BLAIR
Merlin.
MERLIN's hologram appears on the counter across the room.
MERLIN
Lieutenant.
BLAIR
The Pilgrims. What can you tell me about them?
MERLIN
Very little, I'm afraid. Confederation executive order 37495 decreed that "all history and references to the Pilgrim movement be eradicated
BLAIR
-from all databanks, computer systems, and hard copy texts. Said order also decreed that the transference of material pertaining to said sect and or movement, either oral or written, be strictly prohibited under penalty of death." I know the order. Do you have anything?
MERLIN
Just that in 2572, for reasons unknown to me, a sect of Pilgrims attempted to break off from Earth and the Confederation. The result was a forty year war. Casualties on both sides were in the hundreds of millions. In 2612 Confederation forces won a decisive victory at Charbydis Quasar. The result was the almost complete eradication of Pilgrim influence. Interestingly, as of that point, data indicates that not a single new Quasar has been charted. I'm afraid that that's all I have. Sorry.
MERLIN looks genuinely sad by his lack of information.
BLAIR pops out of bed.
BLAIR
Merlin.
MERLIN
(Looking up.)
Yes, Lieutenant.
BLAIR
You did good. Thanks.
MERLIN brightens and BLAIR'S up, pulls on pants and a shirt, heads for the door.
MERLIN
Where are you going?
BLAIR
To talk to someone who may know a little about the Pilgrims.
MERLIN
Lieutenant, I must caution you against bringing up the subject. It is officially forbidden....
[edit] 52A INT. PALADIN'S QUARTERS TIGER CLAW 52A
PALADIN stands at big windows, looks out at the vastness of space. Buzzer rings.
PALADIN
Come.
Door opens and BLAIR enters.
BLAIR
We need to talk.
PALADIN
About?
BLAIR
You said you fought in the Pilgrim wars.
PALADIN
...That's right.
BLAIR
Then you know why they happened, and who the Pilgrims were.
PALADIN turns to Blair, interested.
PALADIN
Why do you want to know?
BLAIR
All my life I've taken shit about being a Pilgrim. And I've never known why. Now I want to know. Who and what am I?
PALADIN
...You are who you choose to be, Blair. The combination of a thousand decisions and moral stands. What you are is one of the last descendants of a dying race.
BLAIR
Talk to me.
PALADIN smiles.
PALADIN
It's not that simple. That information is classified. So let me ask you a question: would you die for it?
BLAIR
...In a heartbeat.
PALADIN
Good. Pilgrims were descendants of the first human space explorers. For 500 years they defied the odds: they survived. As time passed, they developed the capacity to unerringly navigate the stars. They embraced space -they called it the Void -and she rewarded them with the gift of a flawless sense of direction. No matter where they were, they could always find their way home. No computers, Blair, no compasses, no charts. They just knew. Then, in a small number, about one in a million, a change started to occur.
BLAIR
What kind of change?
PALADIN
A biological development. One that allowed a small number of Pilgrim offspring -all off- worlders -to negotiate singularities. Somehow, they learned to feel the magnetic fields created by black holes and quasars. They learned to navigate not just the stars, but space-time itself.
BLAIR
They were like a NAVCOM A.I..
PALADIN
No. The NAVCOM A.I. is like them. It's a mathematical model of the psyche of a Pilgrim mind. The billions of calculations a second it makes to lead us through a black hole or quasar are a computer recreation of the mind of a single Pilgrim. Do you understand what I'm saying?
BLAIR
I think so. Why did the war start?
PALADIN turns back to the window. It's as though he's recalling painful memories.
PALADIN
...The Void gave the Pilgrim's a gift. But it wasn't free. You spend enough time out here, alone, you start to loose your humanity. As this small group of Pilgrims continued to develop, they began to loose touch with their heritage, with their humanity. They saw themselves as superior to man, and in their arrogance, they chose to abandon all things human to follow what they called their destiny. Some say they believed they were gods, others, that they were angels. They tried to break off from the Confederation. They lost.
BLAIR
...You believe that they were gods?
PALADIN turns back to Blair.
PALADIN
No. But I do believe they were touched by God. And like it or not, you've got some of that inside of you. The cross you hide under your tunic is a manifestation of a faith you don't understand, and the affirmation of a capacity you may or may not possess. Wear it proudly, boy, and hope.
BLAIR
For what?
PALADIN
That you have the gift. I have a feeling we may all need it before this is done. We have to get to the bridge. We'll be jumping soon.
BLAIR watches Paladin exit. Out the window, we see two patrolling Rapiers streak by in the distance. They're framed by a brilliant, swirling Quasar.