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!

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!