You stand for a long time staring at the forward wall, thinking about it as hard as you can. You begin to feel dizzy, yet you keep concentrating on the wall. Then, without seeming to have been asleep, you feel as if you are awakening.

Somehow you find yourself in another chamber, one with a long, curved window. Looking out into space, you see an enormous blue-white disc — Earth! Then, turning, you see an alien—a furry creature hardly more than half your size. It is floating in the air — somehow free of the artificial gravity which keeps your feet on the floor.

"Do not be afraid," says the creature. "My name is Bru — a captive from Planet Six of the star Abbar."

"Are there others here from your planet?" you ask.

"I am the only one, and soon there will be none, because I am about to escape to the nearest planet — Earth!"

"Could I come with you?"

"You may if you wish. But, if we fail, the U - TY will place us in Somo—to sleep for a billion years."

~If you want to risk it,

< GO TO CHAPTER 18 >

~If you say, "I don't want to risk being  sent to Somo,"

< GO TO CHAPTER 20 >