Andromeda (1.11) The Pearls That Were His Eyes
Written by Ethlie Anne Vare (also known as the Goddess of Beka) Directed by David Winning
Guest Stars: John de Lancie as Sid. Peter Kalamis as Grask. Ty Olsson as Mick. Ken Kerzinger as Willie. 
Broadcast Week of January 22, 2001
Transcribed by Sitaine CV Nuluhaya (bobbyhobbes at softhome 
dot  net)
All rights belong to Ethlie Anne Vare, Tribune Entertainment and co. It's a transcript that took a number of hours since this is my first time, and I'm a perfectionist. I added little comments and lots of scene notes to make it fun for me. It is SO not a replacement for watching this show. My ability to describe a scene wonderfully vanished before transcribing this. 
I love Trance, so I pay special attention to her, but I like all the characters.
I ran this through the spellchecker, but if anyone spots a typo, email me.

references (most of them me playing around) to 
^0 Dylan's blooper in Mid-Season 2 promo
^1 the Klingon moon exploding in Star Trek VI
^2 a type of hover-vehicle seen in Crusade's Path of Sorrows, 
^3 Rev's weird breather mask in UTN,
^4 Harper blooper in Mid-Season 2 Promo
^5 Fred Astaire's Cheek to Cheek,
^6 same place Harper went surfing in TTTB, Harper liking what he sees in MoT,
^7 and what Wallace says to Gromit in The Wrong Trousers)
^8 http://www.allsystems.org  Home of the All Systems University, the ultimate Andromeda library.
^9 some bull I made up combining the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale 
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutsshs.html
and a message on neutrino power I have no idea what is about
http://www.nidsci.org/resources/forum/Read/465.html
^10 from Una Salus Victus, and The House that Jack Built
^11 from The Widening Gyre
^12 And she does. In the following episode, she is absent, viewing the Mandelbrots spawning on Ornithal. MoT
^13 Bad pun.
^14 'Course, it's the same CGI every time, but I love this shot. That steam pouring out her exhaust ports, yummy!

Previous Draft's Opening Quote: 
With only two parents and a handful of siblings, is it
any wonder that humans are so obsessed with finding
love?

Fragment of a Than-Thre-Kull anthropology text

FADE IN TO A BLACK SCREEN WITH WHITE TEXT. 
BEGIN TEASER

Wealth is too Precious to be entrusted to the Rich.
Anonymous Kalderan Proverb,
circa CY 500

(Martial music is playing as if something big is about to happen. Trance, unaware of this music, quietly plays her console. Dylan casually enters the bridge. Rommie whips around.)

Rommie: Captain on deck!

(Trance snaps to, saluting. Beka looks grumpy and bored in the slipstream chair.)

Beka: I'll alert the media.

Trance (still saluting): It means we're supposed to stand at pretension. 

(Dylan lowers her hand.)

Dylan: At ease Trance. I think it's a little late in the game to restore the military protocols.

(Dylan notes Beka's..er..lack of pretension in the chair.)

Screen Rommie: I'm sorry, Dylan. Some of my systems have reverted to defaults.

(Dylan looks to his fix-it man, who looks a little offended.)

Dylan: Harper.

Harper: Excuse me. After the number of scrapes she's been through, it's a wonder she's a-workin' at all.

Dylan: Don't worry, Rommie. As soon as we dock at El Dorado Drift, we'll pick up parts and you'll be as good as new.

Harper: What he said. El D. She's got everything we need. Wine, wiring, and WOMEN. 

(On the main viewer, the drift approaches, looking like a darker International Space Station.)

Beka: All I care about is news, weather and sports. And that should be comin' in right about...now. 

(Right on cue, dozens of news reports in Vedran text, pictures and voices compete for attention, which continue at a low level throughout the scene. Beka gets up from her chair, relieved.)

Beka: Yes! Civilization.

(Trance looks cute as she grins.)

Trance: Mail call! 

Harper: It's already here, courtesy of your friendly neighborhood space traveller's aid. (looks to Trance) But uh I don't know why you're so excited, it's always just bills for Beka, or epistles from Rev Bem's spiritual pen pals. All you and I ever get is junk.

Trance: I know, and it is *sooo* great! Because you can buy your own moon (Harper, Beka and Dylan turn to look at her. Tyr is absorbed in his workstation) or you can make millions without ever leaving the comfort of your own homeworld!

News reporter's voice: ...collection of CEO Sam Profit.

Harper: Oh here's breaking news, Trans-Galactic is uh (air-quotes) "merging" with Quantum. (sarcastic) Economists were taken by surprise.

Trance: Get out of here! I own shares in Quantum. 

(This is enough to get her out of her station.) 

Screen Rommie: You do? How many?

Trance: Three.

Beka: Well, don't count your dividends before they hatch. The Free Trade Alliance still has to give its approval.

Harper: Please, the Free Trade Alliance never met a monopoly it didn't like.

(Beka silently agrees.)

Dylan: I only have one question. What are we talking about?

Rommie: Analyzing. Trans-Galactic Shipping and Quantum Express are two of the largest private cargo carriers in the sector. Their consolidation would--

Beka: Would force small operators out of business by red-lining business and undercutting costs. (a little pissed now) How is a little guy supposed to compete against someone like Sam Profit?

Harper: Trans-Galactic's *uber* big kahuna. Put him in a fish tank with piranhas... pray for the piranhas.

Tyr (still looking at his screen): I'm sure that's all very interesting, but may we discuss the weather?

Trance: I didn't know you liked the weather. (scurries over to Tyr's workstation. Uhoh, she's still on her caffeine high.) I could tell you everything you ever wanted to know about cumulus clouds. They form really high in the atmos--

(Tyr is doing a silent shhh gesture.)

Trance (calming down): --phere.

Tyr: The only time the weather concerns me is when it threatens my health and well-being. 

(He calls up a news report with a nasty looking blue and white lightning space storm on the main screen.)

Tyr: Today, for instance.

Dylan: A class-seven solar storm. It's headed right for us. Looks like we better make those repairs quick. (looks to Harper again)

Harper: I know. I know! More work for me. (hee..he's so adorable)

(An electronic twitter catches his attention. A rotating graphic with one line highlighted.)

Harper: Heya, boss? You know a guy named Sid Barry?

Beka: Yeah, he was my father's business partner. Why?

Harper: You got a message from him, marked uh Extremely Urgent.

Beka: Bring it up.

(He appears on the main viewer, unshaven, intense and desperate. He looks like someone who's chagrined to call for help, and he's trying not to show it, but he's on his last legs.)

Sid: Hello Rebecca. It's Sid, your Uncle Sid. I hate to come to like this, but I need to see you. There's an attached file with contact information.
(On the recording, someone pounds on the door.)
I'm not going to beg you, Rebecca, but we both know your dad owes me one. I guess I'm calling in my marker on the uh the Valentine family huh? (tries to laugh) I hope to see you soon. (Message cuts off abruptly.)

Dylan: Sounds like he's in trouble. 

(Beka is thinking, unsure of what to say yet.)

Harper: I uh hope it's not too serious. That message is over three years old.

(We focus on Beka as her gears turn, but overall she looks determined to help her friend.)

FADE OUT. END TEASER

Dylan's voiceover: The long night has come. The Systems Commonwealth, the greatest civilization in history, has fallen. But now, one ship, one crew, have vowed to drive back the night and rekindle the light of civilization. On the starship Andromeda, hope lives again.

Robert Hewitt Wolfe sings:
Heaven burns, the stars are falling
As the enemy draws nigh.

Sound the call, fleet and lancers, 
"Commonwealth" our battle cry. 

Face the foe, never waver, 
Summon fire from the sky. 

