Earth: Final Conflict s03e17 Episode Script
Time Bombs
Previously on Gene Roddenberry's Earth Final Conflict: Ma'el's early messages indicated that the human race was a perfect complement to the Taelon.
He specifically and emphatically warned against coming to this planet.
Zo'or is the assassin among us.
And when the time is right, I will make him pay dearly for it.
The Commonality is so weakened one Taelon may kill another.
We're 150 feet below the Pacific.
It's Ma'el's ship, Liam.
The ship that brought the one good Taelon to Earth 2000 years ago.
If this is the same bio slurry that the Taelons build with today, it should be alive.
What happened? The power source ran out, the ship began to die.
- Denise, are we ready yet? - We're ready.
But I have to go on record again saying I think this is a terrible idea.
Well, again, you can't go on record, there is no record.
You're here because the Resistance needs you, but you can leave.
- Any time you want.
- You know I won't do that.
That's what I want.
The nanobots found down there below.
I just wish they'd give us a better image.
What's left of the bulkhead is dead Taelon bio slurry.
- If we're patient, Peter I can drill it.
- Patient? Last night the Resistance cell in Houston was raided.
Three members were killed.
What patience? There won't be anyone left.
No one's ever used an ultra-sonic lenses on bio slurry.
One hair-line crack, Renee.
That's all it takes and this hall will rupture.
Look, I'm not saying there's no risk, I'm saying it's an acceptable risk.
We need this.
Time is 14:10 aboard Ma'el's ship, control deck.
Begin the initial power sequence.
Full power.
Beginning to cut.
Abort.
Abort! We got an exploding radiation! 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.
Why didn't you tell me Ma'el's ship was found in an Incan ruin? Well, it's not in the ruin exactly.
The Incas build a tunnel under the ocean floor out where Ma'el parked the ship on the bottom.
And you didn't want me to know about it? Doors has in buried under amount of security.
Or at least the notion, it's his pet project.
Whatever, Liam, I'm here for Renee.
- I didn't authorized him to be down here.
- Oh, it was my decision.
There's only one database of Taelon tech bigger than his, and that's on the mother ship.
Why are you working in the old tunnel instead of on the main platform? We lost our service umbilical during the blast.
This is our only access to the ship.
There's an energy lock in a couple of steps.
Any data you download will be purged form your system before you leave.
Understood? This is the helmet cam from the suit of one of my archeologists, Peter Sarus.
His partner is Denise Kerlew.
And from these angles it's impossible to tell who's who.
We don't have any motion control on the camera to improve the angle.
And the suits don't have the biometrics, so we don't know what shape they're in.
You said the ship started to revive itself? This line right here must be a power conduit.
It opened up and started venting.
Taelon gear doesn't just open up, it must've been punctured.
- What the hell were they doing in there? - We were stalled, Liam.
Renee wanted to roll a dice with an ultra-sonic lens - to cut the dead bio slurry.
- Not as dead as you thought.
You didn't do any pre-imaging to find out what were you cutting into? Yeah, we tried, but When Ma'el hid his ship from the Taelons, he masked it from x-rays, infrared, anything.
Now, we did send nanobots into the micro cracks to give us a glimpse but There's got to be something beneath the control deck.
I can read the symbols on their panel.
This ship thinks it's under attack.
It was as inert as this rock.
It's computers can't possibly have any memory.
Well, not computer memory but cellular memory.
See, it's more like a body than a machine.
Every cell on Ma'el's ship has the knowledge to recreate every other cell.
So, it's what, recreating itself? Repairing itself.
See, it was dormant, you cut a vein, and it's healing.
Get me a suit.
I don't see any reason why I can't simply go in there and pull them out.
Liam, the water outside the ship is to over 100 degrees and rising fast.
We have a small cesium reactor on the platform to power the lens.
We are cooling it with the sea water.
No, this is heat from the Taelon energy.
Once it starts building it has the potential to become as hot as a star.
Now, if it keeps rising, then we could have a China syndrome.
Like a nuclear chain reaction? Worse.
If we don't stop it, it could burn to the center of the Earth.
Why am I summoned? You are no doubt a student of human theoretician Sun Tzu.
The author of a fine work entitled The Art of War.
I do not waste my time pondering what passes for thought in humans.
One cannot be a student of inferior intellect.
Certainly one can.
For instance, I am a student of you, T'than.
Your point, please.
Your treacheries since arriving on Earth have been transparent.
First, you hoped to depose me from the leadership of the Synod.
Then you tried to recall me to Meruva galaxy on a fallacious pretext.
You were even less subtle.
You simply tried to kill me.
You are insane with power, Zo'or.
If you let your enemies eat away your power long enough, they will eventually consume it all.
- Another maxim from Sun Tzu? - No, it is my own.
I have decided I will not suffer your death of a thousand cuts, T'than.
One day even a fool like you might succeed in bleeding me dry.
P'raj'rath.
Very well.
P'raj'rath.
I accept.
What is P'raj'rath? Zo'or has just challenged T'than to what you would call a duel to the death.
