Crusade (1999) s01e06 Episode Script

I need specifics, Lt.
Carr.
Saying you've got it covered isn't enough.
It's enough, Captain, if I really do have it covered.
Drawing conclusions isn't your job, Lieutenant, it's mine.
You present me with the facts, I draw the conclusions.
A fact is the number of cops we have, and the hours of their shifts.
- Excuse me.
- A fact is the proportion of officers to the number of conference attendees.
Now, you give me these facts I draw the conclusions as to our manpower needs.
- I hate to interrupt, but l - Then don't! You wanna talk facts? Great.
Fact: I spent my entire life here on Mars.
Fact: You are only on temporary assignment as overseer of the conference on the dry planet.
Fact: Mars is not a colony anymore.
We're independent.
So frankly, Earthforce, Earth, and you can kiss my ass! Who the hell do you think you are? Just a dumb cop, but I know this place inside out.
Now, maybe back on your precious Babylon 5 you bark orders and everybody jumps, but here you're barking up the wrong tree.
Welcome to Mars.
It's hard to believe it was named after the God of War.
Can I help you? I'm supposed to report to you upon arrival.
Capt.
Matthew Gideon, of course.
I'm Capt.
Elizabeth Lochley, in charge of the conference - normally stationed on B5.
- Yes, I know.
Sorry about copping an attitude before.
I guess I have been barking a little today.
It's okay.
I came to do a little woofing of my own.
I've got Dr.
Sarah Chambers up on the Excalibur preparing her keynote speech.
I wanna know that security measures will be airtight.
It doesn't help anyone to get caught up in territorial squabbles, with all due respect.
- Are you done? - Not quite.
Look, I hope some good comes out of this conference, same as you but meanwhile, this little exercise mainly puts a collection of easy targets all in one place for any nut with an agenda.
Now, I'd rather be out searching for a cure than talking about one, but instead, we're here, as ordered.
And don't think I don't appreciate it, but let's get something straight.
Although admittedly you came in at a bad moment I've no interest in territorial squabbling.
I want the same thing you do and I don't think it's asking too much for you to have a little faith.
I assure you, I've got everything covered.
Is that a conclusion or a fact? That is a fact.
I promise you, Dr.
Chambers and all the other representatives will be perfectly safe.
Matthew Gideon, Captain.
Attached to the Earth Alliance starship Excalibur.
To find a cure to the Drakh plague before it wipes out all life on Earth.
Anywhere I have to.
Who do you serve and who do you trust? This is the 11th run I've made today.
I think half the ship is going on shore leave.
I'm starting to feel like some kind of yo-yo.
- Some kind of what? - Yo-yo.
Slang for fool or idiot.
I meant the toy.
Well, then, there's that, too.
Is that supposed to be a joke at my expense, Eilerson? No, not at all.
Merely a misunderstanding.
I try to never upset someone who's at the helm of a rapidly falling object when I'm inside it.
You know, the city can be rough on people who mouth off at the wrong time.
- Dureena, this your first time on Mars? - Well, first time not being in lockup.
It sounds to me you could use an escort who won't stir up trouble.
I don't need an escort.
Trace, I grew up on Mars.
Are you implying that I'm incapable of escorting Dureena? No, not at all.
- It's merely a misunderstanding.
- I do not need an escort.
Because once I get a break, I'd be happy to show Dureena around.
How kind.
But I assure you I'm up to the challenge Excuse me.
Escort? Not in need of one.
Am I clear? Cops at all exits, cops along the corridors.
Security scans for every weapon known to man, and a few that aren't.
- And the acoustics ain't bad, either.
- Very impressive.
Look, Captain, perhaps we got off on the wrong foot.
Perhaps? Look, Captain, I didn't ask for this assignment.
This whole Drakh virus conference was Dr.
Steven Franklin's idea.
Bring in people from unaffected Earth colonies put everyone's heads together, plan a unified course of research.
Now, when Earthforce asked for an officer to oversee it the good doctor put me at the top of his shortlist.
Now, right now my main goal is to find a cure for this so I can go Earthside, and thank Steven in person with a large brick.
Well, there's incentive for you.
Anyway, with so much on the line, I'm just being careful, that's all.
Careful? I hear you're more of a gambler, not the careful type.
