Original subtitles

(Mary Ann) You still haven't told me when the commander's due back.

- Soon. - How soon is soon?

Longer than a little while. Faster than later.

He took out a fighter to check out a damaged transport.

Isn't that sort of job usually delegated to someone else?

Commander's a hands-on kind a guy.

He'll grab any chance to take out a ship.

- He's like that. - Well, I wouldn't know.

I haven't seen him since I came aboard.

Have you ever tried one of these?

- What is it? - I'm not sure.

According to the translator it's either

an aphrodisiac or a floor wax.

Can't decide if it's worth the risk or not.

- Mr. Garibaldi-- - Please. Michael.

Did I mention I really enjoy your broadcasts?

You know, if this interview hadn't been set up weeks ago

by Earthforce Public Relations

I'd swear that Commander Sinclair

did not want to be interviewed

by Interstellar Network news.

I can't imagine that.

This is supposed to be an event.

This is the second anniversary of Babylon 5 going online.

We took a poll when this station first opened

and 75 percent of ISN viewers

said that this place wouldn't even last five minutes.

Lloyd's of London put the odds of this station surviving

even one year at 500 to one...against.

Is there a bathroom around here?

Third door to your left.

That way.

The one with the blue marker is for methane breathers only.

I'd steer clear if I were you.

What the hell.

If that thing leaves a waxy yellow build-up on anything

I'm coming back here.

[instrumental music]

Julie, hand me that separator over there

I've just about got the RNA strand where I want it.

Get it yourself.

Vance, what are you doing here?

I was in the sector.

I thought I'd stop by

and visit my favorite student.

I've come to offer you an adventure, Stephen

very possibly the biggest adventure you've ever had.

What kind of adventure?

Well, you'll find out soon enough.

Savor the mystery, Stephen.

We don't get nearly enough of them.

Tired?

Yeah, long day.

But your ship's the last one in, so anything to declare, uh..

...any plants, non-sentient pets, organic matter..

Nothing organic, just some pottery and stone work.

Hmm, funny thing.

The bottom of this box on the inside

is four inches shorter than the bottom

of the box on the outside

like there was a hidden compartment in here.

If I didn't know better, I might think

you were trying to smuggle something in.

Not a chance.

No, it's just packing material to protect the stuff.

Here, let me show you.

[dramatic music]

(male narrator) It was the dawn of the third age of mankind

ten years after the Earth-Minbari War.

The Babylon Project was a dream, given form.

It's goal, to prevent another war

by creating a place where humans and aliens

could work out their differences peacefully.

It's a port of call, home away from home

for diplomats, hustlers, entrepreneurs, and wanderers.

Human and aliens wrapped in 2,500,000 tons

of spinning metal all alone in the night.

It can be a dangerous place

but it's our last best hope for peace.

This is the story of the last

of the Babylon stations.

The year is 2258.

The name of the place is "Babylon 5."

[theme music]

(Sinclair) How does it look?

All the signs point to death by natural causes

heart attack from the look of it.

- That suddenly? - I mean, it's possible.

I'll know more after we do an autopsy.

Did you know him?

No, he just started the other day.

Nothing in his personnel jacket

'to suggest a heart condition.'

Yes, and exactly which medical school

did you attend, Mr. Garibaldi?

Nothing personal, doc. I just want to be sure.

So do I.

I'll assign my best people to the autopsy.

Fair enough? Good.

Meanwhile, if I were you, I would go on with work as usual

and as soon as I hear of anything definitive

I'll let you know.

Go ahead and remove the body now.

[instrumental music]

Sorry, we had a little problem at one of the docking bays.

Now, would you like to tell me what this is all about?

I need your help.

[chuckles] Vance, you're an archeologist.

Everything you touch has been dead at least 100 years.

My area of expertise is a little more current and a lot warmer.

All in good time.

Firstly, I'd like to introduce

you to my assistant.

'Nelson, meet Dr. Stephen Franklin'

one of the best students I ever had.

Well, in the area of alien history, anatomy, and culture.

Pleasure.

Dr. Hendricks told me all about you

on our way in from our dig on Ikarra VII.

Dig?

You found something.

Show him.

That's funny.

I just had an energy spike

on my screen.

Same here.

What's the location?

I thought it was around med lab.

I'm not sure.

It was just there for a second.

Might have been a malfunction in the screen.

You'd better run a diagnostics check to be sure.

Will do.

