Scene 1: The
Loading Dock
Narrator:
The
station in orbit over Peg-51 glittered like an oasis when the crew
from the Tong Dizhou
finally saw it. The three small Vencume ships that had towed the
freighter released their lines and let the Shipping Authority tugs
take over. The excitement was palatable as the wreckage
was coaxed into port.
On the inner rings, there was little centrifugal
force, thus making the loading and unloading of shipping containers that
much easier. For
a crew used to the pull of spin, however, the process was always a
little more complicated and they clumsily attached themselves to the
guide-lines out of the ship.
Evie was out of her walker and walking in heavily padded boots. The goggle-mask she had worn had been removed—-the skull had set correctly—-and she now wore dark glasses to protect new, pale blue eyes. For all her misadventure, she looked no worse than any other traveler—-save two tiny, dot-like scars at the outer edges of her eyes, and a head of short, shock-white hair. She had no trouble at all and moved as gracefully as the portmen that manned the inner ring.
BECCA:
I'm glad you decided to come with us.
Evie:
Should arouse less suspicion. We're still missing Gordon and
there will be questions enough about that.
Captain Wainwright:
Gaines, I need you to go to the salvagers and get the ship
ready to broken down.
Stella:
Oh! David, scrap the ship?
CAPTAIN WAINWRIGHT:
You've seen the damage. It's going to cost too much to
repair it. We might as well just start over.
Judith:
We'll still have credit with the Shipping Authority for the
field and snapback, so it's not like we're starting all over again.
Max:
It's just a drop at that point, right?
Stella:
I suppose. We'll have to let the family know.
Franz:
Hardly a problem for a Trechantiris.
STELLA:
Just because we make the ships doesn't mean we can magic one
out of thin air.
Judith:
We still have to handle the paper-work.
Stella:
Oh, what a nuisance. And I need to go reserve our short-stay
quarters. Jason and the Qui
Fa Zu won't arrive for another ten days.
Franz:
Don't worry about me. I'm going grass-side.
Judith:
Get some dwell-time with family?
NARRATOR:
The crew had made it to the lift now. Evie floated in, upside
down. Her topsy-turvey grin floated centimeters from Becca's.
CAPTAIN WAINWRIGHT:
Gaines...Right-side up. Stop showing off.
EVIE:
Sorry, sir.
Franz:
Well, that, and I think I'm done with the spacing game.
STELLA:
You're quitting? I thought that--
Franz:
I got what I came for: a well-padded account, a collection of
stories, and a knee that will hurt before it rains. No, I'm done.
Evie:
Look, I'm sorry that--
Franz:
It's not your fault, girlie. I'm just done. I'm going down to
the dome and the pull and my involvement from now on will be adding "yours
sincerely" at the bottom of a burst.
Narrator:
The lift was coming to the end of its downward journey into pull.
SOUND: lift opens
Captain Wainwright:
There's just one last order of business.
Franz:
Final inventory?
SOUND: the captain pulls in franz for a hug and slaps him
heartily on the back
Captain Wainwright:
Stay safe, that's an order.
Franz:
Aye aye, Captain.
Max:
(watching him leave)
There goes one short, furry man.
Judith:
Is that the nicest thing you can say? Not everyone can come
from a paradise planet like yours.
Max:
Cancri-55 isn't paradise. It rains all the time and smells
like fish.
Stella:
How many rooms am I reserving? Rebecca, you're still coming,
yes?
BECCA:
Well, my choices are being holed up in a dome or holed up on
the station. The inhabited area of the planet has just entered its winter
season so
I
might as well save myself the shuttle fare.
Paul:
There's still excitement here: the loading docks... the
trading floor.
BECCA:
I've been here before. This is not what I would call an
exciting place. Not like the other stations.
Paul:
What, a rotating population of three-thousand not
cosmopolitan enough?
Evie:
It is kinda dinky.
Judith:
But it's human.
Evie:
Yeah. It is that.
Captain Wainwright:
Are you going to go to the salvagers' or not?
