How much longer? Koori.
Hawk, it is taking forever.
Whenever we're on our way home, you always say, "It takes forever."
It is the same distance coming or going.
- You would think we'd been gone for a month. - Two weeks.
Twelve days. And you were homesick after three.
Your mother will behave as if you'd been gone a year.
And Father will be gruff, I know. It's always the same, isn't it?
If only you could persuade them to come with us to the soaring place.
Perhaps you would not be so...
- What is it? - Fires.
By the caves. Something is wrong.
Hawk. Hawk, what does it mean?
I do not know.
Mother! Mother!
Mother.
Both of them are dead.
They are all dead.
Humans. Humans.
I shall kill them all.
All humans who cross my path.
And I shall keep killing them... Until they have killed me.
This I swear by you...
The ancient god of our people.
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 projectory...
Into an orbit 1,000 times more vast.
An orbit which was to return Buck Rogers to Earth...
500 years later.
Well, good morning, Colonel. Good morning, sir.
How's absorption coming? Very well, Admiral.
Chief says that all solar screens will be recharged by 0900, Mmm.
And we can start shakedown any time after that. Well,
at 0900 the great search really begins.
Yes, I suppose it does.
I'll relieve you now. Oh, thank you, sir.
I believe you have a station, Simmons?
- Yes, Colonel. - I suggest you find it.
The least you could do is say good morning.
It appears to me, Captain Rogers,
that you were well on your way to organizing a very good morning of your own.
Without any help from me. Good morning.
You know, Colonel, this is fast becoming a very stuffy century.
Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk. One word out of you, I turn you into a can opener.
I don't understand why you keep getting angry with one another.
You always make up. Well, that's the best part.
Fattening. Mm.
Repeat.
I'm glad to see you're finally off food discs...
At least for breakfast.
Twiki thinks I'm innocent.
He's innocent, Wilma. Twiki thinks we oughta make up.
Yeah. That's right. Twiki likes it when we make up.
- Uh-huh. Uh-huh. - "A stuffy century"?
I think the sun just came out.
Oh, there you are. Good morning. Good morning.
Oh, good morning, my dear Colonel. You look beautiful.
You obviously had a good night, yes? Good morning.
Nice to see you. Let me just feel your pulse.
Excellent. Excellent. How are you? Fine, Dr. Goodfellow. How are you?
Yes, yes. See the condition you're in.
You just want to shake it a little bit. I needed it.
Where's little Twiki? Little Twiki, hello. Good morning, Dr. Goodfellow.
Why don't you take my pulse? Oh, dear me. Oh, dear. I wish I could.
You haven't got one, you know. He ought to have one, oughten he? Mmm.
We could get him a little pulse. Rent him one somewhere, couldn't we?
Just a one-cylinder one. What do you think of that? Maybe even a two-cylinder one.
Twiki tells me you've been "banking" Crichton, Doctor.
Crichton? Yes. A truly remarkable robot, I tell you.
That's the understatement of the century.
Century? No, no. Not century, Colonel... millennium.
Do you know he's absorbed an entire millennium in the last three days?
And he's extraordinarily attuned to the unusual.
Do you know what he said to me this morning? He told me that the tongue... listen to this...
The tongue of a blue whale can weigh as much as a full-grown elephant.
Oh, come, Doctor. That's a little hard to believe.
Difficult to swallow, you mean?
- Oh, Doctor. Really. - Just a little joke. Perhaps it's a bit early in the morning.
Captain Rogers. Captain Rogers.
Rogers here.
I thought you and Colonel Deering might want to come up to the bridge, Captain.
Our scanners have picked up something in "Q'"quadrant.
We'll be right there.
Can you make it out? Not yet, sir.
Throw it on master screen.
A meteor? No, sir. It's not moving fast enough.
Well, whatever it is, it just seems to be drifting out there.
- Maybe it's a gas cloud. - No, sir. Scanners tell us it's solid.
Looks like it might be a ship.
If it is a ship, Colonel, its engines are dead.
- Energy sensors aren't picking up anything. - They are now.
Just barely.
It could mean there's life on board.
Give us plasma drive, Chief. Let's close. Aye, aye, sir.
Yeah, it's a ship all right. But I've never seen that design before.
Ship computer registers no record of such a configuration.
Crichton. We banked him on every aircraft and space vehicle since the Wright brothers.
Twiki, get him up here.
Crichton, you are ordered to the bridge at once.
I have asked you on several occasions, Twiki, not to give me orders.
- You are not a human. - But, I was...
You listen to me, kettle belly. This is Admiral Asimov.
You get up here to the bridge now! Oh, very well, Admiral.
By robotic law conceived by some distant and overweening ancestor of yours,
also named Asimov, I am obliged to obey your commands.
However, this is an appalling inconvenience.
Move! I am en route. Anger is a destructive emotion...
By which robots fortunately are not afflicted.
Goodfellow, you built that irritating pile of junk.
Can't you build some respect for authority into him? I'm afraid not, Admiral.
It appears that Crichton doesn't believe I constructed him.
- He doesn't what? - He finds it inconceivable...
