“THE LONG PATROL”
We're leaving our star system, Boxey.
APOLLO: They removed the laser generators.
That makes sense. Get rid of the laser generators
and you're unarmed! ENGINE STARTING
You're wasting your lives!
You haven't helped the Colonies,
you've just kept the enforcers in power!
Commander, we must assume a Cylon has captured
or killed Lieutenant Starbuck.
Cylons! You see? I told you, he's a Cylon spy!
If I am, I'm in big trouble.
NARRATOR: There are those who believe that life here began out there,
far across the universe,
with tribes of humans
who may have been the forefathers of the Egyptians
or the Toltecs, or the Mayans.
Some believe that there may yet be brothers of man
who even now fight to survive
somewhere beyond the heavens.
Sensors indicate we are nearly through The asteroid dust, Commander.
Yes, yes.
I'm as nervous as a young cadet on his first orbit.
I'm not nervous. I don't even know what to be nervous about.
We're leaving our star system, Boxey.
When we get through this asteroid dust field,
there'll be a whole new galaxy.
One no human in this fleet has seen before.
BARKS
Commander. Yes.
MUFFIT BARKS
Hush up, Muffit. It's just a bunch of old stars.
Apollo, perhaps Boxey should take the helm.
He has a singular sense of perspective.
Can I? No, you cannot
You are centons into your sleep period.
Oh. Commander?
Now, you keep me out of this, young man.
I may be the commander of the fleet, but he's your father.
Thank you.
Next time I'll act excited and maybe we could stay up.
Come on, Muffit.
Was I ever like that? CHUCKLES
Worse.
Initial sensor readings are negative On any signs of life
in the first quadrant of this galaxy, sir.
Hmm.
Well, as soon as the rest of the fleet Has cleared the asteroid dust,
concentrate all sensors forward to increase our range.
Yes, sir.
Apollo, who's our volunteer? Starbuck.
Starbuck? ATHENA: Starbuck? A volunteer?
I don't think it was his sense of duty.
CLEARS THROAT
Father's idea to reopen the dining Lounge on the Rising Star
to give our people an evening to look forward to was brilliant.
Only the waiting list is nearly a yahren long.
The first pilot to fly the new Recon Viper goes to the head of the list.
Now, now, let's not deprecate Starbuck's volunteering
for what could be a long and dangerous mission.
Oh, no, sir.
What's Starbuck's status?
ATHENA: He's due on the Rising Star at any moment.
Let's hope we don't have to move him to red before he's had something to eat.
Well, Starbuck did ask me to dinner tonight, but...
Well, I do have this duty.
I guess he'll have to eat alone.
Well, perhaps this once we can make an exception? Hmm?
You go ahead and join him.
I’ll handle this with Colonel Tigh.
ALL EXCLAIMING
MAN: I've sailed the Rising Star hundreds of times.
This reminds me of the old days, before the war.
Anyhow, look, CLEARS THROAT it may be a while
before I get another chance to come back here for dinner.
Big mission coming up.
You wouldn't happen to have a private dining room?
Lieutenant, private rooms are reserved 60 and 70 centares in advance.
Well, one can always make arrangements For a warrior on his last night.
I don't like the way he said that.
Starbuck, what's this about a mission?
STARBUCK: It’s just a routine recon flight,
but don't tell him that.
Will this do, Lieutenant?
Perfect. And a bottle of your finest Ambrosa.
Ambrosa's as rare as tylinium.
I'll see what I can do, sir.
BOTH CHUCKLING
Starbuck.
This is all so beautiful.
Most men don't treat a med technician like this.
I think of you only as a woman.
A very rare and beautiful woman.
BOTH CHUCKLING
I'll try to live up to that image.
Be back in a centon.
SIGHS
Commander, the long-range scanner
indicates possible life forms.
Quadrant Alpha 6.
Request probe concentration. Concentration's approved.
APOLLO: Cylons? COMMANDER: Impossible to tell.
Prepare Recon Viper 1. Yes, sir.
Concentrated probe indicates definite life signs.
DOOR OPENING
GASPS
STUTTERS Athena!
I managed to get off work after all.
I just didn't want you to be alone on your last night before...
NERVOUS CHUCKLE
You are alone, aren't you? Oh, well, not any longer.
