Earth: Final Conflict s03e14 Episode Script
Scorched Earth
Previously on Gene Roddenberry's Earth Final Conflict: I'm not working at Doors International for Taelon money.
Hey, play CEO by day and guerrilla by night.
Relax, Augur.
Take your allies where you can find them, okay? Why the hell would you be breaking into a secured area? Doors has a small fortune invested in these coventures with the Taelons, not to mention my reputation.
Focus on your own business, Miss Palmer.
Let us handle ours.
You served as Boone's Lieutenant for 3 years during the SI war.
That is correct.
Kincaid participated in the invasion of Taiwan, where faulty intelligence landed his unit smack in the middle of a very nasty ambush.
Pulse generators are set.
- Got to the uplink dish? - Yeah.
The satellite access codes.
Any problem getting them? You mean other than having to lie, cheat and steal? As covert operatives it's our job to lie, cheat and steal.
All for the good of human kind, of course.
And that's why you'll always be a professional covert op.
- This is my last campaign.
- You surprise me, Samira.
I thought you get as much of a thrill as I do from saving the day, dragging the world back from the imminent nuclear disaster.
Here we are in the middle of nowhere, beautiful view of the Himalayas, hacking into the Chinese and Indian launch map systems.
Yes! They both had their nuclear arsenals lit up like bright new pins.
For a start I'm transmitting a series of neutrino pulses to lock the alignment of the launch maps.
Are you sure this is gonna work? If it doesn't, we won't be here to see the flak.
That's certainly a comfort.
If these coordinates are correct, then every Chinese and Indian nuke is now inoperative.
Till they get the launch maps realigned.
By which time the world will come to its senses, and will have solved out this bloody mess.
Alright, just in time for the next war.
Let's face it.
There's nothing more exciting than saving the world with the one you love.
What's going on? Incoming! Axarion They have come to Earth with the promise of peace.
An alien race called the Taelons.
But, there are those who resist these Alien Companions.
For the Taelons' true mission, the secrets they hide will forever alter our world.
The fate of humanity now relies on those who dare challenge the future of Earth.
Samira.
Thanks to the valiant efforts of Colonel Dennis Robillard and the late Captain Samira Farid, nuclear war was averted.
But a new hitherto unknown weapon, which came to be known as quantum vortex, was launched taking 100,000 lives.
I could almost smell the battle.
Thanks.
Not bad for a computer generated imagery, huh? Besides writing the autobiographical script, Dennis also created the virtual actors for us.
I understand the Taelons are trying to get Robillard on the Coventures project.
Yeah, he's playing hard to get.
Maybe you can be more persuasive.
I mean, you two worked closely together in the past.
Not that closely.
There's been another bombing, Major.
This time it's the Chinese embassy.
I'm on my way.
Duty calls.
Thank you, Madam Ambassador.
You know the Taelons will do anything they can to help you.
If we have other questions, I'll call.
I have relocated the Chinese and Indian ambassadors, their families and staffs to CIA and FBI safe houses for the duration of the SI War Armistice this week.
Usual warning? Global call, 60 seconds before the detonation.
Enough time to get everybody out.
Classic guerrilla tactics.
You rotated through the war zone as I recall, Major? Six months in the Nepalese trenches.
You? I served in Intelligence, never really got the opportunity to go overseas.
I put in for a transfer, but my CO insisted I was more valuable stateside.
Well, these bombings keep up, they could easily reignite the conflict.
You may get your shot at combat, after all.
We got a security breach.
No idea what was stolen.
I'll start in all department inventory immediately.
Right, we need to do it in-house.
The last thing I want us to bring the police in.
Zo'or finds out about this, he could limit our access to Taelon technology through Coventure program.
It's just like the other embassy attacks, Da'an.
Thanks to the warning no one was hurt, but the building was demolished.
And we thought we had brought peace to your world, when we adjudicated the Sino-Indian peace awards.
Old animosity die hard.
I guess there's nothing like the anniversary of the Armistice to bring out the worst in people.
It is unimaginable for us that members of the same species would wage war, let alone hold a grudge after the conflict is over.
Unimaginable? What about the Taelons before the schism that split the species and created the Jaridians? The Jaridians carry within them the demon of violence, which we removed from our species.
What you call the demon of violence, is the willingness to fight your own battles.
You're beautiful when when you're preoccupied.
Dennis, hi.
I'm getting nowhere in my investigation of the security breach.
Why don't you take a look? Thanks.
But no, thanks.
Welcome to the world I gladly left behind.
Come on.
You're not telling me you don't miss peeking through keyholes? - Spying on the unsuspecting? - Not a bit.
I don't miss the violence, I don't miss keeping secrets either.
No, I've had my fair share of the good fight.
Let someone else step up to the plate.
So, what, you're just gonna sit things out and let the rest of us have all the fun? Fun? Personally, I think the fun went out of the game when the Taelons showed up.
Don't you? I'd like to personally supervise the inter-agency task force that has been set out to deal with these bombings.
Human problems are not my priority.
Tell me, Agent Sandoval.
Is it my imagination, or is there some another agenda at work here? I don't know what you mean, Zo'or.
Your psychological profile indicates a great frustration at never having directly participated in armed combat.
My imperative is to serve you, Zo'or.
