Pancha develops a strange telepathic connection to the ship's computer. Although unexplainable, it proves invaluable when she detects an imminent system failure and sounds the alarm.
The crew are not happy with Zandie's presence but she is determined to stay on board. Not everyone is happy with this decision, least of all Tane who sees Zandie's presence as a destabilising influence on the Star Runner.
When it is discovered that Degenhardt selected Zandie for reanimation, Degenhardt is ordered to face a disciplinary tribunal and must choose his punishment.
Having decided his punishment is to be frozen from the remainder of the 90 year voyage, Degenhardt prepares to meet his fate as a spectacular comet passes by and the Star Runner is thrown into disarray.
With the Star Runner on a collision course with an uncharted planet, it is Zandie who has the answer that saves the ship. The planet appears to be habitable and so the crew launch probes which are mysteriously lost.
Tane manages to fly the Star Runner to safety using the gravity of the newly discovered planet Earth Two.Frictions arise when Mara is selected to talk to Earth in a worldcast interview. Tane and Leonella share their first kiss.
The strange space creature that Tycho claims to have seen, fails to materialise but then Pancha and Sheng start to get odd sensor readouts from the outside sensor system. Did Tycho really see something?
Infected by an alien, Cyriax hides his illness as he slowly slips into madness. Tensions between Leonella and Zandie come to a head. Pushed to the brink, Leonella challenges Zandie to a martial arts joust.
Cyriax and his irrationality sees the Star Runner heading back to the Wormhole. Meanwhile, Mara relents and accepts some illicit holophone credits from Zandie and Pancha introduces Sheng to her digital amalgamation.
Having collapsed, Cyriax's infection means that the ship will have to be completely disinfected. But will Tane and Degenhardt's egos lead to a double tragedy?
