Plague

[Gret and Yuna are on the Command Deck, scanning a planet.]

Gret: Well, I should have a signal from the probe by now.

Yuna: And?

Gret: Well, there's plenty of plant life, water, oxygen, just like Earth...let me check on the radiation levels...nope.

[In cryo, Lise starts tinkering with the laser terminal...]

Yuna: Reb, it's Yuna. The orbit's stable. Gret's pulled up a batch of info from the probe. It's indicating significant background radiation--we'd only stop here if we absolutely had to. Wanna come have a look?

Gret: Tell Bren to come up too. I mean, what are they doing down there, anyway?

Yuna: [slightly singsong-y] Oh, and Gret says to tell Bren to come too.

[Reb and Bren are doing repairs.]

Reb: I'll see if I can drag him up there. Right after we're done this replacement.

[Back in cryo, Lise continues tinkering. The laser shorts out and goes off, and Lise leaps away from it in horror.]

Lise (comm.): Reb, do you read? I need you up here in cryo. I've got a problem.

Reb: Be there in a minute. [finishes up]

[Reb and Bren join Lise in cryo. She shows them the damage the laser did. Burn marks are on the wall following a cut on a translucent panel in the wall. A piece of the panel has fallen out and we can see that inside the panel is a dark blue egg-like thing with caution stripes on it.]

Lise: I was checking the laser unit when suddenly it shorted out, went bizerk, and it dissected the wall. It cut the front off this sealed vault. Look what's inside--it's a biohazard receptacle: toxic, or highly contagious. I tried to check this panel yesterday, but I couldn't find the code to unlock it.

Gret (comm.): Hi, it's Gret. You should see what I'm getting here. What is keeping you guys?

Bren: Um...runaway servo...we're probably going to have to replace a biohazard panel and run a systems check so we're gonna be a while.

Reb: Why would this be here...?

[The laser unit cackles and starts going again. Quickly, Bren pushes Lise out of its path and gets Reb and himself down on the floor. The laser punctures a hole in the receptacle. Bren pries the rest of the panel off and grabs the receptacle, keeping his hand on top of the hole. After he works it out, he runs out of cryo yelling, "BACK BACK BACK BACK BACK!!" almost knocking Zak over. He shoves it into a hole in the wall near a shuttle bay and watches the screen display the progress.]

Reb: Reb, I'm at the incinerator station, Shuttle Bay 5.

Gret: Bren, what's going on?

[The screen flashes--the thing is gone.]

Bren: Nothing, nothing Gret. We had a little thrill-in but we got it covered. [He stops to catch his breath for a second.] Reb, whatever it is, I torched it--it's gone.

[Command Deck]

Gret: I'm going down there.

Yuna: I'm coming with you.

[Cryo]

Reb: Nice job, Bren. [He, Lise and Bren are looking over a component of the laser unit.] What do you think we should do now?

Bren: I could have been exposed. I'm going to seal myself in the Airlock until I'm sure I'm not contagious.

[Gret and Yuna arrive at cryo in time to hear him. They can hear the beeping of Bren's code and the door closing.]

Bren: I'm sealing the hatch now.

[Tired, Bren sits down on the floor of the Airlock, leaning against the inner hatch. Suddenly, lights start blaring and alarms yell out.]

Gen: Pandora virus detected in Airlock 3.

[Cryo; Gen materializes]

Yuna: The Pandora virus?

Gret: That's impossible.

Gen: No mistake, Gret--it is definitely Pandora.

Gret: The plague that wiped out Earth...

Reb: Gen, cancel the alarms. [He hastily takes apart the component of the laser unit and drops the parts on the table. He checks it, then collapses into a chair, dumbfounded (in a bad way).] I should have checked this unit before it was used. Why didn't I check it?

Gret: Yes, Reb, why didn't you?

[Gret is still outside the Airlock, attempting to make smalltalk.]

Gret: Yeah, I was terrible at biomechanics. I think it was...English and Genetic History--yeah, they were my big subjects. You know what I mean?

[Inside the Airlock, Bren isn't listening to her. He walks to the outer hatch and starts inputting his code on the keypad beside the hatch.]

[Reb sees this.]

