- The Alpha Moonbase needs a rare ore known as Milgonite, which is detected on an extremely dry planet. Koenig leads a small landing force and discovers a glowing rock formation which comes alive and cuts off the party's links with the base. It is a trap - the planet needs water to survive and has lured the travellers there for the water in their bodies.—don @ minifie-1
- Alpha's sensors indicate the presence of milgonite - a rare mineral needed for their life-support systems - located on the surface of a small barren rock-covered planet just within Eagle-range. A landing party is assembled consisting of Commander Koenig, Dr. Russell, Maya, Tony Verdeschi, Alan Carter and geologist Dave Reilly. Arriving at the seemingly lifeless world, Maya's sensors detect an unidentifiable low-level life-form along with a breathable atmosphere.
Upon landing, the ship's computer announces that they must lift off again within three hours to successfully return to the Moonbase. After disembarking, the party arrives at the previously-determined location of the milgonite source; a cone-shaped rock structure pulsating a yellow glow. However, Dave Reilly's examination reveals that it's not milgonite, despite the computer readings. Baffled, they decide to blast a piece off for analysis aboard the Eagle.
Inside the ship's laboratory section, while observing the football-sized sample under a scope, Tony's zapped by an orange energy bolt emanating from the sample and he collapses on the floor. Shockingly, Helena pronounces him deceased. However, a minute later she reports that his brain-wave patterns and internal organs are all functioning normally. Koenig orders that the sample be removed from the ship, but Helena insists that it needs to be studied in order to learn how to restore Tony back to health.
While Helena tends to Tony, the others return to the rock formation for further examination. A strange milky fluid is found being secreted from the rock where they had removed the sample. It appears that the rock is the low-level life-form that Maya had detected.
In the Eagle, the rock sample's yellow glow is pulsating fiercely, coinciding with Tony rising as a zombie. After he exits the ship, Helena alerts the Commander. Tony somehow eludes the others, who are searching for him. He then blasts another chunk off of the glowing rock formation, bringing it back to the Eagle. After Tony returns to his prone position on the medical examination table, Helena's astonished to observe the two rock samples merge into one larger entity.
Once the landing party is back on board, Commander Koenig decides to return to base immediately, dumping the rock into space on the way. However, Alan announces that the ship's controls are unresponsive, as well as no longer being able to raise the Moonbase. As the Commander approaches the rock, intending to toss it out the door, its glow suddenly turns blue. Koenig is then zapped with a blue ray which engulfs him in agonizing pain, collapsing him to the floor. While the rock returns to glowing yellow, Koenig recovers. They wonder what color kills. They suspect that the rock was able to trick their computer into detecting milgonite in order to lure them here and wonder what its game is.
Once more, the others leave Helena and Tony within the Eagle and return to the living rock formation for further study. Using the instruments, they analyze the planet's ecology, learning that the planet's rain remains trapped within the clouds, causing a prolonged drought. Determined to find answers, Maya transforms into a replica of one of the rock samples in an attempt to communicate with the parent entity. While she's pulsating with a yellow glow to try and achieve communication, Reilly assumes that the rock is distracted by Maya's influence and attempts to test whether their weapons are effective against it. As he aims his laser at the rock column, Koenig stops him, warning that the rock could retaliate by killing Maya. After Maya returns to her humanoid form, she reports that the rock refused to communicate with her.
Helena contacts the Commander, informing him that the rock inside is now glowing green. Not knowing what effect that will bring, he orders her out of the ship. However, the rock bounces around a green beam, preventing her from approaching the Eagle's exit door. She's trapped inside. Koenig and the others dash back to the ship. Suddenly, the green beam is probing around the ship's interior, as though it were searching for something. When Helena rushes for the exit, she discovers that the door won't open. Even Koenig using his commlock from the outside has no affect. The rock's green beam then focuses on Helena and it restricts her movements. She gives up trying to leave, causing the beam to resume its search through their cargo. The green beam holds its position on a large jug containing their water supply and succeeds in absorbing its entire contents by streaming it through the air. When Helena reports the incident, the others realize that the rock needs water to survive. It has drained the planet dry and will get it any way it can. Maya reminds the Commander that the human body is mostly water, and Helena's trapped inside with it.
The rock in the Eagle has returned to its yellow glow and sends a beam into the pilot section. It activates the ship's engines and the Alphans on the planet's surface watch helplessly as their Eagle lifts off into the air. As the ship achieves a certain height, however, the rock settles it back to the ground. The Alphans surmise that it can't leave the rest of itself behind. The rock then uses its beam to control the ship's computer, bringing up various star charts on the view screen. When Helena informs the others, they guess that the rock's searching for a place where there's water. Commander Koenig determines that the parent rock will perish if it remains on the planet any longer and surmises that its next move will be to once again use Tony to bring more pieces of itself into the Eagle.
In preparation for Tony approaching the parent rock, Koenig positions the party in strategic hiding places. Tony the zombie soon leaves the ship, arrives at the rock formation, then blasts off another piece to carry to the Eagle. Two stun guns fire at him simultaneously, unexpectedly causing him to vanish, leaving his laser and commlock laying on the ground.
Helena informs the Commander that Tony has materialized inside the ship and is beginning to recover. Maya hypothesizes that their attack on Tony has weakened the rock. Koenig wants to use Tony's commlock - the only one functioning - to finally open the Eagle door. However, they discover that both Tony's commlock - and Reilly - are missing, causing Koenig to believe Reilly's about to do "something stupid".
After Reilly gains access to the ship and ushers out Helena and Tony, he aims his laser at the rock. Before he can fire, the rock quickly turns green and zaps him, paralyzing him. Under the rock's control, he's now to take Tony's place.
Maya is performing surgery on one of their lasers with the intention of allowing it to fire four beams simultaneously, creating enough heat to dry up a reservoir. This should surely enable them to destroy the rock entity within the Eagle.
Reilly exits the Eagle as if in a trance, then Maya again transforms into a replica of the original rock sample for Reilly to come across on his way to the parent rock. When he re-enters the ship with it, Koenig and Alan both rush into the Eagle before the door shuts. The rock immediately turns blue and zaps the two intruders with painful blue beams while drawing Maya toward it for the two to merge together. Maya is unable to revert back to her Psychon form due to the rock exerting its influence, but she is able to project her voice, frantically calling out to the Commander for help. The Alphans are armed, causing the rock's color to change to red. Maya warns them that red is the death color. Koenig and Alan successfully evade the red beams being fired at them, then Koenig lunges forward, firing his four-beamed laser at the rock. Their alien menace turns black, no longer alive. The ship's systems are now functioning, so the rock is dumped outside as the rest of the landing party boards the Eagle. Finally, they lift the Eagle off the planet's surface just as their timeline to launch imposed by the ship's computer is about to expire. They made it just in time.
Before leaving the planet's atmosphere, the Alphans decide to jettison a batch of Nucleoid active crystals into the "impregnated" clouds, causing them to release their moisture. The sudden rainstorm saves the life of the glowing rock column.
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