(Harper and Trance drunkenly join in)
From a million sovereign planets 
Scattered through the endless night!

Bound by blood and High Guard honor,
Hold the line until the light!

Hold the line against the night!

Visuals: A planet and its moon rotate rapidly around its sun as it changes from a bright and happy place to a cratered rock. 
Andromeda does a beauty pass (Rommie: Thank you! Thank you!) as her drones dance lazily around her, light glinting off her hull.
She flies under a planet, silhouetted by starlight.
Dylan does a little command shimmy. (I don't know what to call it, but I like it.)
Dylan looks up.
Armored Dylan flops someone with his force-lance. (I think AAF)
Dylan falls in slow-motion, firing at Rhade. (UTN)
Quick fly-by of Andromeda 
Beka turns to us.
Beka, with kick-ass hair and gun, walks onto her ship. (TTTB)
Tyr, long dreadlocks hanging down, looks up slowly but intently.
Tyr strafes and fires his gun, almost dancing. (I think AAF)
Andromeda flies into a slipstream portal.
Trance reclines her head, looking immensely satisfied at whatever mischief she just got away with. 
Trance is happy. She's jumping up and down in pigtails, which is how you can tell. (TTTB)
Rev looks from side to side. 
Rev offers a toast, smiling. 
Harper looks ready for action.
Harper wipes his brow as the Maru sparks and shakes around him. Nothing to worry about. (UTN)
Rommie considers us worthy.
Holo-Rommie appears and crosses her arms. 
Tyr looks like he'll take it from here. (UTN) 
Beka with a staff, looking ready to kill. 
Dylan and Tyr, riding out an explosion, possibly the same one where he destroyed the entire panel. ^0
A small fighter strafes the Andromeda, causing major explosions.
A ship explodes, shooting out a wave of Praxis fire. ^1 (DMZ)
Andromeda flies slowly away.

BEGIN ACT I

(FADE IN on the Eureka Maru. Dylan's in the pilot's chair. Beka comes up behind him.)

Dylan: Three years, Beka. You don't even know if he's still on Difta Five. 

Beka: I know, I know.

Dylan: And the odds--

(She pats him on the shoulder, and they exchange places.)

Dylan: And the odds of finding him at all are like really really small.

Beka (sighs): You know, if you don't want me to go, why don't you just say so?

Dylan: I don't want you to go.

Beka: Damn. I didn't think you'd just say so.

Dylan: We haven't got much time before the storm hits, and we need the Maru to carry supplies. 

Beka: One of Andromeda's pods can handle it.

Dylan (incredulous): Our pods aren't designed for moving cargo.

(Beka's look says "Hello?")

Dylan: Okay, they are, but...you speak Drift, and it's been a long time since I've bought anything.

Beka: Blood of my blood, Dylan. That's what my father used to call me. All my life, he never asked me for one thing. Now he's gone. And if I can pay back a debt for him, I don't see how I have a choice. 

(He sighs, makes a decision.)

Dylan: Solar storm hits in five days. Can you be back by then?

(Maru's engines start up.)

Beka: I better be. Can't trust you to fly us out of class seven storm. 

Dylan: We'll be here. Good luck. 

(Beka moves her chair into the ready position, Dylan departs, and the Maru flies straight toward camera.)

Robert Hewitt Wolfe: Autopilot engaged.

(Beka studies a flexi while walking around her ship. As the Executive Story Editor comes on screen, Beka realizes something's wrong. Yes, that's not a wire hanging there. She grabs a handful of tail, and yanks. A Trance falls.)

Trance: Oh! Woh--!

(Being a cat, she always lands on her feet, but she still has to work out a few kinks.)

Beka (still looking at the flexi): Let me guess. Dylan asked you to keep an eye on me.

Trance (talking really fast): Well, actually, Dylan wanted to send Rev Bem along, but then he changed his mind because he thought he needed the Rev for the storm, so he wasn't going to send anyone, and I didn't want him to worry, so I decided to sneak on board and here I am now. (beat)
Are you mad at me?

Beka: Hm? (glances at her) How can I be mad, Trance? I don't even know what you're talking about. 

Trance: Oh.

(Meanwhile, Dylan is walking across Andromeda's bridge with a flexi. A Maria works in the background.)

Dylan: 'Don't worry, I'll look after her. Love, Trance.'

Harper: So?

Dylan: So now I'm worried.

Harper: They're both big girls. They can take care of themselves. Besides, we have *plenty* to worry about right here. (Rev enters in the background with a brief greeting bow to Dylan. Harper looks at a list of parts.) I say we prioritize the picotransducers, nanothrusters, and uh an AP solenoid valve.

Tyr: We can agree on the thrusters and the valve, but we also need photon bombs, and we need to refit our pulse plasma guns and point defense lasers. 

Rev: Isn't this a lot of wishful thinking? How are we going to pay for all of this?

Dylan: Technically that would be the quartermaster's job.

Tyr: We don't have a quartermaster.

Harper (bummed): Are you saying we don't have any money?

Dylan: Oh we have plenty of currency, it's just that none of it's...current. (a little laugh)

Harper: Okay, I can get most of this stuff, but we'll have to rig for a fast getaway.

Rev (admonishing): Harper.

Dylan (light): Harper, we're not going to steal anything.

Rev: Thank you. (Dylan silently thanks Rev back.)

Tyr: Well, what would you suggest?

Dylan: There's an old Earth custom, Tyr. It's called...a garage sale.

Tyr: What's a garage?

(In a space-black night, Trans-Galactic towers above all the other industrial buildings. Skimmers fly by as we move below a layer of smog. 
Beka & Trance are walking in the gutter area of a city, stepping carefully. There's metal parts, a few neon signs and lots of tough and sundry characters around.) ^2

Trance: Ewww.

Beka: Yuck! I *hate* planets. How could anyone live like this?

Trance: Well, didn't your people evolve on a planet?

Beka: Yeah, the smart ones left, as soon as they got a chance. 

(A guy who sort of looks like the guy John Travolta played in Battlefield Earth, but with dark bulgy glasses, bumps into Trance. He doesn't move aside.)

Beka: Hey!

(She spins him around and powers her gun. He removes his glasses, to reveal his nearly all-white eyes. A little creepy to me. He blinks, stares, tries to focus, finally laughs and moves on.)

Beka (angrily): Brain dead flash fryers.

Trance: Is that fun?

Beka: What fun? 

Trance: Squirting drugs into your eyeballs, because it seems like human beings enjoy poisoning themselves. (She looks a little ooked out by the experience.)

Beka: Well, it's not really that simple Trance. Flash is a synaptic enhancer. It makes you stronger, better, faster. Dad always said it made a great solution if you don't make it your...problem. (A character with a Rev-like breather mask stumbles past. ^3) Okay, so this is Avenida Nuevo Ciudad. This is supposed to be the place. 

(Trance looks at the bracer on her arm, the display showing the number 90. She points to various signs.)

Trance: Ninety-four...ninety-two...ninety. Right there! 

(Trance and Beka head closer to the pile of metal parts.)

Trance: But...I think we're too late.

Beka: Sid's address but no Sid. (sighs) Ohhh great.

(Back in Andromeda's rec room, Harper picks up a thick old book and a soccer ball. It's garage sale time, with metal containers filled with stuff lining the corridors. Dylan is walking briskly with Rev. Tyr has his arms folded on a ladder. Rommie is holding protectively onto something.)

Dylan: The light fixtures in the crew cabins can go. Sports equipment (grabs ball from Harper)...stays.

(Dylan places the ball into an open metal suitcase, apparently the "Keep" pile.)

Tyr: We need weapons, not toys.

Dylan: We need a crew that hasn't gone crazy from lack of recreation. Oh, anyone who uh touches my basketball hoop answers to me personally. 