Evie:
Aye! Yes, sir.
Becca:
I'll go with her. (quietly) Just to...
Captain Wainwright:
...Monitor the situation, yes.
Scene 2: the
Salvagers
Salvager:
Engines good...Hull was bad; you had what, seven holes in
that thing? Nice patch-job, by the way, but not something I'd hang my life on.
Mmm...sensors mostly good; looks
like you guys took a real beating. Oh. Where'd you get that cooking
thingamabopper in the galley?
Evie:
I made it.
Salvager:
You should patent it.
Evie:
So I've been told.
Salvager:
Your comm system's still in good shape. I bet we can adapt
that for one of the schools grass-side.
Becca:
Using a ship's comm system?
Salvager:
You've got twelve comms and a hubber. That's a whole
classroom right there.
Evie:
Cheaper than shipping out a new system specially made. You're
forgetting how far out this is, Becca.
Salvager:
It's not that far.
Just can't produce like the others. Too cold.
Evie:
Historical significance be damned.
Salvager:
This is where they met the Vencume first time, see? Where the
portmen met them and got the borrowed-time field.
Evie:
It's a minor point of trade between us and the Vencume. Most
of the stuff that goes to the others is meant for them, not us. Not so, here.
Salvager:
This is where they found the squiddies and turned back. Not even the Vencume seem to remember that. This is where it all started.
Evie:
And, like any eldest child, was swiftly forgotten when
something brighter came dancing onto the scene.
Salvager:
(hurumphs) What happened to that engine control room? We found some blood.
Evie:
Ship's cat. Poor Jones didn't make it out when the thing depressurized.
Salvager:
No cat listed on the manifest.
Evie:
Bastard snuck on when we were loading. Didn't even know it was there until we were twelve days out. It's true; black cats are bad luck.
Salvager:
I can't stand the sneaky things. (spits) They get into everything.
Becca:
(internal)
Evie's clenching her jaw again. She'll
wear her teeth down at this rate.
Evie:
Excuse me....
Salvager:
Some people can't handle the spin here. New folks always want to hurl when the planet first comes into view.
Becca:
I imagine so. I better go check on her.
Scene 3:
Washroom
Narrator:
Evie had rushed to a washroom to splash cold water on her face. Becca found her standing in front of a mirror, without her dark glasses, massaging her wet cheeks.
BECCA:
A cat? You think a cat is going to explain that? What kind of silly lie is that?
Evie:
What was I supposed to say? Sorry, bud, that's my blood. Let me know if you find any teeth or a finger when you're cleaning it out.
BECCA:
Why not say you had cut yourself or it was some injury you got when— (internal) No, of course she can't say it was one of her injuries. Not with those scarless arms.
EVIE:
No one will question a cat. A cat's just a cat. Why bother running tests on it? They'll just clean it out.
BECCA:
I thought the girls got everything when you went over there with them...When you went to evaluate the wreckage with the twins and designers.
Evie:
Ulan and Uma went in for the bulky stuff. They get off on that kind of thing. I'm sure they were tickled pink for a chance to be in Mommy's arms. (laughs, but it's almost a gag) They cleaned it, but we should have at least run a hose through. Someone's going to find something: some rotting tongue or a smeared eye. I'm not ready for questions like that. I want to forget about it, not relive the whole affair when the Shipping Authority starts poking around.
BECCA:
You're clenching your jaw again. We're going to have to get you a bite-guard if you keep this up. No wonder you have headaches.
Evie:
Max should be doing this. He's marrying into the family. He should be handling their affairs.
BECCA:
Captain trusts you.
Evie:
He should trust his own son-in-law to get a fair deal. I can't do this.
BECCA:
You've scrapped a ship before. You know how it's done. Anyway, you didn't take him with you to check the wreckage, why should he help you scrap it?
Evie:
Max should be here to see how it's done. I'm too nervous to do this right. I feel like they're staring at me. I know they are. Let's get out of here. I want to dye my hair.
BECCA:
What about the salvagers?
