"What's a thremmatologist doing in an isolation room wearing a surgical mask?" "Seeing as there is only one way to find out," "you've got two problems." "Two?" "Apart from getting rid of the guard, you are going to need a mask." "And you can hardly ask the professor to lend you hers." "Did you hear that?" "Quickly, the lounge!" "There are passengers trapped!" "On the double, man!" "There are lives at stake!" "No." "Stop her!" "Stop Lasky." "Doctor, stop her!" "Stop her!" "Stop Lasky." "Out!" "Out!" "What's going on?" "What are they trying to hide?" "Will you please stop mauling me?" "I should drop the innocent party act if I were you." "Any moment now, that guard will be back." "He's going to be even less enchanted by your antics." "Never mind the guard." "That monstrosity, what is it in there?" "Does the Commodore know what's being isolated in there?" "I don't know by whose authority you ask." "But if it will put a stop to your meddling, I'll explain." "That monstrosity, as you call her, is my lab assistant, Ruth Baxter." "We are taking her to Earth in the hope that we can reverse her condition." "Our facilities on Mogar were too primitive." "What happened?" "How did she get in that state?" "Experimental nature of our work entails some calculated risk." "Calculated risks?" "Are you telling me that sad travesty is a statistical possibility?" "The word should be criminal." "Very well." "Perhaps I should have said "unforeseen"." "During a particularly delicate cross-fertilization, a speck of pollen penetrated a minute scratch on my assistant's thumb." "She should never have left..." "There he is." "Halt or I'll fire." "Oh, Doctor." "You do have the knack of landing yourself in hot water." ""Satiable curtiosity", like The Elephant's Child." "Never mind the Just So Stories." "That guard looks trigger-happy to me." "He's only doing his duty, miss." "The regulations are quite specific." "Anyone setting off a false alarm on an intergalactic liner is to be arrested forthwith." "No need to quote the book, I can explain." "Not to me." "To the Commodore." "He is expecting you." "Take him." "No, that's all right, I know the way." "Doctor." "Mmm?" "It's that way." "Yes, I know." "It's that way." "Stop the Matrix." "I fail to comprehend this evidence." "The Doctor is on trial for his life." "Yet in his defence, he presents us with a situation in which he is deliberately flouting accepted authority." "Much of your evidence does seem to contradict your stated aim, Doctor." "Are you saying the Matrix is again being falsified?" "No." "And if the Valeyard would exercise the same restraint as I showed during his presentation of his case against me..." "Ha!" "...and could suppress his bloodlust..." "Doctor!" "This court is dedicated to giving you a fair trial." "Do not abuse its indulgence." "I apologise." "The Matrix, Doctor." "I suggest we return to the Hyperion III." "Bring us in closer." "Reduce the margin by a factor of 0.01 to 0.02." "Very narrow margin of safety, Commodore." "Not to a ship of the Hyperion class." "Still risky though." "Quirky phenomena, black holes." "They can gulp with unpredictable turbulence." "When I want your advice, I'll ask for it." "I'll handle this." "Get back on duty." "What I do want to hear from you is a reason why I shouldn't throw you in the brig." "Fire alarms are not playthings for irresponsible buffoons." "Mr Rudge!" "Mr Rudge." "What is it, Janet?" "Mr Kimber's disappeared." "He didn't report to the fire assembly point and he's not in his cabin." "He hasn't touched the drink I brought him." "Well, maybe he just wandered off." "Absent-minded." "Without his jacket or his watch?" "When did you last see him?" "I didn't." "See him, that is." "He was in the shower." "I spoke to him through the door." "Where can he have got to?" "With all these killings..." "That'll do." "Pull yourself together." "Going to pieces won't help." "We'll search the passenger quarters before we start assuming the worst." "Grim picture." "I have no reason to lie, Commodore." "I'm not questioning your honesty, simply your methods." "However, I'm left with little alternative but to begin to cooperate." "Begin?" "I take it you mean begin overtly to cooperate." "You've been using me, Commodore." "I would never have been allowed