Rev (pointing out a flexi to Dylan): Oh oh, the drift trader that you're meeting is called Grask. Now he's a..Chichin.

Dylan: Oh great. 

Rev: Yes, they never buy what they can steal.

Tyr: They're scum. They eat their own young. (Tyr begins to leave.) I'll thank you to see that he comes nowhere near me. 

Rev: Mmm...probably a good idea.

Dylan: Yeah, make a note of that. (Rev does.)

(We now see what Rommie's holding. Harper's trying to take it away. Rommie's upset.)

Rommie: Mm..mm..(Rommie's grunting because she's embracing onto the same green translucent plates that Harper is tugging on. They're mementos from her past.)That's ceremonial china from the Than ambassador.

Harper: Really? (shakes a plate near his ear as if he can hear pieces rolling around) Sounds like a spool of superconductor wire to me!

Rev (to Rommie): Perhaps you should not watch this.

Rommie: If I don't keep my eyes open, he'll probably sell the-- (Harper's playing tug-of-war with the rest of the plates now.)

Harper: Rommie. Rommie. Would I...hurt you? (He looks apologetic. A little. Okay, maybe not. Harper wins.) 
Hey, whoa! (He halts an automatic grav-cart) Where you goin' with all this good stuff?

(Rommie is about to warn him off when Dylan intervenes. Silently, Dylan stares at a picture frame including an attractive High Guard officer and his wife.)

Dylan: That stays.

(Dylan is much less offhand now, and he pushes the grav-cart.)

Harper: What'd I do? (genuinely not knowing)

(Rommie lays a sympathetic hand on Harper.)

Rommie: Personal effects of the crew. 

(A neon sign proclaiming LIVE NUDE DANCERS welcomes us back to Difta Five.)

Beka: Hey, I'm looking for a guy.

(Wrong guy. All heavy-gravity worlders wearing black glasses. The lead beefy one, Mick, looks her up and down..)

Mick: Lucky you, you just found one. 

Beka: A *specific* guy. (She punches up Sid's picture on her bracer.) His name's Sid Barry. You ever seen him?

Mick: I not your type?

(Beka drops on her hands to her side, frustrated.) 

Mick: You know what they say, once you try bio-engineered, you never go back. (He moves closer, checking them out.)

Willie (taller, smiling creepily): I think she's into older men. 

Mick (now *dangerously* close to Trance): What about you, sweetness, are you into older men? (Trance flexes her jaw, ready to punch his lights out.) Or are you just into her? (meaning Beka)

Trance (sharply, and moving back): Watch the tail.

Willie: You know, grape's my favorite flavor.

Trance: Beka, are they cannibals?

Willie (comes closer): C'mon baby, give me some sugar.

(Beka whips out her force-lance, triggering the quarterstaff. Willie jumps.)

Mick (laughing a little): What the hell is that?

Beka: Sugar cane.

(She swings the back end into Mick's jaw, then breaks a nose here, punching a stomach there. Mick grabs her from behind. She smashes his foot and backhands his jaw. More of his gang come out of the woodwork.)

Beka: Trance, your left! Other left!

(Two other fighters down. When Mick comes back for more, she aims the business end straight at his throat, thumbing the plasma beam to "On." He surrenders.)

Mick: You want him? The guy in the picture.

(A sharp nod from Beka.)

Mick: I know where you can find him.

(A small puddle-jumper powers up and away as we zoom up to the top floor of the Trans-Galactic building. From a sleek elevator, Beka and Trance enter a modern, well-appointed office with museum-quality art, Oriental rugs, and a futuristic-looking lamp. Trance is awed, Beka is not.)

Trance: Ohhh wow--this is amazing! That's real wood. (pointing to an executive's desk)

(Sid Barry appears from around a corner. Nice suit, spiffy haircut. He can barely believe his eyes. He's sweet and honest, but wait! There's more!^4)

Sid: Rebecca??

(She spins around.)

Rebecca: Sid!

Sid: Look at you, with your blond hair! I hardly recognized you.

(They hug.)

Sid: What are you doing here?

Rebec..er..Beka: I got an old message. I thought you needed help.

Sid: Oh..oh that..well... That's kind of complicated.

Receptionist's voice: Mister Profit, line three. 

(Beka reacts to the speakerphone. You can imagine how impressed she is.)

Beka: Profit? You work for Sam Profit?

Sid: Heh. Well, not exactly, I... I am Sam Profit.

(Sure enough, there's a portrait of him done up as Napoleon. Beka can't close her mouth.)

FADE OUT. END ACT I

FADE IN. BEGIN ACT II

(The sun is shining on Difta Five. 'Course, you can only see the tip of the Trans-Galactic building. The rest is smog.
Inside, Sid leads them into a *very* spacious, well-appointed room. Windows to the sun ceiling-to-floor on one side, and a few steps up to an observation area. Clearly the Penthouse suite.)

Sid: This is it. 

Trance: Wowww! Is this your room?

Sid (chuckles): Not at all my dear, it's *your* room. (to Beka) Aaand yours too. Fit for a princess. Her daddy's little princess.

Beka: I still don't get it. How can you be Sam Profit?

Sid: You really had no idea?

Beka: The word shocked comes to mind. Amazed. Dumfounded. (He's smiling during this. You get the feeling there's another layer.)

Sid: So why'd you come all this way?

Trance (sincere): She came here to help you.

Beka (a quick glance to Trance): *I came here* to help Sid Barry. Remember him?

Sid: I'm still Sid.

Beka: Not from where I'm standing. (Sid takes his lumps.) When I was a kid, you and my dad would stand around and complain about the big shipping companies. Now you're the one buying up the trade routes and forcing out people like us.

Sid (ever the businessman): Curse the big companies all you want, but big companies get things done.

Beka: And small operators don't?

(Trance senses the beginning of a big conversation that doesn't include her.)

Trance: You know, why don't I um walk around. Okay, this is me leaving. (and away she goes)

Sid: It's all about moving things, kiddo. People, cargo. The more things move, the more they connect, and the more they connect, the safer the universe gets.

Beka: And the richer you get.

Sid: Money is not a disease. It's the cure. Let me ask you something: What was your father after his whole life?

Beka: Redheads.

(Sid laughs.)

Beka: The big score.

Sid: Exactly! (He gestures to the expansive suite.) And this is it! He may not have admitted it, but this is what he was after. (Beka rolls her eyes.) *This* is what he wanted. What we wanted. 
(beat, changes his tune)
But you know what, enough about me. Is there anything *you* want? (He seems sincere. He also seems eager to get in her good graces. Beka is still on her guard, and while she's still thinking, a purple girl enters the background with whispered but giddy excitement. Trance's grin couldn't possibly be bigger. Hmm... she must've waited for the right moment. Her tune?)

Trance: Beka! (Beka looks past Sid, and she holds a little gift-wrapped box of) Chocolate! (She's a kid again, and happily bounds up to the window to examine her find. Sid and Beka smile at Trance's ability to make anyone smile, and decides to play it safe.)

Beka: I don't know. This is not what I was expecting. 

(Sid nods, accepting his victory of a smile for now, and then answers his neck. He has a neckport, like Harper, but I don't know if this one's more than a hands-free cell phone.)

Sid: Hold that thought. 

Receptionist's voice: Mister Profit, time for your Quantum run.

Sid: Well, Quantum waits for no man. I've got to get back to the office.
(A well-built guy has entered, and is unfolding a massage table.)
By the way, you look a little tense. (Beka rolls her shoulders reflexively.) I hear Rutger has *great* hands. (A suggestive eyebrow, and he's gone.)

