Russell goes to check out his ranger station, and finds a man, near death, in a diving suit. Russell takes him to Homestead Hospital, and when the man’s perfectly intact diving suit is cut off, doctors discover a series of nearly symmetrical puncture wounds from his neck to his waist – roughly corresponding to the placement of the tendrils along the body Dave recovered from the swamp. Russell goes back to his station and finds military dog tags, but can’t seem to find out – even from Sheriff Underlay – anything about a U.S. Air Force diver named Paxton. Dave, still hospitalized for his injuries, goes to visit Paxton, who can only dazedly moan “Don’t let them in” while Dave tries to take pictures of his wounds – moments before Underlay appears out of nowhere to confiscate the camera. Larkin tracks Paxton’s wife down and goes around the sheriff’s road blocks to reach her, but she thinks her husband is on a mission overseas and refuses to say anything more. Larkin returns to work with what she’s found out, but is informed by her news director – one of the many like Dr. Mariel Underlay who were found naked after the storm – that Paxton has died, and that the story isn’t worth chasing. Jesse and Rose, staying with the Underlays, come back to Russell’s house; Rose is upset that her mother and stepfather were both gone overnight. In addition that, though, Russell and Dave are worried about another disappearance – the intertwined human and alien remains hidden away in the trunk of Dave’s car have vanished. But Russell does still have one alien souvenir – a spore-like object that Mariel pulled out of Paxton’s head.
written by Shaun Cassidy
directed by Lawrence Trilling
music by Jon Ehrlich & Jason DerlatkaGuest Cast: Holmes Osborne (Mayor Littles), Nick Cokas (Paxton), Veronica Cartwright (Valerie), Kimleigh Smith (Admitting Nurse), Michael Mitchell (Derek), Jake Richardson (Gage), Nathan Baesel (Deputy Lewis Sirk), Cirroc Lofton (Reed), Anne Dudek (Katie Paxton), Ivar Brogger (Father Jeffrey Scanlon), Reggie Jordan (Reporter #1), Elisa Llamido (Reporter #2), Ruth Silviera (Nurse Adrianne), Jennifer Wilkerson (Nurse)
Notes: Cirroc Lofton was a member of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’s ensemble cast for all seven seasons, starring as Jake Sisko; he played Larkin’s co-worker and seems to have taken after his DS9 co-star and mentor Avery Brooks in shaving his head.
LogBook entry by Earl Green