“Hide and Seek”

Directed by: Lindsley Parsons III

Written by: Robert Engels

Summary: Milos Tezlof, the flamboyant exiled dictator of Serbia, takes Westphalen and Malcolm Lansdowne hostage while she is visiting Lansdowne, hoping that the technology of the seaQuest can rehabilitate his autistic son. Meanwhile, as everyone is dreaming of Darwin, Tezlof’s enemies surround the seaQuest, wanting Tezlof turned over to them. When Bridger, battling his own feelings, refuses to turn over Tezlof, they threaten the ship with a nuclear weapon. Tezlof takes advantage of the confusion to demand that Bridger give him Darwin and the vo-chorder. But Bridger outsmarts Tezlof as Westphalen turns down Lansdowne’s repeated come-ons.

Guest Starring:

William Shatner as Milos Tezlof

Robert Engels as Malcolm Lansdowne

Christopher Miller as Caesar Tezlof

Richard Herd as Secretary General William Noyce

Featuring:

Herman Poppe as UEO Officer

Ksenia Prohaska as Serbian Official

Featuring:

none

The twenty-first century ... Mankind has colonized the last unexplored region on Earth – the ocean. As Captain of the seaQuest and its crew, we are its guardians; for beneath the surface, lies the future.

- seaQuest DSV, Bridger’s room -

Nathan Bridger: (wakes up, writes “Dream #3 Darwin is carrying something”) Oh, Darwin, what are you trying to do to me?

- seaQuest DSV, bridge -

Miguel Ortiz: (on headset) Hey. Hey. (gets up and crosses bridge)

Tim O’Neill: (muttering to self while asleep) Darwin. Darwin.

Miguel Ortiz: Hey.

Tim O’Neill: Oh, woah, thanks. I really dipped below the surface there for a second.

Miguel Ortiz: Were you dreamin’? You looked like you were really out of it.

Tim O’Neill: Yeah, I was. I was dreamin’.

Miguel Ortiz: You were dreamin’ about him.

Tim O’Neill: Not the same thing as you.

Miguel Ortiz: The same thing. You had the same dream.

Tim O’Neill: Bull.

Miguel Ortiz: Look, I’ve had it for a week, and now you’ve started.

Tim O’Neill: It’s not the same thing.

Miguel Ortiz: Are you saying you weren't dreamin’ of Darwin?

Tim O’Neill: No, I–

Miguel Ortiz: Who’s, who’s with him? Hmm?

Tim O’Neill: I don’t wanna talk about it anymore.

Miguel Ortiz: Come on.

Tim O’Neill: I don’t wanna talk about it anymore. Where is Darwin?

Computer: UEO Emergency communiqué broadcasting in ten seconds.

Tim O’Neill: Communiqué comin’ in.

Computer: Please stand by.

Miguel Ortiz: Must be urgent.

Tim O’Neill: Yeah, Secretary Noyce’s grandson probably lost his canoe.

UEO Official: (on screen) This is a security alert, highest priority for seaQuest. Milos Tezlof has escaped UEO Security forces. Tezlof has been convicted of multiple war crimes by the UEO and his countrymen. This is to be considered an extremely lethal and dangerous situation. He is believed to be traveling in one of two fugitive helicopters, attempting to elude identification using extreme and evasive tactics. Their destination is unknown. Repeat, destination unknown. We are ordering seaQuest to intercept and incarcerate. UEO intelligence suggests they may be trying to reach a destination on or near the eastern coast of the United States. I repeat...

Miguel Ortiz: There they are. I think that’s them.

UEO Official: (on screen) ...two helicopters with destination unknown...

Miguel Ortiz: I’ll wake the Captain.

UEO Official: (on screen) ...are refusing to...

- Caicos Key Dolphin Research Center -

Kristin Westphalen: They’re pulling me. (laughs) It really feels like these dolphins are pulling me through the water.

Malcolm Lansdowne: (laughs) Quite a ride, isn’t it? I’m gonna blend in the music score.

