Andromeda (2000–2005): Season 4, Episode 17 - Abridging the Devil's Divide - full transcript

Four planets,
not a single lead,
and I pick up a freaking cold.

I can't wait to get back
to my Andromeda.

Well, whoever these
cobalt-nickel smugglers are,

they sure are thorough.

Well, hopefully
Beka fared better.

Why would anyone steal
worthless rocks
from so many planets?

Worthless?

Do you have any idea how many
billion different things cobalt
and nickel can be used for?

I think you have
rocks in your head.

Why don't I head-butt you
so you can be certain?

Oh, I'm certain, all right.



In fact, in heavy gravity
worlds, does your head
get sucked to the ground first?

Insulting a Nietzschean
is not healthy
for a human's health,

especially one so itsy-bitsy.

Remind me to never take you two
on a side mission again.

Tiny, get me a position
on this courier ship.

Courier ship?
I don't see one, fathead.

They're requesting confirmation
of your presence, Harper.

Hell, confirm my presence.
Maybe I won some money.

Please, boss?

Something tells me
I'm going to regret this.

Go ahead, Rhade.

Report.

Three Templar ships
in attack formation.

They're firing again.



Fire back.

The first set
jammed our launch tubes.

Let's lose them.

Can't. They're too tight.
We got blind-sided.

Major disadvantage.

Launch tubes cleared.
Targeting.

Jammed again.
Captain, we need a strategy.

Prep the escape pod.

That's not a strategy.

Prepping.

Find Harper. Find him.
Check. Bring me anyone
who's alive.

Move out.

Search the entire ship.

Clear.

You destroyed the pod,
and we needed
the engineer alive.

It got caught
in the crossfire, sir.

Shut your mouth and
take us to slipstream.

We'll keep the Maru.

Yes, sir.

Stay alert.

They still could be
in here somewhere.

Going to slipstream.

Harper,
you forgot
the control.

I was so impressed by
my new holo-matrix,

I guess I...
I'll get it.

Aw, Harper!

We've been
looking for you.

I've got him.

We're already in their system.

Our only chance
for survival

is if one of us
remains undetected.

Rhade!

A Nietzschean
protecting a human.

Too bad you can't tell
a loser situation
when you see one.

A loser situation?

I only see a loser.

You're going to regret
your inbred stupidity.

Take them out.

Prepare for landing.

Acknowledged.

Mission accomplished.
We've got Harper, sir.

We're landing now.

Excellent.
Bring him in.

Yes, sir. Move out.

The universe
is a dangerous place,

but in our future,

my crew and I fight
to make it safe.

I am Dylan Hunt,

captain
of the Andromeda Ascendant,

and these are our adventures.

No sign of the Maru.

How long
have we got?

I estimate
the marketeer will take
no more than 15 minutes

to load up
the contraband cobalt
and nickel.

Great,

so if we wait around for Dylan,
we lose a smuggler.

Why are men always late?

They might be in trouble.

Or they may have
discovered something crucial.

The captain did order us...

not to break off pursuit
no matter what.

I know, but he has my ship.

Drop a beacon.
Let him know where we're going.

Deploying beacon.

Dylan's listening
on our new VSAs.

VSAs?

Yeah, VSA.
Vocal to sub-audio.

Wired to the ossicles.

An earphone connected
to the ear bones.

Nobody can hear
but you.

Nietzscheans
don't get one.

Just follow
the path, boss.

It's some kind
of facility.

Good work, Harper.

Leave the VSA open,
but I'll do the talking.

Cough once for "no"
and twice for "yes."

Very funny.

Hey,
I know that guy.

Which one?
The one digging,
or the one in the ground?

Who makes people
bury corpses in caves?

Someone who wants
to make sure
they have to smell it

every time they walk
through here.

Lovely.

Are you saying
it's working.

Patriarch.

Seamus
Zelazny Harper.

