There's plenty of volcanic action down there:
Looks good: How about it, Wilma? Anything on your readout?
The planet is called Phibocetes:
My information tells me that it's uninhabited:
If Dr: Goodfellow's theory is correct: : :
We're almost certain to find Therbidian crystals in all that lava and ash:
Let's hope the good doctor knows what he's talking about:
Searcher, this is Rogers:
Go ahead, Captain Rogers:
Phibocetes looks promising: We're going to touch down and check it out:
How's everything going up there?
Well, the ship is still without power, Buck,
although we're not drifting anymore thanks to the retrostabilizers:
But, as you know, their fuel supply is limited:
They can't last forever:
Looks like we're coming up on somejungle: Taking her in for a landing:
Rogers out:
[Wilma] It's like a fairyland...
beautiful, yet strange:
[Hawk] This must be how the Earth looked before the dawn of animal life:
I will look over there: [Buck] As good a place as any:
[Hawk] This entire area is heavily covered with volcanic ash:
We must look carefully:
The ground fog may obscure the crystals:
Over here:
Oh: Wonder what we've got here...
Therbidian? Well, we'll see:
Ha: Therbidian crystal: No doubt about it:
I see no more:
Yeah, but at least we know they're here: Yes: Probably under the ash:
We'll set up a mining operation... uh, camp over here:
What's that over there?
What in the world?
Any idea what this is? A mummy?
Whatever it is now, it had to be a humanoid of some kind once: Yeah:
Well, we won't know anything for sure until we get this back aboard the Searcher and let Dr: Goodfellow look at it:
Buck, look at these: More Therbidian crystals:
Well, that settles it: Let's get this thing back onboard the Searcher and get this mining operation set up:
We can build a travois out of tree limbs:
That's a good idea: Let's do it:
[Soft Growling]
[Man Narrating] In the year 1987,
NASA launched the last of America's deep space probes:
Aboard this compact starship,
a lone astronaut, Captain William "Buck'"Rogers,
was to experience cosmic forces beyond all comprehension:
In a freak mishap, his life-support systems were frozen: : :
By temperatures beyond imagination:
Ranger 3 was blown out of its planned trajectory: : :
Into an orbit 1,000 times more vast,
an orbit which was to return Buck Rogers to Earth: : :
500 years later:
Can you imagine how Dr: Goodfellow's gonna react when he takes a look at this?
Yeah: He'll flip: Flip?
Means he'll be delighted: Twentieth-century jargon:
Are you ready? [Grunting]
Do you think the recent volcanic eruptions brought this thing to the surface?
It's a possibility: I'd like to know where this thing came from in the first place:
You don't suppose that poor mummy: : :
Was an ancient ruler who chose this planet for his tomb, do you?
I don't know: It could be: Shh:
What is it?
In the trees... something moved:
But Phibocetes is supposed to be uninhabited:
I am certain I saw movement:
Let's go have a look:
[Twig Snaps]
Did you hear that?
[Raspy Breathing]
[Soft Growling]
Perhaps my eyes were deceiving me:
I don't think so: Take a look at this:
It's freshly broken: Something was here:
Something very shy: : :
Or very cunning:
Yeah: Well, whatever it was, it's outfoxed us:
[Sighs] Let's get on back to the shuttle:
All right:
What the...
[Buck] It's unbelievable: The door's just ripped open:
The mummy's gone:
Someone broke in: No: The door was forced from the inside:
You know the strength it took to break that door out like that?
It must have injured itself getting out: Look at this:
- Blood: - We better take a sample for Dr: Goodfellow:
That's a good idea:
Maybe it'll give us some kind of clue as to what we're up against down here:
Hawk, we're gonna need a crew for the mining operation anyway: :
Why don't you take these blood samples back to Dr: Goodfellow on board the Searcher: : :
And also the: : : Crystals:
They're gone:
Let us go outside and look:
The harness... it's been torn to shreds:
How?
You are not planning on staying behind while we return to the Searcher:
Sure: That way I can get everything set up: : :
And we can get started as soon as you get back:
Look, we don't have time to waste: The Searcher is hanging up there with dead engines:
But, Buck, it'll take a full day to get the team and equipment together:
You'll be all alone:
Not quite: The thing that tore through the door will be here with you:
Hawk's right: You can't stay:
Look, I'll be just fine, all right?
Now, um, get moving, will ya? Time's a-wastin', as they say:
Be aware, Buck:
- Where'd you come from? - Are you angry because I am here?
No, no: I'm not angry, just surprised:
Oh:
Uh, who are you? What's your name?
