Chapter 1, The Marching Hordes Summary

Rod Walker is a high school student who is taking a survival course required of all people who want an Outlander career, a career that will take them to uncharted planets. The course is normally taken in college, but Rod has elected to take it in high school.

Rod arrives at school to find that a notice has been placed in the hallway outside his survival course announcing the final exam. The final exam will place each student, with a few supplies of their own choosing, on a planet where they are expected to survive on their own or with one team member for four to ten days. The notice does not tell the students where they will be going or what they might expect on this planet. Rod turns to Jimmy Throxton, his lone friend in...