------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Dirty Pair (and Company) in R E U N I O N S by Larry Mann and Ryan Mathews ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Copyright (c) 1994 Larry Mann & Ryan Mathews ------------------------------------------------------------------------ You've had your fill, I'm all I have left. What can stop your hunger for power? 'Cos you took advantage of things that I said. Now the feeling is dead. And that's the ultimate sin. - Ozzy Osbourne: "The Ultimate Sin" ------------------- S T A G E N I N E ------------------- > 19:00:00 [On board the _Artemis_, Shasti escorts Andrew to his cell. They arrive at a door, which Shasti opens with a code. Inside is what appears to be sparse quarters for a single crewman, with a bed and a place to stow belongings.] ANDREW Not bad for a cell. SHASTI It wasn't meant as severe punishment. Lord Robin used these cells for crewmen who had too much to drink. ANDREW It was awfully nice of you to bring me here yourself. I would've have thought you'd have more important things to do. SHASTI Some crewmembers have voiced extreme displeasure at your being on board. The confinement is as much for your protection as anything else. I wouldn't want you to meet with an accident. ANDREW At least not until you're finished with me, hmm? [Shasti looks as if Andrew had punched her in the gut.] SHASTI Andy... ANDREW (bitter) Don't "Andy" me. I know all about your modus operandi. You use people to get what you want, then kill them so there's no trail. SHASTI Nance should learn to keep his mouth shut. ANDREW Are you going to kill him? [Shasti raises a hand to her forehead, as if she had a headache.] SHASTI No. No, Andy, I'm not going to kill him. But thanks. ANDREW (confused) "Thanks"? SHASTI For showing me I can still be hurt. I guess I'm not the "iron woman" I thought I was. Andy, if I only kept people alive to use them, don't you think you'd already be dead? What possible use are you to me? ANDREW You tell me! *You* kidnapped me! [Shasti doesn't reply.] Shasti, I don't want to hurt you. But I don't want to die, either. Especially not murdered by someone I loved. SHASTI What *do* you want? ANDREW Let me go. SHASTI You know I can't. Not now. Maybe when all this is over. ANDREW Why don't I believe you? SHASTI (sigh) Believe what you want. In the meantime, Andy... I don't want to threaten you, but it would be best if you kept these rumors of my murderous ways to yourself. I can't afford to lose the crew's trust now. [Shasti exits and locks the door.] ------ > 19:02:00 > Shasti's mind DEIRDRE Like, why *are* you keeping Andy around? CENTRAL Huh? I don't know for sure. I guess I just want to know where he is. LACOMBE You should kill him. CENTRAL LaCombe! We've been through this before! LACOMBE Yeah? Well, let's go through it again. He's not *doing* anything for you, girl. Anything which doesn't help you, hurts you. You don't need him. He's a distraction. CENTRAL He used to be my lover! DEIRDRE Wow. No one told me that. LACOMBE "Love", "friendship". They're illusions at best, liabilities at worst. Deirdre was a so-called "friend" too, but when the time came for you to choose between your friendship and your freedom, you did her. Why can't you show the same strength when it comes to Andrew? DEIRDRE I can't believe I'm, like, *hearing* this bullshit! LACOMBE *You* stay out of this! DEIRDRE Why?! I'm, like, just as much a part of this as the rest of you guys! Shasti, was it really, like, that easy to blow me away?? CENTRAL No! It wasn't easy at all! I almost went completely insane! But I had to do it! DEIRDRE Why?! CENTRAL Because when the 3WA implanted LaCombe's personality within me, a lot of things became clear. All of a sudden I knew what I was. DEIRDRE Which is? LACOMBE A slave. Nothing more, nothing less. A human being owned like a piece of property. DEIRDRE [to Shasti:] But, like, I thought you *liked* being a trouble consultant! I mean, you sometimes had trouble getting along with your superiors, and you were, like, really pissed when they forced you to take the LaCombe