Original subtitles

Hey, watch the ears. Watch the ears. They're

high-tech, very expensive, worth millions.

I can't hear my messages without these ears.

It's time to go into the little room now, Mr. Quigley.

No one will touch your ears in the little room, Mr. Quigley.

I don't want to go into the little room.

No, no, no, no, no.

This is not good. This is bad. This is very, very bad.

The bars are interfering with my ears' receptions.

How will I get my messages? Do you need a minute? What are your feelings?

That doesn't work.

Don't you know anything?

What now?

I hear them.

They say they're coming for me.

Who's coming for you?

My fellow quantum mechanics at the Quantum Federation.

Yeah, well, tell them to meet you at Neurocorrectional in Ganymede.

No, wait.

I'm getting a message, too.

You are? It says shut up before I box your ears in.

I never got that message.

What's going on?

Percy, what's happening up there?

An unidentified craft on an intercept course. Didn't respond to my hail,

so I fired a warning shot.

You know the rest.

Okay, then fire countermeasures. And keep hailing them. We're on our way.

They're coming for me!

You don't think...

Car, target their reactor core.

Targeting. We'll belay that only, Car. Order belayed. We don't want to destroy them.

They started it.

Yeah, well, why would they do that?

Look at the size of that ship. It's barely a shuttle.

Something's not right.

They're not responding to our hails.

Well, maybe they can't answer.

Car, lock onto their comrade and boost the game.

Acknowledged.

Incoming transmission.

Put it through.

Of course.

Cheer in.

We come in peace. Stop firing for the pizza.

Our life support is out. Comm system failing.

Our missiles were firing randomly until they

drained themselves. Our crew is half dead.

You get my drift?

We get your drift, Max Fairley.

Phyllis C. Montana.

You haven't aged a minute, my dear.

It's all the same to everyone. I'm just going to start shooting at them again.

Percy, wait. I've changed, reformed, turned over a new leaf.

Besides, we have a ship-wide system failure.

Car armed torpedoes. Torpedoes armed. Hold on, Car. Percy, who is this guy?

He's an Oz. I'm...

An old friend with much to apologize for if I don't suffocate first.

Let me come aboard and prove my good intentions.

And I'll let you in on a little secret that'll make us all rich.

The guy is a snake.

Definitely.

But we should be willing to entertain the notion of unbridled love.

Oh, like you did the time you tried to sell

him the tulip to use as a floating prison?

You never mentioned that.

Totally screwing Dante and me in the process.

I had serious cash flow problems.

He put the screws on me.

I think some sweet revenge is in order.

Find out what he's playing at, take it from him.

Hey, hey, hey, stop.

I see where this is going,

and I'm getting really tired of being outvoted on my own ship.

The guy is a worm.

It was a snake.

Whatever. Fine.

Feel better?

No.

Look, I got it. The guy's a worm.

He's a snake.

Okay, some kind of slimy, crawly thing, so we'll be careful.

Don't say I didn't warn you.

Now, do you feel better?

I hate them all.

Good Lord. Rodolfo? Max.

Surprised to see me?

Surprised? Somewhat, but overjoyed, Rodolfo.

Overjoyed.

And Percy, my dear girl.

Oh, so many fences to mend.

So you've recovered nicely from your near-death experience.

And you must be the new captain.

So we've got the highlights of your last visit, Mr Fairley.

You're welcome here, but consider yourself on notice.

Fair enough, my boy. Fair enough.

Captain, may I introduce my crew?

Mina Zooms and Dr Davy Dumont. Mina is head of exploration

for my mining company, Supermax Explorico.

It's a mouthful, I know.

It certainly is.

Dumont is head of research and science.

Spelunking asteroids and such.

Anne...

What beauty is this?

Kali Larkadia.

Of the Mars Larkadias?

Yes.

Dr. David Dumont.

Of the Mars Dumonts. Yes.

We're on our way to Cali, Peter.

What splendid luck, so are we. Dropping off a bounty head?

That's right.

Barely pays the bills, I bet. Oh, the plight of the working poor.

Oh, we get by.

But don't you get depressed, spending your life here?

Once the finest luxury liner in existence,

now reduced to a mockery of its former glory?

No.

What about you, Ms. Lucadia? Got a taste of the good life, don't you miss it?

