I've lived without light for 15 years all because of Elias Huer.
Buck's birthday party becomes a setting for murder.
When a man with a touch of death plots a terrible revenge on Dr. Huer.
What you're afraid might happen to me is something like this.
- Buck, what is going on? - Traeger, you're alive.
- Dr. Huer, Wilma, get away from him. - You want me, hero? You come and get me.
The year is 1987,
and NASA launches the last of America's deep space probes.
In a freak mishap, Ranger 3 and its pilot, Captain William "Buck'"Rogers,
are blown out of their trajectory into an orbit which freezes his life-support systems.
And returns Buck Rogers to Earth.
500 years later.
- How's that, Twiki? - A little to the right.
- That better? - Solid.
Well, as someone said,
you're never more nostalgic than for the things you once knew and have no more.
Who said that?
Me.
Hi, Buck. Good evening, Buck.
Hi, Wilma, Dr. Huer. Ooh. Say, what's this?
Just a change of scenery.
With these four walls... it was beginning to feel like solitary confinement in here.
Well, why didn't you say something? We could've had some windows put in.
Why bother? It all looks the same.
With the city's climate control, nothing ever changes around here.
You know, I feel sorry for you people.
You'll never know the joy of discovering a sunset that just happens...
a pale hint of mauve.
Everything is programmed, even your climate.
You know, no fall, no spring, no rain, no snow... no nothing.
It's always the same.
I went outside today, I couldn't believe it was January.
It is January, isn't it?
Yes. January 7.
Uh, Buck, Dr. Huer and I were on our way to see the new holographic dance troupe.
Would you like to join us?
Hmm? Uh, no. No, thank you, Wilma.
I, uh, think I'll pass. I don't feel like going out tonight.
Well, good night.
Olvion Immigration Patrol to Terran starfighter. Decelerate immediately.
Repeat. Decelerate immediately. Acknowledge.
I do not read, Patrol.
Lieutenant Traeger, you're under arrest.
Your departure from Olvion was unauthorized.
Surrender or be destroyed.
Then destroy me. I've spent 15 years on your stinking planet,
and the only way I'm going back is in a box.
Traeger out... For good.
Come on, you old bucket, get me through that stargate, and then you can quit on me.
Break off pursuit and return to base.
He could be a million parsecs away by now and probably is.
You'll do.
Survey vessel. Attention. Attention, survey vessel.
This is a priority blue distress code. Repeat. Priority blue.
My starboard defense shield is down, my star drive is dead. Can you assist?
Starfighter, this is Capellan survey ship 077.
I'm locking you in on a tractor beam.
Prepare for docking.
Buck's been moping around like that for days.
I've done everything short of kidnapping him to get him out of his apartment.
Well, I'm afraid Twiki was right.
He's depressed about his upcoming birthday.
But I don't understand what's bothering him. We all get older.
Why, he's in better shape than a man half his age.
There are no men half his age.
But then again, his birthday is probably making him feel more homesick than ever for the 20th century.
Technically speaking, this birthday is his 534th.
An unfortunate way to be reminded of just how displaced in time he really is.
Well, good evening, Theo. How are things on the front home?
Home front. Ah. Home front. Whatever.
A message from Lieutenant Garth at Security Directorate.
He's coming over from the New Detroit Complex.
He seems to think it's quite urgent.
Lieutenant Garth thinks everything is urgent.
Every time they perceive even the slightest hint of danger to my well-being,
they expect me to live my life behind a force field.
Nonetheless, he should be here momentarily.
Of course, of course.
Well, be that as it may, what are we going to do about Buck?
How about a surprise party?
That's not a bad idea.
A party would make him feel a little less alone and more part of our world.
Indeed it might.
Well, you know most of his friends. Why don't you make the necessary arrangements?
Yes. Let's see. Now, there's, um, Jen,
Joella, Marla,
Alison, Tangie, Falina... Mm. Miss Cosmos.
I do believe that there is a pattern emerging here.
- Apparently. - Hmm.
Lieutenant Garth has arrived.
Well, let's get this over with.
Three days ago, this man, a Capellan ship captain,
was found under restraint in the storage compartment of his ship.
In the New Detroit Spaceport.
