Basmalo, come on in. Even in a natural disaster, my
door is always open to help. Want to blast?
Still have some of that bourbon? Thanks, Sid, but no.
I think I want to be a silver as a priest on Sunday today.
OK, another time, maybe. Have a seat.
So what's on your mind? Is is that a joke?
It's a little one. Just something to set the mood.
I'll open another way. What was the deciding factor
that brought you in today other than Hurricane Bertha out there?
If you and the others are right. All of that out there is due to
me, to the guilt. I'm caring.
I can't have anybody getting hurt because of me.
So whatever it is I need to do, I'll do it.
That's very noble, honorable. You see a situation where you
can help and you do something. Except, except, I suppose,
unless the person who needs help is you.
What are you talking about? Well, as a Marshall, you're
trained to be the good guy, what you and I call the guy in the
white duds back in the old Western movies, you save kittens
from trees, help old ladies cross the street, keep your
checkbook balance, and then tie damsels from railroad tracks.
You're the hero bass used to helping people in need.
All except that one person you see every day in the mirror, and
probably the guy who needs it the most.
That's a little dramatic, isn't it?
Sitting, you're kind of laying on pretty thick, man.
As a therapist, we're trying to help the patient guide
themselves to make internal revelations to come to the
answers they're seeking. Sometimes it's easy.
Other times people need a little nudge to get them there on
occasion. Some people are an enclosed,
meddling, Kevlar reinforced thermal mesh canister at the
bottom of the planet, about to be obliterated by 90 mile per
hour winds. Those things are known to
happen, so occasionally we try to speed things up.
Just a smitch. Any recent internal revelations
you want to share? I've seen enough in my time down
here to know this place doesn't exactly work like the rest of
the planet, so I'm willing to entertain that.
My guilt may be causing it. Bass.
I'm a horrible dancer. If you're going to keep
shuffling around, you'll step on my toes.
So far you've said you're sitting here with me because you
must help people. That the environment and
circumstances are plausible enough to believe you might be
the cause. Duty.
Honor. Loyalty.
Logic. Best.
Some things I can't help you with.
I can't help you with the biggies.
You have to get to those yourself.
If not, could you help me pack up my journals for the shelter
and we'll just hold up there? What is it that I want?
What I need, Sydney? I wanted.
I want to deal with this guilt. Finally, okay.
I thought we might be another few hours, Bass.
You've made your whole life, your whole mission about helping
others who need it, and that is absolutely a very noble thing.
But every so often it's OK to be selfish, to want to make sure
you are OK doctors. In my field, we have a saying in
in Latin that goes MIDI che kura a Tay ipsum Luke 423, physician,
heal thyself, good. I'm more of a tour man
personally. But you know, for somebody who
describes themselves as an atheist and a disbeliever, you
do know your religious texts. No, But what I meant by finally
was we can finally begin using my gift.
I'm I'm hearing several names. Some are quite loud.
Those typically mean the guilt is is recent.
Those quieter names means the guilt has been there for oh, all
right, let's start on the easier side and work our way back.
Okay. Fine, good Bass.
Tell me about Emery Waters. I don't.
Know it was always so combative of Mr. Todd.
Sometimes it was playful, other times it was more serious.
And there was a couple occasions I actually thought they would go
at one another. Nobody is really sure what the
actual relationship was between those two.
Not that it makes any difference or matter because they were
both. Some go ahead, you stopped, you
were saying something. They were both family.
I've picked up on that from you before.
Bass king, devotion and caring for those closest to you.
More than most other people, They really are like family to
you, aren't they? There?
Which makes perfect sense to me. Why?
You have guilt. Of course we feel bad when
something horrible happens to somebody we know, but we feel
that more keenly when it's family.
A toxic, xenophobic cousin or two notwithstanding, What
happened was my fault. Why do you say that?
Because it was. I was leaving the mission.
I was calling the shots, from what I remember in the
classified report, yes, fine. Fishley Wainwright oversaw the
expedition. But even the most seasoned
soldier isn't going to look at a pencil pushing officer for
orders. When this shit hits the fan,
it's the Sergeant with decades of experience they look towards.
OK, let's stick with your analogy.
You're right. A soldier must follow orders.
Nobody was obliged to follow Wainwrights, though.
A soldier isn't supposed to refuse a lawful order.
Civilians can. They have the choice without the
military consequences. So you think you're responsible
because you gave him the order to stay back to make sure the
spiders didn't pursue you. I didn't.
I didn't give him that. Right.
I apologize.
Wainwright was well on paper anyway, in charge.
And he gave the order, which you didn't fight him on.
No, Wayne Wright didn't order him to do that either.
So then Emery made that decision, the decision to remain
behind and make sure everybody got out safely on his own.
He decided past not you, not Lawrence Wainwright.
Yeah, but we could have found another way.
He could have. He should have made out with us.
I'm going to take a wild guess here, but you don't have any
experience running particle acceleration equipment from the
late 21st century in your bag of tricks, do you?
No. So then you couldn't be the one,
remain behind and properly, safely shut everything down?
No. OK, assuming the same applies
for Zeke, then do you honestly think that Lawrence Wainwright
would have volunteered to stay behind himself, Make a sacrifice
for anybody there? Doctor Lorenz may have had the
integrity, but she doesn't have the technical knowledge truth be
told. And the truth you seem to not
want to accept is for the minutes remaining before the
station disappeared. Accelerate explosion being a
likely potential if not monitored with an artificial
intelligence, no matter how wonderfully sophisticated may
have been. It was specifically programmed
not to operate such a dangerous piece of equipment and a
sadistic energy thirsty and people killing.
