Last time on Andromeda

HUNT: Nietzscheans. A gun to one person's head is a gun to all of ours.
WOMAN: We'll trade our hostages for the bones of Drago Musevini and the Eureka Maru.
HARPER: Who the hell are these Nietzscheans?
WOMAN: It couldn't have gone better.
TYR: Take Drago's remains to the rendezvous.
ATATURK: You're right on time. The Andromeda's now a trophy of the Drago-Kazov.
TRANCE: I don't care about the bones. No. I have to get in. No! Your fate is waiting for you.
TYR: On the Andromeda.
TRANCE: I don't know.
TYR: If I go back there with you, it will be the last time.
HUNT: Promises, promises.
ROLLINS: Stand by for further orders.
ANDROMEDA: Efforting.
BEKA: Efforting?
ROMMIE: Cutting yourself off from your best allies, aligning yourself with no one. Odd choice for the ultimate survivor.
HUNT: We're looking at the universe coming apart at the seams.
HARPER: I thought I knew you, Tyr, and it turns out all along you've just been waiting to betray us.
TYR: Beka, I wish that I could explain
BEKA: Forget it, Tyr. Go fix the ship.
HUNT: Next time we meet, friend or enemy?
TYR: Live well.

Down where it was tangled and dark.
Down where the spirits feasted on carrion.
Down. Down. Down.
It was there, yes, the High Hatted ones
forever screamed "Eureka!"

Yolin's Narrows of Decline,
CY 1015

[Conference room]

ROMMIE: Of the three galaxies that make up most of the Commonwealth, Triangulum, Milky Way, and Andromeda, we are here, at the far end of the Andromeda galaxy.
HUNT: Yeah. Nowhere.
HARPER: Yeah, I've been there a few times. So then, we should be safe, right?
BEKA: Well, we couldn't be farther from the seat of power of the Commonwealth, the planet Terazed.
HUNT: If there still is a Terazed.
ANDROMEDA [on screen]: It appears we are safe. We were not followed out of slipstream.
HARPER: Great. Nowhere with nobody. The story of my love life. I've got to tell you, boss, that fight was a close one. In fact, I'd say that battle replaced Command as the most dangerous place in the universe, paradoxically speaking.
ANDROMEDA [on screen]: There has been no response from the courier ships we sent to the Commonwealth homeworld.
ROMMIE: If the Triumvirate were functioning, they would respond.
ANDROMEDA: All other Commonwealth posts are not responding as well, including the Commonwealth fleet.
HUNT: Yeah. We got a pretty good look at what happened to that fleet, if you'll recall.
BEKA: Yeah, so how did we get into this mess? Who started it? It couldn't have been Tyr alone, or just the Nietzscheans.
TRANCE: The universe is just too big for it to have simply been them.
HARPER: All right, I, for one, don't want to talk about it anymore, okay? And I particularly don't want to talk about the lovable, absentee, not so young and restless Nietzschean you know who.
ANDROMEDA [on screen]: Correction. We were followed out of slipstream. Five Ogami ships approaching.
HARPER: They never know when to quit.

[Corridor]

ROMMIE: Adjustment to that correction. The Ogami are chasing a small courier ship. It's in odd condition. All identification and automatic hails have been disengaged. The Ogami appear to have destroyed its infrared footprinting. It's hard to tell if it's one of ours.
HARPER: Whatever that means right now.

