The Boy Who Would be Terrian King

An Earth 2 Episode Summary
by Ariadne[April 25, 1995]

The Teaser: A snowy city is ringed by a fortified fence; an satellite dish rotates. A young man and a Terrian pop out of the snow and go to the dish. As they start taking things out of a bag, security guards find them and call them savages. The young man and the Terrian sink into the snow. The guards activate a red force field that drops into the snow and captures the young man.

At headquarters, another man, Max, and a guard enter the cell the young man is held in. Max, who continually uses a hand-held inhaler, says it looks like they moved for a rook and captured a king; the young man is the fearless leader of the rebel Terrians, Ulysses Adair.

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Act I: Uly, in narration, says according to the space station calender, it's the 104th day they've been on this planet. Yale's working on a new one, but for now the old calender means tomorrow is his birthday.

Uly climbs a tree. Bess and Morgan come up to him; they have been cutting wood. Bess asks how old he'll be; Uly says 9. Morgan says that's old enough to get down and finish his work.

Uly, in narration, says last year he spent his birthday in a syndrome ward with all the other sick kids; his mother threw him a party anyway. Yale gave him a VR program called All the Things I Can Be. Kids with the syndrome weren't supposed to live past their 8th birthday, but here he is; he hasn't even sneezed in 4 months, thanks to the Terrians. He guesses it's time for him to start thinking about what he'll be when he grows up.

Walman tells Yale they're going for one more load of wood before sunset. Yale adds wood to the pile; a dazed Koba sits behind the pile.

Uly enters the dome. True has set up a swing, and the two of them fight over it. Adair breaks it up, sending them off to work.

Alonzo calls to Adair over gear. He, Magus and Baines have been scouting the high country. They've descended to 9000 ft, but have been unable to find a pass wide enough for the vehicles; they're going to head back. Alonzo suddenly grabs his head in pain; the Terrians are screaming at him. Two Terrians appear and fire their staffs at the group. The three make a run for it. After a bit, the Terrians stop firing and screaming. The Terrians want them to stay off their territory. Baines sets two crossed walking sticks in the snow so they know where not to go.

16 years later, in the headquarters. Max asks the adult Uly if he has any idea what kind of trouble he's in. According to the recently approved new penal codes, when their security is at stake, the area marshal is allowed to act without review by the justice committee. He lists Uly's offenses: trespassing, attempted sabotage of public works, inciting the native population to violence. Uly asks about Max's violation of the national lands treaty, the illegal expansion, the murder of 12 Terrians; he knew those convertors would leak onto Terrian land. Max says just as the Terrians knew the original treaty gave them control of the water supply; he has recently drafted a new treaty that entitles the colonists to an additional 10,000 hectares and riparian rights to the Upper Morgan River. If Uly signs this on behalf of the Terrians, he'll be granted a full pardon. When Uly tells him what he can do with his treaty, Max says he told her Uly would say that; she didn't think Uly would want her involved, but being the great mediator that she is, she couldn't resist. Adair, with graying hair, is standing on the other side of the observation window. Uly says his mother has no influence over him; they don't even speak. Max says when she knew what was at stake, she insisted on flying in. He leaves Uly and Adair alone.

Adair tells Uly he's been all over the news chips lately. He congratulates her on her arbitration in the Northern settlement; she says it must have given him quite a laugh. He says voting rights don't mean much to the Terrians, but she says for humans who haven't mastered telepathic consensus, it was a very big step. He calls it another arrogant gesture on the part of people who want to civilize a species they should be learning from. She says each species can learn from the other, but he replies not if one is exterminated. Adair answers that that is why they are trying very hard to make crimes against the Terrians a global offense. Uly says in the meantime Max hides behind territorial rights and ignores her; he's going to keep on ignoring her until someone makes him stop. She says Uly's violent tactics are starting to lose him support from some moderates who are beginning to believe Max's claim that those who have been healed by the Terrians have lost all compassion for their fellow humans; why can't he see the bigger picture? Uly doesn't have her knack for diplomacy; he can't smile and shake hands with scum like Max. Adair tells him there is a surgeon out there prepping to perform a chrom-alt on him to erase his Terrian qualities forever; why can't he just give Max what he wants? Uly says if he compromises now, Max won't stop; maybe a human martyr is what it will take to make people rise up against him. Adair is shocked; he would be sick again! Uly says it always comes back to him; she's the one who can't see the bigger picture here.

In their room in the dome, a young Uly asks Adair about the Terrians' firing without warning. She says they're safe as long as they stay off their land. They discuss Uly's birthday. When he was born, she was so happy to see him. Even though he was sick, he was so special. The doctor immediately put him in an incubator, but when she finally got to see him, he looked at her as if he was challenging her to be his mother.

Adair goes to bed and falls asleep. She awakens into a dreamplane version of the room. The adult Uly stands there and calls her mother.

