"Chains of Command" //Philippine Sea, Macronesia// - several missles skimming the sea at top speed. - //Palau Islands, Macronesian Alliance Sub Rearmament// - Palau Base; a lone female in uniform at a computer console speaking to a vid link - Mara: Six months of basic training and advanced combat techniques, and they stick me on this rock. {on vid link} Commander Daltrey: Light duty on an island paradise out of harm's way. It's got to be rough. Mara: I need to be tested in battle. //Macronesian Alliance Central Command New Australia// - Central Command; several uniformed people are performing their duties; the Commander stands by a manned station speaking to a large vid screen - Daltrey: Our next battle's going to be four seconds of nuclear flash and four centuries of fallout. {on vid link} Mara: Easy for you to say. You've seen combat. Daltrey: Yeah, I've seen battle, Mara, but there's not going to be a war. Our President Bourne wouldn't let it happen. {on vid link} Mara: He came close over the Nexus Colony. Daltrey: And both sides pulled back. Our President Bourne isn't a madman, and neither are the people running the UEO. Nobody wants a war. It would mean Armageddon. - Palau Base; Mara looks shocked, computer screen shows missles - Mara: Oh, my god. - Central Command - Daltrey: What is it, Lieutenant? - Palau Base - Mara: Incoming UEO missiles-- Clayton warheads. Impact in 30 seconds. - Central Command - Lt. Abrams: Satellite tracking confirms-- 10 UEO SSN-52s heading directly for the Palau Base. Impact--20 seconds. Daltrey: Alert President Bourne. We have confirmation? Abrams: We have confirmation, sir. {to vid screen} Daltrey: Mara, I'm sorry. Abrams: 10 Seconds. 9... - Palau Base; Mara speechless staring at screen - {voice over} Abrams: 8...7... - missles zooming in - {voice over} Abrams: 6... - Central Command - Abrams: 5...4... {on vid screen overtop of Abrams countdown} Mara: Please tell my father I-- Abrams: 3...2...1... - Palau Base explodes - - Central Command; vid screen goes static - Abrams: Sir... I have the President's Chief of Staff on line. What do I tell him? Daltrey: You tell President Bourne the UEO has declared war... on Macronesia. [credits roll; commercial break] - underwater; a shuttle glides forward as seaQuest comes into view; the shuttle docks - {over speaker} Lieutenant (j.g.) Tim O'Neill: UEO shuttle on approach-- Priority One emergency. - seaQuest Ward Room; Secretary General McGath enters - Commander Jonathan Ford: Welcome aboard, sir. McGath: Sorry for the unannounced visit, but I can't be sure if vidlink communications are secure. Commander Ford, I need to speak with Captain Hudson alone. - Ford leaves, McGath inserts a disc into the tabletop computer - Captain Oliver Hudson: A Priority One emergency? Are we at war? - they turn to vid screen filled with high priority information - McGath: Not yet. 6 Hours ago, 10 SSN-52s destroyed a Macronesian Alliance sub rearmament base in the Philippine Sea. It was an unprovoked attack, launched without warning of any kind. Hudson: Who's responsible? McGath: We are. We told the Macronesian Alliance it was a tragic accident-- a computer malfunction caused a remote automated silo to fire its missiles. Hudson: Did it? McGath: I don't know. That's what you're going to find out. The missiles came from our base in the Mariana Trench deep in Macronesian waters. Hudson: We don't have a Mariana base. McGath: Officially, that's true. Unofficially, we dropped a mobile weapon station into the trench a year ago, armed with the long-range missiles and nuclear warheads. They were only supposed to be used if tensions with the alliance escalated into global conflict. Hudson: Or for a first strike, right? McGath: Six months ago, Mariana missed its first scheduled burst transmission. We've sent two ships to investigate. Neither has ever reported back. Hudson: So, you're telling me that you've got somebody in that trench with their finger on the nuclear button, and you haven't talked to them in six months? McGath: Not just anyone. - McGath hit a button on the tabletop computer and Admiral Vanalden's face looms large on the vid screen - Hudson: Vanalden. McGath: We are counting on you to bring the Admiral out. Hudson: And if he refuses? McGath: You have 24 hours to take that base by whatever means necessary. If you can't, seaQuest is ordered to destroy it. - McGath takes his disc and walks out - - shuttle leaves seaQuest - - seaQuest, on