[Command]

BEKA: Where'd he come from?
HUNT: Rommie, give me a reading.
ROMMIE: I'm sorry, Dylan, I can't. It just appeared.
(Bang!)
HUNT; Take out the Ogami.
ROMMIE: Firing. The Ogami are taking direct hits. Three are destroyed, the other two are turning back.
HUNT: Good. Stand down.
ANDROMEDA [on viewscreen]: The courier ship is still approaching.
HARPER: Man, those courier ships can go. Look at that baby fly.
BEKA: It's moving way too fast.
ANDROMEDA [on viewscreen]: Correct. Its guidance systems are gone.
ROMMIE: It's hailing us.
HUNT: On screen.
LUCK [on viewscreen]: This is Courier Pilot Luck carrying a message for Captain Hunt. Please help. I don't know how long I can last.
HUNT: Andromeda, bring him in.
ROMMIE: Preparing to pick him up.
HARPER: He's going to blow right into us, boss.
HUNT: Match velocities. We'll get him.
BEKA: How about the bucky-cables?
(The courier ship bounces into the hangar deck.)
LUCK [OC]: For Captain Hunt. Captain Hunt!
BEKA: And that's a no on the bucky-cables.
ROMMIE: Dylan, the pilot is alive.
HUNT: Get him to Med deck. Trance?

[Med deck]

HUNT: You're going to be okay, Luck. You're safe here.
LUCK: I travelled through nothing. Darkness. Captain Hunt.
(Luck gives Hunt a small flexi. Hunt activates its holographic message.)
HOLO-PAROO: The Commonwealth is history.

[Conference room]

HOLO-PAROO: The Commonwealth is history. Story over. All is ended. My name is Paroo, and I knew everything. I knew who was mad at whom. I was in charge. I lit the tinderbox and watched the bonfire. The universe is upside down. It's done. The Commonwealth is an irreparable, unreliable, irredeemable shambles. Dylan, listen. Captain Hunt, you and your crew must fend for yourselves, save yourselves, Find somewhere where you can spend the rest of your lives if not happily, at least in safety. Forget about saving the Triumvirate, the leaders of the Commonwealth. Tri-Jema, the Triumvir, is here with me. And you. You, Dylan Hunt. You, you are to blame. You swine. I have Tri-Jema, and her end will be the final end. So, kiss goodbye the dream that used to be the Commonwealth. Why don't you use your schoolboy charm on your schoolboy dreams?
(Message ends.)
HARPER: Can you say freak? Holy schizoid off his medication.
BEKA: What the hell was that?
TRANCE: An invitation.
HARPER: An invitation? To what?
HUNT: To not come to the rescue.
HARPER: Great. Then let's not come to the rescue.
ROMMIE: There's still no answer from the Commonwealth congress on Terazed. Or from Sinti, or from anywhere.
HUNT: The Triumvirs must have realised they were doomed and made a run for it, and the Congress followed.
ROMMIE: Dylan, I suggest we return to Terazed, the Commonwealth homeworld. It's the most logical place to begin. But not after we know what we are doing, and why, of course.
HARPER: We're not going to go get this guy, right?
HUNT: You heard his message. He's holding a Triumvir captive and we're going to go get her.
BEKA; I think this guy's nuts. And I think he's also right. The Commonwealth is probably over, or almost over.
HARPER: Yeah, and who knows when he sent this message? They could be dead. They could be dying.
HUNT: All the more reason to go.
BEKA: Dylan, it doesn't seem like there's anything we can do. I mean, what would we be going back to? Don't take this the wrong way, but, er, we've all been through a lot.
HARPER: Yeah, yeah. She's right, boss. It's got to be worth something. Something. Chicks, money, and I don't see either.
BEKA: I would've put it more subtly, but yes.
HARPER: All we're saying is, you know, maybe we're not so crazy about jumping right back into hell again.
BEKA: A hell we'd have to fight our way back to.
HARPER: Maybe we deserve a break.
HUNT: You really feel that way, Mister Harper?
HARPER: Well, I don't know. I guess. Yeah. I do. I'm sorry.
(Harper leaves.)
HUNT: Beka?
BEKA: I'm going to have to think about this.
(Beka leaves.)
TRANCE: It's the Abyss.
(Trance leaves.)
HUNT: Oh, that's just great.