When I have a sense of the odds.
And right now, I don't.
- All these precautions are nice, but - Nice? Capt.
Gideon, security happens to be my middle name.
That's fine, but just in case your last name is "breach" - it won't hurt for me to double-check.
- Double-check? - Lochley.
Go ahead.
- This is Carr.
We may have a situation on Bradbury Street - just south of Burroughs.
- What kind of situation? - The "no longer breathing" kind.
- I'm on my way.
On our way.
You appear lost.
- No, just waiting for someone.
- Godot, perhaps.
- I'm sorry? - No, I am.
Foolish attempt at humor.
I'm Dr.
Alain Lebecque.
I assume you're Dr.
Chambers, our keynote speaker.
- You're here for the conference? - Yes.
And most eager to hear of your investigation so far in curing the plague.
Well, I wish I had more and better to report.
We must have faith, Doctor.
Faith that things will work out as God intends them.
- We mustn't lose that.
- Of course, Dr.
Lebecque.
Alain, please.
You sound skeptical.
Have you no faith? I have faith a cure will be found.
But right now, I'd rather put the faith in us and in science than a being who would let it happen in the first place.
No offense.
And none taken.
But it appears my first impression was correct.
You are lost, filled with doubt.
And when in doubt, have a drink.
Would you care to? Dr.
Chambers? Lt.
Carr, Mars Dome police.
Oh, good.
Do you know where Capt.
Gideon is? - He was supposed to - Actually, I'm here to take you to him.
This way, please.
Well, looks like multiple knife wounds.
Hard to tell how many, though.
One too many.
Take a look at this.
- Is that what I think it is? - Mark of a doomsday cult.
The symbol infinity bisected signifies that nothing goes on forever.
Great.
We've had a couple hundred of those springing up - since word of the plague got out.
- No.
This mark is specific to the worst group of the bunch, Sacred Omega.
They believe that the Drakh plague is like the second coming of Noah's flood.
That humanity is hopelessly evil, and deserves to be wiped out with one divine act of cleansing.
Nothing like the lunatic fringe to make a hard job even harder.
Sounds like you've had run-ins with them before.
A friend, Capt.
Mankowsky, of the Furies, was killed during a mutiny led by a Sacred Omega group among his crew.
They won't hesitate to kill, if they think it's God's will.
Dr.
Sarah Chambers, Capt.
Elizabeth Lochley, conference liaison.
This gentleman was Leon Henderson, a viable studies specialist.
Born on Mars, left to study medicine, came back to attend the conference died on Mars.
You wanna tell me again, Lieutenant, how you've got it covered? This is obviously conference-related, since he was an attendee - and he wasn't robbed.
- I agree.
Question is, was this meant as a warning of things to come or just an isolated incident? This is your bailiwick, Captain.
How do you think we should play it? We need an autopsy, see if that can give us any new information.
And better if it's done off-planet.
We'll try and keep this under wraps, avoid panicking the rest of the attendees.
Captain, can you bring the body up to the Excalibur? Have Dr.
Chambers here perform the autopsy? Not a problem.
Gideon to Excalibur.
- Yes, Captain.
- Need a shuttle ASAP.
Who's available? Quiet passenger.
Best kind.
- Anybody I know? - Doubt it.
Anything you turn up, go through me first.
I'll pass it on to Lochley.
Trace? Do you know him? Yeah.
He's the reason I decided to become a priest.
Why did that man Henderson have to die? To perish in a glorious burst of light that has the Lord's hand behind it, surely.
But this butchery was it necessary? I carry out our Lord's command given me by my voices with all my might so much of it as I can understand.
As they command me, nothing save but our Lord's good pleasure.
You hear those voices, Jeanne, and I hear yours but no one really believes me, not even my allies.
I think they see me as some convenient tool, nothing else.
Whenever I'm unhappy because men will not believe me and the things I say at God's bidding, I go apart and pray to God complaining to him that those to whom I speak do not easily believe me.
And when I have made my prayer to God, I hear a voice that says to me.
"Child of God, go.
"I shall be with you to help you.
Go.
" And when I hear that voice, I feel a great joy.
Indeed, I would that I might ever be in that state.
So do I, Jeanne.
There's not a lot to say.