He was delirious due to systemic poisoning.
He remained alive for about 12 hours after he was found.
As you may know, Dr. Huer, all Capellans are crude telepaths.
And this one must've found out something he wasn't supposed to know,
and the person whose mind he read killed him for it.
Most of what he said was unintelligible,
but one thing was clear...
whatever attacked him is also planning some sort of action against you.
Who, Lieutenant?
Someone claiming to be the ship's captain,
who brought the vessel back to port and disappeared without a trace.
And we believe that he's responsible for the real captain's unique condition.
What exactly is his condition?
Captain Querlu seems to have experienced a bizarre form of molecular transmutation.
Half of his body has been changed to pure silicon.
And I take it, Lieutenant, that, uh,
what you're afraid might happen to me is something like this.
- Mm-hmm. - Mm-hmm.
Well, I sincerely appreciate your concern,
but I hardly think the ravings of a delirious alien are any cause for alarm.
But, Dr. Huer, please... Now, now, Lieutenant. Now, let's be reasonable.
I don't even know any Capellans. Why would one try to kill me?
May I help you?
I would like to see Dr. Bayliss.
Do you have an appointment?
No, but I'm certain she would want to see me.
I'm sorry. The doctor's schedule is full for the day.
The earliest an appointment can be arranged is one week from tomorrow.
- I'm afraid that's not convenient. - What do you think you're doing?
This is Dr. Bayliss. Please sit back.
Take a deep breath, sit back and relax.
Take a deep breath and relax. Doctor, I have a newjob with added responsibilities.
I'm afraid to leave this planet.
I think it's these dreams I've been having, Doctor.
They depress me terribly.
You want to go on with that, Miss Bennet?
Well...
In these dreams, my mother is still alive,
and she's always telling me I was an accident,
that I surprised her and Daddy.
What do you think that means, Doctor?
Who are you? How did you get in here?
You'll find that your reception quad has malfunctioned, Doctor.
I took advantage of the opportunity.
Who are you?
I'm surprised, Delora.
After all the time we've spent together...
Of course, it's been a long while... a very long while.
What are you talking about?
I have never treated a Capellan before in my life.
And it's Dr. Bayliss, if you don't mind.
Traeger? Cornel Traeger?
But they said you were dead.
No. Almost, but not quite.
Where have you been, Corey? What brings you back here after all these years?
I had to see you, Delora.
I need some information about Elias Huer.
When I left, he was with the Science Directorate, the Space Exploration Division.
He's with Defense now. He's in charge of the entire Directorate.
Oh, is he really?
That's good. That's really good.
- What else? - Corey, I don't believe this.
It's been 15 years... not a word from you.
After all, you were only a patient.
I don't have time to play games, Delora, so I won't.
You have quite a few patients in the government, don't you?
Yes, but what has that... And you have all sorts of ways.
Of extracting information from their minds without their knowing about it, don't you?
Extortion... is that it, Corey?
It's obvious you didn't come back for further treatment.
All right. How much?
Five thousand? Fifteen thousand credits?
I spend that much in a week on incidentals.
Here. It's yours... if you forget we ever knew each other.
Same old Delora...
always more interested in money than anything.
And I see you've finally put your psych skills to more lucrative use.
How nice.
That looks like andracite... diamonds... elysium.
There must be millions there. But how did you...
A little trick I picked up on Olvion.
That's where I've been staying.
Trick? That's nothing less than matter transmutation...
molecular reorganization.
Call it what you like, so long as you understand the implication.
I can do the same to organic as well as inorganic material.
We'll be hiding in Buck's apartment,
he'll come home, turn on the lights.
And we'll yell, "Surprise."
Except he'll find the apartment complex swarming with Security Directorate agents.
I don't know why I ever agreed to this extra security in the first place.
You didn't have a choice. Yes.
But I think it will undermine the element of surprise in Buck's party.
The Directorate guards are very discreet.
Not only will you not see them, but neither will Buck.
Now, our problem is we've gotta figure some way.
To keep Buck out of his apartment for at least two hours.
Uh, Dr. Huer, it'll thrive.
All you need is the right kind of plant food. I see.
