Star City (2026) s01e04 Episode Script
Dark Forest
1
[alarm clock ticking]
[alarm clock ringing]
[sighs]
[somber music playing]
[handler] Field intelligence report
reference number S/BF-22
on new dissident group Zeta.
Issued 8th of November 1963.
First identified during Lacy-Zarubin
Cultural Exchange,
Zeta members show incentive
to work against Soviet interests.
Initial funding request approved
after asset Andrei Zaitsev
recruited other disaffected musicians.
Request continued support of group
as Zaitsev has developed system
to smuggle banned musical works
by composers
such as Denisov, Schnittke,
Gubaidulina out of USSR
by way of hiding them
in the lining of instrument cases.
Suggest continued surveillance.
Field intelligence report
reference number S/BF-26.
Issued 15th of May 1964.
Pressures of dissident activity
appear to be taking a toll.
Significant conflict has emerged
within the group.
Zaitsev and romantic interest
Tanya Danilova frequently argue.
There is concern that discord in group
will undermine mission,
but suggest continued funding for now.
Field intelligence report
reference number S/BF-32.
Issued 10th of September 1964.
New suitor of subject Danilova.
Lieutenant Valentin Mironov,
pilot in the Soviet Air Force.
In light of Washington's directive
seeking new assets in Soviet military
there is an opportunity present.
Mironov is unaware of
Danilova's illegal dissident activity.
Request continued surveillance.
Field intelligence report
reference number S/BF-40.
Issued 24th of December 1964.
Danilova and Mironov
relationship progressing.
Source indicates Mironov being recruited
for Soviet space program.
Continued surveillance a priority.
[shutter clicking]
Field intelligence report
reference number S/BF-45.
Issued 15th of January 1965.
Mironov engaged to Danilova.
Wedding set for February,
before start of cosmonaut training.
Danilova seems to have
ceased dissident activity.
[clicking continues]
[handler] Field intelligence report
reference number S/BF-51.
Issued 28th of February 1965.
Source indicates imminent move of
Tanya and Valya Mironov to Star City.
Surveillance opportunities to become
extremely limited.
Urgent request for direct contact
with subject Mironov.
Will use wife's dissident past
to ensure cooperation.
Lovely day, isn't it?
Yeah.
Congratulations on the wedding,
by the way.
How did you know I was married?
- [bus brakes squeal]
- [speaking indistinctly]
[inaudible]
[handler] Field intelligence report
reference number S/BF-53.
Issued 1st of March 1965.
New asset, cosmonaut Valya Mironov.
Code name "Nikolay."
[theme song playing]
Chief Designer.
Out! All of you.
[clears throat] Here we are.
What is it?
[Chief Designer] This is the culprit.
I need a…
Excellent craftsmanship.
[Sergei] The circuitry,
it's the same as a signal amplifier.
You'd find one in an old argon processor.
It's… [stutters] Yes, look.
That is a GT-104 transistor.
It's very common in Soviet transmitters.
It's Soviet?
Yes.
[Chief Designer] But this…
this is not part
of the original technology.
This is…
this is added later.
[Sergei] It's a micro transmitter.
That's why it looked like interference,
but really it was just drawing power.
So it wasn't sabotage.
It was espionage.
Thank you, Sergei.
You can go now.
Another one of my Eagles is dead.
- What are you implying?
- I'm not implying anything.
I'm telling you explicitly,
I will not have any more deaths
on my watch because of your paranoia.
It was a transmitter.
Forcing me to reboot the system
was an overreaction.
I made a decision based on
the information we had at the time.
Our operations must remain secure.
Not "we." Not "ours."
My cosmonauts did the best they could.
My systems would have functioned
without your interference.
You didn't hold up your side.
I wasn't aware we were on different sides.
I handle the engineering.
You handle security.
What is the point of you
if you can't do that?
I'm not taking the fall for your failures.
Go and say that to Moscow.
Excuse me.
Excu…
[door locks]
[knocking]
Hello?
Comrade Chadha?
From India?
How did you guess?
Your name's on the boxes.
So, uh, how are you
settling in to Star City?
Off to a great start.
No one has told me
what I'm to be working on.
This is normal.
Now we must get back to work.
[Lakshmi]
Where's the rest of my equipment?
[sighs] Do you know
where I could find the chief designer?
I really feel like there
might have been a mix-up.
[scoffs] Good luck with that.
He's a very busy man.
[in Hindi] Lakshmi…
They're listening to us.
You are being paranoid.
I am not. [stammers]
I was unpacking and yelling about
all the cursed flies in here and then
after I get back from the market…
I find this.
It wasn't here before.
I am telling you they must
have microphones in the walls.
Do you think they have them
in the bathroom? Oh, goodness!
[whispering] Bedroom?
- [chuckles]
- [grunts]
- [chuckles]
- You're laughing?
We were warned about this.
- We knew what to expect.
- No, Lakshmi.
Hearing about Soviet surveillance
is very different than living it.
Are you a spy, then?
- No. Of course not.
- Then what is the problem, Manu?
I'm the one who should be upset.
[sighs] I thought this was my time.
My chance to do something.
They are doing the most
amazing things, but…
You should see where they put me.
- Why did they bring me here?
- Sorry.
Sorry, my love.
[in English] Sorry.
[fly buzzing]
[buzzing stops]
[laughing]
- [in Hindi] Got him.
- [laughs]
- [Lakshmi speaking Hindi, chuckles]
- [Manu, in English] Sorry.
[Lakshmi, Manu speaking Hindi]
[in English]
Colonel Raskova wants to see you.
Comrade Colonel?
[Lyudmilla] Yes?
I've been reviewing notations of any
suspicious activity after what happened.
Even if it's just petty speculation.
Irina Vasilievna,
do you want to document petty speculation
for the rest of your life?
No.
I thought as much.
Find someone to cover your assignments.
I need this device traced.
Quickly and quietly.
Find out where it was manufactured.
I want to know who ordered it.