What is your name? My name is Buck Rogers:
My name will be Buck Rogers too: [Chuckles] All right:
Uh, where'd you come from? How'd you got here?
[Gasps] Look! Aren't they beautiful?
Do you like them, Buck Rogers?
Yes: They're very pretty:
I give it to you:
Thank you: What do I do with them?
Look at it:
All right:
Now you can look at it as much as you like:
Ah: That's very pretty,
but you still haven't told me how you got here or where you came from:
I do not know:
You mean you don't remember?
Oh, it's all right: Just, uh, why don't you tell me what you do remember?
I remember walking through the trees: : :
And how cold I was when it was dark:
I found some berries! Do you like berries, Buck Rogers?
[Chuckles] How long have you been here? Can you remember that?
- Two days: - Two days, huh?
You are displeased with me: No, no: No: No, of course not!
No, no: No, it's just, well,
you had two days with no memory of them:
Uh, it sounds a little like amnesia:
Now, look, um, maybe you crashed on this planet,
and you... you walked away from the wreckage before you had regained your senses, huh?
- That is what happened: - You mean you remember now?
I remember as you tell me how it was: That pleases you, does it not?
[Chuckles] Well, I was just guessing:
Now that we have found each other, you will tell me many things, Buck Rogers...
and I will listen and learn, for that is the way it is ordained:
You know, I can't go around calling you "Buck Rogers" all the time: I'm gonna have to find a name for you:
How about "Laura"? Yes! Laura!
[Chuckles] Right: How about "Susan"? I bet you like that too, right?
Yes! Susan: You're gonna have to choose:
Now which is it gonna be, Laura or Susan?
You choose for me: I want the one you choose:
All right: Um: : : Laura:
Oh, thank you, Buck Rogers!
Ask me what my name is:
[Clears Throat] What's your name, stranger?
My name is Laura: Isn't it a beautiful name?
[Chuckles] It's the prettiest name I ever heard:
[Dr: Goodfellow] Remarkable:! Look: Isn't that amazing?
[Wilma] I can't even read it: The patterns are changing so fast:
Precisely the point, my dear: Do you know, at first, I thought the mummy creature's blood: : :
Was simply a genetic variant on human blood:
But not so: Not so at all: It's fairly exploding with evolutionary development:
But at that rate of change... It doesn't seem possible:
Indeed:
But the hemokinesis behind that rate of change is astounding:
- Oh, Crichton: - Yes, Dr: Goodfellow?
Would you kindly do something for me?
Interface with the ship's archives: : :
And research the distant past of the planet Phibocetes:
Oh, really, Doctor:
That section of the archives is like an old, dusty attic, electronically speaking:
All that ancient material stored away in binary code... so cumbersome!
He's his usual miserable self this morning:
Crichton!
Oh, very well, Doctor:
Doctor: Huh?
What kind of creature would display such a rapid rate of genetic change?
Oh, I have no idea, Hawk, but it's going to be fascinating to find out:
Launch bay, how's the loading coming?
[Man] All mining equipment has been stowed, Colonel:
The field lab is being loaded now: You can launch in three minutes:
We're on our way: We'll keep in touch, Doctor:
Thank you: Thank you:
[Chirping] I wish I could go with 'em:
Oh, my dear fellow, we need you to keep Crichton in line, so to speak:
- He does listen to you on occasion: - But very few occasions:
He's far from an obedient son:
Obedient son? Oh, yes: I see: Yes: Good for you, little fella:
So, have you been able to remember anything else?
I'm trying:
I'm sorry, Buck Rogers: There's no need to be sorry:
[Raspy Breathing] Give it some time: You'll get your memory back:
Oh: I'm so happy:
Now that we are together, everything will be wonderful:
[Chuckles] I think I've created an optimist here:
[Growling]
[Growling Continues]
[Growling Subsides]
What on earth?
Laura, this is Wilma and Hawk:
Hello: My name is Laura: Buck Rogers gave it to me:
I think she has amnesia: She doesn't remember who she is or how she got here... nothing before two days ago:
She was who you saw in the woods yesterday:
- What about the mummy? - Oh, we heard it last night, but we haven't seen it:
If she does have amnesia, maybe we can help:
Hawk, would you mind taking the shuttle back to the Searcher: : :
And asking Dr: Goodfellow to assemble an optical imager:
Optical imager? Yes: It's an instrument that will help us probe her memory:
- Yeah: All right: - [Hawk] Consider it done:
But I am not at all sure I like leaving you here: We'll be fine, Hawk:
We have a small army here: We're all armed: We can cope:
Very well:
I will also ask the admiral to run a verification on ships lost in this area: Good idea:
[Wilma] I know it's scary not being able to remember, but you really shouldn't worry:
Amnesia is almost never permanent, Laura:
At least that's what I remember from my medical courses at NavCom:
NavCom?