[Med deck]

LUCK: You're young.
TRANCE: Actually, I'm very old. I'm glad that you have come.
LUCK: Paroo's waiting.
TRANCE: Where? Who is Paroo? What future does he bring?
LUCK: I trust him. Your family is not safe.
TRANCE: Try to rest.
LUCK: I did the wrong thing.
TRANCE: You are going to die, but your efforts will continue to live. Take my light.
LUCK: You're warm. Am I home?
TRANCE: Almost, yes. You're nearly at journey's end. (Luck dies) And so, perhaps, am I.

[Maru crew area]

TRANCE: We have been through a lot.
BEKA: If the Commonwealth is destroyed, this situation is impossible. I mean, do we go back? Do we sign up for another spin through the ringer?
TRANCE: Do you mean, is it worth it?
BEKA: Yeah.
TRANCE: Each of us has to choose.
ROMMIE: I don't have a choice.
BEKA: Come on. Doesn't it feel like it is over?
TRANCE: It's not over until Dylan says it's over.
HUNT: Ahem.
(Rommie and Beka leave.)
TRANCE: Luck was tortured.
HUNT: Luck was tortured. There's irony for you.
TRANCE: He was tortured for crimes he never committed.
HUNT: My crimes, I'm sure.
TRANCE: He knew me. I knew him, but I'm really not sure how. We're entering a final phase, Dylan. I know it, and I feel empowered.
HUNT: We have another worry.
TRANCE: The bonsai.
HUNT: I promised you I would take it to safety, but that mission will be aborted if we go back to find Paroo.
TRANCE: We were taking the bonsai to a place where it would protect the future. If the future holds going back, then, perhaps, that is where the bonsai is supposed to be. Perhaps.
HUNT: There's no way to know that for sure.
TRANCE: To those to whom much is given, much is asked.
HUNT: Well, if only I knew the question.
(Energy plays over the bonsai.)

[Machine shop]

HOLO-ROMMIE: Shouldn't you be packing to go?
HARPER: Yes. I am. All right, I know you can see right through me, but don't think I can't see right though you, too. What the hell am I doing?
HOLO-ROMMIE: Hesitation is often the flaw of great intellect.
HARPER: What? I'm not hesit. Thank you. Look, I'm just tired of getting my butt kicked all over the universe.
HOLO-ROMMIE: Then leave.

[Med deck]

HUNT: Luck, how did you get here?
LUCK: The Route of the Ages, from where the universe tears itself apart, through the darkness. Paroo told me. I'm so sorry.
HUNT: You've nothing to apologise for.
LUCK: You've got to save the Commonwealth. Promise.
HUNT: I don't know if I can.
LUCK; Promise.
HUNT: I promise.
(Luck dies.)

[Hunt's quarters]

