The Dark Frontier (7) BUCKET and into the pit with the, now jubilant, miners. VOICE IN CROWD It's commander Connor! Several people there recognize Commander Connor and CHEER. Melissa stands up and signals for order! MELISSA Proteus crew, front and center! ABOUT 50 of the five hundred PEOPLE there push forward. They are what is left of Leslie's crew VOICES Webber! Where's Captain Webber? Leslie looks uneasy. She glances at Melissa and nervously stands up. LESLIE Crew of the Proteus and other prisoners of the Syndicate. As many of you may have heard, Leslie Webber, captain of the TCS Proteus, was captured by Syndicate forces when his ship was taken. (a beat) But he wasn't killed. Konstantin wanted to make an example out of him. He wanted to humiliate Captain Webber and destroy his career. He wanted to make sure that Leslie Webber would never captain a starship again! There are a few scattered BOOOS from the crowd. Leslie hesitates then speaks again. LESLIE This is what he did to me! I am Leslie Webber! The crew is stunned to silence. LESLIE Konstantin thought he had destroyed me, but he was wrong! I refused to be defeated! I have returned to destroy him! The crew begins to CHEER and the rest of the prisoners then join in. VOICES (cheering) Web-ber! Web-ber! Web-ber! LESLIE I freed you with the help of five others. I now send you out as five hundred! Five hundred soldiers to free the rest of your friends! The ex-prisoners loudly CHEER EXT. FRONT OF DAY CREW PRISON CAMP -- NIGHT The Prisoner compound area is still calm. A black ATV approaches. Suddenly, it turns towards the LOCKED GATE. CRASH! It smashes its way through and into the supports of the forward guard tower. SMASH! The TOWER topples over. EXT. PRISON CAMP -- NIGHT With a ROAR, Leslie and several of her former crewmembers swarm over a small nearby hill and lead a charge of Five Hundred, armed, revenge minded, former prisoners through the OPEN GATES. BRAAAAP! BRAAAAAP! Several of the remaining GUARD TOWERS, and their occupants EXPLODE in a shower of splinter confetti and blood as they are ripped apart by concentrated automatic weapons fire. Several more GUARDS stand in the yard and FIRE back, but they are immediately cut down by RETURN FIRE. INT. COMMANDER'S OFFICE -- NIGHT The commotion is what Zee has been waiting for. She rests the barrel of the GRENADE LAUNCHER on the windowsill of the commander's office. It holds a rather large awkward clip of five 60mm incendiary grenades. The living quarters of the camp guards are a clear shot across the cleared perimeter area not quite 100 meters away, well within range of the weapon. She aims at the end most window on the one story, elongated structure and pulls the trigger. FOOMP!, from the barrel of the launcher, followed immediately by the distant TINKLE of broken glass. WHAM! An EXPLOSION OF FLAMES blows out what remains of the window and the door beside it. FOOMP! FOOMP! FOOMP! FOOMP! She pulls the trigger four more times, firing at each window in succession. WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! Four more sections of the building go up in fiery explosions. EXT. PRISON CAMP -- NIGHT Leslie and TWO OF HER PROTEUS CREW run up to the prisoner huts and BANG! BANG! shoot off the locks. More "REINFORCEMENTS" are released. Freed PRISONERS stream out of the buildings The newly freed men grab boards, pipes, mining tools, and anything else they can use for weapons. They rush the remains of the guard quarters, and attack their dazed and confused former CAPTORS that had managed to escape Zee's grenade barrage. The armed prisoners show no mercy as they run the frightened men between and under buildings and along the fences that now prevent their own escape. LIGHTS COME ON IN THE ADJACENT CAMP! The FIFTY OR SO OFF DUTY GUARDS have been awakened by the noises of battle. They rush to assist the guards in the day shift camp. Leslie runs out into the parade ground and waves her men forward. LESLIE Men! Line up! Form a defensive line here. Hide your guns and watch the rear! Don't fire until I give the order. Her men