The Stars Came Back (11 page)

The knife at his neck
moves slightly away. Camera view pulls back as Helton slowly turns to face Allonia in the narrow passage. In the light of his flashlight aiming at the overhead, he can see she has a lot of dark hair, a pretty round face, 21, about a size 14, not fat and soft, just full figured with curves in all the right places, visible even though she’s dressed in loose fitting, layered clothing. She has a LARGE kitchen knife pointed at him. It does not waver at all.

Helton: Your boy gave me quite a scare.

Allonia: Not mine. Just stays here sometimes. Now, then. You?

Helton: As I said, I won the ship in a card game a few days ago, and I’m here seeing what it was I won.

Allonia: (Mildly sarcastic) Well, lucky you.

Helton: What are
you
doing here?

Allonia: I live here, more or less. Free rent, keep the riffraff away. Safer than town. Heard you come through the alarm.

Helton: Alarm?

Allonia: Screen door.

Helton: Can I put my hands down now?

Allonia pauses
, then pulls out her own flashlight and lights him up. It’s much brighter than his, and he squints his eyes nearly shut in the intense beam. She looks him up and down.

Allonia:
Hmmm… I guess so. You don’t look
too
badass. But I’m still going to check out your paperwork.

Helton: Thanks. Just what every guy wants to hear.

FADE TO BLACK

Background

FADE IN

INT - DAY - Adelaide Spaceport restaurant
& lounge

Helton, Allonia, and Quinn sit at a table with a beverage in front of each (milk for Quinn). A handful of other patrons sit at other tables.

Helton: See, I told you I owned it.

Allonia:
Now what?

Quinn: You two get married, and fly Ship into the sunset.

They both look at Quinn and burst out laughing.

Helton: (
Chuckling) I’m not the prince charming type, I don’t think, and it might be just a little too soon. I mean, I haven’t saved her from a dragon or bad guys or anything yet.

Allonia: Hah, and where’s his space
armor, eh, Quinn?

Quinn: In storage on deck five. What about lunch?

Helton: (Mock seriousness) I think I
can
manage that.

Allonia:
So what do you plan to do?

Helton: I don’t know. I figured it would already be flying, so… (shrug)

Allonia: It’ll cost a lot to get it back in the air.

Helton: You a starship tech?

About this time Quinn starts doing some typical bored boy things like eyeing stuff on the table, rearranging them, and lying on his back in the booth seat with his feet up in the air.

Allonia: No, but that thing has been here since the port was
first built. Before, actually. The port was built here
because
it landed here out of The Deep Black over a hundred years ago.

Helton: Seriously?

Allonia: (Offhand) Seriously, as far as I know. Hasn’t moved since, except getting jacked up to be worked on. When I was his age (nods to Quinn) my grandma said it was a ghost ship. Didn’t believe her, used to get babysat on her, kinda like Quinn. Showed up crewless, landing on autopilot before grandma was born, and had a whole string of owners that all went bust with it. Called it the
Dutchman
back then. I moved in a year or so ago. Quiet. No shore power though. Bills not paid, so it was put into land-lock. Not that it could go anywhere.

As she s
ays this, Helton looks less and less happy.

Helton: Great. Any more good news about my newfound albatross of ancient history?

Allonia: (Shrugs) I’ve heard rumors it’s haunted, that’s why no one wants the buildings next to it. People claim to hear voices on board. Parts of it aren’t accessible; access hatches welded shut, hatches won’t open, things like that. Weird layout, not like any normal Meridian transport I’ve ever seen. Things work pretty well if you hook up portable power to them. So, can I keep living there until you go broke, too?

Helton: Ah, weeeelllll, I guess there is enough room for us both-

Quinn: (OC, from under the table) It’s a good ship. And a
nice
one.

Helton: -for all three of us, until I can get a better idea of what I’m up against. Sure. In exchange for all the help and info you can give me, you have a free room there.

Allonia: Any room I want?

Helton: For now. Why?

Quinn: I get the story room!

Helton: Sure you can. I think. Unless I get it.

Helton mouths to Allonia “Story room?” She shrugs her shoulders and shakes her head in ignorance of the reference.

Allonia: Can I expand the hydroponics section?

Helton looks at her sharply, wondering about the sudden cooperation.

Helton: (
Carefully) There’s a hydroponics section?

Allonia: Sort of. All
kinds of interesting things on board, to be honest.

Helton: If it doesn’t interfere with any other repair work, yes, I suppose.

FADE TO BLACK

Power

F
ADE IN

INT - DAY - Concourse hub information desk

Helton and Allonia stand at the information desk of the spaceport. The same young InfoClerk as before sits at the counter.

InfoClerk
: It was the
Dutchman
? No wonder it wasn’t listed… Well, let me see, power, power… Hmmm… Yes, there is a shore power bill of… That can’t be right…

He looks up at Helton, apologetically.

Helton: That’s OK. I scored a pretty good pile when I won this ship. What’s the damage?

InfoClerk
: It says power can be restored to pad D9 with a payment of 182,000.

Helton: (
Incredulous) I’m sorry, I could have sworn you said “one hundred eighty two thousand.”

InfoClerk
nods sheepishly. Even Allonia is rather surprised at the bill.

Helton takes a deep breath, his
face indicating he’s biting back a rather profane retort. He taps his fingers on the counter for a moment in thought.

Helton: (
Thinking aloud) OK. Assets can come with liabilities. Can’t make it fly if I can’t get it started. It still leaves enough to make some repairs, or at least makes it easier to sell… (louder) OK. Do it. Get the power back on.