But I cannot deny that a part of me sees these bombings as an opportunity to test myself on the field.
I find myself growing increasingly intrigued by your human desire for mortal combat.
Hello.
- I'm looking for Colonel Robillard.
- Come in.
He'll be out in a moment.
Who shall I say is calling? Major Liam Kincaid.
Nice to finally meet you, Major.
I got it from your expression that you've seen Renee in the docu-drama.
Samira is a hologram.
Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Major Kincaid.
I have to go, Dennis.
Interesting.
I presume from the reaction you also find it a bit ghoulish.
Well, it's certainly different.
Just think of it as a means of keeping alive in your heart the ones that you've lost.
Lost loves, fallen comrades.
You saw action.
Taiwan, I believe.
- You've checked me out.
- I know you're a pal of Renee's, so I did a bit of hacking and pulled up your file.
There are some temptations that are just too difficult for an old spy to resist.
These bombings, Colonel.
They seem to me to be a continuation of the war, and I'm concerned, frankly, that they might be leading us into another international conflict.
Well, there was never any real satisfaction in the Armistice.
Chinese and the Indians felt that we'd shoved peace down their throats.
Which we did thanks to the Taelon intervention.
Just like angels from above.
I was hoping I could get you to help with this investigation.
With all due respect, Major, and as I have already told Renee, I'm retired from that sort of thing.
Well, that world ended for me when the Taelons started solving our problems.
The world was a far riskier place before they came, but we took our chances and made our own choices.
As far as I can tell, by disarming the Indians and the Chinese you only postponed what was an inevitable resumption of nuclear hostility.
That's absolute nonsense.
We had the firepower, the muscle, and the political will to make the peace and keep it, too.
But for those people who chose to give up free will in exchange for whatever security it is that the Taelons provide.
People? Like me, for instance? I'm telling you, Augur, she looked completely real.
Yeah, so do my holos.
Yeah, but yours don't kiss you goodbye before they wink out.
And this hologram welcomed me in, walked around the room - It walked around the room? - Right, no holo projector.
Hmm, I gotta meet this guy.
Tell me something, what's he really like? Well, hard to say.
Kinda sharp.
With a smart alec answer for everything.
Definitely won't give an inch in an argument.
Really? Is it me or this sounds like my description of Renee? How funny you should mention Renee.
She got a little prickly when I asked about their relationship.
Really? The Taelons want Robillard for his holographic research.
I want him because there's no one better suited to translate Taelon technology for our purposes.
I agree, which raises a large issue.
I believe Dennis is a great asset to the Resistance, I want to approach him.
Too risky, we don't know where he stands.
At best he seems indifferent to the Taelons.
But then indifferent, Jonathan, I can feel it.
Renee, I know how fond you are of Dennis, but the whole Do you really think I'd risk the lives of Resistance fighters because I'm fond of someone? What's the matter with you? I thought you'd be on the mother ship.
Zo'or declined my assistance in his meeting with Colonel Robillard.
I gather Zo'or feels I lack the political skills required in such a negotiation.
I don't know, Da'an.
I think you've got your bases covered when it comes to politics.
Warning: the Taelon embassy will be destroyed in 10 seconds.
- It's my secure line.
- They have access to our systems? We're the only ones in the embassy.
We got to evacuate! The embassy's structural spine seems to have held up, but the interior was completely disintegrated.
So, the Resistance has finally found the means to damage Taelon infrastructure.
We will not tolerate an attack on the embassy.
And you must not rest until the culprits are brought to justice.
It's imperative that you return to your cells and take all operations underground for the time being.
We're all at serious risk of being exposed by the task force.
We could be looking at the state of emergency crackdown all over again.
Everybody has to lay low, or we all pay the price.
Compete circuit.
One.
Take assembly to the second level, please.
Someone's at the door.
- Door.
- Colonel Robillard.
Ronald Sandoval, FBI.
What can I do for you? I am part of task force assigned to investigate the embassy attacks.
Working with Kincaid? - I am his superior.
- My question still stands.
What can I do for you? As a former Intelligence officer, I thought you might have some insight into why, whoever is continuing to fight the war SI, has dragged the Taelons into the fray.
So, you believe the Taelons were hit be the same people who are terrorizing embassies, right? Stands to reason.
What do you make of this development? I couldn't begin to guess, and as I have already explained it to your man Kincaid, I'm retired.
Private citizen, who's fought all the wars any man could want.
I understand.
I must say I am disappointed.
- My latest book.
Familiar with it? - Familiar? It holds an honored position on my bookshelf alongside Machiavelli, Von Clausewitz, Linebaugh.
I'm very flattered.
I don't want to sound fawning, Colonel, but your experiences were instrumental in my choice Intelligence as a career.
So, I am your professional inspiration, am I? Then what in the world led you to work for the Taelons? To quote your book.
Intelligence knows no true politics, but power.
- And the Taelons are that power.
- Yes, but I also wrote: the superior enemy's best weapon against a covert operative is the seduction of power.
And that only weapon against such a foe is the incorruptible commitment - to oneself.
- Of course.
And I would use such a weapon if the Taelons were our enemy.
Indeed.
If they were.
Indeed.
To avoid any ambiguity, Colonel, my commitment to myself is incorruptible.
