by Cora Buhlert
A Routine Mission
After pulling out all the stops in episode 2, what would Raumpatrouille Orion do for an encore? Well, instead of threatening the entire solar system this time around, writer Rolf Honold and W.G. Larsen have opted for a more low-key adventure for the Orion 8 and her brave crew.
And so episode 3 "Hüter des Gesetzes" (Guardians of the Law) opens with that most routine of situations, namely a robotics training course for Space Fleet personnel, including the Orion crew. The Orion crew seems bored, but my interest perked up once robotics specialist Rott (Alfons Höckmann) mentioned the Three Laws of Robotics. Yes, Isaac Asimov's famous Three Laws of Robotics exist in the Space Patrol Orion universe.
The Alpha CO work robots seen in this episode are a far cry from the clumsy humans in spray-painted cardboard boxes that we have seen in so many science fiction films. These robots are curious floating (thanks to the magic of bluescreen technology) ovals with multiple arms equipped with tools, among them an ice cream scoop and a forceps, so the robots can both serve ice cream and deliver babies. The fact that these robots don't even look remotely human imbues them with a subtle menace.
That menace becomes not so subtle when Rott makes a robot go berserk and trash the classroom, before fixing it with a small adjustment. At this point, the Orion crew are called away for what turns out to be a dull routine job retrieving readings from space probes.
Once the Orion 8 reaches its area of operations, Atan Shubashi (F.G. Beckhaus) and Helga Legrelle (Ursula Lillig) get into a Lancet for the first work shift. Meanwhile, the Orion receives a message from the ore freighter Sikh 12 under the command of Commodore Ruyther (Helmut Brasch), an old friend of McLane's. Ruyther has a problem. The Sikh 12 is supposed to haul ore from the asteroid Pallas to Earth, but upon its last trip the sealed ore rockets turned out to be filled with spoil instead. Furthermore, the miners on Pallas are not responding to Ruyther's calls. Ruyther reported this, but true to form Space Fleet Command only cares about the missing ore, not the miners.
It doesn't take long to convince McLane (Dietmar Schönherr) to head to Pallas to investigate. Security officer Tamara Jagellovsk (Eva Plug) unsuccessfully tries to overrule him, but gives in, when McLane points out that human lives might be in danger. Once again, McLane violates regulations and ignores orders and once again, he does so to save lives. I'm sensing a pattern here.
So far, most interactions between McLane and Tamara consist of arguing and sniping, but you can see the growing respect between these two. And the knowing grins on the faces of Hasso and Mario show that they know that McLane and Tamara will kiss before the season is over. Helga Legrelle knows it, too, and is less than happy about it.
Tamara also points out that if Space Fleet Command finds out that the Orion 8 has left its area of operations, McLane will be in trouble once again (apparently, gratitude for saving the Earth wears off fast). However, McLane has the perfect solution to this problem, namely an old spacer's trick named "Laurin" after the dwarf king with the invisibility cap from medieval legend. And so McLane orders Helga and Atan to project an energy field the size of the Orion with their Lancet to fool sensors, while the Orion leaves for Pallas.
Orion Does Asimov
The Orion lands on Pallas (portrayed by a pitch coal mine in Preißenberg, Bavaria) and cannot hail the miners either. So McLane, Tamara, Hasso Sigbjörnson (Claus Holm) and Mario de Monti (Wolfgang Völz) explore the mine and find it deserted, the crew gone.
At last, they encounter signs of life, two Alpha CO work robots like the ones in the opening scene. However, these robots are armed – with ray guns, not ice cream scoops and forceps. They capture and disarm the Orion crew and take them to the mines, where they finally find the miners, held prisoner and forced to work. The Three Laws of Robotics forbid robots to harm humans, so what is going on here?
From this point on, "Guardians of the Law" plays out very much like Isaac Asimov's stories about Dr. Susan Calvin or robot troubleshooters Powell and Donovan from the 1940s. A robot is misbehaving in dangerous ways, so our heroes try to figure out what has gone wrong and how to fix it. The answer usually lies in the Three Laws of Robotics.
And this is exactly what happens. McLane and Tamara, who displays a surprising amount of knowledge about robotics, question the miners and learn that the robots malfunctioned after they witnessed a shoot-out between the miners and drug gang. Humans shooting humans caused a conflict regarding the First Law of Robotics and fried the robots' brains.
Unfortunately, the resident robot specialist was killed in the shoot-out, so the miners have no one to solve the problem. Tamara thinks she can reprogram the robots, but first she needs to get close to them. So McLane devises a plan to lure the robots into the mine and cause a cave-in to immobilise them long enough for Tamara to reprogram them. The plan is successful, too. The reprogrammed robots return the Orion crew's weapons, which they use to shoot the remaining robots. This part is very reminiscent of Isaac Asimov's 1944 Powell and Donovan story "Catch That Rabbit!"
