The Enemy Within

An Earth 2 Episode Summary
by Ariadne[April 19, 1995]

CONTENTS:

• Previously
• Teaser
• Act I
• Act II
• Act III
• Act IV
• Act V

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Screenplay by: Eric Estrin & Michael Berlin
Directed by: John Harrison

Previously

Julia talks into a communication device, saying that she has arrived on the planet, monitoring Eden project.

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Teaser

In narration, Julia says her mission for the Council was clear when it began back on the space station. As a doctor, she was the perfect choice to watch this group of families seeking a cure for their sick children. Without Council clearance, they escaped the station and traveled 22 light years to this new planet. They crashed thousands of miles from where the other colonists will land and now have to journey across territory full of hardship and danger. The sick boy was taken by creatures who live underground. They healed him, but they also changed him, made him a link between their species and humans. She has a Council contact here; they meet on virtual reality. The Council plans to colonize the planet itself and believes it needs to control the special boy. Her mission is still clear; the only problem is her. She has been changed by this place, too; she has become part of the group, in spite of herself.

A sepia-toned old-west scene. True, in costume, is being held hostage by Jesse James and his gang. Uly, as the sheriff, is very to slow to shoot the man holding her. True escapes the gang and reappears in a cowboy outfit. She is tired of the way Uly plays the game, and the kids argue. They have been playing in virtual while riding on the back of the transrover.

The group stops to set up camp in a pine woods. Julia, in narration, says it's been 49 days since they crashed, and it has amazed her how they've adjusted to life on this strange new planet. Everyday is a mirror of the last; they travel, set up camp, try to catch some rest, and wake and travel again. And now everyday she must guard her secret.

It is colder here, and True sees snow for the first time in the form of some small patches on the ground.

Julia talks to Reilly on VR. He says it's been some time since she last checked in; he was worried. She says she is fully capable of taking care of herself. He supposes she is, but thinks all this would be easier if she would simply tell him her location. The longer she delays, the more difficult this will be; he believes she is growing attached to these people. She replies that as their only doctor, she cares about their well-being; she has a responsibility. He says she has an obligation to her heritage; she is one of them, a product of the Council. Her mother did great things as a member; so could she. By telling you where we are? He notices the "we" - she is identifying herself with them! He reminds her that humanity needs a new home, and she is living there. In Uly, she has found a possible bridge between humans and Terrians, and now she needs to help them cross it. They are all depending on her; she must tell him where she is so they can come and collect the child. Who knows? When she does, maybe the Council will name a continent after her family. Julia says, yes, maybe they'll call it "Hell."

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Act I

Julia, in narration, introduces herself as Dr. Julia Heller, a member of the Eden project. To this group, she's the physician, but 22 light years away, back on the space stations, she is a patriot to the Council. The Council is in her blood; her mother was on the board of regents since before she was born, and she was taught to put the Council's goals before all else.

Morgan asks Danziger why they have stopped in these woods. Danziger, working on a flat tire, says the solar panels need to recharge. Morgan records Danziger's repair in a gear log; he says the space station authorities are very particular. Danziger is shocked that he's keeping records for the people who blew up the ship. Morgan says if they make it to New Pacifica, there will be certain bureaucrats waiting for his paperwork. He goes to Julia and says that he trusts she appreciates the importance of fine record keeping. She says all medical activities are logged on gear and dated chronologically.

Danziger finishes the tire and asks Zero, acting as a jack, to drop the rail. It almost hits Uly, but Danziger pulls him away in time. Uly scraped his knee, and Julia tends to it. In narration, she says with each day, against her better judgment, she grows more convinced of how much this group needs her in order to survive, and the war inside her intensifies.

Julia is waiting to talk to Reilly. He appears in VR; he hopes she's been thinking about securing the boy for him. She believes Uly isn't the answer to the Council's goals. He says she really is going soft; sweet Julia doesn't want to rip the boy from his mother's tender embrace. She says the change will be in Uly's DNA and thinks his DNA could be injected into another bloodstream - hers. She would be a better link with the Terrians than Uly, who would be controlled by his mother. She isn't sure it will work, but is willing to take the risk. Is she asking him to trust her? What choice does he have? Reilly says be careful; it would be a shame to lose her.

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Act II

Back at camp, Julia goes to Adair and Uly's tent looking for Uly; only Adair is there. Julia tells her she wants to check Uly's dressings, but she will do it whenever she runs into him; it is not important that Adair be there.

