Scene 14: Vaults

The crew piles into a decontamination airlock and the doors lock behind them with a hiss.  The room becomes warm, moderately passed comfort, and despite this they already appear faint on their feat.  The doors open and they spill out the airlock together.

TULIA:  That airlock is going to be a liability on our way out.

ROSS:  I don't know.  I think your hair looks good in a beehive.

She reaches up to feel her hair and it has frayed some.

TULIA:  Ross, if we ever break wide of this system 

I'm going to kill you and then check to see 

if I neglected your bounty.

ROSS:  Ha, ha, ha.  You wouldn't make your money 

back on transportation cost.

AARON:  (Whisper) Alright.  Get to work.

Ross crouches down to apply his spindly fingers to the screws of a ventilation grate.  He is on the second corner when a patrol is turning the corner down the hall away from them, but one glances back in their direction and stops.

GUARD:  Hey, no loitering outside the lounges.  

Who are you people?

AARON:  Sorry.  These ladies just came on the station 

and asked me to help direct them to the nearest lavatory.

Tulia grabs up Valory as she was paying too much attention to Ross and continues to hold her close.  They leave Ross behind in his corner of the hallway and move to approach the guards.

Aaron comes face to face with his interrogator.

GUARD:  I don't recognize you.

He looks down at the badge and clearly looks nothing like Aaron.

AARON:  Actually, we got separated from the tour group.

The guards spring to their sidearms and Valory removes a disk from her sleeve like a playing card and breaks free from Tulia to insert it in a console behind Aaron to his left.  The guards are boxed in by two blast doors surrounding them front and back.  Ellan pulls Aaron back just in time so that the doors close at the tip of his nose.

VALORY:  You were all going to shoot them weren't you?

ELLAN:  The station's supposed to be derelict.  

Security should have been concentrated near the vault.  

The plan was concentrated on getting them to move away from there.

Pings from behind the blast doors.

VALORY:  Do you all think with your guns first?

She presses a button and there is a brief thud behind the doors.  She yanks the disk and the gears turn in the doors and they part.  Valory carelessly marches on ahead while the other three draw their weapons.  All the guards lie on the floor.

VALORY:  You guys coming?

Tulia pads her ear mic.

TULIA:  Ross, you in?

The vent grating hangs by one corner leaving an exposed opening.  Ross glides through the narrow passage, but his gangly arms and legs flop with each stroke like an octopus floundering on land.  He has brief patches of light from the vents he passes, but otherwise is in total darkness as it is much too small for any maintenance work by an employee.

ROSS:  How much weight would you 

have to lose so that we get to switch jobs?

TULIA:  I would die.

ROSS:  Oh, to bad.  Yeah.  I'm well on my way to engineering.  

I'll give you a heads up just before things start happening.

TULIA:  We sure would appreciate that.  

Maybe wait until we're in position, though.

ROSS:  No.  You'd better hurry.  Your not the one who has to 

crawl through these filthy things.  

I don't have much patience for it.  Ross, out.

Aaron and Tulia follow after Valory who stands proudly at the other end of the corridor.  They only pause to nod to Ellan who breaks off to go down another hallway.

Ellan quietly opens and closes the security office door.

GUARD: Hey, you can't be in here!

She cradles a disk slightly larger than her palm and presses it against his arm just below the shoulder.  A blue aura immediately surrounds him and he is left frozen in his chair.  Ellan moves on to the bank of camera monitors.

ELLAN:  I'm in.

AARON:  Good work.

VALORY:  Can you see us?

ELLAN:  Take a left and a right.  

The vault will be down at the 

very end of the hall after that.  

You shouldn't meet with much resistance there.

TULIA:  I don't like jinxes.

AARON:  Why would you say that?

ELLAN:  Because I have their infirmary on the feed.  

Everybody looks laid up with the same thing.  

All their heads are bandaged up.

VALORY:  What happened?

AARON:  Something we won't be 

waiting around for to happen to us.  

Wo, get back!