They could lead us to the mole.
Find out what this is.
Bring this with you.
I don't need that.
You go into the field alone,
you take a weapon.
You received the training, yes?
Yes.
You can go.
[classical music playing on record]
[song continues]
[song continues]
[door opens]
Hello?
What are you doing home?
[Valya] Training finished early.
I thought I'd eat something.
Any mail? Anyone stop by?
No.
Why would they?
What's wrong?
Why are you acting like this?
[scoffs] "Like this"? Like what?
[song continues]
[record skipping]
[song stops]
[Valya] I'm sorry.
I thought we had a really good night
in Moscow, didn't we?
Did I do something wrong?
Tell me.
No, I'm just tired.
[Sasha] Arseni.
Arseni.
[breathes heavily]
[Sasha] Arseni.
[gasps]
[breathes heavily]
[door opens]
[door closes]
[grunts]
[sighs]
MORE SPEECHES TODAY.
BACK TONIGHT. A.
[sighs]
[sniffs]
[whispering]
[Chief Designer] You must understand,
Mila Aleksandrovna,
that all missions, training and otherwise,
are highly confidential.
Here's, um…
here's the letter he wrote you.
My condolences.
[sniffs, cries]
[crying continues]
Comrade Mironov trained him,
and Comrade Polivanov…
was with him when he died.
[breathes heavily]
[Chief Designer] They're here for you now.
He-He-He went the way
he would've wanted to.
He wanted to come back.
What happened?
I-I don't wanna lie to you.
Then don't.
I didn't do enough.
- It should've been me.
- [Valya] Sasha.
Stop it. Stop, stop, stop.
[Sasha] Sorry. [mutters]
She doesn't need to hear that.
You didn't kill him.
I was the pilot.
[inhales deeply]
I sent him into that compartment.
Did you cause the interference?
No.
No.
Up there…
no one's responsible for anything
besides their own survival.
[whispering indistinctly]
[Anastasia] I remember it well.
The moment I had spent
my whole life working towards.
I was chosen to serve my homeland
the only way I could.
As a cosmonaut.
As a woman.
As a Soviet.
I understood the cosmos
was not mine to conquer.
It had always been ours.
Well, thank you, Comrade Belikova,
for your service to your nation.
And thank you to the
Committee for Soviet Women of Leningrad
for hosting this wonderful event.
The general secretary
is proud of your work.
[Lyudmilla] What were your
responsibilities on Luna 17?
Chief Designer had me analyzing the
propellant margins on the lunar lander.
Did you ever notice
anything suspicious in the lab?
I'm too busy to notice anything
except the circuits that I'm cutting.
You signed off on the final boosters, yes?
Ship shape. No issues.
Did you see anyone tampering
with the train cars to Baikonur?
Absolutely not.
We left at 2100.
There was no one on the premises.
Who else might have had access
to the descent module before launch?
No one,
besides the launch engineers and the crew.
Maybe the trainers.
Thank you for your cooperation.
You can go.
[Lyudmilla] Yes, I'm making
excellent progress, Comrade Director.
[Konstantin] I think you should come
to headquarters in Moscow
and update us in person
on how this breach was possible.
Uh, well, my investigation is progressing.
I have it under control.
I'm sure you do, but come anyway.
Thank you, comrade.
I will come in tomorrow.
[party member] I've filed seven requests
to get Belikova to make an appearance
at the factory next month, but nothing.
[Maxim] Oh, well, persistence is
a virtue, comrade.
It's because she's going back
to the moon again, isn't she?
Oh, no, no, no.
The state can't risk that.
She's much too valuable.
[chuckles] Yeah,
but you mean too valuable to you?
[Maxim] Now. Be careful.
[both chuckling]
How long to the next appearance?
Just an hour.
Here.
No.
You were with Gagarin, weren't you?
Mm-hmm.
[Anastasia] When did he know?
Know what?
That he would never go back up again.
Not long after his world tour.
Give me that.
[knocking on door]
[grunts]
Welcome back.
How was the training mission?
[clicks tongue]
- Can I come in?
- I haven't cleaned, really.
So who sleeps in the bedroom?
[chuckles]
She does.
And who cooks dinner?
Is this what you came here to talk about?
No.
I saw him with a woman.
Who?
Valya.
[snorts]
His mother?
I'm being serious.
I'm sorry.
You think Valya is having an affair?
I don't know what I think.
All I know is I saw him
and some woman at the concert hall.
I don't know how to explain it. It…
It felt intimate,
like they knew each other well.
He's not having an affair, Tanya.
I wish he'd have an affair.
It'd be good for him. [chuckles]
Fuck you.
[clicks tongue]
You jealous?
No, I…
I don't know.
[exhales]
[clanking]
[clanking continues]
[clanking continues]
[clanking continues]
What is this place?
Hand me the wrench, will you?
Sorry about the noise.
I don't sleep much.
So you've been relegated
to the fringes too? [chuckles]
Something like that.
You know, when I was told I was being
assigned to Star City,
I thought I'd be at the forefront
of space travel, but instead I'm…
here. [chuckles]
Pushed aside, huh?
Don't underestimate yourself, comrade.
Your work on self-sustaining generation
of breathable air
is the future of space travel.
You know my work?
Of course.
It's the final piece required
to truly conquer the cosmos.
You know, if they had used my
BIOS system to generate oxygen
instead of Luna 17's
inefficient LiOH and O2 tanks,
it would've saved 77 kilograms.
[scoffs] No offense
to whoever designed it.
No offense taken.
You're him. [chuckles]
You're the chief designer?
Apologies for the ruse.
I didn't bring you here to get us
to the moon, Comrade Chadha.
- [chuckles]
- We've already been to the moon.
- You're going to Venus?
- No.
We are going to Venus.
[Lakshmi] My lab equipment.
And you're gonna help us get there.
- Hello.
- [employee] Can I help you?
I'm looking for head office.
Ah, yes. You enter there.
[door opens]
What do you want?
Do you recognize this?
