Moonbase Alpha Status Report: 1912 days after leaving Earth
orbit
Commander John Koenig, whilst piloting an Eagle over the
area of the nuclear waste dumps where he is checking on an increase in the neutron count, begins behaving erratically.
Unable to bring the Eagle in under remote control Tony Verdeschi orders Alan Carter to head over to the area of the nuclear
waste dumps with two nuclear physicists to check for damage to the nuclear domes.
The Eagle crashes and bursts into flames but John Koenig is rescued and taken, unconscious, to
the Medical Centre where Doctor Helena Russell hooks him up to the Ellendorf Brain Complex. This feedback complex machine
takes brain impulses, modifies them and feeds them back into the brain. Although the machine is still experimental Helena
believes it is John's best chance of survival.
In Command Centre Sandra Benes' sensors pick up a spaceship heading towards Moonbase Alpha, but she
reports that it is so far away that it will take a few days to reach Alpha. Suddenly Sandra reports that the spaceship,
which resembles a Superswift, is travelling faster than the speed of light, and is approaching for landing.
When the spaceship lands, its Captain appears on the Command Centre screen. It is Tony Verdeschi's brother Guido.
The crew of Moonbase Alpha impatiently await the arrival of the Superswift crew, which includes their
friends and loved ones. Helena Russell's old tutor Doctor Shaw, Sandra Benes' fiance Peter, Doctor Ben Vincent's
fiancee Luoisa, and Diana Morris, an old flame of John Koenig's, are among the crew of the Superswift.
Two of the Superswift crew leave Command Centre and take over the mind of Sandstrom, a medical technician.
Under their hypnotic control, Sandstrom enters the Medical Centre and attempts to kill John Koenig by disrupting the Ellendorf
machine that John is linked up to.
Back in Command Centre Doctor Ben Vincent explains to fiancee Louisa that
they have medical monitors set up all over Alpha so that wherever they are they can monitor the patients in Medical Centre.
He looks at one of the monitors and notices that something is wrong with John Koenig. Louisa attempts to control his
mind but Alan Carter takes Louisa away, breaking the control. Ben rushes out of Command Centre, quickly followed by
Helena Russell. Together they prevent Sandstrom from killing Koenig.
John Koenig awakens and Helena tells him about the arrival of the
Superswift and its crew. When she tells him who is on board the rescue ship, John is unbelieving but then realises
she is serious. He and Helena make their way to Command Centre to greet their friends.
When Commander Koenig arrives in Command Centre, however, rather than seeing people from Earth
he see's hideous, ugly alien creatures. He orders their spaceship destroyed but Tony countermands his order, maintaining
that these are their friends. John is about to shoot one of the aliens but Helena stuns him before he can do so.
Reluctantly Helena places John in restraints in Medical Centre but John
continues to insist that the 'friends' they see are monsters. When John becomes very agitated, Helena is forced to sedate
him.
In the Records Lab. technician Kander looks through the record tapes and photographic evidence taken
by the Radio-active Monitring team following John Koenig's crash. As he does so he too see's the Superswift crew for
what they really are, monsters. Doctor Shaw and Guido Verdeschi stand outside the Records Lab., exerting their hypnotic
control over Kander, forcing him to turn on the emergency oxygen, lock himself in the Records Lab. and begin to trash the
room, destroying the photographic evidence.
Maya contacts Tony Verdeschi to tell him that Kander has locked himself in the Records Lab.
Tony, Alan and an emergency response team rush to the Records Lab. and attempt to free the door, but are unable
to do so. Maya transforms into an insect and enters the Records Lab. through the air vent. In the struggle, oxygen
is ignited and the lab bursts into flames. Kander is killed in the blast.
Guido Verdeschi and Doctor Shaw remind Tony that they will soon be out of range of the Earth
so it is vital that they decide which Alphan's will return to Earth in the pilot ship. Tony gathers the Command
Centre crew together and draws lots to decide which three Alphan's will return to Earth, but the names he reads
out are not the one's written on the cards. Under the hypnotic influence of Doctor Shaw and Guido the three 'chosen'
are members of the radio-active monitoring team, Ehrlich, Bartlett and Alan Carter.
John Koenig, still under restraint in Medical Centre, tries to convince Tony and Helena that
when he looks at their friends from Earth he doesn't see what they see. Instead he see's something hideous, ugly, hostile
and deadly. He asks them if they don't find it odd that all the personnel on the rescue ship are close relatives and
friends, but Tony says they are all volunteers and all asked specifically to come. John asks what the odds are
that the three Alphan's chosen to return to Earth are members of the Radio-active Monitoring Team, but Tony
tells him he drew the names himself.
Meanwhile, Alan Carter, Ehrlich and Bartlett take off on the pilot ship bound for Earth, watched by
the crew of Command Centre. They approach Earth after what seems to them to be only a few hours, but in reality
they have never left the Moon....
To be continued...
Episode synopsis copyright Jeannine Hochet