Spider foot still looming. There wasn't any other viable
choice, and Emery Waters knew that deep down you know that
too, Bass. He didn't do it because he was
given an order because he was told to.
He did it because in those few moments with that wonderful,
brilliant, complex brain of his, he did the calculations.
The only equation that allowed everybody else to make it out
safely required his sacrifice. He chose to make the sacrifice
himself to save the rest of you, Bass.
I get it, Sydney, I really do promise you that.
But no, no, no butts. Bass Memory made his own
decision, which you shouldn't be.
No, you can't be held responsible for.
We're all, each and every one of us, responsible for the
decisions we make in life, as well as those consequences which
result from those decisions. And from where I sit, the
consequences of you, Wainwright and the other surviving made
that choice of his a good 1A damned fine one in my book.
Yeah, but there had to be another way.
There were many other ways. There were only one in that time
and situation which had the desired result.
He knew that. As Emery knew, unless he acted,
the safety of the rest of the team was in danger.
Nobody would have been able to do what he had to do.
Nobody. He was the logical choice, the
only choice. His sacrifice wasn't designed to
make people feel guilty. It was for people to go on doing
what they needed to do. In essence, he made his choice
the gift in a way, and you can either be thankful for that,
appreciate and respect that choice, that sacrifice, or you
can elect to go on feeling grief, remorse, and guilt.
But wouldn't that cheapen that gift to his?
If you want my professional opinion, the best thing you can
do is make the most of the days ahead and honor that gift.
That's that actually makes a lot of sense.
I understand what you're saying. I I, I just can't get over
feeling bad. There's a razor thin line
between feeling bad and feeling responsible.
People feel bad all the time, and that's a very normal thing.
Guilt. Well, that's the destructive
side that seldom has any good ending.
Sounds like you understand that difference now.
I guess I'm starting to and it really does make sense.
Not just saying that it's it's probably going to take some time
but I I do get it. Thanks said don't thank me until
you see the bill. Now why don't we move on?
Let's chat about what took place with Josh Nichols on the
Mountain. It's like this block in my
memory, and no matter how many times you bring it up, sitting
in the memories just aren't there.
Those memories are in their best.
They're in there. You just can't access them
because of probably a head injury.
Your playback's been all scrambled.
But listen, I assure you I have recovered a lot harder memories
in the past. That being said, look, we have
been at this for an hour. Do you want to take a break?
It sounds like the winds aren't climbing anymore.
We may not be out of the woods, but what we're doing here, it's
a big leap, maybe making all the difference.
I'm sure it doesn't mind a small break for a snack or a coffee.
Did you say it? I know sounds like a spooky
clown from the King horror novels.
I'm struggling with how to refer to hit the ice.
Like I said he she they doesn't really apply.
It's a place all that's work in progress.
I'm Okay said. Really let's just keep that
progress going. Okay I can eat later.
All right. Your session there, Dime.
Let's dive back in. Let's step back to just after he
hit you with the piece of wood you came to.
Yeah. I come to my head is pounding
and Trigger is a captain. Trigger, he's checking up on me
and he's said that Fred had made contact with the Norwegians and
they were unbound. They were unbound, but Josh had
escaped and he was still out there running, even though there
was no place to go. So you went for him to try to
catch him? Yeah, mostly.
Mostly. What else was it?
What more than bring him in? Yeah, I wanted to bring him in,
but I want to make sure he he accounted for what he did so
justice would be served for the murder of Doctor Rodney.
Some might argue that being left out there would have been
justice. Yeah, well, then some are wrong.
You don't put anybody in a situation like that in an
environment like that. I don't care what crime they're
accused of. So you didn't just go out there
to catch him? You went out there to rescue
him, even after he assaulted you?
Stop trying to make it sound all noble.
I was just doing my job. That's it.
Okay, I wasn't there. I don't know.
All I have to go on is what you tell me and what your mind says.
Yeah, yeah, I keep forgetting You can do that.
Hear my thoughts. Still words me out.
OK, you take off. Your head is throbbing, leg is
in considerable pain. The wind is probably a lot like
this. It's freezing cold.
I imagine you're after the kid and once again, against the
clock for the incoming rescue helicopter, right?
Yeah. Tell me more about those initial
moments, leaving the safety and shelter where you knew it was
safe and headed out to face the darkness out there.
Going after a killer on the side of the mountain where one wrong
step and you're never found again.
I'm trying, but the it's fuzzy. It's it's like blurry.
It's starting to come into focus, but concentrate on the
things you do remember. I remember the cold on my face.
It was biting into my face. I I I felt like it could.
Hear the beating of my heart and rhythm with the pounding of my
head. It was dark, yeah, it was.
It was real dark. I had taken out Flashlight and I
was just focused. Focused on what?
Is footprints. I focused on the footprints
before the snow erase them, but I focused on the hunt, the
chase. Now I'm I'm finding him, getting
back, getting him back, getting everybody back safe.
But I was. Stay with that.
Stay with that memory. You're in the snow.
It's deep. The cold on your face.
Your head is throbbing. You see his Prince?
You. I hear him.
Heard him. I heard him.
Yeah. I mean, I saw his Prince.
But I could. I could hear him.
That's how I was able. That's how I was able to
pinpoint where he was. And he was he was talking.
He was talking on the side of the mountain.
What was he saying? I don't know.
The wind is. I could hear his voice but the
the words like hearing someone talk through thin walls.
So you heard him talking and and you approached him.
What next? I inholstered my firearm, took
out my surefire my flashlight and attach it under the barrel,
hit the light and drew a bead on him.
You spoke to him? Yeah, it was, you know, nothing
profound. Give it up.
Come back with me. There are none of our options.
OK? Tell me about the surroundings.
What did you see with your flashlight?
