Finley tells Casey about the missing Kats on E'Loy
INT. REC ROOM
FINLEY, dressed casually, sits at the neutral table. CASEY approaches, looking a little haggard, also just wearing his shirt and pants. FEATURE a Tea Set on the table, with a Candle nearby. FINLEY: You're up late. I thought pilots needed their beauty sleep. CASEY: I've given up sleep. FINLEY: (concerned) How long have you been up? CASEY: 72 hours ... maybe. FINLEY: You can't keep doing this to yourself. At some point it's going to affect your work, not to mention your health. CASEY: Maybe ... I just can't sleep. (changing the subject) More importantly, what could possibly be making you burn the midnight oil? FINLEY knows it's pointless to argue. FINLEY: Now that I've found a way to cut through the alien jamming, we've finally made contact with the Cats on E'Loy. CASEY: And? FINLEY: And... what I found was very strange. It seems that most of the Kilrathi disappeared when the capitol city of E'Loy was attacked and destroyed. CASEY: Disappeared? You mean killed. FINLEY: No, I mean disappeared. Apparently following the attack the aliens took a great many prisoners. Thousands. The few who survived felt so fortunate that they sent me a data bundle on the alien craft. I'm processing that now. But ... CASEY: There's more? FINLEY: Right after their data upload, I lost contact with the Kilrathi right. All the systems check out ... they're just not there. It's almost as if-- CASEY: --as if, the Kn'thrak has consumed E' loy. CASEY looks closely as Finley dips a tea bag into her cup. ECU tea bag, as it rises out of the hot liquid and dangles.
DISSOLVE TO: INT. ALIEN TORTURE ROOM
A vague form, reminding us of the tea bag. Through a white hot bath of light and lashings of red and yellow wisps reflected through the smoke and atmosphere, we finally discern a pair of boots. We hear sounds we cannot understand. Wailing. Growls. High pitched whines. Camera cranes up. CU a pair of boots suspended over this light. Is it fire? Plasma? The boots swing slightly, wrapped in a membranous substance that covers the legs and waist. Camera continues to crane up. REVEAL Blair, his flight suit torn, in a ripped shirt. He's suspended upright in a void, but tilted back at an unpleasant angle. He lifts his head blearily. FULL REVEAL of Blair, with small tendrils attached to his arms, neck and face. A cacophony of sounds blasts him. He reels. The sounds swirl to form words. ALIEN VOICE: You have killed many ... BLAIR: (painfully ) If it's information you want ... this is gonna take a while. The light grows painfully bright and a blast of smoke and wind hits Blair from below. He's clearly suffering. ALIEN VOICE: Now see what we see ... the beauty of suffering ... the bliss of death. Through you, even the unaligned may see. BLAIR: Go to hell! Another blast, even more painful than the first. Blair writhes in pain, flooded by the excruciating light. Then the light slowly recedes. BLAIR: (weakly) Who are you ... ? Scratches and aliens sounds can be heard, no words. Blair again sees shadows moving. BLAIR: (yelling) What do you want?!! ALIEN VOICE: (after a long pause) YOU!! ECU Blair's eye. The tissue is pulled back by the tendrils. MONSTER VISION: Camera, color shifted to the UV, moves impossibly fast from far away to ECU Blair's eye. He SCREAMS!
INT. REC ROOM
Continuation of previous scene with Finley. We pull out of CASEY's eye as he stares straight ahead. Finley snaps her fingers in front of his face. FINLEY: --Hey, HEY! (CASEY snaps out of it) Are you alright? CASEY: (shakes it off) My God. I've been hanging around ZERO too much. The candle continues to burn. He sees it and wonders.
HAWK sits and sharpens his knife and looks up as CASEY walks past. Hawk barks in his direction, bringing CASEY to a halt. HAWK: Sit down, Lieutenant. (goes back to sharpening) Didn't see you at mess this morning. CASEY: I wasn't hungry. HAWK: You weren't in the mood to eat. That's not the same as not being hungry. CASEY: (a little tired of this) You have a point, Colonel? HAWK: (nodding) Blair. You can't stop blaming yourself for what happened to him. It Is tearing you up inside. (beat) Are you having nightmares about him yet? CASEY looks uncomfortable, manages a nod. Hawk glances at his knife as it gleams in the light. HAWK: (CONT. ) Sit down, Lieutenant. You know, on one of my first missions in the last war, I lost my entire Wing. Three pilots, including two bunk mates. I was ready to sign for a psych discharge. I was a wreck ... couldn't sleep, couldn't eat-- just saw their faces every time I closed my eyes. (beat) Then this Major took me aside, said, "They're dead and you're not. Get used to it''. CASEY: Easy for him to say. HAWK: Yeah, but it wasn't so easy for him to sign on as my wingman. Which he did. next mission out, this Major's watching my six. I wasn't back in the groove yet. He had to kill a clan of Cats until I got myself together. CASEY: Who was it-Blair? HAWK: (shakes his head) He was your father. CASEY: My father? HAWK: (rises and crosses closer to CASEY) Now, get some sleep, get some food, forget about Blair. You're a good pilot and you're still alive. You should plan to stay that way. CASEY: Is that what my father would have said? ' HAWK just smiles and exits.
