Summaries

Synopsis

On a spaceship, a terrified man finds his comrade's dead body, before being tossed about by unseen forces. Elsewhere, on a remote planet, Mitri, oracle of the "game," speaks with the Master, a man whose head is encased in blue energy, and they receive a transmission that contact with the spaceship Remus has been lost near the planet Organthus. Mitri warns that the Master's plan is risky, but he determines to go to Organthus, and orders her to organize a spaceship crew.

Later, on the spaceship Quest, Commander Ilvar introduces himself to Captain Trantor, who powers up the ship before the crew is prepared for take-off. As Trantor recklessly deletes the preset hyper-jump coordinates in order to travel faster, the rest of the crew realize she is the sole survivor of a strange massacre on the spaceship Hesperus. The Quest survives the hyper-jump and arrives at Organthus, but, as it nears the planet, the Quest's systems go haywire. Trantor calls for the assistance of tech chief, Dameia, and although the system continues to malfunction, they land on Organthus. As Ilvar's team prepares to leave the ship, the crew's second in command, Baelon, asserts his leadership over his colleague Cabren, a psychic named Alluma, a rookie, Cos, and the crystal darts specialist, Quuhod.

On the planet, the team boards the Remus, and searches the ship. Cos is alone when an insect-type creature scares him, sending him running until he finds Baelon and Alluma. Elsewhere, Cabren and Quuhod discover the body of a Remus crew member. As the team brings the corpse to the Quest, Cos is slow to follow and is killed by a large insect.

On the Quest, while Dameia and Ranger, the assistant technical officer, perform autopsies on Cos and the Remus crew member, Alluma reveals that she sensed a presence around Cos, but when he died, it vanished. Their scanners indicate that the Quest's malfunctions are caused by an energy source emanating from a single point, and they decide to investigate. Trantor, Ranger, and the cook, Kore, remain on board while the others search, soon discovering a pyramid structure. Ilvar splits the crew into two teams: he, Cabren, and Dameia investigate the perimeter while Baelon leads Alluma and Quuhod up the pyramid.

As they climb, Ilvar laments his age. However, when they reach a hole, he insists on belaying down to investigate. The hole is riddled with openings and a worm-like creature that attacks and kills Ilvar. When Cabren feels the rope slacken, he lowers himself to investigate and finds the commander's bloody, empty rigging. As Baelon's group climbs the pyramid, a doorway opens slightly and Quuhod tosses a crystal dart to wedge it open. Cabren and Dameia join them, sharing the news of Ilvar's death by a creature from a worm hole, and Dameia admits she hates worms. When the team enters the pyramid, Quuohod's crystal dart shatters in the doorway, leaving them trapped inside. Baelon hands Quuhod a gun and orders him to guard the entrance. Quuhod discards the gun, insisting that he lives and dies by his crystal darts.

Inside the pyramid, Alluma senses a presence but Baelon disparages her and orders the group to follow. Dameia, however, turns back to check on Quuhod. Meanwhile, at the entrance, the doorway reopens as the crystal dart reassembles and attacks Quuhod. A piece breaks off inside his arm and starts climbing up his body. Quuhod chops his arm off, but the severed limb reaches for another crystal dart and throws it at Quuhod, killing him.

On the Quest, a nervous Ranger informs Kore that he cannot find Trantor, and they search the ship. On planet Organthus, Dameia discovers Quuhod's body, now covered with worms. Repulsed, she fires her weapon, incinerating Quuhod and the worms. However, one worm survives, grows to gigantic proportions, and rapes Dameia.

Meanwhile, on the Quest, Kore hits Ranger from behind, knocking him unconscious. He discovers Trantor, acting crazy, in the weapons room. Kore admits he is a weapons systems operator she knew in the past. Trantor screams that he is a spy, grabs a weapon, and leaves the room. Moments later, Ranger finds Kore and wonders who hit him, but Kore says he did not see anyone. Ranger uses the computer and discovers Trantor's whereabouts as she shoots an airlock open and dies.

On the planet, the team finds Dameia's nude, slime-covered body and Baelon shoots, incinerating her. The team regroups on the Quest, and Alluma wants to leave the planet, but Cabren realizes the energy source might prevent their escape and Baelon insists on returning to the pyramid. Ranger does not trust Kore and suggests Cabren be wary of him, too.

Inside the pyramid, Alluma is reluctant to enter the worm tunnels, fearing they will be too tight. Cabren kisses her, and enters the hole first, sliding to another level. Alluma follows and, although she feels trapped partway through, she makes it to the bottom, as do the others. In the center of the pyramid, a light activates above them in a V shape, revealing strange architecture surrounding a catwalk at a perilous height. As they traverse the catwalk, Baelon is attacked by a green-eyed creature, killed, and tossed into the abyss. Ranger unexpectedly argues with Cabren, insisting he will not follow Cabren's orders as he did in Academy days. Ranger raises his gun to shoot Cabren, but Alluma stops her friend with a calming hand on his shoulder. They continue, but lights glow around them and they find themselves walking separately. Ranger is attacked by another version of himself and shoots at his double, which bleeds but has no organs. The vision disappears when Ranger realizes the figure does not exist.

Elsewhere, Alluma attempts to reach Cabren but they are separated by a clear wall. She follows Cabren's directions to meet him, but finds herself in a small tunnel. Cabren struggles to rescue her but the tunnel contracts. Tentacles reach from its walls, crushing Alluma's body, and her head explodes. Ranger and Cabren realize that their individual fears are brought to life by this pyramid. Kore appears at the top of the tower and Cabren, gun drawn, climbs to confront him. Kore sits in the center of the pyramid, his head encased in energy. Cabren is furious that Kore knew about the pyramid's power and did not warn the Quest's crew. He shoots, but Kore's force-field repels the bullets. Cabren promises to kill him, but Kore declares that Cabren controlled his fear enough to win the game and must now control his emotions. Kore reveals the pyramid is an ancient toy for the children of a vanished race to learn to control their fears. Years ago, Kore played the game and became Master. Cabren asks why his teammates had to die and Kore insists they could have lived if they had chosen to. The room suddenly turns red and several creatures attack Cabren. He fights them off and, as the room turns blue, his dead friends appear and attack. Cabren fights, but is knocked unconscious. He awakens to find Alluma, alive and well, but she strangles him, forcing Cabren to shoot her. Cabren unexpectedly has the ability to emanate energy toward Kore, injuring his nemesis. The game is finished and the Master's power transfers to Cabren, who wants to reject it. Kore insists that Cabren is the Master and to deny the power would plunge them into chaos. Cabren kills Kore and, as energy encircles Cabren's head, the pyramid lights up, then goes dark. Cabren has become the new "Master".