Julia and Uly are in her tent. She asks him if he thinks he's becoming part Terrian. She asks if they talk to him in his dreams, but he tells her the fantasies of a child. Does he want to find out if he's really part Terrian? When he says yes, she knocks him out with a sedative. Julia looks somewhat sick.

Bess emerges from her tent and goes to talk to Alonzo, who is collecting water from a stream. She believes there is something going on between him and Julia; she's seen the way they look at each other. He denies it at first, then says there was something for a minute, but it is over now. Julia doesn't exactly know how to relax and let things happen. Maybe he's not her type, and anyway, over the years he hasn't had such a hot track record of sticking around. Bess replies that he is every woman's type, and it doesn't look like he's going to be going anywhere anytime soon.

Julia, in her tent, is recording her experiment in a coded file. She has isolated DNA from Uly's spinal fluid. She plans to inject the DNAJinto the third ventricle of her brain; the possibility exists of hematoma or brain swelling. She takes a deep breath and injects herself in the neck.

Adair is dressing Uly, and he cries "ouch". She finds a prick mark in his back.

Adair storms into Julia's tent, asking about the needle mark on Uly's back. Julia, somewhat over-animated, tells her she took spinal fluid to check for infection. Adair is upset that the procedure was performed without her present - she thought it was supposed to be no big deal. Julia tells her she, not Adair, is the doctor. Adair wants to be there when any medical procedures are done on Uly.

That night, most of the group is sitting around the campfire listening to Danziger tell a story about finding ten frozen crewmen on a nonworking spaceship.

Alonzo enters his tent. Julia is there, definitely not acting like herself. She says she's been waiting for him. Is something the matter? She says she has been thinking about the way she's been treating him. Has she been talking to Bess? She says that she has put up a wall up between them and pushed him away; she's sorry. He frightens her a bit - she doesn't want to feel things for him that he doesn't feel for her. She doesn't want him to break her heart. He replies that he's not going to break her heart, and they kiss, she with some urgency.

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Act III

The next morning, Alonzo walks across camp and enters Julia's tent, calling her name. She is sleeping, fully dressed, on her bed. He gently wakes her and asks if she's okay. He's been thinking about her. She is confused and does not know why. Has he done something wrong? She doesn't know what he's talking about. He tells her that last night she came to his tent, and she was different, and they ... They what? Doesn't she remember anything? No, she doesn't, and she needs to be alone. He says she's a piece of work; she shows up at his tent last night and then just disappears? He doesn't know her story, but he doesn't want any part of it. Say something, anything! She says nothing, and he angrily leaves.

Julia makes a notation in her records that she thinks the DNA transfer is taking hold. She notes extreme alertness and hypersensitivity, with an unexpected side effect of short-term memory loss - the result of a metabolism adjustment? She expects a new, stronger dose will accelerate the metamorphosis and eliminate the side effect.

Julia goes to her clearing to talk to Reilly on VR. He notices she is on edge. She tells him her body is accepting the DNA much more readily than she expected. She's experiencing some sort of transformation; her skin feels tingly, and her sensory perceptions are razor sharp. Reilly thinks she is undergoing a toxic reaction and asks if there are any side effects. She says none.

True is playing with the snow and hears Julia talking on virtual. She watches her.

Reilly is worried Julia's judgment is impaired. Julia suddenly feels a hand on her. It's a Terrian. She takes it as a sign her experiment's working and asks it if it can sense the change in her. The Terrian screams, and it hurts her ears. It sinks back into the ground. True has been watching all this.

Julia heads back to camp. In narration, she says the Terrian sensed the change in her; it knew she was on the road to becoming one of them. She must take a third dose of Uly's DNA to complete the transformation. She wishes to confide in someone, tell someone of the strides she was making for science. Who would understand? She sees Morgan.

That night, Julia enters Morgan's tent. He is recording his observations about Yale. She tells him she has something so exciting to tell him, but not in the tent in case Bess comes in. He says he and Bess have no secrets. She says they all have secrets; this is a secret he is not going to want to tell anyone.

She, acting wired, leads him away from camp - he is not happy about it. He thinks she is making a pass at him and tells her that he and Bess are happy together. Julia tells him to shut up and asks him if he is a believer. In what? In their future. He sort of has mixed feelings about that. She says they, the Council are coming soon, sooner than he thinks. The Council? She has been communicating with them. She's a spy for the Council? Those people can do terrible things! Julia says they are going to come and settle the planet. She has found the bridge - herself. She somewhat incoherently tells him about the experiment. She needs him to help her because she doesn't really trust Reilly. Morgan says her little experiment sounds very intriguing, but .... She shouts that this is important to all of them! In her urgency, she rips the pocket off Morgan's coat. Morgan thinks the group, to which they all belong, should be told. She disagrees, and they fight. She knocks him out with a sedative, and looks around in panic.

