TEMP Privateer 2 Script

DISC ONE

1_S.TGV

CANERA COMM: Crius planet control, this is cargo 1-0-4-6 Canera. On plan and requesting ejection marker 1-1-5.

CRIUS: Very well, Canera. You are cleared for re-entry. Proceed to Mendra spaceport. Good day.

CANERA CAPTAIN: Who are those clowns?

WOMAN: We're in unequivocal commit! We can't even manage a skip out!

CANERA CONN: So much for staying hypersonic. And we're too big for them to tractor in...

CANERA CAPTAIN: ... and keep us from bouncing. Range to Mendra?

CANERA COMM: Six hundred fifty.

CANERA CREWMAN: Hit it now!

CANERA COMM: Nothing left but altitude dials.

CANERA CAPTAIN: Launch all communications. Tell them to scramble all emergency equipment to Mendra. Nice try, Rog, nice try.

2_S.TGV

FREVEL: Ser Arris, if you can hear me, blink. Excellent. I think our patient's coming around, Douglas. You've been in an accident, Ser. Your ship crashed while landing here on Crius. Luckily you were in a cryopod at the time so your injuries weren't extensive.

ARRIS: Accident? How?

FREVEL: We'll deal with that later. Our first job is to get you back on your feet. You need to stay with us for some rehab, it's plenty of time.

ARRIS: Yeah, but I don't remember... anything. What ship? What's happening?

FREVEL: The Canera, Ser Arris. We know that's your name from your cryopod. It may take a while for your memory to return. In the mean time, just relax. Everything's going to be fine.

--

COMPUTER: Exercise...

FREVEL: And how's Ser Arris this morning?

ARRIS: He's okay.

COMPUTER: Gyro session commencing.

ARRIS: I just wish he would tell me who he was.

FREVEL: We'll get your memory back eventually.

ARRIS: Do you talk to all your patients as though they were children, Dr. Frevel, or is it just me?

FREVEL: I'm sorry. We find that usually people in your condition appreciate a gentle approach.

ARRIS: Yeah, well I'm not usual people.

FREVEL: No, I don't believe you are. We wouldn't normally divulge this information to patients but we did a record search on you and it wasn't good.

ARRIS: Make my day. I'm a mass-murderer.

FREVEL: I wouldn't joke about that if I were you. You could be almost anything. Prior to two weeks ago, you don't exist. Either someone's erased your records or else there was an accident in your home planet's data net.

ARRIS: My home planet. Geez, where is home? Where's my family? Do I have a family? Am I married? Do I have children? Who the hell am I, Doctor Frevel?

FREVE: It'll come, Lev. This is all quite normal with trauma sustained in cryo.

COMPUTER: Gyro ending.

ARRIS: Just how long was I in that icebox for?

FREVEL: We're still working on that. But you could afford to stay in one for as long as you liked.

ARRIS: Meaning?

FREVEL: Meaning one thing that did come down from your data check, your account. Only registered about a week ago. You have an exceptionally attractive credit rating, Ser Arris.

Arris: Nice.

COMPUTER: Gyro session commencing, please stand clear.

ARRIS: If only it wasn't overdrawn in the memory bank.

--

NURSE: Can I help you, Sers?

ASSASSIN #1: We're looking for Ser Lev Arris.

NURSE: He's in physio at the moment. Can I ask who wants him?

ASSASSSIN #1: New Crius Examiner. We're here to interview him about the Canera crash.

NURSE: His consultant would have to clear it first.

ASSASSIN #2: Clear this, Mister Nurse.

NURSE: Argh!

ASSASSIN #1: You know something? I think I could really get to enjoy this journalism thing.

--

FREVEL: Cryo-associated memory loss may take months to resolve itself. But when it does some patients are a little disappointed. The reality of someone's past often fails to match up to what they'd imagined it might be.

ARRIS: Right now I'd settle for disappointment.

FREVEL: You may have to. In time your memory is likely to recover completely.

ARRIS: But how do I know that? How will I ever be sure there's not one more nasty little memory just waiting to jump me?

COMPUTER: Gyro session.ending.

--

ASSASSIN #3: I like hospitals. So clean. So sterile.

ASSASSIN #4: Getting all hot and bothered, huh?

ASSASSIN #3: I never get hot. Nor bothered.

RECEPTIONIST: Yes, Serras?

ASSASSIN #3: We're here to visit a man. I mean, a friend who is a man. Ser Lev Arris.

RECEPTIONIST: 5A, Serras. First line walk on your left. Follow the... huh.

--

FREVEL: Try and take it easy for the time being. If you overstress yourself it could only prolong the problem.

AUTOPILOT: Rear door locked. Autopilot activate. Course two, go, go.

3_S.TGV

JOE: You're a hungry man.

ARRIS: Yeah, yeah, I guess I could eat.

JOE: You are starving, don't deny it. A barman these days, he has to have a sixth sense about his customers, and I'm nothing if I'm not a barman. Ah, your credit's sweet enough. So, we have stew, we have lizard guts... oh, and we have space bug gumbo!/

ARRIS: I'll have the stew, please.

JOE: I could've told you that. And you prefer your beer lukewarm, right?

ARRIS: No, no actually I prefer it... lukewarm. Great.

JOE: Don't mind them, they're loud-mouthed viscious cut-throats. But they're decent loud-mouth cut-throats.

ARRIS: So they're a, they're no trouble, eh?

JOE: No, nothing that fancy for me. Though some spacers, as soon as they walk in I can smell it on them... so I break their necks just a little to be on the safe side. Not trouble I smell on you?

ARRIS: Uh-huh, I left my trouble outside.

JOE: Good, soon as I saw you I said well there's one smack-up vertebrae. You hang around here and I'll see you're around decent food and drink, amd maybe a couple of juicy deals. A respectable guy like you wants to be careful where he's seen. You don't want to hang out in some spit'n sorter's toilet with a liquor license. You need somewhere like this. A place with a little... refinement.

ARRIS: Thanks for the advice, uh...

JOE: Well my friends call me Joe. Probably because that's my name!

ARRIS: Lev Arris.

JOE: Of course you are. Manners!

ARRIS: Joe. You mentioned some, uh, juicy deals.

JOE: Not just juicy. Dripping! Suppliers. Wholesalers. Jobbers. You might say that I run a very... moist establishment.

4_S.TGV

ARRIS: I'm not sure I need anything like that, exactly.

JOE: Suit yourself.

5_S.TGV

ARRIS: Ship dealers, maybe?

JOE: Not many. Most people use the booth system now. But I'll keep an eye out for something, huh? If you like.

6_S.TGV

FREVEL: It was quiet a crash. If it hadn't been for that pod, I doubt you'd have survived.

ARRIS: But why was I in the pod?

FREVEL: Well, you're far enough along in your recovery that it's safe to tell you. You were suffering from amniotrophic ossecular degeneration.

ARRIS: Is that bad?

FREVEL: Bad? It was fatal, but not anymore. You were given the self viral specific for AOD as soon as you were thawed. Your bone marrow only took about a week to get back in order. Lucky you were in one of those older pods. Dr. Loomis said they were built to last. Oh, ah, Dr. Loomis is the one who uncorked you.

ARRIS: I haven't met him.

FREVEL: No, he was scheduled to start his holiday before you were conscious again. He, ah, he'll be back at the end of the month. Anyway, you were probably a holdover freeze. When you were diagnosed there was still no cure, so they froze you down til there was one. Lucky for you the AOD cure's been with us for some time now.

ARRIS: Lucky, yeah. Have they found out just why the ship crashed yet?

???FREVEL: No, they're still investigating it. So far nothing concrete's turned up. One theory is that the ship's ?anomaly? gave out, but there were rumors about some sort of sabotage or hostile action. Oh it's going to be weeks yet before anything's settled.

7_S.TGV

ARRIS: I was wondering if I could see a Doctor Loomis. He admitted me when I first came in.

RECEPTIONIST: One moment, please. Good. If you follow the little blue light to conference room 3, he'll meet you there.

ARRIS: Thanks.

--

LOOMIS: Ser Arris. What a pleasant surprise. I suppose you'd better come in. To be honest, we didn't think we'd be seeing you again.

ARRIS: Aren't you interested to know if my memory's improved?

LOOMIS: Your memory, of course. I'm sure Doctor Frevel would have been interested, too, had she still been alive.

ARRIS: Yeah. Listen, I'm sorry about what happened to her. But I need information, Doctor Loomis.

LOOMIS: And I'm sorry, Ser Arris, but I don't think I'm in any position to help you.

8_S.TGV

ARRIS: Then you better get into position, Doc, because there are people shooting at me, dragging my ass all over space and generally doing their level best to terminate my existence. You're the only one who saw me in that pod and the pod is at the center of this whole mess. Now start talking.

