Andromeda (2000–2005): Season 2, Episode 15 - Dance of the Mayflies - full transcript

How many more?

We have 27 more.

We'll never get
all of them off on time.

We'll take as many
as we can get.
Rommie, report.

Primary structures
are yielding, and environmental
systems are failing.

I estimate 3.7 minutes
until this Drift buckles.

Leave the dead.

It's not working.
Take it.

I'm coming back
for another load.
Negative.

You'll never make it
over and back in time.

And Dylan, this was
no industrial accident.



The drift was attacked.

Analysis indicates multiple
warships using heavy warheads.

Damn it!

Breathe.

Beka? Beka, he's gone.

He's gone.

Dylan? Promise me
after we've evac-ed this place,
we'll get

whoever did this.

Deal.

Dylan, we have multiple
ships headed this way
with weapons deployed.

Rommie, get out of there.
Tyr, activate
point defense.

- Shall I undock?
- Point defense activated.

- Shall I undock?
- No. Hold your position.

Rommie, move it!



Approaching ships
are opening fire.

Rommie!

Sealing the airlock!

Dylan, the Drift
has been destroyed.

The enemy ships,
they're coming around
for another attack.

Tyr, get us out of here now!

Try to be a good Samaritan,

and this is the thanks I get.

He is the last guardian
of a fallen civilization,

a hero from another time.

Faced with a universe in chaos,
Dylan Hunt recruits
an unlikely crew

and sets out
to re-unite the galaxies.

On the starship Andromeda,
hope lives again.

Oh, boy. Unseen enemy.
Nothing worse.

Unless it's an angry
unseen enemy.

Hey! What did we ever
do to them?

Dylan, I have
a preliminary identification
of our assailants.

Anyone we know?

I'm afraid so.

It's the Than.

What?

I thought bug people
were our friends.

So did I.

Which is why
I place great stock
in paranoia.

Incoming.

Battle stations.

Well, whatever bug
got up their a...

ovipositors,

the Than have definitely
upgraded their stingers

since the last time
we had to smell them.

Shall I prepare a volley
of offensive missiles
for our former allies?

Prepare by all means,
but hold your fire for now.
Mr. Harper.

Oh, no. He wants
to talk to them

I hate it when we do this.

I know, I know.
Opening up a stupid
comm channel.

This is the Commonwealth
starship Andromeda Ascendant.

We have no quarrel with you.
Stand down. Over.

They're firing again.

I told you it was stupid.
So much for diplomacy.

Just once, I'd like to meet
someone in space
with some manners.

We've got over
50 more people in the hall,
and they're all critical.

We can barely deal
with the patients we have now.

Let's stabilize them
with quinextorin,
then bring them in

one every fifteen minutes,
in order of priority.

Do we have more injectors?
I need more medical nanos.

This is wrong.

Yes, Beka. We can deal
with the inherent cruelty
of the universe later.

No, I mean, this is wrong.

We've got hundreds
of patients here,

and none of them
are conscious.

None of them.

Rommie, you've seen
battle casualties before.
Does this look right to you?

Trance, have you finished
the blood work?

Check the medical CPU.

Retrieving.

Do you think the Than
used chemical weapons?

Not chemical. Biological.

We've isolated a single celled
parasite that's infecting
the patient's CNS.

It definitely looks to be
a biological agent,

probably delivered by warhead.

A disease?
Oh, that is just perfect.

Airborne?
I doubt it.

I doubt it. It seems
to be anaerobic,

but I've programmed
the environmental systems
to filter it out just in case.

These people have been
on board for several hours.

For all we know,
the parasites are already
all over the ship.

Rommie, how does
a biological weapon

infect so many so fast
if it doesn't spread
through the air?

I'm on it.

Another volley.

All right. All right.
They're bugging us to death.

I say we spray them
with citronella or squash
them underfoot...sir

An all-out attack
would prove futile.

Against the Than?

So far as I can tell,
they've deployed
an entire fleet.

Over 20 capital ships,

one hundred destroyers.

And smart enough to stay
at extreme range and just
trade missiles with us.

Brace for impact.

A commodity they appear
to have in abundance.

All right.
Harper, head to the Maru
and seal yourself in.

Tyr, weapons ready.
We'll make best speed
to slipstream range.

You want me to leave
in the middle of a fight?

