"Such Great Patience" Directed by: Bryan Spicer Written by: David Kemper Summary: The seaQuest discovers a million year old spaceship while looking into an underwater earthquake, but things aren’t as dead as they seem. A group is sent over to investigate the ship, but things start going wrong and some of the crew vanish. An alien boards the seaQuest and starts taking the crew, who can do nothing to stop it. But it soon becomes apparent that Darwin is the link between the alien and the crew. Guest Starring: Kent McCord as Scott Keller W. Morgan Sheppard as Professor Martinson Jesse Doran as General Frank Thomas Dustin Nguyen as Chief William Shan Co-Starring: none Featuring: Thom Sherman as Ensign Sheppard Karyn Malchus as Alien The twenty first century . . . Mankind has colonized the last unexplored region on Earth -- the ocean. As Captain of the seaQuest and its crew, we are its guardians; for beneath the surface, lies the future. - Kuril Trench, 1000 miles northeast of Japan, 5 miles deep, seaQuest DSV, bridge - Kristin Westphalen: It’s very exciting. No one has ever reached the epicenter of an earthquake less than an hour after it’s happened, let alone a nine point two. Nathan Bridger: Instant creation of a fifteen hundred foot cliff that stretches two hundred miles, this is gonna be wild. Miguel Ortiz: WSKR on the left flank just malfunctioned and crashed into the bottom sir. Katie Hitchcock: That’s the second one, Mr. Ortiz, and almost in the same place. Miguel Ortiz: I can’t explain it, Commander. Nathan Bridger: Well adjust course. I want to take a look at this wall. Jonathan Ford: Come starboard eight degrees, Mr. Shan? William Shan: Some kind of headache, sir. I’m having trouble focusing. Manilow Crocker: Mr. Weider, take his position. Weider: Aye, aye, sir. Nathan Bridger: This is the fifth headache that’s been reported since we’ve been down here. Darwin: Rock, water. Lucas Wolenczak: Captain, he’s doing it again. Darwin: Fire, cloud, unit, center. Nathan Bridger: What is it, my friend? Darwin: Fast voice, heard. Lucas Wolenczak: He’s hearing things; we have no idea what he’s talking about. Nathan Bridger: Mr. O’Neill? Tim O’Neill: I’m at a loss to explain it, Captain. Sensors show a sound out there, but I can’t find it; high frequency, well out of our acoustical parameters. Nathan Bridger: Is this something he could hear? Tim O’Neill: Technically it’s out of his range too. Darwin: Declination, luminescent, ecliptic. Nathan Bridger: Do you understand this? Darwin: People words, not dolphin. Nathan Bridger: I want this sound traced gentlemen; I wanna know what it is. Tim O’Neill: Aye, sir. Miguel Ortiz: Captain. Nathan Bridger: Woah, oh, oh, oh. Kristin Westphalen: You better warn the crew; we may be here for some time. Nathan Bridger: These sedimentation layers are so clearly marked. The time line is as precise as I’ve ever seen it. Kristin Westphalen: What are we looking at? Nathan Bridger: This layer (points at screen) used to be the bottom of the ocean about nine hundred thousand years ago. Jonathan Ford: Wow! Miguel Ortiz: Captain, aftershock coming, it’s a big one. Nathan Bridger: Sound collision, head us into the epicenter, nose down. Jonathan Ford: This is Commander Ford, brace for shock wave, bow to stern. Katie Hitchcock: Closing all watertights. Lucas Wolenczak: This is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen. Nathan Bridger: Isolate this picture; no one sees this except the bridge. Tim O’Neill: Done. Ben Krieg: That looks like some kind of ship. Lucas Wolenczak: A spaceship. Jonathan Ford: There’s no such thing. Miguel Ortiz: There is now. Katie Hitchcock: Captain, if what you said about the age of that rock is true … Kristin Westphalen: That ship must be a million years old. Nathan Bridger: Or more. - near the surface, directly above the alien ship, seaQuest DSV, Bridger’s room - Frank Thomas: (on screen) What’s your take, Captain? Nathan Bridger: I’m convinced now that the sounds coming from that alien ship are giving the crew headaches. Frank Thomas: (on screen) And you don’t consider that