VECTOR ONE : Set Up pt 2, Copyright (c) 1991 Ryan Mathews, Larry Mann. [Cut to the Audience Chamber of the Council of Generals. The Council is all present, save for Sreezet Rath, whose absence is notable as an empty seat. Chon Algutera, the Speaker of the Council, a 50-TY-old blonde-haired man with a mustache, sits in a seat that is raised higher than the nine seated in front of him in a curved row, including Miana Lydor, Tylin Cweth, Welik Onora, and five others, at least two of which should be female. Miana sits close enough to Algutera to be in frame with him in closer views, preferably next to him. Dorcive Corve, in his General's uniform, stands facing the Council.] CORVE ...and so, Speaker Algutera, Generals, based on the evidence that I have presented, I wish permission to investigate the possible presence of an illicit scientific laboratory on Enaia. ALGUTERA Enaia. That's in Rath's territory, correct? CORVE Frankly, sir, I don't see what that has to do with anything-- ALGUTERA Bullshit, Corve. We all know about the ongoing feud between you and Sreezet Rath. It's hard *not* to notice when anytime someone as much as sneezes in Rath's territory, you come whining to us! CWETH I think Corve has a point this time. The intercepted broadcasts would seem to indicate-- ALGUTERA Shut up, Cweth. We know where your loyalites lie. LYDOR [smiling] As we know yours, Chon, dear. [Algutera grimaces.] ALGUTERA The options are to allow Dorcive Corve's Imperial Police to investigate, or to let Rath conduct his own investigation. All in favor of allowing the IP to investigate the alleged lab on Enaia? [Cweth, Lydor, and Onora raise their hands, Onora looks down while doing it.] I'm afraid that's two short of a majority. Better luck next time. CORVE [sarcastic] Thank you, sir. Perhaps next time the great General Rath would like to show his face. Then he could show us himself how ridiculous my accusations are, instead of his usual habit of letting his friends do the work for him. [Algutera leaps to his feet, furious.] ALGUTERA I have HAD IT with you!! You come waltzing in here on the average of every *thirty days* with another ridiculous accusation of how Rath has done this or Rath has done that! You continue to wear that damned general's uniform as if the war was still on! You are no longer a General of the Emperor's Army! You are Chief of Imperial Police! You have responsiblities! There is unrest on all the former worlds of the Ghety Union! There are pirate fleets preying on our commerce! And yet, you can think of nothing more important than to level yet another ridiculous accusation at Sreezet Rath, and I am SICK OF IT!! CORVE [smiling] Then fire me. [pause] ALGUTERA Out. OUT!! GET!!! OUT!!!!! [As Algutera rants, Miana suppresses a laugh with her hand.] [Outside the Chamber, Jhiro helps Corve on with his coat.] JHIRO How did it go, sir? CORVE About as well as can be expected. I don't do it for results, anyway. I just do it to piss them off. Ah, Tylin, Miana! [Tylin Cweth and Miana Lydor meet with Corve and Jhiro.] LYDOR You were wonderful, Dorcive! [She kisses him on the cheek.] CORVE As were you, Miana. Between the two of us, I figure we can give the old bastard a stroke by the time he's 55. CWETH I'm sorry about the results. I thought Algutera would at least open the floor to debate. CORVE That's okay. I've already taken care of it. First rule of dealing with the Council: "Never ask for permission for anything unless you've already done it." Can you make the meeting tonight? CWETH Certainly. What about Onora? CORVE Oh, I think he can be...persuaded to join us. [Caption: "An eternity away..." A basketball referee blows a foul. Ron, Steve, Trevor, Becky, and John are all in uniforms. A player Steve just nailed lies on his back.] STEVE Hey! That was a charge! [The bench. The future V-1 plan their strategy.] RON Next time you foul someone, Steve, try to make it someone who's not a good free-throw shooter, OK? JOHN Or foul him a lot harder. STEVE Yeah, John, next time I'll take his head off, OK? RON Well, in any case, we're down by one with 7 seconds to go. Anyone got any ideas? TREVOR Well, statistically speaking, Steve's the best shooter we have with 68.5%. I say we go with him. BECKY That's ridiculous, Trevor. They'll be expecting that. STEVE Never mattered before. Besides, who *won't* they be expecting? RON Okay, here's what we're gonna do... [Cut to the court. John inbounds to Steve, who dribbles like crazy straight toward the hoop. As he enters the lane, he is triple-teamed, and executes a perfect no-look pass to Becky, all alone in the left corner, who nails a jump shot as the buzzer sounds. Celebration scene, as they all hug each other.] JOHN You were right, Ron! They forgot all about Becky! BECKY [jokingly] Another blow for feminine equality! STEVE We won! We're the goddam *champions*!! [At a small table, a man writes them a check.] MAN First place money: $50. Don't spend it all in one place. TREVOR The way I see it, we can do the right thing and put this money toward books, or blow it all on pizza and beer. [At the pizza shop, a waitress brings them their pizzas and two pitchers.] WAITRESS Um, the underage ones won't be drinking, right? JOHN Perish the thought! WAITRESS Just checking. [As she leaves, John whips out a bag of paper cups.] JOHN Who needs cups? [Cups filled, Steve proposes a toast.] STEVE To Ron, our team leader. Couldn't have done it without you, man. EVERYONE BUT RON To Ron!! RON Oh, c'mon guys... BECKY Hey, we have to treat you nice while we have the chance! You're graduating next month! RON Don't remind me. TREVOR You still haven't found employment? RON No. Maybe I'm not looking hard enough. [Becky puts her hand on Ron's.] BECKY Hey, don't worry about it. You're talented, you get good grades, something will turn up. [Ron notices Steve looking away irritatedly and changes the subject.] RON Uh, speaking of grades, are you all ready for Becker's physics exam? STEVE What the hell difference does it make? We're all going to flunk anyway. JOHN Now there's a winning attitude. STEVE Hey, a power forward coming up the lane I can handle. I can't handle Becker's wacky lectures. Like the time he spent fifteen minutes explaining faster-than-light travel. RON Huh?? JOHN That's right, Ron missed that day. BECKY Becker spent fifteen minutes proving some crazy theorem that nobody could understand, finished by saying that FTL travel was therefore possible, then suddenly caught himself and pretended it was all a joke. TREVOR He even lost me, and I usually understand most of what he says. But I wouldn't get too down on the class. After all, it's what brought us together. JOHN That's right. I mean, Ron's a psychology major, Trevor's in engineering, Steve's planning to go into the military, Becky's a math major, and I'm pre-med. The only reason we became such good friends is because we all have to fill our physics requirement. STEVE Well, unless I pull a miracle, I'm not *going* to fill it. No human can possibly get an "A" in that class. TREVOR I have an "A". STEVE I rest my case. RON Well, enough shop talk. Anyone for a movie tonight? TREVOR I can't. I have to help Becker with an experiment. [pause. Everyone stares at Trevor.] What? BECKY You wouldn't happen to be getting extra credit for this, would you? TREVOR A little. JOHN Okay, what do we do to him? STEVE Let's break his arms. TREVOR [sweating and smiling] Uh, heh, heh, listen... Becker could probably use some extra hands. Why don't you tag along?