CHUCKLES DOOR OPENING
Sir?
Yes?
BOTTLES CLATTERING
Ah! Listen, there...
You don't happen to have a room with a better view?
There's a sanitation ship off our beam.
Not exactly appetizing scenery.
A sanitation ship? Where?
It must have drifted back.
I think there's a first orbit cadet at the controls.
SOFTLY Get me another room.
Yes, sir, I quite understand.
Good.
Follow me. Athena?
Asteroid concentration, binary star system.
Alpha 6, mark 775.
That's within a hectare of our course, Commander.
Yes. Well, I hope Lieutenant Starbuck
has had time to finish his dinner.
Starbuck, these mushies are just heavenly.
Oh, uh, no, thanks.
Too bad we can't have any fresh protein with them.
I'll see what I can do.
Wait. Just buzz the waiter. Oh, no. It's too slow.
I'll be back in a flash.
What happened?
They're all out of mushies. I'm sorry.
I don't mind. The protein's just fine.
BOTH CHUCKLE
This stuff's only a yahren old.
Well, I think it has the right effect.
So I see.
WOMAN: OVER PA Lieutenant Starbuck,
report to Battlestar Galactica, flight deck blue.
Lieutenant Starbuck, report to Battlestar Galactica,
flight deck blue, priority red.
Oh, Starbuck. Duty calls, love.
Here.
GASPS
Duty calls, love. I'm going with you.
No. No you're not.
This dinner is costing me every cubit I've got.
One of us is going to enjoy it.
Ah! Don't move.
I want to remember you just as you are.
Beautiful against the stars.
Sir.
SIGHS
Well, no need for cubits where I'm going.
Thank you, sir.
And may I say I admire the lieutenant's daring.
Well, it's just another mission.
No, sir. I'm referring to the two young ladies.
Very pre-war.
GASPS
Why! Why, that...
Oh. Well, my, my, my.
Don't we look just precious?
Commander's orders. In case I have to land.
Don't want everyone to know I'm a Colonial warrior.
Well, Starbuck, you never look like a warrior.
Enjoy your dinner?
Well, let's just say I'm looking forward to
a few centons in space, alone.
Just me, a fast ship and a fair galaxy.
A fast ship you have.
They engineers have doubled the range and speed,
they even installed a voice-activated computer
that can out fly anything the Cylons throw at you.
Hot pilot doesn't need all that electronic felgercarb.
APOLLO: After launch, switch on your short-range marker beacon
so we can track you.
Other than that, no other transmissions unless absolutely necessary
and then only in shot pulse scrambled code.
We don't want the Cylons tracing your Broadcast beam back to us.
And, Starbuck,
if you should make Cylon contact and they should spot you...
I know. I know, it's a one-way voyage.
Can't have them tracking me back to the fleet.
Twice as fast, huh? You'll love her.
They put a second pulse generator on all engines.
It doesn't look bigger. She's not.
You can't add that much weight without Getting rid of something.
They removed the laser generators. Oh!
Transferring launch control to Recon Viper 1.
Launch when ready.
That makes sense. Get rid of the laser generators
and you're unarmed! ENGINE STARTING
Wish we were with him.
Yeah, so do I.
Short-range beacon on and functioning.
Recon Viper1 indicating light speed and accelerating.
Okay, baby, let's see what you can do.
TICKING
EXCLAIMING EXCITEDLY
Fantastic.
Incredible.
I'd like to see a computer do that.
COMPUTER: You asked for it.
Whoa!
Computer, back to normal track.
COMPUTER: Your wish is my command, honey.
The name's Starbuck.
CORA: Don’t be a bore. My name’s CORA.
Short for Computer Oral Response Activated.
I’m programmed to respond instantly to all your needs.
I’m also to keep you amused over the lengthy duration
of our prolonged voyage.
We’re on a Delta vector for Quadrant Alpha 6.
I’ve activated my sensors and am Probing the asteroid area
where life forms were reported by Galactica's rather limited scanner.
Do I detect a bit of jealousy?
CORA: Quiet please, I’m scanning.
Excuse me.
I have two unidentified sub-light vehicles bearing Omega 1, Alpha 6.
Shall we investigate?
STARBUCK: What do we do if they're Cylons, wave?
