Original subtitles

Percy, where did you put the...?

Do you require something, Marcus?

Yeah.

Percy.

I apologise, but she asked that I not divulge her whereabouts.

Has she been in contact with you since she left?

I'm unable to answer that.

She's not in any trouble, is she? Suffice it to say

that if there were a problem, I would be aware.

Yeah.

But would you tell me?

I know that you're missing her, Marcus,

but Percy programmed me to respect her wishes for privacy.

Yeah, well, I could always reprogram you.

You would need months to reprogram me.

Yeah, okay, Carl.

I get the picture.

Just... keep me posted, yeah?

Shuttle's nearly docked. That's all right. You're not happy about this one, are you?

Well, it seems a bit hard, doesn't it?

Mass Fed asking a bounty ship to transport their trade minister.

Not as if they haven't got their own ships.

There's a point to ponder.

Done. Right, 300,000 credits. That's what we're getting for this.

Biggest payday ever.

Which I seem to recall is what I got outvoted.

Well, we've done plenty of missions I didn't agree with.

I haven't said a word about this one.

Until now.

Well, you did ask.

This is Mars Minister of Trade Andres Kulcic, Travis Fontana.

Welcome aboard the Trans-Eutopian Minister. Thank you, Captain.

You know Kelly, this is Marcus Fagan.

Mr. Fagan.

And Rodolfo de Luna.

So this is Joffrey Henrich, my personal assistant, and my security team,

Hagen Dirkert and Gaynor Sean.

Well, you'll want to inspect the Minister's quarters. Follow me.

Well, Minister Kozik, we were told you provided a witness once we'd arrived.

So, where exactly are we headed?

The Mannheim asteroid belt.

A bit of a trek? What's out there?

Our mission.

It's all clear, sir.

So, I do hope I'm not getting an inside cabin.

Well, I guess we'll leave you to it, then.

Computer?

My name is Caravaggio, Miss Jones.

How may I help you? I'd like to send the information

on this disc to my office before we leave orbit.

Certainly. There is a disc scanner on the cabinet. Place the disc in the scanner,

and the information will be sent automatically.

Good.

That disc has updated your central matrix and

your voice and facial recognition programs.

It has? Let's run a simple test. Who am I?

What an odd question.

You're Percy Montaigne.

You'll follow your new directives as programmed on the disc, is that clear?

Of course, Percy. Excellent.

Cup of tea, then.

Hey, Jovi, isn't it?

Yeah.

I'm Marcus.

I remember it. Would you like a guided tour of the children?

Sure, that'd be great.

Come this way.

A man-home belt.

Any hits and it's coming out of your cut.

My cut?

What about Marcus' cut, Gally's cut? They voted for this as well. Hey,

we're operating in the red.

300,000 gives us some breathing room.

Well, it still feels a little off to me.

Well, if it makes you feel any better,

the assignment came directly from President Moreland.

On Mars, that's a big deal.

A feather in our cap.

Good for the reputation, so to say.

Yeah, good point. Except for the fact we're not allowed to tell anyone about it.

Neat.

Subsonic probe.

You know what that is?

My dad was a ship's engineer.

You're kidding.

So, um, this is where it all happens.

You work in here alone?

Uh, usually Travis's cousin would work with me.

She's away on leave.

That would be Percy Montana.

How did you know that?

We ran a full security check on all the Trans-Utopian crew naturally.

Naturally?

Hold on a second.

Hey, that's weird.

What is?

I thought I'd finished that schematic.

Car should have run his check and saved it by now.

Car? Yes, Marcus?

Are we maybe having a little system crash?

No, Marcus.

Anyway, I have to show you the anti-matter module control room. It'll blow you away.

Why don't you tell me who you are?

So, what can you tell us about your mission, Minister?

Not a great deal, I'm afraid.

We're better able to protect you if we know what we're up against.

Let's just say it's a very sensitive trade mission.

The secrecy is merely a safeguard against possible industrial espionage.

So why hire us?