The three of them recoil back from stepping out into the next corridor.  From the vault room two guards march out with a third moaning and cradling his face in agony.  They let the guards pass and lean out warily at the open door to the vault room.

TULIA:  Anyone else getting second thoughts about this job?

VALORY:  I'm well beyond seconds.

AARON:  One of us goes in.  

You two cover me from the door.

Aaron withdraws his second sidearm to hand over to Valory.

VALORY:  But I...

AARON:  It's okay.  Just look like 

you're ready to use it.  Okay?

She reluctantly takes hold and the weight of it droops in her hands.

TULIA:  (soothing whisper) Both hands, Valory.

Valory nods with downcast eyes.  Tulia looks with concern to Aaron who returns her gaze.

AARON:  Let's find out the price for 

getting out of this cell block of a star system.

Tulia trains her gun in the opposite direction to watch where the guards went and Aaron moves on ahead toward the vault while hugging the wall.  Valory takes up between them and Tulia keeps pace with them, walking backwards.  They all pause at the mouth of the door and Tulia checks to see if Aaron is ready with a glance.  He ducks a look inside and ducks back.  Then he enters gun extended.

Valory stays where she is and Tulia switches sides of the door to cover Aaron.  In the vault room there are podiums.  There is a rifle with a fat barrel that has been bronzed.  There is a ceremonial spear suspended by a forcefield and made to rotate.  There is a mask with coins sewn all over the face of it that create the appearance of scales.  The eye holes are black with the absence of a face behind the mask.  There is one small serpent-like creature suspended in a forcefield and made to fly around with the appearance of a Chinese dragon.

Tulia and Valory soon enter and Valory notices the dragon.

VALORY:  Oh, how cute!

TULIA:  I think it's taxidermy.

VALORY:  Ewww!

AARON:  Ellan, the guards just took another one 

down to the infirmary.  There's no one else here.  

If anyone starts coming back toward the vault give us a heads up 

and start closing some blast doors, then.  We don't want them 

knowing anything is wrong until the last minute.

Ellan turns her head to a monitor of one of the hanger bays where a small shuttle has just arrived.

ELLAN:  Sure thing, Aaron.

Aaron turns around to Valory.

AARON:  Okay.  Start getting to work 

on the vault.  But when you're done

don't open it.  Leave that to Tulia

and me.  We need to start looking

for how they transport this thing.

Ross arrives in engineering and narrowly navigates and avoids touching the searing hot surfaces.  He proceeds to lower himself under one heavy piece of equipment, which manages to burn him slightly as it is raised so as not to be in direct contact with the floor.  He suppresses the urge to call out and emerges out on the other side lying on a long bank of circuit boards beneath a catwalk.

Looking up at the crew going about their business he catches his breath and raises a hand to his charred cheek, but cannot stand his own touch and lays his hand aside.  He reaches up to press a mic on his neck.

ROSS:  I'm in.

ELLAN:  Great.  They're almost 

ready for you at the vault.  

ROSS:  As we guessed, I'm going to need a 

security lockdown to get these guys to leave engineering.

She glances up at the monitor for the shuttle bay again, which is too far away to see detail, but the back end is opening and a small strike team rapidly pours out.

ELLAN:  That won't be a problem.

Valory finishes pressing a keypad she has
applied to the vault and stands up from it.

VALORY:  It's open.

AARON:  Good job, Valory.

VALORY:  I didn't do it.

Aaron stares a moment in confused shock and then
spins around to rip open the door.

TULIA:  Aaron, wait, NO!

Aaron plunges his face into the vault.  The empty vault.

TULIA:  What is it?

Tulia bears her head down alongside Aaron's.
Valory promptly then rises into view between both of them.

VALORY:  Someone beat us to it.  

What a bunch of dirty thieves.

They break from their huddle.
Valory goes back to examining the various podiums.

AARON:  What makes you think there was more than one?

VALORY:  Well look how many we were going to use, right?

Tulia shakes away the confusion in her head.

TULIA:  Now what?

AARON:  We find it.

TULIA:  How?  We don't even really know 

what we're looking for.  The mission is over.