CORA: We have enough speed to outrun anything in the universe. Hang on.
Slowing to sub-light speed.
We don’t wanna barge in until we know what they are.
Who they are. Excuse me.
I’m putting them on the screen.
Visual contact in 0.15 centons.
STARBUCK: They're ancient.
CORA: Sixth millennium shuttle and fighter craft. Origin unknown.
They’re probably not Cylon. Feel better, honey?
No, I don't like to see any unarmed Craft being chased by a fighter.
Not this time, Robber.
CORA: May I suggest a high-speed flyby
kicking in our second booster within 50 metrons?
Our backwash should knock him silly
and scare the pogees out of him.
Release controls.
CORA: SIGHS Released.
SIGHS
Croad here. Lost contact. Returning to Proteus.
CORA: You were 52 metrons away when You kicked in your booster.
It worked, didn't it? Rather sloppily.
Listen, CORA... Fighter is disengaging
and turning for asteroid 0.71 hectares distant.
Shuttlecraft has been damaged and is landing on asteroid directly ahead.
What shall we do? Follow the shuttle.
CORA: May I land us, or do I have to go through a bouncer?
Just give me the vector.
CORA: Vector’s displayed.
Please, try not to jar my chips.
ENGINE POWERING DOWN
Switching all systems except marker beacon to standby mode.
You all right?
GRUNTS
Drop it.
I'm sorry, lad. I'm sorry.
I thought you were the pirate that was chasing me.
They're probably from the Frodo system and let me tell you,
there's some very nasty beggars there.
I don't know what made me think I could cross this asteroid belt anyway.
I said drop it.
I don't blame you for being cautious.
I'm just a shuttle driver with a load of agro parts for the farmers on Crodan.
Crodan? What's that? What settlement?
It's a very small, a very primitive settlement
that's never seen the likes of the beauty you're flying there.
Now, you're not from this system, are you? I'll ask the questions.
Yeah, I know you will. I just like to know where I stand.
Are you a pirate or a Marauder? You want to check my cargo?
Go right ahead.
It's not worth much. Think I Will.
Un-uh.
CHUCKLES Agro parts for some farmer on Crodan?
Aye, and that, too.
This is Ambrosa.
It must be more than 50 yahren old.
Five hundred to be exact.
Five... That's impossible.
There hasn't been any of this around the star system
since during the war.
What star system was that, lad?
Where'd you get this? It can't be real.
SIGHS
Are you a bootlegger?
Try it.
I will.
Mmm...
By all that's holy.
I got a lot more where that came from, you know.
If you'd be willing to keep your mouth shut,
I'd be glad to share my find with you.
This is worth a fortune. How much of this stuff is there?
A lot more than you or I could haul out of here.
But that ship of yours doesn't look like it was made for cargo.
It looks like it was made for...
Now, wait a minute.
You're not a pirate, are you? You're not going to kill me, are you?
Well, I didn't mean to frighten you.
I'm a little leery of pirates myself.
I don't blame you.
How many of those guys you figure there are in this area?
ROBBER: This is a pretty rough sector, you know.
Dozens of asteroids around where they can hide and come out
and attack an unsuspecting ship.
You wouldn't be an advance scout for some sort of convoy, would you?
CHUCKLES No, no, no.
This'd be a very bad place to bring an unarmed ship.
That it would.
Tell me, what kind of range do you Figure those pirates have?
I don't really know.
THUD STARBUCK GRUNTS
I'm sorry, lad,
but that beauty you're flying is the answer to all my dreams.
Commander, short-range beacon indicates
Recon Viper 1 climbing back into orbit.
Maintain tracking. He may be onto something. Out.
CORA: Finally decided to turn me back on?
Shall I scan for that fighter? Negative.
Identify.
Are you capable of flying this ship? Affirmative.
Identify. All right, then, control is yours.
Assume course to asteroid mass 1.0775,
bearing Delta 7.
CORA: Computed. Where’s Starbuck?
Prepare to transmit intergalactic transmitter range.
Displayed. What happened to Starbuck?
Stand by to transmit.
ATHENA: Commander!
Long-range transmissions being sent by Recon Viper 1.
Are you sure it's long-range? Narrow beam.
It's some sort of code, but not scrambled.
What's that fool doing?