Kristin Westphalen: Oh, oh, I don’t believe this. I really think that I’m swimming with the dolphins. (laughs)

Malcolm Lansdowne: Virtual reality, skin to fin without ever leaving your bed. This is only the beginning of what I’ve got to show you. (leans down to kiss Westphalen, helicopters approach, shots fired)

Kristin Westphalen: I don’t know what it’s meant to be, but oh it’s wonderful. (Malcolm takes headphones off Westphalen) What the heck is going on? (both climb under table)

Malcolm Lansdowne: What are you talking about? That’s machine gun fire. (people come down stairs)

Kristin Westphalen: Who is it?

Malcolm Lansdowne: I’ve had a lot of trouble with my neighbors lately.

Kristin Westphalen: Oh my God! That’s Milos Tezlof, the dictator! They've seen us. (they stand up)

Malcolm Lansdowne: If I’m going to be shot, I’d like to be standing up.

Kristin Westphalen: Oh, Malcolm.

Milos Tezlof: This is wrong. This is not the place I dreamed of.

Malcolm Lansdowne: No kidding.

Milos Tezlof: I need to announce my entrances, need to know if someone is there, someone waiting for me, someone who could return the fire. Is there someone in the house?

Malcolm Lansdowne: No.

Milos Tezlof: Keep them here. (walks off)

Malcolm Lansdowne: We are in deep, deep trouble.

- seaQuest DSV, ward room -

Milos Tezlof: (on screen) Awake, awake. Accident, chance, fate – they’re all the same, aren’t they? I have accepted that. I have accepted my ability to act, kill, if not me it would be someone else. If you kill me, so what? I have killed millions of you. My religion is despair, that is where I worship. You only have to close your eyes to understand what is going to happen. Dream dreams. No matter how bewilderingly futile they may be. Dream dreams, dreams.

Nathan Bridger: All right, shut it off, that’s enough.

Jonathan Ford: Hypnotic, isn’t he. Let me show you something else. (screen changes) The nightmare that is Milos Tezlof.

Nathan Bridger: What is he doing out here in the middle of the Atlantic?

Katie Hitchcock: He’s been on the run for six months since his escape from the UEO Security forces.

Jonathan Ford: Serbia, Croatia, they’ve been at this for centuries, killing each other off. Muslims, Catholics, Communists; and with the rise of Tezlof and his followers – anarchists. One big soup.

Nathan Bridger: When does it stop?

Manilow Crocker: Well that’s why the UEO took Tezlof in custody in the first place, Cap.

Jonathan Ford: Unfortunately, rumor has it that his escape was aided by certain factions within the UEO. Everybody’s got an opinion on this one.

Ben Krieg: Yeah, and since his escape the Eastern European Alliance has finally agreed on something – their singular hatred for this guy. Their plan is to hunt him down, and execute him.

Jonathan Ford: He’s been scrambling from continent to continent. His plan seems to be to stay free long enough to marshal an army to retaliate against those hunting him down. Jeez.

Nathan Bridger: What is it?

Jonathan Ford: It’s his policy of ethnic cleansing. The color of your skin as a birthright.

Nathan Bridger: And what if we meet up with him and he resists?

Jonathan Ford: I’d like to see him come after the seaQuest.

Nathan Bridger: That’s not an answer.

Jonathan Ford: Yeah, well the UEO should have finished the job when they had him in custody.

- Caicos Key Dolphin Research Center -

Milos Tezlof: This stretch of water, between Albania and Italy is crucial to me. It is my enemy’s stronghold. The Strait of Otranto between Albany and Italy, I shall put a spur on the boot of Italy. I shall control the straits with your dolphins. I shall return to power.

Malcolm Lansdowne: That’s insane. Of course, I’m not telling you anything you haven’t heard before.

Milos Tezlof: The dolphins will guard the straits. Nothing shall pass through without my permission.

Kristin Westphalen: You can’t train dolphins to do that.