You got my helmet video? I've got you, Liam, now I'm going to activate the radiation scoop.
It's getting it.
Down to 20, 15.
Zero, and holding.
Let's hope radiation production is leveled off at least in there.
Renee? Sarus.
God help it was quick.
Come on, Renee.
Am I glad to see you! She looks okay.
The interior radiation has leveled off, but the exterior has doubled in the last 60 seconds, Liam.
Will you hurry? Denise.
Liam, there's blood inside her helmet.
She is alive, but barely.
Get them out of there.
The radiation is at the top of my scales.
Only one of us can fit in the lock at a time.
Take her first.
Denise's in.
I'm going back for Renee.
Wait.
I recognize this sequence.
The ship is asking for a manual override to stop the repairs.
There's no time.
The water is about to boil, get out! If I bail, what's to stop it from going critical on us? Augur, the fifth symbol is no longer in use.
Run it through the ancient Taelon archives.
Renee, get in the lock.
Bingo! It's an old symbol for annihilation and destruction.
It thinks that the crew is abandoning the ship and we're under attack.
I countermanding that order.
- In GodÂ’s name - Renee, go.
It's closing the main hatch! When I reversed the self-destruct order, I also must've reversed the abandon ship sequence.
The ship interpreted that like we're staying aboard, so it closed the hatch.
It's invoked it's base level security protocols.
It wants proof no one has boarded the ship and that Ma'el is still at the helm.
- What kind of proof? - Ma'el's password? Well, don't look at me.
Hey, Augur, I can get his suit yet? Well, radiation and temperature parameters are nominal.
According to my suit monitors the air should be breathable.
Relax, it's okay, just a little tang of ozone.
Listen, Liam, can you position the helmet cam so we can see what you're doing? I don't see any bruises.
You were very lucky.
The ship has healed itself.
You can reconnect the service umbilical.
Either we open the hatch, or we don't leave.
I have petitioned the Synod to intervene and stop the duel.
I proposed an arbitration to resolve the conflict.
Resolve? They both want absolute power.
Given what has come before, I do not see much hope.
How can Zo'or and T'than duel to the death? I thought Taelons couldn't kill each other, it's like, it's like an instinct.
True.
But like any sentient creature, we rationalize our actions.
I thought Zo'or was unique to use violence against the Taelons.
Direct violence? Not even Zo'or.
But killing by proxy is permitted.
What do you mean by proxy? You have, no doubt, noticed the Foovlashaa game in my embassy.
This is the instrument of death.
I don't see how a game could be fatal.
He depletes mental energy.
In a P'raj'rath duel Foovlashaa is played to the extreme.
One player finally channels everything into a last move, and ceases to exist.
- Renee? - I'm alright! All right.
No, you're not.
Raw emotion like this is indicative of a concussion.
No, this is not concussion.
This is a stupid, pointless reaction to a failure.
My failure.
I wanted a weapon to fight the Taelons, I was willing to do anything.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry I brought you into this.
They would've eventually punctured the vein of energy themselves.
They usually worked here in short sleeves with the energy lock open.
Think how many would've died then.
I know you're broken up about it, I'd expect you to be, you're a good person.
But I need your help.
I I'm not sure I can do.
The ship could launch itself into orbit.
Or rekindle its energy column and burn a hole right through the planet.
Help me figure out how to stop it.
I haven't been paying much attention to what exactly have you tried.
So far, every command sequence I use in the shuttle.
Okay, but the shuttles had been ergonomically designed so that humans could flight them, right? The Taelons use a different system.
Right, well, we use kinetic hand controls, they have almost a symbiotic relationship with their machines.
Then think like a Taelon.
Quit trying to control the ship.
Establish a relationship.
Doors, in the last 10 minutes, the ship's energy production increased fivefold.
Now, I think that we should bring the Taelons on this right now.
It's their technology.
They can shut it down in seconds.
You don't know that.
The secret of this ship in Resistance hands is our most important advantage, and I am certainly not telling the Taelons.
I've done a computer risk analysis.
And in most outcomes Liam and Renee die.
Augur, Doors, I'm in.
It's Ma'el's ship.
The whole thing.
It's huge, so much more than I ever imagined.
It's what I was after.
Can you zoom in? Renee? Liam! Over there.
What are those? It can be a form of Taelon cryogenic suspension for long duration space flight.
- It's human.
- It was human.
Its cryo failed.
What do you think, Ma'el was collecting specimens? They've done it to us.
Wait.
I think that one started to revive, stand back.
- What? What did he say? - Loquerisne anglice? I was to be revived in 100 years.
The gages show almost 300.
Everyone is perished except me.
Why? We don't know, we just got here ourselves.
Who were they? All my friends.
I convinced them to come with me.
I promised them they'd awaken the day the Taelons arrived, as Ma'el has promised me.
What did you do to them? It's a tragedy but we had nothing to do with it.
We're so sorry.
We wish we could help.
No mortal can help.
Not now.
Gods crush us at will.
How did you get aboard? Through the tunnel? But we're trapped.
