Scene 6.15 - The Real World, Part 4
ANIMATION STYLE 2
INT. Bridge, U.S.S.S. Enrapture
VERNE V.O.
Captain's Log, 99.69.31.10.17.55: The Enrapture has picked up a distress call from subspacecraft Archemedes, a vessel on a scouting misson in a neighboring parsec. I have directed our navigation to proceed to the last completed point of the ship's trajectory. As dire as the situation may prove to be, I am relieved to be absent from the reception ceremony for the Admiral and the pomp and circumstance surrounding the Commodore's disappearing act and feel more comfortable finding the truth behind the disappearing act of the Archemedes. I am more than happy to be where I belong: On the bridge of my ship.
ASIMOV
Ziss is zair last known course, Kiptin.
(The entire bridge crew is dressed in military formals for the ceremony. Gloves, swords and all. [Ref: United States Marine Corps.] As strack as it gets. VERNE and CLARKE are the most highly-decorated officers and both have had a recent buzz-cut. SIMAK has a five medals and the three others have three each.)
VERNE
And nothing after that? Where are they? They couldn't have just vanished! There has to be an energy trace somewhere-
CLARKE
Captain, I'm detecting a multi-sector-wide ion storm moving away from us. Sensor probes cannot pierce the veil of the storm.
VERNE
Yes, they may have been caught in it. Lieutenant Romero, let's hear that message again.
(Whoa! It's a seriously-hot-and-curvy RAMONA sitting at the communications station in a hot formal dress uniform. She taps a button on the communications panel and looks to the captain. If you're one who goes for a woman in uniform, this gal is inside-of-locker poster material. Her hair is up; tightly braided. Hot! Hot! Hot!)
RECORDING V.O.
May-d--, May-day. [".......-"] Sub--------ft Archemedes going down, alert rescue -----tions, this is a code-bravo, all channels; salvage or scuttle ship a- all costs. Location: ----more System. [...---...] Crisi- -ategory: Time ano----, I repeat, Time anomaly following ionization of Elliso----. Channel -ebra One Delta, any --arfleet ship please respon- -o this frequency. -ay-day, May-day, I -epeat, May-d--, May-day, Sub--------ft Archemedes going down...
VERNE
Lieutenant, how old is that recording?
RAMONA
Unknown, sir -- the data signature posts last week's passcode, yet the wave decay suggests that it was recorded within the last thirty-six hours. There's strange readings all across my communication sensors, Captain. My monitors are... wonky.
VERNE
(A little thrown by her use of an irregular word:) Wonky?
CLARKE
As are mine, Captain. My sensors' displays are -- irrational.
VERNE
(Crosses to RAMONA, gives her a firm-and-friendly touch on the shoulder with his white-gloved hand. Lean in, sotto:) Mona, give the mess hall a shout -- get those boys doing K-P back to engineering and let Bunion know I won't be joining our guests for dinner this evening. Don't alert our visitors to the situation, just tell them about the ion storm in a really nice way and casually mention how I'm needed up here to help navigate. Do not mention our search and rescue mission, Lieutenant. I don't need an impatient Admiral coming up here in a huff and pulling rank or trying to frustrate this mission by citing a litany of regulations.
RAMONA
Yes sir.
ASIMOV
(Aside, as VERNE turns from RAMONA:) Rio, isn't your brudder stitchenedon ze Arkimeedeez?
HEINLEIN
Yes, he is.
VERNE
(Overhears it.) Consider your personal stake in this mission noted, Chief Navigator. Rio, this is personal for you -- do you wanna sit this one out?
HEINLEIN
No, sir, you couldn't pry me from this seat.
VERNE
Good to hear, we'll find them, Rio. Mr Isaac, how long until we're inside the heart of the storm?
ASIMOV
Two sick-tears avay, sear. Two minnits, sear, ifvee pinchit...
VERNE
Punch it. Ship, Yellow Alert. Smokey, you know where I'm gonna need you -- in engineering to make sure that our Ellisonium doesn't get ionized.
SIMAK
Aye sir. Storm or no, we'll keep a clean tank in reserve.
(He exits.)
VERNE
Ms. Romero, hail the good doctor, privately- Tell Doc to dance with ladies- He's better at those kinds of functions than me, anyway. Give him a polite whisper in the ear about our mission and have him set sick bay to emergency room mode -- just in case we find them and they may need medical assistance-
RAMONA
Yes sir.
