Space Academy

Cmdr. Isaac Gampu:
[Opening Narration] Welcome to Man's most magnificent achievement in the conquest of space, the man-made planetoid SPACE ACADEMY, founded in the Star Year 3732. Here we have gathered young people from the farthest reaches of all the known worlds. They have been chosen for their unique abilities, and are being trained to cope with the mysterious, the unknown, the unpredictable dangers lurking in the vast darkness of space!

Laura:
[Stranded on a faraway world] They say when things look really bad for you, you think about your past life, and all I can think about is the future. Does that mean anything.

Cmdr. Gampu:
It means that you will survive, because you're strong and courageous.

Tee Gar Soom:
[Angry at Paul's selfishness and cowardice when under attack] It figures Paul would go back to the ship! Y'know, I've seen some guys pretty wrapped up in themselves...

Chris:
Paul's from a pioneer colony. Survival is the name of the only game he played there. It's the only game he's ever known.

Tee Gar Soom:
One for one and the rest take care of themselves, huh?

Chris:
People learn and change.

Cmdr. Isaac Gampu:
[Observing space debris on screen] It's from the Vegan War.

Loki:
Vegan War?

Cmdr. Isaac Gampu:
A long time ago, Loki, the people who left Earth to colonize the planet Vega called themselves "Vegans," and referred to us as their "Terran enemies." So, unfortunately, we found ourselves at war.

Tee Gar Soom:
[Balking at Gampu's orders] Collecting space junk? Oh, c'mon, Commander! The Academy isn't here to teach us garbage collecting.

Cmdr. Isaac Gampu:
On the contrary. The Academy is here to teach us everything. The Academy is all things to all people.

Tee Gar Soom:
[Humbly] Commander, what you said about the Academy being "all things to all people"?

Cmdr. Isaac Gampu:
Yes?

Tee Gar Soom:
Well, it taught me a couple of things. One, there's no such thing as an unimportant mission. And two, you never know when you'll find a new friend.

Laura:
[Exasperated by Loki's annoying lyritron music] Will you stop it, Loki?

Loki:
Don't you like it?

Laura:
Well, it's not exactly the music of the spheres.

Paul:
It's not even music. An instrument of torture, that's what it is.

Loki:
Isn't Paul here?

Laura:
Well, he was with you.

Loki:
He was there one minute and gone the next.

Laura:
Oh, no! Chris, Tee Gar, Gampu and now Paul.

Loki:
Camelopardis! We could be next!

Loki:
Attention, please. In order to co-com-comum...

Cmdr. Gampu:
Commemorate.

Loki:
Ah, thank you. In order to commemorate the day Space Academy lost and found its student body, I have made up a special song on my lyritron. [Everybody winces as Loki begins playing]

Commander Gampu:
[Gampu gathers and addresses the Cadets] As you know, there is considerable feeling at the Federation that the expenses of Space Academy are running too high.

Laura:
Running high?

Commander Gampu:
One of the leaders of the opposition is a very - a very - eccentric man. He is not a friend of the Academy. His name is Johnny Sunseed and it is he who will appear today on an inspection tour.

Chris:
Sounds as though you know this man pretty well, Commander.

Commander Gampu:
Indeed I do. He's my brother.

Johnny Sunseed:
[to his escort Peepo] Now you just listen to me, you little mechanical beast, you. I may be here on official business, but I'm also here on a mission of deliverance, a mission to free mankind from the domination of machines!

Johnny Sunseed:
[Entering the Academy Command Center, opens arms wide and shouts] Hearken, you slaves to the machine! I've come to free you, to liberate you from the bonds of technology! [Fracture, the bird on Sunseed's shoulder, adds "Squawk! Break your chains! Break your chains! Squawk! Squawk!"]

Johnny Sunseed:
There is one thing I must concede. Technology and nature can live together, with the occasional blunder, of course, which is only human.

Commander Gampu:
You've taught us something as well, Sunseed. We've learned that Nature cannot be forced. She must be accepted and respected on her own terms.

Johnny Sunseed:
Well, now you taught me something, too. Some machines can be friends, like Peppo here.

Peepo:
Thank you, Moonseed.

Johnny Sunseed:
Take care, machine, the name is SUNseed.

Peepo:
Mine is PEEpo!

Johnny Sunseed:
Humbug! Posh n' tosh! Peepo, Peppo!

Commander Gampu:
Cease and desist, the both of you!

Cmdr. Isaac Gampu:
There's a very old saying: "You can't teach an old dog new tricks." I never believed that... until now. I'm an old dog. It's too late for tricks.

Capt. Chris Gentry:
[Admiring the items in Gampu's living quarters] You really have some antiques.

Cmdr. Isaac Gampu:
Yes. And I'm one, too, in a manner of speaking. Chris, I've asked you to come here because I want you to do something for me.

