unconscious, Deduct 2 sraMrNA points and tum to 46.
229

'Suspicious, aren't you?' says Grus 'ls that the thanksI get?A1lright, you cancohe in.'The dooris opened by another man, who looks furtively both ways down the side-streetbefore ushering you in and locking the doorbehind you You are shown into a sparsely furnished room. Everything looks harmless enough, but your trained suspicionsare sudden)yaroused.Justthen, Crus shouLs, 'Crab him! But watch out he's armed!' Before you can react, Grus and the other man pin you to the wall and take away your sword, rvhrchthey throw acrossthe room, so that all their hands are free to keep you where you are. 'Setyou up nicely, didn't I?' snarlsCrus. 'Though in a way I'm sorry- Me and ny buddy Indus here, we're thieves. Cot caught by the alien scum.' He spitsthe word out'So now theyuseus asspies -it's either that or they kill us. I reckon we'll have repaid our debtwith thlsone,Indus.' You struggle to get free. Roll a die. On 1-j, turn to 211;on 4 6, fum to u3.

I |.

I
2Jo-234

230 TheArcadian, whosename tlllns out to beMusca,is obviously in a confused statei he changes {rom being friendly to being suspicious at a moment's notice. By cautious probing, you gradually discover that something has gone wron8 v/ith the empathic receiver in his brain, which links him to the Arcadian computer. He has held severalposihons of authority on Halmuris and Arcadion; you guessthat the constant decision-makingthat these jobs involved has begun to ftee his will fuom the enslaving grip of the computer. The side-effects include blinding headac.hes, and a senseof confusion and guilt. If you tread carefully, you have obviously stumbled acrosswhatcould be a valuable sourceofinformation. Gain l Luc(point Butbefore you can ask any {urther questions,there is a knock at the door, and the voice of the other Arcadian is heard: 'Do you by any chance have my friend in there?' His pleasanttone puts you on your guard Will you admit that Musca is wrth you (tum to 361) or not (turn to 329)?
211

The guard pausesby the doorto the arena.'The two beastsyou have to {ace,' he tells you, 'are first a Laphodorm and Lhen a Scabrok. Both are bred specrally for the Bdme.. lhe Laphodormis a new breed,and lknow nothing aboutit. But the Scabrok, though powerful, has one weaknessi it is easil_y

I
232-233 distracted.It won't fall for this t ck twlce, but you can distract it once and get in a free attack.' Before you can thank him and ask his reasonsfor tellmg you rhis, he opens the doorand urgesyou through, having given you a sword for the contest. Garn 1 LUCK point for the guard's information. If you survive to fight the Scabrok,turnto262 (rememberthis number) when you are instructed to do so. Now rurn ro 313. Testyour Luck.If you are Lucky, you make it doIa,n the cliff without difficulty. If you are Unlucky, vou fall down the last bit and sustain 2 srAMrNA points ofbruises.Then turn to 147to continuethejourney

2J3 You dodge and weave through the pedestriansand the up and down alleylvays You manageto escape patrol, but ata cosfo{ r srAMrNA point. Eventually/ whenallseems safe,you slump downina doorway. After a while, you realizethat you can only go back to the hostel and try again tomorow, soyou startto get up. But at that moment, the door behind you opens, and rough hands grab hold ofyou. Will you attempttoputup aftght (turn to 155), orareyou too (tum weak and depressedto bother to 272X

234-2J5 234 One ofthe remaining Arcadiansis a Northemer, so for every Atta& Round that he is alive, roll an extra dier on 5 or 6 he hits you with his tail, causing 2 srAMrNA points of injury, whatever the result o{ that Attack Round otherwise You will have to fight thesetwo simultaneously,so choosewhrchone you are attacking, and conduct a normal Attack Round againsthim. The other getsa ftee attackagainstyou: roll for Attack Strengthsas usual, but nothin8 happens unlesslis Attack Strengthis higher, in which casehe wounds you.
SKI LL ST A M I N A

NORTHARCADIAN SecondARCADlAN Ifyou win, turn to 381.

6 6

8 6

You decide to go back to your hotel. If you had a spot ofbother with the Chief of Policeat the Zodiac earlier today, you have decided to go to Porky's Palaceinstead On the monoiail ride, you have the impression that you are being followed There ls a cab behind you, but then there always is on an efficient monorail system. Will you pull into the next diop station and get off (turn to 162), or wili you carry on toyourhotel, thinking you'llbe as safe there as an]'where (turn to 27)?

-t)

236-2J7

236 It speaks: 'Earthling, wherc zplaran?' At least, that's what the last word sounds like. The vorceis shangely metallic and hollow; it certainly does not rome from any living beinglhat yuu can imagine. Perhapsit is a robot o( some kind. If it is, then you could attackit. Is this whatyou chooseto do (tuir1to 129),or will you try to talkback to it, asitinches ever closerto you (tum to 195)?

'I don't know what it's like on Earth,' says one of your companions, 'but here on Tropos it's con sidered bad manners not to drink with tterds.' There is a decidedly unpleasant tone to his voice. Willyourespond to the insult (tum to 35),or meekly drink up (turn to 322)?

238-24o 238

The 'job' tums out to be stealingsomeof the luxury goods from your own cargo This confirms your suspicion that you are dealing with a black mar keteer.The first joumey is easy,sincethe Arcadian Suardsfind nothmg odd in your vrsiting your own spaceship But you have to make three more journeys before the black marketeer is satisfied lest la r Luck three times. If at any time you are Unlucky, turn to 165;otherwiseturn to 96. 239 You knock on the door of Professor Zacharias's office 'Come in,'he calls Whenyouenter, youfind him lust gettin8 ready to leavefor a lecture 'I'm in a hurry,' he says. 'What do you want?' You tell him that Mehita suggestedyou visit him. He looks at vou lntently for a moment 'Did she? Did she indeed?' he muses. 'l have great faith in Mehita's Ieelings about people Look, Lhere'sno time now. Comeand seeme after my lecture,in one hour 'Will you pass the time by attending his leiture (tuln to 17o),or have a cup of cof{eein the students'union (tum to 182)?
240

'Who? Get lost,' says the doorman. Will you do as he says (turn to 95), or attempt to smash the locks with your sword (turn to 366)?You can smashthe locksonly i{you still have your sword, ofcourse.

I
241-24J

244

You have pushed hrm too far, and he goesinto total physical collapse.You have no choice now but to wa it for a robotto (ome by Turn to 278.
242

By the time you get closeto the fleeingArcadian,he has turned into the main road and met up with a pahol of his fellow Northern Arcadians. Teslyorr Luck. If you are Lucky, tum to 132; if you are Unlucky, turn to 52 243 You edge around the boulder and then spring out, sword at the ready. lt seemsthat the Arcadian has come to somedecision,because his whippy is raised above the cowering human's head. The look oI surprise on the Arcddidn s fdcewhen you appeari" almostcomrcal.But now he will turnhis attentionto you CENTRAL ARCADIAN s(IT,L7
STA M I N A 8

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I
244 He is not particularly strong, but he's agile and cunning. The first time hewoundsyou, roll an extra die On a roll of 4 6, he hurls some dust in your eyes,and you must lose I sKrLLpoint for the next two Attack Rounds. But you only give him this one opportunity: therestofthefightwillbeasnormal. If you win, turn to 189, 244 After a while, the corridors quieten down, as most of the students go off to lectures Then one student approachesthe notice-boardand, rather fu*ively, pins up a posLer.You just have time to see that it announcessome kind of demonstration,when the yoLlngmanis thrown to the floorby twoothers, and his poster is ripped from the wall The two louts then proceed to beat him up You're not going to stand {or that kind oibehavlour You will fight both the louts simultaneouslyin unarmed combat.Each AttackRound, choosewhich of them you will fight, and conduct a normal Attack Round against him. Agamst the other, roll for Attack Strengthsasusual, bLrteven yolrr Attack Strength is higher, you do n o t h u rt h im: y o ua repreoc c upic!dilhhi \ c om p a n ion. I{ his Attack Strengtlt is higher, however, he hurts you.
SI(ILL

STAM I N A

FirstLOUT Second LOUT

6 5

8 6

This is not a fight to the death. lf your srAMrNA rs

245-146 reduced to 4, the fight js over and your opponents run away. You, for your part, take care to knock them out, not kill them, since they are only students: the 'sudden death'rule of un;rmed combat, or reduction of vour opponents' srAMrNA to zero, wlll count for unconsciousness rather than death. A{ter the fight, tlrtr| to 1jj 245 You know that your first pdority is to find somewhere shelteredto spend the night. you are followTB d Path throuSh rough lerrdin, rith a valley slojing down to vour leftand roci\y outcrops u p the hilltoyourright. Afterawhile,youcomeacrosstwo cavesto your right, which look as though they are deep enough to give you shelter. The right hand one is approachedby a smooth gully which wends its wav to the valtey beJow; the left-hand one rc higher up, and its entnnce is partially hidden by a spjky, cactuslike plant. WiJl you enter the rig-hthand cave(turn to 32) or the left hand one (turn to 294? 24t, ' Yo u r em in e n ce ,' y ou grovel,'l

..er...Ihadn o

Ar(adianbelieveyi)u. lf you dreLuck\, turn to144: it you are Unlucly, turn to 129.

