The alien crystal continues its story, revealing how the explosion of the gas giant tore the crust off this moon.  Most of the crystal’s home was incinerated by the immense cataclysm, which completely destroyed the gas giant.  The moon itself then flew right out of the solar system, and headed out of the galaxy as it cooled. The crystal was able to conceal itself from discovery by the aliens that tried to kill it.

Appalled, Defender Zik realizes that he’s hearing a story of attempted xenocide! As everyone continues to help move the crystal into the cargo hold of the Temerity, the crystal explains that it went into hibernation for tens of thousands of years until the moon was pulled back into the galactic rim by gravity.

Suddenly, Amelia interrupts to warn everyone that the leading edge of the meteorite storm is here! An early meteorite is about to hit nearby– take cover!!

Defender Zik and the crew of the Temerity have a short window of time to help the living crystal of Planet Hypnos escape the impending meteorite storm! The crew hustles outside, with the exception of Amelia, who remains in the cockpit to keep the ship ready to fly out of danger.

Outside, Dakaasin puzzles over how to cram all that mass of crystal into the hold. It doesn’t look like it will fit until the crystal offers to make itself denser, thereby cramming itself into a smaller volume.

It explains that it is a singular being, and its consciousness splits and merges as it fragments and recombines itself.  When Zik organizes the crew into a human chain to relay the crystals into the ship, the crystal is confused by the term “human chain.” Zik explains that humans can’t split and combine the way the crystal can, but that they often work as a team to accomplish a common goal. Once again, the crystal brings up a mysterious other alien life form it has encountered, which was like humans in that each individual had its own consciousness.

While they work, Zik asks the crystal about these other aliens, wondering whether it was they who stranded the crystal on the rogue planet.  As it turns out, Zik is partially correct.  The aliens are the cause of the stranding of the crystals, but that Hypnos was actually once a moon orbiting a distant gas giant.  However, in a stunning act of attempted xenocide, the aliens detonated the gas giant!

The decisive Defender Zik announces that they’re going to presume the crystals on Planet Hypnos are alive, and begins to get on top of the situation. He starts by asking a flustered Francisco for the exact time the meteorites will present a danger to the ship.  Amelia asks if she should land, but Zik wants to be certain of the intentions of the crystals before risking getting too close. He directs a now-rebooted Zoot to begin establishing a dialogue with the crystals.

Francisco reports back with an estimate for the meteor strikes, prompting Zik to tell everyone to set a 45 minute timer so they all know when to leave.  Always eager to help, especially when it comes to using guns, Trent Quickdraw offers to shoot the meteorites as they approach. Zik replies that it would just rain smaller debris down on them, which could be even more dangerous. Instead, they should max out their repulsors to deflect anything they can.

Dak, Sten and Mizhakwan are asked to make room in the cargo hold, in case they’re leaving Hypnos with a guest. Then Zoot announces that he’s already established communications with the crystal, because it’s copying and rearranging the words he sends in an intelligent way. It’s time to make formal contact with an alien life form!

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!

Emerging from the cave, Defender Zik and Mizhakwan are amazed to find that the crystals have grouped themselves together and are merging into one giant mass! The crystal grows as the Temerity pumps out the radio waves at full power.

Once back on board, they head straight for the cockpit, where a concerned Amelia asks if they’re hurt. Francisco urges Zik to consider leaving at their earliest opportunity. When pressed for a reason, he explains that his study of the orbiting debris field has revealed that the passage of the ship caused a great deal of disturbance in the cloud!  Some of the debris is now falling to the planet, and the Temerity itself is in danger of getting flattened!

Defender Zik and Mizhakwan quickly realize that the mysterious sound is just the opening of an old Earth song by The Tragically Hip. The Temerity has arrived and Trent’s idea to lure the crystals is working! They’re leaving the cave!

The stranded duo watch in amazement as the crystals start moving more quickly, reforming and combining together as they make their way out of the tunnel. Once the way clears, they make a break for it up the crevasse!

Finally back at the surface, Mizhakwan and Zik are startled by what they see!

And for those of you who’ve never heard Gift Shop by The Tragically Hip, here it is! Enjoy!

Mizhakwan shows Defender Zik what she’s been up to in the cavern. Sitting in front of the thickest part of the crystals, she sings an Inuit lullaby. As she sings, a new crystal emerges from the mass and begins to grow towards her.  An amazed Zik watches as it grows and glows in response to her song.

Once it is close enough to be uncomfortable, Mizhakwan ceases her song, giving it a playful tap. She explains that she’s managed to teach the crystal to avoid getting too close with this Pavlovian strategy of feeding it only until it has grown large enough.

Suddenly, their experiments are interrupted by a deep, overpowering sound broadcast into their helmets. All the crystals in the cavern begin pointing somewhere outside. What’s happening?!

Defender Zik, now alone in the cave and out of contact with the others, gets his rock climbing gear ready.  Reasoning that using his jetpack is too risky under the circumstances, he unwinds the carbon fiber nano-mesh cable in his gauntlets and prepares to descend into the tunnel Mizhakwan fell into.

As he rappels into the crevasse, he calls out to Mizhakwan, who is finally able to answer! She assures Zik that she’s fine, it just took a few moments for her to figure out her burst transmission settings.  Not only is she okay, she’s ecstatic!

Zik discovers the reason Mizhakwan is so overjoyed as he reaches the bottom; there’s a cavern absolutely packed with glowing crystals! Sitting cross-legged in the back of the cavern, Mizhakwan cautions Zik to be careful where he steps, to avoid damaging the crystals. Mysteriously, several crystals are pointing spikes directly at Mizhakwan. When Zik enquires why, she replies with a confident “Watch!”

Defender Zik rushes over to the edge of the crevasse that Mizhakwan disappeared into and tries to establish radio contact with her.  A weak, unintelligible signal comes back, but they can hear her voice!

As relieved Amelia asks how they’ll get her out, Trent interrupts with another problem he’s found.  The crystals that are all around them are growing and moving closer! What’s more, they seem to get more energetic every time they speak!

A sudden realization dawns on Zik, and he gets everyone to stay silent for a moment. After switching his own broadcast settings to use a burst transmission, he explains how to do it to the others. This mode will compress what they say to each other into a tiny data packet so that they keep their emissions to a minimum.

It seems to work; the crystals react only mildly to Zik’s explanation. Everyone’s favorite space hero then begins to explain his cunning plan…

Having determined that nothing seems to be moving, our intrepid explorers keep walking toward a cave nearby.  There, they find that the walls are absolutely covered with the strange crystals. What’s making them grow?

Before they proceed into the cave, Zik decides to check in with the Temerity to inform them of their progress. For some reason, Francisco isn’t responding to their calls. While Mizhakwan investigates a crevasse in the cave, puzzled Zik decides to check if their communications link is working, and calls on Zoot to help him troubleshoot the problem.

But just as Zoot activates the interactive hologram, there’s a blinding flash from the crystals that surround them! Zoot’s hologram frazzles out, and Mizhakwan slips! She falls straight into the crevasse!

The light fades somewhat, and Amelia and Zik dash to the edge of the hole. Mizhakwan has fallen out of sight!