Just another day at the office, huh? It isn't every day somebody tries to blow up a Taelon embassy.
Thanks for your concern, but I'm fine.
Especially when the Resistance seems to be laying low as ordered.
I heard you stopped to see Dennis.
Tried to get him to lend us a hand in the investigation, but he blew me off politely, but firmly.
I had a talk with Jonathan.
About bringing Dennis into the Resistance.
What's your take on that? I honestly can't tell where Robillard stands on the Taelons.
It's people like us who he perceives as having placed our lives in their care, that's who he has a problem with.
All that said, I like the guy.
But I have to say the hologram he's got of his dead girlfriend It's a little creepy.
Major Kincaid, I need to see you on the mother ship immediately.
I just had a conversation with the Bureau forensic unit working the Taelon embassy bombing.
What have they got? According to their findings, the embassy was assaulted with a quantum vortex.
And nobody's seen or deployed a quantum vortex since the SI war.
So, whoever's behind this is also responsible for slaughtering 100,000 people.
Is it true, Zo'or? If you are referring to the reports of the use of a quantum vortex on the embassy, Da'an, yes, it is true.
You seem remarkably unconcerned by this information.
It is still unclear who is responsible for the embassy attack.
It is completely and utterly irrelevant who is responsible.
It is enough that there's someone out there with such a devastating weapon.
And perhaps with access to the truth.
You know, the Taelons are willing to bend over backwards to get you on the Coventure team.
Most people would consider that an honor.
Oh, I'm very flattered to find myself in a very unusual position of being pursued by the Companions.
As opposed to simply serving their needs.
Well, what's that supposed to mean? We're partners with the Taelons, not their servants.
Oh, come on, Renee.
I always assumed you're get-it-done-yourself kind of woman.
- And now? - And now Well, let's just say that you seem to be an apologist for our alien Companions, let's leave it at that.
No, let's not.
You make it sound as if I work for the Taelons, not with them.
What are you smiling at? It's just you're your most beautiful when you're angry.
I wouldn't go there, Dennis.
It might upset your holographic ghost.
So, I guess they finally figured out you water down the drinks, huh? Business is bad for everyone since the bombings.
Your contacts able to come up with any answers on my break-in? Zip.
None of the fences I know were offered anything even close to what was stolen.
Listen, is there any chance at getting a peek at what Robillard's doing holographically? Well, as long as you approach him with the appropriate reverence, ah, he'll probably welcome you with open arms.
Oh, if I didn't mentioned it already, help yourself, it's only 200 dollars a bottle.
So, did Robillard give you an answer or anything on working with the Taelons? Well, since we're paying for it, his work belongs to Doors, but if you mean is he gonna lend his name and public support to it, - I don't think so.
- Ah, then he's not a fan of the Taelons.
He doesn't appear to be.
You know, I read Robillard's autobiography and that guy's got a real attitude.
But I suppose your feelings for him let you look past his rough exterior.
Well, you suppose wrong, Augur.
As usual.
Major Kincaid is convinced the Resistance had nothing to do with the bombing.
And I'm actually beginning to agree with him.
What is it, Agent Sandoval? A piece of evidence that appeared insignificant to the Bureau, that may very well be our first real break in this case.
Memo to board.
Internal security has cleared Full clearance is expected no later than tomorrow morning by 11 o'clock.
I prefer my visitors to knock before entering, Agent Sandoval.
A cross-index of new forensic data indicates minute traces of radiation in the embassy that was attacked.
Radiation can only be found in Doors-Taelon Coventure technology.
What are you saying? I'm saying that the quantum vortex deployed against the embassy was created with material from your division.
Are you accusing me of terrorism, Agent Sandoval? I have enough evidence to bring you to the mother ship for questioning.
Your cooperation would make an arrest unnecessary.
I want this place sealed as active crime scene.
I can't tell you how happy we are to have you working with us, Dennis.
Your work in holography is gonna put my company on the vanguard - of the entertainment revolution.
- It's nice to be appreciated, Jonathan.
But you wouldn't come down here just to pat me on the back for giving you the foothold in the movie business.
You're right.
I was hoping to get your final decision on the Taelon Coventure.
You started as the Taelons' biggest booster.
Then became the man behind the Resistance.
Now you're their partner.
I'm afraid I'm just not capable of that kind of bouncing ball pragmatism.
So, yes, I've made my decision.
I'll not lend my name to the project.
I'll not work with the Taelons.
Nor will I work with Taelon technology.
Ever.
- I'm disappointed, Dennis.
- Well, Jonathan I guess we'll just have to live with that.
Aren't you afraid someone else will come to call? And see that you're lying about using Taelon technology.
I think I've seen my last visitor.
It must be lovely to be so wanted.
It's what they want me for is the problem.
Miss Palmer, I've always assumed you and I were on the same team.
We need to have a discussion about how you view a teammate.
It seems to me, Miss Palmer, that you're not taking this issue as seriously as you should.
I'm taking it very seriously, Agent Sandoval, but I'm also completely innocent of any of your charges.
We haven't charged you with anything.
No, no.
But you've made it abundantly clear that you think I was involved in some way in the attack on the Taelon embassy.
We both know the truth is the Taelons have no better friend than me.
