seaQuest DSV (1993) s02e14 Episode Script

The Triangulum galaxy.
Three hundred billion planets, each one a thousand times larger than Earth.
A mass of more than fifty thousand light-years from end to end.
And yet surprisingly enough, not a single, decent place to eat.
It must be weird, being an astronomer and not being able to see.
Oh, I don't know.
What do you see when you look up at the sky at night? The moon.
Stars.
Tiny little dots, far, far away.
Our eyes drawn to the twinkle of a hundred billion galaxies.
Giving life to illusion, illusion to life.
Something upon which to hang our hopes.
So why do you have a telescope? It came with the place.
Show me something else.
I don't see anything.
You will.
Wow! That was cool! Is this a bad time, Professor? Scott.
My friend and I were just admiring your comet.
New research assistant, professor? Oh, come on, Commander, you know I put the education of our youth ahead of my own pathetic needs for love and understanding.
We envy your sacrifice, Tobias.
And now, if you'll extend that courtesy to Lucas, we could uplink your trackers.
We've got a comet to recover, remember? You!re right.
Hey, Lucas, when the Commander picks a name for his comet, make sure he goes with something folksy.
None of that Alpha Bravo numbers crap.
He's been pushing "Wolenczak's Comet" all morning.
Hey! Hey, come on, that's folksy.
Hey, listen, if that thing burns itself out before I've had a chance to study it, I'm calling it quits.
The energy it's packing, it could be my ticket out of our solar system.
You!re sure there!s something out there worth your time? Well, I'm sure I'm not gonna find out till I get out there and take a look.
You're pretty casual about interstellar travel, aren't you? On the contrary, Captain, I find the idea fascinating.
It's just that, to date, nothing's ever fallen out of the sky that's done anything but remind us how vulnerable we are.
I'm on-line, professor.
The comet just passed through the Kuiper belt.
She's wet in 16 minutes.
She's flying! Lieutenant Brody? Status report.
Recovery team prepped and ready, sir.
Science personnel call for recovery operation.
Commander, this stuff is amazing.
Hydrogen particles, remnant radiation, absolute matter, just a few seconds old.
I mean, if these readings are correct, that comet has traversed the entire known universe in less than six weeks.
That's billions of light-years from end to end.
Nothing moves that fast.
Dominant absolute matter does.
Absolute matter is a theory, it doesn't exist.
I mean, if it did, anyone could travel between galaxies in the blink of an eye.
What do you think of my comet now, Tobias? I think you better keep an eye on it.
Lieutenant.
What's wrong? I can't get to it, sir.
This thing's going up like a giant Bromo.
I don't know how much more of this heat I can take.
You able to recover anything? No, sir, nothing.
She!s gone.
We!ve got every available unit in the area sweeping the perimeter.
Unfortunately, telemetry readings aren't holding out much hope.
Surface temperatures have even returned to normal.
It's like it never happened.
Scott, it was a comet.
It fell to Earth, it broke apart.
That!s what comets do.
Yeah.
Well, interstellar travel just slipped through my fingers.
If I don't find a way to travel outside our galaxy, I'm gonna lose my funding to this guy.
Hey, I lent you my boat, didn't I? Look, Tobias, if I didn't know you better, I!d swear that you were glad this thing broke apart.
I'm glad no one got hurt.
Whenever you go up against the forces of nature and get out with your hide intact, why you thank your lucky stars.
You thank them.
If you ask me, I got ripped off.
Scott, you've been to Mars and back.
Do you know how many people went with you? Everyone from Leonardo Da Vinci to the Wright brothers was strapped inside that tin can right alongside you.
When our time comes, your contributions will be there, too.
Well, I don't plan on being there in spirit, Tobias.
I plan on being there in person.
Professor, thanks again for the use of your trackers.
Anytime, Nathan.
Kind of embarrassing falling on your face in front of the man who taught you everything.
Sorry, Commander.
We had six hours out there, and we're just pulling up water.
There's a cold front stirring things up.
Even if there were something to find, by now it's been blown miles from here.
Thanks for trying.
You can call the rest in, Jonathan.
Aye, sir.
Seacraft, Alpha and Bravo, mission one is scrapped.
