------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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 mesmerise slowly Till I can't believe my eyes Ecstasy controls me What you give just serves me right Without warning you're here Like magic you appear I taste the fear I'm so afraid But I still feed the flame - Judas Priest: "A Touch of Evil" ----------------------- S T A G E E L E V E N ----------------------- > 12:45:06 > Planet Serpiens Seven [A WWWA aircraft flies over the barren, wasted surface of Serpiens Seven. the pilot examines the impact site of the _Lovely_Angel_, a collapsed crater on the side of a large mountain.] PILOT I can't see much of anything. Whatever it was, it's pretty well buried. BASE Take another pass. Get us a closer view. PILOT Roger. [Back at the base, several 3WA officers look over the telemetry being returned from the aircraft.] OFFICER 1 We have an energy source, but it's incredibly weak. I'd estimate its depth at two kilometers. LEADER Two kilometers! That's ridiculous! That kind of impact should have brought down the entire mountain! OFFICER 2 Maybe it's really soft dirt? [The leader gives him a dirty look.] LEADER I want this site kept under observation. Meanwhile, I'd like some kind of answer as to how whatever it was got through our force field! Understood? OFFICERS Understood. ------ > 12:57:35 > Location unknown [Kei moans and opens her eyes. Her vision clears to reveal a blinding white light in front of her.] KEI W-what's going on? YURI'S VOICE Kei! Kei! Come back to me! KEI Yuri? Is that you? YURI'S VOICE Yes, it's me, Kei! Come on! KEI Oh, no. It's finally happened. I always knew it would someday, but... YURI'S VOICE Kei! Hurry up! KEI N-no! I'M NOT READY TO DIE!! [SMACK! Yuri slaps Kei in the face.] Owwww... [Yuri is shining a flashlight in her face.] YURI Will you wake up already?! KEI Hey, I'm alive! YURI Brilliant deduction. [Yuri stands up and shines her flashlight around her.] KEI B-but how? I mean, that was one hell of a crash. YURI A whole bunch of reasons. First, the ship split in half on impact... KEI Aw, no. YURI ...and that absorbed some of the shock. Second, there was an explosion just before we hit, pulverizing the area and softening the blow. Don't ask, I have no idea. Third, the fore section ended up in this tunnel and was angled just right to end up shooting along it. We skidded along the tunnel for about a kilometer or so before stopping. [Yuri plays the light along the surface of the _Lovely_Angel_, what's left of it.] Of course, I had to deduce all this from what was left of the ship's records. I was just as unconscious as you during the whole thing. KEI What did you mean when you said it was your fault? YURI I made a stupid mistake. I forgot to account for the motion of Serpiens Seven relative to Ariake. When we warped, we were still motionless with respect to Ariake, but Serpiens Seven was headed toward us faster than we could stop. KEI It's okay, I wouldn't have thought of that, either. (sigh) She was a great ship, Yuri. And I was really looking forward to racing the NightRiders. YURI How are you feeling? [Kei stands, wincing.] KEI I don't think anything's broken. It's gonna be one-piece bathing suits for awhile, though. YURI Yeah, same here. KEI (suddenly alarmed) Hey, where's Mughi?! [Mughi pokes his head out of the _Lovely_Angel_, two backpacks in his mouth.] YURI Let's go exploring. ------ > 13:05:00 > Shasti's mind [Once again, Shasti sleeps. LaCombe quietly stands and walks over to where Deirdre lies. He holds out his hands and a sword appears. He brings the sword down... Deirdre's eyes snap open. She claps her hands and stops the sword cold.] DEIRDRE Like, nice try. [She lifts a leg and kicks him backward, then hops to her feet.] So you like swords, huh? [She manifests one of her own.] Figures someone as insecure as you would choose, like, a phallic symbol for his weapon. [They fight, neither side gaining ground.] LACOMBE You don't belong here! DEIRDRE Neither do you. [LaCombe drives Deirdre back a few steps.] LACOMBE I've *earned* the right to be here! I've helped Shasti for five years! DEIRDRE And I was, like, her friend before she even heard of you! [Deirdre regains the lost ground.] LACOMBE She KILLED you!! DEIRDRE So?! She killed you too! [LaCombe blinks, stopped dead. Deirdre smiles and slices him in two. He evaporates.] DEIRDRE Heh. Looks like you forgot that little... AACK! [LaCombe grabs Deirdre from behind, placing a knife at her throat.] LACOMBE Shasti killed the flesh me, at my command. It was in the way, now that I've become data. It's so much more efficient. And I can see that you have much to learn about existing in this