Original release date: December 15, 2023
In “For All Mankind” Season 4, Episode 6, “Leningrad,” the drama unfolds with Margo secretly aiding Irina at the M-7 Conference. The episode focuses on the challenges of a costly asteroid capture mission, proposed to orbit Mars. Eli Hobson’s idea to redirect the asteroid to Earth sparks a complex debate. Meanwhile, Margo decides to collaborate openly with Aleida, risking exposure as a defector. On Mars, tensions rise as Ed gets involved in labor issues, and Miles fights for dominance in the black market. The episode climaxes with Margo publicly declaring her defection and leading the mission, while labor unrest grows in Happy Valley.
* * *
[bells chiming]
[siren wailing in distance]
[people chattering]
[car door slams]
[sighs]
[people chattering]
[chattering continues on recording]
[Irina, through headset] Margo.
Are you watching?
Yeah.
Uh, yes.
[through earpiece] Yes, I am.
[in Russian] Ladies and gentlemen.
Please take your seats.
[chattering stops]
[switch clicks]
The chair declares…
[switch clicks]
…this special meeting…
[interpreter speaking through headset]
…of the Mars Oversight Board to be in session
with Irina Morozova presiding on behalf of Roscosmos
during the month of July 2003.
All members are in attendance and a quorum is present.
Let us begin.
[clock ticking]
[sighs]
[in English] I’m looking forward to finally meeting you in person.
Heigh-ho.
[chuckles]
Hey.
Hello.
Hello.
[chuckles]
[people chattering, laughing]
[music playing through speaker]
How’s it hanging, Ilya?
Well, hello, everybody.
[chattering stops]
How y’all doing?
Admiral.
I-I don’t know what to say.
How about, um, “What’ll you have, Admiral?”
“What will you have, Admiral?”
Thank you so much for asking. I’ll have whatever he has.
Yes, sir!
[sniffs]
Cheers, everybody!
[chattering resumes]
[belches]
That is some good shit.
Hit me again.
Yes, sir. [laughs]
[speaks Russian]
[Hobson, in English] Factoring in the increased pace
of flights and fuel refining at Happy Valley,
we’re confident of being able to launch an asteroid capture mission
in eight weeks.
[audience murmurs]
That timeline is obviously tight but we think it’s doable.
But for sake of argument,
mission is successful, asteroid enter the Martian orbit,
uh, next step will require the developing a new equipment.
Uh-huh.
[Aleida] Yes.
In fact, we at Helios project a need
to design, build and sustain a fleet of 200 new microgravity rovers,
capable of ongoing operations in and around the asteroid.
We also need to design, build and sustain two orbital platforms
as a base of mining operations,
along with 45 new MSAM hoppers to facilitate personnel and cargo transfers
between the expanded Happy Valley facility
and two dozen massive cargo haulers
with nuclear fusion reactor-powered ion drives
to transport the iridium to Earth.
We’ve–
[ISRO rep] Forgive me for interrupting,
but this is an enormous expansion of research and development
beyond anything the world has ever attempted.
By my count, you’re saying we need to construct
six new types of spacecraft, over 400 individual vehicles.
Is that correct?
[Aleida] Not exactly.
This is only page 1 of the vehicle requirements.
[audience gasps, murmurs]
[ISRO rep] What are the total numbers?
We project a need for 11 new spacecraft
and 2,500 individual vehicles.
[audience exclaims]
[Margo, through earpiece] Those are conservative numbers.
I was guessing closer to 4000 vehicles.
[Irina, through headset] Well, this will be an enormous expense.
Plus, the capital investments to expand Happy Valley itself,
increased personnel, training, maintenance.
And she hasn’t even gotten to building the receiving and processing facilities
we’re gonna need in low-earth orbit
for when all the iridium deposits start arriving back home.
[audience chattering]
[chattering stops]
Ms. Rosales,
what is the top-line number for total investment in this project?
For Helios to create the infrastructure needed for basic mining operations
after the asteroid is captured,
we will require a minimum capitalization cost of…
two trillion dollars.
[audience exclaims]
But the asteroid is worth at least 20 trillion, probably more.