a threat? Nathan Bridger: What? Migraines? Frank Thomas: (on screen) Aren’t you being a little pie in the sky, Bridger? I mean this noise is coming from an alien ship that you know nothing about. Nathan Bridger: That’s true, General, but on the other hand, it has been entombed in this rock for over a million years. Frank Thomas: (on screen) I still expect you to follow procedures. I mean we didn’t spend millions developing an alien encounter program so you could make it up as you go. And another thing, I want that Lucas Wolenczak off the boat. Nathan Bridger: Why? Frank Thomas: (on screen) He doesn’t have the necessary security clearances. Nathan Bridger: I need him. Frank Thomas: (on screen) I know this is an amazing discovery and everyone wants to be part of it, but that’s not enough. Nathan Bridger: You see, Darwin is somehow picking out words from this alien signal, and Lucas is my vocal link to Darwin. Frank Thomas: (on screen) He plays you like a drum, Captain. Just once I’d like you to recognize my authority and follow orders. Nathan Bridger: When I get back, we’ll have lunch. - seaQuest DSV, launch bay - Shepherd: Hey, Lucas, what happened on the bridge? Why are we being off loaded? Lucas Wolenczak: I can’t tell you, Shepherd. Just something. Shepherd: Well, you gettin’ in line with us? Lucas Wolenczak: I’m not sure yet. Shepherd: (sees Bridger) Good luck. (gets on launch) Ben Krieg: Surface fleet’s in position, sir. When this launch leaves we’ll be down to thirty two military personnel and twenty six science. Nathan Bridger: Anything else? Ben Krieg: (hesitates) No, sir. Nathan Bridger: Carry on. Manilow Crocker: (to crewman) Set up the laser saw and the oxygen compressors in the launch MR-5 and let’s get all of these scanners down to the science lab for calibration. (to Bridger) We’ve logged on board everything you’ve asked for, Cap, ready to get underway. Nathan Bridger: Environmental suits? Manilow Crocker: Yes, sir, right here. Katie Hitchcock: (entering) All external damage has been repaired, sir. Nathan Bridger: Thank you. (walks over toward arriving launch passing Lucas, then stops) Uh, do you think you play me like a drum? Lucas Wolenczak: Could I consult my lawyer? Nathan Bridger: You can stay. Lucas Wolenczak: All right. Nathan Bridger: Get with O’Neill on that noise. Lucas Wolenczak: Ta dump bump. Jonathan Ford: (after Keller exits a launch) Commander Keller, welcome aboard. Scott Keller: Glad to be back, Commander. Nathan Bridger: (coming up) Scott, how are you? Scott Keller: Nathan, General Thomas is hemorrhaging up on the aircraft carrier. How’d you keep his Alpha Commandos off this mission? Nathan Bridger: I said a welcome wagon with a gun doesn’t make a very good first impression. Jonathan Ford: What if something out there is still alive? Scott Keller: Than you and I are the luckiest sailors in history. Jonathan Ford: What if they attack us? Scott Keller: Every uniform thinks alike. Jonathan Ford: You were one. Scott Keller: Yeah, for exploration, not for conquest. Jonathan Ford: Captain, I have to raise the possibility. Scott Keller: Listen, think it through, Commander. If these extraterrestrial applied the technology it took for them to get here to war, we’re toast no matter what we do. Nathan Bridger: Gentlemen, we prepare for the worst, hope for the best. Scott Keller: Hey, I’ll make a deal with you. You don’t shoot anything until I’ve had a chance to say hello. - seaQuest DSV, hallway - Kristin Westphalen: O’Neill, pain killer for the headache. Come on, now, not even a needle. Tim O’Neill: I don’t need it, I’m leaving on the launch. Kristin Westphalen: You’re not trying for the expedition? Tim? Tim O’Neill: Dr. Westphalen, can I ask you a question? Kristin Westphalen: Sure. Tim O’Neill: Do you believe in God? Kristin Westphalen: Sometimes. Tim O’Neill: Well, if we’re created in God’s image, than who created intelligent life on other planets? Kristin Westphalen: God. Tim O’Neill: I was always taught to believe that we were the whole deal. That life topped out with man. Now it’s like … it’s like my