Can you control the ship's systems? Yes.
Yes, of course.
I am afraid I've been impolite.
Whom do I have the honor of addressing? Renee Palmer.
Liam Kincaid.
I'm Salvius Julianus, citizen of Rome.
- Do you really think his Roman? - It's not impossible.
Ma'el was here during the Roman Empire.
His electrolytes are shot, he's badly dehydrated.
No wonder, he claims to have been in cryo for 300 years.
Well, if he revives, try to keep him in the dark about the video and commlink.
I'm going to shut off the helmet audio so there isn't a feedback.
We have to protect the secret at all costs.
Do all costs include three lives? No only you got Liam and Renee down there, but you've got a human from the second century BC.
Now, don't you think it's time that you got the Taelons into this? The Resistance fight has already cost hundreds of lives.
I will dishonor this sacrifice by giving the Taelons our best hope of victory.
Watch him.
Don't let him leave, don't let him use the global.
From now on, may consider this man hostile to the Resistance.
It's only glucose.
It's not much, it's the only medicine we have.
You have made strides.
The last time I revived they were using leeches.
- You're you're not using leeches.
- No.
When When was the last time? Pope Innocent XII just died.
I've been revived 19 times.
Once every 100 years.
When I revived, I walk the Earth for months.
Last time I managed to visiting London.
Remarkable city and a bit damp in winter.
I was wondering why an ancient Roman spoke English.
Ancient? Yes, I suppose I am.
Every time I walked the Earth, I learned the languages of the dominant cultures.
This is the king's English from William's court.
William III.
I'm curious.
Who is the King of England now? Charles.
I don't know what number he is.
Americans don't pay much attention unless there's a scandal.
Americans? So, you won independence? - Yes, in 1776.
- Oh, I thought it was coming.
And democracy? - One person, one vote.
- Big mistake.
But you're young.
Can you Can you imagine how far I feel from London? Until now I had my friends.
But now I have no one.
How did your friends got onboard? Did Ma'el choose them as well? Oh no, not Ma'el.
When I walked the Earth I occasionally told someone about Ma'el.
And invited them to accompany me.
He.
.
He was a mandarin from the Sung court.
She She was a puritan from the Plymouth.
They all wanted to wait with me for the Taelons.
To wait? But the Taelons are already here.
At least, Ma'el was.
I don't mean Ma'el.
The others.
The Synod has declined your request to prohibit P'raj'rath.
So, you assume the Synod gives your tacit approval to be their assassin? I assume they want me to prepare for the Jaridians.
I know that you think we can win by making the human our allies.
- What do you believe? - Neither of us can win.
We will leave the Earth in ruins, retreat and it will go on until there's no one left.
Do you not believe that we may one day rejoin with the Jaridians? That this is our only hope for survival? I leave the speculation to the philosophers.
Zo'or's inexperienced leadership has endangered our species.
With him gone, I can lead the Synod and repair the damage that he has done.
But what will you do when I kill Zo'or, your child? If you choose me over Zo'or, you could be my esteemed friend, Da'an.
To lose a child is a hard choice.
But children belong more to the Commonality than to us.
Consider well.
In war there are no taboos.
Zo'or, you may view this duel as defending your honor, but it has very real consequences for me.
You owe me a moment of consideration.
I owe you? I should think that the reverse is true.
You are nothing without me.
I am as much, I grant.
T'than has let me know more than once that when he is in power, he plans to strip me of any.
You understate your dilemma.
Compared to T'than, I am a benign despot.
I am willing to help you defeat him.
You could, in fact, assure my victory.
How? During P'raj'rath, each combatant attempts to overload the other with psychic chaos.
A player who had an objective report on how various gambits succeeded or failed would have a lethal advantage.
In other words, you want me to look over T'than's shoulder and tell you what cards he's holding.
An apt comparison.
What happened to this deck? It was filled with sea water and coral.
- What are you doing? - I'm compiling a damage report.
The ship flooded in March, 1732.
It shut down to preserve enough core energy to power my cryopod, and revive me if it'd attacked.
It abandoned the other pods but preserved you? Why you? Ma'el wrote those commands to the ship's cellular memory.
I was to be preserved at any cost.
- How long can they take this? - No long.
They must conquer space, time and matter with their minds, as well as sway the Commonality.
As the contest progresses, they are being judged.
We do not perceive it, but inside their heads is a galvanic struggle, both blinding and deafening.
What was your relationship? How did you meet him? He often revealed himself to humans.
Most would think they'd gone mad, or had seen the devil or a god.
But I accepted him for what he was, what he claimed to be.
Zo'or is losing to the mass will.
If the Commonality remains ranked against, he cannot prevail.
Ma'el was a good teacher.
And I was a good pupil.
Why did he teach you? He knew he was dying.
In the year 179 BC, by then he'd see me debate as a senator at the forum.
How long were you a senator? I still don't get the connection to Ma'el.
He was dying, and left you his ship.
Why? In return for mere immortality and a chance to watch the world grow old, I was to be his circuit.