form. DEIRDRE Maybe so... [Someone taps LaCombe on the shoulder. He turns around. It's another Deirdre.] DEIRDRE #2 ...but I'm, like, a *real* fast learner! [The second Deirdre decks LaCombe, causing him to release the first one. LaCombe wipes blood from his chin and stands.] LACOMBE I see. An illusion. Very clever. DEIRDRE #1 *Who's* an illusion?! [She punches him in the gut, bringing him to his knees.] DEIRDRE #2 Yeah! Yeah! Work the spleen! CENTRAL Uh, do you guys mind? [A bleary-eyed Central Mind glares at the three combatants. The two Deirdres point at LaCombe.] DEIRDRES *He* started it. CENTRAL Well, the whole thing is pointless. Even if you do kill each other, I'll just reboot you. So knock it off. [The three look at the ground.] And Deirdre, put yourself back together. It's crowded enough in here as it is. DEIRDRES Awww... ------ > 14:28:00 > _Artemis_, Primary Shuttle Bay [In the _Artemis_' massive shuttle bay, preparations are underway to launch. Shasti walks in, swiftly, dressed in a radiation suit with the hood pulled back. She meets Paul, dressed in a similar suit, near the shuttle.] SHASTI Is everything ready? PAUL The whole team's suited up and ready to go. SHASTI Wonderful. Let's get this show on the road. [The shuttle launches into the swirling orange mock-space surrounding the ship and accelerates away. Nance pilots, while Shasti and Paul supervise from behind. Further back sits a team of men in radiation suits, their hoods fastened, obscuring their faces.] NANCE We'll be leaving mock-space in ten seconds. If the gravity scan is correct, there shouldn't be any surprises waiting for us. [Space shimmers and turns black. The _Artemis_ vanishes, to be replaced by Serpiens Seven.] NANCE So far, so good. Now here's where we place our faith in untested technology. SHASTI Nance, no defeatist talk. NANCE I'm sorry. I just don't understand why we can't take a half-warp bubble with us like we did on Bydon. SHASTI You know damn well why not. When the power ran out, the explosion would have the 3WA forces on us in less than an hour. NANCE But if you would have researched that problem more thoroughly, I'm sure-- SHASTI NANCE! NANCE Okay, okay! Coming up on the force field. [The shuttle brushes the force field, knocking the occupants around. Shasti curses under her breath.] Sorry! It was just a small touch. It won't have registered. I hope. Activating field-pick. [A glowing field envelopes the shuttle.] Brace yourselves. This is the hard part. [The shuttle does a swooping manuever and hits the force field head-on, causing part of it to become visible. Everyone is thrown forward by the impact. Nance wipes sweat off his brow and throws open the throttle. The shuttle slowly penetrates the field, then squirts out the other side, thrown violently toward the planet.] NANCE HANG ON! [Nance pulls the shuttle out of the dive and into a more reasonable approach vector. The shuttle enters the atmosphere, its heat-shield glowing. Inside the cabin, one of the men shouts as the cabin begins to fill with smoke.] MAN FIRE!! We've got a fire! PAUL They said the field-pick would burn out. Guess they meant it. [The man opens a compartment, pulls out an extinguisher, and deals with the small fire. Then he notices something else in the compartment and pulls it out. It's Andrew.] MAN Well, well. What have we here? [He throws Andrew toward the front. He lands in a sprawl and looks up at Shasti.] ANDREW Hi, Shasti. SHASTI [simmering] What the hell are you doing here? ANDREW I... I had to get off the ship. I didn't feel safe. SHASTI Well, Andy, my dear, you were a lot safer there than you are here. We can't afford any distractions. ANDREW I don't understand. SHASTI I'll make it simple. [She takes a gun off her belt and points it at him.] I'll give you ten seconds to give me a good reason why I shouldn't kill you. ANDREW Y-you can't be serious. SHASTI I'm dead serious. You have six seconds left. ANDREW I, uh, oh God... SHASTI Three... two... ANDREW W-wait! You said this was Lord Robin's original base, right? SHASTI Yes. Your reason to stay alive? ANDREW You may need to guess at Lord Robin's actions, what he would have done in a given situation. Now, if he had been a rational man, anyone could do that, but he was supposed to have been violently insane! I'm a psychologist, I could be an invaluable resource. [Shasti thinks about it, then raises an eyebrow.] SHASTI You know, you actually have a point. NANCE The hell he does--! SHASTI Shut up, Nance. Unfortunately, it's a moot point. Without a rad-suit, you aren't going to survive more than an hour once we land. ANDREW I brought one. [Shasti gives a short laugh.] SHASTI You aren't as dumb as you look. Alright, get