Original release date: November 22, 2023
Miles Tries to make ends meet. Margo is pulled into a dangerous situation.
* * *
[police radio chatter]
[officer speaks Russian]
[officer] Dispatch, transport 25 inbound with 12 detainees.
[dispatch] Okay, bring them in.
[officer] Copy.
Why are they doing this?
The police back Korzhenko.
They are making an example of those who ask questions.
Just do what they say.
[people talking outside]
Get out!
Get out!
[officer 2] Quiet!
Quickly!
[junior sergeant] Feet apart!
[officer 2] Hands forward!
Face against the wall!
Feet apart!
[junior sergeant] Don’t talk!
Quiet!
[in English] At this hour, tanks surround the Russian parliament building in Moscow.
Some of them are operated by troops loyal to the communist hard-liners who’ve taken control of the Soviet government.
[news anchor 2] Although both the Defense Intelligence Agency and the Central Intelligence Agency have been warning for months that Gorbachev’s days in power were numbered.
[Christine Francis] The Soviet Defense Ministry urged calm, requesting that citizens remain inside until the situation is resolved.
The face of the coup is a man named Fyodor Korzhenko, a longtime nationalist who says he intends to reverse the corrupt Western-friendly policies of the Gorbachev regime and restore the Soviet Union to traditional Marxist-Leninist principles.
He leads a group of hard-liners within the Soviet Communist Party…
[Hobson] The president is expected to condemn the coup within the hour.
We should tell you, Roscosmos and Star City, we haven’t heard from them in almost six hours.
Commander Poole, our thoughts are with our Russian comrades in Happy Valley.
We hope their loved ones are safe.
You be safe too.
[line beeps]
Svetlana, I know you have your own channels.
Have you been able to reach anyone at Star City?
My coms-man is sending tritone repeater every three minutes.
And nothing?
It’s not just Star City.
My father sends message to me every Saturday.
This is first time I do not hear from him.
Same with Pavel’s wife and Maxim’s son, Antal.
It’s like Moscow just disappeared.
I hate this not knowing.
I’m sorry, Sveta. I know how hard that can be.
All personal Russian and cosmonaut video messages need to take bandwidth priority.
You got it.
And if you want to postpone the asteroid capture training mission, we can.
No, we should proceed as planned.
[Danielle] All right, good.
[waves crashing]
[person exclaims]
[chuckles] Oh.
Did you see that?
That’s a shooting star.
Whoa. [sighs]
That’s the universe sending us a message.
The universe doesn’t send messages.
How do you know?
It’s not sentient. Doesn’t give a damn about you and me.
It’s just a collection of random particles careening through a void.
Well, that’s a message too. Isn’t it?
What are you…
What are you doing here?
This is a private beach.
How did you even get here?
I just went down that path over there. Next to that monstrosity of a house.
You missed the fence and sign that says, “Keep out. Private property?”
Oh, so that’s… that’s your monstrosity?
So… So you… you own like all that and… and what? That’s not enough?
You want to claim the ocean too?
I could just call the sheriff.
Go ahead, you fascist pig.
What we’re pitching isn’t your usual, pie-in-the-sky, five-year-calendar aerospace project.
All that hard work and proof of concept.
It’s done. NASA already subsidized the whole thing.
What do they say about aerospace?
Every new project is like jumping off a cliff
and building an airplane on the way down.
We’re talking one of the most innovative,
semi-autonomous, downright beautiful projects NASA’s ever backed.
We call it the Mars S.E.E.K.E.R.
A semi-autonomous robotic crawler
designed to explore uncharted Martian lava tubes, testing bedrock for proof of life.
Prototype-gamma is on a literal shelf at NASA right now.
Gamma is the third in a planned fleet of six to 12 operational S.E.E.K.E.R.s.
Funds would…
Buy cargo space for S.E.E.K.E.R.s on future Mars launches.
Provide setup of a small mission control at Happy Valley.
