Read about the madcap, comic adventures of two alien truckers, Blast and Alley. Follow them from a brush with the police, to life on an incredible airship, home to an entire alien society!"
The universe is very large. Within it exist countless galaxies. Many of these immense communities of stars, gas, and dust are bound to others of their kind. They dance, to the direction of gravity and hydrodynamics, interacting with immense volumes of gas which fill the voids between them.
Many galaxies look like flattened whirlpools, their star populations swirling about the center of the vortex. Like gigantic pinwheels, the spirals wheel their way silently through the void.
One spiral galaxy in particular is very beautiful. Its arms are smooth and bright, placed symmetrically about a central bulge of doting, red stars. Within one of these arms, appearing much as the others winding their way about the galactic core, there orbits a cool, red star.
Like a shimmering ruby, it casts its light outward, across a roughly planar distribution of gravitationally cohesive, non-stellar bodies, called planets. The planets orbit the central star, in approximately circular orbits. Of the five planets in this system, one is particularly beautiful. Its surface is blue and green in color, with feathery swirls of white clouding on its surface.
Examining this planet more closely, a spectacular mountain range is apparent, the jagged peaks reaching above a layer of clouds. Below the clouds, water droplets fall to the ground. The drops fall in wind-driven sheets, wetting the mountains, as well as a ribbon of grey stone, smooth and tortuous, which winds its way between the mountains.
With time, due to the planet's rotation, the sky above the mountains grows dark, though the rain continues to fall. The wind rises in intensity, and flashes of electricity are seen, extending between clouds and the peaks of the mountains. Thunder rolls across the landscape, as each bolt of lightning illuminates the night.
Moving groundward, passing through the wind and the rain, three orange lights can be seen, forming the shape of an isosceles triangle. The array of lights is moving along the road that winds between the mountains. As the array approaches, a rumble is heard and then felt.
A huge, smoke-belching chunk of metal emerges from the darkness, its three orange eyes piercing the night. Before it, the raindrops shimmer like liquid diamonds. As the object moves along, glass and assorted pieces of organically derived materials are visible on the vehicle's exterior.
Drawing near a transparent oval atop the vehicle, a creature, approximately humanoid in appearance, is visible. The creature is operating the vehicle. Within the cab, the noise of the storm is audible, beneath the roar of a large engine.
Lights, glowing on a control panel which sits in front of the driver, dimly illuminate the vehicle's interior, as well as the face of the driver. It is a four-limbed creature, with bilateral bodily symmetry. Suddenly, there is a squawking noise, filled with static, and the creature reaches to the control panel. It grabs an object, attached to the control panel via a coiled, flexible cord, and begins to produce vocalizations.
To understand its language, we now take the form of a fellow member of the creature's race.
Blast grabs the talkie and shoves it against her mouth. Her wide, grey lips part, and she exhales before activating the mike.
Blast: You there, Alley?
There is a crackle and a flourish of static, followed by a moment of silence.
Alley: Yeah. Where the hell are you? I've been waitin' here for half the damn night! (His voice is squeaky and strained. He sounds nervous)
Blast: Hang on, I'll be there already.
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Blast slams the accelerator pedal to the floor, and the clunk, the vehicle that she calls home for 90% of her life, roars to life. The lines demarcating the edges of the road begin to blur by the windows on the cab, and she lets out a loud shout.
Blast: Yeeehaaaaa!!!!
She is still holding the talkie, and she presses "speak".
Blast: I'll be there so goddamn fast you won't know what hit you!
Alley: Try me.
We see an outside view, where the clunk, consisting of a streamlined vehicle (looking somewhat like a futuristic Mack truck), which is towing a long, cylindrical tank on wheels, blows by the camera. The noise is deafening, owing to the exhaust which vents from four chromed pipes, two extending upward from either side of the clunk's cab.
View switches to another clunk, sitting along the side of the road, amid the pouring rain. Small, red lights line the edge of the cab's roof. Inside, we see a huge, fat, stubble-faced creature. His skin is tan-grey, his eyes pale grey. He grabs his talkie.
Alley: We aren't on a monitored channel, are we?
Blast (from over the internal speaker): Hell no. We're so far out, even the network can't hear us. Or at least, they won't care to.
Alley: I'm switchin' on the finder then.
Blast: Aye-ffirmative.