Evie:
No one has signed off on anything. It's just haggling for money at this point. Let Wainwrights and Wainwrights-to-be handle that part.
Scene 4:
Short-stay Quarters
NARRATOR:
Stella and Judith were sitting at a table in the short-stay
quarters, going over pads of forms. Becca and Evie came in, after Becca helped
Evie dye her hair a dull black.
Stella:
Oh, Evelyn, you look lovely...You can hardly tell. It looks like you just got a hair-cut.
Judith:
That looks good. How are the eyes?
Evie:
Still blue...I'm sure they'll darken over time.
STELLA:
It looks like we might actually come out OK on this one. Profit from this run puts us well into the black.
Judith:
The
Queue...uh...I mean, the Shipping Authority...
Stella:
They aren't here. Just speak freely.
Judith:
Well, they were very understanding. There's been an alert put out to all ships on the route. I guess the Vencume will have an ally in that fight.
STELLA:
Oh! and we've all been asked to go down there. The Authority wants everyone to get their chips updated.
JUDITH:
There's some kind of new requirement.
Evie:
(nervously) What kind of update?
JUDITH:
I have no idea. It's just a few questions. Most likely something to do with the Tzikzik. All the ships coming in have to be retrofitted with a new refrigeration unit as well.
BECCA:
(internal)
She's clenching her jaw again. Does she have to look so nervous?
Evie:
What kind of refrigeration unit? We already have those. I've never been on a ship that didn't have a refrigeration unit.
BECCA:
Evie, don't scratch your hand like that. You're going to--
JUDITH:
The Vencume already saw to your chip. No one has mentioned what happened with you to anyone. We said you were holed up in the wreckage until it was recovered.
STELLA:
We aren't going to tell anyone about what happened to you. We know you don't want to be studied or have to relive it.
Evie:
What about Franz? He quit the business kinda suddenly, don't you think? Now he's going to settle down and retire. You don't think he might have sold someone some information?
STELLA:
I don't think that Franz is the type to—
EVIE:
How do you know?
BECCA:
Evie, you're still scratching your hand. You're going to
worry your palm open if you keep up like that.
EVIE:
We don't know what's going on in his head. Why wouldn't he say something? Or do you not remember how he pointed out how much people would pay for that kind of technology?
STELLA:
I'm sure there's a perfectly reasonable explanation.
EVIE:
The collective noun for coincidences is conspiracy. Something about it is not right.
BECCA:
The chip worked so far with the
salvagers, so there shouldn't be any issue at the Queue.
STELLA:
And your new hair, ah, you look your old self.
EVIE:
With bright blue eyes? How about now? Is that my old self? How's that?
BECCA:
Why don't you go lie down? You're getting worked up over nothing. I'll give you something for your jaw.
EVIE:
I have something! I'll be next door.
SOUND: Evie leaving the room
Stella:
I suppose we're a reminder of...what happened....
JUDITH:
Have the Vencume found Gordon yet?
BECCA:
I guess he's still running around on there. I'm sure he'll turn up. They'll return him to the Shipping Authority once he turns up. The Vencume seemed terribly interested in locating him once the captain told them about...the lifeboat.
STELLA:
He
should be in jail...after what he put
Evelyn through.
BECCA:
Yeah... (internal)He'd probably prefer a cell, after what Evie did to him.
JUDITH:
We only had him on board because of some lawyer-friend's--
STELLA:
It was a family favor. There's another reason for you to go
home for a while. You need to learn a little about politics.
JUDITH:
Mom...who cares about politics on a ship?
STELLA:
You'll learn to
care about it. It puts cargo on a ship. It gives a ship a destination. It gets
cargo off a ship.
JUDITH:
It wears a funny hat and makes long speeches.
STELLA:
I think it's past-due you spent some quality time with your
grandfather.
JUDITH:
Becca, you don't have to deal with this sort of thing, do you?
BECCA:
My family was never important enough.