We were on a dig sponsored by Interplanetary Expeditions

'when we found these artifacts sealed in a vault'

buried nearly a mile beneath the surface of Ikarra VII.

Took us months to get them out.

But Ikarra VII is a dead world.

Yes, but don't you see, that proves what I've been saying

'for years that Ikarra was once home'

'to a highly advanced space-fairing society.'

Extraordinary.

How old are they?

Minimum of 1000 years.

No chips, no sign of wear or age.

'It's as if they were made yesterday.'

What were they made to do?

Well, that's where you come in.

- Oh, Vance, I told-- - I know, I know.

Humor me.

Put it in your medical scanner.

[buzzing]

(Stephen) 'Whoa.'

'You've veins, capillaries, traces of DNA.'

Vance...this artifact is composed of living tissue.

This is organic technology.

The one trick that Earth hasn't yet been able to crack.

The ability to create living ships that thrive

in the vacuum of space

to create weapons that produce their own power

'through internal generation'

like a firefly lights up at night.

The ultimate synthesis of machine technology

and living tissue.

Magnificent.

This had to be a scanner of some kind.

See the way the entire surface tissue is photosensitive.

Retinal cones and rods to detect wide-band light frequencies.

This is amazing!

Why didn't you come and see me

about this when you first arrived?

I did. We've only been here a few hours.

But organic material has to be quarantined for 48 hours

before it's allowed in the station.

Yeah, we put it all through quarantine at the other end

at the transfer station off Proxima III.

It's all approved and authorized.

Nelson has all the paperwork if you're really interested.

Don't you see what this means?

This is a blueprint for living machines.

The Vorlons have them.

Some people even say the Minbari have them.

We haven't seen enough of them up close

to get any idea of how they work

but with your expertise in xenobiology and genetics

and my background in archeology

'we now have the chance.'

Well, there are better equipped facilities back on Earth.

I need someone I can trust.

You once told me back at the university

that you wanted your name to go down in history

alongside Fleming, Salk, Jenner..

'...Takahashi.'

Well, this is it, Stephen.

This is the mother load.

'I can't do it without you. I need your help.'

'So are you in or out?'

Finish unpacking, Nelson.

We have a lot of work ahead of us.

[dramatic music]

[zapping]

Oh.

[screaming]

[music continues]

[instrumental music]

[intense music]

(Garibaldi) Oh, there you are, chief.

Any word on the autopsy yet?

Techs down at med lab 4 still think it's natural causes.

We'll know more tomorrow.

'Other than that, we've scheduled

'a full security detail to cover'

the Narn-Centauri negotiations next Tuesday. That's it.

- I think we can call it a day. - I agree.

How about you, lieutenant commander?

Shouldn't the night shift be on duty by now?

We've been picking up some unusual energy readings

the last few hours.

I thought I'd wait around a little

to see if it happens again.

Anything serious?

That's what I'm trying to find out.

Well, keep me informed, and get some sleep.

I will.

Oh, just a reminder.

Your interview's scheduled for 1100 hours tomorrow.

Swell.

Which reminds me, she's waiting for me

down in the Zovolo.

It will be fun. So, why are you ducking her?

The last time I gave an interview

they told me to just relax

'and say what I really felt.'

Ten minutes after the broadcast, I got transferred to an outpost

so far off the star maps, you couldn't have find it

with a hunting dog and a Ouija board.

Don't sweat it.

Just be that charming

effervescent commander

we've all come to know and love.

'What's the worst that can happen?'

They fire you, ship you off to the rim

and I get promoted to commander.

I don't see a problem here.

How sharper than a serpent's tooth.

All this technology, you think there'd be a clock.

[sighs] Stephen, it's been 15 hours.

'We're gonna grow old and die in here.'

Stephen.

'Stephen, there's a Martian war machine parked outside.'

They'd like a word with you about the common cold.

Tell them to make an appointment.

[sighs]

Ohh.

You know, something's been bothering me

ever since you've got here.

Assuming that we can figure out

how this organic technology works

what happens then?

We apply for a secondary patent

based on alien technology

sell it to an Earth corporation

for a percentage of the profits.

(Stephen) 'Well, that's what I'm talking about.'

You're a brilliant man, Vance, a solid researcher.

You were an inspiration to me back at university.

You should be out making your own discoveries

instead of raiding dead worlds for whatever you can scavenge

and sell to the corporation.

Right, struggling through mountains of paper

vanishing grants. Who has time for that?

Exactly. That's my point.

