Rommie, you are completely aware that we are receiving
a top-secret classified communication
from one of the Commonwealth's founding fathers?
Hey, not just any founding father.
We're talking about the guy who led
the Kalderan containment campaign
and single-handedly brought seven systems
to the Commonwealth.
Yeah, and created a universe where Perseid boys and girls
can hold hands with little Magog children
and skip happily ever after through the garden as brothers and sisters.
Sorry, but as far as I'm concerned,
there's only one Commonwealth founding father.
Something's up, something important.
I'll not let you listen in. That's not fair. You're listening in.
I am not.
Oh, come on, Rom-doll.
I know that look on your face.
They're using your interface communications network, right?
Come on. You've got the home court advantage.
They're using a relay drone, so even I can't listen in.
Convenient.
Hmm.
Oh, it was your fault.
I mean, we're in a Nightsiders bar, you turn off their music,
and then you start singing High Guard battle songs.
Of course they threw things at you.
Hey. Well, I didn't exactly see you diving for cover.
Well, like I had a choice.
You know, lucky for you, I fight better than you sing.
Okay, what's up?
You didn't send a classified security drone to talk about this.
My intelligence sources have learned about an assassination attempt
on one of the planets in my region.
And you've informed the Commonwealth, right?
I can't trust bureaucrats on this.
The assassin behind the attempt
is the Leper.
Well, you say that like I should know him.
I'm sending you his dossier.
The Leper is determined, ruthless, and elusive.
Brilliant.
Yeah, well, the Leper hasn't met my crew.
Dylan,
you can't share the intel of what I'm about to give you
with your crew,
except on a need-to-know basis.
Forget it. I tell them everything.
I'm asking you, don't tell them everything.
If the Leper learns about this,
even by accident,
he will disappear without a trace,
and next time, we won't be able to stop him.
For the sake of the Commonwealth
and the life of the Leper's target,
I need your word on this one, Dylan. Don't ask me to do this.
Don't make me plead, Dylan.
It's unbecoming in a politician.
So you're a politician now, huh?
You bet.
I'm talking about the Commonwealth.
I'm listening.
Give me your word.
You have my word.
So, who is the Leper's target?
Me.
The Universe is a dangerous place.
But in our future,
my crew and I fight to make it safe.
I am Dylan Hunt,
Captain of the Andromeda Ascendant,
and these are our adventures.
Look, I trust you with my life,
but the less information out there, the better.
Everything is need-to-know.
But why accept this mission? Can you tell us that?
Marshal Man-ka-lupe is a friend,
and he's next in line to become first Triumvir of the Commonwealth.
And how did he find out about this attempt on his life?
I can't tell you.
Will we have any contacts?
Any help? I can't tell you.
You can't tell me, I can't help you. Consider that.
I think what Tyr is trying to say
is that don't you think it would be helpful to know something?
We need to know something, anything.
I mean, how long do we have To stop this Leper guy?
Well, you see, now, that I can tell you.
Wait. I can't tell you.
Uh, Andromeda?
I just found it.
The Festival of Quella occurs at the start of their planet's vernal equinox
at the stroke of midnight.
You have only 72 hours.
See? 72 hours.
72 hours...
Great.
Ha. The Leper is rumored to have carried out
the assassinations of Doge Berring--
The Chichin crowned prince?
I thought he died in an accident.
A very efficient accident.
He fell from a height of 75 meters onto a hard surface.
No witnesses.
Sylvian president Lord David.
Well, we all know that he died of a massive heart attack
in the bed of his paramour...
who then shot herself, no witnesses.
Oh.
The list continues
with a dozen other high-profile hits
And "accidents" in three galaxies.
There's no political or military connection between any of these.
Who does he work for? The highest bidder.
Tyr knows him.
Well, no.
Might we just say I certainly know his type?
Yes, the type that never leaves a trace.
I think I can tell you this.
Whoever our assassin is,
I seriously doubt he has any family
or financial attachments.
Or need for emotional closure of any sort, for that matter.
We are still talking about the Leper, right?
I think so.
So, how are we going to get any traction on this Leper
if no one's ever seen him?
