Redemption

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

CONTENTS:

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

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

Previously

Scenes of Julia knocking out Uly with a sedative; Yale telling the group about her experiment; Julia telling Reilly she did something to Morgan; Bess shaking Julia; Julia fighting Adair; Adair saying they travel with one less person and worrying that Julia cannot survive without them.

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Teaser

Adair, in narration, says their 51st day on the planet is by far the most difficult. They've traveled more than half the day, and have uttered less than 3 words between them. And yet, in their minds they all tread the same ground repeatedly: Did they do right? They all think about the decision. Did they surpass the bounds of humanity by leaving Julia? It was a very fast vote, one that swept them into its anger. Now alone with themselves, they're left to ponder the weight of their anger, and for some, the weight of their heart. Still, they move forward.

Alonzo stops the ATV. Adair tells him to keep moving, but he says they shouldn't have left Julia. She reminds him that, personal feelings aside, she was a spy; they didn't have a choice. He says they just left her with a tent, barely any rations. Adair responds that Julia knows how to analyze indigenous vegetation; she is probably in contact with whoever she was working for. Alonzo, however, has decided he's going back for her, and Adair's reminder that he is part of a group that made a decision holds no sway. Julia is part of the group, too, and they left her; he is going back. He leaves in the ATV. Adair calls to Danziger on gear to halt the vehicles; they are camping there.

Alonzo arrives at Julia's camp that night. Her tent is there, but Julia is not. He gets his weapon and searches for her, calling her name. She is hiding behind some bushes. She collapses into his arms; she cannot stand. He holds her, supporting her.

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Act I

The next day Danziger decides to scout ahead looking for a mountain pass rather than wasting a day, waiting around for Alonzo to return. Yale tells him to stay within range, and he heads off in the dune rail.

Adair, Walman, and Morgan are discussing Julia. Morgan says they can't just take her back, and reminds them of all the things she did. Right, Walman? Walman says that the did vote to leave her. Adair will not abandon Alonzo. Morgan says, Why not? He's a big boy; if he wants to follow his sword, that doesn't mean the rest of them have to. Yale approaches; there is no news. Morgan suggests that if Julia comes back, they tie her to a tether and drag her behind the transrover for a few days; that'll get her talking. Yale says that the survival of the group depends on its cohesion.

Magus tells them Alonzo and Julia have returned, and the group clusters together in front of the camp. Alonzo stops the ATV a ways from the camp; Julia hands him something from her pocket. He walks to Adair and hands it to her; Julia wants her to have it. It is the communication device; Julia wants to prove it can be behind her. Alonzo says they have his word, but Adair says it's not that simple.

Zero announces that a projectile is approaching; everyone ducks. Yale is hit in the shoulder, and Zero identifies the direction the projectile came from. Alonzo and Adair pull Yale back; Adair calls for Julia, who comes running from the ATV. Who shot at them? Julia doesn't know, but she must remove the bullet from Yale and stop any internal bleeding; there is no one else.

Julia performs surgery on Yale, with Baines as an assistant and Adair watching. The bullet is auto-propelled and has burrowed 15 cm since impact. She pulls it out; it is still moving.

Bess is with the kids; Uly is in her lap. True is worried about Yale, and Uly wants to know if Julia is going to stay with them. Bess says to think good thoughts for Yale. Adair comes up and tells the kids to stay with Bess; she does not know why someone is shooting at them. True is worried about her father. Bess says her father is a very smart man, and they are doing everything they can to get him on gear.

The rest of the group has barricaded themselves behind their supplies. Julia comes out to rinse the blood off her hands, and Adair and Walman go to her. Yale is fine. Where did the bullet come from? Julia doesn't know. Adair tells her that what she did for Yale will not wipe the slate clean. Julia protests that she couldn't know; she was in camp with them when it hit. Why should they believe her? It's the truth; she never gave up their location. Adair hands her the communication equipment and asks her to prove it.

