Dr Paul Vellek quotes from The Last Ship

"The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves." Climate, disease, famine terrify us. And our terror begets chaos, aggression, and violence. And there's your end of days, man. World of hazards shifts at the speed of light... [snaps fingers] and we are neither poised, facile, or quick enough to adapt, thus, we panic, accelerate into hysteria, and kill each other. And this deficiency is exactly what destroyed every single civilization before us and is exactly what threatens to obliterate us now if we do not rapidly resolve ourselves to the hard problems and salvation that lie within evolutionary biology. And this is where I come in. [students laugh] Face it, natural evolution is a bust, man. Natural evolution used to be smart, but now it's half-baked and inefficient. Remember the appendix? Who the hell needs the appendix now? Appendix has been rolling around inside of us like dead weight for more than a millennium. Natural evolution is done. But with transgenic coding, we seize an immediate future wherein all people of all cultures can acclimate, adjust, and conform to any challenge of a dynamic planet in less than one single generation. And it is not just our bodies that will step on the gas, but our minds. Think about that for a second.

I'll explain it one more time. Look, Admiral, it is right there. It is right there in that blank box.

What exactly am I supposed to be seeing there? It's as clear as a bell.

It's the answer, the key, the eye of the hurricane. The proverbial missing link to my formula to save this planet lies within those seeds. Without those seeds, I have no product. Without the product, your country continues to starve. And that is exactly, Admiral, what you should be seeing in that blank box.

Doctor, I am a simple man. I don't have your gift with figures, but my patience can only last so long. You asked for our support. Greece gives you her confidence. You asked for fighters, we give you a warship. What, Dr. Vellek? What do you ask of my country now?

More, Demetrius. I'm asking your country for more.

Well?

You see? I told you. [puts arm over Christos' shoulder] We did it.

Tell us, Papa.

The virus weathered two ice ages. It didn't just jump species, it jumped kingdoms, and it unleashed the most massive twin pandemic the world has ever known. Yet this seed, this small palm, Elaeis Virilis, survived all of it. I'm now going to take a bit of the genius of Mother Nature, I am going to mix it with my own, and I'm going to save this planet in an act of such benevolence that people will question why they ever believed in any other God.

Something's wrong with me. I can feel it.

Can you now? Well, I've switched off a single primal compulsion in you, Demetrius. An ugly one. I've freed you, man.

I must go home to my people, Doctor. They need me.

No, no, no, no, no, no, Admiral. You're staying with me now. You, sir, are proof of concept. The inaugural man... homo Pacificus. And judging by the result, I'd say we're onto something. Stand up. Stand up. Take off your medals. You're no longer in charge. Take 'em off. Take 'em off. [Demetrius strips uniform and medals] Stavros will be taking your rank, your title, and your nation. It all belongs to him now and to me. As Dante, an Italian, said about Aristotle, a Greek, I am Il maestro dicolor che sanno. "The master... of all who know." What do you think about that, Demetrius?

I... I...

Down, Demetrius. Sit down. Finish your food.

Hey, Dad.

Christos, I was worried about you.

What are you worried about? Nostos blended seamlessly with the Red Rust cure. No need for injections. One plant contains it all.

Huh.

You really did it.

I did it, didn't I?

It's gonna be a bumper crop.

The secret was in just one base pair on the fourth DNA strand of Elaeis virilis [holds container], our beautiful palm seed. Come and look at it. It's magnificent. Come on, come on. [ushers Christos to microscope] Okay, it's just one...one switch, A to G.

Whoa.

No, look, look, look, look. It's one switch, A to G, on that one base pair. That's it. That's it. Nothing more complicated than that. But I-I-I-I'm making it so complicated.

I mean, I can't believe I'm making it so complicated. It's like a schoolboy could have figured this out. And yet it got by me. It got by you. It's magnificent. Semplice. [in Italian as he embraces Christos] You are the most magnificent son. [English as Giorgio walks off] Love you. Love you, love you, love you, love you more than olives, and I really love olives. Let me look. God. It's magnificent, huh?

Lucia Vellek

Giorgio's gone. Did you hear what I said, Dad? Giorgio's dead.

The Nostos... I'm out of it. Do you have any?

Lucia

Your son has died. You need to feel that. Christos can't help you. He's been gone for years. And even dead, he cast a shadow over Giorgio and me. And now Tom Chandler has killed your only son. Giorgio died protecting me! He died protecting you! All Giorgio ever wanted to do was make you happy... and all you ever did was show him contempt. If you had just done what I said, that ship would never have found you. Giorgio died for nothing.

No. No, not... not... not... not for nothing. Not for nothing, Lucia. For this. For this. Soon, it will not only be the dead who know the end of war [whispers] but the living.

Lucia

Enough with the philosophizing. Giorgio was a hero. A hero.

Was he?

Lucia

Of course he was. Here. [gives her father a bag of Nostos. Paul gets to work crushing it on a pestle] Tell me, when you have your drink, will Giorgio be with you? Or is he useless to you, even in your perfect world?

Lucia Vellek

All of our warships are gone, Dad. We can't go to Malta.

Leningrad. [sighs] We can't go there either. September 1941. Hittler's troops lay siege to Leningrad for days of the blackest, most wretched misery in human history. Do you have any idea what happens to your body when starvation sets in? It shrinks. Heart and lungs compress. Eyes, testicles, ovaries just shrivel up and wither away. Your muscles devour themselves. Temperature falls, you freeze.

Lucia

Why are you telling me this?

Nikolai Vavilov is why I'm telling you this, my daughter. I'm telling you this because hidden in a bunker barely feet beneath that monstrous decay and rot of existence in Leningrad was salvation, Lucia. The world's first global plant bank from Vavilov. Ten thousand seeds, roots, vegetables, protected not by guns but by science. By science. Yet even Vavilov's devoted acolytes couldn't beat the terror raging above them. And finally they, having never even touched one plant for their own escape from doom, also starved to death. I'm telling you this because you're my little girl, and I love you. And where Vavilov failed, we will succeed in spreading salvation to the world for the protection of its future, to protect your future. Because right now, from every point on the globe, planes are converging on Malta. And from there, we will deliver our gift to the world. Our gift to ourselves, Lucia.

CAPT Tom Chandler

Step away from the edge, Vellek.

I offered a cure, man. A real and final cure for the sickness in us all. You of all people should know about that... what you've seen, what you've done. You need what I'm offering more than anybody.

You're right, Doctor. I have seen the worst in people, the worst in myself. But I've also seen strength in others that you wouldn't believe, and kindness that would bring you to tears.

That was beautiful, man. I can clearly see why people follow you. But you are the one-eyed king. I offer you peace, you choose war.

Peace at the cost of free will? I'll take war anytime. "We the people"... Addicted to your darkness. Being human isn't about cutting out the darkness. It's about fighting, every day, to find the light!

No, Captain.

You don't have to fight to find the light. Give the world another chance. See the good for yourself. The people still need you. We have the seeds, but we need your science.

I appreciate the invite, man. But there's Heaven. And I gotta go. [jumps off]