So it’s a solid investment.
[audience murmuring]
[Palmer] Is this for real?
[Danielle] It’s certainly ambitious.
Twenty-five flights in the first month alone?
That’s nearly once a day.
And take a look at the estimate
for how much fuel we’ll need to refine just to grab it.
Jesus fucking Christ.
[sighs]
Sorry.
Holy fucking shit.
Much better, XO.
Look at the timeline for equipment fabrication.
Skipper, we’ve never come anywhere close to this pace of operation.
I don’t think we can pull this off.
[sighs]
I was sent here to prove
that this base was worth the years of blood and sweat and tears it took
to establish a Mars operation.
Good people died up here, and I knew some of ’em.
Now is our chance to show that their sacrifice wasn’t in vain.
So if the M-7 signs off on this plan, then sends us after that rock,
I’m gonna get it.
I’m gonna get it or die trying.
Aye, aye, skipper.
[sighs]
[music playing through speaker]
[people chattering]
Who told you?
[slurred] Nobody told me.
See, I got a nose for these kind of things.
Shit, you think you’re the first smart guy who figured out
how to build a still out of scrap metal and cast-off parts?
[chuckles]
I’ve had moonshine on carriers, cruisers, MASH units,
isolation chambers, jail cells, churches, moon bases and space stations.
If there’s a still, Ed Baldwin is going to sniff it out.
[chuckles]
Okay.
But I’ll tell you one thing.
You need to switch out your filters in your condensation line.
That’s why you got that aftertaste of cinnamon mouse-ass.
It’s a telltale sign.
Cinnamon mouse-ass?
Yeah.
[chitters]
I talked to the AFL-CIO rep down in Houston.
He said we have a ton of leverage right now too.
I don’t know, a union?
[scoffs] Remember when they tried to unionize the miners at Jamestown?
No, no, this is different.
They can’t just shitcan us, right?
And then fly in a bunch of scabs in two days?
They can’t do it.
It’s three months before they get the replacements to Mars. Minimum.
By that time, Goldilocks will be long gone.
If we don’t band together,
they’re just gonna keep screwing us every chance they get.
I’m telling you, we’re all gonna be pulling double shifts, triple overtime,
working meal breaks, no R and R days, a recipe for fucking disaster.
Earning bonuses, double bonuses,
probably double secret bonuses…
What?
…along the way.
Yes.
People get tired. They lose focus. They make mistakes.
And this is when people get hurt.
Exactly.
You gotta take some risks if you want a big payoff.
What are you gonna do with all that money if you’re dead?
At least I’ll die with a rich man’s smile.
[scoffs]
[classical music playing]
[people chattering]
She seems very confident.
[Margo, through earpiece] Well. With good reason.
She knows Helios has never been more essential to us and the Americans
than they are now.
[Irina, through headset] Us? I like hearing you say this, Margo.
Uh-I–
I wasn’t–
Okay. Let us see what they’re made of.
[clears throat]
Administrator Hobson, Ms. Rosales.
On behalf of Roscosmos and the Soviet Union,
welcome to Leningrad.
[Aleida] Thank you.
[Hobson] Pleasure to be here.
My hotel is magnificent.
And how are your accommodations, Ms. Rosales?
Would be more comfortable if the bathroom wasn’t down the hall.
Well, with the large size of the conference,
we were forced to put some in less than ideal accommodations.
To success.
[Aleida] Not sure how that’s possible,
unless we find a trillion dollars under someone’s mattress.
[Hobson] Well, the problem isn’t the money.
[Aleida] It’s not?
[Irina] No.
[Hobson] Our two nations alone could put up that amount of money.
[Irina] And we will not, of course.
[Hobson] Yes, we will not,
because it is the responsibility of the entire M-7 bloc to fund this operation.
I mean, everybody has to have skin in the game if they want to benefit.
And believe me,
there is plenty of skin in this room to cover the costs.
Then what’s the problem?
The problem is the return on investment.
ROI.
The biggest three letters in business.
In any language.
I get it.
And there is a substantial return on everyone’s investment.
The cost is 10% or less of the potential revenue of over 20 trillion dollars.
