The Outer Limits (1995) s04e13 Episode Script
The Joining
(engineer) Delta one to rescue team.
Please report your status.
We're entering The 3rd module now.
Salvage what you can, And then boogie.
We don't want to Miss our window.
So far, every structure's Been compromised.
Atmosphere and temperature Control systems are trashed.
(engineer) Any sign of the team? Well, nothing yet.
Hang on.
What is it? It looks like 2 body bags.
(engineer) Empty or full? Ugh.
(engineer) Can you identify? (perkins) Uh, decomp's pretty extensive.
It's dr.
Hughes.
How about the other one? Major braithwaite.
Looks like a gunshot wound.
Somebody had to have Zipped up these bags.
Let's check out The other domes.
The seal to The airlock's intact.
The scrubbers Are still humming.
There may still be Enough oxygen in the lab.
Some of this equipment Still looks salvageable.
(perkins) What is it? What is it, kate? Miles.
Miles.
It's capt.
Davidow.
He's alive.
(kate) Miles? Dear god.
Miles.
(perkins) Delta one, we have a survivor (kate) Miles, it's me.
It's kate.
Roger that.
We'll have A medic standing by.
Miles.
I'm gonna take you home.
(narrator) There is nothing wrong With your television.
Do not attempt To adjust the picture.
We are now controlling The transmission.
We control the horizontal, And the vertical.
We can deluge you With a thousand channels.
Or expand one single image To crystal clarity, And beyond.
We can shape your vision To anything our imagination Can conceive.
For the next hour, We will control All that you see and hear.
You are about to experience The awe and mystery Which reaches From the deepest inner mind To the outer limits.
(narrator) Our history abounds With the exploits of heroes, Who brave overwhelming odds, And live to tell the tale.
But is there a point at which The determination to survive Comes at too high a price? (latimer) Date is 10 june, 2012.
Time, 13:55.
This is the first official Debriefing of Capt.
Miles davidow.
And the salvage team Of dr.
Scott perkins, And commander kate girard, Who rescued him From our outpost On the aphrodite highlands Of venus, (latimer) Yours truly, gary latimer, Chief of ops, u.
s.
a.
s.
, Presiding.
Let me be the first to say, Welcome back, miles.
Thank you, gary.
(latimer) The isolation barrier's Just a precaution.
Normal level one protocol.
I trust it's not Too uncomfortable.
After 7 months of cryo-sleep, Everything's a little bit Uncomfortable.
Ok, why don't we start With the events Leading up to the crash of The resupply ship, highlander? (latimer) Commander girard? I recovered the black box From the wreckage.
Go ahead and play that For us, please.
(miles) You're looking good, Highlander.
Got you on our scope.
(pilot) Azimuth correction, .
1905.
Ready to reverse thrust In 10, 9, 8 ÿhang on, we've got a problem.
Navigation board's lit up Like a christmas tree.
Get me on override, harry.
(miles) You're off your vertical.
Vector a.
o.
d.
Back .
25 radians.
Increase retro.
Repeat, increase retro.
Do you read me,highlander? (kate) That's it.
The rest is white noise.
Recorders indicate that The ship disintegrated About 300 meters From the surface of venus.
Dr.
Hughes went out To meet the lander.
She was hit by burning debris, And killed immediately, Along with The highlandercrew.
The blast compromised structural integrity Of 5 of the 6 domes.
We also lost Our comm.
Antennae.
So that left just you And major braithwaite.
We retreated Into the lab module, Where we diverted The remaining life support.
(davidow) Even if we had communications, It would be another 7 months Before a resupply ship could reach us.
There were 2 of us breathing.
We estimated our oxygen supply At 3 months, max.
I know this isn't easy, miles, But i have to ask About the circumstances Of major braithwaite's death.
And the gunshot wound To his head.
We both knew it was Just a matter of time.
This is just crazy.
You know that.
What are we gonna do? Sit here and pretend That we're gonna make it Through this, miles? We both know it's a joke, There's not enough air, For one of us! Let alone 2.
Don't do anything stupid.
Stupid? Stupid was coming To this godforsaken planet In the first place.
And expecting To make it back alive.
Alive.
It's ok.
At least one of us Might have a chance.
Forgive me, miles.
Danny, no! Believe it or not, That's what happened.
We have no reason To doubt you, miles.
Capt.
Davidow's metabolism Had slowed so much That he had fallen into A virtual state Of hibernation.
That must be how you managed To make the remaining air Last as long as it did.
I sedated myself With cryotol, In order to suppress My breathing requirements.
That's all i remember.
Until i saw an angel Standing over me.
The bio-research division Is very anxious To hear firsthand About your team's discovery Of fossil microorganisms.
We, uh, salvaged the computer You were using, But, unfortunately, Most of the files were encrypted.
So we were hoping That you'd help us unlock them.
Those were dr.
Hughes' files.
I'm afraid we, We lost the password When we lost her.
At least they can't complain About your appetite.
If you hadn't eaten in a year, You'd be hungry, too.
I just wish You didn't look so pale.
What did the doctors say? You know doctors, kate.
I mean, they just take Notes that nobody can read And mumble a lot.
Come on, miles.
They must've Told you something.
All right.
