Francois Artuad, Captain of the Starship (Played by Xander) - A Burgundy-swilling bisexual Frenchman. Captain of the the Starship tasked with saving the human race by mining precious elements from the surface of Mercury which are rapidly reaching depletion on Earth.

Petr Sedlacek, Chief Medical Officer (Played by Nicholas) - A Serbian doctor, Chief Medical Officer aboard the Starship. Secretly a member of an extremist environmentalist cult, he plots (along with Jeannie Carsen) to destroy the Starship, thus dooming the human race and ending their destructive influence in the Solar System.

Jeannie Carsen, Chief Engineering Officer (Played by Bridget) - American, married to Noah Carsen - a celebrity marriage which was a tabloid spectacle - secretly a member of the same cult as Petr.

Noah Carsen, Pilot (Played by Jamie) - Canadian Pilot, married to Jeannie. Recently realized he is gay after a tryst with Captain Artuad.

Callie Flanagan, Pilot (Played by Jeff) - Irish Pilot, former Miss Ireland-turned-astronaut. Amazingly gorgeous, professional astronaut, also somehow knowledgeable about medicine.

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The starship is on a mission to mine essential elements from the surface of Mercury - elements which are rapidly reaching depletion on Earth. The story begins with Captain Artuad and Noah Carsen explosion which recently occurred, venting most of the Starship's fuel into space. Unless the crew can salvage more hydrogen from the surface of Mercury, the ship will not have enough fuel to return to Earth. Noah suggests retrofitting an autonomous mining robot to extract hydrogen fuel from the planets surface. Before he leave, Captain Artuad tells Noah that despite the tryst they shared recently, he wants to take things slowly and does not want to interfere with Noah's marriage to Jeannie. Noah, who has come to accept his sexuality and was hoping for more from this new relationship, leaves distraught.

Jeannie records a message for the people of Earth, imploring them to remember that everything she does is "for the good of Earth." She informs the Captain that the recent fuel explosion was due to unexplained errors with the ship's sensors. Jeannie, who is aware of the relationship between the captain and her husband, makes some pointed remarks about the Captains' alcoholism and his ability to command the vessel.

Later, Jeannie meets with Dr. Sedlacek in sick-bay. The Doctor congratulates her on successfully carrying out the sabotage, but grills her as to her commitment to the cause, and whether the turmoil with her husband will distract her. Their meeting is interrupted by the entry of Ensign Jensen, a deck-hand assigned to the development of the Hydrogen-Extraction Robot, who has been complaining about pains in his shoulder. Doctor Sedlacek dismisses Jeannie, then informs the ensign that he has bone-cancer. He gives the ensign poison disguised as chemo-therapy pills, and brusquely dismisses him from sickbay.

Callie Flanagan encounters the distraught ensign in the corridors of the ship and, after calming him down, confronts Dr. Sedlacek, demanding that he provide a sedative to ease Ensign Bensen's pain. The doctor gives Callie some pills to give the ensign but, mistrustful of the doctor, Callie states that she will tend to Bensen from her own medicine supply.

Later, Captain Artuad attempts to rectify things with Noah by bringing him flowers. Callie happens upon their meeting and is horrified and disgusted, as she herself is entangled with the promiscuous Captain. She rudely insults the two men before storming off.

After this encounter, tensions are high between Jamie and Callie as they attempt to manoeuvre the ship into orbit around Mercury. Callie incorrectly reports a course correction, leading to the the ships orbit to decay. Trying to correct the mistake, Noah finds that the problem is only getting worse. Callie suggests a manoeuvre which will rectify their course, but will further deplete the ship's fuel reserves to a dangerously low level. With no other choice, the Captain authorizes the manoeuvre. Callie, still distracted by the previous day's events, mixes up the movements, and the ship is only saved through the quick action of Noah.

Jeannie is angrily confronted by the Captain, who demands to know why sensors have failed on the ship yet again. Jeannie deflects the Captains suspicions, claiming the errors are due to unexplained malfunctions. The Captain commands Jeannie to take direct oversight on the development of the Hydrogen-Extraction Robot, which must be launched soon if the crew and the mission is to have a hope of survival.

