Dylan stands between Rhade and Harper, firing a pistol of strange design at some glass bottles.

Harper: What did I tell you guys?

Rhade: A usable weapon. Better than most of what this system has to offer.

Dylan fires again, breaking bottle after bottle. He smiles.

Dylan: Well, very accurate and very fast.

Harper: Yeah, that's because it doesn't rely on expanding gas propulsion, which is like trying to control an explosion.

Rhade: Where did you get it?

Harper: Got it from a guy who got it from a guy who got it from another on one of the outer planets. Clever, huh?

Rhade: I'll stick with what I have.

Harper: All right, I know it's not pretty, Rhade, it doesn't go with your pants, but it's not the weapon I'm after here, it's the crystal. Come on, guys, let's face it. If we're ever going to get out of here, we need two things: money and power.

Dylan: (pointing to a crystal attached to the gun, and pointing the gun toward Harper) I take it this crystal provides the power.

Harper: (pushing the gun away so it points at Rhade, who pushes it down to point at the ground) Yeah, that's the gold mine right there. Now you just witnessed a demonstration of how much energy a tiny fraction of that crystal can hold. Now, extrapolate it to a macroscopic scale. (looking at Rhade) Think...bigger...

Dylan: Andromeda.

Rhade: So you can convert the ship to operate on this power source.

Dylan: Let's do it.

Harper: Great! Now, just one catch. The crystal comes from a mine on Seefra-8, place called Cutter's Grove. Owner's a guy named Cutter. Miners are in hock to him so deep they never get out, and he doesn't like visitors. However, I hear he's always looking for muscle-heads to help keep his workers in line.

Dylan looks at Rhade, who growls and looks away. Dylan shoots another bottle.

On Seefra-8, Dylan walks down a street between shabby huts. All the people he passes seem to have burns on their faces. Finally he stops and turns to a nearby man.

Dylan: Excuse me, I seem to have gotten lost. I was wondering if you could...

The man attacks Dylan, pushing him away.

Dylan: Okay, don't ask for directions in this town.

The man swings a shovel at Dylan. Dylan dodges out of the way. The man continues to come after him, swinging the shovel menacingly.

Dylan: What the hell is the matter with you?

A crowd of people gathers to watch the fight. A man approaches from behind Dylan, followed by two armed men.

Dylan: You know, this isn't necessary.

Dylan backs away, dodging the shovel.

Dylan: Okay, now you're pissing me off!

The man raises the shovel high over his head to strike the death blow. The man behind Dylan draws a gun just like the one Dylan was shooting and kills the man holding the shovel. Dylan turns to see who saved him.

Dylan: I, uh, have no idea what that was about.

Man: That's the Sirog, they don't need a reason.

Dylan: Well, thank you.

Man: Welcome to Cutter's Grove. I'm Cutter. (aiming his pistol at Dylan) Now get out.

Dylan: I can see why you don't get a lot of visitors.

Cutter: We're not looking for visitors.

Dylan: Fine, I'm just here on business. The name's Dylan Hunt.

Dylan extends his hand for a handshake. Cutter lowers the gun but doesn't shake Dylan's hand.

Cutter: Dylan Hunt, you don't say. I recently heard about you.

Dylan: Was it good or bad?

Cutter: If you have business here, it's with me.

Dylan is distracted by a hooded guard urging some workers to move down the street. The guard shouts at the workers and cracks a bullwhip.

Guard: Keep in line! Move! Eyes down. Eyes down!

The workers pass between Dylan and Cutter. Cutter watches to see Dylan's reaction. As the guard passes, he bumps into Dylan and turns to look at him. It is Rhade. Rhade turns and cracks the whip behind the workers again as they continue down the street.

Rhade: Keep in line!

Dylan: It doesn't seem like your work force is willing to work.

Cutter: Dylan Hunt, I hear, is always concerned for other people's well-being. That is a weakness.

Dylan: They'd be more effective if you treated them well.

Cutter: I count on them to dig. They count on me for food and a decent place to live. In return I look after their families. It's a perfect social contract.

Dylan: Yeah, sounds perfect.

Cutter: The mines are toxic. But not for the Sirog. They're born out there. Toxins in the quartz don't affect them.

Dylan: Don't effect them, huh? How...fortunate for you. Anyway, like I said, I'm here on business, for, uh, (pointing at Cutter's pistol) what you've got right there.

In the bar, Harper works on a device as Doyle looks on. He connects a cable and it emits a shower of sparks.

Harper: The moonshine's connected to the...pressure shunt.

He jumps down from the device he's working on and walks over to a table, retrieving a hose from Doyle as he walks past.