Alley hangs the talkie onto a hook on the console. He flips a switch to the left of the talkie, and the switch begins to flash (red light) at regular intervals.
Blast: Gottcha! Damn, almost blew clean by ya'!
Alley sees light being cast onto the road surface, from a good fraction of a mile away. Soon, he hears a rumbling noise, and Blast's clunk appears from behind some large outcroppings of rock. She brings the clunk alongside Alley. Soon, the engine dies down, and she waves at him through the window, now awash with rain. She opens a rectangular door on the side of the cab and climbs down the required ten feet to the rain-soaked ground. Running to the other cab, Alley opens the nearest door, and Blast climbs inside.
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With the door closed, Alley watches the water dripping from Blast's face. They remain silent for a moment. Then, Alley switches off the finder. The only noise is the sound of rain drumming the cab roof.
Alley: I got more hay in this haul than you can shake a stick at.
Blast: That's what you said, earlier. You'll need a spotter out in front, if you ever expect to make delivery.
Alley: Why, you devil, who would you suggest could spot for me? I wonder, I can't think of anyone in this wide world that I c'n trust!
Blast: All I'd ask is 20 percent of the take.
Alley: TWENTY percent! I only asked FIFTEEN the time I spotted for YOU!
Blast: I'm worth it. Besides, inflation's on the rise these days.
Alley looks up and down her body, noting her pleasing form.
Alley: Sakes alive -- yer the prettiest outlaw I ever seen.
Blast: Keep your mind on deliverin', Alley! You know I'm outa cycle right now, and love's the furthest thing from my mind. It would be for you too, if you'd finally stop takin' those love pills! It's months yet until fertility.
Alley: No one but me knows what they're missin'! Potency all year 'round! I've told you before... it can't be beat!
Blast: Sure! Then, ten years from now, when yer organs are dissolvin', you'll be cryin' for transplants. Just remember, though, that I won't be givin' up my gizzard for some nympho like you.
A flash of lightning is followed by a deafening blast of thunder. Bits of rock rain down upon the cab, due to the nearby strike.
Alley: Aw-right, then. If we get goin' now, we can make it through the city before daybreak. That'll take us into and then out of the scan nets. With this weather, no one'll complain when we don't stop in at the weigh station.
Blast: Twenty percent?
Alley looks at her wistfully. He looks out the window.
Alley: Yeah.
Blast opens the door and jumps down to the ground. Climbing back into her own clunk, she slams and locks the door. External view, as the engines of both vehicles come to life. Soon, the triple headlights switch on, and the area is bathed in yellow-white light. Switch to the inside of Blast's cab, where she is steering the clunk onto the road. External view again, showing Alley, driving a royal blue clunk with a silver trailer, pulling onto the road behind her.
********************************************************************************
Outside, the rain is falling more heavily than ever. Mist covers the road on which Blast and Alley are driving. We observe their clunks, approaching down the road, from a great distance. The triple headlights illuminate the fog and raindrops in the direction of the camera. Clouds of mist boil from beneath the clunks, as they blow by the camera with a deafening roar. The scene switches to Blast's cab.
Blast: We're less than three minutes from net entry. You WITH me?
Alley's voice is scratchy over the radio.
Alley: Yeah. We have t' run silent, you know.
Blast: I KNOW! I've done this before! No need to keep remindin' me of the details. At our speed, we should be through the net in a little under an hour.
Alley: You leave if someone catches on.
Blast: You damn betcha.
Switch to external view, where both clunks are seen moving along the road. We are viewing them from the side, so we see the headlight beams cutting ahead through the mist. Switch view back to Alley's cab, where he is gripping the huge steering wheel tightly, his knuckles white. He reaches up to the cab console and flips an unmarked switch. A small section of console paneling lowers toward the carpeted floor of the cab. As the paneling drops, we see a small, 6" X 6" screen, now blank. Suddenly, a fuzzy pattern of light is visible. At first, the patch is amorphous and poorly defined at the edges. Over the course of half a minute, however, the shape of the patch becomes clearly circular, and the edges become sharply defined. The patch slowly shrinks in size, and the brightness increases. Soon, the patch has shrunk to a tiny, very bright point of light.
Alley: We're under the net, fer sure!
He reaches up and turns off all external lights. In front of him, we see that the lights on Blast's clunk are still on, lighting their way through the night.
Alley: You and me are gonna' clear a LOT on this one!
