"'The year is 1987 'and NASA launches the last of America's deep-space probes." "'In a freak mishap, Ranger 3 and its pilot, Captain William "Buck" Rogers, 'are blown out of their trajectory into an orbit which freezes his life-support systems 'and returns Buck Rogers to Earth 500 years later.'" "Prison approach, this is prison shuttle ILM-4 hauling up a new one for you." "A real lively one." "'ILM-4, clear for Moon 3 approach.'" " Cease attack." " Affirmative, Colonel." "Surrender for inspection." "We know you're transporting contraband." "What?" "This is a prison ship." "Identify yourself." "Colonel Deering, Earth Defense Directorate." "I urge you to comply." "This is a Zeta government star ship, operating within Zetan territory." "'You have no jurisdiction.'" "As I said, extending docking bays." "Lieutenant, see to the good captain." "Wait a minute." "You can't do this." "Now, Captain, we both know this won't hurt a bit." " Hello there." "Goodbye there." " How's it going, Lieutenant?" "Almost done." "I wish I could be there to use this on the androids guarding that prison." "I have a few secret weapons of my own." "That medallion is your only means of escape." " If you get into trouble down there..." " You can't get me out." "I remember." " You ready?" " I've adjusted his memory circuits." "He'll never know we were here." "Good." "You can take the real Val-Zahn back to Earth and I'll say goodbye to the new one." " Be careful." " Don't worry, Wilma." "I go in, break Burton out, rendezvous with you in four hours, it's a piece of cake." "Here." "Easy on the starch, right?" "How long before we land?" "Huh?" "Land?" "15 minutes." "It's about time you woke up." "I thought maybe you were dead." "You might as well be." "No one's left this prison alive yet." " Then the substitution went well?" " 'Yes, Doctor." "Perfectly.'" "And Lieutenant Zimmerman had no trouble?" " Piece of cake, as Buck would say." " 'I beg your pardon?" "'" "Everything went as planned." "At least so far." "Dr Huer, I'm not convinced..." "Colonel, I assure you..." " Bidibidibidi." "Someone's at the door." " Ambassador Warwick is here." "Continue your orbit and keep us posted." "Buck will be fine." "Huer out." "Ted, by Jove." "How nice to see you again." "How long's it been, anyway?" "Do you really want an answer to that?" "No, I certainly do not." "Come in." "This is my colleague Dr Theopolis from the computer council." "Doctor, this is Ambassador Warwick, our diplomatic liaison in the third quadrant." " A pleasure to meet you, Ambassador." " Bidibidibidi." "Bidi." " Of course, this is Twiki, his ambuquad." " Yes." "Well, I'm afraid I have bad news for all of you." "I've applied diplomatic pressure on the Zetan government, but they still refuse to release Jen Burton into your custody." "It would appear, Elias, that extradition is not possible at this time." "Well, this news is not exactly unexpected." "Which is why we've mounted a little extradition of our own." "What do you mean?" "An agent will break Burton out of the Zetan prison and bring her to Earth." "You went behind my back?" "That could provoke a disastrous interstellar incident." " Zeta's a sovereign planet." " Yes, that's quite true." "And that's a very good point, Ted." "But, you see, we're desperate." "Pantera's raids on our shipping lanes are crippling the outer colonies and someone is leaking our shipping schedules to him." "Jen Burton, Pantera's ex-girlfriend, will undoubtedly tell us who." " She's a confessed murderer." " Come, now, Ted." "It's common knowledge Pantera committed the crime." "She's just covering for him." "The Zetan government had her incarcerated as a matter of principle." "Certainly not justice." "The prison on Moon 3 is impregnable." " Your agent can never get her out." " On the contrary." "Given Buck's considerable talents, it has a 93% probability of success." "Buck is going to break her out from within, then rendezvous with another agent at Station Post 7, which is outside the prison's aerial defence shield." "Captain Rogers and Colonel Deering are talented operatives." "We have every reason to expect success." "You put me into a very awkward position, Elias." "What am I to tell the Zetan government?" "We'd like you to tell them nothing, just yet." "Later on..." "Yes." "Well, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to do some thinking." "For a man whose allegiance should lie with the Earth, he appears to be torn by the situation." "Well, he's a diplomat." "It's his job to see both sides." "I'm sure he feels I'm using our friendship to sway his judgment." "Which I suppose I am." "Yes, sir, it's too bad you had to learn the hard way." "If you break the law on Zeta, you go to prison." "You don't go to be socially rehabilitated." "No, sir, you go to be punished." "On