The CAG is at the podium. CAG: So these are the mission objectives ... And if there's no further feedback from Hawk or Maniac ....? HAWK fumes, but silently. Maniac tries to look innocent. It doesn't work. CAG: (CONT.) (satisfied.) Then you are dismissed. Good luck.
INT. BRIEFING ROOM BRIEFING ENDER FOR MISSION F1
MANIAC leaves. CASEY walks up to Hawk, who is still seated. HAWK: I joined this man's space force to skin Cats, not hold their paws. I feel like I was better off in the Union of Border Worlds. At least there we knew who the enemy was. CASEY: Yeah ... us! Hawk, like it or not, you're going to have to put all that behind you. Like I did with Blair. You taught me that. HAWK controls his anger. CASEY might be right ... but still! He decides to come clean with CASEY. HAWK: Ever read the mission report on the day your Dad went KIA? CASEY: (nods) He was on a deep space patrol in the B'shriss system when the Kilrathi jumped him. HAWK: But there was one small detail omitted from the report. Blair was the one who found his lifepod. Brought it back in. The Iceman was still inside ... in pieces. CASEY is shocked into silence. HAWK: (CONT.) The Cats pulled him in, had their fun, and sent him home. Not exactly a hero's death. We kept it out of the mission log to spare the family. (beat) Trust me, kid, I know you're trying to help. But I owe the Cats a lot of payback and so do you. See you on deck. HAWK exits. CASEY slowly follows.
While CASEY checks his stats The CAG appears behind him. CAG: It's too bad about Hawk. He was one of our best. CASEY doesn't turn around. CASEY: Yes, sir. CAG: What I don't understand is ... Hawk's last transmission--he said all the enemy fighters had been eliminated. Did you see what took him down? CASEY shakes his head. The CAG looks over his shoulder. Touches some keys. CAG: No data ... your flight recorder must have been damaged in' the firefight. I'll get the techs on it right away. He turns to face her sideways. CAG: (senses something) Are you alright, Lieutenant? CASEY manages a nod. CAG: Very well, then. Dismissed. A guilty CASEY slinks off to decontam. The CAG looks after him, pondering his reaction.
HAWK, pissed off, bounds up the ramp with CASEY in pursuit. RACHEL with an ICIS, working near lift. A group of TECHS are moving a cart. Hawk barrels right through it and slams the decontam lift button. CASEY: (to Hawk's back) Dammit, Hawk. Talk to me. What the hell's wrong with you?! HAWK turns, furious, and holds up a single finger--wait! The elevator dings. Hawk gets in. CASEY tries to get a word in .. CASEY: Hawk-! The doors shut. CASEY looks over at RACHEL and goes to check stats. [Display reads, "No Data. "]
CASEY comes in behind Hawk at the bar. Hawk gets up and moves. He takes his bottle and glass and goes lo Black Widow table. He belts down another drink. CASEY pursues. CASEY: (sits) How long do I rate the silent treatment, Colonel? HAWK: You expect a pat on the back for not telling the brass I wanted to hose those Cats? HA! CASEY: I suppose I should have helped you murder them? HAWK: (sarcastic) No, you should be proud of yourself. It's not every day a first year rookie gets a chance to rescue a gang of Kilrathi terrorists. CASEY: Those Kilrathi were flying worn out ships, Major. HAWK: What's your point? CASEY: So they're a pathetic pack of burn outs fighting a war that's been over for years. People like that-people like you--should be pitied. Hawk jumps him, throws him on the table and plunges the knife into the table next to CASEY's head. CASEY looks at it and exhales. Hawk stands over CASEY, breathing heavily. HAWK: (almost to himself) But they're still the enemy. CASEY: (getting up) Were, Hawk, were. Right now, there's a real enemy out there ... and it has the Kilrathi on the run. And we're next. HAWK thinks about it for a long time. Finally nods. HAWK: I'm a good pilot. I'm alive. Maybe I should-- CASEY: --plan to stay that way. It's good advice. CASEY: extends his hand. Hawk looks at it a moment and takes it.