On VR, Julia tells Reilly she's had to be careful lately; Eden Project's suspicious of things. They're having a problem that makes her think he knows where they are; someone has been shooting at them. She just spent 30 minutes chasing a slow-moving worm bullet in someone's shoulder. When Reilly finds out that it has been an hour since Yale was hit, he tells her to run and get the bullet and dispose of it as far away from camp as she can. Go now!

Julia goes off VR; Adair has been listening in. Both run to the medical tent. Julia gets the beeping bullet and throws it away from camp. It explodes on impact, and both she and Adair are knocked on the ground by the force of the explosion.

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Act II

Danziger is out scouting in the dune rail. Bess calls him from base camp, but he does not respond. Baines saw him take his gear; Bess is upset that he can't keep it turned on.

Walman, Morgan and Adair are grilling Julia about Reilly. He is the Watcher, working for the Council, determining the viability of the planet for human resettlement. She believes he is not behind the attack because the Council does not condone unjustified hostility. Morgan says the bomb on the ship and sabotaging it to crash was justified? She knows there are factions of the Council that no one ever hears about, just like there are in every other aspect of station life. Morgan cuts her off, telling her to spare them the bad apple analogy; he can't stand that I'm-just-a-shiny-red-misunderstood-one part. Julia looks up at Alonzo, who is on guard duty with a weapon. She pulls her gaze from him when the communication device signals her to respond. When Julia reaches to take it from Adair, Walman grabs her hand. She believes they should let her respond; Adair and Morgan agree, reminding her they are on audio.

Reilly asks if she found the bullet in time. One of her crew members was almost killed. It's her crew now, is it? When she says that he knows an awful lot about the weaponry that did it, he replies that it is 20-year old technology. The sniper was a Z.E.D., a little genetically engineered mistake, a top-secret defense department project with boosted senses and organic armor. They were dumped on the planet when they started killing army brass; nothing tames the wild frontier like an unstoppable killer. Why didn't he warn her about them? Since she didn't tell him where she was, and the Z.E.D.s were so few and far between, he was hoping they'd miss each other. What do Z.E.D.s want? They want to kill, and they are very good at it. In a group like hers, they would first take out anyone with a weapon, then work their way down from the largest males to the smallest children.

Julia rips herself out of VR, grabs the weapon out of Magus' hands, and shouts to Alonzo to get down and drop his weapon. Hey, Z.E.D., take me! Zero announces an incoming projectile. Alonzo, who does not get down or drop his weapon, is hit in the right leg. Julia frantically helps him back to camp.

Walman and Julia throw the bullet away from camp, where it explodes.

Sometime later that day, Julia goes to Alonzo who is recovering from his ordeal. He tells her she's nuts. What was she thinking out there? She doesn't know. She falters, then continues; she couldn't lose him. No one's ever believed in her like he did today; he came back for her. She is crying. He smiles and says, pretty serious emotions; is she sure it's safe to feel that much? She says it feels like the only thing she can be sure of. He puts his hand up to her face and says he knows.

Adair checks on Yale and asks him if he has ever heard of a Z.E.D. He is alarmed. It stands for Zero Emotional Defects. They were a secret offshoot of the Yale program, halted in the planning stage. They were criminals not unlike himself. The program stripped them of all emotional capabilities. This time tutors weren't enough; they wanted super soldiers. Fourteen officers died training 10 or 12 prototypes. Z.E.D.s are ruthless; they have no emotions whatsoever and are considered unstoppable. Used in mining province uprisings on Earth in late 2180, pre-Z.E.D. units quelled an entire province, killing hundreds of mine workers in days. The incendiary worm bullet became their signature. It seeks the body's extremities for impact, then works its way to the torso during the interrogation stage. Its blast incinerates the victim from within, leaving no remains.

Danziger sees smoke through his scope and heads toward it with his weapon to investigate. He calls into base camp, where Magus and Bess are awaiting his signal. They want to know his location and tell him some sort of freakoid sniper is shooting at them. Danziger thinks he just found his shaving kit. Walman and Adair get on gear. Adair tells him to leave the vehicle and weapon behind and get back to camp: do not argue! He refuses, despite what Adair tells him about the Z.E.D. Although she tells him not to run, he does and gets shot in the left leg. He grabs his leg in pain as the Z.E.D. stands before him.

