SYNOPSIS
Guest Stars: Rick Overton as Count Gregory
Screenplay by Peter Sands
Edited by Yvann Thibaudeau
Directed by Tom Clegg
Location of Aurora: In and above Canada
Prologue: Hard-drinking Union General Theodore Steele is traveling to West Point where he is to be installed as its new commandant, when he is kidnapped by some erstwhile Mohawks.
The Aurora, with Phileas, Rebecca, Jules and Passepartout, has flown to Upper Canada to meet with Chatsworth and the Canadian governor about the kidnapping of the general. Tensions are mounting between America and Canada, and Chatsworth says that they need to find the general and return him to the US before tensions escalate into war. Rebecca has volunteered the Aurora for the search without Phileas' consent, which does not please Phileas. Nonetheless, the reluctant Phileas and the more amenable Rebecca, Jules and Passepartout begin the search for the general on board the Aurora.
Meanwhile, American soldiers cross into Canada to look for the general and find a native village which they burn down before interrogating a young brave. Phileas, Rebecca, and Jules arrive in time to drive the soldiers away and rescue the young man.
General Steele arrives in a cave and is brought to Count Gregory, who promises to torture him.
Phileas, Rebecca, Jules and the young man Atonwa arrive back at the river where they left the Aurora, only to find that the dirigible has been hijacked and Passepartout dumped unconscious on the ground. The young man pulls out a canoe and offers to transport the others down river so that they can follow the Aurora.
Meanwhile, at West Point, the body of General Steele is dropped from the hijacked Aurora with a warning message. Chatsworth and the governor receive word of this and decide that they must act to bring Phileas in, alive if possible, to placate the Americans.
The Aurorans and Atonwa camp for the night. Rebecca is angry with Phileas and his attitude which she says is based on his feud with Chatsworth. Atonwa tells them that the general has been taken by the "dead ones" to the "land of the dead". These "dead ones" had kidnapped others from his village, Atonwa explains, including his brother. Their camp is interrupted by Canadian troops demanding Phileas give himself up and then firing on them. The Aurorans and Atonwa escape and continue their journey down river. Further along, they come across another young brave being chased by strange men. Phileas and Rebecca recognize the men as being in League of Darkness uniforms. The escapee tells of digging in the rock to make a tunnel behind a waterfall. He also mentions the precense of an evil "broken one" who sits on a throne and is in pieces, a description that Phileas and Rebecca realize fits Count Gregory.
Atonwa is confident that he can guide them to the "land of the dead", which he does. They find the deflated Aurora and manage to get on board. The Aurora's bottom hatch is positioned over a tunnel, and Jules, Rebecca and Phileas go down the tunnel to investigate. They find traces of what Rebecca recognizes is a rocket propellant. Further on they see guards, but Phileas stops Rebecca from attacking them and leads them back to the Aurora, which he then orders to be reinflated and take off. Rebecca is quite angry with Phileas for stopping her overpowering the guards. She says that the element of surprise is no longer on their side since the League will have seen the Aurora take off. Since they didn't investigate further, they know nothing about the rocket that will be shot from the cave or where it might be heading. Jules says that if they get close to the cave, they might be able to guess at the destination from the orientation of the cave. They take the Aurora in closer for a look at the cave, which they find oriented south southeast. This would put a rocket fired from the cave in the direction of West Point, where the next day Abraham Lincoln is suppose to be giving an address to the graduating class.
Rebecca chides Phileas for stopping their earlier foray and Jules announces that there will be a major catastrophe if the US declares war with Canada. It would mean that the Union would be divided and that the Southern states would triumph. Phileas says he won't let that happen. They brainstorm ideas of how to stop the rocket. Jules says that if they come in through the cave mouth behind the falls, then they would still have the element of surprise on their side. Passepartout suggest a way to do it by having someone go over the falls in a barrel attached to a rope of just the right length so that the barrel would swing into the mouth of the cave. Phileas says the idea is suicidal and angrily orders that nobody in his dirigible go over the falls in a barrel. Rebecca angrily responds that he has no right to order that since he gave up his position in the secret service and is not her boss. Phileas says he is giving her the benefit of his considerable experience. Rebecca says that he's been doing that ever since she joined his family as an orphan. She says that Count Gregory is clouding his judgment. Phileas says simply that he is trying to save her life.
The next morning Phileas discovers that Jules is the only one left on the Aurora and that others have gone to use the barrel maneuver. At the river above the falls, Passepartout says that he does not think the barrel will work, but Rebecca is determined to do it. As Rebecca plans to get in the barrel, Passepartout asks if Rebecca is doing this to get back at Phileas. She admits that is partly true. Passepartout says that Fogg loves her and doesn't want her to die. She says she knows this, but that she can't let Phileas take over her life. When Atonwa agrees that Passepartout is right, Rebecca admits that Passepartout is always right but that they never take any notice of him. So Rebecca gets in the barrel and goes over the falls as the Aurora hovers overhead.
The plan works with astounding precision, the barrel hits the cave opening precisely, and a moment later Rebecca falls out of the barrel into the mouth of the cave. She finds the rocket and starts to fiddle with the controls, only to be stopped by Count Gregory. He is surrounded by troops with their cortical lobe studs that allow them to experience the same feelings that the count experiences. The count suggests that rather than kill her, he is willing to make her his consort. Count Gregory explains that his assistants have devised some medical procedures so that Rebecca and he might be fused together for eternity. On a second thought a moment late, he revises his idea and decides that she should die instead. He has her strapped to the rocket. Meanwhile Jules and Phileas enter the tunnels they first discovered under the Aurora's hatch. When they enter the rocket chamber, they are caught by the count's minions. The count baits Phileas and says that he can now dispatch another of the women he loves and watch his face as she dies. Rebecca takes a moment to bait the count by saying that the count had just offered her his entire carcass in marriage, although entire might not be the right word. This makes the count angry and the guards holding Phileas and Jules also get angry, a fact that Jules recognizes. The Count says that Jules should have been on the Leagues side, but that Phileas corrupted him which is why Phileas must suffer. He orders the rocket be fired and it is, with Rebecca attached. Then he demands fusion power and reconstitutes himself. He says that he intends to take over Phileas' and Jules' minds by inserting cortical lobe studs. Jules uses the knowledge of the emotional link between the count and the guards and makes the count angry by saying the count has a second rate mind. The anger is transmitted to the guards who step back for an instant. This is enough for Jules and Phileas to overpower the guards and push the count out the mouth of the waterfalls.
Meanwhile, on board the guided missile, Rebecca is sawing through the ropes that bind her with a trick fake fingernail knife. She alters the course of the rocket before jumping off the rocket. She then glides safely to earth with some hitherto unseen gliding wings . The rocket explodes on a hill not too distant from West Point, and Lincoln is safe. Disaster is averted and the news reaches Chatsworth. The Aurora searches for Rebecca, who is found in good condition fishing. And they all have tea together on the Aurora.