It’s a huge ROI.
But not for 30 years.
[Irina] Thirty years at minimum.
My people estimate it’s closer to 40 years
before any of our countries will see the return on this investment.
I said 35 years was more realistic.
I can’t wave a magic wand and create entire new fleets of spacecraft
and their associated infrastructure out of thin air.
Hmm.
And even after it’s built, we-we still have to launch those systems
to a planet that’s 30 days’ travel time away on a good day.
Oh, and then we have to actually mine the stuff
and-oh, yeah-bring it all the way back home.
It takes time.
Well, unfortunately, you’re making our case for us.
What case?
To drop the entire operation.
What? No!
No. No, no, no.
This is literally a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
We can’t pass this by.
Moscow will never agree on waiting four decades
before seeing real benefits of the investment this significant.
But the whole point of the project is that it’s not just for us today.
It’s for the future.
No, it’ll never fly in Washington either.
Forty years is a lifetime in politics.
Think about it, 40 years ago, Jack Kennedy was president,
the Vietnam War was on the news every night,
and Elvis was skinny.
[chuckles]
Millions of people, generations of people who haven’t even been born yet
will be affected by this.
We have a unique chance to do something that will benefit the entire Earth.
Unfortunately, Goldilocks is not going to Earth.
It’s going to Mars.
And the only people who stand to benefit from it is you at Helios.
You get the money for investment now,
and then we have to wait for the benefit later.
No, it will not do.
Hold on a second there.
What if Goldilocks wasn’t going to Mars?
We never modeled that scenario.
[Irina] What are you talking about?
That’s why we’re here.
Wait, wait.
He might be onto something.
[Irina] Explain what you mean.
Bringing the asteroid to Earth instead of Mars.
Mining it in orbit. Here.
Using the existing helium-3 infrastructure from the Moon
would allow us to start mining it right away.
And not having to send thousands of vehicles to Mars
means a faster timeline.
And an exponentially faster return on investment.
To everyone.
[Margo] And it opens the door for other companies
to make money mining it.
Not just Helios.
[Hobson] The potential for the global economy is staggering.
And instead of having to wait to see benefits till the 2040s,
we start seeing them-When?
Five years.
I was just gonna say that.
[Hobson] My fellow delegates,
I think we might have just changed the rules of the game.
[Aleida] Now we just have to figure out how to pull it off.
You see, if the vapor pressure above the condenser’s too high,
steam is gonna fill the line down there.
Okay. I’ll make the appropriate adjustments.
You should.
And you get drinks on the house.
You’re goddamn right I do.
You think you can get all this advice just for free?
[both chuckle]
Y-You keep them coming.
[Ilya grunts, sniffs]
[Ed grunts]
One more?
[grunts] Keep ’em coming!
You drink like a Russian. [chuckles]
I’ll take that as the compliment I think it was intended.
[Ed grunts, sighs]
Quite an operation you got going here.
Between this and the black-market stuff you got rolling in from Earth,
you gotta be clearing, what, five, ten grand a month?
[chuckles] Admiral, please.
This isn’t my first rodeo.
I’ve seen black-market stuff on carriers and cruisers
and MASH units, isolation–
Admiral, please.
This is not topic for here.
So, how do you work it?
You got someone helping you up on Phoenix?
Hmm?
That’s the only way to really make it work.
Right?
Hey, Faiza.
Miles. Hello.
I’m gonna need a couple of extra slots on the next obsidian shipment out.
Weight’s gonna be an issue, ’cause it’s kind of a heavy consignment,
but I figure if we move around
those last couple of–
I cannot help you anymore, Miles.
Excuse me?
This area is off-limits to nonessential personnel.
And you, my friend, are nonessential from this day forward.
What’s going on?
Has the new XO changed up security protocol?
No. Palmer’s got nothing to do with this.
Sorry.
Faiza. Where you going?
Hey, let’s talk about this.
Hey!
[person] Nothing to talk about.
Petros. Hey.
You are no longer welcome here.
What’s going on?
Loading dock is now closed to you and your rocks.
As are all other aspects of Ilya’s business.
Wait a minute, wait a minute. It’s just a misunderstanding.