AARON:  We got a ward full of people who know.

TULIA:  I may not know much about you, 

but I didn't expect interrogating a station hospital 

to be one of your ideas today.  Unlike you, I actually 

give a damn about how I leave Janriel.  

That Republic blockade out there is not 

going to make a bastard out of me!

VALORY:  Guys?

BOTH:  What?

VALORY:  Look.

In the corner, now slightly hidden by the open door, there is a small custodial robot.  The poor creation is even reminiscent of a waste bin.  With their attention upon it they can now notice nervous beeps and moans emanating from the machine; fully animated with trembling fear.  Aaron takes a step toward it and withdraws from him an inch and immediately clatters against the wall.

VALORY:  You're scarring him.

She rushes over to the small robot.

AARON:  Valory, you know they can't...

VALORY:  The little guy is holding something.

TULIA:  How do you mean?  I don't see any arms.

VALORY:  One of his ports won't close.  

They're only big enough for his arms.

AARON:  Why would a maintenance drone 

break into the vault?  How would it even 

know how to do that?

TULIA:  Someone could be controlling it by remote.

AARON:  Let's see it.  

The robot wobbles in place from one foot to the other.

VALORY:  I don't think he's going to give it to you.

AARON:  Come away from it, Valory.

Tulia extends her weapon.  The robot squeals.
Tulia catches Valory with her offhand.
Aaron rests a hand on the top of her weapon.

AARON:  We can't risk damaging the artifact.  

I think there's another way.  

He takes another step toward the knee-high machine.

AARON:  Shade identification!

The robot suddenly freezes and a
green light turns on in its center eye.

AARON:  Authenticate - 42694557678 - acknowledge.

The green light blinks with a chirp
and fades into the soulless lens.
Its arm extends revealing a brilliant light.

Valory and Tulia both shield their eyes from it, but Aaron stares into what only he can see is a vial of glowing-white liquid.  Though held steady by the clamped metal fingers, the substance appears to be tossing itself back and forth.  A vision of something hidden within begins to form in Aaron's eye when he is tackled to the ground and the robot takes this disturbance as its cue to conceal the container again.

The light fades and the iris to the robot's lens
reveals a return to consciousness as Tulia gets off of Aaron.

TULIA:  Did you get a good enough look?

AARON:  I was just starting to see something.

TULIA:  That's probably what every last one 

of those guards thought when they sneaked a peek.

AARON:  We learned one thing, at least.

VALORY:  What was that?

AARON:  We need a shipping container for 

whatever this stuff is.  Your friend just volunteered 

for the job.  You got your wish.  He's coming with us.

VALORY:  Yippy!

An alarm sounds, security lights flash, and the vault blast doors close at a crawl.

VALORY:  I'll get it.

TULIA:  Valory, stop!

Valory stands in the doorway counting on the safety mechanism for the door to engage.  There is no such mechanism, which everyone (including the drone) understands.  It lunges from its corner of the room and burns what little tread it had to begin with across the floor and shoves Valory out the other side into the hallway just in time for the door to crush the robot's foot.

Aaron and Tulia rush to the door
and pound on it, trapped inside.
Valory pounds on her side in turn.

VALORY:  Don't worry!  I'll get you out!

She turns her head sharply at the sound of
marching footsteps and ducks
back inside an alcove in the wall.

Ross watches the frantic pitter-patter of work boots pass his nose beneath the glow of red emergency lights.  The last of them pass over him and he emerges from his hiding place under the catwalk.  With one glance he is a quick study of the nearest control panel and with a single flurry of movement across the keys the lights turn completely black.

In the next instant a spotlight shines in his eyes from behind his work station among the machinery, which reveals a lone figure standing before him.  And before he can absorb this shock three muzzle flashes ring out and strike him dead in the chest.  He reels back and rolls across the catwalk and purposefully under the boiling equipment, which had managed to burn him before.  The standard lights come back.  Lying there in shock, the side of his face and back burning, Ross watches as two metal stilts walk around and stand in front of his escape route - a vent against the wall.