I admire your conviction, Miss Palmer.
But the fact remains that the embassy was attacked with material from your division.
- Hey, is everything okay upstairs? - Yeah, it's quiet up there.
You've not proven your lack of complicity in this theft to my satisfaction.
Of course not, it's impossible to prove I wasn't involved.
You know there's not a shred of evidence to show I had anything to do with this.
Ah.
Miss Palmer, the public needs someone to blame.
You are the president of the division.
- The ultimate responsibility lies with you.
- That argument will never fly.
Given the level of destruction involved and the sentiment out there, I think the grand jury will see it exactly the way I do.
In light of your close relationship with the Taelons, I decided not to pursue this matter any further.
For now.
You're free to leave, Miss Palmer.
What do you want, Sandoval? Remember my act of good faith here.
There will come a time for reciprocation.
Oh, come on, what did you find out? You know, I'd really would rather wait until Here he is! Well? Look, I even let you hack into Doors database you can play coy with me.
What's going on? Listen, I just spend five nauseating hours - being questioned by Sandoval.
- It was an inside job.
The whole point was to steal Taelon technology and point suspicion at you.
At me? Damn it, Dennis.
You seem terribly upset, Renee.
Why don't you just tell me what's bothering you? Don't patronize me.
We know you're responsible for the breaking in Doors and the quantum vortex that hit the embassy.
Once I hacked into Doors database it was easy to make the connection.
Congratulation.
- I thought we were friends.
- Exactly.
But I knew you would be weak and vulnerable when it came to me.
That you would find excuses for everything that I did.
I'm sorry.
It really wasn't personal.
But you see, you were just the perfect choice on whom to point the suspicion of guilt, in order for me to have a little more time for what I needed.
So, it was you who launched the quantum vortex in the SI War.
You're wrong, Major.
It wasn't me.
Oh, I did attack the embassy.
To test my recreation of the vortex.
So I could recalibrate its power in order to destroy the mother ship and all the Taelons onboard.
That'll create a shock wave right back to Earth.
You have any idea how many will die? Oh, yes.
On the current conditions, it would wipe out a good portion of the eastern seaboard of the United States.
It's highly unfortunate, but quite acceptable to rid the Earth of the Taelons.
Just think of it as poetic justice after all.
It was the Taelons who launched the quantum vortex in the SI War, in the first place.
But the Taelons didn't arrive on Earth till years later, long after the quantum vortex was detonated.
Typical Taelons lies, I'm afraid.
The truth is they've been living here secretly for years.
They have you and the others completely brainwashed.
Liam and I are Resistance.
I don't have time for this.
- It's true, Colonel.
- It's also irrelevant.
But if you are members of the Resistance, surely you must be delighted that I found a way to eliminate the Taelons.
And murder 30 million innocent people along with them? Oh, I'm so sorry you see it that way, Major.
I would've thought as a soldier, you would've understand by now that the end justifies the means.
- It's over, Robillard.
- Fortunately, not.
The vortex is now armed.
And may God forgive me.
Samira is not the only hologram around here.
This is the real me.
The result of the injuries I sustained in the Himalayas.
- We can help you.
- Don't bother, Renee.
You will die with the Taelons and I will take my eternal rest.
Sandoval, you've got to take the mother ship into ID space.
What? Robillard's got the quantum vortex targeted on the mother ship.
Robillard? How's that possible? It can't be deactivated.
- How long do we have? - Less than 60 seconds.
The ID drives can't engage that quickly.
All hands, code 5! There's no way they can do an ID drop in time.
- What are you doing? - Taking the only chance we have.
Robillard used the neutrino pulse to realign the Chinese and Indian nuclear arsenals.
Maybe we can alter the array to reverse the polarity of the vortex.
You're wasting your time, Kincaid.
It's gonna backfire.
A tornado's gonna hit this place.
- The only safe spot, the eye of the storm.
- Dennis! Dennis! Dennis, you gotta come with us.
I shall not share my world with the Taelons! Sandoval, the vortex has been neutralized.
You're out of danger.
I want the truth, Da'an.
The truth about what? I analyzed skin samples from Robillard's corpse.
There were traces of Taelon energy, which carbon dating confirms, dates back to before the Taelons officially arrived on Earth.
Robillard was telling the truth.
The Synod felt that a peaceful end to such a brutal war would be the perfect anonymous gift to humanity.
You call slaughtering Unforeseeably, our neutralizing weapon interacted with Colonel Robillard's machinations, to create a lethal device.
That still doesn't excuse your secret interference into our affairs.
Does not humanity have a long history of such secret interference? Allende in Chile, or the Shah in Iran, or the secret bombing of Iraq.
You don't understand, Da'an.
That's humanity's business.
You are safe, Zo'or.
Thanks to my telling Major Kincaid selective truth, you owe me a great debt for saving you from the wrath of humankind.
It is not me personally that you rescued, Da'an, but all the Taelons.
So, spare me your talk of debts.
The last thing we wanted was an earth devastated by nuclear holocaust.
But we did not want the humanity at comfortable peace either.
There must have been a better way to accomplish this.
The Synod was in agreement with me.
And we launched the vortex to keep humanity in a state of war.
So, we could come here and play saviors.
And, like the rest of our species, you share the responsibility for the vortex and benefits it has brought.
