The Dark Frontier (8) building. They pass ROWS OF BODIES, some mangled beyond recognition, and others merely appearing to be asleep, laid out in rows along the walkways, awaiting recognition. INJURED PEOPLE, ON STRETCHERS, are being carried out in the opposite direction. A FLASH OF RED AND BLUE draws Leslie's attention! It looks like. . . It looks like one of Adrienne's dresses! It is on ONE OF THE BODIES! Leslie's runs towards it. LESLIE Nooo! Adrienne! Leslie falls to her knees and moans as she recognizes Adrienne's lifeless form. Doc and Melissa run up and begin to lift Leslie back up on her feet. LESLIE Justin? Justin! Justin! She breaks away from Doc and Melissa. And runs along the rows of bodies, looking for her son. Leslie pushes several emergency personnel aside and runs into what is left of the building. Doc and Melissa chase after her, but several EMERGENCY WORKERS run up and stop them. FIREMAN You can't go in there! It's too dangerous. DOC But our friend is in there! FIREMAN We'll send someone after them later. You folks stay out here and make yourselves useful. Bill, Zee and Bainbridge run up. DOC Captain Webber ran inside to look for her son. They won't let us in to get her. She's taking this real bad! BILL Watch them. I'll sneak in when. . . Zee sees some MOVEMENT in the shadows. Leslie's form emerges from the mist of steam and smoke. In her arms she carries the lifeless form of a LITTLE BOY. Leslie looks straight ahead with a frozen look of disbelief on her face. She is beyond tears. She walks past her friends without acknowledging their presence. She continues down the walkway, past the rows of bodies. A concerned FIREMAN runs up and attempts to relieve Leslie of her burden. She roughly pushes him aside and snatches the boy away. Doc and the others follow Leslie down the walk. DOC (to Zee) How did she know where to find the boy in all that rubble? ZEE Often when even an ordinary person is under duress, latent BT abilities manifest themselves. Though untrained, Leslie IS a powerful BT in her own right. It does not surprise me in the least that she could find her son. Leslie halts at Adrienne's body. She bends down and lays the boy next to his mother. She stares at the two for a few moments. She reaches down and removes a PENDANT from her deceased wife's neck. She holds it in her hands for a moment and slips it around her own neck. Zee runs up to Leslie and embraces her ZEE I'm so sorry, Leslie! I'm so sorry! At first Leslie does not seem to respond. Her face grows darker. She then gently pushes Zee aside and turns towards the others. LESLIE (coldly) You know what I have to do now. (a beat) I will not ask any of you to go with me. Come along if you want, but I warn you... do not get in my way. Leslie marches boldly down the main street of the small town. Her friends follow her at a distance along with a few curious citizens. INT. SANDERS BUILDING - LOBBY -- DAY Leslie walks into the front door of the ten-story high, "Neo Gothic" styled office building, that houses Clay Sanders' offices. Immediately, a SECURITY GUARD steps up and blocks her way. In a flash! She grabs the surprised guard by his collar as she whips out the "One hundred over ten" AUTOMATIC PISTOL and holds it to his head. She pulls his face closer. LESLIE I'm only going to ask you this one time and you will tell me the answer. Where's Sanders? SECURITY GUARD Uh. . . He's in his office-Tenth floor. But you can't go up there. Leslie's eyes bulge out with anger. She pushes the gun harder against his face. LESLIE Don't you dare tell me where I can't go! Leslie releases the man's coat and snatches his HANDGUN out of his holster. SECURITY GUARD Shit! The man runs across the lobby and out the front door. Leslie runs to an open elevator. INT. ELEVATOR--DAY ELEVATOR VOICE Floor please. LESLIE Ten! ELEVATOR VOICE For security purposes this elevator only goes up to the eighth floor. LESLIE Eight, then! Damn it! Leslie holds her WEAPONS behind her body as the ELEVATOR DOOR OPENS, The door opening attracts the attention of TWO SYNDICATE MEN in black