VERNE
Mr. Clark?
CLARKE
Incredible, sir. Even at this distance, we are encountering the effects of the time anomaly.
VERNE
Just what in blazes is a time anomaly anyway?
CLARKE
Little is known, I'm afraid. Probes sent return distorted data and all scientific attempts at beaming a probe back from inside an ion storm has been met with equally unpredictable results. Even our quantum generators can be affected by the storm's effects. This particular ion storm is cyclical in nature, and as it orbits a singularity across the galaxy, it occassionally crosses an apex of where it was before and will be again. Inside that storm, and during these precise times, which may last moments; or eons, severe quantum irregularities exist, disturbing both the effects of both gravity and time.
ASIMOV
Sear! Veer intereeng ze storm new. Zairs minny star systems inzide ze storm, sear... Vairtoo?
VERNE
Yes, star systems. The Archemedes said they were going down, which suggests they were crashing into a celestial body. Which one?
CLARKE
Sir, the path of their trajectory would approximately bring them here, within the Rushmore system.
RAMONA
They mentioned something that sounded like Rushmore in their message, sir.
VERNE
Yes, they said Rushmore! Zack, you know the way; make a beeline for that star. Show me the planets orbiting the Rushmore Star, Mr. Heinlein.
HEINLEIN
Yessir.
CLARKE
Sir, Our records on this system are sparse, indeed. There is only one planet to this star, Planet New Trinity -- first colonized in 7017 when large deposits of gold were discovered in the planet's Andurillian Hills... Sir, the gas-planet is well-terraformed and colonized and capable of sustaining life unaided, but- I read that the planet is under a type-three quarantine, and most information on its particulars of this quarantine are classified beyond my level of clearance.
VERNE
How about my level of clearance? Open a hailing channel, Ms. Romero, maybe these New Trinitans might know something about what happened to the Archemedes.
RAMONA
Sir, there is a static blocking wave prohibiting interplanetary communication-
CLARKE
The quarantine is sector-wide. Apparently for this reason, they have also closed off communications with the rest of The Universe-
VERNE
Use full amplification -- that will rattle through any static wall -- then shoot the bird through, if my rank won't get us answers, then shoot them the other bird and remind them of our firepower.
RAMONA
Aye, sir.
VERNE
What's up with this? New Trinity? I think I heard about it before... that it's a pleasure planet; I never heard about no stinkin' quarantine.
CLARKE
The pleasure-planet myth applies to many star systems, sir. It's an urban legend heard from a friend who knew a friend who had a friend who went there always some time ago. According to our records, no one has communicated with the colonists of New Trinity for more than eight hundred years.
VERNE
Eight hundred years? Well, maybe it was a pleasure planet when... back then and then somebody probably screwed it up for everybody... that's usually how it is -- Any response, Ms. Romero?
RAMONA
No, sir.
VERNE
Are there still people on the planet?
CLARKE
I detect human life on the planet. Population, seventy billion.
VERNE
So are they getting my hail or what?
RAMONA
I suspect they are, sir. I get confirmation codes from their receiver channels, but nothing else but static on the off-world channels.
VERNE
Well, you tell whoever's listening that if they do not respond to my hail, we're gonna land right on the lawn of their Capitol building or my name ain't Captain Julian Sickle.
RAMONA
Yes, sir. I'm sending your message verbatim.
VERNE
Number One: Could they have crashed over on that little moon there?
CLARKE
All my sensor readings are altered -- Captain, I'm detecting massive energy readings from the equator of the New Trinitan moon -- sir, from these supplimental readings, it seems that the moon, and not the storm, is the actual source of the time anomaly within this ion storm...
VERNE
Captain Gregory commands the Archemedes. If I know Danny-Boy like I think I do, on his worst day he would have surely had enough sense to wager breaking a type-three quarantine across the side of a terraformed barn than over going head-first into an unknown on a spooky bullet. (Pause.) Anything, Lieutenant?
RAMONA
No, sir. I'm repeating your message now, sir.
VERNE
If not the storm itself -- What could have happened to the Archemedes, then?
CLARKE
Speculation at best -- it may have been crippled by the anomaly, or was damaged in a nearby sector and was forced to seek port here. Until more data is collected, I can't give you a conclusive answer, Captain.
VERNE
And what about the people there? The colonists?