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Act III

Adair asks Morgan for the exact time since Danziger's been shot - 9.5 minutes is the best he can do. Bess says that the way Danziger dotes on those vehicles, he would choose the smoothest route possible, which would be South. Baines says the Z.E.D. must be on high ground to have taken Alonzo and Yale. Walman narrows it down to 3 square clicks, which would take a day to search. Morgan thinks that a bullet that waits a hour to kill somebody is very odd; you just don't build a bullet that drills through the body and explodes after an hour unless you have some reason. Julia joins them in time to hear this last comment.

The Z.E.D., with his comic book hair, tells Danziger that the more he moves, the faster bullet moves through him. He grabs Danziger by the throat, then jabs a painful needle from his arm apparatus into his leg. He demands a name to label the blood sample. He says the bullet will travel to his abdomen and detonate 1 hr after impact unless he makes it stop; obey him, or very soon he will die. Danziger manages to turn on his gear and gives his name.

Bess picks up Danziger's and the Z.E.D.'s voices on gear and calls the group.

The Z.E.D. says the name John Danziger is not on the manifest. They are all alike in this way; they defy for no reason. Danziger asks if he thinks he's a penal colonist? He realizes the Z.E.D. works for the Council; there is no way the Council would hand out fire power like that to a penal colonist. The Z.E.D. grabs his leg, and Danziger cries in pain. That will be all; he will answer all questions put to him about his time on the planet.

Morgan, who has been listening to this exchange, says that they are studying the penal colonists like guinea pigs; this thing is the lab assistant from hell! We see a shot of Julia before Baines pinpoints Danziger's location.

The Z.E.D. detects a magnetic field behind Danziger: as Danziger cowers, he finds and smashes the gear. Warning them won't help; he will take them all one by one, and there is nothing any human can do to stop him.

The group is alarmed by the loss of contact with Danziger. Baines asks Adair how they are going to stop a killing machine. She asks Julia if this thing works for the Council. Julia doesn't know who works for who anymore. What about Reilly? If he is hiding the connection, maybe he is hiding this thing's weakness. Morgan says Reilly won't tell her how to kill it, but Julia thinks she has a way.

Julia tells Reilly that the Z.E.D. shot the boy and still has him. That's impossible! Julia wonders who is lying, then? If the Z.E.D.s were sent there like the penal colonists, how did they get their weapons? Why are those weapons designed to torture before they kill? Reilly says they stole standard issue weapons from his troops. She says if he doesn't tell her how to stop the Z.E.D., the boy will die; he has 42 minutes. He tells her there is a spot at the base of the Z.E.D.'s head that has no armor; a bullet there would kill. She would be a fool to try it; the Z.E.D. will sense her coming a mile away. She replies that it's their problem. Reilly doesn't care what she does with the Z.E.D.; the boy is his. Deliver him, or she will die running.

Julia leaves VR; Bess, Morgan, Walman, Baines and Adair were listening in. They are all silent for a moment, then Walman says he will get weapons. Julia says she doesn't think they should kill him. Morgan asks if she is nuts; this thing's a walking warhead! He has seen plagues that were less lethal. Adair agrees with Julia; if they sedate the Z.E.D., they can get him to lead them to Reilly.

Julia goes to the medical tent for her equipment, and Adair follows. Julia tells her that she had this coming; the Council could not have tried harder to dissuade her from coming here. Why didn't they tell her themselves? Secrecy was needed because if the general population knew this planet existed, there would be an exodus ten times the size of the '81 skylift. What does Uly have to do with this? The Council is testing 5 planets for resettlement, and this one is the most promising candidate. But it can't be resettled until the planet, the Terrians, are controlled. If they remove the Terrians, the planet starts to die. It was hopeless until a sick little boy came along; something about this boy makes the alien world give a piece of itself to make this boy whole. Uly is the key to human acceptance on this planet; the Terrians have chosen him for reasons they can't understand, but must respect. There's a whole world of people at home depending on them.

