fine. That’d be just the thing to do. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Helton walks back up the ramp, Seymore joins his men and walks back toward their truck. Helton stands at the top of the ramp with Allonia watching them drive away.
Allonia: Well, the good news is that you just told Scam min’ Seymore to take a hike, and saved yourself a pile of money.
Helton: (Cautiously) And?
Allonia: He’s connected to the local mob and the city council, and is a big player in the Port Authority, so it will cost you an even bigger pile. He likely heard you paid the power bill and figured you were rich enough to want to bleed you personally.
Helton gets an “ah, shhiiitttt” look.
Helton: Just lovin’ this ship more and more.
DISSOLVE TO
INT - DAY - Officer’s mess aboard Tajemnica
Helton sits at the table in the now clean and sparsely appointed mess room, interviewing potential ship repair contractors that sit across from him.
Series of scenes
● Skinny Guy in greasy overalls: Not gonna be cheap. Engines shot, grav’s shot, life support’s on life support-
● Well-dressed, plain-looking older woman: Initial survey would cost at least a quarter mil to get a comprehensive audit on what needs to be done-
● Fat guy: Not even worth using as a parts ship. Nothing on board is used anymore-
● Young guy: Looks worse that it is, nothing here you can’t patch or buy replacement parts for-
● Nervous-looking guy: Has Seymore turned it down yet? I don’t want to move in on him or anything-
Allonia is sitting across from him, an e-reader in her hand. Her hair is up, and she has a neutral expression on her face.
Allonia: That’s everyone I could find who would even talk to you.
Helton looks back at her, slumping into his seat, depressed looking and grim faced.
FADE TO BLACK
Orders
FADE IN
INT - DAY - Modest sized office
Four desks, eight chairs, two doors, good lighting, generic nearly empty shelves. A minimal, spare, recently-moved-into industrial look.
Lag sits at a desk reading an e-reader. He’s wearing a simple but smart-looking dark blue military uniform. There is a knock at the door.
Lag: ENTER!
The door opens, and in walks a middle aged woman in a similar uniform, LT Kat. She’s slender and fit, with long hair in a braid; time and experience are doing a poor job of hiding the beauty of her youth. She walks precisely to the front of Lag’s desk, comes to attention, salutes.
Kat: Reporting for duty.
Lag casually returns the salute, waves to a seat in front of his desk and hands her another e-reader.
Lag: Welcome back. Good to see you again. Have fun on McCullum Prime?
Kat: (Smiling) Not nearly as exciting as working with you, of course, but no bullet holes, either. Good to be back; been too long.
Lag: Different sort of mission now. Wade th rough that and tell me what you think.
Kat takes the offered e-reader, leans back, and starts examining it intently. The clock on the wall reads 0628.
DISSOLVE TO
Series of shots fading one into the next showing the passage of time
● Kat in a different sitting position, clock reads 0833
● Kat and Lag both pacing back and forth, reading, clock says 0951
● Kat looking at the e-reader with a confused look on her face, opening her mouth about to say something, then touches the e-reader screen to look at something else, and bites back her comment. Clock reads 1013
● Kat tapping furiously on the e-reader, starting to say something, tapping again, biting off her comment, changing pages again, starting to say something, and looking even more confused. Clock changes from 1141 to 1142
DISSOLVE TO
Kat setting the e-reader on the desk, rubbing her face, looking tired.
Kat: Sir… as a long-time legal officer I’ve see all sorts of orders. But I have never seen anything so poorly written, contradictory, confusing, and patched together. It looks like a copy and paste from a hundred different
Helton walks back up the ramp, Seymore joins his men and walks back toward their truck. Helton stands at the top of the ramp with Allonia watching them drive away.
Allonia: Well, the good news is that you just told Scam min’ Seymore to take a hike, and saved yourself a pile of money.
Helton: (Cautiously) And?
Allonia: He’s connected to the local mob and the city council, and is a big player in the Port Authority, so it will cost you an even bigger pile. He likely heard you paid the power bill and figured you were rich enough to want to bleed you personally.
Helton gets an “ah, shhiiitttt” look.
Helton: Just lovin’ this ship more and more.
DISSOLVE TO
INT - DAY - Officer’s mess aboard Tajemnica
Helton sits at the table in the now clean and sparsely appointed mess room, interviewing potential ship repair contractors that sit across from him.
Series of scenes
● Skinny Guy in greasy overalls: Not gonna be cheap. Engines shot, grav’s shot, life support’s on life support-
● Well-dressed, plain-looking older woman: Initial survey would cost at least a quarter mil to get a comprehensive audit on what needs to be done-
● Fat guy: Not even worth using as a parts ship. Nothing on board is used anymore-
● Young guy: Looks worse that it is, nothing here you can’t patch or buy replacement parts for-
● Nervous-looking guy: Has Seymore turned it down yet? I don’t want to move in on him or anything-
Allonia is sitting across from him, an e-reader in her hand. Her hair is up, and she has a neutral expression on her face.
Allonia: That’s everyone I could find who would even talk to you.
Helton looks back at her, slumping into his seat, depressed looking and grim faced.
FADE TO BLACK
Orders
FADE IN
INT - DAY - Modest sized office
Four desks, eight chairs, two doors, good lighting, generic nearly empty shelves. A minimal, spare, recently-moved-into industrial look.
Lag sits at a desk reading an e-reader. He’s wearing a simple but smart-looking dark blue military uniform. There is a knock at the door.
Lag: ENTER!
The door opens, and in walks a middle aged woman in a similar uniform, LT Kat. She’s slender and fit, with long hair in a braid; time and experience are doing a poor job of hiding the beauty of her youth. She walks precisely to the front of Lag’s desk, comes to attention, salutes.
Kat: Reporting for duty.
Lag casually returns the salute, waves to a seat in front of his desk and hands her another e-reader.
Lag: Welcome back. Good to see you again. Have fun on McCullum Prime?
Kat: (Smiling) Not nearly as exciting as working with you, of course, but no bullet holes, either. Good to be back; been too long.
Lag: Different sort of mission now. Wade th rough that and tell me what you think.
Kat takes the offered e-reader, leans back, and starts examining it intently. The clock on the wall reads 0628.
DISSOLVE TO
Series of shots fading one into the next showing the passage of time
● Kat in a different sitting position, clock reads 0833
● Kat and Lag both pacing back and forth, reading, clock says 0951
● Kat looking at the e-reader with a confused look on her face, opening her mouth about to say something, then touches the e-reader screen to look at something else, and bites back her comment. Clock reads 1013
● Kat tapping furiously on the e-reader, starting to say something, tapping again, biting off her comment, changing pages again, starting to say something, and looking even more confused. Clock changes from 1141 to 1142
DISSOLVE TO
Kat setting the e-reader on the desk, rubbing her face, looking tired.
Kat: Sir… as a long-time legal officer I’ve see all sorts of orders. But I have never seen anything so poorly written, contradictory, confusing, and patched together. It looks like a copy and paste from a hundred different
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