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Enigma
6
By: Nathaniel Payne
Int. Aboard the Vera Skylark Chris lies in his bed silently thinking about the recent events while Kira lies across his chest sound asleep.
Flashback
to him meditating
I wonder what that was? Something
is odd with that vision…I can’t place my finger on it…too vivid, too real…I
could feel the wind from under his blade.
I wonder if Fiona can hear my heart beating in her dreams? I hope she does. If she can hear it I wonder what my heart sounds like to her. Does it play like a light melody, or a dull thump that I hear; or does it brood, foreboding, and hang over her dreams like the song of a death march? No, it would be beautiful, because it would be for her…
So beautiful…my Fiona…
Looks
up
Hey, are we there yet?
I could feel you change the way you were breathing; I think it kinda woke me up from my dream. It's sort of a funny coincidence to be looking up at you here too.
I was just wondering if we had
passed through the wormhole myself. Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you; maybe I
held my breath a little longer as I lay there watching you sleep. I could see
your eyelids move, you went a little flush. I was going to kiss you awake,
sleeping beauty, but I held my breath and decided against it.
How did you meditation go last
night; you were gone so long…I barely remember using you as my new pillow once
you crawled into bed.
Well, I think it went fine.
Sitting there for hours just thinking…watching the smoke rise into the air like
strings of thought…you end up thinking about everything, and then you forget,
and you think of nothing—listen…I think I saw something.
What?
I saw a young man-well just an
awkward glimpse of his face really. We were fighting with ken…I killed him as
he was headed for me to cut me down…and for some reason I knew I shouldn’t
have…I just stood there afterward my blade dripping his blood…but it wasn’t
his…it was mine.
What do you suppose it means?
That’s what I’ve been up all
night trying to figure out. I don’t know.
Ah, I see…when were you going to tell me that I was also in there as well, watching you? Or were you ever going to tell me that?
What?
When were you going to tell me that as soon as you killed him, the blood still fresh on your sword, that I cried, and I cried for him while, everyone watched in horror and amazement?
Wha?! How could you have known
what happened? I haven’t even had a chance to tell anyone besides what I just
told you what happened to me last night?
You didn’t have to…I dreamed for
myself, here, tonight…that’s why when I awoke because of your shallow breathing
I thought that you knew I had not slept well. I don’t know what this means or
what’s going on, but Chris I am very afraid of what may come.
Over the Intercom Sabrina’s voice is heard.
Chris? Kira?
We’re here, what’s up Sabrina?
Come quickly…we are now
decelerating and are approaching Xylian space. Our sensors and scanners are
reading the area and we don’t see or detect any vessels of any kind in space.
We should pull within range to launch and go landside in a few hours if all is
clear.
Okay, we’ll be there soon.
Ready?
Sniffles
Yeah, I’m ready. The sooner we forget this the better. Let’s go.
Int. in a meeting room aboard the Red Sun star cruiser, River, Jan-Ivar, Jeremi and Lotus all discuss strategy.
The Vera Skylark has cleared the
wormhole. The crew has set off a string of depth charges inside, and so far it
seems to be holding up. The wormhole should remain open long enough to allow us
to pass through.
Good, very good, what else?
Within 52 hours the ships filled
with drones will be fully loaded and begin leaving the Martian orbit. All other
ships carrying troops are following at a casual but discrete distance. The
colonies will not be agitated.
I think we should keep a close
eye on the crew of the Vera Skylark, we cannot risk them doing anything rash
that jeopardizes our cover…all things considered…
Yes, go on…
Our stealth right now is our only
ace; if the crew blows it…then all we have are pure numbers. Those aren’t the
best of odds.
Don’t you think we are
overestimating them a bit? After all, they can’t even fly the ship for Earth’s
sake!
I assume you saw the vid, right
Lotus?
…Yes…
Then you realize how easily they
took apart the drones…like butter-not to mention the scars they gave us.
