FREEMAN: Stardate 57538.9.
TheCerritos is working alongside the USSMerced
in the relocation of an ancient generation ship,
which, due to some unknown calamity,
never reached its destination.
Her crew, adrift for centuries,
mummified in disabled cryo units.
Their most precious cargo--
mysterious containers of molecular fluid
which generates life from inorganic material.
We suspect they planned to use it on a dead planet
to create a habitable environment
they could call home.
The Mercedis here
to ensure the generation ship is preserved
during transportation,
and I want everyone to give them full support.
Captain Durango and I both served
on the Illinoismany years ago,
and it is a true delight to be able to work with him again.
Trouble sleeping, Ensign?
No, I slept great. I mean, maybe too good, honestly.
Just distribute the PADDs.
Starfleet believes this alien vessel
is equipped with unique terraforming technology:
an elemental fluidwhich can transform inert matter
into a living ecosystem.
Towing it will be a delicate procedure.
Even the slightest flux in tractor beam
stabilization could damage...
Oh. Oh, I am so sorry. I'm sorry.
It is just so much information.
I don't know how you guys aren't yawning.
Your crew doesn'tappear to appreciate the gravity
of our undertaking, Captain.
I assure you, Captain,
my people are the best in the fleet.
They're proficient, alert and...
- Mariner!
I am trying to hold it in!
MARINER: Ugh!
I had to yawn, okay? I'm sorry.
That guy is super boring. Like, "Oh, I'm boring.
I love museums and dust and old gates."
I know he's boring. He's been boring for 15 years!
But right now, he's telling everyone on the Merced
that I don't have the respect of my crew.
If you ever disrespect me like that again,
I'll skip the court-martial and blow you out the airlock.
Cool. Well, live long and prosper.
Don't you give me that sarcastic Vulcan salute!
Beckett!
Captain, I have the sensor data that you requested.
Huh? Oh, right. The sensors.
Ugh. I'm sorry, Jack. It's just Ensign Mariner.
Ugh. I feel like she stays up all night
coming up with new ways to piss me off.
I honestly don't know why youhaven't kicked her off the ship.
But since it's not my job
to question your motives...
If you want to avoid conflict,
why not reassign her to all the worst jobs?
That way, transferring would be her idea, not yours.
Hmm.
Well, we could reassign her
to all the nastiest jobs on the ship.
That way, transferring her would be her idea, not mine.
Brilliant plan. That's why you're the captain.
Assignment time!
Hatchi machi!
I got conference room cleanup duty. In your face!
-Last time I checked, that was very lame.
Why would you dance? That's not a danceable job.
That's where all the senior officer action happens!
Plus, they have access to betterreplicator programs than we do,
and sometimes they let you eat with them!
It's, like, basically the same food.
No, it's not!
They get, like, gnocchi and fritters and...
Doesn't matter. It's good, okay?
-Oh, man. I got to monitor
power fluctuations in the tractor beam?
I wanted to monitor power fluctuations
in the impulse relays.
Rutherford! I'm about to go watch an ascension.
What? That's amazing! What's an ascension?
Some people who master the art
of alien meditation can achieve inner peace.
Then they transcend the physical realm
and become a being of pure energy.
-Isn't that cool?-Oh, like a Q or a the Traveler?
No! It's more like studying so much for a test
that you literally become the test.
You become everything!
Damn, that is cool.
I can't believe I actually get to see it in person!
I wonder if it's gonna make a sound
like "vrr" or "hmm" or "whoo."
I guess I'll know soon!
Anyway, let's see what I got assigned.
"Turbolift lubing, holodeck waste removal
and scraping carbon off the carbon filter"?
Ooh. Those are the worst jobs on the ship.
Scraping carbon off of slightly harder carbon?
That's Klingon prison stuff.
This is weird.
Wow.
Oh.
As I grow closer to decorporation,
words start to lose meaning.
Hey, are-are we supposed to join in?
Hmm...
A tzutchian gong?!
-Oh.