They pass beneath an overpass. As they emerge, Alley sees a glint of metal from his right. His heart stops for a moment, and he looks back, through the rear cab window. Swearing under his breath, he sees, to his horror, that a set of green, blinking strobelights has turned on.
Alley: DAMNIT!!! I can't BELIEVE this!
He switches on the headlights, and we suddenly hears Blast's voice squawking on the box.
Alley: DAMN! Get outa' here!!!
Blast: How many of 'em are there?
Alley: I saw at least two. They'll be on us in less than a minute!
Blast: How in the name o' HELL did that happen?
Alley continues to swear loudly as he prepares to drop his load, by detaching the trailer at full speed. Behind him, he can see the shimmering pattern of strobes, gaining on him rapidly. He reaches down near the floor and grabs a tall, metal lever. Pressing a button atop the lever, he yanks it back with all of his strength. There is a tremendously loud sound of metal on metal, and we see the view through the rear window, as the trailer detaches and moves backward. External view, as Blast's clunk, followed by Alley's cab, blur by the camera. The trailer is seen, now skidding out of control. It turns sideways and rolls over. It is now a gigantic, tumbling mass of metal, as the walls of the trailer rip open, spilling huge black boxes onto the road. From the distance, the green strobes approach, and we hear a whining sound, like that from a small jet engine. The vehicles, shaped like torpedoes, suddenly collide with the tumbling trailer, and one of them explodes in a ball of orange fire. Debris sprays in all directions. The other is smashed to pieces, with no explosion. Scene switches back to Alley's cab. He is driving frantically, as he and Blast head forward at incredible speed. His breathing is heavy, and sweat covers his face.
Blast: How many routes are there ahead?
Alley: This road is the only thing between us and the edge of the net.
Then, on the display screen on Alley's control console, we see the bright point of light spreading out into a sharply defined ring.
Alley: They're onto us! THEY'RE ONTO US!!!
******************
The camera view switches to the rain- and cloud-filled sky. The ground, far below, is shrouded in mist. Two aircraft, black and shaped like manta rays, appear from within a cloud. A slit at the front and center of each of the craft glows a dull orange color. The vehicles roar over the camera, and they fly with their wingtips nearly touching. The scene switches back to Alley's cab. He is driving at top speed, his face distorted and quivering, his eyes red and rimmed with the perspiration that trickles down from his forehead. The detector system on the console begins squawking loudly, and Alley leans forward, looking up through the windshield.
Alley: I can't see a damn thing in this fog. I don't stand a chance.
He grabs the talkie.
Alley: Blast, I don't stand a chance. I'm gonna ditch and head for the hills. You keep on goin'.
Blast: That's crazy! What kind of emergency provisions do you have?
Alley: Just LISTEN T' ME! Keep goin'!
The camera now shows both clunks roaring down the road. Above them, glimmers of light can be seen, as the pursuit vehicles drop to the lower boundary of a cloud layer. Suddenly, a ray of white light strikes the ground, just to the side of the road. There is a blinding strobe of white light, and a loud explosion is heard. From inside the cab, we see that the blast has cracked the side window, and pieces of rock pelt the side of the cab. Alley struggles to stay on the road, as another ray strikes on the other side of the road. This explosion nearly knocks Blast's clunk from the road. A loud, crackling voice sounds over the radio.
Voice: You are under arrest by the patrol. Pull over and surrender, and you will not be harmed. Continue to resist, and you will be destroyed. I repeat, you are under arre--
Alley switches off the radio, all of its frequencies now beaming the patrol's warning message. The road widens, and Alley pulls his cab up alongside Blast's clunk. Then, in the blink of an eye, both of the aircraft fire their rays simultaneously. The rays cross each other, and a blinding sphere of green-white light appears, hovering in the middle of the road. Both clunks pierce the surface of the sphere, and vanish within it. In an instant, the sphere vanishes, leaving only pits and smoldering scorch marks on the highway. Switch to the cockpit of one of the aircraft, where a black-garbed person, appearing as a giant insect due to the amount of metal and plastic devices anchored to his flight helmet, guides the vehicle above the road. In the background, we hear the roar of turbine engines.
Pilot: Where'd they go? They were on my screens just five seconds ago!
Second Pilot: You got me!