Trance: Oh yeah? (Trance comes down the three steps, and I'm so glad they're there, because her long tail just cascades down them like water. A thing of beauty.) What's so great about them? (She grabs and turns over one of his hands, studying it intently. Hee! This guy is no longer background. Now he can't take his eyes off the lovely Trance Gemini.)

Beka: Trance... do not let him buy you off with a back rub. This is *Sam Profit* we're dealing with.

Trance (not impressed with Beka, sneaks a smile to Rutger): I think you're just..cranky from the gravity. 

(Beka looks like Oh no! Trance is goin' over to the other side! She's going to have fun??)

Trance (is now smiling on the massage table, trying to spin this): Why don't you just think of this as a way to..decreasing his corporate resources. (Yeah, that's it! Beka is smiling in spite of herself, as Rutger, the lucky guy, cracks his knuckles. Trance is totally innocent as she says) Now, let's start with the tail.

(We don't see Trance or Rutger during this last part. If I was Rutger, I would've fallen over and died happy. I belong to a group of people called furries who like to see themselves and others as anthropomorphic animals, as wolves, foxes, lions and dolphins. I love tails and fur and flippers. I discovered this predilection after falling in love with The Lion King, Chicken Run and other movies with cute but realistic talking anthropomorphic animals. 
Where was I? Ah yes, Trance, love the tail. Moving on, two maintbots veer off after finishing a job on industrial and commerce drift El D. Andromeda is docked at one of the ports. On her, we see a big sign GARAGE SALE --->
Grask, the drift trader is spreading his hands like a bat over the various spare parts in Andromeda's bay. His face looks like a cross between a salamander and a cobra. Appropriate, he can change his colours and you should watch him like a hawk. He carries a perpetual Cheshire grin.)

Grask: Is this receptacle hemititer or lixx? (Looks like a large funnel.)

Dylan: I uh think it's black plastic.

Grask: Oh. Too bad. It might have had value. Heh heh heh heh.

Dylan: Heh.  This uh microsensor might have had value too if you...hadn't removed the fuel cell. (Dylan opens the fuel cell hatch from an overgrown circuit board. Grask's smile vanishes.)

Grask (skittish): Removed?? No, not removed! Never removed. (He takes a look at the empty space. Smile returns.) Leeshka! (Dylan's eyebrows.) My apprentice. (Ahh!) Has the brains of a snivlet. (Grask demonstrates by pointing to his own head.) I should know better than to let him prepare a shipment. 

Dylan: Ah! Well, in that case let's have a look at the parts you packed yourself. (He puts a friendly arm on Grask's shoulder, and they go off together.)

Grask: Yes!

(Trance is snacking on some grapes in one hand and orange juice in the other. She has on some wrinkly, light blue, one size too big pajamas. She's in heaven.

Heaven, I'm in heaven,
And my heart beats so that I can hardly speak,
And I seem to find the happiness I seek
When we're out together dancing cheek to cheek.) ^5

Trance: Mm! This is *sooo* great! This is even better than the Andromeda. (I love how she enunciates that while chewing a grape. Beka enters in a tanktop and towel, having either just exercised or taken a shower. Her hair is floofy. Trance got Beka to loosen up!) And you know what, I think that this orange juice is *real*. (Door slides open.) I bet they had to import it all the way from Rigel. 

Sid: Infinity, actually. (Beka's instantly back on guard.) Wow! You look great. (And a whole planet didn't have to die. :) ^6

Beka: Thanks. (She folds her towel and her arms.)

Trance: Oh! Um..you know I left some bubbles in the tub I should probably use them. (The adult acting like a kid pads out of the room.)

Sid (laughs): Cute kid. (I notice when he laughs he doesn't look at you at the same time.) Kinks all worked out?

Beka (smiling, impressed so far, but her arms still crossed): Yeah. Not bad. 

(Sid looks away and pours two iced teas from the set.)

Sid: Look I uh I'm sorry I haven't had much time. Things have been really insane. Truth be told, you couldn't have come at a worse time. Speaking of which, why are you here? I mean, not..not that I'm not happy to see you.. (There's a lot of prevaricating around the bush. ^7 His "by the way" means "this is important." His truth is selective.)

Beka (walks a little closer): I told you why I'm here. I thought you were in trouble.

Sid (forgot): Ohhh yes! Well, I guess I've grown cynical in my old age. It's just... the *timing* of your arrival is...is so surprising. (looks down again for a second) Tell me about Ignatius. I..I'm really sorry that I missed his funeral. 

Beka (closing the space between her and Sid, giving a little ground): You didn't miss much. Eject cargo pod: Yes/No. 

Sid: Ohh...he deserved better. (He hands Beka an iced tea, closing the gap between them. More relaxed body language now, and his regret sounds sincere.) You know my biggest regret? That he didn't live long enough to...share this with me.

Beka (big smile and a laugh, remembering her dad): He would've liked that. 

Sid: Yeah. 
(beat; he starts moving behind her)
He didn't..talk about me at the end, did he?

Beka: He was pretty sick. You know how it is...when they get like that.

Sid: Did he leave any messages, anything?

Beka (wait a minute...): You're fishing, Sid. 

(She turns to him. Sid chuckles knowingly, then sits on the steps.)

Sid: You know what, your father had some data that belonged to me. He probably saved it on a disk or buried it in the Maru's database. D..did he ever mention anything like that to you, ever?

Beka: Not that I know of. (Sensing a Big Score, she smiles and sits beside Sid) What kind of data was it?

Sid (chuckles, making an effort to appear nonchalant): Oh, nothing really, just uh personal journals, visual records, that sort of thing. Perhaps...you could look for it. It would mean a lot to me. And as a matter of fact, a..and I always intended to do this. If you could help me, I uh I might be able to return the favour.
(Throughout all this, Beka has been wary, taking everything in with a careful ear. Now, she strikes.)

Beka: In what way?

Sid (He's all smiles, delivering the perfect pitch): Do you know what your dad always wanted, more than anything? To leave you with an inheritance. Enough C-money so you could do anything you wanted. (This is pie in the sky to Beka. She's not like that.)

Beka: Well, he left me the Maru.

Sid (laughs while looking down): That's hardly what he wanted. 
(beat)
What do you say I make up the difference? How about uh...well, how does ten million guilders sound to you?

(She doesn't buy it for a second, but can't help but raise an eyebrow and smile at the thought.)
Beka: Ten million?

Sid (giddy): Ten million... I see your memory being jogged already. 

(Beka laughs, incredulous. Sid turns lightly serious.) 

Sid: If you find the files, I need them unopened. 

(If Beka's whole face was an eyebrow, it's going up now. Sid gets up, having delivered his pitch. But he has one final touch to sweeten the deal.) 

Sid: Oh! In the meantime, you should have some fun. (He brandishes a shiny holographic disc.) Unlimited credit, courtesy Trans-Galactic. Anything you want, it's on me. (She catches the disc. He leaves, all smiles that he's been the perfect salesman. She sighs unhappily.)

(Back in Harper-land, he's playing doctor. Rommie is giving feedback.)

Rommie: A little to the left.

(He does. It sparks.)

Rommie (gives an adorable smile and a little move of her shoulders, head and smiles that I can't describe except to say): Perfect.

Harper (disguising his absolute love for Rommie with self-satisfied fast talk): I aim to please. 

Rev: Mag...nificient. (Unfortunately, he's looking the wrong way, at the swirly blue storm, shining like gaseous oil. But I don't know why he's so excited. It's always just bills for Beka, or epistles from Rev Bem's spiritual pen pals. Tyr agrees.)

Tyr: I wish you would stop looking for beauty in things that want to kill us. 

Rev: This storm has no intent. It simply is.

Tyr (rolling his eyes): Can we evade it?