-WOMAN: Is he ascending?-MAN 2: I think he's ascending.
-WOMAN: He's ascending. -Really?! No, no, no, no!
-Aah! - My sand mandala!
-No, no, no, no! -I can fix it! I can fix it!
I've been laying that for two years!
It was a physical representationof my inner calm!
No, no, it's gonna-- it's gonna be totally fine.
Just keep ascending! Computer,
colorful sand, room temperature.
Well, uh... there.
See? It's-it's... it's all good.
We're good. We're good. It's fine. Uh...
If I had known I was going
to be emptying the holodeck biofilters,
I wouldn't have had so much for breakfast.
Welp, have fun with your terrible jobs.
I got to go clean the executive conference room
and eat some lobster ravioli. Peace.
Uh, no. Uh-uh. Sorry.
It does not look cool when you do it.
Damn it, it does.
Ugh.
Computer, emergency stop turbolift nine!
Ugh! Hey, I'm working up here!
SHAXS: Sorry.
Oh, this is the worst! Oh, wait a minute.
Hey, buddy, do you want to make this interesting?
How? Like, bet on who can finishtheir piece first?
-Yeah. -All right, sure. Why not?
Yeah, I'll get in on that.
All right! Hell yeah!
Syncing tractor beams in three, two, one.
Whoa. I was wrong. These fluctuations are great.
Aw, man, look at these amplitudes!
Hi. Um, I just... I feelterrible about the... you know.
Don't worry about it. Don't talk to me.
Anyway, I wentand found a Hiverian metronome,
and apparently, if you just relax
and let it sync to your biorhythm,
we can get you back on trackand ascending by this afternoon!
You think I can realign a decade of spiritual enlightenment
by this afternoon?!
Tomorrow morning at the latest.
You just have to find your calm. Ah!
I... don't... want...
your... help!
Has Mariner submitted her transfer request?
I'm going to frame it.
She's... having a great time.
-What?! -She's finding little ways
to inject joy into otherwise horrible tasks.
Then give her worse jobs.
I've got her emptying
out of the holodeck's filter!
Ugh. People really use it for that?
Oh, yeah, it's mostly that.
Oh, if she finds a way to enjoy that,
then what the hell are we gonnado to get her to resign?
I don't know, but there has to be
something on this ship she hates.
Hmm...
Ensign Mariner,report to Conference Room Five.
Whoa-hoa,another conference room meeting?
Shocker. You guys debating the Prime Directive again?
Pretty fascinating stuff.
-What is...?
No, no. No laughing.
I was making fun of you, not with you.
Well, since you're one of us now,
I guess you're making fun of yourself.
What?
-: No. -Ensign Beckett Mariner,
-No, no, no, no. -I am pleased to grant you a promotion.
No!
Congratulations, LieutenantMariner.
BOIMLER : Lieutenant?
Lieu... Lieu... Lieutenant?
Looking forward to serving with you
for a long, long time.
Good job, Mariner. Well earned, well earned.
This is real! This is real!
Wow! Thanks. I'm gonna take off.
Oh, right after this very important meeting.
All right, meeting's started.
We need to choose new conference room chairs.
A beige chair with a leather strip right down the middle.
T'ANA: Hey! We all agree that a strip of leather
is too ostentatious.
We did not allagree.
RANSOM: Whoa, whoa, whoa.What happened to the barstools?
SHAXS: Barstools hurt my back.
BILLUPS : You're not sitting on them right.
SHAXS: Not sitting on them right?
I've killed better men for less.
-No, you haven't. -Well, I've threatened to kill better men
-for about the same. -Strap in. This will take a while.
RANSOM: Barstools are cool!
RANSOM : Lieutenant Mariner,
report to command prep for mission audit.
It's a monumental find, Captain.
Starfleet Command oughtto just start engraving my name
-on a plaque right now.
Oh, and yours, too, Durango, of course.
There. I'm done.
Great work, Lieutenant.Now you get to audit the audit.
RANSOM: Lieutenant Mariner, report to the officers' lounge
-for management training. -No...
