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!”

Amelia ignites her jetpack thrusters in a bid to return to the Temerity quickly, but Trent hesitates and holds back. He’s always been nervous about flying, and he reveals that he hasn’t been doing as much practicing with his rocket boots as he should.

Unfazed, Amelia steadies Trent and helps him get airborne, encouraging him as they go. Trent focuses on keeping a steady heading, but he can’t help getting distracted by the fact that the two of them are holding hands. He’s always wanted to hold hands with Amelia and be close to her, but now that he finds himself in that very position, he can’t understand his feelings. Instead of being elated, he feels like something is off. Why is this proximity to someone he loves making him feel so odd?

While Trent Quickdraw tries to get a message back to the Temerity, Amelia coaxes the crystals out of the cave. But there’s a problem with each plan: the ship still isn’t responding, and the crystals have balked at the cave entrance!

Even though there are some crystals outside of the cave, the bulk have moved to the cave entrance and seem to be unable to leave. Frustrated, Amelia starts to go back into the cave to find Defender Zik before the crystals grow too thick to pass. But Trent tries to stop her from rushing back in.

Amelia’s temper flares, and she rounds on Trent.  She indelicately reminds Trent that the two of them survived the factory explosion because Zik decided to move an unconscious Trent out of the riot. She refuses to abandon Zik to the crystal-filled cave!

Trent finally gets a word in, and explains his plan to use the Temerity’s much stronger broadcasting abilities to lure the crystals out of the cave. Realizing she was wrong to assume Trent was giving up, Amelia apologizes for her short temper and jumps on the new strategy.. but will it work?

Now that it’s clear that the crystals are reacting to the signals the crew are emitting, Defender Zik has gotten everyone to switch to a compressed burst transmission setting, so that they are only broadcasting a small amount of data instead of a full audio stream. Next, they step away from the edge of the crevasse that Mizhakwan fell into, because the last thing they need is another fall! Then Zik explains that he’ll lure the crystals on one side of the cave while Amelia and Trent Quickdraw quietly make an escape from the other side.

When Amelia asks what he’ll do, Zik explains that he intends to help Mizhakwan out of the pit. While he’s doing that, he asks the other two to lure the crystals from outside the cave in order to facilitate Zik and Mizhakwan’s exit. A nervous Amelia follows Trent as he picks his way through the lengthening crystals.  As they proceed, Zik switches off his burst transmission and begins luring the crystals towards him.

The plan works! Trent and Amelia make it out of the cave, but the crystals have grown so thick behind them that they can’t see Zik anymore! Worse, they’re absorbing nearly all of Zik’s broadcast signal, and they can no longer make out what he’s saying!

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!