Rev: I..if the neutrino damper is working properly, we should have an excellent margin for safety. 

(Naturally, right on cue, major sparkage in the Harper conduit, power levels fall, and so does Rommie.)

Harper: Rommie! 

(Several people have noted the uh strategic position of his hands when he catches her. Rev rushes over.)

Harper: Circuit overload. I think we can safely say, the uh damper's defective.

Tyr (I told you so): Dylan to command. The *lizard* stabbed us in the back. 

(The storm growls menacingly.)

(Meanwhile, Sid's motives may be suspect, but an unlimited credit card? Maybe Sid can track their purchases, and if he is, he'll find Trance and Beka are having a Girl's Night Out. Trance is sipping a festive drink, and her speech is looser than usual. Beka has on a stretchy diamond-checked number full of purples and blues. Very fetching! Plus she's carrying shiny shopping bags with both hands. They're in a sprawling urban club, filled with atmosphere: huge fans, light poles, smoke pouring down and neon lights! People of all species are dancing, mingling, and there's one guy who's *really* relaxed. The Long Night may have come, but people still know how to party.)

Trance: You know, for a while there I thought you were going to sit in the suite and sulk all night and live on bread and water... (Trance is so cute when she teases her friends.)

Beka: Okay, you're right. That's the best time I've had in a long time. (God, it feels good to say that!)

Trance: Awwww yes! To Unca Sid! 
(She raises her drink, Beka raises one of her bags.)

Beka: To Uncle Sid!
(beat)
You know, Trance, what I could do with ten *million* guilders?

Trance: Oh, you could buy *lots* of drinks with umbrellas in them. (Hee!)

Beka: More like fix up the Maru. Pay off my debts..Debts? I could kick back, *relax* for a change. 

Trance: So, why don't find that whatchamacallit Sid wants and give it to him?

Beka: See, *that* is the problem, personal journals and video diaries are not worth that kind of money. Sid is up to something.

Trance: You know...I think he's kinda sweet. (Huh?)

Beka (mimicking her tipsy voice, teasing): You know, you shouldn't drink. It impairs your judgement. 

Trance (considering her drink): I'm still trying to figure out this whole poisoning yourself for fun thing. I think I like it. 

(Suddenly, Beka's all business.)

Beka: Come on, Trance. We have to check out the Maru. 

Trance: Hey...exactly where on the body is the moneymaker located?

(We cut to the Maru's bridge, where Beka is working at the computer. Trance hops in like a bunny.)

Trance: Beka! Is this you? 

(Close-up of mauve fingers, dark fingernails, holding a photo of a young girl with flowing red hair, being held up by someone. A boy grins up to her, either Rafe or an admirer.)

Beka: Hmmm...when I was six.

Trance (squeals happily): You had red hair!

Beka: My dad thought having one hair colour was boring, so he designed these nanobots for me. I can make my hair whatever colour I want.

Trance (wants makeup tips): Oh, can you do purple?

(Beka closes her eyes for a sec, shakes her hair, and it turns Ethlie electric purple. Trance likes. In fact, Trance has the biggest open-mouthed grin you have ever seen on her.)

Beka: You should see plaid.

(Trance has the cutest little giggle here. Then, what Beka sees drains her good mood and the colour from her hair. Glancing over her shoulder, she looks quietly nervous.)

Beka: Trance, go seal the airlock.

Trance (playfully petulant because she's still looking at the picture): Why?

Beka: Someone else has been through these files.

(Now Beka has her full attention.)

Trance: What?

Beka: Seal the hatch. We're leaving.

(Beka initiates departure pre-check, but before Trance can seal the airlock, the beefy creep she met on the planet opens the bridge doors.) 

Mick: Ahh, don't be so hasty. You still owe me that kiss. 

Beka: You want a kiss? Kiss this! (She slams something into his crotch, doubling him over. But another creep jumps onto the deck behind Trance) Trance! (But before she can give more detailed instructions, Willie comes out of nowhere and yanks Beka's hair. Random Creep zaps Trance with a cattle prod. She goes down. Mick gets back up and holds Beka's jaw like he's going to forcibly kiss her.)

Mick: So, where were we, hm?

(Sid walks through the door, all business.)

Sid: Not on my time, Mick! 
(beat, sigh)
You should have just taken the money, Rebecca. It would've made it a lot easier for the both of us. 

(She's still breathing hard from the sudden adrenaline when Mick zaps her with a cattle prod, and she goes limp. Willie smiles malevolently as we FADE OUT.) 

END ACT II

BEGIN ACT III. 

(The Maru. Beka and Trance are tied back-to-back with duct tape. The other heavies are milling around.)

Sid: I've had enough of this bull. I know why you came here.

Beka: I told you, to help you. My mistake. 

Sid (crossing his arms): You came answering a three-year old message two days before my takeover of Quantum. I don't think so. Now where are those files?

Beka: Even if I knew what the hell you were talking about, which I don't, why do you think I'd tell you now?

Sid (nods): Somebody's made you a better offer, haven't they? (Beka is incredulous.) Who is it? Is it Quantum? Spacerunners?

Trance (revising her opinion, to Beka): I'm beginning to think your dad's friend is a criminal.

Sid: Oh please. It's her father who's the criminal. (leans closer to Beka, who refuses to look back) You haven't told your friend here the story of your life? Well, it's rather sort of romantic in a pathetic sort of way. You and your brother, raised like wolves, by a flash-fried drug runner. 

(He's trying to get a reaction, and she bites.)

Beka (hotly): That's not true. My father never used flash. 

Sid: The trust of a child runs deep. 
(beat)
Your father never used flash? Let me tell you something. Your father and I practically *invented* flash. 

(Mick comes up to Sid.)

Mick: The lab rats still found nothing, boss. We'll need those codes. 

Sid (standing up): You heard the man.

Beka: Drop dead.

Sid: It's not my life that's on the line here, Rebecca. 

(Sid turns away, as the thugs arc electricity through Beka and Trance's bodies.)

(The same musical theme as "Ohhh wow--this is amazing!", the same suite, the same sunshine, except now, bars cover the windows. 
Beka limps in with a swollen lip. Trance rushes over to care for her friend.)

Trance: Beka? Beka, are you all right? (Beka seems sullen, unresponsive, so she urgently grasps her shoulders.) What did they do to you??

Beka: Nothing. I walked into a door. 

Trance: Well then please sit down. (She does. Trance pats her shoulder affectionately.) Good girl. Stay. 

(Trance opens a bottle of vodka, is repulsed by the smell, but figures what the hell. She sits next to Beka with the bottle and a towel.)

Beka: Oh Trance, I'm not really in the mood for a cocktail right now. 

Trance: Disinfectant.

(She hands the soaked towel to Beka.)

Trance: So did you tell the door what it wanted to know?

(Beka gestures with the towel, frustrated.)

Beka: I can't tell them anything. I don't know anything. Obviously my dad had something Sid wants very badly. (She gingerly touches her lip.)

Trance: Well, if your father was a drug runner, and Sid was his partner, I would assume--

Beka: Get one thing straight. My father was *not* a drug addict!

Trance: Well, I never said that he was. I said he was a drug runner. That's not the same thing... is it? (Her voice is very young on this line, unsure why Beka was so vehement just now. She leaves to return the bottle.)

Beka (uncertain, quietly): No, I guess not. 

(Alone in a corridor of the Andromeda, Dylan's doing last-minute system checks.)

Dylan: Slipfighter fuel cells charged. O2 is at 18 percent. 

Voiceover Rommie: Check, and check. 

(A slipfighter diagram rotates and beeps happily. Meanwhile, Rev appears behind Dylan and...

Rev: Going someplace?