Of course.
It's one of our transmitters.
Do you know who might
have acquired it from you?
Well, that's hard to say.
We make a number of them each day.
To keep such a pace must be difficult.
I'm sure regulations get in the way.
In fact, I noted
multiple violations on my way in.
There could be serious repercussions
for such infractions.
- We're just trying to meet our quotas.
- I'm just trying to do my job, comrade.
Please take another look.
This is our standard transmitter.
You see here?
It's been modified…
- with this.
- Yeah, I wanted to ask about that.
It must have been added later
by whoever purchased it.
It's certainly not Soviet.
How can you tell?
It's an unusual alloy.
Not something we use. Let me test it.
Look at the meter.
When I touch the probes,
look at how much it can…
Where did you get this?
I've never seen anything like it.
It's not available anywhere
in the Soviet Union.
It must have been smuggled in.
This is four times
the thermal conductivity of copper.
[inhales sharply]
What might it have been added for?
Well, with this,
you have got an incredible heat sink.
Which means this tiny transmitter can have
a lot of energy flowing through it
and still be able to function.
Uh, this could handle a power supply
several times our standard size.
What was the transmitter's power source?
I'd like to see your purchasing records.
[Konstantin] Come in.
Lyudmilla Efimovna.
[Lyudmilla] Kostya.
I wish we were meeting
under better circumstances.
[clears throat] Thank you.
I have contained the breach
and located the device from the craft.
The search for
who planted it is progressing.
This is Radimir Sergeievich Petrovsky.
Your new lieutenant?
The new first deputy
of the Second Chief Directorate.
First deputy.
My mother worked in your bullpen.
Raya Famova.
Do you remember her?
It's unfortunate
she had to retire so early.
Hmm. She raised a family.
Sorry, are we here to talk
about your mother or about Luna 17?
[Konstantin, Lyudmilla chuckle]
We're going to need a full report
on how the Americans managed
to perform this stunning infiltration.
It's very troubling.
I will find out what happened,
but please don't waste my time
with reports.
It's just a lot of paperwork
that no one's going to read.
Oh, I can assure you it will be read.
[Konstantin] Lyudmilla,
everyone appreciates
your decades of service.
But this is how it's done now.
A senior cosmonaut was executed
under your watch.
- Uh, Yana…
- Akhmatova.
Yes. She admitted to being
co-opted by the Americans.
It now appears
that she wasn't working alone.
It's a larger operation
than we first suspected.
Radimir will be happy to lend the help
of the Second Chief Directorate.
He has a particular interest
in the space program.
I studied electronic engineering
at university
before I joined the security service.
That's nice,
but it's nothing I can't handle.
And you'll also need to document what led
to the death of cosmonaut Arseni Vetrov,
whether technical failure
or due to the security breach.
And then we can decide how to…
move on.
Should I be concerned?
[Konstantin] Of course not.
You're a hero of the Soviet Union,
Comrade Raskova.
Sounds like an obituary.
No.
It's a testament to your service.
I will contain this.
I can assure you.
Good.
See that you do.
[speaking indistinctly]
Walk with me.
So what's the latest in the preparations
for the unmanned probe this week?
Nearly all of the modules
have been transported
and the N-1 is being moved to a pad
in Baikonur as we speak.
Chief Designer,
everything is still on track.
And now that Comrade Chadha is here,
her life support systems
are functioning surprisingly well
- and we'll be ready for launch.
- Good.
Though with everything going on,
I wonder if…
if it would be prudent
to postpone the launch until…
It has to be now, Sergei.
Or it will never happen.
Yeah. Well, then we should discuss further
who will be assigned to the mission.
[Chief Designer] I have that handled.
Chief tell you why we're here?
- [door opens, closes]
- [footsteps approaching]
Do you need something?
No.
- Do you?
- [scoffs]
[footsteps approaching]
Sit down, please.
Good.
I have a craft set to launch
in three days' time,
and she's in need of a crew.
Due to the highly confidential nature
of the mission,
no more notice was possible.
You know me, Chief, I'm up for anything.
But Colonel Raskova's grounded me
and Sasha after Luna 17.
Which makes you perfect for
a mission no one can know about.
- Where we going?
- I can't tell you till you agree to go.
[chuckles]
You can't tell anyone,
not even your spouses.
You'll be gone for nine months.
You have the night to think it over.
[Pavel] Don't need the night.
- I'm in.
- Good.
You are going to use
my life support systems?
Am I to train them on it?
There's not enough time to train them
in something so complex.
We couldn't even get the chlorella
to metabolize enough carbon dioxide
till you arrived.
No.
You'll have to go with them.
But I'm not a cosmonaut.
Well, you are now.
[scoffs]
W-Wait, her?
You must be joking.
Especially her.
I'm sorry, Chief.
[Chief Designer]
My boy, I know you're struggling,
but the only way to overcome this
is to keep going.
You know as well as I do,
I should never be let near another ship.
If you don't now, I worry you never will.
Well, maybe that's a good thing.
I'll resign.
That makes things easier.
You think I pulled you out
of the Air Force to make things easier?
I brought you here
even though they warned me
that you were uncontrollable
and impulsive.
There's no map to this mission.
We're drawing it.
And I need a good pilot with impulses
that shouldn't be controlled.
[scoffs]
No. I-I can't take…
any more lives in my hands.
Don't you understand?
Arseni Vetrov would never forgive you
for using his memory as an excuse, Sasha.
He has no more missions.
You owe it to him to keep going.
You owe it to yourself.
[sniffs, sighs]
[Anastasia] Collective achievement
is the Soviet ideal.
There you go.
There you go.
Do you have any questions for me?
No geometry questions though.
I was never very good at that.
Never won a gold medal in mathematics.
Just silver.
But even still,
tried as hard as I could, and…
and that's… that's it really.
That's the… the secret. It's…
You just never give up, so…
Do you think we will get to go to space?
Sooner you than me.
Thank Comrade Belikova for her time.