Earth born, Boston,
a survivor
of Magog infestation,

and one of
the Commonwealth's
top engineers.

You keep the Andromeda
in fine shape.

Oh, her shape
is fine, all right.

Too bad for me.

I'm a soldier.

Maybe your captain's
told you this.

Funny, he never
mentioned you at all.

Who are you again?

Ow.

Ow.

Right, now I remember you.

You've been alive
for three centuries, right?

Transferring from
body to body.

You're Admiral Stark.

He was Admiral Stark.

I was just about
to commend your captain

on dumping that trash
in dreadlocks,

but it seems he's traded it in
for just more of the same.

Your name is?

Telemachus Rhade.

Good strong name.

You keep repeating it
to yourself.

Concentrate.

Make it your personal mantra.

It will help.

With what?

A slow death.

For five lifetimes,

I've watched your filth
stain the universe,

watched your people
defile race upon race

just by their mere presence.

You're a disgrace
to that uniform.
Get him out of it.

Sleep deprivation
device.

Whoa, whoa.

Now, we detected
three life signs

aboard the Maru.

Where is he?

Possibly
on his way here?

Oh, I look forward to that.

Now, Harper, I brought you here

to build me a bridge
from this planet to its moon.

You work hard,
everything will run smoothly.

If you don't,
then you'll die.

You are the wheat,
my son...

And you...

You are the chaff,

and the chaff must be
separated from the wheat.

Do it here
in front of the prisoners

so they can take pride
in their work.

Harper, you're breaking up.
Are you in trouble?

Ready.

What happened? Get a medic.

No, no, no.
No, wait. Don't kill him.

I won't help you.
You need me.

On the way down,
I got a pretty good look
at your bridge and the moon,

and add two seconds
of orbital data,

and any kid could calculate
what Harper's keen eyes
are trained to observe.

And that is?

Uh, the bridge and moon
won't be aligned
for at least a hundred years.

210, to be precise.

Yeah, right, so that leaves
one of three options.

A, you made
a stupid mistake,

B, you're building a bridge
you plan on never using,

or C, you're actually
building a bridge across time.

Okay.

Now, when I look
in the mirror,

I see the best person I know
to achieve time travel,
and you know that too.

That's why you lug heads
kidnapped me.

No, no, no, no.

Wait, wait, wait. No, no.
Let him live. Let him live.
If you don't, I won't help you,

and if you try to make me,
I'll sabotage your bridge.

So you want insurance, do you?

Fine, he lives until
the bridge is realized.

After all, they won't be here
for long anyway, will they?

Throw him
in the scrubber.

See if it can scrub
the Nietzschean out of him.

Anywhere a guy
can get a drink around here?

I'll tell you,
when a pal has a close call

but turns out okay...

Shut up
and keep walking.

Glad he's okay.

Nice work, Mr. Harper.

All right.

All right, you got me,

but before you let anyone
know that I'm here,

I have a proposition
for you.

Sleep... Tight.

Enjoying your
accommodations?

Time for another dance?

I wish...
But we need your strength.

Let's go.

Free period walk.

Rhade, how are you doing?

You saved my life.
Thank you.

Thank me? No, no, no,
no, no, thank you.

You gave yourself up
for me and the Maru
to a bunch of racist freaks.

I owe you.

Blend in.

Hey, any friend of Harper
is a friend of mine,
you know,

because I taught him
how to program
when we he was a kid.

That's right.
Woody's virtual she sims
were better than anybody's.

You know, when you guys
bust me out of here, I'm heading
back to virtual smut.

It's too dangerous here
in the high guard.

You were
a high guard engineer?

I've been here
a while, okay, buddy?

Don't judge a book
by its cover.

About that...
has anyone tried to escape?

Uh, yeah, yeah.

I think you saw him
on the way in.

I was burying him.

He's opening a slip portal.

Focus the lens on it.
We're going through
the same door.

Portal focused.

Here we go.

What the...

That was a converter surge
regulator palpitation.