Dylan: Oh!

...causes his captain to jump. Rev smiles. He's in an upbeat, playful mood today, sure that Good will triumph over Evil today because Good is sneaky. :)

Dylan (laughs, tries to cover by running more system checks): Rev, I wish you wouldn't do that. Besides, you are..early. Confession's not supposed to come until after I commit the crime. 

Rev: I never took you for a man who flees from the consequences of his decisions.

Dylan: I'm not fleeing. I just have to run an errand.

Rev: Mm-hm. 

Dylan: Wanna come? 

Rev: Most definitely. (notices Dylan glancing back and forth between two monitors) Don't tell me...(chuckles knowingly) You've got a plan. 

Dylan: Okay, I won't. 

Rev (giddy): Hmm, he always has a plan!

(Two of the tall thugs force Beka into one of Sid's office chairs. Her chair is facing away from Sid, and she's wearing her black leather jacket again. The atmosphere is tense and dangerous.)

Sid: Let me get this straight: You're not trying to blackmail me, you don't know what's on the coded data and you've never seen it.

Beka: Right, right, and right again. You pick this stuff up fast.

Sid: I wish I could believe you, Rebecca. I really do.

Beka: But you don't, so let's get on with the torture, is that it?

(Sid's using the fine art of manipulation. He now moves to sit beside her, being the salesman and "uncle" all in one again.)

Sid: It doesn't have to be this way, Rebecca. I pride myself on being able to make a deal with anyone, and I mean anyone. Now, I'm going to give you one more chance. Name your price (at Priceline.com), give me the data, and we'll just pretend this never happened. 

Beka (disgusted): I don't want..your money.

(Sid makes an unhappy noise and gets up again. He likes standing behind her to talk to her. She looks heavenward for release, then starts breathing deeply, her hands gripping the armrests, trying to focus her anger. Her whole body is coiled tightly.)

Sid: So that's it, huh? My money isn't good enough for the daughter of Ignatius Valentine.  Maybe you want something else. Is it revenge? You blame me for what happened to your father. 

Beka: Should I? (a whisper at normal volume. She's scared, angry and vulnerable because of what Uncle Sid might tell her about her father.)

Sid (starts painting her a picture): You know, I think you think of him as some sort of hero, out there all alone, fighting the corporate oppressor, coming home with tall tales and trinkets. (gets in her face again, a deceptively kind voice) Who do you think bought those trinkets? Your father was either hung over and forgot, or some hooker rode him in port. Do you know what he used to call you?

Beka: Blood of my blood. (blinking back tears)

Sid (snorts, enjoying himself): Try 'my little ball and chain.'

Beka: That's not true. 

Sid: He used to tell me you were not worth the cost..of fuel.

(She explodes out of her chair, but they strong-arm her back into it. Sid calmly walks behind his thugs.)

Sid ("disappointed"): Well...you really are the daughter of Ignatius Valentine. More's the pity. 
(They spin her chair to face Sid. He holds up a white eyedropper bottle.)
Flash. It's the ultimate edge. You'll love it! Five milligrams today, five milligrams tomorrow, and the next day, you will be selling your first born... for just one milligram more. 
(He twists off the cap as they force and lock a device onto her head. Beka stares in dread and pain, unable to cry, move or even close her eyes. The drops go in. FADE TO BLACK.)

END ACT III.

BEGIN ACT IV.

(This time the thugs throw Beka in the room. Trance smiles for a second, but that doesn't last too long. Beka's manic, wringing her hands like crazy, gesturing spastically with them. She's going through rapid mood changes, her voice at times snippy and cartoony. She's in a very bad place.)

Beka: It's okay. I'm cool. Take this down, and log a time and date because we might get out of here. Sam Profit is going down! And he's going down so hard he's going to create another gravity well in this sector. (almost tearing her hair out, takes a deep breath) Just let me at 'im. (laughs hysterically) Just let me at 'im. Six feet, I can jump six feet.

Trance: Beka! What--? 

(She grabs Beka, who turns around suddenly, staring with her entire white eyes.)

Trance: Flash!

Beka: I don't drink, did you know that? I don't drink. I don't squirt, I don't snort, I don't inhale, I don't-- GAH! I've been straight-edged all my life, _all my life_ because I'm my daddy's little girl, and I don't want to be like my daddy. (laughs hysterically, almost hyperventilating. Trance is horrified.)
Here I am, I'm streaking like a fleakin' comet. You can't stop me. (points to Trance) You can't stop a Valentine with a head full of steam, believe me I know. I tried. (Trance looks sick.) Blood of my blood, Trance. (begins almost tearing her hair out again) What if it's in my blood? What if I can't stop?!

Trance (the voice of a very scared friend): Okay, Beka please, just..try and slow down, all right? Inhale and exhale. Inhale, exhale--

(Beka whips around.) 

Beka: DON'T TREAT ME LIKE A CHILD!! I AM NOT A CHILD! YOU ARE! Or are you? How old are you, Trance? (she subtly shakes her head) I don't even know. I don't anything about you. (Beka stabs her finger at Trance, who just looks sick) Where you from? Who you're working for? Why're you purple? You workin' for Sid? Trance? TRANCE? (Beka begins advancing on Trance.) Are you workin' for Sid? You're workin' for him, aren't you? Aren't you, Trance? TRANCE! (She shoves Trance backward.) Are you? Trance?!

Trance: Beka, stop it! Please Beka stop it!

(Beka backs off, mutters to herself. Trance is near tears.)

Beka: No no I could do purple. 

Trance: Okay Beka, you're angry, and it's totally fine to be angry, but please be angry at him!

(Beka whimpers, rattling the rings on all her fingers in a rhythmic pattern to calm herself, while Trance looks to the heavens for the same reason.)

Beka: I know...I know...I know......I know. Trance. Trance, we have to get out of here. I know where it is. (sounding more in control, she walks to the metal door, and breaks down, crying in short gasps.)

Trance (comforting): All right, come away. It's okay. (She holds Beka, who collapses into her arms.)

(The Andromeda is on the leading edge of a cloud, which is playing havoc with her gravity control, electrical systems, and bridge answering service.)

Tyr: Where is he?

Harper: I'm sorry, Captain Hunt has stepped away from his desk. Please leave a message after the tone from the funny little guy. Beep!

(Suddenly, Harper is Tyr's height.)

Tyr: Are you amused? We have at best eight hours before that storm reduces us to component parts, and Dylan has disappeared.

Harper: I don't know. Ask Rev Bem, maybe he knows. 

(Tyr releases Harper--roughly--and leaves, but not before...)

Tyr: HE'S MISSING TOO!

Harper (after Tyr leaves): Try decaf. 

(Trance is subtly smiling. Beka's looking in a mirror.)

Trance: Back to normal? N'okay?

(Beka drops the mirror. Her eyes are back to normal, and she feels a little depressed after being manic.)

Beka: I will be. Robbed of my superpowers, I will have to rely on mere human ingenuity. Oh, how are we going to get out of here?

(Well, I hear Trance Gemini's theme playing, and she's opened a panel under a computer terminal. Her sun tattoo is visible.)

Trance: Let me think. Ummm...how about..this one?

(The computer beeps happily. The window bars retract. Trance dances the limbo to celebrate.)

Trance: Yeee-yeah!

(But she tripped a security monitor. Willie walks in to deliver his catch phrase)

Willie: Sorry sweetie, the room don't come with a view. 

(and get beaten up be Beka. Another thug walks in and points his cattle prod at Beka.)

Thug: Uerrrrrrrrrrlllllllll!

(That's the sound of Trance squeezing the guy's neck with her tail. Trance's expression says "Human scum," until Beka's note of surprise causes her to smile.)

