PERSEUS : "Accession" part 1 Copyright (c) 1991 Larry Mann, Ryan Mathews [Opening scene : an outdoor cafe. Michael buys a paper and a cup of coffee and sits at a table during the following:] MICHAEL (CAPTION) The whole mess started in the fifth month of 2445. I was in the middle of what I liked to call a "forced vacation" on the planet Deviras. In other words, I barely had enough to buy a newspaper and a cup of coffee, never mind fuel. But I wasn't too upset. My ship had enough supplies to last half a year, and if you gotta be flat broke, there are worse places to do it than on Deviras. [Michael opens the paper. Headline reads "ARMS REDUCTION TALKS BREAK DOWN Emperor Nadar refuses to move Soronian Navy out of striking range."] MICHAEL (OFF FRAME) Oh, hell. This is *not* what I wanted to hear. MICHAEL It's news like this that turns traders into smugglers. [As Michael flips through his paper, Aro approaches.] ARO Checking the want ads, Mike? MICHAEL Huh--? ARO! I don't believe it!! You old devil, how are you?! [The two old friends grasp each other by the shoulders.] ARO I'm doing quite well, actually. Or at least I will be when I get my ship repaired. Had a bit of a run-in with pirates. MICHAEL Still the same old Aro. You never did know when to run. ARO Hey, I kicked their asses! Anyway, I heard you were stuck here, so I thought I'd look you up and see if you were interested in a job. MICHAEL Am I ever! What kind of job? ARO Well, before my ship got full of holes I was delivering a shipload of engine parts to Raana. I was hoping you'd take over for me. You'd get 40%, plus I'll pay for cargo loading and fuel. MICHAEL Raana? You want me to deliver to an Imperial world? I don't know, Aro. ARO Why not? Your Soronian is fine. MICHAEL Haven't you been reading the news? Pretty soon, the Soronian Empire is not going to be a good place to be human. ARO And the Galactic Cooperative won't be a good place to be soron, but you don't see me complaining. [pause or next frame] Hey, Mike, what is this, cold feet? I always figured you could handle anything. [Cut to shot of lifters loading the crates onto the Shrike. Michael looks over a data pad and signs it.] MICHAEL (CAPTION) The Shrike is my ship. She's a damn fine ship, and she'd look it too if I could afford to give her a coat of paint. [Cut to the bridge.] MICHAEL Alex! We're gonna take off in about twenty minutes, so run a quick diagnostic on the engines, OK? ALEX "Hello, Alex!" Hello, Michael! "How was your day, Alex?" Why, thank you so much for asking, Michael! I just spent the whole day bored out of my circuits with nothing to do-- MICHAEL Just shut up and run the damn diagnostic, Alex! ALEX Jawohl, mein Fuhrer... MICHAEL (CAPTION) Alex is the shipboard computer and he just loves to complain. He complains about being bored, but if I turned him off, he'd whine that I was violating his right to consciousness. [During the following, the Shrike takes off, leaves orbit and warps into deep space.] MICHAEL (CAPTION) If I'd had any brains, I would have fueled up on Deviras. But fuel prices were cheaper in the Empire and so I decided to see if I could make it to an Imperial fuel station on what I had. [On the bridge, Michael checks a readout.] MICHAEL Only a 2% charge left. Go on, Alex, I know you're dying to say it. ALEX I told you so. MICHAEL Did you enjoy that? ALEX Immensely. Shall we warp back and refuel? MICHAEL Look, I had almost a 5% charge when we started. We warp back, that means we wasted the whole load. I can't afford to throw fuel around like that. Can we make the Imperial station? ALEX Well, sure, if we move to hyper-efficiency. But I wouldn't recommend it. We could blow the engines out. MICHAEL Great. Let's do it. ALEX Did you hear what I said? MICHAEL Yes, Alex. Hyper-efficiency. Now. ALEX Sigh. I'll need your help. [As Michael plugs himself in:] MICHAEL (CAPTION) I can interface directly with Alex if I need to. It's not a very pleasant experience. Alex agrees. ALEX Warp field activated. Adjusting to target. Stabilizers activated. Prepare for power influx. Warp in 5...4...3...2...1 [Suddenly Mike starts.] MICHAEL ALEX, ABORT--!! [The bridge shakes violently. With a flash of light resembling an explosion, the Shrike warps into visual distance of the planet around which orbits the fueling station. (But not too close. The planet should be about quarter-sized.) [Cut back to the bridge. Michael picks himself off the floor. He was thrown out of the interface cables.] MICHAEL Engine imbalance... A godddamn fifth of a microamp... ALEX Hyper-efficiency will do that, you know. MICHAEL Run a diagnostic on the engines and start on a course to the fuel station. I'm gonna check on the cargo. [Michael strolls to the