Looking around, he's he's standing next to this massive
boulder alone. He's standing there alone, next
to this boulder on the side of a Cliff.
I mean just right on the edge. He was up to his thighs in the
snow, but close to that edge. I make one step towards him.
I can see the bottom of his coat is flapping up from some winds
that are coming straight up. That Cliff wall winds up the
wall. What did Josh do when you told
him he was caught? Did he raise his hands and
offered to surrender? No.
No, he didn't do that. He was.
He was holding on to something. A weapon.
A concealed weapon. No, I I I don't know what it
was, but it wasn't. It wasn't a weapon.
Definitely not a weapon. It was It was thin.
Italic like box, but small. Like, not even the size of a
deck of cards. Small.
I no, no, he said something, he said.
Get it? That I yeah, I didn't get it.
That I never did. More is going on.
Something about everything is bigger than God damn it.
I'm trying. Sydney.
It's. I believe you.
This is phenomenal progress. What then?
I give him some choices. I he's freeze by himself.
Come back with me or I'd shoot him a leg and drag him back
screaming. Or you put him down out of his
misery so he wouldn't freeze. No, I didn't say that.
I I but I can't recall. Stay with the bass you're doing.
You're on the mountain. He's he's looking at me.
He's looking right in my eyes, smiling.
No, no smirking. He's smirking.
What was that? You just remembered something.
What else? Something's behind him.
There's something behind him. I I can see it.
He keeps suddenly looking over his shoulder, down the
cliffside. He's he's watching for
something. Waiting.
He was expecting something. What else?
What else was said? God damn it, I can't.
I it's not there. You followed him out there out
of the plane wreckage. The cock.
No, not the cockpit. It was the IT was the tail
section, right? You followed him, pursued him,
followed a trail of blood. Not the blood.
It was. It was footprints.
Down the mountain?
No, up up the mountain, Sydney, you said down before.
You said you chased him down. No, you.
Then you heard it wrong. I said up the mountain.
Oh, right, right. You said up the mountain to hunt
him down. Wasn't hunting him.
I wanted to save him. Needed to.
For the marshals. For your rest.
Record for the case I needed to because I had to save his life.
The kid already murdered somebody.
Hell, he tried to kill you once before.
Then he hit you over the head with a piece of wood again,
trying to kill you. He wasn't trying to kill me.
He said that. He said that to me.
He said he wasn't trying to kill me.
He just wanted to escape. So you follow him down the hill,
up, You find him. He has you against the Cliff,
face trapped. No, that was him.
I had him. He has a weapon in his hand.
He's armed or against the Cliff. It's not a weapon.
It's not a threat. It's not authorized.
You shot him. He jumped.
He He jumped. He leaned back slowly, fell
backwards, smirking the entire way down.
Oh God damn it, Sydney. It's like a floodgate just
opened up in my head. It's it's coming back.
I can. I can remember.
I can remember everything. He fell backwards.
He folded his arms and fell backwards.
Smirking at me, I I approach him slowly, looking over the edge.
And there was it was that same God damn swirling purple and
blue mist. No, no, it's bigger than that.
It was it. It wasn't missed.
It was like a it was a cloud. It was it was massive and it
just hung there in midair. There was this fierce wind
coming up. That Cliff side's cutting into
my face. It's pushing me back.
But that cloud is unfazed. It just stayed there and he
fell. I don't know it he fell into it
or threw it. My head is woozier than ever.
I am so cold. I'm freezing.
I'm shaking like a leaf. I I go to reholster my weapon
but and I'm shivering my but I pulled the triggers.
I I pulled the trigger. My hand was frozen and I pulled
the trigger as I tried to reholster.
Jesus. Rookie mistake.
I'm God damn lucky I didn't put one through my leg.
That's where that round went. That was the unaccounted shot I
accidentally fuck you son of a bitch.
You son of a bitch. You knew this the whole time.
You knew I didn't do it. God damn you, Sydney.
No, I didn't know, but I had a strong suspicion.
The things you said, the way you said them would have been easy
just to leave the kid out there. Easier for you than even putting
a bullet in him. No authority would have needed
to investigate. You were injured, but you
wouldn't let him go. You couldn't let him go.
Despite it all, Doctor Rodney's murder almost murdering you,
hitting you with the. Wood, you wouldn't let somebody
you could help go while back there.
You said what we're doing here, it's a big leap.
It's my session, my dime. Let's jump back in.
That was all coincidence. Come on, Sydney.
As I said before, a lot of what happens here needs to be you
getting to your own realization. We therapists, we just nudge it
in the proper direction. There's no way, there's no way
to know that. It was like you said you weren't
there. That's correct.
I wasn't there. I didn't witness what really
happened, but that doesn't mean nobody didn't see what really
happened. You mean it.
Pronouns. Aha, when it's a non corporeal
entity, isn't it The ICE. The ICE witnessed for me, not my
place to say patient doctor. Privilege applies here too.
What I will? Say Bass is.
This is one for the textbooks. This is really something.
The progress, realizations, all of it would make for a wonderful
paper if not for the multiple NDA's I signed.
You sure you don't want to take a break now?
Maybe have a drink? Break.
No, I don't want to take a break.
Cindy, drink. Hell yes, I want to drink.
Good. I didn't want to drink alone.
There you go. I would like to propose a toast.
Why don't we drink to Chuck Goodwin?
Your boss? US Marshall.
Fatherinlaw. I didn't know the man, but I
would very much like you to tell me about him.
Here's to Chuck to Charlie. Sorry, Sid, I didn't realize the
handheld recorder was that low on battery charge.
I don't typically use it as much as I did today without charging.
It has been a long day, hasn't it?