The standard lights come on outside the vault and Valory
pushes off from the wall when she hears the doors begin to open.

AARON:  Good work.

VALORY:  (Terrified) It wasn't me.

TULIA:  Ross.

AARON:  (Mic) Ross, are you there?

Ross attempts to bend an arm to answer the mic, but he is already growing faint.

AARON:  Ellan, Ross may have 

gotten into trouble.  Can you get to him?

ELLAN:  On my way.

TULIA:  Rune, what can you see?

RUNE:  Everything was all clear until 

a minute ago.  A jamming signal just went up.
I'm losing the sensor drone.

Aaron and Tulia can only hear static from Rune.

Esben has joined Rune in the cockpit while Sweets remains strapped in.

RUNE:  How many times do I have to say it?  

I never met your species before.  

I can't understand you.

SWEETS:  He says he wants you to 

land the shuttle so he can find his friend.

RUNE:  And I can barely understand you too, Sweets, 

but I got that much.  We can't talk to the station anymore.  

How am I supposed to make a landing?

Esben turns Rune in his chair and breathes in his face.

RUNE:  I'll... make the landing.

Esben turns his chair back to the controls and
continues to lean on the back of it to watch
the shuttle's approach toward the station.

Valory picks up her hobbled friend.

VALORY:  You saved me.

AARON:  (skeptical) Valory…

VALORY:  I heard someone coming.  Come on.

She leads Tulia and Aaron further up the hall.  By way that they had originally approached the vault a strike team of those same bounty hunting drones emerge and spring into the vault.  Almost immediately they appear again and commence a silent report of their failure to recover the prize.

One jerks its head and all the drones begin firing in their direction.  Aaron returns a brief volley of covering fire, but soon joins Tulia and Valory in retreating down an as yet unknown hallway.

Before Ross, the drone's feet point toward the exit, pause and departs from engineering.  He resumes crawling forward again.  In his wake he leaves a black trail that when left behind him begins to boil.  Finally, he appears out on the other side.  Ross briefly presses himself against the wall in order to stand, but soon finds that he no longer has the strength in his legs and collapses in a heap.  He lifts his head and knows that this is not the same vent that he used to get into engineering.  He begins the toiling work of prying the screws on the corners of the metal grating free from the wall.

The shuttle flies into the first available hanger bay.  As soon as Rune rotates around so that the cockpit is facing out toward space again then Esben punches a cockpit button for the ramp and runs passed the hold, across the ramp while the shuttle is still hovering, and runs into the station.  Rune contains himself long enough to touch down the shuttle and then frantically unbuckles his seat in order to dash to the open hatch at the top of the ramp.

Esben is already out of sight.  Rune steps a little further out onto the ramp and glances back at Sweets.  Sweets draws Rune's rifle from the gun rack and tosses it to him.

SWEETS:  I'll lock up after you.

Rune runs off into the station.  Sweets tucks his own rifle under his arm and punches another button for the loading ramp to close.

Tulia takes the lead while Valory is kept between her and Aaron.  Suddenly, her little waste disposal companion starts wriggling and squealing in her hands, which subsides when in her panic she nears a corridor console.

VALORY:  Is this what you want?

She points it at the control panel and an interfacing arm extends from the robot in a flash and in the next moment blast doors seal the corridor behind them just as the drones were rounding the corner.  The laser blasts thud away against the door and the small party catch their breath.

TULIA:  Rune, come in.  We need an exit.

RUNE:  I can hear you.  I'm on station.  I lost track of Esben.

Valory grabs Tulia's risk to speak into it.

VALORY:  You what?

RUNE:  He forced me to land and 

ran into the station looking for you guys.

The flame from a blow torch breaches the blast door.

TULIA:  Mr. Starling, we need a road map out of here.

RUNE:  I can connect with the sensor drone again.  

You're on the other side of the station from us.  

But there's a shuttle parked less than a mil' from you.  

It could be your party crashers.

AARON:  We can handle it.

TULIA:  That's our exit.  

Wait for Ross and Ellan and get out.

