 What does Mia discover about the people of the planet Tintera and why does it scare her?
The ancient rule was sink or swim—swim in the miasma of a planet without spaceflight, or sink to utter destruction! I The horses and packs were loaded before we went aboard the scoutship. The planet chosen for our Trial was called Tintera. Planets make me feel wretched. Either your arches and calves ache or every time you step you think you're going to trip on a piece of fluff and break your neck. We have a place in the Ship like that—the Third Level—but it's only a thousand square miles and any time it gets on your nerves you can go up a level or down a level and be back in civilization. When we reached Tintera, they started dropping us. When the sun disappears, somehow you wonder in your stomach if it's really going to come back. It was spring on Tintera, but it was December in the Ship, and after we got back we had five days of Holiday to celebrate. Considering how short a time it was in which the colonies were established, there was not time to set up industry, so they had to have draft animals. One of the eight, as well as the two that were being built then, went up with everything else in the Solar System in 2041. I don't know how many of those planets had animals that could have been substituted but, even if they had, they would have had to be domesticated from scratch.
 The Tinterans are free birthers. Free birthing is breeding without restraint, which is how the Earth became over populated. This is what catalyzed the wars that eventually destroyed the solar system.
 The Tinterans are free birthers. Free birthing is breeding without restraint, which is how the Earth became over populated. This is what catalyzed the wars that eventually destroyed the solar system.  The Tinterans have begun exploiting Losels for labor, which is against the laws of The Council. Mia knows she will have to report this back to the council, and that this will foster hostility between the scouts and the Tinterans.  The Tinterans have learned how to build a space ship. Successfully launching a ship means that they are now a threat to the people who live in space, like Mia.  The Tinterans know that scouts have invaded their planet, and are planning to round them up and put them in jail.