That anything human had a hand in his creation.
I don't think I believe what I'm hearing.
Well, his life span is virtually unlimited.
His factual knowledge far exceeds that of any of us.
And he is, I'm afraid, just a trifle contemptuous ofhuman frailties,
to which he's not subject.
- You find that funny, Rogers? - Sorry, Admiral.
Now look here, Goodfellow,
if that ridiculous lamppost doesn't believe that humans made him,
who, in the name ofTheseus does he think did?
Well, he hasn't quite decided that yet.
But his speculations are, to say the least, provocative.
I'll just bet they are.
- Crichton is here. - Hallelujah.
I sincerely hope this colloquy will be brief.
I am busy acquiring the second millennium.
The admiral wants to know, Crichton, whether you can identify the vessel we are approaching.
Really, Colonel. If it is identifiable...
Then it stands to reason that Crichton can identify it.
Then do it! There, on the screen.
Where does it come from?
It is not from any known planet.
Its design is reasonably close to those built in the farthest regions of the Vega quadrant.
If you wish to discover its point of origin,
it would be logical to look beyond Cygnus in the ancient system of Argus.
- Is that all? - Yes, that's all.
W-Wait a minute. Is it true that you don't believe Dr. Goodfellow made you?
Oh, dear. Are we back to that?
I clearly understand why a human would want to take credit...
For creating something as perfect and as beautiful as I am.
But the concept is utterly ludicrous. Good day.
I'm going to take a hacksaw to him.
- Good Lord. - What is it?
It's the derelict, sir. That ship's a wreck.
She looks like she's been holed by a broadside from an armada.
We're still getting a minimal energy reading.
Tractor beam. Let's lock up.
How could there be any life in here?
I don't know.
The sensor says there should be.
Easy, Wilma. He didn't know what hit him.
He died as soon as the ship was holed.
Hold it, Wilma. According to this sensor, there should be something right behind that door.
- Who are you? - Captain of the freighter.
- Satellites ofThrom. - Who attacked you?
Ghost. Ghost. In the sky.
- Ghost? - Out of nowhere.
Attacks humans. Destroys.
One man blew this ship apart? Not a man.
- A hawk! - Hawk?
Stop him. Someone's got to stop him.
He is a devil.
Are you trying to tell me...
The thing that did this is a bird?
Hawk.
You're so far away from me.
I cannot help that.
Had our people not chosen to live the simple life of our ancestors,
they would not have been so vulnerable to the guns of human assassins.
When you began to strike against the humans, I felt as you did.
Yes, they must be forced to pay for what they did.
And now you think they have paid enough. Is that it? I did not say that.
They have come against us with fury and death for as long as any of us can remember.
If there is any justice in creation,
they should be forced to taste the agony they have visited upon us.
Then?
I do not care about them now. I care about you.
Each time you strike against them, something leaves your spirit.
You no longer smile.
You are changing, Hawk, and it frightens me.
Fascinating. Absolutely fascinating.
If true.
But we're about convinced he was out of his head.
Yes, yes. Tragic. Tragic.
But then someone or something had to have ravaged his ship.
I mean, we saw all that devastation, didn't we?
Space pirates, Doctor, maybe. But not a birdman.
Yes, I know you both have your doubts.
But you say the captain kept talking of a hawk.
If only we could capture him alive, it would mean confirmation at last...
Of age upon age of legend and conjecture.
I'm so excited. No one could possibly have guessed, Doctor.
Now hear this. All personnel to stations.
Rig for plasma drive. Well, Doctor, we may all be getting our answers soon.
It looks as if we're headed for Throm... If we can find it.
Star charts for anything beyond Cygnus, Admiral, are very ancient and very confusing.
But if I'm right, that star there is Argus.
And that should be the planet Throm dead ahead.
Well done, Lieutenant. Thank you, sir.
It's smaller, but it looks a lot like Earth.
Indeed. Indeed it does. Fits my theory precisely.
So that's the nest of Mr. Hawk, huh?
Move in as close as possible, Chief, and go to microscan.
And good hunting, Buck. I'll keep in touch.
- You didn't say be careful. - What for?
It never does any good.
Communication tower to vessel in Alpha 4 quadrant.
Identify yourself, please. This is Captain Buck Rogers out of the Earth ship Searcher.
I may be lost. I'm looking for Throm.
This is Throm. You're talking to the Communications Center in the city-state of Neutralis.
Do you wish to land? Yes, if it's permissible.
Certainly, Captain. Welcome. There is a guide beam in your quadrant.
Understood. Shuttle out.
It's Throm all right. I've got permission to land.
What's the atmosphere look like down there?
Atmospheric density and composition all close to Earth. Normal.
What about those big buildings on the outskirts of town? Can you make out what they are?
Well, they look to us like some sort of space facility.
Could be a service center.
Doesn't make any sense. Most of the planet looks uninhabited.
- What could they be servicing? - We wondered about that too.
Well, we'll find out pretty soon. I'm picking up a guide beam.
I'll get back to you as soon as I check out the social life. Rogers out.
Wow.