INT. BRIEFING ROOM /IF CLICK ON BR DOOR OR READY ROOM, PLAYS)
CASEY enters to find a tired Finley, hard at work at ANDERSON's station with a cart of components, some scarred and charred. Wires go from the cart to the console. CASEY approaches and eyes the stack of disassembled components. FINLEY: (noticing him) Recognize this? CASEY doesn't. FINLEY: (CONT.) It's the transmitter assembly from that Confed signal buoy you guys brought back. He reaches for it ... and Finley slaps his hand away. FINLEY: (CONT. ) No touch. CASEY: What's it doing here? FINLEY: I needed the special comm equipment in this tie-in to test a theory .. CASEY: And? FINLEY: Using some key codes I found in this assembly, we now have several critical pieces of the puzzle needed to break our Alien friends' codes. CASEY: Sounds complicated. FINLEY: It is. Here ... this is a transmission we intercepted recently. Coded in two parts. The first part goes like this ... She taps a control. On the big screen, an image of an ALIEN PILOT appears. We understand what he is saying. ALIEN PILOT: (from screen) We have captured another of the non-aligned and are transporting it to the Centrax on Dula Seven ... FINLEY freezes the image. CASEY's visibly excited. CASEY: Non-aligned? What does that mean? FINLEY: No idea. However, according to what our ugly friend just said and other data from the Kilrathi, Dula Seven was once a Kilrathi Starbase and the aliens now occupy it. CASEY: Very strange. FINLEY: You ain't seen nothin' yet. I just now finished this run on the second part of the transmission. Check it out ... FINLEY taps some keys. We see images of organic tissue and specimen samples at very high speed. CASEY: Seems almost organic? FINLEY: On the money. Single nucleus, double helix DNA, S-7 Ribosomes. If I didn't know better, I'd swear these were animal cytologie scans- CASEY looks lost. She rephrases for him. FINLEY: Tissue samples, CASEY. Very thorough tissue samples ... possibly human. CASEY: But that would mean ... FINLEY: ... that the aliens are dissecting humans for study. CASEY: So the unaligned are ... ? FINLEY: Us. CASEY: And Blair.
After CASEY checks his stats, he and MAESTRO head for decontam. STILETTO joins them. STILETTO: Did you hear? Hawk was flying recon-- got jumped by two squadrons of bad guys. CASEY: ( shocked) Any chance ... he ejected? STILETTO: (shakes her head) His ship broke up. SAR never even picked up a homing signal from an eject pod. He's not coming back. (beat) Sorry, I didn't know you guys were that close. She brushes between CASEY and MAESTRO to check her stats. CASEY: (to himself) We had the same teacher ... CASEY and MAESTRO exit.
Where CASEY discovers Spyder packing Hawk's belongings out of his locker and into a carry bag. A moment of silence between the two of them. Hawk's death affects CASEY profoundly. CASEY: Hawk was a good man. SPYDER: He was nuts. All work and no play ... A real load of laughs. CASEY: You sound like you didn't like him. SPYDER: I understood him. He couldn't help being who he was. The Cats made him that way. CASEY gives Spyder a questioning look. SPYDER: Hawk's home world was Mylon Two--a colony on the edge of the Rim. It was one of the Cats' first targets in the Galactic War. They terraformed it with proton bombs. CASEY: How did Hawk survive that? SPYDER: He was away at the Academy. Came home to find everything and everyone he knew had been blown to dust. SPYDER finishes packing the bag, closes Hawk's locker. SPYDER: Hawk died on Mylon Two. Today was just a formality. SPYDER starts to exit, then hesitates. He reaches in the bag and retrieves Hawk's big hunting knife. SPYDER: Hey ... I bet he would've wanted you to have this. SPYDER hands the hunting knife to CASEY, then exits, leaving CASEY alone with his thoughts.
Maniac makes a poor attempt at giving Casey a pep talk
INT. READY ROOM (PERFORMANCE-SLIDING: IF FAILED F2)
CASEY is seated on bench, putting on Flight Suit. Maniac finishes suiting up and looks at himself in a hand mirror. MANIAC: Take advice from the best--the Maniac. Start flyin' with your eyes open. A few more missions like the last one and they'll be handing out triple death bennies like candy at Halloween. CASEY: Is this supposed to be a pep talk? MANIAC: Yeah. Can't you tell I'm buckin' up your morale? MANIAC closes his locker and "accidentally" hits CASEY's head with his elbow as he passes. MANIAC: Whoa! Low bridge there, Pal. MANIAC exits and leaves CASEY shaking his head.
The CAG stands at the podium with DEKKER nearby. CAG: This is it, people. The Marines are landing on Dula Seven. Cheers and applause. DEKKER: Our mission is to gather as much strategic data as we can on our alien friends. (meaningful beat) And retrieve any human prisoners. More cheers, FEATURING CASEY. CAG: Pilots, check your ICIS. CASEY et al look down. Mission Data. They look up.