cargo bay and opens the door. His eyes show surprise as he takes it all in. Several cases of "engine parts" have fallen and broken open, revealing guns, grenades, handheld compact missles launchers and all kinds of other weapons.] MICHAEL Oh, no... Aro, you son of a bitch. [Cut back to the bridge. Michael comes storming back.] MICHAEL Alex, depressurize the cargo bay! We're dumping everything! ALEX What?! What happened? MICHAEL Never mind! Just do it! We're buying fuel and getting the hell out of the Empire! ALEX That may not be possible, Michael. [Michael puts his hand over his eyes and hangs down his head, like he has a headache.] MICHAEL Go on... ALEX You told me Aro gave you 200 Soronian credits to buy fuel. I've been in touch with the computer at the fuel station. At their prices, you can buy a 20% charge. Unfortunately, thanks to your little stunt, the engines are so damaged, there's no way we can make it back to Co-op space on 20% without blowing ourselves to bits. We can barely make Raana. [pause or next frame] Sure you want to dump the cargo? [The ship docks at the fueling station, a satellite. Michael settles up the bill outside the ship, on board the satellite.] MICHAEL (CAPTION) If I dumped the cargo, I'd be stuck again. Only this time I would be stuck in Imperial space. So I decided to go through with it. [Three Soronian Imperial Policemen approach. The <> brackets denote Soronian. A *'ed footnote can explain this.] POLICEMAN #1 MICHAEL [This isn't a typo. His Soronian isn't perfect.] POLICEMAN #2 MICHAEL POLICEMAN #2 MICHAEL POLICEMAN #3 MICHAEL POLICEMAN #1 Maybe Human no understand us, eh? You prefer we speak in your language, Human? [Michael gets pissed.] MICHAEL (THOUGHT) No! Why don't we speak in yours?!! [The policemen are stunned.] POLICEMEN #1 So, so sorry, human.. POLICEMAN #2 Yes, we no mean offense! POLICEMAN #3 I am sure all is in order. [The Shrike leaves the satellite and warps out.] MICHAEL (CAPTION) I've had esper ability ever since I can remember. Never liked to use it, though. Made me feel like a freak. All Soronians are espers, of course, which is one reason some of them don't respect humans. When they get confronted with a human esper, it tends to put them off their guard, much as if a monkey walked up to you and asked you what time it was. [Next frame] I know what you're thinking. "If you're an esper, how come you couldn't tell from Aro's mind what the cargo really was?" That's a damn good question. And if I ever run into Aro again, he better have a damn good answer. [LARRY: This is probably a good place to stop part one. I'll keep going, however, and let you make your own decision.] [The ship lands on Raana at a spaceport.] MICHAEL (CAPTION) Even with all that, we made it to Raana only 15 minutes behind schedule. A soron-man was supposed to be waiting to pick up the cargo. [Michael stands outside the Shrike with a datapad.] MICHAEL [To a worker:] RASTAAN [From behind] I'm Rastaan. You must be Aro's human friend. MICHAEL Great. If you could just sign for these engine parts-- wait a minute, I know you! [Rastaan takes the pad and signs it.] RASTAAN I sincerely doubt that, sir. I've had no contact with humans for over seven of your standard years. [Michael snaps his fingers.] MICHAEL *That's* when it was! At a festival on Ionia! You read my fortune. RASTAAN That's entirely possible. Allow me a moment, I never forget a face. You're... Michael. Michael of Perseus-12. You were selling your wares at a booth. MICHAEL That's me! Look, I know we hardly know each other, and you made the deal with Aro, but is it at all possible for me to get my money now? My ship's out of fuel, it needs repairs, and I'm flat broke. RASTAAN Well, I'll have to discuss it with my superior, but I'm certain something can be arranged. In the meanwhile, I'll be happy to pay for food and lodging myself. [This surprises Michael.] MICHAEL Uh, thanks! RASTAAN [walking away] Think nothing of it. [Cut to a VERY posh room. We're talking $5000 a day, here. Michael admires the view from the window and lounges on the bed.] MICHAEL (CAPTION) The next thing I knew, I was in this gorgeous room in this building that was far too large and too ornate to be a hotel. I was just glad to be alive. Everyone there had their thoughts shielded. When Rastaan had told his flunky to "see to" me, I half believed I'd be taken out somewhere and shot. Instead, I was living in the lap of luxury with no idea why. I would've understood better If I'd known about the meeting taking place right above me. [Cut to Kannan in his spacious quarters. He looks pensively out the window. Rastaan enters.] RASTAAN KANNAN [Turning to face Rastaan] RASTAAN KANNAN RASTAAN [Rastaan considers this.]