And fund a full-time engineering team to run the project on Mars.
To find the signatures of life that once existed, that maybe still exist right now.
Kelly, let me stop you there.
So well pitched, but we have several other projects…
In this exact same space.
It just doesn’t fit our development slate.
I appreciate the passion, but frankly,
we’re not in a position to take such a financial risk at this time.
That sucked.
[sighs]
What’s two hundred million to a company worth more than the GDP of Texas?
I can think of someone else worth just about the same.
You really think he’d go for it?
Only one way to find out.
[electronic beeps]
You like it? It’s super easy. It’s called Pixel Paint.
[Amanda] Let’s wrap it up.
[Lily] Okay.
Mom says I gotta go. You’re still sending me a Mars rock, right? Love you, Daddy.
[blows kisses] Bye.
[Amanda] Okay. Ah, hey. [chuckles]
Oh, ah, Sarah’s at Melinda’s.
Sorry, I thought she would be back in time.
Anyway, um, we should talk.
My sister said that there might be a job for me at the company she works for
up in Boise.
I’ve seen the latest deposit.
I’m sure you’re just as frustrated about it as I am.
But something’s got to change because this ain’t working.
You’re millions of miles away
and if you can’t make the money that you thought then,
you know, what are you even doing up there, Miles?
Anyway, I’ll-I’ll talk to you later. [blows kisses]
[line beeps]
Letter from home?
Yeah.
Guessing it was a doozy, too, based on that hangdog look of yours.
No, I was just… I thought it would be different up here but it’s the same shit.
Well, count yourself lucky.
Know how many vidmails I got last month?
Big fat zero.
Really?
You have any family down there?
My husband.
[chuckles] I mean, uh, my ex-husband.
He did that whole quickie divorce thing. Ten days before blast off.
Shit. Sorry.
Don’t be. He wanted kids and I wanted to go to Mars.
But let’s go, uh, drown our sorrows, shall we?
[rock music plays]
Whoa. You gotta catch it.
How much do you think Ilya makes? Getting all this stuff for these people?
Let’s see, I gave him 20 bucks last week to get me tampons
better than the glorified TP rolls they sell in the PX.
I gave him ten dollars for all-cotton undies.
Three bucks for drinks.
He hauls in $40 to $50 from me a month alone.
So times that by however many people you see coming in here every day.
And I’d say he makes a shitload. Yeah.
Do you want another?
If you’re buying.
Oh, yeah.
[vocalizes]
[metal rattles]
[speaks Russian]
[in English] What?
Two more, please.
Coming right up. You got lemon, right?
You seem to have everything figured out up here, Ilya.
[chuckles] Other than that fucking still. So slow.
But you’ll come to learn, my friend. Give it time.
Don’t know about that. I’m a grand shy of what I need every month,
and my wife is not happy.
Helios, they are a shit company.
They’re greedy and they’re cheats.
I worked for them for 15 years. First on Moon, now here.
So one day I said to myself,
“Fine, you want to rig game? I can do same, only better than you.”
When I started on Moon, we were just small operation.
Jack Daniel’s, cigarettes, some pornography.
The classy stuff, Playboy, Penthouse. [chuckles]
But it was a tough market.
Here, business much better.
That’s great, man. But what about NASA? Do they know?
I’m very careful. Always.
Man on moon who took over after I left,
he was caught.
They charged him with tax evasion.
[chuckles] Fucking idiot.
So, Ilya, do you ever need like, I don’t know.
Do you… Do you need help? Like an extra pair of hands?
I prefer to work alone.
As I said, I must be careful.
Yeah, I understand. I got it. I just thought that maybe…
Don’t be a fucking moron.
Don’t you know what Miles’s day job is?
He repairs environmental systems all over the base.
Restricted areas, down and up.
Which means he’s got a…
Green badge.
He can get to parts of the base you never could.
But, hey, what do I know?
Okay.