247-249

m)/steriou\ SouthArcadidn wordsmight mean, and you leave.in (onsiderable erhbarra*imenL. Loser

25o-251 takentoan office where a Central Arcadianis work ing at a pile of papers. However, you manage to persuadehim that you are innocently lost, and he glvesyou dfections. Turn to 336.
250

The guards easily overwhelm you. Perhaps next time you will be lesseasilyfooled and thereforeless Iikely to be betrayed

The room beyond the Sphinx is dark, but a large computer screen$ resting on a table,and its greenish light, asinformation scrollsacrossi ts surface,is a source of faint illumination. Wlll you look at the screen(tu:rnto 3a9),or carry on (tum to 375)? You leap up the stepsand are immediately spotted by an Arcadian patrol, lvho tive chase fesf yorl LL/ck If you are Lucky, turn to 233i if you are Unlucky, turn to 33o. 253 Theobject you grabbedlvas ajetpack,but itfeelsso light that it may have no fuel left in it. You take it anyway. The fire is bound to attract unwelcome attention You decideto leavethe spaceport as soon as possible Tu1TI to 336

254-256

There is anotherpassage bianching off to the south Wili you take it (turn to 62) or continue straight on (turn to 39)? 'Dorado,' you say, 'l must go. But first tell me what you know about the drsts of the Arcadian colnPurer' 'Identify yourself,' he says in reply. 'What's the password?'Youwill now eitherknow what to do, or you will get nolhing more out of Dorado, however much you protest that you cannot know his password, having only just arrived on the planet. You have failed. 255 You can usethis to make yout opponents'approach slipperyand hazardous,byquickly opening the can and spilling the oil towards them (Crossrt off your Equipment List.) This will reduce your first opponent's sKrLL by 2 points; by the hme you meet yoursecond opponent, however, thefighthasbeen carried away from the slippery area.But the o also slows down your opponents,so that you have time tograb anotheritem from your pack, youwanttoDo yotr choosethe hand-klaxon (turn to 21) or the strobe (turn to 7g)2 If you choose neither, return now to resolveyour fiSht

l.

257-260 The passage leads into another cellar, with ol1eexit straight ahead, and another in the northern wall. Will you go straight ahead (turn to 186) or north (tum to q2)? 258 Do you have an introduction to anyone hereTIf so, hlrn to the paragraph which has the same number as the room vou needi otherwise turn to 76.

259 The pall ofsmoke provides excellentcoveruntil you are quite near the rocks Then you are spotted, and the silver craft races in pursuit. But the drifting smokecauses it to misjudge the distanceand, asyou squeezeinto c()\,er, it smashesinto the rock-face above vou and explodes Tcsfyorr lrck If vou are Lucky, turn to 228,if you are Unlucky, turn to 288
260

'Why on Tropos do votr u'ant to get to that old 'Been place?' askstheman suspiciously. derelict for years lfyou want a goodtime,someentertainnent,

l.

26a-262 I can tell you where to go.'You thank him, but tell him that you have arrangedto meeta friend outside the Adolpho. He tells you that the Adolpho is not far away; on Nolth 2o-East Z Street. 'And where are we now?' you ask 'Halfway up North 18-East9 Sheet,' comes the reply. There is no trme to lose; you mus[ get on with your mission. Wi]l you go north for one and a half blocks, then r^/est for two blocks (turn to 2o4), or north for two and a half blocks, than west for twoblocks (turn to 1o9)?

26a Musca is in a highly nervous state- and is playing dangerously with the phaser. Will you rush him and try to wrest it from him (turn to 59), or speakto him (turn to 9o)?
262

Good: you have remembered the ScabrolCs weakness. At some point durinS the {ight, you will be able to dishact its attention, perhaps by throwing

263-266 sand across its field oI islon. Testyour Lltck. Il yolr are Lucky, turn to 141;if you are Unlucky, tum to 26J More Arcadian guards are on their way, but you make il throu8h the gate, and they do not set out after you. At filst you wonder why, but then you realize that they are leaving the freezing night to do their work for them. There are vadous paths that you could take. Will you go east(turn to 245),north (tum to 342)or south (turn to 181)? 264 The sifuation looks desperate,but you are deter mined to die like a hero, fighting against tyranny and perhaps inspiring future humans. Did you get beatenup al the spaceport? If so, turn to 225;ifnot, turn to 25o, 265 Testyour Luck.Il yo.uareLucky, tuln to 69;if you are Ur ucky, tum to 35.
266

You join a group of students who are hanBing around a drink-dispensing machine on the Science Floor, and are having a heatedscientificdiscussion. Will you chjp into the conversation(tum to 218),or keep quiet (turn to 11)?

l.

267 'T}l.is zplaran?' you ask, finding yourself speaking the same pidgin Arcadian as the weird thing. 'Zplaran,'repliesthe lhing, in a voicewhich sounds decidedly unfriendly to you, but is apparently not. The staffis whisked out of your hand into the shaft of light, where it hangs, suspendedby goodness knows what. Both the changing form and the shaft oflight proceed to vibnte very rapidly, but in eede silence.If the staf{ is broken, turn to 179;otherwise turn to 3o8.
268

'Bravo!' criesthe man, asyou swrtchoffyour sword. 'But now we'd better get out of here. Come with me.'Will you tell him you'd ratherbe le[talone (turn to 3q), or will you Bo with him (turn to 394)? 269 You enter a room full of dully glisteningmachinery. A voice speaksfrom all around: 'Human, this is the computer speaking. You have done well to get this far. As you see, I am at your mercy: you can program me to vour heart's content 'Will you attempt to program the computer (furn to 2o5),or wdl you leavethis room too (turn to 94)?
270

There is no point in fighting him - there are too many people around. Will you ofler him 5oocredits (turn to 2o1) or a ziridium-plated bracelet, if you

l.

274-274 have one (turn to 365)?Ifyou cannot afford this, or think that it is ilot worth bribing h1m,you leavefor the university (tuIn to q6) 2V The phaser cuts down two members of the patrol, but then jams, presumablybecause it has not been used for a long time- You hurl it alvay in disgust. You will have to draw your sword to fight the remaining two. Roll one die. lf the number is even, turn to 234;ifit is odd, tum to 24.
272

Your captors are human. They blindfold you and lead you down into the cellar, where, to yout sut pdse, a draught indicatesthepresence ofa corridoi But that is yoff last impressionfor a n'hile a heavy blow to yourhead knocksyou unconscious. Turn to
207

Of the human*t,n the base. someare wearinggrel uniforms,-ome blue. Will you arl someone in gre) (turn to 192)or in blue (tum to 217)? Or will you try to get a sword off an Arcadian (tum to 16)? 'Why are you hesitating?'asks Bellat x. Witl you say that you know he's not a double agent (furn to to7), or that you need more proof (tuln to 343)?

275-277

Lose1 LucKpoint for {ailing to help a fellow human Turn to 114.