Milos Tezlof: In the war between the United States and Vietnam, dolphins were trained to hunt, to kill, to help the slaughter. A dart gun with a CO₂ cartridge strapped to the head of a dolphin, plunged into the body of a human, and ignited. Very painful, death by asphyxiation. Your dolphins will be trained to do this, and more. Bloodshed follows me like a wedding train. This is not where I should be. If you do not help you will be killed.

Malcolm Lansdowne: I’m sorry, I don’t think I can do this.

Milos Tezlof: (notices boy with dolphin) No. (runs over) No, oh my little boy. His name is Caesar, my son, my heir. My heir and my curse.

Kristin Westphalen: (coming over) He’s not a curse. He’s a small child and ... he’s terrified.

Milos Tezlof: A son to rule after me, to keep the peace. And then my curse came in a dream. I’m in a place I’ve never been before, a dolphin is swimming toward me carrying somebody, something. I can’t tell what it is but it feels like a chimera, a harbinger of disaster. (Westphalen bends down to the boy) Don’t touch him.

Kristin Westphalen: Let him come to me. (takes boy’s hand, touches dolphin, laughs with boy)

Milos Tezlof: Did he say something? Did he say something?

Kristin Westphalen: We could fight your curse. We could help you understand it.

Milos Tezlof: He speaks only in his sleep.

Kristin Westphalen: If you could understand your son, if you could reach him, would that make a difference?

Milos Tezlof: All the difference in the world.

Kristin Westphalen: We can make a deal. You spare this man’s life, and I’ll help your son. It's a trade.

- seaQuest DSV, sea deck -

Kristin Westphalen: (on screen) I am sorry, Nathan. I had no choice but to make this call.

Nathan Bridger: What’s wrong? (Westphalen leaves screen, Tezlof enters)

Milos Tezlof: (on screen) Hello.

- seaQuest DSV, Bridger’s room -

William Noyce: (on screen) Well it seems simple to me, Nathan, he’s playing right into the UEO’s hands.

Nathan Bridger: I gave him my word. I guaranteed him safe passage in exchange for Westphalen and Lansdowne.

William Noyce: (on screen) So what? Tell that to the millions of homeless in his land. Tell that to the countless orphans, to the doctors struggling for vital medicines. Terrorism is terrorism, Nathan, you can’t reason with it.

Nathan Bridger: The UEO embargo didn’t work. And then the UEO let him go.

William Noyce: (on screen) Nathan, we are the UEO. You don’t think you can teach him something? All right then, when he comes on board you turn him over to us. We’ll have a launch waiting directly above you.

Nathan Bridger: I can’t do that.

William Noyce: (on screen, angrily) Damnit, Nathan, follow orders for once. (calmly) What else is going on, Nathan? I’m asking you as a friend, what else?

Nathan Bridger: Bill, I don’t know yet, I’m sorry. (screen goes blank)

- seaQuest DSV, sea deck, by the moon pool -

Lucas Wolenczak: We know Darwin doesn’t have a linear language. He doesn’t talk in sentences, he doesn’t have words. The software in the vo-chorder just makes it seem that way but in reality, Darwin is talking in concepts, in images.

Tim O’Neill: We think we found a way to receive those images.

Miguel Ortiz: Well clearly when Darwin moves through the water, when he’s trying to communicate, he’s sending out not only sound waves, but electricity. There possibly could be images being sent through the water.

Nathan Bridger: You little rascals certainly sound convincing.

Lucas Wolenczak: The fatty tissue in his head focuses his sound waves but the rest of his activity could generate enough electricity to communicate.

Nathan Bridger: How do you know you’re not gonna electrocute him? Those wires’ll be hot.

Tim O’Neill: They’re only from the wall to the hologram. They’re nowhere near the water.

Lucas Wolenczak: Yeah, this is gonna work the same way the Professor’s hologram works in your quarters. Only this way, Darwin is sending the image.

Nathan Bridger: What image?

Lucas Wolenczak: Electronic disturbances in the water. Thrashing of his tail creates a disturbance and created in that disturbance is an image.

