Rules of Engagement

It's showtime, folks!

-Just give me some room. Ready. -Ready.

-Ready. -Ready.

We interrupt this program to bring you the following special news report.

Here is Paul Michaels.

Good morning.

A dramatic situation is unfolding

in the Central American country of Panama today,

where four US soldiers appear to have been taken hostage

during anti-American riots in the capital city.

We take you now to the Rose Garden of the White House,

where President Reagan is expected to give remarks any moment now.

Ladies and gentlemen,

yesterday's act of terrorism,

in which four American soldiers were taken hostage in Panama City

by proxies of the Soviet Union,

was a horrifying reminder of the enemies we face.

We will not allow the Soviet Union to undermine peace and freedom

on earth or in space.

Let me be clear, the United States will not be intimidated.

Wish Houston would find room on the next Sea Dragon

for some new rover springs.

My ass feels like a piñata.

Pretty sure lithium mining gear takes priority over your ass.

Couldn't we have found the mother lode closer to Jamestown?

Quit your whining. If the American taxpayers wanted us to--

What the hell? Hey, isn't that our gear?

What's it doing way up here?

I don't know. Better go have a look-see.

Everybody, sit tight. Keep your eyes open.

-Don, you're on me. -Roger.

Jamestown, geo crew two, come in.

Geo two, Jamestown. Go ahead.

We're on the south ridge above 357 Bravo,

and we've got a... situation over here.

What kind of situation?

Goddamn Russkies took our mining site.

Can you repeat that, geo two?

All our transmissions are encrypted.

The only way the Soviets know about the lithium content on the site

is they cracked our code.

Don't we change out the encryption keys?

Every month, per protocol.

Apparently the Soviets found a way around that too.

I've just spoken with the president.

He's decided not to bring this to the United Nations Security Council.

So, he's just gonna let the Soviets take our mining site?

No, he's not gonna do that either. He wants us to take it back.

As in--

As in, go in, replace their equipment with ours and swap out the flag again,

but this time we hold it.

We hold it?

The National Security Council debated every other option.

But the consensus was that if the Soviets retain control of 357 Bravo,

it would set a dangerous precedent.

We let this go, and then there'll be nothing to stop Andropov

from moving in and taking over all our other lunar claims.

I have to say I agree.

Hundreds of man-hours went into finding that vein,

and if it's even half as rich as these initial readings show,

it could be a game changer for our energy storage at Jamestown.

Tom, just let me make sure that I'm clear here.

You're saying that the president wants us to confront the Soviets on the moon.

No, no, no. Not confront.

The president's not interested in a confrontation.

But, from what we can tell,

the Russians don't have the ability to occupy the site continuously.

So, when they leave for the day, we move in.

But this time we stay.

We could send out a team of astronauts, two at a time, to monitor the site.

How long can two guys stay out there?

The recharge tanks on the rovers

can stretch the PLSS backpacks up to ten hours.

So we could have three teams monitoring the site round the clock.

So, you guys wanna have a permanent security detail?

Essentially.

And this security detail, they're gonna need weapons, right?

Weapons? Wait.

No one said anything about sending weapons to the moon.

Well, forgive me, but what do you expect these guys to do, exactly?

When things get hairy, I mean.

What, are they gonna ask the Soviets to leave nicely?

Maybe hit 'em over the head with a baseball bat?

Golf club, maybe? Plenty of those up there.

Wait, hold on.

Are the two of you seriously suggesting we send guns to the moon?

You're telling me the president wants us to hold that site.

And I'm telling you that means we're going to need security.

And security means guns.

No. That is absolutely out of the question.

-I know it seems extreme-- -It's absurd!

-There's gotta be another solution. -As in literally any other solution.

What about imposing additional economic sanctions against Moscow?

An embargo?

That was our response after Berlin last year.

And then the Russians just increased trade with Latin America,

which increased and strengthened their influence in this hemisphere.

And given what's going on with Panama right now,

I'd say that is the last thing we need.

You can't seriously think this is a good idea?

Look, General Bradford's right.

Any kind of squeeze we put on the Soviets down here... take time.

Longer we wait...

the harder it's gonna be to reclaim that site.

If we could modify weapons to be used in the lunar environment,

none of our astronauts are qualified to use them.

-Marines? -I was thinking the same thing.

Thinking what, exactly?

Well, every marine aviator has to qualify as an infantry officer

before they attend flight school.

So, they're the only astronauts with training in ground combat and tactics.

Wait.

Now we're sending marines to the moon?

Can we-- Can we do that?

Well, we have to develop procedures

for safety and operations in the lunar environment.

We should be able to bring them up to speed fairly quickly.

There has to be another way.

Believe me, I don't like this idea any more than the rest of you.

But here's the truth.

We cannot hold site 357 Bravo without armed security.

Now, I'm open to new ideas,

but it seems to me we really don't have much choice.

The only way to hold a piece of ground,

on this world or any other world,

is a man with a rifle.

Nelson's right.

We all need to be in agreement here.

'Cause once we do this thing...

there's no going back.

Good morning, Mrs. Cleveland.

Marta, what time is it?

Seven o'clock.

Oh, shit.

Shit! Shit!

I told Sam to wake me up before he left.

I gotta be in the SIM in an hour. Christ.

Marta, honey, can you do me a favor?

Can you call JSC and tell them the car has a flat, and I'm gonna be late.

Which car?

You know, the car.

My car. All the cars.

Tell them all the cars have flats.

You know what, I really don't give a shit what you tell them,

just... tell them I'm gonna be late, all right?

Yes, ma'am.

You have a phone message from Mr. Stevens.

It sounded important.

Oh, no, I'm sure it is important.

It's always important to Gordo. Thanks.

Shit.

In the event--

Sorry.

That's all right, Captain Stevens. Take a seat.

As I was saying, a program patch can be sent up if necessary

and loaded into the GPCs.

Normally after MECO...

You're outta uniform, Captain.

Had a little malfunction.

Malfunction?

The zipper broke.

I'm-- I'm sure it probably just shrank in the dryer.

Very funny.

...preserve engine lifetime by minimizing the number of engine starts.

For critical burns, or for large velocity changes, both OMS pods are used.

If there is a significant main engine performance problem...

You've never used a laptop before, have you?

I've used a laptop.

On performance-critical missions, an OMS assist burn during nominal ascent

can add about 250 pounds to payload capacity.

In the case of a lunar mission, the orbiter carries...

And I didn't schedule any college tours before noon on Monday.

But I was thinking that we could have breakfast

and then visit Colonial Williamsburg

before we head to Georgetown and American University.

So, anyway, on Tuesday, I was thinking we could drive through Monticello--

Mom?

Okay, this is probably too much history. I'm sorry.

No, it all sounds really fun. It's just... I had a suggestion.

Yeah, of course, anything. It's your trip, sweetheart.

Well, I was wondering if we could go...

to...

Baltimore?

Annapolis. The Naval Academy.

Well, that-- that--

that's really sweet that you wanna visit your father's school, but--

you know, it is-- it's awfully far out of the way, and I just--

I don't think we're gonna have time, with the schedule we have, to go.

I don't just wanna visit.

I wanna apply there.

You--

You wanna apply to the Naval Academy?

Look, I know it's different from all the schools we've been talking about,

but I think it's a good fit for me.

Kelly, why on earth would you want to apply to Annapolis of all places?

Look, I didn't just come up with this, Mom.

I've been thinking about it for a long time.

And this is the first that I'm hearing about it.

Kelly, it's the navy. You wanna-- You wanna join the navy.

Yes.