Original subtitles

[Kate] We're getting ready to land, sweetie, so I'm going to sign off soon.

I just wanted you to know I love you and I'm thinking about you.

I told Grandma she can make your bedtime an hour later than usual.

She says you've been having bad dreams.

Remember what Mommy told you.

Any time you wake up from a bad dream,

just turn on the light, look at Mommy's picture,

and know that I'm always with you.

Even though I'm too far away to hold you,

I'm always with you.

Honey, I know all this talk of war is scary.

It scares me too.

But that's why we're here.

It's our job to meet with the Dregs

and find a way to stop the bad feelings between us.

There's a lot of people who don't think

this summit will make a difference,

but I think we're going to do just fine.

I love you, sweetheart.

I'll be home as soon as I can.

End transmission, Ministry of Defense envoy, Kate Woods.

[device beeps]

[Thurman] We're here. Where are the Dregs?

[Bachman] I'm sure they'll be here.

[man] The conditions of the summit were crystal clear. Mr. Ambassador--

I refuse to allow these talks to get off on the wrong foot, Colonel.

And climbing back into the shuttle and leaving

before we even get started is the wrong foot.

Secor, feed in our handshake signal.

-[Thurman] What's the point? They're not here. -They will be.

Both parties were to enter this facility at 1900 hours sharp.

It is now 1910.

Our shuttle just left. Theirs isn't even on final approach.

I don't remind you that confidence of a terrorist attack is high.

We have every reason to leave.

Colonel, we have a chance to gain some real concessions here.

[Thurman] We're sitting ducks.

Ask your expert if you don't believe me...

Their culture is based on actions.

It's about the only thing you can count on with the Dreg.

If they're late, they may not be coming at all.

Well, their actions are speaking volumes to me.

Secor, find out where they are.

[system beeping]

[Kate] There, they're on their way. This is just a little hiccup.

With all due respect, if the diplomats of the world had done their jobs properly,

none of us would be here right now.

-Sir, I'm picking up a signal. -[signal beeping]

The Dreg ambassador's shuttle is experiencing navigational problems.

I don't like this one damn bit.

[Kate] We had trouble with the ion storm. Why couldn't they?

This is going to be a hell of a negotiation

if you take everything they say at face value.

You act like they have no history of murder or violence.

I know full well what the Dregs are capable of, Colonel.

-Ambassador, the shuttle's declaring an emergency. -[rapid beeping]

[Dreg shuttle] Patriot shuttle, repeat. We're breaking up.

[indistinct] Main thrusters have failed. Final approach now at...

[signal breaking up]

[Dreg shuttle] Sabotage.

Sabotage?

If they think we're responsible They'll consider it an act of war.

Their battleship just went on full alert.

Dregosian Command, this is Ambassador Noel Bachman.

-Weapons systems are coming on-line. -They'll fire.

This is not our doing. We're on a mission of peace.

[Thurman] Get our ship out of there.

Conquest, withdraw. You're not to return fire.

Cease fire! Cease fire!

[screaming]

[alarm sounding]

[exclaims]

[beeping]

[alarm stops]

[explosions]

-Ambassador? -Dead, both of them.

[system beeping]

[Secor] The Dreg homeworld.

They've deployed their fleet.

So has Earth.

Oh, my God. We've got to call them back.

This was all a mistake.

There's no calling them back. We're at war.

In three hours we're going to totally annihilate each other.

[Control Voice] 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.

[Control Voice] Buried deep within the heart of every conflict

lies a territory known as common ground.

But how do we summon the courage

to seek out its borders?

Knots, walk the perimeter.

I want you to make sure that the integrity of the facility hasn't been compromised.

Morris, Woods, start securing food and water.

Rationing begins immediately.

-Colonel. -Secor, bring communications back up.

-[Morris] Colonel. -What?

You are not in charge here. Kate is.

We're at war, Mr. Morris, that puts me in charge.

The Ministry of Defense envoy supersedes the authority of any military leader in peacetime.

Now, until we hear otherwise, this is still peacetime.

Both sides are racing to their launch thresholds.

When they get there, we're going to fire on them and they're going to fire on us.

The missiles will practically pass right over us on the way to their targets.

And about three hours later

we'll have the distinction of being the last of a dying breed.