PAROO [on screen]: The Commonwealth is history. My name is Paroo.
HUNT: Listen. What is that?
ANDROMEDA [on screen]: Falling apart. For lack of a better term, it is a ripping.
HUNT: Isolate it.
HOLO-ROMMIE: I have a minimal amount of information on Paroo. His uniform.
(She zooms in on his badge.)
HUNT: Ah. Well, they say that clothes make the man.
HOLO-ROMMIE: Specifically, the locket on his uniform. Apparently, he's a Collector.
HUNT: Ah. Okay. We've met one of these guys. But the insignia's different.
HOLO-ROMMIE: Correct. As you know, they were formed in secret to collect and preserve the knowledge of the old Commonwealth after the Fall, but now, according to many contemporary accounts, they use their knowledge for power.
HUNT: Well, knowledge is power. I want to know where he is. Let's start with the route of the courier ship.
HOLO-ROMMIE: His route is anomalous and inconsistent. The records are intact, but they lack any logic. He dropped out of nowhere.
HUNT: Careful not to get too technical, Andromeda. I might not be able to follow it.
HOLO-ROMMIE: The courier's ship seems to have been riding an unseen force in slipstream.
HUNT: Okay, now you lost me.
HOLO-ROMMIE: He started out at one point by entering slipstream, and allowing the gravity of that force to pull him along. There's no other way to account for his uncommon speed. Then at a certain point, he released from that force and became seen.
HUNT: Show me where he started from.
ANDROMEDA [on monitor]: He seems to have started at what can only be described as the All Forces Nullification point. In this spot, electromagnetic and EAK forces are nullified.
HUNT: Well, that's impossible. I mean, nothing could exist there. Any substance would pull apart.
ANDROMEDA [on monitor]: Regardless, that is where he started from.
HUNT: I'll need another verification of that, okay?
ANDROMEDA [on monitor]: Until then?
HUNT: Well, until then, we go back to the battleground and search for clues in the remains of the Commonwealth fleet.
ANDROMEDA [on screen]: Communications and system analysis of what happened.
HUNT: Exactly.
HOLO-ROMMIE: And look for survivors.
HUNT: There won't be any survivors. Damn it. It's about values. It's about what the Commonwealth means, and what it represents.
HOLO-ROMMIE: I'm sorry, Dylan. I'm not programmed for subjective values.
HUNT: I am. We have to go back.
HOLO-ROMMIE: Can you ask the crew to do this?
HUNT: A Captain doesn't ask.

[Command]

(The deck is deserted when Hunt enters and goes to the pilot's station.)
TRANCE: I'm frightened.
HUNT: Join the club. There's room for everybody.
TRANCE: It's time to act. Finally, decisively. Of the many paths ahead, whichever you choose is right.
HUNT: Well, we made a deal, Trance. You just tell me what you know and what you see. We'll be all right.
TRANCE: I'm with you all the way.
HUNT: Good.
HOLO-ROMMIE: I, of course, am in.