LOOMIS: Ser Arris, in law, when you left this facility without clearance you closed your own case down. I'm not obliged to have anything further to do with you and that suits me just fine.

ARRIS: Doctor, wait. Look, I'm sorry. I've got problems. I think maybe you've got them, too, from the way you look, but at least you remember your past life. I know how to do things, but not how I know how to do them. I've got no past. That pod I came in is the only link with who I was and you're the only one who saw it.

LOOMIS: Okay. There were suggestions that we should forget your case ever happened.

ARRIS: Suggestions from who?

LOOMIS: No names, just a lot of veiled threats. You arrived in a pretty beat up pod, Arris. Custom-built, not one of the off-the-peg models. At least ten years old.

ARRIS: Ten years?

LOOMIS: It could have been older. And you hadn't been in a hospital. There was no practitioners seal on the pod when we opened it. The pod displays wouldn't show any reg number or planet origin. But we didn't have a lot of time to bother about that, you were already in thaw cycle. The crash had started the pod's resuscitiation routines. They took the thing away, I don't know where. More than that, I can't tell you and I think the less we're seen together, the better. Good luck, Ser Arris, you're going to need a whole lot of it.

9_S.TGV

ARRIS: Doctor, look, I've got problems. I think maybe you've got them too, from the way you look, but at least you remember your past life. I know how to do things, but not how I know how to do them. I've got no past. That pod I came in is the only link with who I was and you're the only one who saw it.

LOOMIS: Okay. There were suggestions that we should forget your case ever happened.

ARRIS: Suggestions from who?

LOOMIS: No names, just a lot of veiled threats. You arrived in a pretty beat up pod, Arris. Custom-built, not one of the off-the-peg models. At least ten years old.

ARRIS: Ten years?

LOOMIS: It could have been older. And you hadn't been in a hospital. There was no practitioners seal on the pod when we opened it. The pod displays wouldn't show any reg number or planet origin. But we didn't have a lot of time to bother about that, you were already in thaw cycle. The crash had started the pod's resuscitiation routines. They took the thing away, I don't know where. More than that, I can't tell you and I think the less we're seen together, the better. Good luck, Ser Arris, you're going to need a whole lot of it.

13_S.TGV

TAFFIN: Yeah? What is it? Who sent you? ARRIS: Are you Hal Taffin?

TAFFIN: Am I me? Then again, who's asking?

ARRIS: My name's Lev Arris. I believe you're in possession of a medical pod.

TAFFIN: Oh, no, not me. Uh-huh.

ARRIS: The public database says you got it off the Canera.

TAFFIN: Don't believe everything you read in the database. Now if you'll excuse me, I got a wayward biochip I got to de-discombobulate. Good day.

14_S.TGV

ARRIS: Ser Taffin, I realize how precious your time is and I would hate to have to bother you with this again. I'd sooner we come to some accomodation.

TAFFIN: Accomodations pretty expensive around these parts.

ARRIS: I don't expect to pay basement prices for a penthouse suite.

TAFFIN: The kind of place you're looking for costs... ten thousand.

ARRIS: I... don't have that much.

TAFFIN: Then I don't have that much to say. Come back when you got it.

15_S.TGV

TAFFIN: So, you're back again. You got enough money this time make me feel like talking to you?

ARRIS: I just thought...

TAFFIN: You didn't think, cully. You don't have the necessary, come back when you do.

16_S.TGV

ARRIS: Ser Taffin, I realize how precious your time is and I would hate to have to bother you with this again. I'd sooner we come to some accomodation.

TAFFIN: Accomodations pretty expensive around these parts.

ARRIS: I don't expect to pay basement prices for a penthouse suite.

TAFFIN: The kind of place you're looking for costs... ten thousand.

ARRIS: Ten thousand. Okay. What do you know?

TAFFIN: I sold it to a guy named Angus Santana on Anhur. He works for some charity called Interplanetary Aid.

ARRIS: What did Santana want with it?

TAFFIN: They were looking for something to use as a med-evac.

ARRIS: How come you sold it so fast?

TAFFIN: I don't like trouble. That ship's trouble. There was some people, there was a lot of questions. Everyone's getting rid of anything they had from that ship.

ARRIS: Why all the interest?

TAFFIN: Get out of here.

17_S.TGV

TAFFIN: So, you're back again. You got enough money this time make me feel like talking to you?

ARRIS: Yup.

TAFFIN: So, what was it you wanted to ask me about?

ARRIS: That pod.

TAFFIN: I sold it to a guy named Angus Santana on Anhur. He works for some charity called Interplanetary Aid.

ARRIS: What did Santana want with it?

TAFFIN: They were looking for something to use as a med-evac.

ARRIS: How come you sold it so fast?

TAFFIN: I don't like trouble. That ship's trouble. There was some people, there was a lot of questions. Everyone's getting rid of anything they had from that ship.

ARRIS: Why all the interest?

TAFFIN: Get out of here.

18_S.TGV

ARRIS: Now listen, Taffin, I don't have time for your paranoid games. Maybe you'll be a little more talkative.

TAFFIN: Touch me and you're dead. Now go. Or stay. Yeah, yeah stay. I'll call the teeps, tell them how you threatened me, how I had to shoot you. Its happened before. They don't ask questions. They like me, the teeps.

19_S.TGV

ARRIS: Okay, shoot, Taffin. But make it a good one. Because if I don't drop dead the second you pull that trigger, you lose the rest of your ugly face.

TAFFIN: Oh, the pod, you want to know about the medical pod. Why didn't you just say so?

TAFFIN: I sold it to a guy called Angus Santana on Anhur. He works for some charity called Interplanetary Aid.

ARRIS: What did Santana want with it?

TAFFIN: They were looking for something to use as a med-evac.

ARRIS: How come you sold it so fast?

TAFFIN: I don't like trouble. That ship's trouble. There was some people, there was a lot of questions. Everyone's been getting rid of anything they had from that ship.

ARRIS: Why all the interest?

TAFFIN: Get out of here.

20_S.TGV

ARRIS: Ser, I'm sorry. You could say that I'm not really myself at the moment. Please excuse me.

TAFFIN: People like you think they can push me around. Well I don't like it, see. It's gonna cost you. Twenty big ones. Or you're out of here.

ARRIS: If that's what it'll take. Allright, tell me what you know.

TAFFIN: I sold it to a guy named Angus Santana on Anhur. He works for some charity called Interplanetary Aid.

ARRIS: What did Santana want with it?

TAFFIN: They were looking for something to use as a med-evac.

ARRIS: How come you sold it so fast?

TAFFIN: I don't like trouble. That ship's trouble. There was some people, there was a lot of questions. Everyone's getting rid of anything they had from that ship.

ARRIS: Why all the interest?

TAFFIN: Get out of here.

21_S.TGV

ARRIS: Ser, I'm sorry. You could say that I'm not really myself at the moment. Please excuse me.

TAFFIN: People like you think they can push me around. Well I don't like it, see. It's gonna cost you. Twenty big ones. Or you're out of here.

ARRIS: If that's what it'll take. I... don't have that much.

TAFFIN: You talk big for a guy with no money. Get outta here, don't come back till you got the necessary.

22_S.TGV

TAFFIN: So, this time you got enough money to make me feel like having a conversation with you?

ARRIS: No.

TAFFIN: Then come back when you do.

23_S.TGV

TAFFIN: So, this time you got enough money to make me feel like having a conversation with you?

ARRIS: Yeah. Now about that pod.

TAFFIN: I sold it to a guy named Angus Santana on Anhur. He works for some charity called Interplanetary Aid.

ARRIS: What did Santana want with it?

TAFFIN: They were looking for something to use as a med-evac.

ARRIS: How come you sold it so fast?

TAFFIN: I don't like trouble. That ship's trouble. There was some people, there was a lot of questions. Everyone's getting rid of anything they had from that ship.

ARRIS: Why all the interest?

TAFFIN: Get out of here.

24_S.TGV

SANTANA: Don't mind the mess, mess the mind, that's the slogan for today. I don't know what it means, hah, but when did that ever stop progress, eh? How can I help, Ser...

ARRIS: Lev Arris.

SANTANA: I can only give you a few minutes I'm afraid, Ser Arris, On the way to a meeting. Three meetings, actually. Simultaneously.

ARRIS: I appreciate that.

SANTANA: Where did I put those minutes? You must be with Taffin Reclamation.

25_S.TGV

ARRIS: Yes.

SANTANA: Hey, it's really cool about that memory solid turning up. We could have had mucho trouble decomissioning the pod without it. Uhm, you want tea, coffee, liquid air?

ARRIS: That is.

SANTANA: That is? That is aint in the script, is it? That is is decidedly un-this conversation.

ARRIS: What?