Mick: Ohhh, I've been waitin' for this. (He twirls Beka's force lance, aims and fires. Unfortunately, he failed to read allsystems.org beforehand.) ^8

Beka: It's personalized to my own DNA...moron. (She's back in business!) Let's get them comm gear and let's get them out of here. (And she does.)

(The Miller Solar Storm Scale is a 1-7 rating based on the storm's present intensity. This is used to give an estimate of the potential property damage and loss of life expected in inhabited artificial systems lacking a working neutrino damper. Violation of nuclear force parity conservation is the determining factor in the scale, as storm surge values are highly dependent on the stability of neutrino/matter coupling.

Class Seven Solar Storm:
Neutrino instability greater than 1 million percent of normal background levels. Storm surge generally greater than 1.5 million over normal. Complete outer skin failure on unprotected starships and drifts. Anti-proton, exotic matter and ion-powered systems disrupted beyond repair. No currently developed life-support system will function in this environment. Massive evacuation of life forms within 5 million km of the affected area may be required. Solar Storm Paul of AFC 216 was a Class Seven Solar Storm at peak intensity over the Tau Ceti system.
Solar Storm Jim of CY 9444 was a Class Seven Solar Storm at peak intensity and is the strongest one on record. ^9

But this'll be close. The Andromeda is sparking both inside and out, heaving.)

Harper: Did I mention I'm not having fun yet?

(Tyr removes his belt o' weapons, and does a neat trick of vaulting into the slipchair from the side.)

Tyr: Nor I. Ship! I'm assuming command. Engage thrusters and take us out of here. 

(But Dylan ruins his fun. He and Rev are *escorting* Grask onto the bridge. Grask looks nervous, a good reason for Dylan to be happy.)

Dylan: Permission to come aboard, Captain Anasazi. (to Grask) How often do you get the chance to get up close and personal with a class-seven solar storm? It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience, don't you agree?

Grask: You can't keep me here, I'm a highly respected businessman. 

Dylan: Not on my ship, you're not. 

Grask: You must understand, I have to get back to the warehouse. My employees will steal me blind! 

Dylan: Oh, I do understand. I understand that honesty and integrity were casualties of war, and while I may not approve (to Tyr)--for the record, I don't approve--right now, my bad day is your bad day. (claps Grask's shoulder) Enjoy the view.

(Rev leans close to Grask.)

Rev: Welllcome to our humble abode. 

Grask (hyperventilating, clutching Dylan's viewer): Keep that cannibal away from me!

Harper: Uh, cannibal? Nnno. See, *he* doesn't eat his own kind. Chichin, however--

Rev (dancing one of his claws near Grask's head): When their whining exceeds a certain..decibel level, I find it very difficult to control my lower nature.

(Rev happily purr-growls, sending Grask scurrying toward Harper's station. Dylan smirks.)

Dylan: How much longer before the storm reaches its peak?

Tyr: I wouldn't crack open any epic novels if I were you.

Dylan (to Tyr): We might be able to hold together. 'Course, we'd be a lot safer if we had a *working* neutrino damper. 

Grask: A damper? (scurries back to Dylan) You need a neutrino damper? Heh heh. What a coincidence, I can get you a damper, a beauuu-tiful brand-new damper you will be proud to call your own. Heh heh heh heh heh. (makes a sign like A-OK)

Dylan: You don't say...

(Andromeda sparks and rocks again. Dylan looks at Harper ruefully, who shrugs.)

Grask (still nervous as hell): This way. 

(Mick walks into Sid's office, where he's meeting two tough professional guys. One looks like Ben Kingsley.)

Mick: Boss?

Sid: I'm busy, Mick!

Mick: I know. We've got a problem. The blonde..tased me and the purple girl disabled the security grid. (this was real hard for him to get out :)  They barricaded themselves in the room. 

Sid: 'Scuse me gentlemen.

(low voice to Mick as he escorts him out of the room, very confident)

Sid: Listen to me, I want you to do *exactly* as I tell you...

(Beka's is back in control, calibrating a handheld device with a makeshift knife.)

Beka: Trance, when did we leave the Andromeda? How long've we been away?

Trance: I'd say this makes...five days, but sometimes I lose count when I'm unconscious.

(Trance crosses to the door, listening to something.)

Beka (sighs): I was afraid of that. I told Dylan I'd be back by now. Probably thinks I ditched him.

Trance (frantic): Beka, I can hear them! They're outside. Hurry *up*!

Beka: I just need one..more..minute. 

Trance: I don't think we have another minute. 

(She's right. Just after she runs to Beka, the door EXPLODES inward, sending fire, sparks and debris into the room. Trance appears scared, Beka determined. Mick and two others that walk like Borg drones enter with big frelling guns.)

Mick: Give it up girls, there's no way outta here. 

Beka: Wrong again. (She presses the button on her device.)

Trance: Right! What?

Beka: Hold your breath.

(She ushers Trance out the window and they both jump, the tail clearing the ledge nicely.)

(Mick laughs and looks over the side.)

Mick: That was easy.

(The Eureka Maru rises above Trans-Galactic into the sky. Above the smog, it's a perfect day outside.)

Mick (into a collar comm): Boss? Worked just like you said.

END ACT IV.

BEGIN ACT V.

FADE IN on the Andromeda, the storm now a pretty backdrop behind her. Tyr and Dylan are enjoying the view and conversation from Trance's Deck. Peaceful reflections ripple on the garden and the walls. They're talking without looking at each other.)

Tyr: I'm wondering...if she's coming back.

Dylan: What makes you say that?

Tyr: Well, you've spent the last three months helping her upgrade her ship. You've armed it, you've rebuilt its engines and computers. (shrug; Dylan smiles briefly) I think it's quite possible she may have taken advantage of your generosity and gone back into business for herself. 

Dylan: Because that's what you would do.

Tyr: Not after warning you.

(They glance at each other. Dylan smiles.)

(The Maru, in her full glory: His front radio antenna that picks up KJAZ from the nearest drift (when they're close enough), the upper landing pad for small cargo transfers, the scaffolding on both sides that have a million and one uses, the various running lights telling people in need "The Eureka Maru. Proudly saving your ass since AFC 291," and of course The Engines that Harper fixed. ^10
On the inside, Beka's piloting.)

Trance: So is this the point where he starts shooting at us?

Beka: Well, I'm betting he won't kill us until he finds that data.

Trance: Which we have? (She seems especially purpley in this scene. Must be the Maru's internal lights, brings out her complexion. Er..back to the transcript. :)

Beka: Okay, here's what I remember: My dad and Sid were partners. They built the Maru together. They were always planning and scheming about getting rich. Until this one deal. This was going to be the big score, the best deal ever. And then, I don't know, it fizzled somehow. Dad and I went to Signa Gamma One to meet Sid, and as soon as we got there, we just turned right around and..left. No money, no cargo, no Sid. As far as I know, that's the last time they saw each other. 

(Beka retracts her seatbelt and leaves the bridge.)

Robert Hewitt Wolfe: Autopilot engaged.

Beka: I'm betting whatever Sid's looking for has something to do with that trip. 

Trance: Well, he would've found the Eureka Maru's log by now, wouldn't he?

(Beka removes a strand of hair.)

Beka: Yeah, if it was in the logs.

Trance: What are you doing? (Is this a girl thing, Beka?)

Beka: Remember when I told you that my dad made nanobots for my hair? (She straightens the strand and sets it on a retractable scanner.) He did it as soon as we left Sig Gamma One. (There's some snaps on the soundtrack, a slower but longer version of Dylan teleporting for the first time in BotL. And the sound effect as she slides the scanner in is similar to the teleporter. No relevance, just a random connection. Oh, and there's a nice close-up of Beka's finger rings here.)

