"Critical Mass"
The Pride was headed directly for Audric's signal, at least until everyone save Herc went to bed. While the rest of the League slept, Herc landed the barge on a deserted asteroid full of ruins, then drove off in Spike Trike to search for the Treasure of Xornadu, using an ancient map to find the way. After the others awoke to find him missing, Jayce and Oon caught up to Herc, stopping him by having Armed Force lift Spike Trike's rear to slow it down.
Suddenly, Monster Mind troopers attacked. After successfully defeating the enemy vehicles, the League escaped into open space.
When they resumed following the signal, the path lead them straight into a dead galaxy, crowded with broken planets pierced by Monster Mind vines. The signal was emanating from somewhere beyond that galaxy. Herc attempted to activate the hyperspace drive, but it malfunctioned and caused a chain reaction in the ship's other systems, leaving only the barge's life-support and rockets operational. He predicted that it would take at least a month to repair the hyperdrive. Gillian, who had been studying the dead galaxy, announced that only a small bit of extra mass was needed to collapse the entire thing into a black hole. If that were to occur, then the Pride could go straight through the cleared area, instead of wasting time flying around that galaxy.
Landing on a seemingly deserted asteroid filled with derelict vessels, Herc repaired his ship while Jayce positioned six of the junked engines together. Firing them up started moving the asteroid towards the dead galaxy. The barge took off, leaving the asteroid to its fate as Monster Mind vines reached out to grab it.
Flora, who had felt a vague presence of life on it when they first landed, received a second, stronger sense that someone was alive down there. Herc used the newly-repaired Lifeform Scanner to detect a single human deep within the asteroid. The League wanted to rescue the poor soul, but Herc didn't, thinking it was impossible to find it within the three hours before critical mass.
Gillian magically changed Herc's treasure map so that it looked like the Treasure of Xornadu was on the doomed asteroid; catching sight of this convinced Herc to return. Upon landing, Jayce and Herc swiftly defeated a force of troopers and then went their separate ways. Herc drove off in Armed Force to find the treasure while Jayce gave the Root to Flora and Gillian, telling them to leave in one hour "no matter what." Jayce and Oon took Drill Sergeant, digging down to the underground caverns where the human lifeform was located.
Gillian altered Herc's map again, this time showing that the treasure was at Jayce's location. Naturally, Herc followed Drill Sergeant there. The vehicles stopped in a subterranean area filled with Greek-style ruins, and their occupants were confronted by Happy Trails, a grizzled old prospector who had spent the last twenty years in search of the Treasure of Kubla-Key. Monster Mind troopers attacked, and everyone made a run for it. Jayce slammed a boulder into a nearby column, causing a domino effect as its fellows crumbled one by one, collapsing the ceiling they had been supporting. Through the falling rubble, a glowing gold temple was briefly revealed -- there really was a treasure after all! Jayce prevented Herc and Happy Trails from going after it, saving them from certain doom, and the treasure was reburied forever.
The group made it back to the Pride and escaped with barely a moment to spare. Everything collapsed into the newly-formed black hole, including the Monster Minds.
The League continued their quest, after an emergency stop to eject the tunelessly-singing Happy Trails.
Gillian: "Flora, even my powers can't divine why Herc would set us down here. We were going directly toward Audric's signal!"
Flora: "Something to do with money, I bet. Go get him, Jayce!"
Oon: "Why are Herc's tracks so zig-zaggy?"
Jayce (amused): "Oon, that's just the way he thinks sometimes."
Herc: "HEY! *Sigh* Jayce, you take all the fun out of life!"
Herc: "Don't look at me that way! In case anybody's interested, this happens to be a map to the Treasure of Xornadu! Won it in a card game on Altair 7."
Flora (picking it up): "This'll make a great paper airplane!"
Herc (snatching it back): "Hah, hands off, Spinach-nose!"
Herc: "Okay! It's not my day! But, with a small course correction..."
Gillian: "What's this?"
Flora: "A whole galaxy..."
Jayce: "Taken over by Monster Minds -- did any people live down there?"
Gillian: "Oh, not for centuries, fortunately."
Jayce: "My father's signal came from somewhere on the other side. Can you get us through?"
Herc: "That's what hyperspace drive is all about, kid."
Gillian: "Fascinating! The vines have pulled all the planets in this galaxy so close together it could form a black hole! Ahhh, just a bit more mass..."
Herc: "A black hole? We're getting outta here, fast!"
Herc: "Kid, you don't fool around with black holes -- even to get a galaxy out of your way!"
Jayce: "We also destroy a large Monster Mind breeding ground!"
Flora: "Gillian, you always said that 'planets are like the flowers of space.' Would you destroy one on purpose?"
Gillian: "Only a dead planet, my child."
Jayce: "Herc, you got the Lifeform Detector working yet?"
Herc: "Gimme a break! I can't fix everything at once!"
Jayce: "Herc, are we ready for liftoff?"
Herc: "Herc Stormsailor doesn't hang around black holes!"
Gillian: "Good heavens! Human life! One person on that doomed planet -- the poor soul!"
Jayce: "We have to go back."
Herc: "Kid, you finally broke the string on your yo-yo -- forget it!"
Herc: "The Lost Treasure of Xornadu -- it's buried on that planet! Hmmm... nine minutes to land, six minutes to where the 'X' is, seven minutes to dig...!"
Jayce: "Hey! You never fought like this to save the universe!"
Herc: "Kid, you got your crusade, I got mine!"
Jayce: "Remember, if we're not back in one hour, leave! Keep trying to find Father!"
Flora: "You're coming back, Jayce -- you will!"
Herc: "Remember, kid: the human down there is yours, but the treasure's MINE!"
Jayce: "What a civilization this must have been!"
Herc: "What a rich civilization! Oh, baby, I've finally hit it BIG!"
Happy Trails: "Dadgum claim jumpers will follow a man anywhere! The name is Happy Trails, and I've been prospecting this claim for twenty years. Come on down -- real slow!"
Herc: "I can't believe it! I'm leaving the Lost Treasure of Xornadu behind!"
Happy Trails: "That ain't Xornadu, you idiot! It's Kubla-Key!"
Happy Trails: "You can just set me down on the nearest inhabited planet."
Jayce: "If we pass one. But we can't go out of our way, we don't have the time!"
Happy Trails: "Suit yourself, sonny! I know a thousand long songs to help pass the time away: (Sings VERY off-key) Ohhhhhhhh, I'm a lonesome prospector, Digging for gold in every space vector, Finding the planet of gooooooold!"
Jayce: "Herc! Find the nearest inhabited planet!"