SANTANA: You're not with Taffin, are you? Whoever you are, the idea of you coming in here wearing a fake beard and moustache, metaphorically speaking, doesn't float my boat. Do you hear what I'm saying?

ARRIS: I'm sorry, Ser Santana. Listen, I've been doing through some kind of hell the last few days but I shouldn't have tried it on. I'm not with Taffin.

SANTANA: Tell you the truth, he gives me the creepers anyway. So what does bring you here?

ARRIS: The pod that Taffin sold you. I have an interest in it.

SANTANA: Of that, I figured.

ARRIS: I was in it, just before it was sold.

SANTANA: That would account for the interest.

ARRIS: I'm trying to clear up some questions about the facility I was in prior to being put in the pod, but I can't do that without the pod's serial number and it doesn't show in the manifest of the ship it was on.

SANTANA: What ship was that?

ARRIS: The Canera.

SANTANA: The one that crashed? Hey that whole business was not un-strange. Some crazy rumors flying around. Way off-planet. Could you put some clothes on those rumors?

ARRIS: Maybe. But it's the pod that I'm interested in. Can you, um, can you give me the serial number?

SANTANA: Well, if I had time to think about it I'm sure there are a million reasons why I shouldn't. But I'm in a charitable mood and I do have a meeting to get to.

ARRIS: Three meetings.

SANTANA: On the button. Mmm, here's what you're after. I've transferred it to your computer. If you follow the landings and the cargo information attached to that tracking number you ought to be able to find the planet of origin. That's the old number, a new ones been assigned since we bought the pod.

ARRIS: Thanks. You said something about a memory solid going missing.

SANTANA: Yes, not something that normally would become detached. Is there anything else I can do for you?

ARRIS: No. You've been very helpful. Thanks very much.

SANTANA: Think nothing of it.

26_S.TGV

ARRIS: No, no I think there must be some mistake, I'm not with Taffin. The pod that Taffin sold you, I have an interest in it.

SANTANA: Of that, I figured.

ARRIS: I was in it, just before it was sold.

SANTANA: That would account for the interest.

ARRIS: I'm trying to clear up some questions about the facility I was in prior to being put in the pod, but I can't do that without the pod's serial number and it doesn't show in the manifest of the ship it was on.

SANTANA: What ship was that?

ARRIS: The Canera.

SANTANA: The one that crashed? Hey that whole business was not un-strange. Some crazy rumors flying around. Way off-planet. Could you put some clothes on those rumors?

ARRIS: Maybe. But it's the pod I'm that interested in. Can you, ah, can you give me the serial number?

SANTANA: Well, if I had time to think about it I'm sure there are a million reasons why I shouldn't. But I'm in a charitable mood and I do have a meeting to get to.

ARRIS: Three meetings.

SANTANA: On the button. Mmm, here's what you're after. I've transferred it to your computer. If you follow the landings and the cargo information attached to that tracking number you ought to be able to find the planet of origin. That's the old number, a new ones been assigned since we bought the pod.

ARRIS: Thanks. You said something about a memory solid going missing.

SANTANA: Yes, not something that normally would become detached. Is there anything else I can do for you?

ARRIS: No. You've been very helpful. Thanks very much.

SANTANA: Think nothing of it.

44_S.TGV

XAVIER: I hear you've got yourself a ship.

ARRIS: You must have good ears.

XAVIER: You've got a little time on your hands.

ARRIS: Who's asking?

XAVIER: Xavier Shondi, with an X.

ARRIS: Lev Arris, with a why?

XAVIER: Why?

ARRIS: Why do you want me and my ship?

XAVIER: I've got a shipment in. All nice gear. Requires a bit of escorting.

ARRIS: I don't usually do escort work. It's something sensitive.

XAVIER: I wouldn't say sensitive. A little moody, maybe.

ARRIS: I charge extra for arms shipments, they tend to attract unwanted attention and I've got to know what it's for, otherwise no go.

XAVIER: There's a nice little uprising on Karatikus.

ARRIS: What, the mutants, eh?

XAVIER: I prefer to think of them as genetically challenged. You got something against muties?

ARRIS: Not if I can help it. So come on, Xavier with an x, what's the score?

XAVIER: Guns, a transport.

ARRIS: What are we talking, credit-wise?

XAVIER: 8,000 up front, ditto on completion.

45_S.TGV

ARRIS: You're on. Cred me.

XAVIER: Credit where credit is due. You'll get the rest when I get back here.

46_S.TGV

ARRIS: Not enough.

XAVIER: I'll get someone cheaper, then.

47_S.TGV

XAVIER: Everything sweet?

ARRIS: Not too many problems.

XAVIER: 7,000 what we agreed on.

ARRIS: Eight, and you know it.

XAVIER: Silly me. It'll be transferred now. Thanks, Ser Arris, very nice job.

70_S.TGV

?: Can I talk to you for a moment, friend?

ARRIS: Yeah, sure.

NELSON: Joe tells me you are a dependable bloke.

ARRIS: Lying again, he's terrible.

NELSON: Seriously, I need escort off the planet to Janus IV.

ARRIS: What's the problem?

NELSON: Well, I work for an... organization, you might say, which asks me to collect funds for them from time to time. It's been a profitable one, this last haul, and I want to disappear for a little while, if you understand me. I need someone to come along to make sure I get to Janus in one piece. I'll pay you 4,000 credits. Interested?

71_S.TGV

ARRIS: Sorry, friend, can't do it just now.

NELSON: Ah, well, thank you all the same.

72_S.TGV

ARRIS: Sure, why not? Just let me know when you're ready to leave.

73_S.TGV

NELSON: Lev! Hah hah hah hah hah! I've had the money we discussed transferred to your account. Thanks again for your help.

ARRIS: You're welcome. Are you sure you're going to be allright here?

NELSON: Yes indeed. I'm going fishing! Hah hah hah hah hah hah!

81_S.TGV

GABRIEL: Ser Arris?

ARRIS: Yes, Aunt?

GABRIEL: Can I ask you a favor?

ARRIS: Depends.

GABRIEL: A paid favor.

ARRIS: My favorite kind.

GABRIEL: Can you get me out of here?

ARRIS: Sorry?

GABRIEL: I don't particularly want to be here. Unfortunately, some people want my money to be here.

ARRIS: Your money?

GABRIEL: I've just come in to some. Quite a lot, actually. If I don't move pretty fast now, these people are going to get it.

ARRIS: But what can I do, Auntie?

GABRIEL: Get me off-planet now. I'll give you 3,000 credits to get me to Hepheastus.

82_S.TGV

ARRIS: Sorry, Auntie, I don't want to be declared anathema. The beer's too good here.

83_S.TGV

ARRIS: Well, if you can get yourself ready quietly.

GABRIEL: No trouble.

84_S.TGV

GABRIEL: Ser Arris, I owe you my freedom.

ARRIS: And 3,000 credits.

GABRIEL: Paid, with thanks.

ARRIS: And a beer?

GABRIEL: Don't talk to me about beer.

DISC TWO

27_S.TGV

ARRIS: Hi.

RECEPTIONIST: Ser, how can I help you?

ARRIS: Yeah, listen, I'm trying to track down the history of a pod you constructed for someone.

RECEPTIONIST: I'm sorry but that information is confidential. We can't just give it to people walking in off the street.

ARRIS: Well is there somebody else I can talk to?

RECEPTIONIST: No, I'm sorry, it's just me at the moment and I really can't give out that information.

28_S.TGV

ARRIS: Listen, Serra, I've come all the way from Anhur to get this information and I need some help.

RECEPTIONIST: There have been a lot of shady types in here recently, ehough to have put in a new security system. Like it? Some of those people have come on a lot heavier than you have.

29_S.TGV

ARRIS: Please, Serra. Do you, uhm, do you know you, uhm, you look like my sister.

RECEPTIONIST: No.

ARRIS: I mean, that is, uhm, if, if I, if I had a sister I'd, uhm, I'd I'd I'd I'd really like her to look like you.

RECEPTIONIST: You're telling the truth now, because no one like you who had a sister would have survived this long. You're too upset looking to be a serious crook. Now you just start behaving yourself.

ARRIS: Is it uhm, is it allright then if I just wait until someone comes who I can take this up with?

RECEPTIONIST: Allright, but I can't guarantee anything different will happen. What's so special about this pod?

ARRIS: I was in it. I was being transported for a medical facility and they, uhm, they left me with some physical problems that I won't be able to handle until I find out where that facility was. But the pod went down in the Canera.

RECEPTIONIST: My goodness.

ARRIS: And some data was lost from the pod's memory and now it can't be traced. Listen, I, uhm, I have the pod's serial number if, if it would be of any help.

RECEPTIONIST: Come here. I really shouldn't be doing this. There, it was comissioned and paid for by a Jan Mitorr on Janus IV. Goodness. The record's almost twenty years old.