Reb: What's he doing? [After a few more seconds of watching, Reb realizes it.] He's opening the hatch. Gen, Airlock 3, check the hatch activity. Bren, what are you doing?

Bren: I've got the virus Reb, you can't let me aboard. I'm opening the exterior hatch.

Gret: Bren, NO!!

[The seal is opened; the light above the door goes green. Bren is about to open it.]

Gen: Airlock 3, hatchway to exterior unlocking.

Reb: Gen, override! Emergency! Override and lock it down!

[The light turns red. Bren hits his head against the door.]

Reb: Bren, we'll find a way.

Yuna: Gret, where are you?

Gret: I'm at Airlock 3.

Yuna: All right, you gotta get out of there. This virus may be airborne too.

Gret: Bren, I'm going up to cryo now but I'll be back soon.

[Cryo]

Yuna: You OK?

Lise: A little lightheaded, but I'm fine.

[Gret comes in.]

Gret: In your prex--anything about the virus?

Lise: My donor was working on an advanced treatment of some kind, but she ran out of time. Bren, I need you to describe your symptoms to me.

Bren: I got these...blue blotches on my hands, where I touched the egg, and it's, uh, halfway up my arm. Shortness of breath, it's hard to breathe.

[Lise gets up and picks up a small vial filled with green liquid from the shelf.]

Lise: I have a sedative that can alleviate some of the pain and the hyperventilation--that is, if we can get it to him.

Reb: Easy. [He grabs an air canister and attaches the sedative to it.] Aerosol. I'll cut a hole in the bulkhead and we can inject the sedative into his oxygen supply.

Lise: It won't stop the virus but it'll slow it down, and keep him alive a little bit longer.

[Zak is standing in front of a series of wires in the wall; one of them is damaged.]

Zak: This is Zak: I found the problem.

Gret: Can you fix it? How long?

Zak: Not long, I hope.

[He starts on it. As the camera shot moves around Zak, we see that a purplish blotch is making its way up his neck and is right behind his left ear.]

[Reb and Yuna are at the Airlock Systems. Reb is drilling a hole in the bulkhead, when suddenly the drill stops. He checks it.]

Reb: It needs a new power pack. I left my kit in cryo, be right back.

[He goes, leaving the dead battery, the drill and the sedative with Yuna.]

Yuna: Lise, can you send more vials of sedative back with Reb? Just in case.

[A hatch opens. Bren comes out. The blotches are now all over his face and neck. He grabs Yuna's arm. Very tightly.]

Yuna: Bren!

[His face is scrunched up, like he's having difficulty with something. He throws her against the wall.]

Yuna: You're not thinking straight--

Bren: SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP!!

[He goes after her again, but she sprays the sedative into his face and he's sleeping in seconds.]

Yuna: Lise, did you hear that?

Lise: Yes, I did. He must be in stage three.

Yuna: He's sedated. I'll stay here with him. And I'm going to block off corridor C.

[Reb, walking down a corridor, hears all this and starts racing towards cryo. She seals the hatch.]

Reb: [panting] I heard.

[Gen materializes, but she's not looking at anyone; instead, she's staring at the ground, and she's barely visible.]

Gen: Zak, what are you doing?

Lise: Gen. It's Lise. Zak's not here.

Reb: Gen, talk to us.

Gen: Zak, if you cut that line you'll violate system integrity.

Reb: She's not here with us.

[Gen disappears, not in her usual way.]

Lise: What happened?

Reb: I don't know. Zak?

Zak (comm.): [muttering] Boot up. Boot up or I'll melt you down for scrap. I'll do it...

[Over to the damaged spot Zak was working on, Zak is cutting the wires, one by one.]

Reb: Sounds like he's infected too. If he crashes Gen, we're all lost.

Gret: I'll go.

Reb: No, I'll go.

Lise: That means another one of us is going to be infected.

Yuna (comm.): Stay put, Reb. I'll go. I'm the one who's already been in contact with it.

[Zak is now tugging out the wires and spitting out gibberish behind ground teeth. Yuna walks up to him.]

Yuna: Zak.

[He keeps on tugging a couple times until he snaps his head over in her directions and yells...]

Zak: WHAT!

[Yuna sprays the sedative. Zak goes down, trying vainly to grab a hold of Yuna but the sedative gets him first and he collapses to the floor. She kneels down to take a look at the wires.]

