EPISODE 414: The Others

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"Her beauty shimmers with the light of a new star. 
But she is the other.  Touch her, and you will know death."

[Poet Temlar   C.Y. 2101]

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======================================================================================
Scene: The Andromeda is seen in space, firing on a group of smaller fighters.  The scene 
pulls back, and we see that the action is on the main screen of the Andromeda.  Beka, 
Harper, Rhade, and some random crewmembers are eating popcorn and watching the 
playback.
======================================================================================

Harper: Look at that! Magnificent. Heart-stopping.  What piloting.

Beka: Ah, they were wussies... Made me look good.

Rhade: Nonetheless, your battle skills are exemplary.

Beka: Please! I could do it blindfolded.  Have.

Harper: Funny, I can recall you saying you like to do it blindfolded.

Rhade: Blindfolded?

Beka: Never mind, Rhade. It's just Harper frothing.

<She notices that Rhade is still giving her a speculative look and seems uncomfortable.>

Beka {feigning enthusiasm for the video}: Oh, my goodness. Look at that maneuver.  
Even I envy me.

Rhade {amused}: Amazing how a battle can divert conflict.  Excellent recreation, Harper.

Harper: Please, stop. It's a simple matter of extrapolating the 3D scenario from our battle 
records and then...

<Alarm sirens go off.  Everyone hurries to their stations.>

Computer: I am picking up two unidentified ships entering our security zone.  Neither has 
propulsion.

Beka: Magnify.

Computer: Both ships date Commonwealth Year 9877.  Rate of drift speed indicates they 
will enter our zone in thirty seconds.

<Dylan and Rommie have arrived on Command>

Dylan: Looks like a traveling museum.  Rommie, life signs?

Rommie: Two.  One on each ship.

Rhade: Let's hope they're in better shape than their ship.

Dylan: You're right.  Look at that damage.  Beka, bring us in.

Harper: Wait a minute.  How come we always have to be the ones to rescue people?

Dylan: Because I love to see you squirm.  Mr. Harper, it's not our job to avoid trouble.

Harper: Well, it's a good thing. Because it's sure got a way of finding us.

Beka: Smells like a trap to me.

Rommie: We're being hailed by one of the ships.  It appears to be a simple low-band 
radio signal.

Dylan: Let's hear it.

<The signal plays over the audio monitors. It's a woman's voice.>

Over Comms: Help! Someone, please! (...???...)  Help! Please!

Rommie: Receiving a transmission from the second ship.

<The second transmission plays. A man's voice.>

Man's Voice: Please, I beg of you. If you cherish life, stop her!

Woman: You must destroy him now!  He deserves to die. Attack him.

Beka: Sounds like she's trouble.  {to Dylan} Hey! Just your kind of woman.

Rommie: Scans of both ships indicate all weapon systems have been drained.  My guess 
is they were firing at each other.  And neither has propulsion to go anywhere.

Harper: Hell of a one way trip.

Dylan:  Ladies and gentlemen, I give you determination without strategy.  Let's bring 
'em into separate hangars.

======================================================================================
Scene: Later, Dylan, Beka, Rommie, and Harper stand outside a hangar as medics head in 
to get out one of the rescued people.
======================================================================================

Rommie: The ship's configuration is Trillin. 

Harper {scoffing}: What? Trillin?  They don't exist.

Dylan: Well, except for those that...DO.  If memory serves, wars turned their star system 
inhospitable over a millennia ago.  Their battles just went on and on and on, both sides 
took slaves...

Rommie: That's very good, Dylan.

Dylan: Thank you.

Rommie: My records indicate they are indeed an ancient race known for their ruthless 
fighting abilities.  And they have had no known contact with anyone Commonwealth for 
centuries.

<The medics start come back out of the hangar, carrying an unconscious woman (Zara) 
on a stretcher.  Dylan holds out a hand to have them pause as they go past.>

Dylan: Hold it.

Beka: Huh.  Just once, I'd like to rescue an ugly woman.

Harper: And ruin my chances of being smitten by or – smoting - a beautiful woman?  
Leave me alone. I can't love straight when I'm in think.

Dylan: Whatever that means.

<Holo Rommie pops in>

Holo: Captain, Rhade needs you on Hangar Deck Two.

Dylan: On my way.  Get her to med-deck.

======================================================================================
Scene: At the other hangar deck, the other rescuee (Lach) addresses Dylan and Rhade.  
He seems injured, with a red rash-like blotches on parts of his face.
======================================================================================

Lach: I and my people praise your capture of the Fifth Council Persecutor, Zara.  I've 
chased her many weeks since she escaped and stole the fighter she was piloting.  So, give 
me fuel and hand over my prisoner.

Dylan:  I am Captain Dylan Hunt. This is Lieutenant Telemachus Rhade.  And you 
are...?

Lach:  Forgive me, Captain.  I've been alone in space a long time.  My manners have 
eroded.  I am General Lach of the planet Trillin.