ROMMIE; I couldn't have said it better myself.
ANDROMEDA [on viewscreen]: Awaiting your command, Captain.
HARPER: Me too. You know, for a genius, I make some pretty wacky decisions sometimes, but, here's how I see this one. If I were to line up all my mistakes in a row, back to back, including the ones she made that I got blamed for, well, then, there wouldn't be very many. But even so, there would be one through line. If it weren't for you, I'd be dead many times over. So, lead the way, boss. You point, I'll follow.
HUNT: I'll tell you honestly, Mister Harper, I'm not sure what I'm going to do.
ROMMIE: Well, that could work to our advantage. Then again, maybe not. It's all instinct, isn't it?
BEKA: Count me in. I would miss all this. I swear I would. So, where to?
HUNT: We're going back to the site of our last battle. It seems like a fun place to start. We'll find something there, hopefully.
TRANCE: The fate of the universe is in your hands, Captain.
HUNT: Thank you for sugarcoating that, Trance. Beka, slipstream.
(Whoosh.)
ROMMIE: We have arrived at the location of the Nietzschean attack in the Triangulum galaxy.
HARPER: Scene of the crime.
ROMMIE; There are multiple debris trails of destroyed and abandoned ships of war.
BEKA: This place is like a minefield. What are we looking for, exactly?
HUNT: Commonwealth ships. Or what's left of them. I want communication files, recorded visuals from the battle.
ANDROMEDA [OC]: Gathering information from the wreckage.
ROMMIE: I doubt there will be much left of them.
BEKA: Or, as luck would have it, we'd find something like that.
HARPER: It's pretty banged up, but it looks like one of ours.
ROMMIE: It's hailing us.
CROSS [OC]: Andromeda. Andromeda, do you read me? Come in.
BEKA: Let's hope they're friends.
HUNT: Well, if they're not, we'll roast them with the AP cannon. On screen.
CROSS [on viewscreen]: Please, we beg you, hold your fire. We hail you, sir, as allies.
HUNT: Identify yourself.
CROSS [on viewscreen]: I am Rodrigo Cross. Cruiser commander out of Sinti, and loyalist to the Commonwealth.
ANDROMEDA [on viewscreen]: Verified. He is Commonwealth.
HUNT: Commander, why are you still here?
CROSS [on viewscreen]: Simple. We have nowhere to go. We were with the destroyed Commonwealth fleet. Destroyed by the Nietzscheans.
HUNT: Well, I believe the Nietzscheans were destroyed as well.
CROSS [on viewscreen]: Thank god.
HUNT: Tell me why you engaged.
CROSS [on viewscreen]: Orders from Paroo, Head of Commonwealth Security. The Nietzscheans engaged most assuredly and encouraged the chaos, but they did not start the fight. Nor did we.
BEKA: Who did? Who made the first move?
CROSS [on viewscreen]: We were not told.
ANDROMEDA [on viewscreen]: Dylan, I'm uncovering various communications to and from the Commonwealth ships. Many are from Paroo.
CROSS [on viewscreen]: Request permission to follow you, sir.
HUNT: You may not like where we're going.

