final stand at Life-Support They arrive only minutes ahead of the creature. As Maya inspects Fraser's handiwork, the two men size-up the electrical barrier, then the standard-weight door at their backs. If the barricade fails, they are done for. The beast approaches, contemplates the obstruction, and grips a cable in its hands. Thousands of volts surge through its body, knocking it flat on its back. The three are shocked as it climbs to its feet. It assaults the barrier again; the electric shock throws it to the floor, setting its fur ablaze. It simply recovers and pats out the flames. With defeat a certainty, Verdeschi pulls Maya aside. After three years of flirtation, witty repartee and casual dating, he professes his love for her. She responds with a passionate kiss until interrupted by the creature making another go at the barrier. The electrical charge sends it reeling and Fraser blasts it with his rocket gun. Verdeschi is dumbfounded; how can any life-form take this abuse? Maya has an epiphany: the creature is not a life-form, but a mechanical construct—a robot. It is the only explanation for its survival against laser-fire, rocket shells, vacuum, chlorine, anaesthetic and electricity. Her revelation is interrupted by the creature's latest onslaught; it leans its full weight against the cables and bursts through. The three Alphans retreat into the Life-Support Centre. Maya tries to determine an access point to the robot's internal mechanism while the men mount a desperate offensive. Fraser is immediately slammed into a wall head-first and knocked out. Next, Verdeschi is tossed aside, breaking his arm. Maya perceives an opening at the creature's ear. She transforms into a bee and buzzes around its head as it stalks toward the instrument banks. It removes the core element from its slot and Moonbase goes dead —- lights dim, air purification and circulation ceases and the temperature begins to drop. Verdeschi attempts to block the robot's exit, only to end up with a shattered knee. The Maya/Bee enters the ear into the creature's head, where she finds an array of complicated circuitry. She moves across the electronics, causing myriad short-circuits. The robot beast stops in its tracks and drops the core. Verdeschi drags himself across the floor to protect the component from the creature's wrath as, in its death throes, it vandalises the room. His struggle to return the fragile element to its housing attracts the