[pulsing music playing]
♪ ♪
[Kara] For those who voyage among the stars,
time is the most precious resource.
In starships traveling near light speed,
time slows to a crawl.
Days for a traveler could be years for their loved ones back home.
Lidon is a frontier planet,
a new world that had always been too small
to hold Mari Hanson.
[beeping]
Life was difficult here,
especially for this first generation off the arcship from Earth.
Mari's mother died in a harsh winter soon after landfall,
and her father, Nik, raised her the best he could.
Dad, you hear about Calen?
He got a spot on an off-world expedition.
He's probably gonna be gone for decades.
I heard. Hand me that spanner.
Calen was saying that there's still an opening,
and I was thinking maybe I could be the one to take it--
Mari, we've been over this.
You're too young and it's too dangerous.
But Dad, I'm only a few months short.
Nobody's gonna check my registry, and--
[Rafael] Spoken like a true traveler.
Rules are for those who lack imagination.
Rafe Sabatine. You must be...
On her way home.
It'll take three days to fix the port thruster,
but the valve'll hold till you get to Scotia.
Scotia? That's your home port?
[scoffs] Gods, no.
Scotia's a celestial graveyard,
but I hear there's still artifacts buried in those ruins.
Hmm. Maybe you can find an artifact
that would make Lidon less of a...
- Frozen hellscape? [laughs] - [laughs]
[gentle music playing]
Finally done with Sabatine's ship.
Held together with tape and chewing gum, but she'll fly.
Nope, she won't.
Got a message from Melayu asking us to impound the ship.
His father's refusing the bill.
Seems the kid borrowed it without permission.
Aw, every traveler's a thief, but stealing from your own family?
Yeah, that boy's all kinds of trouble.
I can see why Mari's so smitten.
Come on, Nik.
Even you can't be that dense.
[rumbling]
That sneaky son of a bitch.
She's just a kid.
[Kara] Nik wasn't a wealthy man, but his daughter was everything.
He had to get her back.
And so, Thadie Voss loaned Nik the money
to buy himself into the crew of the Southern Cross.
The cargo hauler made slow crossings,
but one port of call was Scotia,
the same world his daughter was bound for.
Traveling at near light speed, one year passed for Nik
while eight years passed for Mari on Scotia.
Once a thriving Celestial world,
now a radioactive hellscape.
Some expeditions to her harsh surface
found priceless artifacts.
Most found death.
But Nik refused to give up hope.
Rafe and Mari had joined a poorly outfitted expedition,
a gamble that nearly killed them both.
But it was Mari who rescued Rafe
from the remnants guarding the ruins.
Nik had spent only months in sliptime on the cargo hauler,
but in actual time,
Mari and Rafe had suffered long, hard years on Scotia.
Nik followed them to Melayu,
home world of the Sabatine family.
[intriguing music playing]
[Luca] I am sorry, Nik.
You've come a long way for bad news.
Rafe and Mari left 12 years ago for Hevelius.
They were after a map of lost Détenir worlds.
But something went wrong.
[Mari over video] Rafe!
Get to the ship.
[Luca] We know they lifted off,
but we lost contact when the ship left the system.
The Celestials will follow them,
hunt them.
I'd give anything to help, but...
[growls]
A ship.
Give me a ship.
[Kara] Nik knew Mari and Rafe would be executed
for their theft if they were found.
In desperation, Nik surrendered himself to the Celestials,
becoming a member of their indentured human crew.
He hoped that if they found Mari,
he could find some way...
...to save her.
[eerie music playing]
[intense music playing]
[alarm beeping]
Rafe. Shut those fucking hatches.
Just a few more, Mari!
Can't let this all be for nothing. [grunts]
[man] Celestials! We need to get out of here!
- [Rafe] There's too many! - [man] They've got us surrounded!
[woman] Evac now. I repeat, evac now.
Shit! They're gonna rip us apart!
Strap in! I'm lifting!
[alarm blaring]
[man] Head for the gate! They can't be far behind us.
[man 2] We've got incoming! [exclaims]
Traveler down! Repeat, traveler down!
[woman] Celestial ships are ahead. They've cut us off from the gate.
Sending in the clear for La Castella.
Mari, if you can hear me,
do exactly as I say.
- That voice. - Make your run for the gate
as close to the warship as possible.
[man] Mari, pull up. Mari. Mari! Pull up!
[woman] We need to pull back! [man] They're locked on. I can't evade!
Dad!
Where are you?
Mari, I'm in a shuttle on a Celestial ship,
but I'm going to detonate their reactor
in three...
...two...
[grunts]
[exciting music playing]
Mari, fighters on your tail.
I see 'em!
I can't lose 'em!
[Nik] Hold on!
I'm coming, Mari!
[Mari] Rafe.
I'm sorry.
[Nik] Mari.
[distant] Mari!
[gentle music playing]
[Kara] Through some miracle,
Mari survived.
But Mari's injuries were too severe.
We found thousand-year-old technology
that was more advanced than ours.
Celestials have built empires across the entire cluster.
Most...
[strained inhale, groans]
...have yet to be discovered.
[Kara] Nik did his best to extend the time they had together.
But in the end...
...he had to let her go.
He took solace that she'd lived the life
of adventure and wonder.
The life of a traveler.
That's right.
I'm gonna need those engines back online by 0800.
[man] Copy that.
Engines online by 0800.
Kara Voss?
Yeah. That's right.
I'm a little busy.
Your grandmother Thady and I were good friends.
I owed her a debt.
With her gone...
...I reckon this belongs to you.
A little something to help warm this place up.
Hold on.
This is worth more than every ship here.
And Port Bering besides.
Figured I owed a bit of interest.
[door closes]
[optimistic music playing]
[exciting music playing]
♪ ♪