I did a bunch of scutwork for the Foundationist Church a few years back.
Started out as a way of making ends meet, but it became more than that thanks to Leon.
Some other folks, too, but mostly him.
He was a healer, kind of like you, doc.
Well, not exactly like you.
I swear, it seemed sometimes that he could cure people just by the way he looked at them.
You mean, he used tricks.
He was a faith healer.
No, nothing like that.
Real medicine, real doctoring.
But there was more to him, you know? You know how when a team wins, and they say God was on their side? Well, same thing.
Me, I was no healer but he made me think a lot about doing God's work.
I even started studying to be a Foundationist priest.
What happened? God and I had a falling out.
What sort? - It could be important.
- It's not.
- I would prefer to be the judge of that.
- It's not.
Captain? - You're sure, Trace? - Yep, I'm sure.
Okay.
For now, the subject's closed.
Thank you, Captain.
Perfect.
Funny how we just bumped into each other here, isn't it? Hysterical.
You are walking the streets of my rebellious youth, Dureena.
Well, am I, now? Yeah.
My parents and tutors tended to keep me isolated.
They didn't want me polluted by the outside world, by By people like me.
Exactly right.
But every once in a while, when they weren't paying attention I would slip out to experience something, shall we say, other than academia.
Usually I wound up in this part of town.
If nothing else, it made me appreciate the dead civilizations.
For one thing, they're quieter.
I remember the first time that I came to this part of town.
- I wasn't here two minutes when some - Sorry.
Excuse me.
I wasn't here two minutes when somebody lifted my wallet.
- All my ID, all my credit chips - Like he just did? What? Son of a Stop, thief! Shoot! You mess with me, you mess with my whole family.
- Dureena.
- What? Although I appreciate your help for the record, I could have handled it.
Record it however you like.
I'm not keeping a record, because I don't care about you.
If you didn't care, you wouldn't have helped.
No, I helped because he was a sloppy thief and I hate to see a sloppy thief win.
It reflects badly on the rest of us.
The next time I am faced with a difficulty, let me handle things.
Sorry.
- You made me spill! - I said I was sorry.
What do you want me to do, wear sackcloth and ashes? You got it, Maximilian.
Hi.
- Captain.
- We just got the autopsy reports.
The victim was stabbed to death.
DNA traces indicate that the assailant was human.
Which narrows it down to roughly 90% of the planet's population.
- That's not my concern at the moment.
- Really? - What is? - You and your attitude.
- You know what you are? - Ruggedly handsome? - A control freak.
- Can't I be both? "This is your bailiwick, Captain," you said.
"How do you think we should play it?" You maneuvered me into bringing the body up here so you could control the investigation.
When I asked for the reports I was told all information had to come through you.
You're giving me too much credit.
You truncated my questioning of Trace Miller.
- You're interfering with my investigation.
- The murder was down there, Captain and so are the people who could interfere.
The fact that we haven't been sabotaged and blown out of space weeks ago leads me to conclude that I don't have anyone on this ship who's a doomsday cultist.
- Can you say the same about Mars? - Obviously not.
But I don't appreciate you cutting me off at the knees in the shuttle.
I didn't see the relevance in pushing Trace.
We all have our traumas in our past.
They don't all have to be dragged out.
In my opinion, we'd all be better served if you would concentrate on finding leads to the Sacred Omega.
But in the interest of harmony, I'm willing to give you full permission to question anyone on this ship to your heart's content.
Fine.
Thank you.
Where is Mr.
Miller? He's not on the ship.
He went down for shore leave.
Jeanne, him, too? Bad enough Henderson had to die.
He wasn't even from Earth.
Why should he have to pay for their sins? And now him? Trust in God, hope in God.
If you have good hope and faith in him, you shall be delivered from your enemies.
Yes.
Delivered.
Delivered in a blaze of glory by the weapons the weapons that we found with God's grace.
- You seem troubled.
- Troubled, Lieutenant? All right.
Preoccupied, then.
Would Capt.
Lochley be involved, by any chance? - Read my mind.
- Sir.
- L - Sir.
Sorry.
It's a figure of speech.
I didn't mean it literally.
- How did you zero in on it? - Well, Captain, the ship may be big but when it comes to gossip, it gets small pretty fast.
