Moonbase Alpha Status Report: 565 days after leaving Earth
orbit
Moonbase Alpha encounters a planet and scanners detect the
presence of the rare mineral, Milgonite, which is essential for Alpha's life support system. Eagle 4, with John Koenig,
Alan Carter, Helena Russell, Tony Verdeschi, Maya and geologist Dave Reilly on board, is despatched to carry out
a full geological survey of the planet.
Whilst Helena and Tony remain on board the Eagle, the rest of the Alphan landing party set off in
search of Milgonite. They locate a glowing rock formation inside some caves, and Dave Reilly uses his laser gun
to extract a sample of the rock to take back to the Eagle for analysis in the onboard laboratory.
On board the Eagle Tony Verdeschi takes a look at a sample of the rock through a microscope, is hit
by a beam of light and immediately collapses. Helena announces that he is dead, but after connecting Tony to the life
support machine she discovers that although Tony's heart has stopped all his internal organs are functioning normally.
Whilst the remainder of the landing party are investigating the caves, Helena Russell remain on baord
the Eagle with the unconscious Tony Verdeschi. Suddenly, the chunk of rock begins to pulsate with a yellow glowing
light, and Tony Verdeschi wakes up. Trance-like, he walks out of the Eagle.
Tony Verdeschi reaches the cave where he fires his laser at the rock formation,
removing another chunk of rock and then makes his way back to the Eagle. Once on board the Eagle Tony places the
second chunk of rock next to the first, and then lays down on the gurney, unconscious once again. The two chunks of
rock begin to move towards each other and fuse themselves together.
John Koenig decides that they need to get off the planet and back to Alpha, dumping the rock in space
but when Alan Carter attempts to take off he finds that all systems are dead. John Koenig believes that the rock
has intelligence and that it somehow programmed their computer to get them to the planet on the pretence that they would find
Milgonite. Koenig asks Maya to attempt to communicate with the rock in order to discover what it wants.
On board the Eagle the rock begins to pulsate with a green glowing light. John Koeing tells
Helena to get out of the Eagle but the rock emits a green light, trapping Helena in the Eagle. Suddenly the green
light begins to move around the inside of the Eagle, as if searching for something, and finally fixing itself on their water
supply which it then begins to absorb.
John Koenig tells Helena that he suspects that the rock needs to get off the planet in order to find
water, and in that case, Tony will need to gather more of the rock to take back to the Eagle. Suddenly Tony wakes up,
leaves the Eagle and makes his way to the rock formation in the cave. John and Alan wait there and stun Tony with
their lasers before he can remove the rock, but then Tony's body disappears and re-materialises in the Eagle.
Unbeknown to the rest of the Alphan's, Dave Reilly takes Tony's commlock and forces his
way onto the Eagle, just as the now conscious Tony, and Helena leave. Once inside the Eagle, Dave Reilly is taken
over by the rock and sent out to the parent rock to fetch more rock. Meanwhile, Maya transforms into a chunk of the
rock and this is taken by Reilly back to the Eagle where he places it beside the original chunk.
John and Alan rush into the Eagle but are immobilised by the rock. Maya attempts to transform
back from inside the rock but is unable to do so. Alan notices that the rock has turned red, and Maya warns them
that red means death. Alan and John manage to break free, and Maya transforms.
John throws the rock out of the Eagle as the Alphans take off. Dave Reilly says the rock will
die in a few hours unless it gets water. Maya suggests they make it rain by dropping some crystals into the clouds so
that the rock can live.
Episode synopsis copyright Jeannine Hochet
