Astronaut John Crichton attempts to use the Earth's atmosphere to propel his module Farscape 1 at high speeds but he is hit by a radiation wave and sucked through a wormhole into a distant part of the universe and straight into the middle of a space battle. After almost colliding with another ship, which explodes shortly afterwards, he is brought aboard a ship full of alien prisoners attempting to escape custody. After being partnered with a captured Peacekeeper soldier, Crichton is drawn into the prisoners' daring plan to escape the clutches of the Peacekeeper forces and their vengefully obsessed military commander.

When a group of Tavleks come aboard for trade negotiations, Rygel takes a vitally important crystal from Moya to make himself appear wealthy. The Tavleks kidnap Rygel to hold for ransom. Crichton, Aeryn and D'Argo attempt to rescue Rygel with the use of a Tavlek weapon. Meanwhile, Zhaan has interesting interactions with a wounded Tavlek left behind on Moya.