Not the strangest day around here, but absolutely a long day.
So we left off with you going through the Marshall School,
meeting your wife at the bar, not knowing it was Charlie's
daughter and until you get called in, which led to dating
and getting married. I think that's why we left it.
Charlie tolerated me since I married his daughter.
I honestly don't think there would have been a person on the
planet. In his mind, that would have
been good enough for her. Janet, it's his wife at the
hand. She adored me.
She was always going out of her way to make me.
For the first few years, Charlie assigned me all these shit jobs.
He was a chief deputy Marshall back then of Georgia's Southern
District after leaving Glencoe, and we were living in Savannah.
He'd have me on a general inmate transfer, defending old boozy
judges and magistrates who were crooked as hell.
Witness protection of some of the most privileged little shit
stained rich kids that were out there.
Anytime there was a job no St. Marshall would touch, I got
assigned to work. Sounds like he was overbearing,
but like my old man CC was an asshole back then.
He was an asshole, but I wasn't about to let him see my
frustration. Any job he gave me, I did it.
No bitching or complaining. Don't get me wrong.
I wanted to pop it more than a handful of times, but I was
never going to give him that satisfaction.
So then would ultimately change between the two of you.
I think it was about a year, year and a half of this going on
that my wife put her foot down. I can still remember that
morning it was 5:00 AM. She was an elementary school
teacher back then. First grade.
I would normally get up before her shower, get us coffee ready,
and we'd get put together in the bathroom at the same time.
This particular morning she was up first, made me coffee, had
her green summer dress on look like she was going to church or
to court. So I asked her what was up.
You know, just as in the side, she really try to smile like
that. Long hangs nice on you.
Sydney, Do you mind? I'm sorry.
Sorry you're up. Your wife is up earlier, putting
her face on. So I asked her baby, why are you
all made-up? Turns out she was going to
court. To the federal courthouse where
we worked. Charlie and I said she'd had
enough. She was going to March in there,
lay it all out to her daddy, and then come hell or high water or
arrest for disorderly, things were about to change.
Strong woman, brother, if you only knew the half of it.
So I tell her that's the last thing I need.
My wife, coming to the office in front of all the other deputy
marshals to fight my battles, try to convince her that it
would do more hurt than help my career.
Having a woman fight my battles? Yeah, yeah.
It was the last thing you wanted to say to her.
She kept a lipstick put on her heels, was out the front door.
I I I debated calling the tack team to be on alert for her.
Stop her at the door is disgruntled.
Would that have? No, no.
She would have massacred them when she had to burn her saddle.
There was no getting her to change her mind.
Only play I had left. The only thing I could do
really, is call Charlie and tell him what was heading his way.
I told him this was it. He truly didn't want me as a
Deputy Marshall as his Soninlaw. If I was truly the worthless as
all the above, simply let her in and let her make a scene in that
office would ruin my career. Make me quit, and I'd just
become a mall security guard or something.
I can still remember that silence on the other end of the
line. Felt like I went on for about a
minute. I wanted.
I knew at that point my future was going to be decided one way
or the other. Well, what happened?
After about a minute he just said I'll take care of it.
For years I thought him making me sweat that moment out was
just another way of sticking it to me, making me fry.
Turns out in the years later, he tells me he did not pause for a
fact that in fact he was terrified.
He too, thought about calling the attack team Interceptor.
Now Charlie is was. He's a big guy, Big as I was,
but four times as tough. And there was only one person on
this planet he couldn't stand up to.
We would have him apologizing for shit he had never even done.
Not the impression you want to advertise in front of a dozen US
Marshals. Unemployed.
Only one person. This little girl.
My wife. Well, I was at that moment.
I think we actually had our first bonding experience.
Both US Marshals, federal agents.
We'd face danger and death every single day.
Battle hard. And both of us afraid of a 5
foot one £110 when she's soaking wet woman whose voice alone
would carry over 3 counties when you got her upset enough the
moment when he stopped seeing you as the guy who married his
daughter, but now it's his soninlaw.
Can I get another round over here?
Sure to our fathers. By birth or by marriage And
their sons by birth and marriage.
Cheers. Like, I'm So what finally
happened with what your wife coming in hot, locked and loaded
to see her dad? Oh well, since the tech team was
actually across town dealing with a gang conflict situation
between the Jamaicans and Colombians, he pretty much did
what I've done in the place. Sit it down and talk it out.
No. No.
Sydney, have you not been listening over there?
You didn't talk it out with her. Unless you were prepared and
braced to be yelled at for 20 minutes and have everything
you've done in the past five years that she didn't like,
invoked. No.
He pulled the fire alarm so the building would have to be
evacuated. You serious?
I'm dead serious. She was worse than a Terminator
man. Every male in that place would
have been a target. So building gets evacuated.
The fire department comes in. They have to inspect and clear.
Everything is okay for the bill to be reopened, so he buys some
time. Charlie found her just as she
was pulling it, and he hopped in her car.
From what he told me, he got it worse than ever before.
You know, at least when you're in a bedroom or a living room
you can move around dodge and weave.
Charlie was stuck in her passenger side.
See. 45 minutes until he promised her, swore to her that
he'd start treating me better. And also send her and her mom to
a spa that week. After that, you found more
respect for me. I stopped getting all the shit
assignments. Don't get me wrong, you don't
stop acting like a horse's ass overnight.
It'll only be occasionally. Until that's, you know what,
We'll chat about that later. Let's stick with Chuck.
For now, after. After she passed, they passed.
That's all. The guilt started after her
funeral, the morning the guilt sets in, it was it was a dark
place for me, Sydney. As dark as they come, Charlie.
For a while I I felt he blamed me, held me responsible.
