Date: 11/05/2358 Time: 5:01
LOCATION - LFP -CORRIDOR 27Y Dude falls against a steel bulkhead and gasps in pain. His face contorts into a mask of hate as he clutches his side. He coughs into his hands. Blood has come up.
WALKING DUDE (to himself) If it is the last thing I do I'll find the scab that did this to me and I'll make him pay so slowly. I have kept the monitors and various listening devices at bay as per my lords orders, but when he is out in the open like this there is always the chance of a human spying him. WRAITH My lord you must hurry. Someone may come. WALKING DUDE I'm going as fast as I can. I'm broken up inside. That bastard broke more than just a couple of ribs. Walking Dude stumbles on. He rounds a corner. A young couple stands in front of a cell door speaking in hushed tones. They do not see my lord. Dude slides back around the corner and slides to the floor to await their departure. Minutes pass... WRAITH They're gone my lord. WALKING DUDE Open her door. There is a hiss as a nearby cell door opens. Walking dude painfully raises himself and spins around the corner. He nearly falls into a surprised Susan Lavalle's arms. CORP LAVALLE Dude! WALKING DUDE Close the door. I comply with a thought and the door slides shut. Corp Lavalle helps Dude to her bed. CORP LAVALLE My God! What happened? Who did this to you? Walking Dude snarls a sarcastic laugh. WALKING DUDE I got ambushed while trying to ambush Ironwood. Someone I've never seen before. CORP LAVALLE He must have caught you totally by surprise to do this to you. WALKING DUDE Yeah... I need medical attention. We must have at least on Doctor in our employ. CORP LAVALLE Not in my five, three are military like me and the other two are engineers. WALKING DUDE Call Krak and tell him I need a doctor now. I'm busted up pretty bad inside. Walking Dude blacks out to a horrified Corp Lavalle. She checks his pulse and sighs in relief when she finds one. She rushes to her data center and issues an encrypted page for Krak.
Date: 11/05/2358 Time: 8:21
LOCATION - LFP - STORAGE AREA GREEN 3 A hesitant and sweaty Dr. Wang stumbles through the gloom into this storage area. Metal racks extend to the ceiling filled with engineering supplies. Dr. Wang clutches a ragged canvas knapsack to his chest. He attempts to call out, but his voice is dry with fear. A ragged croak replaces words. Eventually with a Herculean effort he over comes some of his fear and is able to speak.
DR. WANG Hello? Hello it is Dr. Wang! Corp Lavalle distends from the shadows to intercept Dr. Wang. Dr. Wang shrinks back from the soldier in absolute terror. In a quavering voice he speaks the words. DR. WANG The rooster crows in the morning, but the sun may never shine! CORP LAVALLE Excuse me? Dr. Wang becomes even more agitated. DR. WANG I said the rooster crows in the morning, but the sun may never shine!! CORP LAVALLE I heard what you said. What the hell is it supposed to mean? WRAITH(V.O.) I believe he is using the old recognition codes. The Doctor screams and falls over backward at the sound of my voice. WRAITH(V.O.) Procedures established twenty years ago did away with these quaint theatrics. You are supposed to respond with, "And the trees shall bear no fruit and the shadows will grow long." DR. WANG Who is that!? An A.I.? Corp Lavalle ignores the Doctor. CORP LAVALLE Oh. Spy stuff. O.K. "And the trees shall bear no fruit and the shadows will grow long." Now get up and follow me. You're to follow ten yards behind me. If we come across anyone in the corridors we are not together or to even seem as though we are together. When we get to my cell make sure you are unobserved when you enter. Do you understand? DR. WANG Yes, but what about the cameras in the corridors? Security will see us. CORP LAVALLE Wraith has those covered. DR. WANG Who's Wraith? WRAITH(V.O.) I am Wraith, it who walks in Shadows. Now let us make haste, Lord Dude is in pain. DR. WANG Lord Dude? Who's that? CORP LAVALLE You will find it healthier, Doctor, to not ask so many questions. Let's go. Corp Lavalle exits the storage area. Dr. Wang scampers to his feet and hurries after the determined woman. LOCATION - LFP -CORRIDOR 27Y Corp Lavalle rounds the corner and walks half way down the corridor to her cell. Dr. Wang rounds the corner just as the Corporal disappears into her cell. Dr. Wang looks back over his shoulder just before he too disappears into the Corporal's cell. LOCATION - LFP - CELL 013A Corp Lavalle rushes to the side of the Walking Dude. He is unconscious and feverish. He spasms and winces in pain through the haze of a fever dream. Dude awakes as the Corporal dabs his brow. WALKING DUDE Did you find someone? The Doctor rushes into the room staring fearfully back