v=

' cj.i
F3
z>

As the might oI the alien Arcadian lrrrPirc dz

tightens its hold on our galaxy, the lcadcrs
of the secret Earth organization, SAROS, o
z
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 r8
need for this perilous journey. YOU decide
which roules lo lake. which danters to risk
and which enemies to fight.

FIGHTING FANTASY GAMEBOOKS

a wortdwide sensation!

Cov€r illustrition by Alnn C.addo.k

lJr( t1 95
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 PUFFIN BOOKS

R E B E L P LA N E T

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 forbid-

dcn lascr sword (one of thc few @ining on Earth), YoU
are theirlast hope. You mi$ion is io setk out the scatt€red
rcmnants of the undcrground resistanceon the oiher oco-
pjed planets,usingyour coveras a tuavellinglrlelchant,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 domina-
tion of the free wodds
Two dicc, a penc and an claser are all you nccd to embark
on thii thdlling tuturistic adventate, compl€te with its
elaborrtc combat system and a scoresheet to record vour

Mmy dang€rs 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
StevelacLsonand lan Li\ ingstonepresenl:

BEBEl
PT.AiET

Robin Waterfield
IlLusLrated
W CaryMayes

Pulfin Books
 Forlulian, fot lun

FiEt Published 1935

R.Pnnt€d 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
FUmselln 1tltpr Linoton Palatinoby
Rowland Phototypesetbs Ltd,
Bury St Edmunds,suffolk

Ex.ept in the United Statesor America,

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

rtIS T OR Y
9
MIS S ION B A C I(GR OU N D

a3

C ON TA C T WITI' A IIE N S

L6

A A ILITIE S

AE

2a

E QU IIME N T AND MON TY

A D V E N TU R E S IIE E T

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,vbecamea 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 en-
ables 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 speciesmust adapt to sult that planet.
Radixis a verv ierhle planet, and the human colon-
iststhere soon found that so calledl-rumannature 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 stan-
dards, was lazy and corrupt.
9
There are very few planets in the galaxy that hu- occupantsof the vast horseshoe-shapedcontinent,
mans can inhabit; even those which have the ri8ht which circleshalf the globe from east to west, had
atmospheremay be too hot or too cold, or have bo conquered the warlike Northern sFeciesand the
much or too Iittle gravity EventuallyHalmuris was more artistic Southerners.The Alliance, as it was
discovered,but not before severalexpeditionshad called,had lasted for centunes.
been lost in the abyss of space. Conditions on
Halmuris are bleak and bitter: it becamemainly a Their technology, however, rvas more pfimitiv€
home for scientistsand explorers,who werewaiting than Earth's, and space-travelwasrestricted They
to find and be sent to the herl planet. wanted to conquer spacejust as much as human
beings,for they wantedan Empire. Sowhen thelew
Beforelong they had found it The first unmanned human spaceshrpslanded, the Arcadianssoon saw
flights brought backpicturesofa planetobscuredby the advantagesof alpha-ziridium . . .
cloud, whose atmosphere,as revealedby spectro-
analysis, was a breathable but li8hter version of Thewartookonly twelveyea6, andformostof thai
Earth's. In theiI joy at the thought of getting off time the Arcadians were building alpha-ziridium
Halmuris - though some would remain as a sort of fleetsrather than actualy fighting First the outpost
basecamp - they gave the ne\r' planet the peaceful on Halmuris was taken by surprise and overrun
name ofArcadion. But what did the clouds hide? Radix, to its eiemal shame, gave in without a
struggle.The invadersmet with stilfresistancefrom
the lropians, who were eager to keep their tradi-
honal way of life; but the Troprans,too, were over-
{P i
whelmed by the greaternumbers and ftghting skills
of the Arcadians. Earth itself, with rts bases on
Mercury, Venus and the moon, {ell soon a{ter-
wards, and the worst fearsof the prophets o{ doom
backedbv the TerrestrialEcoloByPat). who never
Arcadion consists of three land massessepaGted
wanted to leave Earth in the first place- cametrue:
by huge expansesof water. Becauseof the separa-
humdn beingsbecameruled by a grlactic empire
tion of the continents, a differcnt sDeoes devel-
oped on each land mass. By 2285, when human The Arcadians r,r,erebadly equipped to control an
spaceshipssplit the clouds and came down to the empire at first, but Arcadians are very adaptable.
sur{ace of Arcadion, the three specieshad been They built a massiveorganiccomputer on Arcadion
united for a long time. The inventive and mtelligent binary is natural lor the two-fingeredArcadians-

11
and implanted into the brain of every Arcadian a MISSIONBACKGROUND
receiver linked to the central organic complex by
empathy, which had longbeen recognizedto be the
quickestform of communication.The Arcadiansbe-
camelike a hive or an ant colony:eachindividual is
a cell of a sprawling, single entity - an entity which In times past, the planning and funding of human
cdnconlrolan empirewith merciless efficiency. colonization of other planets was undertaken by
SAROS, an international organization promoting
Arcadion a peacefulname, but for 15oyearsit has 'Search And Research O( Space'. Under the
been another word lor tyranny. The only hurnan Arcadian Empire, SAROS has had to change:
word still spitefully allowed is the name oI the although it seemsto be iust an astronomicalinsti-
planet: Esperantowas the common ton8ue o{ hu- tute, in factit has been doing all it can to overthrow
man beings, but now its use means instant death- the Empire. It quickly becameclear that a full-scale
Humans are slavesand are only kept alive to serve military attack was out of the question, and that the
the aliens and humans do not live for very long only hope lay in a solo mission to destroy the central
these days. The only Arcadian regret is that the comPuter,
human body cannot be implanted with the
empathic rcceiver as they discovered a{ter the Prepadng for this mission has been a long and
vivisectionand death ofhundreds of tesFcases. The patient task, hindered by the fact that radio trans-
Arcadians chose to submit their will to the central mitters are still not allowed, and contact with the
computer, but human will cannot be wiped out underground on other planetswas difficult. But two
without death. The alienscankeep thetupower only factors make the time right now - or as ght as it
through cruelty. probably ever will be. First, you are the perfect
chorce for the mission: you are resourceful,
But it has not gone unnoticed on Earth that the courageousand dedicatedto liberahon. You have
weakness,as well as the strength, of the Arcadians been t(ained for many months in martial arts, and
is that they rely on the computer: they no longer you have acquireda knowledge ofthose branchesof
have any will of thet own, so they would become screncethat cotld be at all useful. Finally, your
zombiesif the computerwere destroyed.The weak- cover is excellent:you will travel as a merchant.
ness of a hive is the supreme imporLanceof the
queen ant or bee.The weaknessofthe Empireis the For the second factor is that humans are now
computerqueen of Arcadion and this is where you allowed to travel in space again, though onty as
come in - merchants to serve fhe Arcadians You will be

a2 a3
r

taking wheat ftom Earth to Tropos/ ziridium from Bround leadersare - you only know codeflames,at
Tropos to the authorities on Radix, Iuxurv goods best - and, of course, what the diqits are. That is
ftom Radix to Halmuris, and you have been in- why your cover has been arrangedlo allow you to
shucted to take an imoortant Arcadian from Hal- stop on each planet. You must locate the rebel
muris to Arcadion. Th; other signilicant aspectoI leaders and leam the digits; then you must destroy
the lifting ofthe ban on spacetravel is that SAROS the comDutet
hasbeenabletosendspiestogathertheinformation
you ne€d for your mission.

The piclure drat emerged is still incomplete, be-

causevital 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, becausesome may be helping the Arcadians;
the bad side is that your mission must go ahead
now, although the information is incomplete, be-
fore 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 somethingtohelpyou discoverwhatthe
number is. The missing details are who the under-
r
CONTACT WITH ALIENS Norlheftersarethdl theyhapeno tail,theyarcsholLelawl
squatfef,in.l theVhauetwoantennaeThepur9se olthese
antennaeis not clear,bltt the mostlikely erptarution is that
the! prckup feell'i$. W usethesesntenme in a |Eriety
of ways,manyof whicharetoosubUe lor a hunan to
The three Arcadun species that you will come understand: so il is easyto ot'fendthem. Theytend to be
acrossin this adventureare eachdifferentto lookat. sensitiDe,ary\jaV . Theyprier to ,ak in a DerypoeticwaV,
More important, they havedifferentways of behav- which canbecofifusingat Enes, thoughtheyseemto
ing and thinking, some of which humans find di{- understan.toneanottur peieclly . Houeoer, ttle! ha?re
ficult to understand, even after years of contact. Iearnedto talkdowu'to insenslivehunans
Here is a b ef description of each species,taken
from the'SAROS Manual': Centldl Atcailiafls are the nost pouerful sryies, and are
the mosthunwn to lookiL: theydrc usuall! under two
All lhruespecies
arcroughlyhumatnidin aryearance: lhey metrcstaIL,andhaaethes menumteroljoints fi thetr
haoetwoatmsaildluo Lqss, because
nolulionbcVond a dnfis and legsashuttins Apatt frofir their snalL tail, the
certainlnniLellstdgerequires
matlualdexlerit!, uhicl1ir1 mostoboious differcnce betueellCentrulArcaitians and
t n necdsan uprightp$ture. AII therncieshaoetwo humansisthe elongatedIEad, uhtch tendsto jut o t ot
fi gerconeach'hand'andtlLnlocsoneich'foot' tighl a desfron thei shoulders.Theheadhasa pulpy
Narthe/nArcadians arcnbolttthlccflEftesttillaf lhefiast crestol tissue.Phy;ically , they areW t'ar theweakestof the
TlEyarcspindly,uilh morciointsh theil atns andlegs threespecies, but theytMke plorthisWtheilskiLt.In
tha hundns.Thenheads nresquati nd squatish,bul their tuttle,lor instance,theyarc oftenabteto uin !ry d6tn ting
nosl distinctiuephysicilfeat re is a thick,nlusculartail, their oryone t . Their thoughtstend fo beueryabsttuct, and
tippedwith n lticiausspikr,whichis an ertlemcl!us4ul
ueaponin bnttLe , and is alsolscnt'orbalancc. Northern
Arcadiansure nntterof Jaf,t, n ilitdry tlpes, uho I tke
nathilli somuchasa goodmassacrcTheyarc 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 a7

I
 ABILITIES srAMrNAand LUc( scoreskeep 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,
Your mission involves travelling through the srAMrNA and LUCKpoints, these totals may never
depths of outer space. You must first determine exceedyour Inifi'al scores.
your strengths and wealnesses For this you will
need Lwodice, and a pencil to recold your scoreson
the AdrEfttureSheet(pp. 28-9). As it is possiblethat Restorint sKrLL
you will not successfu[ly completeyour missionon Your srrll score will not change much during an
your first attempt, you should write lightly so you adventure. Occasionally,a page may give instruc-
can rub out your notes, or you could take photo- hons to increase or decneaseyout s(I LL score.
copi,esof the Adoefit /e Srdeffor future use.

Restoring srAMrNA
Skill, Stamina and Luck
Your STAMINAscore will changea lot during your
Roll one die. Add 5 to this number and enter the aclventure, as you fight aliens and undertake
total in the sKu-L box ol the Adoenture Sheet.Yotrr arduous tasks.As you nearyour goal, your srAMr-
sxILL score reflects your general Iighting ability - NA level may be dangerously low, in which case
the higher the score,the better you are battleswill be particularly risky, so be careful!The
Roll two d ice. Add r 2 to the nunlber rolled and enter most usual ways of restoring srAMrNA are rest and
the total in the srAMrNA box. Your srAMrNA score food, which you will have to buy: you will have
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 a9
opportunities for resting and eating duing the COMBAT
adventure. Healing ofwounds will alsobe provided
for during the adventure, though more rarelyj this
also restoressrAMINa, ofcourse,
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
Restoring LUcK shower of meteors, but the ship's force-field will
Additions to and subtractionsfromyour Lucx score easilyrepel those.
are awarded in the advenfure accordingto circum- Force-fields are ef{ective {or spaceshipsbecause
stances.YourLucKscore will alsochangequite a bit they work by resistance to speed: any missile
as yoLrTestyour Luck(seep. 25). powerful enough to penetrate the hull of a
spaceshipcan be stoppedby the ship's field. Force-
fields cannot help individual beings: a missile slow
enough topenetratea force-fieldmay stillbe power-
ful enough to injure a humanbeing or an Arcadian.
Besides,the equipmentneededtoproduce an effec-
tive force-field is pretty bulky even in this age of
advanced miniaturization. There are other prob-
lems, too, such as the many obstacleswhich 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,

20
r
phasers, photon grenades, gravity bombs and so whose weapon is much better than yours Unless
on Many of these weapons are so lethal that they otherwise statedin the book, combatwillbe fought
presented a problem to the Arcadian authorities, as follows:
who constantlyfear and expectrebellion.The prob-
lem was that, although humans are not permitted Recordyour opponent's sxILL and sTAMINAscores
weapons of any sort, if their Arcadian masters in the first e6ply Encounter Box on tljre Adoenture
carried them the humans could occasionallyover- Sreef.The scoresIor eachopponent are given in the
powerArcadians, seizetheir weapons,and build up book at the hme Then the sequenceof combatrs:
a powerlul armoury. The solution was obvious: 1. Roll lwo dice once for the creature.Add its sKrLL
once the Empre was reasonablystable, all lethal score.This tofal is its Attack Strength
weapons were brought back and stored on Arca- 2. Determineyour own Attack Strengthin the same
dion, and all Arcadians were Biven less powerful way, by adding the roll to your sKrLLscore.
weapons: laser swords, elect c whiplash swords l. If your Attack Stren8this higher than that of your
('whippies',for short)andso on.Inthisl,''ay,evenil opponent, you have wounded it. Proceedto step
the occasionalArcadran did lose his weapon, it 4. Ifits Attack Strenglhrs higher than yours, it has
would be no seriousloss wounded you Proceedto step 5. Ifboth Attack
Strengths are the same, you have avoided each
\ ou haveacquireda lJser:word,by de! iousmcans othels blows start the next Attack Round from
It is quite easy to smuggle the laser sword through step 1 again.
checkpoints - so long as you are not too closely 4. You have wounded the alien, so subtract2points
searched-since,until it is achvated,the sworclis no from its srAMrNA scole, You may use your LUcK
more than a hand-sizedhdlow metalshaft,with a here to do additional damage(seep. 26).
couple ofbuttons on iti the complexminiature elec- ;. Your opponent has wounded you, so subtract2
tronic works are hidderr around the inside of the points from your own srAMrNA score.You may
shaft use LUc( at this stageto lessenthe damage(see
P 20)
Sothisisyourt'eaponin thisadventure.It and yolrr 5. Make the appropriate adrustments to your
sKtLL should be enough k) face most of your oP- opponent's or your own STAMINAscores(and
ponents, since thel, wrll be similarly armed. If you your LucK scoreif you used LucK).
arefortunateandmakctherightdecisions, you may
Z Begin the next Attack Round (repeatsteps r 6)-
acquire some more lethal weapons along the wav; This sequencecontinuesuntil the srAMrNA score
on the other hand, you may meet an opponent of either you or your opponent hasbeen reduced
22
 to zero (which is death).Thereis no Escdpe
option
in this adventure

Unarmed Combat
@ ,4-ra

Sincehumans are invariably weaponless,unarmed

combat has been revived and has been developed
to a high de8ree o{ experlise. You know all the Fighting More Than One Opponent
pressure points and weak spots of the three
Arcadian species,as well as those of the humans; lI you are faced with more than one opponent in a
and you know just how to use your own body to the particular encounter, the instructronson that page
greatesteffect, while using your opponent's own lvill tell you how to conduct the battle. Sometimes
rveight and stren8thagainsthimself. lf you everlose vouwilltreat them as a singleoPPonent;sometimes
your laser sword, or if the book instructs you, you vou will have to fight eachone in turn.
will be involved in unarmed combatin this adven-
ture as well. The conduct of unarmed combatis the LU C K
sameas for ar_rned combat,excepttor the following
'sudden death' rule: At various times during your adventure, either in
battlesor in situationswhere you could be lucky or
Wheneveryour Attack Shength rs higher thanyour unlucky (deta s of these are given on the pages
opponent's, roll one extra die. If you roll 1-5, you Lhemselves), you may callon your LucK to make the
reduce your opponent's s-rAMrNAas usual But if outcomemore favourable.But beware!Using LUcK
you roll 6, your opponent has been unable to pre- is a risky businessand if you are ,nlucky, the results
vent you from finding a pressurepoint which w l could be disastrous.
either kill hirn or leave him unconscious.In either
case,the fight is immediately over. Note that this The procedure for using your rucr is as follows.
rule normally appJiesonly to you: the Arcadiansare Roll two dice. lf the number rolled ts equalto or less
not so skilled in unarmed combat, not having had frrryourcurrentLucrscore, youhavebeenLucky,
the need to become so If you meet an opponent and the result will go jn your favour. If the number
who is as skilled in unarmed combat as you, and to rolled is hrglrerLhanyour cu[ent LUCKscore/you
whom, therefore, the same rule applies, the book have been Unlucky, and will have to pay the
will tell you. penalty-