Allonia: (
Impressed) You’re richer than I thought you were.

Helton: Not
anymore. Just hope it doesn’t become what Dad called a “major learning experience.”

FADE TO BLACK

F
ADE IN

INT - DAY -
Tajemnica
cargo hold

The hold is pitch black except for the light
from their flashlights and an LED on the wall com panel.

Helton: Let’s see what
I won.

He places his hand on the dimly lit
wall com/security panel and stands in front of it.

Helton: Strom, Helton T, new owner and captain.

The panel lights up and scans his hand and face.

Ship AI: (
Voice is brisk, male, and military sounding) Present certification, please, sir.

Helton holds the title
up to the panel. The lit panel blinks. There is a long pause.

Ship AI:
Please present your eye for scanning, sir.

Helton looks concerned, but
positions his face up near the camera for an eye scan. Another delay.

Ship AI: Cert approved. It’s been a
very
long time, sir. Welcome back aboard, Captain.

Helton: (
Turns to the cargo hold, theatrically, channeling Dr. Frankenstein) “It’s alive! ALIVE!” … (Glances at Allonia) No?

Allonia looks askance at him,
eyebrow raised, like she thinks him strange.

Helton: Oh, sorry. I always wanted to say that. Would you prefer (theatrically) and He said, Let There Be LIGHTS!

Allonia: (Dryly, shaking her head) We want power to go to the lights, Helton. Not your head.

Around the cargo bay display screens
and ceiling-mounted flat-panels slowly come to life. It grows brighter and brighter. Things still appear shabby and worn, with some screens and light-panels still dark, broken, or missing, but no longer scary. The cargo bay looks both cramped and cavernous at the same time. Most of the regularly spaced windows lining the second story to the middeck passageway are open, as are most doors on both sides. They both look up and down the length of it, taking stock.

Helton: Want to give me the tour?

Allonia: (Mock seriousness) Right this way, your majestic heroic-ness.

They walk forward toward the stairs

Allonia: Ever been on a Meridian transport?

Helton: No. Read about them. Feels smaller than it looks from the outside.

Allonia: Simple layout. Main cargo deck here, storage and machinery on either side. Usually they have only one cargo door, this has one at each end with loading ramps and heavy-duty airlock doors. The windows there go to the middeck passageway and rooms. A Deck is above the bay and all the way across. Most of the passenger and crew space is there; some of the doors are locked, a few hatches welded, don’t know what’s in them. Lots of machinery crammed everywhere, between decks, under the decking, outboard, everywhere. Port passageways have a red stripe, starboard have green. By the way-

Quinn goes running by, grabs one of the chains hanging down from a chain
hoist, and swings on it like Tarzan on a vine, laughing like a maniac. Typical boy playing and having fun.

Quinn: Look out! Giant hamsters attacking! Man the railguns and Armadillos!

Helton: (To Allonia) Giant hamsters?

Allonia: (
Shrugging off boy-child weirdness) Yesterday it was Greeks at Marathon-

Quinn: -ATHENIANS!

Allonia: (In exaggerated seriousness) Sorry,
Athenians
at Marathon. Tomorrow it might be mutant whales. He’s a good kid, but where he comes up with this stuff… (shakes head in dismissal.)

Helton nods to Allonia in understanding, and grins watching Quinn swing like a crazy kid, then starts to fol
low her towards one of the side doors.

Faintly
something can be heard over the com system. Similar to static at first, then quickly evolves into an unusual pulsing sound, then becoming recognizable. Steppenwolf’s ”Magic Carpet Ride.”
[Author’s note - go have a listen, read the lyrics. Seriously. It’s perfect. I’ll wait. Done? Continuing, then.]

Music and singing comes through over ship speaker system, LOUD.

Allonia and Helton look at each other wondering what this music IS? Quinn seems to like it, dancing like only an excited five-year-old white boy can.

Helton: (Loudly, addressing the ship) Turn that OFF!

Ship AI: (OC) In a minute, Sir.

Helton and Allonia look at one another in surprise. Helton opens his mouth to start to say something, and the volume drops sharply, but still plays in the background.

Ship AI: (OC) Better, Allonia?

Allonia: Um, yes?

Ship AI: (OC) It’s been a long time since power was hooked up. A celebration seemed called for.

Helton: A celebration?

Ship AI: (OC) Yes. Former crewmen liked that song, and it seemed appropriate. I can play something else if you’d prefer.

Helton: It’s OK, just not quite so loud. It was a surprise.

Ship AI: (OC) Noted.

Allonia: And on that note-

FADE
TO

S
eries of scenes as they tour the ship, song continuing to play in the background. The overall impression is the ship is old and massively overbuilt with thick metal and much reinforcement, cramped, a flexible design but in disrepair. It’s like an old submarine, with lots of obviously airtight and strongly built hatchways, bulkheads, and shutoff valves, and no swooshy slide-away doors. There are some clearly mismatched styles where the original design had been modified numerous times with whatever was available, and ugly-but-functional bulkhead-mounted equipment partially hidden by decorative walls that have since been altered. Color schemes seem to vary randomly at different points in the ship. Many wall-mounted screens, which double as lights, are clearly old, broken, or missing, (screens are all one of four standard sizes so they can be moved where needed) so lighting is usable but uneven. Each room has a small communication panel near the door. There are a handful of places where Allonia has cleaned up because she uses them.