I have roughly the metabolism And resistance Of a chemo patient.
I don't seem to be able to Absorb nutrition effectively.
I keep losing weight.
None of the doctors Around here can figure out What's keeping me alive.
But other than that, I'm hunky dory.
You know, perkins said That you must've been Breathing like a yoga master, To survive on air that thin.
I don't know How you did it, miles.
I had somebody waiting for me.
Somebody who believes In miracles.
I love you so much.
You know that, don't you? More than dancing on a star? More than dancing on a star.
You're a brave man, doc.
Mmm? No biohazard gear? Oh, if there were Any airborne pathogens, I would've already Been exposed to them.
Ah, you must've worn A suit on venus.
Mmm, not when I put you in cryo.
Don't lie to me, doc.
Well, i can't very well Treat you From inside a plastic bubble.
Hey.
Whatever it is, Just give it to me straight.
Frankly, what i'm looking at Confounds the hell out of me It's cancer, isn't it? 'Cause i can-- i can feel it.
It feels like it's just eating away at me.
No, no.
I'm afraid It's not that simple.
These tests show A rash of genetic anomalies But nothing correlating To any known pathology.
(perkins) Frankly, the only thing I'm really certain of Is that you took A dramatic turn for the worse When you came back to earth.
I don't understand, doc, How i could Survive on venus, With next to nothing.
But i'm struggling Here on earth.
(perkins) Sit, sit, sit, sit.
You all right? [panting.]
Yeah.
Don't ask me how, But your body's changed.
And as far as it's concerned, This is the hostile Environment.
Great.
Sure there isn't Something else? Something that you might Just have overlooked? No.
Wait a second.
What are you getting at? I'm gonna die, aren't i, doc? (perkins) No, not if i can help it.
You see that apparatus? It's a broadband Convergence irradiator.
We use it to simulate Greenhouse conditions On the surface of venus.
It might help ease Your body's transition.
I can't make Any promises, though.
I'm not asking you to, doc.
You ok? Compared to what? Ok.
Now let's go Have a look at you.
Lie up here.
What's the matter? Oh, doc, my arm.
Let's have a look.
Doc, do something, It's killing me.
Uh, i--i'll get An anti-inflammatory.
What in god's name was that? (miles) Well, look at this.
30 minutes ago, It was hamburger.
Now, it's almost gone.
Somehow these aberrations You're going through Have given you the ability, Temporarily, at least, To heal your damaged cells.
This may be premature, But we may have stumbled On a miracle cure.
Well, that's fine.
Just as long as it cures me.
(perkins) It's an abnormal growth, All right.
Other than that, I have no idea What we're looking at.
(perkins) My best guess is that his body Was trying to purge itself Of this abnormal tissue.
The radiation may have even Helped him to expel it.
I just wish to god We knew what really happened out there.
The answer's probably In those encrypted files, But miles swears That he can't get into them.
Maybe something like this happened to him before, And he was just afraid To tell us.
Incredible.
What is it? Well, the morphology isn't As random as i thought.
Take a look at that.
See those Radiating structures? What are those? Bones? Mmm.
It's malformed, But i think We're looking at tissue That was on its way To becoming A hand.
Until we know more, We have to assume That whatever has infected you May well be contagious.
Who knows how many people May have been affected Had we turned you loose Into the world.
For all we know, We could've unleashed A plague.
In fairness, there is No evidence whatever That capt.
Davidow's condition Is in any way transmissible.
Whatever it is, my body seems To be fighting it.
I have twice as much strengt As i did before dr.
Perkins' treatment.
Well, i'm sure you understand That we have to err On the side of caution.
Now, i have a call in To dr.
Thoroughgood At the fort detrich Biochemical research lab.
That's fine.
As long as these measures Are temporary.
I didn't survive venus To wind up like a lab rat.
Capt.
Davidow, You are confined To level 2 isolation, Until our medical experts Can assure us That you pose no threat To the general population.
I'm afraid that goes For you too, dr.
Perkins.
Is that understood? Yes, sir.
Good.
You look good, miles.
You're finally getting Your color back.
Why don't you tell that To latimer? Dr.
Perkins says the worst Is probably over.
What else he tell you? I saw the growth that was Expelled from your body, If that's what you mean.
I was hoping They wouldn't show you that.
I thought there weren't Gonna be any secrets between us.
Now i guess there aren't.
Maybe i can talk them Into letting me stay with you.
No.
Come on, miles.
I helped carry you out of that hellhole.
Whatever it is, They're afraid you have, I've been exposed to it.
Kate, i said no.
But you can't stop me From being near you.
And i've asked them To bring me a cot.
You can just put this chair In the corner for me.
Thank you.
Are you responsible For all this? I couldn't stand how sterile Your quarters were.
I just brought a few things To give you that touch of home.
Look, i don't have plans To settle down in here.
I mean, unless you know Something i don't know No.
Don't be silly.
I just I thought you may as well Be comfortable.
Whether it's 2 days, Or a month.
Billie holiday.
You really thought Of everything.
Um, you know it's odd, miles, But, uh, I've been running Several simulations on the oxygen output Of those scrubbers On aphrodite.
For the life of me, I can't figure out How they kept Their levels up.
Well, it wasn't Just the scrubbers.