Scene 5: Becca and Evie's room
Narrator:
When
Becca to the room she was sharing with Evie, Evie was taking another
ridiculously hot
shower. Steam billowed out from under the door. Evie
came out after fifteen minutes, bright red and wet, like a freshly
boiled lobster. Becca could just make out the hair-fine scars across
Evie's shoulders, running alongside the spaghetti-straps of the black
top she wore.
Evie:
I thought it was going to be easy. That was naive of me
BECCA:
Hey, all the dye's coming off on the towel.
EVIE:
I am not an animal...They're going to try to turn me into some kind of exhibit; I know it.
BECCA:
(internal)Where are those sedatives...? (external) You're reading too much into this. You're going to worry yourself sick. Ah! Here, take this.
EVIE:
What is it?
BECCA:
It's a muscle relaxant. Your jaw is acting up again. I can see it from across the room. That's going to arouse more suspicion than anything.
EVIE:
Meh.
BECCA:
Please, actually take it.
EVIE:
I just want to disappear again.
BECCA:
I'm sure you will. One way or another.
Scene 6:
Vencume Lab
Narrator:
There
had been some question about Evie's identity-chip before they reached
the station. It
was the gray-haired and blue-eyed designers who had come up with a
solution.
Ilyssa:
We know that the chip will oxidize quickly if exposed to atmosphere, and that's good. A nice safety feature to prevent identity theft.
Idana:
Like the kind we're committing now.
Imala:
It's not really identity theft. We're just moving the chip from your hand to your hand.
Narrator:
Becca had learned to recognize the difference between the three; iLyssa had a slightly longer nose and was a little preachy, launching into long explanations of everything she or her sisters were doing. iDana's chin was a bit more square and she was the cautious one. iMala was always looking for a compromise between the stronger personalities of her sisters.
BECCA:
So you're going to put it in a vacuum?
Ilyssa:
No...The chip also senses pressure changes, if it's been made right.
Idana:
You can't put her hand in a vacuum anyway. It would pop.
ILYSSA:
That's why we built this tank. With three cuffs to keep the pressure so we can get in there and do what needs to be done. We're going to flood it with a non-reactive gas.
Idana:
Radon is nice and heavy, but expensive.
ILYSSA:
We're using helium, but we have to keep it at a pretty high pressure.
Imala:
It may be a little unpleasant. This should be a quick procedure.
Narrator:
The three girls had moved happily through the lab, each finishing the task the one before had started; each finishing the thought the other had started. Small blue eyes flashed knowing glances and chipper voices sing-sang their way through the set-up. Their pleasure in tackling the complicated task was confidence-inspiring. iLyssa had placed some kind of gun in the tank and was clamping down the seal.
ILYSSA:
We used the scar on Doctor-Doctor's hand as a guide for the device.
Imala:
Maybe Doctor-Doctor would like to perform the procedure?
Ilyssa and Idana:
Doctor-Doctor fixes hands.
BECCA:
No, I'm good. I trust you guys. (pause) Are you going to be OK with all this, Evie? You want a general anesthesia?
EVIE:
I've seen the inside of my hand before.
Idana:
Not
like this, you haven’t.
Narrator:
iDana opened a Vencume core unit and
pulled out a disembodied and mangled right arm.
Scene 6:
Relay Depot
Narrator:
In
the short-stay quarters, Evie finally fell asleep.
Becca:
That pill should keep her out a while. She just needs sleep. Too bad we have to get it from a sedative.
Narrator:
Becca slipped out and made her way to the relay depot. She had a letter that needed to be sent out with the next burst. As expensive as it was, she had promised her cousins she would let them know once she was safely at Peg-51. Even with the signs, she got lost on the way and so the trip took a little longer than expected. The relay depot was manned by a black-haired Pegger man. He took the data-stik in short, rough hands and asked for the destination.
Pegger:
You a' letting home know you a' one piece.
Becca:
(internal)
Praise be that Franz got over that annoying accent.
Narrator:
Becca
nodded and placed her hand over the chip-reader so her account could
be debited. The
Pegger rubbed one of his ears and scratched idly at the thick hair
under his jaw.