Mr. Harper, how many times
do we have to go over this?
Your immune system sucks.

But...
Hey, until Rommie and Trance

figure out how these bio-weapons
spread, I want you out
of harm's way.

I know that used
to be my favorite place,
but--

No buts. Go.

Yes, sir.
Bravely running away, sir.

Captain, I'm reading
a half dozen Than fighters

at one light minute
and closing fast.

I've got them.

They're still coming.

They've got some sort
of improved ECM.

I can't target them all.

Just hold them off long enough
for us to get
to a slipstream portal.

Hull breach
in sector 36.
Repairing hull seal.

We've lost our port sensors
and ninety percent
of our sublight engine power.

Maximum speed
is down to five psl.

Slipstream engines?

Still functional. For now.

In that case,
slipstream on my mark.

Three, two, one, mark.

Well, we've made it.

Our EM lens gave out.

Oh, great. The fuel tanks
are leaking anti-protons.

This ship
is always breaking up.

Damn it.
We lost another one.

The wounds we can treat,
but the parasitic infection...

is killing them.

Every single
one of them is infected.

We know it's not passed
through touch, it's not passed
through the air,

so we have to figure out
how it's transmitted.

No, that would be too slow.
Blood?

There's no way
they could have
all caught it by now.

What about, uh...

symptoms?

How could we tell
when someone
is first infected?

The parasites
induce a high fever,

increased heart rate,
severe dehydration.

Which would
look like what?

Headache? Dry mouth?

That, joint pain,
cramping, nausea.

Check, check,
and check.

Beka?

I've also got shortness
of breath and...

blurred vision.

But the headaches
are definitely the worst.

She's got it.
She's infected.

Which means
in a few hours, she'll be, um...

Dead.

The parasites propagate
along the nervous system.

Once they've compromised
a particular pathway,
they move on to the next one.

Well, that explains
the pain shooting up and down
my arms and legs.

Look here,
along the spinal cord.

Those are the most heavily
used nerve pathways
in the human body.

They also happen
to be the last ones infested.
It's as if,

the more heavily used
the pathway, the harder it is
for the parasites to infect.

So theoretically,
my brain should be
the last thing to go.

Yeah. Just one problem.

These scans are from
the patients who were
already catatonic

when they were
brought onboard.

These scans are from
the patients who
only recently went unconscious.

The spread of the parasite
accelerates once the patient
loses consciousness.

The longer you can stay awake,
the slower the infection
will spread.

And if I fall asleep,

that's, uh, the big sleep.

Be prepared to pull
an all-nighter.

Sensors, trashed.

AP circuits, trashed. EM lens,
what do you know, trashed.

Rommie, it's a good thing
I love trashy ladies,

otherwise I'd be tempted
to trade you in
for a newer model.

Maybe a supermodel.

Men.

Harper, aren't you supposed
to be in the Maru hiding
from the parasites?

Aren't you supposed
to be directing
your repair nanobots?

I can multi-task.

Oh, and men can't?
However, if I were in the Maru,

I wouldn't be out here
in the conduits fixing you.

Ipso facto , QED, blah, blah,
blabbedy, blah.

So there. Besides,

I'm wearing protection.

Basically, you've got
to prioritize.

I can get you slipstream,
sensors, or sublight engines,
but not all at once.

So, what do you want first?

I would prefer to see them
coming, but without slipstream,
we can't run.

Agreed. Slipstream
engines first, Mister Harper,
then sensors.

Got it.

Tyr, we need to find a place
to hide while
we complete repairs.

There's an asteroid
just within range.

It's big enough
to hide the ship behind.
Good.

Give me the coordinates
and I'll bring us in.

Cover it.

This one might still
be treatable. Over to Medical.

This one, too.

It's too late
to save that one.

The parasites have already
spread to the brain.

We still might be able
to save him.

Even if we could,

his cerebral pathways
are so badly compromised,
he'd be a walking vegetable.

Could you just partition off
another part of us

into a worker android
and have them do this instead?

You are getting
so emotional lately.

First the crew,
now people
you don't even know.

It's just that humans,
they're so...

vulnerable, so delicate.

You, I...

we...

given proper maintenance,
could last a thousand years.

Compared to us,
humans are born
and gone in a day.

We're helpless without humans,

or any other organic sentient
for that matter.

We have no purpose.
We're useless.

