The next day, the Temerity arrives at lonely planet Hypnos, adrift in the galaxy without a star to orbit. Francisco reports that the trajectory of the small world takes it up out of the galactic plane, and it loops back down somewhere up the spiral arm. This planet has travelled a long way in the intergalactic void before its return near Zoz!

Zik remarks that planet Hypnos has some incredibly huge canyons scarring its surface, but he gets distracted by the debris field they’re entering. It’s quite thick, and he needs all hands in the cockpit to help identify and eliminate the asteroid threats.

As they plow through the debris field, whatever the flotsam repulsors can’t push out of the way, Trent blasts with the point defense cannons! They finally make it through thanks to great teamwork and Zik’s piloting skills.

It’s time for a closer look at the remote and desolate planet Hypnos, and what they discover is a shattered world of craggy canyons and deep craters! What happened to this place?!

Later that night, Defender Zik is up late doing homework. The CEO of Zik Enterprises can’t just disappear, after all; there are all kinds of projects that need your favorite space hero’s attention. Just as he’s wrapping things up for the night, the door chime sounds.

It’s an upset Amelia that Zik turns to find at his door.  Inviting her in, he asks her what’s bothering her. It turns out she’s having more nightmares about the explosion at the prison factory. Zik can relate to dreams of falling rubble, and sympathizes with her plight. Amelia asks if it’s okay that she sleeps in Zik’s room. Gallantly offering her the bed, Zik gets settled in to sleep on the floor.

Amelia asks if Zik will be all right sleeping on the floor, but Zik laughs it off by saying that his muscles provide extra cushioning. She then asks about his nightmares, and Zik explains that he had similar dreams of falling rocks crushing him after his mother died in the avalanche. Probing him further, Amelia asks what his mother was like. Zik relates some fun anecdotes about how patient his mom was with two precocious boys.

But just as Zik turns back to Amelia to tell her she would have loved his mother, he discovers that the exhausted girl has drifted off to sleep already!  Zik gets Zoot to turn out the lights, and they go to sleep, ready for new adventures at Planet Hypnos tomorrow!

Trent tries to come up with a reason to avoid having to open every cupboard and hatch on the Temerity, but Mizhakwan is quick to resolve his issue! With a promise of snacks, she makes sure Dakaasin can stay on the bridge until the smudging is done.

The news that there are baked snacks on the way is a welcome break in the cockpit. Amelia, still exploring how great food can taste when it’s not Clonoid gruel, can’t wait. Although, she’s still a bit puzzled as to why Mizhakwan insisted on being part of the crew, seeing as she’s retired. Zik explains that he’s known her for years; she was his mother’s medicine woman. This amazing lady goes wherever the energy feels like it’s moving, and we’ve already seen how Zik is like a lightning rod for fate!

Back on task, Zik checks in with Francisco, because the ship is getting close enough to get better scans of planet Hypnos. Francisco has determined that the tail they saw back at Bastion Station is most likely a debris field! This isn’t something they’ve ever seen before, and anything new to explore in space always inspires your favorite hero!

After a few hours hurtling at ludicrous speeds into deep space, all systems on the Temerity are running smoothly.  Trent has been resting in his cabin while Dakaasin has been using the tactical station on the bridge to monitor the cockpit interface systems, but the start of his first shift on duty is coming up. Hungry, he decides to head to the galley for a quick bite before getting ready. He reflects on how cool it is that Zik was willing to hire him on as part of the crew, manning the tactical station and the Temerity’s considerably powerful weapons, despite having blown a huge hole in the side of  the Kodiak! Adapting to life in space requires a whole new way of thinking, but Trent is confident he’ll get the hang of it.

Stepping into the hall, Trent catches a whiff of the worst odor you can smell on a ship: smoke! Throughout history, fire on a ship has been the worst enemy of sailors and spacefarers alike! He charges into the galley, following the scent and raising the alarm, but stops short at a strange sight. Mizhakwan, a medicine woman who Zik has trusted for years, is in the galley calmly creating a small smoldering fire in a seashell and fanning it with a feather. Trent has never seen these things before, and, completely bewildered, asks Miz what she’s doing.

Mizhakwan explains that’s she’s just doing a smudging, and Trent is just in time to give her a hand. Being a little shorter than average, Miz explains to Trent that he can reach all the hatches she can’t to let the smoke into all the spaces it needs to go to make sure everything is clean.

Within the hour, the eager crew of the Temerity is on board and ready for launch! Zik takes the sleek spacecraft out of the hangar, commenting on how much pep the engines have. This is a ship that really wants to fly!

Zik checks the status of the systems with Dakaasin, who is in Trent’s weapons post on the bridge, monitoring the engineering systems closely on this maiden flight of the Temerity. Everything checks out, so he tells Amelia to engage the hyperdrives.

The Temerity jumps to superlight speed and streaks out of the Zozian solar system!

Defender Zik checks in with the engineers on his new ship, The Temerity, so see if they can take her out for a spin.  Chief Engineer Dakaasin lets Zik know that all systems are ready to go! Sten is always obsessed with doing calibrations to optimize weapon performance, so he’s tinkering with the Point Defense System, and will be working on the big Vakarian cannons next. Zik wants to go on a journey, so it’s time to get the sleek spaceship ready to fly!

As Zik heads to the bridge, he decides to take a detour into the infirmary.  Dr. Lucien Taylor has been working closely with doctors and hospitals across Zoz to help everyone on Zoz get their immune systems ready for contact with the rest of the galaxy! No one wants a repeat of what happened when Europeans and North Americans started mingling for the first time in the 1500s.

But when Zik gets to the infirmary, he sees Amelia in her pajamas apologizing to the doctor for something. What’s going on?

Welcome back Defenders, to Episode 4: The Hypnos Hiatus! After a brief interlude to get the first two Defender Zik books printed, we’re back!

Our story opens with your favorite galactic hero trying out his new space suit outside Bastion Station.  The research station orbiting Zoz is administrated by Zik’s brother Todd, who is monitoring the flight. Zik reports that all its systems are nominal, and Todd replies that Chief Engineer Dakaasin will be happy that her new suit design is working well.

Zik enters the station’s hangar to let Dak know personally. She and her assistant Sten are getting the final tuning done on the Temerity, Zik’s new space cruiser! They’ve been working hard on it while Zik and everyone who went to Zernabia is in quarantine on the station, and the results are beyond Zik’s wildest dreams!