Maybe we’ll do test run.
Meet me tomorrow, loading dock B.
Sure thing.
Thank you.
[chuckles]
Thank you.
For what? All I did was point out the obvious.
Yeah.
You do owe me another drink though.
[Ilya] They demand, we supply.
Now remember, this is customer service. Smile, but not too big.
Just a little smile. And look customer in the eye.
We want them to think of us when they need something.
One, two or three?
[Ilya] And make them feel like they’re home.
Here. Write everything down.
Always with pencil, no computer.
What kind, how many. Always precise.
Then I’ll take order, send down to Earth.
And my partner there, he finds item, gets it on ship.
And how does that work?
Do you have a secret compartment in the cargo hold or something?
[Ilya] First things first, Milosh. All in good time.
[worker] Hey, Ilya.
[Ilya] Now you always ask for scrip first.
Then hand the package.
And you let me know if there’s anything else you need.
Always smile. Bigger smile. Good. [chuckles]
Be more careful upstairs.
That asshole Palmer, he has a hard-on for me.
[Ilya] So be nice.
Be quick.
In and out. Ticktock.
[worker] What’s up, Miles.
Thanks, man.
You must start thinking different now, Milosh.
You notice someone needs something.
Suggest maybe you have solution for this.
Always be thinking ahead. Nothing is free.
This is Russian way. [speaks Russian]
[in English] Say it.
[speaks Russian]
[speaks Russian, chuckles]
[Baldwin, in English] Getting close to zero, relative motion.
And once we’ve matched our spin with the docking platform,
I’ll refine our ring alignment.
Okay. Got the spin matched nicely.
[controller] Ranger, Happy Valley.
You are go to proceed with docking procedure test.
[Ed] Copy that.
[Svetlana] I’d rather be dancing with an actual asteroid.
Just the easy touch-and-go. Closure rate holding steady at one meter per second.
Thirty meters.
[radar beeps]
[beeping finalizes]
[Baldwin groans, sighs]
[controller] We’re reading a 12168.
[Baldwin scoffs]
Controls are a bit sluggish.
[beeping continues]
[Svetlana] Fifteen meters.
[beeping finalizes]
Sveta, you’ve been simming this all week.
Wanna try it for real?
[chuckles]
Yes, Commander.
[Ed] Your controls.
[Svetlana] I have control.
Okay, ten meters.
Go easy on the translation. Allow for the lag when in the low.
[Svetlana] Four meters. Approaching docking of the platform.
[Ed] One meter. Keep her steady.
[beeping continues]
[beeping ends]
[AI] Docking complete.
[pants]
Nicely done, Sveta. Nicely done.
[chuckles]
This is a mistake. I’m a Canadian citizen.
[in Russian] Move!
[lieutenant speaks]
[door lock clicks]
[sighs, clears throat]
Twelve hours and 13 minutes.
Interview room 7.
Police Lieutenant Stepan Gura.
Interview with Margaret Reynolds.
I think there is a misunderstanding.
I was at a newsstand buying a paper when…
[in English] Ms. Reynolds, your Russian is not bad, but…
but I will conduct in your mother tongue, no?
Yes, that would be better. Now if you would call my consulate…
We will do this. But first, I have questions.
What is your profession?
I’m a business consultant.
I facilitate deals between Soviet and Western corporations.
So you’re, of course, aware foreigners who take part in anti-government activities
fall under Soviet law?
Yes, but I have not violated any…
You were arrested as part of illegal political demonstration
against orderly government transition, correct?
No, that’s-that’s not… [stammers] As I said, I was at a-a newsstand when…
When you interfered with a Soviet police officer in performance of his duties.
However, there’s bigger concern to us.
[Gura] Who gave you this?
I don’t know.
Yet you chose to hide it.
I was just keeping it…
The prefix is assigned to the Third Chief Directorate of the KGB.
The Third Directorate is currently opposing constitutional transfer
of government power to Korzhenko.