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Act II: The adult Uly doesn't blame her for not believing him. She asks why this is happening; the Terrians don't dream to her. He looks around at the room and realizes its their first winter, in the quonset hut on their way to New Pacifica. She worries the Terrians can read her hopes about Uly and project them. He says the Terrians did send him, but not the ones she thinks. His comrades must have found a way; they've never dreamed into the past before. Adair doesn't trust him because of the attack that day. He's not her son - her son is in there asleep. He's going to be 9 years old tomorrow. Uly remembers that birthday; Yale gave him a sled he made himself. She says Yale hasn't made anything. He says he's in the same location as she, but 16 years in her future. The Terrians dreamed him here because she's camping at the pass; she could go there and save them all. When he calls her Mom, she runs away, screaming.

Uly awakens Adair from her bad dream. Today is his birthday.

True tells Cameron to wait up. She finds the Koba in the woodpile and asks it if it's sick.

In the headquarters, Adair tells Max she has contacted the land appropriation committee, and they have secured 10,000 hectares. Max, watching Uly crouch like a Terrian in his cell, says he's dreaming with his fellow creatures; it must make a mother very proud. The entire structure is fortified with an iron alloy; no dramatic subterrarian escapes this time. Adair says if he releases her son, the land is his. Max says this is coming from a woman who promised all the syndrome children a healthy future. Adair had pleaded with Max's father to let the Terrians heal him, but he insisted on synthetics because he was scared. Max says his father was shrewd enough to know the Adairs would cut a deal with the Terrians, promising them they could keep the best regions of the planet. Max uses her reminder that the planet was already theirs as the reason her committee's offer is meaningless. He needs Uly's signature to ensure transfer can proceed without bloodshed. He gives the orders to the doctor to proceed. Adair says their outpost may be disorganized, but other territories are already talking about sanctions against him. Max says after his operation, Uly will get used to the synthetic drugs, but he'll find he won't be able to go more than a minute between doses.

The young Uly is opening his birthday presents. Bess and Morgan gave him chocolate from their private stash. Morgan didn't know about that and, between clenched teeth, asks to talk to Bess is private. Yale gives him a container that contains a rope; the rope is for pulling a sled that Yale made himself. Adair pulls Yale aside and says he should have told her he was planning this; Yale says even when he worked for her, there were some things he kept to himself. She apologizes; she is shocked because of the implications.

Julia is recording notes in the med tent when Adair comes in wanting a sedative - she's been having trouble sleeping lately.

Adair lies in her bed and gives herself the sedative. She awakens into the dreamplane equivalent of the adult Uly's cell; a Terrian is here as well. Uly is surprised to see she came back. She studies him; it's to much to hope for, seeing him grown and strong. He says her work is in danger again. Didn't they make it to New Pacifica. He says the Terrians don't share their sense of past and present, but think that time is a delicate balance that shouldn't be tampered with; this may be one of many possible futures. He dreamed himself across time by his own will, something the Terrians don't have. The Terrians thinks it was another human trait that puller them together: emotion, love. She asks what happened to them, and he says nothing did. He needs her to get his bio-ID from the med tent; it has his DNA from after the Terrians changed him. At the mountain pass, there's an entrance to a cave. Because the Terrians won't let humans on that land. she must send young Uly in alone; they won't harm him because he's part Terrian. The adult Uly and his comrade, who can't dream back on his own, will be beside him on the dreamscape. Uly can do anything if she says he can; he always believed everything she told him. Once young Uly is down in the cave, he must take every fork to the right until he gets to a chamber; once there, he'll see a shadow shaped like the tip of a Terrian spear. No matter what happens, he must put the DNA sample into a hole behind a triangular rock. Uly suddenly starts screaming and disappears. Adair frantically tells the Terrian she will get the sample right away.

On an operating table, the adult Uly tosses and says Don't send him now; he can't protect him!

They are about to begin the operation. Outside the operating room, Adair fights a guard. Max tells her if those chemo-lasers slip a centimeter, it can be deadly. She attacks him and runs to the window. The guard beats her head against it and drags her out of the room. Max scrambles to get the inhaler he lost in the attack.

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Act III: Adair enters the med tent, where Julia is sleeping. She gets Uly's bio-ID; Julia doesn't awaken until she leaves.

Julia follows Adair into the main dome and asks if the sedaderm helped her sleep through the night. Adair tells her she and Uly are going to try out his sled. Could she tell the others?

Outside, Yale comments to True that she's early for her shift this morning. She asks if he has any files about animals - what they ate, what to do if they get sick. Yale suspects she's found a new kind of animal here; she confesses she found a Koba. It's in the crate Yale is sitting on. Yale is upset, then notices it's in pretty bad shape. She wants him to help her. He says Adair will want to be informed. True says he doesn't work for her anymore; her father says he's not just a cyborg tutor, he's a free man. Yale says freedom doesn't mean they have no responsibility to their community; they depend on each other. True needs an adult to help her and convinces him to do it. They take the crate far from camp.

In the headquarters, Adair sits in shackles.. Max enters and says Uly's coming out it it. She wants to see him, and the guard removes her leg restraints but not the hand ones.