Figures.
Look, it's nothing to be concerned about.
Lochley and I, we're just having a conflict in command styles.
- You're that different? - Actually, I think we're exactly the same.
- Therein lies the conflict.
- Captain? - Capt.
Lochley.
Still not planet-side, I see.
- Been and came back.
This is Lt.
John Matheson, my second-in-command.
Charmed.
Lt.
Carr compiled this for me.
She was rather obnoxious about doing it so I'd appreciate it if you'd bother to read it.
It's a detailed report of our investigation to date just so you know what we're doing, and where, and how.
Since the opening ceremonies for the conference are scheduled for 20:00 hours tonight, I thought you might want to be current.
Thank you.
I'm sorry Carr is giving you a hard time.
She seems rather well, hard to take.
Considering I have a junior officer present, good form suggests that you refrain from making the obvious retort.
Very well, then.
Out of good form.
I wouldn't want you to think I was going easy on you because of your alleged rugged handsomeness.
Captain, look! We're running out of wrong feet to get off on, if that's what you're gonna say.
Pretty much.
Look, we've both been running ragged here.
Maybe we would get along better if we got out from under everything for a bit.
So how about dinner tonight, my quarters? We'll go over the data.
My quarters.
18:00 hours.
Rugged handsomeness? It's a code word.
It's part of the investigation.
Of course.
So the guy turns around and says, "You idiot! That's not my leg.
"That's my air hose.
" Well, well.
Looks like Eilerson made himself some new friends? It's easy to make friends in a bar.
Buy them a drink, they're yours for life.
Really? And how many drinks to make you my friend for life? - Trace, no.
- What? - You could at least give a guy a chance.
- I did.
A long time ago, and that's why I don't now.
Cheer up, Trace.
It's a party.
Right, guys? Yeah! Barkeep, get this man a drink.
- What are you having? - Whatever you're having.
I don't think that you can handle what I'm having.
- Is that a challenge, Max? - Are you up to it? Up to whatever you can dish out.
Gods, I am drowning in testosterone.
Well, luckily for you, you're equipped with flotation devices.
Barkeep, three of these for my good friend Trace.
- He has some catching up to do.
- Your dandelion wine's coming right up.
When you spend most of your time probing ancient ruins of cities you don't stumble across too many places with good take-out Lo Mein.
Shrimp or chicken? It's official.
You're my new hero.
I'm not so sure I should be flattered.
Who was your old hero? Truthfully? John Sheridan.
John Sheridan? No kidding.
Were you ever under him? - You okay? - Fine, thank you.
- Under him? - On Babylon 5, you served under him.
Yes, I was under him there for a while.
Actually he preferred it that way.
What a life he's led.
Soldier, statesman President, forging the Interstellar Alliance.
Some people treat him like a religious figure.
Still, I suppose he puts his pants on one leg at a time, right? Oh, yeah.
And backwards in the dark, sometimes.
- What? - Matthew? Matt? Matt's fine.
Liz? Elizabeth.
Matt, may I be blunt? That's a trick question, right? Well, your technique with women is well, piss poor, based on what I've seen.
Should I take that as a sign that you haven't been involved with many? It's been sporadic at best.
The life, the career.
I don't have to tell you.
You must be in the same boat, too.
Yeah, exactly.
Well, you know, except for the time that I spent married.
Married? You're telling me that some guy actually managed to land you? Got you to lower your defenses enough to commit, and then he let you get away? God.
He must be the biggest loser in the galaxy.
Major loser.
They don't come any bigger.
- Loser have a name? - John Sheridan.
Had to wait till I took a drink, didn't you? It seemed only fair.
It will be enough to destroy this place, the conference center everything within a mile.
Jeanne, I am afraid of martyrdom to die with the others as is right and just.
I am afraid.
So was I.
Fear of the fire made me deny I heard voices.
My voices told me that in recanting, I was damning myself to save my life.
So I took back my false confession.
I wish everyone had heard the Lord's voice as I do.
They will.
Soon they all will.
Max, Maxie.
You're beautiful, Max.
I mean that.
- Am I drinking him under the table yet? - You haven't got a prayer.
I did.
Once.
I had lots of prayers.
Good ones.
