The Stars Came Back (29 page)

CUT TO

I
NT - DAY - Bridge

Harbin walks in. Helton, Kat,
Cooper, Kaminski (now in space armor), and Kaushik are at stations looking concerned.

Cooper
: We may have a problem.

Helton: Did Lag tell you about any pirates or military craft in the area?

Harbin: No. See something?

Ka
t: Saw an anomaly.

Helton: (
Into mic) Stenson, any issues with the sensors?

St
enson: (OC, over speaker) Beats me. I’m getting all kinds of crap that shouldn't be there. Not sure what’s going on. They were fine five minutes ago.

Kat:
If
the readings are right, we have a low-profile vessel on an intercept course.

Harbin: How “low”?

Cooper: If we knew that, we’d know a lot more than we do right now.

Helton:
More of a “hole” in the readings than something being there. Thermals show background temp, but visible has stars blocked. Radar, nothing. No noticeable drive glow.

Harbin: Sub?

Kaushik: I’d be surprised if sensors this old could see a modern mil sub. Hence the question.

Harbin: How soon to intercept?

Cooper: Close, didn’t see it until just a few minutes ago. Ten, eleven minutes out.

Harbin: Hmmm. Rocks are cold, but they usually aren’t stealthy, soooo… If they wanted to launch missiles at us, they would have done
it already. Too far for guns, except on a course-denial path, if they don’t know about our armor. Beams could be used any time, but it would instantly show position and intent. Must be sneaking up to board. Who else is suited up, sergeant?

Kaminski: Horkle.

Helton: Why’s
Horkle
in space armor?

Harbin: He spent years in space with his parents. Got caught borrowing space yachts for joyrides. SOP is to keep a couple of bodies in space armor whenever in conventional, so if bad shit happens fast you have people with a couple hours of air and a weapon to deal. He was the only other option… Not my choice of time or place.
What we can do for weapons?

Helton: Armor we got, weapons, not so much.

Kaushik: One of the containers has light arms, and we have our training ammo.

Harbin gets a devious smile.

Harbin: And, of course, shields and axes.

Helton: Uh, what? And
why
?

Harbin:
Shiny stuff. If they want to board, then we let ’em board. Or at least let them
think
they are about to board unnoticed. Work every angle, have backups. Here’s the plan…

FADE TO

INT -
DAY - Cargo bay, next to opened container of arms

Rifles are being handed out to injured-but-able
soldiers.

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Injured soldiers are positioning themselves around the
middeck windows, which are slightly opened, and checking line of sight for firing down into anyone coming through a side or end airlock door.

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Injured soldiers with guns positioning themselves in rooms along the
A Deck corridors, with doors ajar.

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Three recruits filling magazines from stripper clips. One of them tops off a magazine and hands it to an injured soldier holding a rifle.

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Recruits rapidly armoring up in old fashioned steel armor on the cargo deck, with large scutum-like high-tech composite shield, armed with small axes, short swords at their waists.

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Kaminski and Horkle, wearing
minimal armored space suits, armed with light rifles and fighting knifes, carrying belts full of small equipment pouches, going into an airlock.

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B
ridge

Helton: (
Into mic) OK Stenson, stutter and jack up the engines. Just not so bad we can’t
un
-jack ‘em.

Stenson: (OC) They likely think we
are
already. Here goes.

CUT TO

EXT -
NIGHT - Space, outside the ship

Tajemnica
floats quietly through space, the faint glow of her drives diming more, then flickers out. A much sleeker ship of 30 meters, with a much more even and diffuse shimmer, glides up along the top and extends magnetic grapples, puling itself down atop of
Tajemnica
and seals on.

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INT
- DAY -
Tajemnica
Bridge

Silence
, then creaking, grinding, and banging noises as the other ship comes alongside and latches on. Helton and Kat look around as if to try to see exactly where they are coming from. There is a ringing BANG of explosives on metal, then silence once again.

CUT TO

Cargo deck. Two lines of recruits
with armor and shields stand on the cargo deck near the side airlock doors. Harbin, armored similarly, stands in the middle of one line with them.

Harbin: (Quietly, confidently) If you see them come through the door, throw the first ax at them, then throw again
. Draw your sword and
stand your ground
. All you have to do is throw and stand. You can do it. Breathe in, hold. Breathe out, hold.

M
ore sounds of clanging, banging, and grapnels. Recruits look around nervously.

CUT TO

INT -
DAY - Cabin of intruder

Six men in black light space armor, slim air packs, helmets. Their
tinted visors obscure identities. They carry carbines slung across their chests for ready action, and a variety of weapons on their belts, including grenades, combat knives, ammo pouches, and sidearms. They look professional and disciplined, and there are no obvious insignia anywhere. One person in similar space armor sits at a pilot chair to the front of the cabin, while another stands ready to operate an airlock door. They are stacking up next to the airlock hatch, ready to pour through.