Perhaps you should better ask Sean what's her decision.

Official departures are closely monitored.

No one will suspect a minister of travelling with bounty hunters.

I can hardly believe our luck.

I can assure you that neither your crew nor your ship are in any danger.

So if you excuse me, I've got some work to do.

So now what do you think?

I think we keep our eyes open.

Heighten the cheekbones.

Very well.

Now, uh, moustache.

Black, slightly droopy.

Yeah, good.

Hazel eyes. Very well.

I said hazel eyes.

Very well.

Carl?

There was a minor software conflict in the system's interface.

Where's Kozik? I have lost that data. You gormless

ballet dancer. Was that an insult?

Nothing. Just sort yourself out, and we'll get back to it later.

It's coming through now.

We have you, Mr. President.

Hello, Trans Utopian.

Hello, Andrus.

You're being well treated.

Very.

Captain Montana.

I'd like to apologize for the strict security surrounding our mission.

Oh, we understand, Mr. President.

Our trade partners in this negotiation are somewhat skittish.

We appreciate your discretion in this matter.

My aides tell me I have to say goodbye.

Thank you all again.

Well, I trust everything's in order.

I'll be in my cabin.

You know Mars politics better than I do. What sort of reputation does Morland have?

He's actually considered a bit of a softie.

What about Polzig?

I don't really know much about him, except that he keeps a low profile.

Anything I should know about Dirkert and Schoen?

No, just your typical Mars security types.

So I shouldn't mess with them, then?

Well, you have learned something from me.

The hard way.

So this is the longest I've ever been at a job.

You get bored easily?

As a rule, yeah.

But not here.

You must like it.

I like the people I work with.

And you're lucky to find that politics tracks the strangest people.

You never know what you're getting most of the time.

So why?

Why did you get into politics?

Maybe I'm one of those strange people.

No, I don't think so.

I know strange.

You mean Percy?

How do you know so much about her anyway?

Our briefings are pretty thorough.

Do you have a thing for her?

No.

No, we're, uh... We're just friends.

Whatever your briefings may say...

Would you like me to deal with it?

Oh, hello.

Just be talking to Caravaggio. Is there anything I can help you with?

No, I got lost.

Well, she's a big ship.

Mm.

And you probably know more about her than I do.

I presume you did check us out.

We know your ship and crew quite well, yes.

You chose us for the job anyway?

I see.

Not in a laughing mood, are we?

To be quite honest, Travis, I chose your ship because of you.

We have a high level of confidence in your abilities.

Oh, really?

Mm-hmm.

I know that you have doubts about this mission, and I'd be worried if you didn't,

but I can assure you that Minister Kolsig is

here to close the trade deal, nothing more.

Well, how's that, then?

I can find my way back from here.

What the hell are you doing in here?

I'm terribly sorry, but... What?

Carl, are you sure Dercot asked for privacy mode? Yes. Then I don't get it. I mean,

aren't you two supposed to be reachable by the minister at all times?

That's correct.

It appears that Mr. Dercot suffered a heart attack.

Any sign of heart disease, Carl?

Only on the parrot.

Pray again.

He was too young for this.

That's what I'm a little confused about, sir.

I'd like to get the body back to the infirmary

so Carl can do a more thorough examination.

I don't understand.

Don't understand what?

The fire and bulkhead door systems.

These?

Yeah.

I programmed in a manual link, routed it to the bridge,

and left Carr to implement it. It took me ages.

Now the date and time are logged on my stations, but not on his.

Carr, what happened to the system updates that I finalized yesterday?

I have no logged updates.

Well, then your system must have crashed.

I have no record of a reboot, and Travis wants to see you in the galley.

At least they keep you busy.

Come in.

A gainer.

Don't worry, I'm still breathing.

How are you, Minister?

A little shaken.

I didn't know Dirkut as well as I know you, but I liked him.

He was a good man.

Loyal.

So to what do I owe the pleasure?

I want you to know that your security will not

be compromised because of Dirkut's death.