ARRIS: What?

RECEPTIONIST: Anyway, there's his address. Though there's no guarantee he's there anymore. Was that all you came about?

ARRIS: Yeah.

RECEPTIONIST: Right. I've transferred the information into your computer. Now you better get out of here before my boss gets back. I never saw you. Even if you do look a lot like my little brother.

ARRIS: Serra, thanks very much.

RECEPTIONIST: Come on, get out before my boss sees you and asks what you wanted.

30_S.TGV

ARRIS: Serra, look, I'm sorry. Please, please listen, I... I really need this information and, and I don't know what to do to get it.

RECEPTIONIST: Not threatening people might be one place to start.

ARRIS: Consider yourself unthreatened. Please, I really need your help.

ARRIS: Is it uhm, is it allright then if I just wait until someone comes who I can take this up with?

RECEPTIONIST: Allright, but I can't guarantee anything different will happen. What's so special about this pod?

ARRIS: I was in it. I was being transported for a medical facility and they, uhm, they left me with some physical problems that I won't be able to handle until I find out where that facility was. But the pod went down in the Canera.

RECEPTIONIST: My goodness.

ARRIS: And some data was lost from the pod's memory and now it can't be traced. Listen, I, uhm, I have the pod's serial number if, if it would be of any help.

RECEPTIONIST: Come here. I really shouldn't be doing this. There, it was comissioned and paid for by a Jan Mitorr on Janus IV. Goodness. The record's almost twenty years old.

ARRIS: What?

RECEPTIONIST: Anyway, there's his address. Though there's no guarantee he's there anymore. Was that all you came about?

ARRIS: Yeah.

RECEPTIONIST: Right. I've transferred the information into your computer. Now you better get out of here before my boss gets back. I never saw you. Even if you do look a lot like my little brother.

ARRIS: Serra, thanks very much.

RECEPTIONIST: Come on, get out before my boss sees you and asks what you wanted.

31_S.TGV

ARRIS: Well, is it allright then if I just wait until someone comes who I can take this up with?

RECEPTIONIST: Allright, but I can't guarantee anything different will happen. What's so special about this pod?

ARRIS: I was in it. I was being transported for a medical facility and they, uhm, they left me with some physical problems that I won't be able to handle until I find out where that facility was. But the pod went down in the Canera.

RECEPTIONIST: My goodness.

ARRIS: And some data was lost from the pod's memory and now it can't be traced. Listen, I, uhm, I have the pod's serial number if, if it would be of any help.

RECEPTIONIST: Come here. I really shouldn't be doing this. There, it was comissioned and paid for by a Jan Mitorr on Janus IV. Goodness. The record's almost twenty years old.

ARRIS: What?

RECEPTIONIST: Anyway, there's his address. Though there's no guarantee he's there anymore. Was that all you came about?

ARRIS: Yeah.

RECEPTIONIST: Right. I've transferred the information into your computer. Now you better get out of here before my boss gets back. I never saw you. Even if you do look a lot like my little brother.

ARRIS: Serra, thanks very much.

RECEPTIONIST: Come on, get out before my boss sees you and asks what you wanted.

32_S.TGV

MITORR: Yes?

ARRIS: Yeah, I'd like to speak to a Ser Jan Mitorr, please.

MITORR: No. Go away. Holy Gods, you! Get out!

ARRIS: Ser Mitorr, I'm here about a pod.

MITORR: But another age, another time and place. Begone, I beseech you, begone.

ARRIS: The pod, you mad old bastard, the one that went down in the Canera

MITORR: Canera? You mean Malakai didn't... what do you want with us now?

ARRIS: I want to know where that pod was before it was put onboard the Canera when I was put in it.

MITORR: Why are you asking me these things? I'm not supposed to know them, I'm supposed to have forgotten them.

ARRIS: Well remember those things.

MITORR: No! Kappa Labs, Kappa, Kappa damn you. Now go, leave us alone.

ARRIS: Give me the coordinates.

MITORR: But you know! It's out in the Scatterbelt. Listen, it was all so long ago. But it was allright, the pod worked. Just... just tell me what you want.

ARRIS: Who put me in the pod?

MITORR: Go to Kappa Labs, you'll see. If I open my mouth you know what they'll do. You know better than most and... my heart, and my heart, I can't breathe. I'm dying. Your father he would... he said...

ARRIS: My father? What about my father? What about my father? Shit.

33_S.TGV

No dialog.

34_S.TGV

HASSAN: This way.

ARRIS: This is not a place I ever wanted to see the inside of.

HASSAN: why should you see the inside of Hades, unless you're guilty of a crime?

ARRIS: Am I being accused of something here?

HASSAN: Not necessarily.

ARRIS: Now look, I save your life, I choose to follow you down here, now if you don't quit playing the man of mystery I'm going to get back on my ship and I'll take my own chances with whoever's trying to nail me.

HASSAN: There's a lot to tell you, Arris. I don't know how much you know. I don't know how much you're involved. Right now, I don't care. You could be the biggest cutthroat this side of New Bedlam, as long as you help me get the Kindred.

ARRIS: The Kindred? Isn't that some kind of organized crime group?

HASSAN: It's THE organized crime group. Over the past forty years, they've infiltrated every aspect of society. Commerce, government, law enforcement, on every planet known to man. They maniuplate stock markets, planetary economies, politics... and anyone whot tries to stop them, anyone who tries to get in the way, they're eliminated.

ARRIS: That puts you in the firing line, I'd say.

HASSAN: It's my job.

ARRIS: That's all it is, a job?

HASSAN: The man who runs the organization has stayed in the shadows for some time. But you tell me, Arris, you tell me about the man who runs the Kindred.

ARRIS: What am I supposed to know?

HASSAN: He's clever. Ruthless. Brilliant, by all accounts. Lavish, with rewards to his faithful servants. Brutal to those who aren't.

ARRIS: Yeah, I think we've established that he's a powerful bastard, what's that have to do with me?

HASSAN: In the Kindred organization, his name is Kronos.

ARRIS: Kronos.

HASSAN: The CIS is at war with the Kindred. It's a war you found yourself in the middle of.

ARRIS: I don't want any part of it. I've got my own problems.

HASSAN: You haven't begun to have problems. You cross me, you'll have problems. You're going to have to choose sides, Arris. Which brings us to the Kindred operative known as Malakai.

ARRIS: Maybe I knew him, once. I had a crash.

HASSAN: So we noticed. Memory loss. Unlucky, or a good excuse.

ARRIS: What's so important about Malakai?

HASSAN: We think he's one of Kronos' top lieutenants. Possibly his closest friend for many years. And he seems inordinately interested in you.

ARRIS: Why?

HASSAN: That's the question. Maybe he was the one who erased your personal records. Maybe he was the one trying to get you to the hospital on Crius. What's important is, he's trying to get to you and that means you can help us get him.

ARRIS: You, you want to use me as bait?

HASSAN: We'll be doing eachother a favor.

ARRIS: No way. No, this is your crusade, Hassan. Who was it, a CIS partner? A lover? Who did the Kindred kill that's burned you so badly?

HASSAN: That's got nothing to do with it.

ARRIS: You're lying.

HASSAN: You're right. It was someone. But that doesn't make taking a murderous dog like Malakai out of orbit any less important.

ARRIS: Okay, I need extra weapons systems installed on my ship.

HASSAN: A Blindfire do?

ARRIS: Absolutely. And I'll need files. A complete breakdown of everything you know about the Kindred.

HASSAN: You got it. And I'll give you some passwords, get you into the computers of a firm called Blessed Aquawine on Bex. You might find something of interest.

ARRIS: What happens if the Bex police catch me snooping through their files?

HASSAN: Don't let them.

ARRIS: A CIS operative condoning breaking the law?

HASSAN: I prefer to think of it as bending.

ARRIS: Don't you have your own agents for this kind of thing?

HASSAN: Never know who to trust in this business, Arris. It's a dirty war. They got moles inside the CIS, we got agents in their organization. We give them the mushroom treatment.

ARRIS: The mushroom treatment?

HASSAN: Yeah, feed 'em shit, keep 'em in the dark. You'll find the files and passwords for Aquawine in your ship's computer. You should check out the business of a man called Hugo Carmichael.

ARRIS: What happens when Kronos' people get to me?

HASSAN: We won't be far behind. My boss, Sheila Nabakov, has been chasing Kronos a long time. We both want him bad. We can get to him through Malakai.

ARRIS: And when I'm through with all this.

HASSAN: Maybe by then we'll know who you are. Be able to make your own choice.

35_S.TGV

CARMICHAEL: What?

ARRIS: Hugo Carmichael?

CARMICHAEL: Who wants to know?

ARRIS: My name's Lev Arris, I have some questions for you.