a corridor floor Dagwood watches a cockroach as Lieutenant (j.g.) Lonnie Henderson walks up to him - Henderson: Lose something? Ensign Dagwood: Found something. Henderson: Ugh. Allow me. - Lonnie lifts her foot to squish it but Dagwood stops her - Dagwood: No. Henderson: Dagwood, it's a cockroach. Dagwood: He didn't do anything to you. Henderson: He's disgusting. {over speaker} Voice: All non-essential equipment must be removed from cargo area 5. {sighs} Henderson: Uh, cockroaches infest our food, and they can make us really sick. I'm getting sick just looking at him. Dagwood: I can put him in a container... - Dagwood pours water out of a container, puts nasty bug in - Dagwood: and... when we go ashore, I can set him free, and that way, we won't get sick, and he can live. - Lonnie and Dagwood listen to annoucement - {over speaker} Voice: All personnel on watch report to the Ward Room. - they hurry off - - seaquest Ward Room, Vanalden and Loper's personnel info and pictures on vidscreen - Hudson: The Mariana Base is commanded by Admiral Aaron Vanalden. Now, this man inspires such devotion from his troops that his second-in-command, Commander Pamela Loper, walked away from her 3-year-old daughter just to serve with him. Now, we don't know what happened down there, but we can't rule out the possibility that they've gone rogue. Ford: Mariana has enough nuclear firepower to wipe out a small continent. Ensign Lucas Wolenczak: And that was the idea, wasn't it? Hudson: We're not here to debate politics. Our mission is to neutralize the base and prevent a world war. I'll be taking an assault craft up the trench to relieve the Admiral of his command, if he's still alive. Ford: Why not just take seaQuest? Hudson: Because I need you here, Commander. If you don't hear from me in 24 hours, you're to destroy the base. Henderson: But there are over 100 people on that base, sir. Hudson: And how many people are on the planet, Lieutenant? Dagwood, I'm going to need you with me. Dagwood: Yes, sir. Lucas: I think you're going to need me, too, sir. My guess is that the systems there are pretty sophisticated. Hudson: You know this could be a one-way trip? Lucas: Yes, sir. Hudson: All right. Dismissed. - everyone leaves but Lieutenant J.J. Fredricks - Hudson: There's no way that "dismissed" was a vague term, Lieutenant. Fredricks: With the exception of you and me, sir, everyone in this room spent the last 10 years in oblivion. Hudson: Make your point. Fredricks: There's a reason they're sending you on this mission that has nothing to do with seaQuest. Don't you think that Lucas and Dagwood should know before they go up that trench with you? Hudson: If I need a critique on how to run my ship, I'll ask for it. Fredricks: With all due respect, sir, if that was true, you'd be with Vanalden today instead of Loper. - exterior, the assault craft leaves seaQuest - - seaQuest, Brody and Ford enter bridge - {to vidlink} Ford: Good luck, sir. - assault craft - {to vidlink} Hudson: Thank you, Commander, but luck is a luxury we don't have. Launch your missiles at 0800 and not one second later. - seaQuest bridge - {to vidlink} Ford: Understood. - Macronesian Alliance Central Command - Daltrey: We've traced the SSN-52s that destroyed our base back to their origin, General. General Stassi: A UEO robot installation gone awry, which Secretary McGath has destroyed to show their sincerity; a pathetic gesture. Politics will win the day. Daltrey: It wasn't a robot installation, General, and it has not been destroyed. Abrams: Sir... what I've done is run the data through satellite tracking, using infrared resonance and sonic imaging against all vessels and undersea structures. - an familiar shape appears on the vidscreen - Stassi: seaQuest. Daltrey: What do we do, sir? Stassi: McGath said the source of the missiles would be destroyed. If his people can't handle the task, the Macronesian Alliance will. Daltrey: General, attacking seaQuest could start the next World War. Stassi: They started it. We're just returning fire. - seaQuest bridge - Ford: Mr. O'Neill, status? Tim: All quiet, sir. Ford: Mr. Brody, weapon status? Lieutenant James Brody: All systems armed and ready. Ford: Mr. Piccolo? Seaman Tony Piccolo: Maintaining position, sir... just like I was when you asked 10 minutes ago. Henderson: Commander... - Lonnie and Ford step to side for some privacy - Henderson: is something wrong? {snippy} Ford: We're on the brink of