History is written by the survivors.
And we will triumph.
Axarion
Hey, play CEO by day and guerrilla by night.
Relax, Augur.
Take your allies where you can find them, okay? Why the hell would you be breaking into a secured area? Doors has a small fortune invested in these coventures with the Taelons, not to mention my reputation.
Focus on your own business, Miss Palmer.
Let us handle ours.
You served as Boone's Lieutenant for 3 years during the SI war.
That is correct.
Kincaid participated in the invasion of Taiwan, where faulty intelligence landed his unit smack in the middle of a very nasty ambush.
Pulse generators are set.
- Got to the uplink dish? - Yeah.
The satellite access codes.
Any problem getting them? You mean other than having to lie, cheat and steal? As covert operatives it's our job to lie, cheat and steal.
All for the good of human kind, of course.
And that's why you'll always be a professional covert op.
- This is my last campaign.
- You surprise me, Samira.
I thought you get as much of a thrill as I do from saving the day, dragging the world back from the imminent nuclear disaster.
Here we are in the middle of nowhere, beautiful view of the Himalayas, hacking into the Chinese and Indian launch map systems.
Yes! They both had their nuclear arsenals lit up like bright new pins.
For a start I'm transmitting a series of neutrino pulses to lock the alignment of the launch maps.
Are you sure this is gonna work? If it doesn't, we won't be here to see the flak.
That's certainly a comfort.
If these coordinates are correct, then every Chinese and Indian nuke is now inoperative.
Till they get the launch maps realigned.
By which time the world will come to its senses, and will have solved out this bloody mess.
Alright, just in time for the next war.
Let's face it.
There's nothing more exciting than saving the world with the one you love.
What's going on? Incoming! Axarion They have come to Earth with the promise of peace.
An alien race called the Taelons.
But, there are those who resist these Alien Companions.
For the Taelons' true mission, the secrets they hide will forever alter our world.
The fate of humanity now relies on those who dare challenge the future of Earth.
Samira.
Thanks to the valiant efforts of Colonel Dennis Robillard and the late Captain Samira Farid, nuclear war was averted.
But a new hitherto unknown weapon, which came to be known as quantum vortex, was launched taking 100,000 lives.
I could almost smell the battle.
Thanks.
Not bad for a computer generated imagery, huh? Besides writing the autobiographical script, Dennis also created the virtual actors for us.
I understand the Taelons are trying to get Robillard on the Coventures project.
Yeah, he's playing hard to get.
Maybe you can be more persuasive.
I mean, you two worked closely together in the past.
Not that closely.
There's been another bombing, Major.
This time it's the Chinese embassy.
I'm on my way.
Duty calls.
Thank you, Madam Ambassador.
You know the Taelons will do anything they can to help you.
If we have other questions, I'll call.
I have relocated the Chinese and Indian ambassadors, their families and staffs to CIA and FBI safe houses for the duration of the SI War Armistice this week.
Usual warning? Global call, 60 seconds before the detonation.
Enough time to get everybody out.
Classic guerrilla tactics.
You rotated through the war zone as I recall, Major? Six months in the Nepalese trenches.
You? I served in Intelligence, never really got the opportunity to go overseas.
I put in for a transfer, but my CO insisted I was more valuable stateside.
Well, these bombings keep up, they could easily reignite the conflict.
You may get your shot at combat, after all.
We got a security breach.
No idea what was stolen.
I'll start in all department inventory immediately.
Right, we need to do it in-house.
The last thing I want us to bring the police in.
Zo'or finds out about this, he could limit our access to Taelon technology through Coventure program.
It's just like the other embassy attacks, Da'an.
Thanks to the warning no one was hurt, but the building was demolished.
And we thought we had brought peace to your world, when we adjudicated the Sino-Indian peace awards.
Old animosity die hard.
I guess there's nothing like the anniversary of the Armistice to bring out the worst in people.
It is unimaginable for us that members of the same species would wage war, let alone hold a grudge after the conflict is over.
Unimaginable? What about the Taelons before the schism that split the species and created the Jaridians? The Jaridians carry within them the demon of violence, which we removed from our species.
What you call the demon of violence, is the willingness to fight your own battles.
You're beautiful when when you're preoccupied.
Dennis, hi.
I'm getting nowhere in my investigation of the security breach.
Why don't you take a look? Thanks.
But no, thanks.
Welcome to the world I gladly left behind.
Come on.
You're not telling me you don't miss peeking through keyholes? - Spying on the unsuspecting? - Not a bit.
I don't miss the violence, I don't miss keeping secrets either.
No, I've had my fair share of the good fight.
Let someone else step up to the plate.
So, what, you're just gonna sit things out and let the rest of us have all the fun? Fun? Personally, I think the fun went out of the game when the Taelons showed up.
Don't you? I'd like to personally supervise the inter-agency task force that has been set out to deal with these bombings.
Human problems are not my priority.
Tell me, Agent Sandoval.
Is it my imagination, or is there some another agenda at work here? I don't know what you mean, Zo'or.
Your psychological profile indicates a great frustration at never having directly participated in armed combat.
My imperative is to serve you, Zo'or.
But I cannot deny that a part of me sees these bombings as an opportunity to test myself on the field.