Granted, this, this may be important

but you wouldn't have created it.

You just found it. It's a, it's a shortcut.

Frankly, I'm a little uncomfortable about corporations

financing expeditions to alien worlds

so they can steal whatever technology they have.

Feels a little like grave robbing.

Do you know what it costs to mount an off-world expedition?

[scoffs] More money than a university professor makes in a lifetime.

If the corporations won't pay, who will?

In the last five years

I've seen things off-world you can't even imagine.

I've stood in the Abendi desert, and watched all seven moons

go into eclipse.

I've walked in vaults that have been sealed

longer than has been a human race

breathing air that's five million years old.

'You call that a shortcut if you will..'

...but I've lived.

By God, Stephen, I have lived.

At least my hands are clean.

How about yours?

What's that supposed to mean?

Who is Interplanetary Expeditions?

You said they were fronting this expedition

but I checked, I can't find any information on them.

Look, Stephen

I didn't come halfway across known space to argue with you.

I came here because I wanted your help and friendship.

If that's too much of a burden--

No, it is not.

I just wish that you would stop taking shortcuts.

Look, we're both tired, I suggest we get

a good night's sleep and start again tomorrow fresh.

If you have any questions, then I'll be glad to answer them.

Fair enough?

Yeah.

(Garibaldi) 'And after walking 50 miles, we made it out of the desert.'

Later when he was put in charge of Babylon 5

Commander Sinclair asked if I come work security.

I said yes. It's been a great time--

Yes, I'm sure it has.

In doing some research, I've come across several rumors

surrounding your record prior to Babylon 5.

That you were fired five times

for unspecified personal problems

and that this is your last chance to make good.

Do you care to comment on any of that?

I'd rather have my tonsils taken out through my ears.

[dramatic music]

[crackling]

Lights.

Nelson.

Vance.

My God.

- Nelson, what happened? - Protect.

Aah!

- 'When did it happen?' - 'Sometime during the night.'

(Garibaldi) 'They moved him to the infirmary about an hour ago.'

- What's his condition? - Stunned, bumps and bruises.

And one hell of a headache.

Dr. Hernandez says it's okay to ask a few questions

as long as he gets his rest.

(Sinclair) 'You shouldn't be walking around yet.'

[groans] I'm the doctor. I know what I'm doing.

Whoa.

On second thought..

Do you remember anything else after you walked in the door?

[sighs] Not much.

I turned around, and there he was, like I said.

The design of that weapon reminds me

of the organic artifacts we were working on.

Organic? Were they checked at customs?

I was told they were.

Check into it.

This Nelson, who is he working for?

Vance Hendricks.

The same one who brought in the artifacts?

Interesting.

[breathing heavily]

I still haven't heard a satisfactory answer

Dr. Hendricks, and frankly I'm getting tired

of asking for one.

Dr. Franklin was attacked by your assistant

covered in some kind of armor

that's bears a striking similarity

to the artifacts you brought on to this station.

Artifacts that were not cleared for access.

Organic material requires a 48-hour quarantine.

There's no record of their being quarantined

or examined here or at Proxima III.

I'm as much in the dark as you are.

Nelson told me that he checked them. I believed him.

Whether he was acting under your orders or not

a potentially dangerous alien technology

was smuggled aboard this station.

Now, until I hear otherwise, I intend to hold you personally

'responsible. Is that clear?'

Yes, yes, yes, it is.

Uh, is there any news of Stephen's condition?

They're checking him out over at med lab 4.

He took a pretty bad hit!

But I'm told he's going to be okay.

He's up and around, and trying to go back to work.

Oh, thank God for that.

Can you tell us anything else about these artifacts?

Well, they're a kind of organic technology, limited energy.

In order to achieve mobility, they have to graft themselves

on to another life form.

It's possible that if they were activated

they tried to assimilate Nelson.

My guess would be that he's under their control.

For what purpose?

I mean, why would the artifact choose

to assimilate Nelson, but not you?

Unknown.

As to what it wants, that depends on its programming.

Could be anything.

According to Dr. Franklin, just before it fired

it said something about protect.

Do you think that might be the key

'to whatever it was programmed to do?'

Maybe.

But the question is, protect who?

- And from what? - 'It..'

Well, that information maybe contained

in the remaining artifacts.

'If I could assist Dr. Franklin in decoding them..'

I mean, if I am responsible for starting all this

the least I can do is help finish it.

Done.

That's what I told her.

A week on Columbus is simply

not within my budget.

