"Dylan, i've got one question about this plan... what if it isn't her?" "Then we've got a world of problems." "We may even if it is her." "The only thing we know for sure... whoever's on that ship was sent by the Commonwealth." "The good Commonwealth or the bad Commonwealth?" "Well, that's what i intend to find out." "Whoever it is, they're docking in two minutes." "Get me Rhade's slipfighter." "Aye." "Captain." "You're on." "Make it look good." "Like i've been to hell and back." "Rhade's slipfighter is on rapid approach." "Okay, let's say this isindra xicol." "She's a super-secret spy, right?" "That means nobody has any information on her... no records, no pictures." "Well, i was able to uncover an extant psychological study indicating that indra xicol suffered a severe loss early in life." "Now, that could come in handy." "Yeah, but why send indra or any unknown to patch things up between you and the triumvirs?" "This isn't about mending fences, it's about the star map, and Trl-Jema will do anything she can to get her hands on it." "This is our... showdown." "Ah." "Docking complete." "Indra xicol, welcome to the Andromeda Ascendant." "Captain Hunt." "This is a wonderful beginning... the true Commonwealth and its greatest asset, Dylan Hunt, reconciled after too long a time." "Well, generosity is its own gift, so i am doubly blessed." "As representative of the triumvirate, i am empowered to offer you their trust and forgiveness." "Well, that's handy, since i didn't do anything wrong, and trust, indra, is a two-way street... but we're here for the future, not the past." "The star map." "I am flattered that you're trusting me to deliver it to the triumvirs." "Well, you should be, but they're not going to get it." "No one is." "It's been stolen." "Stolen?" "Of course it has." "I get here, and it's gone?" "Stolen?" "From a high guard warship?" "It's missing for several days." "My ship's avatar was manipulated by someone on board." "We're unsure who." "My internal clocks were disrupted by an em pulse centered in the scc." "It delayed my interpretation of events long enough for someone to enter and exit before i was able to get back on-line." "I see." "You're not doing very well with this trust thing." "You're right." "Of course." "I apologize." "How can i help you to retrieve the star map, captain Hunt?" "Well, thanks for offering, but i've taken care of it." "I would guess, if i were the guessing sort, that you've already sent someone to retrieve the copy of the star map?" "The copy that you made, the copy you sent with the fourth courier before entering the route of ages yourself?" "That's very good." "I scanned the record of your trial." "Ah, you know, i've heard that i make for entertaining reading." "Actually, i find you much more interesting in person." "Now i'm the one who's flattered." "Captain, Rhade's slipfighter just exited slipstream." "It's on a crash course trajectory." "Onscreen." "Rhade, status." "I couldn't get through the maze, captain, and so obviously was unable to retrieve the map." "My ship has been damaged in the attempt." "I don't think i'm going to make it." "You're going to make it." "Match his speed." "Aye." "This is where i impress you." "Ready and willing." "He's yawed left." "Stabilizers gone." "Contact in five... four, three... two, one." "Rhade's vitals are strong." "The slipfighter's are not." "It's a small price to pay." "Well, looks like we don't have a copy of the star map either." "Hmm, which, i guess, means another attempt at retrieving it?" "You're way ahead of me." "I don't think so." "Rommie, show indra xicol to her quarters, please." "I'll see you later, once i decide what i want to do." "I think you already know, captain." "There goes trouble on two legs." "Where the hell is that spiky-haired little midget?" "Well, you're still in one piece, Rhade." "That's all that matters." "Harper was supposed to adjust my stabilizers so it'd look like i had an accident, not so i'd actually have one." "In the future, i will be more specific with him." "Okay." "Well, at least indra xicol bought it." "Not for a second." "The universe is a dangerous place, but in our future, my crew and i fight to make it safe." "I am Dylan Hunt, captain of theAndromeda Ascendant, and these are our adventures." "I assure you, captain," "Trl-Jema supports you as much as the other triumvirs, regardless of what transpired between you." "She