Get me Coalition Command.

I guarantee you, they've declared war.

It's dead. The transmitter's blown.

-What about the emergency transmitter? -Scrap metal.

Until we hear otherwise, we are not at war.

They heard the transmission. They think we're all dead.

Until we hear otherwise, you want me to turn command over

to someone who's clearly in over their head.

The only order Ms. Woods has ever given

is for dessert at a diplomatic luncheon.

No offense, but this isn't something you want.

You don't have to turn command over to me, Colonel.

It was never yours to turn over.

Secor, pull the comm panel, see how bad the damage is.

[beeps]

[Thurman] Ms. Woods...

In a little over three hours,

both sides will reach their launch thresholds and begin firing.

You want to play commander-in-chief, be my guest.

How can you be civil to them after what they did to you?

You okay?

Yeah.

It was a cheap shot. Don't let him get to you.

It was a fair enough question.

I ask myself the same thing every day.

You've got a little...

Thanks.

[slowed beeping]

-[Thurman] What happened? -Power core's down.

Must have been hit by debris.

We're gonna have to go out and look at it.

The core's responsible for life support and the backup is shot.

Well, son, you've got the rest of your life

to get it back on-line.

The ventilators are only good for about 15 minutes.

So, let's get out and get in.

Stay close. Anyone wanders off, we're not coming to get you.

[Secor] There it is.

[beeping]

[Thurman] Well?

[Secor] The others seem to be functioning.

If we can just push this beam free,

I should be able to take this unit off-line

and reroute around it.

[Kate] Let's do it.

[Thurman] Let me get in there, ma'am.

I can get a grip on it.

Here, you can hold this.

[creaking]

[Secor] All right, ready?

[Thurman] On the count of three.

[all] One, two, three.

[Kate] What the hell?

[feet shuffling]

[Morris] Kate, where are you?

I'm a few meters southwest of you.

I thought I saw something move out here.

[Morris] Probably just the lights flashing.

[indistinct comm]

[comm signal crackling]

Jonathan?

Jonathan?

[gasps]

[coughing]

[gasps]

[inhales]

[continues coughing]

[Morris] Kate?

Here, breathe.

[Thurman] Is she okay?

-Are you hurt? -[Kate continues coughing]

What happened out there?

Something grabbed me.

This is supposed to be a deserted planetoid.

Nothing could live in that atmosphere.

[banging on door]

For something that's not alive it's making a hell of a lot of noise.

Secor, what the hell's going on?

It's okay.

Those doors won't open without a handshake signal fed in from the Dreg side.

[loud banging]

[Kate] Keep those doors shut.

I can't. Whatever it is, it's got access.

They look human.

[computer voice] Emergency bulkhead activated.

All personnel to forward chamber.

Bulkhead sealed.

Emergency venting.

-[air whooshing] -[beeping]

[Kate] They are human.

They're Dregs.

These are the faces responsible for Armageddon.

Ambassador Prosser.

You invite us here under the guise of peace,

only to trigger a war that will kill billions of human beings.

Coalition and Dregosian alike.

It was your unprovoked attack that triggered this action.

I'd hardly call the sabotaging of our shuttle "unprovoked."

Ambassador, how did you get here?

We crashed just over a cliff from here.

We're the only survivors. God only knows how we found our way through the storm.

Our ventilators were just about out when--

When you ran into me.

[chuckles]

I apologize.

It was a matter of survival.

Here, you can have it back.

I'm holding you personally responsible for the deaths

of the men and women aboard the Conquest.

I would execute you myself if I had half a chance.

So, this is who they send to talk peace.

Is it any wonder that after five generations of enduring their hatred and oppression,

that we've risen up against you?

We gave you life.

[Kate] That's enough. I'll speak for the delegation.

Life... Life under a sun so bright

that we need yellow eyes to reflect its rays.

A third lung to tolerate the thin atmosphere. No, no...

You engineered us to serve your needs.

Now you must live with us and our demand for human rights.

Ambassador, we've extended your rights time and again.

And what rights would those be, my dear?

The right to live out our lives in your mines?

Or the right to send trion ore back to Earth to run your power plants? No, no.

With rights come freedom, and we have neither.

You have more freedom than any generation of Dregs that's ever lived.

