Co-Stars: Richard Blackburn (General Young); Jonathan Walker (Technician)

Originally Aired: 28-Jan-2002; Written by: Scott Peters; Directed by: Ken Girotti

Synopsis: Other than the incredibly hot body shots of Adrian strapped spread-eagle on an examination table clad only in his very snug briefs (leaving exceedingly little to the imagination. Gawd!), the thing that really strikes in this episode is Cole’s realization that perhaps not all of the escaped prisoners are intrinsically evil ("He wasn’t who I thought he would be"). Tracking was certainly more than just a job for him and perhaps the pain of his loss kept him from viewing the inmates he was guarding as people. Krace is also a more developed character than most of the villains shown thus far and he serves an excellent purpose in Cole’s character development...

His compassion for Krace comes across from the moment he sees him in Connolly’s clutches, even before he gets to know him. Fugitive or not, Cole was worried about him and felt bad for him. He even risks himself to rescue him (admittedly probably for Collection – and he did have the ulterior motive of not wanting the Government to discover any more about aliens) and gets himself captured in the attempt. He likely would have used Krace, perhaps tried to ‘rescue’ him from Zin’s influence, had he survived.

There are lots of little twists and turns here, from the metal triangle do-hickey Mel finds in her grandmother’s discovered memento box of goodies in the sub-plot, to Zin’s clever infiltration of the U.S. military and his preventing the info about aliens being here on Earth from being probed further. [At least temporarily].

Also, the introduction of the new element in Zin's Hyperspeed Simulator helped to move the overall story along and made Cole far more realistically vulnerable as a protagonist. Unfortunately, it also wasn’t picked up on...

———————————————————————

In the teaser, Cole is hot on the trail of a Nodulian courier/smuggler, chasing him through a night-time warehouse district, when an unmarked black van without plates and a black car come screeching up, cutting off his prey’s flight. Armed stormtrooper-types then jump out and corner Krace. Cole ducks into hiding and watches as they drug and shackle him, then start to load him into the van while another man, Connolly, looks on with smug satisfaction.

More stormtroopers are closing in so, to elude their search, Cole goes up on a roof and continues to watch.

Stormtrooper, into walkie-talkie: "The other one’s gone. Can’t tell where he went. We’ll search the perimeter."

Agent, after Krace is aboard, to Connolly: "The one who was chasing him? Got away."

Connolly, into walkie-talkie: "Second team ... Stand down ... The subject is secure. We got the alien."

Worried, Cole watches from the rooftop as they drive away.

———————————————————————

Next scene in the empty Watchfire, Mel and Cole are talking. Mel is seated at a table. Cole is pacing.

Mel: "And you have no idea who they were?"

Cole: "No. But they looked military and they knew Krace was an alien."

Mel: "Krace?"

Cole, with a thin smile: "The Nodulian I was chasing."

Mel: "The one that Nestov said was a courier for Zin."

Cole: "I was trying to intercept him before he made his delivery."

Mel: "Well ... Do you know what he was carrying?"

Cole, trying to hide his edginess: "No, but if Zin sent him it must have been important. If it gets into the wrong hands it could be very damaging."

Mel, jumping up, agitated: "Cole, this is not good! I mean, if they know about him, who’s to say they don’t know about you?"

Cole, hesitant, but trying to be reassuring: "I don’t think their research is that extensive, Mel. We’ve only been here a couple of months."

Mel: "I know but ... What if this Krace guy talks?"

Cole: "Then there’ll be a huge mobilization." He forces a smile. "They will hunt us down."

Just then Jess comes up from the basement, carrying a cardboard carton and a wooden box, saying: "If you look up the term ‘pack rat’ in the dictionary, you’d not only find a photograph of your grandmother, you’d find an entire tribute to her!"

She dumps the carton and the box on top of the bar.

Mel: "What’s that?"

Jess, gesturing: "You tell me ... Hey, Cole."

Mel comes over to look. Cole thinly smiles and heads upstairs without responding.

Jess, to Cole: "Bye, Cole." To Mel. "Is it just me, or is the strong and silent type a little bit too silent these days?"

Mel, with a tolerant smile: "He’s got a lot on his mind."

Jess: "Mel! His mind isn’t something I pay much attention to!"

She takes the cardboard carton [It contains one dozen martini glasses] and carries it back behind the bar.

Mel, smirking: "I noticed..." She looks in the wooden box. "Where did you get this?"

Jess: "Well, you know that little cubby next to the water heater?"

Mel: "Yeah..."

Jess: "That was way in the back ... Behind all the other useless boxes of junk. If I hadn’t moved every single box, I never would’ve found it."

Mel: "Okay ... I really don’t want to know the answer to this question, but I’m going to ask it anyway ... What were you doing in the cubbyhole?"

Jess, unpacking the glassware: "Chasing a rat."

Mel: "Ugh!"

Jess: "A big, hairy one."

Mel, sighing: "I knew I didn’t want to know!" She starts sorting through the wooden box.

Jess: "I kind of picked through that already. There’s nothing valuable."

