
It is 31 December, 2049, and the students and staff of the Columbus College, on the space station Ilea, are preparing for their New Year's Eve party. Professor Charles Brelan, head of Daedalus 10, is the guest speaker at a science discussion group. He invites lecturer James Bromwich to join a forthcoming expedition. Rosie Greenwood, the college bursar, welcomes new arrival Victoria Frobisher aboard. She will be rooming with Sara Robbins and Melody Shaw. Second Officer Finbow Lewis notices an abnormality on the viewscreen in command central.
It is 31 December, 2049, and the students and staff of the Columbus College, on the space station Ilea, are preparing for their New Year's Eve party. Professor Charles Brelan, head of Daedalus 10, is the guest speaker at a science discussion group. He invites lecturer James Bromwich to join a forthcoming expedition. Rosie Greenwood, the college bursar, welcomes new arrival Victoria Frobisher aboard. She will be rooming with Sara Robbins and Melody Shaw. Second Officer Finbow Lewis notices an abnormality on the viewscreen in command central.
Rosie Greenwood places Gantry 4 in quarantine, but Space City Medical Centre advise that Victoria's calcium deficiency was caused by her nine-month trip from Earth, not a virus. An electrical storm over Io cuts off communications. Charles Brelan thinks that the college is a waste of valuable resources. Finbow Lewis discusses the scanner readings with Captain Eliot Creasy and Brelan, who dismiss his concerns and blame a faulty scanner.