276 The buttons are so close together that you cannot tellwhich one the policemanwasreachingforwhen you attackedhim- Will you try the left-hand button (turn to 18o)or the ght-hand one (tum to 386)? The passageleads you into a cellar with no other exit. You stop only to raid a show case of some irresistible Earth coins, dating from the First Soviet Brazilian Alliance. Then you tum back and head east along the corridor you were in before (tuln to 346).

l.

I
278-28o 278 You have to wait some time until a robot comes to deliver the Arcadian's meal Meanwhile, the Arcadian has just sat slumped on the floor. You order the robot to release you 'Why, ce ainly, boss,'itreplies. 'Anythin'you say 'There aretimes when you find a robot's programmedchirpinessout you, however, and you put the of placel lt releases Arcadian in your place But your long wait has weakened you even further, and the rest and food which you now take restoles only 2 srAMrNA points Then tum to 292. 279 You make it through the wire and sprint for cover. You arejust in time -a patrolreachesthe gap in the wrr iusf as you dive behrnd a tree But they do not set out after you: they thrnk that the freezingnight will do its deadly work. They may be right. You are on the east side of the spaceport, and there are various paths. Will you go east (tLrInto 245),north (turn to 342)or south (tuin to 181)?
28o

'Ihe barman comesover to you with a drink. 'Your dnnk, sir,' he says.'But I didn't ordera drink,' y'ou protest. 'Your drink, sir,' he repeats, {irmly. WiJJ vou refuse the drjnk, thinking it may be drugged (turn to 237), it (turn to j22)? or accept

281.-283 28a

Testyour Luck If you are Lucky, turn to 1o4; iI you are Uilucky, turn to 82.
282

Of course!The aedaMt must be a meansof detecting structural weaknesses in buildin8s That is why the robot only thumps irregularly - when it senses that a building is weak enough to crack. However, there is no point in simply stoppin8 by a firm building, because you would have to stay Lhere and would be easyprey {or the police when they allive. You must retum to 19o and {ight the machine; becauseof the light gravity on this planet, every time you have a success{ulAttack Round againsL the machine, you may either deduct 2 srAMrNA points asa result ofa normalblow, or you may leapinto the air and swipe at the aerial, causinSloss of r sKltl point for the machine.

28t 'No, there's no time for that,' calls your friend. 'l know what you're thinking - that he might have seen your face; but soon the whole area will be swarming with the swine.' Will you pe$ist, preferring to take this risk rather than that of being

2E4-285 identified to the autho ties (rum to f78), or will you wait now to seewhat your friend doesnext (furn to 4a)? 284 So near, and yet so far. He is obviously ProArcadian. He prornptly summonsthe local policeto arTest you.

285 You are getting quite closeto your hotel, when you see ahead something large moving towards you. You wait until you can see it clearly. Oh, no! The glinting body of a robot killer is trLlndling towards you on hidden wheels It is just like a rnetal cylinder, with only one feature breaking the Pitiless monotony of its strucfure - an aedal on toP. It has no humanoid features: no arms, no legs, no face nothing that looks familiar or that you can understand. You haven't the faintest idea of how it will attack or, therefore, how you should defend yourself againstit. You know that your blows will have some e{fect on the soft metal of this planet, but it

286 looks as though rt has beenbuilt to withstand many sxch attacks: vou need some way to shorten the lrght The robot's first attack comes without \rarning. A g i g dnti r thu m p sLrrke\ the B ruund \ondin g v . , u tumbJing, .rnd makrngroof-ile* and \mall bits oi masonrvhurtle down from the building$ all around you You have no idea ho$' the robor causestne thump. but, if you have been told about the ,street Fighter'. you know that it has beenaptlJ'named. lf you have a baryon grenade,turn tof88; if not, turn to 1go.

286 ,It,llcost 'Yes,I cansellyou a sword,'he replies. yoLl 1_,ooo credits.' Do you have enough mor.rey? If vou do, and you are preparedto pav this exorbitant price,do so and then hlrn to 84 Ifyou cannot ortvill not pay him, you wrll have to do a job for him instead (turn to 238).

2E7-288

2E7 'Never heard the name before,' says the dooiman. 'Cet lost, creep.' Will you do as he says(trLrnto 95), or attempt to smashthe lockswith yoursword (tum to 365)?You can onlv smash the locls if )'ou still have your sh,otd, ofcourse.

#t
288

You are shon'eredwith fuagments of the exploding craft.Deduct,+ s_rAMrNA pomtsand. jf you ale still alive, turn to 46.

I.

289

289 The Arcadians are amazedat your cheekin butting into Lheir conversation. One particularly loudmouthed North Arcadun tums out to be the Chie{ of Police. He says he can prove his point: even iI humans did rebel, they would easily be defeated, since they are the weaker species.'Come outsrcle with me,' he says.'Won't be long,' he boaststo the orners. His meaning is unmistakable: he is challen8ng you to an unarmed duel. You follow him and his drunkenly laughing witness to a deserted area where the hotel rubbish units are. His ftiend, giggling, slips down in a stupor againsta wall. In this fight, you dare not produce your sword, so follow the rules for unarmed combat;but he can use his tail. Every Attack Round, on a roll of 5 or 6 with an extra die, he w l inflict 2 srAMrNA points of inlury on you, whatever the result of that Attack Round otherwise. POLICE CHIEF Ifyou win, turn to 329 sKrLL8
STAM I N A 1O

69
j'

29o-292 290

ln the moming, you knock on the door of the Arcadians' quarters, with the pretext oI inquiring dfter Mu5cd'shealth.The other Arcddianan5wer\ your knock, opens the door a fmction afld tells you to go away. Will you do as he says, and await another opportuni5r (tum to 247), or kick in the door (turn to 2E1)?
294

You switch off your sword and hide it again. But now what will you do? There are guards ou tside the door. Will you open the door and try to bluff your way past the guards (tum to 87),or will you investigatethe buttons on the desk (turn to 226)?
292

It takes time and cautiousquestioning,but from the two Arcadians, who are now no threat to you/ you learn three crucial piecesof information: that some of the weapons which the Empire brought back to prcserve its o\,,n safety are stored in an arsenal in the basement of the computer building on Arcadioni thaLthe code for entering this arsenalis 11o;and that the computer consistsoI three main paits, all of which must be destroyed to guarantee You elimination of themachine. Gain2LUcKpoints are now approachingArcadion, so turn to 118.

29t-295

293 As the door shuts behind you/ horror grips your guts. Bright light springs out from hldden lamPs and reveals that you are in a loom oI distorting $irrors Even the door behind you is milrored. A laserbeamshootsout fromone side andbouncesoff a mirror at an unpredictableangle.In an rnstantyou are surroundedby laserbeams,formrnga crazy ran dom pattern of burning light. One blasts your leg ftom its socket;another takes three fingers of your left hand. Then another st kes, and another . . 294 As you approach the mouth of the cave, you sfumble on a loose rock. Testyour Luck Il you are Lucky, tuIn to 193iifyou are Unlucky, tuln to 143295 'Come on, fellow humans,' you cry, hoPing for a resPonse 'Now is the time to free yourselves!' Ten humans range themselvesby your side. You

295 are still outnumbered, however, since the raiding Arcadians are joined by the ones in the club; ani none of your companionshas a sword. During the fight, you have to take on four Arcadians, one at a time. I{ you are unarmed, reduce your sl<rLLby 1 point for this encounter.Fightyo;r opponentsin lnls order:
SKI LL ST A M I N A

First ARCADIAN SecondARCADIAN Third ARCADIAN Fourth ARCADIAN

8 7 7
6

8 6

Do you haveanythingin your pack to help yoLrin thj5 fighL?II you think you do, rememberthi, reference(295),to which you wili haveto rerum, out

yourselfalready (turn to z5z)?

liLjr!.

l.

296-zg7

296 AJter walking for qulLe a while, the path passes through an area which is sprinkled with large boulders- You can hear voices- one Arcadian, one human - conine from behind one of the boulders.It seemsthaL a C;ntral Arcadian has a human at his mercy and, in a manner typical of his kind, has paused to think about all the possibilltiesopen to him. The human, meanwhile, is pleading with the Arcadian to stop theodzing and get on with it. Will you skirt this area to avoid confrontation (turn to 275),or try to iescue the man (tuin to 243)?