Rhade: Perhaps you would like to see a medical officer.

Lach {gesturing to his face}: What, this?  Your prisoner did this.  Disease warfare.  Zara 
is guilty of exterminating my race.  So manners aside, Captain, I must insist that you give 
me Zara.

Dylan: Guests don't make demands on my ship.

Lach {angry}: That, Captain, is UNACCEPTABLE!

<He gestures/points angrily with his finger in an apparently overly threatening way.  
Rhade steps in and trades a few blows with Lach, knocking him down pretty easily.>

Rhade: General.

Dylan: Put him in the brig.

======================================================================================
Scene: On the Med Deck, Zara is awake. She watches Trance heal a cut on her arm.  
Harper's hovering around.
======================================================================================

Harper: So how about we lighten the mood, huh?  You look like you could use a joke.  
{she lays back, not really responding to him in any way} How do you get a one-armed 
Magog out of a tree?  Wave!  {No reaction.}  How can you tell when a Nietzschean's 
lying?  His lips are moving.  {No reaction.}  Uh, what did the one Perseid say to the 
other?  Why the long face!  What did he say back? Ah, I'm feeling a little blue.  {Still no 
reaction.  Dylan has entered.}  I'll be back. Don't worry. I got a million of 'em.

<He and Trance step aside to talk to Dylan in private.>

Harper: Don't worry, boss, she's ok.

Trance: A few cuts, some abrasions, severe dehydration...Zara is very lucky that we got 
to her.

Harper: No, I mean she's not the mass murdering genocidal type.  I know, 'cause I'm a 
good judge of character.  I could tell by her response when I – accidentally – brushed up 
against her.  I mean, look at her eyes, boss.  Sweet, sensitive...I'll bet she cares for all 
living things.

<Dylan looks pointedly over to Trance, not deigning to respond to Harper's logic.>

Trance: She hasn't said a thing since she woke up.

Dylan: Mmm-hmmm.

Harper: That's because she's shy.  And even still, I can sense a growing bond between us.

Trance: She hasn't even looked at you, Seamus.

Harper: I can build on that!

Dylan: Historic chronicles were found on Zara's ship.  Why don't you go see if you can 
figure out what's on them.

Harper: But, boss!

Dylan: Dismissed.

Harper: The bond!

Dylan: Leave!

Harper: Go help Rommie?

Dylan: Go.

Harper: There was a bond.

<He leaves.>

Trance: Rommie's scan of Lach shows that his condition is not contagious, though it can 
be transmitted through blood contact.  I have isolated him until I can identify the 
condition and see if I can fix him.

<Dylan leaves.  Trance turns back to Zara and prepares to inject her with something.  
Zara grabs her hand to stop her.>

Trance: The nanobots are designed to accelerate the healing process.  They will help with 
the pain.  I can see from your eyes you're in pain.

Zara: Pain is a reminder you're alive.  Where I come from, we've learned to cherish pain 
like an old friend.  I am unaccustomed to kindness.

Trance: I am Trance Gemini, Medical Officer, and you are on the Andromeda Ascendant. 
You're perfectly safe here.

Zara: How long do you intend to confine me?

Trance: Well, you're not confined at all unless you give me reason to believe that you 
should be.

Zara: Am I the only one rescued?

Trance: We also rescued the one called Lach. {Zara starts to sit up} Ooooh...why are you 
afraid of him?

Zara: He told you I'm a criminal?  My people call me a hero.  They're alive because I 
have the skill to protect them.

Trance: What is your fight, Zara?  What is it that you want?

Zara: I am the leader of the Fifth Council of the South – what's left of it.  What do I 
want?  Peace.  I was taken in battle – sentenced to die – but as you see, I am not easy to 
kill.

Trance: Where were you headed?

Zara: Anywhere.  Looking for help.  I'd lost instrumentation. My – my people – my 
entire race spends every moment just trying to survive.  And if we live, our reward is 
seeing those we love eliminated.  Lach is the criminal.

Trance: Well, the atrocities he accuses you of... They did happen.

<As Zara speaks, a montage of scenes of slavery, violence, and war.>

Zara: It began near the turn of the second "Centaur Moon" – ten thousand or more of 
your years.  We were a world of two races: one of art, one of power and greed.  The 
people – Northworlders like Lach – he and his lineage invaded.  My people were driven 
south – herded like animals into camps.  Even a people who knew only beauty and 
creativity learned to fight back.  It was the beginning of the wars.

<The scene shifts to Lach in the brig, speaking to Rhade.>

Lach: We called it the Night of Tears – the beginning of the darkness.  Zara's ancestors 
stole power and began driving my people to the north half of the planet.  We cherished 
progress – building a better world.  We wanted only peace.

Rhade: You fought back.

Lach: What else do you do when your existence is threatened?  This great ship of yours 
was not built to create art, was it?

Rhade: No one's tried to stop these wars in all this time?