Both him and Janet. But he didn't get his own guilt
to deal with about your loss. Yet again, she provided Bonnie
moment for us even after her death.
Months went by. Years Charlie would get
reassigned, one district to another.
He'd always had me transfer with him.
After the second time, I thought he was just trying to babysit.
After a while and ask him about it, he said no.
It's one of the best deputy Marshalls he ever saw go to die.
Me and his Soninlaw had nothing to do with it.
That quarterback more than a few high profile assignments for
you. I got the job done.
Always got the job done. Here it's become a decade,
almost two, and I contemplated leaving the Marshall serviced,
honestly. It was the next day, after my
was made-up that Charlie called me in his office.
Said he was sending me down here for a murder investigation.
I see you couldn't just tell him to find somebody else.
No, I didn't. Charlie needed somebody he
trusted for this. I didn't want.
I couldn't let him down. So once again, Deputy Marshall
Marlo puts everybody first. Except for his own plan.
I wish I had told him to get somebody else, that I had gone
with my plans because he'd still be alive.
How do you figure that? What's this?
Project Atlas? It's how I got Charlene Janet
murdered. I have no idea what Atlas really
is. All I know is it's some super
secret project that Wainwright and some of the others are
working on for whatever evil world changing plans Beauregard
lowing have in mind. I found out about it, and even
the mere mention of the name was enough to set the wheels in
motion. So they were killed because you
found out a project's code name. They were killed for something.
I can't even explain what it is. I had a card to play.
I was told I was warned not to play it or bad things were
happened. I played it.
Bad things happened. Charlie and Janet were killed
over it. I am hearing a lot of
assumptions. That mass Even if your pal at
the FBI found a device used by Middle East intelligence, there
isn't definitive proof that was connected to you.
Oh, come on, Sydney Bass, Why did you join the Marshals?
Why did your fatherinlaw? Hell, why does any person join
the marshals? To do good.
Mostly. To do good.
To help people to make a difference?
Sure. What did you take?
An oath? All marshals do I've.
I've been curious. Would you mind?
Could I hear that oath now are? You serious?
Yes, please, human me. I, bass wife Marlo Dusommi,
affirm that I will support and defend the Constitution, United
States, against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that will
bear true faith and allegiance to the same that I take this
obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of
evasion. And I will well and faithfully
discharge the duties of the office on which I'm about to
enter. So help me God.
Thank you for that. This is at the heart and core
what it is that you do isn't defend the US.
It's people, civilians, it's interests against anybody that
threatens any of that you swear an oath to defend.
You believe that all Martians do?
Yes. Did Chuck.
No. No.
Sitting. Not this time.
I see what you're doing. Very smart.
I will give you that. Yes, of course, Charlie believe
that more than most. But there is nothing in the oath
that says it's okay to get killed by your donkey brain.
Soninlaw death is all around you.
You see it as part of your work. It can be a result of what
you're charged to do, the protecting of lives and people.
I may not have known Chuck, but I know you best, Marlo.
You put your life on the line for that oath to protect.
You learned it in training. Enough in Glencoe, stop the
instructors, the teachers, the leaders who taught you how to be
a marshal. They make sure those weren't
just words to read and get a badge as a prize, that you
believe that you understood what it really meant and the price
that you may be asked to pay for that oath.
Who was the head instructor? Bass.
I said stop. He died for something he
believed in, a cause that most people aren't brave enough to
do. I won't serve you horseshit Bass
model and tell you it's hamburger.
I don't know if his death was or wasn't a result over this
project Atlas. And since I'm not hearing the
wind outside getting stronger, I'd say you realize that now
too. Look, before we move on, I'm
going to ask you for a favor. The chart for your wife, the
Janet for yourself, Whoever did that to them, whoever is the
face behind the name. You'll think this jostling, what
you have in mind to avenge chart.
Just make sure it's what he would have wanted, that you have
the right person if she's coming for you, that's one thing.
Just make sure you don't have any actions you can't ever take
back. Yes, exactly.
Leaving the Marshall survey wasn't the answer 15 years ago.
It wasn't the answer last year before coming down to Honest and
Scott, this is where we've been leading to all the longest in
the past, back to the start. All that darkness you get that
you've been carrying all this time, inflicting on yourself.
Sorry about your glasses. So am I.
Those were matching set, I noticed.
And all the times you've spoken of being married, the engagement
time together, sharing memories of your wife, you've never once
said her name. Can you say it now?
I think that's the first step, admitting what the situation is.
Has Wells then, as well as in here and now, the burden you've
carried for all that time? What is your wife's name?
Bass. Her name is was Tyanne.
Accept me. You don't want me to rest on the
fact that I was the chief deputy Marshall.
Soninlaw didn't want to proceed. That was riding coach strings.
He despised nepotism. I want to make sure everybody
saw that I wasn't being treated any better than any other DM's.
He was looking out for you. Go on.
I was part of this small task force.
Five deputy Marshalls were sent out to look for this guy who was
wanted and failed to appear in federal court.
Real shit bag. Desmond the Abbott.
It escaped a maximum security detention center in Puerto Rico
back in the early 90s. Smug on M sixteens ARS various
firearms in and out of the US. Well, Charlie got reliable Intel
he was either in Brunswick, GA area visiting an old army buddy
or was surely about to arrive. So we stake out the trailer, the
ship birds buddy he had and waited.
And we did and we did. Then we waited some more.
I have no clue. This moron pissed off in DC or
in the Marshall service, but he managed to get himself a spot in
the top 15. What's the top 15?
Top 15. Most Wanted.
Every department has their own Most Wanted.
He was on Ours still is, last time I checked, but the fact
that he landed on this list made him top priority for the brass
in DC. So you waited six weeks, Sid?