Walman and Alonzo enter the tent; Alonzo is using Walman as a crutch. They are ready to go. Julia protests that he should be resting. He says Danziger has 39 minutes; they can tell him about it on the trip.

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Act IV

Twenty minutes later, it's full night. The Z.E.D. is questioning Danziger: How did he remove his surveillance tagging?. Describe in detail all contacts with the Terrian population. The Z.E.D. hears whispers and locates the group.

Alonzo, looking through the scope, tells them they've been spotted. Adair, Walman, and Zero head off; Zero has a weapon.

The Z.E.D. reminds Danziger that even the slightest motor activity speeds the bullet along, then he heads off to find the group.

Julia hands Baines the sedation gun and tells him to be sure he has contact before he releases the sedative; it will take a few seconds to work. That sounds like a long time to Baines.

The group and the Z.E.D. stalk each other in the dark. The Z.E.D. spots them. The light from his gun first rests on Adair, then Zero. He is confused by the reading he gets on Zero and lowers the gun. Baines jumps him from behind, but the Z.E.D. is prepared and flips him over his shoulder.

Julia runs to where the Z.E.D. and Baines are; Alonzo cannot stop her.

She tells the Z.E.D. that she is an appointee of the Council and gives her code. He says that's a physician's code. She says she has been dispatched by Reilly. He says she has no authority in this field. She says she has Council authority and picks up the sedation gun; his orders have been amended - he will prepare this convict for transport. He says he will take Baines to his camp. As he bends over Baines, Julia shoots him in the neck with the sedative. The Z.E.D. grabs her arm, breaking it, before crashing onto Baines. Julia helps Baines roll the Z.E.D. off him.

Because Julia's arm is broken, Adair must operate on Danziger under Julia's instruction. She uses the diaglove to locate the bullet, make the incision, and sponge up the blood. Danziger is not a good patient. Adair digs for the bullet and finally finds it. Alonzo throws it away just in time.

Alonzo and Walman are guarding the restrained Z.E.D. Julia and Adair enter the tent. The Z.E.D. asks Julia if he is a prisoner. No, the restraint is just for their protection during debriefing. Reilly has issued a change in his op-procedure. He says So, he did lose track of him - he suspected as much when his recon data didn't unload. If she wants his data, she better get busy. She thought she would take him back to headquarters. The Z.E.D. would prefer to die right here; he doesn't want to take his last breath with the satellite brass. Reilly is not even on this planet? The Z.E.D. has a suicide default mechanism that kicks in upon capture. As he dies, he asks who she is.

Julia tells Reilly that Uly is fine. Reilly is impressed that she stopped a Z.E.D. and is glad she is on his team. Is she? He hopes so; after all they've been through, he hopes she can trust him now. Like the Z.E.D. trusted him? Z.E.D.s aren't penal colonists, are they; they are his. Ours, he corrects. She says they work for the Council? Phase two: find out from the penal colonists what they can about the planet and then eliminate them. Might as well - they're in one of the black-out zones; he can't surveil them, just like he can't surveil her group from where he's orbiting. Isn't that right? Reilly answers that knowing she is in one of the zones narrows down the possibilities; he _will_ find her. Adair enters VR and says maybe he will and maybe he won't. Reilly says, Heller, this is treason! Danziger and Alonzo enter; Danziger says they will expose him on the stations. Reilly asks Julia, so this is the company she's keeping now? She answers yes. Adair says they are glad to have her. Reilly says she is making a terrible mistake. Julia looks at Alonzo and then replies that she thinks she is finished making terrible mistakes.

The four are standing on a cliff. Julia says that Reilly is out there somewhere, orbiting. Danziger feels closer to the Terrians all the time. Adair hands Julia the communication device, and she throws it off the cliff. Adair, in narration, says they came to this planet believing humanity deserved a second chance, and they found their first test offering as much to one of their own. It wasn't going to be easy starting over and trusting Julia after all she'd done. But maybe that is what separates them from Reilly and his kind. They believe in the value of human life, and they knew Julia deserved a second chance.

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