 Lach: How do you stop a fire when the other side controls all the water?

Rhade: I assume you're prepared to provide proof that Zara is guilty of war crimes.

Lach {gesturing to his face}: I am the proof.  But if you need more, come see for 
yourself.  Come to my planet. Save my people.  I don't ask for me – I can't be saved – 
but for them.

<Rhade seems to consider the idea and nods imperceptibly.>

======================================================================================
Scene:  Beka, Trance, and Dylan discuss the situation
======================================================================================

Beka: So, who's telling the truth?

Dylan: Well, they, uh, both are.  Just ask them.  They quote history as proof.

Trance: History is full of lies.

Dylan: Ain't that the truth.  AND constantly being rewritten.

Beka: You know, these two give dysfunction a whole new meaning.  I say we just let 'em 
duke it out.

<Dylan and Trance are amused.>

Dylan {agreeing}: Sure, let's put 'em in the same room together.

Trance: If Zara admits to causing Lach's illness and she can tell us what it is, that might 
help us save him.

Beka: You know, this could get ugly.

Dylan: Heh. Better remove anything breakable.

======================================================================================
Scene:  Scene picks up in the middle of a face-to-face confrontation between Lach and 
Zara.  They're held back from fighting physically by Rhade and Beka.
======================================================================================

Zara: Liar!

Lach: Murderer!

Zara: Ask yourself this question, Lach.  How far will your venomous deceit take you 
before you die? And that will be soon.

Lach: I will live long enough to see your miserable end.

<Dylan breaks it up.>

Dylan: All right, all right, all right. Ok, I – I – I told you:  Fight and you get the 
( ?naughty couch?).

<They both ignore him.>

Lach: INFIDEL!

Zara: NONBELIEVER!

Beka: This is going well.

Zara: This beast has slaughtered women, children, the oldest, helpless.

Lach: My actions are justified.  I will do anything to survive.

Dylan: All right, enough!  Enough, already!  Thank you!  Now, we've established that 
you're both horrible, murderous, despicable specimens.  But I have to say, Zara, using 
disease warfare really tests my compassion.

Zara: How about compassion for the extinction of my race by his hands.

Lach: Southworlders aren't a race.  You are beneath the lowest regurgitation of filth.

Zara: My people are gentle, loving, and caring ...

Lach: Ha!

Zara: Kill him while you can!

Lach: You hypocrite.  Your blood will decorate my hands.

 <Zara head-butts Lach.  Dylan steps in, helping Beka pull a shouting Zara away from 
Lach.>

Zara: Cretin! I will hunt you to the ends...

Dylan: All right, that's it! That's it!  That's it. Put 'em in the brig! 

<Lach has managed to get away from Rhade and attacks Dylan, biting him on the neck.  
Security forces come in a pull Lach away, still struggling.>

Lach: Your entrails will be my dinner!

<Dylan takes his hand away from the wound in his neck and looks horrified.>

======================================================================================
Scene:  On the Med Deck, Trance has fixed up Dylan. Rommie's also present.
======================================================================================

Trance: Well, I've healed your bite wound.  I'm afraid your blood has been infected.

Dylan: Well, that's good news.

Rommie: What's the illness, Trance?

Trance: I can tell you what it ISN'T.  It's not viral. It's not parasitic.  It's nothing I have 
ever seen before.  Your organ cell structures appear to be intact, but there is increased 
neural injury at the pre-stem level.  Unfortunately, that's going to become painful very 
soon.

Dylan: Trance, no more. That's enough good news.

Trance: There is more.  Because you are a heavy-worlder, the pathogen is going to spread 
more rapidly through your blood than through Lach's. 

Dylan {half-laughing}: Because my metabolism's faster, I'm getting sicker faster. That's 
great.

Trance: Dylan, this illness is alien.  I do not yet have enough information to know what to 
do.

Rommie: Nor do I.  Dylan, I highly recommend we return to Terazed immediately and 
allow the experts there to check you out.

Dylan: No. I'm a wanted man and this is a wanted ship, so Terazed is out.  Besides, if 
what you say is true, I'll be dead long before we get there.

Trance: I'm afraid so.

Dylan: Well, that's all the good news I can handle for one day.  Is the crew in any 
danger?

Trance: Not unless Lach gets hungry.

Dylan: Yeah. 

<He starts to stand, and Trance reaches out to stop him.>

Trance: Dylan, you have to understand,  you may not be able to walk soon, much less 
command.

Dylan: If there's an answer, we need to go to the source of the illness.

Rommie: Well, both sides have been searching for a cure. They just haven't been sharing 
the information.  You see, Lach's people are sick, and therefore they need a cure.  His 
slaves, however, are healthy and therefore able to produce weapons.  Zara's people, on 
the other hand, are healthy, but her slaves are sick and therefore unable to produce 
weapons.  Hence the desperate desire for a cure.

Dylan: Well then, we'll just have to make them share their information, now won't we?