Scene switches to another misty, rainy landscape. A sphere of brilliant light appears, atop a strip of green grass. The sky above is dim and grey, filled with rainclouds. Both clunks come roaring from within the sphere, and they skid and roll over on the grass, digging huge, muddy rutts. Soon, both clunks come to a stop. Steam issues from the bottoms of the vehicles. The door on Alley's cab opens, and he climbs out, now sitting atop the side of his cab. Wiping his face with his hands, he looks up. A large, stone overpass extends above him. On its side, there is a large square of green metal, illuminated by lights from below. The sign is covered with writing that he doesn't understand.
We, the audience, can understand the wording on the sign:
"695 BELTWAY, 6 MILES"
********************
Alley and Blast are both standing next to one of the clunks, steam still rising from the cab. Cars and trucks move over the huge concrete overpass that stretches overhead.
Blast: If we ever make it back, they'll get us for murder.
Alley: Babe, somethin' tells me we ain't EVER goin' back.
Blast looks at him worriedly.
Blast: Why?
Alley: Face it. Their gunfire crossed.
Blast: So? That must've happened before.
Alley: It's been known to do strange things. I heard that a stand of trees was turned to chunks of metal when it happened once.
Blast: Where the HELL'd you hear that?
Alley: I don't remember. But most of us know that queer things can and do happen. If you're so sure we're home, then explain all o' this.
He sweeps his arm to the side and points to the overpass. Blast looks up at it, her eyes wide with wonder.
Blast: We'd better get outa' here.
Both of them turn toward a stand of green trees to their right. Blast leads the way, with Alley following closely behind her. Soon, they pass beneath a canopy of green leaves. They shiver in the rain, which falls in large drops from the tree branches.
Alley: These trees are HUGE!
Blast stops in front of him and turns around.
Blast: Where ARE we, ALLEY?
Alley: We're somewhere... somewhere completely different.
Blast: We can't ever go back?
Alley: I don't see how. Both clunks are totaled. There's not a single piece of equipment we could use.
Blast: Should we...
Alley looks at her gloomily.
Alley: Do we really have a choice? Did you get a look at them?
Blast: I saw one, on the overpass. They're not from our world.
Alley nods slowly.
Alley: The best thing we can do is erase all traces of ourselves.
Silently, they each remove small transmitters from their pockets. Each device looks like a small walkie-talkie. In unison, they push several buttons on the transmitters. Alley looks into Blast's eyes.
Alley: Ready?
Blast: I'm scared.
They stare at each other for a while.
Blast: Ready.
Alley: Now!
Each presses a button on one of the transmitters, and a tremendously bright light shines through the forest. They shield their eyes, and a deafening, deep roar rolls through the forest. Dozens of frightened birds take to the air from the surrounding trees. Slowly, the forest becomes silent, except for the falling of the rain.
************************* *************************
The scene opens in a forest. Blast and Alley are sitting, asleep, in the lower branches of an oak tree. Sunlight is filtering down through the leaves, and the forest floor is drying from a recent rainfall. A small bird alights on a branch, directly in front of Blast, and it begins singing. Blast jumps awake, a look of shock appearing on her face as she watches the bird. She notices the sunlight, and she looks up through the branches.
Blast: Alley, wake up!
Alley slowly awakens.
Alley: What's wrong?
Blast: Did you see what the SUN looks like?
Alley squints his eyes and tries to behold the sun through the trees.
Alley: It looks kind of yellow!
Blast: And everyone knows the sun is red, not yellow! You're right... we're on another world.
Alley: Told ya' that yesterday. I'm damn hungry, and I don't what's safe to eat.
Blast: How about that?
She points to the bird, still sitting on the branch in front of her.
Alley: You might get one mouthful of food out'a THAT thing.
Blast lunges forward, and the bird takes to the air. She looks with irritation at the small, white dropping that the bird left. Leaning back, she looks into the treetops again.
Blast: Where in Hell can we go from here? We're aliens here, so we can't show our faces. If we do --
Alley: So what if we're aliens to them? If these people have contacted other planets, and they visit each other, we might blend in as just another being from some other star.
Blast: Their clunks look like antiques compared to OURS, and our world didn't know any aliens. The chances are slim that we could blend in.
Alley: They look similar to us, though -- two arms, two legs, two eyes. What about a disguise?
Blast: Perhaps. I'm gettin' the chills. How do YOU feel?
Alley: I'm achin' all over.
Alley looks at his hands, and he suddenly looks shocked. There are numerous blue splotches forming on the palms of his hands.
