Dr. Pretorius, his teacher and a member of the North Col Triumvirate, must impose the penalty of punishment duty topside in the Impact Winter blizzards.
He must also remind Noah of the necessity of order in North Col and his responsibility within the small community that survives in this underground research centre following the impact of the Nemesis supercomet with the Earth.
The Nomads, led by Arushka and with Noah as their prisoner, narrowly escape capture by the marauding Protectors, who are gathering workers for the Thunderstone mine.
As Jett, Sutch and the Protectors follow their leader Tao's orders, and close in behind the wheels of their menacing vehicles, the Nomads take Noah with them into the night.
In the Keep at the Thunderstone mine Tao watches the confrontation on his screen, as Jett arrives and takes Sundance prisoner using her net gun.
Tao speeds across the Red Desert to where Jett and Savage have discovered a magnificent prize – a perfectly preserved big rig truck, The Beast.
Tao, impressed with her bravery, and interested in Moshi, steps out to confront her, giving Noah and Sundance the chance to get inside the Beast trailer and sabotage the map coordinates that would lead to the capture of the Nomads.
Noah and Arushka enter it and begin the first of many risky sorties to access the power they will need to bring back the wondrous collection of animals that will fill the magnificent landscape that is Haven.
The captive miners are galvanised into action and while the battle rages Sundance and Chip get Noah out, but Ferris is caught – and this time he'd better tell Tao where the Nomads hide!
Noah and the Nomads are forced from safety by the Thunderstone smoke that continues to billow out of the Cavern; they are surrounded by Protectors and trapped by the Electronets.
Harnessing the power of the Electronets, he takes Geneva's hand and they white-out, arriving in the raging blizzards of Topside North Col where they succumb to the freezing conditions.
A disempowered Dr. Pretorius manages to have Geneva released into Noah's custody and convinces the other members of the Triumvirate that a demonstration of time-travel will settle the matter.
Realising that he has been found out, a furious Tao seeks out Ferris and forces him to lie to the Nomads and tell them it was a mistake by a disobedient Protector.
Armed with the PH-Ts and Dr. Pretorius' new Silverwing device, which will defeat Tao's Electronets, Noah is ready to take Geneva back to Haven.
Coming across an Electronet, Noah makes a discovery that will have serious consequences: Tao has activated the nets but the Silverwing weapon is faulty and ineffective against them.
With Noah and Arushka safely imprisoned in the Beast, Tao roars off leaving Chip alone under the relentless sun of the Red Desert.
The end of North Col unfolds – his family's suffering because of his illegal time-travel, the horrors of the rat carried disease rabies sweeping through the panicked citizens.
When Becky produces the disk she took from Tao detailing apocalyptic future events, Noah calls for an Open Forum in which the citizens of North Col can decide on this evidence for themselves.
The Daniels family are blamed for the rabies virus and the North Col community will not listen as Noah tells them the rats weren't real but holograms.
While the unsuspecting citizens of North Col are preparing for their journey to Haven, the Shadowmaster is assuring Tao that a labour force will arrive soon to help in the mining of the Thunderstone.
Forced by Dr. Pretorius to listen to his great vision of a new Haven, they arrive at Tao's base camp just as the recaptured Nomads are herded in.
As Sutch and Sundance hijack the Beast and liberate the enslaved work force, Noah, Becky and the other Nomads spread salt out at the motherlode base.
Meanwhile, Chip is having trouble with Moshi but he hears the rattle of Monsoons pots and pans in the distance and manages to spur the horse on into the woods.
As Chip disappears below the sand four strangers to Haven haul him out Myah, a barbaric looking young woman and her three brothers, Rorden, Tod and Lyal.
Noah arrives home secretly and employs Becky's radical plan to avoid banishment: he uses the PH-Ts to travel 24 hours back in time to the detention cell.
Desperate to give the precious animals the best chance for survival, Arushka and the Nomads attempt to muster them from the vast, parched high country into the lowlands.
She explains that in Silver City of 2235 their father was in charge of a weather control system and that they have landed here as a result of Rorden's fallible experiments with time-travel.
Pursued by security vehicles and helicopters, Noah and Arushka race in to an empty hangar where they white out, leaving the General Cardell absolutely confounded.
In the Operations room General Cardell ignores a young scientist's warnings about the disastrous effect his nuclear rockets will have on the Nemesis comet.
If they don't get the young Liz on a helicopter and back to the safety of the underground North Col research facility, Noah might not even be born!