24
7

This procedure is knowl as Testingyour Luck Each EQUIPMENTAND MONEY

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 auto- You will be an undercover a8ent, so you ca4 carry
matically Unlucky. hardly anything with you: equipmentwould arouse
suspicion- Apart from your money and your
weapon, you will have to acquire everything else
U6inB LUCKin Battles you may need to complete your mission duing
In battles, the book will not give you the option of trip, including other weapons. You have an
-your
Testingyour Luck,as rt does on other occasions,but anh-grav pack, in which you can keep up to six oI
the op tion is there in any battle.The effectoI ruc r in the items you will come acrossin this adventure,
battlesis as follows: rvithout loss of srAMrNA. However, you may be
a,lvised, before leaving a planet, to get rid of any
Suppose in an Attack Itound you have just
thrng you think you may not be ableto smuggleon
wounded your opponent. You miy now Tesfyo!/
to the nextplanet.
Luck. If you are Lrrcky, you have inflicted a morc
se ous injury than normal, and may subtract an SAROS has given you 2,ooocredits with which to
extra 2 points from your opponenfs STAMTNA start your adventure. Used wisely, thts should be
However, if you are Unlucky, the injuty tuins out to enough to pay for extra equipment, board and
be a mere glaze and, instead ofthe normal2 points lodging during your mission. You may be able to
of srAMrNA to be subtractedftom youi opponent, acquire more during your adventure. What you
you may subtractonly 1. have and what you spend should be enteredin the
appropriate box on th e Adzteiture Sheet. This noney
But supposeyouropponent hasrustwounded you.
is kept in a money-belt around your waist If you
Again, you may Tesf y our Luck. lf yo-uarc Llrcky , yotr
run out of money, and meet a situation where you
have managed to avoid the full force of Lhe blow,
needtospendmoneytocontinue,youhavefailedin
and need only subtractl point fTomyoursrAMrNA,
vour mtsslon
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
r
SHEET
ADVEIil]1/URE

MONEY

NOTES and EQUIPMENT COLLECTED

I
I 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 mechanismsof the alpha-ziddium sys-
tem 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\'\,'itchwhich 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 !\,'atchEafih
gctting smaller behind vou; white cloud formations
' t rrrl. a n d lh e s u n g lin t * n f f t n c n o r l h p r r i c e . . r p
Ihough vou have often seen this sight belore on

I
I
2 3-4

trips to Mercury and Venus, it never fails to excite GUARD SKILL O SAAM I NA 8
you, and this time you feel homesick as well. Will If you win in four Attack Rounds, tum to 253;if aJter
you ever see Earth again? Your mission is so vital four Attack Rounds you haven't killed the 8uard,
. . . and so dangerous- turn to 34.
Time pagses.AJter a few hou$ one of the scrcens
flickers into life. The compu[eris alerting you to the 3
presenceof another spacecraft,which is keeping a Polky's computer is his pride and joy. You willhave
constant distanceaway from you and seemsto be to offer him something a personalmassagerobot,
shadowing you. Will you otder the computerto take ifyou have itj otherwise4oocreditswill do. Ifyou do
evasiveaction (tum to 48), or continue on your i./ay not have the robot or the money - or if you do not
(tum to 398)? lvant to pay him - you will have to fight him in
unarmedcombat.
PORKY sKrLL6 sraMrNA 10
If you win the fight, or if you paid his price, tum
to 1a9-

2
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 slump down to rest. At least you'll 8et some
you waited until they were all looking the other srAMrNA back- You doze oll and, when you wake
way, and you cul down two of them. This leaves up, you may restorel srAMrNA Point. You wake uP
you with only one, and he's a fairly small very suddenly. What is thatrusthng sound?Franti-
Southemer. cally, you peer through the gloom, only to see, to
I ],or:r horro., it.rr eyes glowing maliciously
8-11

turbance (tum to r32)? Or will you run ba& along

"rable
in your direction. They belong to a Radician insect, the side-street to renew your contact with the
whose closestEarthequivalentis a huge sPider.You underground (tun to 3o3)?
mustfisht this vile underworld cteah.ue.In fact,it is
not difficult to defeat,and has only beenreleasedto 8
discourageyou fron staying where you are There is another passageheading south. W 1you
take it (tum to 384) or continue straight on (turn
RADICIAN SPIDER sKrLL5 STAMINA 5
to 23)?
When you have killed it, turn to Z1.
9
5 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
FrssionChips (tum to 132)?
not already done so, you poP into the Srocels shoP,
spending 20 credits on food which replenishes your 1('
sraMrNA by4 Points. Then turn to 2o4 Ii vou are carryinga staff with you, turn to 49;
otherwise,turn to 147.
6
The problem with this is that you have only one 11
mine, and its blast will not knock out all thlee The argument soonbreaksuP; someonetellsajoke,
computers. Which will you choose: the lelt com- and they all roar with laughter, the best of iiiends
puter (tum to 2o3), the riSht one (tum to 5a), or the once more- Their camaraderie makes you feel
one againstthe wall opposite thedoor (tum to139)? ionely,being so farfromhome andburdened with a
If you have an alternative,you may Preferto retuh missionwhich you can talk to no one about One of
to 381and chooseagain. the students notices thaLyou are a bit down in the
mouthandcomeg over to the benchwhere you have
7 gone to be miserableon your own She introduces
Will you go on to the main road, although Arcadian herself as Mehita and asks what's up. You are
patuols are likely to come and investiSate the dis- unprcpared for friendliness even heroeslike your-
 a2-44

s:lf qel rl|ogdl - and find yourselfwdnhnglo con_

fidein her.Willyou do Lhis(turnto 97)or not(turn
to 2o2)?

-r2.r;,
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 19- 20

hyingtokeepwarm Cain only 1 sraMrNApoint.In

Fortunately, the corndor outside is desertedj the ihe moming ]'ou follow a Path heading roughly
5 l u de n l-dr e at theirle(tures.dnd no B UJr dp d s \ e r north east until it divides.Will you branch nght
by to hcarthe noise.Tum to 66. (turn to 295)or left (tum to 171)?

16 19
No Arcadian is going to just hand a s\^,ordover to His remark was an offer to show you around; to this
you, the only way you/re going to get one off an \rour rePly is an acceptance,so you are lumbered
Arcadian is by meansofan ambush. yoll rvatchthe lvith him Your disappointment is obvious to his
movements of the guards for a while, and find thaf South Arcadian sensitivity, and he is bad tempeied
r\.rth you and somewhat hostile. Nevertheless,the
archaeologicalexhibits 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
Fortunately, the room rs sound-proofed- no doubt of objects irom scattered outposts survived-
so that the screamsof torture-victi m s do not disturb Archaeologistshave even pieced to8etherevidence
the spaceport.You draw your sword and leapat the that suggeststhat these earlier Radioans used to
policeman: you are just in hme to prevent h1m send saucer-shapedscoutsaround the galaxy.
Pressrngabuzzertosummon theAlrards. Becareft: You spend an enjoyabletirnelooking around. When
he frghts dirtyl
vou have finished, willyou ask the lvatchmanwhat
S EC R ETPO LIC EMA N sK rLL7 srA M rNA1 o is through the other door (turn to 38o), or should
you now go to the university (turn to 145)?
If 1,ouwin without being .!\'oundedtwice, turn to
291.But i{ you are wounded twice, turn to 328
20
There is no reply. You wait for a bit and then
18
Having no food, your bodv becomesmore vulner cautiously open the door, but there is nothing and
no one in si8ht down the conidor Mystified, you
able to the cold, and you can hardly sleep at all for
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 shrubsas 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 26-29

2h
It is too late. The search-partyis upon you. your This is the wrong reply Such a worker would be
mission ends here, in the dust and mildew of the rvearingablue uniform, and carryinga tool-klt You
cellars, are taken away for inte ogation, from which you
rvill never emerge.
24
You have managed to get fid of the two North
Arcadiansin the patrol, butmust fight theother two The feeling of being follolved Srowsto a certaintyas
Arcadians simultaneously. Choosi which one you the s4fiecabremainsbehindyou all the way backto
are attacking, and conduct a normal Attack Round 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.
SKI LL
28
First ARCADIAN 7 8
SecondARCADlAN 'That noise outside was this stranger killing old
6 6
Coryus,' says one of your escort. This makes the
Ifyou win, turn to 381. manbehind the desklook up. 'That's quite imPress-
ive,' 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)?

ing, you return to the spaceport.Turn to 213. 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 36-JB

Southern Arcadian, who is llkely to be more easy- Your opponent's mouth, and you may reduce his
going, but by a hatchet-facedCentral Arcadian, sr(rLLby l point otherwise fight him with his usual
whose multicoloured crestshows thathebelongs to attributes:
a high military rank. Most of your equipment is
harmlessenough to passthe inspection,butdo you BRAWLER SKILL 7 STAM TN A 1 2

still have either or both of a coil of rope and an Youwillfindhimexpertinunarmedcombat: the sud-
infra-red scanner?lf you have both, tum to 21o,if dendeathrule ofp.24applies tohimas wellas you. If
you have one of theseitems, tumto 339iifyou have vou win, you have no choicebut to leave the club.
neither, turn to 374 You are slumping dejectedly in a nearby doorway
when rough hands suddenly grab you. Tum to 272.
J4
The guard has delayedyoujust long enoughfor you 36
to be caught by the relief squadron, againstwhom You manage to whip out your sword and bring it
you stand no chance 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.
'Yo, have it, then,'you say,and hurl the drinkin his Does this st ke you as suspicious, so that you
face He glowers at you. 'AIl right,' he says.'Ifthat's l:ollowher(turn to75), or will you remain where you
what you want.'A space is cleared on the floor; are for a bit, and then ask the barman where the
humans and Arcadians alike crowd round for the \'isiphonebooth is (turn to 81)?
spectacleof a brawl But before you begin this
unarmed combat, Testlour Luck.lf you are Lucky, 38
some of the drink which zuasdrugged - went into '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.Eventu-
ally 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 45-46

to be literally that, and to have a systemofconnecF a varie$r of Arcadian snail - 'l mean that it is iust
ing houses. Then, without warning, a heavy blow north of the Temple of the Five Suns, rdiot- And t
descendson the back of your heai, and you sin-k almost for8ot: there's 50 Per cent HAT, Human
into unconsciousness.Turn to 2o7. Added Tax, on the items you bought.' You don't
believe her she's obviously just makjng you pay
42 for insulting her but you cannotafford to crossher
any further. Cross the riSht amount of money off
yorv AdoenfureSheef,and lose 1 LUcKPoint too
It is easyto find yourway now, as the temple can be
in your mind as a secondpresence,and will never seenhom the street. lf you have not already done
shakeit off. so, you pop into the grocer's shop, spending zo
creditson food which replenishesyour STAMTNA by

43 + Points. Then furn to 2o4.

Your'trial'i9 a farce.The Arcadiansare sure some-
thing fishy is going on. What would a merchant 45
from Earth bedoing in a professo/s room on Radir? 'I dorf t know what your gameis,' saysthe doorman
And why would he have a sword? Yuu are sen- through the peep hole, 'but you're not welcome
tenced to death, but the police tell you that the here.'He slamsthe peep-holeshut Will you leave
sentencewill be commuted if you teil them what the club (turn to 39o), or draw your sword and
you know about the underground on Radix. Will smash the locks (tuIn to 356)?You can draw your
you spill the beans(turn to345) ornot (tum to 368)? 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
44
'l'm sorry. I don't understand,'yousay 'Oh, you out?'you ask, trying to 8et up.
humans- You are as insensitiveasglrmplr,g,- this is 'He's coming roun4 Dorado,'calls the man.
47 48-49
'Comin& Mizar,' a voice replies springy on this planet as the gravity is slightly less
than on Earth. You soon discover, however, that
Youlve been out for about forty-five minutes,' says
this does not in lact help you to move any more
the first man, who is evidently Mizar. 'And the
quickly, sinceyou need somepracticeto achievethe
Arcadians are almost upon us.'
correctcoordination.
Forty-five minutes! Then there is no time to losel
The personal monorail systemis all you could have
you will scalcelymake it back to the spaceportin
hoped for, and you are soon gljding smoothly, but
time for your flightl You must send one of the men
at speed, towards the only ma,or town on the
to defend the pass and buy you enough time to talk
planet, where the underground must be located.
to the other and escape.Will you send Dorado away
On the way you call up on to the screena list of
(turn to 175)or Mizar (tum to 255)?
hotels where humans can stay, Only two names
sound attractive, one which has gained three stars
from the Radicianquality assessors,and one which
47 they haven't bothered to comment on at all. Will
Customs is no problem on Radix, They are so de- '\'oustay at the Zodiac for3Z5 creditsa night (turn to
lighted to have the ziridium that you are welcomed
89), or at Porky's Patacefor 50credits a night (turn to
by the rcsident Arcadians,as much as anyArcadian
101)?
is capableof welcoming any human. It seemsthat
your load of ziridium was needed to complete a
para-scientificproject oI theirs. You Iind that you 48
However much you twist and tum, you cannot
have two full days it is now early morning - until
:hale oif your follower. fventually, you 5immer
you must leave for Halrnuris Once you have reg- down and leturn to a direct route for Tropos The
istere4 you make your way out of the spaceport, rest of the iourney is uneventful; you passthe time
which is so highly mechanized tha t even a terrestria I eating, sleeping,exercisingand playing chesswith
Iike yourself leels strange. The inhabitants do not
the computer'slowest logicalmode. Your shadowis
believein doinganyworkunless they really haveto. nevertoofarawaytokeepan eyeonyou,and asyou
There are robots everywhere, some of them soph-
approachTropos, he acceleratesto land beforeyou.
isticated5tate-of-thp-arl modelg thai can dlmost Turn to 154.
think for themselves. Moving pavements c ss-
crcss the spaceport,which actually make you im-
patient, becausethey move slowly enough to allow 49
If you were bltten bya Saw t@thed Rat, turn to 98;
steppin8 from one to another, yet you feel decidedly
othef ise tum to 232.
 50-54

5o
You quickly find the right key arnong the watch-
man'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 57-59

from each end of the street Will you hopelessly

Obviously, the device stimulates the imaginahve draw your sword to defend yourself (turn to 264),
part of the brajn, becauseeverything that happens hammer on the door Crus went through (tum to
next js like a strange&eam. 364),or try another house (turn to 121)?
The eprsodeswhich follow are easrestto describein
terms of physical combat, even though they are
happemng in your mind Theresultis the same:if
youlose anyo{ the following encounters,youmighL
as well have died physically, becauseyou will be a
puppet of the Arcadian computer and will have no
mind of your own.
You seemto be wanderingin a mansion with many You find a secludedpart of the perimeter, slip the
rooms, Out of nowhere, a monster bars your wayi harnesso{ the small jet pack over your shoulderc
the passagesbehind you disappear, and there is and press the i8nition button. It coughs . . . and
no other way forward exceptby defeating it. The fails. But it starts on the second attempt, and lifts
monster is a Sphinx, the guardian ofknowledge- you easily over the ten-metre fence, before failing
again!You fall heavily to the Btonr\d.Testyour Luck
SPHINX S (T L L 8 STAM T N A 8
If you are Lucky, tlirn to 359; iI you are Unlucky,
Ifyou win, turn to 251. rurn to 3o4,

58
You mutter somefeebleexcuseand leavethe secret
ary's office. Will you go to the ScienceFloor, if you
€r-q haven't alreadybeenthere (turn to 266),or leavethe
university (turn to 235)?

59
56 As you Brapple with Musca, the phaser goes off
You wait {ive minutes . . . ten minutes What is and wounds him {atally. The mind of the dying
Boing on? The answer arives too soon eight Arcadian seems to clear; he looks up at you and
Arcadian thu8s are advancmg towards you, four says,'Alsenal. - . 11o 'This doesn't meanan awful
60-6a 52-54

lot to you You are now getting near Arcadjon, so

iurn to 11E-

60
It is always difficult, particularly for an active type
like youlself, to cope with another person's un-
happiness-You make up your bed, so that no one
elsetaLesjt, and creepout oi the room.Loser I ucK
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 62
99. 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 p-
ping in the dust-muffled silence (turn to 154), or
north (tum to 23).You'dbetterbe quick: the search-
party 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.