Right now you are held here under Article 70,
which does not allow for extreme penalty.
But if we were to find that you are here under false pretense,
working with a corrupt Gorbachev regime against our nation,
this will be a supplementary circumstance leading to a charge under Article 64.
“Betrayal of Motherland.”
Punishment for this can be as little as ten years in work camp.
Or as much as death.
But if you were to tell me what I want to know,
perhaps I could help you.
[in English] Please…
[gunshots]
[clamor in prison]
[footsteps running]
[gunshots]
[clamor growing closer]
[airplane passing overhead]
[keys jangle]
[loud clamoring, banging]
[gunshot]
[cell door unlocks]
[officer 2] Follow me! Follow me!
[officer 3] I’m behind you!
[gunshots]
[plane flying overhead]
[gunshots]
[explosion]
[speaks Russian]
You okay?
[breathes shakily] Yeah, I am fine.
My side is stone cold bitch ever since Kronos mission.
Bet that maneuver didn’t help either, did it?
I feel like I was kicked by a horse.
Nothing Mayakovsky gives me helps the pain.
Why don’t you come to my garden.
After 2200, greenhouse-C.
Why?
Because I asked.
Well, then how can I refuse.
[doorbell rings]
[Dev] Come in.
[lock clicks]
This is gonna be great.
Hello?
[Dev] In here.
My team developed techniques way beyond ice cores and water samples,
detecting the signatures of life from the rocks themselves
all thanks to your robotic crawlers.
NASA sends me copies of all your test results.
You’ve done some remarkable work.
But you still have not answered the crucial question.
Which is?
What’s the potential return on my investment?
If we find life,
we map its genome, unfold its proteins,
find its secrets.
And in doing that we might find the secrets to ourselves.
I mean, who knows what advances in biotech might come out of that?
[Dev] I’m still not seeing the ROI in this.
You can’t take epiphanies to the bank.
I don’t get it.
I thought you were all about discovery, exploring the universe.
Look, I am so flattered that you guys came all the way out here to see me
and I am sorry that I can’t be more helpful,
but this… this… this isn’t for me.
I’m sorry.
Thank you.
Wait that… that’s it?
Yeah, I think so.
[scoffs]
You know what?
You’re full of shit.
I remember when my mom first went to work for you.
She told me she had never met someone so passionate
about changing the world for the better.
All your big plans to colonize Mars, the moons of Saturn, Jupiter.
And now you’re-you’re holed up in Shangri-La
watching your bank accounts grow bigger and bigger,
afraid to step foot outside of your house.
What the hell happened to you?
You want to know what happened to me, Kelly? Your mother.
She stabbed me in the back.
But I’m grateful. I am.
Because she pulled the wool from my eyes
and helped me to see people for what they really are.
[grunts]
Fuck.
Yeah, maybe I shouldn’t have brought up my mom.
You think?
Beautiful. [sighs]
I must say I’m impressed.
You do not strike me as a farmer type.
[chuckles]
Well, Kelly, my daughter, she’s the real green thumb in the family.
You know, she grew the first plants on Mars?
For me, it’s more like a hobby.
I used to putter around in the garden in Houston back on the weekends with Karen.
My wife.
I know who she was, Edward.
Whole world knows Karen Baldwin.
[chuckles]
It makes me feel close to her, working here.
Not-Not in a sad way.
Just makes me feel good. You know?
[Svetlana] Mm-hmm.
[chuckles]
My father, he used to be a gardener for Brezhnev.
At his dacha on Black Sea.
When I was little I worked beside him in gardens.
The smell here…
[inhales deeply]
[chuckles]
…reminds me of him.
[chuckles]
I wish I would get message from him telling me he’s okay.
You’ll hear from him soon. I’m sure.
Hey, uh…
I got something for you.
But yeah, you can’t tell anyone about this ever.
My lips are sealed…
Ever.
Ever.
Edward.