CARMICHAEL: Yeah, I bet you have. It's a pity, I'm fresh out of answers.

ARRIS: It looks like you're going somewhere in a hurry.

CARMICHAEL: What gives you that impression?

ARRIS: Malakai.

CARMICHAEL: Mala-what?

ARRIS: Your sudden depature wouldn't have anything to do with Malakai, would it?

CARMICHAEL: Only if I believed in ghosts. Listen, well, I've got a ship to catch.

ARRIS: Not before I ask you a couple of questions about a box you're taking care of.

CARMICHAEL: I don't know nothing about no box.

ARRIS: Someone named Larn Regis.

CARMICHAEL: You running on a new brain, or what? Nobody told you that worm food's nothing to worry about? Now get out of here.

ARRIS: You seem a little nervous.

CARMICHAEL: Only about missing my ship.

ARRIS: Does this have something to do with me?

CARMICHAEL: You really restore my faith in human stupidity. Hand me my trunks.

ARRIS: Let me help you somehow.

CARMICHAEL: You? Help me? You got a ship? You got d-drive?

ARRIS: Yeah.

CARMICHAEL: Well, so have I, and I'm going to Hephaestus. It's a long journey and nasty things can happen when you're flying alone. So, if you're so keen to play the good samaritan, you can watch my ass, okay?

ARRIS: Sure. Is it Malakai you're worried about?

CARMICHAEL: Jesus, you are behind the times. Malakai was a code name for Larn Regis. He fried when the Canera went down. Haven't laughed much since my first divorce.

ARRIS: Malakai on the Canera?

CARMIACHEL: We'll talk when we get to Hephaestus.

36_S.TGV

ARRIS: Oh, excuse me. Uhm, I'm looking for somebody called Hugo Carmichael. He's, he's a guest, I believe.

RECEPTIONIST: Oh, certainly, ser. Just follow your lovely hostess. She'll take you to his room.

HOSTESS: This way, ser. Room one three oh one four, ser. Enjoy your stay at the Galactic Gourmet.

ARRIS: Hugo?

ASSASSIN: Step inside.

52_S.TGV

MADDOX: Ser... Arris, isn't it?

ARRIS: Yeah, thanks for telling the whole world.

MADDOX: Word has it you do odd space jobs here and there?

ARRIS: What of it?

MADDOX: I found my old grandpa Doug's journal. It's a MacArthur model 6 journal master mark 41.

ARRIS: Lucky old grandpa Doug.

MADDOX: Don't mind if I do, I'll have a beer. You'll have to speak up, ear drums got a little dented. Too many explosions.

ARRIS: What's your problem?

MADDOX: Next tuesday. Now, came across an entry, he left an old warehouse full of hardware on Bex, just before he died. The equipment is still there.

ARRIS: I think I get the picture.

MADDOX: No, I'm not religious myself. All you've got to do is go and pick the stuff up. Clever guy like you should be able to do that.

ARRIS: Yeah, but how will I know how to find the place?

MADDOX: Just land, and a friend of mine will have the stuff loaded for you.

ARRIS: What's in it for me?

MADDOX: My knee is fine. It's my ears.

ARRIS: Payment.

MADDOX: Oh! 6,000 and I'll throw in holo book I wrote about military hardware through the ages.

53_S.TGV

ARRIS: Allright.

54_S.TGV

MADDOX: Hey! You did me a big favor there. Put a little something in your account just now. Six thou.

ARRIS: THANK'S BILL!

MADDOX: No, I'm never ill! Oh my! Oh!

55_S.TGV

ARRIS: Sorry, friend, not interested.

56_S.TGV

BARLOW: Well, well.

ARRIS: I'd, uhm, offer to buy you a drink, but you, uhm, you seem to be, uh, pretty well equipped.

BARLOW: Yeah, that's what they all say, and it's always a fool who listens.

ARRIS: Why?

BARLOW: Haven't I seen you around here before?

ARRIS: I thought that was supposed to be my line.

BARLOW: I'm serious. You're that hot pilot, aren't you? You free this week?

ARRIS: I am, but, uhm, I was hoping to hang onto my liver a while longer.

BARLOW: A humorist... Tell me, ser hot pilot, you ever killed anybody?

ARRIS: It's hard to avoid in my line of work.

BARLOW: Do you want to kill someone else? I can pay.

ARRIS: Who'd you have in mind?

BARLOW: My old boss. It's the oldest story in the book. He says to me, Bernice, someday you're going to have my job. But first you need a little coaching. And I believed him. oh he coached me allright, and when promotion time came around, guess who got promoted? And guess who guess who got bimbo tracked?

ARRIS: As you say, an old story.

BARLOW: And a very old solution. Heart failure, oh. His. You interested?

ARRIS: Depends on the payment.

BARLOW: Cash on the barrelhead. And when I hear he's dead, 7,000.

57_S.TGV

ARRIS: 7,000. Sure, why not?

BARLOW: Here, his address, codes, details of his comings and goings. Make it a slow death. I want this bastard to suffer.

58_S.TGV

ARRIS: Sorry, serra, I don't think so.

BARLOW: Another little boy in man's clothing. Go away, little boy. You bother me.

59_S.TGV

ARRIS: Have we been introduced?

BANKS: You've introduced yourself, when you blew away those goons who were trying to... ruin my day. You have the dryest lips, mister. Let me wet them for you a little. Cheers.

ARRIS: Bottoms up.

BANKS: That depends. Melissa Banks.

ARRIS: Lev Arris.

BANKS: Thanks for helping me out, Lev.

ARRIS: It was a pleasure.

BANKS: Was or is?

ARRIS: Well, that depends. Who were those guys, anyway? Jealous boyfriends?

BANKS: Something to do with my dead brother.

ARRIS: I'm sorry.

BANKS: He got killed a few months back. Only heard about it recently. Started asking questions. Then suddenly started finding people like that waiting out in the dark for me. The dark is no place to be alone in.

ARRIS: What do you suggest?

BANKS: I could use a wingman. Interested?

60_S.TGV

ARRIS: I should warn you that I'm not really looking for a long-term relationship.

BANKS: I'm not offering one. It's just that I need to get safely out-system. Got a few more questions about my brother that still need answering. So what are you looking for, Lev Arris?

ARRIS: Just some guy I used to know.

BANKS: Maybe I could help you find him.

ARRIS: Yeah, I think maybe you could.

BANKS: Wow, it's getting hot in here. I'll give you the coordinates tomorrow.

ARRIS: Listen, my, uhm, my lips are still a little dry.

BANKS: Oh, well, we can't have that, can we? It's getting late. We have an early start tomorrow.

ARRIS: Yeah.

BANKS: Lev? Remember what we were talking about earlier?

ARRIS: About long term relationships?

BANKS: No, about not being alone in the dark.

61_S.TGV

ARRIS: Unfortunately, my, uhm, schedule is a little full at the moment.

BANKS: Listen, I understand completely. It's alot to ask. But allright. It's just that I saw how good you were. But I still owe you a favor, and I hope I'll get a chance to let you know how grateful I am. Eventually.

62_S.TGV

ARRIS: Hi, how are you doing? I'm here to pick up a package from a Doctor Graham Gould.

RECEPTIONIST: Ser Arris? He's left it here for you. It's to go to Interplanetary Aid, a ser Angus Santana. Your payment comes through on delivery.

ARRIS: Thanks.

63_S.TGV

ARRIS: Angus! I've got a package for you.

SANTANA: Excellent! Glad you had the time. I gather you've not been un-busy. Hey, could you take a package for return to Crius? Double the fun, double the fee? I'd do it myself, but...

ARRIS: Got a meeting?

SANTANA: Lots of 'em.

64_S.TGV

ARRIS: Certainly.

SANTANA: Great. This goes to Shernikov Medical Supplies on Crius. The whole address is there on the label.

ARRIS: Fine.

65_S.TGV

ARRIS: Sorry, I can't.

SANTANA: Allright. Thanks anyway.

66_S.TGV

ARRIS: Morning. I've got a package from Interplanetary Aid.

RECEPTIONIST: Allright, I've transferred your fee. Uhm, just drop it there. anything else? Or would you like to sit in the status field a while?

ARRIS: No, I'll, uhm, pass, thanks.

RECEPTIONIST: I hear you've been a busy little boy out there.

ARRIS: Beats having nothing to do.

68_S.TGV

AMES: Ser Arris, do come in. Ser, I have a lot to thank you for. I hope you'll allow my father to drop several thousand credits in your account by way of thanks.

ARRIS: Heaven forbid I should argue the point.

AMES: He's also taken the liberty of looking into your past records and he's going to ask the authorities to remove a few unfortunate blots.

ARRIS: That's very nice of him.

AMES: And I think I can find some more concrete ways to say thank you.

ARRIS: Sounds like fun.

AMES: Lev!