Not really. Would it to you if I did?

Let them in on our little treasure, if you would, Doctor.

What is it?

Omnium.

Value of the bloody scale.

One ounce of omnium is worth a thousand diamond mines.

And why are you telling us?

You saved our lives. It's only fair we share the wealth with you.

Please, rest assured I'm not the person Percy says I am.

I've changed.

Turn it off. I'm sick of his voice already.

As you wish.

Oh, you must understand that, Captain.

Of course.

Can you believe that crap?

Mac's fairly reformed.

He's got some slimy angle.

Yeah.

We need a better one. Turn it back on him.

Caravaggio, where's that background I asked for?

The Supermax Explorico Industries founded 2287.

Operations include mining, refining, excavations.

They've expanded into philanthropy, funding various charities.

Charities? Are you sure? I would not mislead you.

Right.

Any arrests?

None.

Well, it sounds like he checks out, Percy.

Maybe he's onto something.

What about this omnium stuff?

Anyone heard of it?

Caravaggio? I have no information about omnium. Well?

Which is not to say it does not exist. After all, Mr.

Fairley did say it was extremely rare.

I will search the planetary databases. Well, we should check it out at least.

I'm gonna go feed the prisoner. I need to talk to the sane person.

That prisoner's crazy.

Yeah.

You know, what if she's right about Max?

And what if Max is right about the omnium?

I believe your Miss Locadia was quite taken with Dr. Dumont. Really?

Can we save the small talk?

I was just trying to get my head around your generous offer.

What's not to understand? 25% of the Omnia mine

operation in your pockets, free and clear.

For dropping you off.

And for saving our lives. That's worth quite a lot, in my opinion.

It's, like I've said, I've reformed.

It was our destiny to be brought together, Mr. Montana.

And it's our destiny to get lucky.

Oh, that didn't sound right, did it?

No.

Your quarters are just down the hall, if you'll follow me.

No, there's no need for that. This will do nicely for us both.

A lot of work to catch up on, you know?

Yes, Max is all business.

I'm sure.

I have a terrific idea. I recall a captain's

table in a wonderful dining room on board.

Why don't we celebrate our good fortune in the grand old style of the tulips?

Glorious past, and have dinner there.

What an excellent idea. No need to put yourself out.

Simple food, humbly prepared will always suffice.

No, no, no, maybe we can lay our hands on some wine. In vino veritas, as they say.

Dinner at eight, then? Marvellous. Splendid.

Come in!

Come in, damn it! Roger voodoo x-ray delta copy over.

Salam!

Bonjour!

Konichiwa!

Konichiwa!

Hello!

Food.

Food.

I don't like food.

Makes me wheeze like a dog.

I'm sorry, but by law, I have to feed you.

Otherwise, I wouldn't... Dogs have really good hearing.

I wish I was a dog. I could hear all the messages being sent to me.

They're sending you to Neurocorrectional and Ganymede, is that right?

Yes.

Why?

They say I'm crazy.

They do do that.

I miss my new war. Legs, pair of legs, all the way up. Legs? Did you see them?

So, Taravaggio tells me we're dining with Max?

Yeah, why not indulge a little?

Dinner or Mina?

I haven't made up my mind yet.

We're gonna get dressed up. Hey, it'll be a laugh.

Guess you live for rejection. Count me out.

Oh, come on, how can you resist champagne and can't have?

No self-respecting person would answer that question.

Guys, the trick to being a good con artist is to

convince people they're smarter than the con.

And the trick to conning a con artist is to not let on you know you're being conned.

So if we're going to find out what he's got going on, we play along.

I'm curious.

What is a Larkadia doing on a bounty hunting ship?

Not being a Larkadia.

Gee, and I thought I was the only blue blood to turn his back on his family.

Ah, oh, I'm sorry if I... You do what you gotta do, right?

Exactly.

Any regrets?

About leaving the fold? Hardly. You?

Most days, no.

Most days?

So why'd you do it?

I couldn't stand the life. Or them.

And if I hadn't escaped them,

I wouldn't have had the freedom to sail around

the solar system looking for omnium mines.

So tell me more about this omnium. Exciting.

I've only had a few days to study the sample,

but it seems that the omnium allotrope is actually a septagonal carbon crystal.

Meaning?

