All language subtitles for Buck Rogers in the 25th Century S02E12 - Testimony of a Traitor

Here, why don't you have a couple more
of these? You could use the tonnage.

Oh, if only your tact
matched the powers of observation.

No offense intended, you know.

Just can't stand these things. You know,

I'm really sorry that we're
headed back for Vega Quadrant.

That's, uh...

Stopping off for fuel and supplies
on Earth was a nice change of pace.

Now hear this.

The ship has been
ordered back to Earth orbit.

All personnel report to duty stations.

Captain Rogers, report to the
hangar deck at once. That is all.

We just left Earth orbit
12 hours ago, isn't it?

Well, maybe you won't have to
face Vega Quadrant after all.

Attention hangar deck. Prepare to
receive Earth shuttle in one minute.

What's going on, Admiral?

Why are we headed back to
Earth? Frankly, I don't know.

We received orders to stand by
to receive Commissioner Bergstrom

of the Alliance
Judiciary Council. Bergstrom?

The war crimes prosecutor? That's the one.

I thought his job was
investigating interplanetary

aggression and war
crimes on a galactic scale.

Why is he coming aboard the searcher?

Frankly, I don't know. Any
more than I know why he requested

that you be on the
hangar deck when he arrived.

Earth Shuttle has docked.

Prepare to receive Commissioner Bergstrom

Commissioner Bergstrom,
this is indeed a great honor,

although I must admit a
somewhat puzzling one.

To what do we owe the
pleasure of this meeting?

I'm afraid the meeting will
not be pleasurable, Admiral.

I'm here on official
business of utmost gravity.

I see.

Well, needless to say, I will do
everything I can to assist you.

Captain Buck Rogers?

Yes, Commissioner.

Under provisions of the
Alliance War Crimes Act,

you are hereby placed under close arrest.

Captain.

Arrest?

What are the charges? All in good time.

We'll escort the captain to the wardroom.

Yes, sir.

Commissioner, I have a right
to know what the charges are.

Very well, Captain.

The Judiciary Council of Earth
has decreed that you, Buck Rogers,

be placed under arrest for
suspicion of high treason.

In the year 1987, NASA launched the
last of America's deep space probes.

Aboard this compact starship, a lone
astronaut, Captain William Buck Rogers,

was to experience cosmic
forces beyond all comprehension.

In a freak mishap, his
life support systems were

frozen by temperatures beyond imagination.

Ranger 3 was blown out
of its planned trajectory

into an orbit 1,000 times more vast,

an orbit which was to return Buck
Rogers to Earth 500 years later.

¶¶

Commissioner, as commander of this ship,

I insist upon being told
what this is all about.

I don't believe that Captain
Rogers could have possibly

done anything to warrant an
investigation of treason.

Everything will be made clear once
the proceedings are underway, Admiral.

Why don't you take a seat?

I do not understand.
Everyone, please take their places.

What you've heard is correct, Hall.

I don't understand it
any more than you do.

Bring in Captain Rogers.

You sit here, please, Captain Rogers.

General Arheim, I believe
we're ready to proceed.

Very well, Commissioner.

Under the provisions of Alliance
law, this hearing is now convened.

It is appropriate that this room
affords us a view of the Earth.

For it is the Earth which is the
true plaintiff in today's proceedings.

I need hardly remind you of
the Earth's fragile beauty,

of its tragic and terrible history.

We all know that our planet has been
scarred far too many times by wars, famines,

and atrocities for me to
have to recount them here.

But without question, the
most terrible of these tragedies

was the nuclear holocaust
of the late 20th century,

which reduced our beautiful
planet to smoldering embers,

laid waste to our gleaming cities,
and snuffed out the lives of billions,

plunging our planet into a A dark age from

which it has taken us centuries to emerge.

If the Earth could speak,

it would cry out against the sheer
insanity of this wanton destruction.

And it would demand that those
responsible be identified and punished.

The instigators of Earth's Armageddon
perished along with their innocent victims.

So the blame was never fixed.

The scales of justice were never balanced.

But today, more than 500 years
after that horrible bloodletting,

We are able to bring to account
at least one of those responsible.