Mel: "Are you kidding me? ... My grandmother’s ... letters ... and ... pictures ... It’s a real find!"

Jess: "Oh, it’s a find, all right." She makes a face as if to say, NOT!

———————————————————————

Up in the War Room, Cole is very busy when Mel comes in. He keeps working as they talk.

Mel: "What are you doing?"

Cole: "Trying to find the potential route the van took after it drove away."

Mel: "So, why was Krace in prison? Was he a ... courier up there, too?"

Cole: "He transported everything from neural-simulators to ... micro-nuclear transponders."

Mel: "This is crazy! You not only have to round up all the fugitives, now you’ve got the government after you as well!" She nervously begins fiddling with a knob on one of Cole’s machines.

Cole: "No one’s after me yet, Mel ... I just have to make sure it stays that way ... Excuse me."

Mel, moving out of his way: "Sorry ... Well, do you know who these military guys are?"

Cole: "Not yet. That’s what I’m trying to find out..." Then surprised, "You have a very large number of photo satellites above your planet."

Mel: "Yeah, I know ... It’s like Candid Camera in outer space."

Cole, puzzled: "Candid Camera?"

Mel, explaining more than he wants to hear: "Yeah ... It’s a TV show where they hide the camera and they have this whole big set-up ... And someone..."

Cole, cheerfully dismissive: "Okay, Mel!"

Mel looks abashed that she’d just went on like that.

Cole: "These were taken just after Krace was captured."

Mel, checking out the military complex displayed on Cole’s computer screen: "Our tax dollars at work ... Remind me to shut my blinds at night."

Cole: "That wouldn’t matter. They’d still be able to see through them."

Mel: "Great."

Cole: "These are the most recent ones of the area."

Mel, very edgy: "Cole ... I’m worried!"

Cole: "Mel ... I can’t let them get any information." He starts to print out the materials he’ll need.

Mel: "You were the one who said the men who took this guy are heavily armed!"

Cole, taking the printouts: "I’ll be fine." He pauses at the door just before he leaves to smile reassuringly at her. "I will."

———————————————————————

Cut to later with Cole surveying the outside of the facility.

———————————————————————

Cut to a Lab within the military complex. Dr. Ross Connolly, the head of the facility, is cleaning the lenses of his glasses. He’s a pleasantly handsome-looking man, in a bland sort of way. And the casually and cheerfully sadistic sort. Krace has been stripped down to his sport boxers and is strapped spread-eagle on an examination table/thermal bed, connected to monitoring machines by diodes taped to his head and body. He’s heavily panting, moaning and groaning, obviously in a great deal of pain and discomfort.

Krace, begging: "Please ... I didn’t do anything..."

Connolly, ignoring him: "Vitals?"

Technician: "Pulse is 120. Respiration shallow. B.P. is 90 over 40."

Krace, panting: "Too hot..."

Connolly: "Thermal setting?"

Technician: "104 degrees."

Connolly: "Let’s bring it up to 108."

Krace, desperate, groaning: "Oh, no! Please!..."

Connolly: "All you have to do is tell me what I want to know, Wes. And, well, we’ll make it all go away."

Krace moaning: "I don’t ... I don’t know what you’re talking about!"

Connolly: "Your low tolerance for heat is fascinating. Now, is that typical of your species?"

Krace: "Oh, what are you talking about? I’m the same species as you are!"

Connolly, circling the table: "108 degrees isn’t really that hot, Wes ... If you were Human. I mean, you’d be uncomfortable, but you wouldn’t be moaning in pain or dangerously dehydrated." To Technician, "112."

Krace: "Oh, no!"

Connolly: "Tell me about the man who was chasing you ... Is he one of you? ... Are there more?" Realization dawns. "You have something he wants, don’t you!?"

Krace: "Oh, please! I don’t know what you want me to say! I was on my way home from work ... when you guys jumped me."

Connolly coldly smiles: "120."

[As a Nodulian, Krace is used to living in cold water at least part of the time].

———————————————————————

Cut to Cole sneaking onto the grounds of the facility, zipping up the side of a building, tiptoeing across the roof while the guard below is none the wiser, then gliding down the other side.

———————————————————————

Cut back to the Lab.

Krace: "This is a mistake! ... I got a wife and kids! I work for a pharmaceutical company!"

Connolly, still strolling around the table: "Come on! We know you don’t live at home anymore. And you walked away from your job ... You see, we tracked a large energy source as it entered the Earth’s atmosphere and terminated near a train station several months ago ... Our investigation turned up some very disturbing trends ... Perfectly normal people walking away from their lives, their responsibilities, their families ... People like you, Wes ... We also took some DNA samples from you ... You see, we know a lot more about you than you think..."

[This is what brought "the men in black" government agents into the picture ... too many reports of people missing or seemingly just walking away from their lives, jobs and families all on one particular train at the exact same time. Someone was bound to take notice of a strange trend like that].

Connolly’s voice is starting to echo and draw out to Krace’s ear and all he can really see or hear is water slowly dripping from the lab faucet. Longingly, desperately, he looks at it, his lips dry, cracked and peeling.