You look a little lost, sir. Does the cosmopolitan nature of our city confuse you?
No, no. Not at all.
I'm just thinking what a great basketball team you guys would make.
Basketball?
It's, uh, not important.
- May I help you? - Well, yes. As a matter of fact, I need some information.
Of course.
There are some spacecraft hangars and large machine shops on the outskirts of town.
I see.
You must be from a very distant world not to know the machinists ofThrom.
We have one of the finest service and repair facilities...
In the entire galaxy here in Neutralis.
Well, I noticed the buildings from the air before I landed, but they're not camouflaged,
and no interceptors came to meet me when I entered your airspace.
We have no need of fighter ships here, sir.
Weapons are not even permitted in our city.
We are neutral here, sir. Neutral in all quarrels.
I see. You mean if I were involved in acts of violence against others...
And my fighter needed repairs, you'd provide them with no questions asked?
We pass no judgments. We're merely businessmen.
- We provide a service for all who require it. - For all?
Then it would be safe to assume that you also service the fighting ship of a man named Hawk?
Mr. Thordis, my name is Rogers. I'm from the Earth ship Searcher.
This man Hawk has been attacking human outposts all over the Argus system.
I've been vested with authority by the Galactic Council to stop him.
You must excuse me, sir.
I do not wish to be discourteous,
but I'm already somewhat late for an appointment.
Good day.
Thordis, we've been looking for you.
We just came from the hangar, and our ship's not ready.
I'm aware of that, Mr. Flagg.
But the laser damage to your vessel was more extensive than you indicated.
There's no possible way your ship will be spaceworthy for at least 48 hours.
Well, if ours isn't ready, you're gonna have to find us another one.
I'm sorry,
but there's not a single vessel available for sale or lease in all of Neutralis.
- Unless... - Unless what?
Unless that stranger who just arrived would lease you his vessel.
Hey! You there.
We hear you've got a ship. Yeah, what about it?
Well, we need a ship, and we need it badly.
We've got to be off this planet by tomorrow morning. Forget it.
Now wait a minute. Wait a minute. You haven't even heard our offer yet.
- One thousand for 24-hour rental. - Take your hand off my arm.
Two thousand. Maybe we can make a deal at that.
- You guys do a lot of flying around this system? - Enough. Why?
Well, then you could probably tell me where I could locate a pilot called Hawk.
Look, you want transportation, I can provide it.
- If you tell me where I can find Hawk. - He minds his business and we mind ours.
Okay.
Buy the ship outright. Five thousand kroffers.
We need that ship.
Absolutely nothing. The mere mention of Hawk's name puts them into a deep freeze.
But this has got to be where he has his ship serviced.
Well, if nobody will talk about him, how do we find him?
And it could be months before he brings his ship in for servicing.
Well, I was hoping there'd be a better way.
I've been kind of expecting some company all night.
So far, they haven't shown up, but... Company?
Yeah, some hardnoses in town were very interested in my shuttle,
and I had an idea that, uh...
I'll get back to you.
Who is it? Somebody who can give you the information you're looking for.
And what information is that? I know where Hawk can be found.
At what price? If you open the door, Captain, we can discuss it.
It'd be dangerous for me to be seen out here.
Sure, I'll open up for you.
Well, Captain Rogers.
Now where do I find Hawk, huh?
Huh? Where?
Tell you where and have him after me?
I'd rather have you after me.
Are you sure of that, huh?
You'll get nothing from me. Not about the Hawk.
Mister, you are getting to be a real problem.
The repairs to your ship will be completed within the hour.
None of us have ever seen a ship as badly damaged as yours.
It's a miracle you were able to land it.
We've heard what happened to your people,
and the war you've begun against the humans.
Yes, I know. It's none of our business.
But always you've moved among us in peace.
We do not wish to see you die.
Word of what you've done has spread beyond Argus.
There was a man in the city today searching for you.
A man named Rogers from the planet Earth.
I think he's a very determined man,
and he carries with him the authority of the Galactic Council.
I do not think he'll rest until he's found you.
Where you been? I've been to town, Mr. Flagg.
You got through the men? Men? What men?
I think they've written you off. What do you got there?
This is just some things I went shopping for in town.
It's your outfit for your debut.
You'll be interested in this.
A grass skirt. I hope it's the right size.
And a dog collar, Mr. Flagg.
You see, I'm going to lead you into town with flowers in your hair.
I'm gonna make you the laughingstock of the galaxy, Mr. Flagg.
I'll kill you. So help me, I'll kill you!
Do we talk, or, um,
do I lead you into town as the new Miss Galaxy, hmm?
I don't know where Hawk is now.
Nobody knows.
But sometimes, he and that birdwoman ofhis...
Are in a place called Valley of Eagles.
Birdwoman? You mean Hawk really is a bird?
Part of him his.
At least, he's like no man you've ever seen.
And I'll tell you something else, you ever meet him in the air, you're gonna wish you hadn't.
Well, we'll see about that, Mr. Flagg. Where is this Valley of Eagles?
Beyond the second range to the north.
All right. Well, thank you, Mr. Flagg.
You've been most cooperative.