Pegger:
Expensive. Not many correspondence on a burst.
Must be important, this recipient.
Becca:
Not like that. Just important to me.
Pegger:
You travel with Vencume, I hear. With a' engineer. Engineers a’ important. They see things.
SOUND: Beeps of the data
transference process
Pegger:
What kind doctor a' you?
BECCA:
Ship's doctor. General practitioner.
Pegger:
Practitioner. Magician. They say. That's 'practitioner' word.
BECCA:
No, I'm not a magician.
Pegger:
No, you not. (laughs) That word, 'practitioner', that's magician word. Words got meaning. You should learn them.
Scene 7:
Becca and Evie's room
Becca:
Oh! You're awake!
Evie:
You were gone when I woke up. I was all alone again.
BECCA:
Did you think I had left you? I had to
send off a letter to my cousins. (internal) How
is she awake already? She should have been unconscious for hours.
EVIE:
I didn't know what to think. (pause) How much did it cost?
BECCA:
It cost....ffff...It cost a lot. It was a promise. I said I would let them know when I had arrived.
EVIE:
Your cousins? That letter you were working on?
BECCA:
Yeah...What are you doing? Why are you staring into a lamp
like that?
EVIE:
Trying to darken my eyes. I know that it usually takes a baby's eyes a couple years to change color.
BECCA:
Some babies' eyes never change...And anyway, they don't change due to light. You're going to blind yourself, staring into lamps like that.
EVIE:
This is not my normal color. I had brown eyes as a child. They've started to change already; I just need to force the process along.
BECCA:
Say,
we should go get a bite to eat. I saw a
place on the way back from the relay depot. It was good last time I was here.
Evie:
Yeah, that might be good. Get my mind off stuff.
Scene 8: Restaurant district
Narrator:
It
was Pegger stand-and-eat, with an unpronounceable name, where Becca
had a dish that tasted like corn noodles with an onion sauce and Evie
had dumplings. They walked away from the stand, speaking in low tones to each
other.
EVIE:
I have to figure out how to get back to them...It's not protocol for Humans to ride with Vencume, so going to the inner ring might raise some eyebrows.
BECCA:
Vencume don't have eyebrows. They don't even have eyes that
we can see.
EVIE:
Humans do.
BECCA:
You should register for passage out. I'm sure someone needs an engineer. You have an impressive resume.
EVIE:
Might be a good cover for now.
Rosemary:
I
thought it was you!
Narrator:
A woman had come up to them: short with
kinky black hair, but not a Pegger.
Rosemary:
Evelyn Gaines? Evie? You remember me?
EVIE:
You must have me confused with someone else.
Rosemary:
Rosemary Gekkei? You don't remember me? I remember you. You came in on the tanker Shui Meng from Libra-8. That was...what? Four years ago?
EVIE:
I'm...I'm sorry. You must be thinking of my sister.
ROSEMARY:
Oh...Your sister is Evie? You sound just like her. I was sure you were Evie. I saw her come in. I thought maybe she'd gotten that limp fixed. You look just like her. Your twin?
EVIE:
Older sister. Six years. Sorry for it.
BECCA:
Dr. Rebecca Tabib. Rosemary, you said?
Rosemary:
Hello...and you? I did not get your name.
EVIE:
Gwennie Gaines.
ROSEMARY:
You look so much like your sister...Taller, maybe. But you sound just like her.
BECCA:
How odd to remember a voice after four years.
ROSEMARY:
I must not have remembered it correctly.
EVIE:
Ah, yes. Pity that.
ROSEMARY:
But of course, you aren't Evie. Evie's not the kind to forget her old friends because she's pretty now.
BECCA:
No, from what...Gwennie has told me, Evie's not like that at all.
ROSEMARY:
How lucky you are, that you should be here. Your sister just came in on what was left of the Tong Dizhou. They were attacked, you know, by some new species.
EVIE:
(stiffly) I had not heard that.