Connolly, noting the direction of Krace’s gaze: "Oh, well, let’s get him some water." Krace looks at him gratefully. "Just as soon as he tells me what I want to know."

Krace, hoarsely: "Oh, please!"

Connolly, to the Technician: "Why don’t we bring it up to an even 130." He bends menacingly over Krace’s face. "I’m going to find out what makes you tick ... Even if I have to dissect you myself."

———————————————————————

Cut to Cole having made it to the far side of the parking lot using vehicles and container drums for cover, then letting himself into the building with an energy glow from his hand on the pass swipe.

[Note: No secure facility would have the parking lot coming right up to any entry, main or not. There would be a minimal of 100 yards of cleared space around it! And where are all the outside security cameras?]

———————————————————————

Cut back to the still empty Watchfire. One by one, Mel is removing items from her grandmother’s box of goodies. A pair of sunglasses, knickknacks, letters, postcards, photographs, a kazoo, a baseball, fancy silver demitasse spoons, scarves, doilies, et al. Nostalgically, she happily sniffs a scarf.

Then she pulls out a silvery metal triangle with a circular hole in the middle of it and reflectively holds it up: "What do you think this is?"

Jess, refilling salt and pepper shakers: "I don’t know ... Maybe a Christmas ornament?"

Mel, considering: "Mmm ... Too heavy..."

Jess: "Whatever. I’m sure it’s as worthless as the rest of that junk."

Mel: "I’m just taking a guess here, but ...ah ... You’re not the sentimental type ... Are you?"

Jess: "Mel ... You know how much I loved your grandmother ... But the way that woman hoards everything!"

Mel pulls a small but thick leather-bound book from the box. She opens it to handwritten pages.

Jess, noticing: "Hello, hello, hello there!" She comes over. "What’s that?"

Mel: "Her diary..."

Jess: "Ah! Finally! Something interesting!" She reaches for it.

Mel, moving it away from her grasp: "No! We can’t!"

Jess: "Why not?"

Mel, considering for all of two seconds: "Okay! Just a peek."

The two of them eagerly lean over the diary.

———————————————————————

Cole is prowling the corridors of the building, just looking around. It’s night, so there aren’t too many people about. But soon a pair of guards run into him and they demand to see his pass, telling him that this is a restricted area.

Cole grins, flashes open his jacket as if showing a police badge, then bolts through a door, which happens to take him down to the basement.

[The hallways are very spacious and open here, the place looking like a modern office building. And where are all the interior security cameras? The posted guards? This is supposed to be a highly secure facility!]

The guards pull the alarm and give chase, cornering him by the electrical power grid for the facility. He pretends to give up, then sends them one after the other flying through the air and knocked unconscious with blasts of energy. But now another pair of guards appear and this time he has to surrender, but not before absorbing his Collector back into his body.

[Although Cole presumably went into the base without enough of a ‘charge’ to use hyperspeed and avoid capture, this isn’t made clear].

———————————————————————

Cut back to the Lab. Connolly is pouring himself a big, cool, refreshing glass of water. Now it’s Cole stripped down to his briefs and strapped spread-eagle on the table...

Connolly, deceptively friendly: "Water?"

Cole: "No, thank you."

Cole: "Other what?"

Connolly: "The other alien."

Cole: "Alien?"

Connolly: "Yeah. The one you were chasing ... Let me show you something."

He turns on a VHS tape. Cole looks away after a single glance at the screen.

Connolly: "This ... is from the southeast perimeter fence security camera." On screen, Cole is seen zipping up the building. "Now, here comes the good part." Cole is shown sliding down the building. "That is a very impressive display of non-Human acrobatics! ... We know what you are! ... What’s the other one to you? Superior? Subordinate? Mate? Child?" ... He grins ... "He has something you want."

Cole can’t look at him. He seems very worried.

Connolly signals the guards and they bring in Krace, who’s half-dead on his feet.

Connolly, cheerfully: "Well, isn’t this nice! A little reunion!" He tries to intimidate Cole. "Now, you either tell me what I want to know, or you’re going to end up like your friend here."

Cole: "He’s not my friend."

Connolly: "You two are adversaries? ... Whoa! What, like, different sides of the galactic battleground?"

Cole, looking worriedly at Krace: "He doesn’t look well."

Connolly, explaining: "Well, he ... he didn’t care much for the heat."

Cole: "Perhaps you should give him some water."

Krace stares at him in astonishment.

Connolly, amazed: "You do care about him!"

Cole: "It’s called basic Humanity."

Connolly, yelling: "What do you two know about being Human!?" To guards, "Take him back to his cell!" To Technician, "And take it up to 110!" To Cole, "Now you know what you have to look forward to!"

———————————————————————

Krace is dumped back into his bare-tile cell, the guards ignoring him as he begs for a glass of water. Laying there half delirious on the floor, he can hear water surging through the pipe overhead. He forces himself to his feet and leaps for the pipe, missing it and falling heavily, landing flat on his back on the floor.