knows now you are our only hope." "So... what brought her around?" "Anyone can be redeemed." "Fundamental truth, but timing is everything." "It doesn't matter." "I've decided that i'm going to go after the copy of the star map myself." "Is this when i ask to go along?" "It's where i insist." "Good." "I thought i might have to beg." "Where to?" "The fourth courier took it to a friend of mine, two, really, husband and wife of sorts, and then, well, they took it to their planet, which is difficult to explain." "I have a very understanding mind." "Oh, i'm sure you do." "Their planet is surrounded by a volatile maze." "It's almost impossible to pilot." "If you get lost, it becomes your tomb." "I'll remember that." "The planet itself is another kind of maze." "Hmm, amazing." "Quite." "And your friends, they live there?" "They hide there." "And what are they hiding from?" "The bad guys." "A while back, i created a cover of being at the sinti strategic summit." "So that you could run another mission in secret." "With calvino and astrid, yes, but we were set up." "People died." "I now believe that it was..." "Trl-Jema who set us up." "My friends found a place, strange as it is, where they feel safe." "Well, their location is safe with me... but i must tell you, captain, recently acquired information suggests the magog worldship is getting closer day by day." "Getting the star map to the triumvirs is essential." "I'll tell you what." "Let's cut the pretense... and start talking straight." "Indra's going along with you?" "That's the plan." "You still feel comfortable with that?" "Apparently you don't." "She's affected you in ways you didn't expect." "I have an objective eye, Trance." "I've been watching her since she came aboard the ship." "She's very powerful, very persuasive, whoever she is." "I've noticed." "Dylan, the place where you're going, things aren't so sensible." "I see the possibility that you might fall into her trap." "Perhaps she is the trap." "Well, that's a risk we'll have to take." "Okay, all prepped and ready to go." "Not this time." "I need you here on command." "Stick to the plan." "Not that you'd notice, Rhade, but why is it the good-looking ones are always so bad?" "We don't know she's bad." "Just a fantasy." "I hope she is on our side." "Talk about having a great asset." "Harper, stop, for once?" "Speaking of which, i'd like to invest my stock in that asset." "Hsst." "Are you about done?" "Rhade, let's get down to business." "The cycle of the maze surrounding the planet is in optimal position if we leave here within the hour." "However, taking themaru does increase our chance of being blown apart." "See?" "Size does matter." "Really?" "How would you know?" "Harper's right, though." "Any larger than themaru, and we would definitely be crushed in the slipstream maze." "All right, and for those of you staying behind, i want you on high alert." "We've made ourselves a potential target since we've let the triumvirs know where we were." "Exactly." "Rommie intercepted dispatches." "There's a Commonwealth fleet headed our way." "What?" "Sheesh!" "Maybe going with you to the maze would be safer than staying here." "I don't think so, mr." "Harper." "Let's get this thing done." "Hey, Rhade... don't ding it up." "How could you tell?" "He didn't mean that." "Wish them luck." "Yeah, let's hope she doesn't kill them all in their sleep." "I think Dylan will be keeping his eyes open on this journey." "This is one risky plan." "You've put tremendous trust in me, Dylan." "I won't forget it." "Well, couldn't keep you at arm's length forever." "Like i mind being close to you." "So close, you'd tell me the truth about Trl-Jema?" "I've told you everything i know." "Good." "We are prepped and ready to enter slipstream maze." "All right, then." "Let's bring it." "Stabilization rudders are collapsing under the stress." "I don't know if i can hold on." "Just keep it steady." "Trying, captain." "It's twisting faster than i can keep up." "All right, don't lose it, Rhade." "Hold on." "There's a fold in the maze that wasn't here last time." "Calvino's directions are only approximations." "I'm reading a density increase along our flight path." "Change vector..." "three-seven-four." "Correction, three-eight-seven." "Three-eight-seven." "If i die, i'll die in good hands." "Yes, but will you die happy?" "We are clear." "Your friends, calvino and astrid... yes?" "You're