STILETTO appears behind CASEY as he checks his stats. STILETTO: CASEY? He turns. She has a look about her. A little softer? STILETTO: (CONT.) Congratulations ... the CAPTAIN has recommended you for the Silver Star. CASEY: To hell with that. What about the prisoner the Marines pulled in? STILETTO: (a beat) It's Blair. But you should know-- CASEY is already on his way. He exits OS. After a beat, STILETTO throws up her hands and follows him out.
INT. BRIEFING ROOM
CASEY enters to find it dark and quiet here. He comes in searching. The CAPTAIN's chair turned away from him. CASEY: Commodore? The chair swings around, dramatically revealing a pale, exhausted Christopher Blair. He's clearly in pretty bad shape, barely holding it together, but his inner strength and calm are still obvious. BLAIR: If you tell me I look good, I'll kick your teeth in. CASEY: Commodore ... I'm sorry. BLAIR: For what? You just saved my ass. CASEY: But they wouldn't have captured you in the first place BLAIR: (a negative gesture) I don't want you blaming yourself for what happened to me. You did the right thing--you stayed with DEKKER and his men. BLAIR tries to rise from the chair and almost loses his balance. CASEY lends him a hand. BLAIR: You'll have to excuse me. My new friends bounced me around a bit. CASEY: At least they didn't slice and dice you. BLAIR: No, but they cut into my mind, though. Deeply. Dredged up memories ... everything I'd ever hoped to forget. Telamon, Admiral Tolwyn, the destruction of Kilrah ... Angel. (beat) Reliving every moment. BLAIR slumps back into the CAPTAIN's chair. BLAIR: And then they let you find me. They're fascinated by us, CASEY--by our ability to kill without remorse, without pity. Our darker nature. My darker nature. CASEY: What are they? BLAIR: Death.
INT. BRIEFING ROOM--SPECIAL BRIEFING ENDER 1 FOR MISSION F6 (COND: IF YOU KILLED CATS)
CASEY's about to head out the door when the CAG stops him: CAG: Lieutenant, may I have a word with you? (beat) The Kilrathi on E'Loy haven't responded to our comms since your mission to rescue N'Sharr failed. Any idea why? CASEY looks like he's going to say something, but doesn't. He just shakes his head. The CAG eyes him for a long moment, then shrugs. CAG: The Kilrathi can be ... difficult. Good luck out there. CASEY: Thank you, Sir. The CAG watches as CASEY exits.
INT. BRIEFING ROOM -- SPECIAL BRIEFING ENDER 2 FOR MISSION F6 (COND: IF YOU DID NOT KILL THE CATS)
CASEY's about to head out the door when the CAG stops him. CAG: Lieutenant, just a moment. (beat) We've been getting comms from a Cat on E'Loy. He says he's well acquainted with you and your "hairless" clan. CASEY: (smiling) That sounds like N'Sharr. Hawk and I saved his ass. CAG: Well, in between insults, I get the distinct impression he wants to return the favor. CASEY: That would be ... strange, Sir. CAG: No doubt. It's a strange world, Lieutenant. The CAG watches as CASEY exits.
INT.BRIEFING ROOM -- SPECIAL BRIEFING ENDER 3 FOR MISSION F6 (COND: IF TRIED TO HELP, BUT FAILED)
CASEY's about to head out the door when the CAG stops him. CAG:Lieutenant, just a moment. (beat) J'Ron, the Cat Clan leader on E'Loy, has contacted us. Even though you failed to save N'Sharr's squadron, he seems aware that you did your best. CASEY: I'm glad to hear that. I guess. CAG: He seems to want to help ... and we may need all the help we can get. Good luck out there. CASEY: Thank you, Sir. The CAG watches as CASEY exits.
INT. FLIGHT DECK --SPECIAL LANDING F6 (COND: IF KILLED CATS)
The CAG and the CAPTAIN appear behind CASEY. CAG: Lieutenant CASEY, we now know why the Cats refused to help us out there. CASEY: Sir? They walk towards him--he backs up into the console. CAPTAIN: Mr. CASEY. We intercepted a Cat communiqué. Do you deny you and Hawk attacked a wing of their pilots? CASEY: (swallows hard) No, sir. The CAPTAIN clenches his fists. We've never seen him so angry. CAPTAIN: Of all the stupid, pointless ... thanks to your bloodlust we're alone in this. Why? WHY? The CAPTAIN controls himself with an effort but is interrupted by a SCRAMBLE ALARM! CASEY's eyes dart around the room. ND TECHS and pilots scramble through the doors and on deck. CAPTAIN: (CONT. ) We're under attack! (He leans into CASEY hard) If I didn't need every available pilot, I'd push you through an airlock. Get to your ship, Mister, I'll deal with you later. CASEY gets past the CAPTAIN and goes up the gangway. They watch him go up