leather vests, and "biker" style facial hair, standing in the hall. Leslie's smile makes them hesitate for a crucial split second. They reach for their GUNS. POW! POW! Leslie, her GUNS already in hand, cuts them both down. INT. SANDERS BUILDING - 8TH FLOOR HALL -- DAY She walks directly to a stairwell leading to the upper levels. A MAN at the top of the steps pulls out a GUN. POW! POW! Leslie puts two ten-millimeter slugs into him. His lifeless body rolls by her feet. INT. SANDERS BUILDING - OFFICE -- DAY Sanders sits at his desk. Kora appears on the com screen KORA Clay! You need to get off the planet now! I'm waiting for you In Enforcer One. Webber's back and she knows everything. Not only that, her wife and kid were killed by the bomb. Right now she's on her way up there to wax your ass. SANDERS I'm busy. My Security can handle her. KORA You don't understand, Clay. She's already killed Thorn, destroyed the entire mining operation at Axel 2, and God knows what else. Those jackasses you call bodyguards down there won't have a chance against Webber and her gang. She's worse now than she ever was. Damn it! You should have killed Webber when you had him, instead You created the Bitch from hell. Get up here, now! Sanders sighs and begins to pick up his papers. INT. SANDERS BUILDING - STAIRWELL -- DAY Leslie tries the DOOR at the top of the steps. It's locked! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! In a rage, she shoots up the KEY PAD. The door still won't budge. POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! She shoots apart the DOORFRAME. PLASTER DUST and wood SPLINTERS fly, as she exposes the latch. INT. SANDERS BUILDING - HALLWAY -- DAY WHUMP! She slams her body against the door and falls to the hall carpet when the door flies open. ZING! ZING! Bullets whiz over Leslie's head and splatter into the wall. She rolls across the floor as FOUR GUNMEN at the other end of the hall FIRE at her. With a flip of her thumb, she switches her "hundred over ten" to "full automatic" mode and---BRRRRRP! BRRRRRP! BRRRRRP! Cuts them down. Leslie jumps up and runs towards the large GLASS DOORS that lead to Sanders' offices. INT. SANDERS'S OFFICE -- DAY The receptionist is not at her desk. The large mahogany doors leading to Sanders's private offices are ajar. Papers are scattered everywhere. The com screen ports had been pulled out. Sanders had left in a hurry. INT. SANDERS BUILDING - HALL -- DAY Leslie's boots SQUISH through the blood on the hall carpets where the remains of the four gunmen lay. A door is open! A metal stairway leads to the roof. EXT. SANDERS BUILDING -- ROOF Leslie runs up the steps and gets to the roof of the building just in time to see Sanders' shuttle lift off of the pad. LESLIE (shouts) You'll never get away from me you sonofabitch! BRRRRRRRRP! BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRP! Leslie empties both of her weapons towards Sanders' vessel, but it is now far out of range. She kneels on the pad. Her head hangs in despair and her arms shake in frustration as Doc and Zee catch up with her. EXT. SANDERSVILLE SPACEPORT -- DAY Leslie climbs up Retribution's BOARDING LADDER and looks back to see if any of the others will join her. The crew looks at each other and then at Leslie. Melissa breaks away from the group and climbs up the ladder. Zee hesitates, but then follows. Bainbridge and Bill look at each other and climb up next. Doc stands at the bottom of the ladder for a few seconds. Shakes his head and follows the rest. INT. RETRIBUTION - BRIDGE -- DAY Leslie surveys her crew. She notes the worried look in their eyes. LESLIE I said that none of you have to come with me. You know that we may not be coming back. Bill, you are young... BILL I'm old enough to make my own decisions. Konstantin. . . Sanders took my family too. If I have to die to help kill him I am willing to do it. Leslie speaks deliberately and quietly as if she were struggling to maintain control LESLIE Zee! Get me a fix on Sanders. Bainbridge! Begin charging the jump capacitors. I want to be ready for