To be what I was in Rome.
A judge.
And who were you supposed to judge? The Taelons.
I was to wait for the main force of Taelons, and judge their intentions toward Earth.
The advantage shifts.
Zo'or has found T'than weakness.
The Commonality is sliding now to Zo'or.
T'than will not survive this P'raj'rath.
It's flagged the Taelon mother ship as an intruder.
You read Taelon but didn't tell me they were here.
Why? We found you on a Taelon ship, it's natural to assume you know - more about the Taelons than we do.
- I've been frozen.
The ship was sensing for Taelons and triggered to revived me the instant they drop out of the ID space.
Then why didn't it? They've been here more than 4 years.
It was damaged.
But now it is in recovery mode.
I only hope there's enough power left for me to do what I am sworn to do.
I'm trapped.
Turn these off.
We're not your enemy, Julianus.
Turn these off.
I think not.
From now on I'm in control.
No Taelon spies are going to stop me.
I have waited two millennia to keep my sacred word to Ma'el.
What is it? - A summons to battle stations.
- Who gave the order? It's automatic.
It is programmed to sound only under one condition.
After 2000 years, Ma'el's ship has finally made contact.
Why this rupture? Ma'el is dead.
This is nothing more than a hologram beamed from the ship.
Find it! He says it's time for judgement.
I am Salvius Julianus, citizen of Rome.
Who leads the Synod? I am Zo'or.
What do you want? He switched back to Taelon.
Why? It's a verbal contract, an ancient Taelon code.
Now Zo'or knows that Julianus is legit.
The ship is hidden by countermeasures to defeat our sensors.
It has been since we reached Earth.
You stand before me to be judged, so future generations of humans what transpired this day.
- Have you received Ma'el's message? - Yes, he sent his report.
He sent you his warning not to come to Earth.
To allow humanity time to evolve as equals.
- Did you understood his warning? - Yes, I understood his opinion.
- And how have you acted on it? - As I saw fit.
Ma'el's analysis is no longer germane.
The Jaridians are too great a threat now for me to wait.
I must use humanity as a weapon in our struggle.
In other words, Ma'el's worst fear has been realized.
I have no choice.
Zo'or, I sentence you and all Taelons on Earth orbit to death.
Looks like it's increasing power for takeoff.
- I'm clearing the tunnel.
- I'm staying.
- There'll be a tidal wave.
- At least.
It's war.
Remember, Doors? People die, and the only way to stop this thing is to get Liam and Renee loose in there.
And I've got an idea how to do it.
You're assuming I want to stop it.
Oh, come on.
You had a plenty of chances to kill the Taelons before, and this is one battle you don't want to win.
Now think about it, a mass murder would only bring reprises from the Taelons left on Earth and anywhere else in the galaxy.
They would come back and wipe us out of the Solar system.
So, let's get in there, get Liam and Renee out so we can live to win the war.
Are you with me, Doors? I'll stay.
The rest of you, get out of here! We all knew Ma'el.
He was a scientist, not an extremist.
His time on Earth taught him a new way of imposing his will.
But how? His was a research vessel, lightly armed.
I know how I would do it.
He's going to ram the mother ship.
I'm not wise enough to judge you if you deserve to die.
- For that I'm sorry.
- Julianus.
Did Ma'el actually tell you to destroy the mother ship? It was his decision.
He could never do it himself.
But I'm honored to be his proxy in a just cause.
What are you doing? I've been recording the Taelon control tones as Julianus worked the system.
Now, I'm gonna blast them through the helmet speakers in full volume and hope that one of those tones releases Liam and Renee out of those energy columns.
So, Ma'el left this time bomb here for you ticking? Why you? If the Taelons came to Earth at all, they are guilty of disobeying Ma'el.
You're no judge.
You're a killer.
I trust Ma'el.
He knew what was best for his kind.
Run! Let's get out! An object has been launched from the western hemisphere on a direct course to us.
Collision in less than 30 seconds.
Ma'el's ship, as I thought.
When you have no weapons, you must be the weapon.
What are your orders? Escape to interdimensional space, of course.
There is no time.
The power cores are too cold.
We are in orbit.
We are heading right for them.
I've reinitiated the self-destruct order.
Hopefully it'll blow itself up before it hits the mother ship.
What? Julianus said the control in cryodeck separate from the rest in emergencies, but if the control deck goes, the cryopods must be final means of escape.
Like a life raft.
Damage reports.
No damage, the blast was inconsequential.
Very well.
Unless there are any objections, I shall be resting in my chambers.
After all these years, Ma'el's judgement must wait.
Julianus came a long way for nothing.
But God, he was the only man who ever lived and was actually here for all that history.
Think of the things he could've told us.
I just wish we'd had the chance to save him.
We talked him out of suicide? I wander if we could have.
He gave Ma'el his word.
Think of the loyalty Ma'el was capable of inspiring.
I wish I'd met him.
He must have been amazing.
Lucky he came to Earth first.
It's tragic that his mission for Julianus had to backfire.
Maybe not.