[Thurman] And what do we get in return? A coup d'etat.

The commandeering of Coalition armed forces and their ships on Dregosia.

What do you think, we're stupid?

We know there's been talk of genocide.

Murder Dregosians en masse and start over.

Only this time genetically weed out all the aggressive tendencies.

-What are you talking about? -That's enough.

Step away from the negotiating area.

[beeping]

[sighs]

Ambassador,

on behalf of the United Coalition

I would like to express my deepest regrets that this misunderstanding

has led us to where we are.

I'll do everything within my power to rectify the situation,

but it's imperative that we remain focused on the emergency that faces us all.

How wonderfully rehearsed.

And which page of the negotiator's handbook did that come from?

-Sir. -Where is Ambassador Bachman?

He's dead.

I'm Kate Woods, acting Ambassador.

Please, we have to contact our homeworlds

and get them to stop this race to destruction.

We have the greatest respect for you and your people.

And I'm confident we can find a solution to this crisis.

I think I'd rather talk to the Colonel.

-What? -At least I know where I stand with him.

You, my dear. The insincerity reads loud and clear in your voice.

Ambassador, I assure you you're mistaken.

-Have you ever heard of the Halsey Study? -The what?

The Halsey Study. It took place a year ago,

just before the Dregs overran Dregosia.

We liberated Dregosia.

It was designed to determine how it was possible

that some Dregs were exhibiting leadership abilities.

I was one of the geneticists involved.

How appropriate. I was one of the subjects.

Must have been very disappointing for you

to find that the very attributes you bred out of the Dregs

for so many generations

had somehow found themselves back into the gene pool.

Natural selection's a bitch.

What's your point?

The point is, my dear, you're not dealing with a mine laborer.

I can see through your insincere pleasantries,

and it leaves me with a dilemma.

How do I trust you?

Our transmitter and our backup are shot,

but our signal amplifier is still working.

If your emergency transmitter is still functioning,

maybe we can find a way to connect the two systems

and stop the attack.

Ambassador, is your transmitter still working?

[Thurman] There's no point in trying to talk to him, Morris.

I've dealt with his kind before.

Geghan Bay, Prescott Canyon.

Prescott Canyon. You're the Thurman of Prescott Canyon?

That's right.

Maybe I won't talk to the Colonel after all.

Really? My feelings are hurt.

I was at Prescott Canyon six years ago.

I was one of the thousands of Dregs you tried to starve.

What are you talking about?

You didn't feed us, Colonel.

The grain was contaminated.

That's a lie.

-That's a lie. -It was tainted with larza virus.

You only tested the first shipments. The others were fine.

They were tainted, and there were some wanted to feed it to you anyway.

I was the one who stepped in and stopped it.

You know, on our planet, you're nothing but a war criminal.

I will not spend my remaining hours talking to a criminal,

or an understudy.

Ambassador, this isn't something you can just walk away from.

[door beeps]

Ambassador! Ambassador! You son of a bitch.

That's a little bit better.

[Thurman] Did you try cross-wiring the beacon array?

The beacon array's dead. I'm trying to boost the emitter.

I'm more concerned with air quality, though.

The scrubbers are failing.

[Kate] Two hours before the fleets get to their launch threshold

and he's playing the intimidation card.

[sighs]

Maybe Thurman's right.

All I've ever done is sit on committees and recommend policy.

What the hell am I doing here?

Bachman knew what he was doing, Kate.

Want to know what I think?

He saw in you an inspirational example of what he hoped we could all be.

He admired you

for not letting hate that you must have felt when Brian was killed to consume you.

You pushed past it.

I didn't push past it, I buried it.

I thought I had it under control, but I don't.

[exhales]

I've masked my feelings and convictions so long, I don't know who I am anymore.

That's what diplomats do.

We all have to hide our true feelings for one reason or another.

Only let the appropriate ones show.

Keep all the others to ourselves.

We're afraid to let them out.

Sometimes keeping them locked up inside is worse.

And what are you keeping locked up inside, Jonathan?

Jonathan, I'm sorry. I'm not...

-[blasts] -[exclaims] Damn it.

We're wasting our time. The comm panel's dead.

You have a better way to spend our time?

