Chapter 41

Chapter 41 is the forty-first chapter of the Astra Lost in Space manga. It is the fourth chapter of the Galem Arc and, in the compiled volumes, the fourth chapter of the fifth volume.

Synopsis
As rain falls down on Planet Galem, Kanata tells the others to stay on the ship while he takes Charce and Zack to go forage for supplies. However, he secretly pulls them aside and tells them about the sphere trying to swallow him. Both of them are shocked by this revelation, and Kanata explains that he's going to have them help him capture the real killer: Ulgar.

Since he doesn't have proof, he plans to trap Ulgar into exposing himself. He explains that the killer has been using a portable version of the wormhole to move around and attempt to assassinate the group. Charce asks why the killer suddenly decided to resume his plan again. Kanata continues by telling them that the killer is planning to go home alone, but his original plan was to commit suicide by killing everyone. The killer realized that once the Astra (ship) was discovered, the killer could survive, and since they didn't have a pilot's license, they could work with the others to piggyback all the way home. Over time, the killer learned how to pilot the ship and plans to kill the group on Galem and return home alone.

Zack asks that if they should just restrain Ulgar now, but Kanata shakes his head and responds that Ulgar has not only the wormhole but also the gun. Because of both advantages, Ulgar has over them, he plans to strike first before Ulgar realizes what's up. Kanata theorizes that Ulgar plans to kill all of them one by one, with proof of the orb being used on Kanata the previous day.

He asks Charce to become the decoy, and when Ulgar thinks Charce is alone, he will use the wormhole. However, Zack and Kanata will be tailing behind secretly and will pounce on Ulgar when he activates the wormhole. But Ulgar has an ace up his sleeve: the gun. Kanata knows that Ulgar has failed three times already and might use the gun to kill Charce and throw his body into the orb, so he went ahead and disabled Ulgar's gun to make it inoperable. Charce agrees with the idea, and they head out.

The trio approaches the cave, and Charce wonders what's the wisest course of action to take. They approach a wide area of the cave, and suddenly Kanata abandons the plan as Funicia has gone missing as pinged by the others back home. Kanata and Zack race to go find her, leaving Charce and Ulgar alone. Ulgar points the gun at him but finds out it isn't working.

The wormhole suddenly appears and threatens to encompass both of them. As they back up, all of a sudden Kanata grabs a hold of Charce. He warns Charce to shut down the wormhole, as he knew all along that Charce was the attempted killer.