I scavenged some o2 Off the suit tanks.
You never mentioned That before.
You know what it's like Stripping tanks off the decomposing bodies Of your friends? It's not really something You like to reminisce about.
Uh, dr.
Perkins says You're finally putting back on Some of the weight you lost.
Yeah, i hope i can fit Into my uniform tomorrow.
What's tomorrow? Our wedding.
I mean, Isn't that a little impulsive? I--i thought we were Gonna wait till the time was right.
Bingo.
Do you, commander kate girard, Take this man to be Your lawfully wedded husband, To have and to hold, For better or worse, (chaplain) In sickness, and in health, For richer, and for poorer, Till death do you part? I do.
And do you, Capt.
Miles davidow, Take this woman to be Your lawfully wedded wife, To have and to hold, For better or worse, In sickness and in health, For richer or poorer, Till death do you part? I do.
The ring.
Then, by the power Vested in me, I now pronounce you Husband and wife.
You may Oh, sorry.
I suppose that'll have To wait until later.
I'm gonna take these samples To the sequencer room.
Maybe if we can have A look at them on the molecular level, We'll know what's happening.
(perkins) Won't be long.
Oh, my god.
(miles) Kate! Miles! (kate) Miles! Miles! Miles! Miles! Miles, no! Stop it! (miles) Kate, get out of here! Look at that.
That's not just Accelerated healing.
The damn thing grew back.
Wh-what did perkins say? He can't figure it out.
God, if i had any guts, I would've just ended it The way daniel did.
Miles, Please don't talk like that.
You're the victim here.
I'm not the only one.
God knows What sort of hazards i've exposed you to now.
Well, whatever it is, We will face it together.
You saw that thing, kate.
It's not human! I'm not human any more.
(miles) Scott.
Scott! Scott, i want you To get kate out of here! I want you to take her Home right now! I told you, i'm not leaving.
(perkins) She's right about that.
Latimer has ordered her To stay here with us in iso Till we know What we're dealing Good.
Your white cells Are stampeding, You're practically Inhaling protein, And yet your tissues Are still atrophying.
We have to radiate again.
No.
No.
You know what it d To your body last time.
We can't risk that.
The only reason i'm alive Is because of the treatments.
Any tissues that My body eliminates Is a step in the right direction.
You said so yourself.
Look, i'm doing tests On some laboratory rats.
I-- There's no time for that.
Without radiation, you're gonna be looking For answers in an autopsy.
How are you feeling? I feel ok.
Your vitals have Picked up considerably.
The radiation Seems to be helping.
(perkins) Miles, what is it? Your white cell count Came down almost immediately.
Yeah.
All it took was giving birth To 5 pounds of Writhing alien flesh.
It seems to mimic the part Of the body that expels it.
I mean, you can actually See the beginnings of a ribcage here.
I just wish i had access To hughes' research On those fossil life forms.
You know, Maybe--maybe descendants Of those venus microbes Still exist.
They could've infected you.
And i-it could be that This--this purging process is just a stage.
And after it's over, You could be left stronger for it.
All i know is, Whatever's keeping This monster inside of me alive, Is keeping me alive.
To understand What's happening to captain davidow, It would help to see What happened to a laboratory rat When i injected it With a sample of his d.
n.
a After displaying An inordinate appetite for protein and fluids, The rat seemed To develop a tumor, Which grew rapidly.
But after 36 hours, It was apparent That this was not, In fact, a tumor.
As extraordinary as it sounds, The rat underwent a--a-- A sophisticated mitosis.
A self-replication.
It's internal organs, It's skeletal structure, It's muscle tissue Bifurcated.
It divided itself Into 2 distinct individuals.
You're not seriously Suggesting That your capt.
Davidow Has the same capacity.
Whatever infected him, Has made his body Attempt to replicate itself.
And with each effort, It's getting more successful.
You want to show dr.
Thoroughgood Those tissue samples, scott? Yeah.
Um When we irradiated Capt.
Davidow's body To raise his metabolism To normal levels, It seemed to spur This mock mitosis.
At first, the tissues generated Were relatively small.
But then, as you can see, The last tissue That extruded from him Had much of the morphology Of a complete human rib cage Only scaled down.
This tissue, as you call it, Was it ever alive? (perkins) For a short time, yes.
But without fully developed Biological systems, It quickly expired.
What about the effect On his own body? (latimer) In each case, It completely reconstituted itself, Within a matter of minutes.
Dr.
Perkins, What i'm hearing is that It's conceivable That capt.
Davidow could spawn A complete version of himself.
Now, the fact is, We may be looking At some kind Of hybrid organism Capable of dividing at will, With each survivor Being virtually impervious to injury.
Well, that's speculation, Doctor.
Can you honestly Rule out that scenario? Mmm, Not without further study, no.
But it's important to remember That the rat was injected With the subject's d.
n.
a.
There's no evidence whatsoever That this condition Is contagious or infectious.
I'm not sure We can wait around For that evidence To present itself.
Frankly, dr.
Perkins, I'm prepared to recommend The organism's destruction Before we have an epidemic On our hands, The likes of which Our world has never seen Unfortunately, uh, Capt.
Davidow and the organism Are one and the same.