Unless corrected,
propulsion shifts

have a 16% chance of stalling.

Harper intended to fix that.

Perfect. Remind me
to strangle Harper.

Andromeda, once more.

Portal focused.

Shouldn't we be looking
for the Maru?

Trance...

Hey, hey, what did I do?
What did I do?

Harper, it's me.

I didn't hurt you,
did I?

Oh, don't worry
about me. Ow.

So when the hell
are we getting out of here?

Well, I buried a couple
of grenades and a force lance
near the entrance.

Rhade? You look bad.

I'll feel better
when I bury
my bone blades

in the Patriarch's neck.

Careful, don't let anger
cloud your judgment,

but in this case, it's
good to have goals.

I've got a goal...

A big, fat, juicy burger
when we get out of here.

Yeah, well, I'll see
what I can do,

but before you escape,
we have one problem.

The Patriarch's
building a time bridge,
and we don't know why.

As much as I hate to say it,
boss, we are already here.

I mean, if we stuck around
for a while, we could...

Find out why,

and maybe
while we're here,

I could learn
a few things
about this bridge.

It's got flaws,
but I'll bet
I could fix them.

Rhade, how long do you think
you can tough it out?

As long as you need.

As long as I play ball,
they won't lay a finger on him.

The Magog World ship
is going to be here any day now.

A time bridge might be useful
in all-out galactic war.

Learn what you can, Mr. Harper,

but under no circumstances
allow it to be completed.

Got it.
From your mouth to my brain.

I promise, boss,
you won't regret it.

Good.

Now we need access
to the Patriarch's
computer files.

Ask and you shall
receive.

Hey, lughead.
Rhade...

I need to speak
to your Patriarch.

Sorry, but I have
to make it look good.

Now, get back to work!

All I'm saying is
I know why your bridge
won't work.

You haven't even seen
the plans.

How can you possibly know
how it won't work?

Stop me if I'm wrong.

You started with your basic
space elevator comprised
of carbon nanotube ropes

with a dock that doubles
as a counterweight.

Child's play.

Uh-huh, but you had
the foresight to extend it
from a speed ball

spinning so fast,
if it weren't for its mass,

we'd all be catapulted off
to earth, which wouldn't be
such a bad thing

if it weren't
for the splat factor.

And they told me
he was a genius.

All right, all right,
I'm getting to it.

Think of it
like a giant centrifuge.

The faster it spins, the greater
the centrifugal force.

The greater
the centrifugal force,
the stronger the g-forces

acting upon something
trapped in the end
of the bridge,

but what
is that something?

A tachyon,

a particle that moves faster
than the speed of light.

You want to use g-forces
to slow a tachyon
below the speed of light

as per the unified theory,

creating time dilation
around it.

Your problem is?

You don't know how
to make a tachyon.

You don't know
what particle to use.

Bravo.

Now, the question is...
Do you?

Oh, I know, all right.

The question is
am I going to tell you?

You see, I'm helpless.

I don't want to take prisoners,

but I'm surrounded by people
who aren't of your caliber,

people with this...

If only I could get it
to pick up women for me.

You know, it's a shame, really.
A true genius like yourself

never having any real money
or equipment at his disposal.

We do all right
on the Andromeda.
This one time...

I know, I know,
you sent a kalimelon
back into the past

a couple of minutes,

and that was
the successful part.

I guess it's all right
if you want your place

in the annals
of scientific history

to be bookmarked
by exploding fruit
and children's toys,

but think of it...
A bridge,

210 years into the future,

a bridge through which
any living thing can jump.
Huh?

The best scientific minds
in the universe

groveling at your feet,

your name in the stars.

Now, that...

that would be
exhilarating, hmm?

Yeah, it's pretty tempting,
all right,

but when all is said and done,
what are you planning on
doing with it?

Hmm, yes,
our motives are different,

but does that really matter?

I put it to you...

Should scientific progress
be denied?