297 Well done!The dooi shdesopen easilyand lets you into an ante-chamber before sliding shut again behind you. Only then do the next doors open - and

298 there are four more seLs of doors; this is to keep the building as free as possibleftom dust. Once inside, you can seethe computerroom ahead,but thete are also some steps down to a basement.Will you go strai8ht to the computerroom (tumto j81), ordown to the basementfirst (turn to 169X

298 You leap down on to the ledge, away from the nest, so as to have a secu.e landing. Your precipitous arrival awakensthebird, which instinctively attacks you ROCKBUZZARD
SKI LL 6

ST A M IN A 8

If you win without being wounded by its beak or talons, tum to 40, Howevei, if you are wounded once, this means that the bird has got past your flashing sword, and its weight willknockyou offthe ledge to die on the path below.

299 299 Once you are out oI the spaceport vou have no problems finding a hover-taxi You climb in and instruct the microcomputer fo take you south into town. You notice thata canera hasbeenfixed in the taxi there has been no attempt to disguise it Presumably rt transmits everything it seesto the Arcadian police headquarters, and presumably there is a listening device as well It is a good thmg that they cannotread minds, becauseyourthoughts are racing. You know three things about the underground leader on Tropos: the codenameBellatrix; that he or she can be located through a club called the Fission Chips, which is in the city you are heading for; and that Bellatrix rules the rebels stric y, with a code of honour that all must obey. That's quite a lot to be going on it's more than you know about the rebelson otherplanets-and should make your task on Tropos relativelyeasy,i{ you act sensibly. The other thing occupyingyour mind is that most of the Arcadianson Tropos seemto be memberso{ the warlike Northem species.The presenceof so many of these natural {ighters could make your m$ston on Tropos more hazardous.Why have so many of them been posted here?Are they closingin on the rebels? Do the Arcadians know that the Fission Chips is more than it seems?There are many un answeredquestions,but you turn your mind to the task at hand. There are still six hours to go before curfew. W l you instruct the taxi to take you straight

I.

loo-jo2 to the FissionChips (tum to 176),or to the hostelat which off-planet humans have to stay (turn to 196)?
300

The experiment begins. Electrodesattachedto the Arcadian's skull are connectedto those attachedto yours via the devilish device. You are shapped to your seat with wrist-fetters. How will you prepare your mind lor what follows?Will you clearit (tu!n to r4r), or follow your own trains of thoughts and memoriesto provide a barrier againstthe Arcadian imposing his own ideas(tum to 357)? Joa You wait for hours. As dusk descends,a grinning alien face appears at the high grille 'So,' he says, 'you have chosento trv your skillat our gladiatorial games. This is the door into the arena Now you must spend the night here; in the morning the games will be assembled' Gain r r ucl< point for choosingthe right door, and turn to 349.
302

You have to use the samemethod for getting back in, even though you know that it will set off the alarm You choosea spot well away from any guardpost, and you are hrddenamongthe outbLrildings by the time a patrol comesto investigatethe break. You make vour way innocently to your spaceship. Turn to 78

303-Jo5 303 The man has gone bv the time you get back (lose 1 LUCKpoint). Clearly,he thought it unhealthyto hang around and rrghtlv, bcausean Arcadian patrolis on its rvayand hasonlybeen delayedby the body of the compatriot of theirs i1'hoyou have just cut down. You walk casuallyout of the otherend oI the streetand into the busy main road. Turn to 132. 304 Youbreakaleg.You caneitherwaitfornight,orcall for help Either way, your mission is over. 305 No sooner have you sat down than you notice that one of them, a young woman, is wearing a jacket whose buttons have a curious design of an eagle clutchingd slroll and thdt one button i5 mis\ing Do you have the misslng button? If so, b)rn to 347; otherwise, turn to 1o3.

l.

306-3o8 305 Porky is a bit cauhousabout answering;he saysit's best not to inquire too closely into some events on Radix. But he mutters something about a killing machine called the'Street Fighter', and how the authodties have got paranoid enough recently to use it even to break up student demonstratrons, That's all you can get out of him. It looks as though the university mrght be a good starting point The monorail takesyou near themain entrance.Willyou plunge straight in (turn to 146), or wait around outsidefor a wh e(turnto128)? 107 Wh)'drd you say that?There'sno wayvou canknoa' any such thing. From the point of view of your inquisitors, you rvould be so sure that they are wrong about the barman only lf vou were an Arcadian agent yourself, with inside knowledge about other agents A bad mistake- and a fatal one. 308 'Now I have power,' says the being. 'Enough for even my vorcebox to function correctly.'A wheezingnoise follows, which you think might bea laugh. 'l can grant you one favour with this polver, then I must return to my galaxy. This is to repay vou for rescuing the zplarali ftom the darkness where I cannot go.' Will you ask rl to restoresome of your srAMrNA (turn to 363),or rf by anv chanceit knows the whereaboutsof the man you are seeking(turn to 377)?

!l

3o9-311 309 You reach Lhehaven of your hotel. If it is Porky's Palaceand you have not been here before, pay 50 creditsfor the night If you need to find a computer. turn to 158;otherwlse turn to 134.
310

The humans in grey uniforms are the cleaningand catering staff. You approach one with your question, and he tells you that the agricultuial station is about ten kilometres to the north-east of the sPacePort.You declde that your next Pnority is a sword. Will you ask the sameman about thrc (turn to 197),try someoneinblue (tum to 217),orattempt to get one off an Arcadnn (tum to 16)? 1aa Thedoorof theboothhissesshutbehindyou'Now ringup an old what2'youwonder Maybeyoucould schoolfriend rvho settledonTropos; maybethis 1sa trap; maybe . . What was that click? A hatch has openedup in the ceiling!Oh, no gas!A thick cloud soon envelopsyou As you collapse,you hear yourself cou8hing, but it seemsto come from far ar{,ay. Then the floor beneath you drops away, and you tumble down a chute, but never feel yourself reach the bottom. Turn to 2o7

342-343 Ja2 The problem with thrs is that you have onl), the one grenade,and its blast will knockoutonly one of the computers Will you choosethe one againstthe rvall opposite the door (turn to 139),the one against the wall to the le(t (turn to 2o3),or the one against the wallto the right (tL1rn to 51)?Alternarively,you may return to 381and chooseagain,if you have another choiceto make. 313 You have no choice;you enter the arena-The door swjngs shut behind you. You are overh'helmdby the dazzling sunliSht, the roar of the crou,dand the strangesmell of the pale blue Radicjansand on the vour predicament:hrgh bariers Bround. You assess surround the arenai the ground is covered with sand. This is it, then. You iqll have no help apart from yourself A sudden hush fills the arena.A door on the other side opens and out comes the most hideoLrsbeast you have ever seen or imagmed - a Laphodorm, bred for grotesqueness as well as fighting ability. lt ls coveredin red scalesj it has a retractable neck, like a tortoise;rts head is like a lion's, roughly, but the tonSueswhich dart from its slaverin8jaws remind Vou more of a multitude of snakes Resolveyour battle:
LAPHODORM Ifyou win, turn to 106. sKtLL 7

344-145

344 'Havertyourway,'hesays,scowling'Butsinceyou are armed, I assume that you have some particular reason for being on Tropos. You refuse my help but you may need help sometime.'You thank hirn, but leave alone Out on the street, you must get away as qurck]y as possible, and frnd the Fission Chips.You know that north headsout or rown, so vou turn south (turn to 99). Musca remained surp singly calm throughout the frght, but starts to grovel rather embarrassinglyin front of you when you have won. You take advantageof the situation and order him b tell you what he knows about the computer on Arcadion. In a halting vorce, he tells you that he knows nothing, but that the dead Arcadian knew more. Hou'ever, you do find out that one of ihe Arcadian arsenals is in the basementof the computer building, and that rts entry-code is 11o Cain I LUc( point_You are now nearing Arcadion itseif; turn to rt8

ys-Jag 3a6 The two disks count as a singleitem in your pack. If you aheady have the limit o{ six items, you must shed one to accommodate the dlsks Nowyou must find a computer. You leave the university before your c me js discovered.Turn to 235. 347 You spend the whole day searching fruitlessly around the city, and even try the university again, but you find no clues You have failed in your mlsslon 318 The patrolling Arcadiansscarcely giveyou a second glance Beforeyou reach Customs, the next checkpoinl. do you want to Bet rid ol dny of your equipment? lf so. you find a safe spot in the human's washroom to do so Whether or not you dumped any equiPment, turn to 33. Ja9 As you look into the screen,it spells out a single message:'Curiosity can kill the cat.' It is true. The computer has ollered you knowledge, and youhave fallen for the trap. Your defences are down, and the Arcadiancomputerhas takenoveryourmind. Your missronis over.