Alley: Oh no.
Blast looks with horror at what is happening to her friend.
Blast: My GOD!
Alley begins shivering, and Blast can see that his eyelids are beginning to swell. They, she feels a heaviness in her own eyelids. Feeling them, she finds that they are sore and swollen. She feels nauseous, and she spontaneously vomits onto the ground below. When she finishes, she sees that Alley is nearly in a coma, his eyes narrow slits, his face covered with sweat.
Blast: What's happening to us? Alley, what's wrong?
Alley slowly slumps to one side, and he is now in danger of falling from the branches. The ground is about ten feet below them. Blast leans forward and steadies him, but he suddenly escapes her grip and falls to the ground. He strikes a bed of leaves and lays face up on the ground.
Blast: Oh no! Alley, are you okay?
She scrambles down from the tree. Kneeling on the ground beside him, she can hear him breathing. His entire face is now swelling, and his eyes are nearly buried beneath fluid-filled sacs of flesh, erupting from his cheeks. She begins to cry, and she leans her back against the oak tree. We hear her thinking to herself.
Blast: It must be some disease, something we don't have any protection from. That's right -- this is an alien world. We're defenseless!
Her limbs have gone numb, and she feels her breathing becoming labored. She can hear Alley's breathing, now very congested. She sees trickles of mucous trailing from the corners of his mouth, and his chest begins to spasm.
She suddenly hears a loud voice, and she looks up. The camera shows what Blast's eyes are seeing. There is a human man looking down at her. He is clothed in a suit, and he wears dark, teardrop sunglasses. More faces join in, those of older, greyer men, as well as a young woman, in her thirties.
Man: Let's get these two to medical, on the double.
We see several white-garbed medics, who emerge from the trees and pick up the two, diminutive aliens. The well-dressed, half-bald man watches the aliens being carried away. He removes a walkie talkie from his belt and places it up to his mouth.
Man: This is Fox One, to all agents. Search the perimeter for others. Meet back at HQ within four hours. Out.
He replaces the walkie talkie on his belt and follows the medics. He emerges into a clearing, and we can hear several helicopters approaching. Two black Huey helicopters appear from the sky, and one of them lands. Amid the wind from the primary rotor blade, the medics stow the aliens onboard, and the door is slid shut. The special agent watches the unmarked aircraft take to the air. The other helicopter touches down, and the agent walks toward it. Several men, all dressed in camoflauge, open the side door, and the agent climbs inside. Within seconds, this second helicopter has taken to the skies.
******************* *******************
The scene opens in a sterile, cold medical examining room. Huge, circular, directional lights hang from the ceiling, and over a dozen doctors and nurses are standing above Alley and Blast. The medical staff members are all clothed in atmosphere suits, which are connected to the walls of the chamber by thick hoses. The suits are pure white, and one of the doctors, an older man with wire-rimmed glasses, peers down at Alley through the glass faceplate on his helmet. Alley and Blast are connected to huge pieces of electronics gear, covered with flickering lights, dials, switches, and buttons. Oxygen hoses run up their noses and into their mouths, and IV tubes extend from their wrists. Both of them appear comatose, their skin pale and swollen.
The doctor directly above Alley has a name patch, entitling him as "Jenkins", fastened to the front of his helmet, just above the faceplate.
Jenkins: They're finally stabilizing. Any more serazine, and these two would dissolve from the inside out.
A young woman doctor, long hair visible through her helmet faceplate, joins Jenkins at Alley's side. She is named "Rollins".
Rollins: Amazing, isn't it?
Jenkins looks at her questioningly.
Rollins: The same formulae that worked for the A-class also works on this new class.
Jenkins: And I can't even tell you why. There's no reason why it should have. They're two entirely different species. We know for a fact, by anatomy alone, that they're from different worlds.
Rollins: How did they get here?
Jenkins: We aren't to ask that question. Our job is to preserve life, without inquiry.
Voice: That's right. And if you keep to that job like you've been doing, then we'll all end up happy in the end.
Both doctors look up and see a semi-balding man in a grey suit. He is gazing out over the chamber from an observation booth near the ceiling. The man is holding a microphone, tapping into the radio intercom systems in their helmets.
Rollins looks down at the patient suddenly, embarrassed by the man's cold chastisement.