[Hunt's quarters]

HUNT: All right, Andromeda, show me the Paroo files.
ANDROMEDA [on screen]: Running Paroo communiqués in chronological order. Images and communications during the battle. At that time, he was stationed on Terazed.
PAROO [on screen]: This is Paroo. You must proceed. I'm in charge. They'll be fine. I will protect them. You have your orders. The Commonwealth is at stake. The Andromeda is covering our flank. That is classified. I'm in charge. We're having some problems here. Everyone, engage. Engage! The Andromeda is firing on the Commonwealth fleet. Don't you dare to fall back. We fight to the finish. Oh, my god. I'm so sorry. Where is everyone? We've been abandoned by the Andromeda and by Dylan Hunt. The Commonwealth is falling apart. (laughs)
HOLO-ROMMIE: Dylan, more ships have arrived. Loyal Commonwealth members. Than, Enkindu, Castalian, and a small Perseid craft.
HUNT: Oh, good. I hope they have more of these Paroo files. They're wonderful.

[Command]

HUNT: All right, Beka, take us out of here.
ROMMIE: Dylan, here's something interesting.
(A slipfighter amongst the debris.)
HUNT: Tyr.
ROMMIE: It's Tyr's slipfighter.
ANDROMEDA [on viewscreen]: It is empty. There is no sign of life.
HARPER: What a surprise, huh? Tyr abandoned yet another ship. So where the hell could he have gone?
HUNT: It doesn't matter. We did more than we needed to save him.
ROMMIE: He'll survive.
HARPER: Yeah, I prefer to assume the worst.
BEKA: Tyr's made it through some pretty tough scrapes before.
HARPER: Like I said, the worst. With our luck, he probably made it through this one, too.
HOLO-ROMMIE: Dylan, you wanted further confirmation of Paroo's location. Observe the object behind him.
(It looks like a metal vessel on a rock, with something vapourous rising from it.)
PAROO [on viewscreen]: I knew who was mad at whom. I was in charge. I lit the tinderbox and watched the bonfire.
HUNT: You've got a bad transfer.
HOLO-ROMMIE: No, I don't. Keep watching.
PAROO [on viewscreen}: The Commonwealth is an irreparable, unreliable
(The metal vessel disintegrates.)
HOLO-ROMMIE: His world is falling apart.
HUNT: Paroo is at the All Forces Nullification Point.
ROMMIE: Yes, it exists, and that's where the courier pilot started from.
BEKA: I thought that was just a legend.
HARPER: Legend? Try nightmare. It's the hole of hell. It's the fjord of fruitlessness. It's the nadir of nothingness. No one comes back from there. If it exists, of course.
HUNT: It exists, and we have to find it.
BEKA: And if we find it, we die.
HARPER: Oh gee, that's simple enough, in an uncomplicated, apocalyptic sort of way.
HUNT: Look, Paroo is there. Tri-Jema is there.
ROMMIE; Paroo wants us to try and rescue her.
HUNT: He wants us to die trying. He hopes that once we're there, wherever there is, it will destroy us.
ROMMIE: That's rather an obvious trap.
BEKA: He can't think we'll fall for it.
HUNT: It's not a question of falling for anything. We're dealing with someone who doesn't care if he loses as long as we lose, too.
BEKA: I take it we're going.
HUNT: We're going to go. Plot a course to where that courier pilot disappeared into slipstream. We're going to the Nullification Point.
(Later -)
ROMMIE; This is where the courier pilot entered slipstream.
HARPER: The absolute middle of nowhere.
ANDROMEDA [OC]: Searching.
HARPER: Boss, maybe we should er
TRANCE: There it is. There.
HUNT: Magnify. Rommie.
(A planet.)
ROMMIE: My sensors indicate it is indeed sitting in the middle of the All Forces Nullification Point, and it is rapidly falling apart.
BEKA: How can it sit in the middle of all of that?
TRANCE: There's a force holding it there for now.
ROMMIE: Our friends are still following us.
HUNT: Tell them to fall back and wait for my orders.