whole beliefs are unraveling. Kristin Westphalen: No they’re not Tim. Come on, you believe in family, friends, strong morality, yes. Well nothing out there invalidates those. Tim O’Neill: When I was growing up, I always felt like a traitor as a kid in church because I secretly hoped that we weren’t alone. Kristin Westphalen: Well don’t feel guilty for getting your wish. But you have to make your own decisions. Tim O’Neill: I’ve never run from anything in my life. - seaQuest DSV, bridge - Miguel Ortiz: Applying Earth’s aerodynamic principles, I’m taking a wild guess that this is how the alien ship would look like with the rock cut away. How the hell’d they move a ship that big through space? Scott Keller: That’s just one of thousand questions I want answers to. Miguel Ortiz: She’s over a mile long. How did they get it up to light speed? Nathan Bridger: Wrong concept. Even if it went a million times light speed, most galaxies would be out of reach. Scott Keller: We’ve theorized curved-space loops and interdimensional worm holes. Bottom line, Nathan, I want to see their technology. I wanna see inside that cockpit. - seaQuest DSV, Hydrosystem Docking Area, launch - Ben Krieg: Could you imagine if I got to go over there? Katie Hitchcock: You gotta promise not to hug 'em. It might not be part of their culture. Ben Krieg: I spent my whole life believing in nothing but the unbelievable. I mean, what do they look like? Did they crash here by accident? Where are they from? Are there others coming? I have to know. Katie Hitchcock: Would you mind if I submitted you name to the Captain? - seaQuest DSV, bridge - Nathan Bridger: All right people, here we go. Lieutenant? Tim O’Neill: Lucas and I have isolated the alien signal. An overlapping pulse on a high microwave frequency, but it’s going to take a lot of math to decipher it. Nathan Bridger: Ortiz, Hitchcock, here’s where you come in. I want you to go in and bend and twist that signal. See if there’s any rhyme or reason for it. Doctor? Kristin Westphalen: Let’s not forget what we’re dealing with. We don’t want to bring back some exotic virus. We’ve got enough of our own, I think. First sign of pain, headache medicine is available at stations all round the boat. Nathan Bridger: The boarding party will consist of the following. Chief Crocker will assist Commander Keller and provide security. Manilow Crocker: (surprised) Me? Nathan Bridger: Lieutenant O’Neill will continue to track down the source of the signal and stand by to be interpreter if necessary. Tim O’Neill: Aye, sir. Nathan Bridger: Filling out the rest of the team and photographing the expedition will be … Lieutenant Krieg. For the rest of you who volunteered, thank you very much. All right people, that’s it. Let’s get back to work. Ben Krieg: Uh, sir, besides turning the camera on and off, what do I bring to the party? Nathan Bridger: Enthusiasm, Mr. Krieg. Enthusiasm. Ben Krieg: Yes, sir. Lucas Wolenczak: I’d like to go. Nathan Bridger: Oh, I bet you would. Lucas Wolenczak: On the other hand, I’m pretty grateful just to be here.. Nathan Bridger: Uh huh. We’ll watch it here, together. Ta dump bump. - launch - Ben Krieg: (into radio) Captain, we’re approaching the alien ship. (to Crocker, next to him) You OK, Chief? Manilow Crocker: Give me a break, will ya. Ben Krieg: (over shoulder) Commander, we’re gonna try for a flush fit on the smooth section below the fin. Scott Keller: Clear. (walks into docking column) Air seal’s positive. Hit the second seal. (kneels by hull of alien ship) Welcome to Earth. (to O’Neill) Scan the hull for Doctor Westphalen. Tim O’Neill: Aye, sir. - seaQuest DSV, bridge - Ben Krieg: (on screen) SeaQuest, you reading visual? Katie Hitchcock: Loud and clear, Ben. Ben Krieg: (on screen) Great. Tim O’Neill: (on screen) These little sparkles look like sand. Scott Keller: (on screen) They’re silicon, Lieutenant. One of the most prevalent substances in the universe. Ben Krieg: (on screen) Talk about your common ground. Tim O’Neill: (on screen) Contaminant reading … zero. Looks clear, Commander. Scott Keller: (on