Capt. Chris Gentry:
Anything, sir.

Cmdr. Isaac Gampu:
[Handing Chris a paper parcel] I have a letter I want beamed back to Earth on the next document transmission.

Capt. Chris Gentry:
Yes, sir.

Cmdr. Isaac Gampu:
It's a letter... of resignation.

Capt. Chris Gentry:
[Stunned] Commander, no.

Cmdr. Isaac Gampu:
I've made up my mind. I can serve the Academy best by resigning my post.

Capt. Chris Gentry:
[Enters carrying an antique spacesuit] Well, here it is.

Tee Gar Soom:
Hey, let me help you put it on.

Capt. Chris Gentry:
No, Tee Gar. I'm not going. Commander? [offers the suit to Gampu]

Cmdr. Isaac Gampu:
I can't.

Capt. Chris Gentry:
You must. You have something I don't have - experience. And you have to for Gina. And for yourself.

Cmdr. Isaac Gampu:
You're so young, Chris. And so wise.

Capt. Chris Gentry:
I had the best teacher.

Lt. Laura Gentry:
[Coming alongside Gampu] And you are the best. [Tee Gar nods in agreement]

Capt. Chris Gentry:
[Once again offers Gampu the spacesuit] Commander?

Cmdr. Isaac Gampu:
Thank you.

Gina Corey:
Commander, I learned a very important thing today. Theories are fine, but what saved me out there was experience.

Cmdr. Isaac Gampu:
Thank you, Gina. I learned a lesson, too. We all need the experience of age, which I have. And the exuberance of youth, which you have.

Gina Corey:
[Humbly] Thank you, Commander.

Lt. Adrian:
Have either of you seen Loki or Jake?

Cmdr. Isaac Gampu:
Adrian, do you realize we have a very serious situation on our hands?

Lt. Adrian:
Only too well, Commander. But somebody's taken Jake, and I can guess who because I can't find Loki either. I've looked everywhere for them.

Lt. Laura Gentry:
You don't think they could've stowed away, do you?

Lt. Adrian:
That's exactly what I do think. You know how Loki hates to be left out.

Cmdr. Isaac Gampu:
That boy!

Capt. Chris Gentry:
Our plotting shows that the signal is coming from the fourth planet of the white star.

Cmdr. Isaac Gampu:
[Aboard the Seeker] Then we should have sufficient time for a search and rescue operation.

Lt. Adrian:
Negative, Commander.

Cmdr. Isaac Gampu:
Explain, please.

Lt. Adrian:
Commander, the star is already past the critical stage and may explode at any moment. You must leave immediately. Do you read me, Commander?

Cmdr. Isaac Gampu:
I read you, Adrian. But somebody out there needs our help. We must try to rescue them, no matter what the risk.

Cmdr. Isaac Gampu:
[Reading the identification on the side of the distress beacon] "Sunbeam"? I know who's - it's a space trader operated by Marcia Giddings.

Lt. Laura Gentry:
Marcia Giddings? Do you know her?

Cmdr. Isaac Gampu:
Oh, yes.

Tee Gar Soom:
Well, what is she doing in an out of the way planet like this?

Cmdr. Isaac Gampu:
Dear Marcia always had the happy faculty of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Lt. Laura Gentry:
[as Gampu presses on ahead] Oh, Commander, can't we slow down a little? I'm tired of walking. And how do you know we could be going in circles?

Cmdr. Isaac Gampu:
Instinct, Laura. A quality I've refined to a razor's edge in my 300 years of disciplined living. Of course I know where we're going; we're going to find Marcia Giddings!

Cmdr. Isaac Gampu:
Well, Marcia, we meet again.

Marcia Giddings:
Hello, Captain.

Cmdr. Isaac Gampu:
Commander.

Marcia Giddings:
Sorry. Commander.

Cmdr. Isaac Gampu:
I find you as I last saw you: on the brink of disaster. What havoc have you wrought this time?

Marcia Giddings:
Now hold it, sonny...

Cmdr. Isaac Gampu:
I beg your pardon.

Marcia Giddings:
You got your right shoe on your left foot again. It's YOU that's causing the trouble, not me.

Cmdr. Isaac Gampu:
You haven't changed one iota.

Marcia Giddings:
Oh, yes, I have. I've come into the full flower of my womanhood.

Cmdr. Isaac Gampu:
Albeit a bit wilted.

Marcia Giddings:
You haven't changed either. Pity.

Marcia Giddings:
You are a doll, Isaac.

Cmdr. Isaac Gampu:
Never, never call me that.

Marcia Giddings:
Three-hundred years old and still acting like a baby over that name? It is yours, y'know?

Cmdr. Isaac Gampu:
Not by choice!