69_S.TGV

MCCLOUD: Listen up, I'm Bill McCloud. Mighty pleased to meet you, stranger, on account of you've just saving my butt. Let me, ah, throw a few drinks down that fine gullet of yours. Bartender! Now listen bud, I reckon' one good turn deserves... well, deserves a darn sight more than just another cliche, huh? What I'm trying to say is, uh, I want to do something to help you in return, yes ser.

ARRIS: Well, if you insist.

MCCLOUD: Glad to hear you say that, ser. Though I may look like just another lonesome space-poke, I happen to have an extra set of Kraven Mark IV lasers in my ship and I'd be pleased and mighty proud to install them in yours.

ARRIS: Well I'd be pleased and mighty proud to accept that offer. Thanks, McCloud.

MCCLOUD: Don't mention it.

74_S.TGV

UNCLE: Oh, oh, woe! Oh grief!

ARRIS: What's the matter, Uncle?

UNCLE: Oh, bless you. The heart of the things that we had here, the soul of them, has been stolen! Taken, by heartless infidels, doubtless to be sold for filthy lucre.

ARRIS: What was this exactly?

UNCLE: A small and exquisitely made image of the Lord of the brews in his aspect as taster. Burp. The holy cup in one hand, his other raised in blessing. A thing of great beauty, of history which our people have cherished for a millenia. And now all gone. We, we would do anything to get it back, anything.

ARRIS: How much anything?

UNCLE: Quite a lot. Ten thou at least.

ARRIS: Those nasty, despoiling infidels. You, ah, you got their names, did you?

UNCLE: Oh yes, indeed. Bray. Ronnie or Reggie.

75_S.TGV

FOSSA: Quite a place, isn't it?

ARRIS: You have a gift for understatement, ser.

FOSSA: Fossa. Alberto Fossa.

???ARRIS: I feel like I've fallen into a keeprat's hole.

FOSSA: Yes, the Bex religious impulse has its collective side. As in collect anything and keep it whether you remember where it came from or not.

ARRIS: And you, ser Fossa, what do you collect?

FOSSA: Opportunities. I've just come by a nice, shiny new one.

ARRIS: oh?

FOSSA: There's about to be a private auction of something rather special. A couple of business assosciates have just acquired a small peice of religious art, they're about to sell it off. I don't think they know how special it is and if I turned off at the auction it might tip them off.

ARRIS: Well it sounds to me like you need someone to act for you, someone who doesn't usually turn up at auctions.

FOSSA: There would be more than adequate remuniation in it for the agent. Are you interested?

ARRIS: How adequate?

FOSSA: 5,000 or so. All you would need to do is bid on my art.

76_S.TGV

ARRIS: Well, there's nothing pressing. And one can only look at so many pictures of the Holy Vine without getting a hangover.

FOSSA: Very well. The auction will be in here later this evening.

ARRIS: How high do you want me to bid?

FOSSA: No limit. You will find enough to cover in your account. I'll pick the object up from you after the auction. The holy brewers blessing on you, ser.

77_S.TGV

ARRIS: Man does not live by bread alone, ser Fossa, no matter how many notes are attached to the loaf.

FOSSA: Ah, well. Another time?

78_S.TGV

BRAY: You want something, govnuh?

ARRIS: Yeah, in.

BRAY: In? In to what?

ARRIS: Word gets around, sers. Lets see what the bidding's about.

BRAY: We don't recognize you.

ARRIS: You'll recognize the color of my credits soon enough. Lets have a look.

BRAY: Not the original. An early copy, innit?

ARRIS: It's the holy promised sign.

BIDDER: It's the holy promised sign.

BRAY: Start the bidding.

BIDDER #1: Five.

BRAY: Be serious or I'll break your legs.

BIDDER #1: Fifteen.

BRAY: Better.

BIDDER #2: Twenty.

ARRIS: Thirty.

BIDDER #2: Thirty-five.

ARRIS: Forty.

BIDDER #2: Forty-two.

ARRIS: Hundred.

BRAY: Hundred creds? For this piece of piss?

ARRIS: I like art. Any other bids? You confirm payment? Good. Good night, sers.

79_S.TGV

FOSSA: You did a good job, there.

ARRIS: I didn't spend too much.

FOSSA: Not for this. You'll find your account's been credited with the amount we agreed. Thank you again.

80_S.TGV

UNCLE: My nephew! How can I help you?

ARRIS: Uncle, I think this belongs to you.

UNCLE: The holy one! The image of the maker of malts.

ARRIS: Not an early copy?

UNCLE: The original! May the thieves thirst forever. Hah hah hah! My nephew, how did you come by this thing, honestly, I hope?

ARRIS: I think we'd better let that fall by the wayside for the moment.

UNCLE: No matter. The holy brew of the great one washes all memory free, especially the inconvenient ones. But my nephew you must allow the avuncular order to say thank you.

ARRIS: Well, think nothing of it.

UNCLE: But you must! Otherwise in the next world the holy one will withold the divine brew from us. Will ten thousand be any good?

ARRIS: Ten's a nice round number. But I, I wouldn't want to be greedy.

UNCLE: Greed is in the heart, not in the credit account. Ah, suppose it twenty and suppose it done, and come and have a beer!

ARRIS: Now that you mention it, I am a little dry.

UNCLE: Come on, this way. You make me very happy!

87_S.TGV

JOE: A little bird told me that you were on Hades, so I guess you've come back here for a little taste of heaven.

88_S.TGV

JOE: I hear the CIS chief, Shiela Nabakov, is really breathing down the Kindreds necks. Hope they like her brand of perfume.

90_S.TGV

JOE: I know that look anywhere. You've got yourself a little space babe. Maybe you should bring her in and introduce her to me.

DISC THREE

10_S.TGV

ARRIS: Vonx?

VONX: That is I.

ARRIS: It's, uhm, it's Lord Vonx, isn't it? I, I, I've seen you on the holo.

VONX: I don't stand on ceremony at home, or many other places. Sit down, man.

ARRIS: So, how can I help you?

VONX: I have word of an arms shipment which will be making its way from Hephaestus to Anhur. It must be destroyed.

ARRIS: Why?

VONX: Because the arms being trans-shipped are intended for the civil war on Karaktikus. If they reach that planet, thousands of people will die who need not do so. That strikes me as reason enough. You and your ship come well spoken of. Will you take the comission? The price is 8,000, paid to you on confirmation of the destruction of that shipment. Gun camera shots will be sufficient.

ARRIS: 8,000 is a lot for one ship.

VONX: It's not a lot for saving 8,000 lives or so. Which it will.

11_S.TGV

ARRIS: Allright.

VONX: Good man. Go, then, and do your work.

12_S.TGV

ARRIS: Sorry, my Lord, it's not for me.

VONX: Very well. Goodbye, then.

37_S.TGV

JOE: Here you go. I thought you said you leave your troubles outside.

ARRIS: Sometimes they just follow you in.

JOE: Looking for something special, huh?

ARRIS: Yeah.

JOE: But first you want a drink. A big one.

ARRIS: Right again.

JOE: Enjoy.

ARRIS: Listen, I need somebody.

JOE: It's written all over your face, lad.

ARRIS: Somebody who knows how to crack a password.

JOE: Is that all? Grab yourself a seat. I'll bend a few appropriate ears.

--

DIMITRI: I'm known as Dimitri. I believe you're being called Arris.

ARRIS: I beleive so.

DIMITRI: Joe says you've got some nature of a problem. Ah-hah. Protected. Spiteful.

ARRIS: Spiteful? How?

DIMITRI: Well, the algorithm for breaking this little baby is going to be a technical headache on a major scale. We are talking problem.

ARRIS: How many problems?

DIMITRI: About 30,000 problem, I'd venture.

ARRIS: That's a lot of problems.

DIMITRI: So is this. Where I have to go for the algorithm, I may not be able to go again for awhile. I have to cover my lost business.

ARRIS: 20,000.

DIMITRI: Uh-huh. Take it or leave it. This one's hotter than a venturi chamber with an asshole.

ARRIS: Okay, you're on.

DIMITRI: Good. It'll take me a little while to get this sorted, time-wise. You hang limply and abuse yourself.

ARRIS: Where you going?

DIMITRI: Somewhere quiet to work.

ARRIS: Oh, no, no, no. How do I know won't just run off with it?

DIMITRI: Dimitri don't run. Unless there's a fight.

--

NEWSREADER HOLOGRAM: ... the Silmar's Eye II has turned up surprising new evidence of alien technology similar to that found on Karatikus. The Silmar's Eye is now officially being classified presumed lost after transmissions from its location is a previously unsurveyed star system...

ARRIS: That was quick.

DIMITRI: It is, when you know how. Go on.

ARRIS: What's that?

DIMITRI: Duodecaplylatomate.