screen) What do you think, Nathan? Nathan Bridger: It’s your call, Scott. - launch - Scott Keller: Let’s open her up, Chief. (Crocker begins cutting a whole in the alien ship) Ben Krieg: Alien encounter program, official record. One million years imprisoned in rock makes finding life improbable, yet the existence of this ship is spectacular proof that we are not alone. - seaQuest DSV, bridge - Kristin Westphalen: This is a section of the ship’s skin. They found a way to organize silicon. Imagine being able to grow crystals into any shape you want them. Nathan Bridger: Do you have any guesses about these haphazard ones? Katie Hitchcock: It could be heatshields, like the ones we use on our spacecraft. Kristin Westphalen: Hmmm. - launch, by hole in alien ship - Manilow Crocker: Almost got it. We’re all through, Commander. Scott Keller: Take an atmosphere reading. Heavy silicon compounds, large concentrations of xenon and argon. Tim O’Neill: Traces of carbon, helium; parts per million asbestos. Scott Keller: Not breathable, but it’s not gonna corrode our suits either. - seaQuest DSV, bridge - Nathan Bridger: You still wanna go inside? Scott Keller: (on screen) Try an’ stop me. - alien ship - Scott Keller: (enters alien ship) Am I supposed to say somethin’ for mankind here? Somethin’, somethin’ important. Nathan Bridger: (on seaQuest) What comes to mind? Scott Keller: This is big, dark, and I’m very happy to be here. Nathan Bridger: (on seaQuest) It’s not very poetic, but it’ll do fine. Scott Keller: Chief, somebody has to stay here and attach a permanent hatch here. You’re carrying a gun, I’d prefer if you stayed on the launch. Manilow Crocker: Yes, sir. That’s a good idea, Commander. Scott Keller: (to O’Neill) Give me a radar map of what this place looks like. Tim O’Neill: Aye, sir. - seaQuest DSV, bridge - Nathan Bridger: Looks like a network of pipes and conduits connecting the system. Katie Hitchcock: The compartments all funnel back like an oil tanker or a cargo ship. Jonathan Ford: Yeah, but what kind of cargo? Kristin Westphalen: Maybe they came here to collect zoo specimens, dinosaurs. Lucas Wolenczak: Maybe they didn’t come here to collect anything. Maybe they brought life. Jonathan Ford: The doors to those compartments are much too small for much of anything to fit through. Nathan Bridger: Except liquid. Kristin Westphalen: This could be ninety-nine percent fuel tank and one percent cockpit. Maybe whoever shot this off didn’t expect it to come back. Nathan Bridger: One way ticket to a new world. Crashing into the ocean wasn’t what they had in mind. Jonathan Ford: Think of the courage it took to ride this rocket away from home the last time. Scott Keller: (on screen) Nathan, we’re gonna detour into one of the side compartments. Nathan Bridger: Keep in touch, guys. - alien ship - Scott Keller: (to Bridger) Right. (to group) Let’s move out. Ben Krieg: Asimov, Bradbury, Clarke, a lifetime of these guys and I’m still not sure if I’m ready for this. Scott Keller: Stay close, visual contact, single file. I want continual readouts, and don’t touch anything you don’t have to. Ben Krieg: (entering a large room) This is unbelievable. Tim O’Neill: What is this place? Scott Keller: For the first time in my career, Lieutenant, I don’t have a clue. Ben Krieg: If you made this up they wouldn’t believe it. - seaQuest DSV, hallway - Kristin Westphalen: That substance Keller has could be fuel residue. My people should have it screened by the time we get down to the sea deck. Pensive? Nathan Bridger: Reflective. Kristin Westphalen: Captain reflective, scientist reflective, or explorer reflective? Nathan Bridger: Little boy reflective. (they board the Mag-lev and sit down) It's just our nature not to want to be alone in the universe. Kristin Westphalen: (smiles) Do you think oceanography will be important after today? Nathan Bridger: Or geology? Kristin Westphalen: Funny how everything can change in an instant isn't it. Nathan Bridger: You know who's not phased one iota by all this? Kristin Westphalen: Lucas. Nathan Bridger: His generation