anything Sanders might try. Leslie reaches into her WALLET and pulls out a PHOTOGRAPH OF ADRIENNE AND JUSTIN. She sticks it in the corner of the view screen by the helm control. Doc watches nervously. DOC That's not healthy. LESLIE Get on the point-five turrets, Doc. don't worry about me. Melissa watches the POWER PANELS and begins to lay in a course on the navigation COMPUTER. EXT. SPACEPORT -- DAY The Retribution lifts off of the spaceport pad, and begins to pick up speed. INT. RETRIBUTION - BRIDGE -- DAY ZEE I have located the Enforcer One, Leslie. One twenty one degrees by forty-three, running point five three cee at 1000 kiloclicks downrange. LESLIE Melissa, Match course, full pursuit mode. MELISSA It is possible that he may be drawing us into a trap. LESLIE Just let him try it! Zee! Scan ahead of Sanders on his course. Leslie curses under her breath. ZEE Got it! I count three, no four enforcer class ships in close formation nine thousand kiloclicks downrange of Enforcer One. Leslie smiles evilly as she watches the com- screen and plots her next move. LESLIE Bainbridge, start the Quell. As soon as that bastard reaches his friends, I'm sending them all to hell! Leslie's hand hovers over the red "Quell Discharge" icon on her com screen. She gleefully watches the blip on the Com-screen as Sander's "Enforcer One" closes in on the other Enforcer ships. INT. ENFORCER ONE - BRIDGE CAPTAIN TYNAN, of the Enforcer One, is checking his own com- Screens. TYNAN She's still chasing us Mister Sanders. Closing speed is increasing SANDERS Let her come, my boy, let her come. KORA I really should be in the telemetry room SANDERS I see no reason that you can't stay on the bridge. This will all be over soon. KORA She's got a BT on board too Clay, a good one. Don't you think that she knows about the reception committee? Sanders glances at the screen. SANDERS The way she's coming, it looks like she doesn't give a shit. KORA I don't like it. Something's not right. She's up to something. Kora sits upright in her chair, staring into space. She 'tunes into' Leslie's mind. She begins to see through Leslie's eyes. INT. RETRIBUTION - BRIDGE POV:THROUGH LESLIE'S EYES The red icon labeled "QUELL DISCHARGE" with the big yellow danger triangle comes into focus. Leslie's hand is poised over it. INT. ENFORCER ONE - BRIDGE KORA Quell? Kora leaps from her chair. KORA Jump Tynan! Jump! Kora runs to his console and pushes the JUMP LEVER forward. The ship is jarred hard as it leaps five parsecs to its last set jump co-ordinates. Kora falls to the floor. TYNAN (furious) I am captain of this ship! I give the orders on this bridge. I don't care who you are! Get your trollop back to the telemetry room where she belongs. KORA Clay! She's got a quark accelerator weapon on that ship. We were nearly vaporized! Shit! Enforcers Five Nine Four and Eleven no longer exist. SANDERS What are you talking about woman? KORA I saw it in her mind. That's no Sensor reflector on the front of her ship it's the open end of a QUELL tube. That's how she took out the moon of Axel two. TYNAN A Quell? On a starship? KORA If it's any comfort to you, it has to recharge. It will be at least an hour before she can fire it again. (a beat) Now if you don't mind, I am going back to the telemetry room where I belong. Kora passes a sidelong Glance to Sanders as she leaves the bridge. Sanders approaches Tynan. SANDERS Don't you ever talk that way to me or Kora again TYNAN You may own this ship Mister Sanders, but I am its captain and as Captain I have certain responsibilities. Don't forget, I am protected by interstellar space law. Sanders draws his PISTOL, and points it at the man. SANDERS You know I can de-commission you any time I want, 'Captain'. TYNAN And I, by law can have you clamped in irons and even executed for pulling a gun on me. Do YOU want to captain this ship? Do you want to go up against an enemy who has been awarded the Double star three times? Or do you want to let a professional do the job? Sanders puts his gun away. He looks hard at Tynan for a moment and returns to his chair. KORA (over com) She's found us again! 