l'

t2o-122

- 'A

In your dusty and dishevelled state, you judge it unwise to retum to the main museum, Perhaps theie is a way out oI these cellars. You search the body of the watchman and take his bundle of keys. Beforevou can searchthe body any further, however, the watchman's comlink beeps and an Arcadian voice comesthrough, askrngwhere he is. Now the searchwill be onl The cellaryou are inhas two corridorsleadingoffits eastwall- Behind you is the staircase up to the main museum. Will you take the left-hand passage (turn to 127)or the right-hand one (tum to 257)?
324

320

'Well, then,'he continues, 'we need someone to take Corvus's place, don't we? You have a chorce,' he says h) you. 'You can either carry out a little job lor us, or die.'Will you fight your captors (turn to 80) or do as the man suBgests (fum to 236)?

Youswigitdown butit lsdrugged.Whenyou first arrived onTropos, did you try to catcha taxistraight to the club?IIso, turn to 372;othenvise,turn to 2o7

l'

323-325 Miraculously, your speed carriesyou through the danger relalively unharmed. But your exertions, scratches and burns costyou 2 STAMTNA points The alien cra{t was unable to track you throu8h the smoke,and isnow someway off Will you sprinttbr the building (tum to 338)or the rocks (tun to 259X 324 You find yourselfback in the first cellar, where you killed the watchman. The search-pafiy1s waiting for you. Your mission is over)-J

Whatever method you have used for renoving the casing/ your death will follow soon, as the liquid helium you have released floods over the floor, and fteezesyour feet before 1tevaporates. With ail feeling gone in your {eet, you fall over, snapprngthem off at the ankles. 32b The doorman looks at you carefu)ly,then shuts the peep-hole Aiter a moment/ you hear boits being shot on the other side of the door, and you are letin Membership o{ the club costs25ocredits While the doorman is making out your membershipcard, you survey the scene.The clienteLe is mixed human and Arcadian, but there are only a few Arcadians, and they are mostly Southerners The Arcadian section very comfortable,with padded seats,reallvooden 1s

327-128 tables and warter servrce, The human section is cheaply equipped with starnedand scaned formo plas fumiture- Ihe air is thick with the smell oi alcoholand the smokeofglazium, a mild legaldrug Oneor two of the Arcadians,however, are showing how they are superior to the law, by openly smok ing tobacco. The doorman interrupts your observationby handing yorLthe membership card and saying, 'Justone more thing, sir - a security precaution. I'm sure you'11 understand Our Arcadianclientsinsist on it.' He buzzesa metal detctorswiftly over your body, which tells hlm nothing, of course; and there is nothing too susp)cious in your pack. Then he begins to ftisk you. lf you no longer have your sword, this does not alarm you (tum to 64). If you do still have your sword, wrll you say that you have changed your mind and leave the club (turn to 39o), or will you submit to the search(tuIn to 358X J27 Unforfunately, no further opportunities present themselves,and you perish in the freezing cold as night draws in. 328 ln your weakened state, you are unable to prevent the policeman diving for the desk and pressingthe buzzer. Guards pour in, too many for you to fiBht. They cut you down in an instan[.

329-3Jo

r$-c

329 i he North Artadians friend i: strugglingtL,get to his feetj you quickly knock him out. Then you search the Police Chief's pockets and find 75o credits, which you take, and his notebook This is full of day-to day police business, but one iLem catchesyour at[ention: 'Check on Z. at university., This could be your starting-point. It is too dangerous fo go back into the hotel, so you set out for the university tmmediately. The monorait drops you near the univeEity. Witl you plunge straight in (tum to 145),or wait around outside for a bit (turn to 17a)? 330 However much you dodge and weave through the and alle).wnys, thepatroldrdw\ine\orPedestrians abll clorer.Atlast.a helpfulpasscr-bytripsyou up. and before you can get up, five assorted lasir swords and whippies slash down on your unprotectedhead and ba{k. You have failed - and no one is to blame but yourself.

331-3J5 31r It is not your sword-hand that has been injured. Reduceyour sreurrA bv 2 points for the agony. If you have notyet done so, you can explorethe other crackby tuming to 355;if you think that it is time to continue youriourney. tum to 10

There is nothing you can do with a laser sword, unless you can get to the bowels of the computers, by removing the casing.Is this what you chooseto do (turn to 3z)? Il yon have an alternative, you could return to 381and chooseagain You are walking along a dusty passage.Cobwebs brush your face;the red eyesand streamlinedform of some Radicianrodent show up briefly in the di light. Some wav along, another passagebranches off to the north. Will you continue straight ahead (turn to 346),or tum north (tum to 277)? 334 Will you fight the man (turn to 157), or run away (turn to 124)?

'Never heard of it,' repiiesthe man, 'but you could try the hardware shop next door.' You thank him pohtely You had better go io the hardware shop. Turn to 382.

316-338 3J6 You retum to the main part of the spaceport,to get your bear1n8s. The fteezing nightrsnotfaroff.How will you get off the base?lt is surrounded by a high perimeter wire fence, and both its main enlrances, to the west and east,are guarded. If you have a jet pack, tum to 126;if you have a pair of wire cutters, turn to 393;ifyou have neither o[ these,tr]rn to 2. The young man you rescuedtakes you to the students' bar and buys you some drink and food (restoreI sraMrNA points). You loin some friends of his at a table. 'Hey, you lot!' exclaimsthe young man.'ThisEarthling a couple herejustgave of Black Eyes black eyesl' When the inevitable questions have died down, you ask who the Black Eyes are, and leam that they are a pro-Arcadian political group. The students are planning a demonstration againstthe perconalfiles that the University Secretary keepsabout every memberof the university, but the Black Eyes agree wrth the system. Eventually, you take your leave. Will you go to the Science Floor, if you haven't been there aheady (turn to 266), the University Secretary's office (turn to 214), (tum or will you leave the university to 235)? 338 About halfway there, the cover ofsmoke ends. You are immediately spotted and cut down.

339-342 339 him thattheitem is harm_ Youmanage to persuade less. Tum to 324.
J40 YoLrturn to grapple with him, but the butt of his phaser connects squarely with your temPle, and you crashto the lloor'Such a Pity,' he says.'l was Iookrng forward to our little exPeiment ' Then he blastsyou out of existence. 344 When you distractthe Scabrok,you manageto hit a particularly vulnerablespof, and injure the fionster in such a way that you reduce its sKtLLby 1 point andits srAMrNAbv 2 points. In other words you can fight it as follows: SCABROK sKrLL7
STAM T N A 1 2

lfyou win, turn to 54. 342 You know that your first priority is to find somervhere sheltered to spend the night. After a while it is a largebush, youcome acrossa tree or PerhaPs or even a leaf-coveted stone, All you can see rs densefoliage, moving gently, as if in a breeze,and reachingto the Bround from about three metresuP. You walk round it: it is the sameon all sides lf you could penetrate it, it is so dense that it would

:1

J43 provide shelter: that is how if stays alive in the sub-zerotemperatules,presumably Will you try to get inside (turn to 2o8), o! do you mistrust this mysteriously moving Plant and carry on (tum to 327)7
J4J