6 long hot smelly weeks I'll be in a cargo van with four other
dudes, half of whom had not discovered the miracle invention
of body deodorant. The other half who thought the
car noir was for bathing him anyway.
The guy's a no. Sure we had multiple units
watching the trailer and tailing ship Berg's buddy 24/7.
We had the house bug, the phone lines bug.
Charlie's Intel must have been wonky because Abbott never
showed and there was never any mention of him by his buddy.
It was that last night one of the guys get sick.
Official call from DC to call off the stakeout.
It was over. You never saw two shifts.
Five guys were happy not to have to sit there anymore and played
Name that 80s show. We all drive back this van to
get showered up and head home. I got a message on my desk from
my. From Diane, she'd heard about
the steak out being cancelled. I wish she was happy that I had
a few days off, but she had some news.
News that couldn't wait any longer.
She made reservations at this place in downtown Savannah.
On the West River was a rooftop joint, Myrtle something rooftop
garden, I think it's. It was her favorite restaurant
in Georgia. So I get cleaned up and I head
over there. It was only 10 blocks away from
Tomochichi Federal Building, so we met up at 7:00 that evening.
And what was the big news? She'd been feeling off the past
few months, so she went to go see a doctor and discovered she
was around 8:00 to 9:00. That's perfect.
Oh, that was several days before she wanted to tell me, but.
Didn't want to distract me from the job I was doing.
At the same time she saw how I come home after 18 hours on get
a hand flowers, asleep in the head right back in.
She didn't want to let the news go untold for too much longer
though, so when she heard this take I have been dropped, she
chose that night. Had you two been trying for a
baby? I mean, it wasn't something we
actively planned. We don't get married at that
point for a couple years. I mean, we both wanted kids, a
family and all that, but it wasn't something we had decided
was to happen then and there. That said, she was so excited.
I remember, I think I was in mild shock in the news.
I wasn't mad or angry or disappointed.
It was more, I mean, half exhaustion, half realization
that. That I was going to be a dad.
So once I realized this was great news, we celebrated.
She obviously couldn't have any booze, and after being up for 19
hours, well, I I really wanted a bourbon.
But I settled for a celebratory cigar the guy at the next table
offered me when he heard or expected.
You know, we didn't know any of the other patrons that evening,
but as soon as the news got around and it got around fast.
All the ladies, no matter how young or old, swarm that tip to
give her advice or get her ready for the baby.
Promises of keeping in touch and attending baby showers.
All the guys come over and give me a hard time joking about
being a new dad and to not count on watch, sleep or getting well.
I'll get anything else next. Six months after Baby was born,
our quiet little dinner together.
Turned into an impromptu roof garden celebration.
Everybody just mixed around that night.
And the owner who was there, he took care of our entire bill.
Nice guy. You know, up until Kendra, that
was the last moment I had of happiness and contentment.
Probably close to 20 years now. What happened?
Pass What happened that evening? It was It was 2 in the morning,
the clothes placed down along with everybody else.
Neither of us had anything to drink that night, so we're okay
heading back home. At that point, though, I'd been
up for 26 hours again, up early. The last day of the state got to
take a shift from a Marshall who was ill.
It's been the evening on that rooftop.
It had been over a full day since I got new rest.
I am. I remember chatting with Diane
on the way back home. She'd tell me stop crossing line
at least twice. After the third time, she asked
me to pull over that she drive the rest of the way.
But no. Nope.
I had to be stubborn. I had to be the.
Husband, the man and who father and show her.
I was responsible. I I remember driving in silence
for several minutes. She was mad, really mad at me.
It was so quiet in that truck. I remember her yelling though,
the lights in the windshield so goddamn bright.
Then I came to on a Gurney. I was.
I was told I was at the Memorial Health on the other side of
town. There were doctors and nurses
working all around me, trying to save me.
I fall back, unconscious. And the next thing I remember is
my mom, Fiona, Charlie and Janet being in a hospital room with
me. They they told me that Diane or
the baby had made it. I'm.
So sorry, Bass. Yeah, well, don't be, because
you're not the one who killed your wife.
An unborn baby bass. It wasn't your fault.
It was an accident. Oh, an accident, Yeah.
I accidentally stayed out too late.
I accidentally decided to be so chauvinistic not to let a lady
drive. I accidentally didn't know when
I had no place driving a vehicle.
Charlie. I remember Charlie telling me
the same thing. You know that in the hospital it
was just him and me. Honestly tried to tell me that
he was more to blame than me. Diana.
I told him and Jenny about the baby a few days before.
Chuck wanted to pull me out of the stake, out early.
But he said he got too worried about that impression we give to
the others. He was more concerned with his
reputation and family, and I. Charlie felt guilty too.
Neither of you were the blind bass.
For all the crime and darkness you face each day on the job,
this was happiness. This was a celebration of life,
a new life, and all that darkness you face.
The light was the focus on everything to you.
Diane, Charlie and Janet, your mom would be new grandparents.
Is that why you tore about your office when you heard the news
about Chuck that is on car accident?
It was a Sultan wound. I wait for the killer to remind
me of my past and the guilt. Yeah, it was why the news hit me
as hard as it did. You know what?
Just yeah. Anyway, the night they brought
us in I was fully examined, but alcohol and talk screens all
came back 100% negative on a drop by alcohol or any drug use
was found in my or Diane's systems.
He was investigated by the DOJ's A G's office.
They formally stepped in and took over.
The investigation ultimately ruled it an accident. 8 weeks
family leave. I was back on the job and what
was that like? At first, yeah.
No, I was numb. I was aware of things when they
were going around around me, you know, I I could hear words
people were saying, but it was like, it's like just being on
autopilot. I didn't feel anything.
