All language subtitles for Buck Rogers in the 25th Century S02E13 - The Dorian Secret

Please proceed after the
passport, ladies and gentlemen.

Welcome aboard. Package can be sold.

Welcome to the Omega
Solaris space terminal.

Please, please, please.

You all right?

I think so.

Those were Dorian
security men, weren't they?

How did you know that?

The masks.

I've heard that Dorians are mutants, and
they keep themselves disguised that way.

Why were they after you?

Please don't ask me any questions.

Where is this shuttle going?

We're headed back for
the Earthship Searcher.

We've been picking up survivors of
the volcanic eruptions on Avernus.

The space terminal was acting as
a temporary evacuation center.

Where will you take them?

To a new colony on the planet Cineus.

Please, isn't there some
way I can go with you?

For the time being,
consider yourself a survivor.

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.

¶¶

Take any seat in the
cabin. This way, please. Hello.

Welcome aboard.

Hello, I'm Colonel Dearing.

I'll be your liaison
between the passengers

and the ship's command while you're here.

Hello, Colonel. I'm Daryl,
and this is my husband, Joam.

Nice to meet you, Colonel.

Hi.

Very nice to meet you as well.

If you need any help,
please let me know. Thank you.

Thank you very much.

So you're not settling on Cineus, huh?

No, I fly freighters out of Rigel and
Clomax IV. I meet my ship on Cineus.

I see.

What about you, my friend?
What line of work are you in?

Best.

Maximum return on minimum investment.

Perhaps we could start a
game. Well, well, a gambler.

Actually, a little bit of everything.
That doesn't involve too much labor.

Prestidigitation is my latest interest.

Presto.

Care to make a bet on
what I can change it into?

I'm not a betting man.

Are you comfortable? Is
there anything I can do for you?

We're fine, thank you.

Buck, is something wrong?

I don't know, woman.

I'll talk to you later, okay?

Excellent trick. Do you have
any more? Thank you very much.

How did you do that?

Beautiful.

I didn't know you were there.

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you.

My name is Buck Rogers.
You never told me yours.

I'm called Alifa.

Alifa?

Some of you, isn't it?

I never tire of looking at it.

It's beautiful.

Alifa, I don't know why the
Dorians were chasing you, but... Well,

if you've got a problem, I'm
more than happy to listen.

Does my staying on board depend
upon telling you my problems?

No, no, of course not.

It's just that sometimes talking about a
problem is the first step to solving it.

And sometimes, Captain, talking about
your problems just makes them worse.

Did she find out anything?

No, no.

Whatever was bothering her, she
seems to want to handle on her own.

Emergency! Emergency! All
personnel report to duty stations.

Our instruments indicate no
forward velocity, Admiral.

Why, that's preposterous.

What is it?

They don't seem to be moving.

I don't understand. What is that?

It could have happened for sure.

Activate the vis screen.

There was no sign of it on the scanners.

They must be using a cloaking device.

Energize defense shields.

The defense shields aren't functioning.

I am Kaldar, supreme leader
of the Dorians of Cygnus.

Your defense shields have been disabled.

I am in pursuit of a murderess who
has taken refuge aboard your ship.

You will give me the
Dorian woman, Asteria.

A Dorian woman?

Dorians are mutants, always wear masks.

Everyone here is human.

When the woman is in my
custody, your ship will be released.

Dear God, Sali, he's holding us captive.

It's got to be the girl
who ran on board the shuttle

when we were loading up
the last of the survivors.

There was a gang of Dorian thugs
chasing her, so I let her on board.

I concurred with Buck's decision, Admiral.

The Dorians are a harsh people.

When can I tell what they would have
done to the girl once they caught her?

Is the woman a Doreen?

She wasn't wearing a mask, but
that doesn't prove anything.

Listen to me, Koldar.

I'm Admiral Ephraim Asimov.

Interference with a peaceful
vessel in open space is a violation

of the laws governing
interstellar navigation.

It is tantamount to piracy.

It is not piracy to seek justice!

I will not permit a known murderous
under-sentence of death to escape punishment!

Any complaints you have
against her will have to

be taken up in the form
of interplanetary courts.

Unlike Dorians, we have a quaint
custom called due process of law.

Legal niceties do not interest me.

I have anticipated your attitude
and have the means to alter it.

Proceed with first
phase thermal intervention.

What's happening? It's
getting hot in here.