I find myself growing increasingly intrigued by your human desire for mortal combat.
Hello.
- I'm looking for Colonel Robillard.
- Come in.
He'll be out in a moment.
Who shall I say is calling? Major Liam Kincaid.
Nice to finally meet you, Major.
I got it from your expression that you've seen Renee in the docu-drama.
Samira is a hologram.
Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Major Kincaid.
I have to go, Dennis.
Interesting.
I presume from the reaction you also find it a bit ghoulish.
Well, it's certainly different.
Just think of it as a means of keeping alive in your heart the ones that you've lost.
Lost loves, fallen comrades.
You saw action.
Taiwan, I believe.
- You've checked me out.
- I know you're a pal of Renee's, so I did a bit of hacking and pulled up your file.
There are some temptations that are just too difficult for an old spy to resist.
These bombings, Colonel.
They seem to me to be a continuation of the war, and I'm concerned, frankly, that they might be leading us into another international conflict.
Well, there was never any real satisfaction in the Armistice.
Chinese and the Indians felt that we'd shoved peace down their throats.
Which we did thanks to the Taelon intervention.
Just like angels from above.
I was hoping I could get you to help with this investigation.
With all due respect, Major, and as I have already told Renee, I'm retired from that sort of thing.
Well, that world ended for me when the Taelons started solving our problems.
The world was a far riskier place before they came, but we took our chances and made our own choices.
As far as I can tell, by disarming the Indians and the Chinese you only postponed what was an inevitable resumption of nuclear hostility.
That's absolute nonsense.
We had the firepower, the muscle, and the political will to make the peace and keep it, too.
But for those people who chose to give up free will in exchange for whatever security it is that the Taelons provide.
People? Like me, for instance? I'm telling you, Augur, she looked completely real.
Yeah, so do my holos.
Yeah, but yours don't kiss you goodbye before they wink out.
And this hologram welcomed me in, walked around the room - It walked around the room? - Right, no holo projector.
Hmm, I gotta meet this guy.
Tell me something, what's he really like? Well, hard to say.
Kinda sharp.
With a smart alec answer for everything.
Definitely won't give an inch in an argument.
Really? Is it me or this sounds like my description of Renee? How funny you should mention Renee.
She got a little prickly when I asked about their relationship.
Really? The Taelons want Robillard for his holographic research.
I want him because there's no one better suited to translate Taelon technology for our purposes.
I agree, which raises a large issue.
I believe Dennis is a great asset to the Resistance, I want to approach him.
Too risky, we don't know where he stands.
At best he seems indifferent to the Taelons.
But then indifferent, Jonathan, I can feel it.
Renee, I know how fond you are of Dennis, but the whole Do you really think I'd risk the lives of Resistance fighters because I'm fond of someone? What's the matter with you? I thought you'd be on the mother ship.
Zo'or declined my assistance in his meeting with Colonel Robillard.
I gather Zo'or feels I lack the political skills required in such a negotiation.
I don't know, Da'an.
I think you've got your bases covered when it comes to politics.
Warning: the Taelon embassy will be destroyed in 10 seconds.
- It's my secure line.
- They have access to our systems? We're the only ones in the embassy.
We got to evacuate! The embassy's structural spine seems to have held up, but the interior was completely disintegrated.
So, the Resistance has finally found the means to damage Taelon infrastructure.
We will not tolerate an attack on the embassy.
And you must not rest until the culprits are brought to justice.
It's imperative that you return to your cells and take all operations underground for the time being.
We're all at serious risk of being exposed by the task force.
We could be looking at the state of emergency crackdown all over again.
Everybody has to lay low, or we all pay the price.
Compete circuit.
One.
Take assembly to the second level, please.
Someone's at the door.
- Door.
- Colonel Robillard.
Ronald Sandoval, FBI.
What can I do for you? I am part of task force assigned to investigate the embassy attacks.
Working with Kincaid? - I am his superior.
- My question still stands.
What can I do for you? As a former Intelligence officer, I thought you might have some insight into why, whoever is continuing to fight the war SI, has dragged the Taelons into the fray.
So, you believe the Taelons were hit be the same people who are terrorizing embassies, right? Stands to reason.
What do you make of this development? I couldn't begin to guess, and as I have already explained it to your man Kincaid, I'm retired.
Private citizen, who's fought all the wars any man could want.
I understand.
I must say I am disappointed.
- My latest book.
Familiar with it? - Familiar? It holds an honored position on my bookshelf alongside Machiavelli, Von Clausewitz, Linebaugh.
I'm very flattered.
I don't want to sound fawning, Colonel, but your experiences were instrumental in my choice Intelligence as a career.
So, I am your professional inspiration, am I? Then what in the world led you to work for the Taelons? To quote your book.
Intelligence knows no true politics, but power.
- And the Taelons are that power.
- Yes, but I also wrote: the superior enemy's best weapon against a covert operative is the seduction of power.
And that only weapon against such a foe is the incorruptible commitment - to oneself.
- Of course.
And I would use such a weapon if the Taelons were our enemy.
Indeed.
If they were.
Indeed.
To avoid any ambiguity, Colonel, my commitment to myself is incorruptible.
Just another day at the office, huh? It isn't every day somebody tries to blow up a Taelon embassy.