I just gotta talk to Ilya–
You will not talk to Ilya anymore.
But he can’t just shut me out of the whole system.
Man, I’m the reason this whole operation–
Hey, hey, hey!
[grunting, choking]
You do not fuck with Ilya’s business.
Okay.
Do you understand?
[grunts] I understand.
Do not come here again.
[panting]
[coughs, panting]
[coughing]
Fuck.
[clears throat]
The main problem is that dragging something of that mass to Earth
could take centuries.
Kronos was a fraction the size of 2003LC, and the spin rate was still a problem.
[Margo] During the ’90s, NASA used DART
to successfully simulate asteroid impact avoidance techniques.
We might be able to use DART to steer Goldilocks.
NASA during ’90s used BART to simulate asteroid impact avoidance techniques.
[sighs]
[Irina] This could be of use now–
DART.
I’m sorry. Who’s Bart?
DART.
That’s what I meant. Sorry, my English-Hmm.
[Hobson] What’s DART?
[Aleida] Double Asteroid Redirection Test.
[Hobson] Right. Right.
NASA tested eight techniques
for deflecting extinction-level asteroids or comets away from Earth in the ’90s.
One of them might be applicable.
NASA tested eight techniques deflecting ast-asteroids
during the DART program.
So you stole that data too?
We didn’t steal anything.
Really? Like to talk about the NERVA engine design?
This doesn’t seem useful.
[Aleida] Sorry.
Please go on.
Tell me about our eight techniques and how useful they might be today.
NASA openly published those tests in scientific journals.
NASA doesn’t do its work in secret like some police state.
Your loyalties are misplaced.
You don’t work at NASA anymore.
So your duty should be to your current employer.
I’m aware of my situation,
and who my duty is to.
[Irina] Furthermore,
the DART tests were published for all to see.
Right.
Let’s, uh-Let’s refocus, please.
One of the techniques from those tests
did prove viable during the Ranger 1 tests.
Direct engine attachment for remote propulsion.
That was a viable option?
Strap a rocket engine to an asteroid and… [imitates rocket blast] …fire it up.
[Margo] That wasn’t in the Ranger 1 report.
We didn’t see it in the Ranger 1 report.
We moved away from it because of misplaced faith in porosity measurements.
Okay. So, what about other redirection techniques?
Uh, the other options were, if I recall, ion-beam shepherding.
[Irina] What about ion-beam shepherding?
[Aleida] Uh, not enough energy to power a beam that big.
Kinetic impact.
Kinetikit impact?
No time to build anything big enough,
and too hard to capture another asteroid to slam into it.
Nuclear explosives.
No.
What?
Oh, I-I was just remembering nuclear explosives option, but no.
You guys were gonna nuke an asteroid?
Hey, if the dinosaurs had nukes, they might still be around.
But we’re trying to steer Goldilocks, not blast it into a million pieces.
The other options were focused solar,
mass driver, gravity tractor, laser ablation–
I know them all.
That’s true.
Not enough power, not big enough, too slow, doesn’t exist.
There’s a solution here. I know there is.
We just need to work the problem for a while.
Yeah. We must work the problem.
Okay.
Where do you want to start?
[Margo] Let’s start by reviewing
the ion-beam collimation parameters for shepherding.
Because if we can focus the divergence angles,
we might be able to generate enough thrust.
If we combine those with multiple kinetic impacts.
I need a break.
Food?
Oh. I’m starving.
[stammers] No.
[speaks Russian]
[Irina, in English] There’s a great restaurant across the street.
You’re gonna love it.
[Hobson] Fantastic.
Wait. I-I thought we were working the problem.
[sighs]
[Ed snorting, groaning]
[grunts]
[grunts, sighs]
[grunting]
[groans] Don’t mind if I do, Admiral Baldwin.
[knocks on door]
[inhales] Shit.
[grunts]
[blowing]
[knocking continues]
Uh, hold up.
[Ed] What?
Hey.
Uh, did I wake you?
What, that a problem?
Uh, no, it’s just, uh-It’s the middle of the afternoon.
Yeah, I guess I’m just a lazy fuck.
Huh, that all?