Thank you, Gaynor.

I think you realize how important these negotiations

are to President Moreland's five-year plan.

Oh, I do, sir.

So in spite of what happened to Dirk, I will not be distracted.

The president will have the deal he needs.

Of course, sir.

Karl, why the delayed transmission?

Our proximity to the Mannheim asteroid belt is interfering with signals.

I will log your request and send the transmission when conditions improve.

May I be of any other assistance?

Just make sure Mars transmission gets priority.

Understood.

Okay, Minister.

I've got to admit, Jophie, I'm enjoying working with you.

What?

Oh, me too.

Yeah, it's nice to have someone around. Although, to be honest,

I kind of feel like I'm cheating on Percy.

That's strange.

Well, it's not that strange.

You know, we've been working on the tulip together

for so long now, refitting and rejigging.

Feels like she's ours.

You know, like... She's a little bit of both of us.

We gave her life.

Caravaggio's general diagnostics check-out.

Sorry, I'm babbling.

What?

These diagnostics are clear. Oh.

You can't tell me the car's fine because he's not.

Then why are we getting the all clear on every diagnostic we're running?

Caravaggio? Yes?

Are you reading any bugs in your diagnostics?

You'd like me to run a diagnostic on my diagnostics?

Yeah, basically.

There are no errors. Well, how are you feeling?

I'm afraid I can't answer that question.

No, it's all right.

Never mind, car.

That'll be all.

Natural causes.

The post-mortem. Located an asymptomatic congenital defect in Mr.

Durcott's left ventricle.

You're sure, car?

Positive.

Well, there it is, then.

Is it? I don't feel so reassured.

Hey, how's Joppy?

Car, privacy mode, please. Certainly.

You know those new manual control systems I was installing?

Took me a week to reroute them.

Ka has no record of them in his files.

Have you run a diagnostic?

I've run diagnostics on the diagnostics.

I couldn't find anything, but... something feels wrong.

I thought you said it was nothing major.

Yeah, well... I'm not saying that anymore.

Got it.

Listen, we're running close to the asteroid belt.

If you find anything wrong with Ka, that might compromise us.

You'll be the first to know.

Well...

Fancy doing a visual inspection of Durka's quarters?

You read my mind.

The car's in a sanctum.

It's beautiful.

Careful.

He has a big enough head already.

What are you looking for?

An anomaly in his operating matrix that indicates a nanosystem crash.

And then?

And then we trace this synaptic link and check

if it was an internal glitch or something else.

Now we wait.

So, have you ever thought about getting out of politics? I mean,

I bet you could teach me a thing or two.

Are you better?

Well, that's it.

It looks like Carr's command program is being overridden.

Some sort of wave code overlaying the original voice and facial recognition program.

Have you ever read any Sherlock Holmes?

Must have missed that class.

That's right, I forgot.

He's a writer?

No, he's a fictional character, a detective from centuries ago,

before they used computers to solve crimes.

Well, there's nothing like getting down and dirty.

I'm all for the hands-on approach.

Okay, Charlotte. What do you make of this?

It looks like a scuff mark.

Damn, it's a little too long for scuff mud, anything?

Yeah.

Durkart was dragged in, which means however he got here,

it looks like he was murdered to me.

Very good, detective.

It was elementary, my dear Watson.

Why isn't this working, Karp? I have no idea, Marcus.

Okay, I just want to take a little look at your command system.

This won't hurt a bit.

Self-diagnostic finds nothing wrong with my command system.

Yeah, well, you're just gonna have to trust me on this one, Carr.

There's a faint smell of corruption about. Okay,

can you shut down your energy field if I give

you my code? Certainly. 092568 Marcus 3.

Accepted. Field shutting down.

Car?

Yes, Rodolfo.

Do we pay you to lurk around? I'm certain you have no money.

You can be an idiot.

I'm sorry if I startled you,

but I thought you'd like to know that I've not been

able to send your transmission to Mars Federation.