Knots got a look at their emergency transmitter while the doors were open.

He doesn't think it's damaged.

I say we find a way onto the Dregs' side,

get their transmitter, Secor can hook it up to our signal amp,

and we can contact Coalition Command.

Who's gonna contact the Dreg fleet?

They will, with a little persuasion.

-[Morris scoffs] -What?

Kate, you're not actually entertaining this thought.

We have to stop the launch somehow.

Of course we do, but we can't force them into it.

It'll only breed more mistrust.

A peaceful solution is the only thing that's gonna stop this.

A peace accord was never gonna happen no matter how much you wanted it to.

There's too much water under the bridge,

too many lives lost.

All right, what's your solution?

Forgive and forget?

[Morris] No, don't forget.

Don't call it forgiveness if you don't want to, Colonel.

But to move forward someone has to allow the slate to be wiped clean.

To be put aside.

The problem is, none of us wants to be the generation to have to make that sacrifice.

So, we keep passing it on to the next one.

Kate, you know this is not the way.

It is the way.

Jonathan's right.

We have to reestablish contact, there's still time.

-[banging] -What the hell's that?

Dregs.

[system beeping]

[Knots] They're stealing our signal amp.

[Thurman] Son of a bitch.

Secor, feed in our handshake signal.

Open the damn doors, I want to talk to you.

[door beeping]

What the hell are you doing?

Our transmitter is functional,

and connected to the signal amp, we'll be able to contact the fleets.

You wanted to put off the negotiations

and merely stop the advancing ships.

Now, where's the goodwill in that?

Are you out of your mind?

It's called leverage, young lady. Look it up in your handbook.

How am I supposed to trust you now?

Speaking of trust, tell me, do you think

the Coalition would have ever showed up for this summit

if we hadn't forced their hand?

Perhaps not.

Then what makes you believe they would negotiate

after the fleets have been turned back?

We have no time.

We have to stop the missiles from launching.

And we will, as long as an agreement is reached.

We are a people of deeds, not rhetoric.

Now, you have to be willing to prove your sincerity

or I am willing to let it all end right here, right now.

[beeping]

I'm sure we can come to an understanding,

so long as you keep in mind that all we discuss must be approved of by the coalition.

Your words are still hollow.

I hear your soft-spoken platitudes, but I see the hatred in your eyes.

Ambassador, we both have a job to do.

I know about your husband, Ms. Woods.2

It may have been three years ago,

but it's as fresh in you today

as it was the day it happened, isn't it?

Tell me what happened.

What?

Prove your sincerity to me so we can proceed.

Tell me what happened.

No.

[device beeps]

[doors beeping]

-Stop. -Gorum.

[door stops beeping]

What's it going to be?

Open the doors.

Gorum.

[door beeping]

My husband, Brian, taught at Sumner University.

Foreign and diplomatic relations.

His views were very unpopular.

He believed we were all created equal,

genetically engineered or not.

We got threatening calls.

Our son was harassed at school.

And you felt?

Anger.

[exhales]

I didn't want our lives disrupted anymore.

What happened?

He wouldn't be pressured into changing his beliefs.

How did your husband die?

There was a bomb-threat at school that day.

I asked him not to go.

[Prosser] But he wouldn't listen?

I got mad at him for going.

[Prosser] What happened?

He got to work and...

I called to tell him that I was sorry, but I couldn't get through.

Why couldn't you get through?

Because he was already dead.

A bomb killed him.

He was already dead when I called.

Who planted the bomb?

Some...right-wing faction of the Coalition

who didn't believe in his views?

Oh, no. He wasn't the target.

-He was just a casualty, wasn't he? -Yeah.

Who planted the bomb, Kate?

Come on, tell me.

You want to say it.

Who planted the bomb, Kate?

Who murdered your husband, Kate?

A Dreg.

A Dreg bastard like you.

A Dreg bastard like you killed him!

That's a little better.

Hatred is part of what it is to be being human.

If you deny it, it festers, it poisons the system.

Letting it out is the only way to cleanse the heart.

Ms. Woods,

I had a wife and children once.

Neither side has cornered the market on atrocities.

If we can find the common ground for our sorrow,

maybe we can find a common ground to prevent any future suffering.