ARRIS: What?

DIMITRI: Someone must have nervous body trying to force this out. There's enough duodec here to blow you, me, the Sinners and this whole goddamn side of this port into vaporsphere. And the hole wouldn't even smoke afterwards. Just goes to show you, it pays to spend money on quality work. Meanwhile, if I were you, I'd take that somewhere quiet to read.

38_S.TGV

JOE: Here you go. I thought you said you leave your troubles outside.

ARRIS: Sometimes they just follow you in.

JOE: Looking for something special, huh?

ARRIS: Yeah.

JOE: But first you want a drink. A big one.

ARRIS: Right again.

JOE: Enjoy.

ARRIS: Listen, I need somebody.

JOE: It's written all over your face, lad.

ARRIS: Somebody who knows how to crack a password.

JOE: Is that all? Grab yourself a seat. I'll bend a few appropriate ears.

--

DIMITRI: I'm known as Dimitri. I believe you're being called Arris.

ARRIS: I beleive so.

DIMITRI: Joe says you've got some nature of a problem. Ah-hah. Protected. Spiteful.

ARRIS: Spiteful? How?

DIMITRI: Well, the algorithm for breaking this little baby is going to be a technical headache on a major scale. We are talking problem.

ARRIS: How many problems?

DIMITRI: About 30,000 problem, I'd venture.

ARRIS: That's a lot of problems.

DIMITRI: So is this. Where I have to go for the algorithm, I may not be able to go again for awhile. I have to cover my lost business.

ARRIS: 20,000.

DIMITRI: Uh-huh. Take it or leave it. This one's hotter than a venturi chamber with an asshole.

ARRIS: I just haven't got the 'redits.

DIMITRI: Sorry, can't help you. But come back, when you've got the money.

39_S.TGV

DIMITRI: Hey, Arris, have you got the funds?

ARRIS: Yep.

DIMITRI: Great. Let's get on with it. You get comfortable, I'll be back.

--

NEWSREADER HOLOGRAM: ... the Silmar's Eye II has turned up surprising new evidence of alien technology similar to that found on Karatikus. The Silmar's Eye is now officially being classified presumed lost after transmissions from its location is a previously unsurveyed star system...

ARRIS: That was quick.

DIMITRI: It is, when you know how. Go on.

ARRIS: What's that?

DIMITRI: Duodecaplylatomate.

ARRIS: What?

DIMITRI: Someone must have nervous body trying to force this out. There's enough duodec here to blow you, me, the Sinners and this whole goddamn side of this port into vaporsphere. And the hole wouldn't even smoke afterwards. Just goes to show you, it pays to spend money on quality work. Meanwhile, if I were you, I'd take that someone quiet to read.

40_S.TGV

DIMITRI: Hey, Arris, you got the funds?

ARRIS: No.

???DIMITRI: I've got to give you this, you're a trunk. But no lootifree, no Dimitri. Sorry.

41_S.TGV

HASSAN: I hear you've found something of interest.

ARRIS: News travels fast.

HASSAN: It does if you spend enough money.

ARRIS: Malakai's dead.

HASSAN: Malakai's dead?

ARRIS: Went down with the Canera. Listen, does the name Rhinehart mean anything to you?

HASSAN: Maybe. Maybe a code name for one of Kronos' lieutenants. You sure he's dead?

ARRIS: Yeah, of course I'm sure. What's the problem?

HASSAN: If Malakai's dead, who the hell have we got? We've got the guy who sent you all the e-mail. We caught him as he was leaving Bex.

ARRIS: Reading my e-mail? David, I've got to meet this guy. You owe me.

HASSAN: Okay, then. CIS secure services. Bex TP high security facility.

COMPUTER: Okay, go.

HASSAN: Chief Proctor's Office. Ron, it's David Hassan.

RON: David. See your orders came through this morning, he's on his way.

HASSAN: What orders?

RON: Moving our prisoner over to Hades.

HASSAN: Orders? Under whose seal?

RON: Yours.

ARRIS: Wh-wh-what's going on?

HASSAN: When did these orders come through?

RON: Last night. We shipped him out, uh, well, a couple hours ago.

HASSAN: Tell BTP to get everything they can out there. That ship's going to be attacked. Coming?

42_S.TGV

GUARD: Access, ser.

RHINEHART: Wait... so you made it through after all? Bravo.

HASSAN: Bravo? You know how many people have died?

RHINEHART: Oh, who the hell cares?

ARRIS: Who are you?

RHINEHART: Well, I suppose we're all friends around here. My code name is Rhinehart.

HASSAN: You sure you're not Malakai

RHINEHART: Don't be absurd, Malakai's dead. Do I look dead? Malakai and I we ah, well let us say we used to be Kronos' right hand men..

HASSAN: Used to be?

ARRIS: So, uhm, where do I fit in all this?

RHINEHART: Please, please, let us proceed in an orderly fashion. Information is a valuable commodity. Before I tell you anything I will require certain assurances. I find myself being sought by both the Kinred and the CIS.

HASSAN: And you think we're the softer option?

RHINEHART: Positively sponge-like, David. I require a CIS protection plan and new identity on one of the more idyllic outer worlds.

HASSAN: Mm, that can be arranged.

RHINEHART: I never doubted it

ARRIS: So who am I?

RHINEHART: Do you reember your brother?

ARRIS: My brother?

RHINEHART: Your twin brother. You were born just moments before him, which made you the oldest, going by the proper.

ARRIS: My brother, Sar.

RHINEHART: How he hated the way your mother doted on you. Then when you got sick with the AOS virus and they froze you and it broke her heart, Sar always blamed you for her death.

HASSAN: This is bullshit it can't be.

ARRIS: Wha-what can't it be what?

RHINEHART: When your father's heart gave out on him you were still in deep freeze, so the mantle of power went to your little brother.

ARRIS: My father?

RHINEHART: Vel Ricaud. You are Vel Ricaud the Second.

HASSAN: But he died, twenty years ago.

RHINEHART: No, he was put into a cryopod twenty years ago.

HASSAN: Lev, your, your father was founder of Ricaud Planetary.

RHINEHART: Which became the Kindred. Since taking over, Sar has turned himself into Kronos.

ARRIS: Kronos. That was a board room nickname for my father, the old man.

RHINEHART: Now it's your brother, who was always unstable. The constant use of revive.

ARRIS: What, the the anti aging drug? That stuff's dangerous, isn't it?

RHINEHART: Only as so far as it eventually makes you age faster and as an added bonus turns the mind to jelly. Which is whats happening to little Sar, much to our distress.

HASSAN: So, things got too messy, even for you? My heart bleeds.

RHINEHART: Yes it does bleed. Its bled profusely since little accident we arranged. Do you ever wish that it was you that died and not your...

HASSAN: Shit, Rhinehart!

ARRIS: Wait! He's trying to wind you up.

RHINEHART: Succeeding, it seems. To think, if you hadn't been frozen you'ld have been part of our war against the CIS. There wouldn't have been quite such buddy love between you then, eh?

ARRIS: Yeah, whoever I was I've changed.

RHINEHART: People don't change that much. Some are born wolves. Some are sheep. You might be wearing sheep's clothing, but your fangs are showing through.

ARRIS: Yeah, well, uh, maybe, uh, losing my memory was the best thing that could have happened to me. Its, uhm, its given me a chance to choose who I am.

RHINEHART: God, this is becoming dangerously close to being a religious experience. Forget it. As soon as all your memories return you'll be just like you used to be, your father's son.

HASSAN: Maybe he's right.

RHINEHART: Your old man was a wise one. When he had Jan Mitorr freeze you he also stored all the company access codes with you.

ARRIS: Yeah he did. I'm remembering that now.

RHINEHART: When Sar went off the rails, Malakai and I knew we needed the son and heir back, but Sar found out and had Malakai killed with the Canera.

ARRIS: Those uhm, those guys in the hospital?

RHIENHART: The first two were mine. I didn't tell the idiots to trash the whole place, just to get you out of there.

ARRIS: And the second two were Sar's come to blow me away and when that didn't work he sent Kindred ops to tail me to finish off the job.

RHINEHART: He knows you could replace him.

ARRIS: That's right I will.

RHINEHART: Well you may have a chance to test that resolve, he's coming to take someone out himself.

ARRIS: Who, me?

RHINEHART: His boss, the head of CIS

HASSAN: Shiela Nabakov. The security conference.

RHINEHART: The very same.

ARRIS: David this is my war too

HASSAN: What side are you on?

ARRIS: The right side.

RHINEHART: Ser Arris,remember - once a wolf, always a wolf.

43_S.TGV

KINDRED: Ser, get off the ground, she's going to blow.

SAR: YOU! You look, you look the same. How I hated that face. How I loved my own.