not exactly volunteering information." "Well, you're not exactly asking questions." "Calvino and astrid are... crazy." "Hmm." "You said they were a husband and wife of sorts?" "Love is a tricky thing." "Yes, it is." "And you?" "Are you in love?" "With love." "Always." "But no one in particular?" "Not yet." "Why do you ask?" "Captain, entrance to land maze in 500 meters." "Lead the way, Rhade." "So, what do you do for fun?" "I... i play hoops, i'm excellent atgo, and i... i love poetry." "Hmm, a romantic." "I can beat anyone atgo." "I accept that challenge." "Which one?" "High levels of water vapor may cause shifts in our visual perception." "Move carefully." "Your friends choose to live here?" "It's for their own protection." "There's a price to pay for doing the right thing, but an even higher price for doing the wrong thing." "Does working with you always mean risk?" "Yes." "Finding this place was the least i could do, but it has made them a little eccentric." "Not the word i would choose." "Well, Rhade, that's why nietzschean diplomats are in short supply." "Hmm." "It's this way, i think." "You think?" "It's difficult to detect an overall design to these corridors." "Dylan?" "Captain?" "Rhade, give me a reading." "Rhade?" "Surprise." "We lost him." "We're the ones who are lost." "We're going the right way now." "Careful." "Uh..." "ladies before gentlemen?" "I didn't expect this." "I find that hard to believe, but i'm sure you have a way out." "Every man should have one." "Okay, captain, let's see what these long legs of yours can do." "I believe that was my line." "That was a nice landing." "Hmm, so you trust me now?" "We have to keep working on it." "Maybe later." "I told you this place was different." "Round and round we go... and where it ends, nobody knows." "You do." "Look familiar?" "I'm thinking yes." "Prepare yourself." "Ha ha ha ha ha!" "Yes!" "I feel much better." "Thank you, roddick." "Lady astrid still does love you." "She does not!" "Calvino!" "Dylan!" "Of all the star-drunk, vacuum-breathing space pirates." "Always the fine eye for women." "I chose him, actually." "Calvino, this is indra xicol." "Indra xicol... the obscure, rumored to exist, but all the universe unsure." "Mmm!" "Why keep that face hidden from history?" "I'm shy, i guess." "No." "All women are vain, impudent strumpets!" "Plate!" "Calvino, the map." "I've come for it." "My friend, if only i had it." "You don't?" "His wife has the map, sir." "Wife?" "What wife?" "I have no wife." "That faithless hag?" "That lying daughter of chaos?" "That pion-spewing accretion of interstellar gas?" "More plates!" "Ah!" "Truly, the legend herself." "This is indra xicol." "Could be no other." "It would seem so." "The map, Dylan." "Right." "Just give me a minute." "Okay, calvino... he doesn't look well." "Digesting." "He'll be all right." "About the map?" "Love, Dylan." "I die for it." "There is no love in this universe." "Of course there is." "Mm-mm." "The universe is full of love, calvino." "It's everywhere." "Where is he?" "Ah!" "There you are, you pompous, arrogant black hole!" "You call yourself a man?" "Let me tell you..." "Dylan, you're here." "Thank god." "Whatever he's telling you, it's a lie." "Yeah, well, it's nice to see you, too, astrid." "I hope you've come to kill him." "I don't trust you as far as i can throw you." "Well, let's find out how far that is." "This is getting us no closer to finding the map, Dylan." "Who the hell is this?" "I'm indra xicol." "I'm a friend of Dylan's." "A friend of Dylan's?" "You are not indra xicol, and you are not a friend of Dylan's." "Well, she's both, astrid." "No, she's not." "You're not a friend of Dylan's, and you're not indra xicol." "Not only losing her hair, but her mind." "Your suffering's just started, mush-mouth." "Ow!" "Be careful." "She's not who she says." "Astrid, about the map?" "God, i love that woman!" "I really, really want that map." "Yes, yes." "It's left, left, and then the first hard right." "It sounds simple." "Take this." "Ha ha ha ha." "Be eloquent." "If she accepts, puts the pieces together, it means..." "it means she wants me back." "Well, if she's as sensible as you are, calvino, we shouldn't have any problems." "Thank you." "Oh, there will be problems." "This is the hard right." "Yes." "What?" "Sometimes i know the way, and sometimes i don't." "Like life." "Maybe like life, there is no one way." "Just a