I've been given a contact.
Need-to-know.
Eureka Maru, this is Cassius Drift control.
Proceed to docking bay 11.
So your contact's on Cassius Drift?
Yeah.
Dylan, if you're not gonna tell us anything about this mission,
why did you even bring us along?
Because eventually, I will need your help.
When?
I'll tell you when.
It's safer that way.
Safer? For who?
I'll be right back.
Just don't do anything that tips off the Leper, okay?
I couldn't if I tried.
So, who do you think Dylan's contact is?
Your guess is as good as mine.
Nietzschean.
Some disgruntled ex-partner of the Leper's, I suppose?
I don't know. Tyr, you're not even trying.
I think it's someone who knows the Leper better than that.
I bet it's an ex-girlfriend.
Come on. Let's go. Where are we going?
We're going to be conducting interviews.
About what?
Right. More information.
As far as everyone on Cassius Drift is concerned,
we work with the Leper,
and we're on Cassius Drift...
hiring talent for an assassination.
Okay...
No "eliminations" per se,
but I do a lot of drift invasion robberies,
bank and treasury bombings.
I love explosions.
I-- I'm sorry, we're not really looking for a team.
Mass food supply poisoning,
environmental sabotage,
uh...
What's your price?
You can't afford my price...
I hope.
Did I mention that I did something to the Nightsiders
they're not so crazy about?
You've got the job.
What do you know? He picked the girl.
I got the job?
Mm-hmm.
Everybody, get down! Move down!
Is there something we need to know?
Disgruntled partner.
You're kidding. Did you catch the anger issues?
Definitely jilted girlfriend.
You're both wrong.
She's the Leper's sister.
We definitely can't trust her.
If you'd informed us of this earlier,
we would've strongly advised you against it.
Well, that's why I didn't inform you earlier.
Now, if you'll excuse me,
I have to speak with our guest.
Siblings in crime... this could get complicated.
I wonder what else he thinks we don't need to know about this mission.
I thought you worked for my brother.
By killing you, I'd send him a message.
You need to work on your communication skills.
That's why you came looking for me, isn't it?
Even Ka-Lupe's intelligence knows how much I hate my brother.
They don't know why you hate him.
One day,
my brother and I came home from school
and found every member of our family,
my mother, father, my older sister...
dead.
I guess my father's work finally caught up with him.
But you and your brother escaped.
Yeah, two kids traveling the galaxies together.
It would have been romantic if we weren't brother and sister.
We wore disguises and pulled different contract jobs,
extortion, grifting, the occasional hit...
things our father taught us.
Good old family values, huh?
What kept me going,
what really kept me up at night thinking...
was finding the bastard who murdered our family.
And then I found him.
He'd been with you all along.
My brother, the Leper.
He'd hired out to one of our father's dissatisfied former employers.
Your father would have been proud.
You can prepare yourself for every betrayal.
Somehow, there's always that one that still gets you.
Somehow.
Sasha,
I need to know how your brother works.
Everything he needs, he improvises at the site.
All planning is mental.
His gun is one of a kind,
a long-range, feather-weight silenced Gauss gun
built to his own specs...
Easily disguised for other purposes.
To match his false identity.
By now,
he's indistinguishable from any local Lundmark citizen.
Even the ones who meet,
who fall in love.
He'll use anything, anyone.
He doesn't care,
as long as it helps him find just the right firing point...
A clean shot...
unseen...
aloof...
and he never leaves a trace.
My brother's heart has room for no other conviction than this one...
that death must be absolutely certain.
Dylan? Cockpit.
Excuse me.
What's up?
Okay, good news and bad news.
Bad news first.
We've managed to avoid the slavers and the pirates.
I'm gonna have to go with that being the good news?
Yeah. Lundmark is a trinary star system with eccentric orbits.
Ah.
If our transit is off by a fraction,
we will dump into one of the outer gas giants.
Assuming we can avoid detection by Lundmark's deep-space defense probes.
You know, maybe...
maybe we can avoid detection.
Okay, going for slipstream.
Maybe we can't. Beka, hard 180.