That frightens you?

It should frighten you, too.

Fear.
Very counterproductive emotion.

I'm glad it's confined
to your neural net.

How do they live like this,

under the constant threat
of death?
Don't worry.

When these ones are gone,
there will be more
to take their place.

Someone besides Dylan
will give us purpose.

They're not interchangeable.

Andromeda, engage autopilot.

Autopilot engaged.

Match the asteroid's velocity
and position.

Tyr, help me with this relay.

Something occurs to me.

By taking the survivors
of the drift onboard,

haven't we done
the Than's work for them?

Yes, by exposing ourselves
to their bio-weapons.

Yes, well, perhaps
it would be wise,

under the circumstances, to,

off-load the refugees.

You mean eject them
into space.

I don't advise
we tell them first.

Beka's infected.

Should we dump her as well?

Well...

I imagine one of our patients,

or even one of the corpses,
might hold the key
to curing her.

That's what
I was thinking, too.

Beka, no.
You have to stay awake.

I'm tired, Trance.

I'm going to have
to give you a stimulant.
No, Trance.

No. No drugs.

Beka.

I can't, Trance.

Me? Stimulants?

Bad mix. Remember?

The alternative
is not an option.

Beka, you need it.
I always need it.

Every day.

I'm not going to get through
this just to end up...

a drug addict.

so, uh, I can do this.

I can stay awake without
the drugs,

if you will help me.

Beka, I do remember.

And I will help you.

And I'm going
to look for a cure,

but you have to keep talking
to me to let me know
that you're awake.

Deal.

So...

why gold?

What?

Your skin, why gold?

Guess.

See, now, that sounds like
the old Trance to me.

No, it's the new Trance
trying to keep Beka awake
by talking.

You have ten guesses.

Okay, first guess.

You are actually
a completely different person.

That's it.
You are?

No, no.

I think I've come up
with a way to counter
the parasite.

I'll have to run
a few more tests,
but I've got something.

I know it.

Good.

Dylan?
Go ahead.

Dylan, I think I might
have found

Trance, what's happening
down there?

It's the patients.
They're attacking us.

Dylan, it's not the patients.
It's the corpses.

You really should have
felt that.

Dylan, I'm not reading
any pulses or brain waves

from the corpses
of the plague victims,

and their bodies register
at room temperature.

Well, that would make sense.
They're corpses.

Yes. The trouble is they're
walking around the ship
trying to kill you.

You're surprised?

That's what you get
for incessantly
trying to help.

The ungrateful dead.

Rommie,
activate internal defense.

So long as
they're already dead

No harm
in killing them again.

Internal defenses activated.

Great. Just great.

Internal defenses ineffectual.

It isn't so easy
to kill dead people, is it?

No. Andromeda,
explore other options.

Tyr, you have command.

And stay dead.

This is creepy.

Very creepy.

Where are you going?
To help Dylan.

Dylan asked you to help
by researching ways

to neutralize
the reanimated corpses.

Well, there's one way.

Look, you do what you do,
I'll do what I do.

We have a job to do.

Then stop arguing
with me and do it.

Besides, saving Dylan
is the most important thing
right now.

You're letting your feelings
cloud your objectivity.
Am I?

Yes, you are.

Maybe that's what
it feels like to be human.

Oh, Rommie.

why are the dead
trying to kill us?

Or kiss us.
You've got to be kidding me.

Sorry, guys,
but you're not my type.

Harper,
where are those engines?

I'm working on it,
you big...

Tyr, what the hell was that?

Do you remember
that asteroid we were
hiding behind?

It's gone.

That's not good.

Well, from the raw data,
I'm guessing the Than
blew up the asteroid

with some kind of controlled
anti-proton explosion.

Multiple warheads.

Easy enough to dodge
or intercept,

unless you're some kind of
big fat defenseless rock, or...

Or a half blind,
half crippled warship.

Exactly. so, the bad news?

We suffered even more damage
in that explosion.

Whatever systems
we had working before
probably aren't now.

Good news,
there's a lot of debris
out there.

The Than could doubtfully
but maybe,

mistake us for a chunk
of asteroid and assume
we've been destroyed.

Spores. Rommie, ship wide.
This is Hunt.

The parasites spread
by exhaling spores
into their victims mouths

Do not, I repeat,
do not allow them
to get close to your face.