Uh, no.
I, uh-I need to publish
a preliminary schedule of operations for department heads,
and I need you to sign off on these, uh, base pay and bonus rates.
Paperwork is your job now, Palmer.
Uh, you’re still the senior project manager.
Danielle shitcanned me.
No.
She removed you as executive officer,
which means you’re no longer in the chain of command,
but you are still technically employed by Helios,
which means you are still a senior project manager for Happy Valley.
Huh. Well, I guess you’re right.
Thanks for letting me know.
Bye now.
Uh, which is why I need you
to sign off on these base pay and bonus rates.
Oh, for fuck’s sake.
[Palmer] Now, they, uh-They come from Helios corporate,
but I need your sign-off
before I can publish the integrated schedule for comment.
Just need a signature.
This from corporate?
Yeah, yeah. That’s right.
I just need you to sign the top sheet. Right there.
As, uh, senior project manager, I’ll, uh–
I’ll take this under review.
No–
[Palmer] Come on, Ed, don’t screw around.
Goddamn it.
[chuckles]
[Margo] I know we can get there.
It’s just another engineering problem.
[Irina sighs]
It can be solved.
We don’t have time.
Soon the asteroid will be out of our reach forever.
We need to take some…
bold action,
’cause what we’re doing right now isn’t working.
So, what do you suggest?
I suggest
that Aleida and I work together on this.
No. Absolutely not.
If we do, I feel confident that we will come up with a solution.
She believes you are dead.
She’ll be upset. She’ll be angry.
Why would she agree to work with you?
Because I know her.
She’s an engineer’s engineer.
And when she digs in on a problem, she becomes obsessive.
Same as me. It’s in our nature.
She might be upset with me. She might hate me,
but she will not be able to let this go until she finds a solution.
Right now, I guarantee you she’s pacing up and down in her hotel room,
trying to crack this, same as me.
She will be at it all night and all day tomorrow. So will I.
If we work together, we can pull this off.
We must assume she will tell the American government you’re alive,
and then Moscow will want to announce your defection before they do.
But do you understand that by doing this, you’re gonna unmask yourself to the world?
That they’re gonna call you a spy, a traitor?
I’ve considered that.
So you’re ready to be the most hated woman in America?
I don’t relish the prospect,
but I’m prepared to take that chance.
Why?
That’s the only way to find a solution.
Why, Margo?
[sniffs]
I don’t want to hide.
I don’t want to hide anymore.
I want to be a part of this.
You are a part of this.
Sitting in a back room talking to you through an earpiece?
My hands are tied behind my back.
I think I should be in charge of Star City’s Goldilocks capture operation.
Well, now we reach the truth.
You want power… again.
It’s like a drug, no?
My–
My drug is the work, this work.
Well, it will not make any difference to these people.
For them, you’re gonna be always a traitor,
and no one will trust you here… or there.
I don’t care what people think of me.
I know what I did in the past and why I did it.
And I know why I’m doing this now.
And that’s all that matters.
[door creaks open]
Uh, hello?
What do you think you’re doing?
I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to–
[Aleida breathes shakily]
Aleida.
I know this is a shock.
But I can explain.
You’re alive?
Yes. Now if you’ll just–
Oh.
[Aleida sobs]
I can’t believe it. [sobbing]
Oh, my God.
[sobbing continues]
[knocks on door]
[footsteps approach]
[door lock clicks]
This is, uh, not acceptable.
Well, I didn’t have much choice in the matter.
Will this impact my request?
Well, I hate to tell you this,
but Ilya hasn’t been completely honest with you.
He never had any intention of bringing your wife up here.
[breathes shakily] This was agreement.
Well, he was just stringing you along to get your business.
This is not acceptable!
You’re right.
It makes me sick.
Lee, I’m a man of my word. I wish I could help you.
I think I could help you get her up here, but Ilya’s cut me out.
[Lee bangs table]
[breathes heavily]
I will handle.
So, after I knew Sergei and his family had escaped to West Germany,
and they were safe…
it was time to go.
I went downstairs and I walked around MOCR one last time.
Sorta… said my goodbyes.
You were standing at the flight console.