Zeta, they do it right." "Here we are." "Just so you know where you'll be spending the rest of your life, the prison is 200 metres straight down." "Carved from solid bedrock." "Yes, sir." "On Zeta, they do it right." ""On Zeta, they do it right." Make it into a bumper sticker and make a fortune." "A bumper sticker?" "Welcome to Moon 3." "Move between the stasis poles, please." "He said move!" " Move, huh, Hugo?" " My name's not Hugo." "It ought to be." "Looks like Val-Zahn here will be with us for a long time." "Does this mean we're engaged?" "It means if you don't behave yourself, I'll know about it." "Proceed with decontamination." "(Electronic humming)" "This one's a mess." "Gonna take a while." "(Humming becomes more intense)" "Pantera, is that you?" "No, just me." "I told him to be here." "For the record, old man, you don't tell me anything." "Oh?" "Then I suppose you already know that the Defense Directorate plans to break Jen Burton out of prison instead of extraditing her?" " We'll have to kill her before she gets here." " No." "That girl went to prison thinking I was going to get her out." "When she finds out the truth, she'll talk." "But to kill her?" "About how you supply me with the shipping schedules." "About how I kick back one-fifth of my take to you." "Are you going to let her destroy you like that?" "Face it, old man, it's your life or hers." "Huer's agent is going to break the girl out of prison then rendezvous with Colonel Deering at Station Post 7." "So Majel and I will take off for Moon 3 immediately and see that none of them leave there alive." "I'll stay close to Huer, advise you of developments." "You do that, old man, cos if you're setting me up, I'll see that you fall with me." "Hard." "Bye-bye." "That ought to do it." "(Humming stops)" "Activate your scanner." "Wait a minute." "He's wearing contraband." "The X-ray shows a necklace." "Hold on." "It's just a keepsake, a good-luck charm." "Your luck ran out." "You bribed somebody down there for nothing." "I'll keep it." "We're keeping it." "You like our filing system?" "Here we are." "You're just in time for some sunshine." "I hope you took a good look at the real thing, cos from now on, this is all you get." "(Under his breath) 54, 53, 52, 51, 50, 49..." "Excuse me." "Jen Burton?" "I'm Buck Rogers." "I'm here to break you out of this place." "Your name's Val-Zahn and I've heard that line before." "Many times." "Except this time it's not a line as you'll find out in about 25 seconds." " When did the penal system go co-ed?" " What?" " Boys and girls together." " How else would you do it?" " Men in one place, women in another." " But the problems that would cause." "I don't feel like talking." "Leave me alone." "Do me one favour." "Hit the deck." " What?" " Get down." "Hey, look at this." "Hope you're wearing climbing shoes." "The elevator's out of order." "Escape is not possible." "Prisoners will report to the day room." "Escape is not possible." "Prisoners will report to the day room." "Escape is not possible." "Prisoners will report to the day room." "Escape is not possible." "(Jen coughing)" "Thanks." "Listen, I'm sorry about the way I acted in there." " I really had heard that line before." " Keep moving." "I was thrown by your name." "Never heard Mal say anything about Buck Rogers." "By the way, where is Mal?" " He didn't send me." " Then why rescue me?" "Rescue's a little premature." "We've got a rendezvous to make." " With who?" " Whom." "With Wilma." "Come on." "My sensors picked up a seismic disturbance at the prison." "'Right on schedule.'" "Can you verify Captain Rogers didn't trap himself and Burton in the explosion?" "Negative." "The prison's aerial defence shields are still operating." "'The communications are out." "'I can't get close for anything but long-range scans.'" "We're assuming they made it." "Descend to your rendezvous." "'The sooner we get that woman back to Earth...'" "The sooner we stop Pantera." "I understand." "Deering out." "Ted, I know we've made things difficult for you and I apologise." "It's the Zetans who have made things difficult." "After all, their resistance to Jen Burton's extradition was totally unfounded." "In view of the situation, quite puzzling, actually." "Not really." "As an independent planet," "Zeta's distrustful of the Earth Federation's activities." " I suppose that's true." " Well, now, if you'll excuse us." "Ambassador Warwick and I have had little chance to chat." " Can I interest you in dinner?" " Only if you let me buy." "That's fair enough." "You know, I remember..." "Bidibi." "Bidibidibidi." "I agree, Twiki." "There is something odd about the Ambassador's attitude." "I wonder if there is some kind of pattern, human or otherwise, in Pantera's attack on our shipping." "Take me down to