Copyright 2001 --- Robert Baer Jr. Space Rovers (Galatea) -- "The Death Beam -- Part 1" DISCLAIMER Road Rovers characters, names, situations and the Road Rovers universe are the property of Warner Bros. I, nor this script/story are connected with Warner Bros. in any way, shape or form. This document may not be publicized or reproduced in any way, shape or form. It must remain fully intact and may not be altered in anyway. It is strictly used for not-for-profit entertainment purposes only, and is not intended to infringe on any Copyrights. The Kilrathi character race is a copyright of Sega/Genesis Corp. This story is written by Robert Baer Jr and the characters Delta Dog, Dayton, Rocky, Yuhon, Ng Hu, Shu-ol and Julia are all Robert Baer Jr's creations, copyright pending, 1999 - 2000. Captain Rikes, Iella, Sarah, and the Space Rovers (Galatea) concept are the creation of Shawn Tigges, Christian and Angelita are creations of Bart Walls. Wolve is a creation of rrWolve. Duke McAllen is a creation of Mike Hossler. Kusac is a creation of John Butler. Space Rovers (Galatea) -- "The Death Beam -- Part 1" The scene is the bridge of the Galatea. Captain Rikes is in the 'chair' with First Mate Sarah seated next to him. The first-line officers are at their stations: Delta Dog at the comm station, Iella at the science station, Wolve at the weapons station, Dayton & Rocky at the helm & navigation controls. Duke is also there, discussing their current situation with Rikes. DUKE (hands Rikes electric databoard): Currently, the Kilrathi civil war is at a stalemate. The areas indicated in red are major galatic battles. The red line you see is the original boundary line, the green line is the new boundary lines drawn by these latest battles. RIKES (shakes head); It's nearly the same line! All this senseless fighting, and neither side seems to be winning. DUKE (concerned): As long as the Kilrathi are fighting each other, it will make our mission in this part of space very difficult. RIKES (nods): Understood, but we cannot abandon our mission, nor can we get involved in the civil war. Remember what happaned when Persia took it on her own to send the Canius Minor into the Jurrassian-Inzoman war? DAYTON (laughs): She disobeyed orders! She went in there and kicked some major tail! She's MY kind of lady! RIKES (sternly); That will do, Ensign! DUKE (sternly): Captain, I am making major progress in our negotiations with the Curadan and a few other major races in this sector of space. We could jeopardize all that if we took sides in this war RIKES (nods): I am well aware of that, Lt McAllen. DELTA DOG (turns to Rikes); Cap'n, I'm gittin' an intergalatic S.O.S. signal! RIKES (turns to Iella): Trace the signal to it's source! IELLA (looks at monitor); Got it Captain! It's approximately two hundred thousand kilometers from our present position.... (scared): I can see why they sent a distress call! It's a Kilrathi outpost, and it's been nearly destroyed! SARAH (shocked); Destroyed? Put it on the front viewer! IELLA (pointing to the images): There has been some sort of plasma weapon blast here recently, see those energy signatures.... RIKES (sadly): Any signs of life? IELLA (pointing): That glowing image on the forward deck, that's the only life sign I am reading.. As she is speaking, Chief Medical Officer Shu-ol enters the bridge area. RIKES (sternly); Any signs of attempted rescue? IELLA (shocked); This is strange. That S.O.S. is traveling on a broad subspace radio band, there are several Kilrathi vessels within a hundred thousand kilometers of the area, and none of them are changing course or responding to the distress call! RIKES (nods): Well, we can't risk getting involved, maintain present course and .... SHU-OL (angry): Belay that last order! RIKES (turns and stands up): Doctor! SHU-OL (sternly): There is one life form who is calling out for help. This being may be a Kilrathi, but