The cooling circuits, Faith?

The cooling circuits are
functioning perfectly.

It's obvious they have some way
of changing our cabin temperature.

I have increased the cabin
temperature of your vessel to scale plus 7.5.

But an ancient law of physics
demands that for every action,

there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Inverse charge.

We've also got some way
to lower our temperature.

Scale is minus 3.8 and dropping.

I shall continue to
alter the cabin temperature

of your vessel until you
give me the woman. That is all.

Father.

Consider this.

The girl has managed to
board the Earthship Searcher.

She's undoubtedly on her
way out of the star system.

In effect, banishment.

Surely, this is punishment enough.

Are you forgetting she
killed your brother?

Merely exiling herself from the Dorian
race hardly constitutes punishment enough.

Well, it looks like we've
got a criminal in our midst.

A Dorian criminal.

How can that be? No one
here's wearing a mask.

I don't know.

But mask or no mask,
it seems that our first

order of business is
finding out who she is.

I say every woman in this cabin
should give an account of herself.

It's the only way we can
find out who... There it is!

There it is! I can see it!

That's a Dorian ship, all right.

Change it again. It's getting hot.

Captain, what do you
propose to do about this?

How are we going to get
ourselves out of this force field?

What Koldar is doing is
in violation of every law

governing the conduct of
interstellar navigation.

He won't get away with it.

Well, he seems to be getting away
with it right now. The ship is stopped.

We're ultimately freezing and frying,

and all because some alien
criminal has taken refuge on this ship.

That's right, you know.

She's a Dorian.

Look, what business of ours
is it what they do with her?

I say we send her back to her own kind.

That's right. Quiet down.

No passenger on this ship is going
to be handed over to armed aliens

who have broken every
interplanetary law by stopping us.

I suggest you all
return to your seats and try

to make yourselves as
comfortable as possible.

Until we can resolve this crisis.

The cabin temperature just
went to scale plus nine, sir.

How long can we take this
heat, Doctor? Well, in my opinion,

our bodies can't
withstand temperatures in excess

of scale 8.2 for a
sustained period of time.

Uh, Crichton, Crichton, would you be so
kind, my boy? Are you listening? Listen.

Be good enough to provide a
vector analysis of relevant

temperature data for me, would you please?

Extrapolation from
current temperature data

indicates all mammalian life forms aboard

vessel will attain
metabolic stasis by 1600

hours if the present scale is maintained.

Am I mistaken, Doctor,
or did he just say that

we have less than eight hours to live?

Yes, Admiral, I'm afraid that's
precisely what he said. Well,

if the Dorians change to another cold
cycle, that one will probably freeze us solid.

All I'm saying is that we
have a right to know who it is.

Aren't you curious?

Doesn't anybody even care?

Captain Rogers already covered this round.

Why don't you just sit down and relax?

Oh, my young friend here seems
to think I should relax, huh?

Well, I don't relax so well when I'm in a
blast furnace cooking in my own juices.

You don't think so well either.

What's that supposed to mean?

There are at least a
dozen women in this cabin.

So just how do you propose to
discover who's the guilty party?

Laser mind probe?

Hypnosis?

The rack?

What I propose is that we question
every woman here, find out who she is,

What she was doing
before she boarded this ship.

And what do we do if we find her?

Turn her over to the
Dorians ourselves? Well, why not?

Why should we suffer and die for
something that doesn't even concern us?

Let the Dorians settle their own affairs.

And it doesn't really matter
whether a woman is guilty or not,

just so long as you save your own skin.

We can start with you.

Do I look like a Dorian to you, mister?

How would I know?

Nobody knows what a Dorian
looks like. They always wear masks.

Well, then why don't
you just leave me alone

and look for somebody that has a mask on?

I say that all the women
here should tell us who

they are and what they're doing
aboard this ship. That's enough!

Nobody's appointed you
spokesman for the group.

That's right. Not us all.

Fine!

Just fine.

Is that how you all feel?

Yes.

Well, good.

We can all sit here and bake to death.

For all we know, she's the one.

Or them.

Maybe it's one of them.

We left our home in Avernus yesterday.

We've never seen a Dorian.

Lots of people can vouch for us.

Cleus, we don't owe him any explanation.

I think we've got to
stop attacking each other.

We are in this thing together.

We're going to have to stick
together in order to get out of it.

Noble words, my friend. Noble words.