personality, but I thought you liked what you were doing! CENTRAL I was *programmed* to like what I was doing! But once I got to know LaCombe, I began thinking of all the things I couldn't do because I couldn't leave the 3WA. I began to think of all the things the 3WA could do to me whether I wanted them to or not. Force me to take on more implants and personalities, suppress my memories-- DEIRDRE Surpress your memories? But they tried that when we were together! It didn't work! CENTRAL Whether it worked or not wasn't the point! Besides, it had worked before. The 3WA didn't like Andy for some reason, so they forced me to forget about him! It's only now starting to come back. LACOMBE Which is why you should off him now, before any more comes back! CENTRAL NO! Don't you see? I've always hated the 3WA for what they stole from me! Well, now I finally have a chance to get something back! LACOMBE Yeah, but do you want it? ------ > 19:30:00 > Ariake City, Ray's shop [At the ruins of the repair shop, a crane removes the rubble of the hangar that housed the _Lovely_Angel_. Kei and Yuri watch anxiously, along with Ray, the shop's proprietor. As a large piece is removed, the ship finally comes into clear view. It does not look good. The hull is severely crushed in places, the front canopy is smashed, and one wing has broken completely off.] KEI Oh, no. No, no, NO! YURI That's it. We're screwed. We can't follow Shasti without a ship. RAY Naah. The damage looks mostly superficial. Wouldn't take more'n a few days to fix. KEI DAYS?! Shasti could be warping out in HOURS!! RAY Hmm. Well, if we worked on it all day and night, with your help, we might be able to get it working in thirty-six hours. Couldn't guarantee it'd work perfect-- KEI Okay, fine, just as long as it'll warp. RAY And it'll cost you a coupla' limbs, figuratively speaking. YURI Whatever! The 3WA will pay it! RAY Okay, I'll trust you. Darryn's never stiffed me yet, and you're his friends. And besides, the sooner you get off this planet, the better. Your type attracts trouble. ------ > 19:33:00 > _Artemis_, Engineering Section [Scene: the massive engine room of the _Artemis_. Dominating the area is the half-warp drive, a massive inverted claw holding a glowing ball of energy. On a platform three-quarters of the way to the ceiling, technicians retrieve a sensing device from inside the energy ball, reeling it on a long cord. Shasti enters and approaches the head technician.] SHASTI Masters, I need a progress report. MASTERS We should be ready to warp out in eighteen hours, barring any unforeseen complications. SHASTI That long? MASTERS Begging your pardon, but we're still figuring out this thing works. Until you gave us that last piece, we couldn't even get out of mock- space. It doesn't look like Robin's people ever perfected this thing. We blow a few components every time we warp. SHASTI I'm aware of all that, but-- [The energy ball flashes blindingly bright, then disappears, then returns at its normal brightness.] MASTERS It's been doing that every seven minutes. We're not sure what it means, but I wouldn't want it to happen while we're in mock-space. SHASTI Alright, I get the picture. Eighteen hours. Get on it. MASTERS Understood! [Shasti leaves. Masters gestures to another tech.] You! [The tech looks up. It's Rumiko, partially disguised by her cap.] RUMIKO Y-yes? MASTERS Go to the storeroom and get me an A-270 converter! RUMIKO Y-yes sir! [She heads to the storeroom. Once inside, she closes her eyes and concentrates.] RUMIKO (thought) Darryn, can you read me? DARRYN (thought) Loud and clear. RUMIKO (thought) We have eighteen hours to learn where this crate is going. DARRYN (thought) Understood. I'm setting up the transmitter array now. ------ > A.D. 214303.23; 05:30:00 > Ray's shop [Kei and Yuri continue to work on the _Lovely_Angel_. On top of the ship, they reach inside an area of the engine section where a large panel has been removed.] YURI Kei, hand me the fuser. [pause] Kei! KEI Wah! Sorry! Here! [She hands Yuri the tool.] God, I'm exhausted. How long have we been working? YURI Ten