Meaning it's incredibly beautiful, even under a microscope.

It's great, but what's it good for?

You tell me.

It is a hundred times more beautiful than even the most

celebrated diamond and a million times more rare.

Mm-hmm.

So it's about money.

It's about beauty.

Nice answer, but it really is about the money, isn't it?

You are a no-nonsense woman, Ms. Larkadia.

Thank you.

Make no mistake, this could make us very rich and on our own terms this time.

So you really believe there's an omnium mine on Ganymede?

I'd stake my reputation on it.

You must really want this, then.

In my line of work, this is the kind of find that you dream of.

Something so ancient and beautiful that no one has ever seen before.

You can hold it in your hand and say, I saw this first.

There's just no feeling in the world like that.

Max, how many times are you going to read that damn diary?

Until I figure out where Nora McCollum has stashed the necklace.

It's all here, but no X that marks the spot.

Well, it better be on board, like you said.

Oh, it is. Nora's a crafty lady, but not as crafty as old Maxie, eh?

What about the dining room, Nora?

Is it in one of the chandeliers in plain sight, eh?

Keep your eyes open, my love.

Why the hell was she so vague?

If her mining magnet cheating husband found the diary,

that would have ruined everything.

And it doesn't help that the tulip has changed so much over the years.

But she hid the necklace somewhere on board of that, I am sure.

Well, we better find it soon. This Mina Zooms routine is getting old fast.

Montana's no idiot, and that little witch Percy is on to us.

I never did trust her from the start.

Well, maybe an accident could happen to her.

We don't need an accident.

Come in.

What about the girl?

The girl?

He's liking the good doctor very much, thank you. Our research has paid off well.

Yes, but they're starting to get suspicious.

I say we jump them before they figure it out.

And how are they going to do that?

We stick to the program, win them over bit by bit.

And you need to work on Travis.

It's going to be hard. He keeps it all bottled up.

Losing your touch, Mina?

Just let me have him alone for two minutes.

Hmm.

It's nice to see you want someone who takes pride in their work. In any event,

we need to keep them distracted. If I'm going to search for the necklace,

I don't need them in my hair.

And if we're all in agreement, let's eat.

What's this?

Prom night?

It's called sophistication, Percy.

Those are so good to get gutted up every now and then.

You are such hopeless boy creatures.

Au contraire.

We are full of hope.

Hope there's a pot of omnium at the end of our rainbow.

Caravaggio tracked omnium down on the databases.

It's legit. And besides, what's wrong with dreaming, eh?

Brief interlude in the drudgery. Do tell, Rodolfo, dearest,

how do you plan to spend your billions?

I was thinking a sort of 30-, 40-room affair in the lunar countryside,

a large waitstaff to cater to my every conceivable whim,

and a large harem to cater to my every inconceivable whim. LAUGHTER And you, Marcus?

All the toys money can buy. What else?

Percy?

Oh, please, I'm not playing.

Oh, come on, no desire to lead the good life.

I am living the good life now.

Yeah, now that's rich.

Look, whatever your reasons are for being here, they're your reasons, nobody else's.

Yes, I know.

We're just having a bit of fun.

Speaking of fun, I think it's time to feed our prisoner.

Oh, no, you don't.

Marcus?

You can't watch the shirt!

Caravaggio?

My goodness, who is that?

Callie.

I barely recognized you without a gun.

Still working on the jokes, huh, Car?

Sadly, yes.

In one of my previous servile incarnations,

I'd been programmed with an ingratiating sense of humor. Uh-huh.

Listen, what were those old days like aboard the Tulip?

In a word, magnificent.

Yeah, there's something to be said for wealth, I guess. Indeed there is.

May I ask, do you miss your life of privilege?

Me?

Never.

Well, almost never.

Golden Retriever to Team Leader, come in.

Golden Retriever to Team Leader, come in, please.

Whoa! Nice suit!

Going to a prom?

More swill for you.

You think I'm crazy, don't you?

Uh, pretty much, yeah. Well, when my friends come to rescue me,

you'll see just how crazy I am.

I'm sure I will.

Laugh if you like. Whatever.

Face them.

Yeah!

Hey!

Come in!

I can hear you!

Yeah! Hey! Enjoy the prom, dear!

Huh?

No, I wasn't talking to you.

Yeah.