She's a very busy woman.
- Thank you.
- [chuckles]
[Slava] Okay. Thank you, girls.
I'm starving.
- You think there's anything to…
- I, uh… Please, allow me.
Uh, it's on the math department.
- No, it's all right.
- No, uh, just give me one second.
[clears throat]
He likes you.
He doesn't know anything about me.
Well, that never stopped anyone.
[chuckles]
Uh, we-we cannot have you eating
cafeteria food, Comrade Belikova, so…
Please enjoy.
Courtesy of the physics faculty.
Will you stop looking at me like that?
[stammering]
[clears throat, chuckles]
I mean, I'm just so glad
that you're here, Comrade Belikova.
Your achievements…
[stammers]
It's been an inspiration to us all.
It really has.
Well, I promise you
that I'm just a hungry farm girl
who followed orders
all the way to the moon.
Well, I mean, you're-you're
so much more than that.
[all chuckle]
[Slava] You're a…
You're a promise of something better.
I don't know about that.
I mean, honestly, I would give anything
just to go somewhere
where no one knows who I am.
And I would just eat
fresh tomatoes, and, like…
[chuckles] …look up
at the constellations like I would
when no one thought I could do
anything except milk a cow.
Which I can, very well.
[stammers]
My dacha's 20 minutes from here.
You can see more stars there
than you've ever seen in your whole life.
[chuckles] Well, maybe not you.
- [stammers, chuckles]
- [chuckles]
[chuckles]
There might even be a cow.
[chuckles] It would be an honor.
[chuckles]
Well, are you sure about the cow?
It might be a goat.
[softly] I see.
Well, I mean,
there's only one way to find out, no?
- [chuckles]
- Yes? Yeah? Let's do it.
- Yeah.
- I like goats too.
- I mean, come on, let's go.
- Let's go. Okay!
[Anastasia laughs]
[rustling]
Hello?
[rustling continues]
[gasps]
Stop! Stop!
[grunting, panting]
[door opens, closes]
[panting]
[cheering]
Yes!
Yes!
[shouts]
- Okay! Here we go.
- Next one!
- [vocalizing]
- Next one.
Okay.
- Yeah, yeah.
- Lovely, lovely, lovely, lovely!
[all] Three, two, one.
[laughs]
[all cheer]
Oh, my gosh!
- [laughing]
- Yeah.
[vehicle approaching]
- [Anastasia] How far did that one go?
- [laughing]
[Slava] Thirty meters at least.
[all chattering, laughing]
- [clears throat]
- [laughs] Uh-oh.
Wh-Who is that?
[Anastasia groans]
[laughs] It's my husband.
- [laughing]
- Oh.
- Oh.
- [chuckles] Welcome!
Welcome!
Thank you for the call.
Come! Come!
[laughs] Hello!
- Come.
- You can launch this one.
- Hello!
- [pants] Welcome.
Sasha.
- Come in. The water's amazing.
- Get in the car. We're going home.
[groaning]
No! No, come in.
- Come in.
- Get in the car.
- Sasha. Sasha!
- We'll launch in your honor.
- Yes, in your honor!
- My honor!
[both shout]
Here we go. Here we go!
Get in the car.
Gosh, you are no fun.
- You're no fun.
- [teachers whooping]
Yeah!
- Whoo!
- Yes!
[Sasha] No.
Off my bed. You stink.
- I need to shower.
- Yeah. I'm having one first.
I was just in a lake.
Yeah, whose fault was that?
What are you saying?
It's not subtle, what I'm saying.
Because I've just been in a car all night
playing a dutiful husband
while you drag half the physics department
into some fucking water.
Hey! Don't you dare.
If they won't let me fucking fly again,
why can't I try and enjoy myself?
Since when were you opposed
to having a little fun, huh?
Or is it just when it doesn't include you?
I'm getting in first.
You're not getting
in the shower first. Hey!
Oh, poor, beloved Anastasia,
the most famous woman on Earth
- whose every word is cherished.
- My every word is given to me
- by someone else!
- Who's waited on hand and foot.
Whatever will she do if she
doesn't get to fly again, huh?
- Oh, no, no, no, no, no.
- [straining] You're one to talk!
All you do is… is… [breathing heavily]
[exhales deeply]
[Sergei speaking indistinctly]
[security officer] Comrade Nikulov.
Yes?
You recognize this?
[scoffs]
Uh, The Philosophy of a Common Task.
It was found during
a routine search of your residence.
This kind of samizdat is forbidden.
Yes, I'm… I'm aware, but…
[sighs]
…half of the engineers here
have read Fyodorov.
Would you care to name them?
Take him in.
Uh, please. This is…
This is a misunderstanding. It's…
[grunting]
- Hi.
- I'm so sorry. I got caught up at work.
Oh, my God. No, don't be silly.
Come in.
Zoya and I have had a nice long practice
and a quite tasty dinner, if I do say so.
- [whispering] She's just in there.
- Oh, I don't doubt that.
[whispering] Thank you
for taking care of her.
No.
Oh, no, Irinochka, please stay.
Let me make you some tea.
I couldn't.
We've already put you out enough.
Please stay.
Black tea would be nice.
[both laugh]
Give me your coat.
- Thank you.
- Yeah.
[sighs]
Your husband's not home?
No.
Valya's in Moscow.
Some training thing.
Or so he says.
Where else would he be?
Been asking myself the same thing.
[sighs]
I saw him with someone.
A woman.
When we were at The Philharmonic.
He said he was going to the toilet,
but I saw him huddled
together with her instead.
[stammers] No.
Valya would never be unfaithful to you.
He adores you.
You've never even met him.
Well, no.
Just from the way you talk of him.
I'm… I'm sure he'd never do this.
Maybe once.
But we've just grown so distant lately.
Especially since Paris.
[inhales deeply]
Have you ever been unfaithful to him?
No. Never.
[inhales deeply]
Would you mind if I use the toilet?
Of course not.