<He starts to rise again, but is suddenly in a lot of pain.  Trance and Rommie hurry to 
help him lie down.>

Trance: All right, lie down. {to Rommie}  Can you pass the...

<Rommie hands her a hypospray and she uses it on Dylan.>

Trance: Try to relax.

Dylan: It's gettin' better. 

<He's clearly still in pain.  Trance and Rommie exchange a worried look.>

Dylan: Oh, yeah, this is great.  It's good.

======================================================================================
Scene:  Beka, Harper, and Rhade are on Command prepping the ship
======================================================================================

Beka: Ok.  Dylan says we go to the crazy people's planet, we go.  But we go prepared.

Rhade: All missile tubes prepped and loaded.

<Dylan stumbles onto the deck, very sick.>

Dylan: Set a course for the Trillin system.

Harper: Boss, we already have.

<Beka and Rhade come around the consoles to stand just a bit behind Dylan.>

Beka:  Dylan, I thought they knocked you out of commission.

Dylan: Uh, not today.  Just set a course.

<Rommie enters Command>

Rhade: Captain, should you be on Command?

Dylan: Rhade...

Rommie: Dylan, you're too weak to be here.

Dylan {rather delirious}: Rommie, you are no longer my friend.  All right, prepare – 
prepare for – the library – my - my father's – you know, the Magog worldship is 
coming...

Rommie: Captain, I'm afraid I'm going to have to relieve you of command.

Dylan: Well, that's no relief at all. You see my power is not absolute.  No one can move 
me.

<He straightens, meaning to stand firm.  Rommie pokes him with a single finger and he 
falls over like a board.  Beka and Rhade don't do anything, and he falls flat on the ground 
between them.>

Harper: What are you two, idiots?

Beka {to Rhade}: Why didn't you catch him?

Rhade: I thought you had him.

======================================================================================
Scene:  Trance checking out Dylan on Med Deck. He's got a rash like Lach's.  Rommie's 
present, also.
======================================================================================

Trance: Blood tests show that there are minimal corresponding sequences between you, 
Zara, or Lach.  They do confirm that because you're a heavy-worlder, the disease has run 
faster.  And the medication I've given you has reduced your fever and should help with 
the pain soon.

Dylan: It already has, thanks.  Beka and Rhade will find something.  Of course they will.

Trance: That planet is death in so many ways.

Rommie: Harper's converted Zara's disks.

Dylan: Show me.

Trance: You need to rest.

Dylan: I need to see.

<They pull over a monitor for him to look at the files.  We don't see what they show, but 
there's an overall sound of people screaming, and Dylan looks perturbed.>

======================================================================================
Scene: On Command with Beka, Rhade and Harper.  A planet is on the viewscreen.
======================================================================================

Computer: The Trillin system.  The only inhabitants within 3K light years are on Planet 
One of the system.  Low frequency radar and infrared scans reveal a thin layer of ash in 
the troposphere, which has reduced most growth and light.  

<A graphic on-screen shows the planet with a filter applied to make it clearer>

Computer: Infrared visual, optimal (? to the ?) ash.

<Another filter is applied, showing more detail>

Computer: Sonar extension augment (?read on?).  

<The picture zooms in to several areas with buildings on them.>

Computer: There are extensive ruins along the south of the planet.  No habitation in any 
of them.  There is, however, one active settlement.  (? Remnant ?) population at best.  
That settlement is located just south of the equator, close to what appears to be a small 
mountain range.

Beka: Try north.

Computer: Several large cities present and intact, but empty.  The remaining population 
is in one encampment just to the north on the other side of the mountain range.  I estimate 
one-tenth of one percent of the original population has survived.

Rhade: They've worn their hate down to as pure a point as possible.

Beka: Let's get down there.  Rhade, you've got Lach.  Harper, you're with me.

Harper: And with Zara, don't forget.

Rhade: Seamus, you're proof that even here, there's capacity for love.

Harper: Love?  Who said anything about love?  That's almost downright human of you, 
Telemachus.

Rhade: You insult me after I say something nice?

Harper: Easy. This is how fights start.

======================================================================================
Scene: Beka, Harper, and Zara on the Maru.  Zara is handcuffed.
======================================================================================

Beka: Now, just so you understand, you're in my custody.  I have the remote on your 
restraint, and I'm not Harper.  One wrong move and I zap you with a nice, juicy electric 
charge.  Got that?

<Zara doesn't respond, just looks around.  Harper is behind her.>

Harper: I'm the Harper.

<The Maru enters the atmosphere, and the ash clouds the outside view.>

Beka: On instruments.  There's something down there.

<They come out of the ash layer and a giant, clearly man-made, wall.>

Beka: That's not a mountain range.

Zara: It's the Wall.  My people built it to keep the Northworlders from invading.

======================================================================================
Scene: Lach is in a slipfighter with Rhade, also flying near the wall
======================================================================================

Lach: Behold, the Wall.