Jenkins: The infections will be completely purged by tomorrow morning. Shortly thereafter, we shall revive them.
With that, both doctors begin their exit of the chamber. The other members of the medical staff return to the electronic instrumentation. The scene switches to the "suit" chamber, where Jenkins and Rollins are now standing next to a water cooler. Jenkins is tall and thin, a distinguished looking older doctor. Rollins is short and sturdily built, her long hair belying her otherwise "butch" appearance. After each of them has filled a cup with water, they walk to the observation window and observe their patients.
Rollins: I never thought I'd see ANYTHING like this in my entire LIFE.
Jenkins: Shhhhhh.
A door opens, and the well-dressed man enters behind them.
Man: You two are doing a splendid job. Keep up the good work.
They turn around, and Jenkins smiles.
Jenkins: Dennis, I don't believe you've ever met our newest staff member, Alice Rollins.
The man steps forward and extends his hand.
Dennis: No, I haven't. How do you do, Doctor Rollins?
They shake hands.
Rollins: Nice to meet you, Mister...
Dennis: Just call me Dennis. I always prefer informality with colleagues.
Rollins: Then call me Alice.
Dennis: Very well. I examined your dossier, several months ago. Harvard medical school, top of the class?
Rollins blushes.
Dennis: And modest to boot!
All three of them laugh, and the atmosphere calms.
Rollins: I'm thrilled to be working here. This is everything I dreamed of, and much more. Thank you for your vote on the selection committee.
Jenkins: Yes, the first-ever UNANIMOUS vote for a new staff-member, and out of 57 candidates, the largest pool ever.
Dennis: I suppose both of you must be hungry. Care to join me for dinner in town?
Rollins: I'm sorry, but I have an appointment with a friend. Maybe some other time?
Dennis: Certainly! How about you, Jenkins?
Jenkins: Great. Just let me stop by my office. I'll be back down in five minutes. See you tomorrow, Alice.
Rollins: See you tomorrow. And nice meeting you, Dennis.
Dennis smiles as she exits the observation room. Jenkins has also left the room, and, now, the special agent turns to the window. He observes the pale, naked aliens, their bodies stretched out and strapped to the pneumatic beds.
Dennis: We'll deal with you two in due time.
******************** ********************
The scene opens with Blast's eyes opening slowly. She blinks and turns her head to the side. She sees Alley, already conscious, his huge pot belly rising and falling as he breathes. Alley turns his glance toward her.
Alley: I never thought I'd see you without your clothes in a situation like THIS.
Blast: How can you joke at a time like this? Where are we?
A large pressure door along the wall of the examining room unlatches and swings open, and two doctors enter in pressure suits.
Blast: I thought you were dead fer sure. You had some awful disease.
Alley: I think both of us did. What next?
Blast: My nose is sore.
Blast spies the bandages on her wrists. Just then, Rollins, a female doctor, leans over her. Her mouth is moving as though she is speaking, but Alley can't hear her words. The other doctor, Jenkins, is taking readings from electronics gear in one corner of the room. Blast and Alley watch them with much anxiety, as their lips move in reply to one another, behind the glass faceplates. Within about five minutes, each doctor proceeds to an examining table, and they unlatch the ankles and wrists of Blast and Alley. Both of them instinctively sit up on the tables. The doctors recede to the opposite side of the room to observe the aliens.
Blast: How do you feel?
Alley: Tired and dizzy. What about you?
Blast: My stomach is doin' flip-flops.
Both of them turn around when they hear another door opening. As the huge metal door swings open, they see a plastic-coated corridor leading from the room. Alley turns and sees the doctors pointing into the tunnel.
Alley: I suppose we'd better play their games. They saved our lives.
Both of them walk slowly through the doorway. Once inside the tunnel, they see another open doorway, about thirty feet away. They walk through the tunnel, hand in hand. Both of them shiver in the cold draft that moves through the tunnel. Soon, they emerge from the tunnel into another room, this one filled with pieces of furniture. There are two pneumatic beds, as well as a small table with two chairs. Several cameras watch them from above. The walls of the room are pure white, and a soft light glows at the center of the ceiling. The door swings shut behind them, and they are left alone in this silent room.
Alley sees a window along one wall, and he walks over to it.
Alley: Oh my GOD!