Huh.

Well, everything is going fine, as far as I know.

Look, you just sit back, and you wait for my signal.

That was delicious.

My compliments.

Well, it's amazing what you can do with a can opener and a hot plate.

Shane Percy couldn't join us. I was hoping the ambience might mellow her mistrust.

It'd take more than that.

Another glass? No, no. Well, if you insist.

I'll wager this old girl still has some surprises left in her.

Quite a few, I'd suspect.

Oh, whoops!

Whoops.

Makes me pine for the good old days when men were men and women were property.

Still, they knew how to live, first class, all the way.

Yes, well, we hardly use these decks anymore. They're kind of creepy, if you ask me.

Nonsense. It's history.

Living history.

Isn't that right, Uncle? Hmm?

What?

Oh, uh, oh, yes.

Oh, yes. Perhaps your Caravaggio has some old hollow

images in his memory that he could show us. Maybe.

Can I?

I would love to, but my memory is a bit fuzzy.

Hey, it's ballroom dancing.

It's beautiful.

Dazzling.

How marvellous they looked.

So, my soon-to-be-unspeakably wealthy brethren,

have you imagined what you'll be doing with your fortune? Mm-hm.

The old ball and chain couldn't stop talking about your father. Dante this,

Dante that. But the fact was, he couldn't stand Zelda.

And it wasn't long after that that I realized the same thing.

I am forever in your father's debt.

I'll be sure to tell him next time I see him.

That diary was in my quarters.

It's mine. You stole it!

Yes, I did. It's very interesting. Shall I read the underlined parts?

I... I... I... Lied?

I lied about the Omnium mine on Ganymede.

Well, Max, you are a surprise.

Listen, I lied about Ganymede, but not about the Omnium.

What is with this diary?

Better spit it out, Max.

No need for violence, Percy dear. I'm a man of peace.

The diary belonged to a woman named Nora McCullum.

She was a filthy rich passenger aboard the Tulip a hundred years ago.

In fact, she ate at this very table during the trip,

complained about the asparagus salad, or was it the cream of celery soup?

I'm not... Sorry.

Nora's husband couldn't resist the ladies,

so she punished him by losing the most valuable

object he ever gave her... a necklace.

Made out of pure omnium.

Worth billions.

And where did Mrs McCallum leave this bauble?

On board the Tulip. It's all right here in the diary. You can read it yourselves.

I found the diary during my brief tenure as owner of the Tulip.

And when I heard that the ship had emerged from hyperspace,

I decided I might have a chance to get the necklace.

Carr, any Norma Callum in your memory banks?

I've retained only fragments of the period in question.

A great deal of the data has been degraded due to damage and neglect.

Sounds like your problem, Max.

Give it a try all the same, Carr.

Try the dormant caches.

I did some rescue work in there a few weeks ago. Just a guess,

but you two aren't exactly as advertised either, right?

Mina is my mistress.

Max, you doghead.

And there I was, thinking Max was all business.

Max is very kind to me.

David is a professor of history.

Ex-professor.

History's a bit of a dead subject these days, I'm afraid.

I needed a job. I'm sorry.

Oh, here's something.

Now, I remember her.

Oh, what a lovely yet troubled lady Miss McCallum was.

She's seated first to your right.

Thank you.

Freeze it, there!

That's the Omnian necklace.

And what exactly is the little gem worth again?

Ten billion. A small fortune, even divided eight ways,

which is what I intended all along.

Okay, that was another lie, but that's what I'm offering now.

Well, Max, that's very kind of you, but unfortunately,

you're in no position to offer anything.

I say we throw them in the brig.

On what charge? He's got a point.

Then we confine them to quarters.

And you'll keep a close eye on them, Carl?

Will do.

They really are beautiful.

Carl, can you tell us anything more about this omnium?

Yes, it appears to be an allotrope of carbon.

English?

A structurally different form of an element.

Carbon is usually found in three allotropic forms. Amorphous, graphite,

and diamond. From this sample, I would surmise that omnium is a fourth allotrope.

What happened?

I don't know.

It appears an electrostatic charge was generated

when Marcus touched the proton microscope.

Oh, this is unusual. Something is happening to the crystal. What's going on, Carl?

The electrostatic charge has caused a proton leak,

which has set off in a sequential enriching cascade. English, Carl, English.