Rhade: Security fence.

Lach: It took centuries to build.

Rhade: Looks like someone missed their anger-management classes.

Lach: It's one of the great achievements of the universe.

Rhade: A very limited universe, perhaps.  Greatness isn't the first word that comes to my 
mind.

Lach: Admiration?  Astonishment? Envy, even?

Rhade: Envy, yes.  That must be it.

Lach: You must admit, it takes a great people to build that.

Rhade: The Northworlders.  And so the Southworlders look upon you in awe.

Lach: The Southworlders? You think they're capable of such an achievement?   Their 
sections fell and had to be rebuilt by us.  Because of that wall, it's still possible that one 
day my people may return to what they once were.

Rhade: I could only imagine what that was.

======================================================================================
Scene: Back on the Maru
======================================================================================

Beka: That's a hell of a line drawn in the sand.

======================================================================================
Scene:  On the planet's surface, Rhade escorts Lach (hands bound) to his people
======================================================================================

Rhade: How can you hate someone so much to build a wall like that, except blindly and 
for so long you forget why the first brick was laid?

Lach: This is why.

<The step out into a populated area of a city.  They quickly attract a crown.  Rhade draws 
his force lance.>

Rhade: Tell them to stay back.

Lach {to the crowd}: It's all right.  He's here with a Commonwealth starship.  He's here 
to help.

<Rhade holsters his forcelance, seeming satisfied that the people won't attack.>

Rhade: I have orders to remove your restraints when Zara's a safe distance from you.

<Rhade releases the restraints.>

Lach: You mean me from her, don't you?  And what is a safe distance?  Hospital's this 
way.

======================================================================================
Scene:  In the Southworlder village, Beka has just released Zara's restraints as people 
start to notice the three of them.
======================================================================================

Lieutenant: Zara has returned!  Zara, we thought you were dead.

<A crowd gathers.>

Zara: All of you, listen to me.  There is a Commonwealth starship above us.  These are 
officers of that ship – a ship, I must warn you, that could wipe out our camp instantly.

Beka: Now, we're not threatening anyone.  We just need your help.  Zara, why don't you 
tell them why we're here.

Zara: Their captain is sick.  They want a cure.  He has Northerner's disease.  {this causes 
a stir in the crowd}  {to Beka}  You see, asking them to help is asking them to commit 
suicide.

Beka: Just take us to whoever's working on the cure.  

<Zara grudgingly turns to lead the way.>

Beka {to Harper}: Your girlfriend's from nice people.

Harper: I wasn't lookin' at her people.

======================================================================================
Scene:  Rhade and Lach walk around the Northerner city. Guards oversee slaves moving 
heavy barrels of some orange goo.
======================================================================================

Rhade: You still have slaves to do your work. 

Lach: They're not sick, and there's much work to be done.  Southworlders constantly 
probe our perimeters – nothing we can't handle.

Rhade: Like the wall handled it.

Lach: My people have been at war for as long as time has been recorded.  I don't expect 
you to understand.  We didn't start this.

======================================================================================
Scene:  A while later, Rhade and Lach enter a hospital area.
======================================================================================

Rhade: Why am I not seeing children?

Lach: They were the first to succumb.  Their immune systems weren't strong enough to 
fight Zara's poison.  {they approach an older man}  (?? Pinau-Gray's ??) life saver, Dr. 
Crax-Q.  Doctor.

Doctor: Have you succeeded in killing Zara?

Lach: She's back at her encampment.

Doctor: Then the war drags on.  Who is this?

Rhade: Telemachus Rhade.  Commonwealth Officer of the Andromeda Ascendant.

Doctor:  Welcome to the sphincter of the universe.

Lach: Their captain has contracted the disease.  They think they can cure it – build on our 
research – so I will, uh, I will leave you for now.  Best wishes with you.

<He leaves.>

Doctor: You think you can cure this?  You can look at centuries of our science and find 
the something that we have overlooked?

Rhade: Our superior technology may succeed where yours can't.

Doctor: Out technology is what got us into this mess.  Where would you like to start?  
Blood experiments? Cell studies?  Skin research?

Rhade: I am interested in the children – their immune system. Perhaps that's where the 
answer lies.  If we can find the right information, all your work won't be in vain, Doctor.

Doctor: I'm not a doctor anymore, I'm an undertaker.  Our leaders have promised us 
everything you could dream of.  You see any dreams being fulfilled here?  {He holds out 
several data chips} I don't even know if your technology can read these.

Rhade: We'll figure it out.

<Rhade turns at the sound of guns powering.  Lach and many other men are aiming guns 
at him.>

Lach: Thank you, Telemachus, for bringing me home and for the beautiful slipfighter.

Rhade: Don't be foolish.  The Andromeda can destroy you in seconds.

Lach: I have nothing to lose.  But you – don't you care about your captain?