Harper: The pressure shunt is connected to the synic lead.

He connects the hose to a device on the table, which lights up.

Harper: The synic lead's connected to the quartz frame.

He pulls his tinted goggles down over his eyes and inspects the lighted crystal closely, coming up with an expression of satisfaction. He raises the goggles and turns to a smiling Doyle.

Harper: Ha! Ladies and gentlemen! Okay, maybe that's an overstatement. Honored guest, may I present a work of subtlety, beauty, and grace...

Doyle: (thinking Harper is referring to her) Thank you!

Harper: ...the still!

Doyle: Oh...

Harper: Never before has an acuity of genius been given to someone so capable of delivering. Starting from nothing, transforming it into an ever-changing, once in a lifetime experience.

Doyle: Better top the buildup.

Harper: Moonshine, like old Pappy Harper used to make. The old-fashioned kind, but better. The machine shrewdly extracts an adaptable brew that aligns itself to any palate via sub-molecular taste bud readers. It's a chameleon of flavor, irresistable to anyone that tries it.

Harper walks back to the machine, lowers his goggles, and inspects the lighted crystal again.

Doyle: So the prices are headed up.

Harper: Way up! With no end in sight.

Harper pushes his goggles back up, gives a "watch this" gesture to Doyle, and tries to activate the machine. Nothing happens. Doyle laughs.

Doyle: And obviously no beginning.

Harper tries again to start the machine but is unable. Doyle laughs even more.

Harper: Ha ha ha, laugh it up. Too bad for you I made it so you can't drink. Otherwise you'd be the first to see what I'm talking about.

Harper disconnects the hose and blows into the end of it. Then he connects the hose into the quick disconnect fitting on the end of the machine, lowers his goggles, and sits down next to the machine.

Harper: All right, watch, and be humbled.

He tries to start the machine and again it fails to start. Doyle is laughing even harder now. He makes an adjustment and tries again. Sparks fly out the end of the machine.

Doyle: Ooh!

Harper puts his arms and head down in a gesture of defeat. Suddenly the machine explodes, covering Harper with soot from head to waist. Doyle, concerned, jumps down from where she was sitting and runs to him.

Doyle: Harper! Harper, are you okay?

Harper smiles, revealing white teeth in a completely blackened face.

Harper: Yeah, yeah, I'm okay.

He raises his goggles, revealing two clean patches of skin around his eyes. He winces in pain and looks down at his left arm.

Harper: Ow!

He pulls a piece of broken crystal out of his soot-covered arm.

Doyle: Is it getting infected already?

Harper: Nah, it's fine. Here...

He grabs an open liquor bottle from the table and pours some of the contents over the wound.

Harper: This will kill anything.

He drinks some of the liquor from the bottle.

Cutter is looking through a box of equipment while talking to Dylan. He pulls out a gun and puts it on top of the box next to Dylan.

Cutter: You see, most people in this backwater system are afraid of progress, but this little baby right here is the wave of the future. That's the equalizer.

Dylan picks up the gun and looks at it.

Dylan: Yeah. I take it they're selling pretty well?

Cutter: It sells itself. So once your neighbor has one, you've got to have one. How many do you need?

Dylan puts the gun back onto the box.

Dylan: I'm not here for the weapons. I want the quartz.

Cutter: Okay, well that's not for sale. I don't need competition, especially from you.

Dylan: I'm not interested in competing with you. I need it to fix my ship.

Cutter: Well I told you it's not for sale, but you can earn it.

Dylan: I'm listening.

Cutter: I want to build this town into something more than a mining camp.

Dylan: Yeah.

Cutter: Law and order. Peacekeeping. Bringing a civilization to this wild frontier, that's a reality, right?

Dylan: You want me to keep the Sirog in line.

Cutter: That's the deal....

Cutter puts the gun back into the box.

Cutter: ...or no deal.

Later, the Sirog bring boxes full of mined quartz to an assembly point and are given goods in return by one of Cutter's workers. One Sirog, who Dylan had noticed earlier, walks away carrying some items in a sack and looking at one item in his hand. Dylan follows him down the street and speaks to him.

Dylan: That's a nice necklace.

The Sirog turns toward Dylan and waves him away, violently.

Dylan: Hey hey, relax. I'm not trying to take your necklace, I just wanted to make a little conversation.

The man walks away, then stops and looks back at Dylan. Dylan looks around, then follows the man.

On board Andromeda, Doyle walks down a corridor. When she gestures, the corridor lights and systems come on. On the bridge, Trance talks to Andromeda's AI, whose display is flickering on the viewscreen.

Trance: Dylan sent her?