central data, please." " Bidibidi." "What about Buck?" " He has no way of communicating with us." "If he's in trouble, there's nothing we can do." "Bidibi." "What a bummer." "I said let go of me!" "I'm not taking one more step until you tell me what's going on." "It's a long story and you won't care for it." "This is a big desert and I don't like it much either." " Promise to keep walking?" " If you keep talking." "All right." "It's a deal." "Come on." " So where is it we're heading?" " Station Post 7." "Dr Huer says it's colourful, has sort of a Moroccan flavour." " A what flavour?" " Never mind." "We rendezvous with Wilma in two and a half hours." " How did I get into this?" " By falling in love with a real fink." "I don't know what you mean, but I think I won't like it." "You're catching on." "(Crackling)" "(Beeping)" "Listen, you came a long way and took a big risk for nothing." "I'm not going to tell the Defense Directorate anything." "Maybe you'll feel differently when you get back to Earth." "Maybe I won't get back to Earth." "Let me slip away." "Tell your people I escaped." "They'd never know." "You could do that, couldn't you?" " Sorry." " Why not?" "Are they giving you a fat bonus for bringing me in?" "No." "I've just never been very good at lying." "An Earth ship will soon dock at the space port." "It's piloted by a woman named Wilma Deering." "Take her to the service area and keep her there out of sight." "Understood?" "400 credits now. 600 later." "We'll meet you in the service area." "We're making good time." "Want to stop for a rest?" "I'm fine." " If you're tired, I don't mind if we rest." " I said I'm fine." "Well, I'm tired and I'm going to take a rest." " Pull up a rock." " I'm not going to let you take me back." "What are you going to do, abandon me here in the wilderness?" "Jen, why don't you at least wait till we get to the next station post?" "It's that way." "(Beeping)" "Welcome to Station Post 7, Wilma Deering." "Don't make me use this, OK?" "Unconscious people are difficult to carry and dead ones are so unappealing." " Are you crazy?" "You've got witnesses." " Witnesses?" "Any of you witnesses?" "Just not that kind of town." "Come this way to the service building." "Uh-uh!" "Don't try anything." "I could use this, but you'd probably feel very uncomfortable when you came to." " Uh, this way?" " Just start walking." " I'll tell you when to stop." " OK." "I bet I know why you were attracted to Pantera." "Cos most of the people you knew weren't." "What?" "I'm my own person." "Oh?" "So you attach yourself to Pantera to prove you're your own person." " He needed me." " He used you." " What would you know?" " He promised to spring you out." " How long you been in there?" " The time hadn't come yet." "What's he waiting for?" "Jen, you've been in there for ten months." "He won't spring you out." "He'll leave you and the secrets of the murders in there forever." "I don't care about you, so stop pretending you care about me and who I am and just leave me alone." "Sand squid!" "You got it." "Come on." " You all right?" " I don't know how, but I'm fine." "(Squeaking)" "Buck!" "Oh, hi." "Do you want to talk about this?" "Oh, God!" "OK, big guy, come on." " You OK?" " Still breathing." "How about you?" "It's not the sort of thing I want to do every day, but I'll live." "Thanks." " Returning the favour." "Nothing more." " You never let your guard down." "Sometimes." "Thank you." "Tell me, you got some sort of religious conviction against smiling?" "That's better." "Well, this desert's not getting any smaller." "Shall we?" "I got to admit, you're not as bad as I thought." " Thank you." " You make a lousy first impression." "Wait a minute." "I got you out of there, didn't I?" "How long you been in there, ten months, rotting?" "Well, not quite ten months." "Nine and a half, maybe." "The first five freighters Pantera intercepted were bound for the Rigel system." "The next three for Vega." "Two others for space station L-20." "Bidibidibidi." "I smell a rat." "I'm not sure what you mean, Twiki, but it appears that almost all of Pantera's raids occurred in the quadrant over which Ambassador Warwick has diplomatic jurisdiction." "Bidibidi." "Uh-oh." "We must begin by tapping the Ambassador's computer." "Bidibidi." "Someone isn't going to like that." "Meaning Dr Huer." "Yes, I know, but what choice do we have, Twiki?" "Bidibi." "Life is tough." "I don't like this." "Wilma was supposed to meet us here an hour ago." "Well, she's late." "Let's go to the space port and see if her ship is in." " They're looking at our clothes." " I noticed." "Um... what about, uh...?" " I never mugged anybody before." " Mugged?" "It's an old 20th-century custom." "I'll give you a demonstration." " Why are you doing this?" " Somebody paid me