I'm aware of that.
(perkins) What are you saying? That he should be Summarily executed Because of your fears? You know, you've laid A pretty good groundwork for those fears, doctor.
I-- i'm just saying, That we shouldn't overreac That's all.
If this unfortunate man Turns out to be ground zero For a population explosion Of a genetically superior Life form, Then we damned well Better overreact.
Or we could be paying The price for generations.
On whose authority Are you planning to take this man's life? National security council, Directive 44, section 3.
"in the event of An extraterrestrial Biological hazard, "any and all means Shall be used To eliminate the threat.
" I'm compelled to brief The n.
s.
c.
As soon as i can.
Final decision rests With the president.
Get them off! Miles.
Miles, what is it? Oh, god, kate.
What? What is it? (miles) Just get him in here.
Just get him in here now! Scott, we need your help.
Something's wrong! What happened? God almighty.
The only reason i'm alive is Because of the treatments.
The only reason i'm alive is Because of the treatments.
Any tissues that My body eliminates Is a step In the right direction.
You said so yourself.
Without the radiation, You're gonna be looking for answers in an autopsy Miles? What's going on? I had no choice, kate.
Perkins wouldn't help me again.
But i had to try To get this thing out of me.
I found the lancet and slides.
What are you doing to yourself? I've been testing my blood.
That's all.
I used hughes' computer To analyze it.
So you knew the password All along? I had to find a way To destroy it, kate.
Destroy what? The alien d.
n.
a.
What are you Talking about? Miles, if i'm gonna help you, You have to let me know.
Those extinct life forms? They weren't extinct.
They were alive and well.
Thriving, in fact.
At first, we didn't think Any life existed up there.
Not till The highlanderexploded, And breached the domes.
Then the serps, That's what we called them, They came in through The damaged substructures.
They raided Our produce stores.
After braithwaite died, I figured if i could just take on Some of their tolerance For--for the conditions on venus, Maybe i could stretch My resources.
So you injected yourself With the serp d.
n.
a.
That's why your scrubber Simulations never computed.
By the time you found me, I'd been breathing pure co2 for 6 weeks.
So you've been lying to us All this time.
To me.
Kate, if i hadn't done What i did, I--i wouldn't be here right now.
I never meant To put you at risk, kate.
I'm sorry.
It's all right.
You're gonna tell perkins, Aren't you? No.
You are.
Pictures don't Do them justice.
Bioluminescent serpents Hell bent on survival.
They live On natural radiation Raw amino acids, And each other, if need be.
They divide, they reproduce By mitosis.
Of course.
Just the way your body's Been trying to do.
Why did you hide this? Why didn't-- Why didn't you tell us? I thought i'd be signing My death warrant.
I thought that it was best I keep it a secret.
But you were willing To expose me, Your co-workers, your wife, The rest of the world, To a biological hazard Of god knows what proportions? I was quite confident That there was nothing i could pass along.
I know that's no excuse Miles! Miles! (perkins) No, the serp in his blood Is trying to replicate himself.
Stay there! Kate.
Kate, it's ok.
It's just me.
Kate! All i ever wanted Was to survive When i got back to earth, I hoped It would all go away.
I wanted my life back.
So if i'm guilty of anything, It's not wanting to die.
So, if that's what I'm being charged with today, I guess I don't have a defense.
I know what i did was wrong.
I'm not asking For forgiveness.
Except-- Except maybe from you, kate.
That's all In the 5 days He's been deprived Of radiation treatments, The subject's condition Has deteriorated markedly.
It seems to have settled Into a baseline metabolic rate That is akin to a waking coma.
At the risk of sounding Inhumane, mr.
Latimer, That's small comfort To those of us Who wish to see The threat eliminated.
(dr.
Thoroughgood) Do you have a suggested Course of action? As per the pentagon's Instructions, We've drawn up A number of options For a bio-safe execution.
If i may, I'd like to say a word.
Thank you.
I know That you have stopped asking Whether to take My husband's life, And that now, It has just come down to how I am also told That you have decided To abandon The aphrodite project.
So, in one misguided act, You are going To waste a man's life, And billions of dollars spent In our knowledge of space And extraterrestrial life.
Now, i believe that there A way to avoid all that, At the same time, To be protecting Against any potential haza My husband may still pose.
He is responsible For perkins' death.
(kate) Even after all that we know, I am here to argue That my husband Be allowed to live And even To continue to contribute To the nation to which he has always sho Absolute loyalty.
What would you have us do, Commander girard? I would like you To send him back to venus.
(kate) Not much has changed here.
Uh, carlisle has taken over As head of space medicine.
And the jupiter mission's Been pushed back to the middle of next year.
They've managed to keep Just about everything out of the press.
Perkins' death was attributed To a laboratory explosion, And, uh, there's been A few stories About "hero astronaut Returns to venus outpost.
" I've downloaded them for you I was happy to hear How well you've responded To the ambient levels At aphrodite.
Every night i look up At the sky, And i say a little prayer, And i think about our time together, However brief.
It took a while, But i have forgiven you.
I completely understand Why you did what you did.
And i still love you.
I'll never forget you, miles.
Never.
It goes over in dome 3.
(narrator) It is nature's imperative That the differences Among us endure.