You are familiar with the exit, I believe?
You and I are going to meet again, Captain. You can count on that.
Searcher, this is Rogers. I've got a line on where we can find this Hawk.
If my informant is correct, he's in a place called Valley of Eagles.
And in case you're interested, he really is a hawk. Is Wilma there?
I'm here, Buck.
Wilma, it'll take me about two hours to get there in the shuttle. Can you meet me there in the starfighter?
- All I need is the coordinates. - Well, I'm not sure what they are.
But it's the second mountain range just north of Neutralis.
I'm on my way.
All right, Mr. Hawk.
Here we come.
At least listen to me. Listen to me. You must listen to me.
Doctor, I simply cannot take you down to that valley.
Buck would have my scalp and so would the admiral.
The admiral doesn't have to know, Colonel.
I mean, no one ever pays any attention to me. They wouldn't even notice I wasn't there.
I suppose that's really my fault.
You know, sometimes I lose eternity in the passing instant.
But in this case, that perhaps would be a fortuitous circumstance wouldn't it?
Doctor, I would like to oblige you, I truly would.
But if Hawk is there when we arrive, there could be a fight, and we can't afford to lose you.
My life's nothing, Colonel. Nothing compared to the knowledge that may be gained.
He's a bird. Buck said so. Now where does he come from?
I have my suspicions, you understand.
A hypothesis which I'm afraid to articulate at this moment.
But if it should be fact,
if all the speculation... all of it... would come together,
this could be as great a discovery as the tomb ofTutankhamen.
Doctor, I... I'll be no trouble.
I'll be as quiet as a mouse. But I must see that valley, even if Hawk isn't there.
I must see how he lives, where he lives. The clues to his evolution could be there.
Don't you see how important it is, Colonel?
Mmm, all right, Doctor. Come on.
Are you all right, Doctor? Me, all right? Oh, I should say so.
I am absolutely splendid, Colonel.
I haven't felt like this since I was a boy and used to ride the roller slides on Mars.
You mean there really were bird people on Earth?
Well, there's substantial evidence that there were.
To this day, you know, there are hundreds of stone carvings on Easter Island near Tahiti.
Carvings and what they call petroglyphs of winged men. Men with power of flight.
And their wings ending in fingers, much like our own. How much longer before we get there?
Well, we're over the second range now.
The question is, is where is his nest? Hidden, no doubt.
The hawk's a solitary bird. Guards his dominion fiercely.
Perhaps below a majestic peak. Look, I can see.
Look, there. What do you think?
Good a place to look as anywhere, I guess.
Doctor, you must be psychic. That's got to be it.
Hang on. We're going down.
Yes, yes. Very remote. Very desolate.
Precisely the kind of terrain I'm sure he'd choose.
I think we must be very close to his nest.
Oh, my goodness gracious. What is it, Doctor?
It's Make-Make. Who is Make-Make?
He's the great god of the bird people on Easter Island, yes.
And he's here, I may tell you, in front of our eyes.
Millennia and light-years away from his place of origin.
I'll tell you something else. Hawk will be here too.
He must be. Come along. Carefully. Carefully. Mind where you go.
Oh. There's the cave, I tell you.
And look at this. Look at this. Look at this. Another statue.
Do you know what that is? That's one of the ancient bird people themselves.
Oh, I'm overcome. I'm over... overcome.
Just a moment, Doctor. What?
We don't know what's inside that cave.
It doesn't matter, my dear child, what's inside. We must go in.
We must, absolutely must, see what's in there.
My child, I hope you understand what's happening here.
We may be on the brink of unraveling the mystery of eons.
Oh. Look, look. By Thor, by Theseus, it's true. I am right.
Look, look, look. You know what those are?
Those are the exact duplicates of the drawings on Easter Island.
They may have been made 10,000 years B. C. Oh, my child. My child.
Can't you understand what that means? Well, it means that man...
or rather, bird people... came to the stars long before we put men on the moon.
Exactly. That's precisely what it means.
Oh, look, look, look. Look over here.
These drawings here are identical with the ones I discovered in the archives.
They may even have been created by the same artists.
Hawk's people must've come from old Earth.
There's no other possible explanation from what we've found.
Oh, if only I could chip a bit off that rock.
I might be able to determine just exactly how old they really are.
In fact, Crichton could do it. I know he could.
Why with his analytical abilities...
- Are you all right, Doctor? - Yes.
We seem to be entangled in some sort of enormous web.
Probably the work of a mutant variety of Lycosa tarantula.
Oh. Extraordinary. Simply extraordinary.
Wilma!
- Buck. Buck? - Oh, my God.
Just hold still, Wilma.
Are you all right?
The doctor.
I know I shouldn't have brought him. But it was so important to him.
- And he did make a wonderful discovery. - So have I.
Oh, Buck, I can't tell you. It's so wonderful.
Yes, I'm so glad to see you. You know, you'll never believe what we found.
Hawk's people, who made the statues on Easter Island,
must have come here before Atlantis fell.
- It's a miracle. - Miracle time is over. Wilma, get him out of here.
