- During a training exercise, Capt. William "Buck" Rogers and Col. Wilma Deering run scenarios against Hatchet fighters and the Thunderfighter combat computer's inability to properly lock onto the Hatchets for firing. Rogers seems to have the problem licked, but Deering is not certain that Directorate pilots are able to manually fire without full aid of the combat computer. After the exercise fails, the team heads to Earth.
- A young woman, Felina Redding, enters her quarters in New Chicago. She finds two messages waiting, the first being from her former guardian, an elderly woman named Rita, who proffers her thanks for Redding's birthday gift of flowering plants. As Redding undresses, she receives a second message from her boss, Amos Armat, who warns her that she is in danger and to head to the shuttle station where she will find a prepaid itinerary to an unknown destination. He sincerely apologizes for putting her into the unsaid danger, and notes that she has always been one of his best employees, and then signs off. Unfortunately, the warning is too late, as Redding is besieged by an unknown assailant who snuck into her quarters prior to her arrival.
- Maj. Marla Landers arrives in Dr. Elias Huer's office, and immediately notes the presence of another individual. Landers believes she arrived early, but Huer assures her she's on time and would like to introduce the gentleman in the room: Armat. Landers summarizes what she knows of Armat: that he is a black marketeer who deals with weapons, slave trading and other lurid occupations, none of which could ever be proven. Armat notes that this is correct, but is willing to surrender all the evidence the Directorate needs to make their case against him, in exchange for assistance in saving Redding's from his arch rival, one Morgan Velosi, as she accidentally came across some readouts that made her a valuable target for Velosi and Armat's other competitors.