It's a school where astro-officers are trained for space flight:
We all have to depend on one another in so many different situations, some medical knowledge is a must:
But let's talk about you, your family:
- Family? - Yes, your family:
They must be terribly concerned about you:
But what is a family?
Well, how's the checkup coming?
Uh, so far, so good: I've taken a blood sample: : :
And we should have an analysis in a minute:
Mm: How about you, huh? How's your memory? Has it come back?
Uh, not yet, but once we do an O: E: L: On Laura,
we should pretty well know who she is and where she comes from:
O: E: L:? Oh, hey: There's nothing to be afraid about:
O: E: L: May sound terrible, but the worst it can do is give you a bit of a tickle:
Mm: Smile now:
[Beeps] Excuse me a second:
[Softly] Is, uh, something wrong?
Um, I'm not sure, Buck: The results of the analysis...
Hey:! Stop:! [Mummy Growling, Laser Blasts]
What happened? It tried to grab me... jumped at me from behind:
I spotted a cluster ofTherbidian crystals, bent down to dig them up,
and something grabbed me:
What did it look like? I never saw its face,
but it's grotesque:
Whatever it was, I sure don't want to see it again: It ran off that way:
All right: Wilma, take Laura back to her tent, make sure she's well guarded:
Johnson, come with me:
Well, Crichton:
Crichton...
Now, what's the matter with you? Crichton!
Listen to me: Have you made any progress? I've got to report back to Buck and Colonel Deering:
Really, Doctor: I am sifting this mountain of moldy minutiae: : :
Just as fast as possible:
This is exacting research and as such,
it must not be rushed:
Well, there's no need to be officious about it:
Humans! Hmph!
You really do try my patience at times:
[Buck] Nothing: Just a few broken branches:
How's everything around here? Quiet? Mm-hmm:
Okay: I want an armed guard around the perimeter of the camp at all times:
Lee, you start first: Yes, sir:
- Hall, you feel like going back to work? - I'm okay: Let's go:
Okay:
By the way, how are you getting along with Laura? Well, I can't seem to reach her:
You do seem to be her favorite: Well, I've known her longer:
And don't worry: You'll win her over:
Yeah: You were gonna tell me something about this analysis before all that happened:
[Exhales Deeply] I don't know:
I can't seem to accept what I find here:
Now, why is that?
Well, Laura's blood sample and the creature's...
they analyze precisely alike:
What? Well, you better have that analyzer fixed:
There's no way that Laura's blood and that creature's could be the same:
[Wilma] The analyzer's fine:
Their characteristics... they're identical, right down to the D: N: A: Structure:
[Buck] If that's right, then...
Well, then how could Laura look different than the creature?
I don't know:
Technically, it shouldn't be possible:
Dr: Goodfellow has Crichton searching the archives: Maybe they'll come up with something:
[Chattering]
[Chattering Continues]
[Raspy Breathing] [Laughs] It's true:
[Growling Softly]
[Raspy Breathing]
[Growls]
[Raspy Breathing]
[Low Growl]
[Laura Screaming] [Creature Growls]
[Screaming Continues]
Wait:! Don't shoot:! You might hit the girl:!
- [Growling] - Come on!
Keep after him: Move!
You're all right: You're all right: [Sobbing]
You're safe:
Okay: I'll take you back to camp:
Johnson!
You all right? I think so:
That thing... some kind of of monster:
Let's get him to the medical tent:
Here we are: This will help calm you:
Drink it up: That's enough:
He was out, Captain: That thing almost crushed him:
[Hall] He may have some broken ribs:
Hall, we need two men on alert from now on:
- Right, Captain: - Take him over there:
Wilma: [Man] Captain:!
The crystals are gone: It took the box:
All of'em we'd mined? Yes, sir: Every last one:
[Sighs] All right: All right, get back on guard duty:
Yes, sir:
[Man] Admiral Asimov: Yes?
Should I call Captain Rogers?
No: If he has any news, he'll call us:
The retrostabilizers are beginning to waver:
They're going to give out, and we'll be drifting again:
Even if they worked forever, Admiral,
without the crystals, we would still be hanging here,
dead in space:
I know, Hawk, I know:
We've got to have those crystals:
Oh, does Dr: Goodfellow have the optical imager assembled yet?
He predicts by morning:
Tsk: Uh, let me see how far he has progressed:
Yeah:
[Raspy Breathing]
I don't understand:
The monster let her go, but took the crystals:
Why? Look at the risk it took:
It's almost an obsession: Hmm:
[High-pitched Whining]
Sir: Yes?