[water flushing]
[sighs]
[tense music playing]
[music intensifies]
[alarm clock ticking]
[alarm clock ringing]
[sighs]
[somber music playing]
[handler] Field intelligence report
reference number S/BF-22
on new dissident group Zeta.
Issued 8th of November 1963.
First identified during Lacy-Zarubin
Cultural Exchange,
Zeta members show incentive
to work against Soviet interests.
Initial funding request approved
after asset Andrei Zaitsev
recruited other disaffected musicians.
Request continued support of group
as Zaitsev has developed system
to smuggle banned musical works
by composers
such as Denisov, Schnittke,
Gubaidulina out of USSR
by way of hiding them
in the lining of instrument cases.
Suggest continued surveillance.
Field intelligence report
reference number S/BF-26.
Issued 15th of May 1964.
Pressures of dissident activity
appear to be taking a toll.
Significant conflict has emerged
within the group.
Zaitsev and romantic interest
Tanya Danilova frequently argue.
There is concern that discord in group
will undermine mission,
but suggest continued funding for now.
Field intelligence report
reference number S/BF-32.
Issued 10th of September 1964.
New suitor of subject Danilova.
Lieutenant Valentin Mironov,
pilot in the Soviet Air Force.
In light of Washington's directive
seeking new assets in Soviet military
there is an opportunity present.
Mironov is unaware of
Danilova's illegal dissident activity.
Request continued surveillance.
Field intelligence report
reference number S/BF-40.
Issued 24th of December 1964.
Danilova and Mironov
relationship progressing.
Source indicates Mironov being recruited
for Soviet space program.
Continued surveillance a priority.
[shutter clicking]
Field intelligence report
reference number S/BF-45.
Issued 15th of January 1965.
Mironov engaged to Danilova.
Wedding set for February,
before start of cosmonaut training.
Danilova seems to have
ceased dissident activity.
[clicking continues]
[handler] Field intelligence report
reference number S/BF-51.
Issued 28th of February 1965.
Source indicates imminent move of
Tanya and Valya Mironov to Star City.
Surveillance opportunities to become
extremely limited.
Urgent request for direct contact
with subject Mironov.
Will use wife's dissident past
to ensure cooperation.
Lovely day, isn't it?
Yeah.
Congratulations on the wedding,
by the way.
How did you know I was married?
- [bus brakes squeal]
- [speaking indistinctly]
[inaudible]
[handler] Field intelligence report
reference number S/BF-53.
Issued 1st of March 1965.
New asset, cosmonaut Valya Mironov.
Code name "Nikolay."
[theme song playing]
Chief Designer.
Out! All of you.
[clears throat] Here we are.
What is it?
[Chief Designer] This is the culprit.
I need a…
Excellent craftsmanship.
[Sergei] The circuitry,
it's the same as a signal amplifier.
You'd find one in an old argon processor.
It's… [stutters] Yes, look.
That is a GT-104 transistor.
It's very common in Soviet transmitters.
It's Soviet?
Yes.
[Chief Designer] But this…
this is not part
of the original technology.
This is…
this is added later.
[Sergei] It's a micro transmitter.
That's why it looked like interference,
but really it was just drawing power.
So it wasn't sabotage.
It was espionage.
Thank you, Sergei.
You can go now.
Another one of my Eagles is dead.
- What are you implying?
- I'm not implying anything.
I'm telling you explicitly,
I will not have any more deaths
on my watch because of your paranoia.
It was a transmitter.
Forcing me to reboot the system
was an overreaction.
I made a decision based on
the information we had at the time.
Our operations must remain secure.
Not "we." Not "ours."
My cosmonauts did the best they could.
My systems would have functioned
without your interference.
You didn't hold up your side.
I wasn't aware we were on different sides.
I handle the engineering.
You handle security.
What is the point of you
if you can't do that?
I'm not taking the fall for your failures.
Go and say that to Moscow.
Excuse me.
Excu…
[door locks]
[knocking]
Hello?
Comrade Chadha?
From India?
How did you guess?
Your name's on the boxes.
So, uh, how are you
settling in to Star City?
Off to a great start.
No one has told me
what I'm to be working on.
This is normal.
Now we must get back to work.
[Lakshmi]
Where's the rest of my equipment?
[sighs] Do you know
where I could find the chief designer?
I really feel like there
might have been a mix-up.
[scoffs] Good luck with that.
He's a very busy man.
[in Hindi] Lakshmi…
They're listening to us.
You are being paranoid.
I am not. [stammers]
I was unpacking and yelling about
all the cursed flies in here and then
after I get back from the market…
I find this.
It wasn't here before.
I am telling you they must
have microphones in the walls.
Do you think they have them
in the bathroom? Oh, goodness!
[whispering] Bedroom?
- [chuckles]
- [grunts]
- [chuckles]
- You're laughing?
We were warned about this.
- We knew what to expect.
- No, Lakshmi.
Hearing about Soviet surveillance
is very different than living it.
Are you a spy, then?
- No. Of course not.
- Then what is the problem, Manu?
I'm the one who should be upset.
[sighs] I thought this was my time.
My chance to do something.
They are doing the most
amazing things, but…
You should see where they put me.
- Why did they bring me here?
- Sorry.
Sorry, my love.
[in English] Sorry.
[fly buzzing]
[buzzing stops]
[laughing]
- [in Hindi] Got him.
- [laughs]
- [Lakshmi speaking Hindi, chuckles]
- [Manu, in English] Sorry.
[Lakshmi, Manu speaking Hindi]
[in English]
Colonel Raskova wants to see you.
Comrade Colonel?
[Lyudmilla] Yes?
I've been reviewing notations of any
suspicious activity after what happened.
Even if it's just petty speculation.
Irina Vasilievna,
do you want to document petty speculation
for the rest of your life?
No.
I thought as much.
Find someone to cover your assignments.
I need this device traced.
Quickly and quietly.
Find out where it was manufactured.
I want to know who ordered it.
They could lead us to the mole.
Find out what this is.