Didn't feel sadness, regret. I didn't feel hungry or sleepy
for the first few months. Now you know what?
That's not true. There was only one feeling
present the entire time, and I was killed after funeral, after
time off, and after about six months back, I I was.
I was having issues dealing and I decided the best way to cope
was to write her letters and notes.
Reminders at first. Later it became more formal.
I dare dictate all my data or my work that evolved to formal
reports dedicated to her. It was it was a way that I
didn't have to deal with their passing.
The baby's passing. She was still real to me.
Chuck found out, discovered what I was doing by pure coincidence
and the guilt he had himself. It was obvious to me that now it
led him to cover for me for 15 fucking years.
That's why Chuck had been transferred around with him.
To look after me, checked me. That must have been his way to
tell him for the pain he caused his daughter all those really
years. I think it was more than just
his penance that I think it was also that he loved you like his
own son. Whenever I made reports, request
or needed something, Chuck would intercept and make sure I got
whatever was needed to help me cope.
I guess I'm sure a few others he trusted were aware.
How could they not be looking out if you want?
It was obviously one of them. There's more here, Bass.
More, you're not mentioning one week.
One week before coming down to Antarctica, just after being
told about the assignment, I had more or less a decision.
About my future, and I don't think I've spelled out for you,
Sydney. You can obviously hear it, but I
was ready not to have a future any longer.
I just wanted to end it. I had it all planned out too.
The next day, I'd fly back to Atlanta and I would do it at the
exact spot where they lost their lives.
No. That night I had weirdest
goddamn dream. About the pole, about the
station, about the ice. That was it, wasn't it?
It was him. You know what?
Sorry. I'm.
I'm just going to.
Use her From now on, when I refer to that was her someone,
sometimes, sometimes I kind of feel like maybe it's us that
first calls out to her. Our guilt, our need, our
struggles, our pain. Look, I'm obviously not
philosopher or astrophysicist, but in all the interviews I've
done down here, every winter I'm at this place.
I have yet to meet somebody. Who doesn't benefit from being
here? How she helped them deal with
whatever they had, shall we know.
Sometimes they say they heard a call or felt a pull.
I kind of feel that. Sometimes we're the ones who
make the call to the ice, subconsciously or otherwise.
Sometimes it's proactive. Sometimes it's more primal, more
reactive. Bassett wasn't Charlie's fault.
No more than it was your fault. Look, I know you don't believe
in higher powers. God, Buddha, Allah, call it
whatever you want. It's not what you follow.
I don't know if, Diana, your baby's passing was preordained,
if it was random or or part of some grandiose design.
Again, not a philosopher, but loving somebody new.
Making the most of the life you have now are all wonderful
things. You have already spent almost 20
years of it, a good portion of your life, making yourself
suffer, living in a self-imposed purgatory that isn't what dying
what I wanted for you. And deep down you know that.
It's time Bass. It's time to forgive yourself.
I can't. I'm to blame.
All staff, all staff evacuate immediately to the B1 lifeboat.
This is not a drill. All staff, all staff evacuate to
the B1 lifeboat. You got to get that lifeboat
set. It's over.
Go. I'm going to stay here.
Well, if you don't mind, I'm going to stay here too with you
and have one more round. You want the bottle and then
you're glass, bro. I'm not kidding.
You're sitting go. Don't make me responsible for
another loss. And if I go fast, I'm going to
feel responsible for yours. See.
It's a vicious cycle. Guilt.
Look, it's time, Bass. You have to let it go.
You have to end the psych, the suffering you've been through.
It's done nothing but led you to the darkest of places any
individual can go. What happened to your wife,
baby? It was an accident.
What you were thinking of doing then, what you're still thinking
of now, it's suicide. Another word for it is murder.
That guilt you feel now. Everybody, everybody that you
love now around you will have the same level of guilt after
you do it. Can you deal with that?
Kendra, Thomas, Zeke. Your new family, as you put it
before, they'll have to suffer now.
They'll inherit the guilt that's driving you to this decision,
Bass. Make your legacy something Chuck
and Diane would be proud of. Life bass Your legacy needs to
be life, not a legacy of pain and guilt and death.
It's time, Bass. End this cycle of suffering here
and now. It's time to accept life.
I can hear you actually do me, You just need to say it.
I I forget myself. I It's just life recording
stopped. Recording started.
Hey all, my new police My name is Miss Sherilyn June here, and
I'm the station's main information manager.
Y'all just think of me like your own personal fairy godmother.
Once y'all get settled and get your stuff stowed away in your
birth, come join us in the B3 Lounge for your orientation.
Oh, you are just going to have such a great time here on the
ice. Orientation starts at 11:30
hours. Afterwards we can discuss
theories about the next season of Bridgerton.
Thank you. Bass.
Morning, Sid. You here to see me off?
Yeah. I couldn't let you leave without
one more. Goodbye.
I don't believe in goodbyes, Bess.
I believe in until we catch up, which will be 10:00 AM New York
time every first Tuesday of the month for an hour.
I'll keep our appointments. That I promise.
I've never known you to be anything other than a man.
You would. You don't have to say anything
out loud, Bess. I still say I still have this
gift until I leave the ice. You're very welcome.
And I was happy to get you into a better place.
I just regret I charged by the hour.
I'd never make money off of you. Yeah, yeah, it's your problem.
You take care of that Smilo of yourself, of Kendra and at this
place for me until I get back next season A.
Come on, Sydney, Your family now and families do not do
handshakes. Safe travel, Sydney, a bass
thought. In words of advice, if you don't
mind, I am all ears. Sydney Mikael, No matter what.
Don't trust him. Ever.