Rommie, come on.

Spores? I hate spores.

They're dirty.
They try to sneak in you

like a bug flying
up your nose.

Hey!

Trance.

Come on, Trance.

You... It's going to be okay.
Don't worry.

Don't worry,
you'll be okay.

You.

Trance?

She infected me.

We have made you
part of us.

And who are you?

We are the Bokor.

What have you done
with Trance?

We've done
what we always do.
We survive.

What have you done
with Trance?

And now, your turn.

Oh, I doubt that.

Oh, this body is magnificent,

articulate,
not like the others.

We can't wait
to experience yours.

Warning.
Multiple incoming vessels.
Than warships.

ETA? It's hard to tell
with my sensors

this badly damaged,
but I estimate ten minute
47 seconds.

Harper,
I'd like those engines!

Now!
No.

Really?
Move it!

No.

No, Dylan. No, it's Trance.

Not anymore, it isn't.

How will we get her back
if you destroy her body?

We don't know
what her body is,

or how the parasites
can possess her body
faster than ours.

So, if it's all the same
to you.

Both of you get out of here.
I'll take care of this

You will?

We find that doubtful.

In every species
we've ever encountered,
we prevail. .

What do you want from us?

Your shells.

Our bodies.

You humans should be
grateful that we've come.

You're like mayflies.
You're here, then you're gone.

Let us in. Let us help you
live beyond a day.

Thanks, but no thanks.

You're not thinking ahead.

What will you mayflies
do once you wink out?

Wink this out.

Get out of here.
I'll hold her off.

Come on, Beka.

Come on.

All right, Valentine,
let's go.

Come on, move it!

There, that should
hold them for a while.

Come on, Beka. There you go.
Stay with me.

All hands, status.

First officer reporting.

First officer offline,
awaiting further instruction.

Dylan, the Than fleet is
less than seven minutes away.

Power is at ten percent.

Slipstream inoperative.

Harper.

Harper, report.

Uh, repairs are uh...

Yeah, it's crawling
with corpses down here, Dylan.

I can't even get close
to the key systems,
let alone repair them.

Sorry, boss.

Dylan,
they've taken over
the slipstream core as well.

Maybe it's better that way.

Better?

The Than attacked
the Drift to stop
the spread of the Bokor.

And that's why
they're attacking us.

If we win,
the Bokor get through.

Everyone loses.
Not on my watch.

Andromeda,
this is Captain Dylan Hunt.

Initiate AP reactor overload.

Aye, Captain.
Order acknowledged.

Come on, Beka. Come on.
Wake up!

Beka!

She's out cold.
She's got 30 minutes

until the parasites
cross her blood-brain barrier.

Half hour.

How long until I send
the reactors critical?

Whatever the...

length of life, we make
the most of it.

Thirty minutes.

Thirty minutes
to self-destruct.

Mark.

Don't worry, Beka.

I'll take care of you.

One way or the other.

25 minutes
to self-destruct.

All right. How about now?

No change.

You said the Than
would be here in ten minutes.

I said it was an estimate.

My short-range sensors
are completely incapacitated.

we're virtually dead.
I'm virtually blind. And
because of it,

Twenty minutes
to self-destruct.
Shut up!

Self-destruct countdown
muted in Command.

Any change
in engines status?

Engines still at ten.

Wait.
I'm getting reserve power.

Maximum acceleration.
Than ships are in pursuit.

- Outstanding, Mr. Harper.
- Thanks.

But I had nothing
to do with it.

It was our
Nosferatu friends.

They're fixing our systems.

The walking dead
are repairing the ship.

Yeah, all the better to spread
their little diseases with.

Dylan. Dylan.

Harper.

We know these parasites
reactivate the nervous systems
of dead people,

and that nerve impulses
are electrical in nature,
right?

Right. You're
a frickin' mind reader, Dylan.

One of the ghoulie boys
just tripped a capacitor
and fried himself.

He's fallen
and he can't get up.

Ah, so they are vulnerable
to massive electrical charges.
Good. I can work with that.

Give me a forcelance level
to match the capacitor's.

I'm right with you, boss.
I know what you're thinking.

Fifteen minutes
to self-destruct.

I know this may come
as a bit of a shock to them.

Bingo.

I figure it'll take at least
10,000 volts a dead-head.