ROSEMARY:
It's all the talk now. Looks like the Vencume have some kind of enemy. The Tong Dizhou took on an escape pod and was attacked for it. That's the chatter, anyhow....Dr. Tabib, you were on the Dizhou. How is Evie?
BECCA:
She's going out on the Qui Fa Zu with me. She's resting. Told me to meet her sister.
Rosemary:
The sister who had not heard that her sister was in port.
Evie:
Rosemary...Please, try to understand...
ROSEMARY:
I understand perfectly. We’re not fancy enough for you. You got yourself a new look and new friends. I can take a hint.
SOUND: Rosemary leaves
EVIE:
We need to go.
BECCA:
You need to go. Why not say who you are? Why the subterfuge?
EVIE:
You have to know who Rosemary is. You have to understand her. It's complicated. Everything is complicated.
Scene 9:
Station Garden
Narrator:
They
made their way back through one of the gardens on the station. All
stations had a garden or two, for help with carbon-dioxide, as well
as to keep people who spent years on a ship near sane. This one was
dedicated to dessert plants, so they had to navigate past cacti and
scrub. Becca stared up at the artificially painted sky and thought
about how cheap-looking it all was. She stopped to smell a delicate pink flower
on one of the taller cacti.
BECCA:
Really, what's the deal with Rosemary?
EVIE:
We were friends.
BECCA:
Just friends?
EVIE:
We had a relationship of sorts...How's that?
BECCA:
Vague....Probably a little dishonest.
EVIE:
It was only a couple weeks. I think she expected more than I was willing to give.
BECCA:
Not your type?
EVIE:
What kind of a person do you think I am? I'm not just going
to write someone off because--
BECCA:
You could have been nicer to her. If you didn't want to get her hopes up, then you—
Chris:
(from a distance) Evie!
Narrator:
A lanky, dark-haired man from across the garden shouted and
waved. He bounded up to them.
Chris:
Hey, Evie. Wow. I would not have recognized you. Rosemary said you were in port.
EVIE:
Hi, Chris. How's it going?
Chris:
Hi there. Chris Kaplan. I flew with Evie to Cancri-55 once. That was some ride, huh?
EVIE:
(laughs)
Becca:
Are you the one who...?
Chris:
Oh. Nononono....(laughs) What was that guy's name?
EVIE:
Mark. (chuckles) Mark 'missed-my-mark' March.
Chris:
You've been telling stories.
Evie:
This is Rebecca Tabib. Doctor Rebecca Tabib.
Chris:
Oh hey, a doctor? You do great work. I hardly recognized our little Gargoyle Gaines here.
BECCA:
That's not my work.
Chris:
Turn around, woman. Let me see you! (whistles) Man, oh, man. You look fabulous. How much did that cost?
EVIE:
An arm and a leg.
SOUND: Becca has a brief coughing fit.
EVIE:
What
are you doing with yourself these days, Chris?
Chris:
I work for the Authority now. Head of dock operations. It's good pay and I might move up to a larger station some day. Oh hey, hold on a moment....
SOUND: Chris runs off
BECCA:
You lied to Rosemary, but you're OK with this guy? Another one of your 'relationships'?
EVIE:
Shut up, Becca.
SOUND: Bustle of three men
Chris:
Hey, Evie, you remember George and Robert, right?
George:
Holy....it is you! Wow! You look great. How have you been?
EVIE:
Hanging in there. Whose time are you wasting these days?
George:
Remember that grain company we used to fly with? They've got
me out here working the trading floor.
Robert:
Most people enter a company from the ground floor, but
Georgie-boy had to tunnel down from the ceiling!
Evie:
And why are you here, Robert?
Robert:
I'm on a three-day layover on my way to Cygnus-16. They put
in a big order for delicate scientific equipment and they wanted a man with a
smoooooth haaaaaaand....
SOUND: The other men jeer. A slap.
Evie:
(jokingly) Keep 'em where I can see 'em, jackass.
George:
We were headed to Chris' place.
Robert:
Head of dock operations...that means a lotta floor-space.
Chris:
It's not that much.
