Space 1999 - The Space-Jackers

The Space-Jackers by Michael Butterworth. Novelisation of "Seed of Destruction", "A Matter of Balance", "The Exiles" and "The Beta Cloud". Butterworth returns as solo author of this novel. The stories are more delineated and match their on-screen counterparts (except for "The Beta Cloud"). The hunt for Tiranium continues as Cantar and Zova exhaust Moonbase's supply using their matter transmitter jury-rigged from the life-support system and, by the end of the novel, it is stated that Alpha has only enough power for one more day. His use of imaginative alien forms for the Maya transformations continues with her selection to fight the Cloud robot: a two-headed, fire-breathing dragon beast with razor-like forearms. Changes include: (1) Botanist Shermeen's last name is "Goodwood" and he is only eighteen at the time, having been trapped on the runaway Moon as a teenager during an ill-timed holiday. (2) Hays makes another appearance the first half of "The Exiles" (the shooting script used his name till this point). He remains in Command Centre with Koenig when Verdeschi and Maya are dispatched to Life Support to check on Cantar and Zova's progress. He is not mentioned again. (3) The male Indian "Sahn" makes another appearance, substituting at the station normally occupied by Benes. (4) In "The Beta Cloud", major changes are made to the narrative (not the least of which is the disappearance of all the filler scenes added to this severely under-running episode). Maya is severely injured during her initial battle with the Cloud's robot and remains in Medical Centre for much of the story, and a recovering Carter joins Verseschi and Fraser in their attempts to repel the invader. Maya's epiphany about the robot's true nature is given to her by Ben Vincent with an off-hand remark: "If Tony and Alan can't stop that runaway robot, no one can." Maya then inexplicably escapes from the locked Medical Centre to join the three men for the final showdown at Life Support, sustained by stimulants and pain-killing drugs. There is no happy ending as they realise that the aforementioned power dilemma will mean the end of Alpha. As an aside, Macinlock is mentioned as the ill-fated pilot of Eagle Six, effectively writing the character out of the series.

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