I know it was very naughty of me to insist that Colonel Deering let me come along, Captain...
Doctor, would you like me to carry you bodily out of there?
Well, of course, if you're gonna be rude, gonna be miffed, I mean...
Never seen him so testy before.
You'd think he'd at least show some respect for the marvels of antiquity.
Yes, yes, Doctor. I know. Captain, if it wouldn't be too much trouble,
get me a chip off that rock, will you?
Wilma, get him out of here. Get that shuttle out of this valley.
Sorry.
If I'd known you were a lady, I would've done that more gently.
Who are you and why have you come here?
My name is Captain Buck Rogers. I'm from the spaceship Searcher out of Earth.
I'm looking for a man called Hawk.
I have never heard of anyone called Hawk.
That's strange, since I understand he's half-bird and half-human just as you are.
Human?
If he heard you call him that, he would tear you to pieces.
There is nothing human about him or me. Nothing!
I take it you don't care much for humans.
Care for them?
Destroyers. Assassins. All of them.
That's what you are, isn't it? An assassin sent here to kill Hawk?
I'm not here to kill anybody.
I was sent here to find Hawk and try and bring him back with me.
And if he does not return with you, which he will not?
You know an awful lot about a man you've never heard of.
Listen to me, Earthman.
I do not know who sent you to this place.
But you can thank whatever ugly gods you worship that Hawk is not here.
Well, thank you. At least now I know he's not here.
- Where is he? - Away.
- For how long? - A day. A week. A month. Perhaps two months.
- Do you wish to wait? - Wait for two months?
- No. Now that doesn't make much sense, does it? - If you go from here now, you will live.
- Wait, and you will die. - Perhaps.
Do you think he will just walk in here and let you shoot him from the shadows?
No, human. He will fly over this valley,
and he will see your ship and blow it into so many grains of sand.
- Well, there you've got a point. - Why don't you go back where you came from?
You will never capture Hawk. Even if you search for him, you will never find him.
No one who ever searches for Hawk can find him.
Well, I've heard he's pretty elusive.
Uh, do you have anything you'd like to pack before we go?
Go? What do you mean go?
Leave here. Together.
See, you've convinced me. It makes no sense whatsoever to wait here for Hawk.
If you take me anywhere, Hawk will follow and destroy you.
You did not hear me. Hawk will follow and destroy you.
Yes, I heard you. The key word is "follow."
See, if Hawk is so elusive that I can't find him,
does it make sense to have him find me?
You are a devious man, human.
I'm kind of taken with you too.
Koori?
You are a dead man. That's funny. I feel okay.
Maybe there's hope for me yet.
There is no hope for here is Hawk.
I am Hawk, human. So I hear.
This is Captain Buck Rogers from the Earth ship Searcher.
I know who you are, Earthman. Save your breath.
- And I know you have my mate aboard. - Then you know you can't attack me without risking her life.
- So land and surrender. - No.
Then I've got no choice but to shoot you down.
You may find that more difficult than you think, Captain.
Look, I don't wanna kill you, Hawk.
My orders are to stop your rampages one way or another.
Rampages?
No, Earthman. Retributions.
Retributions for eons of genocidal crimes against my people...
By humans.
I'm not here to judge you, Hawk. Just to bring you back to answer for what you've done.
You are here to die, Earthman.
You don't seem to understand the situation, Hawk.
If you shoot at my ship, you also shoot at your mate.
It will not be necessary to destroy your ship, Rogers.
I shall drive you from the sky, force you to land,
and you will release Koori to me on my terms.
- Not on your life. - Let us see then which of us shall survive, Captain.
You have your intricate technology.
I have only instincts...
Honed by half a million years of evolution in flight.
Don't be a fool, Hawk. The odds are all against you.
I do not think so, Earthman.
You see, the one thing your instruments cannot do...
Is anticipate.
You're right, lady. That man can fly.
He is not a man. He is Hawk.
- Soon you will know what that means. - We'll see.
Not bad, Hawk. But one pass does not a battle make.
There will be others, Earthman. Here is one of them.
Bad move, Mr. Bird. It's over before it begins.
A miss. Did you really think it would be so easy, Earthman?
Just a demonstration, Captain, that your instruments will not help you.
Do you not see you have no chance?
There is Throm. Go down and release me, and he might let you live.
I'll go down.
Better, Earthman. Better.
But you have missed your last chance.
These childish maneuvers, they begin to bore me.
Earthman, follow if you can.
What now, Earthling?
It is useless to look for him.
When he folds his wings, it means he will strike.
He's either buried in the heart of that mountain, or we've lost him.
Believe what you will, Earthman. He is coming.
Hawk, she's hurt! You speared her.
- Koori. - Hawk.
It was my... my fault.
- Release me. I'll land. - I cannot release you.
The talons retract up and back... to rip your wings and force you to land.
It would tear her to pieces.
- Then get us down. She's bleeding badly. - Release your controls.
- Release them, or we all die. - You can't land two ships together. The torque would be too strong.
I will land in the jungle.
L-I will manage a controlled crash.
- Release. - All right.
Get ready for the strain.
I'm releasing... Now!
