"Smoke on the Water" Cash: Halfway mark and I'm still alive. Looks like you may have to pay off on that bet, dispatch. Dispatch: I'm counting on it, Cash. Cash: First long-hauler in the free zone to score a date with the mysterious dispatch. All I got to do is make one short hop to Djakarta. Dispatch: It's a sucker bet all right. Cash: That's right, and you fell for it. Just like you're going to fall for me. What do you want to do, dispatch? How about, me and you, we go dancing? Dispatch: Sure, Cash. I'd like that. Elaine Morse: Hauler 974, give me a full sensor scan of the area around you. Cash: Oh, dispatch, I thought it was just the two of us. We really need a chaperone? Morse: I want the scan, Mr. Cash. Cash: Been there, done that. I'm all alone. Morse: Humor me. Cash: Yep, like I said, just me and the fishes. Morse: That's what the other haulers reported just before they disappeared. Dispatch: But they didn't have a date with me. Cash: You know, maybe I'll take both of you dancing. I'm the first hauler pilot to make it through from Perseid in three months. - rumbling - Cash? - alarm - Cash, come in. Cash, are you there? Cash: Oh, my god. Cash, what is it? There's nothing within two miles of him. Damn it. Cash, do you read me? Cash, this is base. Are you there? - doors close - He's... gone. [credits roll; commercial break] 13th hauler from Perseid Colony to disappear in the last three months. And they're just now asking for help? The kind of person that'll wildcat the ocean floor doesn't like to ask favors from anyone. In fact, none of the mining collectives that make up Perseid Colony have officially requested our assistance. Then why's the UEO getting involved? To keep Larry Deon out. Deon International is the largest corporate purchaser of Perseid's polymetallic ore. It supplies their entire Asian division. Losing that supply's got to be hurting them. Almost as much as not controlling it in the first place. Deon's regional VP from Mid-Atlantic Operations, Dustin Thaw, has offered to send in their own security forces to safeguard the shipments. Hudson: At no matter what the cost I'm sure... to the colonists. The UEO takes no position on private business transactions in the free zone. Hudson: But if seaQuest can solve the problem, that'll keep Deon from getting involved, right? McGath: Leave the politics to the professionals, Captain. Your orders are to proceed to Perseid Colony and find a solution to the problem. Hudson: Is there any more information on the disappearances? McGath: When you reach Perseid, you'll get a full briefing from their Security Chief, Constable Elaine Morse. Hudson: Elaine Morse? McGath: I'm sure you'll like her, Captain. She's as stubborn as you are. Ford: Anything wrong, sir? Hudson: Get us to the Perseid Colony, Commander, please. - seaQuest bridge - Hudson: Mr. Ford, report, please. Ford: W.S.K.R.S are on high-range scan. Subfighters are patrolling the area. Oh, Constable Morse will be onboard for a briefing at 2200 hours. Hudson: 2200? Ford: Yes, sir. Hudson: It's good of her to squeeze us in. While we're waiting for the constable to grace us with her presence, let's give the crew some well-deserved shore leave. Standard rotation, Mr. Ford. Ford: Yes, sir. O'Neill, you can have first watch. As for the rest of you, you heard the Captain, what the hell are you waiting for? Lucas: When you finish up here, Tim, word has it they're using an ultrasonic refinement process. Got to check this out. Hudson: Uh, Ensign? Lucas: Yes, sir. Hudson: Now that we have some downtime, I'd like you to run a complete diagnostic on the sensor array. Lucas: Uh, are you revoking my shore leave, sir? Hudson: No. I'm ordering a diagnostic. See that it's carried out. Tony: Whoo! Civilization at last. I can't wait. Only you, Tony, would call a desolate mining colony in the middle of nowhere "civilization." Lucas: Civilization means different things to different people. To Tony, it means any place women haven't heard his pickup lines. Tony: Aw. Hey, Lucas. You're headed in the wrong direction. Shore leave's that way. Lucas: You're not going ashore, Tony. Tony: But the Captain said-- Lucas: Yeah, I know. I need you to run a full diagnostics on the sensor array. Tony: Isn't that your job? Lucas: Yes. Oh, yes, it was for two years. And now I'm an officer, and I'm telling you to do it, O.K.? Look at the bright side. The women here probably know all your lines anyway. - fancy restaurant - Hostess: How you doing? We need a table for three. Hostess: Um, you two are welcome, but he's not. Why? I thought apartheid was abolished 50 years ago. Yeah, we're not that hungry after all. Thanks. Dagwood: Oh, yes, you are. Mmm, go. Mmm, eat. No, Dagwood. We're not going in without you. Dagwood: Why would I want to go some place that I'm not wanted? Why would we want to? Dagwood: I am not