grew up expecting this. It's not a revelation, it's a confirmation. Kristin Westphalen: Maybe we can learn from that. Roll with it, dude. Nathan Bridger: Yeah. - alien ship - Scott Keller: Lieutenant, where’s the source of the signal? Tim O’Neill: Last time I had it, uh, that way. Ben Krieg: What’s the matter? Tim O’Neill: Remember when you were a kid and your church would have those haunted house fund raisers at Halloween? Ben Krieg: Yeah, I loved those things. Tim O’Neill: Scared me to death. - seaQuest DSV, bridge - Miguel Ortiz: Sir, I’m picking up a strange vibration from the alien craft. Nathan Bridger: Scott, abort the mission? Scott Keller: (on alien ship) What do you mean abort the mission? Nathan Bridger: Scott, now. Scott Keller: (on alien ship) But we’re making progress without any obstacles. Miguel Ortiz: Commander, the alien molecules are vibrating, doubling in intensity every fifth of a second. The crystalline structure that makes up the ship is becoming unstable. Scott Keller: (on screen) You’re talking implosion. Nathan Bridger: Very possible. Jonathan Ford: Can you tell when it started? Miguel Ortiz: Well, judging from our acoustical data, I’d say the moment we cut into her hull. Jonathan Ford: A self-destruct mechanism? Nathan Bridger: Maybe, suppose they didn’t want their technology to fall into the wrong hands. Woah, you better update the General. He’ll think of this as some kind of a secret weapon. Move it, Scott. Scott Keller: (on screen) I’m coming back here, Nathan. I’m gonna see their cockpit. (to his group) Let’s go, let’s retrace our path outta here. Nathan Bridger: (to Westphalen) As soon as your med team OK’s them aboard, we’re outta here. - alien ship - Scott Keller: Which way from here? Give me a readout. Tim O’Neill: Uh, vectoring … Ben Krieg: This way. Tim O’Neill: No, Ben, you’re all turned around. Ben Krieg: Maybe everything is. (all turn to see an alien) - seaQuest DSV, bridge - Nathan Bridger: (screen goes fuzzy) What the hell happened? Jonathan Ford: Commander Keller? Katie Hitchcock: There’s no incoming signal. Miguel Ortiz: I’m not showing anything. Nathan Bridger: Get ‘em back on line. - alien ship - Scott Keller: Lieutenant, put the camera down. Ben Krieg: Why? I’m getting some great stuff here. Scott Keller: Put it down. He thinks you’ve got a weapon. Ben Krieg: Oh. Scott Keller: Hello. On behalf of all our people, I welcome you. Tim O’Neill: (repeats Keller’s greeting in Spanish, Chinese, and Swahili) - seaQuest DSV, bridge - Frank Thomas: (on screen) You are not authorized to risk more lives for your own scientific curiosity. I want you to destroy whatever’s over there while there’s still a chance. Nathan Bridger: I can’t do that. Frank Thomas: (on screen) That’s a direct order, Captain. Nathan Bridger: It’s one I can’t follow. Frank Thomas: (on screen) Than you’re relieved of command. Nathan Bridger: Fine. I’ll wait for your arrival. (screen goes blank and Ford gives him a congratulatory high five) Get me Crocker. - launch by alien ship - Nathan Bridger: (on speaker) Have you heard anything more from Commander Keller? Manilow Crocker: Nothing, Cap. I haven’t heard a word. Nathan Bridger: (on speaker) But we’ve lost contact. I think you better go in and get them Chief. Manilow Crocker: Aye, sir. Well, join the Navy, see the world, and then some. (enters alien ship) Cap, seaQuest, anybody still read me? (notices alien) Wha — put that thing down. I don’t want to have to fire. (disappears) - alien ship - Scott Keller: (opens map of stars) I assume you know where we are. Earth, the outer edge of the Orion arm, thirty thousand light years from the center of the Milky Way galaxy. (alien points to planet) Coma Berenices, that’s your constellation. Ben Krieg: Something’s happening here. Scott Keller: Did we do something wrong? (alien walks away) Ben Krieg: Don’t do this, guys. Scott Keller: Oh God. - seaQuest DSV, bridge - Nathan Bridger: Any report, Commander? Jonathan Ford: No contact with the boarding party, our sensors aren’t penetrating. Katie Hitchcock: Captain, the launch is