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EXT -
NIGHT – View of the ships

They
float quietly through space, latched together. The smaller ship detaches, moves, and attaches to the side airlock area. As it moves, two space suited figures come up from the end of the
Tajemnica
, jet over to the intruder’s ship, and land lightly on the side near a hatch.

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B
ridge

Helton: (
Into intercom mic) They tried to cut in topside with explosives, didn’t work. Looks like they are moving to starboard side midship hatch. Everyone not on the cargo deck hold positions.

CUT TO

Cargo bay, showing the lines of recruits.

They all turn to face the starboard side hatchway, Harbin front and center in the line. They adjust their grips and weapons and armor a little here, and a little there.

Harbin: Fall back four steps! Give ‘em room!…

The recruits move as instructed.

Harbin: HALT! Now dress and cover! Hold, hold!

The line straightens out, evens up, closes up, and hunkers down, to stand motionless.

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EXT -
NIGHT - Side of the unknown ship

Horkle and Kaminski
hang on the side of the intruder with one hand and magnetic boots. The hatch access pad has a red light glowing. Horkle pulls out a pair of credit card-sized devices with wires between them and slips a card into a slot. He presses a few buttons on the other card, the red light on the pad flickers. More button pushes. The green and yellow lights flicker. All three glow a steady light. They touch helmets to talk by helmet sound conduction.

Horkle: Piece of cake. Air’s out, warning lights off.

Kaminski: OK. Pop it.

CUT TO

INT -
DAY - Cargo bay

INSET - Low angle view of the greave-clad legs of the line of recruits in the cargo bay. Urine runs down an unknown recruit’s leg.

Harbin: (OC, Quiet, firm, confident) Doin’ fine, gents. Stand, throw, throw, draw, and hold. Let them come to you. All you gotta do.

Camera pans upward from the line of Harbin’s recruits
.

In the windows above, a line of rifle muzzles with suppressors covers the hatches from above.

Camera pans back down to show the line of armored recruits.

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EXT - NIGHT - Side of the unknown ship

Horkle, holding onto the handle, shoves the hatch hard, and Kaminski dives through it
, carbine ready.

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INT
- DAY - Cabin of intruder

The six men are stacked at an airlock door, weapons at the ready. A seventh
is positioned to open it.

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Airlock of the intruder

Kaminski stands ready with his carbine in one hand, a grenade in his other, set for a quick toss, facing a door labeled IN. Horkle is rapidly working on the com/access pad with his security override device next to him. The door behind them in the tight confines of the airlock (could fit maybe 4 people max) is labeled OUT, and all three lights on it are lit up. The override that Horkle is working has various lights flicker, then all three light up. He nods to Kaminski, and reaches for the handle.

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Cargo bay

Close-up on Alvarez, a recruit standing right next to Harbin, muttering, like a mantra.

Alvarez
: Throw, throw, draw, hold.

There is the creak of hinges, a
BANG, then more, quieter banging. Nervous looks and minor adjustments and positioning.

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Intruder airlock

Horkle opens the inner airlock door silently with a gentle shove, Kaminski takes in the layout in a flash, tosses the grenade over into the middle of the cluster of men gathered around the airlock on the far side of the cabin, and ducks back to get both hands on the rifle as Horkle closes the hatch. There is a BANG of the grenade and screaming. Horkle shoves the hatch open hard as Kaminski goes through fast followed by Horkle, firing a lot of three-round bursts so fast it sounds almost like full auto fire. Blood, brass, and bullets fly fast and thick, but the intruders go down quickly expecting to be the ones on offense, confused by the grenade blast, and not expecting an attack from
their
rear.

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Cargo bay

Kaminski: (OC, on intercom) Intruder has been secured. Stand down. Threat neutralized. I say again, threat is neutralized. Unload and show clear, make safe your weapons.

Everyone breathes a sigh of relief and
straightens up, relaxing.

Harbin: NOT YOU guys! Stand ready until I say so. (Into throat mic) Harbin to Kaminski, private. Code?

Kaminski: (OC, a speaker into Harbin’s ear) Gold three. I think you should bring Kat and Helton over to take a look at this. It isn’t what we thought.

DISSOLVE
TO

INT - DAY
- Main cabin of intruder’s ship

E
ight violently dead men in lightly armored dark uniform spacesuits, all armed. One of them is lying on his back, showing a badge on his chest, partially covered by his carbine sling. Kat, Kaminski, Harbin, Horkle, and Helton look over the carnage.

Harbin: Intrasystem Customs Enforcement, trying a no-warning boarding.

Helton: Oh
God
what do we do now? We just killed a bunch of our guys.

Kat: Not so much
our guys as government guys.

Kaminski: They
’re pirates, just the kind with badges and formal pay grade.

Helton: GUYS?!
What do we do with them? What will they do with
us
? Kat?

Kat: Not really my specialty, but I’m pretty sure killing law enforcement is a capital offense around here.

Horkle: Oh, just fuckin’ GREAT!

Harbin: They acted like pirates. They get treated like pirates.