Mars Fed needs to see it. I don't think Kozik is who he claims to be.

And you know who he really is?

I'm working on it. I know him from somewhere.

Caravaggio? Yes, Percy.

Tell me when he remembers.

Understood.

So, you got a plan?

Yes, sir, clients.

We need a little more to go on than a scuff mark, don't you?

Yeah.

Has Marcus come up with anything on Carr yet?

Last I knew, he was with Jophie in Carr's Matrix room.

Working on it, I guess.

There's a tight beam communication coming in.

From whom?

Uh, what is more like it? Carr, am I imagining things,

or is that an asteroid heading towards us?

The transmission is originating from the asteroid.

It would appear to be under intelligent control.

Cut engines. Bring us a bow.

Car, who's hailing us?

No identity is encoded in the transmission. We are being asked, or rather told,

to tell Minister Kolsik that, quote, his friends are here.

Minister Kolsik?

Your friends are here.

Car, send a comm to that, uh, ship.

Tell them we'll not respond to their transmission unless they identify themselves.

Acknowledged.

I want to talk to Andras Kolzik.

He's on his way. I'm Travis Montana. Can I help you?

We know who you are, Montana.

And you have me at a disadvantage. That's good.

Online?

We're ahead of you.

I'm Mr. Reasoner. Good to see you.

Send a shuttle over, and we'll talk on board the Trans-Utopian.

Minister Kolzik.

Some spaceship.

Hardly a spaceship.

Just enough power to stay out of trouble in the belt. Oh?

To what end? A profitable one, no doubt.

That's a mining asteroid.

So do we proceed or not?

I'll shuttle him over.

Someone to help?

Marcus? Carr, where is he? In my matrix chamber.

Take it easy.

Hey, let's make sure you're all right first. How's Jophie?

I'm sorry.

Oh, no.

What happened?

Seems something went wrong with Carl's self-defense system.

First, Dirk, I didn't know Jophie.

What is happening here?

I'll get Marcus to the infirmary.

Perhaps we should be asking you two the same question.

I beg your pardon?

I'd be careful of throwing accusations around, Mr. Montana. Hey, it's our ship.

We get to ask the questions.

For goodness sake, why should we harm Joffy? And the fact is,

we weren't anywhere near this room when it happened. How convenient.

Car?

Why did your defense system malfunction?

I do not know. I have shut the program down.

Seems to me your computer has turned into a killer.

Don't be ridiculous. Mr. Montana, I'm deeply offended by your insinuations.

May I remind you that computers do malfunction?

Continue along this line and you jeopardize your future.

Not to mention the 300,000 credits we're paying you.

Two people have died on my ship.

I don't particularly care about the money or who I offend at the moment.

I'm meeting with Mr. Reason. I will go ahead as planned.

I insist. Until I know what's going on, no one leaves this ship.

Understood? We'll send the shuttle on auto.

That is acceptable.

It wasn't an option.

Sir.

It's a reason.

We'll conclude our business in my quarters and then get you back.

Just you and me, Minister. That's what we agreed.

Of course.

That wasn't what we agreed, sir.

Anybody else and I walk.

I'm sorry, Gaynor. I'll be fine.

Might be useful to find out what they mine on that rock.

I think we might have a problem getting Reasoner to tell us that.

Not if you give me two minutes to loan with him.

Computer, privacy mode.

Certainly, Minister.

You sure?

Computer, we need help in here. I am sure.

So, as we agreed...

Twenty million directly to your account.

Hold the Duranium shipments until I send for them.

That's a good deal.

I wonder what President Moreland's military planners will do

when the Duranium he promised them fails to materialize.

They'll see if we ever can deliver.

Moreland doesn't suspect. He trusts me like a brother because I made him.

The perfect win-win scenario.

I look forward to hearing from you, Coles.

But by then I'll be calling you Mr. President, I suppose. Well, in good time.

Marcus, my good boy.

How are you feeling?

How do you think? I know.

I miss Joffy, too.