returning. Jonathan Ford: Thank God. Katie Hitchcock: SeaQuest to launch MR-5. (static over loudspeaker) Nathan Bridger: (into speaker) Medical and security to launch bay. - seaQuest DSV, launch bay - William Shan: Open the hatch. Crewman: Yes, sir. (Shan enters the launch and finds no one) - seaQuest DSV, bridge - William Shan: (on speaker) Shan to bridge. Nathan Bridger: How are they, Mr. Shan? William Shan: (on speaker) They aren’t sir. There’s no one on the launch. Nathan Bridger: How could that be? Jonathan Ford: Computer says the launch was not on autopilot, it was driven back. Katie Hitchcock: Captain, I’m showing someone inside our reactor. Jonathan Ford: Engine room. Crewman: (on speaker) Engine room here, sir. Jonathan Ford: Who’s in the reactor? Crewman: (on speaker) Inside? No one, sir. Miguel Ortiz: I’ve got the same thing over here. Someone breached weapons bay for a second. Not really an image, more like an echo of one. Katie Hitchcock: I’ve got him now in propulsion. Miguel Ortiz: Telemetry guidance. Nathan Bridger: Stem to stern, there’s more than one. Your plans ready? (Ford nods) Let’s do it. Jonathan Ford: Mr. Shan, engine room, code four. Nathan Bridger: What about the signal? Miguel Ortiz: I’ve broken it down into fragments. It’s totally random. Lucas Wolenczak: I’ve zeroed in on the wavelength. It registers in an area of Darwin’s brain we never thought had to do with speech. Nathan Bridger: Can he read it? Lucas Wolenczak: Maybe, I have to filter it. Nathan Bridger: Let’s put you in your room. (to Ford) Put a guard on him. (to Hitchcock) Seal down the bridge. - alien ship - Ben Krieg: These auxiliary lights aren’t working either. Scott Keller: Tether up. Let’s go. - seaQuest DSV, hallway - Jonathan Ford: Lost contact with sixteen crew members. We have confirmed sightings. Kristin Westphalen: What does it look like? Jonathan Ford: Like “Oh my God, no.” That’s all our people have time to say. Nathan Bridger: Crew quarters, galley, gym, he’s looking us over. William Shan: For what? Nathan Bridger: I haven’t the foggiest. Jonathan Ford: Maintenance and engineering. (they turn around to go) Nathan Bridger: All right, let’s set up a check point right here. Jonathan Ford: Med bay. William Shan: Nothing can move that fast. - seaQuest DSV, med bay - Kristin Westphalen: (as everyone enters) Where are all my people? Jonathan Ford: The report said it was here. (scream outside in the hall) - seaQuest DSV, hallway - Nathan Bridger: (moves girl out of the way as two seamen run up behind the alien) Don’t shoot. (the two seamen disappear) We, we won’t hurt you. Kristin Westphalen: Nathan, it doesn’t register. My scan shows nothing in front of us. Nathan Bridger: Why are you here? (the alien doesn’t respond) We are friendly. (the alien sees Darwin and walks through the wall to get to him, leaving sand on the wall) Kristin Westphalen: Nathan, that’s sand. Nathan Bridger: (touches it) It’s hot. - alien ship - Tim O’Neill: Uh, Commander, are you sure this is the right way? Scott Keller: It’s the only way, Lieutenant. Ben Krieg: Reminds me of a science fiction story I read when I was a kid. These explorers found a downed space ship, just like we did, only after they went inside, it took off. Ship hadn’t crashed at all. Tim O’Neill: What happened to the people? Ben Krieg: They were dissected, eaten. Tim O’Neill: They were. Oh, I get it, har har. Har har de ahhh. (falls down hole) Ben Krieg: Tim! (they finally stop his falling) Scott Keller: (to Krieg) You OK? Ben Krieg: Uh huh. (yells down hole) Tim, you all right? Tim O’Neill: (hanging at bottom of hole) Not really. Scott Keller: Hang on, we’re gonna pull you up. Tim O’Neill: (seeing alien) No, I think you better come down here. - seaQuest DSV, Bridger’s room - Professor Martinson: This new life form is fascinating. There doesn’t appear to be an interacting intelligence of freedom of will. Nathan Bridger: Meaning what? Professor Martinson: Though fluid, its motion is also rhythmical. It was earlier hypothesized that Mr. Ortiz’s impending implosion was part of the ship’s self destruct