And then one day, something terrible happened.
And I prayed real hard because they were innocent.
They were innocent, you see.
And they didn't deserve But God he was just too busy to listen.
And it tore us apart.
Tore us up in different ways because suddenly nothing made sense anymore not God, not the world, not even me.
I was gonna be a priest.
Come on.
I'll show you how it's done.
Come on.
Trace, you're embarrassing yourself.
- What, can't you dance? - No.
I was too busy learning to survive to have time for dancing.
- I'll show you how.
I'll teach you.
- Trace, take it easy.
If it means that much to you, I will teach her to dance.
No, Max, you will not teach me to dance.
- Max.
- What? Where's Trace? Get away from him now! You let him go, or I will kill you.
Swear to God, man, she will.
Look at the eyes.
You swear to God? You know nothing about God.
I know he won't help you if Dureena here gets her hands on you.
Well, then, I guess we'll have to make sure that doesn't happen now, won't we? Yes, we will.
Drop it by the count of three, or you're dead.
One.
Two.
Three.
- Trace, are you okay? - I've had better days.
- Lochley, go ahead.
- This is Carr.
I'm at the Canal Bar down on Carter.
We have the guy we were looking for in the Henderson matter.
Excellent.
I'll want to talk to him.
- Then you'd better bring a Ouija board.
- Understood.
Lochley out.
- Capt.
Gideon, I think you better - Stay here? Absolutely.
Our problems might be solved, but I'm suspicious of any answer That are too pat.
My thoughts exactly.
Doctor.
- I think that's very cute, Matthew.
- What is? The way you two finish each other's sentences.
No, we don't.
Max Eilerson's special brew.
Will a glass of this get rid of my headache? Better.
Two glasses of this will get rid of your head.
Trace's assailant's been ID'd as a Marco Rivera.
DNA cross-matches with what we took off of Henderson.
Didn't we have Rivera's DNA on record already? Besides being a member of the Sacred Omega he's formerly a member of the Mars Resistance.
Now, these folks excel at keeping their DNA records out of databases, so that's it.
What do you mean, that's it? I mean Rivera tried scare tactics in the name of Sacred Omega.
It failed.
He's dead.
End of story.
Wait.
I missed something.
Who's Henderson? A representative to the conference who was murdered by the same man who tap-danced on your friend's head here.
I knew Henderson from back when I was with the Foundationist Church.
- We were pretty tight.
- Interesting.
With all the people at the conference, what are the odds of one murderer targeting two people who were tight by accident? Mr.
Miller, was there anyone else you were tight with back in those days? Let me think.
A couple guys.
Would you recognize any of them if you ever saw them again? I think so.
These are all the pictures of people at the conference.
To begin our conference on combating the Drakh plague our keynote speaker is from the forefront of the fight and search for a cure.
Chief Medical Officer of the Excalibur, Dr.
Sarah Chambers.
Him.
- Andre Sabot.
- The ID says Lebecque.
It's him.
He was a priest in the order.
I was with him when some bad stuff happened.
What we saw, it got to me.
It made me leave, and it made him Well, he had some kind of breakdown.
I think he recovered eventually, but he left the order.
Said he wanted to find a way to make the evil in the world go away.
- Gideon, this is Lochley.
Go private.
- Okay.
We've got a problem.
- Good evening.
- I have him.
But he's surrounded by civilians.
I can't get to him without others getting hurt.
Captain, listen.
I know this guy.
He's not a murderer.
Yeah, what about all the folks back home he wants dead? He thinks it's God's will.
So he's not responsible.
It's the people trying to stop God's will who are evil.
He wouldn't hurt an innocent.
Maybe we need to make sure that they are innocent.
There may be a way.
I have been honored to serve aboard the Excalibur under the command of Capt.
Matthew Gideon.
- I'd like to start tonight with - An introduction will not be necessary.
Ladies and gentlemen, I'm Capt.
Gideon, and I have been charged by Earthforce with a difficult duty.
I am here to announce that we have woefully miscalculated the viciousness of the Drakh plague.
We do not have five years.
We have months, at best.
Mankind is doomed.
Do not, I beg you, attempt to break the Earth quarantine to be with whatever loved ones you might have.