♪ Oh, za-beeba-dodden, doo-bah-dum-dow, yeah!♪
And that's why being a captain is a lot like vocal jazz--
it's all about the notes you don'tscat.
Oh, no. No.
Now, here to teach us aboutpromoting diverse perspectives,
welcome Lieutenant Winger Bingston Jr.
in his one-man show, The United Federation
of Characters.
Oh, hello. Didn't see you beam in there.
RANSOM: Lieutenant Mariner, report to executive poker.
Oh...
Look alive, Mariner.
This game's about to get very interesting.
Hmm.
I...
...fold.
Fold.
Hmm...
She folds! You all fold!
Every time you all fold! You fold!
Don't tell me what to do!
I'm gonna fold.
I'm all in! Woops. I got nothin'.
Guess I lose.
Are you out of your mind?!
We don't go all in!
It's a friendly game!
Oh-ho-ho... No.
Here I am, trying to help the guy ascend,
and he won't even give me a chance!
I want to help him so bad it hurts!
Geez, I get that you wantto see an ascension happen, but,
-like, isn't this a bit much? -No!
It's not enough! I owe it to O'Connor.
I'm just gonna have to studythe ancient ways twice as much,
just frickin' blow 'em away with spirituality.
Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. I don't think it works like that.
Yeah? Well, it's gonna have to.Wish me luck!
-And you can finish my lunch. -It's okay.
I don't need another lunch. Oh! Pudding!
You get your own quarters? -Yeah. It's the worst.
I'm so far away from everyone.
What did you do? How did you...how did you get this?
-Same thing I usually do.-But-but I go above and beyond,
and you don't even try. Why would they...?
I don't get it, either, man. Bad is good. I don't know.
BILLUPS: Lieutenant Mariner, report to ops
for review of scheduled ops.
Oh, great! Ops!
-Pray for me.
So...
they like when you break rules, huh?
Utique, saeculorum
lapsu...
- Don't you have work?-Oh, I'm using my vacation days.
So, I realized, if you mix and match prayers
from different cultures,
you can increase your chance of ascending.
We can beat the system!
-Please! Just get away from me!-
--These florkas are a vital part
of the ascension process for the Tamarians.
Stop it! Don't come near me anymore.
You don't get to be the hero here,
-because you are the villain.
-Aah! -Just center yourself for five minutes!
:Please. I'll align your chakra.
-I'll Reiki you. -No!
Got to figure out a way to be bad.
Get a promotion. Got to be bad,Boimler, got to be bad.
WOMAN : Ensign Boimler, report to bridge duty
-at 1530. -Oh, I'll report to bridge duty,
and they'll get exactly what they deserve!
-What? -Uh... Oh, nothing.
That was a holodeck. Uh, Moriarty.
Exactly what they deserve.
Mariner. Heh.
Care to share a status update?
I don't know. We're towing arusted old ship full of mummies?
If you don't feel like you fit in here,
I could find you a post on another ship.
Mm, no, thanks.
Don't forget, all senior officers
are meeting up later for Ransom's birthday.
It's mandatory.
He's going to sing and play acoustic guitar...
for hours.
And the songs, oh-ho, well, he wrote them!
They're all about the month he lived in Barcelona.
You know, I get what you're trying to do here,
-and it is sick. -I'm doing exactly what I need to.
It's called being a captain.
No, it's called being a dick!
Are we reading any vibrations in the hull?
No, sir.The transport is going smoothly.
All readings are nominal.
Move us closer to the generation ship.
Sir, I-I believe the Cerritos is in a better position to...
We're in charge of this mission,Lieutenant.
Our positioning should reflect that.
-Take us in. -Yes, sir.
You know, there's no peninsula more sensual
-than the... Iberian. -BARNES: Commander.
The Mercedis maneuveringawfully close to our tow sector.
What? Put them on-screen.
Captain Durango, you are way out of formation.
I don't have to explain myself to you, Commander.
The protection of this artifact is my duty. Mine!