======================================================================================
Scene:  Trance and Rommie review a medical display
======================================================================================

Trance: Initial tests of Lach's blood indicate that the disease was not created.  Zara's 
people didn't make, much less ever use, biological weapons.

Rommie: So it's naturally occurring.  And Zara's people are immune?

Trance: I don't know.  And in Dylan it just spread so fast.  We've tried everything.

Rommie: Well, there is a solution, Trance.  Obviously we haven't tried EVERYTHING.

Trance: It's a figure of speech.  "Everything" implies infinity, and infinity is not 
constructive.

Rommie: Well, how many possibilities have you explored?

Trance: You're missing my point.  What we need is a linear solution.

<From a nearby bed, Dylan interrupts.  He looks sicker.>

Dylan: Ladies! Ladies! I'm dying here, ok?  A little respect.

<Holo-Rommie pops in>

Holo: Captain, I've lost contact with Rhade.

Dylan: Rommie, get to the surface.  {to Holo} Prep a slipfighter.  Trance, something to 
drink?

<Trance goes to get him a drink.  A short while later, Rommie launches a slipfighter, 
heading to the surface.>

======================================================================================
Scene: In the Southern village, Beka is talking to a doctor.  Zara looks on.
======================================================================================

Beka {as Zara watches}: So, you think the strain was created by accident and you have 
no clues as to its origin.

<Zara's Lieutenant approaches Zara.>

Zara:  They question our doctors to see if we created the Northerner disease.  Fools.  
What is it?

Lieutenant: Confirmation, Zara, of another slipfighter flying (over?) into Northern 
territory.

Zara: From Andromeda?

Lieutenant:  Affirmative.  Scouts report Northern activity on the ground.  They seem to 
be preparing a bombing raid against us.

Zara {to several nearby soldiers}: You. With me.

<They close on Beka and Harper.>

Zara: You've had us set up.

<Beka's communicator beeps.>

Trance {on comm.}:  Beka?

Beka: Go, Trance.

Trance: Final blood tests confirmed...

<She keeps talking, and Beka is concentrating more on her than on Zara.>

Zara: You came here to send coordinates to my enemy so they could attack us.  Guards, 
take them into custody.

Harper: This is why I should never leave the ship.

<Beka's still trying to hear Trance, but Harper is dragged off and Zara grabs the 
communicator away from her.>
 
Beka: Hey!  What the hell...?

<She turns and a guard whacks her with his gun.  She falls down, unconscious.>

Harper: Hey! Easy...OH! {He's yanked back painfully, and held at gunpoint.} Ok! Ok!  
This is not good.

======================================================================================
Scene: On the Andromeda, Trance's communication with Beka is cut off
======================================================================================

Trance: Beka?  Beka!

Dylan: Trance.

Trance: You're awake.

Dylan: Yeah.  Put the history back on.

<She turns on a video monitor with a historical montage showing slaves hauling boxes 
and collapsing buildings.>

Trance: Here, drink this.  Dylan, things on the planet aren't going so well.

Dylan: It doesn't matter.  The answer's here: the chronicle of the slaves.

<The video is showing a slave being hit.>

Trance: How can living creatures treat each other like that?

Dylan: They always manage to find a reason.

======================================================================================
Scene: Rommie moves stealthily around the Northerner city.  She approaches two guards 
from behind and knocks them unconscious, noticing the spilled orange goo on the 
ground.  A group of soldiers runs by, and she holds the two unconscious men up as the 
pass, hiding behind them.  Later, she enters an area with an area where corpses are piled, 
bundled in white sheets.  One of the bundles makes noise, and Rommie pulls the sheet 
off.  It's Rhade, bound and gagged.
======================================================================================

Rommie: I wonder what your thoughts are on the afterlife now.

<She removes his gag.>

Rhade: Get me out of here.

Rommie: Gauging from the activity outside, someone's going to war.

Rhade: Lach's taken my slipfighter.  My guess: he's attacking Zara.

Rommie: Initiating a final offensive.  Beka and Harper are there.

<She unties Rhade.>

Rhade: I saw them moving barrels of something orange.

Rommie: Yeah, it's gelatinized fuel.  Many post-industrial societies used it in sub-orbital 
aircraft as bombs. The gelatin sticks to everything, the fuel incinerates it.

Rhade {sarcastic}: The good old days.

Rommie: Ok, let's go.

======================================================================================
Scene: Beka and Harper are being tied up while Zara and her lieutenant look on.
======================================================================================

Beka: Look, just because Rhade's slipfighter is in the air doesn't necessarily mean he's 
attacking you.

Zara: Then you've nothing to worry about.  We're not fools, you know.  The strong 
always help the strong.  What Lach doesn't know is: I've drawn him into my trap.  We 
have fighters hidden that have been waiting for generations – waiting for today.

Harper: You've set up an ambush.

<An explosion and aircraft noises are heard from a short way away.>

Lieutenant: Northern fighters!

<Everyone scrambles for cover as more explosions hit the area, leaving Beka and Harper 
bound and trapped.>

Beka: Oh, great.

