This adventure starts off peacefully with most of Space City asleep when suddenly a general alarm goes off. Steve Zodiac rushes to mission control in his robe to find out what's going on. Turns out Fireball XL27 is returning to Earth and landing on remote. There's been no word from the crew! There's some nice suspense as Zodiac and Zero investigate the XL27. They find the crew unconscious, hit by a coma ray. Steve Zodiac is dispatched with the crew of the XL5 to investigate the XL27's last reported position: the ice planet Zavia.
Steve, Venus and Matt all dress in heavy snow gear to explore the frozen planet (oddly they never appear to have a problem with the cold of space when they gulp down an oxygen pill to go outside the XL5!). All seems normal when they suddenly fall down a crevice and are captured by Cardre and Rader, two members of the Jedums who reveal their evil plan to use a ray to deflect the Sun's rays from Earth and freeze the planet! The Jedums are seeking revenge from being banned from Earth after causing trouble several years ago.
On Earth the plan is working as Space City is covered in snow. Joc cannot get the heaters to give off enough heat. Everything is freezing. It looks like the end.
But Steve cleverly figures out a way to escape their ice jail, get back to the XL5 and destroy the deflection ray! This adventure is loaded with action, jeopardy, suspense and a lot of great shots. The underground ice lair on Zavia and Space City covered with snow are just great to see. There's a nice touch when Matt's glasses get steamed up because of the boiling water in the ice jail and adds to the jeopardy of their escape when he cannot see.
Strangely in the end Cardre and Rader are never really dealt with. Once the deflection ray is destroyed we never hear more about them. So I guess they are free to contemplate further revenge and consider perhaps their biggest mistake: if you HAVE a working coma cannon, don't disassemble it unless you are absolutely sure you will never need it again!
Steve, Venus and Matt all dress in heavy snow gear to explore the frozen planet (oddly they never appear to have a problem with the cold of space when they gulp down an oxygen pill to go outside the XL5!). All seems normal when they suddenly fall down a crevice and are captured by Cardre and Rader, two members of the Jedums who reveal their evil plan to use a ray to deflect the Sun's rays from Earth and freeze the planet! The Jedums are seeking revenge from being banned from Earth after causing trouble several years ago.
On Earth the plan is working as Space City is covered in snow. Joc cannot get the heaters to give off enough heat. Everything is freezing. It looks like the end.
But Steve cleverly figures out a way to escape their ice jail, get back to the XL5 and destroy the deflection ray! This adventure is loaded with action, jeopardy, suspense and a lot of great shots. The underground ice lair on Zavia and Space City covered with snow are just great to see. There's a nice touch when Matt's glasses get steamed up because of the boiling water in the ice jail and adds to the jeopardy of their escape when he cannot see.
Strangely in the end Cardre and Rader are never really dealt with. Once the deflection ray is destroyed we never hear more about them. So I guess they are free to contemplate further revenge and consider perhaps their biggest mistake: if you HAVE a working coma cannon, don't disassemble it unless you are absolutely sure you will never need it again!