-Durango! -Sir, I'm reading
a highly carbonized particle cloud erupting
-from the generation ship. -Terraforming emulsion
has engulfed our hull! It's transfor...
It's being funneled towards us on the tractor beam!
-Evasive maneuver alpha! -It's too late!
-RANSOM: Captain,
we have a serious problem here.
Terraforming fluid is dissolving the hull.
-Structural integrity is inserious jeopardy of breaking...-Here's your coffee, sir.
-Woops.-Aah! Are you out of your mind?!
COMPUTER: Environmental irregularities detected.
Emergency force field, Corridor 89!
Whoa, did you feel that?
Humidity's up. The pressure just dropped.
-I think the air's being modified. -Not on my watch.
This is your watch, right now. It is literally happening now.
Oh, can you not, even for a moment...
Look out!
COMPUTER: Unauthorized terraformation.
Whoa!
Ah!
-What's happening? -I don't know!
TENDI: No!
Damn this gorgeous coral!
Well, this is just great!
I could have been one with the universe right now.
This is all your fault!
You know what? I'm gladyou didn't ascend,
-'cause you're a jerk! -Yeah, right.
You've been obsessed with ascending me.
I don't care about you ascending.
All I really wanted was for you to like me!
Wait. Wh-What?
It kills me when someone doesn't like me.
I can't sleep.It's all I think about. It feels
like ants in my brain.
-Yeah. No, I get that. -Oh, please.
You haven't had a negative thought for years.
Well, since we're gonna die here, I'll just tell you.
I was never going to ascend.
I was faking.
-What? Why? -It's hard to stand out in Starfleet.
This gave me an edge. It was my thing.
I was the ascension guy.
But then, I was going for so long notascending
that I got worried that people would catch on, which is why
I used you as cover.
I'm a jerk.
We're bothjerks!
We wanted to be liked, and lied about it.
I think that means we're best friends!
I'm about to die with my best friend!
If we can get down to the environmental controls,
-there might be a way to reverse this. -Uh... mm.
Are you sure that's the best rock for this?
What? Yes. No. Yes, it's fine. It's a rock.
Look, I'm-I'm just saying,
I think you should use the shale over there.
Mom, it is the same thing. Just leave me alone.
It's just maybe you'd want one with more of a point.
Oh, my God! Why do you
have to second-guess every choice I make?
...suggestion to help you, Beckett. What-what
-am I supposed to do? -Right?
Just stand by and let you keep making a mistake?
What I would prefer isif you would just let me do me.
There. See?
The rock was fine.
Yeah, well, we could have gotten here faster.
-You're going a little fast, don't you think? -Yup.
-I thought you wanted fast. -Not that fast.
Are you trying to get us killed here?
Make sureyou're gripping with both hands.
You know, okay, okay, you know what?
-Maybe I should just lead. -Oh, my God!
Will you just stop?!
I am good at this. Just trust me!
-Well, I'm just looking out for you. -Yeah.
That's the whole problem, Mom. You treat me like a child.
Well, if you would stop acting like a child
and more like a mature crew member,
then I would treat you accordingly.
Oh, you think I'm immature?
You're the one trying to trick me into quitting.
How is that mature?
Yeah, that's what I thought, Carol.
You did not just call me "Carol."
Whatever, Carol.
Oh, no, this is it!
-Ah.
No!
- Aah! No!
Get out of here!
I'll be okay. You need to save yourself.
No way. I'm not leaving you!
Tendi, it's okay.
I did this for you.
No!
Yes! The systems are still on line.
Affected areas are saturated with carbon polymer dust.
We need Parizene gas. Flood theship, then trigger a reversion
with radiation from the main deflector.
Unless you think we should use a pointier rock.
No, that's... exactly what I was going to suggest.
I'm just impressed.
You read my mission brief, didn't you?
No. I... No. Well, I mean, maybe a little,
but just ironically,just so I could make fun of it.
Uh-huh. Okay. Computer, hit it.
COMPUTER: Hitting it.
