Crichton wears a nuclear bomb, rigged to explode should he come to any harm. He claims to have come to the base to sell wormhole knowledge to the highest bidder, hoping this will buy time for him to devise a plan to either rescue Scorpius � or kill him before he breaks.

The base itself is home to both Kalish technicians and Charrid soldiers working for the Scarrans. There is a historical antipathy between them, and Moya's crew pits them against each other, trying to create a confrontation as diversion for them to spirit Scorpius out of Scarran hands. The Scarrans, meanwhile, begin working out a way to disable Crichton's bomb.

Ahkna, the Scarran War Minister, continues her torture of Scorpius, and brings in an unexpected ally to assist � the Banik, Stark. Ahkna believes that by extracting Scorpius�s secrets she will increase her standing in the Scarran Empire.

However, neither Crichton nor Ahkna are truly aware of the extent of Scorpius� duplicity. Crichton soon learns the hard way; when his rescue attempt is just about to succeed, Scorpius sabotages it, revealing himself to be a Scarran spy.