war, and I have orders to annihilate our own soldiers if I don't get word within 18 hours. Yes, something's wrong. Henderson: Maybe you shouldn't do things just to do them. You're making the crew nervous. {lightens up} Ford: You know, when this thing is over, assuming that the world isn't a radioactive asteroid, I am taking a vacation as far away from the ocean as I can get. Henderson: Champagne powder on a perfect slope. Ford: Steep and deep. Henderson: Ajax. Ford: Aspen, Colorado. Henderson: Bell mountain buckaroos. - Ford actually laughs - Henderson: Maybe I'll see you there. - the assault craft approaches the trench - - onboard the assault craft, Hudson is at the controls while Lucas checks stats and Dagwood pays close attention - Lucas: You know, maybe the missiles were launched by accident. The target could have been preprogrammed. Hudson: Palau isn't strategic enough to be a preprogrammed target. Somebody specifically chose that island and fired upon it for a reason. Lucas: Reason being to start another war. Neither side wanted that. Hudson: Somebody does. Dagwood: Look. - points at viewer - - exterior, the assault craft travels over a seabed littered with debris - - interior, assault craft - Hudson: What have we got, Ensign? Lucas: Sensors scanning wreckage. Positive I.D., sir. We found the two UEO recon subs. Hudson: Long-range scan. Anything else out there? Lucas: It's hard to say. Sensors show that the trench narrows a thousand meters ahead. Can't see anything past it. Hudson: How narrow? Lucas: Well, we can make it through if we hold our breath. - exterior, the assault craft narrowingly glides through the narrow trench opening - - interior, assault craft - Hudson: Arm our weapons, Ensign. We'll have company on the other side. Lucas: How do you know that, sir? Hudson: Admiral Vanalden taught me everything I know. Dagwood: He is your friend? Hudson: I was his Exec on the Valiant during the siege of the Manihiki Plateau. I disobeyed an order. I was replaced by Pamela Loper. - exterior, drones approach the assault craft - - interior, assault craft - Lucas: Sensors detecting drones 500 meters dead ahead, sir. Plasma torpedoes, lasers, mines-- they're loaded, sir. Hudson: Fire torpedoes. Lucas: Torpedoes away. - exterior, drones explode - - interior, assault craft - Lucas: Drone's destroyed. There are more. Hudson: How many? - exterior, several drones loom towards the assault craft - - interior, assault craft - Dagwood: Too many. - exterior, a drone fires at the assault craft - - interior, the assault craft shakes from the blast - Lucas: I don't get it. That blast was 70% below normal strength. Hudson: That wasn't a blast. It was a nudge. - the view shifts several times between the drones firing at the assault craft and the occupants in the assault craft trying to keep their seats - - interior, assault craft - Hudson: We're being herded. Let's see where. Ahead one third. - exterior, the drone surrounded assault craft moves towards the Mariana Base and docks - - Hudson, Lucas and Dagwood enter and move through the dark but busy Base where everyone looks dirty, hot and sullen but pays no attention to the new arrivals - {shouting} Hudson: Captain Oliver Hudson of seaQuest. I'm here to see Admiral Vanalden. {calls back} Commander Pamela Loper: A boy, a freak, and a clown. - out of the haze, Loper steps forward - Loper: How generous of the UEO to send a circus. {to Lucas and Dagwood} Hudson: That's Loper. - Hudson moves toward Loper, Lucas and Dagwood lag behind - Hudson: Commander. - armed men appear behind Loper - Loper: He always knew you'd come, Oliver. He knew from the start. - Hudson walks directly towards Loper and a guard block him with a gun to his chest - Hudson: Get that out of my face, soldier. Loper: That's a nice attempt at asserting yourself, Captain, but this is Admiral Vanalden's command. Hudson: Not anymore. Loper: Really? Hudson: You're relieved, Commander. Give your weapon to the Ensign. The rest of you standown. Put your weapons on the shuttle now. Loper: The UEO doesn't exist here, Oliver. Hudson: It does now. - the guard slams the gun into Hudson's gut and Dagwood jumps the guard, several more guards with guns come forward as Dagwood fights them off - Dagwood! Dagwood! No. - Hudson, Lucas and Dagwood are each grabbed by an armed guard - Loper: Take him away. The dagger comes with me. - Hudson and Lucas are walked off while two guards force Dagwood to follow Loper - [commercial break] - exterior seaQuest - - seaQuest bridge - Tim: Sir, we're tracking two high-speed contacts launched from the Alliance's Balintang Silo. Profiles consistent with sea-skimming attack missiles. - two sea-skimming attack missiles moving fast through the water - - seaQuest bridge - Tim: Bearing 270 degrees, range 800 kilometers and closing. Ford: Track and extrapolate. I need a projected target. Tim: Sir. - O'Neill's console shows the target - Tim: Us. Ford: How long until impact? Tim: 2 Minutes, 20 seconds. Ford: Mr. Brody, rig for anti-air warfare. Open missile hatches. - alarms sound - Brody: Missiles up, targets locked. Ford: Fire! - missiles fire from seaQuest and detonate the incoming missiles - Brody: Targets down. - an explosion rocks the seaQuest bridge - Ford: What the hell was that? Henderson: Plasma torpedo, deck 7. There's flooding in hydroponics. Ford: Evacuate; lock it off. Tim: Sir, two Macronesian Alliance war subs dead astern. - exterior, seaQuest moves revealing the two subs - Brody: I've got incoming-- six torpedoes. Ford: Fire intercepts. Brody: No time, sir. Tim: Confirmed impact in 30 seconds. Ford: All decks, rig for impact. Tony: Where'd they come from? Tim: 20 Seconds. Ford: Our wake. The noise from our propulsion system hid their approach. Henderson: Those missiles were a distraction. Tim: 15 seconds. - Brody, Ford, Lonnie and Tony look worried - Tim: 7... - Lonnie, Ford then Lonnie again look distressed - {voice over} Tim: 6...5...4...3...2... - exterior, several torpedoes bombard seaQuest - - seaQuest bridge, the impacts send crewmembers flying over consoles and out of their chairs, everyone stuggles to keep their posts as the explosions continue - {shouting over noise} Tim: Hull breech decks 4, 8, and 7. - Lonnie stuggles over to an unconscious Ford prone on the deck - Brody: Flooding tubes charlie 1 and 2, delta 1 and 2. Prepare subfighters for immediate launch. Henderson: No! - Lonnie leaves Ford's side and hurries to the helm - Henderson: Taking helm control. Diverting all power to impellers. Rig for emergency speed. - exterior, impellers open on seaQuest - - seaQuest bridge - Henderson: Secondary intakes open. Terminal leaders engaged. - exterior, impellers firing up - - seaQuest bridge - Tim: War subs are firing. Incoming torpedoes. - Lonnie moves into steering - Brody: What do you think you're doing, Lieutenant? I'm in command. Henderson: I'm getting us the hell out of here! Strap yourself in! - exterior, seaQuest xooms off and the two Macronesian war subs crash in her wake - - exterior Mariana Base - - inside the Base, Lucas and Hudson are locked in a large mostly empty area with chain metal walls and a cell door at the top of a short stairway - Lucas: This must have been an armory at one time. {indicating a metal box attached to the floor} Lucas: This looks like the recharging unit for a T-class pulse rifle. What do you think they've done with Dagwood, sir? Hudson: You know, Vanalden used to call dress inspection twice a week. Lucas: Sir? Hudson: One time he opened up my locker, found a shirt that was improperly folded. He had me detailed to the laundry room. I folded shirts until I got it right. Lucas: Well, either he's changed or he's not in command anymore. Hudson: If he's alive, he's in command. Lucas: Sir, exactly what order did you disobey? Hudson: That's not relevant. Lucas: It might be, sir. Hudson: What do you know about the Manihiki Plateau? Lucas: Well, uh, just that shortly after seaQuest disappeared, the Alliance invaded it. Hudson: The Debron Colony. It was declared a UEO safe haven, but before we could get there, it got annexed into Greater Macronesia at the cost of 15,000 civilian lives. Lucas: Now, didn't the UEO mount a blockade to starve out Alliance troops? Hudson: Mm-hmm. The Valiant stood off the North Quadrant for 47 days. On the 48th day, a sub tried to break out. It was big, fast. It wasn't answering our radio signals. Vanalden ordered me to destroy but it came straight out. It wasn't trying to avoid detection, no evasive action. If it's an Alliance ship, why would it do that? He wouldn't listen to me. Lucas: And you refused to fire. Hudson: Mm-hmm. Busted me on the spot. Ordered Pamela Loper to fire the torpedoes. Lucas: Did she do it? Hudson: Before it could come to that, we picked up a faint radio signal coming from the sub-- refugees. They'd been hiding in the ducts of the colony for seven weeks before they