Wing Commander in Real Time - Day 3 - 0400 Zulu
The Terran Knowledge Bank
Script
105 EXT. KILRATHI COMMUNICATIONS SHIP
- The ship draws closer to the asteroid ring, its exterior
- antennae revolving, seeking... The ship fires its retros,
- and hovers near a group of large asteroids.
- WE PULL BACK To REVEAL Angel's Rapier only a few ship
- length's away, hidden behind the asteroid.
105A INT. RAPIER COCKPIT - DEVERAUX
- Angel can almost smell them out there. She reaches up and
- switches off everything in the cockpit she can-- an
- attempt to reduce any electronic "noise" that could be
- detected by sensitive scanners.
SC. 106 OMIT
107 INT. RAPIER COCKPIT - BLAIR
- Blair, too, has shut down much of his equipment, and sits
- in the dark behind a big rock. Tension is palpable.
- On Blair's heads up display: Not much...except a bright
- red corona coming from behind an asteroid.
- BLAIR
- They've spotted Angel's heat corona
- behind the asteroid.
- MERLIN
- Two more Kilrathi closing fast. Got to
- be fighters.
- Blair switches on his radio and his other electronic gear.
- BLAIR
- Angel! They've spotted us! Two more
- bogies, coming in hot, six o'clock!
107A INT. RAPIER COCKPIT - DEVERAUX
- DEVERAUX switches everything back on, fear lessening.
- Excited now.
- DEVERAUX
- Can't spot them, Blair. Call it.
- Blair touches his cross for good luck.
- BLAIR
- Jack in the Box, On three. One...
- two... three!
SC.108-109 OMIT
110 EXT. ASTEROID RING
- Two Kilrathi Dralthi fighters are closing in fast,
- bracketing the ComCon ship...
- The two Confed Rapiers suddenly spring into view above the
- asteroids and instantly unleash two missiles...
- The missiles streak dead ahead and catch the two Kilrathi
- fighters before they can blink. ONE EXPLODES. The wreckage
- of the other one SPIRALS INTO THE ASTEROID ANGEL WAS
- BEHIND.
- Blair and Angel fire two more missiles at the ConCom ship,
- but invisible deflector shields explode both of them
- safely away from the ship.
- BLAIR
- The big one's shielded. I've got two
- more bogies coming up from the brown
- dwarf. Engaging.
- DEVERAUX
- Negative! I count fourteen
- unfriendlies inbound. Looks like two
- destroyers. We are out of here!
- The two Rapiers turn, kick in their afterburners and
- disappear in a streak of light.
110A EXT. SNAKEIR - SOMEWHERE IN THE ULYSSES CORRIDOR
110B INT. SNAKEIR - BRIDGE
111 INT. TIGER CLAW - BRIDGE
- BLAIR and DEVERAUX stand "at ease" before Gerald and
- Sansky. Paladin stands in the background.
- GERALD
- You knew what the orders were. No
- contact with the enemy. Now you've
- compromised the mission, and the very
- existence of this ship.
- BLAIR
- I had no choice, sir. They had spotted
- Lt. Commander Deveraux's heat
- signature.
- GERALD
- Really? Angel, how sure are you that
- the Kilrathi had you targeted? Given
- the Lieutenant's background, are you
- really that certain?
- BLAIR
- Excuse me?
- GERALD
- It's well documented that Pilgrim
- saboteurs have been responsible for
- much of the Confed's problems in this
- war...
- DEVERAUX turns to Blair. The look on her face says
- volumes.
- DEVERAUX
- (Overly stern)
- Did they have me targeted? Or did you
- just get trigger happy?
- Before Blair can answer, Sansky cuts in.
- SANSKY
- This is sterile conjecture. The
- Kilrathi are aware that Rapiers don't
- fly around in deep space without a
- carrier close by.
- SANSKY
- Thank you Lieutenant. That is all.
- BLAIR
- Sir, I--
- SANSKY
- Dismissed, Lieutenant.
- BLAIR nods, exits.
- SANSKY (CONT'D)
- Your assessment, Mr. Gerald?
- GERALD
- That ComCon's running point for the
- battle group. Their fleet won't be far
- behind. They know we're here, so I say
- we send them a message. I can have my
- fighters up in thirty minutes.