Perhaps his short-post transmitter is inoperative.
It's possible, Father.
But why an unknown code and unscrambled?
I suggest we check the Cylon codes, sir.
Do it.
CLICKING KEYS
We are picking up a transmission in a strange code.
Launch fighters to investigate.
By your command.
SIGHS No response to known Cylon code patterns.
Commander, we must assume a Cylon
has captured or killed Lieutenant Starbuck
and now has command of Recon Viper 1.
That transmission is being beamed
directly at our old home galaxy.
If it's not a message to the Cylons,
it's a beacon directing them here.
That transmission must be stopped.
Alert my son.
We are to seek out and destroy Recon Viper 1.
Can't we at least try to establish communications first?
Negative. If that Recon Viper kicks in those pulse generators,
it'll leave us eating ion vapors.
Captain, Starbuck... Probably dead, Boomer.
Transferring launch control to viper fighters.
Launch when ready.
GROANING
Oh, no.
It's like trying to fly a museum.
SIGHS
CORA, where are you when I need you?
Come on, baby, ignite.
ENGINE STARTING
Orbit.
FIRING
Goodbye, Robber.
I'm not Robber. You're making a mistake.
I’m not Robber.
All right. Now, you follow me
and don't even think about running.
Name's Starbuck, privateer, Cyrannus Galaxy.
A little misunderstanding.
FIRES
easy, easy, easy. I just want to offer you guys a little drink.
GROANS
Look,
you've got me mixed up with another guy.
And he took my ship and left me
with his worthless load of agro parts.
Maybe we can make a deal.
APOLLO: Long-range transmissions have stopped.
Still picking up the short-range marker beacon.
It's a steady display code sighting with that asteroid, bearing Omega 7-5 relative.
Let's hope he stays there till we get there.
And then?
We carry out our mission.
GROANING
INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS
Twice in one day. It just isn't fair.
What?
What's happening? What is this place?
Well, now.
GROANS
MAN: What have we here?
What's your name, lad?
Starbuck. Starbuck?
Starbuck, you say, huh? Hmm...
That's strange. Never heard of that one before.
To our new mate, Starbuck.
ALL: Starbuck!
Ambrosa. And over 100 yahrens old.
It is, yes, but they don't give us the good stuff.
Where am I? Proteus Prison.
Oh, I'm Assault 9. That's Forger 7 round the corner there.
Embezzler 10 down the block there
and Adulteress 58, I see you've already met.
And our children, of course.
What kind of offense is starbucking? Sounds interesting.
It's not an offense. It's a name.
CHUCKLES They're one and the same, boy.
I wonder if our original sinners were as ignorant as this one.
Original sinners? ASSAULT 9: Yes, our ancestors.
The ones that were first sentenced here.
You're in prison here for crimes Committed by your ancestors?
Well, at least we're not an original sinner like you.
Come on, now. What is starbucking? You can tell us.
It's a name.
Yeah, I'm just a privateer from another galaxy.
Tell me, lad, any news about the war?
The war? Yes.
Between the Colonies and the Alliance.
You know, we supply Ambrosa for the Colonial warriors.
You what? We may be prisoners
but we're as patriotic as any Colonist.
ASSAULT 9: We used to supply munitions and Ambrosa for the war effort.
When the munitions ran out,
we just kept on making the only thing we could, Ambrosa.
And we've been making it for 700 yahrens.
Death to the Cylons! ALL: Death to the Cylons!
You sent for me?
Yes.
Station 8, please cover long scan.
Alpha mode for a centon. Thank you.
Come here.
Starbuck is on a long-range patrol.
We are receiving intermittent transmissions
in a code we can't decipher from his Recon Viper.
Therefore, we can only assume that he is no longer in command.
He may be lost
or dead.
In any case,
we sent out a patrol to destroy his ship.
And even if he's still alive, without a ship, he can't get back.
I just thought you should know.
ATHENA: Taking back the scanner.
Athena, thank you.
Father, long-range transmissions from Recon Viper1 resuming.
Same frequency and direction.
Apollo's patrol status?
They should reach their site in three centons.
We've tried every known military code. We can't break it.
That's an Aerian merchant code. What?
My father, he was a merchant. I used to transmit for him.