'Ah! A sense in hrs That tiPsthe balance of iustice. favour, don't you think?' Bellatrix asks the other as one of the men Points two. They agree.Besides, your inquisitors that you know little about out, so even if you $'ere a spy, the inlormation vou could pass on would causeonlv a temporary halt to the rebel operation 'All right,' says Bellatrix. 'l'll tell you what I know It's not much after all your efforts, I'm afraid uP Rumourhasitthat theNorthernArcadiansmade amarching-songtohelP them remembera sequence of three of the digits. I don't know what they are, however, or where this sequencecomes in the whole seriesof digits; but here's the song, for what rt'sworthi jo!: Oh! Morlal conbatis such . g aLmu t , no subtle No messfu PIoY ! ! Enpire of Arcadion Empire ol Arcadian onwdrd! Onuard, eoer ne hish: nlake Openpit.hedbattles NeL,er mitldtheodds - lel'sdoor die! !' ! Ettrpire ol Arcadion Eoernnre Arcadiotl

.l

344-345 Thafs a you can get ftom Bellatnx, so the information from the other two planets is absolutely crucial.All your equipment is retumed to you: you are pleasedby thejr generosityand trust in replac ing your sword, if you had 1o6tit. Restore2 LUCK pornts for the inforrnation and equipment. They also have a vial of quandar-root lotion, which will heal4 srAMrNA points of wounds, but you have to buy the vial from them for 50 credits and use it immediately. Dosoif youwant, then turnto25. 344 You walk boldly up to the easternenfance in your disguise The guards call you to halt, and ask what you have been doing off the base, and where you camefrom. You explain thatyou left bythe western entrance.Will you saythatyou have beenattending to a broken-down helicopter (turn to 26), or taking provisions out to a patrol (tum to 22o)?

After racking your conscience, you decidethat your mission is more important than any singlecell ofthe underground, and thatvou can tell them enough to kep them happy withoLtl Biving eterythingaway. You do so. The following day, having checkedyour information, the commandant retullls. 'All right, Earthling,' he says. 'Your sentenceis commuted ftom certain death to probable death.' He laughs mockingly and takes you under guard to a room which has two doors leading from it

345 'One of thesedoors leadstoinstantdeath; the other leads to a gladiatorial dng. Such fights are one of our amusements.We often send cflminals through one or the other of lhe doors.'The guards are watching you closely,and you realizethat they will kill you if you show the slightestresistance'If you . . er. . . parlake of our contestand defeat the two beastswe will send against you, we will escort you back to your spaceship. After the information you have given us, it would be better for you not to fall into the hands ofyour fellow humans, don'tyou think? Now, make yollr choice which door?' Will you go through the right-hand door (turn to 293)orthe left-hand one (turn to 397)? 346 The corridor, which is lined with packing-cases and other museum objects,gladually cuFes arouncl to the right, until you are headingwestinstead ofeast. Thereis a passage headingsouth (turn to 62),or you can continue stiaight ahead(tum to 8).

J47-48 347 Sheis fascinatedby the story of how you found the button, butpoints out thatthat doesnotnecessarily prove that you are not an Arcadian spy, sent to discoverthe killer of the receptionistat the hostel. She thinks for a bit 'All right,' she sayseventually. 'This is what you do. I'm going to leave. Five minutes after I've done so/ you enter Lhevisiphone boothoverthere. Then we'llsee. . .' Itall sounds abit suspecttoyou, butyou reallyhave no choice-You cannot followher, sincehermusclebound friends are surrounding you. After a while, one of them says, out of the comer of this mouth, 'OK, go!' Tum to 81. 348 As you leave the arsenal, the door hisses shut behind you, and a mechanical voice says: 'The entry-code is now changed The neu, code will be circulatedto authodzed personnel.' That's a security deviceyou hadn't expected; theie'll be no returni nr r^ rha ,repni l +hpn

Your next problem is that because of the size of the arsenal, it took quite a time to find the items you needed, and you emelge from the stairs to be confronted by an Arcadian patiol. You can use against them nothing that you may have Lakenftom the a$enal except a photon grenade and a handphasei- If you use the Brenade,turn to 85;if you use thephaser, tum to 221;ifyou have neither ofthese, you are dead.

t49-J52
349

150

to his cabin(turn lo 212),or 9rinEsome interferon inyite him in (tum to 2fo)? You mandge to catch up with the fleeing Arcadidn Derorene reache5 the mdin thoroughfare. In hi5 weakened state, he shouldn,t be difficult to dis_ patch. ARCADIAN THUG Ifyou win, turn to Z. The grendde fails to e\plode. Turn to i90. SKILL 5
srAMrNA 6

353-154

354 'Cheerupl you \av herrhly. a5you dump your>elf on to lhe bed,whosesprings recpond witli aiarming 'lt may never happen., iro,?gs. 1t already has,'moansthe man. 'What do you mean?Whereare you from?,youask. 'Oh. l'm from fropos. I'm only staying herebe(duse those murderingswine have made me homeless. They suspectme ofbeing a rebel,you see.My wife . . . my children . ,'He brea_ks down again and sobs,with his faceburied in his hands. Willyou staywith himto tryto calmhim down (tu1n to 136),or wrll you quietly leave him be in his grief (turn to 60)?

Jtt

The crackis deep and nar!ow, and you cannotreach too far. The strength of the bird, which you already knew from your fight with it, is further proved by the sizeof the obiectsyou find - smallerthings have presumablyfallen into the inaccessrble depthsofthe fissure. Apart from some uselesschunls of metal and a broken spy missile,you find a staff with seven strips of different metals coiled around its wooden stem, a casket containrng 18o credits, and a mrndprobe. The probe lvill fit into your anh-grav pack, and you put the money In your money-belt, but if you take the staft it will make your descentdown the clff more risky, sinceyou will have to carry it by hand. Even more alarming is the fact that a faint power seems to be suSSestingthat you take the stalf You cannot tell whether the power rs good or evil, but you are ableto resistit, ifyou wantto. Note down on your Equipment List what you take Will you now explore the other fissure (tum to 4), or climb back down to the path to continue your joumey (turn to 1o)?

356-15E

J56 He tells you that it leads to the cellars where the museum stores all the artefactsit has no room to display, and he offersto show you around. Willyou accept(turn to 392), or go to the university (tum to a46)? t>/ This doesnotwork:it givesthe Arcadianeasyaccess to your thought processes, which he can then use {or his own purposes.Turn to 55. 358 He is very thorough, and soonfrnds your sword. He does not remove it, however, but talks in a low voice, as if to himselt while pretending to f sk you further: 'lnteresting, very interesting A sword treated to avoid metal-detection No Arcadian spy would need such precautions.I think you've prob ably come to the right place Wait bv the bar for a few minutes, and then make your way to the visiphone booth.'Turn to 37-

159-161

J59 Your fall only wmds you. Drscardthe now useless pieceof equipment, and tutn to 30 350 The door withstands your bestefforts.You rub your shoulder ruefully, and must deduct l sraMrNA point Now you have no altelnahve bui to wait. Turn to 3or. 16a You smile at Musca, as if to say, 'It's all righ8, and unlock the door to the other Arcadian, \^/ho is carrying a phaser! Musca must be lmPortant, rf a phaser has been issued from the arsenal to guard him You are noiv committed to a bold and risky courseofachon- You willhave to get rid of Musca's 'friend', but againsta phaseryou stand no chancein direct cornbat.Will you tell the other Arcadian that you know everything (turn to 167), or let him take Musca away for the time being (tum b 29o)?

rl

162

362 Beforeyoucan doanythingelse, the doo! to the club bursts open and a dozen Northern Arcadiansburst in, led by a grirn facedCentral Arcadian. In a flash, you suspect that you have led them here, by mentioning the club in a bugged taxi 'Watch outl Raid!' shrieks the doorman, the last word endinq on a Surgle as a laser .word cauterize\his lungc. lm mediately the bar is in turmoil those who are not frozen to their seats are rushing around yellingWhat will you do? It could be you they are after, so will you Biveyourself up, hoping to savethe under, ground opelation in the club (turn to 192)?Or will you light (turn to 295)?

363-365 36J It touches you lightly with the staff and you feel invigorated. Whether this is science or superstition, you may restore4 sTAMrNApotnts,and turn to 1i4.