'Of course, then she says..'

[indistinct chattering]

[dramatic music]

Protect.

Lieutenant commander

I picked up that energy flash again.

Grey 13, level B.

And there's something else.

The energy pattern has changed.

It's 20 percent more powerful than the last time.

[dramatic music]

[music continues]

(Susan) 'Commander, I have security in the link.'

Commander, we've got two fatalities in Grey 13.

It's definitely the same thing that attacked the doc.

'We're in pursuit now on Grey 7.'

Alright, I'm moving this to a level two alert.

Keep this channel open.

Commander, I understand there's a problem, some kind of attack?

Ms. Cramer, you are in a secure area.

You will leave, and you will leave now.

This is news, and the people have a right to know.

And you have a right to spend the next two days in the brig.

Lieutenant commander, I want this weapon triangulated.

Confirmed.

(Sinclair) 'Relay the data to security.'

I want this thing pinned down to within ten feet.

Coming up now.

Commander..

Don't.

You're too young to experience

that much pain.

[alarm blaring]

[dramatic music]

Commander, we've got him cornered in Grey 5.

I think we can take him, but we'll need some lights in here.

He's blacked out the place.

(Susan on wireless) 'Coming on line now.'

Take him down!

[firing]

Protect.

Go!

Go!

Move it!

(Garibaldi) 'Damn!'

We've lost him, commander.

He burned through into a sub-level

moving between bulkheads. Could be anywhere.

(Susan on wireless) 'The added shielding in the bulkhead'

is making it difficult to pinpoint his location.

We won't know where he is again until he fires.

Garibaldi, have your team sweep through each sector

moving inward, two on each team, five-minute proximity checks.

Confirmed. Security out.

Vance, come here. I think I've found something.

There.

The organic patterns in this piece

emulate the synaptic relays in the brain.

I'm even picking up cross-genetic equivalents

of serotonin used in the transfer of information.

- The data storage device? - Yeah.

If we could pull out that information

we might get a better idea of who the Ikarrans were

and more importantly why they made these things.

Exactly. Fire up the biosensor.

Let's see if we can tap into it.

[dramatic music]

I've got teams moving through every section

trying to flush him out, but he's gone underground.

Could be holed up anywhere.

If he wants to do the most damage

my guess is he'll head for the area

with the greatest population.

That makes the central corridor a prime target.

I've studied the record of his attacks

and there's a definite hit-and-run pattern.

Seems like every time he strikes, it chews up energy

and he has to pull back and recharge.

There's just a couple of problems.

One, his periods of latency are becoming increasingly shorter.

Two, we've been monitoring the energy level whenever he fires.

Each time, the level increases by 20 percent.

The last burst was completely off the scale.

If he continues to build power at that rate

pretty soon he'll be strong enough to destroy

the entire station.

So the next chance

we get to stop him

might be our last chance.

Alright, listen up!

I need this whole area cleared. We'll need room to maneuver.

I want guards on the doors the second level

and the catwalk. Come on, come on, come on!

Move it! Move it! Let's go!

(male #1) 'Got it! Energy readings off the scale.'

- Tracking it. - Commander!

It's on the move again. Brown 2, level C.

It's heading for the central corridor.

Garibaldi, you heard? It's heading your way.

(Garibaldi on wireless) 'Confirmed. We'll be ready for it.'

Win, lose or draw

this thing is gonna know it was in a fight.

Drop the pressure doors on all sides.

Maybe that'll slow it down.

Give Garibaldi time to get set.

Affirmative.

[growling]

Commander, we've managed to access

the organic memory banks of one of the artifacts.

Make it short, doctor. I don't have a lot of time.

Let me know when it's on the move again! Go.

Over the course of their history

the Ikarrans were invaded

half a dozen times

'each assault more deadly than the first.'

'They needed to create the perfect weapon'

able to adapt to any situation

an organic weapon capable of independent thought.

Temperature up 90 degrees in Brown two, level C.

Since it would take years to create synthetic intelligence

they incorporated the brain wave patterns

of one of their researchers into the weapons.

That's him.

His name was Tular.

But people can be fooled

'so to prevent them from being confused'

by any misleading instructions from the enemy

they hardwired the machine, half of the weapons

not to respond to anyone who wasn't pure Ikarran.

Just one problem, commander.

How do you define a pure Ikarran or a pure human?

No one is pure...no one.

Temperature's up 500 degrees.

It'll be through any time now.