Oh, my gosh. We're gonna be okay!
Holy . I was so ready to die.
You saved my life.
You saved mine first.
-Oh, no. What's happening?!
-Oh, my gosh, you're ascending!-
I am? I am!
-Oh. Ah! -It must have been when you saved me!
When you were willing to sacrifice yourself for me!
I pretended to be finding myself
for so long, I guess I actually did!
I... Ow. Ooh, okay. Wow.
Oh, that actually burns.
Uh, is this supposed to be happening?
-Uh-oh. Okay, you're smoking. -It burns.
It burns! Aah! Help!
Oh, I don't... I don't want to ascend!
-Drop and roll!
Drop and roll! Drop back into the physical and roll.
-Drop back into the physical and roll! -Aah!
Time has no meaning!
Aah! No, it's happening!
I'm everywhere and nowhere!
I can see everything!
I'm turning into pure energy!
-Why is it taking so long?! -Aah!
Aah! I see Abraham Lincoln!
The universe is balanced on the back of a giant koala!
Why is he smiling? What does he know?
The secret... of... life is...
Uh, all right. Well, good luck being everything.
Sorry I helped.
-Ransom, report. -All systems stable, Captain.
But theMerced-- she had far greater exposure
to the terraform cloud.
Her life support's critical.
Oh, man. At-at this point, they need a whole new ship.
Or... a whole old one.
Initiating emergency transport for all crew
of the Merced to the generation ship.
Beam them into the stasis chamber.
It's still sealed off and should be safe.
Huh. Durango should be right at home
with some dusty old mummies.
Oh, my gosh, we did it. We did it!
All crew accounted for!
RANSOM: Captain Freeman, Admiral Vassery is on his way.
Very good.
I'm really gladwe found a way to work together.
Yeah, you know, it's a nice change of pace.
Going for each other's jugulars
all the time is kind of exhausting.
-I'm proud of you. -Oh. Thanks, Mom.
Maybe you arefit to be one of my senior officers.
Your chair right next to mine,spending all our time together,
an unstoppable mommy-daughter team!
Admiral Vassery, welcome to the Cerritos.
Starfleet commends your braveryand ingenuity.
Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to work.
Apparently, we've picked up a strange signal
on our sense-oars.
Quite all right, Admiral.
And what did your sense-oarsshow?
Well, nothing at first, but the long-range
-sense-oars revealed... -Whoa. Whoa.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. I am sorry.
Are you trying to say the word "sensors," 'cause to me,
you're saying "sense-oars." What is that?
That's how it's said. "Sense-oars."
-Everyone knows that. -Sense-oars. Sense-oars.
Yes, that's right. It sounds right to me.
Me, too. I say it like that.
What? No, you don't. This is nuts.
Yo, she's making fun of you, dummy.
She doesn't say "sense-oars."
Well, of course I do. : Stop it.
Is this how your crew treats authority
when it's known I mispronounce things?
Are you really making fawnof me?
Admiral, no.
I thought we came to an understanding.
Uh, maybe you need to adjust your "sense-oars."
Would you just stop?
I have never been shown such disrespect and...
-Is she yawning?!
You know, when O'Connor was screaming
and turning into energy, it made me realize
that life's too short to be hung up
on whether everyone on the ship likes me.
That's great, 'cause I'm sure there's at least a few
-who don't.
And who cares? Not me.
So, who are these few people? What did they say?
Do they not like me? You know what? I don't care.
But if someone said something, I feel like I should know.
Who was it?!
Where's your pip?
Uh, I'm pretty good at getting demoted.
In the last hour?!
Uh, yeah. Apparently, the captain doesn't like
looking stupid in front of an admiral, so...
What I... But I-I can't.
You-you had everything that I ever wanted in life,
and you didn't even care! How are we even friends?
Maybe because I still have the senior officer access card
for the good replicator programs.
Oh! I'm gonna get that macaroniand cheese with the breaded top!
Captioned by Media Access Group at WGBH access.wgbh.org