But what if we can No longer distinguish One being from another?
Please report your status.
We're entering The 3rd module now.
Salvage what you can, And then boogie.
We don't want to Miss our window.
So far, every structure's Been compromised.
Atmosphere and temperature Control systems are trashed.
(engineer) Any sign of the team? Well, nothing yet.
Hang on.
What is it? It looks like 2 body bags.
(engineer) Empty or full? Ugh.
(engineer) Can you identify? (perkins) Uh, decomp's pretty extensive.
It's dr.
Hughes.
How about the other one? Major braithwaite.
Looks like a gunshot wound.
Somebody had to have Zipped up these bags.
Let's check out The other domes.
The seal to The airlock's intact.
The scrubbers Are still humming.
There may still be Enough oxygen in the lab.
Some of this equipment Still looks salvageable.
(perkins) What is it? What is it, kate? Miles.
Miles.
It's capt.
Davidow.
He's alive.
(kate) Miles? Dear god.
Miles.
(perkins) Delta one, we have a survivor (kate) Miles, it's me.
It's kate.
Roger that.
We'll have A medic standing by.
Miles.
I'm gonna take you home.
(narrator) There is nothing wrong With your television.
Do not attempt To adjust the picture.
We are now controlling The transmission.
We control the horizontal, And the vertical.
We can deluge you With a thousand channels.
Or expand one single image To crystal clarity, And beyond.
We can shape your vision To anything our imagination Can conceive.
For the next hour, We will control All that you see and hear.
You are about to experience The awe and mystery Which reaches From the deepest inner mind To the outer limits.
(narrator) Our history abounds With the exploits of heroes, Who brave overwhelming odds, And live to tell the tale.
But is there a point at which The determination to survive Comes at too high a price? (latimer) Date is 10 june, 2012.
Time, 13:55.
This is the first official Debriefing of Capt.
Miles davidow.
And the salvage team Of dr.
Scott perkins, And commander kate girard, Who rescued him From our outpost On the aphrodite highlands Of venus, (latimer) Yours truly, gary latimer, Chief of ops, u.
s.
a.
s.
, Presiding.
Let me be the first to say, Welcome back, miles.
Thank you, gary.
(latimer) The isolation barrier's Just a precaution.
Normal level one protocol.
I trust it's not Too uncomfortable.
After 7 months of cryo-sleep, Everything's a little bit Uncomfortable.
Ok, why don't we start With the events Leading up to the crash of The resupply ship, highlander? (latimer) Commander girard? I recovered the black box From the wreckage.
Go ahead and play that For us, please.
(miles) You're looking good, Highlander.
Got you on our scope.
(pilot) Azimuth correction, .
1905.
Ready to reverse thrust In 10, 9, 8 ÿhang on, we've got a problem.
Navigation board's lit up Like a christmas tree.
Get me on override, harry.
(miles) You're off your vertical.
Vector a.
o.
d.
Back .
25 radians.
Increase retro.
Repeat, increase retro.
Do you read me,highlander? (kate) That's it.
The rest is white noise.
Recorders indicate that The ship disintegrated About 300 meters From the surface of venus.
Dr.
Hughes went out To meet the lander.
She was hit by burning debris, And killed immediately, Along with The highlandercrew.
The blast compromised structural integrity Of 5 of the 6 domes.
We also lost Our comm.
Antennae.
So that left just you And major braithwaite.
We retreated Into the lab module, Where we diverted The remaining life support.
(davidow) Even if we had communications, It would be another 7 months Before a resupply ship could reach us.
There were 2 of us breathing.
We estimated our oxygen supply At 3 months, max.
I know this isn't easy, miles, But i have to ask About the circumstances Of major braithwaite's death.
And the gunshot wound To his head.
We both knew it was Just a matter of time.
This is just crazy.
You know that.
What are we gonna do? Sit here and pretend That we're gonna make it Through this, miles? We both know it's a joke, There's not enough air, For one of us! Let alone 2.
Don't do anything stupid.
Stupid? Stupid was coming To this godforsaken planet In the first place.
And expecting To make it back alive.
Alive.
It's ok.
At least one of us Might have a chance.
Forgive me, miles.
Danny, no! Believe it or not, That's what happened.
We have no reason To doubt you, miles.
Capt.
Davidow's metabolism Had slowed so much That he had fallen into A virtual state Of hibernation.
That must be how you managed To make the remaining air Last as long as it did.
I sedated myself With cryotol, In order to suppress My breathing requirements.
That's all i remember.
Until i saw an angel Standing over me.
The bio-research division Is very anxious To hear firsthand About your team's discovery Of fossil microorganisms.
We, uh, salvaged the computer You were using, But, unfortunately, Most of the files were encrypted.
So we were hoping That you'd help us unlock them.
Those were dr.
Hughes' files.
I'm afraid we, We lost the password When we lost her.
At least they can't complain About your appetite.
If you hadn't eaten in a year, You'd be hungry, too.
I just wish You didn't look so pale.
What did the doctors say? You know doctors, kate.
I mean, they just take Notes that nobody can read And mumble a lot.
Come on, miles.
They must've Told you something.
All right.
I have roughly the metabolism And resistance Of a chemo patient.