mechanism. Nathan Bridger: Could he be part of that system? Professor Martinson: Possibly. Jonathan Ford: It’s a robot? Professor Martinson: I would say more a hologram, a projection, like myself. I call attention to your earlier encounter with the alien. Notice the sand residue when it passes through the bulkhead. Kristin Westphalen: Could this be silicon magnetics? Professor Martinson: Unproven, though that would be an answer. Kristin Westphalen: Such as our magnets attract iron, their’s could attract free floating molecules of silicon which pull together into the shape we see. Nathan Bridger: So while his magnetic field can go through that wall, the material he attracts can’t. Jonathan Ford: That would explain why it scans like an echo. It’s not really there. Nathan Bridger: Can we stop him? Professor Martinson: I’m afraid with our technology that might prove impossible in the time left. Nathan Bridger: Than we have to talk to him. - alien ship - Scott Keller: (entering large chamber) Look at this. Ben Krieg: Your headache back? Tim O’Neill: Yeah. Scott Keller: Mine too. Ben Krieg: This looks like the source of their power. How can their signal still be broadcasting after a million years? Scott Keller: I don’t think a million years means too much to them, Lieutenant. - seaQuest DSV, Lucas’s room - Darwin: Help seaQuest. Lucas Wolenczak: Yes, thank you. (alien enters room) Very cool. That’s your signal to us, do you recognize it? Try to figure out what it means. Darwin: Rock, water, fire, cloud, center, unit. Lucas Wolenczak: (alien turns to Darwin) That’s Darwin. He’s a dolphin. Nathan Bridger: (opening door) Lucas. (pulls Wolenczak to him, alien makes Shan disappear) - seaQuest DSV, sea deck by the moon pool - Kristin Westphalen: (they run into the room) Breathe, breathe. Lucas Wolenczak: Chief Shan. Nathan Bridger: (the lights go off) What the hell is that? (goes to speaker by the door) Bridge? Katie Hitchcock: (on bridge) Propulsion, guidance systems, and life support have been shut down in sequence. We’re dead in the water. Nathan Bridger: Can you float us? Katie Hitchcock: (on bridge) Negative, ballast control’s gone. Nathan Bridger: Great. - seaQuest DSV, outside the bridge - Lucas Wolenczak: I sped the signal up to the highest frequency we can manufacture. It’s still not making any sense. Nathan Bridger: Maybe it’s the wrong direction. Slow it down, it might make a difference. Lucas Wolenczak: Why? Nathan Bridger: A million years ago, human beings weren’t anything more than glorified apes. They weren’t even in this part of the world. The most intelligent creatures, brain weight to body size — Lucas Wolenczak: Dolphins. Nathan Bridger: Yes. Lucas Wolenczak: That’s who the alien wants to talk to. Miguel Ortiz: (the clam doors open and a dozen guns are pointed at them) Hold it. Nathan Bridger: Lucas, get on it. (into vo-chorder) Darwin, come to the bridge, come to the bridge. Kristin Westphalen: (Lucas sits down and slows down the signal, immediately a dolphin’s clicks and whistles come over the loudspeaker) Good heavens. Lucas Wolenczak: This is very humbling; they're not here for us. Nathan Bridger: Do you understand this? Darwin: Math, distance from rock water planet to fire star equals one unit. Kristin Westphalen: The Earth’s distance from the sun is one unit. They’re establishing a mathematical equation. Darwin: Distance from fire star to center of fire star cloud is one nine, then eight zeros. Jonathan Ford: The distance from our sun to the center of the galaxy is one billion nine hundred thousand times that. Lucas Wolenczak: Yeah, that’s right, that’s an astronomical unit. Darwin: Send message of cooperation, we will come again. There are numbers now, many numbers. Nathan Bridger: Coordinates, they want an invitation to return. Jonathan Ford: (looks up and sees alien) Captain. Kristin Westphalen: It’s trying to protect Darwin. Nathan Bridger: Tell him we’re your friends. Tell him we understand his message, that’s why we’re all here. (alien disappears and lights come back on) Kristin Westphalen: Extraordinary. 

