In Cypress Corners Devon is desperate to marry Rachel, but the people are against the union because Rachel is promised to Garth.
Devon is forced to flee, and finds himself on the other side of the iris door of the dome. Here a screen explains to him that Cypress Corners is one of 53 similar biosphere domes aboard the Ark. ""In the year AD 2285, a series of atomic explosions threatened all earth life with extinction. The committee of scientists and philosophers selected segments of earth life to seed other worlds. Then they set about to build the Ark, the most monumental construction undertaken by humans, and when it was complete, it was launched on a centuries-long journey to the planets of Alpha Centauri."" The screen added that during the journey an accident occurred in the Ark's vast controls and the only way to prevent its drifting off course and ultimate collision is to inform the bridge.
Devon finds himself back in Cypress Corners where he is taken prisoner. Garth releases him an