Return to base.
Roger that, seaQuest.
We!re heading in.
Tobias is one of the great minds of our time.
Totally blind, and there isn't a solar system in our galaxy that he hasn't charted.
Did you know that when he was seven years old, that he pinpointed the exact moment that the universe was born? I mean, at age seven, I barely knew my own birth date.
And at fourteen, he holds Newton's chair at Cambridge.
Oh, and I thought you were competitive with me.
It's like he was born for one reason.
It was to open our eyes to the wonders of the universe.
You should've seen him.
This skinny little fourteen-year-old kid totally captivating a roomful of NASA pencil necks.
Made us all feel like we were idiots.
You know, intelligence can only take us so far.
Then we have to get out and walk.
Yeah.
Well, you're lucky, Nathan, you've got this boat.
Your universe will always be within reach.
I'll never have that.
What is it, my friend? He wants us to follow.
What is it, pal? Darwin can!t leave.
Too slimy.
What? An oil spill? What? Not oil.
Blanket.
A blanket? O'Neill, what's he saying? I don't know.
I'm not reading any contaminants.
There's no internal ruptures or fuel leaks either.
Engage a WSKR.
Aye, sir.
Where is the blanket? Around seaQuest.
Brings new life.
WSKR view up, sir.
Looks like a cocoon.
Ortiz, how deep are we? I have no idea, sir.
Anything I ping out, just pings right back at me.
Captain, I!m on I think someone should have a look at this thing.
I don!t know what it is but Piccolo, repeat.
Piccolo? He's in C-Deck, sir.
And it's got like everything shoved into a corner and I really think somebody ought to come down here and look at this! Anybody? What is that? The pimple from hell.
Has a main line busted? Lucas, check the rest of the hull.
Feels like it's full of liquid.
Maybe the head's backed up, 'cause this thing stinks.
Structural integrity's fine.
Let's try the sonogram.
Okay.
Captain.
It's a baby.
Yeah, but a baby what? Interior Base 7, this is Commander Scott Keller, do you copy? I need a priority one signal.
What kind of baby is it? Question of the hour, Dag.
I'll tell you what it is.
It's an unknown biologic that's dragging us to the ocean floor.
I think it's kind of cute.
Base 7, this is Commander Keller.
Do you copy? I'm sorry, sir.
I can't hold a signal.
Nothing can work in this heat.
Can we surface? We're too heavy, Scott.
I can't afford to risk blowing the ballasts.
This thing is feeding off the bio-skin of our boat.
It's growing.
That's what babies do, Dag.
No.
He's right.
It is growing.
We're about to give birth to an alien.
Nathan, we've got to tell someone.
I'd like to share your enthusiasm, but I've got a submarine to get back on-line.
Activate level 10 emergency oxygen procedures.
Report to designated shelter stations.
That thing breathes our air.
Our air, our water.
All systems have shut down in sequence.
All right, Commander, let's go to level 10 emergency.
Lock off everything above the sea deck.
I want to move as far away from this thing as possible.
And I want guards on that thing around the clock.
Aye, sir.
Okay, people.
Let's move it.
That's it.
No more juice.
We've seen enough.
It's got a full charge.
Good.
Hook it up to your tracker.
Let's hunt that thing down.
O'Neill? I need a damage report.
Well, from what I can tell, sir, there is no damage, just no power.
All these cells have been drained dry.
All right, everyone stay in that shelter till this thing is found.
Ford and Brody are going on a search party.
The rest of us will be back as soon as we can.
I want all corridors sealed and locked behind us.
Is everyone accounted for? No, sir.
We have three no-shows.
Miguel's one of them.
I got activity on B-Deck.
Ortiz is missing? Don't worry, Dagwood, we'll find him.
Coulter, Novacek, run flank with Brody.
You two with me.
Yes, sir.
I'm going, too.
No, you're not.
Nathan, this is my deal.
I can handle myself.
Okay, gentlemen, stay sharp.
Let's move.
I thought the aliens were our friends.
Well, I guess there's a good and bad in everything, Dagwood.
Is this a bad in everything? Yes.
This is a very bad in everything.
It smells like a bad in everything.
I'm getting something up ahead.
Come on.