suited up, then sit down where my men can keep an eye on you. [Behind her back, Paul glares at Shasti.] ------ > 14:33:05 > Serpiens Seven, somewhere underground [Kei and Yuri walk through the dark, shining handlights at nothing interesting.] KEI How far have we gone? YURI Beats me. I think we're going uphill, if that means anything. KEI I don't like this. I'm worried about Mughi. I'm not sure we can find our way back to him if we need to. YURI If he needs us, he can home in on our earrings. KEI If he can find us. This place is like a maze. Dammit, all I want are some LIGHTS! [Lights come on, lighting only the section of tunnel the Pair stand in.] Oh. Thanks. YURI How did you do that? KEI I didn't do anything. [On the side of the tunnel is painted "TO SUBRAIL -->", pointing back the way they came.] YURI Well, at least we know what our ship landed in. Maybe we should head back and look for a train or something. [She and Kei walk back, into a still unlit section.] Do it again, Kei. KEI Um, "Lights"? Lights, please? [Nothing happens.] C'mon! Lights! YURI Forget it. [They walk back into the light.] Maybe there's a switch somewhere. [She searches along the wall. The moment she steps into the unlit section ahead, the lights come up there and go off in the other section, leaving Kei in the dark.] KEI Hey! [She runs into the light with Yuri.] YURI If I'm not mistaken... [With Kei following, she walks ahead, out of the lighted section. The same thing happens, with the coming on ahead and going out behind.] ...someone's trying to take us somewhere. KEI Should we let them? YURI I don't see why not. We're looking for something, right? Well, this is at least something. [They follow the lights forward.] ------ > 14:40:00 [Shasti's shuttle approaches the same mountain the _Lovely_Angel_ crashed into, from the opposite side, flying low.] PAUL You sure we're not going to be seen? NANCE The radiation level here is screwing with any attempt at long-range scans. That leaves radar, which we defeat by flying low, or a visual sighting, and I haven't seen anybody around. We're safe. SHASTI We're approaching the base. Earn your pay, Nance. Get us in. NANCE Got it. Transmitting now. [Nance checks his console.] Shit. Nothing. SHASTI That's not what I want to hear. PAUL Maybe the automated systems are down. NANCE If I can hack into their computer, the systems are not down. It's just the background noise screwing with transmission. I could try a hyperspace frequency-- SHASTI NO! That would be detected. Get closer and try it again. [Nance transmits again.] NANCE YES! There it goes! [A section of mountain vanishes, revealing metal doors which slowly slide open. The shuttle enters and lands. The occupants disembark, radiation suits fastened. Shasti carries a large black bag.] SHASTI Alright people. This is it! Nance, get out the map. McCoy, Sanford, you'll take point. I want your weapons out and ready, just in case we trip some security system. Paul, Nance, and myself will follow directly behind. The rest... [Shasti pauses.] We're... *missing* two people!! Did everyone get off the shuttle? [One of the men peers back into the shuttle.] MAN It's empty. SHASTI What the HELL is going on?! ANDREW (quietly) Oh, no... [Everyone looks at Andrew.] SHASTI What?! ANDREW N-nothing... SHASTI Don't give me that! What's going on?! ANDREW It m-must have been the NightRiders. PAUL The who? ANDREW NightRiders. 3WA trouble consultants. They'd stowed away on your ship. SHASTI (furious) And you're just telling me NOW?!! ANDREW I didn't want you to kill them! Or them to kill me! Or... you to kill me. ------ LACOMBE What are you waiting for? Shoot him! You need any more proof?! ------ [One of Shasti's men quietly speaks up.] MAN I didn't want to say this, but, I think we should consider changing leaders. SHASTI I beg your pardon?! MAN Ma'am, up until this point we've all trusted your leadership. But you're letting this Andrew asshole cloud your judgement. Nance told you not to bring him along and so did Paul. Now look what's happened. I think we should let Paul lead the final stage. [Others mutter agreement.] ------ WARRIOR I'll take care of this traitor. DETECTIVE That would be highly inadvisable. SOCIAL I agree. Our men love us. If we kill one in front of the others, they'll be scared of us instead. DETECTIVE Ruling through fear rather than trust would change the parameters of the operation. LACOMBE So don't kill him! Kill Fisher! DETECTIVE I agree. Terminating Andrew would immediately restore confidence in your leadership abilities. SOCIAL N-no! We don't want to do this! We don't want to kill Andy! We finally found someone who made us happy! DETECTIVE Happiness is