-1

354 A mocking laugh is the only response.The traitor! He must have warned the autho ties by visiphone. There is no time now to try anotherhouse.You will have to defend yourself. Tuin to 264. 355 His eyeswiden when he seesthe bracelet this is a rare treasureindeed. He looks around furtively and pockets it (crossit off yotlJ Adaenture SheeL\. Greed has overcomehis senseo{ duty. Turn to j92.

366

166 Afew swiftshokes gainyou entry into the club.'For SAROS'S sake, you shouldn't have done that,' whispers the doorrnan. 'We cannot put our operationat skby openly defendingsuchfoolish action.' He scarpersto make way for the onrush of several Arcadians, who had been sitting quietly in the club until you so rashly drew attention to yourself. You will have to 6ght them all, but becauseyou are backedagainsta wall at the top of the short flightof stairs inside the club, you can fight them one at a time, in this order:
S( I LL STA M I N A

NORTHERN ARCADIAN FiIst SOUTHERN ARCADIAN Second SOUTHERN ARCADIAN Drunk SOUTHERN ARCADIAN

a 6 7 4

v 10 I 8

L -T

167 Do you have anyfhing in your pack to help you in this fight? If you think you do, remember this number 656), to which you will have to retum, but meanwhile iurn to !98. If you win, turn to r 25.

367 The guard does not notjce your approach,and you get in a numbing blow on his sword-arm. You may now fight him without reducing you:r s(rLL for being unarrned.
S K I LL S TA MIN A

ARCADIAN GUARD

61t J

If you win, you may take his sword, but you will have to leave the spaceportimmediaLely.Turn to ?36.

l6a-j7o

368 You keep on insisting that you know nothing. Sen tence is cafiied out in the manner which is tra ditional throughout the galaxy, at dawn the next day. Your adventure ends here. 1b9 There is little that a phaser can do, unless you can getinto thebowels ofthe machines.Will you fire the phasei at the casing (turn to 325)?If you have an aliernative. you md) returnloJ8l dnd choo.edgdin

370 The secretpolicemanpressesone of the buttons on the desk, which summonsthe guards.'lt's all ri8ht,' says the policeman, 'He's so moronic, he must be harmless Rough him up a little, but let him go: he's

374 got important goods to transpoft to Radix Lomorrow ' The guards take you away and amuse themselves with a {ew well-armed punches and kicks, much to the pleasure or drsmay - depending on theirrace ofthe crowds who fill thespaceport. You dare not react: that would give the whole game away Five minutes later, having reduced your sraMINAby2 points, you stumble out of the spacePort. Turn to 299

J71 The smoothnessof the floor and walls should have alerted you to the danger As you exploredeep into the cave to get as far away as possiblefrom the frost outside, a sudden roar fills your ears.Itis too dark to see,but your last lmpressionis of a wall of fteezing water bearingdown on you.

372-i74 372 The last thing you hear, before lapsing into unconsciousness, is a ftantic cry: 'Watch out! Raid!' The crash of a door burst asunder and the following hubbub make multicoloured flashesin your mind, then ail rs black - and you will never emerge{rom this blackness During the raid on the club - a raid w h i c hyo u cau * d anA r(ddians\ ordpier(e \ y o u r neck.

Q'-+

J73 Yourpursueis were closeenough behind youto see where you went You back into a doorway, where you can fight them one at a time.
S( I LL
ST A MIN A

FirstARCADIAN Second ARCADIAN

7 6

8 6

lf you win, you conhnue on foottowards yourhotel. Turn to 285 374 Without further ado, you board your spaceship, which isloaded upandready to go. Youinstructthe

374 computer to switch to rts pre-programmed route ftom Tropos to Radix. There are no problems on blasFoff, and you relaxfor the first time forhou$, as Troposdwindles on your tearview screen.But what Iies ahead of you on Radix? Both advantagesand disadvantages,as far as you can see. On the one hand, Tropos is such a backward planet, both culturally and technologically, thatyou arelikely to feel more at home on Radix; on the other hand, you don'tknow even the codenane ofthe underground leaderon Radix, and itis now more crucialthan ever that you learn what he or she has to tell you. Moreover, you know that Southemersare the most dominant Arcadian species on Radix, attracted there by the cofiuption and fteedom. This too has its good and its bad points: SouthernArcachans can be more tolemnt than the others, but they are more difficult to communicatewith. During yourjourney to Radix, you may restorehalf as many STAMTNA points as your cur-rent srAMtNA score,rounding odd numbers dozor, andremembering that you cannotexceedyourlnlflal score.Turn to 47

J75-37b
175

You pass, as in a dream, thiough countlesscorri dors and rooms, Time seems to have no mean ing, but eventually you confront a second beast,a Dragon-the livingDra8on Cometwhich Buardsthe richest mineral planet in the universe,accordingto old spacelegends.Agam, you will have to fightit to continue.

DRAGON COMET Ifyou win, turn to 159.

S K I LL 8

sTAM TN A1 2

376 Promptly at eleveno'clock,you knock on Professor Zacharias'sdoor-butthereisnoreply Youwaitfor severalminutes, but he doesn't hrrn up- A passing student tells you why: he has been arested, as the leaderof the underground on Radix!Thearesttook place abouf half an hour ago He knew you were coming: maybe he had time to leave you a clue, in caseyou were the agent ftom Earth that he was expecting. You go into the room to see. It is very untidt there are manuscripts and history books everywhere - academicsstill use books, since it rs easier to find particular passd8e\ ior reference on a paBethan on a screen.You concentnte on the desk. Look at the picture oppositeto seewhether you can find a clue to the digits you need to know

You are suddenlyinterruptedby the entryof several North Arcadian guards. You too are arrestedon the spot, for beint ln a known dissrdent's room. All your equipment, including your sword, is sfripped ftom you, but they do not find your slim moneybelt Tum to 43.

'

{-j ..

'/

il

'Yes, I know,' it replies. 'Nobody noticesshadows in shadowy places, so I hear thrngs which are denied to others. His name is Dorado, and he is working in the fields. I was by his side, though he didn't know it, when he sentyou the password ' 'Password? What password?' you exclaim. 'No passwoid got through to Earth. I detect the hand o{ treachery!' The alien being is fading fast, but, as it goes,it calls out, 'The bitter sea , . .'Gain 2 Luc( points for this

378-79 vital in{ormation If you meet Dorado, he will ask you for this password:you should then subtract1oo from the paragraph number where you are at the time to find the next, couect paragraph Remember this Now, turn to 114. 378 II your srAMtNA is 12 or ovei, tuln to 351; if it is under 12, hrrn to 242. 379 You should have realized that his friendly tone was not for your benefit, but for Musca's. As you already know, in his confused state, Musca sees anyone who appearsfriendly as a friend. The other Arcadian has now taken on thts role, and you. bv denying him entry, have becomeM,rscr'r "n"rnf. He calls out to the other Arcadian, who blasts open your door with a phdser.You wiil have plenty of hme in an Arcadian cell to wonder whv he was issued with a pha\erand whereyou weniwrong.

38o-3EI

He tells you *ua n t"#lo

rhe celliars whererhe

38a There is nothing to plevent you entering the computer room, but you know you will have to work fast onceyou're in there. The firstdoor is locked,but can be broken easity; then there is the usuat sequence of doors to protect the computers frorn dust- then you are inside.

JEL

Wire-cutters Photon grenade Elmonite Limpetmine Lase!sword lnlra-ted scanner Phaser

Turnto 61 Tu:rnto j12 Turnto395 Turn to 6 Turnto332 Tum tor49 Turnto 369

382

J82 The hardware shop is tended by a cheerful South Arcadian. You decidethat you had better buy something, so that your requestfor directions will seem less abrupt. You find the items in the shop really old-fashioned- hardware shopsonEarth now stock onlyrobots-and you cannoteven imaginea use for some of them. You may buy any of the following (remembering,if necessary, the limit of six items in your pack): a benelo-phosphate strobe, which producesan exkemely brightwidebeam in short bursts (Zo credits); and hand-klaxon (5o credits),a coil of nylon rope (5o credits); a can of engine oil (2o credits); or an automated personal massageafld manicure robot (650credits). As you hand over your money, the Arcadian's antennae wave and flash, presumably in pleasure.You put your purchasesin you. anti-grav pack and ask her the way to the FissionChips, Her reply is mysterious:'Eachis a sourceof growth and life; together thei! consciousness pervadesthe galaxy. The club that you seek is never eclipsed on its southem side.'This is typical o{ Southefn Arcadian communication, though she's probably tuyin8 to make it easy for you. l{ you know what she's talking about, you will be able to guesswhat paragraphto turn to. Otherwise, tum to 44.

l.