There, there sits the man who as
much as anyone else was responsible

for the nuclear holocaust
which virtually destroyed

the planet Earth, Captain Buck Rogers.

That's the most ridiculous
accusation I've ever heard.

The defendant will return to his seat. I
demand to know the basis of your charges.

Where's your evidence?
Captain, I will not repeat myself.

Return to your seat.

You will see the evidence, Captain.

Right now.

This lead box was recently unearthed in
some newly found ruins in what had been,

in the late 20th century,

the headquarters for the United States
Air Force North American Air Command.

These headquarters were
located deep within a mountain

in what was then known
as the Colorado Rockies.

You'll notice that the
box is badly charred.

This is the result of the
intense heat that it underwent when

the headquarters was
destroyed by the nuclear holocaust.

But the contents of the
box survived unscathed.

It's a videocassette.

It's very common in the late 20th
century, used to record images,

much as we do with laser
holography today, if you will.

Jim Peterson. You recognize
this man, Captain Rogers?

He was my best friend.

It's November 22nd, 1987. I am Major
Jim Peterson, United States Air Force.

Our country has just undergone
a devastating nuclear attack.

All major cities destroyed.

The U.S. counterattack, but
radar tells us that the final

enemy salvo that'll finish
us off is only minutes away.

As a member of Air Force intelligence,

I've recently come into
possession of top secret evidence.

Video tape that proves the
attack was provoked by the treasonous

activities of certain
fanatical US Air Force officers.

This film It was taken secretly by Air
Force intelligence on January 8, 1987.

The man who's about to speak is
Lieutenant General Preston C. Myers,

vice commander of the
Tactical Air Command.

Gentlemen, we'll make
this meeting a brief one,

since I think we're all in
agreement as to what needs to be done.

Send Rogers in.

Captain Rogers reporting as ordered, sir.

Sit down, Captain. Yes, sir. By now,

you've had time to think over the
project we mentioned last week, Captain.

Yes, sir, I have. Good.

I don't think I need to remind you
that the present civilian administration

has repeatedly backed down in
the face of foreign provocations.

It's allowed the other
side to gain a dangerous

superiority in tactical nuclear weapons.

I agree, sir.

I've given your plan a
great deal of thought, General.

I'm convinced that a preemptive
nuclear strike is the only way we'll ever

eliminate the dangers that menace
our country and our way of life.

And you're with us? Yes, sir.

There is one problem, however.

A preemptive nuclear strike
would require the simultaneous

launching of every ICBM in our arsenal.

Now, that could not be
ordered without having

a master list of the
top secret launch codes.

Those codes are available only to the
chief of staff and the president himself.

Precisely, Captain, and
that's where you come in.

We want you to obtain
those codes for us so we

can launch our strike
before the year is out.

How about it? Are you with us or not?

All the way, sir.

Good.

You'll proceed at once.

Anything you need for the job
will be placed at your disposal.

Oh, General Roberts
tells me your main ambition

is to fly the next deep
space probe for NASA.

That's correct, sir. Well, once we have
those codes, I think that could be arranged.

Thank you, sir.

Is there anything else?

That'll be all, Captain.

Colonel Turner will see you out.

Thank you, General.

I'm ashamed to say that Buck Rogers was
my closest friend until I saw this tape.

And the fact that he was lost six
months ago While flying that NASA mission

he wanted so badly may have been
God's punishment for his treachery.

I only regret that I grieve for him.

As for the tape I'm making
now, after I sign off, I'll...

Place it in this box.

My hope is that someday a
survivor of this war or a descendant

of a survivor will find it
and learn what really happened.

That our world was blown to
bits by Traitors and madmen.

These will be the last words I ever speak.

And I pray that mankind
somehow survives this insanity.

It wasn't that way, Jim.

General, we have seen incontrovertible
proof that Captain Buck Rogers conspired with

others to plan the nuclear holocaust
which virtually destroyed the planet Earth.

I move that this tape recording be
grounds for formal indictment of high treason.

I don't believe it.
Motion granted. It can't be.

Captain Rogers, you stand
charged with high treason.

You will be permitted, of course, to
offer testimony in your own defense,

and defense counsel will be
appointed if you wish it.

However, I must warn you.

If the charges against you are sustained,

the law requires a
mandatory sentence of death.