6a 64
No cablescanbe seen:if this organicmachineneeds He is very thorough, but ftnds nothing to wory
them, they must be behind the computer consoles him. You need some time to think how to contact
somewhefe, But you can remove the casing of a Bellatrix.You go over to the bar and buy a glassof
computer, ifyou like, to seewhatyou canfind closer the alcoholic mouthwash which humans are
to the heat o{ the machine(tum to 325).Or you can allowed to drink (deduct 1o credits);then you look
return to 381and chooseagain,ifyou have another around for somewhere to sit Could any of these
choiceto make, people be Bellatrix, or at least members of the
r 65-58

underground? You decide to join a group of hu-

mans who are sitting in a comer, becausethey are
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 exchangeslgnificantglances or so
1,ouassumefrom wharyou canmakeouLbehmdthe
lamp. 'The trial is over,' saysBellatdx 'Anyone who
would so readily kill another being, with no evi-
denceofguilt, goesagainstour codeofhonour. We
t'
69-7o 7a

do not think you are a traitor but, as the interim s"aymole than she should, becauseshe seemsto
human govemment on Tropos, we take it uPon disapprove of using the killer robot, especially
ouFelves to keep you here-Thereis no point to your when the enemiesare onlystudents. This givesyou
missionif its successis gainedby amoralPeoPlelike the clue you were rvaiting for, and you soon leave
yourself. You can work lor us, if you like, and we for the university- When you arrive,will you plunge
will educateyou.' You have failed in your mission. straightin (tuln to 46), orwaitaround outsidefora
By the time you have convinced Bellatrix of your while (turn to 178)?
worth, the opportunlty will have sliPPedaway

69
The butt of his phaser connectssquarelywith your
head.l^rhenyou cometo, deduct2 srAMrNAPoints,
and tum to 116.
,@l

You move on down the corridor The gloom be-

comes less and less, and you search the place
thoroughlv as you walk. But there are no escape-
routes Eventually you reach a sturdy door, with a
7o larSe grille. Will you try to barge the door down
'!\ahat?'you say in surPrise.'Are you trfing to trick (hrm to 360),or wait to seewhat may happen (turn
me? Comices are hiSh on a building, not in the to 3o1)?
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

72-73 74-75
t72
74
'All right,' Grus sayseventually, over ding Indus's You rin8 ProfessorZachadasat work no reply, But
protests. He lets you go and spdnls over to get the rou 6nd his home number in the directory and ring
sword,'No funny businessnow,'he says,'Remem- hirn there. He has heard about the theft of the dtsks,
ber, we have the sword. Out you go.' As you are and you identifyyourselfby showing him the print
shoved out of the door, you hea! Indus on the out of his file, He is satisfiedthat you are who you
visiphone, telling the police where you are. You say you a!e, and you make an appointment for
leavequickly and letuln to the main road. Until you eleveno'clock the next morning, in his room at the
find another weapon. all your battlesmust be con- university. Gain 1 LucK point and tu:rn to a34
ducted according to the rules for unamed combal.
Tum to 132.

You eat your food and go to sleep;regtore4 srAM- /t

rNA points- In the molning you follow a path head- Before the doorman has a chance to return to his
ing roughly no.th-east, until it divides. Will you post you are out of the door and following the
branch dght (tum to 296) or left (turn to 1F)? 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
r 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 ScienceFloor 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,
braceletsand 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,becausethe 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 sup-
ported 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 .elf-
sufficieniy. You realize that human nature does
indeed adaot itselt to circumstances on different
7E 79-8a

pianets, and that therefore humans born and bred whoitis, without unlocking the door(tum to2o), or
on other planetscanbe almostas alien as Arcadians throw open the door (tum to 35o)?
or other species-The discipline of TroPos and the
devotion of Radix are the result of livin8 on those
planets. 79
You quickly position this so that its powerful beam
Your conversationwith Porky hasbeenmostworth_ rvill distract your opponents It will last five Attack
while, and should enable you not to misjudge Rounds before being knocked over and smashed
people you comeacrosson this Planet.Gain 1 Lucx (cross it off your Equipment List), but you may
point. You declde that your best bet is to visit the
reduceyourfirst opponent's sKrLLby l iroint for srx
university next, so you take your leave.The mono- Attack Rounds, since Lhe after-effectsare just as
rail takes you near the main entrance. Wrll you distracting as Lhe strobe rtself. Now return to the
plunge straight in (turn to 146), or wait arouncl sceneof combatand resolvethe fight
outside for a while (tum to 178)?
8o
78 Unfortunately, one of them has a sword, and you
YoLuway to the spaceshipis barred by two guards. are no match for them all. You are beatenand cut to
Your heartleaps in dismay and fear, butittums out the ground
that they are just waiting lor your 'passenger'to
embark. You see two Central Arcadians cross the
81
field and enter your spaceship;neither of them The \.isiphone booth is behind a screen,which is
rcturns It looks as though you have two Passen- decoratedwith a moving hologram of Arcadiansat
ger9,not one. Then the Suardsallow you on board rvork in an office. You always fmd it reassuring
On the way to Arcadion, you may restore half as rthen aliens behavejust like humans even Arca-
much srAMrNA asyour cufient score,roundingodd dians want to ring home sometimes and claim
numbers down/ and remembering not to exceed r-hey'reworkinglate at the office!Didyou try to catch
you.r Inihal score. Remembel also to restore the a taxi here from the spaceport?If so, turn to 362i rf
sKrLLpoint vou lost for the hiSh grauty of Halmu not, turn to 311.
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
E2-84 85-88

85
The door cmshes into him and sends his phaser He unlocks the door and you both go down some
flying acrossthe room to near Musca!You and the stairsinto the dusty cellars,whlch are ful of objects
other Arcadian draw your swords simultaneously. in packing-cases,show'cases, or just loose. You
look around the tirst cellar for a while, and then
AR CAD IAN S (ILL 7 S T AMIN A 8
shfle an excited cry There. in a show casemarked
Ifyou win, turn to 261. 'PurposeUnknown - PossiblyReligiousArtefacts',
rs something which you with your training in
E3 rleaponryrecognizeasa primitive baryon grenade-
A coupleofArcadian guardslookyou up and down, and it looks undamaged!You must have it. But the
refer to the giant screenand check the Picture in \'atchman, whom you have insulted, is on the
their miniature visiscreens- then they start coming look out for anything suspicious, and picks up
towards you, barkjng instructions into their com- Nith his antennae that something 1sgoing on. He
municators.You have had it \rllips out his sword and slashesvour arm. Lose
2 srAMrNA and 1 sxtll point and furn to 215,
84
You tum away, only to find yourwaybarred by the 85
blackmarketeer'sm-an.Justbelore you go,'saysthe You toss the gienadeand duckback down the stairs
oily voice of the black marketeer behind you, 'tell b avoid the blast. When you climb back up, thele is
me what you areup to lmaywanttobecutin.'This little sign of the patrol -or the doors,for that matter.
treacherymakes you angry. But an8er lends sPeed Turn to 381.
to your reactions:you cul down the man at the door,
beforehe has time to do more than twitch, and spin Ez
to face the black marketeer. He moves fast for a Thedoor has no handleon the inside.You haveno
neavy man. choicebut to press one of the buttons on the desk.
Turn to 276.
BLACK MARKETEER sxr|-l 6 5TAMINAro
During ihe fight, a crate is knocked over and falls E8
into the air-conditioning unii, whrch sparks and You have to backtrackqLdtea way to find a passage
then catchesfire By th€ time the fight is over, the through the clif{s towards the bu ding. But you
fire is blazing. Ifyou ra,in,turn to 112. manage to circle round to the building without
 89 90-92
i
bein8 detected.You watch for sometime, butsee no the costis coveredby the cost oI your room (turn to
guards, so you boldly enter The station is almost 115),or, for an extra 40 credits, you can dine jn the
degerted;there are no humans in sight, anditis easy restaurant(turn to 138)-
to avoid being spotted by the few Arcadians. You
searcharound for a while, but find nothing. AII this
time has beenwasted, becauseifyou are to Betback
to the spaceportin fime foryour flight, you will have
to leave 1rorr.You have failed to contactthe under-
ground leaderhereand learn the 6nalthree digits of
the code.

89
On the way to the hotel, you notice somethin8 odd 90
about the city: in some streets,whole houseshave You talk gently to Musca, trying to persuadehim to
been demolished, even though the surroundin8 hand o\,er the phaser, but he has becornechildish,
burldrngs are still standing. It is as if a localized and stubbornly refuses.Will you try to grab it from
ealthquakehad struck. You soon arrive at the hotel, him (turn to 59), or continue the gentler approach
which is extremely posh and luxurious You check (tum to 13o)?
m for one night (deductj75 credjts).While you are
enjoying a private sauna, the expensebegins to 9a
seem woth it. Restore 1 STAMINApoint. Eventu- 'How much?' they ask 'Iive hundred credits,' you
ally, feeling refreshed, you wander downstairs to reply.'Not enough,' they say, licking theirlips Will
see what edible delights might be on offer, and to vou tell them thaLisall you have got(turn to 22j), or
give yourself time to think about how to contactthe ofler them more (turn to 148)?
underground. You can either eat in the bar, where
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.
 93-94

93
This group conslstso{ rather {riendly or perhaps
Just drunk Southern Arcadians You introduce
l.oursel{ humbly as a traveller lrom Earth and ex
Press curiosrty about the number of dernolished
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 cornicesin your founda-
tions 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^ e a lt h a n d p u \ ^ e r . a n \ o f
rvhich the computer can surely tive, and have
resisLedthem all As your laughter gro\a,,s, the im-
aginary world dissolves, and vou are back in the

,L
95-96 97

Arcadian'scabin, strappedtothe seat,with thenow is safeto ask about a sword 'No problem,' he says-
uselesselechodesattachedto your skull. 'I managed to get hold o{ a batch a couple of weeks
ago. Becauseyou have worked for me, I'll let you
You glance over at the Arcadian. Your victory has haveit for or y 2oocredits ' He sendshis man the
done something to him: he is gazing around the only otherperson in theroomnow-to get it. When
room, as if searchingfor something he has lost. As you have it safely in youi hands, you pay him and
his eyesmeet yours, a flicker of recognitioncrosses turn to go. Turn to 84
his face and is gone. This is a delicatesituation: he
maybe closeto total incompetence,but you are still 97
imprisoned in your seat Will you order hlm to free You tell her that you have heard the university
you (turn to 65), or wait for a passingrobot (tum to encouragesrevolutionary ideas, and that you need
278)? to get in touch with someonewho knows aboutthis.
'Is that all?'she laughs. 'Listen, there are very, very
95 few students who would spy for the Arcadians.
You turn away, disappointed (lose 1 LucK point) Even those who aren't activelyinvolved in demon-
What can you do now? You slump in a nearby strations or anything aren't unsympathetic. We're
doorway. After a {ew minutes, you realize that students- that's what it's all about. The only stu-
you can only go back to the hostel and try again dents you have to watch out for are memberso{ Lhe
tomollow- Just as you get up to go, however, the BlackEye group. I think you should go and have a
door behind you opens and rough hands grab you- chatwith old ProfessorZacha asin LheArts Faculty
Will you put up a fight (turn to 156),or are you too upstairs Tell him Mehita senLyou. Take a note of
depressedto bother (tlrtrr to 272r? his room number, 2J9j otherwlse the floor's like a
mazeand you'll never find him.'Mehita's cheerful-
ness 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
Theblackmarketeeriswellpleasedwithyourwork:
you have made him a hdy profit. You decrdethat it
96-99 100-l()2

98 aoo
Testyour Luck If you are Lucky, you fall down the
As you go fu rther into the cave, you notice a smell of
last bit of the cliff for 2 srAMrNA points of bruises,
sulphur, or something like it It is not too strong,
and you break the end off the staff; but you keep the
however, and you takeit asa good sign. If thereis a
rcst with you, having risked so much to bring it
slight vent to the turbulent volcanic inteior of the
down. Then turn to 147to continueyour journey. lf planet, then the caveshould stay abovefreezingall
you are Unlucky, you (all from a great height and
night. You find a reasonablycomfortablespot and
are smash€don the pathbelow.
settle down. If you have some food. turn to 73;
otherwisetum Lo18.
99
As you walk along, you notice thatthe city ls laid out
1()1
very regularly on a squaregrid pattem. The hostelis
On the way to the hotel, you notice somethingodd
at the north end of North 2l - East5 Street,and the
about the city: m some stleets, wh(te houseshave
nextblocksouth startsat the top ofNorth 22-East 5
been demolished, even though the surrounding
Street.The buildings areall very alike, exceptfor the
housesare still standing. It is as if a localizedearth-
Temple of the Five Suns, which towers above the
qLrakehad struck, You soon arnve at the hotel,
rest of the city and is a famous lalldmark; it is the
Porky, who is sitting on the steps outside, has
centre of the Imperial reli&ion on Trcpos - the five
certainlyeamed his nickname - he is very fat. You
sunsbeing the suns of the planetsofthe Empire.
check into your ioom for one night (deduct 50
After wandering along the main roads (or quite a credits),shower, changeand eat a snack.Restore2
way, heading generally south and east,you realizc STAMrNApoints. Now you feel ready to tacklethe
that this is getting you nowhere fast Therers hardly problems facing you. You decide to start by ques
likely to be a $ignpostsaying, 'FissionChlps- thtd honing Porky Will you ask him about Radix in
block on the left - rebels and spies welcone!' Yott Seneral (turn to 77), or ask him to explain the
are also getting tired and hungry: reduce you! phenomenon of the demolished houses (turn
srAMrNA bv 2 points. You decideyou had betterask b lo5)?
the way in a shop, but there are only two small
shops around: the rest are auLomatedhypermar-
kets. Will you ask at the grocels (tum to a52)or the 'io2
Thc humansin blue uniforms nre the engineering
hardware shop (turn to 382)? and technical staff. You approach one &.ith your
question, and he tells you that the agricultural
 1o3-104

station is about ten kilometres to the north-east

of the spaceport, ovet rough and undevelop€d
Sfound- He saysthat ifyou have a pass, the shuttle
helicopteris efficient otherwise it is a difficultjou!-

000
ney on foot. Will you askhim how to get a pas6(tum
to 38), or will you leavehim and try elEewherefor 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 crashesinto
him and sends his phaser flying under the
sensoramaconsole You both draw your swords
simultaneously-
ARCADIAN sKrLL7 STAM lNA 8
If you win, tum to 315.
105 1o5-108

105 106
'At the risk of making you suspiciousof me,' you The crowd goes wrld with delighted approval. But
say, 'l must ask you for proof that you are the vou scarcelyhave time to draw breath belore the
underground. My mission is so imPortant that I Satewaygapesagain,and a Scabrokappears.It goes
cannottell you about it unlessI know who you are.' on six legs, eachof which is tipped with long claws;
its tough hide is coveredwith short, spiky hair. If
'I can tell you only this,' repliesBellatrix.'We follow
_rou know the Scabrok's weakness, turn to the
a strict codeofhonour, becausewithout it we are no relevantreference.Otherwise,just fight rt.
better than Arcadians.' You can tell ftom her tone
that she'soff on one of her Iavouritetopics. Shegoes SCABROK sKrLL8 STAM IN A 14
on {or quite a while, but her'code'boils down to two IIyou wm, turn to 54.
points: that liberation is possible,and thaLno one
not even an Arcadian is guilty without evidence Lo7
You don't quite follow the more abshactpartsof her TheArcadian is unprepared for suchan assault On
speech,but she is a fine speakerand you can see this planet they are not used to coping with violent
how she might be the leader of a grouP of tough rcbels,so he is unarmed. Beingarrned,you mayadd
nen. More to the point, herpassionisunmistakably r sKrlr point for this fight only; you can use the
genuine and, since you already know that the rulesfor unarmed combat,ifyou prefer.
underground on Tropos has a st ct code, you are
convinced that you are in the right place. TuIn to ARCADIAN
168 SECRETARY SKILL 7 srAMrNA 8
lfyou win, TesLyour 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() 111

amazement, a shaft of light emerges from the tion with this lot you could,annihilatethe Balaxyl
ground where the shadow is. Within the shaft is a Butyour requirementgare not so extreme You have
form ofsome kind, which is constantlychanging.lf iimeto takeany frooofthe followinB:a sealedtube of
this is science, it is beyond human or Arcadian elmonite explosive, a limpet mlne, a photon Bren-
knowledge. You appear to be in the presence of ade,a hand-phaser,and an infra-redscanner.Note
some unlnown force. It does not sesmhostile, but down what you take, and turn to 348-
being alien ir is difficult to judge. Will you run away
from this encounter (tum to 12o), or wait and see aaa
what happens (turn to 235)? You have interpreted his rernark correctly as an
o[{er to show you around, which you want to re-
109 fuse The archaeologicalexhibits are fascinating It
When you get there, there is no sign o{ the Adolpho, seemsthat there was a civilization on Radix before
Could the grocer have been misleading you? Or fhe human colonists arrived in the twenfv second
have youmade a rnistake?At any rate; curfew is not (entury, which utterlydestroyeddll it\ mdjor cen-
far off. You have to take a chance and ask an tres early in the ha/enty-firstcentury in an all out
Arcadian policernan th€ way. There are plenty phaciumwar. Phaciumbombslear.eno traces,but a
arouJrd, and vou apprcach a group of thrce. 'Excuse number of objectsfrom scatteredoutpostssurvived.
me, sir.' 'ly'y'hat
do you want/ prrft?"Canyou tellme Archaeologistshave even piecedtogetherevidence
the way to the Adolpho videorama?''Ofcourse:due that suggests that these earlier Radiciansused to
south for a block. But it was shut down for showing sendsaucershaped scoutsaround the galaxv.
subversivemovies, with human heroes Here - let
You spend anenjoyabletime lookingaround When
rflegive you a show: you can seesome stars'He
whacks you on the head \r'"iththe shaft ofhts sword vou have finished, will you ask the watchmanwhat
js throughtheotherdoor(turn to356),or do youfeel
(deduct 2 sraMrNA points). You reel away, fol-
that you have spent enou8h hme on thrs and that
lowed by the ha$h laughter of the policemen.Turn
now you should go fo the university (tum to 46)?
to 2o4-