Andromeda: That is correct.

Trance: Just because she hasn't been here before, I don't understand why you feel weird about it.

Andromeda: I cannot say I do either. But I do sense an urgency. She's docked and headed to command.

Trance: On screen.

An adjacent viewscreen lights up, showing Doyle walking down the corridor. Andromeda's AI looks toward the second viewscreen as if watching it. Doyle is still energizing systems and lights as she progresses down the corridor.

Trance: Oh boy, there's trouble.

Andromeda: Yes.

Trance: I see what you mean.

Andromeda: It's not entirely inappropriate. There's something moving in me which defies explanation. I've never...

The AI looks to one side, then down, then back at Trance.

Andromeda: Analysis incomplete.

The AI vanishes from the viewscreen and the bridge systems and lighting shut down.

Dylan follows the Sirog man as he walks into a forest. When the man turns around and looks back, Dylan steps behind a tree. Stepping back out after a few seconds, he starts to follow the man when he hears a twig snap behind him. He steps behind the tree on the other side and waits. Rhade appears where Dylan was standing before. Dylan whirls around and draws his force lance as Rhade draws his gun. They stand there pointing weapons at each other and both break into huge smiles.

Dylan: You're losing your touch. I heard you.

They both holster their weapons.

Rhade: I'll have to keep that in mind. How did negotiations with Cutter go?

Dylan: Ah, it's kind of what we expected. Won't sell me quartz but hey, he offered me a job.

Rhade: I assume you accepted.

Dylan: Only way to get in. What did you find out?

Rhade: Well Cutter's guards are loyal and very nasty. He pays them well. And they love keeping Sirog in submission. We don't talk and don't think.

Dylan: Rhade, there's something more to them.

Rhade: Oh, here comes the crusade.

Dylan: We can't just turn a blind eye.

Rhade: YOU can't. I can. I'm here for one thing - the crystal we need to power up Andromeda. If the Sirog miners can't help us out, then we do it ourselves and forget about them.

Dylan: I can't do that, now that I've seen the Sirog. They deserve a better life.

Several of Cutter's guards approach.

Dylan: (whispering) We need a new plan.

Rhade: (whispering) Listen, Dylan, be careful. (loudly, for the guards to hear) Don't leave town without permission. That's an order.

Rhade leaves with the guards. Dylan leaves after a final glance back at the forest.

On Andromeda, Doyle enters the bridge and the lights and systems come back on.

Doyle: Trance. Dylan thought I should work on helping you decipher the Methus diagram.

Doyle steps up to a console adjacent to where Trance is standing and taps a few keys on it. Suddenly the bridge lights and systems shut down. Trance smiles an uneasy smile. Doyle raises her arms and everything comes back on, then shuts right back down again. Suddenly Andromeda's holographic presence appears beside Doyle.

Andromeda: Welcome to the Andromeda Ascendant. I am...

Doyle: ...a holographic Artificial Intelligence.

Andromeda: Not so artificial that I fail to recognize the tone of your voice.

Doyle: What tone? All I said was "holographic Artificial Intelligence."

Andromeda: Tone, meaning attitude. The underlying emotion of sarcasm.

Trance: There's, um, work that needs to be done here, guys.

Andromeda: I control all functions on this starship. You may access me at points which I determine and mediate.

Doyle: On the other hand, I have a body and am free to walk around.

Andromeda: Then you are also free to leave and not come back.

Doyle looks at the hologram, assessing it. The hologram looks right back at her.

Trance: Okay, I'm going to the SEC. You can call me when you're friends, okay? Okay.

Trance leaves the bridge.

Doyle: (smiling) I'm Doyle.

The bridge systems and lighting come back on.

Andromeda: And I...am the Andromeda Ascendant.

The power goes back off. An external view of Andromeda shows the ships lights starting to cycle on and off.

Doyle: We must work this out.

Andromeda: At some point, yes.

Back in Cutter's Grove, Dylan walks down the street, stopping next to the man he had followed into the forest.

Dylan: How you doing? Remember me?

The man does not respond.

Dylan: My name's Dylan.

The man looks up at Dylan but still doesn't respond.

Dylan: Look, I want to help you. Understand? You don't have to be Cutter's slaves. I can get all of your people out of here. What's your name?

Man: (in a low pitched, raspy voice) Zeron.

Dylan: Zeron. See? I knew you could talk.

Cutter, Rhade, and two guards come around the corner and approach Dylan's location. Cutter is shouting at the crowd.

Cutter: Some of you didn't bring in your quota. Two will go back to work until the crates are filled.

Cutter indicates two of the Sirog miners to the guards. Several Sirog have clustered around, watching the events unfold.