lot of twists and turns, huh?" "It's the journey that counts, right, not the destination?" "Aha, so it doesn't matter which way we go." "Well, it never has, since it's all made up." "What?" "What, you think i planned all this?" "I don't know how i could." "You're Dylan Hunt." "True." "I like that about you." "What do you like about me?" "What's not to like?" "We should get to where we're going." "Dylan... i think we're already here... have been all along, am i right?" "Well, my father taught me to never disagree with a beautiful woman." "Smart man." "Actually, he said, "never disagree with a woman."" "I threw in the "beautiful" part." "Like i said... smart man." "Yeah." "I'm detecting multiple slipstream events." "They're right on top of us." "Well, this could be good." "More likely, it's extremely bad." "Incoming message from triumvir flagship halcyon promise." "Onscreen." "Andromeda, do not move from this location." "Well, hi." "Nice to see you too." "Where's captain Hunt?" "This is acting captain reBeka b." "Valentine." "State your business." "Answer my question." "Answer mine." "I will." "If you try and moveAndromeda from this location, we will destroy you." "Trl-Jema out." "You really showed her, boss." "Yeah." "We're lost again." "Dylan, enough is enough." "Let's just get the map and get out of here." "You're right, enough is enough." "I'm guessing this is the part of the plan where we separate." "If you insist." "That's the plan." "Oh, i insist." "Now, listen carefully to what i have to say." "Calvino is an absolute animal." "You wouldn't believe what i put up with." "Well, i had to let him know who's boss, so i clocked him." "I mean, i couldn't let him get away with that." "What else do you do?" "So i let him have it." "Astrid." "Come." "Closer, so i can see you." "R-r-row!" "Closer." "More." "Now, tell me what you want." "Anything." "I want..." "I came for the map." "Men!" "So obvious, so boring." "I hate when i feel like this, and i feel like this too strongly, too often these days." "Maybe you need a change of venue." "And leave this place?" "Are you mad?" "I know, i know, it seems unreasonable to an outside eye." "Only a little." "You are kind, Dylan, which is why i love you as my brother." "We are made of the same stern stuff." "It is the other half of the sky, our better half, that beats it out of us." "Our stuff." "Our stuffing, yes." "You understand." "I have been watching you, my friend." "You have brought her here to test her, and as part of that, she is with astrid about now, but as i look at you and your response to her, i realize that you, too, are being gauged." "So how am i doing?" "You have fallen trap to your own devices... although i am not quite sure what that means." "Point is you too are now in love." "Am i not right, friend?" "Let's just say i'm in a very nice place." "Be careful, Dylan, very, very... very, very, very, very, very, very careful." "Roddick, wine for our guest!" "Are you ready for the final round, then?" "Uh, well, it's... the only way to find out if she's true or not." "True?" "Truth?" "Truth is manifold, never one thing, just like a woman, which is why, in comparison, we men are but a paltry imitation of life, bags of wind, full of sound and fury, signifying..." "something." "I forget what." "It'll come to you." "I've got to go." "Hmm, yes, yes." "Wake up!" "I don't know how he does it." "He sleeps for the both of us, you know." "Sleep, ah, sleep that knits the raveled sleeve of care, sore laborer's balm, the sound of my own voice... we'd better get this right." "Ready to flip?" "Good to go." "Here goes nothing." "She's launching." "Okay, Rommie." "Engaging side roll." "Andromeda, that was a foolish move." "You may warn your captain we're here, but when he returns, the star map will still be mine." "Can you believe i used to think she was cute?" "Astrid... a moment of calm at this point would be a good idea." "Of course." "Calm and stoic." "Like calvino." "Drunk, dirty, disheveled... he's got the map." "That's untrue." "You have the map." "You again." "If you want the map, i want this man out of here." "I won't stay here if he's here." "I won't." "I won't, i won't, i won't!" "Apparently, she's reverted to childhood." "Good luck." "Calvino... oh, calvino!" "He hurt you, huh?" "I hate him." "And love him." "I'm worried i'm in the same situation... guy loves me, doesn't trust me." "Aren't they just