[gasps]
[speaks Russian, laughs]
Eh, no, it’s pot… um, marijuana.
I know.
Oh. Okay.
How did you get it up here?
Well, Karen had this friend, uh, Wayne.
Uh… he, uh, gave me some seeds to help me with my aches and pains
and I planted the suckers and they just took off. [chuckles]
No.
This is, uh… for your back.
[mumbling, stammering]
Okay, you just hold your finger on that.
Like that?
Yeah, then you inhale.
And then let it go.
There you go.
You hold it in.
[spits, retches]
[coughing]
I’m sorry.
No, that just means you’re doing it right.
You treat this like any pain medicine, you gotta be clean before you fly.
For at least eight hours. I know.
Amazing.
You say you smoke to help your aches and pains?
Yeah.
What’s wrong with them?
I don’t know.
[metal clinking]
[Dev grunting]
[groans]
[lock clicks]
[door opens]
[keys jingle]
I’m Colonel Vidor Kolikoff.
Thank you.
I’m sorry you got caught up in our… politics.
[Margo grunts]
I assure you,
the army is working to restore order and return Mr. Gorbachev to power.
Now please, if you’d indulge me.
[Margo gasps]
[knocks]
[door opens]
[Kolikoff, in Russian] To his knees.
[Gura grunts, whimpers]
[door closes]
Now, tell me about the card
that you found on her.
Please.
Stop.
I cannot.
[cracks]
[Gura screaming]
[Kolikoff] I’m asking you again.
Tell me about the card.
[groaning]
[Gura grunts]
You called the number and who…
[yelps]
…who answered?
The man said it was a watch repair shop.
I told him I found the number in the possession of Margaret Reynolds.
Then?
[whimpers]
My call was transferred
and another man picked up.
He said Margaret Reynolds is one of their most valued customers.
[breathing heavily]
He told me I did well to call him.
[in English] Who gave you that card?
The woman didn’t give me her name.
[Kolikoff, in Russian] That number reaches a trap line
that redirects to the Second Directorate of the KGB.
You weren’t just talking to the KGB.
You were talking to the KGB who watch the rest of KGB.
Counterintelligence. They’re the ones backing Korzhenko.
They are the ones behind the coup.
The man on the phone
did he tell you who she is?
No.
[body thuds]
[Margo breathing shakily]
[Margo whimpers]
[in English] What are you…
[chain rattles]
[screaming]
[whimpers]
[breathing shakily]
The woman who gave you the card, what did she look like?
Um. [stammers]
Sixties, maybe?
I don’t know who she is.
I just spoke to her for a moment.
What are you to her?
I don’t know what you’re talking about, I swear.
[breathes shakily]
You will tell me everything that you know about this woman.
[breathing shakily]
[sobbing]
What are you doing?
Oh, hey.
Found this compressor in the suit soop’s room.
And I remember what you were saying about svyazi.
And I know how you’re always complaining that your still is too slow, so…
[laughs] Wow. Thank you, Milosh.
Think nothing of it. All right, check it out?
Sure.
[switch clicks]
[compressor whirs]
[glass clinking]
[speaks in Russian, laughs]
[compressor screeches]
Turn it off! Turn it off!
[sighs]
[engine powers down]
[yelps]
[Miles] No shi…
Son of bitch. Fuck!
Your compressor broke my still!
Hang on, hang on. [grunts] Let me check it out.
Ow, fuck.
[groans] Fuck.
Oh, shit.
Yeah, your thermostat’s fried.
I need cooling coil to condense alcohol back to liquid.
No coil, no booze! Huh?
[speaks Russian]
[Sam] You should have just left well enough alone.
I vouched for you, Miles.
I know. I’m sorry.
How long is the still going to be down?
He said a couple of months.
He’s got to order a new thermostat and have it shipped up here.
[chuckles] He must be so pissed.
I’ve never seen a human head get that red before. [laughs]
I mean, he told me where I could stick that job, that’s for sure.