Miguel Ortiz: It’s sorta like a connect the dots drawing.

Nathan Bridger: How does Darwin feel about this? It’s just conjecture. Isn’t it?

Lucas Wolenczak: Yeah, sure, it’s just theory.

Nathan Bridger: What are you going to ask him?

Tim O’Neill: Well, if it works, he’ll be able to tell us stories.

Miguel Ortiz: He could tell us everything.

Lucas Wolenczak: You see Captain, what we’re looking for is that one breakthrough, that single blue light into inter-species communication. It would be like discovering why dolphins can enter our dreams. Captain, can I ask you something?

Nathan Bridger: Sure.

Lucas Wolenczak: Have you dreamed of Darwin this week?

Nathan Bridger: Yes, I have.

Tim O’Neill: Last night?

Nathan Bridger: You too?

Tim O’Neill: Yeah.

Lucas Wolenczak: He was, uh, carrying something, bringing something.

- seaQuest DSV, Bridger’s room -

Katie Hitchcock: (on bridge) The shuttle from Mr. Lansdowne’s landing should be arriving soon.

Nathan Bridger: I’ll be there, thank you. (knock on door) Come in.

Jonathan Ford: (enters, salutes) Permission to address the Captain, on the record, to be entered into the Captain’s log.

Nathan Bridger: At ease, Commander. Is this a mutiny?

Jonathan Ford: (closes door) As second in command I’d like to voice our opinion on the pending arrival of Milos Tezlof, recently deposed head of state of the Serbo-Croatian Alliance.

Nathan Bridger: Go ahead.

Jonathan Ford: You’re putting the boat into the middle of this conflict without the slightest attempt to negotiate, with no plan beyond him arriving in our midst.

Nathan Bridger: How can I negotiate with a man who holds Westphalen hostage?

Jonathan Ford: As you well know, sir, there is always room to negotiate. To bring someone like this on board is a soulless choice. It’s like inviting the Albatross of the Ancient Mariner.

Nathan Bridger: You’re afraid of this man.

Jonathan Ford: Call it an instinct, a premonition. This guy is a nightmare we should not be near, he’s just too evil.

Nathan Bridger: We can’t handle him?

Jonathan Ford: Unnecessary risk is the phrase I choose.

Nathan Bridger: All right, Commander, I’ll enter all of this into the log. But before you go, I’d like to read you something. (reading) He prayeth best who loveth best. All things both great and small. For the dear God who loveth us, he made and loveth all.

Jonathan Ford: (incredulously) That’s–

Nathan Bridger: Yes, it is, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.

- sea launch approaching seaQuest DSV launch bay -

Man: (on radio) Shuttle MR-3, maintain alert status until final docking.

- seaQuest DSV, launch bay -

Manilow Crocker: (Tezlof exits launch, followed by Westphalen and Lansdowne) I’ll take that.

Milos Tezlof: I think not. (takes clip out of gun, gives both to Bridger)

Nathan Bridger: Thank you.

Milos Tezlof: This place, I have dreamed of this place. (walks off, security follows)

Nathan Bridger: (Westphalen comes over with boy) His son, of course.

Kristin Westphalen: The boy won’t talk. He’s suffering some kind of trauma. No human being can live as terrified as he is.

Nathan Bridger: Terrified of what? Where’s his mother?

- seaQuest DSV, hallway -

Tim O’Neill: (over loudspeaker) Attention all hands, level seven security guest in transit. Please take precautions.

Nathan Bridger: You’re OK?

Kristin Westphalen: Yes, yes, but there’s something peculiar about all this.

Nathan Bridger: You been dreaming about Darwin?

Kristin Westphalen: Yes, have you?

Nathan Bridger: Yes. Is there anyone aboard this boat who hasn’t been dreaming about Darwin? (enters room)

- seaQuest DSV, room -

Milos Tezlof: (Crocker puts on ankle bracelet) From one UEO prison to another.