Well, no, not if the universe
has evolved to where time travel

is the next
natural evolutionary step,

but if that were the case,
it'd be popping up
all over the place.

People would be
discovering it...

They could be working on it
as we speak.

As we speak.

And the fact
that you're so close

only proves it.

Mm-hmm.

Seamus, it's not fair,

but you're going
to be left behind.

Keep moving.

Keep it up.

Ah, here we go.

Carbon nanotubes...

Charts,

cobalt,

cobalt and nickel,

kilotons of it...
To make carbon nanotubes.

Ha, and I think
we found our smuggler.

Huh.

I know.

That's the time bridge.

Here's the moon.

Once aligned,
it only lasts a day.

It's a hell
of a one-shot deal.

I need to find out
what's on that moon.

Salvation, captain.

Isn't that what
we're all looking for?

Well, if it's salvation
you're seeking, Patriarch,

you should first ask for
forgiveness for your sins...

Larceny, abduction,
subjugation...

My sins are for
the good of us all.

The Magog are eventually
going to attack the Tri-galaxy,

and when they do, it will be
the opportunity of a lifetime...

five lifetimes, to be exact.

That's four lifetimes
too many,

and now I see you're dabbling
in the space-time continuum.

Oh, not really.
I'm just trying
to shorten time.

Everything we built
has gone to the dogs,

and I'm getting
sick and tired

of waiting
for it to turn around.

It has turned around.

Oh, really?

You did a fine job

of slapping together
that flawed, corrupted farce,

biting the hand
that built it.

You're a wanted man,
Dylan,

Hunted by your own kind.

Not a very pretty way
to enter into a war, is it?

War is never pretty.

Well, I think war
has great beauty.

Well...
Then you'll love this.

Cease fire, you idiots.

Grenade, sir?

No, I don't think
that will be necessary.

Do you, captain?

I'm looking forward
to watching you rub elbows

with the grunts,

finally getting
your officer's hands dirty.

Oh, and...

and that engineer
of yours is quite
talented.

He won't help you.

He already has.

Rest period!

Rhade, I have to find out
what's on that moon.

You have a better chance
of making it on your own.

Don't worry.

I can handle whatever
the Templars throw at me.

Yeah, well, it's not you
I'm worried about.

A little
help here?

Yeah, sure.

What happened?

Buddy got thrown
in the scrubber
for slacking off.

The scrubber?

It's an argon gas and radiation
exhaust system.

Outside air is drawn in,
saturated with the contaminants,

and then pumped back out.

Outside air, huh?

I think it's time
for a protest.

I'm detecting a launch.

Scanning.

It's the smuggler's ship.

He'll fake us out
at the next jump

by opening a portal
and dipping under.

We're not buying it.
We're banking with him,

then we're ramming
straight up his aft
and taking out his thrusters.

He's opening a portal.

Beka, he's going to decelerate
quickly.

Be ready for a dead halt.

Never been readier.

There he goes.

Reverse thrusters. Pull back.

Andromeda, show me.

The converter's
surge palpitation

caused a momentary full stall.

Inertia plowed us
right through him.

His choices led him
to this destiny.

Or I got a little carried away.

A little.

Hey, what's that?

Andromeda, are those weapons?

Scanning.

Rifles, laser guided missiles,
and force lances
numbering in the thousands.

So, the big man likes small arms
with his cobalt and nickel.

Beka,

technically,
this discovery counts
as a successful mission.

Maybe we should
check the beacon.

Andromeda, you heard the lady.

Get up.

No.

Get up and get back to work.

No.

I said...

And I said no.

We'll work...

once you remove these
sleep deprivation devices.

You need us.

Look at our number.

We have control.

No work, no progress.
No progress, no bridge.

No bridge,
well, that means no bridge.

You see, we decide
whether or not the Patriarch
gets his stinking bridge.

Sit.

All of you,
sit down.

Just sit down!

We're going to take
a little break now.