A level eight discharge
of a forcelance should
do the trick. Anything less,

and buy yourself
a one-way ticket to Necropolis.

Oh, yeah. Level eight works.

At that setting,
you'll only get three shots
per force lance.

Three shots, huh? Okay.

No problem.

Yoo-hoo.
Woo-hoo.

Eh, what's up, doc?

Come on, come to papa.

Hey!

Stopped you dead
in your tracks.

Ten minutes to self-destruct.

Now we're talking.

Trance is a lot stronger
than she looks.

Rommie, wait.

Have Harper fix you up.
Go. I'll take care of her.

Five minutes to self-destruct.

It's over.

Surrender now, and I might be
persuaded to find a nice rock
to dump the rest of you on.

After you remove
your parasites
from my crew, of course.

Leave? Why? We've already won.

Won? How do you define losing?

Self-destruct sequence
terminated.

Terminated?
I didn't authorize that.
Resume sequence.

Self-destruct system
offline. AP tank controls
no longer accessible.

That's very impressive.

Your ship is impressive,
though not difficult to manage.
We will find it most useful.

Yeah. Me, too.
That's why you can't have it.

We are the Bokor.

We contain the memories
and experiences of all
shells we have ever occupied.

Over 50,000 years of existence.
We will survive.

Survive? I don't know
if you've been keeping score,
but your...

parasites out here
in the corridors
haven't exactly been surviving.

A minor setback.
Soon even you will be of us,

and then we shall re-establish
our rightful dominion here,
in our new home.

Yeah, you know, about that.
It occurs to me that

you can't take control
of people until they're dead,

but you took Trance
over in just a few seconds.

So?
So it occurs to me

that maybe Trance
was never alive
in the first place.

Deck sixteen clear.
Tyr, what's your status?

My status is...

Than warships are closing.

Complicated.

Ship, deploy a full spread
of mines on my mark. Now!

Mines away.

I'm detecting multiple
explosions in the enemy fleet.

Shall I ready another volley?

No.

Just get us out of here,
best speed.

Aren't you going
to finish them off?

No.

Whatever happened
to never leaving
a wounded enemy behind?

Between you and me,
that's a very good question.

Trance.

That, that is you, isn't it?

What happened?
What happened?

I was so close to a cure.

You know, it's...

You freak me out,
you know that?
You really freak me out.

But, I'm not surprised
that you're still alive.

Yes, about that.

I want to explain.
No, no, you can explain later.

Right now, we need
that cure, okay?

Now, we know that 10,000 volts
will kill the parasites
inside a human host.

That's it.
That is the missing piece.

I can create an injection
with nanobots that will deliver
the exact charge needed.

Then do it.
Beka needs your help now.
Then come find me. Go!

Okay.

Door seals
are intact. I'm detecting
three Bokor. Unarmed.

Go!

Are you feeling better?

Much, thanks to Trance
and her miracle cures.

Where is Trance?

All better.

I hate shots.

All clear.

That's the last of them.
All right.

Order of the Commonwealth
all around.
Nicely done, people.

Harper, how are those engines?

We can slipstream
any time now, boss.

Good.

Tyr, give our regards
to the Than, transfer
the records of what happened,

and uh, get us
the hell out of here.

Okay, for the record,
I hate zombies.

speaking of which,

your body reacted differently
to the parasites.
Yes.

Trance, are you dead or alive?

Yes.

Crystal clear as usual.

Dylan, may I have a moment
of your time?

Uh, of course.

Yeah, I'll just...do...
something.

When things got bad back there,
I didn't think you were going
to make it,

and I realized something.

I may be virtually
indestructible, but you,

you are...
Me, well, I...

just think I'm indestructible.

One day you're going
to die, Dylan.

And I care about you.

Not just as a Captain,
but as a person.

I don't want to lose you.

You're all that I have.

Rommie, I can't promise
I'll never die,

but I promise
you'll never lose me.

How do you do it?

Humans, how do humans do it?

How do they make friends,
have relationships,

fall in love?

How do they connect,
knowing that nothing
is permanent,

that even love dies?

You see,
that's where you're wrong.

Love doesn't die.

It's the only thing
that lasts forever.

I mean,

your body could be destroyed
or run out of power,

but when the universe ends
and the last star burns out,

the only thing left
will be love.

I don't understand.

Yes, you do.