Tamara was sidelined in "Planet Off Course", but she gets plenty to do in this episode (ditto for Helga) and her robotics experience saves the day. There are also more hints that Tamara might be a robot herself, when she responds to Hasso and Mario's jokes by telling them that she is a sophisticated Epsilon android. So is Tamara just pulling their legs or is she telling the truth?
The New Yardstick for Spaceship Captains
Meanwhile, a different drama is unfolding in space. For the "Laurin" illusion that Atan and Helga are projecting is draining the shuttle's energy reserves. Atan has absolute faith that McLane will return before their energy runs out. Helga has faith in McLane as well, but points out that the crew might have run into trouble, because McLane takes too many chances. And so she wants to deactivate the Laurin illusion and head for Pallas to see if the rest of the crew need help. Atan eventually agrees, but it's too late. The Lancet's energy reserves are used up and their shields and life support are failing.
Luckily, the Orion shows up in the nick of time. Helga has passed out and Atan is babbling incoherently. McLane first makes sure that Helga gets medical attention. Then he turns to the incoherent and understandably angry Atan and he asks him why the hell he didn't switch off the Laurin illusion. "I didn't have an order to switch it off," Atan replied, whereupon McLane tells him not to wait for orders, but use his own damned brain. McLane even uses a strong swearword – not aimed at Atan, with whom he's uncommonly gentle, but referring to the Laurin illusion – I have personally never heard used on West German TV to date. I predict complaints and angry letters.
After three episodes, I am liking McLane more and more. Yes, McLane may be a maverick, he may occasionally act like an anti-feminist towards Tamara and he may be overly emotional at times, but he clearly cares about people and breaks rules and ignores orders to save lives. Nor does McLane expect blind obedience from his crew, but wants them to think for themselves. The Orion crew may be fanatically loyal to McLane, but he has earned that loyalty.
Science fiction is full of spaceship captains, but McLane is quickly becoming not only my favourite, but also the yardstick against which all other captains shall be measured. I'm pretty sure that I will ask myself, "What would Commander McLane do?" for a long time to come. For example, imagine how different Tom Godwin's "The Cold Equations" would have played out with McLane in charge.
Back on Earth, Colonel Villa and General Wamsler investigate the mystery of the missing ore shipments and finally decide to do something about it. Wamsler wants to hail the Orion and send McLane to Pallas, whereupon his aide Lieutenant Spring-Brauner (Thomas Reiner being delightfully swarmy once again) confesses that he has mislaid the Orion and can't hail her. Unlike Spring-Brauner, Wamsler knows the Laurin trick and also lets McLane know that he knows, but is willing to cover for him.
"Guardians of the Law" does not have the edge-of-your-seat suspense of "Planet Off Course", but is nonetheless another excellent episode of Raumpatrouille Orion with a plot straight from an Asimov robot story and lots of great character moments for both the crew and supporting characters like Villa and Wamsler.
After three great episodes, I can't wait for what the final four will offer.
Four stars
This show really is turning out to be markedly better than I expected. The writers have clearly read a fair amount of (probably American) science fiction, even if it mostly seems to be of the older variety. Though why anyone in the future would contemplate using Asimov's laws is beyond me. The Good Doctor's own stories make clear how flawed they are, and Lester del Rey's recent "A Code for Sam" points out a few other problems.
One thing I particularly liked was that "Laurin" wasn't some special trick of McLane's, but rather something half the fleet knows about. Usually, something like that is used to show how clever the protagonist is, but it's the sort of thing that would get passed around, probably as a way for cadets to have some fun when they're supposed to be on patrol. McLane probably learned it from Ruyther if their interaction is anything to go by. And thank goodness the Commodore was nothing like Arthur Porges' insufferable ensign.
I'm also very pleased with how this show is turning out. 1966 is really shaping up to be a banner year for science fiction on TV. Translations of (mostly American) SF have been available in West Germany for a while and the writers have clearly read some of it, though not the very newest works, which haven't been translated yet. Still, it's always nice to see a show taking a cue from written SF, even if the writers have no idea what a supernova is.
Regarding the Laurin, McLane is the sucker here, since half the fleet knows the trick, too, though no one told Spring-Brauner, probably because he's an insufferable jerk. And yes, he probably learned the trick from Ruyther, especially as Ruyther used to be his commanding officer.
Where can I watch this show?
The West German TV station ARD will broadcast the next episode on October 29, 1966.
Though I've heard that outside West Germany, the show may also be viewed on satellite services with the mysterious names YouTube and Netflix. If you have access to these services, searching for "Raumpatrouille Orion" should help.