George:
More than my dinky room!
Scene 10:
Chris' Place
Narrator:
For all the talk, the rooms Chris had secured on the station were still small by home standards. Chris folded a sofa out of the way and threw pillows on the floor while Evie found a set of shot-glasses in the kitchenette wall. George produced a bottle and waved it in front of Robert.
George:
What's that? What's in the bottle, boy? You want what's in the bottle?
Robert:
Aw, what's in the bottle?
Chris and Evie:
You should have called for delivery!
SOUND: the others laugh
Becca:
Do you guys always drink like this?
EVIE:
We’re not just building a team; we’re building a
tolerance. (she sings)
One's for a posting, two for a berth.
Three's for some sorrow, four for some mirth.
Five is for plenty, and six for a dearth.
Chris:
Have a glass, darling doctor.
SOUND: glasses are passed out
Evie:
For those before and those yet to come.
SOUND: Becca gags
BECCA:
What is this?
George:
Bacon vodka.
BECCA:
That's disgusting.
Robert:
They make the best Bloody Marys.
Chris:
(singing) Mary Mary...We should get Rosemary over here.
GEORGE:
Six for a dearth! (pours another shot) This one’s for the Shipping Authority. God bless ‘em.
ROBERT:
May they never encounter anything they can’t regulate.
Chris:
Don’t talk about my boss like that. (pause) Hey, Becca. Are you an organ donor?
BECCA:
(shocked) What kind of a question is that?
ROBERT:
That’s the new ‘in’ thing. Everyone gets asked that now. New regulations.
EVIE:
Organ donation? They've finally figured out how much we're worth. Pour me another. They can’t have my liver.
George:
You even have to have a new fridge on the ship...in case someone dies...
BECCA:
There, Evie. What did I tell you?
George:
It’s ridiculous. How many people die on a flight, anyway?
ROBERT:
I bet it’s because we’re going to go to war.
Chris:
Because of this lovely lady! And your wonderful misadventure!
EVIE:
Ahhhh, bear-hugs! No break-a me. I’m delicate!
George:
What were they like?
EVIE:
They were terrible bug-eyed monsters! Oh, it was horrible. The eyes….THE EYES!
BECCA:
You’re drunk. (laughs)
EVIE:
Heh. (then darkly) Hardly. That's going to take a lot more.
Chris:
Gargoyle Gaines can hold her liquor. We'll have to come up with a new nickname for you.
ROBERT:
Gorgeous Gaines.
Chris:
It's amazing. I remember you with brown eyes.
EVIE:
Oh, you know. Those thick glasses. It's all an optical
illusion. You never heard of 'brown shift'?
ROBERT:
Like limpid pools.
EVIE:
Better than turgid ones.
George:
Do you still doodle? I remember you used to doodle all the time. Drawings of ships...
EVIE:
Oh yeah! I have a whole book of them back in my quarters. Even got to see a working model once.
Chris:
You could never fly one of those. I've seen those things. You put too much pressure on the pilot. He'd black-out in a second.
EVIE:
Well, there's your problem. You keep putting men in my ships. Why should I redesign my ship when you can redesign the pilot? You're limiting it by putting some dumb oaf in there.
BECCA:
Like Mark 'Missed my Mark'?
SOUND: George and Robert laugh hysterically.
Narrator:
The bottle was being passed back and forth at a furious rate
now, the group rapidly emptying it shot-by-shot. The men were more than happy
to refill Evie's glass, leaving the Becca to refill her own.
Becca:
(Internal) It's because they're old friends. (external) You don't think there's really going to be some kind of war, do you?
ROBERT:
Well, we don't know. We've never known that much about the Vencume, so we have no idea what kind of enemies they may have. Evie, you were with them for a while. What can you tell us about them?
BECCA:
They spin when they walk.
ROBERT:
You
mean that shuffle they do?
EVIE:
They do that when they're moving slowly. That's more for precision motion. If they want to move quickly, they'll rotate from one foot to the other.
BECCA:
They have smooth, soft skin.