irrelevant. [The Social Personality talks directly to the Central Mind.] SOCIAL Is that really what you believe? ------ SHASTI Andy... [She reaches for her gun, hesitatingly.] PAUL I don't BELIEVE this! [Paul walks past Shasti and confronts the men.] Who are you to question Shasti's leadership?! If it wasn't for her, every last one of you would still be sitting in that bar on Alderon, getting drunk on cheap liquor and living in your own filth! She brought you to your feet, gave you your self-respect back, made you even more than you were under Lord Robin! She's one step away from making you the richest men in the universe, and you have the utter *nerve* to try to oust her as leader?! You ought to be ashamed of yourselves! [The men look at the floor, uncomfortably.] Yes, there have been problems. I'd like to know how 3WA trouble consultants got onto the _Artemis_. I'd like to know how Andrew managed to bypass our security systems and get on the shuttle. [Shasti starts.] But the time to worry about those things is not now! We are too close to our goal to be distracted. Somewhere in this complex are tons upon tons of precious metals. Now, are we going to get them, or we going to bicker about who leads us there?! MAN I'm sorry, sir. PAUL Good. Now let's get the hell underway. SHASTI Th-thanks, Paul... PAUL Not at all. I told you I'd keep an eye on you, didn't I? [Shasti watches as Paul walks past, uncertain what to make of his outburst.] ------ > 14:45:00 [Somewhere else, the NightRiders have a conference.] DARRYN Radiation levels look safe. We can take off these suits. [Darryn and Rumiko slide out of their suits, revealing uniforms.] RUMIKO So, what's the next step? DARRYN I'm going to find a communications center and call for help. I need you to go back and keep tabs on Shasti. Use the CyAudio link to communicate with me. RUMIKO Got it. Do you trust that map? [Darryn looks at a hand-drawn copy of the map Shasti is using.] DARRYN If it's good enough for Shasti, it's good enough for me. RUMIKO Okay. Just be careful, alright? DARRYN That goes for you, too. RUMIKO Hey, aren't I always? [She gives him a quick kiss.] See ya later! ------ > 14:46:00 [Elsewhere in the complex, panels slide up and down, turning a straight corridor into one that turns to the right...] ------ > 14:47:00 [Kei and Yuri's trip comes to an end in a small barren room.] KEI Why would they want to lead us here? Whoever "they" are... YURI I don't know. It looks like... [The door slams shut.] ...a holding cell! KEI And we walked right into it!! YURI That doesn't make sense! Why lead us into a cell, when they could have used the security systems to attack us? VOICE It's for your own protection, dear Yuri. I'm afraid things are about to get a bit zany out there. [Kei and Yuri turn toward the voice. When they see who it is, their faces register complete and total shock.] ------ > 14:47:30 [Shasti and company are having problems reaching their destination, stopping at a bend in the route.] NANCE I don't understand this. This corridor should continue forward for another two hundred meters. PAUL Maybe the map isn't current. NANCE It was current at the time of his death. Who could have changed anything? SHASTI Arguing gets us nowhere. We'll try another alternate route. VOICE Or you could just ask for directions. Isn't that what women do when they get lost? ------ > 14:48:00 [Darryn finds the communication center, and enters. The door slams behind him. He tries the door; it's locked. He walks toward the console, only to hit a force field and be knocked back.] VOICE Sorry, the phone's broken. I've called to have it repaired, but service has been so slow since the war, what with all the repairmen reduced to smoldering piles of carbon. ------ > 14:48:15 [Rumiko makes her way back to where she believes Shasti's team is.] VOICE Stay. [Rumiko bumps against a force field, then realizes she's trapped inside it.] VOICE Good girl. [Rumiko sees her captor, and her eyes widen in terror.] ------ > 14:48:30 YURI Y-you... ------ > 14:48:32 [Darryn points his gun.] DARRYN Don't move. Don't even breathe. ------ > 14:48:36 RUMIKO Oh, god, not you. It can't be you. ------ > 14:48:40 SHASTI It can't be. VOICE Why not? [The man steps around the corner. He wears a ridiculously colorful jumpsuit, and his engaging smile almost seems to stretch ear-to-ear.] LORD ROBIN My, my, my. Why is everyone so *nervous* around me? Why, with expressions like that, one would think you were trying to *rob* me! --- END STAGE ELEVEN --- >>> NEXT >>> "And if there was one thing ol' Robin could not abide, it was betrayal. He'd be pretty P.O.'d to see his former crewmen helping some monster in heels rip him off."