110
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-
aa2-144 115-116

472 for survival in this harsh dimate, which are being

The fire is preventing you from making what could tended by human workers; and beyond the fields is
have beena veryprofitable search.You havetime to the station itself, a building insulated within a ther-
Brabonly one object Roll one die. If the number is modome Will you back into the rocks and make
even,turn to 122iifit is odd, tumto25j. vour way round to the building (turn to 88), or
approach sohe of the humans in the fields, who
1at appearto be unguarded (tum to 2t)?
You succeedin getting an arm free, while at the
same time landing a kick on Indus s instep. The 415
fightis on. This is unarmed combat/so follow those The bar is very crowded. It is obviously a popular
rules, and you must fight both of them at the same meeting-place,and today Lhereis a r€ception on as
time. That deans that you must chooseeachAttack well, apparently for a South Arcadian wedding.
Round whoyou are attackingand conducta normal Severalof the guests are already a bit the worse
Attack Round againsthim You must also roll each for drink. You get a drink and some food (gain l
time for your other opponent, but nothing will srAMrNApoints if you have not dined already),and
happen unless his Attack Strength is higher than then drift around the room, eavesdroppingon con-
yours, in whrch casehe will injure you: you cannot versationsto see if anyone here might be of use to
injure him under any orcumstances, until vou vou You hear what's on at the sensorama,and
chooseto attack him. severalversions of what the bride's mother said to
the in-laws, but you also hear snatches of two
SKIL L
conversationswhich could be interesting. Which
CRU S 5 8
group will you join: the one discussingthe possibil-
I ND U S 6 8
ity of human rebellion (turn to 289). or the one
If you win, turn to 9. discussing the rebuilding programme in the city
(tum to 93)?
aa4
Your path winds through a rocky gorge, which aa6
narrows until there is only room for one person to You realizethatyour onlychanceis to go alongwith
sq eeze between the two cliffs Then, lard out in this vile expeliment. Your scientific training tetts
front of yolr on a plain, is the agricultural station. vou that therc is a weaknessin the device: if you
There are lields of experimen tal sh rubs being tested 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. Becausethe
-{rcadianknows no otherexistenceexceptas part of
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
124
aa9 There is no time to move further down the street
It doesn't take long to find the information you are you will have to try the house opposite. You have
looking for. A certarn Professor Zachaias in the hardly starledyour uigent pounding when the door
history department oI the Arts Faculty is on record swings open 'Quicklyl' hissesa human voice. 'This
as possibly being the rebel leader on Radix You door will only hold 'em off for a few minutes ' He
make a print-out of this infonnation. If you killed shuts and bolts the aneph wood door, and takes
Po-rkyto get this information, turn to 2o9; other- you into a room in the back oI the house The
wrse/ turn to 74. Arcadians are already splitting the door with their
weaponsi but youi new-found friend seems
120
strangely confident- Just watch this,'he says. As
You head across the counhyside to your right, the door givesway, hedetonatesa mine, whichwas
hoping to rejoin the other branch of the path. But buried under the floorboards. When the smoke
after a short while, you have to stop and rest: the be8ins to cleal and the deb s has settled down,
going is extremelydifficult And there is the shalt oI you clamb€r over the bodies into the street. One
li8ht beside you! This time it speaks: 'Earthlin8, Arcadian is limping awayr the others are all dead
where zplaran?'At least, that's what the last word 'Very successful,'says the man, 'but the last of my
sounds like. The voice is strangely metallic and expiosives I hope you're worth it Now come wlth
hollow; it certainly doesn't come from any living
me Don't worry about those scum opposite Grus
being that you can imagine. Perhapsit 1sa robot of and his ftrend- we'll dealwith them. We set up this
some kind. If it is, then you could attack it. Is thrs housetokeepan eyeon them.'Willyougowithhim
what you chooseto do (turn to 179),or will you try as he says(tum to 41), or say ihatyou must go after
to talkback to it, as it inchesever closerto you (tum the escapingArcadian (turn to 28j)?
to 195)?
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
TLLrnto 3J6.
1.23-7.25 7.26-a27

r21
You follow the passage as it culves round to the
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. a26

'Halt!' he cries.'This areai6 prohibited Ior humans.' Central Arcadians are well known for their alro
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 be used on humans. I am taking poor Musca back
must reduce your sraMrNA by 2 Points. Ifyou win, tor Interrogation, and then he will be the first Arca
you may take his sword, but you will have to leave dian to undergo the.new process.you have earned
the spaceportimmediately, sincethe hunt will now the honour of being the first human., He locks
be on Turn to 151. \4usca in your cabin and frogmarchesyou back to
his room. Will you attempt to escape(turn to
34o)or
L25 not (tum to 3EZ)?
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, You scrapeyour legagainstd packing-caseand ( ut it
but the dub will be closed down now, thanks to badlyon a proiectingnail. Loser srAMtNApoinl.
you.'The sound of a Patrol apProaching at the The passageleads into another cellar, with one exit
double can already be heard Will you ins$t on straight ahead and another in the southem wall
stayinli, perhaps to Pretend you were an innocent lvill you go shaight ahead (tum to 33J) or south
bystander(turn to 184),or leave(tum to 252)? ' turn to 221)?
423-425 a26-a27

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. a26
'Halt!'he cries.'This areaisprohibited forhumans.' Central Arcadians are well known for their arro-
You iush into the attack,but reduceyour sKrLLby 1 gance.'Yourpuny threatsdon't worry me, human,'
point for this {i8ht {orbeing unarmed. he replies. 'I can pilot this ship as well as you. But
you have more pluck than most of your kind In
NORTH ARCADIAN sKrLL6 srAMrNA8
siead of killing you now, I will use you in an
The Arcadian has room to swing his tail- Every experiment: a courageous guinea pig would be
Attack Round, whatever the result of the dice rolls, interesting.I myselfhave developedadevicewhich
roll an extra die: on 5 or 6, the Arcadian has is more reliable than the empathic receiverl]rd can
succeededin swiping you with his tail, and you be used on humans- I am taking poor Musca back
must reduce your srAMrNA by 2 points If you win, for interrogation, and then he will be the first Arca-
you may take his sword, but you will have to leave dian to undergo the,new process.You have earned
the spaceportimmediately, sincethe hunt \^.illnow the honour of being the first human.' He locks
be on. Turn to 151. Musca in your cabin and frogmarchesyou back to
his room. Will you attemptto escape(turnto34o)or
not (tum to 382)?
The doorman reappeamby your side. 'Now, will
you do asyou're told and beatit?' he hisses.'You've 427
shown how good you are with a sword and all that, You scrapeyourlegagainst a packing-caseand cut it
but the club will be closed down now, thanks to badly on a proJectingnail. Lose 1 srAMrNA point.
vou' The sound of a patrol approaching at the The passageleads into another cellar,with one exit
double can already be heard. Will you insist on straight ahead and another in the southem wall
staymg, perhaps to pretend you were an innocent Will you go straight ahead (tum to j33) or south
bystander (turn to 184),or leave(tum to 252)? (turn to 221)?
I

128- a3O

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-piratesthesedays. We rule
spacewith an iron fist; no prate dare show so much
as a tail Jet You musthave somethingto hide let's
End out what.'He pressesa 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 police-
man, '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 h a v e le t d o wn t h e h h o l e o I
mankind.

*'-+

430
-{t lasthe handsihe phaserover,and you canbegrn
io questionhim. But it soonbccomesclearthat you
aJL-r13 434-a35

are going to get nowhere. If you havea mind Probe,

you cdnusethdt (turn lo t5Jl;otherwisevou give u p
and turn to 118

a3a
Now whatwillyoudo? You alreadvknowthatthere
is no escapefrom the passa8etehind you, and 2 sraMrN^ points of damage.Soyou fight the beast
aheaclthere is only the alena You still have to win as follows:
the tho fLghtsin the arenabefore the alienswili let
you go. What a waste of valuabLesrAMrNA Turn to 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
432
ter, for this night, at any rate. Do you have any
You lose yourself in the crowds on the main street. Iood? If so, you may eat it and restore2 STAMTNA
You really must find your way to the FissionChiPs points, and then 2 more {or the night's rest. If you
soon, or it u'illbe curfew. AIso, you are getting ver]' do not, restoreonly 2 points for your sleep. In the
hungry (deduct2 5TAMINAPoints) You decjdeto mormng vou follow .r path heading rorrghly norfh-
go into a grocer's shoP to buy some food and east,unfil it divides WiII you branch right (turn to
perhaps ask the way as n'ell: it is one o{ the fe!\ 171)or left (turn to 1o8)?
small shops around, the rest are vast automated

,s-a
hypernarkets. Turn to 152

433
When you get your free attack on the Scabrok,you
fail to wound it Particularlybadly, and causeit onl)
 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 approachesyour 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 5KILT 6 STAM IN 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.
-.-2.>-8
138
tt tttilttUlll) You have a fantasticmeal (cross40 credits off your
WtiltltNtlillL@l,tilttt
fu, A.laentL\eSheet). The Radicians,who enjoy the good
things in life, have perfectedthe art ot cooking food
439-L41 I 442-a45

which is pleasingto borh the eye and thetaste buds, 442

and also highly nutritious You 1nay restore J
STAMTNA points, The waiters in the restaurantaae
I You find yourself in a cellarwith further exitsin the
easternand western walls. Will you turn back(turn
all human, apart from the impe ous head waiter, io 221),west (turn to 324)or east(tuIn to 333)?

443
You fall on io one of the spikes of rhe plant, which
Prercesyour leg. Deduct 2 5TAMTNA points, and
hjm you've had plenty, and get up to leave.Will you hobbleon into the cave.Tum b 1oo.
go to the bar (furn to 115), or do you have an
appointment to keep (turn to 194)?

439
Tvrn to a77.

440
444

on you to halt. You make a run for it Testlour Luck.

lf you are Lucky, turn to 233j if you are Unlucky,
ruanro 33o.

141
By clearing your mind, you becomecalm and fear-
less, which preparesyou for the comlng test. you
may gain 1 s(lLL point while thls mentalbattlelasts, 145
even if that takesyou over your Initidl score.Turn Inside, you are led past stacks of crates and boxes up
to 55 to a healy-jowled human, who is srtting behind a
a46-144 149-154

desk. 'What is going on here?'he demands, with 449

scarcelya glanceup ftom his papers.If you killed a This is a very handsome,very finely craftedpieceof
human on the way here, tum to 28; otherwise tum equipment - but of no use whatsoever under the
to 187. present circumstances.If you have an altemative,
return to 381 arld choose again; if you have no
146 alternative,you have failed.
The university, which is only for humans, is a small
affair these days, occupying a single large bu ding 150
on the outskirts of the city. Arcadian guards are AnArcadian guard happens tobe passingdown the
everyvlhere,sinLetheyha\ e 1omakelheir prc\ence co[idor outside. He stops to investigatethe com-
felt in this hotbed of.possiblerebellion. Will you go motion, and bu$ts into the room just as you are
to the ScienceFloor (tum to 266)or to the Arts Floor finishing o{f the secretary. Now you will have to
(turn to 258)? fight him, too. He's an ugly specimen:his face is
disfigured by a long scar running ftom eye to
447 mouth.
In a short while, your path is joined by another to
the left. Will you continue straight on (tuln to 114), GUARD sK rLL 8 sr AM r NA 10
or take this branch (tum to 1o8)? If you win, tuln to 66.

148
You've fallen for the oldest con trick in the book, Testyow Luck.If you are Lucky, turn to 336;if you
and have just signed your own death wairant As are Unlucky, turn to 249.
soonasyou letthemknor{ thatvou arein a position
to barBain,Lheyrealirelhdt\ 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
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 grocermut-
ter 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 arsenalsis 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 lock€d,
however, and the search-partyis right behnd you.
Rollonedie.Ifthe numberiseven,turn to 165;ifit is
odd, turn to 50.

I
t
 I
155-r57 158-160

155 lf you win, you mav searchthe body (tum to 12) or

'The bltter sea,'you reply leave(turn to 124)
'l know none of the digits,'he begins, and your
158
heaftsinks'Alllknowisthatthewholesequenceof turn to 3i ifyou areat the
Palace,
Ifyou are at Potky's
digjts is a palindrome - rt is the same witten h)r
Zodiac, turn to 31.
wards or backwards '
Gainl LUcKpoint.Thisshouldbeenoughloryouto 459
complete the code. He also gives you some food, a The room beyond the DraSon ts Piled high with
grey uniform which you colild use lor getting back treasure,including the fabledMinarong crystal lvith
into the spaceport,and enough quandar-rootlotion its all-healingpo\ .ers. Maybe some of this imagin-
to heal4 srAMrNA points ofinjuries. You thank him al,v treasurewill hetp you in the imaginary world
o\reryour shoulder as you raceoff Turn to 163 you are in. Wil you tale some (turn to 42) of not
(tum to 391)?

150
Testlour Luck lI you are Lucky, he merely con-
fiscatesthe items (crossthem o{f your Equipment
List),but lets you throu8h turnto374 Ifyouare
Unlucky, he hauls you away for intense intedog-
ation, from whlch you will eventually emergewlth
156
vour bodv broken and your memoly erased
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
I a5a
L61.-a62

Theair in the centre,where the trunk is, is notfar off

t' 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
You liet off and jump on to the escalatorto sfeet
lcvel l,ooking up behind yon, vou can see two
ii 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
I
165-a66
a53 165
Your journey back to the spaceportis uneventful, One oI the Arcadian guards {ollorvs you from the
but tiring in this high gravity, You would lose spaceship.By the time you are in rhe desertedparts
sTAMINAifit werenotfor thefood thatDoradogave of the spacepoft, his suspicions aie thoroughly
you. Willyou use the greyuniform as a disguisefor aroused, and he stops you and demands to search
getting back into the spaceport (turn to 344), or vour pack, which rs full of contraband, You will
would you prefer to use wire-cutters, if you have have to 6ght him- Reduceyour sKrLLby 1 point for
them (turn to 3o2)? this fight for being unarmed.

a64 CUARD s(rLL 6 STAM IN A I'

When you have disembarked, you register your lf],ou wn, you ditch the items ftom your pack:you
visittoTropos, as all off-planethumans arerequired haveno {urther use for the blackmarketee;,because
to Then you enter Customs, under the keen eyes vou cantaketheguard'ssword.Butyou willhaveto
notjust of the Customsofficer, but alsoofa squadof leavethe spacepoltimmediately, becausethe hunt
soldiers They do not give you a body-search, will be on. Turn to 336.
however. since they rely on a metal-detector.But
your sword has been chemically treated to avoid L66
such detection, and your money-belt has no metal You fumble with the watchman'sbunchofkeys and
in it. You breathe a sigh o{ relief and passthrough fail to find the right one. You are cut down where
Customs, but you are immediately surrounded b)' vou stand.
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)?
 a67-a68
I
169-a7a
a67 a69
You tell the Arcadian thatyou knowwhat's uP with The door to the basement is ten-centrmetrerein
Muscatwho i. by now gibberingquietll in a comer forced laser-proofcriton. No way are yolt going to
of the room), and point out that he cannot kill you, 8et through that!But there is a smallpanel similarto
just in casehe needsa pilot on this trip You add that the one you encountered on the outside of this
you r^.i11make sure that this damaginginformahon building If you know the code, turn to the para-
gets out to other humans So you have thrown Braph whose decimal number looks the same as
down the gauntlet. What will his reactionbe?Tum this binary number. Othern ise you return to the
to a26. 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.
a68 You wake up with a starl when your shoulder is
YoLr take the plunge: surely, they must be the joggedby a janitor who is cleaningthe room which
underground. You tell them everything about your is otherwise deserted! You race back to Pro{essor
missron, and even drop the names of one or two Zacharias'sroom, or y to find a messageon the
people back on Earth who they might know of, to door: 'Called away on urgent business. Back
make your story more plausible. Once you have lomorro\,.r,r r d,m, You turn away, (ur\ing your
finished, the three humans huddle together.This is doziness Lose I LUc( point, but restore 2
a good sign: i{ they were traitors, they would have srAMrNApoints for the rest.Leavethe university by
finished with you by now. At last, they separate. turning to 235.
Bellatrix speaks againr 'Very good. You seem to
know more about this mission than any Arcadran r7a
spy would know There is just one last thing we Youwalkon foraboutanhour, and thenstop to rest
wantl'ou to do. Thebarman at the FissionChipsis a and shelter ftom the heat: gain 1 srAMrNA point
double agent return there and kill him.' Do you While gazing idly into the sky, you notice a large
agree(turn to 6E)or not (tum to 274X bird coming into land on the rock-faceaboveyou.