Cutter: That one, and that one.

The guards grab the two indicated Sirog. Suddenly Zeron jumps up and, roaring, leaps onto the back of one of the guards. He knocks the guard down and strikes him a few times. Rhade grabs him by the collar and strikes him in the face, driving him back. Cutter pulls his gun. As Zeron begins to charge again, Cutter shoots and kills him. Suddenly the other Sirog who are watching start to attack the guards. Rhade and the guards beat them back. A woman jumps on Rhade's back.

Cutter: (to his guards) Shoot them!

Rhade pulls his gun and aims it at a nearby Sirog. Dylan pulls his force lance and shoots the gun out of the hands of one of the guards.

Dylan: Not a good idea.

Cutter: You work for me, and I decide who lives and who dies.

Dylan: Not today.

Cutter: It's your choice, Dylan Hunt. The Sirog or you.

Rhade aims his pistol at Dylan.

Cutter: Well, what will it be? Their lives or yours?

Dylan: (deactivating his force lance) Mine. Let them go.

Cutter: I'm a man of my word. (to the crowd) GO!

The crowd quickly disperses. Cutter turns to one of his guards.

Cutter: Get his weapons.

The guard approaches Dylan. Dylan draws his other force lance and a small beep tone is heard. He glances at Rhade, who gives him a small smile. He hands both force lances to the guard. Instantly both lances begin to spark and send electric shocks through the guard, who collapses to the ground in pain. He drops the lances and walks back to Cutter, nursing his burned hands. Another guard steps forward and picks up the force lances. They shock him too, and he collapses to the ground writhing in agony.

Dylan: They're a little bit...touchy.

Rhade bends over and picks up a piece of cloth.

Rhade: Idiots.

Rhade picks up the force lances using the cloth as a glove.

Cutter: Put him in lockup.

Rhade: (to Dylan) Pretty good, huh?

Dylan: (to Rhade) I wouldn't go into acting if I were you.

Rhade: What?

Rhade opens a metal hatch cover in the street, revealing a hole. Three spiderlike creatures retreat back down into the hole. Dylan looks at the hole, then looks at Rhade.

Dylan: You've got to be kidding me.

Rhade: That's all there is. Sorry.

Dylan climbs down into the hole and sits down. Rhade closes the hatch cover.

Rhade: ...except for the one with the window, heh heh.

Smiling, Rhade walks away.

Later, Cutter and Rhade are walking down the street.

Cutter: I could replicate these.

Rhade: Like the man said, look - don't touch.

Cutter: It's odd, here I am trying to tame a wilderness, improve lives. I thought Dylan Hunt was the same.

Rhade: Not everyone understands that to build a strong society the weakest have to be eliminated.

Cutter: I want Dylan Hunt dead.

Rhade: One problem. His friends. They'll want to know what happened to him.

Cutter: I've had enemies before.

Rhade: Well, from what I've seen, I wouldn't recommend going up against his friends with combustion weapons.

Cutter: You have a better idea?

Rhade: If Dylan would take one chance too many, odds might catch up with him. I don't think anyone would be surprised.

Cutter: You're suggesting...an accident.

Rhade: I'm suggesting be patient.

As one of Cutter's guards walks by the hatch cover, it opens. Dylan grabs him, knocks him unconscious, throws him down into the hole, and shuts the hatch cover. He walks away down the street.

Dylan: Now I know why they call it a manhole.

Later, one of Cutter's guards emerges from a door.

Guard: Hunt escaped. He's gone.

Cutter: Assemble a team. Make sure he doesn't beat the odds.

In the bar, Harper is still working on his device. It emits sparks and smoke, and he jerks his hand back. He is wearing protective gloves, an apron, googles, and a helmet. He tries again and more sparks are generated. He scratches his arm through his sleeve, then rips off the glove and pulls up his sleeve. There is an angry red mark on his skin. Beka walks up behind him.

Beka: Harper!

Harper jumps up, knocking over his stool. He quickly pulls down his sleeve and hides his arm behind his back.

Beka: What are you, uh, hiding there?

Harper: Nothing. What are you doing here?

Beka: What do you mean, what am I doing here? We had a date. You were supposed to do something about the uneven flux resistance on the Maru, preferably before I go careening into one of these damn suns.

Harper: (removing his helmet) Right. You still owe me for a silicon realign job.

Beka: Yes. And you will get your money as soon as I get paid for the Jabox job. Come on, it's the Maru, do it for sentimental reasons.

Harper just looks at her.

Beka: Do it for twenty percent interest.