We're going in!
Koori.!
She's over here, Hawk.
She's unconscious.
She's bleeding, Hawk. I don't know how badly she's hurt.
She needs attention.
Human. I am here.
I could kill you... Now.
We could kill each other, but would that really help Koori?
You wish me to believe that you, a human,
care whether one of us lives or dies?
Yes. I do care.
If you hadn't stuck those steel claws into my ship, Koori wouldn't be hurt.
And if you had left her safe in the place from which you took her by force,
she would not have come to this.
I can't argue that.
So, we're both responsible.
So, what do we do, kill each other,
or do we join forces and try to get her some help?
I do not trust humans with guns.
Fine.
So we stand here for a few hours not trusting each other as she bleeds to death.
Koori?
Koori.
Hawk.
You are hurt. It is my fault.
I do not matter.
You are all that matters.
You are all.
There's a medical kit on board my ship.
Him! It is all right.
No. He wants to take you back with him.
You must kill him. I cannot harm him now.
It will take both of us to get you to help.
But you cannot trust him.
The first moment he can,
he will take you prisoner or kill you.
Still, I must trust him.
I have no choice. No!
Oh!
I was able to stop the bleeding, at least temporarily,
but she still needs a doctor.
There is a healer at Neutralis.
- But it is a long way. - How long?
More than a day's journey.
Until then, human, we have no quarrel.
Until then.
But when we have brought her to help, Earthman,
then it will be you and I... To the death.
I suppose so.
Why are we stopping?
Because there's shelter here, and you're exhausted.
We will go on. Not unless you let me carry her.
- Never. - Someday, bub, you're gonna choke on that pride of yours.
If you don't care anything about yourself, think about her.
You are at the end of your rope.
If you stumble and fall, you could reopen her wound.
Now, is that what you want?
We will rest.
How is she? Her pulse is weak.
She'd lost a lot of blood before I could get her out of the ship.
- The sleep will do her good. - Yes.
You will never take me in. You know that.
- I'm gonna have to try. - I'd rather die than stand before your human justice.
I'm sorry you feel that way, Hawk. I kinda like you.
- A human likes. - You don't think we have feelings?
For your own kind perhaps. Not for others.
- Sometimes it must seem that way. - "Sometimes"?
The history of your race is written in its own blood.
Even before there were weapons... nothing but stones and clubs...
your ancestors hunted Neanderthal man into extinction.
Look, Hawk, I'll admit the picture isn't pretty,
but humanity wasn't in conflict with you.
- Why... Why do you hate us? - Why not?
- Why shouldn't you know why we hate you? - I'm listening.
Tens of thousands of years ago, my people were on Earth.
Yes. Easter Island... before Atlantis fell.
There are statues of bird people there today.
I am surprised you would know.
I was briefed. You have heard, then, we had wings.
Living wings... And the power of flight.
- So the legend goes. - The legend is true.
For a hundred thousand years, we lived in peace.
And in the next hundred thousand years,
your race arose and spread across the Earth like a plague...
Bringing conflict and violence with them wherever they went.
Finally,
inevitably, they stumbled across us.
You can guess what happened then, and I think you may know why.
There are people who will always be threatened by the new and the different.
The people... humans...
slaughtered almost all of my ancestors.
Those that escaped went out to the stars. Some came here.
They were so frightened of being different,
they never flew again...
And bred the ability out of future generations.
We are the result.
We have the flying instinct, but we cannot physically use it.
And all because of humans.
That was a long, long time ago.
It was yesterday.
If you had been with me a few weeks ago,
you would have seen the bodies of my people...
Littering the ground around the last home they had on this planet.
It was a pathetic little village ofhuts.
It's all we had.
And why?
Because it is fun for humans to kill birds.
Hmm? Like your ancestors?
Your ancestors who used to hunt pheasants... For sport.
How many species did you wipe from the face of the Earth?
Passenger pigeons, the giant storks,
the bald eagle, the condor.
Anything with wings was fair game!
I grow tired.
But I must not rest.
We must not be the last of our kind,
Koori and I.
We must... Survive.
We will survive.
I believe you, Hawk.
And I understand. Really I do.
Humans understand nothing.
You're wrong, Hawk. We do have feelings.
We love. We hate. We fear.
Sometimes too much and for all the wrong reasons.
Just like you.
Leave her.
She is hurt. We need the healer.
This way.
You may place her there.
I can do nothing for her.
Please. I'm sorry. I feel your pain.
But she's beyond my small power to help.
Are you telling me she is dying?
There's no physician I know who could save her.
- Except perhaps... - Perhaps?
One who, it is said, can reach beyond our childish knowledge.
Is there such a man?
He's called the Lamajuna.
He's very old, and he lives on a mountain to the south.
It is said that he has great powers. The Lamajuna?
I have heard of him.
All have heard of him here. Few have seen him.
- He will see us? - I do not know.
But his god is Vishnu, the Preserver.
Vishnu? His companion is Garuda.
- Exactly. - "Garuda"?
Vishnu's faithful one.
He carries Vishnu through the vaults of heaven...
half-man and half-eagle.