Now the Taelons know the value Ma'el placed on our freedom.
Maybe it'll sow a seed of doubt.
Axarion
He specifically and emphatically warned against coming to this planet.
Zo'or is the assassin among us.
And when the time is right, I will make him pay dearly for it.
The Commonality is so weakened one Taelon may kill another.
We're 150 feet below the Pacific.
It's Ma'el's ship, Liam.
The ship that brought the one good Taelon to Earth 2000 years ago.
If this is the same bio slurry that the Taelons build with today, it should be alive.
What happened? The power source ran out, the ship began to die.
- Denise, are we ready yet? - We're ready.
But I have to go on record again saying I think this is a terrible idea.
Well, again, you can't go on record, there is no record.
You're here because the Resistance needs you, but you can leave.
- Any time you want.
- You know I won't do that.
That's what I want.
The nanobots found down there below.
I just wish they'd give us a better image.
What's left of the bulkhead is dead Taelon bio slurry.
- If we're patient, Peter I can drill it.
- Patient? Last night the Resistance cell in Houston was raided.
Three members were killed.
What patience? There won't be anyone left.
No one's ever used an ultra-sonic lenses on bio slurry.
One hair-line crack, Renee.
That's all it takes and this hall will rupture.
Look, I'm not saying there's no risk, I'm saying it's an acceptable risk.
We need this.
Time is 14:10 aboard Ma'el's ship, control deck.
Begin the initial power sequence.
Full power.
Beginning to cut.
Abort.
Abort! We got an exploding radiation! 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.
Why didn't you tell me Ma'el's ship was found in an Incan ruin? Well, it's not in the ruin exactly.
The Incas build a tunnel under the ocean floor out where Ma'el parked the ship on the bottom.
And you didn't want me to know about it? Doors has in buried under amount of security.
Or at least the notion, it's his pet project.
Whatever, Liam, I'm here for Renee.
- I didn't authorized him to be down here.
- Oh, it was my decision.
There's only one database of Taelon tech bigger than his, and that's on the mother ship.
Why are you working in the old tunnel instead of on the main platform? We lost our service umbilical during the blast.
This is our only access to the ship.
There's an energy lock in a couple of steps.
Any data you download will be purged form your system before you leave.
Understood? This is the helmet cam from the suit of one of my archeologists, Peter Sarus.
His partner is Denise Kerlew.
And from these angles it's impossible to tell who's who.
We don't have any motion control on the camera to improve the angle.
And the suits don't have the biometrics, so we don't know what shape they're in.
You said the ship started to revive itself? This line right here must be a power conduit.
It opened up and started venting.
Taelon gear doesn't just open up, it must've been punctured.
- What the hell were they doing in there? - We were stalled, Liam.
Renee wanted to roll a dice with an ultra-sonic lens - to cut the dead bio slurry.
- Not as dead as you thought.
You didn't do any pre-imaging to find out what were you cutting into? Yeah, we tried, but When Ma'el hid his ship from the Taelons, he masked it from x-rays, infrared, anything.
Now, we did send nanobots into the micro cracks to give us a glimpse but There's got to be something beneath the control deck.
I can read the symbols on their panel.
This ship thinks it's under attack.
It was as inert as this rock.
It's computers can't possibly have any memory.
Well, not computer memory but cellular memory.
See, it's more like a body than a machine.
Every cell on Ma'el's ship has the knowledge to recreate every other cell.
So, it's what, recreating itself? Repairing itself.
See, it was dormant, you cut a vein, and it's healing.
Get me a suit.
I don't see any reason why I can't simply go in there and pull them out.
Liam, the water outside the ship is to over 100 degrees and rising fast.
We have a small cesium reactor on the platform to power the lens.
We are cooling it with the sea water.
No, this is heat from the Taelon energy.
Once it starts building it has the potential to become as hot as a star.
Now, if it keeps rising, then we could have a China syndrome.
Like a nuclear chain reaction? Worse.
If we don't stop it, it could burn to the center of the Earth.
Why am I summoned? You are no doubt a student of human theoretician Sun Tzu.
The author of a fine work entitled The Art of War.
I do not waste my time pondering what passes for thought in humans.
One cannot be a student of inferior intellect.
Certainly one can.
For instance, I am a student of you, T'than.
Your point, please.
Your treacheries since arriving on Earth have been transparent.
First, you hoped to depose me from the leadership of the Synod.
Then you tried to recall me to Meruva galaxy on a fallacious pretext.
You were even less subtle.
You simply tried to kill me.
You are insane with power, Zo'or.
If you let your enemies eat away your power long enough, they will eventually consume it all.
- Another maxim from Sun Tzu? - No, it is my own.
I have decided I will not suffer your death of a thousand cuts, T'than.
One day even a fool like you might succeed in bleeding me dry.
P'raj'rath.
Very well.
P'raj'rath.
I accept.
What is P'raj'rath? Zo'or has just challenged T'than to what you would call a duel to the death.
You got my helmet video? I've got you, Liam, now I'm going to activate the radiation scoop.