ARRIS: Well, it's just as well you were so well adjusted, Sar, otherwise that could have driven you a little crazy. You look like shit, by the way.

SAR: Shit? SHIT? Still the same old smart Vel, eh? Well, your face might be new, but that's the only thing that is. You're history. The firm's done quite nicely without you.

ARRIS: That's not what I heard. You've become a liability. An embarassment. People are laughing at you.

SAR: No one laughs at Kronos!

ARRIS: Kronos was our father, you're not fit to carry the same name. Neither of us are.

SAR: I'm fit enough to expand the Kindred. To make it more feared. More hated. More effective.

ARRIS: More bullshit, brother. The Kindred is falling apart quicker than you are.

SAR: You're just jealous! Jealous because I was the eldest! Jealous because mommy liked me better than you! Go on. Go on, admit it, Sar, you're jealous of me.

ARRIS: You're crazy, I'm Vel, you're Sar, remember?

SAR: No, I'm... I... I mean... no, it's not fair. It was never fair.

ARRIS: Face it, Sar, you've cracked and all your plans have cracked, too.

SAR: No! I'll show them. It should've been me who's the eldest. I was nastier than you. Harder. Meaner. I'll show them who's best, Sar

ARRIS: But they're bother dead. Father never liked you and mother only...

SAR: Don't you dare mention her! You pushed me aside in the womb. I should've come out first but you pushed me aside.

ARRIS: I couldn't say so, I think I was asleep at the time

SAR: Oh, always the jokes, always the witty replies. Always light, always loved. At least I left my mark on you. It will take you years to get the company back the way you want it.

ARRIS: Maybe not. I have all the company codes, I have the keywords to all the shell accounts, but more than that I can be Kronos for as long as I want.

SAR: No!

ARRIS: For as long as it takes to put things right.

SAR: No you can't. I'm Kronos. I am Kronos. I am...

ARRIS: Say goodnight, brother.

SAR: I am... the light, leave the light on mommy, please, mommy. Please leave the light. The light on... no.

KINDRD: Ser!

ARRIS: Take me to one of the escape ships. We're going home.

48_S.TGV

ARRIS: Come on, come on.

XAVIER: Hey there, Ser Arris. How's the lady with the wheel treating you?

ARRIS: Not too bad, Ser Shondi, yourself?

XAVIER: Lets sit down and I'll give you the demerit. Download this. Got a cargo, ETA very soon. I've got to go rendezvous with it out by the system jump point.

ARRIS: You need someone to fly shotgun for you?

XAVIER: Not the cargo, my little mining operation. Some places out here have been getting wiped out lately. I'd hate to have that occuring while I was off taking care of business.

ARRIS: What kind of price are we talking?

XAVIER: 5,000. I can't front it to you, unfortunately. Cash flow problems. You'll get it all when I get back, though.

49_S.TGV

ARRIS: I got cash flow problems too, Xavier, I can't do it for skint right now.

XAVIER: Well, I guess I understand. I'll have to look elsewhere, then.

50_S.TGV

ARRIS: Well, you were pretty good to me last time, I don't see why not.

XAVIER: You're solid, Arris. You'll have to head right out, though. I'll leave in a few hours.

ARRIS: Right you are.

XAVIER: Let's go.

51_S.TGV

XAVIER: Hey Arris!

ARRIS: Shondi!

XAVIER: Man, you've got the ladies own gift for coming out of nowhere when you're needed.

ARRIS: I heard the news, I just hate not getting paid.

XAVIER: A man after my own heart.

ARRIS: I'll settle for my five-thou.

XAVIER: Take ten.

ARRIS: That's twice what we agreed

XAVIER: It's what you deserve. Now shut up and let me buy you a drink

ARRIS: Nice going, Farq, I owe you one.

FARQ: How bout right now?

ARRIS: Yeah, come on.

XAVIER: I guess.

67_S.TGV

LOUISA: Oh my lord! Ser Galahad!

ARRIS: Ser who?

LOUISA: The ser who saved my silly old skin! I'd know you anywhere! Do you have a girlfriend?

ARRIS: Uhm, that's, that's a matter of opinion.

LOUISA: My daddy will be so pleased with you. I'm his favorite. Well, uhm, actually his only child. But that still makes me his favorite, doesn't it?

ARRIS: Absolutely. Look, uhm...

LOUISA: Daddy is very important on Anhur. Not that I want to go back there. I like being on my own. I'm a grown woman.

ARRIS: Yes, so you are.

LOUISA: Do you want to be my partner? I've been looking for a partner ever since I left home. We could do jobs and risky errands and stuff. Oh, it would be so much fun. And we'd probably fall madly head over heels in love and everything.

ARRIS: Sorry, uh, uh, Serra, I, I didn't catch your name

LOUISA: Oh! Louisa Elizabeth Einstein Mayflower Tennesse Buttercup Phillips.

ARRIS: Well, uh, uh, unfortunately Louisa Elizabeth... unfortunately, Lou, I can't stay. Uhm, I've got to meet somebody. They're not here. Uhm, I'd better go. Nice talking to you. Try to stay away from dangerous areas next time.

LOUISA: Oh, oh, don't go! What about being my partner? What about us?

89_S.TGV

JOE: I see a speck of darkness in your soul, Lev Arris. May the black knight of winter never descend upon your tortured amnesiacal soul. The usual?

91_S.TGV

JOE: Oh Lev, what are we going to say to the ladies on Hermes now that you've got yourself a wingman? Or a wing girlie more like!

92_S.TGV

JOE: Glad you came. Do you know some guys named Bray, Ser Lev? Well you watch out for them. They're in these spaces again. Their mother watched too much holo-box when she was carrying. Messed up their heads. Would've messed up their hearts as well, only they don't have any.

93_S.TGV

JOE: Hey Lev! Is that a pencil you got in your pocket or are you pleased to be back in the shooter? Drink?

94_S.TGV

JOE: Oh! Give me a heart attack. Well, where've you been lately? Is it Janus or is it Bex? I've lost track, you're all over the place these days. You youth.

95_S.TGV

BANKS: I hate seeing people drink alone.

ARRIS: Then put a stop to it.

BANKS: So, hot shot, how have you been keeping?

ARRIS: Busy.

BANKS: Still trying to find that man you used to know?

ARRIS: Yeah. You still afraid of being alone in the dark?

BANKS: I didn't say I was afraid, just that I preferred company. Not just any company, though. I'm choosy.

ARRIS: That's what I hear.

BANKS: So you've ben asking about me.

ARRIS: I don't need to ask, people talk about you. There's even a crazy rumor about you and me.

BANKS: Is that so? Well, maybe you should give them some more gossip. You free tonight?

ARRIS: Free for what?

BANKS: {Whispers}

ARRIS: Is that legal?

BANKS: Legal? That probably isn't even physically possible.

96_S.TGV

ARRIS: Mmm, I'd recognize those lips anywhere.

BANKS:: You should do, they've been just about everywhere.

ARRIS: Don't remind me. No, on second thought remind me all you like.

BANKS: I'm not sure if I should. I hear you've been fooling around with a little space bimbo.

ARRIS: Lies and rumors. She's not my type.

BANKS: Oh, what is your type?

ARRIS: Lets go upstairs and be really dirty.

BANKS: Okay.

97_S.TGV

BANKS: Looks good.

ARRIS: You're hallucinating again. Do you know what they put in this stew?

BANKS: No.

ARRIS: Nor does anyone else. And personally, I'd rather stay in the dark.

BANKS: So would I. Lost your appetite, Lev?

ARRIS: Uh uh, just got it.

98_S.TGV

BANKS: Just look at you. I bet you've forgotten.

ARRIS: Forgotten what?

BANKS: Our anniversary.

ARRIS: Our what?

BANKS: It's the anniversary of the very first time we met. When I came out of nowhere and saved your life.

ARRIS: That's not quite how I remember it.

BANKS: Typical man.

ARRIS: Sorry, do I know you?

BANKS: In every concievable sense.

ARRIS: I mean, your face is familiar, but...

BANKS: Oh, that's a pity, seeing as I just booked a hotel suite with a freefall jacuzzi.

ARRIS: Melissa! Happy anniversary, darling.

BANKS: Do I know you, mister?

ARRIS: Well don't you remember, you saved my life?

BANKS: Somehow, I just can't recall.

ARRIS: We, ah, we met at the Rampant Robot bar, you gave me a cure for dry lips.

BANKS: I did?

ARRIS: Listen, has the suite really got a free-fall jacuzzi?

BANKS: You bet.

DEMO

82_S.TGV

JOE: Hey, Lev! Now you the unmistakeable afterglow of somebody who's been making a name for himself. You be careful people don't start gunning for you.

83_S.TGV

JOE: You been playing the good guy. I can smell it on you, lad. Try to be a bit bad, I've got a reputation to keep down.