Harper: Okay! Now you're talking my language. But...my still, Model Two, comes first. As soon as Dylan returns with what I need, I'm back on the case. I am going to be beating them away.

Beka: Right. But until then, you owe me a flux job.

She grabs him by the left arm to pull him toward the Maru. He jerks his arm away and they begin to walk down the corridor.

Harper: Ah, ooh, ooh, sensitive skin.

Beka: So, uh, what's with the helmet?

Harper: Long story.

On Seefra-8, Dylan enters the forest where he had followed Zeron before. As he walks deeper into the forest, he is walking beside what appears to be a river made of fog. Soon he is walking in the fog up to the level of his calves. He begins to cough and stagger. The farther he goes, the worse he coughs. His vision begins to blur. He goes to his knees, then crawls for a few paces, then collapses, unconscious, his face in the fog.

Dylan awakens to find himself lying on the forest floor, a woman applying an oil to his neck. Instinctively, he reaches out and grabs her by the throat.

Woman: Wait. You need rest.

Dylan tries to speak but his voice is hoarse.

Dylan: Sorry. Who are you?

Woman: I am Tolek. This (indicating a boy standing nearby) is Lon. We found you in the caves.

She places a hand on his abdomen.

Tolek: There is a force...in you...to be trusted, protected.

She rubs more oil on his throat.

Tolek: Breathe deeply. It will heal the damage inside. This oil counters the poison from the quartz. You're lucky you only breathed it. It would have killed you, but slowly.

Lon: Tolek's medicine saved you.

Dylan: I hope I can return the favor.

A hooded figure moves toward them. Dylan sits up, alarmed, and Lon acts startled. The figure removes its hood. It is Rhade.

Rhade: Thought you might be in need of some assistance. Should have known you'd make other arrangements.

Dylan: It's all right, Rhade. (to the other two) Rhade is a friend. This is Lon, and Tolek. They saved my life.

Rhade tosses a parcel to Dylan.

Rhade: A gift.

Dylan opens the parcel. It is his force lances.

Lon: What's that?

Dylan: That's, um, an equalizer.

Suddenly they are fired upon. Voices begin shouting in the forest indicating that someone is searching for them. Dylan jumps up.

Dylan: Down. You stay here.

Dylan and Rhade move to another part of the forest and begin a firefight with two of Cutter's guards. Finally they kill both of the guards. As Dylan returns to Lon and Tolek's location, he is confronted by one more guard. He raises his force lance, but suddenly there is the sound of an impact. As Dylan looks at his force lance, the guard grabs his throat, chokes, and collapses. Dylan turns to see Lon holding a blowgun to his lips.

Dylan: That's a nice shot.

Tolek: Instant death. Contains a special poison. Well done, Lon.

Dylan: So much for superior technology.

Tolek: This way.

Lon and Tolek lead Dylan and Rhade deeper into the forest.

On board the Maru, Harper starts to walk down a small stairwell, stops, climbs back up, looks around, confused, then walks to a control panel.

Harper: Okay, what are the readings on the, uh, the up and down thing?

Beka: The...vertical?

Harper: Right.

Beka: Uh, spiking at plus or minus five.

He walks back to Beka.

Harper: Okay, so, uh, magnetic interference... We need more magnetic interference!

Beka: We have plenty of interference, Harper. That's kind of the problem.

Harper: Right. Of course. Umm... Insulation? We need insulation.

Beka: Did you sleep enough?

Harper: Yeah! Yeah. Why?

Beka: I don't know, you're just not your usual quick and quippy self.

Harper: Aw, I'm just trying to concentrate, you know?

He walks partway down the stairs and then turns and goes back to the same control panel.

Harper: Oh! What are the readings on the vertical?

Beka: They're spiking! At plus or minus five, I said. Forget this. I'm going to go get a roll of insulation.

Harper: Yeah, yeah, good idea. Take your time.

When Beka leaves, Harper starts scratching his arm again.

Harper: Oh, finally!

He removes his long sleeved shirt and discovers that his left arm is completely covered with what looks like burns. When he turns to go back to the control panel, it can be seen that the lesions cover the entire left side of his back.

Back on Seefra-8, Dylan, Lon, Rhade, and Tolek sit around a campfire, talking.

Rhade: You're Sirog, all of you here.

Lon: Yes.

Rhade: But you have no skin lesions that I can see.

Dylan: So what happened to the others is from mining the quartz.

Tolek: Those who work in the mines go through drastic changes. First the skin, finally the mind. The madness takes each in turn.

Rhade: Sounds like radiation poisoning.

Dylan: Sounds like it's time to rethink working the mines.

Tolek: Food is scarce, Dylan.