Yuna: Reb, Zak's unconscious and I'm outta sedative. So I'm going to seal myself in here with him.

Reb: Is that necessary? [Nothing. He starts walking to the other side of cryo meekly.] Yuna. I said, is that necessary?

[Yuna turns over her arm and stares at the purple patch on it.]

Yuna: Yeah. It's necessary.

[Ranch-or-Italian look from Reb the second time this episode.]

[Lise hands dispensers of sedative to Reb and Gret.]

Lise: I've made up three of these just in case any of us starts to show any symptoms.

Reb: Um, Zak and Bren and...Yuna...how long do they have?

Lise: I'm not sure...they're all in different stages. But we still have some time.

Gret: To do what? To find a cure when every scientist on Earth has failed?

Lise: What I'd like to do is I'd like to get them into cryosleep and freeze the virus until we have a cure or at least until we can access Gen's files.

Reb: It's just not workable--there's no way we can get them back to cryo without contaminating the entire ship!

Gret: So what do we do? Do we sit here and wait!?

Reb: In spite of that background radiation, that planet is the closest to Earth we're ever going to get!

Gret: So you're saying we should land here and detach the gene bank.

Lise: What about the others?

Reb: We have no choice. We have to blow the ship. We can overload the reactor and this'll kill the virus for sure.

Lise: No!

Gret: We are carrying what's left of the human race--that is what we need to protect.

Lise: We still have some time. How long before we have to leave?

Reb: As soon as Gret can prep the detach sequence. I'll go program the reactor. [He and Gret turn to leave.]

Lise: Something's gotta stop this virus. Let me work on it.

Reb: All right.

[Reb is on the Command Deck putting in the last few instructions for the computer.]

Reb: Lise, the reactor's set. I'll go see if Gret needs any help.

Gret: Reb. [Gret is standing in front of the Command Deck hatch, out of the light.]

Reb: Is the gene bank set to detach?

Gret: I didn't go in there. I can't.

Reb: What's wrong? [He starts to move toward her.]

Gret: Stay away from me. [Gret holds up a knife and points it weakly at Reb in a clear gesture to back off.]

Reb: [stops moving and says one of the corniest lines in the episode.] Put the knife down, Gret.

Gret: I screwed up somehow, Reb.

Reb: What are you talking about?

[Gret steps into the light. A purple patch has worked its way up to Gret's cheek. She's also been crying.]

Gret: It's up to you and Lise now. All those new lives are in your hands. So please, take care of them.

Reb: Sure...

Gret: Wasn't much of a life, was it? You know, that was what I was supposed to do and I'm never going to get to see any of them. [Starts to cry again, her voice cracks] I tried so hard not to get infected, Reb, what did I do wrong?

[Reb starts to scratch his shoulder and he realizes...]

Reb: Maybe nothing.

[Gret starts to point the knife towards herself and begins to bring it down...]

Reb: No!

[Reb works the knife out of Gret's hands and gives her the sedative. After laying her down on the floor, he sits down on the floor, leaning on the side of the wall beside the hatch.]

Reb: Lise. I'm still on the Command Deck. Gret's infected.

[Lise's face scrunches in regret.]

Reb: [He looks at the back of his arm and fearfully finds what he's looking for.] And so am I.

Lise: That must mean the virus is airborne--but I should be infected by now, it doesn't make any sense.

Reb: All that matters now is that you're the only one who can complete the mission. Gen, close and seal the Command Deck hatch. [pause] Use corridor E to get to the Gene Bank; it's the only one that hasn't been used. Once inside you'll see the instructions I've programmed in. You'll have to detach the module and blow the ship.

Lise: Reb, I can't do it alone.

Reb: Yes, you can Lise, you have to.

[Lise pauses to try to stop herself from crying, but she can't.]

Lise: Reb, I can't leave you guys.

Reb: We don't have time for this--you're in command now, you have to make the decision, damn it! [Pause] Good luck. [He gives himself the sedative.]

Lise: Reb...REB!

[Lise is packing a bag. She has a couple more vials of sedative, and, after checking them, puts them in. She is zipping up the bag as she walks toward the exit to cryo. The hatch opens--and a hand darts out and gets Lise's throat! It's Yuna. Her face is covered with the virus--and her eyes give away that she is, without a doubt, in stage 3.]