Instead, the best thing that you can all do is leave here and live out the remaining years as messengers and spread the word that humanity has paid the ultimate price for its transgressions that we have been judged and found wanting.
In God's name they go.
Let them depart.
And go we to give thanks to God.
Seek not to harm them.
It suffices me that they go.
Merci, Jeanne.
Yes, I'm certain.
Meet me there.
Hurry.
Why did you have us return? What happened? - They saw the light.
Jeanne said - Jeanne again? Damn it, Sabot.
We may need these weapons, explosives, in the future.
We must find a way to move them so that Don't move! I told you, I had it covered.
Bonjour, Andre.
Good to see you, Trace.
- Is it time to go, Jeanne? - Who's Jeanne? Jeanne d'Arc gives me God's word that St.
Michel, Catherine, and Margaret gave to her.
Joan of Arc talks to you? She might have spoken to you, Trace, had you followed your calling.
I wish everyone heard it as I do.
This night, by God's grace I shall be in paradise.
Well, all in all, I think it went pretty well.
Once we managed to pry all the representatives off the ceiling - because of your speech.
- He was far away from me.
I didn't want cops trying to push their way through the crowd at him.
It was too chancy, too much time for him to react.
So I said what he wanted to hear, he left and then he led us right back to their little stash of explosives.
I can't believe all that was hidden away by Mars rebels.
Yeah.
And Lt.
Carr says there's probably a lot more they haven't found yet.
I knew this place was a powder keg.
- Good Lord.
- So? In the end, it all worked out.
Could have worked out better.
Sooner, if you'd let me talk to Miller when I wanted to.
But at that time, Trace hadn't been attacked, and he wasn't - Never mind.
You're probably right.
- Finally, progress.
- Speaking of Trace, how's he doing? - He's on the mend.
But it's a shame what he was put through, though, about Henderson.
Yeah, and Henderson wasn't even meant to be coming here.
He was a last-minute addition.
See, Sabot came in with stolen ID and papers so he and his men couldn't risk Henderson recognizing him.
Wrong place at the wrong time.
So, you plan on swinging through my neck of space any time in the near future? I mean, once I get back to B5.
- Is that an invitation? - It's free space.
- You can come and go as you please.
- So it's not an invitation? It's whatever you want it to be.
You are the most double-talking, suspicious, second-guessing individual I have ever seen since the last time I looked in a mirror.
Well, then, I guess that's why we make such a good team.
Tell you what.
God willing, we find a cure, in no time flat the first thing that we do after that, we park at B5 for a week.
God willing? You know, with all this religious zeal being spouted here, you haven't weighed in on that.
Do you believe that there is a supreme being? Aside from John Sheridan? Yes, aside from the wisest, bravest, sexiest man in the galaxy.
Apart from him, do you believe in God? Captain, I have five years to cure the Drakh plague.
Do I believe in God? I'll get back to you on that in five years and one day.
Where's Sarah? We should get back soon.
I don't know.
You all right? I wish you could have seen Andre back when I first knew him.
He was the sweetest, most intelligent man.
And look what he became.
He probably thought all this doomsday stuff was God's will because he thought voices in his head were telling him so.
- Crazy.
- On the other hand Joan of Arc claimed to hear voices, and she got canonized.
But your friend ended up cannon fodder.
- Funny old world, isn't it? - Funnier than you think.
We found this among our little friend's effects.
It's his journal.
"I carry out my Lord's command "given me by my voices with all my might "so much of it as I can understand.
"And they command me nothing save in our good Lord's pleasure.
" I checked the records.
All of the entries are things Joan of Arc actually said.
Proves my point.
History is rarely cut and dried when it comes to religion.
One man's lunatic is another man's saint or holy martyr.
In the words of T.
S.
Eliot, "Saint and martyr rule from the tomb.
" Except we end up translating those orders to suit ourselves.
We use them to justify murder, torture, slavery.
You know, on my world, it was considered a great evil to even try to presume to speak on behalf of the universe.
Well, they're a lot smarter than we are.
What's that old saying? Anyway, Christ came to tell us to love one another and the last 2,200 years, we've spent killing each other on how he said it? When you become obsessed with the enemy, you become the enemy.
I'm starting to agree with him, and that's more than I can bear.
- Would you care to dance? - Love to.