Manilow Crocker: Well we need to know where you are all the time. Captain. (leaves)

Milos Tezlof: Are you going to turn me over to the UEO?

Nathan Bridger: Not yet.

Milos Tezlof: There never has been a multiethnic country, has there, Captain? It’s the way of the world, despite the mythological dreams of the UEO. It’s as old as Earth itself.

Nathan Bridger: For some strange reason or other, you and I have been having the same dream. Some images in that dream I don’t understand, I think you do. I need you to tell me what they mean.

Milos Tezlof: Your dolphin has put things in my head.

Nathan Bridger: Maybe so, Mr. Tezlof, but why? Why?

- seaQuest DSV, sea deck -

Kristin Westphalen: Hello.

Nathan Bridger: I suppose you’re worried about having this guy aboard the boat too.

Kristin Westphalen: No, it was my idea. Look, are you upset with me?

Nathan Bridger: Damn it! Why did you have to go to Malcolm’s in the first place?

Kristin Westphalen: What? I have every right to go wherever I want to.

Nathan Bridger: You certainly do have every right to go where you want to go.

Kristin Westphalen: And it was my time off.

Nathan Bridger: I’m not saying it’s not your time.

Kristin Westphalen: And I took it, thank you.

Nathan Bridger: There isn’t enough for you to do aboard this boat?

Kristin Westphalen: Look, if you don’t want me working with him...

Nathan Bridger: I didn’t say I didn’t want you working with him. I didn’t say that. Did I say that?

Kristin Westphalen: Nathan, if you don’t want me seeing him, maybe we should talk about it.

Nathan Bridger: He’s a little crazy, you know what I mean.

Kristin Westphalen: Yeah, he’s a friend of yours. (pauses) I think you’re jealous. (Bridger thinks, and walks away)

- seaQuest DSV, sea deck, by the moon pool -

Kristin Westphalen: This will collect base-line data. (to Caesar) Swimming with Darwin will help you relax. It’ll eliminate fear. This is a neurological imaging system. Malcolm and I have been perfecting it.

Malcolm Lansdowne: It’s really just a forty-one channel electroencephalographic preamplifier.

Kristin Westphalen: The breakthrough in this area could be mind-boggling. It would teach us about healing, about developing immunities, in a nutshell, Nathan, it would prove that dolphins can communicate directly into one’s neurological system.

Nathan Bridger: In our dreams.

Malcolm Lansdowne: Oh, that’s kid stuff, but sure. What did they used to say? In the future, everybody’s gonna be wired. (laughs)

Darwin: Play. Play.

Milos Tezlof: It talks.

Kristin Westphalen: (puts Caesar into water with Lucas, they swim with Darwin) Look at this, he’s calm, he’s happy.

Malcolm Lansdowne: I would not let anyone drive a car after this.

Nathan Bridger: What’s it saying?

Kristin Westphalen: The beta activity is as calm as possible. (to Tezlof) You know, swimming with Darwin is significantly changing the boy’s neurological state. He’s ecstatic.

Milos Tezlof: (gets in water and swims with Caesar) In my dreams, it was he who was carrying.

Malcolm Lansdowne: Look at me. I’m just a crazy kid with a crush on your medical officer.

Nathan Bridger: Just don’t think you’re gonna stay aboard this boat.

Malcolm Lansdowne: I didn’t say anything.

Nathan Bridger: I’ve got the oppressor of Eastern Europe swimming with my dolphin. How do you talk me into these things?

Malcolm Lansdowne: Don’t ask me, I’m just working here.

Nathan Bridger: Yeah, I know. (ship rocks, into speaker) What the hell is that?

Katie Hitchcock: (on bridge) I’m not sure, sir.

- seaQuest DSV, bridge -

Nathan Bridger: (enters with Crocker, Ford, and Krieg) What’s going on?

William Noyce: (on screen) Tezlof’s enemies have found you. They want you to give him up for execution.

Nathan Bridger: How’d they find us?