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Act IV

The next morning, Bess is frantic because Morgan is missing; Yale is trying to calm her. Everyone has been looking for him all night and should have better luck in the light. Adair and Danziger return on the dune rail. Where's Julia?

Adair wakes her - she's been sleeping at her table. Julia tells her she hasn't seen Morgan and acts strangely. When Adair leaves, Julia lays on her bed and finds the piece of Morgan's jacket in her pocket.

Julia tells Reilly that she has no idea what she's done to Morgan. Reilly says she's coming apart at the seams (and is correct). It's time to tell him where she is; the situation has gotten out of her control. Her concern is Morgan; she will handle the situation. He demands to know where Eden project is; she yells that she's not going to tell him! True comes upon her and enters virtual with them. They immediately know she's there; Reilly tells Julia to get True. Julia exits VR and chases True. True goes back to camp on the ATV. Julia chases her and almost manages to grab hold of the vehicle.

At camp, True tells Danziger that Julia is chasing her and is going to hurt her. Walman says Julia would never hurt her. True tells them what she saw. Julia comes up and says she has been in her tent and heard her name being called. She doesn't play in VR. True insists about what she saw then and the other day. No one believes her, except Bess, who knocks Julia out with a sedative.

Danziger carries the unconscious Julia to her tent and lays her on her bed. Bess had listened to the tape Morgan was making when Julia entered his tent; the tape recorded that she had something exciting to tell him. Yale breaks into Julia's records and listens to them. He tells Adair, Danziger and Bess about her experiment and her memory blackout. Will another dose jog her memory? Adair says to do it; she wants to know what's going on in there.

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Act V

Julia wakes and sees Bess, Yale, Adair and Danziger talking together on the other side of the tent. She sneaks out under the tent. She goes to where she left Morgan, but cannot find him. Adair comes up to her. Julia says she'll find him; it's her problem, but she will fix it. Adair tells Julia they are friends, they've been through a lot together; she can help her. She will understand whatever it is; they just want Morgan. She knows about the DNA experiment and that she's been in contact with someone. Julia is wild. She says she has been protecting them and their location, so they wouldn't come after them. Who has she been talking to in VR? Julia says if this is the only habitable planet, did Adair really think she'd be the only one interested in it? It's not her planet; she's not god here! Adair wants to know what's been going on. Aren't you even listening to me? Julia attacks Adair. With Adair pinned down, Julia says everyone wants something from her, Adair, Reilly. She is not going to be controlled! They fight, and Julia kicks Adair off a cliff. Julia watches in horror. Adair suddenly reappears on top of the cliff and says let's try this again, only this time let's get some answers.

They have been in VR and are actually still in Julia's tent. Danziger removes the gear Julia's been wearing; she is tied down to the bed. Adair tells Bess where Morgan should be. Bess yells at Julia, and Danziger and Bess go looking for Morgan. Yale and Adair ask Julia who she is working for and what they want. Who has she been communicating with, and how did she get in touch with him? They have gone through everything she owns. Yale tells her she can trust them. Julia refuses to answer, but she is in anguish. Yale and Adair leave. Alonzo has been watching the whole thing. He looks at Julia, shakes his head, and then leaves as well.

Although when Adair and Julia fought on the ridge it was daylight, it is actually night. Danziger and Bess find a groggy Morgan tied to a tree. Julia, in narration, says she is Dr. Julia Heller, physician to the Eden project and a patriot to the Council. A war has waged inside her between her two allegiances. She gave in out of fear and curiosity. She's done things she shouldn't have. She has seen her dark side, and it is more frightening than she ever imagined.

The next day, Julia awakes in an almost empty tent that is not her own. She leaves the tent to find that everyone else has left camp, and she is all alone in the woods.

The rest of the group is traveling on, looking rather grim. Adair, in narration, says they are the Eden project. Everyday they have the same routine; they wake, they travel, they stop, set-up camp, try to catch some rest, then wake and travel again. 3100 miles more to New Pacifica. And today, they continue their journey but are forced to stray from their routine. For the first time, they travel with one less person in their crew.

Yale notices Adair's mood and tells her it was everyone's decision. Life on this planet is hard enough without someone working to destroy them. She experimented on Uly, and she tried to kill Adair. They never found her communication device; they'd never know if they were being monitored. Adair worries Julia will not be able to survive without them, but Yale tells her that Julia will find a way.

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