Oh, hi, Buck! Oh, hi.
Wilma. Dr. Huer.
Uh, there's a rumor floating around the Directorate having to do with an attempt on your life.
- Anything I can do to help? - Oh, no.
No, thank you, Buck, very much, but it's being taken care of.
The Security Directorate is handling it.
Actually, we'rejust making up a schedule of my itinerary for the next two weeks.
It'll be delivered this afternoon by an I. A. C.
That's an interagency courier.
And then the Security Directorate will deploy a group of bodyguards to guard me round the clock.
Corey, you've changed.
It's not just the power.
When I was treated you as a... as a patient,
I thought I understood you thoroughly. But you... you're different.
Of course I've changed! No one could go through the hell I've been through and not be changed!
And it's all because of Elias Huer!
You see, shortly after I joined the Exploration Division,
Huer sent me into space.
"A routine space exploration mission," he said.
But I was shot down over a planet no one ever heard of.
Yeah. There was a reason for that.
The hostility of the natives to outworlders was frightening.
They found me guilty of espionage, locked me away.
12 kilometers below the surface.
Eventually they forgot about me.
You wonder why I wear these?
It's because I've lived without light for 15 years!
You can't imagine what that's like.
But you survived. Yes, because I lived like an animal!
I became like one of them.
There must have been some natural element that gave them the power...
in the water or the atmosphere.
The Olvions could change things too.
Whatever they touched would become whatever they wanted it to be.
And after a few years on their world, I could do it too.
And you used the power to escape, to come back here.
Yes, for my justice! Is there any wonder after 15 years that I would want that?
When I realize how full Huer's life has been.
And how really empty mine has been...
all the years that he stole from me.
Oh, I... I can change credits into gemstones, but I can't change the past.
Nothing can do that.
But I can change Huer's future.
I can take it away from him,
and you are going to help me do it.
Ah, Ms. Meritt. Right on schedule.
Reporting for briefing, sir. Yes.
Raylyn Meritt, this is Buck Rogers.
How do you do? Hello.
The mind-implantation procedure will take place at 1600 hours. Colonel Deering here will supervise.
After the implantation is completed, you will go to the Security Directorate Headquarters at the New Detroit Complex.
- Implantation? - Captain Rogers is new here.
Oh. Well, you see, Captain Rogers,
top-secret data is implanted directly into an I. A. C.'s subconscious.
Then when I arrive at my destination, Security extracts it from my mind with a psych probe.
I never know the nature of the information.
Which makes it difficult to get out. Cute.
What is? Uh, I mean, um, "Interesting."
Mm.
Uh, Buck, uh, you said you wanted to help.
Would you mind escorting Ms. Meritt into the New Detroit Complex...
just to doubly ensure her safe arrival.
Really, Dr. Huer, I don't think that's necessary.
I've handled dozens of assignments on my own.
Ah, I realize it's an irregular procedure, but under the circumstances, it would make me more comfortable.
Well, if you insist.
Please excuse me then. I'll go prepare for the implantation.
Uh, do you know how to find the laboratory?
Buck, would you mind showing Ms. Meritt the laboratory?
No, not at all, Doc.
That was the sneakiest thing I have ever seen.
Yes. Thank you. But at least now we know he won't be in his apartment for a few hours, don't we?
Mm-hmm. He may not show up at all.
Yeah.
You don't actually expect me to help you kill Huer.!
Need I remind you of my special abilities, Delora?
I can either kill you or make you very rich. The choice is yours.
You've already treated several key Directorate personnel.
You must be able to tell me something.
He knows his life is in danger. What?
But he doesn't know you're the danger.
Oh. It must be the Capellan captain.
He lingered on longer than I'd anticipated.
You're certain of this?
It comes from a very secure source.
The Security Directorate is sending an I. A. C. To pick up Huer's itinerary.
Once they get that, he'll be guarded 24 hours a day.
Actually,
that makes things simpler for us.
You can't get close to Huer, Corey... not unless you know where to find him.
And that's exactly what will be in the head of the courier.
So?
So, these analysis chairs.
Examine my patients' conscious thought-processes during a psych-session...
This one.
Has been modified.
This one examines the subconscious.
