Devon and his friends encounter a wounded wanderer named Williams, who has been exploring the Ark on his own since long before Devon’s party left Cypress Corners. A scavenger and thief by nature, Williams has been felled by some sort of automatic defense system of a kind that Devon has never seen; when he asks the nearest sphere projector why Williams was blasted, Devon learns that someone has assumed control of the Ark – and isn’t prepared to say if this is good or bad news until he knows who it is. When Devon discovers that the alien visitor named Oro is now in charge of the Ark, he decides it’s bad news; the news only gets worse when Oro reveals that the Ark is being flown to his home planet of Exar so he can claim a salvage prize. Devon, Garth and Rachel – with the shifty Williams in tow – start trying to regain control of the Ark, while Oro insists that their only options are the Ark’s eventual collision with a star or being forced down on Exar, which may not even support human life.
written by Norman Klenman
directed by Francis Chapman
music by Score Productions, Ltd.Guest Cast: Walter Koenig (Oro), Henry Beckman (Williams), Philip Stevens (Tau Zeta), Patricia Moffatt (voice of Tau Zeta), Jim Barron (Computer Voice), William Osler (The Host)
Notes: Had the series lasted much longer, this might have served as a major turning point, as Devon formally gains control of the Ark’s systems in this episode (although episodes that aired after this one seem to ignore this rather significant development); despite this, Devon still doesn’t know what he needs to do to change the ship’s course. At the end of the story, Oro is left stranded on the Ark, presumably to serve as an ongoing villain, but the series didn’t last long enough to see a third appearance.
LogBook entry by Earl Green