<The sound of a bomb coming is heard.>

Harper: This one's gonna be close!

<Another bomb explodes near them>

======================================================================================
Scene:  On the Andromeda, Dylan's still watching the archival footage.  He's sicker.
======================================================================================

Dylan: Trance? There it is. What I saw.

Trance: It's all right, Dylan.  You're feverish.

Dylan: No, look.  Trance, it's there.  See?  It's the answer.  Look at the slave children.  
That's the answer.

======================================================================================
Scene:  Lach is piloting Rhade's slipfighter with several regular Northern fighters 
following.  A missile comes from behind them and blows up one of the fighters.  It's 
Rhade and Rommie in the other slipfighter.
======================================================================================

Rhade: Closing on Northern fighters.

Rommie: I'm detecting fighters from the South.

Rhade: Where'd they come from?

Rommie: Apparently, the South has risen.

Rhade {on comm.}: Trance, can you read me?

Trance {on comm.}: Go ahead.

Rhade: In about one minute, everything in Zara's camp is going to be incinerated, 
including Beka and Harper.

<The signal seems to be breaking up, so Trance's response is choppy>

Trance: Who's in... slipfighter... not responding... Signal...

<She disappears off the screen.>

Rhade: Andromeda, target my old slipfighter.  Target all Northern ships. 

======================================================================================
Scene: Dylan and Trance watching Rhade on a comm screen.  His message is also 
distorted.
======================================================================================

Computer: I am unable to acquire an accurate sub-orbital target.

Dylan: Trance, a ship-with-fuel bomb is heavier. It needs more power. It's hotter.  Find it.

Trance: Andromeda, run an infrared scan of the Northern fighters.  Calculate speed and 
isolate which one of them is burning hottest.

<A display shows the ships, with one marked.>

Dylan: There.  Relay coordinates to Rhade.

======================================================================================
Scene:  Southern fighters (one piloted by Zara) close in on the Northern fighters
======================================================================================

Zara: Your arrogance led to your death, Lach.  You never expected we'd meet you, 
fighter for fighter.

<Zara destroys a Northern fighter.>

Lach: You surprise me, Zara.  But I still have my surprise for you.  Ship Two, do you 
have a lock on the village?

Ship Two Pilot {on comm}: Village in sight, sir.

Lach: Begin bombing run.

======================================================================================
Scene:  In Rhade & Rommie's slipfighter
======================================================================================

Rommie: Andromeda, we have the attack force on visual.  Which ship has the bomb?

<Compu-Rommie replies with a garbled message, saying something about a "thick 
particle layer".  It doesn't provide any information.>

Rhade: All right, we're gonna have to do this the old fashioned way.

======================================================================================
Scene:  Beka and Harper are still tied up.  The explosions seem to have moved off to 
other areas of the village.
======================================================================================

Southerner {somewhere else in the village}: Incoming!

Beka: Huh.  Ever feel like it's your lucky day?

Harper: Uh-huh. Funny thing is, usually whenever I do, it hasn't been a very good one.

Beka: Unfortunately, I think this is just Lach softening them up for something bigger.

Harper: Great.  I can't wait to see what's next.

======================================================================================
Scene: Action starts with Lach and the Northern fighters, but moves around between 
Lach, Zara, Rhade/Rommie, and Beka/Harper.
======================================================================================

Ship Two {over comm}:  Closing in on target.  Weapons engaged.  Five seconds to 
activiation.

Lach: For all those who have died, and those left to remember what we did on this day, 
blow them to hell!

<A large bomb drops from one of the ships.  Zara sees it.>
 
Zara: No.

<On the ground, Beka and Harper hear something big coming and look nervous.  Rhade 
closes in on the bomb with his slipfighter and blasts the it out of the sky.>

Lach: How is that...possible?

Harper: Nice shot, Rhade.

Beka: Not bad for a Nietzschean.

Rommie: Nice shooting, Rhade.

Zara {apparently on a general comm frequency}: My Southern family, now we take the 
fight to them.  Finish it on the ground.

Lach: Very well.  We'll finish this where it began.

======================================================================================
Scene: On the Andromeda with Dylan & Trance
======================================================================================

Trance: Lach is headed to Zara's camp, no doubt to finish the battle hand-to-hand.  
Would you like me to send a security detail?

Dylan: Yes.  Get them all back up here right now.

======================================================================================
Scene: In the Southern village, Zara has Beka and Harper untied.
======================================================================================

Zara: Still want to help me?

Harper: Technically, I never actually said I wanted to *help* you.  I only wanted...

<Approaching Northerners are heard.>

Zara: Take cover!

Northerners: This way! Cut them off! Surround them!

<Beka, Harper, and the Southerners take cover on one side of a clearing, while Lach and 
his Northern soldiers take cover on the other side.>

Lach: I see you brought some friends, Zara.

Zara: At least I still have some.