Lundmark is scrambling their defense fleet.
They have got us surrounded.
They must have been hiding in the corona.
No fair. That's our trick.
Beka, slipstream.
Okay, here goes.
All right, we've got to find a way back to that planet.
If we return, we can expect an ambush.
If we stay, the Leper wins, and I won't let my friend die.
Well, there's only one way back.
I know another way.
His name is Crescent.
Let me guess. He wears a pointy hat and waves a magic wand
that makes us invisible to their probes.
He navigates the back routes into the Lundmark system for a living.
There are no back routes.
You're wrong.
Crescent's our only hope.
Between the grav waves and the radiation,
everything in that space soup is micro-dust or glows.
I don't have a death wish.
I'm just here because you'll kill my brother,
and I get to be there when you do.
I'll tell you how to get there,
slip-point by slip-point.
You'll tell us before we go.
I'll tell you only what you need to know
when you need to know it.
It doesn't work that way.
Ladies and gentlemen, the Virgil system,
and our final destination, according to our spirit guide, Sasha.
There appears to be some sort of Drift
three light-minutes from here.
I take it that's where we find Crescent?
You take it correctly.
Hmm.
Beka? All ahead, full.
What kind of Drift is this?
It's the kind of Drift with armed guards and point-defense lasers.
Crescent is in a prison.
At least not a Commonwealth prison.
Do pray tell, what sort of a prison is it?
It's privately owned by a mobster named Gunyon.
Crescent's still the only way you'll get to my brother.
We only have 24 hours.
So we bust him out.
It's never easy.
Eureka Maru, cargo vessel, C class,
preparing to dock.
Back off!
I already know what you are.
I want to know who you are.
What do you want to bet they don't even have a gift shop?
This is Rebecca Valentine, driver for--
Mr. And Mrs. Averell Port.
Who's Averell Port?
A 345-year-old after-dinner drink.
Last time I had one was, um...
the last time I had one was on Tarn-Vedra.
Tarn-Vedra? How old are you?
Long story.
Let's focus on the short story.
Right.
We're married. Mm-hmm.
We're in love.
We're here to visit my Uncle Crescent on his fiftieth birthday.
Very good.
Don't you think
I should give my uncle his present?
You know, if it really was a boxed set of holo-novels, I would say yes,
but since it's actually a modified photon bomb,
I think I'll carry it.
You are so sexy
when you're going to blow something up.
Really?
I'm not playing you.
Hmm.
You could be using me to bust your friend out of prison,
and the two of you take off before I get the chance to find your brother.
I'm doing this for the most powerful reason known to man.
Which is?
Pure, unadulterated hate.
Ah.
I hate my brother...
even more than I love kissing you.
Okay, Dylan, we're clear to dock.
Well, it's good to have priorities.
We'll give them an hour, then meet them at the rendezvous point.
Sure. Why not?
So you don't trust this Sasha's intentions either?
Wasn't there a time when you threatened to kill your own brother?
Rafe?
Rafe stole my ship.
He stole my entire music collection. I always want to kill him.
But no, I don't actually want to kill him.
I don't buy it.
I'm inclined to concur.
You only turn 50 once.
And so sad if you're stuck in a wormhole.
I mean, you should be allowed to have fun.
And Judy hasn't seen her uncle Crescent since she was eight years old.
Actually, when I was seven, Uncle Crescent bought me a sweet tinker pony.
Remember the kind like a cute little high-pitched voice?
Oh, great. There goes the surprise.
I wanted to give it to Unkie...
Now look what you've done.
Really, we just want to get in there,
give him the present, and get out.
Come on. Please?
Please?
Let them in.
It's okay, sweetie.
Oh, honeybunny, here we go.
Thank you.
It's okay. Here we go.
Yes...
So, what do you think, hubby?
Cameras.
Excuse me,
Isn't this a High Guard battleship from the old Commonwealth?
Yes.
Well, I just love what you've done with the place.
Unkie?
Unkie!
Sweetie!
My sweet, sweet...
Judy.
Judy!
Judy, you still haven't introduced me to your uncle yet.
Right. Unkie, this is my new husband, Averell Port.