I see, so now we simply just use
more of the same tactics that lost the first time?
Angry
Hmmm…
Amused
Lotus, in combat you utilize all advantages given to you. We know these individuals poses great power, which simply cannot be contained by a few androids, so the only advantage we will have when it matters are numbers.
Sighs
The element of surprise will be gone once they realize we are here.
And how will they figure that out?
Jan-Ivar
Their crew is planning to kill them. And without sufficient arms to battle a lot of needless blood will be spilt.
Lotus
You think that they’d kill all the crewmen?
Jan-Ivar
Shakes his head
No, they’ll leave enough alive to run the ship if they’re smart.
Jeremi
So the only thing we can do is wait it out. Once we see and track where they land, we can then take the necessary action to capture or kill them as it may be.
Lotus
In disbelief
But it all seems so fragile…are you sure this plan is smart?
Jan-Ivar
Have you a better suggestion?
Lotus
No,
Jeremi
Then River, I saw we maintain our vigilance and wait our enemy out. We have the superior numbers and technology, let us play this cautiously because we don’t know how strong they actually are.
Stands
Many a battle has been lost due to impatience, second-guesses and counter measures.
Lotus
But, but…it all seems to be teetering on the back of one too many ‘ifs’—what if this doesn’t work River, then what?
Jan-Ivar
We look at what went wrong and give it another go.
Lotus
Furious
HAAAA!!
Slams fist on table
River
Chuckles
Raises hand for silence
Jan is right, for now we shall remain patient, vigilant, and wait—revenge is a dish best served cold, our meal is only just out of the oven.
Lotus
Shocked
River!!
River
If, however, our current plan turns out to not be what we need, we will indeed look for a swift course of action.
Looks to Jeremi
We will wait two weeks,
Jeremi
You can’t be Serious!
River
Looks to Lotus
In the meantime, Lotus, come up with a counter measure that may be in acted immediately.
Closes his eyes
Clasps his hands
We are finished.
Exits.
Jan-Ivar
Confused
Was he serious?
Jeremi
Sighs
‘fraid so,
Int. Strategy room aboard the Vera Skylark. Sabrina details the
plans to go landside to the others.
Sabrina
After the data returned negative as to whether or not this moon had any starships in the vicinity we quickly surmised this place not a threat.
Anthony
So then what are we waiting for? We should be able to land our pods away from major metropolitan areas.
Adreanna
Thinking
Something’s odd…
Sabrina
Further scans have revealed that the world is at least as technologically advanced as we…these people-my people are not primitive by any means.
Derek
In which case means that they already know that we’re here. Hopefully they’ll realize that our pods are not a threat.
Kira
So then what do we do? We can’t very well stay here.
Sabrina
Shakes her head
No, you’re right. We were considering aiming our pods for a small village just east of the capital city.
Chris
Why?
Adreanna
Because if we land in the east, we will catch all of the light of the sun and look like nothing more than shooting stars to most people.
Derek
That will give us anonymity for a short time. Whether or not that will matter remains to be seen. We won’t fully be known about, at least not for a while.
Sabrina
Looks away uncomfortably
Adreanna
Looking at Sabrina
They already know!
Anthony, Chris, Kira
Confused/surprised
What?
Adreanna
Sabrina knows no matter what we’ll be doing to try to go unnoticed they’ll know who we are. And from the looks of everything, I don’t think it would be too much to suggest that they’ve been expecting us.
Sabrina
Nods
That is why we must seek out the village in the east. It is closest to the capital city, there is where we must travel first.
Kira
Why would you hide this from us Sabrina when you have already shared so much with us. Unless Pamona forbade you to tell us of any goings on.
Sabrina
She told me not to tell you until the last minute. She thought you would have a hard time believing the best way would be to go to the heart of the capital city. You were not allowed to know. But I didn’t agree, I was afraid you would think I was trying to betray you because I am one of them…
Chris
You are one of us, you are a seeker, we know you do what you do because you must, because questions can cost lives…we have already entrusted our lives to you many times—trust us now.