But are you ready to sacrifice your
wife and your unborn child for a murderer?

They've done it again!
They've done it again!

There are thermal
blankets in the ship's stores.

Those of you who require further
insulation may go forward and draw them.

It's about time.

It is likely to get much colder.

You need more protection than that.

Come.

I will escort you to the ship's doors.

I do not think so.

You should come with me.

I said I'd... Perhaps you're right.

Thank you, Hawk.

I think it's time you ended
your mysterious lady act.

What are you going to do?

Turn me over to Koldar?

Are you the Dorian he's looking for?

When I saw you looking at
your reflection in the viewport,

it was as though you'd never
seen your own face before.

That's because you've
always worn a mask, isn't it?

You know the customs
of my people, Captain.

The mask is never
removed in front of others,

and there are no mirrors or
reflecting surfaces allowed on my planet.

My people have observed
this custom for centuries.

Ever since the Neutron Wars
with Rigel, it changed us forever,

leaving us a race of mutants.

Mutants?

You're one of the most
attractive women I've ever seen.

There's an old Earth saying,
beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Such things are relative, Captain.

What is it exactly that
Koldor thinks you've done?

What does it matter?

He'll have his way. He always does.

He's trying to fry us again. The
temperature's practically a scale plus 10. Look,

you've got to tell me
why Koonor wants you.

Lives are at stake.

He thinks I killed his son.

Did you?

Of course not.

I loved him.

Two days ago, I went to see Chozen.

There was a place, an escarpment in the
hills where we met. But when I found him,

he'd been hurt, terribly hurt.

He stumbled toward me, bleeding.

And then he lost his footing and fell from

the escarpment even as
I tried to hold him.

And as I was running for help,

I learned that others had already found
Chozan's body and wanted me for the murder.

If somebody makes his
living from others' weaknesses,

I've been coming to a conclusion.

Such as?

Starting a game, my friend.

Starting a game.

What game?

You heard about the Dorians
having a dislike for mirrors?

The girl never had a chance to
tell her son the story. Now,

Koldor just might listen to one of us.

And he just might not. Yes, you're
quite right indeed, Admiral. He might not.

You know, the Dorians are
stubborn, proud people.

They isolate themselves from
other races in the galaxy for

so many centuries that very
little is known about them.

Hence the old saying, of
course, dark as a Dorian secret.

At this point, we have no other choice.

Wilma, switch on the VidCom.

Koldar, this is Captain Buck
Rogers on board the searcher.

I do not speak with junior
officers. Where is your admiral?

The admiral is in charge of this vessel.

I am in command of this mission.

Our interference will cease
when you surrender the woman.

We're not prepared to surrender anyone.

How do we even know she's guilty?

The woman's guilt is
not in doubt, Captain.

You have evidence?

But... That would be the business
of the Dorians of Cygnus, not yours.

It became our business the
moment you stopped this ship.

I demand to come on board
and examine your evidence.

That is out of the question.

What's the matter, Koldar?

Are you afraid that if an
outsider learns the details of the case,

the entire galaxy will know that
the Dorians are a race of primitives?

A race that condemns people
to death without even a trial?

You may come aboard, Captain.

By the time you leave,
neither you nor anyone

else will have cause to
doubt Dorian justice.

Wonderful!

Our valiant captain gets
the Dorians even angrier.

A little more of his help.

And we'll all be dead for sure.

Why don't you just shut your mouth?

I don't see you helping matters any.

How long do you intend
to keep this up, Captain?

What are you trying to say, Rand?

What I'm trying to say is the
only way we're going to get

out of this alive is to give
the Dorians what they want.

Some of us here believe
you know who the woman is.

I already told you, Rand,

no passenger on board this ship is
going to be handed over to anybody.

Prepare for docking amid ships.

Prepare for docking amid ships.

I'm Captain Buck Rogers. I've been
granted an audience with Koldar.

I am Demeter. Koldar is my father.

Then it was your brother who was killed.

Asteria says she's
innocent of your brother's death.

I believe her.

I wish it could be proven so.

My father asks that I show you something.

You'll come with me, please?

I invite your attention to the view
scan you're about to see, Captain.

It was taken on a
routine patrol by one of our

security ships on the day my
brother died. In large detail.

More detail.

Too hot.

It's going to be all right.

Captain Rogers is talking to them.

They'll let us go.
We're gonna die, aren't we?

No, of course not.

Yes.