[Note: Krace’s cell looks like an institutional shower room. And why isn’t he being continuously monitored and observed through a two-way mirror? Or at least by remote camera?].

———————————————————————

Back at the Watchfire, Jess is excited: "Your grandmother used to run a speakeasy!"

Horrified, Mel slams the diary closed.

Jess: "Aw, come on, Mel! Let me read the rest of that..."

Mel: "No! ... It’s not right!"

Jess: "It was right a minute ago."

Mel throws the diary back in the box, muttering: "Speakeasy!"

Jess, reminiscing: "All those nights of playing Truth or Dare, she never let on to the truth!"

Mel: "You played Truth or Dare with my grandmother?!"

Jess: "Amongst other things ... She’d get a few shots of tequila in her and we’d..."

Mel: "Tequila?! ... She used to knit me ... doilies..."

Jess: "You’d think knitting doilies was her whole life..." Wheedling, "Come on, Mel ... Just one little look ... What harm can it cause?"

Mel, stubbornly: "Private!"

Jess, sighing: "Fine."

———————————————————————

Cut back to Krace. He forces himself to his feet again, makes a leap to the pipe going up one wall, then from there leaps to the ceiling water pipe. It sags under his weight and starts to snap as he greedily gulps the leaking water. The pipe finally breaks, dumping him to the floor, but now the water is pouring freely, reviving him.

———————————————————————

Cut to the Lab. Cole is happily smiling, breathing deep. Connolly is leaning over him, not understanding.

Connolly, to Technician: "Check the readout again!"

Technician: "The thermal unit is operating normally. We’re at 110 degrees."

Connolly: "Move to 125!"

Cole, grinning: "Whoa!" He sighs contentedly. "Ahhh!"

Connolly, quick thin smile: "How long you been on Earth?" Cole just smiles. "Are there more like you?"

Cole keeps right on smiling. He’s from a much warmer planet and loves the heat.

Connolly, angry now: "150!"

Cole, happily: "Whoooa!"

[Cole really shouldn’t be making those far-too-gratified-at-the-heat-torture-than-is-entirely-wholesome noises when he’s near-naked like that. One completely loses the thread of the story with his second "Whoooa!" He’s incredibly distracting!].

Technician, alarmed: "Dr. Connolly! The subject’s vitals are changing!" Connolly goes over to take a look. "Heart rate, pulse, respiration, B.P. ... All up!"

Woman Technician: "Metabolism accelerating ... Adrenaline increasing..."

Connolly, realizing his mistake: "Damn it! He’s energizing from the heat! ... Reverse the process! ... Implement an immediate cool-down!"

Technician: "He’s breaking free!"

The heat giving him more strength to draw on than he’s had since coming to Earth, Cole is snapping the metal straps that are holding him down and starting to sit up, almost freeing himself. Connolly grabs a fire extinguisher and blasts him in a cloud of CO2. Cole falls back, stunned but not defeated. He starts to get up again.

Connolly, panicking: "He’s still got his strength! You’ve got to cool him down more!"

One of the assistants grabs a canister of liquid nitrogen and gives him a heavy spray. Cole collapses.

Connolly: "Prepare a cold room for him! Keep the temperature down near freezing!"

As Connolly is speaking, Cole loses consciousness.

Technician: "Dr. Connolly! The subject’s vitals are dropping ... Defib!"

Connolly, yelling: "Shock defibrillator! ... Come on! Hurry!"

A crash-cart is quickly brought over and the staff set to work.

Technician, to Connolly: "We can try warming him up again..."

Connolly: "Nah! We can’t take that chance!"

Four times they frantically try shocking his heart back to life with the electrical paddles, but he’s flat-lining. To all appearances, Cole is now dead.

Connolly: "Dammit!"

———————————————————————

Connolly: "The cold shock must’ve been too much..."

Technician: "How could this alien be so susceptible to the cold?"

Connolly: "Damned if I know!"

Technician: "Well, the autopsy should tell us something."

Connolly: "Let me know what you find out." He leaves.

Just as the Technician is about to cut, Cole gasps in a breath and opens his eyes. The warmth of the lights have served to bring him back.

Technician, jumping back: "Good God!" Cries of alarm all around. To Cole, "Easy!"

Cole gestures and puts himself into hyperspeed. He clambers off the table, melts the videotapes with a glow from his hand, then grabs his clothes. Just before he leaves, he takes a glass of water out of the hand of that same assistant who sprayed him with the liquid nitrogen, drinks it, then puts it back in his hand up-side-down, saying, "Thank you." He leaves, once out in the hallway pulling on his clothes.

Now back in real time, the assistant continues his interrupted motion of bringing his water glass to his lips, painfully bashing the bottom of it against his front teeth.

Technician, blinking: "What the hell just happened?!"

———————————————————————

Back at the Watchfire, Mel discovers Jess engrossed in reading her grandmother’s off-limits diary. She sneaks up behind her and snatches it out of her hands.

Jess: "Hey!"

Mel: "What are you doing?!"

Jess: "Mel! You have got to read that! Your grandmother was amazing!"