It's getting it.
Down to 20, 15.
Zero, and holding.
Let's hope radiation production is leveled off at least in there.
Renee? Sarus.
God help it was quick.
Come on, Renee.
Am I glad to see you! She looks okay.
The interior radiation has leveled off, but the exterior has doubled in the last 60 seconds, Liam.
Will you hurry? Denise.
Liam, there's blood inside her helmet.
She is alive, but barely.
Get them out of there.
The radiation is at the top of my scales.
Only one of us can fit in the lock at a time.
Take her first.
Denise's in.
I'm going back for Renee.
Wait.
I recognize this sequence.
The ship is asking for a manual override to stop the repairs.
There's no time.
The water is about to boil, get out! If I bail, what's to stop it from going critical on us? Augur, the fifth symbol is no longer in use.
Run it through the ancient Taelon archives.
Renee, get in the lock.
Bingo! It's an old symbol for annihilation and destruction.
It thinks that the crew is abandoning the ship and we're under attack.
I countermanding that order.
- In GodÂ’s name - Renee, go.
It's closing the main hatch! When I reversed the self-destruct order, I also must've reversed the abandon ship sequence.
The ship interpreted that like we're staying aboard, so it closed the hatch.
It's invoked it's base level security protocols.
It wants proof no one has boarded the ship and that Ma'el is still at the helm.
- What kind of proof? - Ma'el's password? Well, don't look at me.
Hey, Augur, I can get his suit yet? Well, radiation and temperature parameters are nominal.
According to my suit monitors the air should be breathable.
Relax, it's okay, just a little tang of ozone.
Listen, Liam, can you position the helmet cam so we can see what you're doing? I don't see any bruises.
You were very lucky.
The ship has healed itself.
You can reconnect the service umbilical.
Either we open the hatch, or we don't leave.
I have petitioned the Synod to intervene and stop the duel.
I proposed an arbitration to resolve the conflict.
Resolve? They both want absolute power.
Given what has come before, I do not see much hope.
How can Zo'or and T'than duel to the death? I thought Taelons couldn't kill each other, it's like, it's like an instinct.
True.
But like any sentient creature, we rationalize our actions.
I thought Zo'or was unique to use violence against the Taelons.
Direct violence? Not even Zo'or.
But killing by proxy is permitted.
What do you mean by proxy? You have, no doubt, noticed the Foovlashaa game in my embassy.
This is the instrument of death.
I don't see how a game could be fatal.
He depletes mental energy.
In a P'raj'rath duel Foovlashaa is played to the extreme.
One player finally channels everything into a last move, and ceases to exist.
- Renee? - I'm alright! All right.
No, you're not.
Raw emotion like this is indicative of a concussion.
No, this is not concussion.
This is a stupid, pointless reaction to a failure.
My failure.
I wanted a weapon to fight the Taelons, I was willing to do anything.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry I brought you into this.
They would've eventually punctured the vein of energy themselves.
They usually worked here in short sleeves with the energy lock open.
Think how many would've died then.
I know you're broken up about it, I'd expect you to be, you're a good person.
But I need your help.
I I'm not sure I can do.
The ship could launch itself into orbit.
Or rekindle its energy column and burn a hole right through the planet.
Help me figure out how to stop it.
I haven't been paying much attention to what exactly have you tried.
So far, every command sequence I use in the shuttle.
Okay, but the shuttles had been ergonomically designed so that humans could flight them, right? The Taelons use a different system.
Right, well, we use kinetic hand controls, they have almost a symbiotic relationship with their machines.
Then think like a Taelon.
Quit trying to control the ship.
Establish a relationship.
Doors, in the last 10 minutes, the ship's energy production increased fivefold.
Now, I think that we should bring the Taelons on this right now.
It's their technology.
They can shut it down in seconds.
You don't know that.
The secret of this ship in Resistance hands is our most important advantage, and I am certainly not telling the Taelons.
I've done a computer risk analysis.
And in most outcomes Liam and Renee die.
Augur, Doors, I'm in.
It's Ma'el's ship.
The whole thing.
It's huge, so much more than I ever imagined.
It's what I was after.
Can you zoom in? Renee? Liam! Over there.
What are those? It can be a form of Taelon cryogenic suspension for long duration space flight.
- It's human.
- It was human.
Its cryo failed.
What do you think, Ma'el was collecting specimens? They've done it to us.
Wait.
I think that one started to revive, stand back.
- What? What did he say? - Loquerisne anglice? I was to be revived in 100 years.
The gages show almost 300.
Everyone is perished except me.
Why? We don't know, we just got here ourselves.
Who were they? All my friends.
I convinced them to come with me.
I promised them they'd awaken the day the Taelons arrived, as Ma'el has promised me.
What did you do to them? It's a tragedy but we had nothing to do with it.
We're so sorry.
We wish we could help.
No mortal can help.
Not now.
Gods crush us at will.
How did you get aboard? Through the tunnel? But we're trapped.
Can you control the ship's systems? Yes.
Yes, of course.
I am afraid I've been impolite.
