The Stars Came Back (23 page)

INT - NIGHT - Middeck passageway

Kaminski and Kaushik
stand together in fatigues, talking.

Kaushik: OK by me, but if you plan on using Company guns and ammo, better run it by Kat or L
ag. Shouldn’t be a problem, but…

CUT TO

INT -
DAY - Lag’s cabin

Lag is at his desk,
Kaminski at position of at ease in front of him. Lag continues to clean the disassembled pistol on the desk in front of him while they talk.

Lag: (
Skeptical) So you want to use Company material to teach a civilian to shoot?

Kaminski:
Yes, sir. She’s nearly one of the Company, and-

Lag: “Nearly?” But you know
we don’t normally send women into front-line combat, Corporal.

Kaminski: But, uh, Sir, you said-

Lag: Make your case.

Kaminski: She
’s always around here-

Lag: (
Quietly, firmly) Properly, now. Atten-
shun
.

Kaminski snaps to attention, face going expressionless. Lag watches him organize his thoughts. Lag runs a patch through the barrel. After
a short pause, he waves for Kaminski to continue. Speaking crisply from attention, as if standing before a promotion board answering questions, Kaminski makes his case.

Kaminski: Sir. We should train field support personnel, including women, to fight so they can defend themselves and will not require a security detachment when we are not present. As she is part of the ship’s crew that has drawn attention, she may be targeted, and it would be a weakness that should be remedied. Proper training will also allow her to knowledgeably watch for any unsafe weapons handling among the recruits should the
y try to impress her with it, to report to myself or the Sergeants. It will set an example for the recruits that we demand high standards from everyone, that we are not just beating them up for fun. I will cover the ammo cost, and I will of course pursue training in my off-duty hours, so it will be cost-effective for the Company. I am not contemplating full front-line combat training at the current time, just basic weapons training and self-defense, so the time needed will be modest. She is already getting flight and flight-combat training in simulator mode from the ship. Sir.

Lag: …And…?

Kaminski: And she thought it would set a good example for Quinn, who is fascinated by all things weapon-like, of course.

Lag: …And… she being an attractive young lady has nothing to do with it?

Kaminski: She is, and it does, Sir. But it has nothing to do with convincing
you
.

Lag: (
Chuckling) Indeed. Good distinction. Case made. Just see that it doesn’t interfere with normal operations, right?

Kaminski: Yes, Sir. Thank you. Question,
Sir?

Lag: At ease.

Kaminski: About not sending women in combat…

Lag: Yes?

Kaminski: I thought we
did
train them for combat.

Lag:
Self-defense and an array of support operations, yes. But not as infantry to send into the front line. Exceptions have been made for exceptional individuals or conditions. You are right, sometimes the hell of war comes knocking on the door without us going anywhere, and it would be pretty short sighted to not have them be as ready as practical. Occasionally they are the best person for a front-line job. But the few that are physically capable are too sensitive, and most that could handle the psychological hell are not bodily capable, or are mentally unfit in other ways. They can make excellent soldiers in some places, but for most it would be a waste to send them to the front if we didn’t have to. One day we might need every hand that can so much as lift a sword. Your answer was spot on. It’s good to train good people in useful skills, regardless of plumbing. Dismissed.

Kaminski salutes, about-faces, and heads out the door.

FADE TO BLACK

Bipasha

FADE IN

INT -
DAY - Spaceport lounge on Adelaide

Close
-up of Bipasha as she sits at a table, talking to someone off camera.

Bipasha: So, I told him ‘
Uncle, I need to go more places, make more decisions for myself, not just get ordered around by you!’… I thought I’d visit every aunt, uncle, cousin, and in-law I could track down. You were always my favorite, and thanks to Aunt Mohini I knew you were here.

Someone: (
Indistinct, OC) Hmmmmm…

Bipasha: Surely you must know
someone who’s looking for a business manager, not just a drone?

Camera pulls back to reveal Harbin in camo
fatigues sitting across from her.

Harbin: Only one, right now.

Bipasha: Great! What sort of business?

Harbin: Go
od question. It’s sort of vague. He needs someone to help get the details together. He’s smart and has big ideas, but not very organized.

Bipasha: Oh, sounds wonderful! (
Suddenly very suspicious) Accounting issues?

Harbin: Some. Mostly because he’s
too honest.

Bipasha:
Too
Honest? Ha! I’d like to meet the man that fits
that
description!

Harbin: Ah. Here he comes now.

Camera pulls wider angle as Helton steps up behind Bipasha, and she turns and sees him.

Harbin: Bipasha, this is Helton, Helton, Bipasha. He’s the owner of the starship I was
…

Harbin stops talking as the
two look at one another, Bipasha’s mouth open in surprise, Helton with a pleasant smile of recognition.

Harbin: I take it you know one another?

Helton takes a seat and waves the waiter over, as Bipasha gapes at him.

Helton: Yes, a little bit. We met shortly before I met you, and again a couple weeks ago. (
To the waiter) Iced tea, please.

Bipasha
stars at him in disbelief, mouth moving wordlessly.

Helton: (
Exaggerated puzzlement) For some strange reason she never quite believes me. (To Bipasha) For example, Harbin and I saved each other’s lives less than two months ago, after our ship got hit by pirates.