She liked you.

So, it's the reason I would like to leave us

now as we have concluded our discussions.

To your satisfaction, I hope.

Unfortunately, no.

Negotiations don't always work out.

Perhaps at some future date.

So, Mr. Reasoner, what do you mine? Precious metals.

That's why we have to be so careful when it comes to security.

We've got a lot to lose.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I must return to Hellstow.

What a pity.

All this way for nothing.

Oh, I don't know.

Two people died yelling at Sam.

Carter Bergen.

How could I forget you?

Hellstones are rare asteroids that supposedly

passed into our universe through a black hole.

Now, the journey produces nuggets of almost pure Duranium-237.

That's the base metal used to create negative energy.

Which, correct me if I'm wrong, you think is the key to light speed.

Yeah.

So, if Reasoner's Rock is a Hellstone,

that might have something to do with Jophie and Durka's deaths.

Yeah, but we're missing something. If this was a simple business negotiation,

why did they have to die at all?

And why would Kulzik go through all this trouble just to let the deal go?

Yeah, well, maybe that's what he wants us to believe.

So you were right.

You've seen the computer's log from Coldseek's quarters.

It confirms what you've suspected all along, Mr. President.

Andrus Coldseek is a traitor.

But there's a bigger problem we have to deal with.

Coldseek has another secret that could hurt you very badly, sir.

What is it?

I can't risk telling you in case this channel isn't totally secure.

If it gets out, sir, you'd be ruined by association.

Does Reasoner know as well?

We can't take that chance.

Do whatever it takes.

I will.

I know who he is. Who?

Kozik.

Kozik's not cozy.

Get your guns. He won't come quietly.

What the hell just happened?

It looks like we just fired the particle beam and blew that asteroid to smithereens.

Carter Perkin!

It is you, isn't it? An interesting name. Should I recognize it?

You and your men killed 57 innocent people at Mons Settlement.

I had family there. You're still a wanted man.

Would you like to tell us how you got control of our party, would we?

I have no idea what you're talking about.

Oh, Hellstone was destroyed, but you don't know anything about it.

Hellstone was destroyed.

That can't be true.

Carl, send out a mayday beamed at Marsfeld. Total system failure. Confirmed.

Mayday sent. Reasoner and I had a deal for the Duranian.

That's not what you told us.

Give me five minutes with him.

I'll get the truth for you. Pardon the interruption.

Percy wishes to speak with you. No time for jokes, Car.

It's no joke, Travis. Car and I are good friends, aren't we, Car? Yes, Percy.

She made Car fire the particle beam.

Car thinks Gaynor's Percy.

So it would seem.

Damn it!

It's a wave code program.

I found it in Caravaggio's matrix. I thought it was

just another malfunction, and then Jophie died.

I didn't have time to... It was written on his voice and facial recognition program.

Marcus. Okay. Kena, what the hell have you been doing?

Listen.

I wonder what President Moreland's military planners will do

when the Duranium he promised them fails to materialize.

That's if we ever can deliver.

Moreland doesn't suspect.

He does now.

So that's what this is about.

Control of negative energy.

The president trusted him, but I didn't.

So I persuaded him to let me put that trust to the test.

And now I know who you really are.

You tell me, Carter Burkhan, what are my options?

I can't take you back to stand trial. The scanner will ruin the president.

I'm putting the ship on auto-destruct and taking the shuttle.

No, she can't initiate auto-destruct without Percy's code.

Only Percy knows that code.

I wouldn't put anything past her. I don't think we

should take any chances. Let's get to the bridge.

Activate auto-destruct sequence code 9-19-19-2-alpha-Percy.

Auto-destruct activated. Disable all other codes. Code access disabled.

Three minutes countdown on my mark. Are you sure you want to do this, Percy?

They're trying to kill me, Carr. I have to get away.

Power up the shuttle.

Shuttle powering up.

Two minutes, 50 seconds to auto-destruct.

Carr, disable auto-destruct 3B-6B-Cali.