Beka: Sid didn't even notice. 

Trance (incredulous): He hid his secret in your hair?

Beka: My dad may have been an addict (acknowledging it casually for the first time), *but* he knew his nano-tech. If I'm right, these little robots did a heck of a lot more than change my hair colour. They recorded Sid's missing data on a molecular level. Zeros and ones, all adding up...

(The computer has been analyzing the hair strand. Now the 3-D infospace explore photographically whites out to become film. You can hear something breathing, and it sounds like he's scared. You can see crates stacked in a cargo bay, but some of them are floating. The camera moves as a person does.)

Beka: to this. (She recognizes it.) Signa Gamma One docking station.

Ignatius' voice: Sid. Sid, are you there?

Beka (quietly, afraid and small again): Daddy.

(Ignatius' helmet-cam turns and sees people floating everywhere, but they forgot their helmets.) 

Trance: Oh.

Ignatius' voice: They're dead. They're all dead. 

Beka: Yeah...Oh.

(Sid enters in a spacesuit. He casually brushes away a leg in his path. He gets closer and closer as they talk.)

Ignatius' voice: Ohhh Sid... 

Sid (challengingly): You think they'd just wave through a ten-ton shipment of flash?

Ignatius' voice: Sid, what have you done??

Sid: I did what I had to do, as always. You talk like a man..whose hands are clean.

Ignatius' voice: I'm a thief. I'm a smuggler. I am _not_ a murderer!

Sid (raises an eyebrow): Well you are now.

(Ignatius starts hyperventilating in panic, as the screen whites out...and transforms to a live-feed of Sid. During this conversation, we see all the various faces of Sid: Dangerous, magnanimous, generous, nonchalant, vulnerable, worried, defenseless and superior.)

Sid (almost excited): You're watching it, aren't you?

Beka (whispered with disgust): Sssid. What did you do?

Sid: Are you really never saw it? You really didn't? Heh. Paranoia. Kinda gets to you when you're in my line of work. 

Beka: When you're a murderer?

Sid: Oh, it wasn't supposed to happen that way, Rebecca. Honestly. Somebody must've tipped off Signa customs. You know the punishment for drug-smuggling on Signa Gamma One? (mimes slicing his wrist) They chop you up for spare parts. (shakes his head, sighs) I had to protect myself, protect us both. (voice turns dangerous) And then your father, he had the *gall* to blackmail me. 

Beka: With the recording.

Sid: He was so pathetic. He never asked for much, just a few guilders here and there, a spare part or two, but there was always that recording hanging over my head. And then, then he fried himself on flash and I figured it was all over. Until I decided to buy my way into Trans-Galactic.

Beka: You were worried that I'd start using the tape against you.

Sid: I have *always* had a soft-spot for you, Rebecca. And I figured that we could come to an arrangement. That's when I sent you that message. But you never responded. And then three years later, you show up on my doorstep? What was I supposed to think?

Beka: You thought I'd ruin your deal.

Sid (laughs): You know, a ruined deal is one thing, but to lose one's life... Sentiment only goes so far. 

(We see an intense light behind Trance and Beka now. An alert sounds. Trance turns to look at it...)

Sid: My feeling is, when it comes to destroying evidence, *nothing* beats a sun.

Trance: Sun??

(They run for the bridge. The Maru is dwarfed by the local star, its light and heat blinding and the intense gravity straining the ship. Trance gets to the pilot's chair first.)

Beka: Disengage autopilot!

Robert Hewitt Wolfe: Authorization denied.

(Sid replaces the forward monitor.)

Sid: I helped *build* the Maru, remember?

Trance (to Beka): Little help here!

Sid: I'm sorry Rebecca, but I've had my fill of Valentines. (Regretful--oh, it was necessary to throw you into a sun, Sid turns to go.)

Trance: Incoming... 

(She's bracing herself. I'm guessing she doesn't see a perfect possible future right now. But Beka is fiery, even manic, but this time she's in control.) ^11

Beka: It's not gonna do you any good, you know. You're too late. You think that was the only hair on my head? Back in the suite, I beamed the log to the Freelance Courier Co-op. By now it's on its way to every law-enforcement agency in the quadrant: 'Open immediately upon my death.' 

Sid (whirls around): You're bluffing. You couldn't afford the courier fees.

Beka (gives him an absolute disgusted look): I know, but you can. (holds up the credit disc) Unlimited credit, remember? (Sid goes 'Oh sh--') If anything happens to me, and I mean *anything*, you are front page news in three galaxies. 

Sid (changes his tune): Not bad kiddo. Not bad at all.

Beka: Runs in the family. 

Sid: All right, here's the deal: I let you live, and you sit on that recording, and nobody ever sees it, because if it ever sees the light of day, I have nothing to lose. 

Beka: Your secret's safe. As long as I'm alive. So you'd better wish me a long and healthy life.

Sid: Why wouldn't I? After all, what are uncles for?

(Sid terminates the connection. Beka's look could kill. Trance can't see a damn thing, so she's doing this by feel.)

Trance: It's responding!

Beka (on autopilot herself): Good! Get us outta here.

Trance (whispery): Okay.

(And she does. Trance is thinking: I could use a vacation about now.) ^12

(Back at the Andromeda, Corridor C-14. Allsystems.org report normal. Two valuable crewmembers still missing. Tyr notes this.) ^13

Tyr: Dylan, she is thirty-six hours late. And I simply don't see why you should keep a bargain when she doesn't.

(A systems report is replaced by Rommie. Dylan and Tyr turn to look. Ooh, nice cleavage!)

Screen Rommie: An incoming communication for you Dylan.

(beat) 

Dylan: Put it through.

(Beka does the same command shimmy as Dylan does in the opening credits. God, that's a sight and sound for sore eyes and ears.)

Beka: This is the Eureka Maru, requesting permission to land, Captain Hunt sir. 

Dylan: Affirmative, Eureka Maru. You're late. (So he's happy..and sad at the same time. And just to show how pissed he is, he places the emphasis on Ru.)

Beka (no, really?): Yeah, I know.

(Trance bobs into the picture, smiling.)

Trance: We know.

Dylan: Glad to have you back. 

(Beka and Trance are still smiling on the screen, but Dylan has left to go yell Oh thank you God!, so they're smiling at Tyr, as if they know what he was just talking about. 
The Eureka Maru, the ol' rust bucket she is, safely docks in the main landing bay. Perfect cushioned landing, as usual.) ^14

(Trance's deck. Its namesake walks in and when Beka turns to her, she flashes a BIIIIIIIIG smile. Beka, of course, can't help but share it. 
They're looking at the magnificent storm, rumbling soothingly in the distance, but also with each other. Trance is the perfect listener, letting herself feel Beka's emotions.)

Beka: You know, whenever I think about my father, I picture him at the end. I try not to, but...I still do. It was hard. I have to just remember that those were just a few years in a long life. (Then her eyes smile. She's talkin' about her dad.) When I was a kid, when he was young, he was the *best*, Trance. He was smart, and funny, and tough. And brave. He could make me laugh until my sides hurt. No matter how dark things got, and no matter how long the odds, he *always*..always came up with a plan. The right plan. 
(a downcast, wistful beat)
I wish you could've met him Trance.

Trance: Yeah, me too. But you know, that's okay because...I know his daughter. (Trance gets closer to Beka, giving her a gentle purple tail hug. Both smile indulgently, enjoying the moment. Beka's hands, which were apart, are now together, more at peace.)

Trance: Blood of his blood, Beka. 

Beka: Blood of his blood. 

(And they quietly look out to the storm.)

THE END

Executive Producers: Majel Roddenberry, Jay Firestone, Adam Haight