Sorry, man.
Looks like all the thermostats like that one have been replaced by newer models.
Fuck. I knew this would happen.
Just when I’m starting to make head way up here, you know.
It’s just a little setback is all. I’m sure he’ll get over it eventually.
Oh, hang on.
Now that’s interesting.
Wait, what is?
There’s still one more on base.
Uno momento.
Oh, boy.
What?
The North Koreans have it.
North Koreans? As in it’s in their area?
Yeah.
Shit.
Okay.
Okay, that’s not insurmountable.
I’ll just… No, I could… I-I’ll go over there and I’ll talk to ’em.
You can’t be serious.
That was Palmer’s number one rule. Stay away from North Korea.
How bad can it be?
I mean, they’re up here, we’re up here, we’re not that different.
Yeah, but North Korean territory on this base is akin to actual North Korea.
You’re basically saying you-you’re just gonna walk up to the DMZ
and knock on the front door?
Well, yeah. I mean, strength in numbers right?
[chuckles]
[chuckles] No fucking way.
No, I’m on borrowed time as is with this whole accident report thing coming out.
I-I’ve got to be perfect if I want to get reassigned to the asteroid program.
What about you? You up for an adventure?
Yeah, that’s a no from me.
Palmer scares me. A lot.
[blows, sighs]
[distant rumbling]
[beeps]
[beeps]
[in Korean] What is it?
It is an elevated methane warning.
Check the auxiliary flow sensors.
Yes, sir.
[knocks]
[in English] I need to check your air quality levels. There could be a leak.
Come on, open up.
You are not allowed.
Methane.
[in Korean] What do they want?
Entry!
Denied!
[in English] You cannot come…
[alarm blaring]
I heard tanks were surrounding The Kremlin…
[signal beeping]
…and Gorbachev…
Ah, ma’am. A possible cooling system leak in the North Korean module.
There’s already a Helios tech at the site. You can reset the alert.
[blaring continues]
Listen, all your people need to leave.
I need to check your air quality levels. Could be dangerous.
[in Korean] This is sovereign territory of the People’s Republic of Korea.
[in English] Buddy, you want to choke to death, that’s your business.
I have a job to do.
Okay, this is a safety issue, you understand? Safety.
[in Korean] He says it is a safety issue.
We must evacuate.
We are temporarily evacuating the module.
[in English] Nobody comes back in here until I give the all clear.
[grunts]
[grunts, sighs]
[strains]
[gasps] Whoa. Shit. Scared me there.
Well, uh, false alarm.
Uh, the air is clear. No sign of contamination.
Probably just a faulty sensor.
You know, happened a couple of times that I’ve been up here.
Power surge hits the sensor gauge…
What is in case?
[stammers] I, uh-uh, um…
You put that recording device…
No, no. I’m, uh-uh, a repairman.
Show me what is in case, sir. Or I report American espionage.
Whoa. No, no. You got the wrong idea.
Look, sir, I’m not, uh… They’re… I’m not a s… a spook.
No?
No.
Then what did you put in case?
Thermostat. I-I needed it and yours is the only one on base.
I’m sorry.
Why you need?
There’s this, uh, bar, you know, where you drink alcohol.
Ah.
You are with, uh, Breshov? Uh, Ilya?
You know Ilya?
I know of smuggling.
We have eyes all over base.
Listen, um… [stutters] I apologize for everything.
This was stupid. I’m just gonna take it. I’m gonna put…
No.
You keep, but I need you to help me.
[Aleida] Maybe we’re going about this all wrong.
[sighs] We could go for an international partner.
ESA?
Or the Chinese. They have a lot of money.
[Alex] Yeah. That’s cool. Let me try.
[Olga laughing]
[guest] There you go.
[Olga] Oh, here she is.
[Kelly] Dev?
Kelly. [chuckles] Come here.
Mommy, watch this.