We shall reconvene at 0900 tomorrow,

at which time you may
speak in your own defense.

Buck?

Buck?

Kind of dark in here, isn't it?

If you're here for the
standard pep talk, Wilma, forget it.

There's got to be a logical
explanation for what we saw.

Maybe it wasn't you. Maybe it
was someone impersonating you.

Wilma, you know me better than
anyone alive. You know it was me.

What I can't figure out
is how it could have been.

I do not remember any of those
things ever happening to me.

I don't remember even
meeting those generals,

much less being a
co-conspirator with them.

You know something?

As much as this charge of treason
hurts, Something else hurts even more.

What's that?

The best friend I ever had... died
thinking I betrayed him and this country.

Look at me.

Everything all broken up over somebody
that's been dead for over 500 years.

It's crazy.

No, it's not.

Buck, I want you to know
something. No matter what happens,

no matter how this thing turns out,
there's no man I've ever respected more.

Now, I am not going to
let you walk into that

hearing tomorrow and run up a white flag.

We're going to figure
out why it is that you

don't remember what
you saw in those tapes.

And if we can do that, then maybe we
can explain how those things happened.

Terrific.

You have any idea how
you're going to do all that?

No, but Dr. Goodfellow might.

He said he was going to
work on a hypothesis.

Why don't we go find out
what he's come up with?

Oh, yeah, why don't we
just take a run down to

the lab and talk to Dr. Goodfellow, right?

You forget I'm a prisoner here.

I'm the arch-villain of the millennium.

I can't just go traipsing through
the halls of this ship willy-nilly.

Well, I talked to General
Ardheim and the Admiral,

and they said that you can
go anywhere you like on this

ship as long as you're
accompanied by an officer.

And guess what?

I'm an officer.

Well, I wish I could
share your optimism, Doctor,

but not only do I not remember
what was on those videotapes,

but a lot of what I do remember...

Sketchy, to say the least.

Well, that's hardly
surprising, my dear boy. It was.

Only a few months later, as you were
frozen in your space capsule for 500 years,

your memory of events
immediately preceding was

undoubtedly affected to
a considerable degree.

Yes, which makes it a bit
difficult to account for my activities.

You know, one thing that really
bothers me, Doctor, is that... Well,

the fact that I could be guilty
of what they're accusing me of.

Oh, Buck, you can't mean that.

I don't know. I don't know.

I mean, I find it difficult to
believe that I'm guilty of treason. I...

But, well, I was worried about the
possibility of an attack on our country.

Doctor, isn't there
something we can do to help

Buck remember what
happened during that time?

Well, of course there is, my dear,
the optical engram imager. After all,

it's helped us on other occasions.

When it's been necessary to probe
the recesses of someone's mind,

why not in this instance?

But I thought that evidence obtained
through an OEI was not admissible in court.

Au contraire, Colonel.

Recent amendments to the
Evidentiary Code permit OEI testimony to

be admitted as evidence If the
defendant in the case so chooses.

Well, you learn something new every day.

I should certainly hope so, Captain.

Why, Tweeky, what brings
you to my laboratory, eh?

Hello, Doctor. Hello,
Wilma. I've come to see Buck.

This is for you, Buck.

Well, thank you, Twiggy.

What is it? A petition of support.

Everyone on the ship signed it,

from the Admiral right down to
the gang in the engine room.

Thank you, Twiggy. It
means a lot to me. We're

all behind you, Buck.
We know you're innocent.

Let's just hope the OEI
approves that in court tomorrow.

There we are then. I think that's it.

Is it comfortable for you, Buck?
That's fine, Doctor. Thank you. Good, good.

Switch it on.

Your best.

We're ready to proceed, Mr. Commissioner.

Thank you.

Lights, please.

According to the
evidence that we saw yesterday,

the treasonous activities that you were
accused of were planned in January of 1987.

I want you to concentrate.

Think back to that time.

Show the court what you
remember of that period.

Nothing.

The ordinary,
everything seems pretty routine.

Concentrate, Captain.

We are interested only in those
memories relevant to the charges.

Mount Rushmore?

I don't know why that flashed through
my head. I've never even been there.