I don't seem to be able to Absorb nutrition effectively.
I keep losing weight.
None of the doctors Around here can figure out What's keeping me alive.
But other than that, I'm hunky dory.
You know, perkins said That you must've been Breathing like a yoga master, To survive on air that thin.
I don't know How you did it, miles.
I had somebody waiting for me.
Somebody who believes In miracles.
I love you so much.
You know that, don't you? More than dancing on a star? More than dancing on a star.
You're a brave man, doc.
Mmm? No biohazard gear? Oh, if there were Any airborne pathogens, I would've already Been exposed to them.
Ah, you must've worn A suit on venus.
Mmm, not when I put you in cryo.
Don't lie to me, doc.
Well, i can't very well Treat you From inside a plastic bubble.
Hey.
Whatever it is, Just give it to me straight.
Frankly, what i'm looking at Confounds the hell out of me It's cancer, isn't it? 'Cause i can-- i can feel it.
It feels like it's just eating away at me.
No, no.
I'm afraid It's not that simple.
These tests show A rash of genetic anomalies But nothing correlating To any known pathology.
(perkins) Frankly, the only thing I'm really certain of Is that you took A dramatic turn for the worse When you came back to earth.
I don't understand, doc, How i could Survive on venus, With next to nothing.
But i'm struggling Here on earth.
(perkins) Sit, sit, sit, sit.
You all right? [panting.]
Yeah.
Don't ask me how, But your body's changed.
And as far as it's concerned, This is the hostile Environment.
Great.
Sure there isn't Something else? Something that you might Just have overlooked? No.
Wait a second.
What are you getting at? I'm gonna die, aren't i, doc? (perkins) No, not if i can help it.
You see that apparatus? It's a broadband Convergence irradiator.
We use it to simulate Greenhouse conditions On the surface of venus.
It might help ease Your body's transition.
I can't make Any promises, though.
I'm not asking you to, doc.
You ok? Compared to what? Ok.
Now let's go Have a look at you.
Lie up here.
What's the matter? Oh, doc, my arm.
Let's have a look.
Doc, do something, It's killing me.
Uh, i--i'll get An anti-inflammatory.
What in god's name was that? (miles) Well, look at this.
30 minutes ago, It was hamburger.
Now, it's almost gone.
Somehow these aberrations You're going through Have given you the ability, Temporarily, at least, To heal your damaged cells.
This may be premature, But we may have stumbled On a miracle cure.
Well, that's fine.
Just as long as it cures me.
(perkins) It's an abnormal growth, All right.
Other than that, I have no idea What we're looking at.
(perkins) My best guess is that his body Was trying to purge itself Of this abnormal tissue.
The radiation may have even Helped him to expel it.
I just wish to god We knew what really happened out there.
The answer's probably In those encrypted files, But miles swears That he can't get into them.
Maybe something like this happened to him before, And he was just afraid To tell us.
Incredible.
What is it? Well, the morphology isn't As random as i thought.
Take a look at that.
See those Radiating structures? What are those? Bones? Mmm.
It's malformed, But i think We're looking at tissue That was on its way To becoming A hand.
Until we know more, We have to assume That whatever has infected you May well be contagious.
Who knows how many people May have been affected Had we turned you loose Into the world.
For all we know, We could've unleashed A plague.
In fairness, there is No evidence whatever That capt.
Davidow's condition Is in any way transmissible.
Whatever it is, my body seems To be fighting it.
I have twice as much strengt As i did before dr.
Perkins' treatment.
Well, i'm sure you understand That we have to err On the side of caution.
Now, i have a call in To dr.
Thoroughgood At the fort detrich Biochemical research lab.
That's fine.
As long as these measures Are temporary.
I didn't survive venus To wind up like a lab rat.
Capt.
Davidow, You are confined To level 2 isolation, Until our medical experts Can assure us That you pose no threat To the general population.
I'm afraid that goes For you too, dr.
Perkins.
Is that understood? Yes, sir.
Good.
You look good, miles.
You're finally getting Your color back.
Why don't you tell that To latimer? Dr.
Perkins says the worst Is probably over.
What else he tell you? I saw the growth that was Expelled from your body, If that's what you mean.
I was hoping They wouldn't show you that.
I thought there weren't Gonna be any secrets between us.
Now i guess there aren't.
Maybe i can talk them Into letting me stay with you.
No.
Come on, miles.
I helped carry you out of that hellhole.
Whatever it is, They're afraid you have, I've been exposed to it.
Kate, i said no.
But you can't stop me From being near you.
And i've asked them To bring me a cot.
You can just put this chair In the corner for me.
Thank you.
Are you responsible For all this? I couldn't stand how sterile Your quarters were.
I just brought a few things To give you that touch of home.
Look, i don't have plans To settle down in here.
I mean, unless you know Something i don't know No.
Don't be silly.
I just I thought you may as well Be comfortable.
Whether it's 2 days, Or a month.
Billie holiday.
You really thought Of everything.
Um, you know it's odd, miles, But, uh, I've been running Several simulations on the oxygen output Of those scrubbers On aphrodite.
For the life of me, I can't figure out How they kept Their levels up.
Well, it wasn't Just the scrubbers.
I scavenged some o2 Off the suit tanks.