Anthony
What did Pamona tell you about them…the ones who are looking for us?
Sabrina
Looks up tears in her eyes
They will help us.
Meanwhile The Crew of the Vera Skylark sets up their plans to kill the seekers.
Pilot 1
Pointing
You four to the launch bay, and you eight, you follow the others to their quarters and spread yourselves out evenly.
Crewmen
Yessir!
Pilot 2
To pilot 1
Me an’ three others will stay on the bridge to keep the ship smooth. All of those who aren’t with us are locked in main engineering. They should be safe if something goes wrong.
Young man
Worried
You sure we can pull this off sir?
Pilot 1
You have a wife and daughter back on Mars, don’t you son?
Young man
Yessir!
Pilot 1
mm-hmm…the platinum you’ll earn here will be more than you’ll earn in your entire career! Isn’t your family worth a sacrifice that pays that well?
Young man
Of course sir!
Pilot 1
Throws a purse of gold to the young man
This is for your wife; buy here a pretty dress when you get home. There’s a lot more to come—now get to the launch bay!
Young man
Y-Yessir, thank you sir!
Exits
Older man
What about the rest of us?
Pilot 2
You five go to the quarters as well, we want three to a room—and men…
Older man
Yes sir?
Pilot 2
Use your weapons wisely.
Older man
Yessir, thank you sir.
Exit
Back inside of the meeting with the seekers they quickly conclude
Chris
Fine. Let’s go. We don’t have time to sit around here…we need to be gone—there’s something waiting down there for us.
Anthony
Let’s meet at the launch bay after we grab the final essence and our weapons from our quarters. Everyone grab the bare essentials, if you have to go potty, do it! On the road, we don’t make pit stops!
Adreanna
Dummy, we don’t use the toilet anymore.
Anthony
Embarrassed
Oh yeah, huh! Hehehe…sorry just a habit I guess.
Chris
Laughs
It’s okay, it’s the same reason we still eat or drink food even though we don’t need to, we still have a few billion years to get used to it.
They all exit.
Fight/Action sequences Adreanna walks to her quarters
Adreanna
Is stopped by 3 crewmen
What is the meaning of this?
Crewman 1
Sorry Adreanna, we can’t let you pass. It seems the bounty on your head is quite high, and we’re all family men. I’m sorry…
Adreanna
Not yet you aren’t, save that for when you realize your children will have no father.
Stands in a fight stance
Crewman 1
Enough, get her!
Crewman 2
Swings his lead pipe at her
Adreanna
Grabs his hand and bends it the opposite way breaking
his arm
She finishes with a heel kick to his throat
With a side kick she stops crewman 3 who’s behind her
Quickly she snaps his neck
Looks to crewman 1
I told you you’d be sorry.
Crewman 1
Fearful screaming
Wha…what the hell are you?!
Adreanna
Using gravity she picks up crewman 1 and throws his against the wall
Crewman 1
Bleeding profusely
P-P-please…
Adreanna
Gravity is getting dense here isn’t it?
She uses her power of gravity to open his head like a piñata
I told you—
Fight/Action sequences Derek walks inside his quarters
Derek
Surprised
For the bounty I see-
Crewman 1
You and your friends are quite popular, you must understand…
Derek
Oh, I understand…but if there must be bloodshed, I’d much rather it be yours.
Crewman 1
Finish him.
