Better Living Through Morganite, Part II

An Earth 2 Episode Summary
by Ariadne[May 2, 1995]

CONTENTS:

• Teaser
• Act I
• Act II
• Act III
• Act IV

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Screenplay by: P.K. Simonds
Directed by: Frank DePalma

Teaser

In Yale's mind a newscast plays, recounting that more tragedy has hit the Yale series tutor program; a Yale unit took its own life, and another had to be destroyed. Yale has difficulty stopping the playback; in the tunnels, he moans in terror. Morgan asks him why he doesn't give it a rest for a while; whatever he keep replaying gets him more and more upset, not to mention Morgan. Bess notices the damage to his robotic arm. Yale pushes her away and says if he could control it, he would. Leave him alone - he has no idea what he is capable of.

In narration, Morgan says things looked bad, and he had only himself to blame. He was trying, but things were different here; nothing happens the way you'd expect. G889 was supposed to have been Eden, but even in the short time since the crash, they had managed to find a good number of obstacles. There are times the dark secrets of the planet pale compared to what they carry within themselves, and conflicting political backgrounds rip at their unity. The endless horizons, the boundless possibilities had driven some of them to thoughts of greed and avarice. It had driven him, on day 68, to lock up 1 km of the planet, and since he did not know the code to unlock it, he and Bess might have to die for it.

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Act I

Danziger says they were lucky - the geo-lock came within 100 m of the camp. Julia asks if he looked at the land; they better hope Morgan has a key to the lock. If he's alive, adds Adair. They are drawn outside the dome by shouting of a camp alert.

The camp is surrounded by Terrians, including Mary. Alonzo apologizes to them, then translates: The Terrians shared their sunstones with them, and in return, they crippled a vital part of their mother. Adair offers to return the stones. Alonzo her the humans killed one of the Terrian tribe. Adair asks how they can make it right. Alonzo tries dreaming with the Terrians, but the dreamplane is broken; the machine hurt the dreaming. The Terrians hold the three in the tunnels responsible, and at sunrise the three who hurt the earth will go into the earth.

Yale is having flashbacks of rounding up and shooting the scientists. Mary arrives; Morgan asks her if she's going to get them out of there. She tells the three she knows their fate; those who killed will be killed in turn. Morgan begs for their lives. Yale whispers to Mary, and she blinds everyone with her staff.

Terrians lead a blinded Bess and Morgan past the frozen Terrian. Morgan thinks this is it.

Adair, Danziger, and Julia reach the geo-lock. Danziger wonders why the Terrians are so worked up; it was only 1 km. Julia says they must have frozen a vital part of the mineral veins. Adair tries to unlock the geo-lock, and it gives her a shock. They have less than 4 hours until dawn to figure out the correct code to release it. Danziger wants to use the other geo-locks in the Martins' tent to threaten the Terrians; it's not the diplomatic approach, but they're talking about three lives. Adair wants to let Alonzo try reach the Terrians one more time before they turn this thing into Armageddon.

In the fragmented dreamplane, Alonzo tries to call the Terrians: Listen to him - he's trying to stop a war! He is unable to succeed. Back in the dome, he tells everyone that something is wrongin there; the dreamplane is ruined.

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Act II

In the dome, with 2 hours left until dawn, Alonzo paces, Julia studies the rocks, and Adair and Danziger argue about threatening the Terrians. Does she have another idea? She asks Julia if she found anything. Julia thinks the vibrations the rocks make are part of the language of the planet; if they could learn how the Terrians communicate with the stones, they might be able to fix the damage that was done. Danziger says they don't have time for that.

Bess and Morgan stumble in, saying that Mary saved them and asking where Yale was. Bess realizes that Yale must have told the Terrians the geo-lock was all his fault. Adair says they must save him. She notices that Danziger is quiet; a few minutes ago he was ready to set off another canister. He says he's still willing to threaten the Terrians, but... She asks they should just let Yale die? Walman says Yale isnot exactly in stable condition. Magus adds he was afraid of hurting them; maybe it's what he wants. Adair says they have no idea what Yale wants. Does she? She says Yale would give his life for any one of them.

Yale is praying, asking to be forgiven for sins he can't confess because he can't remember them. Mary enters, gives him some fruit, and asks who he was talking to. He says he was talking to God, asking for forgiveness for the harm he's done. She says the Terrian way is better: don't harm. He adds And don't forgive. Life isn't that simple for humans. They make mistakes, and they want to learn. Before he dies, he wants the truth, so he talks to God. She says Terrians listen to find the truth, and she places his hand on the glowing rock. He starts having flashbacks, and pulls away when the first shot is fired.

Danziger is angry at Morgan because he doesn't know the release code for the geo-lock. Morgan calls himself a greedy fool. Adair calls in on gear; she and Alonzo are in the tunnels. They want to try to talk to the Terrians; hold off on the geo-lock. Danziger tells her the Terrians are a different species; they don't think like humans do. He worries they are going to lose both of them. She cuts him off. Danziger rounds up Baines and Walman to go after them. Morgan wants to come with them, but Danziger says he's staying there and tells Magus to shoot him in the leg if he tries to follow.