Then I went back to my office.
And a little while after that,
I went to the cafeteria loading dock at the back of the building,
met my contact.
He put me in a car and we left for Sugar Land Airfield, outside of Houston,
where they had a jet waiting.
We flew to Mexico, switched planes, made a bunch of stops,
I don’t-I don’t even remember them all.
Eventually I ended up…
here.
You defected…
to the Soviet Union?
I didn’t have much choice.
You could have told the truth,
admitted what you’d done, and dealt with the consequences.
I thought about it.
But prison?
Leavenworth?
For the rest of my life?
Just for trying to do the right thing?
The right thing?
After all this time you still think you did the right thing?
I never shared anything that could harm national security.
I was very careful.
Sergei and I, we–
You gave them our Mars engine design.
I didn’t see any other choice.
Stop saying that.
Of course you had a choice.
You had choices all along, but you didn’t take them.
You weren’t there.
I was there.
I was in the building the day you ran off to Russia, remember?
Yeah. I know.
I don’t think you do.
Because while you met your contact down in the cafeteria
and then got on your private jet, I was still on duty.
Doing my job.
And I wasn’t the only one.
It was a full house. Everyone wanted to be there.
And one minute
I’m looking at the big board tracking fuel consumption rates,
and the next…
I’m on the floor, my ears are ringing and the room is filled with smoke.
Five people killed instantly in mission control.
Fourteen more died of their injuries later that day.
Another 12 over the next few weeks.
164 in the rest of the building.
195 total.
Sharon Atkins, Bob Kipling, Molly Cobb…
I know the names.
Bill Strausser? No. He wasn’t killed.
He was lucky.
They had to dig through three tons of rebar and concrete to find him.
But Peanut was lucky.
He only had his pelvis shattered and his spinal cord severed.
I went looking for you.
Soon as I could stand.
Started walking through the building, went to your office,
pushed through the outer doors and…
there was just open air.
Like, for a moment, I thought,
“I’m in the clouds.
This is heaven.
I must be dead.”
But it was just…
the side of the building was gone.
The whole side of the building.
I don’t know how long I stood there thinking about heaven.
And I hoped-I hoped…
and I prayed…
that you were in heaven too.
Someone-some cop, or fireman, or something. I still don’t know who–
Someone came and got me and took me out.
And as I passed through the outer office…
I saw them picking up Emma’s body.
She died.
Right there.
At her desk.
At her post.
For what it’s worth…
I wish I’d been there.
At my desk.
At my post.
What do you want, Margo?
You really think I’m gonna work with you on this stupid asteroid?
I think you know how big this stupid asteroid thing is for all of us.
It’ll change the world.
I’m not doing this.
Aleida…
you’ll leave here, you’ll go home,
and you’ll be tortured by the fact that there was a solution to be had,
and it was just out of reach.
It’ll eat at you and fester,
and by the time you finally get the solution–
because you will get the solution, you know you will–
the window will have closed, and it’ll be too late,
and you will regret that–
Don’t act like you know me anymore!
You don’t know me anymore.
[rustles papers]
I know all about regret.
Believe me, I know all about it.
About sleepless nights spent going over and over things in the past
that you can’t change.
I know that we can do this.
We can solve this problem.
And we can change the course of human history…
right now, tonight, in this room.
Hate me if you want,
but work the problem with me.
Ion-beam shepherding won’t work.
The asteroid would skip off the atmosphere.
[dialogue fading]
[Petros grunts]
[door opens]
[in Russian] What happened to him?
Broken arm, bruised ribs, collapsed lung.
My God.
These types of accidents will happen
when you are working too many hours.
Accident?
This was not an accident, Doctor.
Petros says the hydraulic lifter malfunctioned.
Milosh.
[in English] What is this?
You sent a man to put his hands on my fucking throat. That’s what this is.
You went behind me.
You lied to me,
put everything I had at risk.
I don’t know you anymore, Milosh.
I haven’t changed, Ilya.
Look around you.
This whole place is gonna be swimming in money.
That’s opportunity for everybody. That’s the kind of opportunity I can’t waste.
But I still want you to be part of it.
