Episode 27 Episode 27

Kaoru finds the escape pod from the Orion washed up on the shore, and brings the occupant - an old man - to the rest of the children. When the old man wakes, he hurriedly puts out their signal fire, telling them the people on the ship are escaped prisoners. They'd hijacked the ship and killed the rest of the crew, only to be sucked through a gravity storm, finding themselves near the planet, where they picked up Shingo's signal. The old man, named Porte, was the ship's mechanic - he sabotaged the ship as it came in to land, stealing the spare gravity control device before escaping. He also realizes he knows who the children are - their disappearance was big news throughout known space, and Howard's father had offered a large reward for their safe return.