Recording stopped. Hi Diane, it's me.
I'm things are better. It's been about a month since.
Since the storm's ended since that night, I radioed Marshall.
Murphy the following day, told her I needed to take a few weeks
off giving nothing can take place on this drug Smuggling
Surveillance. Until now, anyway, she was
inclined to approve the leave. And she said, after looking at
my personal files, I may hold the record for unused leave
compiled by a single Deputy Marshall.
She's more than happy to let me have the time off.
I've spent this last month starting the process of getting
better, focusing on myself more than the job.
Zeke, you'd love him so much. All Zeke has been focused on is
his stations repairs. I haven't seen this happy since
the new Snow cats arrived last season.
That said, he still found the time to properly introduce me to
his lady, the station. Her name is Lucille.
It's it's a whole Zeke thing. Mr. Todd is talking about
staying on the ice despite losing his friend memory.
This last event woke something within him, showed him his value
as a person wasn't based on a relationship that he himself had
self worth. He just needed to find it.
Fred Ferguson, for as much as he's been talking about leaving
to see his Bruins, he found something here.
We're staying for doctor temps. It is the oddest combination
anybody would have guessed, but I think it was Cupid's arrow
that hit her. He actually wants to stay now,
despite the fact he won't be. Fire crew chief Doctor
Wainwright. Well, the replacement parts for
the electrical components arrive tomorrow, and I'm sure you'll
set priority to get their secret Atlas project back on track,
Thomas said. There's been a lot of background
noise between Bolo and Larry since the project shut down, and
apparently they aren't happy with him taking some sort of
steps to safeguard the project going forward.
Things between Kendra and I are going well.
It it took a lot for me to tell her about us and how I've been
dealing with you and the baby's passing for a very long time.
She's been very supportive. She makes me.
No, no. She is a large part of my
happiness. And I'm really starting to find
real happiness again, Diane. Not all at once, but Sydney said
it's opening myself up to the possibility that is making all
the difference. And I also informed him that if
he ever told anybody I cried, we'd have words, And we shared a
laugh about that in our last session on the station.
I remembered something very personal.
Something you'd left me after you had died.
When I was finally able to put your stuff away.
I remember your Night Stand table book, and it was left open
to a poem by Robert Frost. I remember at first I thought I
should take that as an invitation to join you.
It wasn't until talking to Sydney I realized it was better
to consider it a plea from you to me to not enter those woods,
no matter how invited it might sound at the time.
It's like this place where the snowy evening lasts for half a
year, but it's now ended and it's time for the station and I
to leave the dark winter and take our places in the light
anyway. I have promises to keep and
miles to go before I sleep. There you are, Debbie.
Thomas asked me to tell you there's a new Polly who went out
running this morning, twisted their ankle and radio, and they
need help getting back to the station.
And we have Snowmobile 8 Gaston ready for you.
They're a mile past the dark sector.
Oh, thanks, son. Tell Ambrose and Tim's I'll be
bringing in one stray and meet me at destination Alpha 10
minutes. Yes, Marshall.
It's October 5th, 2022, Summer Season Day one.
Time to get back to work. Time to live again.
This is Supervisory Deputy Marshall Bass Marla, the ICE
Sheriff, back on active assignment.
Daylights, Burn and Diana. This land needs to be tanked.
This is my new assignment. This is where I belong.
This has been Season 2 of 90 Degrees South.
On behalf of the cast and crew, I'd like to thank you for
listening. If you like the episode and are
enjoying the series, Please remember to give us a like a
share a tweet, send a Raven, or review on iTunes, Spotify,
Stitcher, or your favorite podcast site.
It helps us to get the word out and keeps the cold at Bay.
You can also help support us on Patreon.
Just search for 90 Degrees South podcast and you'll find our page
with various tiers of support. Every little bit helps to
provide for more adventures and stories.
Now for the cash credits, our players were Heather Johnson as
Doctor Kendra Jennings, Dr. Gemma Lawrence, Doctor Catherine
Tim's Lunch, Lady Alice and Special Agent Jocelyn Fuller,
and US Marshal Ann Murphy. Owen Virgin as Thomas Kelly
Franklin the Demon and Fire Chief Landry Thibodeaux.
Kyle Brown as Firefighter Fred and Emery Waters.
Ben Kramer as Captain Trager Patrick Dauber and Special
Deputy Marshall Bill Culligan. Dara Light as Director Madeline
Dantes. Aaron McCann as Agent Fiona
Anderson, Juno as station event coordinator.
Nick Webster. Marni Warner as alt right.
Sandra Derecha. Barbara Bradley as Cheryl Lynn
June and Trent Shumway is Deputy US Marshal Bass Marlow, Doctor
Lawrence Wainwright, Shaz Wilford, Chief Ezekiel
Bustamante, Dr. Carl Jovac, Dr. Julian Ambrose Tustodian Mikhail
IT Manager Chris Todd Reno, Dave Brewster, Deacon Mctaggart Chief
Meteorologist Topper Hunt, Josh Nichols, Doctor Mark Rodney.
Jazz Wilford and Dr. Sidney Bremer.
This concludes Season 2. Until next time, recording has
commenced. Oh yeah, that won't wear on me,
you whole bunion looking lad. May I help you, ma'am?
I seriously doubt where is Destination Alpha.
Right over there, boy. Mouth breather.
My eyes are up here. Sorry, ma'am, that.
Welcome. Welcome to a Mutson Scott.
So many new people this summer season.
Oh, you can put your code in there.
One of the dewalts will get your stuff.
I don't see a name tag on you. May I ask your name?
Pleasure. First meal, son before work.
Tell me. Where can I find Deputy
Marshmallow? This has been a BMB production.