Weapons on full.
There's something in here.
Miguel? Ortiz? Stop, you'll hit Coulter! Lieutenant, what's going on? It snatched Coulter right up through the grid work above C - Deck! Jonathan, he!s right below you.
Any sign of Miguel? He was here, that's all I know.
Be careful, man.
This thing is fast.
What's up here? It's the Mag-Lev.
But he's not up there.
Brody says he's on B-Deck.
He was here for some reason.
You can't make sense of this thing, Commander.
It's a predator.
Yeah.
Well, he may be a predator, but he's trying to make sense of us.
Brody, meet us at Mag-Lev.
It's a scrub.
No, uh-uh.
Let's blast this one right now.
No, wait.
It's not another one.
It's Ortiz.
A person is missing until found, Commander.
Aye, sir.
If Ortiz is on this boat, we'll find him.
Get me Scott again.
Yeah? Scott, what do we got here? Oh, I wish I knew, Nathan.
He's collecting things.
Books, photographs, clothes, things from our world.
You think it's capable of processing information? This stuff isn't random.
He wants something.
Well, I'm not gonna wait to find out what it is.
My interest in science lags when my crew is endangered.
This doesn't necessarily mean that Ortiz is dead.
No, sir.
Of course not.
No.
Absolutely not, sir.
These comlines can be set up for emergency power by satellite, right? Yeah, but the E.
B.
S.
controls it from their end.
Yeah.
But we can tap into them if we need them, right? Yes.
But the power would be negligible.
I mean, I'm not even sure how much power you can pull out of the atmosphere.
If it powers one extra pulse rifle, it's worth it.
Yeah.
Okay, we'd have to find a hot wire somewhere along the system.
Here.
Communications.
Well, somebody's gonna have to crawl through forty feet of ductwork to get there.
I'll do it.
It's no problem.
I'll go.
You better let me do this, all right? Why, because it's dangerous? Let me earn my keep, would you? But remember, if you see anything or hear anything, don't hesitate to push that all-alert flash.
Got it.
Thanks.
Me and my big mouth.
I'm in.
Nothing.
Either his trail ends here, or this battery's dead.
Well, where is he? Is there any other way to get this thing operational without power? A back-up system? No.
Once the power goes down, Mag-Lev goes with it.
If you're between stations, you gotta hoof it to the next stop.
I've done it.
It ain't pretty.
What about through here? No.
It couldn't have gone through there.
That's an emergency exit.
Even with no power, if somebody goes through there, an alarm sounds throughout the entire boat.
Not if he's fried the alarm system.
If he's inside the Mag-Lev tunnel, he can access the entire boat.
He's smarter than I thought.
Dag, am I glad to see you.
I'm glad to see you.
Where is the baby bad thing? Does that look like the work of a baby? Help me out, would you? Dag? Dagwood.
You all right? We barely even fazed that thing.
Miguel? Thanks.
The others didn't make it out.
I tried to make it to the shelter, but the boat was sealed up tight.
Dagwood, you saved my life, man.
Thanks.
You're welcome, man.
It was a bad thing.
Let's get you guys to safe quarters.
Tim? I was able to hotwire the Vidlink.
It!s re-booting through memory now.
Great job.
Ortiz is fine.
A little banged up, but he'll live to tell his grandkids.
Henderson? Lonnie? Scott, my friend and I were just admiring your comet.
Lonnie! Tim! Tim! Don't worry, Lonnie.
I'm coming! Tim! Lonnie! Tim! I got you.
Whoa! No! Recharge weapons, then the medical facilities.
You might as well charge your shavers as useless as these pulse rifles are against that thing.
Captain, what about Henderson? I'm not getting anything on the tracker, Lucas.
Well, then your trackers are wrong.
It's busted or something, the batteries are low.
But there's no way she can be gone.
She can't be gone! It's fully charged, Lucas.
I'm sorry.
Easy.
Easy.
Maybe she's hiding.
Like Ortiz.
Even with Miguel down in the belly of this beast, it always registered something.
I should've gone.
It should've been me.
Captain, I'm getting something in the engine room.
It's Henderson.
No.
No.
It's moving too fast.
Do we have enough power to charge the ballast? Some.
