Die denkenden Wälder

It was a brutally hot planet closely circling a sun in an obscure system. On its surface, life exploded, erupted, multiplied & throve beyond imagination. One bit of life inhabiting the orb was Born, descendant of a long-forgotten colonization ship forced down three centuries ago. Born & his tribe lived a savage life in order to survive on a planet where weird growth thickly blanketed the surface. The dense jungle was divided into seven individual levels, each with its particular dangers. Born's clan had a huge tree branch on the 3rd level as their dwelling. Only the bravest ever made the harrowing climb to the top to feel the sun's warm, dry rays. Born had no time for such pleasures when strangers landed. Born & his Furcot, an intelligent bearlike creature with three eyes & green fur, had risen early to hunt food. The mist had almost vanished when a thunderous crash suddenly cut the jungle stillness. Hurrying to investigate, Born found charred wreckage of a flying machine & a pair of shaken but uninjured pilots--like himself human. Taking them to Home Tree, Born didn't know they were just two crewmen from a starship illegally landed many miles away. Their mission: exploit the planet's boundless resources so at any cost. Speeking with them, Born sensed they regarded his tribe as primitive, the friendly Furcots as intelligent beasts of burden. Nevertheless, he agreed to take them to their starship--a journey pitting them against an untraveled jungle's horrors. None of the nightmare beasts along the way could match Terrans for cunning & treachery. Soon the invaders would push outward with their sophisticated weapons & machinery & the tribe would be at their mercy. Born knew there was no human way of stopping them. But the jungle itself held a retaliatory power more ominous than either the Terrans or Born could have imagined.