Bipasha: PREPOSTEROUS! Of all the egotistical, vapor-minded, ludicrous things to claim, a man like you saving First Sergeant Harbin Reel from pirates is a sure sign of being utterly, stark, raving-

Helton: I planned the escape and rescue and piloted, he played Rock-Rifle-Scissors with the bad guys.

Harbin: (
Dryly) I wasn’t playing, and I’m not sure how you can call that piloting.

Helton: (
Mock defensiveness) Hey, I’d just survived being shot with a grenade after a trek through the desert, what do you expect?

Bipasha: …
Wait, you mean, you did? (To Harbin, incredulous) HE DID?

Harbin: Ahem. We
did
have a bit of an altercation with some locals, yes. But the topic at hand. He owns a starship, which
may
soon be flying, and his business plans are… in need of work.

Bipasha
just stares at them, at a loss for words.

Helton: Ummm… Are you telling me I might be offering her a job?

Harbin stares back, an ironic smile implying “you heard me.”

Helton: Weeeeelllll, I guess I am. Can’t say what the pay would be, or the working conditions… or duties, or location, or budget, or much else, as I just found out that the open was positioning, I mean, the position was opening…

Bipasha: …I think I’ll need to know a bit more.

Helton: Me too.

DISSOLVE TO

EXT - DAY - Pad D9

View of ship, now
cleaned up, its eight landing struts extended to the mostly flat ground underneath. Bow and side ramps are open. SGT Kaushik is jogging past with the current two dozen recruits who are wearing camo and carrying 3mx20cm tubes over their heads like logs, three recruits per tube. Bipasha and Helton look at the ship.

Bipasha
: So, this is your infamous starship.

Helton: Yup. Beautiful, isn’t she?

Bipasha: If you say so. Is she built for cargo, or passengers?

Helto
n: Yes! That’s the beauty of it; I can carry both! She’s got berths for more than a hundred passengers, and almost two thousand cubic meters of cargo space!

Bipasha: But that means that you have to be running
both
cargo
and
passengers, or you are running half empty. Very inefficient.

Helton: But some passengers
have cargo to take with them.

Bipasha: Yes, a few. But you’ll be competing against liners specializing in
just
people, or semi-automated freighters that cheaply carry JUST cargo.

Helton: OK, maybe so, but
we
can offer better protection!
This
thing is armored!

Bipasha: Armored? You
must be joking. Tonnage?

Helton:
Twenty thousand.

Bipasha: Twe… So, not only do you not have a lot of cargo space, you
are carting around thousands of tons of useless metal?

Helton: Do you always look at the down side of things?

Bipasha: You bring it out in me… I think we’d better take a look inside, see what the accommodations are like.

DISSOLVE TO

INT -
NIGHT - Officers’ Mess aboard the ship

Bipasha sits alone at the end of the table, not looking very happy. Helton walks in
with a glum expression. He carries a laden tray, from which he hands her a steaming bowl and mug before setting his own down two places away. He sits, the half-full tray on the table between them.

INSET - The bowl in front of Bipasha is wide and shallow, with a wonderful layout of rice and brilliantly colored meat and veggies and a trio of round balls, all covered with a thick sauce, with steam rising. It looks both elegantly presented and delicious.

Bipasha looks at it in surprise, then at Helton. She leans forward and inhales carefully, eyes closed, and a smile grows on her face. She takes the proffered fork and takes a bite, savoring it.

Bipasha: Oh, this is
excellent
!

Harbin: Kwon
is
good, he figured you’d like the lamb etouffee with matzo balls. We have that going for us.

Bipasha: That’s
one thing.
Just
one. (Takes another bite) Wow. He should open a restaurant.

Helton: Surely there is-

Bipasha shakes her head, cutting him off.

Bipasha: Uncle Harbin said you needed help with your business, and I can see why.

Helton: I didn’t know I was running a business.

Bipasha: Exactly! You have lots of ideas-

Helton: Hey, my ideas are good!

Bipasha: The
ideas are OK, but the numbers aren’t. Just running some estimates in my head, looking at what you have shown me so far, it won’t work.

Helton: (
Defensively) What do you mean,
won’t work
?

Bipasha: Your passenger accommodations are fit only for troops or indigent refugees. Your cargo space is limited
and you have no automated cargo handling, it doesn’t fit standard container sizes, and it’s not set up for bulk cargo. Your engines are old and inefficient, even if you can get them working. You are carting around more extra mass than any other ship with ten times the cubes. The numbers don’t work.

Helton: But there must be some way-

Bipasha: For cargo, you’d have to charge much more than the going tonnage rate just for fuel,
and
you’d need handlers. For passengers, they’d have to be pretty desperate to want to space on this beast-

Helton: (
Defensively) HEY!

Bipasha: -e
ven if the food is great… Can Kwon do this in deep space?

Helton: I don’t know. I assume so. Why, what difference does space make in cooking?

Bipasha:… Of course it makes a difference! There isn’t fresh stuff from the corner market when you are two weeks out on the three week trip.

Helton: Oh. Yeah. Right.

Bipasha: Is the galley set up for fresh only, prep-packs, T-rats, dry bulk scratch, or what?

Helton:
(Frowning, looking thoughtful) I… don’t know, exactly.

Bipasha: (
Suspiciously) Is your water system tankage, full recycle, hybrid, or shore supply only?