Blast runs over to his side. They look through the smoked glass window into another room. There is another creature, and they are sure it is a different species than their captors. It is thin and lanky, with pinkish skin and a bulbous, bald head. Huge, dark, slitlike eyes are placed at steep angles on the alien's face. Its mouth is small and lip-less, and its nose is practically non-existent.
Blast: Is it like us? Not of this world?
Alley taps on the window, and the alien turns its head toward them. Its huge eyes blink with puzzlement. The alien raises its hand into the air. Its spider fingers extend outward from the palm.
Blast waves back at the alien, a smile appearing on her face.
Alley: I think we're in the same plight as THAT poor devil.
Blast: I wonder if that alien got here by accident, just like we did.
Alley: Well, I'm sleepy, and that bed looks comfortable enough for me.
He lays down. We hear the bed automatically adjusting the internal mattress pressure due to Alley's weight.
Alley: Care to join me?
Blast: Forget it! I'll sleep on my OWN bed!
She falls back onto the air-mattress. The lights in the room begin to dim, and both of them slowly fall asleep. The scene now switches outside the building. The structure is huge and cubical, with no windows on its exterior. We can see Rollins and Jenkins, each walking to their cars and leaving for the night. The sky is clear and starlit, and crickets chirp loudly. Switch to the inside of the building, where two security guards, dressed in navy blue outfits with police-style caps, are watching Jay Leno on TV. One of them is nodding off to sleep, while the other munches on a bowl of microwave popcorn.
Guard 1: Hey, wake up, potato-head!
The other guard jumps awake and looks at the other with irritation.
Guard 1: What'd the boss say about sleepin'? They can watch us, ya' know!
Guard 2: But we control the cameras. Let's just shut the one in this room off for now.
Guard 1: They'd find out that we did it.
Scene switches to the outside of the building, where several guard stations are seen, sitting at 90 degree intervals around the base of the structure. Huge, electrified fences stand beyond the guard-houses. High up in the sky, we see a bright point of white light, arcing silently against the stars. Switch back to the interior security guard room.
Guard 1: When's Raquel coming on?
Guard 2: Is SHE on tonight?
Guard 1: Yeah, stupid, that's what the preview said! Don't you remember? I told you about it yesterday!
Guard 2: I must've been ... asleep.
He laughs, and the other guard shakes his head. Suddenly, the television begins to go crazy, the picture fuzzing out, and a loud sizzling noise plays over the speaker.
Guard 1: DAMN!
He jumps up and slaps the side of the TV. Suddenly, all power in the room winks out. The floor begins to rattle, and a deep rumbling noise is heard. Switch to the room containing Blast and Alley. They are both awake, shaking with fear.
Alley: What's going on?
Blast: Get us outa' here! Get us outa' here, SOMEONE!
Both of them continue to shout for help, as bits of plaster fall to the floor. They are in complete darkness, and the building is coming apart around them. Suddenly, they see a bright, white light illuminate the room beyond the window. Both of them stumble over to the window. The other alien has stood, and it is bathed in the blinding rays, which focus to illuminate the alien's body. Dust and smoke rises about the alien, and it appears to smile, a look of relief covering its face.
Blast: Something punched through the roof! Could it be?
They look with terror at each other, their faces dimly visible in the stray light from the energy beam. Then, the pink-skinned alien turns toward them and raises one spidery arm. A long, thin finger extends, and it points at them. Suddenly, a large, circular region of the ceiling above Blast and Alley becomes blinding white, and they see a ray of energy now shining into their eyes. They cower in terror as they feel the heat of the beam. Both of them begin to cough and choke in the dust swirling about them, and the rumbling noise is deafening.
The scene switches to the outside of the research building, where we see a large spacecraft hanging overhead. It is disk shaped and glowing brilliantly with a blue-white light. Yellow lights blink about the exterior of the craft, which is about a hundred feet in diameter.
Switch to the interior of the craft. We are inside a smooth-walled chamber, ellipsoidal in shape. The glass-like walls glow with a pale bluish light. Suddenly, flashes of light illuminate the chamber, and we see the alien materialize, along with Blast and Alley. The alien turns to them, its eyes large and lightless.
Alien: I have rescued you. We are safe now, from the earthlings.
Amid dramatic music, we see the alien spacecraft rocket quickly into the night sky.
*********************** ***********************
The scene opens in outer space, showing the blue, glowing flying saucer, whizzing by the camera. As the saucer moves against the stars, we see Saturn in the background. Switch to the interior of the craft, where Blast, Alley, and the alien are standing in an ellipsoidal, featureless, smooth chamber, its walls glowing with a soft, white light.