form a defensive line across the parade ground, facing the gate. Leslie holds her pistol, at her side against her right thigh, out of obvious sight from her left. The GUARDS run through the gate and line up side by side. They lift their clear plastic shields and begin to march in the classic "phalanx" mode used by authorities in a riot situation. They begin to advance. Leslie quickly turns and aims her weapon. LESLIE Fire! BRRRRUPPP! An explosive volley from the Proteus' crew and other well-armed prisoners cut the phalanx to pieces. Blood and shards of fragmented plastic fly through the air. Those that don't fall after the first volley are picked off, one by one, by SPURATIC GUNFIRE as they frantically run for the gate. With her gun drawn, Leslie leads the prisoners in a charge through the gates and down the roadway past a large sign that says "SPACEPORT". EXT. SPACEPORT -- NIGHT At the spaceport pad a large transport ship is being loaded with the gold ore from the mine conveyor belt . Next to it is parked the PROTEUS itself. Three bare METAL PATCHES cover the holes that the 'spiders' had made in the attack several months previously. A MAN approaches Leslie. LESLIE Lieutenant Saunders! SAUNDERS You recognized me! LESLIE Of course, I would never forget my best helmsman, now would I. SAUNDERS I, and the rest of the crew, would just like to say, that man or woman, you did one hell of a job here tonight. LESLIE Thanks, Lieutenant you don't know how much that means to me. How's the Proteus? SAUNDERS They use the Proteus as a prisoner transport ship. The weapons have been removed but she is still spaceworthy. LESLIE As senior surviving officer, I appoint you its captain. Load up as many prisoners as you can and take it to the SC base at Ross 128 three. Make it quick! you don't want to be anywhere near this system when we blow this place. EXT. OUTER PERIMETER NEAR RETRIBUTION -- DAY Dawn breaks as the black ATV pulls up to the ship. Leslie and the others climb out. DOC It's still quiet over here. I doubt the guards have any idea about what's been going on in the colony area. LESLIE Look at those campfires though. There are still some guards around and they will get curious if they see this ship out here when the sun comes up, we have to move it, people. INT. RETRIBUTION - BRIDGE The ship is in space. Melissa sits at the helm and Leslie checks the com screens. LESLIE All right, the Proteus is clear. Melissa, take us six hundred kiloclicks out, Bainbridge, rev up the QUELL. Leslie turns on the targeting screen. The Moon of Axel two is exactly in the crosshairs. Her hand hovers over the "QUELL DISCHARGE" icon. LESLIE Bainbridge jump to cords entered on my command. Firing QUELL! Leslie presses the icon. THWUMP! The Quell ejects its beam of quarks. A huge blue SPHERE OF LIGHT envelopes the moon and began to push outward with amazing speed. LESLIE Jump Bainbridge, jump NOW! Instantly, the view on THE SCREEN shows only empty space. BILL Where's the explosion? LESLIE Stick around for another five years and you'll see it next to that star. (a beat) If you will excuse me I see that I have a J- Com message. MELISSA Mail from home? LESLIE (reading) Yes, There is going to be a big meeting in Sandersville at fourteen hundred hours Tuesday. The ranchers and other citizens are going to start a petition drive to have the Confederation oust Sanders from his governorship. It's about goddamn time. His syndicate ties have been common knowledge. Adrienne wants to know if I can give a short speech. MELISSA We can get there by sixteen hundred Tuesday, Leslie, a couple hours late, but in plenty of time. LESLIE Good, we will be able to stay at the ranch. We can use a few days vacation before we start the search for Konstantin, himself. ZEE (over com) Les, I need you to help me. INT. RETRIBUTION - TELEMETRY AREA Leslie is present. ZEE I found this pen in the Commander's office. The inscription says that it comes from the Enforcer One, Konstantin's own ship. It can be used to establish a Quantum Link with it. I want to do a remote view and see if I can see