took the sub and made their escape. Lucas: You saved their lives. Hudson: Yeah. It's the only thing that kept me from being court-martialed, but the demotion stuck. Lucas: Well, then he did the wrong thing, sir. Hudson: Right or wrong, an order's an order. And in his mind, I'm a coward. Lucas: And in yours? Hudson: Do you have a plan, or are you just redecorating this thing? {opening recharging unit} Lucas: Yes, sir. If we reverse the polarity in this recharging unit, we may be able to send a plasma energy pulse back through the power conduit, knocking out the entire grid. Hudson: You mean like sticking a fork in an outlet. Lucas: Essentially, yes. Tricky part's going to be reconfiguring this recharging unit so we don't get killed doing it. Hudson: We're going to be dead in eight hours if we don't take chances. Lucas: Yes, sir. - guards appear, Lucas closes up the unit; after unlocking the door, two armed guards enter heading towards Hudson - {while grabbing Hudson} Soldier: Vanalden wants you. - the guards manhandle Hudson through the door leaving Lucas behind - - exterior seaQuest - - seaQuest medbay, Lonnie holds Ford's hand; his head is bandaged and his eyes are closed - Henderson: We have a date in Aspen, remember? - Brody enters medbay - Brody: Lieutenant. How is he? Henderson: Coma. Subdural hematoma, but the doctor thinks he'll come through. Brody: You initiated full-ahead emergency speed without clearing it with me. Henderson: I got us out of there before they could sink us. Brody: seaQuest doesn't run from a fight, not under my command. Henderson: No one was in command. Brody: I was, and I am. We're going back. Henderson: It's not your decision. Brody: Chain of command, Lieutenant- Captain Hudson, Commander Ford, and me. This is my boat now. And we're taking those war subs out. Henderson: With all due respect, our orders are to stand ready to destroy Mariana Base in eight hours. Brody: I'll take that under advisement. - Brody exits medbay leaving an irked Lonnie - - seaQuest bridge, the crew looks shaken but are getting things back in place - Brody: O'Neill, can you locate those Alliance war subs? Tim: Bastards are where we left them, sir. Brody: Fredricks, ready a specter. Draw their fire and bring them to us. Fredricks: Where are you going to be? Brody: Lying on the bottom of the ridge. They won't see us until they're right above us. Go. - Freddie leaves, Lonnie enters - Henderson: You can't do this, Brody. Brody: The decision has been made, Lieutenant. Man your station. Henderson: We have a mission at Mariana Trench. Brody: I don't want to remove you from the bridge, Lieutenant. All ahead full, Mr. Piccolo. Tony: Aye, sir. - exterior Mariana Base - - two armed guards led Hudson through narrow and hazy corridors; he is shoved through a door into another narrow and hazy corridor; he moves forward slowly seeing no one - {echoey voice} Admiral Vanalden: Have you come to kill me, Oliver? Hudson: No, sir. I'm here to relieve you of your command. {echoey voice} Vanalden: Semantics-- the cloak of cowards and politicians. Which one are you? Hudson: What happened here, Admiral? - Hudson reaches a room where Vanalden sits at a console - Vanalden: The inevitable. Serving on doomsday watch, alone in the darkest, deepest place on earth, one begins to understand man's true nature. The men began to fight among themselves. There was blood everywhere. You could taste it, touch it. You could feel the drying itch of it on your skin. Hudson: Isolation dementia-- that's what killed everyone on the Jupiter Probe. Vanalden: I almost released the grapnels and sent the base into the abyss. Hudson: What stopped you, sir? Vanalden: The realization that my men were right and I was wrong-- wrong to try and stop them. Hudson: That wasn't a realization. It's a symptom. Paranoia, fear, violence, it's all part of the sickness. Vanalden: You know what the sickness is, Oliver? The sickness is peace. Peace is an unnatural condition I was trying to impose on my men, like this base was meant to impose on the world. - on a vid screen, Hudson sees Dagwood surrounded by a screaming and cheering crowd - - with Dagwood, a man comes up behind Dagwood and lashes an electric whip on his back; Dagwood faces his attacker - - in Vanalden's lair - Hudson: What good is torturing him going to do? - on vid screen, the whipping continues - Vanalden: I am not torturing him. I am setting him free. Warriors exist for war. That