Marcia Giddings:
When, when, dear I - Gampu - when are you ever gonna loosen up?

Cmdr. Isaac Gampu:
Madam, I am as loose as I intend to be.

Capt. Chris Gentry:
[Discussing the Cryotron] Tee Gar, we all know it has something to do with freezing, but what exactly is its purpose?

Tee Gar Soom:
I was getting to that, Chris. Its primary purpose will be to cool down hot planets, making it safer for colonization.

Cmdr. Isaac Gampu:
You've hit on a very commendable project. We're all very enthusiastic about it.

Dramos:
[to Peepo, whom Dramos has abducted] Where are the friends you were talking about?

Peepo:
They'll be here.

Dramos:
You don't have any real friends. You're like me. I don't have any friends.

Peepo:
The way you act, maybe you don't deserve them.

Dramos:
I am very, very sorry that I did that to you, Peepo. But to be sorry is not enough.

Peepo:
It was an accident, Dramos. I know you didn't mean to hurt me.

Dramos:
I don't understand. You and your friends should be very, very angry with me; instead you forgive me. I wish I had friends like yours, Peepo.

Lt. Adrian:
I think if you want friends, Dramos, you'll find them. I think you've found them already.

Cmdr. Isaac Gampu:
Oh, and Tee Gar?

Tee Gar Soom:
Yes, sir?

Cmdr. Isaac Gampu:
I know how you must have felt when you learned about the icicle. But remember that all great men have suffered diappointments, from Galileo to the Wright Brothers. They did not give up, and neither will you.

Tee Gar Soom:
Thank you, sir.

Cmdr. Gampu:
[to Loki and Peepo in the stolen Seeker] You will return to the Academy IMMEDIATELY!

Peepo:
My audio analyzer says he means it.

Loki:
He sure does. I think we're getting in deeper and deeper.

Cmdr. Gampu:
[Issuing a command to Paul] Shiver me timbers.

Paul:
[Puzzled] "Shiver me timbers"?

Cmdr. Gampu:
Shiver me timbers!

Paul:
ORACO, Commander!

Var:
[Voice heard in Gampu's mind] That's telling him, Commander! Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!

Loki:
Camelopardis! It's a Denebian Drone and it means business! It's heading straight for us. Do something, send a message. It's all a mistake!

Cmdr. Gampu:
Heave to? Never!

Paul:
Never!

Cmdr. Gampu:
Never! Raise the Jolly Roger. We'll stand firm till the blighter strikes his colors.

Paul:
Heyo! This's fu-u-un!

Cmdr. Gampu:
Now then, Loki, Peepo. I shall deal with you.

Peepo:
Uh-Oh! [Loki stands silently, ashamed]

Cmdr. Gampu:
What you did was very, very wrong. You violated one of the primary rules of this Academy: trust. And you will be punished accordingly.

Peepo:
Oh, no!

Cmdr. Gampu:
Oh, yes!

Captain Rampo:
Doggone it! I put on the wrong tape. Anyway, would'ja please just go away, now, while you still can?

Commander Gampu:
Not until you answer some questions, whoever you are.

Tee Gar:
Did he say "doggone it"?

Peepo:
An ancient expression of exasperation.

Paul:
well, we know that, but who said it?

Peepo:
Captain Rampo.

Adrian:
Captain Rampo?

Commander Gampu:
That isn't possible. He must be more than fifteen-hundred years old.

Captain Rampo:
Sixteen-hundred and three to be exact.

Loki:
But why have you lived so long?

Captain Rampo:
The radiant energy in the solar flare changed the cells of my body.

Loki:
Just like you, Commander?

Commander Gampu:
Yes.

Captain Rampo:
When all the power sources here in the Triangle have been absorbed, the energy vapors will seek more power, and they will reach out and consume the entire galaxy.

Laura:
Oh, there must be a way to stop them!

Captain Rampo:
I have tried for a thousand years to no avail.

Matt Prentiss:
[as the Seeker is pummeled while flying into an ion storm] I give the orders here. We're not changing course.

Lt. Adrian:
Matt, do you think that's wise?

Matt Prentiss:
Trust my experience, Adrian. Peepo! Double the force field strength!

Capt. Chris Gentry:
Do you realize you're violating safety regulations again?

Matt Prentiss:
You know somethin'? I used to think you were just cautious. Now I think you're just chicken.

Matt Prentiss:
Sealed tight as a drum.

Capt. Chris Gentry:
That seal's not gonna last very long. That internal pressure must be tremendous.

Matt Prentiss:
Gentry, I've had all the criticism from you I'm gonna take. I'm relieving you of duty. You're under arrest. Tee Gar, escort Captain Gentry back to the Seeker. He's to be confined to the engine room until we land.

