"Map To The Stars"

Episode 220
(aired the week of 5/4/1998)
Case # 42-0202

Log line: After traditional tactics fail, Praeger enlists a psychic to help investigate an alien abduction.

Synopsis: When Office of Scientific Investigation and Research (O.S.I.R.) Case Manager Matt Praeger crosses paths with his old friend Michael Kelly, something on Kelly's computer screen piques Praeger's interest. The message EXPERIMENT STATUS...INITIATED blinks ominously across a page of information on one Juan Mendoza.

Meanwhile, miles away - in a clearly, but inexplicably, related incident - Mendoza is injured in a chemical plant explosion and rushed to an ambulance. Inside, Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) restrain the panicked Mendoza who stares in shock as one of the EMTs removes his hazmat hood to reveal the head of an alien.

When Mendoza returns home from the hospital a schizophrenic mess, the O.S.I.R. leap into action. When Praeger questions Mendoza about his ordeal he complains of intense headaches and claims the "aliens" performed surgery on him. Praeger and Donner aren't sure what to make of Mendoza's claims as he mumbles about strange voices in his head telling him to "Find the Second."

Donner and Praeger visit the chemical plant, and learn from the Fire Marshall and EMTs that there was nothing unusual about Mendoza's rescue. Hitting this investigative dead end, Praeger turns to sometime O.S.I.R. advisor Michael Kelly to reveal the connection between Kelly and Mendoza. But Praeger gains no ground in the search for clues as the ever-paranoid Kelly rigorously denies any involvement.

When the team reconvenes at the Mendoza residence, they find Juan has scrolled strange symbols on the walls and extracted one of his own teeth. Chief Science Analyst Peter Axon knows he's onto something when he finds an implanted microchip in the molar. Further investigation reveals three additional implants in Mendoza's mouth, which, together, emit an odd energy pulse.

Now paying some mind to Mendoza's claim of abduction and involuntary surgery, the team makes another trip to the chemical plant. Finding the Fire Marshall and EMTs murdered execution-style, Praeger then grabs a glimpse of a mysterious man with a goatee on the premises. But the mystery man slips away before Praeger can question him.

Elsewhere, O.S.I.R. Director of Operations Frank Elsinger warns Michael Kelly to stay away from the investigation.

Back at the Mendoza home, Juan breaks out of his trance and is drawn to the television. As Senator Jill Bradbury delivers a political speech on live television, she suddenly starts drawing symbols similar to Mendoza's and then cries, "I need to find the Third!"

With his traditional investigative tactics exhausted, and against Elsinger's wishes, Praeger calls in psychic Catherine Azzopardi for a possible lead. She directs the team to Joe Hempworth, a local homeless man.

Praeger leaves Mendoza and Bradbury with Kelly while the O.S.I.R. continue the search for "the third" piece of the puzzle. When the team arrives at Hempworth's shanty near an abandoned warehouse, they find the man scribbling the same symbols as Mendoza and Bradbury. But before they can figure out what he has to do with their investigation, the goateed stranger appears and creates a diversion that allows Hempworth to disappear. When Praeger and his team return to Kelly's apartment, they find him unconscious and Mendoza and Bradbury missing.

With an investigative breakthrough, Axon is able to interpret the odd symbols Mendoza and the others were drawing and turn the team's attention to an impending solar eclipse and a nearby meeting place. At the moment the eclipse hits, a brilliant light flashes. Praeger and the team are momentarily blinded by the light and, when the light returns to normal, they find themselves staring at what might be a clue in a web of alien activity that, somehow, involves Michael Kelly.

Starring:
Matt Frewer - Case Manager Matt Praeger
Barclay Hope - Peter Axon
Nancy Anne Sakovich - Lindsay Donner
Colin Fox - Dr. Anton Hendricks
Peter MacNeill - Ray Donahue
Nigel Bennett - Frank Elsinger
Dan Aykroyd - Host

Guest Stars:
Michael Moriarty - Michael Kelly
David McNally - Juan Mendoza
Scott Wickware - Fire Marshall Stevens
Markus Parilo - goateed man
Ferne Downey - Jill Bradbury
Terri Hawkes - Catherine Azzopardi

Written by: Will Dixon
Directed by: John Bell