 While flying Crichton s ship near a sun with high flare activity, John and Aeryn narrowly avoid getting sucked into an unstable wormhole. In an attempt to save his damaged ship, he sets down on the desert planet below to see a repairman. She informs him that the solar activity he needs to open another wormhole should be dying down before his ship can be repaired, but they reoccur regularly. If he cannot get his ship repaired and back up in orbit by the time the flares die down, Crichton will be unable to get home for another 5 years.