That's right.
Uh, could we have some privacy, please?
No.
Okay.
Uncle Crescent...
Gunyon's watching us.
Okay.
You know, I've heard so much about you, all your adventures--
My smuggling?
Well, I'll tell you, Averell, if I'd have known the stuff belonged to Gunyon,
I never would have tried to sell it back to him.
It was simply wrong.
Well, maybe Mr. Gunyon should at least forgive you.
I mean, after all, it is your 50th birthday.
50?
I can't catch a break.
What?
Before you came, the guards asked me how old I was.
I said "in six months, I'll be 57."
They were checking your story.
Uh, I'll tell you what.
Why don't you two get behind the bed?
What are you doing?
Lighting your birthday cake.
It's not a good place to stand guys...
Come on, Unkie.
This way. Go. Get them! Get them!
Gun!
Aah!
Let's go!
Damn!
Hello, Captain Hunt.
Ooh.
Things are so bad on the hero front,
you're helping a low-rent hustler like Crescent?
Allow me to introduce myself.
I am Gunyon.
All right, Gunyon.
Let's make a deal.
Deal? Okay. Here's a deal.
I fill the corridor with nerve gas, killing you all in 15, maybe 17 seconds,
Or you do me one small favor.
What's the favor?
Kill these two intruders we found on a little salvage ship.
Better talk if you want to walk.
Hear the clock?
Tick-tock.
I have nothing to say. I'll just shoot them.
You were supposed to wait for us at the rendezvous point.
Good thing we decided to rescue you instead, huh?
Oh...
Sorry.
Aah!
How the hell do we get out of here?
Yeah, how the hell do we get out of here?
You think I know?
You've been here for seven months.
In a frickin' cell!
We're going in circles.
Freeze!
Hold it.
Lower your weapons.
To think you founded a Commonwealth
with such a bad sense of direction.
You know,
as much as I'm feared,
I really do hate killing people.
But, then,
it's the only way you can get people to fear you.
Gas them. Wait. Gunyon,
I know a way you can get people to really fear you.
I bet you've got a thousand and one nights worth of ideas
while you're buying time.
We're all headed for the planet Lundmark
to kill an assassin known as the Leper.
You're going to kill the Leper?
Yeah, but the mission is secret,
which means we can't take credit for the Leper's death.
But if I let you kill him, I take the credit.
I like that.
Well, you're asking me to trust you.
What the...
Oh, yeah...
the Nebula.
I call it Dragon's Breath.
We can go around it, but it'll take days.
We don't have days. We have 12 hours.
All right.
Playing through.
The Victory Plaza's nine kilometers square.
Ka-Lupe will be speaking here.
Fast-forward to the part where you kill my brother,
and then we check into the Lundmark True Royal Hotel
to consummate our pretend marriage.
The Lundmark True Royal Hotel. Hmm.
You couldn't possibly know about that hotel.
What? What's the big deal? It's a hotel.
Lundmark's not exactly a tourist destination.
Ka-Lupe's intelligence told me about it.
Who do you think informed them about the assassination
in the first place?
Okay, I've been communicating with my brother.
I didn't tell Ka-Lupe's intelligence service.
They'd think I'm working with my brother.
I might be thinking the same thing.
Don't act surprised.
I am using you just like you're using me,
to get to my brother.
Oh, come on, Dylan.
You didn't tell everyone everything either.
Your crew's resented you for it since we left the Cassius Drift.
You don't know my crew.
I know you.
You are protecting yourself.
I can see it.
So just imagine a scared 15-year-old girl
relying on her big brother for everything
until the day she realizes he'd stab her in the back
just to see if the knife's sharp.
Well excuse me if I don't want anyone to betray me again.
Not even you.
I know what you're thinking.
Blood is thicker than water.
It's also a lot tougher to clean up.
Juke right!
No! That'll take us into a radiation shower.
Better than a trash compactor.
The AG is at 110% capacity.
If the AG breaks, it'll shred us, cell by cell.
Just spin right.
Did you not just hear me?
I've done this before.
Beka!
Sorry about that. Forgot to warn you.