Access denied.

She must have locked us out.

We need to hack into Carl's program and get the cancellation codes.

Yeah, I'm trying.

Brian, I should have done this when I first... Two minutes,

40 seconds to auto-destruct.

If he comes round, hit him again.

I'm gonna get that code out and we should.

Doors, Carl!

Carl!

They're all sealed. Two minutes, 30 seconds. Travis, over here!

What's the plan?

The tech conduit. I'm going to start that ship.

Just break the codes.

Come on!

Two minutes, 20 seconds. We're not going to make it.

Every sub-route has a block on it.

Keep trying.

Travis, how are you doing?

Not so good. You okay?

I'll let you know.

Two minutes, ten seconds.

One minute, 50 seconds. Please.

One minute, 40 seconds.

Gotcha.

What's wrong with the shuttle? Power up!

I'm sorry, Percy, I cannot. There appears to be malfunctioning code.

Can't gain her. So give out the cancellation code or die with us.

What cancellation code? Cancelation code.

I didn't run a program to look for that. There's no time now.

One minute, 30 seconds.

Sorry.

Travis, Gaynor doesn't have the cancellation code.

Fantastic.

We're not having much luck either.

Percy's locked the access codes.

Oh, Percy, I mean.

One minute, 20 seconds.

I want you guys to nose on it.

I've never said this before.

Shut up!

You're both fiends biting the arse. I know.

One minute, ten seconds.

Open the door.

You shouldn't have... Open the damn door!

Open it yourself. I can't unlock the sequence.

I told you you shouldn't have done that.

Callie?

Get out if you can.

Fifty seconds. Callie?

Come on, there's got to be a way in.

You're right.

There is no way in.

So that's that, then.

Forty seconds.

Car, we don't have the cancellation codes,

and we can't access the destruct sequence. What do you think's gonna happen to us?

You will be dead in 30 seconds.

Because Percy wants us to die?

Yes. Oh, so she wants to kill her crewmates and her cousin, is that it?

Yes.

Car, Percy isn't even on the ship.

Your recognition programs have been overwritten.

I can assure you she wouldn't want to do this to us.

So search your memory. Twenty seconds.

There's got to be a part of it that Gaynor hasn't infected. You have the proof.

Find it.

Fifteen.

Fourteen.

Thirteen.

Twelve.

My ship. This is my ship.

Don't you think we should concentrate on the fact that we're dying? Sorry.

Five. Four. Five.

I do care about you guys, though, for some reason.

Two.

One.

Auto-destruct.

Cancel.

I figured you'd think you wouldn't find anything. Hey.

Hey.

Thought you might have taken the shuttle.

You don't get off that easy. Oh, dear.

I'm detecting a wave code program across my entire matrix.

I have been horribly manipulated. Don't worry about it, Carl.

Now you've detected the wave, we'll be able to clean it up.

I do hope I wasn't too much trouble.

We could have made a fortune out of that duranium.

A converted spoonful of that stuff would have

been enough to power up the antimatter drive.

Well, no use crying over spilled duranium.

Ganymede orbit in two standard days.

Thanks, Car.

Um, Car, report on the last 24 hours, please.

Uneventful.

En route to Mars. All systems nominal.

Car, could we have privacy mode, please?

Certainly, Marcus.

What?

You think I'm going to leave him with the memories of what Gaynor made him do?

Even if he is just a computer. It wouldn't be fair.

So what are we going to tell President Morland?

You mean, how are we going to get our money?

How about 300,000 for our silence?

Interesting.

He was willing to have us killed to save his reputation.

And we have the bodies to prove it.

Bring him down.

I don't know about us, but if certain media outlets

were to receive certain anonymous transmissions... Blackmail.

It's just politics.

On the next Star Hunter... Corrina, we've got to talk.

You know the rules. First, we drink.

I'm always amazed about how many people take their life in their hands. It is...

Another idiot gone.

Marcus?

Take them away. This is Tebbit sending the backup!