is what makes us men. That is our real true nature. Hudson: End this, sir. - with Dagwood, the whip cracks down on his shoulder and he lunges towards his attacker knocking him down, the crowd goes wild; Dagwood kicks and kicks his downed attacker getting into the fight - - in Vanalden's lair, with the noise from the unseen vid screen getting louder as the fight continues - Vanalden: We bred it into the daggers, but we deny it in ourselves. However, you don't have to bleed much to be free. - Hudson grabs a knife from Vanalden's belt and holds the edge against his throat - Hudson: End it now. Vanalden: That didn't take long. - with Dagwood, who repeatedly slugs his now standing attacker and then grabs him in a deadly bear hug shaking him senseless - - in Vanalden's lair, the crowd cheers and Dagwood grunts continue while Hudson pressing the knife still to Vanalden's throat - Hudson: You release my men, send your people to the escape pods. Vanalden: Have you the courage? Have you? Hudson: Yes. Vanalden: It won't make any difference. Do you think they're going to follow you? - Hudson looks toward the vid screen - - with Dagwood, the crowd in a frenzy - - in Vanalden's lair, Hudson looks fazed but holds the knife steady - Vanalden: Do you think that he will? - Hudson looks again toward the vid screen - - with Dagwood, who squeezes his now unconcious attacker and drops him getting into the crowd spirit - Dagwood: Yeah! - in Vanalden's lair, Hudson still holds Vanalden at knife's edge but with his head turned toward the vid screen is unaware of Vanalden slight movement, a stun blast fires and Hudson drops while Vanalden remains standing - - with Dagwood, who looks ferocious and enjoys his victory with the crowd - Dagwood: Yeah! Dagwood: Yeah! [commercial break] - exterior, specter zooms over the ocean floor - - in specter - {to com link} Fredricks: Vectoring in on target-- 8,000 meters, bearing 1 7 9. - seaQuest bridge - Henderson: It's not too late to bring her back, Brody. {to com link} Brody: Get in as close as you can, Lieutenant, then strafe them. Don't try to take them on by yourself. - in specter - {to com link} Fredricks: I'm not crazy, sir, at least not with this chip in my head. - seaQuest bridge - Henderson: How much time do we have left? Tim: Five hours. Henderson: And it will take at least an hour to get back into firing position. We don't have time for this. Brody: They attacked seaQuest. Commander Ford is in a coma. We are not running from this fight. Put us on the ocean floor. Henderson: Our duty is to be at Mariana Trench to destroy the base if Captain Hudson's mission fails, not chasing after Alliance subs to satisfy a grudge. Brody: Mr. O'Neill, rig for silent running. Tim: She's got a very good point, sir. Brody: Which I have considered and rejected. You have your orders. Tim: Aye, sir. Rigging for silent running. - Mariana Base in Vanalden's lair, Hudson sits on the floor, his arms tied over his head, Vanalden stands over him - Vanalden: I don't suppose you approve of men fighting to the death, do you? Hudson: When it's for sport, no, I don't. Vanalden: Is that what you saw? Hudson: What would you call it? Vanalden: Basic training as it should be done, like medieval knights did it, culling the weak from the strong, keeping their warriors fit for battle. Hudson: My god, man. You attacked Palau Island to pick a fight? Vanalden: We could use a good war. Hudson: There's no such thing as a good war. Vanalden: Even you must admit that maintaining peace is futile. Why should we deny ourselves our most basic instinct? Hudson: Because it keeps us human. Vanalden: It's living a lie, one that the UEO is trying to impose on humanity. My first attack did not provoke a war. My second one most assuredly will. Hudson: You're insane. Vanalden: History will decide. Hudson: If there's anyone left. Vanalden: Survival of the fittest, Oliver. That is the point. - Mariana Base armory, Lucas works on the recharging unit until guards appear dragging a frenzied Dagwood, they shove him through the door closing it, he beats and tugs on the bars of the door - Lucas: Dagwood! What did they do to you? Dagwood: I almost killed a man. Lucas: You were defending yourself, Dagwood. - Dagwood comes down the steps - Dagwood: Part of me liked it. Lucas: And part of you didn't. That's the part that makes you human, Dagwood. - Dagwood lifts the pipe handrail of the steps moving the entire structure - Lucas: Now, Dagwood-- - Lucas steps forward and Dagwood shoves him to the floor - Dagwood: Don't! - Lucas slowly stands - Lucas: Now, Dagwood, we have to disable these missiles, O.K.? It's our only chance. Dagwood: Well, then do it. Lucas: O.K. All right. We have to find an energy-conducting alloy - as Lucas continues Dagwood turns and rips a metal pipe from the floor - Lucas: and jam it into the recharging unit. Now, the hard part can be overloading-- - Dagwood shoves the metal pipe into the unit - Lucas: Dagwood! - an electrical jolt knocks Dagwood out - Lucas: Dagwood! - Lucas rushes toward his side as the lights flicker - Lucas: Thank you. - exterior, specter moving fast - - seaQuest bridge - Tim: Specter 1's in position, sir. {to comlink} Brody: Fire when ready, Lieutenant. - exterior, specter moves over subs firing and speeding off - - in specter - {to comlink} Fredricks: I've definitely got their attention. - seaQuest bridge - Brody: Repeat firing sequence, then return along previous coordinates. - exterior, specter being pursued and fired upon - {over com} Fredricks: Affirmative. - seaQuest bridge - Henderson: What happens if we lose this fight? Brody: We're not going to. This time surprise is on our side. We're not going to retreat. Henderson: We could win this fight and still sustain heavy damage. Tim: They're coming in-- 5,000 meters and closing fast. Henderson: If we don't destroy Mariana Base, Vanalden could launch a nuclear first strike. Do you want that on your conscience? Brody: Mr. Piccolo, flood forward tubes able 1 through 5. Be prepared to fire the moment those war subs are overhead. Tony: We've already been hit pretty hard, sir. They get one lucky hit, and we could be stuck here for real. Brody: Not you, too. Tony: We're doing this for ourselves, to get even. That's selfish. The courageous thing would be to carry out our mission. "Courage is the temporary absence of selfishness." Stephen Crane wrote that. Tim: War sub 3,000 meters. 2 Minutes until contact. Sir, they could pass right over us and never even know we were here. Brody: Is this mutiny? Henderson: No, sir. It's a plea for reason, but we will follow your orders. Tim: 1,500 Meters, 60 seconds till impact. {to comlink} Brody: Fredricks, can you shake them? - in specter - {to comlink} Fredricks: I can lose my own shadow. - seaQuest bridge - {to comlink} Brody: Do it. {to Tony} Brody: Plot a course for the Mariana Trench. Tony: Aye, sir. Brody: Stephen Crane? Tony: Red Badge of Courage, sir. It's a great book. - Mariana Base in Vanalden's lair, Loper enters with Lucas, Dagwood and armed guards, Hudson remains tied up - Loper: They've managed to blow out the main power grid. Vanalden: Weak but inventive, I'll give you that. So you thought you could disable the missiles and prevent me from launching? Hudson: That was the idea. Vanalden: And once again you've disobeyed me. Some people never learn. Loper: The missile system is on an independent power grid. Vanalden: Now I will destroy seaQuest and Honolulu... and Brisbane. Hudson: And nothing I say will convince you not to provoke war. Vanalden: War? I am not destroying the world, Oliver. I am saving it. Hudson: I guess your daughter's going to miss Christmas this year. It's easy to push a button and send other people off to die, but I don't see you doing any fighting. Let's settle this your way-- you and me in the arena, or don't you have the guts to live and die by your own rules? Vanalden: Leaders only fight when their best warriors have failed. Loper: This has been a long time coming. [commercial break] - Mariana Base in the arena - Lucas: Captain. Captain, what are you going to gain by fighting her? Hudson: Time. He's watching a fight. He's not pushing buttons. It's up to seaQuest now. - Hudson faces Loper long metal pipe in hand, she twirls around her pipe - Hudson: He's insane, Commander. You can stop him from taking us to Armageddon. Loper: It started in Eden. - Lopers rams the pipe in his gut, the fight starts - Hudson: You can't believe that anarchy is better than peace. Loper: Peace is fantasy. Anarchy is the truth. - they battle until Hudson knocks her to floor and takes her pipe - Hudson: Is this the kind of world you want your daughter to grow up in? Is it? - Hudson throws down both pipes and Loper kicks him until he twists her arm taking down again - Hudson: You're frightened, aren't you? That's good. That means you value life. There's hope for you yet. - Hudson