US Airdate : 05 May 2003
UK Airdate : 24 August 2003

Aboard a ship in the Arctic Sea, Captain Dennis Freeman (Hardee T. Lineham) warns First Officer Owen Taylor (Martin Roach) that a storm is approaching and Owen relays the message to Dr. Koby (Michele Duquet), head of a research team out on the ice. Frustrated that she must wait to continue her excavation, Dr. Koby swings her ax into the ice and catches a glimpse of something strange. A short while later, Dr. Koby is on the phone to Adam (John Shea), describing an amazing discovery. Emma (Lauren Lee Smith) and Brennan (Victor Webster) look on as Adam receives the first video images of Koby’s extraordinary find. Backing away in fear, Emma passes out when she sees the lanky hollow-faced creature (Joel Harris).

As the Mutant X team heads to the ship in the Double Helix, Adam explains that the species Dr. Koby has found is thought to be the ultimate predator and he’s eager to examine its DNA. Dr. Koby greets Adam and leads him, Brennan and Emma to the ship’s hold where the creature is thawing while Owen shows Shalimar (Victoria Pratt) and Jesse (Forbes March) their rooms. Examining the creature, Adam notices there is no decomposition. Emma is so repulsed when she gets a glimpse that she immediately leaves the room. Dr. Koby hands Adam a scalpel and as he takes a tissue sample, he feels a stinging sensation when he accidentally touches the creature’s slime.

When Jesse and Shalimar approach Captain Freeman, he tells them he believes the creature is bad luck, citing various things that have gone wrong since its discovery. In the lab, Adam studies the sample he took from the creature and is surprised when it appears to be living tissue. Dr. Koby suggests that the extreme temperature the creature was in may have prevented its decomposition. Meanwhile, Freeman, convinced the creature poses a terrible threat, enlists Owen’s help to get rid of it. As Freeman steps towards the creature, its eyes suddenly spring open and a tentacle latches onto his face. Owen retreats in terror. Out on the bridge with Brennan, Emma suddenly takes off running, claiming the creature is alive and hungry.

In the hold, Dr. Koby, Adam and Shalimar are shocked to discover that the creature is missing. As Dr. Koby and Adam rush off, Shalimar begins searching the area and turns around to find a frightened, gun-toting Owen. After she kicks the gun out of his hand, he breaks down and tells her about Freeman. When Adam and Dr. Koby get the news, Adam tells Shalimar to take Owen to the galley for safety. Meanwhile, Emma and Brennan find Freeman’s body drained of all fluids and covered with red suction marks. Brennan pulls a hysterical Emma away from the body and she reveals she can feel the creature. Later, when Adam tells Emma what Owen saw, she confirms that the creature was feeding on Freeman.
Though Dr. Koby wants to keep the creature alive, the Mutant X team insists it must be returned to the ice to prevent further disaster. In the galley, Owen tells fellow crewmembers that Freeman is dead, but Jesse steps in to try to calm the men with assurances that Mutant X is in control. Down in the engine room, Brennan and Shalimar get a fleeting glimpse of the creature on the catwalk above them and quickly climb up. When the creature lashes out and hits Shalimar with a tentacle, Brennan shoots it with a bolt of electricity and it runs off.

Back in the lab, Adam examines Shalimar’s wound as Brennan tells him that he and Shalimar noticed broken steam pipes and an unusually high temperature in the engine room. Realizing the creature thrives in heat and that the galley’s above the boiler room, Adam radios Jesse to get the crew out. Owen and half of the men refuse to leave, so Jesse takes the others to safety and Jock (Don Dickinson), the ship’s engineer, goes to repair the boilers. As Brennan, Shalimar and Dr. Koby, armed with a tranquilizer gun, leave in search of the creature, Adam realizes that Emma is connecting with it. Shaking her from her trance-like state, Emma tells him the creature was controlling her by sensing her fear. In the engine room, Jock is on the walkie-talkie with Owen when the creature grabs him. Sensing the crewmen’s fear in the galley, the creature drops Jock and rushes out. Worried about Emma, Adam radios Jesse to get her off the ship. A short time later, Dr. Koby, Brennan and Shalimar discover that the men in the galley have been killed. Dr. Koby finally insists that everyone must evacuate the ship, but as Brennan and Shalimar head off, she goes in the other direction.

Adam radios Dr. Koby but their connection goes dead. As they search for her, Brennan, Shalimar and Adam hear her scream and rush off to find her in the hold. She tells them she shot the creature with the tranquilizer, but it had no effect. When Adam suggests they use liquid nitrogen to freeze the creature, Dr. Koby locates a canister, which Adam uses when the creature bursts into the room. The small amount of nitrogen is enough to send it retreating in agony. When Dr. Koby reveals that there’s more liquid nitrogen in the hold, Adam radios Jesse to get it. As Jesse leaves, Emma warns Adam they must stay calm so the creature can’t sense them. But Dr. Koby panics and the creature bursts back into the room. Emma appears and after throwing an intense telempathic burst at it, it chases her out of the room and corners her. Emma hears Adam tell her to get down as the team douses the creature with the nitrogen. Now frozen, the creature is buried in the ice along with the records of Dr. Koby’s research as a warning to anyone who may find it.