Mel: "Look! This is private! ... No more." She holds up her hand to swear. "Okay?"

Jess, reluctantly holding up her own hand: "Okay ... It was getting kind of weird, anyway."

Mel: "Weird? ... What do you mean weird?"

Jess: "I don’t know ... Maybe she wrote some of that stuff after one of her Tequila Tuesdays..."

Mel, exasperated yet curious, opens the diary.

Jess, leaning over her shoulder: "Start at the third of August."

Mel, reading aloud: "Circle of stone, Keepers of light; miles below where day becomes night; Darkness descends from the skies up above; Faith in the Key protects those we love. ... Poetry?"

Jess: "I don’t think so ... Did your grandmother ever mention belonging to a witches’ cult or anything?"

Mel, forced bark of laughter: "No!" Another bark. "At least not that I remember." She resolutely puts the diary back in the box and carries it away.

———————————————————————

In the Lab, Connolly is yelling at his assembled personnel: "What do you mean he’s gone!?!"

Technician: "He escaped..."

Connolly: "How is that possible!?"

Technician: "He wasn’t dead! He must’ve been in some sort of cryogenic state and the lights brought him out of it."

Woman Technician: "He snapped out of it just as we were starting the autopsy."

Connolly: "Why didn’t you stop him?"

Technician: "We tried, but he just ... disappeared..."

Connolly: "How did he get out?"

Technician: "I don’t know!"

Connolly, barking orders: "I want a complete lockdown of this facility! No one in or out! Alert the main gate! I mean NO body!" Into a walkie-talkie as he gets moving, flanked by stormtroopers, "Facility Operator, this is Connolly ... I want maximum air! We’ve got to drop the temperature throughout this facility!"

———————————————————————

Cole is back in the basement by the electrical power grid for the facility. He locates on one of the meters the room where Krace is likely being held, then uses his energies to short-circuit the electricity and blow the grid.

———————————————————————

In an upstairs hallway, one of Connolly’s stormtroopers says, "What the hell happened to the lights?"

Connolly: "Why aren’t the backups coming on?! ... Find out what’s happening!"

Stormtrooper: "Yes, Sir!"

———————————————————————

Cole heads out to find Krace. Unfortunately, the lights come on just after he discovers that his quarry has escaped his cell. "That’s him!" one of the patrolling Stormtroopers yells and another one, armed with a canister of liquid nitrogen, thoroughly blasts him with it. They drag him off and stash him in the previously mentioned refrigerated room where he sinks to the floor against a wall, shivering and helpless.

The Nodulian comes to a decision, forcing himself to disgorge a Hyperspeed Simulator device he had concealed in his own body by swallowing it. In hyperspeed, he then sets out to rescue Cole, taking a swipe-pass off of one of the three guards outside Cole’s cell and going in.

Watching these two interact with each other is fascinating. Krace is a fugitive, Cole is a Tracker, and Krace still returns the favor of compassion and puts his butt on the line to save him because Cole tried to help him.

Krace kneels down beside Cole and takes his arm.

Cole: "What’s going on?" He recoils when he sees who it is. "Ugh!"

Krace: "Whoa! Don’t pull away! ... As long as I’m touching you, you’re in hyperspeed with me."

Cole: "How can we be in hyperspeed?"

Krace: "Artificial hyperspeed." He shows Cole the device. "It’s a prototype."

Cole: "Where did it come from?"

Krace: "Zin’s been developing it for some time now. It’s only 85% effective though and, like the real Cirronian thing, it doesn’t last long so..."

[Why wasn’t a Hyperspeed Simulator device ever seen again in the series? Couldn’t Zin have had another one made? And if Krace was bringing it to Zin, where was he bringing it from?].

Krace pulls Cole’s arm over his shoulder and helps him up. As Cole surges to his feet he pulls out his Collector. His first thought is to do his job. After all, in his mind Krace is, above all else, an escaped criminal.

Krace, alarmed: "Whoa! Jeez! ... Would ... would you ... put that thing away, please?"

Cole, brandishing the Collector: "Tell me why I should trust you?"

Krace: "Well ... look, you don’t have much of a choice right now, do you?"

Krace: "Come on!"

Together they exit the cell and start to get out of there.

Cole: "Why are you helping me?"

[Note how quickly Cole goes from this initial suspicion of Krace to treating him as a friend and almost-ally, although as both a Nodulian and a criminal, he doesn’t give Krace the full respect].

Krace: "Look, I know we’re on different sides, but right now it’s us or them."

Cole: "Zin won’t be too happy with you."

Krace: "Well, at least you helped me out in that experiment room. Zin would have left me in there to die."

Cole: "Yes, he would have ... Tell me about this device."

Krace: "Zin wants to use it to level the playing field."

Cole: "How did you stop these people from finding it?"

Krace, laughing: "You really don’t want to know!"

Suddenly, in the middle of a hallway, they drop out of hyperspeed and fall against the walls.

Krace, indicating an office: "Quick! In here!"

The door is locked, but a burst of Cole’s energy on the keypad opens it and they stumble in.

Cole: "What happened?"