awful?" "Tell me about it." "You understand." "Oh, there you are." "Astrid, how do find your way around this place?" "Stay there, Dylan." "I am not speaking to men." "All right, look, i know you're having problems with calvino, but i still need my map." "I'm not giving it to you... but to my friend, my new friend." "I didn't want it, anyway." "Put them together." "The center is missing." "Not if you know where to look." "You had it the whole time." "No, no, just... just my piece, and now... we have the star map." "Well, the copy." "It's for you." "You really do trust me." "How could i not?" "You two, you're crazy." "Well, it's the nature of love, astrid." "No." "Love is sanity." "You two make that clear." "You make me remember." "I have to keep calvino, don't i?" "Anyway, he's all i've got." "He's all you need." "How long before we can go through the slipstream maze?" "The exit cycle is in four hours." "I'll find your crew members and join you at the surface then." "Thanks." "And you be good to him, hmm?" "I promise." "Ladies, leave them." "I'm, uh..." "i'm going to hold you to that." "Hmm, you can hold me any way you want." "Hmm." "I feel safe with you." "Safety." "Finally." "You have no idea what this means to me." "I was 10, and we were at my father's Hunting lodge on lorem-d... family, friends, the whole little community there, and i was down at the lake, skipping stones, making wishes... when i saw smoke up at... at the house..." "magog raiders." "I hid in the shallows, in the water." "I saw them come down and... and wash the blood off their fur." "You must have been terrified." "I know, Dylan, what this is all about." "It's a test." "You wanted to see if i could be trusted before we got the copy of the map." "I just wanted to get to know you." "And now... we can take the map to the true Commonwealth." "The two of us?" "Yeah, the two of us." "Fuel pressure." "Check." "Mpd ignition." "Check." "Ready for takeoff." "Goodbye, Dylan." "To what might have been." "She's about to enter slipstream maze, missing its clear cycle by 20 minutes." "I never trusted her." "Well, i did." "Well, you had to test her, Dylan." "She would've been a great asset to the true Commonwealth." "If she hadn't taken the easy way." "Both of you, stop." "Can't you see it hurts?" "She, uh..." "she chose safety." "I can't blame her for that, right?" "She chose stupidly." "Blame her all you want." "Dylan, come in." "Dylan?" "Beka, go ahead." "Dylan, Trl-Jema's ships have surrounded theAndromeda." "We're on our way up." "Hunt out." "Well, you two, i owe you my thanks." "Well, we don't get that many visitors, and it was fun." "Woman!" "Direct that this way." "We should do it again sometime." "Yeah, sometime." "Let's move out." "Where... where the hell am i?" "Hold on." "Incoming transmission." "Onscreen." "Captain Hunt, welcome back." "Is indra xicol with you?" "You know where she is." "She's in the noumenal system with the star map." "She got it from you." "Well, looks like you sent the right person." "And you chose to tangle with the wrong one, me." "It really wasn't much of a choice." "That will be little comfort when the magog worldship arrives." "Until then, captain Hunt." "Actually, it's more comforting than you know." "We are coming in." "Time is of the essence." "Please advise on your location." "No, Trl-Jema, it's too dangerous." "Wait." "We are having serious navigational problems." "Please advise." "Come on." "Where's that exit point?" "Of course." "Route of ages..." "come on, give me some answers." "You didn't say goodbye, so i thought i would." "That moment of weakness, indra, the one where we go against our better nature, we all have to watch for it." "There's no copy of the map." "The original was never stolen." "It was... well, it was all a test for whomever Trl-Jema sent." "By the time you find your way out of the maze, if you ever do, maybe you'll be a different person." "Goodbye, indra." "Dylan..." "We are out of control." "We cannot hold our course." "Don't you see?" "We're on a collision course." "Oh, god..." "get out of my way!" "Oh, god, help us!" "Help!" "How are you feeling?" "Ready to move on." "I sense you're not finished with her." "No, i don't think i am, but somehow i think she's finished with me." "You don't know what will become of her, what she'll learn from this if she ever gets out." "We can only hope, Trance." "This universe is all about hope."