  - alien ship -
Nathan Bridger: (on speaker) Scott, do you read me?
Scott Keller: Nathan, you won’t believe what’s happened.
Nathan Bridger: (on seaQuest) I’ll match you story for story, but right now you’ve got
	about fifteen minutes to get out of there.  We’re sending another launch.
Scott Keller: I hear ya, hang on. (the group enters a room)
Ben Krieg: It’s the cockpit, Commander.
Scott Keller: Oh dear God, give me insight, let me understand what I’m looking at
	before they destroy it.
Tim O’Neill: (from around the corner) Commander Keller, I think you should take a look
	at this. (Keller and Krieg join him and see a dead alien) The Lord works in
	strange and mysterious ways.
Ben Krieg: Commander, it’s time to go.

  - seaQuest DSV, bridge -
Miguel Ortiz: Sir, that’s Commander Keller, Krieg, and O’Neill heading back.  I think you
	better take a look at that. (shows them another group of blinking dots)
Nathan Bridger: Are those life forms?
Miguel Ortiz: That’s what I thought, but I wanted another opinion.
Jonathan Ford: Well you got it, Mr. Ortiz.  Pinpoint that location.
Miguel Ortiz: Aye, sir.
Nathan Bridger: Scott, we’ve got thirty-one signs of life about eighty yards from your
	position.
Scott Keller: (on speaker) Extraterrestrial?
Nathan Bridger: That’s the exact number of crew unaccounted for, including Crocker.
Scott Keller: (on speaker, to group) Let’s go get ‘em.
Miguel Ortiz: Wait a minute, Commander.  Something’s going on here, they’re
	disappearing off the alien ship.  They’re gone, sir.

  - seaQuest DSV, sea deck by the moon pool -
Scientist: (thirty-one crew members appear in the moon pool) Bridge.

  - alien ship -
Scott Keller: Come on, guys, stick to the center.

  - launch -
Tim O’Neill: We’re there, Captain, we made it back to the launch.

  - seaQuest DSV, bridge -
Katie Hitchcock: Launch is safe in port, sir.
Jonathan Ford: Engage, full speed reverse. (ship disappears off screen) It just
	dissolved.

  - seaQuest DSV, ward room -
Nathan Bridger: This meeting has not taken place.  If anyone has a problem with that,
	please leave now. (no one leaves) We feel that these aliens want to have
	peaceful and intelligent encounters.
Jonathan Ford: Why do I get the feeling you’re talking to me?
Nathan Bridger: I’m talking to everyone, everyone who’s wearing a uniform.
Scott Keller: Look, we think that it’s best if they do come again, that they be greeted
	with understanding, in their words cooperation.
Kristin Westphalen: In other words, by us.
Lucas Wolenczak: We’re not gonna tell the military guys at UEO what happened.
Manilow Crocker: (everyone sits stunned for a few minutes) That means we’re gonna
	have to alter the data discs.
Tim O’Neill: We’re gonna withhold the location of the alien’s galaxy?
William Shan: If the UEO doesn’t send an invitation, how will the aliens know to come?
Ben Krieg: We send it, ourselves.
Katie Hitchcock: That’s why you had us align the WSKRS in a stacked array.
Miguel Ortiz: That would allow for a pinpoint transmission of a microwave signal at
	maximum power.
Scott Keller: This is galaxy M100.  It’s a bright light behind the Cook nebula, here. 
	Now they came from the end of this arm, here, circling a red giant star forty
	million light years from us.  But the romantic in me hopes they’re set up to
	receive our signal in less time.
Jonathan Ford: What would this message say?
Nathan Bridger: Lucas?
Lucas Wolenczak: In the spirit of cooperation and knowledge, the residents of our
	planet welcome and invite you.  Darwin has translated it.
Kristin Westphalen: With seaQuest as the return address.
Nathan Bridger: All in favor. (all raise their hand) Permission to transmit granted.
Lucas Wolenczak: Commander. (pushes the computer to Keller)
Scott Keller: You figured it out, Nathan.  You send the message. (pushes the seaPoc to
	Bridger)
Nathan Bridger: You have shown such great patience, now, hurry.