William Noyce: The communication super-highway’s got lots of hitchhikers.

Nathan Bridger: (ship rocks) Dive. What is it?

Miguel Ortiz: Any number of crafts directly above us, sir. They range from gunboats, to small recon vessels, to fishing trawlers. They used some primitive jamming system on our communications buoy.

Nathan Bridger: Well who’s doing it?

Katie Hitchcock: (operating H.R. Probe) Captain, they’ve apparently lowered what looks to be a wrecking ball.

Nathan Bridger: Wrecking ball?

Katie Hitchcock: (operating H.R. Probe) Check that, sir, it’s not a wrecking ball, it’s a nuclear warhead.

Nathan Bridger: Get us outta here.

- seaQuest DSV, bridge, a little later -

Tim O’Neill: (on screen, Serbian official says something in Serbian) For the reckless use of the treasures of the people (on screen, Serbian official says something in Serbian) Yugoslavian court of Serbs condemns you, Milos Tezlof, to death. (on screen, Serbian official says something in Serbian) For the murder of five thousand in the city of Split, (on screen, Serbian official says something in Serbian) you, Milos Tezlof, are condemned to death. (on screen, Serbian official says something in Serbian) For the firebombing of the city of Tuzla, (on screen, Serbian official says something in Serbian) the Yugoslavian court of Serbs condemns you, Milos Tezlof, to death.

Nathan Bridger: Who are these people?

Milos Tezlof: My enemies. They have found me.

Tim O’Neill: What should I say, sir?

Nathan Bridger: Tell them we need more time.

Milos Tezlof: Tell them to go ahead.

Nathan Bridger: Tell them we need more time. (O’Neill says something in Serbian, on screen, Serbian official responds in Serbian) What?

Tim O’Neill: They say they’re going to give us twelve hours.

Nathan Bridger: Tell them that the man they’re looking for on this boat is a guest, and we don’t intend to give him up. (O’Neill says something in Serbian, on screen, Serbian official responds in Serbian) What did she say?

Tim O’Neill: Five hours.

Nathan Bridger: Get me Noyce. A nuclear warhead on a chain, a yo-yo. You think they can detonate this thing?

Manilow Crocker: It’s hard to say, Cap. You know, since the, uh, ban on nuclear weapons the black market’s gone crazy with this sort of thing. I’ll say this much though, if they can’t detonate, it’s still one damn fine bluff.

- seaQuest DSV, sea deck, by the moon pool -

Lucas Wolenczak: Darwin, do you understand what we’re trying to do here?

Darwin: Yes.

Lucas Wolenczak: Are we on the right track? (Darwin swims off)

Miguel Ortiz: Apparently not.

Malcolm Lansdowne: Well, perception fuels consciousness.

Lucas Wolenczak: You mean, we’ve got an interesting theory, but it’s not gonna work.

Malcolm Lansdowne: I mean, we all make it up as we go along.

Tim O’Neill: That, sometimes, is the truth.

Malcolm Lansdowne: That's always the truth.

Tim O’Neill: I wonder what Darwin will tell us. I mean, his inner thoughts are what we’re really talking about.

Malcolm Lansdowne: I think he’d complain about how the monkeys messed everything up. (all laugh) When you first tried this, what do you mean he just said “no”?

Lucas Wolenczak: That’s it, no.

Tim O’Neill: Yeah, his version of “get lost.”

Malcolm Lansdowne: Not exactly.

Lucas Wolenczak: What?

Malcolm Lansdowne: You guys have been dreaming about him, haven’t you?

Miguel Ortiz: The same dream.

Lucas Wolenczak: Then O’Neill started to have the same one.

Tim O’Neill: No, I didn’t, um, yeah.

Malcolm Lansdowne: Yeah, maybe Darwin just wants to leave it at that. I can tell you one thing, if he chooses to use this machine, and put an image up there, I would really like to see it.

- seaQuest DSV, bridge -

Tim O’Neill: (on screen, Serbian official says something in Serbian) They say we’re running out of time.