Krace: "The charge is out ... It’s got some internal atomic system which automatically recharges itself ... It will take some time to heat up ... although it’ll recharge a lot quicker than you will."

Cole, as Krace checks out the office they’re in: "You sure it’s going to work?"

Krace, grimly: "It better."

———————————————————————

Cut to Connolly with a brace of stormtroopers in tight formation sweeping through the hallways, searching. Connolly is barking out orders on his walkie-talkie.

———————————————————————

Back to Cole and Krace.

Krace: "If word gets out that Connolly’s got a couple of aliens, we’ll all be dead!"

Cole: "When they examined you, what did they do?"

Krace, disgusted: "Everything! Including getting a sample of my DNA..." He sighs. "They got a thick data base on me ... Probably got one started on you, too."

Cole: "We need to destroy that information." He heads over to the computer terminals.

Krace: "What?!"

———————————————————————

Cut back to Connolly and company, getting closer.

———————————————————————

Back to Cole and Krace.

Krace: "Uh ... What are you doing?"

Cole: "Accessing the internet."

Krace: "Cole! This is no time to check your email!" He rushes for the door to keep watch

Cole, muttering to himself: "Nodulians!"

———————————————————————

Cut to Mel, reading her grandmother’s diary on the sofa in her living room. She closes the diary, sighing "Grandma," then once again looks at the triangle in puzzlement. Suddenly she hears Cole’s voice emanating from the War Room.

Cole: "Mel? It’s Cole ... Can you hear me? ... Mel? ... Hello, Mel?"

Mel goes to investigate.

Mel, as she enters the War Room: "Cole? ... I can hear you."

Cole’s Voice: "Mel, if you hear me ... speak into the microphone close to the computer screen."

Mel: "Cole! I’m here! ... Where are you?"

Cole, typing fast: "I’m sending you a list of commands. I need you to type them in and press ‘Enter’."

Mel: "How? I don’t know how to use the thingamajig!"

Cole’s Voice: "There’s a keyboard on the shelf behind you ... Can you see it?"

Mel, looking around a moment: "Yes!" She hurries over to fetch it.

Cole: "Good! Plug it into the main frame."

Mel: "What’s the ‘main frame’?"

Cole: "The unit in front of the middle screen on the desk."

Mel: "Okay!" She plugs it in. "Done!"

Cole: "Once you receive the commands, I need you to execute them so we can download a program that will make this system inoperable."

Mel: "You mean a virus?"

Krace, anxious: "It’s getting close to being charged..."

———————————————————————

Cut to Connolly and company, now in the hall that the office Cole and Krace are hiding in is off of.

———————————————————————

Cut back to Cole and Krace.

Krace: "Tell her to hurry!"

Mel’s Voice: "Did you find that Krace guy you were looking for?"

Cole looks guiltily up at Krace.

Krace: "This is no time for small talk."

Cole: "Did you receive the commands?"

Mel’s Voice: "Ah, I think so. It’s a string of letters and numbers ... Right?"

Krace: "Almost charged..."

Cole: "Yes, that’s it ... Type them in and press ‘Enter’."

Krace: "Tell her to push the big button on the right!"

He hurries back to check the door again.

———————————————————————

Connolly and company are approaching the door

———————————————————————

Krace, coming back: "It’s charged! Let’s go!"

Cole, holding up his hand: "Not until the virus has been activated ... Hurry, Mel."

Mel: "I’m almost done."

———————————————————————

Connolly and company are at the door and he’s demanding his stormtroopers open it.

Krace, becoming desperate: "Cole..."

Cole, seeing that the file is being sent: "One more minute..."

Krace, close to frantic: "If they capture us again it won’t matter if the virus is activated or not! Let’s go!"

Connolly and his men break in as Cole and Krace go into hyperspeed to avoid detection.

Connolly, after a look around, to his men: "Go ahead! Continue the search. Keep me informed!"

They rush out and, after a moment, Connolly starts to follow his men out of the office.

Mel’s Voice: "Okay! I’m done!"

Connolly turns back toward the voice.

Mel: "Cole? ... Cole, are you there?"

Connolly leans down over the computer, watching with horror as window after window rapidly pops up saying file after file has been deleted.

Mel’s Voice: "Did the virus download okay?"

Cole: "Yes, Mel ... Yes, it downloaded fine, Mel."

Connolly looks up, terrified.

Mel’s Voice: "Great! Now, do you want to tell me what’s going on?"

Connolly: "You’ll never make it out of here."

Krace, coming up behind him, gives a wicked laugh. Cole holds up his hand to stop him, then taps Connolly on the shoulder. Connolly gasps in fright.

Cole, taking hold of his tie: "Come."

[Note: Physical samples of skin, hair, blood, saliva, et al weren’t destroyed, however – and such would’ve certainly been taken from the both of them. Also, no mention was made of destroying any handwritten notes, x-rays, on-going lab tests, printouts from computers, EEG, EKG and other monitoring machines, et al – all of which probably would have been done or have been in the process of being done. There may even have been personal computers and laptops not connected up to the facility’s main frame at that point in time which held information and downloads, not to mention the memories of the individuals who were involved with doing all this stuff].