Oh, come, you'll have to do
better than that, Captain.

It was you who asked to
testify through the OEI.

So far, your memories
haven't touched on the case,

or even on anything that
might prove your innocence.

Oh, wait a minute, wait a
minute, something's coming.

Good morning, Carl. Morning.
You got the things I need? Yeah.

Here it is. It's fully
automatic with an infrared flash.

You can take pictures in total
darkness if you have to, undetected.

Anything but the best, huh?

Anything for a good cause.

And this little gem
gets you into the safe.

It's computerized with a digital readout.

Just twirl that combination knob, and
this baby doesn't rest. Yeah, well,

I think I'm next. Have you figured out
how to get into that crypto room yet?

I'm working on it. I should be able to
come up with something by next week.

I'm glad you're with us.

General Myers couldn't
have picked a better man.

Good luck. Thank you, sir.

I don't remember any of that. You
don't remember meeting that colonel?

Well, I think I knew
him, but... You knew him?

What I mean is I seem
to remember knowing him,

but I don't recall ever having a
meeting like that. But isn't it possible,

if you knew him, that such a
meeting might have taken place?

Yes, it's possible.

This farce has gone on
long enough, General.

Captain Rogers has convicted
himself with his own memories.

I demand that a verdict be rendered.

I repeat, General, the prosecution
demands that a verdict be rendered.

Commissioner, I must remind
you that the defendant has

a right to continue
testifying if he so chooses.

Captain, although you
may continue if you wish,

I hardly need to point
out that your OEI testimony

is hurting your case
rather than helping it.

You want to proceed?

Yes, Your Honor, I do.

In the hopes that further testimony
might help explain what we've already seen.

If nothing else...

Or to my friends aboard
this ship who believe it.

Very well, Captain.

Proceed, Doctor.

All right, Captain, once again,

I'm going to ask you to think
about those weeks in January,

allowing your mind to
settle on images which

somehow might relate
to the matters at hand.

Try to give us
something relevant, Captain.

Nothing yet.

Wait a minute. Wait a
minute. I'm getting something.

I feel like I've been
walking God to you all night.

You should be here in ten minutes.

No kidding?

What was it? Sounded like a grenade.

Check the perimeter. Blue.

Someone's been through the area. They blew

up a jeep. Secure the perimeter. Yes, sir.

Air police, open up!
Are we under attack, sir?

Sir, this room is off
limits. Can it, Sergeant.

Everybody out. This building may
go any second. I'm sorry, sir.

I have my orders. This code room
cannot be left unattended. Sergeant,

I have my orders as well.

And they are to evacuate this
building before anyone is killed.

Now, do I have to arrest
you to accomplish that?

No, sir. Let's go.

¶¶

We will recess for lunch.

The hearing will be
reconvened at 1400 hours.

Doctor, I have absolutely
no memory of any of those

things ever happening to me. None of them!

Now, is it possible that
that machine could be wrong?

I'm sorry, Buck, truly sorry,

but the possibility of the OEI
being wrong is absolutely nil.

Well, thanks anyway, Don.

Good luck, my dear boy.

Looks like it's all true.
Apparently I am a traitor.

I still find that hard to believe.

As do I. Yeah, well, I
don't know what I believe.

Buck, I've just spoken
with General Arnheim.

The judges feel that no
further testimony is necessary.

They intend to announce a
verdict when we reconvene in an hour.

Well, that's it then.

I'm sorry, Buck.

Truly sorry.

It's all right, Admiral. I understand.

Well, I guess I'd better be
getting back to the bridge.

Are you all right?

I don't know.

I just had a sharp
image of Mount Rushmore.

It was like when I was
hooked up on the OEI,

only The image was so
powerful that it actually hurt.

I just had it again.

Buck.

A sharp, clear image of Mount Rushmore.

I don't understand.

Wait, wait, wait.

These mental images of Mount Rushmore.

They must mean something.

But what?

I do not know.

They began when the OEI was probing
Buck's mind, displaying memories so suppressed.

You did not even know
they were in your brain.

Hawk, you've got a point.

What if somehow, somewhere,

those images of Mount Rushmore
tie in with the other images?

It could be the key to them all.

The answer is obvious.

You must go to Mount Rushmore.