Yeah, but not enough to drag us to the surface with this shell around us.
What happens if we empty the swim tubes? We might have more pressure to work with.
All right.
Let's do it.
Secure Darwin in the moon pool, and we'll suck this thing into the swim tubes and blast it out through the ballast.
Lucas.
Yeah? This was Henderson's choice.
And no matter what it looks like, it's not your fault.
Yeah, whether it's my fault or not, it sure feels like it is.
I guess I fail to see the difference.
Darwin's secured in C-Deck, Captain.
The tubes are drained.
He's on the move! O'Neill, seal off B-Deck.
Now! He's gone.
We missed him.
Here, give me that thing.
Rumor has it there's a blind spot up around the lock port I hide in to get out of kitchen duty.
I really doubt it's true, sirs, but hey, you never know.
Must be true.
O'Neill, flood the tubes.
Flood tubes six and seven.
Now! It's Henderson.
She's alive! Piccolo.
Got her, sir.
All right, let!s close them down.
Come on.
Come on.
Grab her legs.
Get them.
I knew you'd make it.
I knew you couldn't be gone.
Thanks.
I was hiding from that thing.
I crawled inside the ballast.
Easy, easy.
Just take it easy.
I saw it get flushed out the ballast tubes.
It's gone, sir.
Let's get her to Med Bay.
No.
I can make it.
I'm okay.
When this is all over, this tub's gonna need some serious spring-cleaning.
What is this stuff? Excess cocoonage.
It's jamming the swim tubes.
But it seems to be breaking up.
Ortiz, let's see if we can re-boot the system.
Aye, sir.
It's working, sir.
Vidlink, oxygen, thrusters.
Everything's coming back on-line.
We may be out of the woods.
Brody, run a scan over all of seaQuest.
Make sure this thing is really gone.
Don't have to, sir.
I can tell you right now, it's still on board.
Where? Launch Bay and moving fast.
Who's driving that thing? I don't know, sir.
They have their Vidlink turned off.
Start the security cam in the Launch Bay.
Aye-aye, sir.
What is she doing? Ortiz, override its power.
I can't, sir.
That thing's completely fried the guidance system.
I have no control over it.
Scott, my friend and I were just admiring your comet.
Vidlink always re-boot through memory? Just the last few uplinks.
It's only got about 10-K.
And this same transmission played back when Henderson tapped into the E.
B.
S.
satellite system.
So we have mass times density into space, giving us the so-called bending of time.
But if time does truly loop around in its much ballyhooed continuum, why, then, can we only remember the past, and not the future? Because pure density only exists in absolute matter.
But absolute matter doesn't exist.
It's a concept.
Unless you mean the absence of matter, miss Henderson.
Lonnie.
Miss Henderson Lonnie.
No, that's not what I meant.
I assume density is absolute.
And you assume correctly.
I will see you all Thursday.
Anything else, Miss Henderson Lonnie? Wouldn't the same mass density ratio also apply in absolutes? No.
It would not.
Can I ask why? If I can ask why such enormous questions come from such a pretty voice.
Okay, you caught me.
I memorized them from one of your book discs.
I was trying to get your attention by impressing you.
Now, why would someone want to do that? I have a very curious mind.
Are you as thirsty as I am, Miss Henderson Lonnie? Readings are redlining.
It's coming from that direction.
What drives our need to understand these things that twinkle on around us? Isn't it just knowing that this great unknown is out there? The wonder, the sheer inspiration.
"Thou art the star, for which all evening waits.
" Oh, sorry.
I'm a sucker for great inspiration.
Did I do something to deserve that? I guess I'm a sucker for it, too.
You threw that thing halfway across the room.
Oh, more than halfway, I should think.
What's it want, Tobias? Why'd it come after you? Thank you for saving my life, my friend.
We lost it in the woods.
That thing could be anywhere by now.
It won't go far.
I'm the one he wants.
The only ones in danger are the people standing in the way of my execution.
I should've seen this coming.
I have no excuse for myself.
What about Henderson? Is she still alive inside that thing? Oh, your friend is fine.
I never could've fallen for her if her soul wasn't human.
I can smell my own kind a mile away.
What kind is that? My world.