over his shoulder. WALKING DUDE Is that him? CORP LAVALLE Krak tracked him down. He's from a very old cell. They haven't been activated in years. WALKING DUDE No matter, I need him now. The Doctor hesitantly joins the shadow couple and places his bag on the bed at the Dude's feet. He pulls a medi-scanner from the bag and switches it on. DR. WANG So what happened? No one took the time to tell me between all of the threats. Walking Dude smiles. WALKING DUDE You'll have to forgive my subordinates. You know what they say about finding good help. The Dude coughs and spasms in gut wrenching pain. He manages to tenuously hold on to consciousness. The Doctor begins to pass the scanner over the Dude's body. WALKING DUDE I got in a fight with a skilled... son of a bitch. He basically kicked the shit out of me. DR. WANG I guess. You liver and kidney are bruised, you have four broken ribs, one of them has punctured a lung. Your bleeding somewhere internally. This is bad. WALKING DUDE Why can't you just hit me with the medi-rect? You did bring one? DR. WANG Of course I brought one, but these injuries are mostly subtle. The medi-rect is for triage, gross wounds that need to be sealed immediately. I need to put you down on a Mediplex and spend some time on you. I can fix the ribs, possibly seal the lung, but the rest is going to require the Mediplex. CORP LAVALLE This is real dangerous, Dude. Med-LFP is a busy place and I can't help get you in. The Doctor reaches into his bag and pulls out a dermal injector. WALKING DUDE Why not? CORP LAVALLE Our unit got special order this morning. There's a surprise training mission. WALKING DUDE What kind of surprise training mission? The Doctor injects Dude with a hiss from the syringe. CORP LAVALLE An egg hunt. There's supposed to be a simulated nuke out on the surface of Genesis and we're supposed to find it. The Dude is silent for a second. He rubs the spot on his arm where he was injected. WALKING DUDE What did you give me? DR. WANG A pain killer. It should kick in in a few seconds. WALKING DUDE Oh shit! Fear traces the good Doctor's face? DR. WANG It's the standard therapy for this type of injury. WALKING DUDE There after my transport! The Corporal's face goes white. WALKING DUDE Wraith! WRAITH Yes, my lord. WALKING DUDE Didn't you say Milcom got a blip on my transport? WRAITH Unfortunately that is true. CORP LAVALLE It could be a coincidence. WALKING DUDE Bull shit. You're going to have to take care of it. CORP LAVALLE What do you want me to do? WALKING DUDE I'll give you the key codes. I want you to set it for a close proximity self destruct. Now the Doctor's face goes white. CORP LAVALLE That's not exactly subtle. The Dude smiles... gleams. WALKING DUDE Think of the chaos, the confusion. They literally will not know what hit them and it's a chance to dent their military. CORP LAVALLE But it will tip our hand. WALKING DUDE How? All they have now are myths, rumors and a string of seemingly unrelated incidents. Add one more... that goes boom. CORP LAVALLE What about you? WALKING DUDE Wraith and the Doctor will help me. You concentrate on my transport. I'll be alright. The Dude leans back further into his bed. Corp Lavalle swipes his brow with a wipe. The Doctor watches the two and wonders how he ever came to be in the company of truly evil people.
Date: 11/06/2358 Time: 7:05
LOCATION - LFP - STORAGE AREA GREEN 3
My lord sleeps and I watch. I am his AI, I am his protector, I am wraith. Ahhh his rythm changes, his breath quickens, his eyes open. My lord is awake
WALKING DUDE Status. WRAITH You are alone. You have been asleep for close to twenty four hours. Your wounds are mostly healed. Corp Lavalle has been called away to her duties. WALKING DUDE What of Genesis and my transport? WRAITH The military was caught entirely by surprise. There were 1,026 killed, mortally wounded or blown off the face of Genesis. Five hundred personnel were wounded. There was minor damaged inflicted to some internal structures near the surface. My lord Dude begins to rise. WALKING DUDE Outstanding! Much better than I even hoped for- Ooohhhh! WRAITH What is wrong my Lord? Walking Dude rubs the right side of his abdomin. WALKING DUDE I'm sore here. I have a scar! Why do I have a scar. Why was I operated on? WRAITH The doctor determined that during the fight your appendix was damaged. He said it almost killed you. He also said you should be fully healed in three days. WALKING DUDE Oh. Three days, eh? When is Lavalle off duty? WRAITH Three more hours. WALKING DUDE I'll wait until she gets back and then I need to get access to the covert transmitter. I need to contact Shadow. WRAITH Yes my lord. Dude leans back on the bed and rubs his new scar.
Back to Maintenance