.l
 I 173-a75

What strikes you in particular is that the bird is 'Murdererl' says one of the guards. 'We've caught
carrying something which flashesas it catchesthe \'ou red-handed!'They advanceon vou, whippiesat
sunlight. Do you want to invesligate this further the ready They are clearly not going to listen to
(turn to 383), or carry on with your joumey (turn reason - you will have to fight them. From your
to 1.47)? 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 ILL STAM IN A
$ -+ FirstCUARD 6
SecondCUARD 7
During the fight another human comes.ton'nsralrs
If vou win, turn to 266.
472
After severalfurther more or lesspolite attempts to
wake him up, you decideto go round to the back of a7J
O[ the human" on thc b.1\c,\omc arc nearinggrcv
the rcception countet so that you can nudge hirn
unifoms, some bluc You want to ask n'herc the
awake. As you walk round, something glinting on
agricultulal stationls. Will you ask someonem grey
the floor catchesyour eye, and you stoop to pick it
(turn to 31o)or inbiue (tum to 1o2)?
up. Itis a largebutton, {rom ajacket, on which Lhere
is a curious designofan eaBleclutchinga scrollinits
talons. Then, from your crouched position, you 174
\fter a !\,hileyou hit the jackpot. A sectionoathe tile
notice something else - a pool o{ blood under the
is devotedto'Activists- Potentialand Actral' You
Arcadian's chair. He's been murdered! You pocket
are so engrossedin the details that yorl do not hear
thebLltton,realizingthat it could bea clue, and start
the approachingguards until lt 1stoo lat.
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.
'No!r',Mizar,'you sav, autho tatively,'1 must go.
'He'sdead!'yor-r
gasp 'Butit was. . itwasn't I But tirst tell me what you know aboutthe digit$of
mean . ,' the Arcadian cornputer '

l.
 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
Taxisare not allowed in the city PleasekeepTropos
iree o{ pollution. As you are tellestrial, I w l take
vou to the hostel.'Turnto 195,but subtract1 LUcK
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 some-
thing, 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
I 1gO
and look very attractive Near the university is the wincis itsel{ around her hips. 'Now, unbeliever.,
archaeologymuseum, which you decide to visit, this image seems to say, in a voice which is sur
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, SHAPE-CHANCER s(rLL ro STAM IN A 14
there is an armed South Arcadian watchman, who
callsyou over, butit seemshe onlywants to passthe lf you win, the thing reverts to its lorm as a shaft of
timeof day. light, which then disappearsback into a shadow
anct speeds a\ray You haven't the faintest idea
'A ziridium mine in the desert,' he says- 'Yes, I'd irtat has been going on. Turn to u4.
noticed that there aren't many vNitors,'you reply,
correctly. He nods. as if his next remark follows
logrcally:'As it is writtenin the BookoftheFiueSw1s,
"Contact costsnothing; if there rs cost it is not pure
contact."' | '.'/
i --l
Will you reply, 'No thanks, l'tl browse around my '!*--;.1!|:-=,r,,,,
self' (turn to 111),or'It's niceto seesomeonetaking
his job seriously'(turn to 19)?

479 18o
'So? Earthling, in me all forms. This one for you ' You press the button and wait, heartin throat. you
The shimmenng cloud within the shaftof ljght takes don't have to wait long Guards pour into the room
on a h()rrifving appearance,which is so alien that to answer the call They don't need to ask you what
you can hardlv believeit really exists.You seem to has been gorng on: your own dishevelledstateand
seea creaturewith four arms sprouting lrom a body; the mangled corpseofthe policemantell their story
each hand is arned with a scimitar,axe, ctuo or dll too cledrly.\ ou draw \ our swordin desperdtjo;.
scythei her hair stands up like living fire and js but dre overwhelmedby sheerforceot numoers,
adorned with a tiara of shrunkenheads.A cobra You have failed in your mission.

I.
181-182 183-185

181 183
You walk for half an hour in a southerly direction, You lose yourself in the shadows, hardly daring to
searchingin increasingdesperatio n for someshelter breathe and your pursuers pass bv on the main
from the ireezing night. But all in vain. The sudden moving pavement. You {ollow the twiljts and tums
drop jn temperature catches you still out in the of the side streets, always keeping the overhead
open, and you fall, as ifpoleaxed, to the ground. monorailin sightto guideyou in the right direchon
for your hotel Turn to 285
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 184
portraying a large black eye, Setsup and begins to 'I'm sorry,friend,'saysthedoorman.'Youleaveme
make a speech.Beforehe has got very far, the place no choice.' Wlthout further ado, and beforeyou can
is in uproar: a mini-riot erupts It is not too serious, react,he deliversa killing punch to your windpipe
but it delaysyou. You raceback to ProfessorZachar- Hopefully, he will have savedthe rebeloperationon
ias's room, only to find a messageon the doori Tropos, but you will never know.
'Called away on urgent business.Back tomo o\,v,
11 a.m' You turn away, cursingyour ill fortune 185
(loseI LUcKpojnt), and leavethe university (turn to There are very few humans on Arcadion, and you
235). have no hme to waste. \'ou approach the first hu-
man you meet and ask him the rvay to the computer
burlding. He tells you the way with some en-
thusiasm,as d he was proud to help a strangerfrnd
the centre of the Empire If you go straight to the
computerbuilding,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
 !
186-188 189

186
You are walking along a dusty corridor. The statue
of a grotesqueancient god looms out of the dark
ness,scaringyouwitlessfora moment LoselLUCK
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 189
shurtle service to the agricultural statlon (turn to The man thanls you and oflers you some food,
385)oi wrth a sword (tum to 286)? 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
J irc c l\ y o u t o t h e d g ric u lt u rrl" L iiion .C a i n | | I ( K
point, and turn to 114.

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)?
T a9o-a9a

L90
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 outatirregu-
lar intervals. You rcalize that you r/villonlv exhaust
\ o u r\ e lf t o n o p u rp o s eif y o u c o n L inL tr oe r u n \ r ' u
must stand and fight.
STREETFICHTER sKrLL9 srAMiNA 16
Its attackswillincrease in effectivenessas thebuild-
ings around get weaker lts first successfulAttack
Round will causeyou 2 srAMrNA points of injury,
thenext j, the next4, and so on, as largerand lar8er
piecpsofmrsonD 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 srAM-
INAby 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 1.92-1.94

terrain is wild and mountainous, and some of the in the spaceport area untrl your ship is Lrnloaded
mountains are activevolcanoes.It is a planet which and your passengeris ready to embark late the next
is still gorng throu8h the last vlolent stageso{ cre day. lt is now mid-afternoon, with Iour hours to go
ation. lt is very hot in the daytime, and fatally untilsunset. Will you first investigate the possibility
freezing at night, when the hot, blueish sun sinks ofgettinghold ofa sword (tum to 273)or of learning
below the horizon and the three moons become the whereaboutsof the agricultural station (turn to
visible. The moons causevast hdeson the planet. lf an)?
you have to spcnd a night out on Halmuris, you
would be well advised to choosesomewherewann 192
and far away from waterr The inhabltants live in This action is very noble o{you-buteven nobility is
small settlements,which were o ginally scientific misplacedsometimes.Youare marchedaway to the
research establishments,and are clustered quite Arcadian police headquarters. Before you die in
close together, with the spaceport, on the hiSl) agony, you r,r'ill reveal all - the codenames,your
plateau region in the south o{ the planet - this is k) tuissjon,your connectionwith SAROS.You have
avoid the hute tides \^'hich ravage the lower lying failed utterly.
areas, which are punctuated by sudden rnhospit
ablecrags- 19)
Thc.omputer feedsyou all thesedata, and also You narrowly miss impaling vourself on one of the
infotms you that the alien inhabitantsare mostly vicious looking spikes of the plant- You pick voui-
Central Arcildians, lvho naturall)' took over thc selfup and enterthe Bloomof the cave-Turn to 1oo
scicntificfacilities
ofthe planei Allyou knorr about
Lhc underground leader is that he ol she is an 494
assista)rl
at the agriculturalresearchsettlemcnt You take the monorait to the public park and find
the waiter at the main entrance 'We'vc beenexpect-
When you land on llalmuris, you find that )r)ur ing you,'he says 'Earthsentanothcr"merchant" to
limbs fcel healy. Thc hrghergraYityof this planet warn us of your allival I don't know all the details
means that for the (luration of vorrr stay here, yoll of your mission, except that vou havc to meet our
rnust lose J sKrlr pornt. This rrakes fincling I leader.I don't kno\'\'who this is - we work on the
wcnpon even more vital There are rrone of the basis that each person has contact only with his
Custornsand immicration hasslesthat vou ex- immedjatesuperior but I think you could startat
Pectt-cl.hlstead, 1'ou are simpll' orderecik) remarn the university ' You thank him, and may acldr t-ucx
a95-a95
T 497

point You head for the university. There is a overhead monolail systems; the buildings are
monorail drop station just outside. Will you plunge mostly late twenty-first century and lowlying- and
straightin (turn to i46), or wait around outside for a the pollutionl To think they haven't yet got around
while (tum to 178)? to dealing with it! A sign on the wall says:'Remem-
ber - no vehicles in town Offenderc will be pros-
ecuted.'A typically p mitive solution to a primilive
You pause to think. It occtirsto you that it need not problem.
necessanlybe a robot: themetallic tone of the voice Will you wait for the rcceptionlsttonotice you (tum
could come from some languagetranslationdevice. to 29), or diaw his attention to your presence(turn
What is'this zplalrh it's asking about? It can speak to 18E)?
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-

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)?
196
The hostel is a semi-dereljct,flea-riddenbuildinq-
dnd 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
 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 Turn to 256
A hand-klaxon Turn to 21
A benelo-phosphatestrobe 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
caption:'ENEMYor rHE EMPTRE' It is not an exact
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
SheeL), and seemsprepared to do as vou
suggest But rn fact you have insulted his Radjcian
senseof dutv. Turn to 85.
2O2-2O4 2O5-2Ob

,SAROS'?
202 Turn to 287
You look at Mehita. She is not much younger than. 'Bellatrix'? Turn to 24o
you, but your experiencesare worlds apart.You feel 'The Grand Vizier ofTropos'? Turn to 45
you cannot talk to her about anything serious You 'No one l'm from Earth'?, Turn to 326
m{rmble some excuseand leave. Will you go to the
Arts Floor, if you haven'talreadybeen there(turn to 205
258),or leavethe university (tum to 235)? You have {allen for the flnal trap the machme was
olfering power over itself, and thereforeover the
20J whole Arcadian race. The computer is subtler than
Turn to 177. 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,oLtroll 6, you incapacitatelhc guard im
mediately II nct, you !\,'ill have to fight hinl as
lollows
CUARD SKrrL 7 STAM r ^_A8

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

The Fission Chips is in the bascmentof the folmer to 1J1
Adolphovideolama.A ncon sign,'ith rnanybulbs
inissing, stiLl adverhsesthe last feature, a classic
sciencefiction comedy from the tr^'entiethcenturv,
.ailed'StarTlek' 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
coulse,'you repiy. 'Who recommended us to yo ,
strangcr?'asks the doorman, emphas;zingthe lasi
','ord What u'ill you repli/i
207
I 208-210

207 'So you know my codename,' she says 'That in

You slowl)' climb back to consciousnessThe first itself doesn't prove a thing: we may have been
thing you are aware oI is a splitting headache(de- infiltlated.'
duct 2 srAMrNApoints I jf you have not eaten
This is a tricky situation: they are not convincedthat
today) The second thing is that even when you
you are from SAROS, but are you entirely sure that
open your eyes,it's still pitch-black Onceyou have
they are rebels?Will you try to convincethem that
realjzed that you are not blind, but that wherever
you are who you sayyou are (turn to 168),or askfor
you are is in darkness, you clamber to your feet
proof of their identity (turn to 1o5X
lmmediatelv, a bright light stabsyour eyeballs,you
instinchvely cover your lace with your arm Behind
208
the light you canjust make out three human shaPes,
Itis surprisingly easyto push yourway through the
two sranding on either side of the third, lvho ts
foliage: the tendnls seem to part and then close
seatedat the table
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 LUCKpoints {or what amounts to the
murder of a lellow human. Then turn to 74
A wonan, \a'ho is apparently lhe one seated,
addressesyou: 'You seemto know somethingofour 210
business.Thai could mean one oI two things:either You tell him that the rope is for rock climbing on
vou are an Arcadian spv, or you are one of u5 llom Halmuris, and that the scanneris for checkingyour
Earth. If the latter is the case, I apologize for the ship's heating system,but he doesnot quite believe
rorgh treatmentyou havereceivedfuomtrs, but You )rou: the presenceof ta'ounlikely items in your Pack
will understand why thrs h'as necessary No\\', has aroused his suspicions.Roll one die. On r-2,
explain yourself ' turn to 396ion j 6, turntol6o
'I'm looking for Beilat x,' you begin
'f
214-242

2ta
However much you strugSle,vou cannot get free.
But the fact that they are thievesgives you an idea
'Look,'yousay,'youalreadyhavemy 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'relramanlGuardsl'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 con-
fused 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)?
 It
2a3-2a6 21.7-2a9

When you arive at the spaceport, you find that You pick vour man carefully, choosing someone
there are a great many Arcadian guards mingling who looks tough and self-sufficient. At last he
with the crowds If you let an Arcadiane\capein leavesthe group hewas with, and makesoff across
Grus's street, turn to 2oo;ifnot, turn to J1E a lobby. You catch him up after a lew metres, and
come straight to the point: 'Whateveryou do, don't
244 show surprise on your face,' you say, 'l need a
You had imagined a human secretary,but find a srvord. Can you help me?' He looks you up and
burly South Arcadian Of course: the Arcadians dor'r'n,and then says, 'No, J can't But I know who
would want to keep an eye on the files- He looks at can,ifanvone can.Come with me.'Willyou go with
you in surprise: you do not exactly look like an him (turn to 399),orleave him and try elsewherefor
ordinary student. 'Can I help you?'he asks,but his a sword (turn to 137)?
antennaeare waving alarmingly. Willyou fighthim
so that you can investigatethe files (tum to 1o7),or 2a8
considerthat they areprobablynotworth the bother 'You're all sa)-ingthe same thlng, really,' you say.
(turn to 58)? The students look at yoLr In disgust. You should
knorvbetterthan to butt in on a group of students:
245 thev are argurng becausetlley are ftiends, not be-
Resolveyour fight (J U\ et lre yd is a E re \er it h ca c ho lh e r. I h e v S i v cr o u
WATCHMAN . rn dv o lr d , (rc lelo g o u p 1 u l h e
t h e c o ld s h c ' rrld e r.
sKrLL 7 STAM I N A 8
Arts Floor',if ) ou haven't bet\r there alreadv(furn to
If you win, you can take the grenade Turn to 32o- r58). otherwise\'ou leave the universlty(turn to
2Ja)
216
Ey€s streamin8, and choking in the smoke, you 249
race,sometimesleaping, sometimeszigzaggingbe You are nearjnllthe end ol'yolrrmisslon You hnve
tween burning bushes. fesf vour Luck If yo[ are reachedIhe outside o{ the loj1g,]ou' buildin8 !\ here
Luckv, turn to 323iifyou are Unlucky, tum to 389. 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