if they're injured, we have an obligation to ... RIKES (sternly): Do not lecture me on Space Rover regulations, Doctor. I am in command here and I say we cannot risk involvement in Kilrathi's civil war! SHU-OL (nods, determined): Very well then, I will take a shuttle there myself! I DO have a hypocratic oath that compels me to help anyone who is.... RIKES (furious): Permission denied! Return to sick bay! SHU-OL (furious); I WILL NOT!!! A LIFE IS AT STAKE!! AS WE SIT HERE AND DEBATE SOMEONE IS DYING!! RIKES (angry): That will be enough, Doctor! If you refuse to return to sick bay, I will have Wolve escort you to your quarters and relieve you of duty! WOLVE (timidly): Begging your pardon, sir, but the doc's right. SARAH (stands up); Wait Captain.... with all due respect, this would be considered an humanitarian mission under the guidelines of Section Four, subsection ... ROCKY (continues): Seven, Paragraph B relating to .... RIKES (turns to her): Not you also, First Mate DAYTON (calmly); Respectfully, we could do a 'fly-by beam-up' in less than a few seconds.... Everyone seems to be looking directly at Captain Rikes, he turns to Shu-ol and sees the determined look in her eyes. RIKES (smiles): Who am I to agrue with regulations! Ensign Dayton... DAYTON (interrupts): Course already plotted and entered sir! RIKES (nods): Very well, Ensign Rocky, best speed. Delta, tell the transporter room to stand by the beam over one Kilrathi straight to sick bay! (turns to Shu-ol): Doctor, I suggest you return to sick bay to treat your soon coming patient. SHU-OL (smiles): Thank you sir! RIKES (as Shu-ol enters the elevator, to himself): That woman has a lot of grit, I can see why Ng Hu married her! (outloud): Iella, as soon as we're in range, get those coordinates to the transporter chief. The Galatea disappears in a warp 'flash', minutes later the ship goes out of warp near the damaged astroid where whats left of the outpost is still emitting fire and sparks. RIKES (shocked): My God! (turns to Delta); Tell the transporter chief to hurry, we don't want to stay around here too long... DELTA DOG (turns to Rikes): Cap'n, transport is complete! RIKES (sternly): Rocky, get us out of here, warp five, return us to our previous position! ROCKY (nods): Aye aye sir! RIKES (turns to Duke); Duke, I want you, Iella and Ng Hu to study the scans we did on the outpost. There has to be a more powerful weapon involved than either side of the Kilrathi have in their arsenals SARAH (calmly); Captain, could a third party have done this? RIKES (nods): It's possible Sarah. You have to comm, I'm going down to sick bay to see what we can learn from our... guest. Call Angelita and Christian to the bridge. The scene switches to sick bay a few minutes later. Doctor Shu-ol and Nurse Julia have the Kilrathi in emergency surgery fighting to save his life. The Kilrathi is undressed and in a 'tube' like structure. SHU-OL (shakes head); No, this isn't working! We still have no pulse... JULIA (looks at Shu-ol): What can we do next? SHU-OL (frantic): We have to act fast! His alien physical structure is not easy to analyize... (brightens); I HAVE IT!! JULIA (shocked); You do? SHU-OL (nods); Yes! There's a technique which Dr Sheena wrote a paper on two months ago... in the third paragraph, she describes a Willian method for .... JULIA (interrupting): That photographic memory of yours! SHU-OL (reaches over): Hand me a scalpel, it's time to put Sheena's research to the test. Decrease the compression ratio a little more, his body must gradually get used to normal atmosphere! Rikes watches from a window as Shu-ol and Julia work franticly on the Kilrathi soldier. JULIA (happy); A PULSE!! A PULSE!!! I HAVE A PULSE!!! SHU-OL (nods): That's it soldier boy, WORK with me, FIGHT to stay alive! (shouts): 50 cc's of adrenaline! Julia hands Shu-ol the needle and she injects the Kilrathi in the arm. JULIA (excited); The pulse is weakening! SHU-OL (growls): Oh NO you don't! (pushes button): Stand aside, I'm going to shock his heart! JULIA (shouts): But Doctor, that's three times the normal setting... SHU-OL (nods); Exactly, he's huge! (shouts): CLEAR!!!! The shock causes the Kilrathi's body to jump slightly. JULIA (looks at gauge): Now there's no pulse! SHU-OL (shouts); CLEAR!!! The shock causes the body to jump once more. JULIA (excited): That did it! THAT DID IT!!! PULSE IS NOW CLIMBING!!! SHU-OL (sternly); Steady now, Nurse, keep an eye on those vital signs! JULIA (points): LOOK!! LOOK!!! Vital signs returning to normal, heart rate, pulse... you did it Doctor! SHU-OL (happy): Fighting for life is one battle I don't like to lose! She glances up at the 'gallery' and sees Rikes looking down. The two smile at one another as Nurse Julia 'seals' the incisions and moves the Kilrathi's bed to another room. Minutes later Rikes talks to Shu-ol in her office. RIKES (sternly): Doctor, though I congraduate you on saving his life, I need for him to be conscience and able to talk as soon as possible SHU-OL (sternly); He's lucky to be alive. The hull of the outpost was breeching, if we'd waiting one second longer... RIKES (sternly); When can I speak to him? SHU-OL (looks at monitor): Well, he seems to be recovering quickly.... give me a half hour, he could be awake by then. RIKES (stands up, nods): Understood, carry on! Rikes walks down the hallway to a meeting room where Duke, Iella and Ng Hu are studying the data on the outpost. There is a large projection of the outpost on the wall. NG HU (points): Look at these energy waves. Whatever did this was definately a plasma based weapon. IELLA (nods): But the same wave is consistant throughout the rubble. DUKE (nods); That means that it only took one blast of that weapon to acheive these results! RIKES (interrupting): Could it have been caused by something like our pulsar batteries? NG HU (shakes head): No sir, our batteries do not use this form of pure energy plasma... RIKES (confused): Plasma energy? No one has take type of technology ... IELLA (nods): Except maybe the Inzoman, but they're on the other side of the universe! NG HU (sternly): Perhaps the Kilrathi have discovered this as well, Leiutenant. Suddenly, an alarm sounds. CHRTSTIAN (on speakers); Security to sick bay! Security to sick bay! NG HU (shocked): SHU-OL!! The four rush over to sick bay, where they see the Kilrathi laying in his bed with his huge hand around Shu-ol's neck. Julia can only point and scream, taken off-guard by the sudden aggression. SHU-OL (telepathically to the others); Stay back.... do not draw your waepons... he is afraid...... KUSAC (holding Shu-ol): I will ask you once more female, WHERE AM I?? SHU-OL (calmly, struggles to talk): You are aboard the Space Rover vessel Galatea.... we came in response to your distress call..... KUSAC (gruffly); If this is some dirty Kilrathi trick, I'll snap your neck in two! SHU-OL (sternly): I am your doctor.... I operated on you because you were dying when we found you.. The huge Kilrathi stares directly into Shu-ol's eyes. KUSAC (nods); I see no fear in your eyes, doctor. I now believe you speak the truth. (releases Shu-ol) I am called Kusac, what is your designation? SHU-OL (panting a little): I am Doctor Shu-ol, Chief Medical Officer of this ship. (sees the others, pointing): This is Captain Rikes, Science Officer Iella, First Contact Specialist Duke McAllen and my husband, Chief Engineer Ng Hu! KUSAC (looks up at them): Ng Hu, you have a brave wife! Few beings in this galaxy have ever stood up to a Kilrathi. (looks at Shu-ol): My apologies, Doctor Shu-ol, for reacting the way I did... SHU-OL (nods); Completely understandable, Kusac. RIKES (sternly); Kusac, we are studying the attack on your outpost.. KUSAC (sternly); The vessel that attacked us was a type I'd never seen before.. DUKE (shocked); So, it