Like a psych probe? Not as sophisticated,
not as fast, but it works on the same principle, yes.
I can anticipate Huer's every move.
I can eliminate him at whatever time is most convenient,
because we can extract the information about his schedule from the I. A. C.'s mind.
Just as the Security Directorate would do.
Exactly.
Then all we have to do is intercept that courier.
Data for day 13 assimilated.
Okay. Let's finish up then.
Implantation completed.
Good. We're finished.
You okay?
I told you. I've done this dozens of times. I'm used to it.
I certainly don't need to be chaperoned by Captain Rogers.
All we're asking you to do is to bring Buck back to his apartment when your assignment is completed.
Think of it as a favor to the Directorate...
one for which we'll be glad to pay you generously.
Look, Colonel, I'm a government courier, not a...
That's all we're asking.
Besides, I think you'd enjoy Buck's company.
I understand from your personnel file.
That you used to work at the Earth Archives, and you have an interest in history,
so you and Buck should have a lot to talk about.
What Captain Rogers is an historian?
Yes, in a manner of speaking.
Let me explain. Hmm.
All set. Good.
Ms. Meritt, you'll be escorted to the Security Directorate Headquarters.
By two of their men, Marsden and Niles.
They'll contact you at the restaurant on the Federal Concourse at 1900 hours.
They'll come to your table and identify themselves as security escort detail.
The code identification will be "Blue 11."
Any questions? No, sir.
After you, Ms. Meritt. Raylyn.
We can make it to the Detroit Complex in time for dinner.
You'll love the restaurant, Buck.
Did she agree to bring him back to the apartment?
Well, she was a little resistant at first, but once I explained why,
uh, talking her into it... Was a piece of cake.
Corey, these are my assistants, Rorvik and Carew.
Cornel Traeger.
My informant has confirmed the news. They're sending Raylyn Meritt, their most experienced courier.
She's due here within the complex within the hour.
- Will she be a problem? - Not for us.
Are you certain of your information?
Corey, you worry too much.
My man works inside the Communications office of the Security Directorate itself.
He is totally reliable.
You have your uniforms?
Good. Good.
The men you're posing as... Niles and Marsden.
We meet the Meritt woman in the restaurant,
escort her to the turbolift in the Federal Building...
only we take her to the sublevel.
Corey will meet you there. Excellent.
Here are your synthaflesh masks.
They've been prepared to duplicate Niles's and Marsden's faces exactly.
If there's nothing else...
Let's get to work.
You know, Raylyn, when Dr. Huer first asked me to go along with you,
you didn't seem exactly thrilled with the idea.
What changed your mind?
Well, before I joined the I. A. C. Corps, I used to be a record-keeper with the archives.
And when I heard you were from the 20th century... Oh, you know about that, huh?
Yes. Colonel Deering told me something about it.
Anyway, I've always been fascinated by that era.
It seemed like such an exciting time to live in.
Prohibition, the first moon landing.
Milton Berle, Benny Goodfellow.
Uh, man. What?
Benny Goodman. Oh.
And you're putting a lot of things together that happened at different times... most of them before I was born.
Well, I'm told our records aren't very accurate.
Mm. Oh, I see. So that's it?
You just decided you'd pick my brains a little, huh?
Pick your brains?
Uh, get some firsthand information.
Well, maybe at first,
but, uh, you know.
Yeah.
Well, you're helping me get my head into a better place and for that I'm grateful.
It's sweet of you to say that, Buck, but.
I don't see that I'm really doing anything.
Sure you are.
Ms. Meritt? Agents Marsden and Niles.
We're to escort you to Security.
Who's he? Um, this is...
I'm just a friend.
Well, we may be a while. It's all right. I'm a slow eater.
Okay.
They'll come to your table, identify themselves as security escort detail.
The identification code is "Blue 11. '"
Wait a minute. There was an identification code... Blue 11. Where's your code disc?
- Who are you guys? - Get her into the turbolift.
She knew. Some guy she was with came after us.
You idiot. You should have been more careful.
You think he followed you? I don't know.
Well, be ready for him if he has.
Hold it!
They don't make 'em like they used to.
See? No weapon.
You want me, hero? You come and get me.