to." " Who?" " I don't know." "It never occurred to you to ask?" "I'm not getting paid 1,000 credits to ask questions." "Never occur to you that 1,000 credits is nothing compared to what is at stake?" "How come somebody wants you out of the way?" "Now you ask the questions." "You smuggling something?" "You the one who's been smuggling the quadrillium?" "They're probably tearing my ship apart right now." " Of course they'll never find anything." " How much are you carrying?" "12 kilograms." "But if you think I'm going to tell you where it is..." "You're not going to tell me." "You're going to show me." "Get moving." "Now, then, let's try it again." " Who's your employer?" " I don't know." "I didn't get any names." "All right, then, where is your employer?" "All right." "Wilma's obviously not in here." "Maybe someone's seen her." "Come on." "Excuse me, my dear." "I see some friends." "Excuse me." "My name is Sergio Sanwiler." " Perhaps you've heard of me." " No." "Of course not." "I can see you're strangers." "In fact, I couldn't help but notice you're prison escapees." "I can get those off you and not report you." " For the right price." " We have no money." "Wait a minute." "Maybe we do." "Not exactly in mint condition, but what are a few bacteria between friends?" "Wrist, please." "I'm looking for a young lady." "Came into town a few hours ago." "Have you seen her?" " A blonde?" " Yeah." "I might have, but information is an additional charge." "Some find my perceptions valuable." "I'd be a fool to give them away for free." " Well?" " No." "No blondes in today." "Did see a redhead, though." "Sorry." " There." "Keep that as a little souvenir." " Wait." "That's it?" " That's it." " That's not information." "If that's the way you feel about my services, good day." "Twerp." "Now, let's tour this... city." "She's bound to be around here somewhere." "(Crackling)" "(Beeping)" "(Buzzer)" "Please." "You won't be needing that." "I'm a gentle creature." " Who are you?" " Sergio Sanwiler." "Perhaps you've heard of me?" "No." "Well, no matter." "I have some information if you're in the market for it." "I hear you're looking for a pair of escaped prisoners, a man and a woman." " Where are they?" " First things first." "40 credits in advance." "All right, you got your money, now get out of here." "Gladly, sir." "Wonderful doing business with you." "Ta-ta." "Well, this simplifies matters." "I've got another job for you." "Sanwiler says they'll be in the courtyard." "Give that to Burton." "She'll know what to do with it." "We've been here five times." "No sign of Wilma." " Maybe she's hiding from someone." " Or locked up someplace." "We can't bust into every building in town looking for her." "We can use the transmitter on board Wilma's ship to contact Earth." "They'll send someone to pick you up and help me search for Wilma." "Come on." "I don't care what you do to recharge the coolant units." "I want that ship ready to take off in an hour." "Now, move." "No, old man, nothing to worry about." "Just a call to allay your fears." "Everything's going according to plan." "Deering's out of commission and I set a trap for Rogers." "Jen is as good as dead." "Hey, Buck." " I'm sorry." " For what?" "Cos you cared enough to help." "That's why I'm really sorry I have to do this." "(Whining)" "Just hold still a moment, Buck." " Oh, boy." " Take it easy." " Give that shot a chance to work." " Wilma?" " Yeah, it's me." " Where you been?" "I got delayed by one of Pantera's thugs." "Where's Jen Burton?" "She's gone." "She hit me with some kind of a stun beam and split." "I think she's headed for Pantera by now." "If she is, she's as good as dead." "He's here to kill her, not rescue her." " He's here?" " Yeah." " Where is he?" " At the boarding house." "Whoa!" "You all right?" "Can you feel that shot working?" "Give me a minute." "(Buzzer)" "Mal, look who's here." "Hi." " I thought I'd never see you again." " As well you should have." " My ring, Jen." " Mal?" " Is the ship ready for takeoff?" " Ten minutes." "Let's go." "I don't like sitting in one place." "Come along." " Mal." " Stop it, Jen." "Just my luck, the one person that ever broke out of that prison has to be you." "I should have known." "Maybe I did know." " I said come along." " Why?" "So you can kill me?" "You said you loved me." "I said whatever was necessary to fulfil my needs." "One of which you filled quite adequately." "I said come along, Jen." "You're next, you know." "Ah, there you are, Dr Theopolis." "Any word from Colonel Deering or Captain Rogers?" "None, I'm afraid, Doctor." "Colonel Deering's status report is long overdue." "Something's gone wrong." "But with Warwick peering over my shoulder, I can't send in additional agents." "Ambassador Warwick is a close friend of yours, is he