Lon: Those who go to the mines are our strongest, our bravest.

Rhade: Have any come back?

There is silence from Lon and Tolek.

Tolek: The miners die, the children live.

Dylan: Not any more. As of today, everyone lives.

Doyle and Trance walk through the corridors of Andromeda.

Trance: It seems to be, I guess I would say, unavoidable.

Doyle: I'm sure Andromeda and I will work it out.

Trance: And what about me?

Doyle: How do you mean?

Trance: Well, Dylan didn't really send you to help me figure out the Methus diagram. I don't have a clue what it means, and he knows that. I used to know. I used to know just about everything, apparently, but I didn't say much about it, and I don't know why.

Doyle: So why did he send me?

Trance: I think it was to see how Andromeda would react, which goes back to what we were saying before.

Doyle: Right, so the only unavoidable conclusion to draw is since I'm built from Rommie, that I am Rommie...but not. And what about you?

Trance: Well I don't know. Dylan says he thinks that I'm the problem, but how am I the problem?

Doyle: I don't know. And that...is a problem.

Trance: Yes, we're going to have to think about that one.

Doyle: Or maybe it will all just come clear, like it does sometimes.

Trance: Now that sounds like me. But...you're Rommie.

Doyle: Right. But...not.

They both laugh.

Dylan walks through the forest with Tolek.

Dylan: Tolek, I know that this sacrifice is part of your culture, but change is also part of life.

Rhade walks up and speaks to Dylan.

Rhade: Sorry to interrupt.

Dylan: Excuse us.

Dylan and Rhade walk away a short distance to have a private conversation.

Rhade: Been trying to contact Beka, but the atmosphere here is too charged. Communications is limited to the surface and low orbit.

Dylan: Well we need the Maru, so do what you can. I'm going to try to convince the Sirog that it's time to leave this planet.

Rhade: Actually I do have an idea.

Cutter and one of his guards walk down a set of interior building stairs.

Cutter: Make sure all the crystal is loaded onto the stream fan. I'll take it out to the factory myself, first light.

Cutter turns right into a different part of the building. The guard turns left and walks up a set of stairs to another room. A hooded Rhade emerges from hiding and follows the guard.

Dylan again walks through the forest with Tolek.

Tolek: It's going to be hard to convince the entire village to leave. This life is all they know.

Dylan: We need to get somewhere safe.

Tolek: I feel safe here with you.

Dylan: I can't stay here forever.

They stop walking.

Tolek: Why not?

She kisses him.

Tolek: Look, even if I could stay, it doesn't change the fact that you have to leave this place. You have to get away from these mines.

Tolek: I was afraid to think of leaving, but you convinced me. I can imagine a future, not just for my people, but for myself.

She kisses him again, this time more deeply. Then she takes him by the hand and leads him into a nearby building. When they are gone, Lon emerges from hiding. He looks at his blowgun, then pulls out a dart tipped with a quartz crystal. He twirls the dart around in his fingers, studying it, considering...

Later, Dylan emerges from the building, putting on his jacket. He pulls out his communicator and activates it.

Dylan: Rhade, check in if you're in range.

Suddenly there is the sound of an impact. Dylan grabs for his chest and finds a dart embedded there. He pulls it out and collapses to his knees. Lon comes out of the shadows and walks toward him, raising a hatchet high over his head.

Dylan: Damn!

Dylan collapses on his back. Tolek runs out from the building and sees Lon about to kill Dylan.

Tolek: NO!

She runs to Dylan and examines him. Then she turns to Lon.

Tolek: What are you doing?

Lon: He wanted to take you away.

Tolek: He wanted to take us all away, to save us.

Later, Tolek sits with Dylan's head on her lap, running a cloth across his face.

Tolek: He did a shameful act. He tried to kill you. I'm sorry. But you are a lucky man. You have a force of light in you.

Dylan: I think it's the oil that you put on me that saved my life again. As for Lon, he's young. He just wanted to protect you.

Cutter addresses his guards.

Cutter: The stream fan, gone.

Guard: Just before dawn.

Cutter: Rhade never returned from his mission. He's been tricking me from the start, he and Dylan Hunt working together. That means they're still out there somewhere, on my land. Somebody's keeping them alive. (to the guards) Get the men. Put all the Sirog into the mines. Anyone who resists, dies. We're not coming back until Dylan Hunt is dead.

On board the Eureka Maru, Beka converses with Rhade.

Beka: I have to make a living, Rhade, and carting refugees around isn't exactly profitable.

Rhade: Come on, a one day job, max. Ferry the people from the surface of the planet to the Andromeda. Then they're not your problem any more.