350 kiloclicks downrange and closing-- one eighty five on thirty five degrees. To Tynan's surprise, LESLIE'S IMAGE suddenly appears on every com screen on the bridge, and several more elsewhere on the ship. Her face, twisted with rage, fills the screen. LESLIE (shouting) Don't you even think that you can run away from me, Sanders! I swear on my son's grave that I will personally kill you! You're dead Sanders! Do you hear me? Dea . . Tynan pulls the external signal PLUG. The screens return to normal. He grins nervously. TYNAN She's crazy! you know that? Sanders, a bit shaken too, puts up an unconcerned front. SANDERS Good! Crazy people make mistakes. KORA (over com) I suggest that you put your force fields up now! TYNAN It takes energy. It will slow us even more. Tynan flashes Clay an aggravated look as he calmly and deliberately SWITCHES ON the force shields from his console. TYNAN Look, she's firing her cannon. She should know that she can't hit anything at this ran . . . EXT. SPACE WHAM! WHAM! Two one-point-five" shots heavily impact the Enforcer One from behind. INT. ENFORCER ONE - BRIDGE TYNAN Damn! Those felt like at least one-meter impacts. What's she got on that ship anyway? KORA (over com) A one-point-five meter photon cannon, and that's twice I've saved your asses today. TYNAN This is serious. That's a Battle cruiser weapon. A one-point-five can cut through our shields if she gets close enough. She doesn't need the QUELL to destroy us. If we don't get any help she will eat us for lunch. SANDERS Jump to the Epsilon Irindi system, I have three ships investigating the destruction of a couple of our raiders there. Tynan enters the new cords to his com screen. EXT. SPACE ZAP! The Enforcer One vanishes. INT. RETRIBUTION - BRIDGE The Enforcer One vanishes from Leslie's com screen. LESLIE Damn it!---Zee! New cords, Nowww! Leslie enters the numbers. ZAP! A flash of light! Melissa studies her ranging screen MELISSA Sanders is slightly downrange from where he was before the jump. He has bought himself some more time. ( a beat) I see the blips of three Enforcers, besides Sanders's. They are widely separated but within striking distance. (a beat) Watch it! One of them is moving between us and Sanders. Instead of backing off Leslie pushes the THRUST LEVER to its "full forward" position, into the red zone. Immediately the ship begins to accelerate. LESLIE Computer! Primary weapon proximity fire at two clicks. Full automatic fire mode! EXT. SPACE The ENFORCER TWO lines up facing the Retribution head on. The ring of all six point-five photon cannon TURRETS, along the mid- section of his ship ROTATE FORWARD. Retribution rapidly approaches. INT. ENFORCER TWO - BRIDGE TITLE OVER: 'ABOARD ENFORCER TWO' CAPTAIN REGINALD ADAIR is ready. ADAIR Computer! All guns converge downrange six kiloclicks. Sit tight E-One, the only way Webber will get to you is through me. EXT. SPACE POW! POW! POW! ENFORCER EIGHT, 300 kilo clicks abeam to the Retribution, begins to fire, attempting to ward the speeding ship off. Leslie is accelerating too quickly. All of the shots fall astern. The Enforcer Eight's turrets aren't rotating fast enough at that angle to keep up with the target. EXT. SPACE POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! The five turrets along the Enforcer Two fire converging volleys at the rapidly approaching Retribution. The fire converges BEHIND the Retribution and continues to fall short. INT. ENFORCER TWO - BRIDGE Aidar sees what is happening on his com screen. AIDAR Computer! Adjust! What's wrong? COMPUTER VOICE Adjusting! Adjusting! Target is accelerating! Speed differential of target exceeds gun elevation rate. AIDAR Full astern! Full. . . Aidar throws up his hands instinctively as The Retribution suddenly flashes onto his foreword view screen like an oncoming locomotive! EXT. SPACE The Retribution is about to collide with the Enforcer Two! RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP! The Retribution's one-point-five
Copyright © 2001 Thomas M Ray |