'l
220
Ii 221,-223

what yolll whole adventure so far has been aiming

fr
*
at- do you have the correctcode?You will have to You find yourselfin a cellarwith further exitsin the
enter the code for the door to oPen. Convert the eastem and western walls. Will you turn east(turn
binary number to decimal, and turn to the Para- to 186)orwest (tum to 324)?
gmph 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 $ Turn to 4oo.
know how to convert binary to deomal, here is a
table:

DE CIMAL 256 128 64 16 4 7

DT NARY

Enter your binary number in the sPacesProvrded

Each time you enter 1, that decimal number is
relevant you can ignore eachsPacewhich contains
223
o. Add together all the relevant decimal numbers:
'Al1 riBht,' Crus says eventually. He releasesyou
the total is the decimal equivalent of the binary
and spdnts over to Bet the sword. 'No funny busi-
number.
nessnow - I've got the sword.'You hand over the
22(, 5oo credits from your money-belt, disguising the
{act that you have more by pretending to searchfor
The guards let you through wlthout further delay
the last 1oo-creditnote and by looking depressed
Once inside the spacepo buildn8s, you shedyoui
about the transaction.Crossthe 5oocreditsoffyour
disguise and make your way to your sPaceshiP.
AdoenturcSheetAs Grus shovesyou out ofthe door
Turn to 78
at sword-point, you hear lndLrson the visiphone,
telling the police where you are. You leave quickly
i and return to the main road. Until you find another
weapon, all your battlesmustbe conductedaccord-
I
ing 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
unarmed-
ARCADIAN 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 ome e t . y o u e \ c lrrm . W e l l - c e ,
is the laconicreply
 I
226-227 228-229

Rough hands blindfold you. You are taken into one 228
of the nearby houses, down some steps, and then Ihe shock-r,r'aveof the ziridium blast knocks you
you get confused.you are led through tunnels that unconscious,Deduct 2 sraMrNA points and tum to
twist and turn, several doorways, and part of the 46.
sewagesystem,tojudge by the smell, danknessand
weird echoing of your footsteps.The underground 229
on Tropos seemsto be litemlly that, and to have a 'Suspicious, aren't you?' says Grus 'ls that the
systemof connectinghouses.Then, without wam- thanksI get?A1lright, you cancohe in.'The dooris
ing, there is a heavy blow on the backofyourhead, opened by another man, who looks furtively both
and you sink into unconsciousnessTurn to 2o7 ways down the side-streetbefore ushering you in
and locking the doorbehind you
226 You are shown into a sparsely furnished room.
'ls this what you want?'you ask, offedng the mind- Everything looks harmless enough, but your
probe. In response,the shimmering seemsto groi! trained suspicionsare sudden)yaroused.Justthen,
more intense, and a sudden blast ofheat makesyou Crus shouLs, 'Crab him! But watch out he's
drop the probe and stand back. The probe melts on armed!' Before you can react, Grus and the other
the ground. If you have the staff, you can try this man pin you to the wall and take away your sword,
(turn to 257);rfyou don'twant to, oryou don't have rvhrchthey throw acrossthe room, so that all their
rt, turn to 179. hands are free to keep you where you are.
'Setyou up nicely, didn't I?' snarlsCrus. 'Though in
If the robotdoes have a weakness,you cannot think a way I'm sorry- Me and ny buddy Indus here,
ofit there'sno time and too much pressue. Retum we're thieves. Cot caught by the alien scum.' He
to 19oand fight it normally. 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.'

;Q,-.r You struggle to get free. Roll a die. On 1-j, turn to

211;on 4 6, fum to u3.

I
|.
 I
2Jo-234 232-233

230 distracted.It won't fall for this t ck twlce, but you

TheArcadian, whosename tlllns out to beMusca,is can distract it once and get in a free attack.' Before
obviously in a confused statei he changes {rom you can thank him and ask his reasonsfor tellmg
being friendly to being suspicious at a moment's you rhis, he opens the doorand urgesyou through,
notice. By cautious probing, you gradually dis- having given you a sword for the contest. Garn 1
cover that something has gone wron8 v/ith the LUCKpoint for the guard's information. If you sur-
empathic receiver in his brain, which links him to vive to fight the Scabrok,turnto262 (rememberthis
the Arcadian computer. He has held severalposi- number) when you are instructed to do so. Now
hons of authority on Halmuris and Arcadion; you rurn ro 313.
guessthat the constant decision-makingthat these
jobs involved has begun to ftee his will fuom the
enslaving grip of the computer. The side-effects Testyour Luck.If you are Lucky, you make it doIa,n
include blinding headac.hes, and a senseof confu- the cliff without difficulty. If you are Unlucky, vou
sion and guilt. If you tread carefully, you have fall down the last bit and sustain 2 srAMrNA points
obviously stumbled acrosswhatcould be a valuable ofbruises.Then turn to 147to continuethejourney
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)? 2J3
You dodge and weave through the pedestriansand
211 up and down alleylvays You manageto escapethe
The guard pausesby the doorto the arena.'The two patrol, but ata cosfo{ r srAMrNA point. Eventually/
beastsyou have to {ace,' he tells you, 'are first a whenallseems safe,you slump downina doorway.
Laphodorm and Lhen a Scabrok. Both are bred After a while, you realizethat you can only go back
specrallyfor the Bdme.. lhe Laphodormis a new to the hostel and try again tomorow, soyou startto
breed,and lknow nothing aboutit. But the Scabrok, get up. But at that moment, the door behind you
though powerful, has one weaknessi it is easil_y opens, and rough hands grab hold ofyou. Will you
attempttoputup aftght (turn to 155),orareyou too
weak and depressedto bother (tum to 272X
234-2J5 236-2J7

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 236
againsthim. The other getsa ftee attackagainstyou: It speaks: 'Earthling, wherc zplaran?' At least,
roll for Attack Strengthsas usual, but nothin8 hap- that's what the last word sounds like. The vorceis
pens unlesslis Attack Strengthis higher, in which shangely metallic and hollow; it certainly does not
casehe wounds you. rome from any living beinglhat yuu can imagine.
Perhapsit is a robot o( some kind. If it is, then you
SKI LL ST A M I N A
could attackit. Is this whatyou chooseto do (tuir1to
NORTHARCADIAN 6 8 129),or will you try to talkback to it, asitinches ever
SecondARCADlAN 6 6 closerto you (tum to 195)?
Ifyou win, turn to 381.

'I don't know what it's like on Earth,' says one of

-t) your companions, 'but here on Tropos it's con
You decide to go back to your hotel. If you had a
spot ofbother with the Chief of Policeat the Zodiac sidered bad manners not to drink with tterds.'
earlier today, you have decided to go to Porky's There is a decidedly unpleasant tone to his voice.
Palaceinstead On the monoiail ride, you have the Willyourespond to the insult (tum to 35),or meekly
impression that you are being followed There ls a drink up (turn to 322)?
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)?
 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 jour-
neys before the black marketeer is satisfied lest
la r Luck three times. If at any time you are Un-
lucky, 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 in-
deed?' 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

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
244
After a while, the corridors quieten down, as most
You have pushed hrm too far, and he goesinto total of the students go off to lectures Then one student
physical collapse.You have no choice now but to approachesthe notice-boardand, rather fu*ively,
wa it for a robotto (ome by Turn to 278. pins up a posLer.You just have time to see that it
announcessome kind of demonstration,when the
242
yoLlngmanis thrown to the floorby twoothers, and
By the time you get closeto the fleeingArcadian,he his poster is ripped from the wall The two louts
has turned into the main road and met up with a then proceed to beat him up You're not going to
pahol of his fellow Northern Arcadians. Teslyorr stand {or that kind oibehavlour You will fight both
Luck. If you are Lucky, tum to 132; if you are the louts simultaneouslyin unarmed combat.Each
AttackRound, choosewhich of them you will fight,
Unlucky, turn to 52
and conduct a normal Attack Round against him.
Agamst the other, roll for Attack Strengthsasusual,
243
bLrteven yolrr Attack Strength is higher, you do
You edge around the boulder and then spring out,
n o t h u rt h im: y o ua re p re o c c u p ic!dilh h i \ c o m p a n -
sword at the ready. lt seemsthat the Arcadian has
ion. I{ his Attack Strengtlt is higher, however, he
come to somedecision,becausehis whippy is raised
hurts you.
above the cowering human's head. The look oI
surpriseon the Arcddidns fdcewhen you appeari" SI(ILL STAM IN A
almostcomrcal.But now he will turnhis attentionto FirstLOUT 6 8
you Second LOUT 5 6
CENTRAL ARCADIAN s(IT,L7 STA M I N A 8 This is not a fight to the death. lf your srAMrNA rs

i
,I
 245-146
247-249
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 stu-
dents: the 'sudden death'rule of un;rmed combat,
or reduction of vour opponents' srAMrNA to zero,
wlll count for unconsciousnessrather than death.
A{ter the fight, tlrtr| to 1jj

245
You know that your first pdority is to find some-
where shelteredto spend the night. you are follow-
TB d Path throuSh rough lerrdin, rith a valley
slojing down to vour leftand roci\youtcropsu 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 m)/steriou\SouthArcadidnwordsmight mean, and
spjky, cactuslike plant. WiJl you enter the rig-ht- you leave.in (onsiderableerhbarra*imenL.
Loser
hand 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(adianbelieve-yi)u. lf you dreLuck\, turn to144:

it you are Unlucly, turn to 129.
 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 green-
ish 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
Theobjectyou grabbedlvasajetpack,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 spaceportas soon
as possible Tu1TIto 336
254-256 257-260

There is anotherpassagebianching off to the south The passageleads into another cellar, with ol1eexit
Wili you take it (turn to 62) or continue straight on straight ahead, and another in the northern wall.
(turn to 39)? Will you go straight ahead (turn to 186) or north
(tum to q2)?

'Dorado,' you say, 'l must go. But first tell me 258
what you know about the drsts of the Arcadian Do you have an introduction to anyone hereTIf so,
colnPurer' hlrn to the paragraph which has the same number
'Identify yourself,' he says in reply. 'What's the as the room vou needi otherwise turn to 76.
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 pass-
word, 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 259
Equipment List.) This will reduce your first op- The pall ofsmoke provides excellentcoveruntil you
ponent's sKrLL by 2 points; by the hme you meet are quite near the rocks Then you are spotted, and
yoursecond opponent, however, thefighthasbeen the silver craft races in pursuit. But the drifting
carried away from the slippery area.But the o also smokecausesit to misjudge the distanceand, asyou
slows down your opponents,so that you have time squeezeinto c()\,er, it smashesinto the rock-face
tograb anotheritem from your pack, youwantto- above vou and explodes Tcsfyorr lrck If vou are
Do yotr choosethe hand-klaxon (turn to 21) or the Lucky, turn to 228,if you are Unlucky, turn to 288
strobe (turn to 7g)2 If you choose neither, return
now to resolveyour fiSht 260
'Why on Tropos do votr u'ant to get to that old
place?'askstheman suspiciously.'Beenderelictfor
years lfyou want a goodtime,someentertainnent,

l.
26a-262 263-266

I can tell you where to go.'You thank him, but tell sand across its field oI islon. Testyour Lltck. Il yolr
him that you have arrangedto meeta friend outside are Lucky, turn to 141;if you are Unlucky, tum to
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 26J
Sheet,' comes the reply. There is no trme to lose; More Arcadian guards are on their way, but you
you mus[ get on with your mission. Wi]l you go make il throu8h the gate, and they do not set out
north for one and a half blocks, then r^/estfor two after you. At filst you wonder why, but then you
blocks (turn to 2o4), or north for two and a half realize that they are leaving the freezing night to do
blocks, than west for twoblocks (turn to 1o9)? 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,

26a 265
Musca is in a highly nervous state- and is playing TestyourLuck.Il yo.uareLucky, tuln to 69;if you are
dangerously with the phaser. Will you rush him and Ur ucky, tum to 35.
try to wrest it from him (turn to 59), or speakto him
(turn to 9o)? 266
You join a group of students who are hanBing
262 around a drink-dispensing machine on the Science
Good: you have remembered the ScabrolCsweak- Floor, and are having a heatedscientificdiscussion.
ness. At some point durinS the {ight, you will be Will you chjp into the conversation(tum to 218),or
able to dishact its attention, perhaps by throwing keep quiet (turn to 11)?
 267
'T}l.is zplaran?' you ask, finding yourself speak-
ing 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 pro-
gram 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.
274-274 275-277

have one (turn to 365)?Ifyou cannot afford this, or

think that it is ilot worth bribing h1m,you leavefor Lose1 LucKpoint for {ailing to help a fellow human
the university (tuIn to q6) Turn to 114.

2V
The phaser cuts down two members of the patrol,
but then jams, presumablybecauseit 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. 276
The buttons are so close together that you cannot
272
tellwhich one the policemanwasreachingforwhen
Your captors are human. They blindfold you and you attackedhim- Will you try the left-hand button
lead you down into the cellar, where, to yout sut (turn to 18o)or the ght-hand one (tum to 386)?
pdse, a draught indicatesthepresenceofa corridoi
But that is yoff last impressionfor a n'hile a heavy
blow to yourhead knocksyou unconscious.Turn to The passageleads you into a cellar with no other
207
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
Of the human*t,n the base.someare wearinggrel head east along the corridor you were in before
uniforms,-ome blue. Will you arl someonein gre) (tuln to 346).
(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)?

I
I
 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
of placel lt releasesyou, however, and you put the
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),or acceptit (turn to j22)?

l.
281.-283 2E4-285

28a identified to the autho ties (rum to f78), or will you

Testyour Luck If you are Lucky, turn to 1o4; iI you wait now to seewhat your friend doesnext (furn to
are Uilucky, turn to 82. 4a)?
282 284
Of course!The aedaMt must be a meansof detect- So near, and yet so far. He is obviously Pro-
ing structural weaknessesin buildin8s That is why Arcadian. He prornptly summonsthe local policeto
the robot only thumps irregularly - when it senses arTestyou.
that a building is weak enough to crack. However,
there is no point in simply stoppin8 by a firm
building, becauseyou would have to stay Lhereand
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{ulAttackRound againsLthe
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. 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 mon-
otony of its strucfure - an aedal on toP. It has no
28t humanoid features: no arms, no legs, no face
'No, there's no time for that,' calls your friend. 'l nothing that looks familiar or that you can under-
know what you're thinking - that he might have stand. You haven't the faintest idea of how it will
seen your face; but soon the whole area will be attack or, therefore, how you should defend your-
swarming with the swine.' Will you pe$ist, pre- self againstit. You know that your blows will have
ferring to take this risk rather than that of being some e{fect on the soft metal of this planet, but it
 286 2E7-288

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 2E7
you You have no idea ho$' the robor causestne 'Never heard the name before,' says the dooiman.
thump. but, if you have been told about the ,street 'Cet lost, creep.' Will you do as he says(trLrnto 95),
Fighter'. you know that it has beenaptlJ'named. lf or attempt to smashthe lockswith yoursword (tum
you have a baryon grenade,turn tof88; if not, turn to 365)?You can onlv smash the locls if )'ou still
to 1go. have your sh,otd, ofcourse.