George:
You've actually touched one? No suit?
BECCA:
They smell like seaweed.
EVIE:
They don't need suits. We don't either. After dealing with them for so long, any chance of that sort of mishap has passed.
Chris:
The portmen said something about that. They seemed a little concerned that the Vencume insisted on no suits. The Authority is pissed.
EVIE:
We've been living in fear of them all this time. There's no reason for it.
George:
So...'Gorgeous Gaines'...Did you miss us?
EVIE:
(uneasy) I kept myself busy; you know me.
Chris:
How many flights have you been on since we last saw you?
EVIE:
Oh, lots.
George:
How much is that?
EVIE:
Eight boo-koos in a lot.
George:
Sixteen lots in scad.
George and Evie:
Four scads in a buttload! (they laugh)
ROBERT:
That's antiquated...Ten standard lots in a standard scad...
Chris:
Oh-oh, bottle's empty. We're down to the strip.
George:
We have to get it. My god, how do we get it?
Evie:
Float it out.
ROBERT:
Smash the bottle.
EVIE:
I'm telling you, just float it out. Pour something in there so it will rise to the top.
Chris:
It's stuck in there pretty good.
BECCA:
Why is that so important?
EVIE:
Vesta, Diana, Minerva...Why won't you listen to me? I'm telling you how to get it out. I'm a flippin' engineer; I know what I'm talking about.
Chris:
If I can just...I almost had it!
ROBERT:
You're too drunk to do it.
George:
Try a bit of wire. Just bend it into a hook and...
EVIE:
Gimmie that!
SOUND: Evie snatches the bottle. The others protest. The sound
of running water
Evie:
It's all about buoyancy and viscosity. A heavier liquid and the soy-bacon rises to the top...where...you...can...(bites) Ha-cha! Just as potent as ever!
George:
You've been shown up by a girl.
EVIE:
Who wants the rest?
Chris:
It's my apartment.
George:
It's my bottle.
EVIE:
It's my call.
Robert:
Have I ever told you how beautiful you are?
EVIE:
No. Never. Not until now. (pause) Becca's a bacon virgin. It's hers.
BECCA:
The who and the what now?
EVIE:
The boys have been very rude and ignored you all night. Here.
SOUND: BECCA GAGS
Chris:
If
you're going to be like that, maybe we should
get Rosemary over here.
EVIE:
Becca was on that ship with me. She was attacked, too.
George:
We've all been on a ship with you.
Robert:
Yeah! What ever happened to the Gaines constant?
Evie:
The
what?
Chris:
Robert, no, don't do it.
Robert:
There's this chick, see? And she's not that great looking. But she's one of the guys, see? She's a constant, see? And you can talk about other girls with her and it's OK and she'll drink you under the table but it's OK because you're never gonna try anything with her because...because....
George:
Because it would be like one of the guys.
Chris:
Nice going.
ROBERT:
You're not the leader! You don't get dibs!
SOUND: uncomfortable silence
George:
Sorry, Evie...we're just a little high-strung with all this war-talk. We heard what had happened to you but we didn't know that...that you would...You look great. You should know that.
EVIE:
(stiffly) Thank-you.
George:
I don't mean that in a bad way. Please. We all still like you, don't get me wrong. We know that Rosemary was...I mean...She must be pretty busted up.
EVIE:
That was a mistake.
GEORGE:
Aw, don't say that. It was good to see you so happy. We all want to...you should be happy. Jeeze, you're smart and you're funny and you're a good person. You know that. Don't be like...you know.
EVIE:
Like what?
BECCA:
(wasted) She has a lovely personality.
SOUND: people shuffling around
George:
Don't take it the wrong way.
Evie:
I don't know if there's a right
way to take it.
Chris:
I have to get up early.
ROBERT:
Party's over.
EVIE:
Come along, my dumb drunken doctor.
Becca:
(slurring) They're right...You do look great.
EVIE:
Don't you start.
George:
Evie, please. Don't be a stranger, OK?
Evie:
Only if you don't treat me like one.