to run free if you hadn't condoned it." "Fair comment." "Frankly, I think you should notify the authorities about the death of the investigator Hallet, and insist on being given full details of his mission." "You underestimate me to that extent, do you?" "Sorry." "They refused?" "Top secret." "By the time they've gone through channels, we'll probably have docked." "That can't happen." "No one will be allowed to disembark." "The murderer won't escape." "Murderer." "Yes." "You'll let me know as soon as you get a reply?" "Certainly, Doctor." "I'll match you for candour." "Did you find him?" "Not a sign." "And you?" "I left a report we've lost another passenger." "That'll improve the Commodore's temper, I guarantee." "Mr Rudge." "Um..." "Later." "Wait." "Come here." "We want to know what is happening." "Yes, where was the fire?" "It was a false alarm." "There is nothing to worry about." "You must excuse me, I have urgent things to do." "Sit down, Rudge." "There is only one thing you have got to do." "That is to tell us exactly what is going on." "And I suggest you do so right now." "Yes?" "What is it?" "State your position." "Help me with this." "Who the blazes was that?" "Trace that call." "Have you gone out of your mind?" "I have been." "But not any more, I've regained my sanity!" "Not only your own work you're destroying." "Other people have contributed." "You've no right to do this!" "You long ago lost sight of the difference between right and wrong." "Why?" "Because of some unexplained incidents?" "On my way down here, I heard of another unexplained incident." "That harmless old man is missing." "How many more, Doland, before you and Lasky accept responsibility?" "I've no time for a horticultural discussion now, young woman." "You and your erratic friend have already disrupted my routine." "I only asked you if you'd tell me what this leaf is." "After my workout and that's final!" "I need to speak with you privately, Professor." "Really!" "Not now, Doland!" "I know how much you object to your work schedule being interrupted, but this is absolutely vital." "Well?" "You must speak with Bruchner." "Calm him down." "Can't you?" "Look, he won't listen to me." "Where is he?" "In the Hydroponic Centre." "Mr Doland." "Let's pick up where we left off while you're in the mood for explanations." "Did I give you that impression?" "What are those pods in the Hydroponic Centre?" "The results of another experiment." "I could have made an educated guess at that." "What was in them?" "Giant fruit." "And anticipating your next question, we left the fruit on Mogar." "We're merely taking the shucks as an example to fellow agronomists in earthbound laboratories." "Now, if you'll excuse me." "Think." "Think." "Amplify." "Amplifier." "We must not make animal-kind aware of our existence." "They still outnumber us." "If we are to kill them all, we must hunt them down secretly." ""Is there anybody there?" said the traveller." "Hmm." "Perhaps she's in the gym." "Ah." "Allow me." "Wish I could get rid of my waste as easily, eh?" "We must not make animal-kind aware of our existence." "We must hunt them down secretly." "Ah." "Allow me." "Wish I could get rid of my waste as easily, eh?" "The waste bins." "Where do they go?" "Waste bins?" "Quickly, woman, where are they taken?" "Well, the pulveriser." "The pulveriser!" "Stop!" "Don't throw the towel in, Mel." "Why in Hades haven't you reported before now?" "As a security officer, you're an unmitigated disaster." "That's hardly fair, sir." "We've had a passenger murdered." "According to you, another one's disappeared." "Three crew members are missing, unaccounted for." "And you haven't a clue as to why they've gone or where they are." "We are doing splendidly." "Congratulations must be delayed until that is full." "We shall not have long to wait." "Oh!" "It's gone." "What has?" "The tape." "The proof we need to force Lasky's hand." "It's a waste of time." "Our killer has obviously removed it." "Just as he tried to remove you." "He?" "Why not she?" "Lasky?" "Or the stewardess, Janet?" "Janet?" "No..." "It wouldn't have taken a man's strength to lift my weight." "A woman could have dumped me in the waste bin." "What are they?" "And how do they link with these murders?" "Whatever they are, they are