In a large office in the Institute of Scientific Progress on Varon, a man sat decoding a cipher message and muttering.

"Made contact with the group. Six of them at the moment. Two medics, a botanist pretending to be a physicist, not sure about the rest yet but don't seem to be any geologists. Spoke with the housekeeper and another one's arriving sometime soon, presumably on the next ship. They've gone to the dam.

"Why a botanist? And the medics are worrying. I must find out what they're up to. I'll have to call Esveld I suppose."