[Corridor]

ROMMIE: Dylan, according to myth the Nullification Point is at best conditional, highly unpredictable and always fatal. You have a limited amount of time on the planet. There are small pockets of refuge where Paroo and Tri-Jema might be.
HUNT: I want you two to get this ship ready to roll. When I get back, we're going to be leaving in a hurry.
HARPER: Yeah, assuming you make it back.
HUNT: Mister Harper, it is pasta night. I wouldn't miss it for the world. Excuse me?
(Harper and Rommie split up. Hunt walks on and meets -)
HUNT: And where do you think you're going?
BEKA: With you.
HUNT: Ah ha. And I don't suppose it's worth discussing your staying here, is it?
BEKA: Mmm, no. Like I said, I'd miss this. Let's go.

[Planet surface]

(They go down in a single slipfighter to a horizontal snow storm.)
BEKA: Interesting weather we're having.
HUNT: Oh yeah, it's a lot of fun. This way. Beka, wait!
(A small geyser erupts in front of her.)
BEKA: Talk about not being able to hold it together.
HUNT: This way.

[Cave]

HUNT: Rommie? Rommie, do you copy?
ROMMIE [OC]: My sensors are no longer working.
HUNT: Trance?
TRANCE [OC]: You're heading in the right direction.
HUNT: At least that's good news. Whoo. The storm before the calm, huh?
(A slew of rocks fly upwards, and there is Paroo.)
PAROO: Marvellous, don't you think? A self-cleaning planet. You just have to be careful about where you step.
(He glides over to them.)
PAROO: And here you are, the latest inductee into the plane of sorrow, disillusionment, and confusion. My own personal Triumvirate. Thankfully, I do need some new friends. Captain, if you don't run, you're dead. You know that, don't you? I know when they're going to blow, just like I knew that you'd come here. Just like I knew you'd bring these idiots, these, these defeated pariahs, sycophants, dwarves! My mission is to do as much damage as I can before I go.
HUNT: Well, whatever you're planning on doing, I recommend that you try to do it now.
PAROO: No, no, no, no, no, no, no. I don't want you to leave right away. And no, I don't want to do this. You have to go now. Please, just go.
HUNT: Look, Paroo, I don't know whether you're acting or insane, I really don't care, but focus or die.
PAROO: No. But I can tell you we are all going.
BEKA: Going?
PAROO: Going to die.
BEKA: Where's the Triumvir?
PAROO: Listen. You have to get to Tri-Jema, don't you see? Hey, let's trade secrets. I've only got one and I've forgotten what it is. We're all going to die. Look, I'm sorry. I've been under a lot of strain. And I admit, I've made a mistake. You're much smarter than I am. It's just that you're up against the force of all evil. I mean, whether you're a saint or sinner, you're going to end up dead. I betrayed the Commonwealth. So did you. That can't be my fault. Look! Look!
BEKA: I think he's almost gone.
HUNT: Oh, I think he left a long time ago.
BEKA: We should split up. I'll look for the Triumvir. You take care of Mister Cuckoo there.
HUNT: Thank you. Oh, Beka?
BEKA: Yeah?
HUNT: You keep in touch?
BEKA: Don't I always?
(Beka leaves.)
PAROO: I was happy. That was the deal I made. But power corrupts. I had to give in. Everybody does in the end. I was tortured by the Abyss. For you, Dylan Hunt, I am the preview of coming attractions.
HUNT: Paroo, you have to find yourself. Help yourself before it's too late.
PAROO: Correct. Let me save you from an embarrassing negotiation. Take some time to make amends to whatever god it is you make amends to before you die.
HUNT: All right, fine. Tell me where the Triumvir is.
PAROO: Well she's around here somewhere, but I appear to have misplaced her.
(They trade punches.)
HUNT: Tell me where she is.
PAROO: Twenty degrees north latitude, eighty four degrees east longitude, using this position as prime meridian.
BEKA: Dead ends everywhere.
HUNT: I think I know where to find her. It's your turn to babysit. If he moves, just shoot him.
(Hunt leaves.)
PAROO: Would you have made the deal that I did? I made a Faustian bargain with the forces of darkness. I set off this mess, this disorder, this disarray. Really quite simple. We Collectors know everything, and we've protected this knowledge, this power. I was in charge of Commonwealth security. Do you know how easy it is to set groups against other groups? It took quite a long time, but I think it turned out gloriously, didn't it? Didn't it? Didn't it?
BEKA: Let me ask you a question. Shut up.
PAROO: I've slaughtered everyone who came here, and then I murdered my own team just to make it look as if Dylan Hunt was trying to destroy what was left of the Commonwealth. Anything courageous must go. It's a fire sale. It's our plan.

[Tunnel]

HUNT: Tri-Jema! Andromeda, give me a reading.
ANDROMEDA [OC]: You appear to be nearing Paroo's mark.
(A woman steps into his path, forcelance at the ready.)
HUNT: Tri-Jema.
TRI-JEMA: Captain Hunt.
HUNT: Triumvir. Tri-Jema, you
TRI-JEMA: We are a long way from Terazed, are we not? Move away. I know how to use this and I will.
HUNT: What are you doing? I'm here to help you.
TRI-JEMA: Spoken like the old Captain Hunt. I'm truly disappointed. I thought you would be the last to betray the Commonwealth.

[Cave]

PAROO: You hear that pounding, don't you. I share a wall, a skin, with the Spirit of the Abyss. Don't you see? This is how the universe ends. There's nothing I can do about it. I've tried. Like you're not whistling in the dark. The pumping of the heart. You have a heart, don't you?
BEKA: Do you?
PAROO: I'll have your heart. Everything's coming home to roost.
BEKA: Wait a minute, buddy.
(Paroo flies over and knocks Beka out.)

[Tunnel]

