The infirmary celebrations are interrupted by an urgent call for Defender Zik to come to the bridge of Bastion Station. Zik gives the Zernabian siblings a congratulations and hurried off to see what the problem is. On the bridge, he finds Gordon Mises, head of the Zik Enterprises Merchant Marine division, with a worried look on his face. One of their light transports has been hijacked, and Gordon’s daughter is among its crew!

Taking stock of the situation, Zik asks if Jolene has sent for Kodiak Search And Rescue. She replies that she has, but that all the Kodiak ships are otherwise engaged in a large fleet exercise to test their integration as a planetary defense force. Zik decides that they won’t pull any of James Anchor’s ships from that effort, and that they can handle it themselves in the Temerity. Gordon insists on coming along to help his daughter, and the crew of the Temerity is scrambled to their ship!

Taking charge, Defender Zik decides the strange gravity shift and animal noises need to be investigated.  He puts Ryan in charge of the landing zone, and gets the young Matthew to be his official helper. Ryan is to call for help for the stranded family, and hang tight until it arrives.

Then, Zik and Tanaka head into the jungle in the direction of the sounds they heard. Zik asks if Tanaka has any theories about what just happened, but neither of them understand what they experienced.  Gravity shifts that strong shouldn’t happen, especially deep within the gravity well of a planet!

To lighten the mood, Zik brings up the great prank that Tanaka pulled on Ryan earlier. Tanaka chuckles, remarking that it’s good to remind cargo haulers what real flying looks like from time to time! Zik mentions that it’s good to see Tanaka smiling again, but Tanaka admits to his good friend that being happy when you’ve lost your whole clan feels sort of impossible.

In the midst of the mirth aboard the shuttle craft, Ryan detects an SOS — someone’s in trouble! The crew is nearby, so Defender Zik takes charge and they sail in to the rescue!

The troubled craft turns out to be a skycar with a burning engine. As Tanaka approaches and Ryan reassures the driver, Zik leaps out of the back of the shuttle, engaging his jetpack! He lands on the side of the skycar, rips out the rescue panel and leans inside.  A child gazes in amazement at the sight of Zoz’s favorite space hero, but his terrified mother is doing all she can to keep them aloft! She yells at Zik to take the child first, which Zik agrees to do.. but can he save the mother as well?!

Back on the Temerity, Defender Zik decides that the danger of an impending meteorite storm is too great, and it’s time to move the ship. But Mizhakwan doesn’t want to leave the crystals behind!

Zik agrees that these crystals are very much worth studying, but not at the risk of their lives. The tenacious Mizhakwan insists that they stay, because she’s convinced that the crystals are alive, an idea that’s met with incredulity by Francisco.

But wait, Trent has noticed something on this monitor… the Temerity is receiving some kind of signal! They’re in a very remote location, between the stars, so it’s very odd to be receiving a transmission. Trent plays the audio of the transmission…

Incredibly, it’s from the crystals! They are transmitting back what Mizhakwan said to them when she wanted them to stop moving!

Zik decides that since they’re communicating, they must be alive!

Well, looks like Zik is stuck on an alien world. Good thing he’s got friends who can bail him out! Even in the future, your connections are your most valuable asset. Having a pair of rail pistols at your side doesn’t hurt, either.