Your presence there could
trigger a full recollection

of what happened, of what the images mean.

You could take Wilma with you as
a witness to what you discover.

Hawk, we'd never get there.

Once we left the ship, we'd be
pursued and caught in no time.

Permit me.

Take care of that.

So far, so good,
Wilma. No sign of pursuit.

For both our sakes, I
hope Hawk's theory is right.

There's a starfighter on our tail.

It's mine.

Captain Rogers, I have
orders to shoot you down

if you don't return to
the searcher at once.

How about running?

He's getting closer, woman.

He's zeroing in.

Starfighter, this is Hawk.

Release your controls or
I'll rip your ship apart.

Controls released. Hawk,
what took you so long?

We almost had our tickets punched.

I had to deal with some Marines who
seemed to object to my taking off.

I will take this one to a safe
landing spot and release him.

I do not think he will
trouble you further.

Buck, good luck. Thank you, Hawk.

Now, Rushmore, here we come.

World's greatest sculpture began in 1928.

It's quite a sight, isn't it?

Yeah, I also read that
except for the pyramids

of ancient Egypt and the
Aztec ruins in Mexico,

it's the only man-made thing
still standing since the Holocaust.

Hello there.

Can I help you folks?

Crawford's the name.

I'm the caretaker here.

Well, Mr. Crawford, we'd like to
take a look around the mountain.

Would you really?

Not many folks come up
here this time of the year.

I suppose you want to see
the president's bunker.

The president's bunker?

Well, most folks haven't heard about it.

Back in 1986, the President of
the United States decided he needed

a special bomb-proof headquarters
in case a nuclear war broke out.

So he had a special chamber
built right inside Mount Rushmore,

directly below the
sculptures of the other presidents.

Mr. Crawford, I'd really like to
see that chamber. Fine by me, friend.

I'll tell you how to get to it.

I trusted you, Admiral Asimov.

This lapse of security
is utterly inexcusable.

Need I remind you, sir,
you are aboard my ship.

And if you had put an armed guard
on Rogers from the very beginning,

when I asked you to, he would never
have been able to leave this ship.

As it stands, not only he
and Colonel Deering are gone,

but also your man Hawk
knocked two of my men unconscious.

I don't condone what happened any
more than you do, Commissioner.

But I'm certain we'll hear from
them shortly with an explanation.

It's a little too late for explanations.

In addition to your fighter
that I sent out after them,

I've notified all major Earth
installations to start a search, both air and ground.

They have orders to fire
first and ask questions later.

They sure is gloomy in here.

Well, that would explain what
Crawford said about me coming

here from time to time to
meet with his military advisors.

It's ironic to think that when the
Holocaust hit, he never had a chance to get here.

This is amazing.

I don't know, woman.

Buck, what is it?

I have the strangest feeling.

I've been here before.

But you said you never
visited Mount Rushmore.

I know, I know.

I can't explain it.

It's just that...

Buck, are you all right?

What is it?

Wilma, I have been here before.

Don't either of you move.

Captain Rogers, your
unauthorized absence has seriously

damaged your standing in
the eyes of the court.

Moreover, you have
jeopardized two of your colleagues,

who will undoubtedly be charged
with aiding and abetting your escape.

You now claim that some... some...

Hallucination you had while on
Earth is relevant to this case,

that you should be permitted another
opportunity to be tested through the O.E.I.

Well, frankly, after having seen
the testimony you've already given,

I should think you would have
had quite enough of the O.E.I.

Your Honor, I don't know if
further testimony will help

to clear me or only serve
to incriminate me further,

but I'm convinced that what I
experienced down at Mount Rushmore

was a fragment of a
deeply repressed memory.

Now, I have got to find
out what that memory is,

no matter how it affects the
outcome of my case. General,

this request is highly
irregular. I move that it be denied.

Captain, in view of the
seriousness of the charges against you,

and the fact that they carry a
mandatory sentence of death,

I will permit you to
testify one last time.

Thank you, Your Honor.
You may proceed, Doctor.

Your Honor, I'm not sure what
period I should be concentrating on,

so I'd like to go back a
little further than we did before,

to the latter part of 1986, just before
the meeting in General Meyer's office.