You never mentioned That before.
You know what it's like Stripping tanks off the decomposing bodies Of your friends? It's not really something You like to reminisce about.
Uh, dr.
Perkins says You're finally putting back on Some of the weight you lost.
Yeah, i hope i can fit Into my uniform tomorrow.
What's tomorrow? Our wedding.
I mean, Isn't that a little impulsive? I--i thought we were Gonna wait till the time was right.
Bingo.
Do you, commander kate girard, Take this man to be Your lawfully wedded husband, To have and to hold, For better or worse, (chaplain) In sickness, and in health, For richer, and for poorer, Till death do you part? I do.
And do you, Capt.
Miles davidow, Take this woman to be Your lawfully wedded wife, To have and to hold, For better or worse, In sickness and in health, For richer or poorer, Till death do you part? I do.
The ring.
Then, by the power Vested in me, I now pronounce you Husband and wife.
You may Oh, sorry.
I suppose that'll have To wait until later.
I'm gonna take these samples To the sequencer room.
Maybe if we can have A look at them on the molecular level, We'll know what's happening.
(perkins) Won't be long.
Oh, my god.
(miles) Kate! Miles! (kate) Miles! Miles! Miles! Miles! Miles, no! Stop it! (miles) Kate, get out of here! Look at that.
That's not just Accelerated healing.
The damn thing grew back.
Wh-what did perkins say? He can't figure it out.
God, if i had any guts, I would've just ended it The way daniel did.
Miles, Please don't talk like that.
You're the victim here.
I'm not the only one.
God knows What sort of hazards i've exposed you to now.
Well, whatever it is, We will face it together.
You saw that thing, kate.
It's not human! I'm not human any more.
(miles) Scott.
Scott! Scott, i want you To get kate out of here! I want you to take her Home right now! I told you, i'm not leaving.
(perkins) She's right about that.
Latimer has ordered her To stay here with us in iso Till we know What we're dealing Good.
Your white cells Are stampeding, You're practically Inhaling protein, And yet your tissues Are still atrophying.
We have to radiate again.
No.
No.
You know what it d To your body last time.
We can't risk that.
The only reason i'm alive Is because of the treatments.
Any tissues that My body eliminates Is a step in the right direction.
You said so yourself.
Look, i'm doing tests On some laboratory rats.
I-- There's no time for that.
Without radiation, you're gonna be looking For answers in an autopsy.
How are you feeling? I feel ok.
Your vitals have Picked up considerably.
The radiation Seems to be helping.
(perkins) Miles, what is it? Your white cell count Came down almost immediately.
Yeah.
All it took was giving birth To 5 pounds of Writhing alien flesh.
It seems to mimic the part Of the body that expels it.
I mean, you can actually See the beginnings of a ribcage here.
I just wish i had access To hughes' research On those fossil life forms.
You know, Maybe--maybe descendants Of those venus microbes Still exist.
They could've infected you.
And i-it could be that This--this purging process is just a stage.
And after it's over, You could be left stronger for it.
All i know is, Whatever's keeping This monster inside of me alive, Is keeping me alive.
To understand What's happening to captain davidow, It would help to see What happened to a laboratory rat When i injected it With a sample of his d.
n.
a After displaying An inordinate appetite for protein and fluids, The rat seemed To develop a tumor, Which grew rapidly.
But after 36 hours, It was apparent That this was not, In fact, a tumor.
As extraordinary as it sounds, The rat underwent a--a-- A sophisticated mitosis.
A self-replication.
It's internal organs, It's skeletal structure, It's muscle tissue Bifurcated.
It divided itself Into 2 distinct individuals.
You're not seriously Suggesting That your capt.
Davidow Has the same capacity.
Whatever infected him, Has made his body Attempt to replicate itself.
And with each effort, It's getting more successful.
You want to show dr.
Thoroughgood Those tissue samples, scott? Yeah.
Um When we irradiated Capt.
Davidow's body To raise his metabolism To normal levels, It seemed to spur This mock mitosis.
At first, the tissues generated Were relatively small.
But then, as you can see, The last tissue That extruded from him Had much of the morphology Of a complete human rib cage Only scaled down.
This tissue, as you call it, Was it ever alive? (perkins) For a short time, yes.
But without fully developed Biological systems, It quickly expired.
What about the effect On his own body? (latimer) In each case, It completely reconstituted itself, Within a matter of minutes.
Dr.
Perkins, What i'm hearing is that It's conceivable That capt.
Davidow could spawn A complete version of himself.
Now, the fact is, We may be looking At some kind Of hybrid organism Capable of dividing at will, With each survivor Being virtually impervious to injury.
Well, that's speculation, Doctor.
Can you honestly Rule out that scenario? Mmm, Not without further study, no.
But it's important to remember That the rat was injected With the subject's d.
n.
a.
There's no evidence whatsoever That this condition Is contagious or infectious.
I'm not sure We can wait around For that evidence To present itself.
Frankly, dr.
Perkins, I'm prepared to recommend The organism's destruction Before we have an epidemic On our hands, The likes of which Our world has never seen Unfortunately, uh, Capt.
Davidow and the organism Are one and the same.
I'm aware of that.