[hatch seal breaking]

[computer voice] Warning. Methane gas contamination.

[Prosser grunting]

Oxygen levels dropping.

Oh, my God.

It doesn't work.

Secor, can you deactivate the force field?

[computer voice] Oxygen levels, 65%.

Are you crazy?

We'll pull them over and then reactivate it.

I can short it out.

I just don't know if I can get it back on-line right away.

You'll kill us all.

-Do it. -Colonel!

[Thurman] It's our only chance to signal those ships.

Okay, here we go.

[computer voice] Oxygen levels, 52%.

[energy crackling]

Go.

[computer voice] Oxygen levels, 43%.

[coughing]

Knots, give me a hand.

Get the transmitter.

[computer voice] Oxygen levels, 27%

[all coughing]

[computer voice] Oxygen levels, 19%

[Thurman] Get it back on-line.

-[transmitter beeping] -It's not working.

[indistinct chatter]

[Kate] Close the privacy doors.

I'm trying.

[computer voice] Oxygen levels, 6%.

[door beeping]

[coughing]

Emergency venting.

[alarm blaring]

[hatch sealing]

[alarm stops]

[Prosser exclaims in relief]

Perhaps now we can begin.

[system beeping]

Ma'am, there's something you should know.

The hatch seal was deliberately disengaged.

The command was entered from the Dregs' side.

Was this a test?

Ah...

If I have to trust you with the lives of my people,

then I had to trust you with our lives.

What if I hadn't reacted?

Oh, then we would be dead,

and I would have been very wrong about you, my dear.

There is no price too high to ensure peace.

Then let's do that.

You know the most I can do

is recommend that hearings be convened

to explore the possibility of Dregosian autonomy.

That is unacceptable.

We both know nothing will happen.

Ambassador, we're running out of time.

You are a people of deeds, not rhetoric, you said so yourself.

I risked all of our lives when I thought that hatch seal blew.

He looks just like his father.

Your husband's writings are well-known to my people.

Let's call off our fleets before it's too late

and then we can continue to negotiate.

Dregosian autonomy?

Autonomy...

-Yes. -Agreed.

Gorum, bring us on-line.

Yes, sir.

I'll send the stand-down command to our fleet

and turn the transmitter over to you.

I trust that you'll do the same.

-Of course. -[device beeps]

-[beeping] -My authentication code matches yours.

Stand by for the send prompt.

Got it.

[Prosser] Send.

Now reconfigure to send to the Coalition forces.

Yes, sir.

[grunts]

Step away from the transmitter!

What the hell are you doing?

Bringing them over to our side wasn't such a bad idea after all.

How the hell did you smuggle that weapon in here?

I didn't. Dead security guards can be very accommodating.

Knots. Give me that weapon and you stand down.

I'm not going to stand down.

[beeping]

They just received the signal,

but nobody sent anything to our boys.

They won't stand down for long.

Not when they see the Coalition forces continue to advance.

[Portis] It's already too late.

Even if they do start up again,

the coalition will beat them to the launch.

We're going to mow you down, Dreg.

And then we're going to start over.

This time we're going to do it right.

Stand still, Dreg.

What are you going to do? You're going to kill me?

You're going to do that anyway, aren't you?

I said stop.

What are you waiting for?

Oh, I see.

Keep me alive as a last minute bargaining chip.

[Thurman exclaims]

[gunshot]

[grunting]

Let him go, Knots.

Ambassador, are you all right?

[Prosser grunts]

Son of a bitch.

-Transmitter. -Jonathan, get the transmitter.

Can you still reconfigure it for us to send?

[grunts]

-[gasping] -[Portis] Don't take it so hard, Dreg.

You weren't bred for intelligence.

[laughs]

They're going to build a statue to me.

Over my dead body.

[beeping]

[beeping]

[Prosser] Your code.

Secor.

[beeping rapidly]

Send it Send the damn stand-down!

Look out!

[grunts]

[beeping rapidly]

[Kate] They stopped.

[Thurman] Oh, dear God.

They stopped and they're not firing.

-You did it. You did it! -We did it.

-They stopped. -We did it.

We did it.

[comm panel activating]

What the hell? I thought that thing was dead.

[Secor] I've got a lock on a signal.

It's Dregosian.

