picks up the distress beacon of Icarus I. That ship was the first to attempt a similar mission, and disappeared seven years earlier. The ship's proximity to the sun kept its signals from reaching Earth. The iron core of Mercury acts as an antenna, amplifying the signal and allowing Icarus II to intercept it. Reasoning that two payloads have a better chance of success than one, and that the last of Earth's fissile materials had been used to make their bomb, the ship's physicist Capa recommends to captain Kaneda that they change course and attempt to commandeer Icarus I. Mace, the ship's engineer, opposes the deviation as risky. Navigator Trey calculates and implements a trajectory to intercept Icarus I, but forgets to realign the shields that protect the ship from the sun, causing damage to four shield panels which if not repaired could destroy the whole ship and kill the crew. Kaneda and Capa embark on a spacewalk to make repairs, assisted by the pilot, Cassie, who angles the damaged portion of the shield away from the Sun. As expected, this leads to the loss of two protruding communications towers; however, reflected light also destroys the ship's oxygen garden and oxygen reserves, much to the horror of botanist Corazon. As Icarus IIs autopilot returns the shield to its original alignment, Kaneda orders Capa to retreat to safety as he repairs the final panel himself, and is burned to death moments later. Trey is unable to cope with the loss of Kaneda, and the ship's psychiatrist Searle assesses him as a suicide risk and places him under heavy sedation. Without enough oxygen to reach the release point for its explosive payload, Icarus II has no choice but to dock with Icarus I. Capa, Searle, Mace, and communications officer Harvey, now the acting captain, search the vessel, leaving Cassie and Corazon onboard Icarus II with Trey. They discover that despite the ship's systems being mostly operational, including a lush, overgrown, oxygen garden, the mainframe has been sabotaged, rendering delivery of the payload impossible. The ship's log contains a rambling message from Pinbacker, its captain, who abandoned his mission and has severe burns on his face. Mace deduces that the transmission was made six and a half years ago, around the time when the crew should have delivered their payload. The crew of Icarus I is found in the solar observation room, burned