So, here. So, the coin’s in this hand.
Three, two, one.
Abracadabra. [imitates whoosh sound]
Whoa! Where did it go?
[chuckles]
Darn it.
Come, Alexei. [speaks Russian]
Hey, keep working at it, young Alex.
How did you get here before us?
Helps if you have your own jet.
What do you want, Dev?
To apologize for what I said about your mom.
My phone works too.
No, it wouldn’t have.
You see, your mother was a remarkable woman.
She was very important to me,
and I have been thinking about the things that you said.
I’m sorry. That was harsh.
Yes, it was.
But it got me thinking about my own father.
See, people let him down,
people he thought he could count on.
And they hurt him so bad that he just gave up.
And I was heading down the same path and didn’t even realize it
until you walked through the door.
So, are you saying that you’ve changed your mind and decided to fund our project?
No.
Rule number one in business, never invest your own money.
Then whose money are we going to use?
Helios’s.
We already went to Helios, Dev. They turned us down.
I got a feeling the new management team will be more amenable to our proposal.
What new management team?
Us.
Are you seriously suggesting that we take over Helios?
I still own a substantial amount of stock in the company,
and you inherited everything from your mom.
If we can convince enough stockholders to throw in with us, well, we can do it.
What do you say?
[sighs]
Fuck it. Let’s do it.
All right, great.
Now, stakeholders.
I will approach these three here
and, Kelly, I’d like you to approach these others right here.
I’ll take this one.
We go way back.
[device beeps]
[Bill] Yeah?
It’s me.
Aleida.
I wasn’t sure if you were…
[device buzzing]
[Aleida] Wow. Looks like someone’s been on a buying spree.
[Bill] What brings you out my way?
[Aleida] Got something for you to look at.
Give me a minute.
Oh, my God.
You have Robby the Robot from Forbidden Planet.
You know it’s Victor’s all-time favorite movie.
Hey, put that back!
Right where you got it from. Right there.
Come on.
Sorry, it, uh…
It’s just I know where everything is. Don’t wanna lose it.
Ah, show me the thing. Come on.
[sighs] Oh, I know about this.
Yeah. It’s a fascinating project, but I thought Hobson killed it.
We’re doing this through the private sector.
We?
Hold on, you’re leaving NASA to work on this with Kelly Baldwin?
And Dev Ayesa.
Oh, Jesus.
Look, I know it’s crazy, but Dev still owns a lot of Helios stock and so does Kelly.
All we need is a few more stockholders to join us, and we can retake his company.
So that’s why you’re here.
For my shares.
It’s an opportunity to do pure science again without all the political bullshit…
Spare me the sales pitch. Jesus.
God. I’ll sign the fucking thing and then you can just go.
Bill…
I’m sorry I haven’t been to see you in so long.
I don’t blame you for being mad at me. But I really…
I’m not mad.
You’re not?
No.
I get it.
Probably wouldn’t want to see me either.
But if you want my help you’re gonna have to explain something to me.
What?
Why you’re walking away from NASA, after 15 years, to work on a private robotics program that, to be frank, is beneath you.
You should be director by now.
You can do this shit in your sleep. You know it.
I can’t do manned space flight anymore.
What? ‘Cause of the Ranger-1 accident?
You’ve lost crew before.
Guess everyone has their limit.
But you always seemed more resilient. I mean, you went back when…
I didn’t have a choice.
I owed it to all the people we lost.
Margo, you mean?
No.
She lied to you. She betrayed her country and still you owed it to her.
Please, let’s not have this argument again. Okay?
We don’t know why she did it. The Russians probably forced her.
So we are gonna have this argument again.
Bill! Bill!
The point I’m trying to make is I am not more resilient than you.
When I first walked into the new MOCR.
Gleaming. Immaculate.
I was just hit with that stench of burning plastic.
Hits the back of your throat. [clears throat]
It burns.
Yeah.