RUNE:  Copy.

Aaron takes the robot from Valory.

VALORY:  Hey!

AARON:  Let me have it.  Better they shoot 

at me if they decide it's your friend they want.

The three of them flee from the blast doors, which are a quarter of the way cut through.  They arrive at the decontamination chamber and step into an onrush of hot air.  Amidst the howling wind Valory is muffled by a pair of black gloves.  The doors open and Aaron and Tulia march out toward the shuttle they intend to commandeer.

They freeze at the sound of a powered up pistol.  Next, they are encircled and path to the shuttle blocked by Ellan holding Valory tight to her.

ELLAN:  Give me the trash can.

AARON:  Ellan, what are you doing?  

We're in this together.

ELLAN:  I'm alone.  Always have been.

TULIA:  There's a whole new life for all of us.  

It doesn't make sense to turn on each other now.

ELLAN:  (Chuckles) Kanon thought 

he could offer me that too.

AARON:  We did everything we possibly could.

ELLAN:  Shut up!  Do you think I actually cared about him?  

TULIA:  We all saw how hard it hit you.

Who could blame you?

ELLAN:  Your mistake was thinking I was ever that helpless.  

TULIA:  You can blame my crew, 

but she certainly wasn't one of us then.

And my crew would have never 

let it come to that.  It had everything

to do with the drones that were there.

ELLAN:  What do you think is happening here? 

 Did you really think I was as timid 

as I seemed with Kanon?  There's no one 

in this whole universe who's that innocent.

VALORY:  I am.

AARON:  The drones are coming.  

You can still leave with us.

ELLAN:  Come off it, hero.  You have no idea what's coming.  

Everything you know, everything you believe in, 

and even some things you don't yet believe in 

are all about to be swept away.  This is my only chance.
I lost the Shadow's Heart.  And I can't go back
empty handed.  Now I believe I'll be 

leaving with that artifact.  

And just maybe we'll all live to survive this.

VALORY:  Do you know what I believe in?

ELLAN:  Nothing more out of you...

Ellan backs into something that casts a shadow over her and Valory.

VALORY:  My friend doesn't like you hurting me.

Ellan throws her pistol into Esben's face as Aaron drops the hapless robot to draw his own weapon along with Tulia.  Esben promptly crushes the laser pistol in one hand and rips her grip from Valory who scrambles away from the scuffle.  Ellan is powerless to meet Esben's strength and he proceeds to lift her over his shoulder and begins to stroll toward the airlock.

He throws her down, the shock of which is enough to phase her, and he pulls closed the inner doors to the station; loosely jamming them together.  He then steps out of the airlock and does the same to the doors on the hanger bay's side.  Then he taps a couple of keys on the control pad and the hot lights come on.

AARON:  Now wait a minute...

Esben growls down at him.  Aaron turns his face
to a small observation window and Ellan rises
to meet him with a hand pressed against the glass.

AARON:  Do you control the drones?

She stares at him through the window.

AARON:  Can you call them off?  

Tell them not to pursue us anymore?

She shakes her head.  Her eyes are already faint.

AARON:  Open this door.

Esben roars!

AARON:  Open this door!

Esben slams another dent into the heavy doors and lunges at Aaron.

VALORY:  Esben Kuma, don't you do it.  

He's still one of our friends.

Esben relents with a huff, but definitely turns back to the airlock and just stares.  Ellan collapses out of view and Esben grunts before then grasping the door frame to push one side open.  Just then the other side is sheared away and a team of drones come pouring into the airlock.  The first place they shoot is down where the crew saw Ellan fall out of sight.  The drones then proceed to shoot out the rest of the airlock heaters before blasting away at the doors.

Everyone retreats to the drone's shuttle and find no one guarding it inside.  They launch and fly around to the other side of the station where their original shuttle is parked.

Tulia is first out in order to punch the code to board her shuttle.  The loading ramp opens and everyone clutters the bottom of the ramp.  They freeze at the top of the open hatch.

Rune and Sweets kneel around Ross' lifeless body.








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