Yale touches the glowing rock and sees his flashbacks in full. He and another soldier enter a room and round-up the scientists, who beg for sanctuary. The other soldier smiles as he is about to pull the trigger, and seeing that, Yale shoots him. He lies to his bosses on gear that all is clear, then tells the scientists to leave. A bright light shines on him on an operating table. A man says that there isn't going to be a court martial, Croix; ever hear of the Yale program? Back in the tunnels, Yale shouts that he will not die falsely accused; he will not die!

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Act III

Morgan is trying to break the code on the geo-lock; the shocks are numbing his fingers. He won't let Bess try; he was the one that set it off. He breaches the first of six encryption tiers, but it took an hour. Bess realizes that he could use his gear to contact the geo-lock via remote radio reception; it could read his thoughts faster than he could type. He hopes it won't hurt as much, but it still shocks him. It's faster anyway.

Julia calls to Adair on gear; she thinks the sunstones could fix whatever they've done down there. She's started communicating with the stones; they were able to decode the binary language of her scanner in minutes. She thinks the Terrians are furious because they froze a significant portion of the planet's cerebral cortex. It's impaired, but still powerful; it might be able to crack the geo-lock. Adair tells her to try.

In the tunnels, the Terrians signal that they are ready to talk. Mary insists that Alonzo translate; she doesn't want to carry their words. He translates with difficulty. Adair says they understand they did a terrible thing, but they just need some time; there is a chance they can undo the damage that was done. The Terrians say if they don't pay the price, it will happen again. Adair gives her word that it will not happen again; she has kept her word before. The Terrians say they think with one mind, while the humans think with many.

Danziger, Baines, and Walman enter with weapons. Adair begs him not to shoot. Alonzo tells Mary they are just trying to protect them. Adair tells Danziger the only chance Yale or any of them have is teaching the Terrians to trust them, to show them there is a lot more to humans than meets the eye. Danziger hopes she knows what she's talking about and agrees to drop the weapons. Adair tells the Terrians that they can think with one mind; they do not need to lose lives to learn. Alonzo asks Mary to use her human side to help the Terrians understand. Mary tries to convince the Terrians, but they decide to hold them all hostage.

Julia joins Morgan and Bess by the geo-lock. She thinks the sunstones could learn its complicated language.

Mary and four Terrians go to Yale. She charges her staff and tells him it will stop him so he can go into the earth. He says he's learned the truth, and he doesn't deserve to die; he wants to live. He begs her to help him; the truth is never simple. She shocks him with the staff as he begs her again.

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Act IV

The rocks are not decrypting the geo-lock any faster. Julia is at a loss. Morgan says so much for the smart rock theory. The encryption systems were designed by twisted minds, or they would be easily cracked. So, to get the two systems to understand each other, they need a twisted mind. He volunteers to be an interface between the rocks and the geo-lock. Julia warns him it could be dangerous. He answers that he got them into this; it's almost dawn.

Yale is sinking into the Moon Cross pool, begging Mary to help him live. After he is gone, the Terrians leave. Mary is about to as well, then changes her mind and enters the pool.

As the rocks start figuring out the code, Morgan loses consciousness. When all six codes are found, Bess sets the size of the unlock zone to 1 km. The reaction commenses, and the earth is restored. Morgan is unconscious and not responding.

In the tunnels, they hear the geo-lock, and all go running. They see the frozen Terrian unfreeze and continue its path out of the rock; it is alive, though groggy. The humans leave the tunnels.

Mary drags Yale up through the snow. He lays there gasping for breath, then thanks her. He says that it's frightening to go back to one's buried past through the buried past, but she has taught him that it's better to know. He begs her to join them; she is not a Terrian. The Terrians who have been standing on the hills disappear. Mary tries to enter the earth and finds she cannot. Yale asks if that is what she gets for helping him; they won't forgive her? He again begs her to stay with them. She trills, crying, and runs away.

Julia checks out Morgan; he is alright. He awakens and is very happy to see a tree and the dirt. He loves this planet. Bess and Julia smile.

As they walk back to camp, Danziger tries to comfort Adair about Yale. They hear Yale calling for Mary, and Adair runs to him, happy he is alive. He says he is much more alive than she thinks.

Later that morning, Morgan is doling out oatmeal to everyone. He gives the last bit to Danziger, who rather cruelly shakes his burned hands. Danziger is surprised he came through in the end.

Yale tells Adair his name was Brayden Croix. He knows he enlisted in the elite services to pay for his postgraduate studies, but doesn't remember in what field. She asks if he is angry; he paid for a heroic act as if he were a criminal. Right now, he is relieved. She asks whether to call him Yale or Brayden. He is not yet ready to change things overnight.

Morgan, in narration, says they are finding that it is impossible to learn about this planet without also learning about themselves. He and Yale had both tapped into the vast intelligence that they now know is humming beneath their feet. It is an extraordinary new world, and survival is simply a question of whether they can reach deep enough to find the extraordinary in themselves.

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