Bring this with you.
I don't need that.
You go into the field alone,
you take a weapon.
You received the training, yes?
Yes.
You can go.
[classical music playing on record]
[song continues]
[song continues]
[door opens]
Hello?
What are you doing home?
[Valya] Training finished early.
I thought I'd eat something.
Any mail? Anyone stop by?
No.
Why would they?
What's wrong?
Why are you acting like this?
[scoffs] "Like this"? Like what?
[song continues]
[record skipping]
[song stops]
[Valya] I'm sorry.
I thought we had a really good night
in Moscow, didn't we?
Did I do something wrong?
Tell me.
No, I'm just tired.
[Sasha] Arseni.
Arseni.
[breathes heavily]
[Sasha] Arseni.
[gasps]
[breathes heavily]
[door opens]
[door closes]
[grunts]
[sighs]
MORE SPEECHES TODAY.
BACK TONIGHT. A.
[sighs]
[sniffs]
[whispering]
[Chief Designer] You must understand,
Mila Aleksandrovna,
that all missions, training and otherwise,
are highly confidential.
Here's, um…
here's the letter he wrote you.
My condolences.
[sniffs, cries]
[crying continues]
Comrade Mironov trained him,
and Comrade Polivanov…
was with him when he died.
[breathes heavily]
[Chief Designer] They're here for you now.
He-He-He went the way
he would've wanted to.
He wanted to come back.
What happened?
I-I don't wanna lie to you.
Then don't.
I didn't do enough.
- It should've been me.
- [Valya] Sasha.
Stop it. Stop, stop, stop.
[Sasha] Sorry. [mutters]
She doesn't need to hear that.
You didn't kill him.
I was the pilot.
[inhales deeply]
I sent him into that compartment.
Did you cause the interference?
No.
No.
Up there…
no one's responsible for anything
besides their own survival.
[whispering indistinctly]
[Anastasia] I remember it well.
The moment I had spent
my whole life working towards.
I was chosen to serve my homeland
the only way I could.
As a cosmonaut.
As a woman.
As a Soviet.
I understood the cosmos
was not mine to conquer.
It had always been ours.
Well, thank you, Comrade Belikova,
for your service to your nation.
And thank you to the
Committee for Soviet Women of Leningrad
for hosting this wonderful event.
The general secretary
is proud of your work.
[Lyudmilla] What were your
responsibilities on Luna 17?
Chief Designer had me analyzing the
propellant margins on the lunar lander.
Did you ever notice
anything suspicious in the lab?
I'm too busy to notice anything
except the circuits that I'm cutting.
You signed off on the final boosters, yes?
Ship shape. No issues.
Did you see anyone tampering
with the train cars to Baikonur?
Absolutely not.
We left at 2100.
There was no one on the premises.
Who else might have had access
to the descent module before launch?
No one,
besides the launch engineers and the crew.
Maybe the trainers.
Thank you for your cooperation.
You can go.
[Lyudmilla] Yes, I'm making
excellent progress, Comrade Director.
[Konstantin] I think you should come
to headquarters in Moscow
and update us in person
on how this breach was possible.
Uh, well, my investigation is progressing.
I have it under control.
I'm sure you do, but come anyway.
Thank you, comrade.
I will come in tomorrow.
[party member] I've filed seven requests
to get Belikova to make an appearance
at the factory next month, but nothing.
[Maxim] Oh, well, persistence is
a virtue, comrade.
It's because she's going back
to the moon again, isn't she?
Oh, no, no, no.
The state can't risk that.
She's much too valuable.
[chuckles] Yeah,
but you mean too valuable to you?
[Maxim] Now. Be careful.
[both chuckling]
How long to the next appearance?
Just an hour.
Here.
No.
You were with Gagarin, weren't you?
Mm-hmm.
[Anastasia] When did he know?
Know what?
That he would never go back up again.
Not long after his world tour.
Give me that.
[knocking on door]
[grunts]
Welcome back.
How was the training mission?
[clicks tongue]
- Can I come in?
- I haven't cleaned, really.
So who sleeps in the bedroom?
[chuckles]
She does.
And who cooks dinner?
Is this what you came here to talk about?
No.
I saw him with a woman.
Who?
Valya.
[snorts]
His mother?
I'm being serious.
I'm sorry.
You think Valya is having an affair?
I don't know what I think.
All I know is I saw him
and some woman at the concert hall.
I don't know how to explain it. It…
It felt intimate,
like they knew each other well.
He's not having an affair, Tanya.
I wish he'd have an affair.
It'd be good for him. [chuckles]
Fuck you.
[clicks tongue]
You jealous?
No, I…
I don't know.
[exhales]
[clanking]
[clanking continues]
[clanking continues]
[clanking continues]
What is this place?
Hand me the wrench, will you?
Sorry about the noise.
I don't sleep much.
So you've been relegated
to the fringes too? [chuckles]
Something like that.
You know, when I was told I was being
assigned to Star City,
I thought I'd be at the forefront
of space travel, but instead I'm…
here. [chuckles]
Pushed aside, huh?
Don't underestimate yourself, comrade.
Your work on self-sustaining generation
of breathable air
is the future of space travel.
You know my work?
Of course.
It's the final piece required
to truly conquer the cosmos.
You know, if they had used my
BIOS system to generate oxygen
instead of Luna 17's
inefficient LiOH and O2 tanks,
it would've saved 77 kilograms.
[scoffs] No offense
to whoever designed it.
No offense taken.
You're him. [chuckles]
You're the chief designer?
Apologies for the ruse.
I didn't bring you here to get us
to the moon, Comrade Chadha.
- [chuckles]
- We've already been to the moon.
- You're going to Venus?
- No.
We are going to Venus.
[Lakshmi] My lab equipment.
And you're gonna help us get there.
- Hello.
- [employee] Can I help you?
I'm looking for head office.
Ah, yes. You enter there.
[door opens]
What do you want?
Do you recognize this?
Of course.
It's one of our transmitters.