———————————————————————

The next scene, Cole and Krace are just exiting the facility into the parking lot. And the Hyperspeed Simulator is stuttering and starting to fail.

Cole: "What’s happening?"

Krace, puzzled, shaking the device: "The charge is supposed to last longer than this ... It’s running out ... Dammit! ... It’s gone!"

The two of them duck behind some parked cars.

[What really strikes by this point is that, from having agreed to accept Krace’s help, Cole immediately put a lot of faith and trust in him. He lets Krace lead him and never once seems to worry that he might try to double-cross him or attempt to escape. Krace likely would’ve made it if he’d just ditched Cole back at the office. Not only does Cole not seem to realize this but, if the thought even occurred to Krace, he didn’t act on it or even really seem to consider the idea].

———————————————————————

Cut to the stormtroopers searching for Connolly.

———————————————————————

Cut back to Cole and Krace creeping through the parking lot, staying low. It’s swarming with guards.

———————————————————————

Cut to stormtrooper Patrol Three who’ve just found Connolly strapped to an examination table (fully clothed, at least) and gagged with his own tie. "Get me out of here!" he screams through the gag.

———————————————————————

Cut back to Cole and Krace, crouching by the side of a car.

Krace: "How long do you think they’ll be before they find Connolly?"

An alarm goes off.

Cole: "I think they just did ... Come on."

They sneak around several other parked vehicles, playing cat and mouse, and stop at a vantage point.

Krace: "How are you feeling?"

Cole: "Better." He looks around. "There are too many guards."

Krace: "Well, there are probably more inside."

Cole: "Really? Do you want to go back in?"

Krace, angry: "Are you kidding!? After what that sadist did to me in there!? I’ll take my chances out here, thank you very much!"

Cole: "I was joking." He starts moving again, muttering to himself, "Nodulians."

Krace, to himself: "That’s not funny!"

The deadly game of cat and mouse continues through the parking lot as Cole and Krace move around and under vehicles, avoiding the armed guards searching for them. They finally reach the end where, for the last lap, they must cross the wide outer roadway in order to slip out a back gate and off the grounds.

Cole: "That’s a lot of ground to cover in the open."

Krace: "Maybe we should cause a distraction."

Cole: "Too many of them. It won’t work."

Krace: "I guess we run for it, then."

Cole: "We go one by one, just in case."

Cole and Krace, simultaneously: "I’ll go!"

Cole: "No, I’ll go!"

Krace, reasonably: "I’ve had more time to recuperate."

Cole: "That doesn’t matter. Your species does better in water than me."

Krace: "What are you saying? That I’m slow on land? ... Hey! Who couldn’t catch who back in Chicago, pal?"

Cole, confidant: "I would’ve caught you."

Cole starts to slip out of hiding to make a run for it, but Krace grabs him: "Whoa, whoa, whoa!"

Cole: "What?"

Krace: "It’s a guard coming!"

Krace: "Go now."

Cole: "Thank you."

Cole makes it across the roadway without being spotted and ducks behind a parked van. Checking that all is clear, he signals to Krace.

Gathering himself and taking a deep breath, Krace makes a run for it.

Just then, Cole spots a guard rounding a corner. He urgently whispers and gestures: "No! Go back!"

But Krace has been spotted. The guard open fires, mortally hitting him several times, and he’s down.

Cole doesn’t hesitate. He comes out of hiding, takes out the guard, throws Krace’s arm over his shoulder and muscles him away before any more guards can appear in response to the shots being fired.

Just outside the facility, Cole is half carrying, half dragging Krace along.

Krace, groaning in pain: "Owww! I should’ve gone first!"

Cole: "Would you be quiet? ... You have to hold on until I can get you some help."

[Cole’s first thought here is of seeking medical help for Krace. He wouldn’t have been thinking along those lines if he had still planned on Collecting his lifeforce. Cole is a very compassionate man, but also practical enough to realize that it would be pointless to get Krace stabilized only to take his lifeforce. Perhaps he planned on employing him like Nestov or even just allowing him to go free, but one seriously doubts he planned on Collecting him].

The final scene between the two men is both stunning and very sad.

Krace, agonized: "Stop it! Stop it!"

Cole gently lowers him to the ground, leaning him up against the building: "Okay. But just for a moment."

Warily, he crouches beside him looking around to check that they’re not being observed.

Krace: "This Human body’s closing down..."

Cole passes his hand over Krace’s face, releasing some energy (easing his pain?). Krace even looks a little surprised at this. Perhaps he’s realizing for the first time that Trackers can be compassionate people, too, just as Cole has recently learned that of the fugitives.

Cole: "There’s still a chance that I can save you."

Krace: "I’d rather live on Sar-Top than die here on this planet ... You have to take my lifeforce ... Now ... Take my lifeforce now ... Please." He coughs.