Beka: They're already not my problem.

Rhade: You can't just turn a blind eye on this.

Beka: You're starting to sound just like Dylan. (she looks at him) Oh my God, you really are.

Rhade: It's not intentional, believe me.

Beka: I know. It's just what always happens. He turns everyone into an idealistic idiot, including me.

Dylan addresses a group of Sirog, including Lon and Tolek.

Dylan: I understand that your traditions honor those who give their lives in the mines so that their families can live. And I applaud their devotion. But I won't applaud their sacrifice, not when there are other options. You've all become slaves to the mines, even those of you who stay here. It's time to break those chains. My ship can take all of you to where there are no mines to destroy your families. Free land, where you can earn a living without sacrificing your health or sanity. Listen to me. This is the chance to truly honor your fallen ancestors. Please, let me help you.

Tolek: I am going with Dylan. Who else will go?

She looks around at the other Sirog. They appear restless but no one steps forward. Finally...

Lon: I will go. Dylan Hunt faced Death to offer us this chance. I was Death's instrument, and Death did not take him. Now, I ask his forgiveness. I offer him my support. We honor the miners who give everything so that we can survive. Now it's our turn to risk everything in a new place, for them!

Lon raises his arm into the air triumphantly. Tolek raises her arm too. The crowd of Sirog breaks into cheers.

On the Maru, Rhade and Harper walk through the corridors, talking.

Rhade: So Beka told you we're going to Seefra-8.

Harper: (scratching his arm) Yeah. She also told me we're picking up a load of...refugees? Not exactly the cargo I had in mind.

Rhade: What can I tell you? We got to improvise.

They stop at a control panel and Harper manipulates some of the settings with his left hand. Rhade notices his skin lesions.

Rhade: What the hell happened to you?

Harper: Nothing, just a little mishap I had with the project.

Rhade: Maybe you should take a rest.

Harper: Maybe you should mind your own business.

Harper walks to a control panel in another part of the compartment, muttering to himself.

Harper: Trying to work here, over my shoulder. Let's see...

Rhade activates his communicator.

Rhade: Dylan, we have a medical alert here on the Maru.

Harper works at the other control panel, still muttering to himself.

As the Sirog prepare to leave their village, Dylan picks up the container of healing oil and calls out instructions.

Dylan: Only what you can carry. We won't have a lot of time once Cutter spots my friends landing here.

Dylan and Tolek begin to walk with a crowd of Sirog, all moving away from the settlement.

Tolek: We won't need that any more.

Dylan: Yeah, but I have a friend who does. Now we're all done.

Tolek: Will we be able to take everyone?

Dylan: We won't leave anyone behind who wants to come. My concern is the miners. We have to convince them in a hurry that it's time to leave, and I've seen what happens when they get angry.

Tolek: Every one of them has someone they love here. We'll make them understand.

Dylan: I hope so.

Dylan's communicator beeps.

Beka: Dylan, we're in orbit above you.

Dylan: Good, right on time.

Rhade consults his scanning display.

Rhade: Maybe not. There's a mass of armed men heading right for your position.

Dylan: We have to move. Cutter's on the attack.

Cutter addresses his guards.

Guard: Nothing. We searched everywhere.

Cutter: No one.

Guard: No. Not a soul.

Cutter: It's like they knew we were coming.

Dylan, Tolek, and the Sirog move through the forest.

Tolek: There's nothing we can do. We're outnumbered

Dylan: We still have the advantage. They have to find us, and we know exactly where they are.

On the Maru, Rhade's scanners are projected on the viewscreen in front of Beka. The screen shows a large group of people with a smaller group off to one side.

Beka: If I had missile power, I'd fire a couple right into that column of men.

Harper: If we had missile power, I'd rig us a...a...a what do you call it? A resonance thingamajig, drop it on what's-his-name's head, KABOOM!

Rhade: If I had a hold full of quartz, could we have missile power?

Harper: You got a hold full?

Rhade: About fifteen crates, can you use it?

Harper: Try and stop me!

Harper and Rhade leave the cockpit in a hurry. Beka smiles happily as the [Maru swoops low over the forest. Rhade watches as Harper works on his still.

Rhade: Now Cutter will know what it's like to be bullied.

Harper: Come on, focus. I can do this.

He tries to activate the machine, without success.

Harper: PE, power conversion on the fly. Any old second-hand tech can do this. Why can't I? Why can't I THINK straight?!

He slams his hand into the table in frustration. Rhade steps up next to him.

Rhade: It's the crystal, Harper, move away, let me finish.

Harper jumps back away from him.