Dylan, Dylan, Dylan,

it's not enough that you have
to rain on my parade,

you're going to take away
all my fun too, huh?

Yeah, like I said,

we'll work once you
take these things off.

You'll all work
when I tell you to work.

Kill this one.

Wait, wait, wait.
Just getting by.

Uh, PT,
as much as we admire
the fancy little gizmos,

they are starting
to hinder productivity.

You know,

if we outline proper
work schedules,

we can move up
the completion date
without them.

Yeah, we could do that.

You'd get
your bridge sooner.

Really?

Yeah.

All right.

They'll be removed,
but at a price.

Throw the good captain
in the scrubber,

and the rest of you,
get back to work.

Sooner?

No, no, there.

Hey, buddy,
how are you doing?

Woodman's here
with your water rations.

Thank you.

How are you
doing?
I'm hanging out.

Time's up.

Whoa,
got up too fast.

Okay, listen,
I've got to talk to you about
the baccarat tourney, okay,

because... I need
to get in on this.

I know what's going on here.
You're afraid of a little
competition,

isn't that right?

Yeah, yeah...

And I'm just
some scruffy guy
with dirt.

You don't know
what I could do

with a card table...

I don't have
any cash... Now,

but...

Look, I'm true
to my friends,

you know, even
if they are guards,

you know, keeping me
on a planet forever.

You know
what I mean...

Hey!

Maru , survey the moon...
All parameters.

Entering orbit.
Initiating survey.

Hangars,

runways, training facilities...

housing.

What's the population?

Sparse per architecture.
Only a few thousand
and counting,

averaging one male
and one female

per residence.

Andromeda beacon
off starboard.

Danger, all
systems failure.

Switching to E.B.
O2 leaking.

42 minutes
life support

for your body weight
remaining.

I have a location on the Maru.

Life signs?

Potentially, one.

Potentially?

It is very weak.

Trance, get to...

Med deck.

He's coming to.

Good.

What the hell
did you do to my ship?

It's good to see you too.

The Patriarch,
he's our smuggler.

Still alive, huh?

Well, he's also
moving weapons,

enough for an army.

That's it. An army.

He's breeding an army
to import from the future.

The future?

Hmph.

It's never easy.

Harper,
I can't let you do this.

Okay.

Point this thing
at the mirror,
would you?

It's too heavy for me.

Harper!

He's quite simple

for such an intelligent
young man, isn't he?

He made your fiction
real.

Your whole race
will soon be fiction,

along with all that other
genetically altered filth.

My supreme Templars,
the army of the future,

will rid our universe
of you and your kind.

Ah.

Maintaining orbit
out of sensor range.

Why would the Patriarch
need an army so quickly?

When the Magog
attack the Tri-galaxies,

it will be bloody.

No matter who wins,

all sides will be
severely weakened.

The Patriarch wants to be ready
when it's over to bring out
his army of Templars

to cleanse the universe
of survivors.

Target that bridge.

I don't want an inch of it
left standing,

but do not fire
until we alert Harper
and Rhade.

Gentlemen, the future cannot
influence the past, right?

Wrong. We're going
to prove that.

Lopsided temporality.

We're also going to prove that
today, we didn't just push
a tachyon to its limit,

we pushed ourselves
to the limit.

We did what he couldn't.

This is our bridge.
We built it, and he can't
take that away from us.

Harper, you have
to destroy the bridge.

Repeat, destroy the bridge!

But we'll be the first ones,
boss. We've just got to see
if it we did it,

just for a millisecond.

Harper, don't do it,
for god's sake!

Shut up.

Prepare to meet
your nemesis.

Lieutenant, two people
are attacking on foot.

Acknowledged.

Sir, Hunt has returned.

Make sure he can't get in.

Secure the entry.

In the name of science, boss,

We've just got to see.

Harper, no!

We're outnumbered.

Clear a path.

Stay here.

No problem.

She's very good.