Thanks for your concern, but I'm fine.
Especially when the Resistance seems to be laying low as ordered.
I heard you stopped to see Dennis.
Tried to get him to lend us a hand in the investigation, but he blew me off politely, but firmly.
I had a talk with Jonathan.
About bringing Dennis into the Resistance.
What's your take on that? I honestly can't tell where Robillard stands on the Taelons.
It's people like us who he perceives as having placed our lives in their care, that's who he has a problem with.
All that said, I like the guy.
But I have to say the hologram he's got of his dead girlfriend It's a little creepy.
Major Kincaid, I need to see you on the mother ship immediately.
I just had a conversation with the Bureau forensic unit working the Taelon embassy bombing.
What have they got? According to their findings, the embassy was assaulted with a quantum vortex.
And nobody's seen or deployed a quantum vortex since the SI war.
So, whoever's behind this is also responsible for slaughtering 100,000 people.
Is it true, Zo'or? If you are referring to the reports of the use of a quantum vortex on the embassy, Da'an, yes, it is true.
You seem remarkably unconcerned by this information.
It is still unclear who is responsible for the embassy attack.
It is completely and utterly irrelevant who is responsible.
It is enough that there's someone out there with such a devastating weapon.
And perhaps with access to the truth.
You know, the Taelons are willing to bend over backwards to get you on the Coventure team.
Most people would consider that an honor.
Oh, I'm very flattered to find myself in a very unusual position of being pursued by the Companions.
As opposed to simply serving their needs.
Well, what's that supposed to mean? We're partners with the Taelons, not their servants.
Oh, come on, Renee.
I always assumed you're get-it-done-yourself kind of woman.
- And now? - And now Well, let's just say that you seem to be an apologist for our alien Companions, let's leave it at that.
No, let's not.
You make it sound as if I work for the Taelons, not with them.
What are you smiling at? It's just you're your most beautiful when you're angry.
I wouldn't go there, Dennis.
It might upset your holographic ghost.
So, I guess they finally figured out you water down the drinks, huh? Business is bad for everyone since the bombings.
Your contacts able to come up with any answers on my break-in? Zip.
None of the fences I know were offered anything even close to what was stolen.
Listen, is there any chance at getting a peek at what Robillard's doing holographically? Well, as long as you approach him with the appropriate reverence, ah, he'll probably welcome you with open arms.
Oh, if I didn't mentioned it already, help yourself, it's only 200 dollars a bottle.
So, did Robillard give you an answer or anything on working with the Taelons? Well, since we're paying for it, his work belongs to Doors, but if you mean is he gonna lend his name and public support to it, - I don't think so.
- Ah, then he's not a fan of the Taelons.
He doesn't appear to be.
You know, I read Robillard's autobiography and that guy's got a real attitude.
But I suppose your feelings for him let you look past his rough exterior.
Well, you suppose wrong, Augur.
As usual.
Major Kincaid is convinced the Resistance had nothing to do with the bombing.
And I'm actually beginning to agree with him.
What is it, Agent Sandoval? A piece of evidence that appeared insignificant to the Bureau, that may very well be our first real break in this case.
Memo to board.
Internal security has cleared Full clearance is expected no later than tomorrow morning by 11 o'clock.
I prefer my visitors to knock before entering, Agent Sandoval.
A cross-index of new forensic data indicates minute traces of radiation in the embassy that was attacked.
Radiation can only be found in Doors-Taelon Coventure technology.
What are you saying? I'm saying that the quantum vortex deployed against the embassy was created with material from your division.
Are you accusing me of terrorism, Agent Sandoval? I have enough evidence to bring you to the mother ship for questioning.
Your cooperation would make an arrest unnecessary.
I want this place sealed as active crime scene.
I can't tell you how happy we are to have you working with us, Dennis.
Your work in holography is gonna put my company on the vanguard - of the entertainment revolution.
- It's nice to be appreciated, Jonathan.
But you wouldn't come down here just to pat me on the back for giving you the foothold in the movie business.
You're right.
I was hoping to get your final decision on the Taelon Coventure.
You started as the Taelons' biggest booster.
Then became the man behind the Resistance.
Now you're their partner.
I'm afraid I'm just not capable of that kind of bouncing ball pragmatism.
So, yes, I've made my decision.
I'll not lend my name to the project.
I'll not work with the Taelons.
Nor will I work with Taelon technology.
Ever.
- I'm disappointed, Dennis.
- Well, Jonathan I guess we'll just have to live with that.
Aren't you afraid someone else will come to call? And see that you're lying about using Taelon technology.
I think I've seen my last visitor.
It must be lovely to be so wanted.
It's what they want me for is the problem.
Miss Palmer, I've always assumed you and I were on the same team.
We need to have a discussion about how you view a teammate.
It seems to me, Miss Palmer, that you're not taking this issue as seriously as you should.
I'm taking it very seriously, Agent Sandoval, but I'm also completely innocent of any of your charges.
We haven't charged you with anything.
No, no.
But you've made it abundantly clear that you think I was involved in some way in the attack on the Taelon embassy.
We both know the truth is the Taelons have no better friend than me.
I admire your conviction, Miss Palmer.
But the fact remains that the embassy was attacked with material from your division.