releases Loper and faces Vanalden - Hudson: You haven't found humanity here. You've lost it. And we refuse to be a part of this madness. Vanalden: Very well. Execute them. - guards drag Hudson, Lucas and Dagwood from the arena - - Hudson, Lucas and Dagwood, being led to certain death, start slugging their way free, a plasma blast fires, the last guard falls, and Loper appears - Hudson: Saving us for yourself? Loper: Five minutes ago I would have. Five minutes from now I just still might. You have to go. Hudson: We came here to disable the missiles, Pamela. Loper: I already have, Captain. Hudson: What changed your mind? Loper: My daughter. I realized that if I had won, there wouldn't be a world for her to live in. I don't want that. So... what does that make me? Lucas: It makes you a human being. Hudson: Come with us. Loper: It's too late for me. Now it's too late for all of us here. You just tell my daughter that in the end... I did the right thing. Go. - exterior seaQuest - - seaQuest bridge - Brody: Time. Tony: H-minus 30 seconds. Henderson: Any sign of the assault craft? Tim: No. Nothing on the sensors. Brody: Mr. Piccolo, flood all forward tubes. Tony: Tubes flooded. H-minus 15 seconds. Brody: Lock onto coordinates of Mariana Base. Tony: Locked and ready, sir. Brody: Fire on my mark. Henderson: No. The Captain is still down there somewhere with Lucas and Dagwood. Brody: I'm well aware of that fact, Henderson. Mr. Piccolo, fire torpedoes. Henderson: Give them half an hour. Brody: Don't you think I want to? But you showed me I can't. I wanted revenge for what those Alliance subs did to my boat, to my friend. You reminded me that no matter what I wanted, the mission came first. Henderson: I think I liked you better when you were wrong. Brody: Mr. Piccolo... fire torpedoes. - exterior seaQuest, several torpedoes launch - - seaQuest bridge - Tony: Torpedoes away. Brody: Let's pray our people are. - exterior Mariana Base - - in Vanalden's lair - Computer voice: Incoming torpedoes-- 10 confirmed. Vanalden: seaQuest? Computer voice: Impact 1 minute, 10 Seconds. Vanalden: Hudson? Loper: I let him go, sir. Vanalden: You let him go. You and Hudson, you never could make the hard choices. They all died, you know... the refugees. Two days after Hudson gave up his rank for them, an M.A. missile hit their refugee camp, and there was not a single survivor. Loper: Sir. Vanalden: Yes. Loper: If we had been able to, would you have launched the first nuclear strike? Vanalden: Perhaps... this... Computer voice: Impact in 10 seconds. Vanalden: is what I wanted all along. Computer voice: 8...7...6... 5...4...3... - shot of torpedoes zooming in on target - Computer voice: 1. - base explodes - - seaQuest bridge - Tim: All torpedoes hit their target. Base destroyed, sir. Brody: Any escape pods, lifeboats? Tim: No, sir. Just debris. - long pause, everyone looks worried - Tim: And one UEO assault craft requesting permission to board, sir. Brody: Whoo! Permission granted. Tim: Aye-aye, sir. - everyone's happy, whooping it up and back slapping - //Guadeloupe Seamount// - seaQuest Ward Room, McGath on vidlink - McGath: Not to sound melodramatic, but you may have saved the world today. What did happen down there? Hudson: A computer malfunction complicated by cases of isolation dementia, sir. McGath: You would do this for Vanalden after what he did to your career? Hudson: You have my report, sir. - seaQuest, medbay - Henderson: You're going to be O.K. Ford: You say that like it's a good thing. Henderson: It isn't? Ford: Well, when Captain Hudson finds out what I let happen to this boat, I want to look as sympathetic as possible. - seaQuest, Hudson enters bridge - Hudson: Mr. Brody. Brody: Sir. Hudson: Brief me, please. Brody: Sir? Hudson: Captain, XO out of commission, seaQuest in the heat of battle without a commander. Any problems? Brody: No, sir. Never came up. Hudson: It didn't? Brody: No, sir. We're all familiar with the chain of command. Hudson: Keep the helm, sir. Get us underway. Brody: Yes, sir. Mr. Piccolo... all ahead full. Tony: Yes, sir. - seaQuest, Lucas enters Dagwood's room - Lucas: I just, uh, came by to see if you were O.K. Dagwood: I almost became a killer. I feel... sick. Lucas: Then you are O.K. Dagwood, we all have an animal inside ourselves, and... maybe the best of us learn how to tame it. Dagwood: And that's why I have this-- to remind me. Lucas: A cockroach. Dagwood: I'm saving a life.