Just you and me.
Halt! Halt or I'll shoot!
Oh, wow.
The air is kind of thick around here.
Don't move.
Oh, great.
Get up slowly. I got news for you.
It's the only way I can get up.
Here. Let me just show you my I. D.
You're with the Defense Directorate?
Not really. They just gave me that card in case someone started asking questions.
And the woman... she was an I. A. C.? Yes, she was.
And those people who took her are trying to kill Dr. Huer.
How do you know all this? I'm psychic. I don't have time to explain.
Call your head of security and tell them the courier's been intercepted.
They'll know what to do.
Ah, one of them must have dropped it. What is it?
It's a delocking disc. A de...
Oh, you mean a key.
Why do you people always make things so complicated?
Looks like it's color-coded. You know what part of the complex it goes to?
That's the Med Wing. Those numbers on the bottom will tell you what office.
"37042."
That sounds like Dr. Bayliss's clinic. She's a psych-med... pretty famous.
A lot of her patients are very important people.
Hmm.
The information is locked in her subconscious, so they use a shrink to get it out.
"Shrink"?
Hey. I can get a security unit up to the Med Wing.
Fine. I'll meet them there.
Sorry, but you're not telling anybody anything.
Your men are incompetent.
That sublevel was crawling with security people.
What did you do? What happened?
I stopped one of them. I didn't have a chance to finish him off.
Rorvik and Carew can take care of that as soon as they check in. If they check in.
Our plans are in jeopardy, Delora. We've got to move faster.
How soon before you have something here?
There's no way to say exactly. It depends on her.
It could be a half an hour or longer.
Your man in the information office...
if he is as reliable as you say he is,
you can get him to forge a priority one communiqué, can't you?
I suppose I could. Then have him send an intra-Directorate memo canceling the blue-code alert.
He'll say the assassin has been caught, Huer's safe,
and there's no need for the I. A. C. After all.
I'll have him do it immediately.
But you know they'll start suspecting something's gone wrong sooner or later.
Yes, but by then it will be too late...
particularly for Huer.
Uh, Colonel? Uh...
Oh, the party favors. You can put them right there.
Where do I put this, babe?
Babe? Thank you, Twiki.
I'll take that as a compliment.
You can leave it right there. That way when Buck comes in, it'll be the first thing he sees.
Uh, what did you say these were?
Party favors... at least that's what Dr. Junius called them.
He had the manufacturing center make them up exactly like some old photographs.
I'm almost afraid to ask, but, uh,
What is this?
- A balloon. - Balloon?
Yeah.
Watch.
Whoops. See?
Yes.
Well, I take it there's some peculiar purpose in that.
Uh, they're for decorating.
- And this? - A party hat.
A hat?
- You wear it on your head. - I most certainly will not.
Oh, Dr. Huer.
Colonel, there will soon be dozens of Security Directorate agents.
Swarming through the building and guarding the entrance downstairs.
Perhaps it's academic, but if by some small chance an assassin does get into the building after me,
I will not be murdered wearing a blue-and-white plastic cone on my head. It's positively undignified.
Party pooper.
Party pooper?
Well, I'm not certain, mind you, but we probably have one of those here too.
And this.
Yes, Carew? Trouble, Doctor.
The New Chicagoan, the one that was with the courier... he's one of Huer's people.
- What did you do with him? - There was nothing I could do.
Doctor, he knows you're in on this.
I must have dropped my delocking disc when I fought with him, and he found it.
A security agent told him about you.
I took care of the agent, but that guy must be on his way to you now.
Find Rorvik and get back here as soon as you can. Right.
Isn't there some way you can speed up that process, Delora?
Not without causing extensive neural damage, no.
What difference does that make?
You don't think I'm gonna let her live now, do you?
There are alternatives.
I could tamper with her memory.
For God's sake, Corey, I'm no murderer.!
No?
And I suppose you weren't selling quadrillium when we first met on Regulus 4 either?
How many people died of radiation poisoning back then, Delora?
That was different.
Oh, being an accessory to murder doesn't bother you, does it?
It's just the act itself you have no stomach for.
Give it up, Corey. This whole thing is coming down around our ears.
You're going just too far to settle an old score.