not?" "Yes, we were very close once." "And now I'm not sure I know him at all." "He's changed." "When he was a young man, he was brash and full of himself." "But also intelligent and compassionate." "And supremely confident that one day he was going to be a great leader." "It didn't quite work out that way, did it?" "A young man's promise to himself is a difficult thing to live up to." "I wish there were an easier way to tell you this, but my investigations indicate that Ambassador Warwick is working with Malary Pantera." "I wish I were more surprised at that." "Would you show me your data, please?" "Bidibidi." "After a while, you see, the burden of wealth begins to insulate you from reality." "That's why I told my valet, "Javin, just give me an old suit, a small shuttle" ""and let me discover the galaxy as only a peasant can."" "Now what?" "Pantera's not at the hotel, not at the space port and not here." "Yeah." "Someone must have tipped him off that Jen and I were here." "And I think I know who it was." "Wait here." "I'll be right back." "Lovely speaking to you, my dear." "Javin is waiting for me out beyond the..." " Hello, Sergio." " Who?" "You told Pantera where we were after I paid you to keep your mouth shut." " You owe me a favour." " Anything." " Where's Pantera?" " Anything but that." "This isn't fair." "You're using your unnatural height to your advantage." " So sue me." "Where's Pantera?" " If he's not at the hotel, I don't know." "Fine, then we're going to search that desert until we find him." "Well, in that case, his ship is being readied for departure in service building 3." "Fine." "I knew you'd respond to reason." "Come on." "Hyperthyroid." "Now, then, as I was saying... (Crackling)" "(Beeping)" "As you feared, Ambassador Warwick is not in his quarters." "He is obviously aware of my suspicions and is attempting his escape." "No." "If he'd left, we would have heard." "He must be somewhere in the grounds." " Seal off the area immediately." " Already sealed." "When they find him, shall I have security deliver him to your office?" "No." "Despite all that's happened, he's still a Federation officer and a friend." "When security locates him, have them notify me." "They're not to take any action or make their presence known until after I arrive." "You incompetent, how could you let her get away?" "I'm sorry." "It wasn't my fault." "She used some kind of martial art technique I never saw before." " How did she get free?" " She said she..." "Never mind." "Get out of here and don't think you're going to get paid for your work." "You're lucky to be alive." "And as for you, just a shove into an empty airlock and nobody will ever find the body in deep space." "Sometimes a frontal assault works best." "All right, move." "Get over there." " Are you all right?" " I'm fine." " Rescuing you's a full-time occupation." " March out of here single file." "Not quite, Colonel." "Drop your weapons now." "Frontal assaults do have drawbacks." "(Screaming)" "(Buzzing)" "This does necessitate a little change in plans, doesn't it?" "Instead of one, there'll be three bodies dumped in space." "Go see what all that shouting's about." "(Screaming)" "Why's he after me, Wilma?" "What is it?" " It's your bracelet." " Oh, it is, huh?" "No!" "Be my guest." "You know he's going to kill him." "Please help me." "Oh, boy." "Come on." "Help him." "You just can't let him take Mal away." "What am I supposed to do?" "He's a machine." "All right." "I know where I can cut him off." "Come on." "You've got to stop him." " He's a machine, not a human being." " Just stop him." "Hugo, it's all over." "You're not taking him in." "All right, full power." "Controls set." "Fire!" " Idiot, you let her take your gun!" " You were hurt." "Will you get away from me?" "I told you you were next." "You don't want to do that, Ted." " What's the trick?" "Where are your guards?" " No guards." "Just me." "I wanted to give you the opportunity to surrender." "How considerate of you." "I just heard from my people on Zeta." "Pantera's been captured." "Jen Burton is still alive." "Tell me something, would you really have allowed him to kill her?" "I...tried not to think about it too much." " I see." " No, you don't see." "You can't see." "You can't know what it's like to be a go-between." "A messenger." "I was the one who was going to send the messages, remember?" "Not be the one to deliver them." "I was going to build something." "Something important." "Something that would last." "You took Pantera's arrest in stride." "Congratulations." "I adapt quickly." "Besides, I had excellent help." "Wait a minute, now." "What is this?" "Nothing." "I just wanted a little something to remember all this by." "Sure." " You don't think that android could..." " No." "You can keep it." "(Beeping)"