Since you, too, are of the race of the eagles,
perhaps the Lamajuna will open his heart to you.
We will go on. I know the way.
Thank you.
Searcher calling Captain Rogers. Come in, please.
Nothing, sir.
You see, Admiral, Throm's quite a small world,
and Buck's horizon, therefore, is much closer to him than it would be on Earth,
and the curvature of the planet could be blocking his signal.
It's not like Buck to be out of contact this long.
Something's happened to him. I know it.
With your permission, Admiral. Of course.
- But you keep in contact every 15 minutes. - Yes, sir.
Let me help you. We are almost there.
She will stay with me now.
Rogers!
I told you we'd meet again.
You remember my friends, don't you?
Well, they remember you, Rogers...
what a good host you were when we last met.
It's me they want, not you.
Take Koori and go. I'll hold them off as long as I can.
Hawk, with both of us dead, she dies for sure. Now get outta here.
Go!
Tell you what, Flagg. Why don't you call off your dogs,
and you and I will settle this man-to-man like gentlemen.
Good try, Rogers,
but, then, I'm no gentleman.
I'm no hero either.
My boys are gonna truss you up like a guinea hen and roast you over a slow fire.
And every time you holler, I'm gonna take me another drink.
And I hope you last long enough for me to get roarin' drunk.
I thought I told you they only wanted me. You don't listen too well.
Tell me something, Earthman. Can you ever fight without talking?
Roast pheasant and barbecued Hawk. Now, ain't that a picture.
Go. Go!
Let's get outta here!
It is all right.
We have brought you to someone who can help you.
There is no pain.
You will leave me with her now.
You are Hawk's woman.
Do not be afraid. I am not afraid.
And you... you must not fear for me.
I feel as if I were riding a cloud.
I have no weight.
- Am I dying? - There is no such thing as death.
There is only... Change.
But I am dying.
As the world you know thinks of death, yes.
The spark of this existence is almost out.
For myself, I am ready.
But for him... for his sake... I wish it could be different.
You cannot save me then?
Save you from something that does not exist?
That would be magic indeed.
But I sense something,
something I have never felt before.
You sense the power of your own spirit.
I do not understand.
The flesh is already beyond my power to help.
But I am cradling your spirit,
holding it now as it strains against the bonds of this mortality.
Do you not feel it?
Yes.
By holding your spirit here,
I can give you, child, the illusion of life as you think of life.
You can sense and know, remember and love.
But only as illusion?
Yes.
But how would it feel to me, this illusion?
You already know.
You are living now in spirit.
My spirit lives,
but I can never again... Be as I was.
That is the way it must be.
I cannot run with Hawk...
Or fly with him,
hold him in my arms... Or bear his children.
No.
Then let my spirit go.
As you wish.
May I say good-bye to him first?
He is coming now.
How is she?
She will tell you.
Your hand is cold, like ice.
It is not important.
I want to tell you how much I love you,
how much I have always loved you,
how much I will love you...
Through all eternity.
No.
I cannot live without you.
I cannot be alone.
You will never be alone.
I promise you that.
I will always be with you.
I cannot let you go.
You can.
You must be strong.
Oh, Hawk.
It is so beautiful what I see.
Now, at last,
my spirit will know how to fly.
Good-bye, my love.
She is gone.
I'm sorry, Hawk. You tried to save her.
For that, I offer you your life.
I will not kill you if you go now.
I can't do that, Hawk.
That is the answer I expected.
We are much alike, you and I.
Another time, another place... who knows?
Is there no chance I can talk you into coming back with me?
I have said before I will not stand before human justice.
I am here, Rogers.
And I am waiting.
It is sad that I must kill you.
You are the only human for whom I have ever had some measure of respect.
There are a lot of humans just like me, Hawk.
Most of them, in fact.
I only wish I could convince you of that.
You cannot.
You picked quite a place for a showdown.
I am at home in the heights.
This doesn't make any sense, you know?
It is inevitable.
Well, then I guess we oughta get on with it.
Come on!
There's something on this mountain.
I'm going in.
How long are you gonna keep this up?
Take him.
Let it be entered in the record that the defendant is present and now awaiting verdict.
Searcher is ready, Your Honors.
Be it known that this Galactic Court is now in session.
All arguments have been heard,
and the court is prepared to pronounce sentence.
This court has listened carefully to the evidence presented against the defendant.
In addition to his attack upon and destruction of a space freighter...
Plying between the satellites ofThrom,
the court has evidence of violent attacks by the defendant...
On other human outposts throughout the system of Argus.
We regret the defendant's refusal to testify in his own behalf,
but, in the absence of that testimony,
the court has no choice but to impose sentence.
Before we pronounce that sentence, however,
we should like to give the accused one last opportunity to speak.
Your Honors, the defendant has instructed me to say again what I've said before.
He does not recognize the authority of this court to sit in judgment upon him...
And refuses to speak to it for any reason, even if it should mean his death.
In that case, the court has no recourse...
But to pass sentence as proscribed by galactic law.
It is the unanimous opinion of this court...
That the defendant be sentenced to... Wait!