- PALADIN
- That would be a mistake. Without her
- fighters, the Tiger's Claw's vulnerable.
- Sansky doesn't answer. A difficult decision.
- GERALD
- You're a civilian scout, Mr. Taggart,
- not a naval officer. Tactical
- operations are our concern.
Novelization
CHAPTER 15
PEGASUS STATION
WRECKAGEULYSSES CORRIDOR MARCH 17, 2654
0400 HOURS
ZULU TIME9 HOURS FROM
CHARYBOIS QUASAR
JUMP POINT
- "Go on," Deveraux whispered to herself. "There's nothing in this mouse
- hole. Beat it."
- The Kilrathi ship continued probing, its beam throwing a green halo
- over the asteroid.
- A thump from the port side caught her attention. She shuddered as a
- figure dressed in Confederation Marine Corps armor floated near her
- wing. She looked away before the face rolled into view, but her stomach
- dropped anyway—and not from nausea. The Rapier had begun drifting.
- Unable to fire retros that would reveal her location, she watched as the
- starboard wing brushed against an uneven valley of ice and rock with a
- sickening creak. She shushed her fighter and looked up. "You didn't read
- that," she told the Kilrathi. "And if you did, it was just two rocks
- colliding."
- She waited. Waited some more. Became an authority on waiting. Knew
- the details. The frustration. Could tell you all you wanted to know about it.
- Could tell you that in the end there was, of course, nothing to do but wait.
- And react. And sitting in the cramped cockpit felt very much like hiding in
- her old closet, back at the orphanage. Sister Fleurette would come with
- her red and swollen eyes, with her wooden paddle, and with her breath
- that reeked of alcohol. The door would swing open. The light would rush
- in. Squinting, Deveraux would watch the paddle eclipse the sun.
- She shook off the memory, seeing now that the Rapier floated away
- from the rock, widening the distance by a meter every two or three
- seconds.
- The asteroid's halo grew brighter.
- Far to port, past teeming knots of rubble, something glimmered. Was it
- just more durasteel from the Pegasus Station? A second look proved
- Blair's suspicions. The Kilrathi ConCom ship had paused near Deveraux's
- position. "What do they see, Merlin?"
- "They don't see anything. Switch on your thermal scanner. They're out
- of range to detect it."
- He slid the HUD viewer over his eye and tapped on the scanner. Not
- much of a view: the glimmer once more, the asteroids among twinkling
- shards of metal…
- There. A fading red glow shone through the massive rock shielding
- Deveraux. "They've spotted Angel's heat corona."
- "Two more Kilrathi closing fast," Merlin said anxiously. "Probably
- fighters."
- Blair's gloved fingers traveled quickly over his instrument panels.
- Displays rose from darkness. Scanners flashed data to him. Engines
- hummed in their warming sequence. The communications system gave a
- readiness beep. "Angel. They've spotted us. Two more bogies coming in
- hot. Six o'clock." He stole a glance at his radar display. No, the Kilrathi
- weren't changing their minds.
- Deveraux's wide eyes filled his display. "Can't spot them, Blair. Call it."
- The blips moved closer.
- "Jack in the box," Blair instructed. "On three. One… two… three!"
- The Rapier's engines ignited with a thundering roar. Jagged stone
- wiped past him as he skimmed along the asteroid's surface. Once clear of
- the rock, he corkscrewed straight up, out of the field and into a starry sky.
- "Form on my wing," Deveraux ordered.
- "Yes, ma'am!" Wheeling around, Blair rocketed toward her fighter,
- strangling more thrust from his Rapier. As he neared her position, he
- spotted two Dralthi fighters escorting the ConCom ship.
- Without giving the enemy pilots time to blink, he and Deveraux
- squeezed off Dumb-fire missiles. Her rocket tore past the left Dralthi's
- shields to swallow the fighter in a fireball. His missile caught the other
- Dralthi as it began veering off. The explosion tore away the ship's engine
- housing to send it spiraling out of control. It glanced off the asteroid
- Deveraux had used as cover, shedding plastisteel like a cybernetic snake,
- then splayed itself over a valley.
