A meteorite lands on the Moon following an abortive UFO attack and the Moonbase's video and radio links with SHADO fail.
Foster suspects that Dalotek, a private mining company with a nearby base whose operations are opposed by Straker, may have accidentally been using the SHADO frequency, but, even after a further black-out in which a module crashes fatally, Dalotek is ultimately exonerated.
Foster has hit it off with Jane Carson, Dalotek's glamorous communications officer, but Dalotek staff are subjected to amnesia treatment to make them forget the incident so that, when she meets Foster a year later, she does not recognise him.