Damn you, Hawk! Speak up!
Don't you understand?
They are gonna sentence you to death!
You have given them no other choice.
You are the damndest, stubbornest...
Most prideful man I have ever met.
I don't know anything about your courtroom procedure,
but I demand to be heard before you sentence this man to die.
I am not a man.
He's right. He is not a man.
He is not a human.
And that is the most crucial point in these entire proceedings.
You know that drunken humans slaughtered the last ofhis people.
You know that the one person he cared most for in all the world...
his wife... died in his arms.
He is alone now,
stripped of everything he ever cared for...
his wife,
his friends,
people like himself.
And thanks to our human ancestors,
stripped of one of the greatest gifts God could have ever given any people...
the power of living flight.
He says the history of mankind is written in human blood.
Well, his presence in this courtroom is a sad commentary...
On the fact that our history is also written in the blood of others.
If he were the most unregenerate savage the world has even known, we would not kill him...
Because he is the last of a unique and special race.
But Hawk... Is not a savage.
I have seen the love he held for his wife.
I saw the light in his eyes go out when she died in his arms in a mountain cave.
You wish to kill him?
Then kill me too.
Because, as God is my judge, given the provocation he had,
I would have lashed out at my enemies just as he did.
We do not sentence a man to die because he kills his enemies in war.
And as sure as I'm standing here in this courtroom,
Hawk was at war with the human race!
He does not recognize this court,
because he expects that, no matter what he says,
this court will kill him just as humans have always killed his people.
In the century from which I came,
crimes were committed because small men served the letter of the law.
Great men servejustice.
And in this instance,
the ultimate justice would best be served...
By allowing those of us who know Hawk best to judge him...
those of us here with whom he has lived aboard this ship for the past few weeks.
And if you do otherwise...
if you sentence him to death,
this last survivor of a once proud people...
then men will speak for a thousand years...
Of the day man rendered his most terrible...
And merciless judgment.
Bravo. Bravo.
We will consider your request, Captain.
This court will reconvene in one hour.
I'd just like to have a moment with Mr. Hawk. Oh.
I hope, my dear fellow,
you won't consider this an... an intrusion,
but I brought something with me I thought might interest you...
the petroglyphs and statues from Easter Island.
I had them copied from the microtransparencies in the archives.
I haven't really seen them myself, but Crichton informs me...
That they still exist on the cliffs of Motu-Nui.
Isn't that wonderful? Virtually unchanged, he tells me,
by the countless millennia that separates them from their creation.
The genius of a race chiseled in stone.
And now only the stones remain.
Hawk, the Galactic Council has decided to accept Buck's argument...
that your guilt or innocence is better judged by those closer to the problem,
meaning Buck, Wilma, Dr. Goodfellow and myself.
You mean he's to go free?
No, not quite free, I'm afraid.
You see, Hawk, I have promised the council that you would not be released from custody...
Unless I could guarantee your conduct.
- But how can I do that? - You cannot.
And I will not be bound by conditions upon my freedom.
Well, you can't blame him for that, Admiral.
He'd feel like a criminal for the rest of his life.
Yes. We mustn't have that.
Isn't some sort of compromise possible here?
Well, yes, I think there is a compromise available if Hawk will agree to it.
Dr. Goodfellow, how many uncharted solar systems are there in the universe?
About one googolplex, I would say,
or the equivalent of the number one...
Followed by enough zeroes to encircle the Earth 50 trillion times.
In other words, a number beyond our ability to imagine it...
a potential for undiscovered life so vast that our human minds cannot comprehend it, hmm?
Admiral, Hawk's ship has been salvaged.
With some repairs, it'll become spaceworthy.
- What do you say he joins us? - Oh, what?
What if Hawk joined us, helped us explore the uncharted regions of the universe?
- And why should I consider doing that? - Because then your mission would become exactly the same as ours.
And what mission is that?
After the global war that almost destroyed the Earth,
many of the survivors fled to the stars.
As the centuries passed, those who were left behind lost contact with them.
Only now, with Earth finally at peace,
do we have the time and resources to search the universe...
To try and make contact with the rest of our race.
That's what Searcher is for... to find the lost tribes of Earth.
That is the business of humans. What has that to do with me?
Why, don't you see? It has everything to do with you, my friend. Everything.
He's right.
Suppose you're not the last of your people? Suppose there are others?
Hawk, you said yourself your people fled to the stars...
And only some settled on Throm.
What if there are other bird people from ancient Earth...
Who settled on other planets,
in other parts of the galaxy... And have survived?
Now do you see why your mission could be exactly the same as ours?
Well, what do you say, Admiral?
Do you think the Galactic Council will accept Hawk's working with us...
As a sufficient guarantee for his conduct?
Well, I'd say yes,
but it really depends on what Hawk has to say.
Will you join us, Hawk?
Forget the hatreds of the past, help us discover the future?
I had to face the same problem...
having to forget the past,
having to learn how to get used to that feeling of being alone,
out of place, if you will.
We must look to the future, Hawk, all of us.
It's what Koori would have wanted.
Koori.
I will join you.