hungry, anyway. I would rather look around. Go. Eat. Dagwood? Ahh. Ahh. We'll catch up with him later. You know? Dagwood: Mmm. Would you like some? Dagwood: Thanks. O.K. Hi. Can I get you anything? Dagwood: Thank you. There you go. Docking collar pressurized. Clear main door platform. Elaine: Glad to see you're taking this situation so seriously, Captain. Tell me. Have you granted shore leave to the entire crew? Hudson: Only personnel deemed non-essential to the mission, Constable. And if you wish to play bridge, where will you find a fourth? Ford: Welcome aboard. Hudson: Perhaps the constable could begin by giving us details of the hauler disappearances. Elaine: There are no details. One second, the haulers are on our sensors, the next, they're gone without a trace. Hudson: Oh, good. We'll have subfighters discretely follow your haulers, see what's happening up close. Work out the details with the constable. Brief Fredricks and Brody. Elaine: I don't think we're done. Hudson: I'm sorry. I have a prior commitment. Maybe next time you'll check with us before setting a meeting. Elaine: I deliberately gave you time to survey the area and formulate a plan. If I'd realized this was best you could come up with, I would've been here a lot sooner. Hudson: Well, I'm real eager to hear your better idea. Elaine: seaQuest will lead a convoy of haulers to their Asian destinations allowing our mining collectives to fulfill their contracts. Hudson: That's a quick fix ignoring the larger problem. Elaine: I think I'm capable of prioritizing my own problems. Hudson: Well, maybe if you were better at fixing them, we wouldn't be here in the first place. Elaine: But you are here. And this is still my colony. Hudson: And this is my boat. Elaine: Funny. For a minute I thought it was part of your anatomy. Hudson: Damn it, Elaine! Constable, seaQuest will investigate the situation. And I will deal with it as I see fit. Warning. Main power systems inoperative. Backup power diverted to life support. Tim: Mr. Ford? Ford: O'Neill, what's going on? Tim: I don't know, sir. One minute Piccolo was pushing buttons on the sensor panels. Next thing, the computer's going crazy shutting us down. Piccolo? Don't worry. I'll find my own way. Tony: I was running the diagnostic on the sensor and-- and... and everything just went crazy. You didn't take the array off-line first. Tony: What? Tony, if there's a flaw in the circuits, the system has no way to compensate and it crashes. Tony: I didn't know that. Why not? Tony: I've never run a diagnostic by myself before, sir. Main power systems now on-line. Resuming normal function. Hudson: You're dismissed. Tony: Back on shore leave, sir? Hudson: Mr. Piccolo, I understand that you're on a self-improvement mission. I suggest the ship's library. Tony: Yes, sir. Lucas: Listen, Captain, don't be too hard on Piccolo, all right? He just didn't know any better. Hudson: Why was he doing a job that I understood you'd be doing? Lucas: Well, I thought this would be a good time for Piccolo to become more aware with the sensor array. And since I've done hundreds of these, sir, I thought that a complete diagnostic would be an ideal way for him to begin. Hudson: And you thought that being an officer meant that you could get a subordinate to do a job you didn't want to do? Lucas: Yes, sir. Hudson: You're wrong, Ensign. You don't ask somebody to do something you're not willing to do yourself. Now, I understand that we have a flawed circuit in the sensor array? Lucas: Yes, sir. I suspect a cross-link in the power systems. Now, if we rerun the diagnostic with the system off-line, it shouldn't take more than a half an hour to fix. Hudson: And if we were to do it manually? Lucas: Manually? It would take seaQuest's entire crew two full days, sir. Hudson: Well, you better get started then 'cause you're doing it all by yourself. You have your orders, Ensign. Lucas: Yes, sir. Hudson: O'Neill? Tim: sir? Hudson: Brody, Fredricks, to the launch bay. 2400 Hours, Mr. Ford has a mission for them. Tim: Aye, aye, sir. Hudson: What? Ford: What? I just watched you come down pretty hard on Constable Morse and Lucas. I'm just wondering if your behavior is related to something other than the mission at hand. Hudson: Let's just call it a bad mood. Elaine Morse and I have a history. I was hoping never to see her again. Ford: May I ask where you met? Hudson: At the altar. I left her there twice. Lucas: I can't believe you've been checking circuits for three weeks and still haven't found that crossed sensor relay. Tony: Believe it. I'd love to help, but I'm still on shore leave... sir. You want some help? Lucas: Yes. Yes. Uh...no, actually. Captain Hudson ordered me to do this on my own. But thank you. McGath: Congratulations to you both. Not a single hauler has been lost since seaQuest arrived at Perseid. We're very