inside of his ship. I need your help. LESLIE Hey, I'm no good at this BT stuff. ZEE You don't have to be, but I need a "monitor person" to ask me questions and tell me where to go when I do this. Zee lets the back down on her seat and closes her eyes. ZEE I see the ship Leslie. Tell me to go inside. LESLIE What? This is foolish! ZEE Tell me Leslie! I can only do what someone tells me to do in this state. This is how Remote Viewing works. I have to remain in a non-judgmental mode and restrict my speech to declarative statements, otherwise my other brain functions may interfere with the process. LESLIE Okay! Go inside. Check out the bridge. INT. ENFORCER ONE - BRIDGE ZEE I see the Bridge crew, There is a man who looks like he is in charge. He has a thick black beard. He sits in a big chair, mounted in the center of the room. LESLIE(O.C) Is he Konstantin? ZEE No, he is the Captain. Ty. . . Tynan! His name's Tynan. (a beat) I see a passageway leading aft from the bridge. A door is on either side. . . LESLIE(O.C) Check the Door on your left. INT. ENFORCER ONE - CABIN SUITE Zee moves "through" the door. It is a large cabin that looks like it has several rooms. ZEE It's a luxury suite. Lights are out. Looks empty. Konstantin is not here! LESLIE(O.C) Do you see any pictures, monograms or any other clues to his identity? ZEE No, he appears to be careful about such things. (a couple of beats) Leslie, ask me what is the room on the other side of the passageway. LESLIE(O.C) What's in the room on the other side of the passageway? INT. ENFORCER ONE - TELEMETRY ROOM A WOMAN sits at a console in front of what looks like a RANDOM FIELD SCREEN like Zee's. Zee moves in closer. The woman senses her presence strongly. She turns her head in Zee's direction. Except for the shorter, straighter hairstyle she looks IDENTICAL to Leslie. WOMAN I know you are here. Zuh. . . Zee! Isn't it?" INT. RETRIBUTION - TELEMETRY ROOM Zee snaps out of her reverie and jumps to an upright position in the chair. ZEE It's Kay Eaych! LESLIE Who? What? ZEE Kay Eaych! Sanders has a BT. No wonder he is always one step ahead of the law. Kay is one of the best. (a beat) I always wondered what had happened to her. The Syndicate must pay her better than the Terran Defense Ministry. (a beat) If I had stayed any longer she would have been able to link back to me and find our ship. (stares oddly at Leslie) My God!, I just realized . . . She looks just like you! LESLIE Kay . . . Hey wait a minute. K H they're initials! Kora Horst! (a beat) That explains why those men thought I was her. Kora is Sanders's personal BT and perhaps more. I, of course, am her identical twin. ZEE That also explains your latent BT ability. LESLIE One thing puzzles me, why did he give me DNA from a BT? That's the sort of thing that could turn around and bite him. ZEE Sanders Just wanted you to be a pretty girl, he used the most readily available DNA, his Lady friend's. He wasn't worried about you becoming a BT. The sensitivity without the special training is useless anyway. LESLIE I suppose he had Kora's DNA records altered to throw off any investigations from my end. I wonder if she knows that she is on file as a dead whore? INT. RETRIBUTION - BRIDGE Leslie faces a com screen. Zee and Melissa hover near her. MELISSA Hold still Leslie! The com screen FLASHES and Leslie Webber's 'still image' appears on the screen. Zee sits down and has the computer pull up various hair and makeup styles. She applies them to the image until she is satisfied that the machine has created a reasonable likeness of the Kora she had seen. ZEE Close enough! LESLIE So, how does making my image look like Kora's help us find Konstantin?. MELISSA Konstantin's alter ego is likely to be wealthy, and perhaps a man of celebrity. If Kora is indeed the "moll" of one of the universe's important crime figures, she is likely to frequently attend newsworthy social functions. (to computer) Okay Computer! Compare modified image Leslie Webber one to image databases of all news service screens over last two years. (to Leslie) This will take a