Lise: Yuna, what are you doing? I'm the only one who has the cure--let me go!

Yuna: You were the only chance, but you screwed up, doc.

[Yuna knocks the bag out of Lise's hands and it goes flying to the wall, the sedatives falling on the floor.

Lise: I tried my best...

[Yuna lets go of Lise only send her to the wall too.]

Yuna: Not good enough.

[Lise tries to get up to defend herself, but Yuna slams her back against the wall and grabs her jaw, turning it from side to side, studying it, while keeping her grip on Lise's neck. She starts to strangle her.]

Yuna: There isn't a mark on you! Why do you get to live and we have to die? Huh? WHY ME AND NOT YOU?!?!

Lise: [gasping] You're right! You're right! Why not me? Huh?! I touched you! I breathed the same air as you! There's an answer... [Lise's hands skim the floor in search of the sedative.] There's an answer... [She's found it and injects it into Yuna's neck.]

[Lise starts wiping the blood off her mouth and teeth. Staring at it, she understands...]

[Later on, Lise has a device with tubing attached to her wrist. At the other side of the tube, a similar device is attached to Yuna's wrist. Yuna is lying on a table, still unconscious. The device beeps. That wakes up Yuna; she starts to stir. When she sees Lise, her eyes widen and she looks at the device on her hand and struggles to break out of the bonds keeping her on the table.]

Yuna: When I get loose, you're dead.

Lise: Be quiet and lie still.

[Yuna continues to tug on them.]

Yuna: I don't want your blood!

Lise: Not my blood, my antibodies--I'm immune to the virus.

Yuna: [mocking] I'm immune to the virus. Well it won't save you from me! [Yuna's left arm breaks free and takes a swing at Lise, but Lise catches the arm before it can strike her.]

Lise: But the sedative I put in will.

[Yuna naps again. Lise scans Yuna--the results are good. As the hours pass, we see that the blotch on Yuna's arm gets smaller and smaller until it isn't there anymore. When Yuna wakes up again, she glances at her arms, and then touches her face--she's not infected anymore! Lise hugs her.]

[Lise joins Yuna and Reb in the Habitat, who are sipping drinks.]

Reb: How're the others?

Lise: Still weak, but resting fine.

[Yuna sets her mug down.]

Yuna: Lise, about what I said...

Lise: Like I have time to listen to everything you say. [grin]

[Gen materializes sitting in one of the Habitat chairs.]

Gen: Zak managed to retrieve some of my files, but I'm pleased that you were able to overcome the virus without the data.

Lise: I finally realized that in my prex, I was the only one not in a protective suit--so I must have been immune.

Gen: The first Lise had a resistant gene, a mutation. But no one could know for sure it had been cloned until you reached maturity.

Yuna: And that's why the virus was aboard?

Gen: Yes. So we could run a controlled test. Unfortunately, damage to the ship turned it into our own epidemic.

Reb: At least now we know if we ever get to Earth we won't have to worry about the plague.

Gen: On the contrary, Reb, the original Lise and the Deepwater scientists were killed by a new strain of Pandora Virus. It was far deadlier than the sample that they had put on board.

Yuna: So we don't have the cure at all.

Lise: Maybe not, but I know what I'll be working on all the way back.

Review

Plague had a good story, was fast-paced and exciting, and was set up and wrapped up nicely. There was also some good characterization in there, with Lise being in the spotlight for the first (and just about only) time this season. Wonderfully acted by Sara Sahr, and the rest of the cast was excellent with their violently-demented roles. A very intense mood was also made by the music, the acting, and the very atmosphere made the whole thing really creepy.

It wasn't with its few faults. For this episode, it was justified (since Lise was having the prex and was immune to the virus), but this is the second episode in the first season to have Lise Saves The Day With Modern Science On Her Side. This could get overused eventually. And the recovery happened a little too quickly. It was like time was suspended on the entire ship except for Lise and recovering Yuna when she was waiting to see if it would work. A nice effect would have flickering lights or something, because the sedative would eventually wear off of Zak and Bren, and they'd probably be going even more nutso than they were.

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