At last we get to see where Zik is from! What a wonderful looking place! It’s completely the opposite of where Vera is from. It’s not a barren rock devoid of other life, it has cities instead of tent villages, and instead of an oppressive tyrannical monarchic despot, there’s no government at all! That’s about as polar opposite as it gets.

But how can a place function without government?

Oops! That’s kind of an obvious thing, but I’m personally often surprised that people don’t remember this more often. Vera takes advantage of the fact that she’s alone with Zik for the moment to ask him about what life is like on Zoz. It’s probably better than this crappy prison, but you never know!

Sure enough, Vera already knows what happened to Amelia. Awkward!

Zik and Trent made it back with the water! But now they get the news of Amelia’s capture. No one has told Vera yet, since she’s been resting since it happened. Zik takes on the responsibility, since it’s his fault that she got into the trouble she’s in.

So the spring isn’t so special after all! It’s basically mineral water. But Zik is always on the look out for a new opportunity. Perhaps this spring can be tapped and the water sold back home on Zoz! People always like to buy exotic things with mysterious health benefits. The problem is, this isn’t Zik’s planet. No one on Zoz can really conceive of the fact that a whole planet could possibly belong to one individual, but that’s exactly the case here. Queen Elcyra owns this place!

Meanwhile, Zik and Trent have arrived at the spring! It’s strange to see water way out in the desert like this. The two of them seem to be getting along much better now, after that bit of drama they had!

The two erstwhile combatants gingerly let themselves the rest of the way down the cliff and continue their journey. Zik swears not to get in Trent’s way, although he didn’t swear not to dissuade Amelia if she’s interested! They’re friends, it seems… for now!

Whew! That was quick thinking by Zik! Good thing he’s got that emergency grappling hook! It certainly comes in handy! And nothing breaks the tension like a near-death experience. If you can’t laugh at that, you can’t laugh at anything!

Down they go! Will they survive?

Trent is a little too hot under the collar to listen to reason. Something tells me he has a little bit too much pent-up frustration! Who can blame him though; he’s a slave, too shy to court the girl of his dreams, and is getting upstaged by a suave hero with a spaceship! Well, it’s a moot point now, because they’re going over the cliff to certain death!