US Airdate : 10 November 2003
UK Airdate : 14 June 2004
Onboard the Helix, Lexa (Karen Cliche) tells the Mutant X team that her contacts insist
they apprehend their target quickly and carefully. When the team presses her for more
information, Lexa reveals that the people she's referring to are known as The Dominion --
a covert group who have been policing the abuses of science for the last few hundred
years, and have successfully prevented countless disasters that would have destroyed the
world. She says the man they've been sent to capture is a dangerous super-mutant who lives
in the woods with his faithful followers. Jesse (Forbes March) gets a thermal reading on
the scanner and as Brennan (Victor Webster) begins to take the Helix down to investigate,
a series of alarms go off and a streak of white light hits the ship. Suddenly, the ship's
temperature rises to a critical level and an instrument panel bursts into flames. When
Shalimar (Victoria Pratt) gets up to put it out, the rear hatch flies open and sucks her
out of the Helix. Watching from the forest below, Terra (Jeanette Roxborough), a lupine
feral, exchanges a smile of satisfaction with Cody (Shane Daly), the one who unleashed the
blast on the Helix.
Brennan manages to slam the Helix onto a beach and Jesse locates Shalimar's signal on
the monitor. He tells Brennan and Lexa that some of the electronics are fried and they're
stuck until he can fix it. In the woods, Shalimar is impaled on a tree branch and her face
is covered with scratches and bruises. Meanwhile, Terra tells Cody to kill any survivors
of the crash while she goes to find the man they're after. Shalimar comes to and comlinks
the team, but only manages to tell them she's badly hurt before passing out. Brennan and
Lexa set out to find their teammate while Jesse works on the Helix. Moments later,
Shalimar awakens long enough to see a man named Burke (James Bulliard) approaching.
Meanwhile, Jesse notices Shalimar's signal is moving, and tells Brennan and Lexa that
she's heading northward. A short time later, Burke carries Shalimar into a hidden cave
where a small community has settled. He lays her on a stone ledge and is joined by Carl
(John Ralston), Wayne (Johnny Goltz) and a group of other men. Their leader, Kristoff
(Peter Stebbings) arrives and when he sees Shalimar's eyes glow a feral gold, he realizes
she's a mutant. As he embraces Shalimar, her wounds mysteriously heal and reappear on
Kristoff's body. Seeing Kristoff weakening, Carl has two of the followers carry him away
and orders Burke to take Shalimar somewhere to rest. A short time later, Shalimar awakens
and comlinks Mutant X to tell them Kristoff healed her and that she thinks he's the man
they're looking for. Believing the people who shot them down are also looking for
Kristoff, Shalimar decides to offer to take him to Sanctuary. When Burke enters, Shalimar
asks about Kristoff and learns that he can take a person's pain and wounds into his body.
Back at the Helix, Jesse comlinks Brennan and Lexa to warn them that someone's close
by. Meanwhile, Terra is making her way through the woods when Cody calls to tell her that
Carl, their contact in Kristoff's camp, isn't cooperating. She gets patched through to
Carl who vows that they'll get Kristoff as soon as he gets the money. When Carl hangs up,
he and Wayne turn to see Burke, who's heard everything. Wayne quickly hits him over the
head and knocks him out. Inside the cave, Shalimar finds Kristoff lying on a cot in
obvious pain. He tells her that he's never healed a mutant before and misjudged the extent
of her wounds. As she begins to warn him that people are looking for him, Carl and Wayne
interrupt and Shalimar is escorted out.
When Carl brings in Burke and insists he's a traitor, Burke denies the allegations and
tries to convince Kristoff that it's really Carl, but his plea falls on deaf ears. Hearing
a crowd chanting ?Guilty,? Shalimar rushes back to the chamber and is shocked to see
Kristoff transferring the deadly wounds he had taken from her earlier to an innocent
Burke. Kristoff then takes Shalimar to a private room where she reprimands him for killing
Burke. Revealing that people have been using his powers his whole life, Kristoff explains
that three years earlier, he escaped from a clinic where he was being tested. Since then,
he has vowed to be the only one to use his powers to decide who lives and who dies. He
kindly refuses Shalimar's help fearing that one day she too would ask him to use his
powers. Meanwhile, as Brennan and Lexa search for Shalimar, they are ambushed by Terra,
who kicks Lexa to the ground, dodges Brennan's tesla coil, pulls out a gun and shoots him
before running into the woods. When Lexa comlinks for help, Shalimar starts to leave, but
is stopped by Carl and Wayne, who she quickly takes out with a series of blows.
Inside the cave, Kristoff is warning his followers that their enemies are coming and
they must leave when Carl and his men enter the room. Aiming their guns at the group, Carl
tells Kristoff that he's going to sell him. Suddenly, Terra bursts in and stabs Wayne in
the chest before knocking Carl out and dragging Kristoff outside. In the woods, Shalimar
reaches Lexa and insists they take Brennan to Kristoff to heal his fatal wounds.
Meanwhile, Jesse finishes the repairs on the Helix and lifts it off the ground just as
Cody arrives and begins shooting his weapon. A short time later, Shalimar and Lexa arrive
at the camp with Brennan. When Terra sees them, she raises her gun, but Lexa hits her with
a laser and she takes off into the woods. Shalimar then begs Kristoff to save Brennan,
offering to have him transfer his wounds to her. Stunned that she would to die for her
friend, Kristoff decides to help and embraces Brennan just as Terra bursts out of the
trees and kicks Lexa to the ground. When she turns her sights on Shalimar, the two ferals
face off. Meanwhile, Lexa sees Carl and his men exiting the cave and shoots a laser at
them forcing them into the woods. Shalimar kicks Terra down and Lexa, seeing her reaching
for her gun, fries her with a powerful laser beam. Letting go of Brennan, Kristoff falls
to the ground and a hopeful Shalimar becomes distraught when she doesn't find his pulse.
Just then, the Helix appears overhead and Brennan, who is now healed, tells a guilt-ridden
Shalimar that they must leave. As the ship flies off, Carl walks back into camp, his gun
aimed at the men surrounding Kristoff's lifeless body. Kneeling down next to the body,
Kristoff's hand suddenly latches onto Carl's wrist, killing him within seconds. |
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