But the smell faded and every morning I’d wake up with this… feeling of dread.
Then with the asteroid… it all came flooding back.
I ran out of the fucking room, Bill. [sighs]
I left my post… and I couldn’t go back in there anymore.
At least you didn’t pee your pants.
[chuckles]
[chuckling]
That’s for sure. [sighs]
Hmm.
Hey, why don’t you come work with me?
Feel like old times. Get you out of the house, at least.
Do whatever you want with my shares.
I trust you… but I’m never coming back.
Hello, Ms. Reynolds.
Let me ask you again. Who is the woman from the park?
Like I said, she never said who she works for.
Yet you protect her. Why?
Please, you need to believe me.
I don’t even know who she is.
[in Russian] I’m in the middle of something.
[whispers]
[officers muttering]
[door opens]
[whimpers, shouts]
[in English] Goodbye.
No. [gasps] No. No.
Wait. Help… Call the American embassy.
No, please. [grunting, whimpering]
[groans]
[whimpers]
[Richard] In summary, helium-3 refinery expansion will continue Earth-side, as we escalate lunar mining.
Relative to the capex number we’ve shown you today of 29 billion.
We remain committed.
[Dev] A question, uh, Richard.
[audience murmuring]
Dev Ayesa, we’re in the middle of a board meeting here.
The bylaws are clear.
Control of this company requires me to make a direct address to the board.
Hello, board.
I have put in a tender offer backed by 23 other shareholders, giving us majority stake, naming me CEO of this company effective immediately.
Dev, I’m sorry, there are all kinds of safeguards against that.
And if you try and poison pill this I’ll just go ahead and swallow it.
Any proxy fight that just gets killed right in the crib.
If you sue, I’ll counter.
If the SEC gets involved, that will take months.
By that point, the share value will crash, and this company’s reputation will be destroyed.
So what are we going to do about it?
The lesson of Icarus is not don’t fly too close to the sun.
It’s make better fucking wings.
The best way to seize the future is to invent it.
So let’s start.
You are barred from this building, effective immediately.
Files, access and your e-mails have been locked. Please, get out of my face.
Arlene Spielman, Phillip Hillhouse, Marla Bales, you didn’t want to go to Mars in the first place. Get out.
I mean it. Get out.
One foot in front of the other.
I’m gutting the entire finance department. Please, get out.
Ivan Ochoa, the subsidies that you negotiated for helium-3 are absolutely criminal.
You get out as well.
Zoe Howard. Sean Doorly. Get out.
[chuckles] I do not know how you did it, Milosh, but thank you.
Pleasure.
[speaks Russian]
Cheers.
Mmm. [exhales sharply]
And come back tomorrow. I’ll have more for you to do.
I’m looking forward to it. Though, uh, there’s one more thing.
I might have found you a new customer today.
Really?
[speaks Russian]
Come in, my friend. Come on in.
Come on.
[Ilya] What can I do for you?
Who would’ve thought? Nixon opened up China, you opened up North Korea.
[chuckles]
Would you care for a drink?
First one on the house.
No drink.
I can get you anything you need.
Playboy magazine. Foot cream. Even laser disc.
Huh?
I need you to bring me my wife.
[engine rattles]
[brakes squeal]
[doors open]
[breathes deeply]
[whimpering]
[sobs]
[in Russian] Please.
[sobbing continues]
[person] Get that hood off of her.
[in English] My apologies, Ms. Madison. It took me some time to locate you.
I… [stammers] I was…
They wanted to know…
It’s okay. You’re safe now.
Come, follow me.
Who are you?
My name is Irina Vasilievna Morozova.
And I want you to work for me.
Work for you?
Star City.
Gorbachev and the army, they have agreed to terms.
Korzhenko is the president.
And I have been named the new head of Roscosmos.
I need skilled people on my side. And you are very skilled, indeed.
But you barely know me.
I’ve known you for a long time, Margo.
Are you coming?