Whom do I have the honor of addressing? Renee Palmer.
Liam Kincaid.
I'm Salvius Julianus, citizen of Rome.
- Do you really think his Roman? - It's not impossible.
Ma'el was here during the Roman Empire.
His electrolytes are shot, he's badly dehydrated.
No wonder, he claims to have been in cryo for 300 years.
Well, if he revives, try to keep him in the dark about the video and commlink.
I'm going to shut off the helmet audio so there isn't a feedback.
We have to protect the secret at all costs.
Do all costs include three lives? No only you got Liam and Renee down there, but you've got a human from the second century BC.
Now, don't you think it's time that you got the Taelons into this? The Resistance fight has already cost hundreds of lives.
I will dishonor this sacrifice by giving the Taelons our best hope of victory.
Watch him.
Don't let him leave, don't let him use the global.
From now on, may consider this man hostile to the Resistance.
It's only glucose.
It's not much, it's the only medicine we have.
You have made strides.
The last time I revived they were using leeches.
- You're you're not using leeches.
- No.
When When was the last time? Pope Innocent XII just died.
I've been revived 19 times.
Once every 100 years.
When I revived, I walk the Earth for months.
Last time I managed to visiting London.
Remarkable city and a bit damp in winter.
I was wondering why an ancient Roman spoke English.
Ancient? Yes, I suppose I am.
Every time I walked the Earth, I learned the languages of the dominant cultures.
This is the king's English from William's court.
William III.
I'm curious.
Who is the King of England now? Charles.
I don't know what number he is.
Americans don't pay much attention unless there's a scandal.
Americans? So, you won independence? - Yes, in 1776.
- Oh, I thought it was coming.
And democracy? - One person, one vote.
- Big mistake.
But you're young.
Can you Can you imagine how far I feel from London? Until now I had my friends.
But now I have no one.
How did your friends got onboard? Did Ma'el choose them as well? Oh no, not Ma'el.
When I walked the Earth I occasionally told someone about Ma'el.
And invited them to accompany me.
He.
.
He was a mandarin from the Sung court.
She She was a puritan from the Plymouth.
They all wanted to wait with me for the Taelons.
To wait? But the Taelons are already here.
At least, Ma'el was.
I don't mean Ma'el.
The others.
The Synod has declined your request to prohibit P'raj'rath.
So, you assume the Synod gives your tacit approval to be their assassin? I assume they want me to prepare for the Jaridians.
I know that you think we can win by making the human our allies.
- What do you believe? - Neither of us can win.
We will leave the Earth in ruins, retreat and it will go on until there's no one left.
Do you not believe that we may one day rejoin with the Jaridians? That this is our only hope for survival? I leave the speculation to the philosophers.
Zo'or's inexperienced leadership has endangered our species.
With him gone, I can lead the Synod and repair the damage that he has done.
But what will you do when I kill Zo'or, your child? If you choose me over Zo'or, you could be my esteemed friend, Da'an.
To lose a child is a hard choice.
But children belong more to the Commonality than to us.
Consider well.
In war there are no taboos.
Zo'or, you may view this duel as defending your honor, but it has very real consequences for me.
You owe me a moment of consideration.
I owe you? I should think that the reverse is true.
You are nothing without me.
I am as much, I grant.
T'than has let me know more than once that when he is in power, he plans to strip me of any.
You understate your dilemma.
Compared to T'than, I am a benign despot.
I am willing to help you defeat him.
You could, in fact, assure my victory.
How? During P'raj'rath, each combatant attempts to overload the other with psychic chaos.
A player who had an objective report on how various gambits succeeded or failed would have a lethal advantage.
In other words, you want me to look over T'than's shoulder and tell you what cards he's holding.
An apt comparison.
What happened to this deck? It was filled with sea water and coral.
- What are you doing? - I'm compiling a damage report.
The ship flooded in March, 1732.
It shut down to preserve enough core energy to power my cryopod, and revive me if it'd attacked.
It abandoned the other pods but preserved you? Why you? Ma'el wrote those commands to the ship's cellular memory.
I was to be preserved at any cost.
- How long can they take this? - No long.
They must conquer space, time and matter with their minds, as well as sway the Commonality.
As the contest progresses, they are being judged.
We do not perceive it, but inside their heads is a galvanic struggle, both blinding and deafening.
What was your relationship? How did you meet him? He often revealed himself to humans.
Most would think they'd gone mad, or had seen the devil or a god.
But I accepted him for what he was, what he claimed to be.
Zo'or is losing to the mass will.
If the Commonality remains ranked against, he cannot prevail.
Ma'el was a good teacher.
And I was a good pupil.
Why did he teach you? He knew he was dying.
In the year 179 BC, by then he'd see me debate as a senator at the forum.
How long were you a senator? I still don't get the connection to Ma'el.
He was dying, and left you his ship.
Why? In return for mere immortality and a chance to watch the world grow old, I was to be his circuit.
To be what I was in Rome.
A judge.
And who were you supposed to judge? The Taelons.