pleased. In fact, Dustin Thaw of Deon International would like to thank you personally. Hudson: sir, that really won't be necessary. I'm sure I not only speak for Deon International, but for all the hard-working miners at Perseid when I thank you for restoring peace to the free zone. I think we can call this mission a success. Elaine: Or a quick fix ignoring the larger problem. Constable? We still haven't found a trace of any of the missing haulers or their crews. It's a big ocean. The pirates have probably moved on, thanks to your fine work. I'm glad the UEO's strong show of force provided a meaningful deterrent to future piracy. Let's hope this exercise never needs to be repeated. Hudson: That's exactly what your mother said after our second wedding ceremony. Come on, Elaine, lighten up. It's the first personal comment either one of us has said in three weeks. Elaine: How much more impressive that would be if we actually talked during that time. But then why should now be any different from when we lived together? Hudson: If you'd wanted to talk, all you had to do was call. Elaine: If I wanted to, I would have. Hudson: Have the crew return to the ship. We leave in 30 minutes. Ford: Yes, sir. Hudson: Ask it, Commander. Ford: sir? Hudson: The question that's been written all over your face for the past three weeks. Ford: What happened between the two of you? Hudson: We could've spent a lifetime together. She always had to grab the shower first. Dagwood: Mmm. Rachel: I love watching you eat, Dagwood. Dagwood: I like it, too, Rachel. I wish I didn't have to go. Rachel: Then don't. Dagwood: The seaQuest is leaving, and I'm part of the crew. Rachel: What do you do there? Dagwood: Well, um... they let me clean it. And when there's something heavy that needs lifting, I get to do that. Rachel: They don't let you polish the captain's shoes? Dagwood: Um... I like working on the seaQuest, and they like me. Rachel: They like having a dagger around because you work hard, and you don't complain, and you never get tired. Dagwood: But they are my friends. Rachel: We're your people. Hudson: Dagwood, you enlisted in the Navy. Dagwood: Yes, sir. Now I would like to un-enlist. Hudson: If every sailor got to quit whenever he was feeling homesick, we'd be in a lot of deep trouble, don't you think? Dagwood: How long did I enlist for? - Hudson holds up 4 fingers - Dagwood: Four weeks. Four months? Hudson: Four years. Dagwood: They will not remember me when I come back. Hudson: Every person onboard this ship lives with that fear. Dagwood: Even you? Hudson: I should be so lucky. Tell you what I'm going to do. I'll give you 48 hours leave to get your affairs in order, and then I'll send a shuttle for you. Dagwood: Affairs? Thank you, sir. Hudson: If you are not onboard that shuttle when it returns, I'll report you as a deserter. Do you understand what that means? Dagwood: Hmm. I can never come back to the seaQuest. Hudson: It means that if you ever set foot in UEO territory again, you'll be arrested, prosecuted, and jailed for a lot longer than four years. Dagwood: Mmm. Hauler 261-b headed for Hong Kong, on course and on time. Go safely, hauler. I always do. Hauler 261-b, out. Are you sure about this? It's been quiet for three weeks. Maybe it's finally over. It's not the same around here without Dagwood. Get used to it. I don't think he's coming back. Lucas: He'll be back. You haven't seen him, Lucas. He's found himself on Perseid. Lucas: No, he's found Daggers. That's all. seaQuest is his home, O.K.? Those are his own people, Lucas. And we have to support him whatever decision he makes. Lucas: Even if it means him going AWOL, huh? Is it Dagwood you're really worried about or yourself? Nah. This isn't about me. Look, both you guys first came aboard seaQuest as outsiders. You both had a lot to prove. I think that's why Dagwood's closer to you than he is to any of us. And why it would hurt you so much if he left. Maybe I just want to see a friend again, Commander, huh? seaQuest is a complicated place for friendships. What do you mean? Figure it out. - alarm bell rings - Yes, sir? Hold her steady. What do we got, O'Neill? Tim: Open-band distress signal, sir, all channels, range 7,000 meters. Put it up on the screen. We're under attack. If you're out there, please respond. This is an emergency call. We desperately need assistance. Information, O'Neill. Tim: W.S.K.R.S show a hauler class sub being chased by two other subs, sir. I can't I.D. them, but they look pretty creative. Hudson: Announce us, Mr. Ford, forcefully. Ford: Yes, sir. Firing torpedoes. Incoming torpedoes. Dozens of them, sir. Hudson: Mr. Ford, buy me 10 seconds. Ford: Yes, sir. Firing plasma intercepts and flash warheads. Hudson: Hard to starboard, on my mark. Now. We made it. Hudson: It's just a diversion. The pirates are going to take the