The Federation Tracking Command reports no lost ships anywhere in the vicinity of Phibocetes:
Well, then how could the girl have gotten there? She had to come from someplace:
And records for the last three centuries show Phibocetes to be uninhabited:
[Clears Throat] Now hear this:
I have a significant announcement to make:
I have discovered a lost race on Phibocetes:
We should simultaneously transmit what I am about to show you: : :
To Captain Rogers and Colonel Deering,
since it bears directly on their situation:
Lieutenant Martin:
I'll raise them: Yeah:
[Admiral] Buck? Colonel Deering?
- Yeah, Admiral: Go ahead: - Crichton has a report to make:
I have uncovered evidence of a lost race on Phibocetes: Observe:
You are looking at a Phibocetes male: : :
Of an indeterminate period preceding the 22nd century: : :
Taken from ancient microtransparencies:
This is the first of two stages ofhis devolution:
The second stage: : :
And the final:
A remarkable catagenesis through which they degenerate:
It looks exactly like the creature that invaded our camp:
It is possible the degeneration is produced: : :
By a factor peculiar to Phibocetes...
a virus, perhaps:
Crichton, if these people disappeared from Phibocetes over 300 years ago,
how do you explain this one apparently coming back to life?
I do not have that information:
Well, then would you please go back to the archives and get it?
We need all the information we can on this planet:
I hear: I obey:
Is there anything else either of you want or need from the Searcher?
Yes: When is the O: E: L: Arriving, sir?
It is being assembled, and Hawk will no doubt arrive with it first thing tomorrow morning:
Oh, and incidentally, Buck, there have been no ships lost in your area:
[Buck] Okay, Admiral: Thanks: Rogers out:
[Exhales Deeply] So Laura didn't crash here,
and her blood matches the other creature's:
Does that mean she's gonna change too... turn into some kind of monster?
What about us?
If it is a virus that's responsible, are we going to catch it?
Degenerate into a thing like the one out there?
[Raspy Breathing]
There's nothing to be afraid of:
This is an electronic scan that's going to help us bring your memory back:
Isn't that wonderful?
Oh, Buck Rogers: I'm glad you are here:
Well, so am l: I wouldn't miss this first step toward getting your memory back for anything:
Wilma will take very good care of you, and I'll be sitting right over there, okay?
Okay: You all right?
All right: We'll get started now: Here we go:
[Beeps] Think about the very first time you saw each of us:
Very good, Laura: And now, later on:
Now, let's go back to the day before our ship first arrived:
Fine, Laura: Fine: And three days before that?
Now think of people you went to school with:
All right, Laura, um,
try thinking about someone you were very close to when you were a little girl,
um, like a friend or a sister:
[Wilma] How about your mother?
[Laura] My mother? Yes, that's right:
The lady who took care of you when you were a little girl:
[Gasps]
Why are you all looking at me like that?
Get them out of here:
All right: Let us go: Let us go:
Don't worry about it: It was just a malfunction of the machine:
It's okay:
There's nothing... nothing wrong: It's all right:
[Chattering]
Laura, no!
[Grunting] Let go of it: Laura, let go of it:
- What happened? - She tried to attack Hall with this:
[Wilma] She seems to be in some kind of a trance:
I don't think she's conscious of what's going on:
[Buck] Take her back to your tent, Wilma... quickly:
- Hall, you all right? - Yes, Captain... thanks to Hawk:
Take those crystals to the shuttle, all right? Yeah:
Get those crystals back on board the Searcher as quickly as possible:
[Sighs] Is she all right?
Well, she fell asleep instantly...
not even aware of what she tried to do:
What are we gonna do with you, Laura? What are we gonna do?
I don't understand how the crystals could exert such an influence over her:
I don't think the crystals have anything to do with it:
They don't affect us that way, and we're exposed to them every day on the ship:
Buck Rogers?
How do you feel?
I feel strange: What is happening to me?
I think you know something about me that I don't know myself:
I am frightened:
You are the one to tell me: I have no one else:
- Please? - Laura, don't be frightened:
We'll help you:
I heard you talking before about my blood:
And those men talking...
Is it true, Buck Rogers?
Am I the same as that thing in the trees?
Is it ordained I am to become like that?
No!
Oh, Buck Rogers, I will lose you if I become one of them!
I can't bear to lose you!
I won't let it happen! I won't! I'd rather die!
Laura! Laura!
[Sighs]
[High-pitched Whining]
Sir, Crichton, uh, said he's on his way up: He has something important to say:
Crichton considers everything he says to be important:
I just can't believe he's my son:
[Chirping] What's the matter, Crichton?