In the recovery room, Adair gives Uly liquid, then drops the container on the floor. She asks for the hand restraint to be removed, and when it is, manages to pocket a knife. She tells Uly everything's going to be okay. Uly is worried about young Uly; he can't dream anymore - he can't help him.

Adair and Uly are sledding. In narration, he says the day after his birthday, his mom took him sledding. At first they were having a lot of fun, but then she got all serious. There are times when he gets the feeling that growing up isn't such a good thing.

Adair tells Uly she has a surprise for him; the Terrians also know it was his birthday. Remember how they talked about how growing older meant having new responsibilities? The Terrians are going to give him a test to see how grown up he is. She gives him the instructions the adult Uly gave her. In narration Uly says it's a funny thing about grownups; sometimes you just can't understand what's going on inside their heads. The older he gets, the more he thinks that maybe the Terrians did change him; maybe he's not going to grow up and be a person at all.

She says the Terrians may try to scare him, but even if he does get frightened, they will not be able to stop him. She can't come with him, but she'll be with him on gear. She knows he can do it.

As he enters the cave, he says in narration that he could tell his mother was scared, even though she was trying not to act like it. But she always believed in him no matter what, so he believed in him, too.

As he travels through the tunnels, he tells his mother what he sees.

Alonzo calls to Adair over gear. He wants to know where she is; the Terrians contacted him in the dreamplane last night. It wasn't a very friendly chat. They told him they know Uly's a link between the Terrians and humans, and they don't want anything to do with it.

Adair runs into the cave. looking for Uly. A Terrian appears and zaps her.

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Act IV: In the tunnels, Uly can no longer get a response from his mother over gear. Terrians circle him; he says they're testing him. He pushes past them, and runs into the chamber. He sees the spear-shaped mark; it disappears as Terrians block the light. Suddenly they are in the dreamplane, and another Terrian appears. Uly trills to it, and it speaks to the local tribe. They all crouch down, and Uly puts the DNA sample behind the rock.

True tells Yale the Koba won't eat anything. Yale has scanned all data about Earth animals and believes it is trying to hibernate. She shows him where she found it, and there they find a nest.

Adair awakens by the crossed walking sticks and immediately calls to Uly over gear. He is out of the tunnels and runs to her; he passed the test.

In the headquarters, Adair kneels by the adult Uly, who is in a wheelchair. Max and a guard enter; Max says they are both free to leave as soon as Uly signs the treaty allotting 10,000 hectares to the Expansionist Party. Adair asks why she is not surprised that he expects Uly to sign it. Uly says he's lost dream contact with the Terrians; he no longer speaks for them. Max says it has symbolic importance - Ulysses Adair's final message to the Terrians before he chose to return to the human state. Adair says the story will never hold because they'll be out there to tell the truth. As she circles Max, Uly attacks the guard with his inhaler; Adair grabs Max and threatens him with the knife. Max is desperate for his inhaler. They take him as a hostage to get themselves to the helipad.

A Terrian takes the DNA sample from behind the rock and gives it to an adult True. She worries that it won't work.

Terrians and humans stand in a circle chanting as Uly recovers from the DNA transplant. True is uncertain of his chances. Adair wonders where the DNA sample came from. The Terrian tells True that Uly's dreaming with them now, and Uly comes around; he says he's surrounded by beauty. He trills to his Terrian friend and tells his mother she was right; the two species can learn from each other. True ask how he saved the DNA from his childhood; Adair has no clue as to how, then vaguely remembers sledding. Uly doesn't know which he owes his mother more - thanks for saving him or an apology for selling her short. He's lost sight of how much she's done here. She says no matter how much they've disagreed, she is always so proud of the man he's become.

Yale and True go to the place they stashed the Koba. He says you can't be too careful on this planet; what appears to be a dead tree to them can be of use here. They put the Koba and its nest into a hollow tree. True thanks him - she knew he could help.

In the dreamplane, the young Adair tells the adult Uly that he lied to her; he knew that tribe of Terrians was dangerous. He says she wasn't about to send him into those caves; he had no choice. She says he could have trusted her. He says he never would have been able to convince her; nothing can compete with that voice inside her heart that puts him first. It's the only thing he knew he could trust - that and knowing she'd never stay mad at him forever. She says a mother never forgets, but he says she will.

Adair awakens from the dream. In the dome, True and Uly are fighting over the sled. Danziger breaks it up and sends them outside; he'll teach them how to share. He tells Adair those two really have to learn how to get along. She, however, has a feeling that they're going to grow up to be very good friends.

Uly and True sled down the hill. In narration, he says his birthday was so busy, he didn't have time to figure out what he wants to be when he grows up. His mother says he can be anything he wants, so he guesses he shouldn't worry. And besides, right now he has more important things to do.

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Last modified (HoTMetaL): Tue Apr 25 11:36:16 1995 by ftmexpat@best.com using HTML3.0 & Netscape Extensions formatting to the authors text.

The Boy Who Would be Terrian King

An Earth 2 Episode Summary by Ariadne[April 25, 1995]

CONTENTS:

An Earth 2 Episode Summary
by Ariadne[April 25, 1995]