#t
288
You are shon'eredwith fuagmentsof the exploding
craft.Deduct,+s_rAMrNA pomtsand. jf you ale still
alive, turn to 46.
286
'Yes,I cansellyou a sword,'he replies.,It,llcostyoLl
1_,ooocredits.' 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 cannotortvill
not pay him, you wrll have to do a job for him
instead (turn to 238).
 289

289
The Arcadians are amazedat your cheekin butting
into Lheir conversation. One particularly loud-
mouthed 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, gig-
gling, 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 sKrLL8 STAM IN A 1O

Ifyou win, turn to 329

69 j'

I.
 29t-295
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)? 293
As the door shuts behind you/ horror grips your
294 guts. Bright light springs out from hldden lamPs
You switch off your sword and hide it again. But and reveals that you are in a loom oI distorting
now what will you do? There are guards ou tside the $irrors Even the door behind you is milrored. A
door. Will you open the door and try to bluff your laserbeamshootsout fromone side andbouncesoff
way past the guards (tum to 87),or will you investi- a mirror at an unpredictableangle.In an rnstantyou
gatethe buttons on the desk (turn to 226)? are surroundedby laserbeams,formrnga crazy ran
dom pattern of burning light. One blasts your leg
292 ftom its socket;another takes three fingers of your
It takes time and cautiousquestioning,but from the left hand. Then another st kes, and another . .
two Arcadians, who are now no threat to you/ you
learn three crucial piecesof information: that some 294
of the weapons which the Empire brought back to As you approach the mouth of the cave, you
prcserve its o\,,n safety are stored in an arsenal sfumble on a loose rock. Testyour Luck Il you are
in the basement of the computer building on Lucky, tuIn to 193iifyou are Unlucky, tuln to 143-
Arcadioni thaLthe code for entering this arsenalis
11o;and that the computer consistsoI three main 295
paits, all of which must be destroyed to guarantee 'Come on, fellow humans,' you cry, hoPing for
eliminationof themachine.Gain2LUcKpointsYou a resPonse 'Now is the time to free yourselves!'
are now approachingArcadion, so turn to 118. Ten humans range themselvesby your side. You
295 296-zg7
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: 296
AJter walking for qulLe a while, the path passes
SKI LL ST A M I N A through an area which is sprinkled with large
First ARCADIAN 8 boulders- You can hear voices- one Arcadian, one
SecondARCADIAN 7 8 human - conine from behind one of the boulders.It
Third ARCADIAN 7 6 seemsthaL a C;ntral Arcadian has a human at his
Fourth ARCADIAN 6 mercy and, in a manner typical of his kind, has
Do you haveanythingin your pack to help yoLrin paused to think about all the possibilltiesopen to
thj5 fighL?II you think you do, rememberthi, him. The human, meanwhile, is pleading with the
reference(295),to which you wili haveto rerum, out 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)?

yourselfalready (turn to z5z)?

297
liLjr!. Well done!The dooi shdesopen easilyand lets you
into an ante-chamberbefore sliding shut again be-
hind you. Only then do the next doors open - and

l.
298 299

there are four more seLsof doors; this is to keep the 299
building as free as possibleftom dust. Once inside, Once you are out oI the spaceport vou have no
you can seethe computerroom ahead,but thete are problems finding a hover-taxi You climb in and
also some steps down to a basement.Will you go instruct the microcomputer fo take you south into
strai8ht to the computerroom (tumto j81), ordown town. You notice thata canera hasbeenfixed in the
to the basementfirst (turn to 169X 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 under-
ground 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.
298 That's quite a lot to be going on it's more than you
You leap down on to the ledge, away from the nest, know about the rebelson otherplanets-and should
so as to have a secu.e landing. Your precipitous make your task on Tropos relativelyeasy,i{ you act
arrival awakensthebird, which instinctively attacks sensibly.
you
The other thing occupyingyour mind is that most of
ROCKBUZZARD SKI LL 6 ST A M IN A 8 the Arcadianson Tropos seemto be memberso{ the
warlike Northem species.The presenceof so many
If you win without being wounded by its beak or
of these natural {ighters could make your m$ston
talons, tum to 40, Howevei, if you are wounded
on Tropos more hazardous.Why have so many of
once, this means that the bird has got past your
them been posted here?Are they closingin on the
flashing sword, and its weight willknockyou offthe
rebels? Do the Arcadians know that the Fission
ledge to die on the path below.
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
 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 guard-
post, and you are hrddenamongthe outbLrildings
by the time a patrol comesto investigatethe break.
You make vour way innocently to your spaceship.
Turn to 78

I.
303-Jo5 306-3o8

303 305
The man has gone bv the time you get back (lose 1 Porky is a bit cauhousabout answering;he saysit's
LUCKpoint). Clearly,he thought it unhealthyto best not to inquire too closely into some events on
hang around and rrghtlv, b€causean Arcadian Radix. But he mutters something about a killing
patrolis on its rvayand hasonlybeen delayedby the machine called the'Street Fighter', and how the
body of the compatriot of theirs i1'hoyou have just authodties have got paranoid enough recently to
cut down. You walk casuallyout of the otherend oI use it even to break up student demonstratrons,
the streetand into the busy main road. Turn to 132. That's all you can get out of him. It looks as though
the university mrght be a good starting point The
304 monorail takesyou near themain entrance.Willyou
Youbreakaleg.You caneitherwaitfornight,orcall plunge straight in (turn to 146), or wait around
for help Either way, your mission is over. outsidefor a wh e(turnto128)?

305 107
No sooner have you sat down than you notice that Wh)'drd you say that?There'sno wayvou canknoa'
one of them, a young woman, is wearing a jacket any such thing. From the point of view of your
whose buttons have a curious design of an eagle inquisitors, you rvould be so sure that they are
clutchingd slroll and thdt one button i5 mis\ing wrong about the barman only lf vou were an Arca-
Do you have the misslng button? If so, b)rn to 347; dian agent yourself, with inside knowledge about
otherwise, turn to 1o3. 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 wheez-
ingnoise 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 ques-
tion, 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
what2'youwonder Maybeyoucouldringup an old
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 your-
self 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

!l
342-343
344-145
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 (tL1rnto 51)?Alternarively,you may
return to 381and chooseagain,if you have another
choiceto make. 344
'Havertyourway,'hesays,scowling'Butsinceyou
are armed, I assume that you have some particular
313
You have no choice;you enter the arena-The door reason for being on Tropos. You refuse my help
swjngs shut behind you. You are overh'helm€dby but you may need help sometime.'You thank hirn,
the dazzling sunliSht, the roar of the crou,dand the but leave alone Out on the street, you must get
strangesmell of the pale blue Radicjansand on the away as qurck]y as possible, and frnd the Fission
Chips.You know that north headsout or rown, so
Bround. You assessvour predicament:hrgh bariers
surround the arenai the ground is covered with vou turn south (turn to 99).
sand. This is it, then. You iqll have no help apart
from yourself
Musca remained surp singly calm throughout the
A sudden hush fills the arena.A door on the other frght, but starts to grovel rather embarrassinglyin
side opens and out comes the most hideoLrsbeast front of you when you have won. You take advan-
you have ever seen or imagmed - a Laphodorm, tageof the situation and order him b tell you what
bred for grotesquenessas well as fighting ability. lt he knows about the computer on Arcadion. In a
ls coveredin red scalesjit has a retractableneck, like halting vorce, he tells you that he knows nothing,
a tortoise;rts head is like a lion's, roughly, but the but that the dead Arcadian knew more. Hou'ever,
tonSueswhich dart from its slaverin8jaws remind you do find out that one of ihe Arcadian arsenalsis
Vou more of a multitude of snakes Resolveyour in the basementof the computer building, and that
battle: rts entry-codeis 11o Cain I LUc( point_You are
LAPHODORM sKtLL 7
now nearing Arcadion itseif; turn to rt8

Ifyou win, turn to 106.

I
ys-Jag t2o-122

3a6
The two disks count as a singleitem in your pack. If
you aheady have the limit o{ six items, you must -'A
shed one to accommodatethe dlsks Nowyou must
find a computer. You leave the university before
your c me js discovered.Turn to 235.
320
In your dusty and dishevelled state, you judge it
347 unwise to retum to the main museum, Perhaps
You spend the whole day searching fruitlessly
theie is a way out oI these cellars. You search
around the city, and even try the university again,
the body of the watchman and take his bundle of
but you find no clues You have failed in your
keys. Beforevou can searchthe body any further,
mlsslon
however, the watchman's comlink beeps and an
Arcadian voice comesthrough, askrngwhere he is.
318 Now the searchwill be onl
The patrolling Arcadiansscarcelygiveyou a second
glance Beforeyou reach Customs, the next check- The cellaryou are inhas two corridorsleadingoffits
poinl. do you want to Bet rid ol dny of your equip- eastwall- Behind you is the staircaseup to the main
ment? lf so. you find a safe spot in the human's museum. Will you take the left-hand passage(turn
washroom to do so Whether or not you dumped to 127)or the right-hand one (tum to 257)?
any equiPment, turn to 33.
324
Ja9 'Well, then,'he continues, 'we need someone to
As you look into the screen,it spells out a single take Corvus's place, don't we? You have a chorce,'
message:'Curiosity can kill the cat.' It is true. The he says h) you. 'You can either carry out a little job
computer has ollered you knowledge, and youhave lor us, or die.'Will you fight your captors (turn to
fallen for the trap. Your defencesare down, and the 80) or do as the man suBgests(fum to 236)?
Arcadiancomputerhas takenoveryourmind. Your
missronis over.
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,
scratchesand 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-pafiy1swaiting 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 releasedfloods over the floor, and
fteezesyour feet before 1tevaporates.With ail feel-
ing 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 clienteLeis mixed human and
Arcadian, but there are only a few Arcadians, and
they are mostly Southerners The Arcadian section
1svery comfortable,with padded seats,reallvooden
327-128 329-3Jo
tables and warter servrce, The human section is
cheaply equipped with starnedand scaned formo
plas fumiture- Ihe air is thick with the smell oi r$-c
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. 329
The doorman interrupts your observationby hand- i he North Artadians friend i: strugglingtL,get to
ing yorLthe membership card and saying, 'Justone his feetj you quickly knock him out. Then you
more thing, sir - a security precaution. I'm sure search the Police Chief's pockets and find 75o
you'11understand Our Arcadianclientsinsist on it.' credits, which you take, and his notebook This is
He buzzesa metal det€ctorswiftly over your body, full of day-to day police business, but one iLem
which tells hlm nothing, of course; and there is catchesyour at[ention: 'Check on Z. at university.,
nothing too susp)ciousin your pack. Then he begins This could be your starting-point. It is too danger-
to ftisk you. lf you no longer have your sword, this ous fo go back into the hotel, so you set out for the
does not alarm you (tum to 64). If you do still have university tmmediately. The monorait drops you
your sword, wrll you say that you have changed near the univeEity. Witl you plunge straight in
your mind and leave the club (turn to 39o), or will (tum to 145),or wait around outside for a bit (turn to
you submit to the search(tuIn to 358X 17a)?

J27 330
Unforfunately, no further opportunities present However much you dodge and weave through the
themselves,and you perish in the freezing cold as Pedestrians and alle).wnys,thepatroldrdw\ine\or-
night draws in. abll clorer.Atlast.a helpfulpasscr-bytripsyou up.
and before you can get up, five assorted lasir
swords and whippies slash down on your unpro-
328
ln your weakened state, you are unable to prevent tectedhead and ba{k. You have failed - and no one
the policeman diving for the desk and pressingthe is to blame but yourself.
buzzer. Guards pour in, too many for you to fiBht.
They cut you down in an instan[.

I
I
331-3J5 316-338

31r 3J6
It is not your sword-hand that has been injured. You retum to the main part of the spaceport,to get
Reduceyour sreurrA bv 2 points for the agony. If your bear1n8s. The fteezingnightrsnotfaroff.How
you have notyet done so, you can explorethe other will you get off the base?lt is surrounded by a high
crackby tuming to 355;if you think that it is time to perimeter wire fence, and both its main enlrances,
continue youriourney. tum to 10 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.
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 The young man you rescuedtakes you to the stu-
do (turn to 3z)? Il yon have an alternative, you dents' bar and buys you some drink and food
could return to 381and chooseagain (restoreI sraMrNA points). You loin some friends
of his at a table. 'Hey, you lot!' exclaimsthe young
man.'ThisEarthlingherejustgavea coupleof Black
You are walking along a dusty passage.Cobwebs Eyes black eyesl' When the inevitable questions
brush your face;the red eyesand streamlinedform have died down, you ask who the Black Eyes are,
of some Radicianrodent show up briefly in the di and leam that they are a pro-Arcadian political
light. Some wav along, another passagebranches group. The students are planning a demonstration
off to the north. Will you continue straight ahead againstthe perconalfiles that the University Secret-
(turn to 346),or tum north (tum to 277)? ary keepsabout every memberof the university, but
the Black Eyes agree wrth the system. Eventually,
334 you take your leave. Will you go to the Science
Will you fight the man (turn to 157), or run away Floor, if you haven't been there aheady (turn to
(turn to 124)? 266), the University Secretary'soffice (turn to 214),
or will you leave the university (tum to 235)?

'Never heard of it,' repiiesthe man, 'but you could 338

try the hardware shop next door.' You thank him About halfway there, the cover ofsmoke ends. You
pohtely You had better go io the hardware shop. are immediately spotted and cut down.
Turn to 382.

I
 339-342 J43

339 provide shelter: that is how if stays alive in the

Youmanageto persuadehim thattheitem is harm_ sub-zerotemperatules,presumably Will you try to
less.Tum to 324. get inside (turn to 2o8), o! do you mistrust this
mysteriously moving Plant and carry on (tum to
J40 327)7
YoLrturn to grapple with him, but the butt of his
phaser connects squarely with your temPle, and J4J

you crashto the lloor'Such a Pity,' he says.'l was 'Ah! A senseof iustice.That tiPsthe balancein hrs
Iookrng forward to our little exPeiment ' Then he favour, don't you think?' Bellatrix asks the other
blastsyou out of existence. two. They agree.Besides,as one of the men Points
out, you know so little about your inquisitors that
344 even if you $'ere a spy, the inlormation vou could
When you distractthe Scabrok,you manageto hit a pass on would causeonlv a temporary halt to the
particularly vulnerablespof, and injure the fionster rebel operation
in such a way that you reduce its sKtLLby 1 point 'All right,' says Bellatrix. 'l'll tell you what I know
andits srAMrNAbv 2 points. In other words you can It's not much after all your efforts, I'm afraid
fight it as follows: Rumourhasitthat theNorthernArcadiansmade uP
SCABROK sKrLL7 STAM T N A 1 2 amarching-songtohelP them remembera sequence
of three of the digits. I don't know what they are,
lfyou win, turn to 54. however, or where this sequencecomes in the
whole seriesof digits; but here's the song, for what
342 rt'sworthi
You know that your first priority is to find some-
rvhere sheltered to spend the night. After a while Oh! Morlal conbatis suchjo!:
youcome acrossa tree or PerhaPsit is a largebush, No messfug aLmu
t , no subtlePIoY.
or even a leaf-coveted stone, All you can see rs Empireol Arcadian! Enpire of Arcadion!
densefoliage, moving gently, as if in a breeze,and Onuard, eoeronwdrd!
reachingto the Bround from about three metresuP. Openpit.hedbattlesnlakene hish:
You walk round it: it is the sameon all sides lf you mitldtheodds- lel'sdoor die!
NeL,er
could penetrate it, it is so dense that it would EoernnreArcadiotl! Ettrpireol Arcadion!'

:1
 344-345

Thafs a you can get ftom Bellatnx, so the infor-

mation 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
k€ep 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

I
.l
345 J47-48
'One of thesedoors leadstoinstantdeath; the other 347
leads to a gladiatorial dng. Such fights are one of our Sheis fascinatedby the story of how you found the
amusements.We often send cflminals through one button, butpoints out thatthat doesnotnecessarily
or the other of lhe doors.'The guards are watching prove that you are not an Arcadian spy, sent to
you closely,and you realizethat they will kill you if discoverthe killer of the receptionistat the hostel.
you show the slightestresistance'If you . . er. . . She thinks for a bit 'All right,' she sayseventually.
parlakeof our contestand defeat the two beastswe 'This is what you do. I'm going to leave. Five
will send against you, we will escort you back to minutes after I've done so/ you enter Lhevisiphone
your spaceship. After the information you have boothoverthere.Then we'llsee. . .'
given us, it would be better for you not to fall into
the hands ofyour fellow humans, don'tyou think? Itall sounds abit suspecttoyou, butyou reallyhave
Now, make yollr choice which door?' no choice-You cannot followher, sincehermuscle-
bound friends are surrounding you. After a while,
Will you go through the right-hand door (turn to one of them says, out of the comer of this mouth,
293)orthe left-hand one (turn to 397)? 'OK, go!' Tum to 81.

346 348
The corridor, which is lined with packing-casesand As you leave the arsenal, the door hisses shut
other museum objects,gladually cuFes arouncl to behind you, and a mechanical voice says: 'The
the right, until you are headingwestinstead ofeast. entry-code is now changed The neu, code will be
Thereis a passageheadingsouth (turn to 62),or you circulatedto authodzed personnel.' That's a secur-
can continue stiaight ahead(tum to 8). ity deviceyou hadn't expected;theie'll be no return-
inr r^ rha ,repnil +h p n

Your next problem is that becauseof the size of the

arsenal, it took quite a time to find the items you
needed, and you emelge from the stairs to be con-
fronted by an Arcadian patiol. You can use against
them nothing that you may have Lakenftom the
a$enal except a photon grenade and a hand-
phasei- If you use the Brenade,turn to 85;if you use
thephaser, tum to 221;ifyou have neither ofthese,
you are dead.
 t49-J52
353-154
349

150
354
'Cheerupl you \av herrhly. a5you dump your>elf
on to lhe bed,whosespringsrecpondwitli aiarming
'lt may never happen.,
iro,?gs.
9rinEsome interferonto his cabin(turn lo 212),or 1t alreadyhas,'moansthe man.
inyite him in (tum to 2fo)?
'What do you mean?Whereare you from?,youask.