Very well.

Captain, I'm sure you appreciate how
serious a threat our country faces.

Yes, sir, I do.

The security of the entire nation rests
on whether or not your plan succeeds.

Precisely.

That is why it's so important that you
fully understand the dangers involved.

Think over our proposal.

We're not holding you
to any commitment until

you've had some more time to consider it.

We'll talk again in a
few days. Very well, sir.

General, what we've just
witnessed is clearly the initial meeting

when Captain Rogers was being
recruited into the conspiracy.

Your Honor, please, allow me to
continue. Let me go back a little further.

Before the conversation we just saw.

Captain Rogers is just stalling for time.

You may proceed, Captain.

Thank you, General.

Come in, Captain, come
in. Don't be bashful.

Very pleased to meet you, Captain Rogers.

Your superiors have had nothing
but good things to say about you.

It's a pleasure
meeting you, Mr. President.

Sit down.

I know you're wondering why
you've been summoned here,

and I'm not going to keep
you on pins and needles.

I'm going to come directly to the point.

Less than a week ago, Air Force
intelligence learned of a plan,

or I should say a conspiracy.

On the part of several
high-ranking Air Force officers

to take control of our country's ICBMs.

As near as we can
learn, they intend to launch

a first strike against the other side.

I see.

Needless to say, we've got
to learn as much as possible

about their plan and as quickly as we can.

And the best way to accomplish that is
to have someone working on the inside,

pretending to be one of them.

Now, the senior staff has considered
several qualified officers for the job, but...

Your name was at the top of the list.

Well, I'll do whatever needs
to be done, Mr. President.

That's the answer we expected, Captain.

There is one problem,
though, Mr. President. What?

Well, I don't know how convincing I'm
going to be as a fanatical co-conspirator.

Well, we've already addressed
ourselves to that problem, Captain.

General Orr, will you fill
Captain Rogers in on the details?

Yes, Mr. President.

In order to assure the
realism of your performance,

you'll be placed under a form
of extremely deep hypnosis,

during which time you'll
be programmed, so to speak,

to play the part of a conspirator.

Everything you think, do, and
say will be utterly convincing,

not only to the people around
you, but to yourself as well.

Are you telling me that my
personality will be completely transformed?

Only for a temporary period.

When the operation is ended,
you'll be brought out of the hypnosis,

and you'll not remember Anything of
the operation or of your part in it.

That is for your own protection
as well as for security reasons.

We don't want the public
becoming aware of this

plot since it might
trigger panic and hysteria.

I understand that, sir.

What will I remember of that period?

You will be given a set of ordinary
routine memories through hypnotic suggestion.

You must understand, Captain,

that you've got to stay with
the group until we're absolutely

certain we've
identified everyone involved.

Air Force intelligence will
monitor you every step of the way,

filming your clandestine
meetings. Don't worry about support.

You'll be backed up all the way.

Well, I haven't given you much
of a Christmas present, Captain.

But in a month or two,
we'll have this thing cracked,

and then we'll be able to
start the new year with a serious

threat to world peace
neutralized once and for all.

Thank you, Mr. President, General.

Commissioner, it would appear
that we have come dangerously

close to presiding over a
terrible miscarriage of justice.

Bravo, Buck, my boy.
Bravo! Nice going, Buck.

Congratulations, Buck.

Thank you. Congratulations. Thank you.

Captain Rogers.

I certainly would understand if
you choose not to take my hand.

But whether you do or do not,

you have my deepest apologies
and sincerest congratulations.

Fusion reactors are at
full power, Admiral.

And we're on course for Vega Quadrant.

Excellent.

Go to plasma drive.

Yes, sir.

Buck, I thought you
were getting some rest.

I'm still a little too
wound up to sleep, Admiral.

I see we're leaving the solar system. Yes,

we moved out of radio
range almost two hours ago.

You know, it's a shame. I guess we
never will know how the Holocaust started.

At least we know how it didn't start.

I always knew you were innocent, Bunk.
Oh, yeah? How's that? Robotic intuition.

Robotic intuition? What in
the devil is that? Well,

it's sort of like feminine
intuition, only more mechanical. Oh.

Been hanging around
Crichton too long, Twiggy.