Essentially, the leaking protons have enriched the

omnium and set off a small fissile reaction.

As a nuclear fission? It is a similar reaction.

One moment.

By my calculations, were the omnium to be properly enriched,

it would generate in the order of 2 billion electron volts.

But that's impossible. That would make it about a

million times more than a uranium-based reaction.

Indeed, it would be a very powerful energy source.

Powerful enough to fuel our antimatter train?

Oh, yes.

With the antimatter drive working, we could expand our territories to the far world.

We could be rich.

And Max Farrelly won't have a clue.

Unless he knows about Omnium's potential. That is highly improbable.

Omnium is very rare, and the confluence of random events

that created the cascade are quite unlikely.

But not impossible.

Max is too stupid to know its real value.

I think you're right.

In any event, we don't even know what's going on.

This also means that we are one step closer to hyperspace.

Not this again.

And finding your Uncle Dante. Or losing any chance.

I think we're getting ahead of ourselves. We don't even know where the necklace is.

Carr, any idea where Nora McCallum went when she was aboard?

Even with Percy's Herculean effort to restore my dormant caches, no.

Well, we should start with the places you have most likely access to.

Dining room, ballroom, corridors.

Dining room? Yeah, dining room.

So, who takes whom?

You want Dave?

Not particularly.

You mad at him?

He lied to me.

Well, here's your chance to get eaten.

Travis, nothing on first scans of the dining room. We're going over again,

then heading up to the ballroom. Good. Stay in touch.

I'm taking Max. No debate, please.

Wouldn't dream of it.

Which leaves you alone with Mina?

I'll muddle through somehow.

I bet you will.

Golden Retriever here.

Situation not good.

No.

Confined to their quarters.

Well, you just may have to do that.

I will make my move when the time comes.

Anything?

No.

Anything yet? No, not yet.

How about now?

Listen, assuming this necklace hasn't been laser welded

into a bulkhead or something during a refit,

this could be answer to all our problems. Yeah, well, that's a big could.

I mean, even if we do find it,

then we have to figure out how to enrich the omnium properly,

and then adapt it to fuel our antimatter drive,

and then we have to figure out how to manipulate the time-space gap,

which is going to be hard.

All right, all right, all right, I get your point.

Anything yet?

You really don't need to point that weapon at me, you know, Percy.

I know.

But I'm enjoying it.

What makes you think the necklace is in here anyway?

It's got to be somewhere.

Right.

Look, I think we ought to sort out our differences.

Oh, yeah. Yes.

Your Uncle Dante, a brave and decent man.

Yeah.

I truly, truly respected him, you know.

Yeah, well, he hated you.

He never got to see my good side.

I'm sure we'll all get to see your good side when you find that necklace.

I am sorry, Ms. Larkadia.

It was Max's idea to lie. He said he knew what he was doing.

He do everything Max says?

Pays the bills.

Afraid I have to be a bit of a mercenary. I have no choice.

Do I look like I'm interested?

Look, I grew up without much money. I chose a profession that didn't pay.

Essentially, I've spent my life with nose pressed up against

the window looking at how the other side lives.

Believe me, they're no happier.

Yeah, at least they can be miserable in pleasant surroundings.

This is some fun, huh?

Oh, I'm having a great time.

You know, me and Max, I think it's over.

Oh, yeah?

Yeah.

It's not my type.

Frankly, I don't know what I was thinking.

Not really.

Yeah, I prefer my men more rugged, stoic, dark-haired, and named Travis.

Funny, same way I like my women.

Minus the Travis Bond.

That's funny.

Thanks, I'm here all week.

Listen, um, don't you ever want a little down time, hmm?

Mina, you're a very attractive woman, but you can put your clothes back on.

Oh, looks like you broke my resistance record.

Sorry to interrupt, Travis,

but scanners indicate a Class 7 freighter to the port at 5,000 kilometers.

The captain sends his greeting. Thanks, Captain.

Are you sure it's a freighter?

Saturn registry confirmed. Car, evasive maneuvers.

What the hell was that?

I honestly have no idea.

I don't think this is Max's doing. Then who? Somebody bloody serious. Bridge?

Bridge.

I'm sorry.

Me too.

Pity it's a stun.

What's going on? No idea. Car's in the fridge.

