Just as Zik dives into the ocean, Todd sees something on the underwater scanner that terrifies him: the sharks! He tries to warn Zik, but he’s too late!
Zik is already diving down to Haven’s lab quickly with the help of one of the dolphins. When he gets there, he finds the main airlock entrance is unobstructed and easy to get through, but the door to Haven’s lab is jammed shut!
He hauls on the stuck door with all his considerable might and finally gets it open. A grateful Haven thanks your favorite space hero and introduces herself.
But they still have to escape the damaged lab, and those sharks are still out there!
Zik, his brother Todd, and Ramesh follow the panicked dolphins in their boat. On the way, Ramesh comments that Zik’s father seems to have aged since Ramesh visited last. Zik explains that it’s because his father has been suffering since the loss of Zik’s mother in a mountain climbing incident.
Soon they approach an island, the one next to Haven’s lab. Todd notices signs that part of the island seems to be freshly missing. They check the underwater scanner, and sure enough, they see the rubble from the island and the lab underneath. Todd points out that there’s someone trapped inside!
That’s all your favorite space hero needs to hear to spring into action! Zik instructs Todd to call for help, and asks Ramesh to find the underwater breathing unit stowed below-deck. He strips down and dives in, unaware of the danger that lurks in the cloudy water!
DEFENDER ZIK LORE BREAK!
Zik’s mother Zorah died several months before the Jairian attack on Baker Mine. She was mountain climbing, a sport she was passionate about and taught to Zik. She was with several of of her climbing friends, scaling a large rounded cliff known as the Walrus Belly. There was no indication that the unusual formation was unstable, but there was a huge collapse of the face they were climbing on, and all three climbers disappeared in the rubble. What was left was a huge hole, as if there had been an enormous cavern underneath.
Shortly before the collapse, a meteorite was seen streaking through the sky and was captured on several skycar dashcams. This was unusual as it had not been detected before and dealt with before impacting the planet. Researchers backtracked its trajectory and amazingly, it arced way up over the solar system and would have been very near the same gravitational anomaly as from the spinning asteroid that Zik had just saved the planet from.
After Haven’s incredible discovery of how to communicate with dolphins, she learns that they’re usually thinking about food and fun! She plays the dolphins and humpbacks near her underwater lab some Beethoven music, as a way of introducing them to human entertainment. Haven and the dolphins get so absorbed in their newfound ability to interact that they don’t notice that all the music and commotion has attracted a couple of curious great white sharks! Once the sharks arrive, the dolphins panic, knocking over Haven’s communications antenna! Worse, a humpback whale gets crowded into the cliff of a nearby island, causing an underwater avalanche! The rubble falls onto the living quarters module of the lab, crushing it! Haven is in mortal danger!
Amelia is curious about the type of girl Zik likes to date, so Zik starts telling his next tale! The last lady he dated was Haven LeClaire, a marine biologist. She had an underwater lab near Zik’s island home on Zoz, where she was researching dolphin and whale communications. On the day they met, Haven had just made a breakthrough: she had learned how to communicate with dolphins! She was also close to discovering how to communicate with humpback whales, and there was a lot of activity around her lab. The ocean was crowded!