That's an Aerian merchant code or it sure looks like one.
A merchant code.
From the strength of that signal,
we're practically on top of him.
Activating attack computer.
It's a request for the coordinates to Aeries!
Countermand the destruct orders.
ATHENA: Blue Squadron patrol, disengage your attack.
Hold up, hold up, the Galactica’s countermanding the attack.
Pulling up.
APOLLO: Boomer, he’s landing. Let’s go back and investigate.
It must be a human who doesn't know That Aeries is in Cylon hands.
Have Apollo investigate with caution. Yes, sir.
Tell him to stop that transmission.
SIGHING
Thank you for your help.
SIGHS
Well, you just saved some Aeries' life and maybe Starbuck's.
Let's hope so.
Of course, it won’t change anything when he gets back.
I wouldn't want it any other way.
Looks deserted.
Only one way to find out.
He's been stripping the ship, making room for cargo.
We're not going to find anything else sitting here.
Un-uh. My turn.
You've been around Starbuck too long.
Forgot how to take orders.
Thanks.
One thing's for sure, that's not Starbuck.
Don't bet on it. Ready?
APOLLO: There he goes.
Don't shoot, he's human.
CLATTERING
WOMAN: YELLING No!
BOOMER: Apollo! There's a woman and child here!
Don't hurt them.
Do what you want with me, but don't Hurt my wife and child.
I'm begging you.
ROBBER: My father taught me the merchant code like his father taught him.
You see, our original sinner was an Aerian robber.
These enforcers, their ancestors were the original guards?
In a strange sort of way, those swine are as trapped as we are.
Why didn't you make for Aeries when you escaped from prison?
I didn't have a ship capable of reaching Aeries.
Till you stole Starbuck's Viper.
He did it for Tania, so he did.
We couldn't stand seeing her raised in that prison.
I think I would have done the same.
Long range scanners indicate three Cylon fighters
emerging from the asteroid dust cloud, from our wake.
Omega, transfer long-range scanners to my console, please.
Transferring, Commander.
They don't appear to be following us.
They're on a vector for the asteroid Where Recon Viper 1 landed.
And Apollo's patrol.
They must be scanning a narrow beam or they'd have picked us up by now.
BEEPING
Colonel,
bring the fleet to flank speed and set a new course.
Put as much space as possible between ourselves and those fighters.
Commander, Apollo's patrol won't know where to find us.
Set the course, please.
Yes, sir.
Well.
Well, now, we have visitors.
And what are you doing up at this time of night, young man?
I don't sleep too good when my father isn't on board.
When is he coming back?
Well, you know your father's away on a very, very important mission.
It may be a little while yet.
But I miss him and so does Muffit.
Don't you, Muffit?
BARKING
Yes, I'm sure you do miss him.
Do you miss him?
Yes, very much.
You know, when your father was as old as you are now,
sometimes, when he couldn't sleep,
he'd come into my room and climb into bed with me,
and I'd tell him stories.
Would you like me to tell you a story? Yeah.
Tell me a story about Earth. Oh, about Earth. All right.
Now, Earth is a beautiful, blue-white planet...
INDISTINCT CHATTERING
Take your bottle, Bootlegger
The name's Starbuck.
From now on your name is Bootlegger.
Put that on.
You'd better learn not to argue with an enforcer.
Now, take that bottle!
SHATTERING
Go back. Go back. Close it, I tell you.
Close that door. That's an order!
ASSAULT 9: Close it!
You want to enforce it? MAN: Close it, man!
MAN 2: Go back, man! Go back, man! Go back!
Close the door! DOOR CLOSING
Are all the cell doors unlocked?
They haven't worked in generations.
Then come out. No, no, we can't!
Oh, no, no, no. We're prisoners.
Our fathers were prisoners. Our mothers were prisoners.
It is the way of the universe.
Felgercarb! You have rights, freedom.
You're human beings!
Look, if you want to spend the rest of your lives in an Ambrosa stupor, that's fine,
but what about your children?
They will contribute as we have. STUTTERS
Making Ambrosa for the Colonial warriors.
All the Ambrosa ever made here is
still aging out there on the loading docks!
The Colonies long ago forgot these Penal asteroids even exist.
They probably thought they were lost early in the war!
CROAD: He lies.