- Hey, is everything okay upstairs? - Yeah, it's quiet up there.
You've not proven your lack of complicity in this theft to my satisfaction.
Of course not, it's impossible to prove I wasn't involved.
You know there's not a shred of evidence to show I had anything to do with this.
Ah.
Miss Palmer, the public needs someone to blame.
You are the president of the division.
- The ultimate responsibility lies with you.
- That argument will never fly.
Given the level of destruction involved and the sentiment out there, I think the grand jury will see it exactly the way I do.
In light of your close relationship with the Taelons, I decided not to pursue this matter any further.
For now.
You're free to leave, Miss Palmer.
What do you want, Sandoval? Remember my act of good faith here.
There will come a time for reciprocation.
Oh, come on, what did you find out? You know, I'd really would rather wait until Here he is! Well? Look, I even let you hack into Doors database you can play coy with me.
What's going on? Listen, I just spend five nauseating hours - being questioned by Sandoval.
- It was an inside job.
The whole point was to steal Taelon technology and point suspicion at you.
At me? Damn it, Dennis.
You seem terribly upset, Renee.
Why don't you just tell me what's bothering you? Don't patronize me.
We know you're responsible for the breaking in Doors and the quantum vortex that hit the embassy.
Once I hacked into Doors database it was easy to make the connection.
Congratulation.
- I thought we were friends.
- Exactly.
But I knew you would be weak and vulnerable when it came to me.
That you would find excuses for everything that I did.
I'm sorry.
It really wasn't personal.
But you see, you were just the perfect choice on whom to point the suspicion of guilt, in order for me to have a little more time for what I needed.
So, it was you who launched the quantum vortex in the SI War.
You're wrong, Major.
It wasn't me.
Oh, I did attack the embassy.
To test my recreation of the vortex.
So I could recalibrate its power in order to destroy the mother ship and all the Taelons onboard.
That'll create a shock wave right back to Earth.
You have any idea how many will die? Oh, yes.
On the current conditions, it would wipe out a good portion of the eastern seaboard of the United States.
It's highly unfortunate, but quite acceptable to rid the Earth of the Taelons.
Just think of it as poetic justice after all.
It was the Taelons who launched the quantum vortex in the SI War, in the first place.
But the Taelons didn't arrive on Earth till years later, long after the quantum vortex was detonated.
Typical Taelons lies, I'm afraid.
The truth is they've been living here secretly for years.
They have you and the others completely brainwashed.
Liam and I are Resistance.
I don't have time for this.
- It's true, Colonel.
- It's also irrelevant.
But if you are members of the Resistance, surely you must be delighted that I found a way to eliminate the Taelons.
And murder 30 million innocent people along with them? Oh, I'm so sorry you see it that way, Major.
I would've thought as a soldier, you would've understand by now that the end justifies the means.
- It's over, Robillard.
- Fortunately, not.
The vortex is now armed.
And may God forgive me.
Samira is not the only hologram around here.
This is the real me.
The result of the injuries I sustained in the Himalayas.
- We can help you.
- Don't bother, Renee.
You will die with the Taelons and I will take my eternal rest.
Sandoval, you've got to take the mother ship into ID space.
What? Robillard's got the quantum vortex targeted on the mother ship.
Robillard? How's that possible? It can't be deactivated.
- How long do we have? - Less than 60 seconds.
The ID drives can't engage that quickly.
All hands, code 5! There's no way they can do an ID drop in time.
- What are you doing? - Taking the only chance we have.
Robillard used the neutrino pulse to realign the Chinese and Indian nuclear arsenals.
Maybe we can alter the array to reverse the polarity of the vortex.
You're wasting your time, Kincaid.
It's gonna backfire.
A tornado's gonna hit this place.
- The only safe spot, the eye of the storm.
- Dennis! Dennis! Dennis, you gotta come with us.
I shall not share my world with the Taelons! Sandoval, the vortex has been neutralized.
You're out of danger.
I want the truth, Da'an.
The truth about what? I analyzed skin samples from Robillard's corpse.
There were traces of Taelon energy, which carbon dating confirms, dates back to before the Taelons officially arrived on Earth.
Robillard was telling the truth.
The Synod felt that a peaceful end to such a brutal war would be the perfect anonymous gift to humanity.
You call slaughtering Unforeseeably, our neutralizing weapon interacted with Colonel Robillard's machinations, to create a lethal device.
That still doesn't excuse your secret interference into our affairs.
Does not humanity have a long history of such secret interference? Allende in Chile, or the Shah in Iran, or the secret bombing of Iraq.
You don't understand, Da'an.
That's humanity's business.
You are safe, Zo'or.
Thanks to my telling Major Kincaid selective truth, you owe me a great debt for saving you from the wrath of humankind.
It is not me personally that you rescued, Da'an, but all the Taelons.
So, spare me your talk of debts.
The last thing we wanted was an earth devastated by nuclear holocaust.
But we did not want the humanity at comfortable peace either.
There must have been a better way to accomplish this.
The Synod was in agreement with me.
And we launched the vortex to keep humanity in a state of war.
So, we could come here and play saviors.
And, like the rest of our species, you share the responsibility for the vortex and benefits it has brought.
History is written by the survivors.
And we will triumph.
Axarion