while. There will be quite a few jump com connections to be made. (a beat) Ah! Results! Two hundred fourteen media images. The IMAGES move across the screen. Melissa had been correct. Most of the images show Kora in the background attending celebrity social functions. MELISSA Look here, in about half of these images Kora is accompanied by the same man. (a beat) Computer! Identify man with subject in images fourteen and nineteen. COMPUTER VOICE Said man identified as one Dimitri Gurdin. Gurdin's image comes on the view screen. COMPUTER VOICE (continuing) Gurdin, Dimitri Alex. fifty eight years old, born on Earth, Sob Three, Albany, New York, United States of America district. Further background unknown, Occupation Unknown. Wealthy, source of income unknown. Primary residence listed as being Earth, USA. District, California, Pacific City, Address code 445867234. Marital status unconfirmed relationship to one Kay H. Gurdin. . . LESLIE Yeah right! Kay H. Gurdin! This is a phony bio if there ever was one. Gurdin is as much an alias as Konstantin is. But we are getting somewhere. We have a picture and an address. And we do know now that Kora is definitely connected with him. (a beat) So far so good. Gurdin will keep until tomorrow. I'm going to get some rest for a while. INT. RETRIBUTION - CAPTAIN'S QUARTERS She puts Gurdin's image on her com screen and contemplates on it for a moment. Nothing! She lies down on her bed. Leslie's 'mind's eye' drifts to Kora Horst's com screen image. Suddenly the image looks slightly different, and more "alive". Leslie actually "sees" Kora The image of Kora changes expression and begins to speak! KORA Leslie Webber! The scene changes. Now Leslie 'sees' Kora, not on the screen, but in her room. Kora looks at Leslie lying on her bed. KORA It is you Webber, isn't it? THROUGH CLOSED EYES Leslie 'watches', afraid to move as Kora looks around the room. Kora's face freezes when she sees the image of Gurdin on Leslie's com-screen. KORA So you know! I told Clay not to use my DNA! Even without training, some of the BT sensitivity can occasionally . . . Zee rushes into the room, grabs Leslie by the shoulders and begins to shake her. KORA It's Zee! Webber's got a BT. Leslie wakes up. Kora vanishes. Zee looks around. ZEE It's Okay. The link is broken. You connected with her, Leslie! You drew her here! LESLIE She now knows you are here too, Zee. We have lost that advantage. But she also inadvertently confirmed that Gurdin is Konstantin. ZEE What did she say? LESLIE She was quite pissed off at him for using BT DNA on me. She said that she told Clay not to use DNA from a BT ZEE Clay? She said Clay? LESLIE Yes. Zee picks up an EYEBROW PENCIL from Leslie's dresser. And draws a moustache on the image of Gurdin on the screen. Leslie looks at the screen in awe! LESLIE Son of a bitch! It's Clay Sanders! Sanders was Konstantin all along! Very clever! Who'd ever think that some two bit corrupt politician from a jerkwater planet . . . Looks like we will have to make another stop on the way to the convention center. EXT. SANDERSVILLE SPACEPORT -- DAY The Retribution sits on a landing pad. The ATV pulls away. INT. ATV CAB-DAY Melissa drives. As they approach the town they see a huge COLUMN OF SMOKE arising from the center of the city. LESLIE Oh Lord! What's going on? The surface traffic is at a standstill, the roads blocked off as Emergency personnel and vehicles move up and down the street. Doc leans out of the window. He attracts the attention of a passing FIREMAN. DOC What's the trouble? FIREMAN Haven't you heard? There was an explosion at the convention center. Hundreds of people have been killed. Lord knows how many have been injured. EXT. STREET -- DAY Leslie, Doc and the others jump out of the ATV and run towards the SMOLDERING RUINS of the Sandersville convention center. A POLICEMAN intercepts the group. Doc steps up. DOC I'm a doctor and these people are my helpers. POLICEMEN Okay, hurry, they need all the help they can get. The scene grows more horrific as they draw closer to the
Copyright © 2001 Thomas M Ray |