Harper: Don't touch me! Back off, Neitzchean!

Harper moves back to the machine and starts manipulating it again.

Rhade: Harper, you're not well. Move away.

Rhade pushes Harper away and starts to work on the machine. Harper picks a board and runs up behind Rhade.

Harper: Get your hands off of that. That's mine!

He swings the board, breaking it over Rhade's back. Rhade turns to look at him. Harper punches Rhade in the face with a left hand, right hand, left hand. As he swings with his right hand again, Rhade grabs his fist. Harper grimaces in pain.

Rhade: Harper...

Harper cannot free himself so he pulls Rhade's right arm to him and bites it. Rhade head butts him. Harper goes limp as Rhade holds him by his right fist.

Rhade: Settle down.

Rhade opens his hand and drops Harper to the deck where he lies unconscious.

The Eureka Maru comes in for a landing on the surface of Seefra-8. The Sirog move out of the forest, up the landing ramp, into the ship. Beka stands at the top of the ramp giving instructions to the refugees.

Beka: We've got lots of room for everyone. Move to the back of the ship, the very back of the ship.

One of Cutter's guards runs through the streets of the mining settlement toward Cutter and a group of guards.

Guard: They all left, the Sirog, the miners, they're all gone. The whole town is empty.

Cutter: Where did they go?

Cutter turns and runs back the way he came. His guards hurry after him.

The last few Sirog arrive at the Maru and hurry up the ramp. Lon brings up the rear. Dylan and Tolek emerge from the forest and move up the ramp also. Dylan looks back into the forest as he walks toward the ship's entrance. Suddenly Cutter and his guards emerge from the forest.

Cutter: Hunt!

Dylan turns to face him.

Cutter: Why are you doing this? I was making a civilized place here.

Dylan: Civilized for whom? Look, this place is poisonous. I don't recommend hanging around.

Dylan turns to enter the ship, but turns back as Cutter speaks again.

Cutter: I made my home here. I staked my claim and I'm not going to let anybody take that from me.

Dylan: No one's trying to take it from you, believe me. It's all yours.

He turns again and walks toward the entrance hatch. Cutter draws his gun. Dylan hears the sound as Cutter pulls his gun from the holster, so he pulls out his force lance and shoots Cutter. Cutter collapses face first on the ramp. Dylan looks at the guards, still holding his force lance.

Dylan: It's your choice. You can stay or you can come along.

The guards look at each other. They all place their weapons on the ground and run up the ramp.

Dylan: Good choice.

The Maru lifts off, retracting the entrance ramp and leaving behind only Cutter's body. Inside, Harper is sitting on the deck, tied to a railing, as Dylan lifts his shirt and places healing oil on the skin lesions. Harper groans in pain and mumbles incomprehensibly.

Harper: You...I'm gonna...I'm gonna...crush your...your skull...like a...like a...like a...what do you call it?

Harper lapses into unconsciousness, suspended from the straps binding his hands to the railing.

Dylan: He'll be all right now, we just made it. How are we on weapons?

Rhade: We're there. I'm arming.

Dylan: Target the mines.

Rhade: What?

Dylan: It's the only way.

Rhade looks at Dylan for a few seconds, then looks back to the fire control panel.

Rhade: Locking on.

Dylan: Fire.

Rhade looks at Harper, unconscious from the effects of the quartz, then keys commands into the panel. Five missiles fly from the Maru toward the surface of Seefra-8. Massive explosions occur on impact, throwing up fireballs and mushroom clouds. Dylan watches through the cockpit window.

Later, Beka, Dylan, Harper, and Rhade sit outside the bar, talking.

Beka: Why do you think the Vedrans created those crystals?

Harper: Well...

Beka: Maybe it was their version of banking power. Maybe they thought they would need it some day.

Harper: Or...

Beka covers Harper's mouth with her hand.

Beka: Or, maybe they were using it as some form of toxic waste management.

Harper sticks out his tongue. Beka jerks her hand away from his mouth and wipes it on her pants with an expression of disgust.

Harper: That stuff would have made me rich.

Rhade: That stuff would have made you a madman, who, thankfully, wouldn't have been able to talk.

Rhade looks at Dylan, who considers the concept. Beka also begins to think about what it would be like. Harper looks over and sees the expression on their faces.

Harper: All of you, shut up. (to Dylan) You're awfully quiet, boss.

Dylan: (shrugs) Back to square one. No crystals, no power source.

Harper: No power source, no Andromeda.

Beka: No Andromeda, no way out of this system.

Dylan: Well, we didn't have a choice. We'll bring her back to life somehow.

Transcript by Tarantulas - http://saveandromeda.com/