Where's Dave?

Taken care of. Max?

Same.

Travis.

Well, it's about time.

Well, I couldn't do anything with their AI

keeping us all under constant surveillance.

Our friends should have taken care of that.

The AI should be out of the picture by now.

Where's the crew?

Travis is unconscious. The rest could be anywhere.

Do you want me to tell our ship to stop firing?

No. Tell them to target non-essential systems. Keep the damage minimal.

We've got to keep this crew distracted while we search for the necklace.

When we find it, we get back on the ship, we can blast them to kingdom come. Mm-hmm.

Team Leader, this is Golden Retriever.

Come in.

We'll look for him later. How are weapons?

Online and charging. Oh, come on.

Armed. Firing countermeasures.

Communication, scanners, navigation, all down.

Maneuvering thrusters limited.

Environmental and gravitational still functioning.

Home integrity decreased, but holding.

You see any likely hiding spots?

Well, she had to have been in one of these cells when she did it.

What's happening? I think Mina has double-crossed us.

Typical.

You know, she might have been able to reach through the cell to the wall behind.

There's some removable panels back here.

Travis the Bridge.

Great.

That here's the deck below. That goes to swimming pool.

Oh, well, well, well.

You lads out for an evening constitutional?

It's all Mina's fault. She double-crossed us. No,

she double-crossed us. She triple-crossed you.

Whatever.

Are you going to help us stop her?

No, I think the brick's the place for you two.

Okay. Shuttle bay.

Come on, Maxie.

Come on, Doc.

That's for you, isn't it?

Team leader, we are approaching the shuttle airlock. You should be in in minutes.

Nice try, fellas.

Want a neck?

Some other time, maybe.

Have I missed out on some fun? Damage report, please. Our reactor has been hit.

I'm reading a serious radiation leak.

It's about time. Where are the others?

That guy's on the brink.

Good, but we have a problem here.

The reactor took a big hit.

How bad?

It's viewing radiation, but functioning. I slowed the leak down a bit,

but the power's dropping off anyway.

Car, how are we holding up? We have several hull breaches in progress,

and we appear to be outgunned.

I'd estimate a 24% chance of survival.

Power up the particle beam.

They'll see that coming, and then they'll have 30 seconds of target power.

Then increase the radiation leak.

Increase it.

Scanners hate radiation.

Car, bring us about. Slowly. Certainly.

Cannon's charged.

Fire!

That was quite fun. Quite amusing.

So, Dave, did you get even?

What do you think?

Boo.

Hi.

I just thought I'd come down and soak up some of the ambiance.

Me too. We should even hear more often.

Yeah, we should.

You could wear that dress.

I only wear it for special occasions.

Interesting reading.

Yeah, this Nora McCallum was quite a feisty woman.

It seems she got a little tipsy at dinner one night,

confronted her husband about his affairs, and he had her thrown in the brig.

A man's world even then.

Got a problem with that?

So do you think the necklace is all it's cracked up to be?

Do I think it's worth ten billion credits? No.

Do I think it has the potential to be a powerful energy source?

Wish it were. But I'm a realist.

Nothing in life's that easy.

How do you...

There, I've got to hand it to that meaner.

She plants Quigley on board, greases the gunship,

and puts one over on Max. She's my kind of girl.

I'm surprised you didn't propose. I did.

When she's finished her seven consecutive sentences for fraud,

she might give me a call.

Better hope she ages well.

Hey, hey, hey, careful with that.

That's our future you're playing with.

Tied on his molecular analysis?

Uh, yes.

And?

The card says it's something called cubic zirconia worth about 37 credits,

which also negates his theory about the energy source.

Poor Nora.

Poor Nora?

What about poor Rodolfo?

My dreams are crushed.

You'll get over it.

Come on, Rudy, it's much more fun to dream about being rich than actually be rich.

You're right about that.

Still, it must have been wonderful, eh?

Yeah, well, in some ways it still is. Oh, yeah, and how's that?

Well, we still love each other.

Yeah.

I'm told your team gets results on the next Star Hunter.

Try not to break anything this time.

Us? Break things?

Who are you? I'm your worst nightmare, mate.

I'm a big man in a toilet with a gun.

Can you tell me what I'm looking at?

The image on your screen appears to be a residual form of negative energy.