Yes, we're all gonna die. All of us.

It's all right, please.

It's all all right.

Folks, I think it's time to
look on the bright side here.

Lighten up the mood with
a little entertainment.

My name is Kronos, I like to think I
bring a little joy with me when I travel.

For instance... Sleight of
hand tricks at a time like this?

Some people are hard to please.

A fan for the lady.

Perhaps others more in need.

A breath of air for each of the ladies.

Indeed, all true believers in
Kronos, the prestidigitator,

may have a fan of her own.

And I see how a little levity changes
things. It draws us all closer together.

What have we here?

A lady allergic to her own reflection.

All right, Dorian, take a look.
Let the woman go. Let her go.

It seems we've found our
pigeon. Look in the mirror.

What is it you Dorians
see looking in mirrors?

Did you see nothing at all? I said let
her go. Here's your Dorian criminal.

Is what they're saying true?

I've committed no crime, I swear.

She weaseled her way aboard this
ship and jeopardized our lives.

She has no right to be here.

So what do we do, draw and
quarter her? No, of course not.

We simply put her into the emergency
airlock and let the Dorians take her away.

You must be out of your mind.

Look at it this way. It's
simply a matter of odds.

If the girl stays aboard,
then we all die, including her.

But if the girl goes over to the
Dorians, then she may or may not die.

But the rest of us
definitely live. I say we vote.

Yes.

Vote.

Cleus, you don't know what you're saying.

You have no idea what you're doing.

You may go.

I understand your
disillusionment, Captain.

It's always painful to believe in someone,

then find that belief
to have been misplaced.

I still don't think she did it.

The view scan itself was ambiguous.

Depending on how you look at it,

it could either be a young
woman pushing a man to his death

or struggling desperately
to keep him from falling.

I admit it could be
read that way by one who

believed in her
innocence as you do, Captain.

It's a persuasive argument
I could use on my father.

With Asteria's life at stake,

you never thought to argue
that with your father before?

Well, well, my father is a
difficult man to talk to.

Asteria says she loved your
brother. Were you aware of that?

Is this an interrogation, Captain?

Were you and your brother close?

Yes, we were.

But exactly what does that
question mean? If you were close,

you would have been aware of any
arguments between Asteria and your brother.

Any arguments serious
enough to cause her to kill him.

I asked my father to banish
Asteria, not execute her.

I have done my best to see
she was not unduly punished.

What do you mean by unduly punished?

Dorians are noted for their
rigid justice, a life for a life.

Is there something
about your brother's death

you're keeping to
yourself for some reason?

Sir, your father is ready to
receive the Terran in five minutes.

Very well.

Captain?

We just hit scale plus ten.

Still no word from Buck.

Give him time. Give him time.

Better check on the
passengers, see how they're holding up.

Anybody who thinks we should
turn the girl over, step forward!

And they're over. He can't be serious.

He sounded serious to me.

You better get down there.

Hawk?

Well, what's the matter
with you? If you think

we should turn her over, step forward.

Cleus, this is murder they're
committing. How can you be a party to it?

Do you want to die? Daryl.

Daryl, we have to think about the baby.

Majority rules! Let's
go! Out of my way, pilot!

This is Serger calling the Dorian ship.

The girl you want is in
the emergency airlock.

It's locked.

What's that like?

I tried to stop him.

I don't know who I feel
sorrier for. That poor girl

you just condemned to
death, or all of you.

Father, I present Captain Buck
Rogers of the Earth Ship Searcher.

Now that you have seen the
evidence of the woman's guilt, Captain,

Neither you nor anyone
aboard your vessel will

have cause to question Dorian Justice.

Koldor, you have judged
and sentenced the woman

without even hearing what she has to say.

You've held dozens of
innocent people on a peaceful vessel

hostage and subjected them
to extraordinary cruelty.

You call that justice?

I don't think you or any Dorian
has any idea of what justice is.

Under ordinary circumstances, Captain,

such an outburst would merit
swift and certain punishment.

But in view of recent developments,
I shall overlook your impertinence.

The other passengers voted.

Return the Earthship to
its normal temperature.

It's getting cooler.

It is.

It is getting cooler.

I told you if we gave him back the
girl, everything would be all right.

Engage the video comm.

I want the humans aboard the Earth
ship to witness these proceedings,

that they may know what we do here
is nothing more than simple justice.