Jonathan Ford: Sir, this is more than we should manage. We should turn Tezlof over, it’s not our fight anymore. They have every right to him.

Nathan Bridger: Not yet. How far do we have to go down Mr. Ortiz?

Miguel Ortiz: They’re a little more sophisticated than most. I’d recommend deep submergence to be safe.

Nathan Bridger: OK, Commander, let’s take her down below twenty thousand feet.

Jonathan Ford: Roger that. Chief Crocker, gather everyone into the center of the boat and notify me when you’re done.

Manilow Crocker: Aye, Commander. Lieutenant Krieg. (leaves with Krieg)

Jonathan Ford: Sound deep submergence alarm, everyone to their appointed stations. Ortiz, if you can give me a schematic on that I can check the progress. I do not want to die because of this man.

Nathan Bridger: Let’s go down five thousand more right now.

Jonathan Ford: Diving, sir.

Lucas Wolenczak: (on sea deck, with Caesar by moon pool) I’ll go see what’s going on, OK? Stay right there.

Miguel Ortiz: Regrouping nearly complete, ready to commence flooding of the seaQuest to match outside pressure in less than five minutes.

Jonathan Ford: Close the moon pools.

Miguel Ortiz: (on loudspeaker) All crew to secure quarters, main passageways will be flooding in thirty seconds.

Lucas Wolenczak: (on sea deck) We’re flooding the boat, you better come with me, all right. (doors to moon pool start to close) Darwin, keep him safe, I’m gonna go get some help.

Jonathan Ford: Everyone’s present and accounted for. Ready to commence flooding of outer compartments.

Lucas Wolenczak: (entering) Captain, the boy is gone. Caesar’s gone.

Nathan Bridger: No.

Lucas Wolenczak: It was an accident, the door on the moon pool closed on him and Darwin.

Nathan Bridger: Well, they may be in a flooded area. We’ll have to go to the surface. Commander, stop the flooding and let’s take us up.

Jonathan Ford: Ortiz, cancel deep submergence.

- seaQuest DSV, hallway -

Crewman #1: (activity level increases as everyone begins searching for Caesar) Let's check all hatch seals.

Crewman #2: All right, let's evacuate.

Crewman #3: Break off. You take B-deck. Aft and propulsion.

Crewman #4: We'll circle around to meet you.

Crewman #3: Secure that hatch.

Crewman #5: Thirty seconds. Let's get these cleared, quick!

Intercom: Attention! Tezlof has left secure quarters. Go to level eight alert.

Manilow Crocker: (Tezlof jumps seaman, takes gun) Go check the manifold room.

Milos Tezlof: (finds boy in hallway looking at Darwin) He understands you? (hears others coming, leaves toward engine room, Bridger and Lucas find Caesar, Bridger hears Tezlof entering engine room)

- seaQuest DSV, engine room -

Milos Tezlof: (Bridger and Ford enter, Tezlof steps out with gun) I want your dolphin and your vo-chorder. I want to heal my son. I have a solution for you. I will give up claims to my country, in return you’ll give me the vo-chorder and the dolphin and safe passage from this boat.

Nathan Bridger: I can’t do that.

Milos Tezlof: Millions of lives are less important than your pet?

Nathan Bridger: I don’t trust you.

Milos Tezlof: It takes a strong man to kill, an even stronger one to stop. (hands gun to Bridger)

Nathan Bridger: No deal.

Milos Tezlof: In the chaos of the search for my son, there were so many things I could have done to your boat. And you have to keep asking yourself, Captain, how much time did I have during the search? How much time do you have now?

Nathan Bridger: You’re bluffing.

Milos Tezlof: Am I? I’m a direct descendant of Vlad the Impaler, King of Romania. They tell a story of an Arab messenger who came to court. The messenger was asked to remove his turban, he refused, Vlad nailed the turban to his skull. Oh, yes, in the confusion, I found things.

Nathan Bridger: I need proof.