Hang on.
The end of it.
The worst of it...
And we survived.
And you've done this before how many times?
Only once before.
Sasha told us you made your living on the back routes.
Did she?
Yeah, she did.
Now, you listen to me, you old clown.
I did not nearly die for you in that prison
so that you could kill me on this planet.
The Leper hired you, and you are both still on his payroll, are you not?
I did this once, just once,
for her brother.
That's how Sasha found out about me.
But she hates him, she really does hate him.
And she will kill him if you just give her half a chance.
Take us in.
Yeah.
All right, everybody, listen up.
You remember the plan?
Throw it out. New plan.
Dylan, we've got two hours to make a three-hour journey to the plaza.
Well, basically, the plan is the same.
We still go to the plaza, but Sasha and Crescent will stay here on board.
It's for your safety.
Just make sure you kill him.
Don't worry. You'll get your body.
Let's move out.
Dylan...
You're leaving those two on the ship because you think
they're in league with the Leper, right?
I think Sasha is the Leper.
So you're sure that Sasha's the Leper?
I know. I'm not supposed to know. I want to know.
If she really wanted to see her brother get caught--
Killed.
Killed,
She would have argued to come along with us.
So you made her stay on the Maru?
Yeah, and made it easier for her to carry out the assassination without us.
If she leaves the Maru, she's the Leper.
And here she is.
Here we go. Tyr.
So, uh, wouldn't now be a good time to arrest them?
If I'm wrong, the real Leper's out in position.
We've got to know for sure.
We've got 33 minutes to figure that out.
Sasha will tell me. She's my compass.
"My compass"?
All security units proceed to main plaza immediately.
I took a wander around the hotel.
There are only a few rooms facing the plaza
that would provide a good firing point.
Sasha told me that her brother improvises everything on-site.
So...
I don't know.
Tyr, Beka, follow Crescent.
You lied to me.
Yeah, I did,
because you'd have killed me on that ship.
I'll kill you now.
Is she the Leper?
Sasha...
Sasha is...
My fellow citizens of Lundmark...
Sasha...
What are you doing?
I went back to the ship. I've been looking all over for you.
Dylan, I know you said to stay on the ship--
Shh.
I'm glad you're here.
We could use your help.
Have you seen Beka or Tyr?
I can't find them anywhere. The last time I saw them,
they were headed for the hotel.
You wouldn't lose your crew.
You fight a lot better than you did on Cassius Drift.
I was pretending I couldn't fight.
Sasha,
you disappoint me.
Why won't you let me kill him?
Kill who?
Your brother? Or the Marshal?
Dylan?
Dylan, come in.
Dylan, come in. Come in.
Dylan, come in.
Dylan, the clock's ticking. The marshal's on the podium. Do you read me?
Dylan, come in. Come in.
Beka...
Take her out.
Well, my fellow citizens,
let me say this about that.
The new Commonwealth will create wealth, power,
to all the member systems.
We all can share in their power.
...guiding our path into the future.
All my life I've had to be someone else,
always shedding my skin for the next new disguise...
until you started chasing me.
For a moment,
for a very brief moment,
I stopped pretending.
You were always pretending, Sasha,
about your brother,
about everything.
You wanna know why you're the only one in the universe
that could catch me?
I saw your face when we went through that nebula,
and I realized you aren't afraid of death.
What you saw...
was faith,
and a belief in doing the right thing.
I'll see you again, Dylan.
In another life.
I'll tell you, Dylan, that was the longest night of my life.
Thank you.
Come on.
Longer than that night we spent in jail after the bar fight?
Hey, you didn't like it, you could have told them who you were.
You weren't pulling rank. No reason I should.
True.
You know, in my administration,
I could use a man like you.
Yeah, no thanks. I've been there.
You take care.
Dylan out.
I can see why you like him.
You two are cut from the same cloth.
Really? Yeah.
Well, I would like to think that my cloth has a few less wrinkles.
Dylan...
Commonwealth security transmitting says Sasha just escaped from their prison.
That's impossible. No one escapes from a Commonwealth prison.
She had help.
Who?
Her brother.