HUNT: Tri-Jema, we have to get off this planet. It's falling apart.
TRI-JEMA: Why should I go with you? The last time we heard of you, captain Hunt, you were destroying the Commonwealth fleet.
HUNT: You can't possibly believe that.
TRI-JEMA: It's a matter of fact. Trust is gone. The Commonwealth may be as well.
HUNT: Look, we don't have time for this discussion. We have to go now.
TRI-JEMA: Captain Hunt, I am protected here.
HUNT: You trust Paroo? Have you spoken to the guy lately?
PAROO: I do hope I'm not too late. It's the curse of being a Judas, tardiness.
TRI-JEMA: Captain Hunt, put down your forcelance.
PAROO: It's a tough world, Captain. You either run or you die. I hope you haven't been listening to him, Tri-Jema. You can see what he's trying to do. He wants you to leave and you should stay. It's safe here.
HUNT: You are not safe here, believe me.
TRI-JEMA: Yes, I am.
HUNT: Well then, here we go. The classical confrontation, good versus evil. But the question is, who's on the side of good and who's on the side of evil?
TRI-JEMA: What is your point?
HUNT: He's lying. I'm not.
(And he shoots Paroo, who absorbs most of the energy.)
PAROO: We cannot grow old. We cannot die.
(Hunt fires again.)
PAROO: Dylan Hunt, you have no power.
HUNT: You are in no position to say that.
(Hunt shoots for the last time. Paroo dissolves into black goo with an energy pulse at the centre.)
HUNT: Tri-Jema, meet the Abyss.
BEKA: Looks like I missed the good stuff.
HUNT: I think the good stuff is just beginning.
TRI-JEMA: Every politician, of which I am one, would be confused by these events, and yet without calling on counsel or advisors let me state, thank you. Now, get us the hell out of here.
HUNT: I'm for that.

[Command]

ROMMIE: Awaiting your command.
HUNT: Don't move.
BEKA: We'll never make it to slipstream.
HUNT: Yes, we will. We're at the same point the courier pilot was when he entered slipstream. Beka, form a slipstream portal around us now.
BEKA: Form a slipstream portal? I don't see any slipstream portal.
HARPER: Because we're parked right on top of it. Entering slipstream without even moving. And I thought I was the genius.
ROMMIE: Dylan, the planet is exploding. The Nullification Point is closing fast.
HUNT: Tell the rest of the fleet to follow us in.
ANDROMEDA [on viewscreen]: All ships are in. The Nullification Point is directly behind us.
HUNT: Right, we have to exit slipstream at the exact same place that the courier pilot did. Trance, it's time to make a wish and try your luck.
HARPER: You know, there's a theory that the universe is forever folding back and over on itself, like a cross between a mobius curve and a wave. If you could catch that wave, it'd be quite a ride.
HUNT: It is going to be quite a ride, Mister Harper.
TRANCE: Dylan, I think I can show you that place.
HARPER: Hyper slipstream. Ride the fold, like surfing.
HUNT: That's exactly what we're going to do. Andromeda, give me everything you've got.
ROMMIE: Slipstream decision points passing five times normal. Seven times. Twelve.
HUNT: How are the other ships doing?
ROMMIE: Riding in our wake. Decision points passing eighteen times normal. Twenty. Twenty five.
BEKA: You want me to hold on to this?
HUNT: Wait for it. Surf's up.
ROMMIE: We're nearing where the pilot left slipstream.
BEKA: Where exactly? Come on, Trance.
TRANCE: Not yet.
HARPER: That tube is breaking bigger than a tow-in day at Maverickson Atoll. Where's my stick when I need it?
TRANCE: We're close. Almost there.
HUNT: Secure your positions. Hold on tight.
HARPER: Bury the needle, Beka.
BEKA: I'm still trying to thread it.
TRANCE: There.
HUNT: Beka, now!
(Everything spins. Voices are distorted. It goes dark. A light is behind them. It's the Abyss. Then it disappears and they come out of slipstream.)
HUNT: Moving on. Report.
ANDROMEDA [OC]: All systems are go and functioning.
BEKA: Wow. It's a, er, friendly universe.
HUNT: I would say it's more than friendly. It's alive.
(Later - )
ROMMIE; We are now approaching Terazed.
HUNT: Take us in.

[Congress]

TRI-JEMA: Terazed has nearly repopulated. The two Triumvirs have been found. The Commonwealth has survived.
HUNT: I think our troubles are just beginning.
TRI-JEMA: We are fortunate to have you as our hero. A grateful Congress wishes to hear from you.
(They enter the chamber to cheers and applause.)
HUNT: Tell me what they expect to hear.
TRI-JEMA: Just tell them I'm with you. With you and your destiny.