Doctor, I'm joining Mr. Garibaldi on the line.

[dramatic music]

(Sinclair) 'So, who set the parameters of what it meant'

to be a pure Ikarran?

(Stephen) Coalition of religious fanatics

and military extremists that ran the government.

They programmed the weapons

with a level of standards based on ideology, not science.

(Sinclair) Like the Nazi ideal of a perfect Aryan

during World War II.

(Stephen) Exactly. The next invasion.

Eleven of the machines were released and they stopped

the invaders by killing anything that didn't match their profile

'of the pure, perfect Ikarran.'

'When they were finished, the machines turned'

on their creators.

They began a process of extermination

based on the slightest deviation

of what they were programmed to consider normal.

They killed and kept killing until the last Ikarran was dead.

- What about the weapons? - No one to tend to them.

They were destroyed by centuries of neglect.

Except for number 12, which is here now

acting on a program to protect a world

that's been dead for 1000 years.

(Sinclair) You said they incorporated the brain patterns

of one of their researchers into the weapons.

Tular, yes.

Is there anything there we can talk to?

Reason with?

Well, there's a complete

personality matrix, yes

but it's totally subsumed by its program.

Then we'll have to find a way around the logic of the program.

Better head back to the med lab, doctor.

I suspect we're going to need your services.

Weapon!

[dramatic music]

[whispering] Not yet.

I want it point blank.

Fire.

[guns firing]

Cease fire.

- Damn! - It's in the next level.

That's a straight line to where the civilians are quarantined.

How many men do you have stationed down there?

Not enough. Commander, we hit it with everything we had.

We didn't even slow it down.

The only weapons that might be big enough to kill it

would rupture the hull and kill everybody anyway.

And that's what we'll have to do.

- Blow out the hull. - Where are you going?

I'll try to lure it into the docking area.

We get it in place, seal the area, and blow out the airlock.

Armored or not, nothing can live in a vacuum.

Fine, except how're you gonna get it there?

By going straight to its personality matrix.

I'm gonna try and make it mad.

Make it mad? Are you nuts?

Commander!

[intense music]

Tular..

Tular of Ikarra VII..

My name.

My name.

Who knows my name?

Who knows my name?

Your name is dead, Tular.

Your world is dead.

Ikarra lives!

Ikarra must be protected!

You failed.

You failed in your mission.

'Ikarra is dead..'

...by your own hand.

You, and others like you.

That is a lie!

That is a lie!

(Sinclair) Ikarra is dead.

[roaring]

[roaring]

[dramatic music]

(Tular) 'Protect!'

Standing by. Ready to initiate emergency decompression.

Wait! Wait!

[roaring]

[groaning]

- Come on! - Protect!

Protect who? From what?

Impure!

Yes. Impure.

You must protect against all who are not pure Ikarran.

Yes!

And your own people, how pure were they?

- Pure! - How pure?

They didn't feed you facts.

They fed you propaganda.

They programmed you with standards of genetic purity

no one could match!

Not even your own people!

Liar!

[grunting]

Seal the area. Stand by to blow airlock and depressurize.

Commander, if we depressurize the area now

you'll be killed with it.

Only one way past that thing. I'm dead either way.

Dog the hatch. Seal it. Now!

[whispering] Stand by.

Ikarra lives!

Ikarra must be protected!

[groaning]

There is no Ikarra, not the way you remember it.

The others, like you, they beat the invaders, alright

'just like they were programmed.'

'They killed anything that was different...alien'

but we're all aliens to one another

'flawed, impure...different!'

No!

Too tall! Too short!

Too dark! Too light!

Imperfect. They were killed.

And the killing went on and on and on.

No!

The man you took over, Nelson, he's seen Ikarra.

'Ikarra after the others finished protecting it'

cleansing it of every slightest variation in genetics.

You can access his memories.

'See for yourself.'

'Look inside his mind.'

'See what he's seen.'

Go on.

Look into his mind.

He can't hide the truth. He can't lie to you.

'Look deep.'

'Look at it.'

A desert.

'Yes.'

Dead.

A thousand years...dead.

There's your pure world..

...your perfect world.

- We did this? - 'Yes.'

No!

'Damn you. Look at it.'

You and the rest..

...you forgot the first rule of the fanatic.

When you become obsessed with the enemy

you become the enemy.

Ikarra!

Great Maker..

...forgive us.

This...madness!

Forgive us.

[screaming]

[instrumental music]

Stephen, how's Nelson?