Hyberion.
Eleven million light-years from Earth.
Heretofore unobserved in your grand scheme of the universe.
Yeah, I'm getting a grand scheme here myself.
How do we know the other one's an assassin? You're the one who's been hiding out on our planet.
Maybe the other guy's a bounty hunter, the law or something, or whatever you have on your planet.
The good professor here is a fugitive from justice.
A fugitive.
That's a good word for me.
You're a criminal? In my world, yes, I guess I am.
Hyberion is a planet of conquest, forever at war with itself and those around it.
My teachings in tolerance and anti-expansion branded me a traitor, for which I was sentenced to death.
I implanted my embryo and took off for a new world.
Bringing us your trouble.
Hopefully, I've brought you more than that.
This one who's after me is a Stormer.
Not overly bright, but damn good at his work.
Hyberion will only know that your planet is peopled, and therefore conquerable, if he's successful in returning with my head.
What happened to the boy, Tobias? I am as you've always known me, my friend.
Tobias LeConte, son of Atole and Phyllis LeConte.
Naturalists, researching the Serengeti with their infant son, when a great ball of fire fell to Earth, blinding the young LeConte.
Exposure to the comet would later develop as cancer, which having a natural immunity, I was able to fight off.
In some respects, I gave that child a life he never would have had.
What about our friend? She's imprisoned until my assassin releases her.
So we can't kill it without killing her.
Or hand you over to this Stormer without leaving ourselves open to attack.
I'm very sorry about your friend.
It was never my intention to bring trouble to this planet.
There's got to be something we can do.
As I said, it isn't very smart.
And it only wants one thing.
Can I help you? Yes.
I'm looking for Professor LeConte.
The Professor is in the second floor lecture hall.
I believe I saw him there earlier.
Thank you.
Where is he? The Professor lives here now.
He no longer lives by your rules.
This isn't your fight.
This one is dead if you don't take me to him now.
What's going on? Sir, please.
I know you're just doing your job, but let us handle this ourselves.
Drop your weapon and release him.
Please, trust me! I said, drop it! Thank God you're all so stupid.
Can't you guys ever leave something behind for a person to study? I think I might have something better for you, my friend.
The mechanics of it were actually quite simple.
Figuring out a way to create dominant absolute matter to fuel the thing was another matter.
So to speak.
You don't like it? Like it? It's incredible.
How did you achieve absolute mass? More important, why'd you let me spin my wheels all these years when you had it all along? Why, my friend? So you could run off and get yourself lost, or worse, killed? Never to be heard from again? No.
I like you too much, Scottie.
I like your planet, I like its people.
But you've got a lot to learn about the power of interstellar travel, and plenty of time to learn it.
My teacher and my tormentor till the very end.
Couldn't persuade you to stay, huh? I'd love to, Nathan.
But it's only a matter of time before they find me again.
It's better this way.
Exactly where will you go? I mean You mean, how will I see to get there? Actually, I was kind of hoping you'd drive, Scott.
Come with me, my friend.
Let's go in search of other worlds.
Experience for ourselves all those places we argued about over so many pitchers of beer.
Lucas, is he gone or is he thinking it over? He's thinking it over.
There's nothing to think about.
This is what I've dreamed of my whole life.
Only my family and my good friends could ever tolerate my long absences.
I hope you'll understand this one, too.
You know, Lucas, I never realized this till now how similar you are to Tobias.
Are you sure you're not from outer space? Hey, you guys take care of each other.
Yeah.
Thank you.
I wonder if he'll come back.
Depends on what he finds out there.
I hope he comes back.
Me, too.
You have any idea how to get out of here? None whatsoever.
Well, every journey begins with one small step.
What the hell.
Let's go.
Hi, I'm Marco Sanchez, and surrounding me are not snakes, but fish.
The legendary moray eel.
Once considered sacred, the early Egyptians believed morays to be mystical, and ancient Romans even sacrificed slaves to them.
Long a nightmare to divers, we know now that the morays gaping smile to be a necessary breathing technique.
Though common throughout all oceans, morays are rarely seen outside their caves, emerging only at night to feed on their favorite foods, lobster and octopus.
See you on the next adventure of seaQuest.