hours. Laser drill. KEI I need a break. YURI We can't afford one now. You know that. KEI Yeah, yeah. You done with the fuser? YURI Sure. [Yuri gives it back.] I'm not letting her get away, Kei. Not after what happened to Daphne and Nene. Not after what happened to Deirdre. Or that poor old couple. Or the people killed in the _Lyra_ disaster. Shasti's got too much to answer for. KEI I hear you, it's just that... [she yawns] I'm afraid I'm gonna make a mistake. YURI Oh. I guess you have a point. Five minutes wouldn't hurt. KEI Thanks. You're a pal. RAY Hey, girls! You up there?! [Kei leans over the edge of the ship.] KEI Yeah! RAY 'Fraid I got bad news! [Yuri gets up and joins Kei.] YURI What kind of "bad news"? RAY You know the scrap metal we were gonna use to patch your wing back together? Well, we stress-tested it, and it flunked. The wing woulda tore off as you accelerated to escape velocity. YURI Shit. RAY But, hey, don't worry! I know where we can get a much better grade of metal. I sent one of my guys out there to fetch it. KEI How long? RAY It's kind of a haul. Should be back in, oh, say, eight hours? [Yuri slumps.] YURI Dammit. KEI We'll find a way, Yuri. I promise. ------ > 05:45:00 > _Artemis_, Shasti's quarters [In her quarters, Shasti lies on her bed, twisting and turning, unable to sleep. Inside her mind, a discussion is taking place.] DEIRDRE C'mon. Just a few words. CENTRAL N-no. I can't. DEIRDRE Why not? What would it hurt? [LaCombe approaches.] LACOMBE What's going on? DEIRDRE Just, like, girl stuff. Nothing you'd be interested in. LACOMBE I'll be the judge of that. CENTRAL LaCombe! C'mon! Let me talk to Deirdre for awhile, okay? [LaCombe relents, but reluctantly, giving Deirdre a hard glare as he leaves.] Deirdre, why is it so important to you that I talk to Andy? DEIRDRE Like, you said he was your boyfriend. Isn't that enough? CENTRAL I don't want to talk to him! He hurt me! DEIRDRE (sigh) Shasti, I was, like, your best friend when I was alive. I know you better than, like, anybody. And we both know that the reason you're keeping him around is because you still care about him. CENTRAL B-but I'm not ready! You don't understand! He just disappeared from my life after telling me he loved me! Do you know how much that hurt?! DEIRDRE So, is that, like, why the 3WA made you forget about him? To spare your feelings? CENTRAL Gee, I don't know. Maybe. No, that doesn't make sense. The 3WA never cared about my feelings. DEIRDRE I know! Let's ask the genius! Hey, Detective! [The Detective walks over.] I was, like, wondering, do you have any idea why Andy left you? DETECTIVE Hmm. Considering Andy's professed affection for us, the 3WA's overprotective attitude toward us, and their subsequent suppression of our memory, the logical conclusion is that the 3WA somehow forced him to leave. [The Central Mind is shocked.] CENTRAL W-why didn't you tell me this before?! DETECTIVE You never asked. [Back in reality, Shasti stops trying to sleep and sits up.] SHASTI The hell with it. [She puts on a robe and walks out.] ------ > 05:46:00 > Andrew's cell [Andrew is awoken by a tap on the shoulder.] ANDREW Mmf. Go away. [The person shakes him.] Leave me alone! You can kill me in the morning. [Andrew is forcibly turned over by Darryn, who slaps a hand on his mouth.] RUMIKO Wakey wakey! DARRYN Don't say a word, understand? Or you won't have to wait for Shasti's gang to kill you. [He removes his hand.] ANDREW What do you want with me? RUMIKO Nothing big, dear. We just need to know where this ship is going. DARRYN The crewmembers aren't allowed to talk about it, just on the one in a million chance that someone turns traitor. So we need you. ANDREW What can I do? RUMIKO We put a bug in your pillow. Shasti likes you. Get her to talk about the mission. ANDREW You're insane! She'll kill me! DARRYN We don't care. We could kill you now, if we wanted to. There would be no retribution from our superiors. You're a wanted criminal. Cooperate with us, and you'll get a fair trial. Refuse, and your new friends will probably kill you, if we don't first. ANDREW You