This is Admiral Reese

of the Dregosian High Command.

Admiral Reese, this is acting Ambassador Katherine Woods.

Please be advised that Ambassador Prosser and myself we have reached an agreement.

Both governments have issued authenticated stand-down signals.

Stop. I will only speak with Ambassador Prosser.

Get me Prosser or this transmission is at an end

and we will continue our offensive.

Ma'am, I've got a Class A Coalition armed forces signal coming in.

It's United Coalition chairman, Desmond Shiff.

Admiral, please bear with us.

Chairman Shiff, this is Katherine Woods.

Your comlink has been unresponsive, Summit One.

We've had to bounce our signal off our ships to reach you.

We didn't think anyone survived the Dreg attack.

Not everyone did. Ambassador Bachman among them.

[Reese] Dregosians only attacked because of Coalition sabotage.

Who is that?

Chairman Desmond Shiff, United Coalition,

meet Admiral Reese, Dregosian High Command.

We demand to speak with Ambassador Prosser immediately

or we will resume our offensive.

Admiral, Ambassador Prosser was killed.

Then a Dregosian representative.

There are none. We're all that's left.

Then there is nothing more to talk about.

Admiral, I know you've authenticated the signal,

just as I know my side has.

Please, both of you, call off the attack.

[Reese] There's no guarantee that our delegation wasn't tortured

to give up the encryption codes for the transmission.

How is it that our entire delegation was killed but you survived?

Your words do not convince us.

-There is nothing more to do. -Wait!

[gasps]

Perhaps there is nothing I can say that will convince you, but--

Our delegation is dead.

There will be no more negotiating, period.

Admiral, please.

There is something.

I can prove to you I'm telling the truth.

It's the only thing I have left to offer.

I offer my life.

A military strategist would never make such an offer,

but an individual dedicated to peace would.

To prove my sincerity

I offer to sacrifice myself right here, right now.

Seven Dregosian lives are not equal to yours alone.

[sighs]

I make the same offer.

As do I.

All of us do.

This is your road to peace, Admiral? More death?

No. Less death.

The lives of this delegation will buy the lives of billions.

Such an act would prove the sincerity of the Coalition delegation.

And I would then accept the agreement as genuine.

Would overloading the core be sufficient?

We could not be assured that the transmission wasn't simply pulled.

We must bear witness.

For God's sake, Reese.

We do have a weapon available to us.

That would be acceptable.

Could we please have a moment to prepare ourselves?

Agreed.

[recorder activating]

Hi, Todd,

you might not understand for a few years why I'm doing this,

but I want you to know that for any conflict to end

a sacrifice has to be made, and that's what I had to do.

Oh, sweetheart, please don't hate.

It only diminishes you.

Words could never tell you how much I love you,

but my actions in the next few minutes might just do that very thing.

[chuckles softly]

Be good.

I love you.

Bye.

[recorder beeps]

I wish we'd had more time.

I'm thankful for the time we had.

Since I made the offer, I'll go first.

No, Ambassador. I will go first.

I'm not the kind of military man that would send others into a battle

I'm not willing to lead.

And just in case there are any last-minute decisions to be made,

I would like them to be made by you.

Thank you...

All of you.

It has been such an honor serving with all of you.

Chairman Shiff,

please tell my wife that I'm doing this for our grandchildren.

-[gunshot] -[Kate gasps]

I won't die by a weapon of war.

Not on the eve of peace.

[electricity buzzing]

[electricity crackling]

[groaning]

[device clicks]

I'm sorry, I can't.

All I do is talk about ideals and philosophies,

and when it comes down to it, I can't.

Jonathan, you know, you were the reason I had the strength to do

what I did with Reese and with Prosser.

If you don't have the strength left to do it

it's because you gave it all to me.

Not quite all of it.

[zaps]

You will honor your promise?

Without question.

Chairman Shiff.

Yes?

I'm sending you a playback of the negotiated deal and a personal log.

Please see that my son gets the latter.

[device beeping]

I'm always with you.

I'm always with you.

[weapon powering up]

I'm always with you.

[gunshot]

Mommy?

Mom?

[thunderclaps]

Mom?

[Control Voice] Only with the realization

that what we share with our enemy

is greater than what divides us,

can peace ever be won.