Zik’s never been able to resist helping damsels in distress, and there’s a whole planet worth of people here to rescue! But how will he do it with a busted ship? Stay tuned and strap in, the ride has just begun!

Some things don’t change very easily, even over thousands of years. People still let “leaders” become masters. Picking which slave driver cracks the whip at you isn’t freedom, dear readers. The people from Zoz have learned this lesson, but the Zernabians didn’t. They were apathetic to Elcyra’s rise to power, and now they are her prisoners.

Vera has a pretty serious disease, but it’s not surprising considering she’s lived and worked in that filthy factory her whole life. Lung cancer is dangerous, though, so she’ll need to get to a hospital! The problem is, there are no hospitals on this prison planet. That nasty Queen Elcyra doesn’t really care that much about her prisoners. Is Vera doomed?

Poor Vera didn’t get the special water that she seems to really need! Zik, being the gallant hero, is looking for a way to help her out.

Yeah, even back on Zoz, Zik is known as quite the dashing charmer. Poor Trent.

Here is a very important, but very ill, lady. She’s on death’s doorstep, but she’s still aware enough to know that a complete stranger has walked into her life.

I think it’s pretty safe to say that Queen Elcyra isn’t very popular around here! They arrive at Vera’s tent. She’s nominally in charge around here, but she’s very sick. Let’s see what she has to say!

The prisoners take Zik into their camp, where he quickly notices something strange: there are no children! Amelia tells him that they’ve all been sterilized by their captors! So now we see that Queen Elcyra is indeed a nasty character! Not only does she attack intruders, but she’s responsible for genocide!

The travelers arrive at the camp and are greeted with shock and disbelief. These people haven’t seen anyone new since Amelia was born! Find out why next time!

There is the squalor in which the prisoners are kept. At least today the smoke is drifting away from the camp and not onto it. And look at all those rows of graves. Life is tough if you’re a Zernabian slave!