Dr. Deraad (Richard Coleman) catches Peter (Stewart Guidotti) and Janet (Ingrid Sylvester) searching his lab. They are brought before Captain Payne (Peter Williams). Bannerman (Gerald Flood) and Dr. Deraad are also in the captain’s office. Peter tries to tell the captain that they were looking for the Phoenicium. Deraad allows his lab and his room to be searched. Nothing is found. The captain has no choice but to send Peter back to England. Janet decides to go too since she knows he is telling the truth.
Before they leave Peter is showing Bannerman some of the pictures he took while at Aegiria. One is of Professor Gordon (Robert James) holding his spectroscope. Bannerman notices something in the picture. A blow-up of the spectroscope shows that it was in perfect condition when the picture was taken. Since Peter had no access to it after that time it proves that he did not sabotage the device.
Captain Payne has more problems when he learns from the drilling expert, Professor Soobiah (David Spenser), that a pipe in the drill being used to drill down into bottom of the seabed has been sabotaged. Since that was done before anyone got to Aegiria it shows the captain that there are two saboteurs on Aegiria.
Bannerman and Peter discuss with Professor Soobiah about the drilling rig and where it is located under Aegiria. Peter finds an old map that shows the ocean floor when the old blockhouse was still there. The layer of earth underneath the new blockhouse is being referred to as layer-x. Bannerman realizes that layer-x is most likely a giant ore deposit of Phenicium.
Bannerman then learns from Janet that one of the air tanks she filled up the day before was almost empty. She and Dr. Carey (Delena Kidd) were outside on the guyot, the plateau that Aegiria is built on, when Carey began having trouble breathing. The fact that someone unauthorized used it gives Bannerman the idea that Dr. Deraad may have hidden the Phenicium somewhere on the guyot. Bannerman goes out looking for it when he is attacked and left for dead.