Milos Tezlof: All that is required in a bluff is some validation of what I'm claiming to be true. I could destroy your boat, Captain, and I will do so, unless you make my son whole.

Nathan Bridger: I can’t do that.

Milos Tezlof: Than ask your dolphin.

Nathan Bridger: Ask him yourself.

- seaQuest DSV, bridge -

Jonathan Ford: (entering) Take us back down, now. Dive, dive. Get us away from that bomb. Get us out of here.

Intercom: All hands to deep dive alert status.

Jonathan Ford: Code four, battle stations. (on screen, Serbian official says something in Serbian) What, what's she saying?

Tim O’Neill: She’s going so fast. Um, they want Tezlof immediately, they say they’re going to attack.

Jonathan Ford: Tell them to check their passive radar.

Tim O’Neill: (says something in Serbian, on screen, Serbian official responds in Serbian) They know we’re locked on. They know we’ve got them in our sights.

Jonathan Ford: Tell her this, he who strikes first, strikes last. SeaQuest will interpret any movement of yours as provocative. We will respond forcibly. We will give you Tezlof at our discretion.

- seaQuest DSV, sea deck, by moon pool -

Nathan Bridger: (enters with Tezlof and Caesar) Don’t think that Darwin and the vo-chorder are going to be a quick cure.

Milos Tezlof: And what of the son I have now? What happens without the vo-chorder? What is his end? A life in hell?

Nathan Bridger: All right, than who or what is the dolphin carrying? What are you hiding from me?

Milos Tezlof: Too late. I would like to spend time with my boy, and the dolphin.

Nathan Bridger: All right. (leaves)

Milos Tezlof: I would like to ask you a question. My dear mammal, can you heal my son? Please, please.

Darwin: Follow. (swims over to machine, images appear of dolphin, Tezlof, canon, woman)

Caesar Tezlof: Mama, mama. (runs toward machine, Tezlof stops him) Help.

Milos Tezlof: Yes, you talked. (Bridger enters) In my escape from my enemies, Caesar was cut off from his mother. I had to choose between my boy and his mother. I had to sacrifice his mother. I left his mother. They killed her. I’m sorry, forgive me, I’m sorry. My boy, my Caesar?

Nathan Bridger: We’ll take care of him.

Milos Tezlof: I have the strength to make amends for his mother to save my son. Tell my enemies up above I am coming to them. I surrender.

Nathan Bridger: That’s why you came to us. It’s what the dream was about.

- seaQuest DSV, bridge -

Jonathan Ford: Milos Tezlof has surrendered. We’re handing Tezlof over to you now. When you receive him, you are to vacate the waters above us immediately.

Serbian Official: (O’Neill says something in Serbian, on screen) Thank you.

Jonathan Ford: (surprised) You’re welcome.

- seaQuest DSV, mess -

Malcolm Lansdowne: I don’t know about you, but I could use a nap.

Kristin Westphalen: What? That’s your response to all this?

Malcolm Lansdowne: Well what should be my response?

Kristin Westphalen: (disgustedly) Oh.

Malcolm Lansdowne: I mean, Nathan’s got this guy in hand. Everything is gonna be fine.

Kristin Westphalen: Oh and that’s it?

Malcolm Lansdowne: OK, here’s what I’m thinking–

Kristin Westphalen: I’m not leaving this boat.

Malcolm Lansdowne: (surprised) What?

Kristin Westphalen: But I think that you and the boy should.

Malcolm Lansdowne: (shocked, surprised, incredulous, uncomprehending) What?

Kristin Westphalen: Malcolm, take the boy with you. You have the time, you have the dolphins, Lucas could adapt a vo-chorder program for you. Hmm?

Malcolm Lansdowne: What?

Kristin Westphalen: Oh, Malcolm, you are, you are as charming as the day is long, but maybe that’s not enough. My work’s here. I’d last about two months on your island. (they kiss) You use that charm to raise a child.

- seaQuest DSV, galley -

Kristin Westphalen: Couldn’t sleep?