Victor gives the crew of the Athena an assignment to help a research team on the old home world of Cunniculum Rocks. A researcher there believes there might be a tie between what happened to Cunniculum Rocks and what happened to Icrion.

The crew arrives and joins the research team. Splitting into two groups, they search for clues by examining the fossil record, examining the city ruins, compiling astrological data, and examining unearthed historic records. They make the following discoveries.

• The fossils of what were believed to be the invading alien race are actually amalgamations of human and animal skeletons once native to the planet.
• The city ruins show that the attacks most likely came from within the city at multiple points instead of from an external source.
• The astrological data shows that a significant amount of mass (size of a small moon) left the planet around the same time period of the alien invasion.
• Historic records show one of the last major breakthroughs on the home world before the invasion had to do with manipulating the warp points.

In addition to these facts, the team also found a remarkably well preserved military bunker. Exploring the bunker, they found a single human preserved in a bio pod. Upon releasing him, he rapidly mummified and started releasing some sort of mist. He also became violent and attacked. He seemed unfazed by having his head shot off, but was subdued by blowing off his legs and arms. However, the mist he was emitting continued to advance in a strangely intelligent manner and proved corrosive. The crew was able to evacuate and capture some of the mist in a canister by reversing the oxygen pumps that were pumping air into the chamber. The rest of the mist condensed into a slug like creature and started eating it's way out of containment. The chamber was sealed in by collapsing the tunnel with demolitions.