- Charging through the still-lingering blast waves, he and Deveraux
- targeted the ConCom ship. Even as his sensors indicated that she had
- ignited her missile, Blair jammed down his trigger. Their projectiles
- trailed ribbons of exhaust as they traversed the thousand-meter gap. But
- they stopped short, detonating in useless ringlets of energy as the
- ConCom's powerful shields absorbed them.
- "Well, they're awake now," Blair said. He checked his radar display.
- "I've got two more bogies coming up from the brown dwarf. Engaging."
- "Negative! I count fourteen unfriendlies inbound. Looks like two
- destroyers. We are out of here!" Her exhaust ports flared as afterburners
- engaged.
- Blair lit his own burners and banked suddenly, following her back
- toward the Tiger Claw. He switched his left VDU to the rear turret
- display. A swarm of glowing specks descended upon the asteroid field.
* * *
- Standing in the center of the Grist'Ar'roc's bridge, Captain Thiraka nar
- Kiranka reflected on the report from his tactical officer. Bad news
- regularly turned him inward, in search of a response. Oh, yes, he knew
- what he wanted to do now. But he also considered what the admiral would
- do—another response altogether. In the unlikely event that Thiraka and
- Bokoth agreed upon their next action, then Thiraka might honestly believe
- that he did have a future with the Kilrathi military. But as the past had
- already proven, he did not think like his superiors, and he suspected that
- recent events would not change that.
- He moved cautiously toward the rear of the bridge, where Kalralahr
- Bokoth crouched on bent knee below a meter-high statue of Sivar, whose
- fearsome personage stood on a pedestal and loomed over the bridge like a
- brooding rain cloud. Banners of the Kiranka clan hung behind the
- candlelit effigy in testament to fallen and future glory. The banners'
- asymmetric symbols told stories of death, conquest, and domination;
- stories of sterilized worlds and territorial ambitions; stories of civil wars
- so heinous that humans could never comprehend them.
- Waiting at the proper distance, Thiraka hoped the admiral would
- notice him soon. Bokoth could choose to meditate for another hour, and
- Thiraka would have to remain, neither able to interrupt Bokoth nor
- retreat. Death awaited any Kilrathi who violated that precept.
- But Bokoth had heard his approach. As though emerging dizzy from a
- vision, the admiral craned his pale, oblong head toward Thiraka. "Kal
- Shintahr?"
- "Sir, our lead ConCom ship has engaged a Confederation
- reconnaissance flight in sector seven. Fighters from two of our destroyers
- were dispatched to intercept."
- "And the reconnaissance patrol escaped."
- Thiraka nodded and ground his long teeth. The admiral had not
- listened to Thiraka's wish and continued to have intelligence beamed
- directly to his quarters, overstepping his authority. Thiraka considered
- Bokoth's quick murder followed by his own suicide. He breathed deeply,
- trying to quell the thought.
- With a slight growl, Bokoth forced himself to his feet. "So the Tiger Claw is here."
- "Yes, sir. The merchantman we tracked earlier jumped into this sector
- by using a gravity well. And the carrier jumped here through a pulsar."
- "Do we have a fix on her signal?"
- "Yes, sir."
- The admiral turned to the command chair, where, cloaked in shadows
- and nutrient haze, a figure stirred. "Your friend is dedicated," Bokoth
- said, his words translated into the hoots and squeaks made by humans.
- Stepping forward, the hairless ape in the atmospheric suit raised one of
- its stubby, glove-covered fingers and replied, "My friend is a Pilgrim. This
- is what he trained for. Prepare the ambush."
- "In time," Bokoth said, raising his own paw and withdrawing a nail.
- "That ship is the only thing that stands between us and the success of
- this mission. It's yours for the taking."
- Bokoth absently tugged on his whiskers, purring into a thought. Then
- he abruptly answered, "That ship is insignificant. That hate of your kind
- blinds you. All things pass. Let it go."
- The ape took a step closer. "You're wrong, old man. Most things pass:
- love, passion, anger, life. One is eternal: hate."
* * *
- "What's the matter?" Blair asked Deveraux as they walked swiftly down
- the corridor. "Are we in trouble?"
- She wouldn't answer as she made an abrupt ninety-degree turn to
- march onto the bridge. She went to the viewports and came to attention
- as Gerald and Sansky left the radar station. Blair arrived at her side, held
- his shoulders high, and saluted his approaching superiors.