We have full power,
Harper.

I've just got to see
if we did it, just once, boss.
It's too important.

Harper, no!

It's opening.

A luxon. It worked.

Get that mirror
out of there.

Magog!

No.

Ma...

Magog...

And they've evolved.

Go, go, go!

It's impossible.

Harper, shut it down!

We can't.

It's already happened.

Overload the...

Too late.

Seamus Harper.

Such a historical
figure in my lineage.

You served
with red plague.

Rev. Rev.

You mean Rev Bem.

Right, my great-
great-grandfather,

the first to control
his hunger.

I have lived my whole life
for this.

I look forward
to our children.

They're marking us...

the ones they want to infest
with their Magog eggs later.

No!

Woody!

Oh, my god. Oh, my god,
what have I done?

This is wrong.
You're supposed to be...

Your superior race?

We ate them.

Watch him move
as I tickle his left ventricle.

This one is for you.

You two, come with me
to the landing bay, now!

It's no good.

We're barely even
slowing them down.

What took you
so long?

You're welcome.

Cover the exit.

Let's get to Harper.

Destroy the bridge.

We can't. We can't.

Harper, snap out of it.

Look, boss, they marked me.
It's all my fault.

You're damn right it is.

Now, you made this mess.
Now you're going
to clean it up. Harper,

you found a way to build it.
Find a way to destroy it.

Think.

Someone has to get
to that panel and open it

so we can point this emitter
at the tubes inside.

Rommie.
Not a problem.

Have I ever told you
how much l...

Shh. You're in a lot
of trouble right now.

Go.

Let's move it.

There, boss.

Good!

Harper, now!

It's going to blow.
Go!

We're leaving...

Today.

Everything
isn't always what it seems.

You might have been
the instrument, but you were
not the hand wielding it.

Woody's dead,

among others.

Magog from the future
are probably...

Joining forces
with the World ship,

all because of me.

Harper, with or without you,
they were bound to come.

I've always
known that.

I've always known
we cannot change it.

It is one
of the reasons

I'm here.

The war has begun.

How is it possible?

We destroyed the bridge.

It won't be there
in two centuries.

In another universe,
we failed,

and the bridge will exist,
and they will come from there,

or, this universe
will allow for another
bridge to be built,

and by some coincidence,

as you call it...

There's plenty of time.

Either way...
They are here.

Nothing could have
changed that.

You got treated like crap
down there, and I didn't even
stop to notice.

I'm no better
than the Patriarch.

Yes, you are, Harper.

You thought what you were doing
was right,

for the betterment
of humanity.

Yeah?

So did the Patriarch.

Hmm.

Good intentions...

The devil doesn't tempt us
with measly offerings.

He knows what we want most,
what you wanted most.

You believe in the devil?

He's in every one of us...

Right here,
aching to get out,

but this...

Is what you have
to listen to.

Understood?

You're pretty enlightened
for a...

You know what?

I'm never going to make
another Nietzschean joke again.

Yes, you will.

"I promise, boss.
You won't regret it."

What you did
was unforgivable.

If I can't trust you,
I can't depend on you.

It's that simple.

If you can give in
to the Patriarch so easily,

how can I rely on you
when the Magog attack,

and how are you going to hold up
against the abyss' tricks?

If you're here to be
let off the hook, Harper,

it's not happening.

I just came here to apologize.

I'm sorry.
It won't happen again.

Please, please,
don't give me the boot.

Well, that's strike two.
One more, and you're out.

Strike two?
What was strike one?

Careful.

Forgetting strike one
is enough to be strike three.

Right.
Now I remember strike one.

That won't happen again either.

Dismissed.

What was
strike one?

Dylan, what was
strike one?

Well, there wasn't one,
but he works better
under pressure.

Hmm.

Well, he finally did get around
to fixing my anti-proton
converter palpitations.

See? Case in point.

He finally fixed it, huh?

Hmm.

Wonders never cease.