I wish that's all it was!
The data's coming in. What's happening now, tonight? Where's Huer?
Spending the evening with friends.
In an apartment occupied by somebody named, uh, Rogers...
William Anthony Rogers.
The address is here.
Whoa! Oh!
Nothing like dropping in on old friends, is there?
His eyes! You've blinded him!
He's been underground for 15 years. He can't stand bright light!
Touch her and you die!
Turn down the lights!
It's getting late. Huer's waited long enough.
- I want them dead, understand? - Yes.
See to it.
What are you doing? You got what you want from her.
Not entirely.
This device has been adapted. For sonic hypnosis.
I can wipe out every memory she has ofbeing intercepted and brought here.
And substitute new ones.
And then you let her go and she thinks she's done the job she was supposed to do.
Mm-hmm.
Rather intelligent... For a Neanderthal.
But Traeger said we... Mr. Rorvik,
any payment for the miserable job you two have done, will come from me, not Traeger.
Remember that.
- You're hurting her. - She can't feel it.
But you don't believe me, do you, handsome?
Well, you'll find out for yourself. You're next.
Put him down over there. Start repairing your masks. You two are going out in a little while.
Excuse me, won't you?
Good news, Dr. Huer. The code-blue alert's been lifted. Evidently you're safe.
Well, that certainly is good news, but where's Buck?
Well, maybe he convinced Raylyn that they should celebrate his birthday alone.
I thought you said she agreed to bring him back here.
She did, but, uh, Buck can be very persuasive.
Ah. You're awake.
We'll be ready for you in a minute.
Where's Raylyn?
Where she would be if things had gone as planned.
Thank you for your assistance.
Just doing our job, Ms. Meritt. Okay.
- I won't remember you after this, will I? - No.
Then I guess I should say my good-byes now.
All his life, Corey has left a trail of corpses in his wake.
- I don't intend to add another. - That's a comfort.
Corey was a decent man once, but he's changed,
and I've got to get away from him, off this planet...
start all over again somewhere else.
But first I have to cover my tracks... starting with you.
And everything you know.
Where were you? I looked all over the restaurant for you!
L... I thought you said you were a slow eater.
You really don't remember a thing, do you? Remember? Remember what?
Buck, what is going on? Never mind. I'll explain later.
Look, you wouldn't happen to know the record flying time between here and New Chicago, would ya?
No. Why? Because whatever it is, we're gonna break it. Hang on.
Everyone, please, can I have your attention?
Someone is on his way, and since the code-blue alert has been canceled, it must be Buck.
So find your places and light the cake.
Surprise.!
- Who on earth is that? - Gate-crasher.
Traeger!
Cornel Traeger... you're alive!
Yes, Elias.
Still alive,
despite your best efforts.
What do you mean my efforts?
You were lost in a routine exploration mission.
Why, everyone thought you were dead.
Who sent me on the mission, Elias, hmm?
Who?
You volunteered. You knew the risks.
Who do you think you are, barging in here like this?
You have no right to disrupt this party! Stay out of this!
I'm warning you... next time, I touch you.
It was you.
You killed that Capellan.
And now me.
That's right, Elias.
Now you,
finally.
Oh, no, you don't!
Dr. Huer, Wilma, get away from him!
What happened? He fell on his own hand.
He's pure silicon.
Buck.! Buck, why'd you take off so fast? I was...
Well, at the very least, Dr. Bayliss will never practice psycho-medicine again.
I suspect, however,
the Computer Council will find her guilty of offenses.
Meriting a much more complicated correctional procedure.
Which reminds me, we have to contact the adjudication board,
brief them on the rather bizarre details of this case. Colonel?
Wait a minute. Don't run off. I haven't even opened my presents yet.
Well, happy birthday anyway, Buck,
even if things didn't turn out the way we wanted them to.
Well, you know, Wilma, there's an old saying...
"It's the thought that counts."
And it's true. I really appreciate it very much.
Well, maybe we'll get it straight next year.
Well, to tell you the truth, Wilma, after all that's happened today,
I could do without birthdays for at least a decade or two.
Let's see what we got here. What'd you get?
Ooh.
- Awww. - Ah.!