- The captain and commander simply eyed them a moment, then Gerald,
- firing up his usual implacable glare, said, "We read your After Action
- Report. And I, for one, am unimpressed. You knew what the orders were.
- No contact with the enemy. Now you've compromised the mission and
- this ship."
- "Sir. I had no choice. The enemy had spotted Lieutenant Commander
- Deveraux's heat signature, sir."
- "Really," Gerald said, half-singing the word. His gaze shifted radically.
- "Angel, how sure are you that the Kilrathi had you targeted? Given the
- lieutenant's background…"
- "Excuse me?" Blair bristled.
- Gerald's head slowly shifted like the turret-top cupola of a tank,
- bringing its weapon to bear. "It's well documented that Pilgrim saboteurs
- have been responsible for much of the Confed's problems in this war. I'll
- be sure to download that information to your account, Lieutenant."
- "Did they have me targeted?" Deveraux demanded, turning to face
- Blair. "Or did you just get trigger-happy?"
- "Trigger-happy? What kind of an operator do you—"
- "Enough," Sansky said. "This is sterile conjecture. The Kilrathi are
- aware that Rapiers are short-range fighting craft assigned to cap ships.
- They know we're close by." He focused on Blair. "Tell me again about this
- communication you claim to have heard."
- With a flagrant turn of his head, Blair flicked Gerald a look of raw
- repulsion. "It was a ULF signal emanating from the vicinity of the Tiger Claw, sir."
- Sansky swung toward the navigation station, though the computer
- would detect his voice no matter where he projected it. "What about it,
- NAVCOM? Were any communications sent from this ship?"
- "Negative, Captain. There were no communications sent by the Tiger Claw."
- Gerald smirked and gave a nod.
- "Sir, I tell you—"
- "You tell me nothing, Lieutenant," Sansky said. "Nor does your flight
- recorder. A Rapier's scanners are not equipped to detect ULF
- transmissions. Your reliance on your PPC—unauthorized equipment, I
- might add—does not convince me that the signal exists. PPCs are not
- standard military issue and are vulnerable to a number of viruses. What
- you thought you heard—"
- "But sir—"
- "—could've come from any number of natural sources."
- "This was not a natural—"
- "Dismissed, Lieutenant."
- Blair saluted and rushed off the bridge before foul language landed him
- in the brig.
- Granted, Sansky and Gerald didn't want to waste time chasing down
- false leads, but to ignore something of this importance seemed absolutely
- foolish. Then again, trusting in a half-breed and possible saboteur without
- proof of his loyalty would be equally so. Deadlock.
- Captain Sansky took a moment to recover from his argument with the
- insistent boy. He admired Blair's courage in holding his ground, even on
- the bridge. Yet he also began to fear the boy, perhaps as much as Gerald.
- With little time to further speculate on Blair's potential damage, he
- glimpsed the distant asteroids through the viewport. "Your assessment,
- Mr. Gerald?"
- "That ConCom's running point for the battle group. Their fleet won't be
- far behind. As you said, they know we're here, so I say we send them a
- message. I can have my fighters up in thirty minutes."
- "Twenty," Deveraux corrected, her self-confidence revving even higher
- than Gerald's.
- "That would be a mistake," Taggart said, lifting his head from the
- helmsman's screen. "Without her fighters, this ship's vulnerable." He
- stood, approached Sansky, and began shaking his head.
- Pursing his lips, Sansky contemplated the pros and cons of a first
- strike, the mental list beginning to blur as he tried in vain to spot the
- longer side.
- "You're a civilian scout," Gerald reminded Taggart, "not a naval officer.
- Tactical operations are our concern."
- Taggart's face grew rigid, and his tone plunged to warning depths.
- "There's a great deal more at stake here than you seem to understand,
- Commander."
- Sansky threw up a hand. "The XO is right. I'm sorry, Mr. Taggart.
- Destroying that ConCom and its escorts will slow the Kilrathi. Deveraux
- will lead a strike force. You will accompany her." He crossed back to
- Lieutenant Commander Obutu, who kept vigil over his screens. "Con, plot
- a course for the rings of Planet Four-fifteen. We'll find good cover there."