Cat got your enunciator circuits, hmm?
Twiki, what I am about to say will be humiliating enough: : :
Without having to endure your feeble attempts at wit:
Skip the preamble: What is it you wanted to tell us?
I have made a mistake:
I don't believe it:
I reversed the evolutionary process of the Phibocetes male:
The images which I screened for you were in reverse order:
You mean they start out as a sort of monster and then evolve to the normal man?
Precisely, Admiral:
You see, I discovered that the colony established on Phibocetes 400 years ago: : :
Came originally from Earth:
An Earth colony?
That is correct:
Genetic engineers altered the D: N: A: Structure of the colonists: : :
And used light refracted through Therbidian crystals: : :
To activate their life force:
- But why would they do that? - To ensure an efficient means of reproduction: : :
That would do away with such vulnerable stages: : :
As pregnancy, infancy and childhood, Admiral:
Twiki, see if you can find Dr: Goodfellow: We need him up here at once:
Yes, sir:
Laura!
[Laura Sobbing]
[Sobbing Continues]
Laura!
I won't turn into that creature, Buck Rogers! I won't! I'd rather die!
Hush: Now, hush:
Now, just take a look at yourself: Look at yourself:
Look at your hands: Look at your body: You're beautiful:
And you'll always be beautiful:
But the machine said... Never mind what that machine said:
You once said it was ordained: : :
That whatever I told you, you'd listen:
Well, I'm telling you something right now:
Everything's gonna be all right: Mm?
Come on: Come on:
Mm?
[High-pitched Whining]
Oh, I see:
Then it was a massive volcanic eruption that destroyed the colony,
not the genetic engineering?
That is correct, Doctor:
Oh, no:
Crichton, I've got an idea:
Show us those transparencies again if you please:
Yes: And get them in the right order this time:
[Crichton] This was the early stage of their existence:
Since they had superhuman strength and tended toward violence,
during this phase they were intended to be supervised:
This is the final form in which they remained throughout their life span:
They were fabricated, full-sized, from D: N: A: : : :
With all cultural information encoded in their genes:
They were packaged, so to speak, in this form: : :
To await activation by light from the Therbidian crystals:
Did you hear that, Admiral?
You know, that exactly matches Buck's description: : :
Of the mummy they found their first day on Phibocetes:
And that also explains why the creatures want the crystals:
Crichton, how long could it survive in that form?
Indefinitely:
- 300 years? - Easily:
Raise the mining camp:
Buck and Colonel Deering must know about this:
[Growling] Buck Rogers, watch out!
[Growling Continues]
Buck Rogers, look out:!
Buck Rogers, he'll kill you:!
[Grunting]
Stop! Stop it! You'll kill him:
Buck Rogers, wait:! Don't hurt him, please:
Please, don't hurt him:
Crichton had the pictures in reverse: He is evolving into a man:
- What? - The mummy is just the beginning, not the end:
Crichton had it backwards:
Don't be afraid: I'll help you:
We are of the same race, you and l:
We belong together: It is ordained:
It was programmed into our being a long, long time ago:
I didn't know until I saw you changing,
but now I know it is all as it should be:
Everything will be fine: I knew it would be:
I am an optimist: You told me so, didn't you, Buck Rogers?
The admiral informs me the fusion reactors are operating full power:
This last load of crystals will serve as surplus for future emergencies:
That's wonderful, Hawk:
In a way this reminds me of Adam and Eve:
Adam and Eve? Yes, uh,
the beginning of the human race, according to some beliefs:
According to Dr: Goodfellow, we're witnessing the awakening of a race of people who've been slumbering for over 300 years:
We are remembering with each passing minute:
Forgive me for being violent:
That's all right: You couldn't help yourself:
Every instinct programmed into you told you that those crystals were essential to the existence of your people:
Excuse me for a second: Here:
I just wanted to say good-bye, Laura:
Buck Rogers, my name was not to be Laura:
Oh? What was it meant to be?
But I think I will keep the "Laura" to remember you by:
Okay:
Bye-bye:
I must say you look awfully pleased for a man who's just been jilted:
Who, me?
Well, of course, it must've been very hard on Laura to give you up:
Oh, yes: Well, I hated to do it to the kid, really,
but, uh, well, she has her newly evolved friend to keep her company, and besides,
I didn't have the heart to deprive certain, uh, others of my companionship:
[Imitating Laura] Oh, Buck Rogers!
Does that mean that we will be together for always?
Well, it does seem to be ordained, doesn't it?
[Laughing]