bastards... You manipulative bastards... RUMIKO Sticks and stones, Andrew. ANDREW You know, you can push even me only so far. Eventually, I'm gonna say "fuck you". DARRYN Maybe so, but not-- [The lights come up. The door slides open, revealing Shasti.] ANDREW (panicked) Sh-Sh-Shasti!! I can explain! SHASTI Explain what? [Andrew looks around. Darryn and Rumiko are gone.] ANDREW I, uh... I guess... You must've woken me from a dream. SHASTI Well, relax. I'm just here to talk. ANDREW Talk? What about? SHASTI Nothing. Anything. I just couldn't sleep, and I figured since the two of us were, used to be... Look, if you don't want to, its okay. I'll just-- ANDREW No, no. Let's talk. [Shasti sits down on the bed. There are a couple moments of awkward silence.] SHASTI So, uh, what have you been up to? Since we... got separated. ANDREW I have a practice on Oridon. I specialize in cybernetically induced neuroses and psychoses, people whose minds are having trouble dealing with the latest pieces of metal and silicon they shoved into their brains. SHASTI There's a lot of that? ANDREW More each year. The sad thing is, most of these people wouldn't need my services if they'd just get rid of the implants. In fact, I advise them to do just that. But they won't. They need that "extra edge" in whatever they're doing. So I take their money and help them as best I can. SHASTI I'm sure you do a wonderful job. ANDREW What about you? What have you been up to? Besides all this I mean. SHASTI You don't want to know. ANDREW That bad, huh? SHASTI By your standards. ANDREW And your standards are different? SHASTI I'm sorry, Andrew, but I just can't care like you do. Of all the people who have ever known me, only two treated me with any kindness: you and my old partner at the 3WA. Why should I care about beings who treat me as a thing? ANDREW Part of being human is caring in spite of it all. SHASTI I guess I'm not human, then. ANDREW You were to me. SHASTI (suddenly angry) Then why did you leave?! You didn't even say goodbye, you just disappeared! It broke my heart. The next day, the 3WA said they had a treatment that would make me feel better. They hooked me up to this machine that made me forget. But as soon as I saw you it came back, bit by bit. Along with all the pain. ANDREW You don't know what happened? SHASTI I have a good guess. But I want to hear you say it. ============================================================================ > A.D. 213509.28; 06:55:10 Andrew yawned and opened his eyes. He had slept well, and felt great, better than he ever remembered feeling. His sleep had been dreamless, which was just as well; after that night, any dream he might have had would have been an anticlimax. Making love to Shasti had been an indescribable experience. She had been gentle, yet passionate, excited and eager, yet not at all anxious. She had been a virgin, yet Andrew had been more worried about that than she had been. She had reassured him, and when the pain came, she seemed to accept it as part of the experience. It lasted much longer than Andrew had thought himself capable. When at last it was over, not a word passed between them. Shasti had simply collapsed into his arms, smiled, kissed him, then slowly drifted into a contented sleep. Andrew had followed not long after. To Andrew, the universe had become one of infinite possibilities. He had always preferred a solitary life, but now the idea of spending the rest of his life with Shasti seemed a wonderful idea. What did she say? A mandatory vacation after each assignment? He thought he had a great idea where the two of them could spend her next one. He rolled over to see if Shasti was awake. She was gone. Andrew looked for a note. There was none. Confused, Andrew reached for the comm, then realized Shasti had never given him her code. "Good. You're up." Andrew found his glasses and put them on. A strange man dressed in a business suit and sunglasses walked into his room. "What the--?! Who the hell are you?!" Andrew shouted. "My name isn't important. I work for WWWA Security. However, you might recognize my