hauler. Get the specters out. Bring us over the ridge, Mr. Ford. Yes, sir. Stay on my wing, attack my target. You got it. The hauler's taking in water. They're going down. Get those people out of there. Launching assault craft. Launching now. Brody: Fredricks, I've picked up a bandit. Help me out. He's mine. Take out his torpedo. Roger. Whoo! Henderson, all port docking inoperable. You'll have to laser in. Arming laser dock. Brace for docking. Get him, Commander. Done, sir. Releasing grapnel torpedo. The hauler's crew is safely boarding the assault craft, Captain. Hudson: Well-done, gentlemen. You just took a pretty big bite out of piracy in the free zone. Chart a course for the perseid colony, Mr. Ford. The helm's all yours. Ford: Aye, sir. I wish I could join the celebration, but the pirates have been caught and the lady needs to make a buck. It looks like smooth sailing all the way to Hong Kong. Let's keep this channel open just in case. You never were one to make a party. Not when there's work to be done. Now, there's a phrase that conjures up memories. Peace offering. Thanks, but I won't be at peace until that hauler is docked in Hong Kong. The hijackers are in your brig. Maybe. Is it so hard for you to admit I might have done something right? Just as hard as it is for you to admit when you're wrong. They were attacking that hauler. I can replay my sensor logs if you don't believe me. Exactly. During the other attacks, the hijackers never appeared on the sensors. Maybe your sensors need updating. Hauler, report. Nothing to report, except boredom. Just like the good old days. What the hell? Hauler, what is it? Hauler, come in! It wasn't my decision. I don't like it any more than you do. Our haulers are sitting ducks out there. We need seaQuest leading convoys. What, forever? seaQuest is nothing more than a bandage here. It's not a cure. So what, you're just going to shrug your shoulders and leave? Then again, that's your style. Ahem. Do you have something to say, Ensign? Sir, if the pirates want a sitting duck, we should give them one. We outfit a hauler and its load with tracking devices, and then when the pirates nab it, we follow it back to their base. I like it. So do I. Good thinking, Wolenczak. I'll have a hauler loaded and ready in an hour. Commander Ford, have Lieutenant Fredricks suit up and meet us at the launch bay. Something I can do for you, Ensign? I think I should be on that hauler, sir. You think that ensign stripe of yours qualifies you to lead a potentially dangerous military mission? No, sir. Then what? I believe I shouldn't ask a crew member to do something I'm not willing to do myself. Rachel: Dagwood... I-- I care about you so much. You're simple and sweet and good. You don't understand what they're capable of. What they did to us. Dagwood: You have never even met them. Rachel: Maybe not them, but their fathers or their uncles or their brothers. They enslaved us to do work too menial for their own servants, I mean, sent us out to be butchered in their wars, cast us aside to starve when we became an embarrassing reminder of the evil that they can do. Dagwood: My friends did not do that. Rachel: Their kind. Don't you understand? Dagwood: They are not a kind. They are people that I care about, just like you. Rachel: Not like me, and not like you, Dagwood. We're Daggers. We belong with our own kind. We belong together. Hauler ready for departure. It's a short-stroked, double-tanked museum piece. Now, you sure you know how to drive it? I learned how to pilot one of those on my daddy's lap. But that's not what worries me. See, I'm going into a fight in a defenseless hauler. We're not going to be far, O.K.? The ore's treated with isotopes. We can track their radioactive signature from seaQuest. You better be right. If I disappear, everything goes to my cat. Has the captain approved this? I've approved this. Good. Because I'm going, too. That's my hauler. And the only way it's leaving here is with me on it. Lucas: Captain, uh, I-- I thought-- I thought I was going to be the one to go, sir? Hudson: Thank you for volunteering, Ensign. And thank you for reminding me that I can't ask somebody to do something I'm not willing to do myself. Lucas: Yes, sir. Hudson: Keep an eye on us, Wolenczak. Lucas: Good luck. Elaine: This isn't a subfighter, Oliver. Ease up on your dive plane. Your angle is too steep. Hudson: It's not that. We just hit a thermocline. The current's shifting. Kick back, enjoy the ride. Elaine: Now that you mention it, I have heard that this is a rough spot for thermoclines. Hudson: My angle is a little steep. It's been a while since I've driven one of these. I remember the last time. We were on autopilot most of that trip. Elaine: Well, maybe if you concentrated a little more on your driving and a little less on me, you wouldn't have proposed. Hudson: You didn't have to say yes. Elaine: You didn't have to leave. Hudson: If I hadn't left you, you would have left me. Elaine: Look, your angle is too damn steep. Ford: Is anything wrong, Lucas? Lucas: Uh, no. Uh, the hauler's cruising at 80 knots, and sensors are detecting nothing unusual in the area. Ford: I was talking about you, Lucas. You seem worried. Lucas: Terrified is more like it, Commander. Ford: You feel responsible for Hudson and Morse. Lucas: They're out there risking their lives because of an idea I tossed off the top of my head, yes. Ford: Wearing stripes means you're not only responsible for yourself, but also the lives of others. You still want to be an officer? Lucas: You get scared, Commander? Ford: Every time I give an order. Hang in there. You call that driving? We're at a dead stop. - an alarm blares - Give full power to the engines. We are at full. They've stopped. Something's wrong. Here, let me have it. Must be caught up in some sort of magnetic tenser field. Where's it coming from? I don't know. The sensors are dead. What are you doing? Shutting everything down before we tear ourselves apart. Oliver! Open a channel. I can't. Contact's been lost, sir. Are they under attack? They're gone. Sensors can't get a read on anything. Not even the isotopes? It's as if the hauler was never there. Now, unless our sensors are out of whack, someone's interrupting our datalink with our W.S.K.R.S. feeding us false information. Well, the sensors may lie, but Darwin won't. I doubt whatever's tricking our sensors is also designed to fool dolphins. Ford: Darwin, I need you to take a swim. Darwin: Darwin swim. Darwin help Ford. Captain Hudson, what an unpleasant surprise. I should have known Deon was behind all this. I underestimated just how Machiavellian he could be. Why steal your own shipments? So they can bankrupt the mining colonies, take over the claims, and still get their ore. The savings from not having to pay for it and the insurance reimbursement more than made up for the cost of the operation. A win-win situation. Larry Deon knows about this, of course? Immaterial... Captain. - seaQuest bridge - Darwin: Water warm. What are you doing? Resetting sensors to search for variation in water temperature. And... Got it! I got a trail of warm water heading due north. It's a sub, all right. I'm picking up microparticles of fuel residue. How did you know? The pirates can escape our sensors, but they can't escape the fact that displacement from a moving vessel causes the surrounding waters to heat up, Commander. Ford: Mr. Piccolo, all ahead full. Flood the tubes, Mr. Brody. Sound general quarters. - an alarm blares - We have sensor contact-- bearing 349, 160 knots. It's seaQuest. Range, 5,600 meters and closing. Arm torpedoes. Bring us behind her. Stand down now, and seaQuest won't blow you out of the water. seaQuest's sensors have been jammed. She won't know we're here until we've sunk her. Good-bye, Captain. Elaine? Till death do us part. We never got that far, remember? Guess there's a silver lining to everything. Break it up. Hey, let's go! You always did go your way and I went mine. I'm glad one of us had a plan. That wasn't a plan. Don't flatter yourself. - seaQuest bridge - O.K., The heat band moves around the end of that ridge. Beyond that, we're out of W.S.K.R. Range, sir. Mr. O'Neill, send a W.S.K.R. over the ridge on the starboard side. Aye, aye, sir. Status? 3,000 Meters and closing. Fire torpedoes on my mark. The only way to the bridge is past them. How? You could always kiss me again. Or we could do it the easy way. Fire! I'd reconsider. The heat trail's on the other side, sir. Coming up behind us. Fire aft torpedoes, wide disbursement. Helm, hard to port. Incoming torpedoes. Open up a channel. Now! I've got Captain Hudson. Are you sure? It's on a secured channel. On speaker. seaQuest, this is Captain Hudson. Confirmation-- Alpha 1-9er-2. Hold your fire. It's him. Detonate torpedoes. Activating self-destruct. Good work, Commander. Send over some people. We'll put this crew in custody, and we'll follow you to Perseid. Yes, sir. Morse: Your angle is still too steep. Hudson: My angle is just fine. Thank you. I'm glad it worked out. So am I. I meant about the hijackings. I know what you meant. You always did. Not always. For me? Mm-hmm. Oh, thank you. This is my book. Mm-hmm. Uh-huh. And... your violin. You left them the last time you took off. I didn't take off, you threw me out. It was nice to see you again, Oliver. Shuttle 3, you are clear to docking bay 4. Hudson: Nice to see you again, Elaine. Dagwood: I am back, sir. Hudson: I thought you were happier with your own kind? Dagwood: I am with my own kind. Hudson: Ensign, diagnostics on the sensor array? Lucas: Completed, sir. Hudson: Piccolo! Tony: Yes, sir? Hudson: Red Badge of Courage-- read it. Tony: Yes, sir.