In Space
You are floating in outer space just "west" of your spaceship. A tiny asteroid lies below you.

>INVENTORY
You are carrying a plasma grenade, a pink feather duster, and a radium-powered radio.

>GO DOWN
On An Asteroid
This is a godforsaken hunk of rock with nothing to recommend it. The horizon is deceptively close, forming a craggy circle around you in every direction.
Your rocket ship is floating a hundred feet above you.

>WALK EAST
Other Side of the Asteroid
Your short hike has taken you to the other side of the asteroid, which is as ugly and barren as the first side. A human is tied to a stake here. Nearby, a tribe of rock-creatures are foraging around for chunks of ice. They obviously intend for this poor fellow to be frozen at the stake. Not surprising, considering how much rock-creatures love a good frozen steak.

>ASK THE HUMAN ABOUT THE ROCK CREATURES
"Thank the great red spot of Jupiter! A fellow human! Get me outta here before those rock-creatures turn me into a human popsicle"
"There's some nice ice over here!" says one of the rock-creatures in a typically gravelly voice.

>EXAMINE THE PLASMA GRENADE
The deadliest weapon this side of Pluto, a plasma grenade is activated by pulling the pin and throwing it - as quickly as possible - at the person or thing you intend to turn into very tiny sub-atomic particles. One of the rock-creatures stumbles across some particularly frigid frozen methane, and scrapes its stony claws together in delightful anticipation. "By the molten pools of Mercury, hurry up!" says the human at the stake.

>PULL THE PIN
The pin slides out smoothly. The grenade throbs with unleashed power. "Isn't this enough ice?" growls one of the smaller rock creatures.

>THROW THE GRENADE AT THE ROCK CREATURES
Boom! The air is filled with a fine dust that one usually associates with vaporized rock-creatures. "Good work! By the way, I am Umberto, from Ganymede. I pledge that I shall someday repay this debt. Now untie me, will ya?"

>UNTIE UMBERTO
You release Umberto from the stake.

>UMBERTO, FOLLOW ME
"You bet!"

>NORTH
On An Asteroid
Your rocket ship is floating a hundred feet above you.
Umberto follows faithfully.

>SOUTHWEST
Other Side of Asteroid
Umberto is right behind you every step of the way.

>AGAIN
On An Asteroid
Your rocket ship is floating a hundred feet above you.
Like a loyal friend, Umberto stays at your side.

>JUMP UP
This asteroid has almost no gravity, and you jump upwards with ease...

In Space
Umberto arrives a second later.

>ENTER THE ROCKET SHIP
Your Spaceship
You can see a calendar and a packing crate here.
"Nice ship," says Umberto, who obviously knows a nice ship when he sees one.

>READ THE CALENDAR. OPEN THE PACKING CRATE
It is copy of the Miss Solar System calendar for 2036, currently open to February. February features Miss Ganymede, a stunning redhead in a see-through spacesuit. Her seductive pose leaves you aching.

Opening the packing crate reveals a sonic blaster.

>LOOK
Your Spaceship
This sleek rocket, built by Uranus Metalworks, is the fleetest little baby in the spacelanes. The controls are simple and well-labelled. The only exit is on the western side of the cabin.
You can see a calendar and a packing crate here.
The packing crate contains a sonic blaster.

>EXAMINE THE CONTROLS
The controls consist of three buttons: a gray button marked "Lunar Base," a red button labelled "Ganymede City," and a brown button that reads "The Asteroid Where You Just Killed the Rock Creatures."

>TAKE THE SONIC BLASTER
Taken.

>INVENTORY
You are carrying a sonic blaster, a grenade pin, a pink feather duster, and a radium-powered radio.

>TURN ON THE RADIO
The radio hums to life. You tune in to your usual channel, currently filled with innocuous deep space chatter. Suddenly, a message blasts through louder than the rest. "Rayana, the daughter of Ganymede's King Menthos, has been kidnapped by the dreaded space pirates of Deimos. The King is offering a reward of one million ganymids for her safe return." "The princess!" yells Umberto, stunned. "We are engaged to be married this very month! Help me rescue her, and you may claim the entire reward!"

>PUSH THE BUTTON
[Which button do you mean, the gray button, the red button, or the brown button?]

>RED
A plume of fire spews from the tail of the rocket. You lean forward to maintain your balance.

>WAIT
Time passes...
Ganymede appears through the viewport as a tiny disk.

>WAIT
Time passes...
You are now nearing Ganymede orbit. The landing thrusters kick on. Suddenly the ship rocks. "We've been hit!" Umberto shouts. "It's those scurvy pirates!" The ship dives toward the surface, pulls out at the last moment, and crashes lightly just beyond the city limits. "Just minor damages," Umberto reports after a cursory inspection. "If you can get me a welding torch and a zinc-plated gyroscope, I'll have her repaired in no time. While you're hunting up those parts, I'll try to find out where those lawless scum have taken Rayana." He dashes out of the ship. Through the viewport, you see him disappear among the narrow, twisting streets of Ganymede City.

>GET OUT OF THE ROCKET SHIP
Outskirts of the City
You are on the edge of Ganymede City, which has been called the roughest town in the solar system. Your rocket can be entered to the east. A dilapidated building lies to the north, and a seedy alley leads off to the southwest.

>ENTER THE SEEDY ALLEY
Alley
This is a blind alley, curving from the mouth of the alley, toward the northeast, to a featureless, unscalable wall just south of you.
Although it's a blind alley, you have no trouble seeing the pack of thieves and cutthroats which have just entered the alley behind you.

>FIRE THE SONIC BASTER AT THE FEATURELESS WALL
[I don't know the word "baster."]

>OOPS BLASTER
Completely eerie - an explosion of this magnitude should make SOME noise, right? In any case, the silent explosion leaves a gaping hole in the wall to the south.
The low-lifes draw closer. They also draw knives.

>SOUTH
As you pass through the opening in the wall, it collapses behind you, blocking the pack of thieves.

Plush Bedroom
This luxurious boudoir is lined with soft cushions and draped with the sheerest silks you've ever seen. The carpet is so thick and soft that you remove your boots without even thinking about it. A delicious aroma fills the room.
A glass case stands next to the door at the eastern side of the room. The
glass case contains a zinc-plated gyroscope.

>SMELL THE AROMA
[Scratch spot number nine, then hit the RETURN key.]

You remember that smell from a heady week you once spent among the vineyards of Io. Someone nearby must be opening a bottle of potent champagne. You hear a sound from the doorway, and spin around as a stunning redhead walks in with two glasses of sparkling champagne. "Ah... I was hoping for some company," she whispers huskily. Studying her as she dims the lights, you decide that Miss Ganymede is even more magnificent in the flesh than she is in the 2036 Miss Solar System calendar.

>TAME
Tame descriptions. (Yawn.)
"Shall we begin the screening of 'La Grande Illusion' now?" asks Miss Ganymede, continuing to dim the lights.