Ensign Bensen has slowly died over 3 painful and agonizing days. Dr. Sedlacek comes to the Captain claiming that he suspects Callie Flanagan of having poisoned the Ensign. A lethal cocktail of poisons was found in the Ensign's system during autopsy. Sedlacek explains that when he tried to give Callie sedatives to ease Bensen's pain, she refused as stated that she would administer her own drugs, which can only be suspicious.

Callie, meanwhile, drowns her sorrows in the Starship's make-shift bar, knocking back whiskey after whiskey before the Captain comes in over the intercom summoning her. After she drunkenly stumbles into the Captain quarters, Francois presents her with Sedlacek's accusations. Callie desperately pleads her innocence. Softened by his sexual past with Callie, the Captain relents, stating that he believes her innocence. They fall passionately, if drunkenly, into bed...

The next day, the Captain happens upon Dr. Sedlacek and Jeannie conferring in the ship's Hydroponics Garden. Jeannie appears to be extremely under the influence of Ayahuasca - a contraband hallucinogenic drug which the two have secretly cultivated in the garden. Sedlacek tries to encourage the Captain to leave, but Jeannie yells insults at the Captain, and goes so far as to slap him before the Dr throws her to the ground. The Captain orders the Dr. to leave, and carries Jeannie back to her quarters before setting off to find Noah to inform him of his wife's condition.

After finding Noah, the two return to the Carsens' quarters to find smoke billowing out from under the door. They desperately pry open the door, to find a raging maelstrom of fire, and Jeannie lying unconscious on the bed. As they drag her out, she come to, still under the influence of the drug. Dr. Sedlacek shows up and demands to take Jeannie to sick-bay alone. The Captain insists that Noah be allowed to stay with his wife. Petr agrees, but encourages Noah to go to sleep while he tends to Jeannie.

Noah awakens to hear a heated argument between Jeannie and Dr. Sedlacek. Jeannie, who has recovered from her drug-induced visions, claims that the "holy plant" has shown her the error of their ways - the way so save earth is through the replenishing elements which will be found on Mercury. Dr. Sedlacek angrily cries that she has lost her way - "humanity is a disease upon Mother Earth which must be allowed to die". He begins to strangle Jeannie, before Noah jumps up and pushes the doctor aside. Noah manages to save Jeannie, but the doctor escapes out the door of the sick-bay.

Meanwhile, Captain Artuad and Callie Flanagan are engaged in a tryst near the ship's engineering hangar when they hear the alarm signalling the doctor's flight. They find that the doctor has manoeuvred the Hydrogen-Extraction Robot into an airlock, and is preparing to jettison the robot and himself into space. Jeannie arrives and tries once more to convince the doctor that the Holy Ayahuasca herb (which the doctor has recently eschewed in order to better focus on his mission) has shown her the true path. Coldly stating that "Humanity's cycle of death must be brought to an end", Sedlacek triggers the airlock to open, sending himself and the robot hurtling into the icy black vacuum of space.

Callie, who has secretly harboured an intense attraction to the Doctor due to his resemblance to her own stern and unloving father, loses her sanity at his death, claiming that she is covered with blue slime. Robbed of his best pilot, Captain Artuad is forced to embark on a mission with Jeannie to recover the Hydrogen-Extraction Robot. They manage to grab it before the robot plummets towards Mercury, but upon manoeuvring into the ship, the Captain is crushed by the wildly swinging robot, rendering him paralysed from the waste down.

Crucially, though, the robot has been saved, and the ship is able to return back to earth.

Aftermath

Captain Artuad will never walk again. He is stripped of his rank due to gross incompetence and negligence of duty.

Noah, robbed of his love for the Captain and divorced from his former wife, settles into a deep depression and loneliness.

Callie returns to her family home in rural Ireland. Her madness robs her of everything she has, even her once celebrated good looks.

Jeannie learns that compounds discovered on the surface of Mercury have been found to have unique properties which lead to a new form of clean, sustainable energy, which can begin to undo the damage humans have done to the Earth. She finds a measure of peace in her new relationships, and even manages to reconcile with Noah.

Petr Sedlacek becomes a martyr to his cause. The cult vows to continue on his struggle. Their ultimate goal: the destruction of the human race...