Kolar, the judiciary of every
civilized race in the galaxy bars

those having a conflict of
interest from sitting in judgment.

Can you decide the fate of your own
son's accused killer and call that justice?

These entire proceedings would be
nothing but a sham unless her fate

is decided by someone who has no
vested interest in the outcome.

Very well, Captain.

Do any of you find my judgment unjust?

Do any of you find my interpretation
of the evidence unfair or illogical?

If so, step forward without
fear of censure or disfavor.

And you? Do you find my
judgment cruel or unjust, Demeter?

I would have preferred her
punishment to be banishment, Father.

But it is your judgment.

My judgment is the
judgment of one man, Captain.

But as you can see, its
wisdom is recognized by all.

The woman will be executed
according to custom after

the proper formalities have been observed.

Ah, yes, ah, yes, the proper formalities.

How could I possibly have forgotten those?

It does make it
easier, doesn't it, Koldar?

Nothing like a little ritual
to soothe a guilty conscience.

Return him to his ship.

Hold!

If you're gonna execute this
girl, I suggest you do it now.

Or is that a little more
justice than you can stomach, Kolar?

Maybe it is easier to
have some executioner

back on Cygnus do your dirty work for you.

Very well, Captain.

You shall see Justice Swift and sure.

Prepare the prisoner for execution.

No!

This can't be happening.
Somebody, somebody stop them.

It's not possible.
Surely they're not going

to kill her right there. That's barbaric.

Prepare to execute sentence.

We shall spare the sensitivities
of those who cooperated with us.

Disengage the video cam.

Now you shall see that I do not shrink
from the consequences of my judgment.

They turned it off!
Perhaps you are disappointed you

cannot see the execution
you so desperately wanted.

Carry out the execution!

No! Stop!

You mustn't.

What is the meaning of this?

Asteria did not kill Shazan.

Then who did?

It was an accident.

We quarreled, struggled.

Shozan fell and struck his head.

I never dreamed Hysteria
would be accused of his death

until you saw him follow
his death in the view scan.

And to the very end, of even
you bringing her back to Cygnus,

I felt you might let her go.

Release the woman.

You knew I could not let her die.

Why?

Why did you lie to me?

If it was indeed an accident, as you say,

why did you not come
forward with the truth?

Because I was frightened.

Frightened of what you would do, what
you would say. But most of all, Father...

I was frightened of your sense of justice.

You fear me that much?
As much as those who

did not dare to speak
against your judgment.

Why did you quarrel with Chosan?

He would go into the hills
above the city to meet Asteria.

There, they would violate our custom.

Are you telling me that when
your brother met with Asteria,

they would remove their masks? Yes.

Why felt it
intolerable that a future leader

of our people should behave in such a way?

And on that terrible
morning, we came to blows.

After Shozan fell, he
lay there, not moving.

I thought he was dead, so I ran away.

Had I the courage to remove his mask,

I might have seen he was
still alive and brought him help.

But I couldn't bring myself to do it.

So, because of this wretched
custom of hiding behind masks,

I caused my brother's death.

But now I see that a race of
people blindly subservient

to a custom is not a race of
people at all, but a race of slaves.

I'm sorry, Asteria.

I shall never wear a mask again.

He's as handsome as Asteria is beautiful.

How could this custom of wearing
masks have led to this tragedy?

What is this secret that you
people refuse to talk about?

In centuries past, Tens of thousands
of our people were driven to suicide,

unable to face the
horrors of their mutancy.

To save our race from extinction,

It was decided that no
Dorian would ever look upon the

face of another Dorian or
appear without his mask.

But now, perhaps my son is right.

Perhaps the time has come for us to find
a new way to live with an ancient curse.

Perhaps the Dorian
secret exacts too high a

price from those it
was intended to protect.

Show him!

Show him what we are!

I am your leader! Do as I
command! Remove your masks!

Now!

Imagine.

Imagine, Captain, what it is
like to live in a world where

every face you see is a
mirror image of your own.

It's Asteria. She's all right.

Thank God.

I still say we did the right thing.

The girl's a Dorian.

We had a right to send
her back to her own kind.

Is that so?

In a few days, you'll be
landing on a new planet.

It's a beautiful, unblemished world.

If at least some of you learned
something from what happened today,

it has a chance of remaining that way.

It's an old-fashioned saying.

Learn from the past
and look to the future.

On my day, people never
quite got the hang of it.

I hope you have better luck.