not human." "And we are all to be destroyed, remember?" "Still got that bit of leaf?" "Where are you off to?" "Hydroponic Centre." "There has to be a connection." "And what about me?" "Follow your lead." "See if Janet has got the tape." "But, Mel, be careful." "Hmm?" "You too, Doctor." "Can I tempt you with a coffee, sir?" "No, thank you." "How about you, sir?" "Sorry." "Not to worry." "It's easily changed." "I didn't do that." "Stop the Matrix." "Are we to be subjected to more chicanery, Sagacity?" "It wasn't me in there!" "Ridiculous!" "We all saw you." "You're hardly mistakable in that outfit." "I didn't smash the equipment!" "Are you saying the communications equipment was not sabotaged?" "No." "No, it had to be to prevent the Commodore getting information from Earth." "But I didn't do it!" "Then who did?" "The murderer!" "The murderer?" "I think, Inquisitor, the Doctor is telling us more than he realises." "The prosecutor delights in scoring cheap victories, my lady." "I swear to you, when I viewed that section earlier," "I was nowhere near the Communications Room." "So once again, the defendant is accusing the Matrix of being wrong." "Are you, Doctor?" "Yes." "Yes, I am." "If you are questioning its veracity, is there any point in continuing with the Matrix?" "But what else have I got?" "Without evidence to prove my innocence, I'm condemned!" "And with it, you are also condemned, it seems, Doctor." "Shall we continue?" "Doctor?" "Shall we continue?" "You had, as before, sent your companion into danger." "Let's hope we don't need to call for outside help." "There's no way we can repair this." "We're completely isolated." "Sheer vandalism and utterly useless." "Is that how you see it, Professor?" "How else?" "Because I put an end to this obscene experiment?" "I should think that when man first discovered fire, there were those who were equally appalled and wanted it suppressed." "If they'd prevailed, the human race would still be cowering in caves." "To use your own phrase, that's all academic now." "If you were rational, you'd realise how pointless this is." "We can't unlearn knowledge." "You're no illiterate." "How often does a great advance produce this reaction?" "Think of Galileo." "Galileo?" "Oh, is that it?" "You see the name "Lasky" inscribed in the history books?" "Rubbish." "This has been a team effort." "With you as leader." "Well, you fulfil that role to the last." "You've led me to see the fault in my strategy." "You, me, Doland, even the creatures we've spawned, the sole representatives of this great advance." "And we're all encapsulated on this ship." "On this ship." "I didn't even hear the dinner gong." "That man must be stopped." "We are unique, the only members of the Vervoid species." "If he succeeds in eliminating us," "Vervoids will cease to exist." "Forget your previous orders." "Bruchner's death is now our priority." "He cannot be permitted to prevent us from reaching planet Earth." "I don't care what you heard on some mythical tape." "You are letting arrogance blinker you, Professor." "It may not be your intention, but you are in danger of joining an extensive roll of dishonour, misguided scientists who claim the pursuit of truth as an excuse for immoral experiments." "This is no time to debate ethics." "I made that mistake with Bruchner." "I tell you, the man's demented." "He's out to destroy this ship and everyone on it." "First things first." "Let's find Bruchner." "He'll live." "Get out of here." "Now!" "Or I'll kill both of you!" "Later." "Get the laser lance up here immediately." "Bruchner?" "Yes." "But why?" "What's his motive?" "I rather think his intention is the vital question." "All right then, what's..." "Just tell me, Doctor." "He's determined to destroy this ship." "And the rest of us with it." "Does the lunatic know anything about flying a spacecraft?" "Bruchner's been trained as an astronaut." "One of the team had to be." "Obligatory requirement." "Very thorough." "Can the power to the bridge be cut off?" "Well, I hope." "It's designed to be hijack-proof." "What's happening?" "Isn't that obvious?" "Running into turbulence." "Rather more than turbulence." "Don't talk in riddles, man." "Your colleague is aiming the Hyperion III into the eye of the Black Hole of Tartarus."