Then tell us the last time a Colonial freighter docked here.
Silence him.
You're wasting your lives!
You haven't helped the Colonies,
you've just kept the enforcers in power!
ASSAULT 9: You daggits. Back in your cell, Assault 9!
Is what he says true?
He's a dirty, lying bootlegger!
I am a Colonial warrior. MAN: Warrior?
Show us the loading docks, Croad.
YELLS
Go back in your cells! All of you back in your cells!
ASSAULT 9 EXCLAIMING
Man alive, isn't this great? Huh?
Oh-ho! By God, lad, I never thought in my lifetime
I'd smell the sweet smell of air!
STARBUCK: That's freedom.
Ha! SNIFFING
SIGHING
How much Ambrosa do you figure is out here?
Enough for a thousand lifetimes.
SHIPS APPROACHING
ALL CHATTERING
Cylons! See? I told you, he's a Cylon spy!
If I am, I'm in big trouble. Those are Colonial Vipers.
Apollo! Starbuck!
Apollo, this asteroid is piled high with Ambrosa!
Thousands, millions of crates of it. Some of it aging a millennium.
I give up. I just give up.
No, you don't understand.
We're rich. I'll put that on your death stone.
My death stone? We can't raise the Galactica.
She must have altered course.
Son, we thought we'd never...
You! I want to talk to you!
You... Hey, that can wait.
Our sensors picked up Cylon fighters as we were landing.
Death to the Cylons! ALL EXCLAIMING
Robber, get those people to cover.
Back in the block. Let's move! Back in the block, come on.
You'll have to fly the Recon Viper.
STUTTERING She doesn't have lasers.
But she's fast.
ALL SCREAM
APOLLO: Starbuck, get the Cylons’ attention. We’ll surprise them.
STARBUCK: Wake up, CORA. CORA: Starbuck!
Save the welcome for later. We got three Cylons on our tail.
Computing. Estimate they will fire in 0.85 microns.
Engage booster one micron before they fire.
Anything you say, honey.
Hang on.
He's got them occupied. Let's go.
Here they come again.
APOLLO: They’re splitting up. STARBUCK: I got the one on the left.
CORA: Here they come.
When I give you the word, execute a maximum G climb.
You’ll black out. You’re only human. But you're not.
I’m beginning to regret that. So am I.
FIRING CONTINUES
STARBUCK: Ready...
Now!
ALL CHEERING
Starbuck?
Honey? CORA.
SIGHS
We did it.
We did it! Of course, we did it.
The Cylon fighter couldn’t match my pull-up.
It crashed directly into the structures 2. 7 metrons east of the castle.
I’m scanning a regular inferno down there.
Evidently, these structures contained highly volatile fluids.
Oh, frak!
There goes my fortune.
Commander, long-range scan indicates ships approaching.
It's quadrant Omega Alpha 6.
Lead ship identification coming through.
It's Recon Viper 1. Are you certain?
ATHENA: Positive. We're receiving the marker beacon.
He's leading two Vipers and a shuttle craft.
It's Starbuck and Apollo's patrol.
CHUCKLES
Well, Colonel, inform Boxey his father's coming home.
With pleasure, sir.
CHUCKLING
We have our warriors back and we welcome a good many voyagers
who are complaining rather vociferously
about the quality of our Ambrosa.
Um, and Boxey has something for his father.
He worked very hard on that.
APOLLO: What a beautiful map.
Look at this. Yes, he really did a good job here.
Are you going to be an astro-navigator?
No, a Viper pilot like my father.
CHUCKLES
That's really very good, Boxey.
But this blue planet is out of orbit. It belongs here.
How do you know that?
I don't know. I guess I saw it somewhere or...
No, I got it.
That cell I was in was covered with pictures and charts.
This system was one of them.
The Silent One.
It's a prisoner my father told me about years ago.
Enforcers found him drifting in space.
He never said a word, just spent all his time drawing those pictures.
Why? Is it important?
Well, the solar system that I taught Boxey to draw
was something that I'd remembered from our ancient legends.
It was the solar system that contained the planet Earth.
NARRATOR: Fleeing from the Cylon tyranny, the last Battlestar, Galactica,
leads a ragtag fugitive fleet on a lonely quest,
a shining planet known as Earth.