During their journey to Uranus, in the year 2001, an alien presence briefly assumes control of the crew's minds. They awaken safely but notice that a long - and unexplained - period of time has passed by. Upon landing, the crew finds a forested land oddly like Earth's, rather than the cold, bleak world they were expecting. This forest is surrounded by a mysterious barrier. One of the crew pushes his arm through the barrier, only to have it frozen.