38f

J63 The cliff should notbe difficult to climb: the fteezins cold hasbrokenit up into ldrgerand smaller led6es, which will alford handholds and stepping-places. After about twenty minutes you can hear the bird near by, and you circle round, so that you can approachitftom above. The nest is on a fairly wide ledge.The bird itselfis a Halmuriai Rockbuzzard, whose fluffy appearance beliesits dangerousnahrre It looks like a large ball of soft feathers:as protection agalnstthe cold, il has developed the habit of burying its head and neck within its copious body feathers, until it looks like nothinB so much as a large, cuddly hedgehog,with a tail and folded wings. lfyou jump on to the ledge,you will have to fight it ls this what you chooseto do (tum to 29E),or does its size aid the precadousnessof vour situation make you changeyour mind, and return to the path (turn to 47)?

l.

3a4-386 384 You can hear the eerie sound of water d pping somewhere ahead of you in the dusFmuffled silence. There is a further passagebranching off east Will you take it (tum to 123), or continue straight on (tum to 154)? 385 'Yes, I can get you a pass,'he replies, 'but it'll takea day.' You don't have that much time. Lose 1 LucK point, and ask for a sword instead. Tum to 286.

386 You press the button and wait, heart in mouth. To your reliet a secret doorway slides open and reveals a short co idor leading straight out o{ the spaceport. This must be used for gettin8 rld of bodies secretly.Tuin to 299.

J87188 387 In his cabin, he cannot resist explaining his invention to you, while he unpacks the equipment. 'It's really very simple in theory,'he says. 'Any Arcadnn is linked to and is parf of the central computer. By running electricalimpulses from an Arcadian's brain, through this device I have invented, to a human's brain, I can open up {or the human the gloriesof working for the computer,and wipe out his or her human will for ever. It's even painless,forboth the Arcadian tansformer and the human subject.'You realizethat he is talking about some kind of ultm-sophisticatedbrainwashing device. For a moment, fear seizesyou. Will you try to smash the machine, for your own sakeand that o{ others (tum to 265), or will you allow the expeiment to continue (tum to 116)?

388 You toss the ancient grenadetowards the mechanicalmonster. Iesfyoallrck. II you areLucky, turn to 53,ifyou are Unlucky, turn to 352.

389-39a 389 You trip and fall into a buming bush. Screaming with pain, your clothes on flre, you dash through the rest of the pe meter of fire and fall to the ground, rolling over and over unhl the flames are out. You have suffered4 srAMrNA pomts of injury. The ahen craft was unable to track you through the smoke, and is now someway off Will you sprint for the building (tum to 338)or the rocks (tum to 259)? 390 You gobackto thehosteland spenda restlessnight: the fleas and the snores of your dormitory companions prevent you fiom sleeping In the morning you return to the lission Chips, only to find a smoking ruin wheie the Adolpho once stood in all its mock Venusranglory A passer-bytells you that therewas a heavyArcadiantaid on the premiseslast night. You have failed to make oniact with BellaF rix. Your mission has fa ed: retum to Earth to start agarn. 394 The next danger you meet comes fuom a creature which can only be describedas a consciousblack hole: its method ofattackrs to attdchitself to you like a leechand try to extractyour energy. VAMPIRE LEECH Ifyou win, turn to 259 sKrrL 8
STAM I N A 1l]

392-393

392 He unlocks the door and you both go down some stairsinto the dusty cellars,which are Iull ofobjects in packing cases, show-cases,or just loose. You look around the first cellar for a while, and then stifle an excited cry. There, in a show-case marked 'PurposeUnknown - PossibtyReligiousArtefacts', is something which you with your training in weaponryrecognizeas a primitive baryon grenade and it looks undamaged! You must have it, even though it means fighting the friendly watchman. Tum Lo215. 393 You decide to try thesewire-cutte$, which, like all such implements nowadays, simply dissotve the wire at contacf, But as soon as you touch the perlmeter fence with the tool, an alarm siren goes of{ deafeningly You may have time to get through beforeapatrolcomes toinvestigate.Roll two dice.lf the number rolled is less than your curtent s(rLL score/ turn to 279;if the number is Bleaterthan or equal to your current sKrLLscore,turn to 1gg.

394 394 Youturnsouthoutof thehostel AsyouarewalLing along, you realizethat you will have to ask someore theway to theFission Chips, and itmightas well be this man, who has introduced himself as Grus. 'I'm hungry,' you say, 'and a ftiend back on Earth said that a club called the Fission Chips was worth visiting. Canyou tell me where it is, byany chance?' Grus looks at you curiously. 'Yes, I can get you there,'he replies 'It's in the basementof the old Adolpho videorama. But your ftiend must have strangetastesif he recommendedthe foodthere or the company. Never mind, I'11 takeyou there.'

You notice that the citylslaid outveryregularly ona squaregrid pattem. The hostelis atthe north end of North 2l East 5 Street,and the next block south starts at the top of North 22 East 5 Street The buildings are all very alike, exceptlor the Temple of the live Suns, which towers above the rest of the city and is a famous landmarki it is the centreofthe

395 Imperidl,religionon Tropos_ the five suns being the suns ot the planetsin the Empire-

396-97

398 back into the well-lit room, before shoving you through the entranceand slamming the door. Darkness descends,but it is not total. Somewhere {ar ahead there is a source of light. You clutch at strawEi s[uely this is a hopeful sign? Surely they wouldn'tbother with lightifthis was the passage of doom?Then a little voiceinside you interupts your wishful thinling: oh, yes, theywould- theyneed to seeto clearthe bodiesaway . . Time passes;so far, so good. You're still alive. But then you've only moved a few centimetres from the door! Perhapsyou should just stay here, where at least you haven't been killed yet. Is that what you chooseto do (turn to 4), or will you continue down the corridor (turn to Zr)?

39d Quite light: your escortmust be an Arcadian, and you do not want to draw attention to yourself. You passtheioumeypleasantlyenough in eating,sleeping, exercisin8 and playing chess with the com-

399 pute!, When you land on Tropos, you frnd that you are due to take off again tomorrow for Radix. The Arcadian guards at Customs search your anti-grav pack but find no more than your clothes,because they don't searchyour body: they rely on the metalctetectols to do their iob, but vour laser sword has t'een treated with a chemic;l which Drvents it activatin8 lhe detectors,and your money-bell contains no metal. Once you have registered, as all non-Tropian humans muston alrival, you leavethe sPacePort. Turn to 2gg.

399

door (turn to 45), or will you putan end to thisisky bu5iness (turn to 334)?

400 400 You quickly leave the building in casethe explosion should harm vou as well. But right outsideis a platoon of Northern Arcadians, spiked tails restlessly swinging from side to side.Justaslhey move in for the kill, however, the crMtp of a lr.uffled explosion sounds from the building behind you. Immediately, the Arcadians' facesgo vacant; they it!The Arcalook around, heads)olli^8, you'uedone dian Empile rs finished. The computer queenof the colony is destroyed, and with it went the will of its

The Fighting Fa tasy Gamebaaks in Puffirl

3 - TH E I O R E S T O F D O O M 4- S TA R S H I P TR A V E LI - E R 5 - C I TY O f Tr 'I E V E S
D E A TH TR A F I S LA N D DUNCEON K TN G O ! TH ! LI ZA R D 7 8. scoR l IoN sw a M! 9 C A V I R N S O F TI { I S N O W TA LI S M A N O I D I A TH

l vI TC H

13 FR ! I WA Y FI G I I TE R 14 TE M I LE O I TE R R O R 15. TH E R I N C 5 O F K E TI TE R 17. A P P O TN TM E N T WI Tl { F. E . A , R , 18. 19. D E MoN S or rn E o !E r (i n p re p a r a t i o n )