Do you know who might
have acquired it from you?
Well, that's hard to say.
We make a number of them each day.
To keep such a pace must be difficult.
I'm sure regulations get in the way.
In fact, I noted
multiple violations on my way in.
There could be serious repercussions
for such infractions.
- We're just trying to meet our quotas.
- I'm just trying to do my job, comrade.
Please take another look.
This is our standard transmitter.
You see here?
It's been modified…
- with this.
- Yeah, I wanted to ask about that.
It must have been added later
by whoever purchased it.
It's certainly not Soviet.
How can you tell?
It's an unusual alloy.
Not something we use. Let me test it.
Look at the meter.
When I touch the probes,
look at how much it can…
Where did you get this?
I've never seen anything like it.
It's not available anywhere
in the Soviet Union.
It must have been smuggled in.
This is four times
the thermal conductivity of copper.
[inhales sharply]
What might it have been added for?
Well, with this,
you have got an incredible heat sink.
Which means this tiny transmitter can have
a lot of energy flowing through it
and still be able to function.
Uh, this could handle a power supply
several times our standard size.
What was the transmitter's power source?
I'd like to see your purchasing records.
[Konstantin] Come in.
Lyudmilla Efimovna.
[Lyudmilla] Kostya.
I wish we were meeting
under better circumstances.
[clears throat] Thank you.
I have contained the breach
and located the device from the craft.
The search for
who planted it is progressing.
This is Radimir Sergeievich Petrovsky.
Your new lieutenant?
The new first deputy
of the Second Chief Directorate.
First deputy.
My mother worked in your bullpen.
Raya Famova.
Do you remember her?
It's unfortunate
she had to retire so early.
Hmm. She raised a family.
Sorry, are we here to talk
about your mother or about Luna 17?
[Konstantin, Lyudmilla chuckle]
We're going to need a full report
on how the Americans managed
to perform this stunning infiltration.
It's very troubling.
I will find out what happened,
but please don't waste my time
with reports.
It's just a lot of paperwork
that no one's going to read.
Oh, I can assure you it will be read.
[Konstantin] Lyudmilla,
everyone appreciates
your decades of service.
But this is how it's done now.
A senior cosmonaut was executed
under your watch.
- Uh, Yana…
- Akhmatova.
Yes. She admitted to being
co-opted by the Americans.
It now appears
that she wasn't working alone.
It's a larger operation
than we first suspected.
Radimir will be happy to lend the help
of the Second Chief Directorate.
He has a particular interest
in the space program.
I studied electronic engineering
at university
before I joined the security service.
That's nice,
but it's nothing I can't handle.
And you'll also need to document what led
to the death of cosmonaut Arseni Vetrov,
whether technical failure
or due to the security breach.
And then we can decide how to…
move on.
Should I be concerned?
[Konstantin] Of course not.
You're a hero of the Soviet Union,
Comrade Raskova.
Sounds like an obituary.
No.
It's a testament to your service.
I will contain this.
I can assure you.
Good.
See that you do.
[speaking indistinctly]
Walk with me.
So what's the latest in the preparations
for the unmanned probe this week?
Nearly all of the modules
have been transported
and the N-1 is being moved to a pad
in Baikonur as we speak.
Chief Designer,
everything is still on track.
And now that Comrade Chadha is here,
her life support systems
are functioning surprisingly well
- and we'll be ready for launch.
- Good.
Though with everything going on,
I wonder if…
if it would be prudent
to postpone the launch until…
It has to be now, Sergei.
Or it will never happen.
Yeah. Well, then we should discuss further
who will be assigned to the mission.
[Chief Designer] I have that handled.
Chief tell you why we're here?
- [door opens, closes]
- [footsteps approaching]
Do you need something?
No.
- Do you?
- [scoffs]
[footsteps approaching]
Sit down, please.
Good.
I have a craft set to launch
in three days' time,
and she's in need of a crew.
Due to the highly confidential nature
of the mission,
no more notice was possible.
You know me, Chief, I'm up for anything.
But Colonel Raskova's grounded me
and Sasha after Luna 17.
Which makes you perfect for
a mission no one can know about.
- Where we going?
- I can't tell you till you agree to go.
[chuckles]
You can't tell anyone,
not even your spouses.
You'll be gone for nine months.
You have the night to think it over.
[Pavel] Don't need the night.
- I'm in.
- Good.
You are going to use
my life support systems?
Am I to train them on it?
There's not enough time to train them
in something so complex.
We couldn't even get the chlorella
to metabolize enough carbon dioxide
till you arrived.
No.
You'll have to go with them.
But I'm not a cosmonaut.
Well, you are now.
[scoffs]
W-Wait, her?
You must be joking.
Especially her.
I'm sorry, Chief.
[Chief Designer]
My boy, I know you're struggling,
but the only way to overcome this
is to keep going.
You know as well as I do,
I should never be let near another ship.
If you don't now, I worry you never will.
Well, maybe that's a good thing.
I'll resign.
That makes things easier.
You think I pulled you out
of the Air Force to make things easier?
I brought you here
even though they warned me
that you were uncontrollable
and impulsive.
There's no map to this mission.
We're drawing it.
And I need a good pilot with impulses
that shouldn't be controlled.
[scoffs]
No. I-I can't take…
any more lives in my hands.
Don't you understand?
Arseni Vetrov would never forgive you
for using his memory as an excuse, Sasha.
He has no more missions.
You owe it to him to keep going.
You owe it to yourself.
[sniffs, sighs]
[Anastasia] Collective achievement
is the Soviet ideal.
There you go.
There you go.
Do you have any questions for me?
No geometry questions though.
I was never very good at that.
Never won a gold medal in mathematics.
Just silver.
But even still,
tried as hard as I could, and…
and that's… that's it really.
That's the… the secret. It's…
You just never give up, so…
Do you think we will get to go to space?
Sooner you than me.
Thank Comrade Belikova for her time.
She's a very busy woman.
- Thank you.
