Space: 1999 "Centre of Conflict" Short story Writer: Unknown Look-In Annual 1977

The errant Moon passes through a region of space where two alien civilizations are at war with each other.

 

DIDJA KNOW?

 

"Centre of Conflict" is a 4-page short story in the 1977 Look-In Annual.

 

This seems to be a story set during Season One of the TV series based on the Alpha personnel who appear. But Professor Bergman is strangely missing from the story and, in fact, not even mentioned in passing! (Though a photo of him does appear in the character montage on page 1.) Maybe he was sick in his quarters for the couple of days this story takes place.

 

CHARACTERS APPEARING OR MENTIONED IN THIS STORY

 

Ken Martin (dies in this story)

Commander Koenig

Sandra Benes

Recovery Group leader

light-ball aliens

Jeff Walker (dies in this story)

Gregori Persoff (dies in this story)

Dr. Russell

alien man

alien woman

security officer

Paul Morrow

security guard

Kano

Jenkins

Horowitz

Dutacq

Steinmetz

Borodin

Maybury

Rollo

Rodriguez

Paine

Parsons

humanoid aliens

 

DIDJA NOTICE?

Oddly, an Eagle is sent out to investigate the derelict spaceship that crosses Alpha's path with just a single pilot. Normally, a co-pilot is also present for most missions. Why would only one crewmember be used here?

After pilot Ken Martin crashes his Eagle into the Moon's surface, a Recovery Group is sent to check for a survivor, but Martin is found dead. The Recovery Group leader radios back to Alpha that they'll bring in his body for burial. An underground cemetery was dug out of the lunar soil in "Breaking Ground", with the idea that the interred bodies will eventually become compost through vermiculture for growing crops.

Assuming that something on the derelict alien ship caused Martin to lose his mind, Commander Koenig orders the ship to be destroyed with deep-probe lasers. This is the first and only mention of "deep-probe lasers" in the series. It's not clear whether the deep-probe lasers are a function of the armament of Eagle Transporters or they emanate from Moonbase Alpha (though later in the story, Koenig does seem to order ground-based laser defenses to open up on an alien ship that suddenly appears and hovers over the moonbase).

Page 2 of the story reveals that Alpha removes reactor residue on a weekly basis and disposes of the radioactive waste at the burial pits of Disposal Area One. Disposal Area One was briefly seen and mentioned in "Breakaway" as a disused waste disposal site for nuclear waste shipped from Earth and the site burns itself out in a subsurface magnetic fire storm two days before Disposal Area Two exploded and blew the Moon out of Earth orbit. It's not clear from the events and dialog of "Breakaway" whether Disposal Area One could still be used for Alpha's own, relatively minor, nuclear waste disposal needs. There are a number of other small (much smaller than the exploded Nuclear Waste Disposal Area 2 of "Breakaway") nuclear waste sites on the Moon seen in various episodes, most particularly "The Seance Spectre".

The lunar surface fight between Walker and Persoff here, battling each other insanely at the waste disposal area, is similar to that of Nordstrom and Steiner at Nuclear Waste Disposal Area 2 in "Breakaway", though caused by different forces. In fact, a photo on page 2 of the story is borrowed from the fight scene of that episode.

The second photo on page 2, of Dr. Russell and a dome-headed alien, is borrowed from "War Games". The third photo, of Paul Morrow looking after an injured Sandra Benes in a makeshift shelter, is from "The Last Sunset".

Page 3 of the story refers to Koenig's uniform as a one-piece uniform, but uniforms seen on the show are clearly two pieces.

The photo of the spaceship of the humanoid aliens on page 3 of the story is actually of the Darian ship from "Mission of the Darians".

On page 4 of the story, an Alpha staff member named Parsons is said to be on duty in Main Mission at the life support terminals. It's not stated whether this Parsons is male or female. It could be that it is Alibe Parsons, a technician who appears in "Devil's Planet" and in the alternate universe of Omega and Alpha.

The photo on page 4, intended to depict the white gas filling up Main Mission from the alien missiles, is actually of the killer foam from "Space Brain".

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