Oh. “Part of this.”
I was the one who brought you in here!
Keep your voice down.
I–
Look, I know how much you like this bar.
I know how much it means to you.
So, you can come by anytime.
You helped me when I needed it most.
I won’t ever forget that. I won’t.
Okay, yeah, but there was also a 30% increase
in accidents over the same period.
Look at Roger last week, right?
Or Petros earlier today.
[crew murmuring]
I don’t know about you, but I don’t think lacerations, broken bones
and second-degree burns are ticky-tacky crap.
It’s a risky job.
Yeah, what do you think is gonna happen
when they increase shifts and-and double up their operational tempo?
Huh? It’s risky now, yeah, and that’s what we signed up for.
We’re tough. But this Goldilocks thing, it could be flat out dangerous.
I’m telling you, people are gonna keep getting hurt, maybe killed.
All you’re gonna do is get the company riled up.
[door opens]
And then we’re screwed.
Oh, you’re already screwed.
This is a private meeting.
Sorry for cutting in, but I thought there’s some things you need to know
about these pay schedules that you’re counting on.
What’s he talking about?
He’s just stirring the pot ’cause he got canned as XO. Okay?
Well, that is true.
I am an old pot stirrer from way back when, but, uh,
this one’s shaken, not stirred.
[chuckles]
[stammers] Never mind.
Look, the point is Helios is changing the way they calculate bonuses.
What?
They can’t do that. I signed a contract.
Can they do that? What are the numbers?
Hold on.
They’re revamping the point system.
Used to be you reached the first bonus tier at 500 points, right?
[crew member] Right.
Now it’s gonna take 5,000.
The bonuses themselves have changed.
First-tier bonus used to be $20,000.
Now it’s 5,000.
Look, it’s all right here.
[crew murmuring]
Shit, Sam was right.
[all muttering indistinctly]
It’s completely changed.
They can’t do that.
They just did. This new schedule’s going out
with the next integrated operational planning document.
How can they do this?
They can’t do that because I’ve signed–
We can’t let them get away with this.
Of course they can get away with it.
You know why? Because our contracts can be altered at the company’s discretion.
This is what I’ve been telling you guys. Look it up.
It’s all there in the 50 pages of fine print we all signed in our contracts.
[Ed] She’s right.
[crew murmuring]
They can change the terms of employment whenever they want.
My cousin’s a lawyer. We take them to court and we sue!
You can’t go to court.
Disputes go to arbitration and the company picks the arbitrator.
Bottom line is
y’all are screwed.
And even more so now that the M-7 announced
that they’re sending this rock to Earth instead of Mars.
So we’ll only get a few months of shit bonuses instead of years’ worth.
Correct.
What can we do?
I think
you should listen to Massey.
Organize.
Unionize.
Send a message to those pricks down on Earth
that if they want that precious asteroid,
they gotta pay the people who do all the dirty work.
And if that doesn’t work?
Well, then we shut this place down!
Yes.
Okay.
Yes.
[crew clapping]
Strike!
Strike!
[all chanting] Strike! Strike! Strike!
[chanting continues]
[chanting fades]
[Christine Francis] Shock waves are still being felt around the world
after Margo Madison, who was presumed killed in the 1995 bombing
of what was then called The Johnson Space Center,
was revealed to be alive and living in the Soviet Union.
At a press conference in Leningrad, Ms. Madison read a prepared statement
to the world press who had gathered to cover the M-7 conference.
I made the decision to…
defect to the Soviet Union in 1995
after many years of dissatisfaction
and disappointment with both NASA and the American government.
The space program I joined in 1966 had changed over the years
to value profit above human life,
and was more dedicated to spreading propaganda around the world than it was
to bettering the human condition or advancing the nobility of mankind.
Madison will now be leading the Soviet team
charged with the capture of the Goldilocks asteroid.
She apparently worked behind the scenes during the M-7 conference
on the breakthrough that will bring the Goldilocks asteroid to Earth.
It has been…
my honor
to have helped that work in some small way
by advising the brilliant scientists and engineers working in Star City.
And I look forward to helping them in the future,
as we now move toward capturing this invaluable resour–