wasn't Kilrathi? KUSAC (shakes head); It didn't even look like a battle cruiser! I was more like a shuttle, perhaps a little larger, that's why we didn't raise our shields. NG HU (shakes head): This doesn't make sense. How could a vessel THAT size have that kind of weaponry. RIKES (concerned): This is a mystery... SARAH (on PA system): Captain Rikes and senior officers to the bridge! RIKES (taps comm badge): What's up, Sarah? SARAH (on speaker): Unindentified shuttle approaching us, they are not responding to our hails.. RIKES (shouts): Evasive Maneuvers! Get up away from that thing! SARAH (on speaker); Sir? RIKES (shouts): That's an order, Commander! NG HU (sternly): That could be the ship that demolished your outpost, Kusac! RIKES (motions): Come with us to the bridge Kusac nods and within a minute, they are all back at the bridge. RIKES (turns to her); Iella, put that shuttle on the front viewer, and magnify Kusac growls loudly when he sees the magnified image. KUSAC (points, angry): That's it! That's the ship! DUKE (turns to Dayton): How far are we from it, Ensign? DAYTON (looks at monitor): About five hundred thousand kilometers but the shuttle continues to pursue us RIKES (sternly): Did anyone get a good scan of the shuttle? ROCKY (nods): I did, sir! It is standard procedure to immediately scan all unknown objects .... SARAH (interrupts): Please add your findings to the front viewer detail of the shuttle.... ROCKY (nods); Yes ma'am! DUKE (points): Only three lifesigns aboard. Two are definately Kilrathi, but the third one is ... WOLVE (growls): MULGOWI!!! RIKES (shocked): Mulgowi? DUKE (nods): And I'll bet I know which Mulgowi that is! The scene now shifts to the shuttle. One of the Kilrathi is piloting the vessel while the other one listens to a sly sales pitch from the well dressed Mulgowi. SALAME (happy); You saw with your own eyes how this new energy weapon can devastate an enemy outpost! For the simple sum of one million bars of gold pressed latinum, General Hawkens, your army will have the advantage in this civil war of yours! HAWKENS (angry): I am not totally convinced. I want to see you try this weapon out on the Space Rovers. Those do-gooders are trying to make peace with our neighbors. Peace is BAD for the war industries of the Kilrathi Empire! SALAME (looks at monitor); They are evading us.... (sits at a pilot's console): We'll catch them, with another new innovation of mine. (smiles): Better sit down, General, about to activate hyperspace drive! The scene shifts back to the Galatea bridge... ROCKY (looking at monitor); Captain! I've lost the shuttle! RIKES (shocked); What do you mean lost it? ROCKY (excited); It was on my screen, then 'POOF!' it disappeared! SARAH (concerned): Cloaking technology? DUKE (shakes head): Doubt it, no one in this sector of space has that DAYTON (points): There it is, right in front of us! RIKES (shouts): Raise shields! IELLA (shouts): It's firing the plasma weapon! RIKES (shouts): Can our shields withstand it? WOLVE (concerned): That plasma beam packs a powerful punch.... I don't know..... DAYTON (nods): Shields up! DUKE (shouts): Here it comes! The Galatea shakes as the plasma beam hits. Kusac and Duke are thrown to the floor, several circuit boards on the bridge ignite in sparks and smoke. RIKES (shouts); Report! IELLA (looks at monitor): Shields down to twenty percent, minor power overloads in random parts of the ship. Warp engines are offline. WOLVE (slams fist on console): All weapons are offline! SARAH (turns to her): Delta, dispatch damage repair crews! DUKE (looking at monitor): Captain, we can't take another blast of that thing! RIKES (sternly): We have to get out of here, now! DAYTON (looks at monitor): They're charging up the weapon again! RIKES (shouts): Red Alert! Evasive maneuvers! Best speed away from that vessel! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ to be continued....