Crewmen 2&3
Attack him together
Derek
Kicks crewman 2 in the head knocking him down
Jumping he lands on crewman 2 breaking his breastbone
with a loud crack
Grabbing his sword from near by he plunges it through
the top of crewman 3’s skull
Seeing crewman 1 Derek grabs him and shoves his head through the aquarium using the water to suffocate him
Fight/Action sequences Sabrina walks to her quarters
Crewman 1
Hello Sabrina,
Sabrina
Oh, shit…here we go
She attacks crewman 1 breaking his leg instantly
bending it in an awkward way
Reaching for a dagger in her boots she slits his
throat
Turning she catches crewman 2 with her dagger as she
throws it, the knife in his neck
She takes her naginata from the room and slices crewman 3 before piercing him to the wall
Fight/Action sequences Anthony walks to his quarters
Anthony
What do you want?
Crewman 1
There’s a large bounty on your head, and my family can barely survive…we need that platinum I’m afraid.
Anthony
smirks
How’s about I burn you a second hole where the sun don’t shine first?
Crewman 1
As you wish. Get him.
Anthony
He heel kicks crewman 2 into the wall
Quickly he forces the nose into crewman 2’s brain
Grabbing his sword he chops the head off of crewman 3
Crewman 1
Crawling away
Anthony
Hey! I’m not done with you!
Crewman 1
N-n-no don’t, please
Anthony
I hope you don’t think I was kidding about that second hole! Come on, be a good sport! You’re already bending over, how’s about saying—
Throws an arch of fire at crewman 1
Crewman 1
Screaming
AAAhhhh!!!
He burns to death
Anthony
Not bad.
Fight/Action sequences Chris and Kira walk to their quarters
Chris
You go on and get the final essence from our quarters, I will go down to the launch bay to make sure the pods are all set up.
Kira
You sure?
Chris
Touches her cheek
Yeah, I’m sure, it doesn’t take the both of us to get the last essence.
Exits
Crewman 1
Stop right there miss.
Kira
What do you want? We are in a rush.
Crewman 1
Sorry Kira, we can’t let you go—you see, we here need that money that is your bounty to feed our families.
Kira
And you are certain this is the only way?
Crewman 1
Yes, I’m afraid so.
Kira
Well then, I see no one has ever taught you the rules of engaging with an enemy.
Crewman 1
Rules? What rules?
Kira
Uses a gust of wind to blind crewman 2
If a man can’t see,
Sweeping crewman 2 she drives the heel of her boot into his forehead with a loud thud
He can’t fight.
Kicking crewman 3 so that he flips and lands on his stomach she jumps onto his spine severing it
If a man can’t walk
She grabs crewman 3’s neck and turns it all the way around
He can’t fight…
Grabbing Crewman 1 by the throat she holds him against the door
And if he can’t breathe…
She rips out his Adam’s apple
He sure as hell can’t fight…
Chris walks into the launch bay and quickly surveys the scene.
Chris
What are you all doing here?
Young Man
There’s a bounty on your heads…we need the money.
Chris
Who put you up to this?
Young Man
River Johns, sir.
Chris
Close in on his furious eyes
Whispering to himself
River…the eight of you will die because of one man…I will kill him!
Chris takes his katana and uses his speed to go
through them like butter lines of blood follow his strokes
The 1st he slices across his body from
shoulder to waist
The 2nd from the rib cage to the opposite
shoulder
3rd loses his head
4th is sliced blade up from groin to
shoulder
5th he slices blade down from forehead to
groin
6th and 7th he slices across their bellies
he grabs the young man and holds him
Where are the others?
Young Man
T-They’re locked in engineering sir.
Chris
Face covered in blood
He grimaces
Free them!!
Young Man
Y-Y-Yessir!
Runs off
The other seekers enter the launch bay covered in blood as well.
Anthony
surprised
Holy shit!
Chris
The pods are fine, let’s launch.
Sabrina
The pods already have our flight pattern encoded, Pamona showed me how.
Chris
I don’t care, let’s just get the hell out of here.
He boards a pod with Kira and Anthony
Adreanna
Sits behind Derek and Sabrina
We are opening the launch door.
Launch door opens the dead bodies fly out
The two pods fly heading toward the moon.
END OF ENIGMA VOLUME.