- [chuckles]
[Slava] Okay. Thank you, girls.
I'm starving.
- You think there's anything to…
- I, uh… Please, allow me.
Uh, it's on the math department.
- No, it's all right.
- No, uh, just give me one second.
[clears throat]
He likes you.
He doesn't know anything about me.
Well, that never stopped anyone.
[chuckles]
Uh, we-we cannot have you eating
cafeteria food, Comrade Belikova, so…
Please enjoy.
Courtesy of the physics faculty.
Will you stop looking at me like that?
[stammering]
[clears throat, chuckles]
I mean, I'm just so glad
that you're here, Comrade Belikova.
Your achievements…
[stammers]
It's been an inspiration to us all.
It really has.
Well, I promise you
that I'm just a hungry farm girl
who followed orders
all the way to the moon.
Well, I mean, you're-you're
so much more than that.
[all chuckle]
[Slava] You're a…
You're a promise of something better.
I don't know about that.
I mean, honestly, I would give anything
just to go somewhere
where no one knows who I am.
And I would just eat
fresh tomatoes, and, like…
[chuckles] …look up
at the constellations like I would
when no one thought I could do
anything except milk a cow.
Which I can, very well.
[stammers]
My dacha's 20 minutes from here.
You can see more stars there
than you've ever seen in your whole life.
[chuckles] Well, maybe not you.
- [stammers, chuckles]
- [chuckles]
[chuckles]
There might even be a cow.
[chuckles] It would be an honor.
[chuckles]
Well, are you sure about the cow?
It might be a goat.
[softly] I see.
Well, I mean,
there's only one way to find out, no?
- [chuckles]
- Yes? Yeah? Let's do it.
- Yeah.
- I like goats too.
- I mean, come on, let's go.
- Let's go. Okay!
[Anastasia laughs]
[rustling]
Hello?
[rustling continues]
[gasps]
Stop! Stop!
[grunting, panting]
[door opens, closes]
[panting]
[cheering]
Yes!
Yes!
[shouts]
- Okay! Here we go.
- Next one!
- [vocalizing]
- Next one.
Okay.
- Yeah, yeah.
- Lovely, lovely, lovely, lovely!
[all] Three, two, one.
[laughs]
[all cheer]
Oh, my gosh!
- [laughing]
- Yeah.
[vehicle approaching]
- [Anastasia] How far did that one go?
- [laughing]
[Slava] Thirty meters at least.
[all chattering, laughing]
- [clears throat]
- [laughs] Uh-oh.
Wh-Who is that?
[Anastasia groans]
[laughs] It's my husband.
- [laughing]
- Oh.
- Oh.
- [chuckles] Welcome!
Welcome!
Thank you for the call.
Come! Come!
[laughs] Hello!
- Come.
- You can launch this one.
- Hello!
- [pants] Welcome.
Sasha.
- Come in. The water's amazing.
- Get in the car. We're going home.
[groaning]
No! No, come in.
- Come in.
- Get in the car.
- Sasha. Sasha!
- We'll launch in your honor.
- Yes, in your honor!
- My honor!
[both shout]
Here we go. Here we go!
Get in the car.
Gosh, you are no fun.
- You're no fun.
- [teachers whooping]
Yeah!
- Whoo!
- Yes!
[Sasha] No.
Off my bed. You stink.
- I need to shower.
- Yeah. I'm having one first.
I was just in a lake.
Yeah, whose fault was that?
What are you saying?
It's not subtle, what I'm saying.
Because I've just been in a car all night
playing a dutiful husband
while you drag half the physics department
into some fucking water.
Hey! Don't you dare.
If they won't let me fucking fly again,
why can't I try and enjoy myself?
Since when were you opposed
to having a little fun, huh?
Or is it just when it doesn't include you?
I'm getting in first.
You're not getting
in the shower first. Hey!
Oh, poor, beloved Anastasia,
the most famous woman on Earth
- whose every word is cherished.
- My every word is given to me
- by someone else!
- Who's waited on hand and foot.
Whatever will she do if she
doesn't get to fly again, huh?
- Oh, no, no, no, no, no.
- [straining] You're one to talk!
All you do is… is… [breathing heavily]
[exhales deeply]
[Sergei speaking indistinctly]
[security officer] Comrade Nikulov.
Yes?
You recognize this?
[scoffs]
Uh, The Philosophy of a Common Task.
It was found during
a routine search of your residence.
This kind of samizdat is forbidden.
Yes, I'm… I'm aware, but…
[sighs]
…half of the engineers here
have read Fyodorov.
Would you care to name them?
Take him in.
Uh, please. This is…
This is a misunderstanding. It's…
[grunting]
- Hi.
- I'm so sorry. I got caught up at work.
Oh, my God. No, don't be silly.
Come in.
Zoya and I have had a nice long practice
and a quite tasty dinner, if I do say so.
- [whispering] She's just in there.
- Oh, I don't doubt that.
[whispering] Thank you
for taking care of her.
No.
Oh, no, Irinochka, please stay.
Let me make you some tea.
I couldn't.
We've already put you out enough.
Please stay.
Black tea would be nice.
[both laugh]
Give me your coat.
- Thank you.
- Yeah.
[sighs]
Your husband's not home?
No.
Valya's in Moscow.
Some training thing.
Or so he says.
Where else would he be?
Been asking myself the same thing.
[sighs]
I saw him with someone.
A woman.
When we were at The Philharmonic.
He said he was going to the toilet,
but I saw him huddled
together with her instead.
[stammers] No.
Valya would never be unfaithful to you.
He adores you.
You've never even met him.
Well, no.
Just from the way you talk of him.
I'm… I'm sure he'd never do this.
Maybe once.
But we've just grown so distant lately.
Especially since Paris.
[inhales deeply]
Have you ever been unfaithful to him?
No. Never.
[inhales deeply]
Would you mind if I use the toilet?
Of course not.
[water flushing]
[sighs]
[tense music playing]
[music intensifies]