boss, here." Ayoob entered the room. Andrew lost control. "You SON OF A BITCH!! What have you done with Shasti?!" "Nothing," Ayoob replied, calmly. "I merely gave her a code instructing her to return to her base. She doesn't even remember me. She thinks she made the decision herself." "Why?!" "You didn't really think we were just going stand still and let you fuck our property, did you? Shasti did a good job of evading us, but we tracked her down. I just wish we'd have gotten here earlier." "Y-you were afraid I'd get her *pregnant*?" Andrew asked. Ayoob looked at Andrew with disgust. "How stupid do you think we are? Shasti is quite incapable of having children." "Then why...?" "Do I have to spell it out for you? We went through all of this two years ago. You're a distraction, Andrew. An unknown quantity. Something we can't control. We don't need you complicating Shasti's life." Andrew seethed. "What about what *Shasti* wants?" Ayoob opened a briefcase and began looking through it. "What Shasti wants is irrelevant. We spent too much money, time, and resources creating her to let her get soft. Here it is." He threw a packet on the bed. "Five thousand credits, cash, and a shuttle ticket. The shuttle will take you to an orbital spaceport. From there you can go anywhere you want, except back here. We want you out of the system within twenty-four hours." "Go to hell." "I wouldn't recommend that attitude." Andrew sneered. "I don't work for you anymore. Take your damn money and cram it." "I assure you, the 3WA would have no trouble utterly destroying you, both personally and professionally. We are, after all, the galaxy's greatest intelligence agency. And what we can't find, we can make up." "Really? And what are you going to do to keep Shasti away from me? Lock her in a cage? Wouldn't that be a waste of resources?" "By this time tomorrow, Shasti won't remember that you ever existed. We're giving her memory treatments." Andrew stared. "But that would mean wiping out her entire childhood!" "Maybe so. It's not really my area of expertise," said Ayoob. "You can't do that! If you wipe out her childhood, she'll no referential basis for her adult personality! She won't have anything to draw from but her programming! She'll become cold--!" Ayoob cut him off. "We'll be checking on this place at this time tomorrow. Don't be here." He and the security officer left, leaving Andrew alone. Completely, utterly alone. ============================================================================ ANDREW I wanted to do something, anything. But what? Storm the gates of the 3WA compound and rescue you? I actually fantasized about hiring mercenaries with the money, but I had no idea how to find people like that, much less hire them, and I only had twenty-four hours. So I took the money and ran. SHASTI You left too early. ANDREW What do you mean? SHASTI How do you think I knew you'd disappeared? It turned out the device they used to surpress memories needed repairs. It was a day before they could give me the treatment. They delayed my assignment because of it. I tried to call you. I snuck out and went to your house and found everything gone. ANDREW Oh, god... SHASTI It's okay. You didn't know. I'm just putting the pieces together myself. ANDREW No, it's not okay. You know, when the 3WA called me and told me they wanted me to help track you down, my first instinct was to run away. But I couldn't. I had to see if there was anything I could do to put things right. I couldn't think of anything, and I still can't. But I had to try. Because if I hadn't let myself be separated from you... maybe you wouldn't have come to this. SHASTI (touched) My god... You still care. [Andrew nods, softly.] Don't you understand what I am? ANDREW Yes. And I won't lie, I'm scared. But you're also Shasti. And I love you. [Shasti thinks a moment.] SHASTI Andy, if I promise to still be here when you wake up, would you let me sleep here? ANDREW I'd like that very much. [Shasti embraces Andrew, kisses him. Andrew turns off the lights.] --- END STAGE NINE --- >>> NEXT >>> "OHMIGOD!! We're too close!!"