Tee Gar Soom:
But, Matt, you can't just...

Matt Prentiss:
Would you like to join him?

Matt Prentiss:
I guess when the chips are down cooler heads prevail.

Cmdr. Gampu:
We've encountered many strange things here in the cosmos.

Laura:
But none stranger than a ghost planet.

Loki:
What exactly is a ghost, Commander?

Cmdr. Gampu:
No one is really sure, Loki. We feel it is something that one can see, but can never be touched, because there's nothing there to touch. It is said to be the spirit of someone or something that no longer exists.

Loki:
Where do ghosts stay?

Cmdr. Gampu:
Wherever they like, in all parts of the universe. [Turns to the assembled Cadets] If there are no further questions...

Peepo:
[Frightened] Request permission to stay here.

Cmdr. Gampu:
Request denied!

Cmdr. Gampu:
It is unwise to form opinions until one is sure of the facts.

Adrian:
[Discussing the Phantom] Commander, will he ever return?

Cmdr. Gampu:
I'm afraid not. His job is done. He existed only long enough to guard and protect those vessels.

Tee Gar Soom:
Yes, but what are they?

Cmdr. Gampu:
The essence of a lost, forgotten civilization. Its memory, all its ancient wisdom.

Loki:
Hey, sort of like Peepo's memory banks?

Cmdr. Gampu:
Exactly.

Paul:
Commander, why were we chosen?

Cmdr. Gampu:
He obviously felt he could trust us to preserve them until the time that they open and enrich the life of people yet to be born.

Chris:
[after the Seeker has landed on the asteroid] Life support test. Peepo?

Peepo:
Affirmative. Positive. All readings normal. No life support necessary.

Paul:
Peepo, that's impossible!

Peepo:
Of course it's impossible. But it's true.

Paul:
Chris, we better call Gampu. It was our mission to change the course of the planetoid.

Chris:
Not yet. I want to be sure what we found here first.

Adrian:
We are sure. This planetoid is an alien life form. Alive, but sick, perhaps dying.

Chris:
Then we gotta help it survive.

Paul:
Oh, sure. But how do you treat a sick planet? I mean it isn't one of your everyday, run of the mill colds in the head.

Ergo:
What I wanted to warn you about is Targ. He is a criminal. He is out to destroy anyone, anything, including your Space Academy.

Alien:
[to the young boy protecting glowing crystal eggs] Thank you for protecting our young ones. But do not fear. The invaders will be examined and classified. If they prove hostile, they will be dealt with.

Chris:
[Addressing the young boy who has trapped them in a forcefield] Look, I don't think you understand!

Laura:
This planet is going to break up soon. It's going to demolish itself, turn into particles of space dust.

Tee Gar Soom:
We can't stay here, and you can't stay here!

Loki:
I can stay here. I'm not afraid. [Takes out an alien flute-like instrument, sits on a rock and begins playing it]

Alien:
You and your people may go, but the boy-child will remain.

Cmdr. Gampu:
Boy-child?

Alien:
He is one we have cared for since he was found here.

Cmdr. Gampu:
But if he's not one of you, you must let him go.

Alien:
He is content to remain with us.

Cmdr. Gampu:
If you insist on keeping him, he will always be a stranger here. You cannot condemn him to such a lonely fate.

Alien:
We have nothing further to say to you.

Cmdr. Gampu:
[Growing more passionate] You are depriving him of his natural heritage if you keep him here. It's a terrible injustice.

Alien:
We hear you.

Cmdr. Gampu:
You have shown him kindness. It shows you are good. If you want what is best for him, let him go. I beg of you.

Alien:
Your concern for the boy tells us you are more worthy of life than we thought. You are free to take your people, our young ward, too, if he'll go.

Cmdr. Gampu:
I thank you.

Cmdr. Gampu:
[Attempting to coax the young boy into accompanying them to Space Academy] Look at all those fine young people. I assure you they will not harm you. They are your friends. They want only to take care of you, to protect you, just as I do. If you come with us you will see and learn many things about the great world out there. You will develop skills even more marvelous than your disappearing trick. And most important of all... you will be loved. And you will never again be alone.

Cmdr. Gampu:
[Gampu smiles down on the young orphan boy] What is your name, young man?

Loki:
I don't know.

Cmdr. Gampu:
Well, then, I'll give you one. I think we'll call you... Loki.

Loki:
Loki. I like it.

Adrian:
You know, on the A-2 planet Earth Loki was the Norse god of mischief. I think that name suits you very well.

Tee Gar Soom:
You can say that again.

Vicron:
Thank you, thank you, Loki. You've served your people well.

Loki:
Are you really from my home planet?

Vicron:
Now why would you doubt that?

Loki:
Because I don't think they would make me steal.

Vicron:
How wise you are for one so young.