SYNOPSIS
Guest Stars: Patrick Duffy
Screenplay by Brian Finch
Edited by Jean-François Bergeron
Directed by Pierre de Lespinois
Location of Aurora: Paris, then Carpathia
Prologue: On a London street at night, a well-dressed gentleman is attacked by a dark cloaked figure. The attacker kills the gentleman and takes the briefcase that has fallen to the ground, then escapes with the aid of a rocket on his back.
On another London street on another evening, this one outside a theatre in the West End, Phileas, Jules, and Passepartout await the first performance of a new play by Jules called "The Maid of Orleans" and starring Rebecca Fogg. Phileas reminds Jules not to consider it a real opening night, since this is a trap to capture the attentions of one Duke Rimini, the enigmatic owner of the theatre. But Jules is still excited. Chatsworth, the British Secret Service head who suggested that a trap be laid for Rimini with Rebecca as bait, confronts Phileas outside the theatre with a warning not to interfere in the evening's plans, that Rebecca was quite willing to participate, perhaps even eager to participate. Before the curtain rises, Phileas visits Rebecca in her dressing room. He's not happy with the whole set-up. Rebecca says that it is important that they get information on Rimini who is, among other things, an arms dealer who is involved in some secret project in eastern Europe. Phileas reminds her that her life is the first one at risk, but Rebecca reminds Phileas that it is what she does. In an effort to allay her cousin's worries, Rebecca says that the only danger of the evening will be to dine at a respectable restaurant with the man.
Rebecca gives her dramatic speech as Joan of Arc and Duke Rimini is moved to tears as he watches intently from his private box. After the performance, the Duke quietly enters her dressing room and invites her to dinner, just as Rebecca predicted. Phileas and Jules are waiting to follow the couple to the restaurant and take off after a carriage they believe to be the Duke's. But the Duke had made other arrangements and waits till everyone has left before escorting Rebecca to another coach. When Rebecca notices that they are not going in the right direction for the restaurant, the Duke explains that they are going somewhere more worthy of her. The Duke says that he has been waiting for her for a long time, that she is someone who could rule at his side. He also reveals that he knows that she is a British spy.
After realizing that they were lead astray, an angry Phileas enters Chatsworth's office to demand what he knows of Rebecca's whereabouts. Chatsworth says that the Duke and Rebecca are on their way to Estonia by boat, eventually journeying to the Duke's ancestral home in Carpathia. Chatsworth volunteers that they believe that Rimini has stolen a secret rocket fuel formula that is the property of the British government, and that the Duke is probably responsible for the murder of the official from whom it was stolen. When Phileas realizes that Rebecca was not given the information that the Duke might be responsible for the theft and murder, he knocks Chatsworth out cold in anger. Shortly thereafter, Phileas, Jules and Passepartout leave in the Aurora to follow Rebecca to Carpathia.
When the Aurora arrives at a small village near Rimini's estate, the three men stop in a cafe to ask for food and directions. There are a number of suspicious characters who are eyeing them strangely, none of whom, they discover, have reflections. They conclude that these denizens are all vampires. The trio is forced to take a room for the night and escape through the window before the vampires can break down the door. Phileas and Jules run to the castle where they hope to rescue Rebecca. While Passepartout gets the Aurora airborne in order to follow Phileas and Jules, several vampires climb secretly on board the dirigible.
Phileas and Jules arrive at the castle and scale a wall to get a view into the rooms. They come across a scene of what they think is the Duke biting Rebecca on the neck. In reality, he is putting a necklace around her neck and promising that he will shower her with jewels when she becomes queen of the world. Rebecca asks how this can happen, but Rimini evasively mentions something about her lovely eyes. Phileas raises his pistol to take a shot at the Duke, and Jules protests that he could hit Rebecca. The opportunity vanishes as Phileas and Jules run to hide from pursuers. As the Duke leads Rebecca from the room, Rimini remarks that he will now explain the true meaning of the word eternity.
Passepartout discovers his unwanted vampire guests, who are ready to dine on his blood. He also finds out that garlic and crosses warding off vampires are old wives tales, so he opens the hatch and drops down a rope, leaving the vampires in control of the Aurora. Eventually the sun comes up, at which time the vampires become invisible and go to sleep. Passepartout, who has been clinging to the underside of the Aurora, climbs on board and steers back towards the castle.
Phileas and Jules are exploring the quiet castle in the sunlight. As they look for Rebecca, Phileas picks up a poker to kill the "wild parasite" that has commandeered Rebecca's body. They find Rebecca lying in an open coffin, but awake. Holding the poker towards her, Phileas asks, "You're not?" and Rebecca replies, "I am....unbitten" Jules comments that Rimini is a beast, but a Rebecca says that he is a very attractive man. Although Phileas wants to leave, Rebecca points out that she has not gathered the information she needs to complete her mission and so she can't go. So Phileas and Jules stay, albeit reluctantly, to help her. They investigate the castle and find a cabinet full of busts of the Duke which are hollow and contain some sort of signaling device. Rebecca explains that Rimini wants to convert the whole world to vampirism, that he thinks that vampires have been badly treated in society. Added to this, she says, is the tendency of the current world to schedule many things in daylight hours. Rebecca finds a secret passage and the three descend the hidden staircase to a chamber beneath the castle. There they find a laboratory full of rockets and the stolen fuel formula, as well as a giant army of sleeping vampires. Before they can do anything, dusk starts to fall, the vampires start to awake and Rimini finds Rebecca in the chamber. Rebecca diverts his attention and asks that they go elsewhere. Rimini takes her upstairs and explains some of the tricks that vampires do, including invisibility. He explains that they do not turn into bats. He says that a man can only walk so far in one night, which is why they need the rockets. He explains that inside each of his theatres, in each European capital, is a bust of himself with a homing device to be used as targets for the rocket vampires. He will attack each capital city, beginning with the capital of Carpathia that evening. Rimini explains that he and Rebecca will be journeying there shortly for the event.
The vampire rocket army is suited up and marching out of the castle, with Phileas and Jules joining their ranks in disguise. They duck away from the line and attach one of the homing devices to the underside of the duke's carriage. Then they watch in horror as Rebecca gets into the carriage with the Duke. If they don't somehow get Rebecca out of the carriage, she is destined to be blown up with the Duke. Jules sees the Aurora flying overhead, so Jules and Phileas ignite their rocket packs and fly up to the Aurora, just in time to save Passepartout from his vampire stowaways. The Aurora catches up with the carriage, and Phileas lowers himself on a platform to rescue Rebecca. When Rimini sees the platform and Phileas, he asks that Rebecca stay with him. Rebecca seems tempted, kisses the Duke, but then jumps onto the platform with Phileas. They rise just in time to escape the onslaught of the rocketing vampires as they descend on the carriage and explode. Back on board the Aurora, Rebecca is subdued. Jules thanks her for acting in his play and she quietly nods. Phileas comes up behind her and suggests that it almost appears that she has developed feelings for this vampire. She says haltingly, her back turned to her cousin, that some roles are easier to play than others. As they head home on the Aurora, a lone figure stares up at the sky soulfully. It is the Duke who has somehow survived the rocket attack.