(perkins) What are you saying? That he should be Summarily executed Because of your fears? You know, you've laid A pretty good groundwork for those fears, doctor.
I-- i'm just saying, That we shouldn't overreac That's all.
If this unfortunate man Turns out to be ground zero For a population explosion Of a genetically superior Life form, Then we damned well Better overreact.
Or we could be paying The price for generations.
On whose authority Are you planning to take this man's life? National security council, Directive 44, section 3.
"in the event of An extraterrestrial Biological hazard, "any and all means Shall be used To eliminate the threat.
" I'm compelled to brief The n.
s.
c.
As soon as i can.
Final decision rests With the president.
Get them off! Miles.
Miles, what is it? Oh, god, kate.
What? What is it? (miles) Just get him in here.
Just get him in here now! Scott, we need your help.
Something's wrong! What happened? God almighty.
The only reason i'm alive is Because of the treatments.
The only reason i'm alive is Because of the treatments.
Any tissues that My body eliminates Is a step In the right direction.
You said so yourself.
Without the radiation, You're gonna be looking for answers in an autopsy Miles? What's going on? I had no choice, kate.
Perkins wouldn't help me again.
But i had to try To get this thing out of me.
I found the lancet and slides.
What are you doing to yourself? I've been testing my blood.
That's all.
I used hughes' computer To analyze it.
So you knew the password All along? I had to find a way To destroy it, kate.
Destroy what? The alien d.
n.
a.
What are you Talking about? Miles, if i'm gonna help you, You have to let me know.
Those extinct life forms? They weren't extinct.
They were alive and well.
Thriving, in fact.
At first, we didn't think Any life existed up there.
Not till The highlanderexploded, And breached the domes.
Then the serps, That's what we called them, They came in through The damaged substructures.
They raided Our produce stores.
After braithwaite died, I figured if i could just take on Some of their tolerance For--for the conditions on venus, Maybe i could stretch My resources.
So you injected yourself With the serp d.
n.
a.
That's why your scrubber Simulations never computed.
By the time you found me, I'd been breathing pure co2 for 6 weeks.
So you've been lying to us All this time.
To me.
Kate, if i hadn't done What i did, I--i wouldn't be here right now.
I never meant To put you at risk, kate.
I'm sorry.
It's all right.
You're gonna tell perkins, Aren't you? No.
You are.
Pictures don't Do them justice.
Bioluminescent serpents Hell bent on survival.
They live On natural radiation Raw amino acids, And each other, if need be.
They divide, they reproduce By mitosis.
Of course.
Just the way your body's Been trying to do.
Why did you hide this? Why didn't-- Why didn't you tell us? I thought i'd be signing My death warrant.
I thought that it was best I keep it a secret.
But you were willing To expose me, Your co-workers, your wife, The rest of the world, To a biological hazard Of god knows what proportions? I was quite confident That there was nothing i could pass along.
I know that's no excuse Miles! Miles! (perkins) No, the serp in his blood Is trying to replicate himself.
Stay there! Kate.
Kate, it's ok.
It's just me.
Kate! All i ever wanted Was to survive When i got back to earth, I hoped It would all go away.
I wanted my life back.
So if i'm guilty of anything, It's not wanting to die.
So, if that's what I'm being charged with today, I guess I don't have a defense.
I know what i did was wrong.
I'm not asking For forgiveness.
Except-- Except maybe from you, kate.
That's all In the 5 days He's been deprived Of radiation treatments, The subject's condition Has deteriorated markedly.
It seems to have settled Into a baseline metabolic rate That is akin to a waking coma.
At the risk of sounding Inhumane, mr.
Latimer, That's small comfort To those of us Who wish to see The threat eliminated.
(dr.
Thoroughgood) Do you have a suggested Course of action? As per the pentagon's Instructions, We've drawn up A number of options For a bio-safe execution.
If i may, I'd like to say a word.
Thank you.
I know That you have stopped asking Whether to take My husband's life, And that now, It has just come down to how I am also told That you have decided To abandon The aphrodite project.
So, in one misguided act, You are going To waste a man's life, And billions of dollars spent In our knowledge of space And extraterrestrial life.
Now, i believe that there A way to avoid all that, At the same time, To be protecting Against any potential haza My husband may still pose.
He is responsible For perkins' death.
(kate) Even after all that we know, I am here to argue That my husband Be allowed to live And even To continue to contribute To the nation to which he has always sho Absolute loyalty.
What would you have us do, Commander girard? I would like you To send him back to venus.
(kate) Not much has changed here.
Uh, carlisle has taken over As head of space medicine.
And the jupiter mission's Been pushed back to the middle of next year.
They've managed to keep Just about everything out of the press.
Perkins' death was attributed To a laboratory explosion, And, uh, there's been A few stories About "hero astronaut Returns to venus outpost.
" I've downloaded them for you I was happy to hear How well you've responded To the ambient levels At aphrodite.
Every night i look up At the sky, And i say a little prayer, And i think about our time together, However brief.
It took a while, But i have forgiven you.
I completely understand Why you did what you did.
And i still love you.
I'll never forget you, miles.
Never.
It goes over in dome 3.
(narrator) It is nature's imperative That the differences Among us endure.
But what if we can No longer distinguish One being from another?