The forest around Ralph started to thin into a field of grass dotted with a few tall trees.

He stopped, gazing towards where he expected to see Hope, but the trees stood too close in that direction.

Suddenly, there was a movement in the right corner of his eye. Turning his head, he saw a group of animals standing around a tree. Each had a compact, heavy-looking body covered in brown skin, from where a spindly neck soared many meters upwards, ending in a tiny, black head. The heads were at the height of the tree's leaves, swaying back and forth, apparently feeding.

Hoping that they were true herbivores, Ralph decided to try to ignore them as they ignored him. Fortunately, his path would not lead him any closer to them.

Instead, that path led gently downhill, and he seemed to make good time when he suddenly felt a sting on the back of his left hand. A bluish-black animal, about the size of a fingernail, sat there. Instinctively, he tried to swat it with his right hand. It flew off, soundlessly, before he could catch it, leaving a tiny red droplet of blood behind. His blood.

He wanted to be back on Hope. And once there, he planned to stay put. Let the others do the exploring. He started to wonder if this whole descent had been a bad idea from the start. Man was so well adapted to a life in space, living in a controlled environment, tending the machines that kept him alive—a perfect symbiosis. Here, it was all about the survival of the fittest.

He thought of his brother. Sorry, he told him, in his thoughts. Landing on the planet might not have been the best course of action.

He accelerated his steps towards a line of trees with fattish trunks standing in a row. They formed a continuous canopy, like a bridge extending over his path. Lianas were hanging down from that canopy, not quite touching ground. Fortunately, the leaves were high up and the dangling lianas several meters apart, so he would be able to pass with ease.

The sun was growing hotter. With a sigh of relief, he welcomed the shade of the trees.

That was when something grabbed him.