<From behind both parties, Rhade and the Andromeda security detail arrive, armed with 
forcelances.>

Rhade: Drop your weapons. All of you, drop your weapons.

Andromeda Soldiers {in background}: Down. Put that down. Drop it.

<Zara and her lieutenant have guns aimed at Beka and Harper.>

Zara: Take another step and I'll kill them both.

Harper: Apparently she's not the girl of my dreams after all, Rhade.  Shoot her!

Rhade: Zara. Lach.  You can't win this battle.  Put down your weapons before you force 
me to take them.

<After a tense moment, Zara gives up her gun to Beka.>

Beka: Thank you. I'll take that.

<Lach also gives in.>

Lach: Do as he says.
 
Beka: See? We should have gone directly to Terazed.

Rhade: Perhaps.

<Lach is taken into custody by an Andromeda guard who walks him over toward Rhade 
and the others.>

Soldier: Keep moving. 

======================================================================================
Scene: Lach, Zara, and the Andromeda folks are on med deck.  Trance pulls up a medical 
graphic on a screen.
======================================================================================

Dylan: Zara and Lach.  Lach and Zara.  You are the cure.

Trance: Your separation five millennia ago secured the biological failure of both your 
groups.  The fact that Lach's people began to suffer first is merely a matter of chance.

Rommie: Similar fate, different pathogen, would eventually have destroyed Zara's people 
as well.

Trance: Assuming you hadn't murdered each other first.

Lach: So you're saying our biology is what's killing us?

Dylan: There never was a Southern race – or North.  You are one people who need each 
other to survive.  Watching your historical chronicles, Dylan recalled a story of how the 
sides separated politically, eventually creating two races.

Rommie: The enforced separation limited your gene pool and weakened both races.

Dylan: Lach's blood has infected mine.  But Zara's blood will heal me.

Lach: So we need to take our slaves' blood to ensure our survival.

Dylan: No, that will only heal you temporarily.

Trance: You're so corrupt that even your solutions are devised in hate.  The result of your 
wars – down to the last one, you both lost.

Dylan: The only true cure is to end the war.  You must have children of mixed blood to 
carry on in health and peace.

<Disbelieving half-laugh from Lach.>

Zara: For Northerners and Southerners to thrive, we would have to...  {she trails off, 
appalled}

Dylan: Heh.  Well, people have been known to enjoy it.

Zara: You'll have to prove this insanity before I believe it.

Dylan: Oh, I certainly intend to.

Trance: I took the samples of Zara's blood, mixed and processed it with Lach's, and ran 
tests.  {she demonstrates with the medical graphic}  The results proved to be successful 
in destroying the illness.  Your combined blood is the cure.  But first, I need a fresh blood 
sample from Zara.

<Zara nods, allowing Trance to collect some blood with a medical device.  Trance looks 
enquiringly at Lach.>

Lach: You are NOT putting that blood in me.

Dylan: No – in me.

Trance: All I require is an extraction.

<He allows her to take some of his blood, and Trance heads over to Dylan.>

Dylan {sarcastic}: What's it gonna do, kill me?

<Trance injects the blood.  A moment later, Dylan grunts and grimaces.>

Trance: What are you feeling?

Dylan: It's a burning sensation.  It could be lunch. {He yells in pain.} Maybe not.

<He grunts and grimaces a bit more, and the red splotches fade from his skin.  A few 
moments later, he's perfectly healthy.  Lach and Zara look amazed.>

Trance: The cure has worked faster in Dylan for the same reason that the illness spread 
faster.

Rommie: We're going to return you to your planet now.  And now's the time to make 
peace, not war.

Trance: Though the things you will have to change will be the hardest – your hearts and 
your minds – because that's where hate lives.

Dylan: Your future – your children's future – is in question, and true love is the only 
answer.  So, since Andromeda has no further business in this star system, we will be on 
our way.  It's been a limited pleasure meeting you both.

<All of the Andromeda folks leave.  Zara and Lach eye each other speculatively, then a 
moment later lunge to attack one another.>

======================================================================================
Scene:  Later, on Command Deck.  All main crew members present.
======================================================================================

Harper: Glad you're still with us, Boss.

Dylan: Yeah, I'm glad to be with you, too.

Beka: Preparing for slipstream.

Dylan: Uh, but first there's something I want to do.  Rommie?

Rommie: Target locked.

Harper:  Target? Locked?  Something you wanna share with the class?

Dylan: Enhance infrared.

<A view of the planet is on the main viewscreen.>

Trance: What are you doing, Dylan?

Dylan: I'm just giving them a head start.  Fire.

<The Andromeda fires, destroying the wall between North and South villages.>

Harper: Now that's what I call breaking down the walls of communication.  Heh.

Beka: Can we go now?

Dylan:  Sure.

Trance: I will be happy when we do.

Beka: Any particular destination in mind?

Dylan: Anywhere but here.

######################################################################################
				THE END
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