Duncan III has one huge mega-continent, which encircles a good third of the planet's 5,400 kilometer equator. From the north side of the equator, it stretches to the 45th parallel and toward the south it goes to the 62nd parallel. Most of the interior is a dry, hot inferno; nothing but desert or barren mountain ranges. Most flora and fauna are found along the tropical and temporate coasts. Five hundred kilos in from the coast there is still some plant and animal life, but it is far and few between. I work for the Colonial Survey Corporation and I've been on Duncan twelve earth years now. My job is to take a closer look at that barren interior. I was headed out from base about five days when I discovered Arnold. And, I have to say, he was quite a find. I'd stopped my rig to have lunch. Hardly had I step onto the red sand, when I heard this pitiful high-pitched squealing--almost like a human child's cry. About thirty meters away, I discovered Arnold struggling in a sandtrap with only his front third in view. The more he struggled, the more the sandtrap relentlessly pulled him under. I approached cautiously. For all I knew, the ground for meters around the sandtrap could be unstable enough to suck me in too. Fortunately, it was a small sandtrap about a meter in radius. Laying down on my stomach, I reached out and grabbed Arnold behind his front legs just in time. Arnold had never seen a human being before, but he seemed to understand that I was trying to help him. He still struggled to find some sort of purchase in the loose sand, but he never tried to bite me. All the while, Arnold screeched pitiously. I wasn't sure for a while if I was going to be able to save him, but finally I began to pull more of Arnold out of the pit. By the time I got Arnold pulled free, I was exhausted and just lay stretched out on the ground. I thought Arnold would scamper away, but he apparently was too worn out to do so. He lay on his side, panting, just staring up at me. I pulled out my canteen and took a drink, then poured out some water into my cupped hand, offeringit to Arnold. He managed to lap up some of it before it drained past my fingers. He seemed weak from all his efforts. It was only then that I realized what a find Arnold was. Until now, the highest animal life form on Duncan was thought to be saurian, but Arnold was definite a mammaloid. He looked like something between a pig and a dog with hooves--almost like a minature Dinohyrus from Earth's Age of Mammals. I carefully got out my communicator and took some pictures of the creature. Slowly, I reached out to see if I could pet him and possibly glean some hairs from him for later dna analysis. Arnold scrambled to his feet and scurried off about fifteen meters before sitting down to stare warily at me from a safe distance. Diappointed, I scanned the area were he had been lying with the communicator to see if I could find of his hair. I managed to locate a couple and carefully bagged and pocketed them. TO BE CONTINUED: