The Star Force has been standing still in space for several weeks, waiting for a huge space storm to subside, in hopes of finding a short-cut channel through the vast Octopus Star system which fuels the storm. The Argo's crew grows anxious, with ever... (more)ybody on edge, and several scuffles break out, including one between Derek Wildstar and Mark Venture. Nova voices her concerns about the fights to Captain Avatar, who says the ship is running low on food and that it's better for the crew to be fighting instead of wondering where their next meal is coming from. Meanwhile, Assistant Engineer Sparks begins to question the feasibility of the mission, and asks Orion to present a case to Avatar for simply finding a nice, quiet planet on which to settle. When the storm momentarily quiets down, Wildstar takes a fighter plane into the system. He finds a channel, gets halfway through, and prematurely concludes that the channel goes all the way through. Wildstar reports his findings, but after Venture chides him for not verifying whether the channel actually exists, they get into an argument and then a fist fight, which Nova breaks up. Meanwhile, Captain Avatar decides to act, ordering that a course be set through Wildstar's channel. After a very rough ride through the vortex, during which Wildstar helps Venture pilot the Argo, the Star Force appears on the other side of the storm. Wildstar and Venture stop fighting and congratulate each other on their successful teamwork. The year 2200 dawns. Earth has 280 days left.