CLARKE
These records say little about the colony after the anomaly was discovered. According to a planetary edict logged in our library records, the colonists of New Trinity are forbidden to interact with the outside world, and as we are legally barred from landing there-
VERNE
Any sign of the Archemedes, Rio?
HEINLEIN
Believe me, sir, if I even catch a glimpse of it, you'll be the first to know.
CLARKE
Sir, we are passing through ripples in time. Gravity, many readings are altered... If we continue on this path, we are likely to be caught by the same force that may have struck the Archemedes.
(HEINLEIN betrays a glance over his shoulder.)
VERNE
We don't know the status of the Archemedes, and there's a colony of seventy billion people on New Trinity who might, and regardless of the status of the craft, we need to know the extent of the unknown force encountered, what destructive capabilites it has, and most importantly, if it is a physical threat, how to avert it, or dispose of it completely.
CLARKE
These time ripples all eminate from the equator of that nearby moon -- it's a dwarf planet named, Tellusia. The time waves are coming from the equator, on a peninsula, measuring-
VERNE
Any reply from the planet, Ms. Romero?
RAMONA
Nothing, sir. Everyone on this side of the planet must have heard your hail more than once, but nothing yet.
VERNE
Then we'll try the other side. Helm, bring her around...
CLARKE
I doubt they will respond, sir, they haven't communicated with anyone in more than eight hund-
(The viewscreen pops on. A young man in Space-Age Western wear stands behind a desk.)
CAMEO ONE
Captain, Sickle?
VERNE
(Motions for the helm to belay the latest order:) Yes, who are you?
CAMEO ONE
Your name is Julian Sickle?
VERNE
(Stands.) Yes, who in blazes are you?
CAMEO ONE
This is highly irregular. I am Fromm Hammeroth, regent and protector of the Incumbent Elite.
VERNE
Do you speak for your planet?
CAMEO ONE
In a manner, I do; I am the current prime minister.
VERNE
Are you aware of a time anomaly threatening your planet?
CAMEO ONE
Yes, Captain, it's something we've all learned to live with, I'm afraid.
VERNE
We lost contact with a ship from our fleet that was traveling through this parsec recently.
CAMEO ONE
Yes, we are aware of this. I am sure you're speaking of the Archemedes?
VERNE
Yes! Do you know what happened to it?
CAMEO ONE
It crashed on our planet last night, Captain, only a few hundred miles from where I stand -- many men aboard were injured, yet all have survived. (HEINLEIN sighs a little relief.) They are recuperating in our best private hospital as we speak. Certainly, they are heroes to us. We haven't seen fresh faces- er, had visitors, for a very long time. Captain, your arrival here is most irregular. Do you hail from Earth?
VERNE
Once upon a time. We'll be within transport range of your Capitol in about three minutes-
CLARKE
Sir, protocol prevents anyone from effecting a rescue- a visit to New Trinity is a one-way affair.
CAMEO ONE
I'm afraid your crewman is correct, Captain. They must live the rest of their lives here, as our favorite new citizens.
VERNE
Just what is the reason for this quarantine? Disease? Toxins? What?
CAMEO ONE
I'm sorry, Captain, I'm not at liberty to discuss that with you.
VERNE
Well, I'm not at liberty to do nothing short of demanding you return those officers, unharmed -- and promptly. I hardly think an administrative protocol is going to prevent this warship from affecting a rescue operation. We're getting our boys, accept it.
CAMEO ONE
Captain Sickle, they're here, planetary laws prevail in this matter; they must stay.
VERNE
They're not part of your problem, Prime Minister, whatever it is.
CAMEO ONE
Oh, no sir. They're embedded in the mire as you are, Captain; only you may still have time to escape it.
VERNE
Lieutenant Romero, open a channel to Command, I believe I have to clear up a few things for the Elite Incumbent-
CAMEO ONE
Regent and Protector of the Incumbent Elite-
VERNE
Whatever. Hiding behind an eight-hundred-year quarantine won't allow you to harbor military personnel; they're coming with us, and there's nothing you can do to change that, Your Encumberness.
CAMEO ONE
I strongly urge you to not approach this planet nor land here; you must believe me that-
(He nods to RAMONA and she cuts-off the Regent and Protector of the Incumbent Elite mid-sentence.)
VERNE
First call he has with an off-worlder in his life and I hang up on him, how do you think he feels about that?
RAMONA
Pretty hot, sir. He's yelling for you over the audio channel-
VERNE
Pipe it in-
CAMEO ONE V.O.