You mandge to catch up with the fleeing Arcadidn 'Oh. l'm from fropos. I'm only staying herebe(duse
Derorene reache5the mdin thoroughfare.In hi5 those murderingswine have made me homeless.
weakened state, he shouldn,t be difficult to dis_ They suspectme ofbeing a rebel,you see.My wife
patch. . . . my children . ,'He brea_ks down again and
sobs,with his faceburied in his hands.
ARCADIAN THUG SKILL5 srAMrNA 6
Willyou staywith himto tryto calmhim down (tu1n
Ifyou win, turn to Z. to 136),or wrll you quietly leave him be in his grief
(turn to 60)?

The grendde fails to e\plode. Turn to i90.

I
 356-15E

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 J56
He tells you that it leads to the cellars where the
strips of different metals coiled around its wooden
museum stores all the artefactsit has no room to
stem, a casket containrng 18o credits, and a mrnd-
display, and he offersto show you around. Willyou
probe. The probe lvill fit into your anh-grav pack,
accept(turn to 392), or go to the university (tum to
and you put the money In your money-belt, but if
a46)?
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 t>/
This doesnotwork:it givesthe Arcadianeasyaccess
power seems to be suSSestingthat you take the
to your thought processes,which he can then use
stalf You cannot tell whether the power rs good or
{or his own purposes.Turn to 55.
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 358
He is very thorough, and soonfrnds your sword. He
climb back down to the path to continue your
joumey (turn to 1o)? 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
visiphonebooth.'Turn to 37-
 159-161 162

J59
Your fall only wmds you. Drscardthe now useless
pieceof equipment, and tutn to 30 362
Beforeyoucan doanythingelse, the doo! to the club
bursts open and a dozen Northern Arcadiansburst
350
The door withstands your bestefforts.You rub your in, led by a grirn facedCentral Arcadian. In a flash,
shoulder ruefully, and must deduct l sraMrNA you suspect that you have led them here, by men-
point Now you have no altelnahve bui to wait. tioning the club in a bugged taxi 'Watch outl Raid!'
Turn to 3or. 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
16a
You smile at Musca, as if to say, 'It's all righ8, and frozen to their seats are rushing around yelling-
unlock the door to the other Arcadian, \^/ho is What will you do? It could be you they are after, so
carrying a phaser! Musca must be lmPortant, rf a will you Biveyourself up, hoping to savethe under,
phaser has been issued from the arsenal to guard ground opelation in the club (turn to 192)?Or will
him You are noiv committed to a bold and risky you light (turn to 295)?
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
 363-365

36J
It touches you lightly with the staff and you feel
invigorated. Whether this is scienceor 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 AdaentureSheeL\.
Greed
has overcomehis senseo{ duty. Turn to j92.
 366 167
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
meanwhileiurn to !98. If you win, turn to r 25.

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 opera-
tionat skby openly defendingsuchfoolish action.'
He scarpersto make way for the onrush of several 367
The guard does not notjce your approach,and you
Arcadians, who had been sitting quietly in the club get in a numbing blow on his sword-arm. You may
until you so rashly drew attention to yourself. You now fight him without reducing you:r s(rLL for
will have to 6ght them all, but becauseyou are being unarrned.
backedagainsta wall at the top of the short flightof
stairs inside the club, you can fight them one at a S K ILL S TA MIN A

time, in this order: ARCADIAN GUARD 61tJ

S( I LL STA M I N A If you win, you may take his sword, but you will
NORTHERN ARCADIAN a v have to leave the spaceportimmediaLely.Turn to
FiIst SOUTHERN ?36.
ARCADIAN 6 10
SecondSOUTHERN
ARCADIAN 7 I
Drunk SOUTHERN
ARCADIAN 4 8

L -T
l6a-j7o 374

got important goods to transpoft to Radix Lomor-

row ' The guards take you away and amuse them-
selves 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
368 away Five minutes later, having reduced your
You keep on insisting that you know nothing. Sen sraMINAby2 points, you stumble out of the space-
tence is cafiied out in the manner which is tra Port. Turn to 299
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

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.

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
372-i74 374

372 computer to switch to rts pre-programmed route

The last thing you hear, before lapsing into uncon- ftom Tropos to Radix. There are no problems on
sciousness,is a ftantic cry: 'Watch out! Raid!' The blasFoff, and you relaxfor the first time forhou$, as
crash of a door burst asunder and the following Troposdwindles on your tearview screen.But what
hubbub make multicoloured flashesin your mind, Iies ahead of you on Radix? Both advantagesand
then ail rs black - and you will never emerge{rom disadvantages,as far as you can see. On the one
this blackness During the raid on the club - a raid hand, Tropos is such a backward planet, both cul-
w h i c hyo u cau * d anA r(ddians\ ordpier(e \ y o u r turally and technologically,thatyou arelikely to feel
neck. 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
Q'-+ dominant Arcadian species on Radix, attracted
there by the cofiuption and fteedom. This too has
its good and its bad points: SouthernArcachanscan
be more tolemnt than the others, but they are more
difficult to communicatewith.
J73 During yourjourney to Radix, you may restorehalf
Yourpursueis were closeenough behind youto see as many STAMTNA points as your cur-rentsrAMtNA
where you went You back into a doorway, where
score,rounding odd numbers dozor,andremember-
you can fight them one at a time. ing that you cannotexceedyourlnlflal score.Turn to
S( I LL ST A MIN A 47
FirstARCADIAN 7 8
Second ARCADIAN 6 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
 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 SKILL 8 sTAM TN A1 2

Ifyou win, turn to 159.

376
Promptly at eleveno'clock,you knock on Professor
Zacharias'sdoor-butthereisnoreplyYouwaitfor
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
easierto find particularpassd8e\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
 378-79
You are suddenlyinterruptedby the entryof several vital in{ormation If you meet Dorado, he will ask
North Arcadian guards. You too are arrestedon the you for this password:you should then subtract1oo
spot, for beint ln a known dissrdent's room. All from the paragraph number where you are at the
your equipment, including your sword, is sfripped time to find the next, couect paragraph Remember
ftom you, but they do not find your slim money- this Now, turn to 114.
belt Tum to 43.
378
II your srAMtNA is 12 or ovei, tuln to 351; if it is
{-j under 12, hrrn to 242.
' .. '/ il

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
'Yes, I know,' it replies. 'Nobody noticesshadows Arcadian has now taken on thts role, and you. bv
in shadowy places, so I hear thrngs which are denying him entry, have becomeM,rscr'r
denied to others. His name is Dorado, and he is "n"rnf.
He calls out to the other Arcadian, who blasts open
working in the fields. I was by his side, though he your door with a phdser.You wiil have plenty of
didn't know it, when he sentyou the password ' hme in an Arcadian cell to wonder whv he was
issuedwith a pha\erand whereyou weniwrong.
'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

I
 38o-3EI
JEL

He tells you *ua n t"#lo rhe celliarswhererhe

Wire-cutters Turnto 61
Photon grenade Tu:rnto j12
Elmonite Turnto395
Limpetmine Turn to 6
Lase!sword Turnto332
lnlra-ted scanner Tum tor49
Phaser Turnto 369
38a
There is nothing to plevent you entering the com-
puter 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 se-
quence of doors to protect the computers frorn
dust- then you are inside.
382 38f

J82
The hardware shop is tended by a cheerful South
Arcadian. You decidethat you had better buy some-
thing, 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 J63
some of them. You may buy any of the following The cliff should notbe difficult to climb: the fteezins
(remembering,if necessary,the limit of six items in cold hasbrokenit up into ldrgerandsmallerled6es,
your pack): a benelo-phosphatestrobe, which pro- which will alford handholds and stepping-places.
ducesan exkemely brightwidebeam in short bursts After about twenty minutes you can hear the bird
(Zo credits); and hand-klaxon (5o credits),a coil of near by, and you circle round, so that you can
nylon rope (5o credits); a can of engine oil (2o approachitftom above.
credits); or an automated personal massageafld The nest is on a fairly wide ledge.The bird itselfis a
manicure robot (650credits). As you hand over your Halmuriai Rockbuzzard, whose fluffy appearance
money, the Arcadian's antennae wave and flash, beliesits dangerousnahrre It looks like a large ball
presumably in pleasure.You put your purchasesin of soft feathers:as protection agalnstthe cold, il has
you. anti-grav pack and ask her the way to the developed the habit of burying its head and neck
FissionChips, within its copious body feathers, until it looks like
Her reply is mysterious:'Eachis a sourceof growth nothinB so much as a large, cuddly hedgehog,with
and life; together thei! consciousnesspervadesthe a tail and folded wings.
galaxy. The club that you seek is never eclipsed lfyou jump on to the ledge,you will have to fight it
on its southem side.'This is typical o{ Southefn ls this what you chooseto do (tum to 29E),or does
Arcadian communication, though she's probably its size aid the precadousnessof vour situation
tuyin8 to make it easy for you. l{ you know what make you changeyour mind, and return to the path
she's talking about, you will be able to guesswhat (turn to 47)?
paragraphto turn to. Otherwise, tum to 44.

l.
3a4-386 J87188

384 387
You can hear the eerie sound of water d pping In his cabin, he cannot resist explaining his inven-
somewhere ahead of you in the dusFmuffled tion to you, while he unpacks the equipment.
silence. There is a further passagebranching off 'It's really very simple in theory,'he says. 'Any
east Will you take it (tum to 123), or continue Arcadnn is linked to and is parf of the central
straight on (tum to 154)? computer. By running electricalimpulses from an
Arcadian's brain, through this device I have in-
385 vented, to a human's brain, I can open up {or the
'Yes, I can get you a pass,'he replies, 'but it'll takea human the gloriesof working for the computer,and
day.' You don't have that much time. Lose 1 LucK wipe out his or her human will for ever. It's even
point, and ask for a sword instead. Tum to 286. painless,forboth the Arcadian tansformer and the
human subject.'You realizethat he is talking about
some kind of ultm-sophisticatedbrainwashing de-
vice. 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 expei-
ment to continue (tum to 116)?

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.

388
You toss the ancient grenadetowards the mechan-
icalmonster. 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 thehostelandspenda restlessnight:
the fleas and the snores of your dormitory com-
panions 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 sKrrL 8 STAM IN A 1l]

Ifyou win, turn to 259

392-393 394

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
392 hungry,' you say, 'and a ftiend back on Earth said
He unlocks the door and you both go down some that a club called the Fission Chips was worth
stairsinto the dusty cellars,which are Iull ofobjects visiting. Canyou tell me where it is, byany chance?'
in packing cases, show-cases,or just loose. You
look around the first cellar for a while, and then Grus looks at you curiously. 'Yes, I can get you
stifle an excited cry. There, in a show-casemarked there,'he replies 'It's in the basementof the old
'PurposeUnknown - PossibtyReligiousArtefacts', Adolpho videorama. But your ftiend must have
is something which you with your training in strangetastesif he recommendedthe foodthere or
weaponryrecognizeas a primitive baryon grenade the company. Never mind, I'11takeyou there.'
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 perl-
meter fence with the tool, an alarm siren goes of{
deafeningly You may have time to get through You notice that the citylslaid outveryregularly ona
beforeapatrolcomes toinvestigate.Roll two dice.lf squaregrid pattem. The hostelis atthe north end of
the number rolled is less than your curtent s(rLL North 2l East 5 Street,and the next block south
score/ turn to 279;if the number is Bleaterthan or starts at the top of North 22 East 5 Street The
equal to your current sKrLLscore,turn to 1gg. 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
396-97
Imperidl,religionon Tropos_ the five suns being
the
suns ot the planetsin the Empire-
398 399
back into the well-lit room, before shoving you pute!, When you land on Tropos, you frnd that you
through the entranceand slamming the door. are due to take off again tomorrow for Radix. The
Arcadian guards at Customs search your anti-grav
Darkness descends,but it is not total. Somewhere
pack but find no more than your clothes,because
{ar ahead there is a source of light. You clutch at
they don't searchyour body: they rely on the metal-
strawEi s[uely this is a hopeful sign? Surely they
ctetectolsto do their iob, but vour laser sword has
wouldn'tbother with lightifthis was the passageof
t'een treated with a chemic;l which Dr€vents it
doom?Then a little voiceinside you interupts your
activatin8 lhe detectors,and your money-bell con-
wishful thinling: oh, yes, theywould- theyneed to
tains no metal. Once you have registered, as all
seeto clearthe bodiesaway . .
non-Tropian humans muston alrival, you leavethe
Time passes;so far, so good. You're still alive. But sPacePort.Turn to 2gg.
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)?

399

39d
Quite light: your escortmust be an Arcadian, and
you do not want to draw attention to yourself. You
passtheioumeypleasantlyenough in eating,sleep- door (turn to 45), or will you putan end to thisisky
ing, exercisin8 and playing chess with the com- bu5iness(turn to 334)?
400

400 The Fighting Fa tasy Gamebaaks

in Puffirl
You quickly leave the building in casethe explosion .IV A R IOC X
TIIE OF FIR 'TOT MOU N TA IN
should harm vou as well. But right outsideis a
TIIE C ITA D E ! OT C IIA OS
platoon of Northern Arcadians, spiked tails rest-
3 - TH E IOR E S T OF D OOM
lessly swinging from side to side.Justaslhey move
4- S TA R S H IP TR A V E LI-E R
in for the kill, however, the crMtp of a lr.uffled 5 - C ITY Of Tr'IE V E S
explosion sounds from the building behind you. D E A TH TR A F D U N C E ON
Immediately, the Arcadians' facesgo vacant; they 7 IS LA N D O! TH ! LIZA R D K TN G
look around, heads)olli^8, you'uedoneit!The Arca- 8. scoR l IoN sw aM!
dian Empile rs finished. The computer queenof the 9 C A V IR N S OF TI{I S N OW l vITC H
colony is destroyed, and with it went the will of its
TA LIS MA N OI D IA TH

1 3 FR !IWA Y FIGIITE R
1 4 TE MILE OI TE R R OR
1 5 . TH E R IN C 5 OF K E TITE R

1 7 . A P P OTN TME N T WITl { F.E .A ,R ,

18.
19. D E MoN S or rnE o!E r (i n prep ar at ion)
 SleoelacL.otl's

SORCERYI
1: TIIE S H A MU TA N TI H ILI -S

Yoursearh for the legendaryCrown of KinSstakesyou to

ihe Shamutanti Hills- Alive with evjl creatures,lar{4ess
wande.ersa.d bloodthirsty monsiers, ihe land is nddled
$'ith t.icks and traps wai ting ior theunwary traveller Will
you bc abtc to cross the hills safely and procecd to the
secondpari of the adventurc - or will you pcrish in the

2: K IIA R f C ITY P OR T O! TRAPS

As a a'ador relying on forceof arms, or a wizard traineclrn
ma8rc, you must brave the ter.or of a city bu t to trap the
rnwary- You win need aI )'our wits about you to survive
the unina8inable horors ahead and to make s€ns€ of the
clues which may lcad to your suaess or to your doom!

J: TH I SEVEN S N R P E N TS

Sevendeadly and magicals.rpents speedaheadofyou to

warn the evil Archmagc ofyourcominS. Willyoube ableto
cal.h them beforethcy gct ihere?

4: TH r C R OW N OF K TN CS
At the end ofvourlong tiek, you facethe unknown te(ors
ol lhe Mampang Fortress Hidden insidc ihe keep is thc
C.own of Kings the uliimate goaI of the SorcPryl
epic Bul
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 FIGHTING FANTASY FantasyQ estbooks 12 pages.tulL colour
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Stue Jackson THE PATH OF PERIL
The world of Fighting Fantasy,peopledbyOrcs, dragons, DatiA Fickling and Perry Hinton
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One by one the Frec Planets have fallcn to the relentless

advanceof theDarkShipsuntil only CaldoranandPalonar
remain Then a last, despairingmessage.omesfrom Palo
nar and Caldoranis on its own.It seemsthat the invaders,
armed with the power of the invincible Black Light, will
soon conquerthe lasi outpost of rcsistancc The only hope
for the survivalof Caldoranis one last desperatemissionby
a small grcup of star lighiers to strike at the sourceof the
BlackLighi And YOUarepaltof themission