I was to wait for the main force of Taelons, and judge their intentions toward Earth.
The advantage shifts.
Zo'or has found T'than weakness.
The Commonality is sliding now to Zo'or.
T'than will not survive this P'raj'rath.
It's flagged the Taelon mother ship as an intruder.
You read Taelon but didn't tell me they were here.
Why? We found you on a Taelon ship, it's natural to assume you know - more about the Taelons than we do.
- I've been frozen.
The ship was sensing for Taelons and triggered to revived me the instant they drop out of the ID space.
Then why didn't it? They've been here more than 4 years.
It was damaged.
But now it is in recovery mode.
I only hope there's enough power left for me to do what I am sworn to do.
I'm trapped.
Turn these off.
We're not your enemy, Julianus.
Turn these off.
I think not.
From now on I'm in control.
No Taelon spies are going to stop me.
I have waited two millennia to keep my sacred word to Ma'el.
What is it? - A summons to battle stations.
- Who gave the order? It's automatic.
It is programmed to sound only under one condition.
After 2000 years, Ma'el's ship has finally made contact.
Why this rupture? Ma'el is dead.
This is nothing more than a hologram beamed from the ship.
Find it! He says it's time for judgement.
I am Salvius Julianus, citizen of Rome.
Who leads the Synod? I am Zo'or.
What do you want? He switched back to Taelon.
Why? It's a verbal contract, an ancient Taelon code.
Now Zo'or knows that Julianus is legit.
The ship is hidden by countermeasures to defeat our sensors.
It has been since we reached Earth.
You stand before me to be judged, so future generations of humans what transpired this day.
- Have you received Ma'el's message? - Yes, he sent his report.
He sent you his warning not to come to Earth.
To allow humanity time to evolve as equals.
- Did you understood his warning? - Yes, I understood his opinion.
- And how have you acted on it? - As I saw fit.
Ma'el's analysis is no longer germane.
The Jaridians are too great a threat now for me to wait.
I must use humanity as a weapon in our struggle.
In other words, Ma'el's worst fear has been realized.
I have no choice.
Zo'or, I sentence you and all Taelons on Earth orbit to death.
Looks like it's increasing power for takeoff.
- I'm clearing the tunnel.
- I'm staying.
- There'll be a tidal wave.
- At least.
It's war.
Remember, Doors? People die, and the only way to stop this thing is to get Liam and Renee loose in there.
And I've got an idea how to do it.
You're assuming I want to stop it.
Oh, come on.
You had a plenty of chances to kill the Taelons before, and this is one battle you don't want to win.
Now think about it, a mass murder would only bring reprises from the Taelons left on Earth and anywhere else in the galaxy.
They would come back and wipe us out of the Solar system.
So, let's get in there, get Liam and Renee out so we can live to win the war.
Are you with me, Doors? I'll stay.
The rest of you, get out of here! We all knew Ma'el.
He was a scientist, not an extremist.
His time on Earth taught him a new way of imposing his will.
But how? His was a research vessel, lightly armed.
I know how I would do it.
He's going to ram the mother ship.
I'm not wise enough to judge you if you deserve to die.
- For that I'm sorry.
- Julianus.
Did Ma'el actually tell you to destroy the mother ship? It was his decision.
He could never do it himself.
But I'm honored to be his proxy in a just cause.
What are you doing? I've been recording the Taelon control tones as Julianus worked the system.
Now, I'm gonna blast them through the helmet speakers in full volume and hope that one of those tones releases Liam and Renee out of those energy columns.
So, Ma'el left this time bomb here for you ticking? Why you? If the Taelons came to Earth at all, they are guilty of disobeying Ma'el.
You're no judge.
You're a killer.
I trust Ma'el.
He knew what was best for his kind.
Run! Let's get out! An object has been launched from the western hemisphere on a direct course to us.
Collision in less than 30 seconds.
Ma'el's ship, as I thought.
When you have no weapons, you must be the weapon.
What are your orders? Escape to interdimensional space, of course.
There is no time.
The power cores are too cold.
We are in orbit.
We are heading right for them.
I've reinitiated the self-destruct order.
Hopefully it'll blow itself up before it hits the mother ship.
What? Julianus said the control in cryodeck separate from the rest in emergencies, but if the control deck goes, the cryopods must be final means of escape.
Like a life raft.
Damage reports.
No damage, the blast was inconsequential.
Very well.
Unless there are any objections, I shall be resting in my chambers.
After all these years, Ma'el's judgement must wait.
Julianus came a long way for nothing.
But God, he was the only man who ever lived and was actually here for all that history.
Think of the things he could've told us.
I just wish we'd had the chance to save him.
We talked him out of suicide? I wander if we could have.
He gave Ma'el his word.
Think of the loyalty Ma'el was capable of inspiring.
I wish I'd met him.
He must have been amazing.
Lucky he came to Earth first.
It's tragic that his mission for Julianus had to backfire.
Maybe not.
Now the Taelons know the value Ma'el placed on our freedom.
Maybe it'll sow a seed of doubt.
Axarion