Come in, Enrapture! Come in!
VERNE
If you won't let me beam the boys aboard, I'm going to need landing coordinates.
(Viewscreen pops on.)
CAMEO ONE
Fine! Fine! If you won't listen to me, perhaps someone else might convince you to alter your course...
(THE BARON steps into the frame, no white hair, no scars. Western wear. A marshall's badge. All smiles.)
THE BARON
Hello... Julian. It's been a long time. A real long time.
VERNE
Wha? Who are you?
THE BARON
I'm the guy who didn't listen to Chewy close enough.
VERNE
Chewy? What about him? Where you from? Who are you really? Will you come aboard-
THE BARON
That ain't gonna happen. You can't land here, and I won't pollute your ship with my yellow-room paradox.
VERNE
Perhaps we can meet on neutral ground -- in mid-space. Any suggestions?
THE BARON
Sure. Tellusia. That's in mid-space.
VERNE
The moon? That's the source of the anomaly.
THE BARON
It sure is. You think I don't know it? Either meet me there, or nowheres, Julian.
VERNE
Very well. I'll meet you and first, we will negotiate for the safe return of the crew of the Archemedes, and then discuss your fantastic origins more... intimately.
THE BARON
The term I use for my existence is phantasmic. My phantasmic origins. (Blazes up.) Return of your comrades is not in my power, but I do have a lot of sway with the locals here, so I can assure you that I will keep the best interests of everyone in mind when I talk with you. (Big toke.) There's something you need to see. Don't beam in tho- transporters are too unpredictable within the boundaries of the storm. Take a shuttle, if you got one.
VERNE
I got one. We'll discuss the improbability of the existence of you. Be there with bells on, cuz I ain't gonna be whistlin' Dixie...
THE BARON
What a coincidence. Okay, Julian. Meet me at these coordinates in twelve minutes.
VERNE
Mr. Roberts, send those coordinates to shuttle one. Keep searching for the crewmen on the planet -- they're somewhere on that rock. Ion storm or no, don't bother to ask: Beam them up if you find them and if you can't beam them up, go down there with Rag-Tag two and a security detail and a photon cannon and get them yourself.
HEINLEIN
Yessir. Checking every hospital listed and a few unlisted. Uh, sir, the Commodore has reserved and readied shuttle one for her show tonight. Shuttle two can be fueled in six min-
VERNE
No, no, this is my ship, and that's MY shuttle and I'm taking it. The Commodore's parlor tricks can wait -- or she'll just have to do with Rag-tag Two and gas-it-up herself if she needs to take it anywhere -- and that's only if you don't need it. As you know, I'm dealing with a more important threat here. This ain't magic, it's tactics. It isn't about finding a rabbit in a hat, it's about finding your brother and his friends.
HEINLEIN
Yessir. Coordinates set. Shuttle one is ready for your departure, sir.
(VERNE retrieves and holsters his weapon.)
VERNE
Mr. Clark has the com.
THE BARON
(Noting blaster:) Relax, Julian, you don't need a gun. I'm no threat, you should know that. (Innocent:) Trust me.
VERNE
(Beat.) Trust me? (Half-beat.) Ship, red alert. (Crosses.) I'm not assuming jack; you're way out of place, Mister. (Leans over HEINLEIN and ASIMOV, fiddles with the panel. Tries to scan THE BARON from the bridge console. Cancels red alert.) I'm not sure what you really are and why you're part of a quarantine here and what on the Hot Side Of Mt. St. Helen's you think you're gonna accomplish short of getting an earful of- (Report: Scan unsuccessful.) Cat's Cradle! Who are you really?
THE BARON
I'm not sinister, if that's what you're driving at. Meet you at the coordinates in ten minutes or this deal is off and then you can wait for orders from Command. I'm boarding my shuttle, I suggest you do the same if you don't wanna be late.
VERNE
I'll meet you in ten minutes, you can count on it. Mr. Roberts, you have your orders. Clark, do what you do when I'm away, and keep the Admiral and the Commodore off this bridge until I'm back.
THE BARON
Who do you THINK I am, Julian?
VERNE
What... (Long pause.) You're an impossibility.
THE BARON
Impossibilities have a way of disproving themselves. See you in ten. (Blazes a joint, shakes head after a long look by VERNE as the captain takes pause and shoots a double-take at THE BARON.)
VERNE
I'll be there. Mr. Clarke, you have the com.
FTB