- Med lab 2, resting. - Good.

Vance!

I found this in Nelson's effects.

It's meant for cardial stimulation.

If used on a healthy person

it could cause cardiac infarction or death.

The body of the customs guard had two tiny marks on the back

so small we missed them at first

but they do match the prongs there.

'I spoke to Nelson.'

He confirms things I'd hoped I was wrong about.

You knew he did not put those artifacts through quarantine.

He was acting on your orders the whole time.

For God's sake, Vance, why?

[sighs] Interplanetary Expeditions

the corporation that financed the dig on Ikarra VII

is a front..

...a front for a bio-weapons supplier.

Oh, I could just have turned over the artifacts

taken the standard commission

but if they were what I suspected..

...organic weapons..

...then I could take a chance

hold back on delivery, and they'd--

Pay millions.

Or more.

More money than you can conceive.

But before you could take that chance, you had to be sure

and that's why you brought them here.

- Yeah. - Hmm.

You deliberately endangered

a quarter-million humans and aliens

just to raise your profit margin.

Oh, I was sure I could control it.

I never expected anybody to get hurt.

What about the murdered customs guard?

Well, we had to get them through customs.

Nelson said he'd do it.

I didn't know how. I didn't ask.

There was too much at stake.

That's why the weapon bonded to him, and not to one of us.

The program needed someone willing to kill.

Look, Stephen, we can work all this out.

We can sell the rest of the artifacts

to Interplanetary Expeditions.

They have enough muscle to clean up this whole mess.

All you have to do is, uh..

...not turn me in.

I mean, just think what you could do

with all that money.

[doors open]

It's too late.

Stephen..

[chuckles]

[doorbell ringing]

Come.

You've looked better.

[sighs] Listen, can I talk to you for a second?

Sure.

The whole station's talking about how you were willing

to risk your life to stop that thing.

- I didn't risk-- - 'Let me finish.'

This is the third time in the last year

you've put yourself on the line like this.

I didn't know anyone was counting.

'Jeff..'

...you're my friend.

You've been my friend a lot longer

than you've been my commanding officer

so I think I'm entitled to say this.

We were both in Earthforce during the war.

I wasn't on the line, but..

...I did my share.

I know a lot of guys who came out of the war changed.

Some came out better. Some came out worse.

A lot of them have this problem.

The war gave them definition, direction, purpose.

Without it, they don't know how to fit in anymore

so they keep looking for ways to go out in a blaze of glory.

Some people call that being a hero, maybe so.

I don't know. I've never been one.

Me...I think they're looking for something worth dying for

because it's easier than finding something worth living for.

Finished?

Yeah.

I guess that covers it.

'Michael..'

...I don't have an answer for you..

..and..

...I think maybe I should.

Thanks.

[instrumental music]

There you go, sir.

You seem troubled, doctor.

No. I'm just thinking.

You know, the Ikarran fought against invaders

just like we fought against the Minbari.

They became obsessed with it.

Back home, there is a growing pro-Earth movement

rumors of hate groups targeting aliens.

And on all sides, the fanatics

who think that society has to be protected

against anyone who's different.

I'm starting to wonder if what we just saw

is a preview of things to come.

No. I can't believe we'd be that foolish.

Santayana, "Those who do not remember the past

are condemned to repeat it."

[clears throat]

- Yes? - Dr. Franklin.

I have orders to confiscate the artifacts

and transfer them to Earth Central.

On whose authority?

Earth Force Defense, bio-weapons division.

Something about studying them for planetary security reasons.

It would seem no one reads Santayana anymore.

You'll excuse me, if you need me, I'll be over there

getting drunk with the rest of the aliens.

(Mary Ann) 'So, commander, after all you've just gone through'

I have to ask you the same question

a lot of people back home are asking

about space these days.

Is it worth it?

Should we just pull back

forget the whole thing as a bad idea

and take care of our own problems at home?

No. We have to stay here.

And there's a simple reason why.

Ask ten different scientists about the environment

population control, genetics

and you'll get ten different answers

but there's one thing every scientist on the planet

agrees on.

Whether it happens in a hundred years or a thousand years

or a million years, eventually our sun will grow cold

and go out.

When that happens, it won't just take us.

It'll take Marilyn Monroe..

...and Lao-Tzu, and Einstein, and Morabuto, and..

Buddy Holly, and Aristophanes, and..

All of this..

All of this...was for nothing..

'...unless we go to the stars.'

[theme music]