[This sentiment doesn’t strike as strange coming from a man who took the chances he did to escape Sar-Top in the first place. (By all accounts so far, life there is so cold, dark and depressing it’s pretty well unbearable even for the Guards). Once back in prison he may have another chance to escape. But if he died on Earth in the host body he is dead, period, with no more chances. Also, who wouldn’t want to return ‘home’ if they knew they were going to die?].

Cole, sadly capitulating: "Thanks for getting me out."

Krace: "This is no time for small talk."

Cole, gently: "Think of the most beautiful place you’ve ever seen."

Cole only takes Krace’s lifeforce at his insistence. Again, he probably wouldn’t have if there had been a chance of saving him. For a comparison in Collection styles, note the very stark contrast between that of Krace and that of Tevv in "The Plague."

With Tevv, the alien was clearly in a lot of pain and Cole actually took a great deal of satisfaction in both causing that pain and in the Collection. But with Krace the extraction is done very quietly and gently so that he wouldn’t suffer and Cole clearly isn’t happy to be doing it at all.

Slowly, tucking his Collector back into the small of his back, Cole then walks away.

———————————————————————

Morning at the Watchfire. Mel is on a step-ladder hammering a nail into the molding above the bar’s antique cash register in order to hang up the silvery metal triangle. Jess just looks bored.

Mel: "I wonder what it is."

[A number of episodes down the road (#17 - "Eye of the Storm"), it will suggest that her grandmother may have had connections to Cole’s home solar system].

Jess: "It’s a tin triangle, Mel! ... Why don’t you ask Cole what he thinks?"

Mel, coming down from the stepladder: "I plan on it. Just as soon as he gets back."

Jess: "He’s already back. He’s upstairs in his room."

Mel: "Why didn’t you tell me!?!" She rushes upstairs.

———————————————————————

This next scene between Mel and Cole is every bit as beautiful as the one between Krace and Cole. Mel’s concern over Cole’s absence is so obvious, and his attempts to keep her from getting upset speak volumes about his caring for her.

In his room, Cole is thoughtfully examining the Hyperspeed Simulator, quickly palming it and slipping it into his jacket pocket when Mel bursts in.

Mel, angry yet relieved: "Do you have any idea how worried I’ve been!?"

Cole, innocently: "Worried about what?"

Mel, disbelieving: "You don’t know?"

Cole: "No."

Mel: "You really don’t know!?"

Cole, with a smile and gentle laugh: "No, I really don’t know."

Mel: "About you, about where you’ve been, about what could have happened to you, Cole!"

Cole, melancholy: "I was ... out looking for Krace."

Mel: "Did you find him?"

Cole: "I found him ... He wasn’t who I thought he would be..."

Mel, concerned: "Are you all right?"

Cole, with a reassuring smile: "Yes, I’m fine."

Mel, at first stuttering: "Oh ... would you ... Call me next time!?"

Cole, agreeable: "Okay."

Mel, smiling: "It’s just that I worry."

Cole, affectionately: "Yes, Mel. You do."

Mel starts to leave the room, but Cole’s next words stop her in the doorway.

Cole: "Why do your people want to harm us instead of talk to us, Mel?"

[Ouch! A question no doubt asked many times by many others throughout Human history].

Mel, aghast, turning back: "Did somebody hurt you?"

The look of horror on her face just says it all.

Cole: "No, not me. But some people know about us."

Mel: "How many?"

Cole: "I’m not sure."

Mel: "We’ll be fine ... We erased the files."

They reassuringly squeeze each others hands a moment.

Cole, smiling gently: "We’ll be fine."

Neither really looks like they believe it. The affection and concern between them is obvious here and very well done.

———————————————————————

In the tag, Connolly is standing in front of the desk of Three-Star General Young, his superior and the man who runs the facility and oversees the USDAS project, submitting his written report.

Connolly: "You’ll find everything I just laid out for you detailed in that report, Sir."

General Young, thumbing through the pages: "Extraordinary ... I’m speechless ... How many others know about this?"

Connolly: "Sir, that report is an original. And there are no copies. My agency is compartmentalized ... and the men who work for me ... only know bits and pieces of the big picture ... As per security protocols."

[But wouldn’t Connolly have a draft on his own laptop? And notes?].

General Young: "Excellent!"

Connolly: "Thank you, Sir."

General Young, standing up and holding out a hand: "I’ll be sure to recommend you for a commendation."

Connolly, shaking the General’s hand: "Thank you, General."

As soon as Connolly leaves, General Young puts Connolly’s submitted report in the paper shredder. He then places a call from his desk phone: "Yes, this is General Young ... I need you to arrange for reassignment ... Dr. Ross Connolly ... the Perry University Research Center ... Yes ... In the Arctic ... Effective immediately, thank you."

He hangs up, then takes a special cell phone from out of his desk drawer, keying in a speed-dial number, then saying without preamble: "I’ve taken care of your problem."

Cut to Zin.

Zin: "Thank you, General ... I’ll make the deposit to your account."

************************

Note: Despite Geraint Wyn Davies’ opening-credit listing, in this episode Zin is on screen for no more than 15 seconds and has just two lines of dialog amounting to only 10 words.