Blast: Thank God you can speak our language.
Alien: It is only through advanced telepathic techniques that I am able to do so. If you wish, you can have a brain implant, which will enable you to communicate naturally with over a thousand other alien races.
Alley: A THOUSAND? To know our language then, you must've seen others of our world before.
Alien: That is correct. We have visited your home world of Marmos many times before. How did you get to Earth?
Blast: We were... running from our enemies... when their weapons fired and sent us there. Before that, we were on Marmos.
Alien: Remarkable. You must have passed through some sort of interdimensional portal. The spatial distance over which you traveled is amazing.
Alley: How far?
Alien: Approximately 3100 light years.
Blast: Is that far?
Alien: I see you are not versed in space travel. Yes, that is very far. It takes this ship over a year to travel such a distance, at maximum speed. If you wish, we can return you to Marmos, eventually.
Blast and Alley look at each other.
Blast: I don't know if we're ready to go back just yet. Tell us, where are we goin' now?
Alien: Back to MY home world, Sakron. I will be rejoined with my family. You will be most welcome there. Do not fear -- many species from around the galaxy live on our world. You won't be the only off-worlders.
Alley: Thanks for gettin' us outa' that place. I had the feeling they were gonna' cut us up like lab animals, sooner or later.
Alien: I watched my copilot die, after undergoing several painful experiments. The Earth is just in the infancy of space travel, and their world is still filled with violence and fragmentary politics. Their civilization is primitive and immature. As a result, getting captured by them is all the more dangerous, due to their childishness and paranoia. Your world of Marmos is similar, unfortunately.
Blast: Yeah, there are always rumors of aliens on our world. Tell us, is your world in communication with any of the governments on Marmos? A lotta' people say there is.
Alien: As far as I know, there has been no official contact with your world. Perhaps someday, maybe within our lifetimes, this will happen.
Blast: How long until we reach your planet?
Alien: We will soon be entering star-travel. We will all be placed into stasis for this. It will seem as though we have slept an hour or two, and we will be there. In actuality, it will take about a month to travel to Sakron.
Alley: By the way, what's yer name?
Alien: I am ... Henri. By virtue of telepathy, I already know your names.
Alley shoots Blast a worried glance.
Alien: Shortly, we shall enter stasis. Until then.
With that, the alien vanishes into thin air.
Alley: If Henri can read our minds, then he knows what we were doin' back home.
Blast: This is our chance. I always wanted a clean slate, and now I got one. Don't screw it up, ya' hear?
Alley looks at her with irritation, realizing that she's probably right.
*************** ***************
The scene opens inside the alien spacecraft. We are inside a cylindrical chamber, about twenty feet tall and ten feet in diameter. There are two levels within the chamber, separated by metal catwalks with are fastened to the chamber's outer circumference. The chamber walls glow with a soft, white light. On both levels within the chamber, there are ten transparent tubes, positioned upright. Out of twenty tubes, seventeen are presently occupied by Blast, Alley, Henri, and the ship's crew. They are standing in the tubes with their eyes closed, evidently in some sort of stasis.
Switch to the outside of the ship, where we see it blazing through space at many times the speed of light. Ahead of the ship, we see a region of optical distortion. The region is very small, but it grows in size as the ship continues. Switch to the control bridge of the ship, where warning lights are flashing and klaxons are sounding. The automated control computer is attempting to avoid the region of distortion that it is approaching.
The scene flips to the stasis chamber, where the crew is being reawakened. The tube containing Blast begins to sink into the floor. Slowly, we see her beginning to stir from her long sleep. Then, the second tube begins lowering, containing Alley. The ship is now shuddering, and electronics (positioned at the bases of the stasis tubes) begin to spark and explode. Blast and Alley are thrown to the floor of the stasis chamber, as the other tubes begin to catch fire, amid deadly electrical discharges and explosions.
Outside the ship, we see that the optical distortion now takes up a large fraction of the sky in front of the vessel. The ship is now spinning, precessing as it does so. The front edge of the ship is glowing red and orange, due to the friction it is encountering with a thin envelope of gas. Suddenly, the ship banks sharply to port, and the stars spin wildly about it, as it whirls in a sharp angle about the region of optical distortion. In an instant, the ship is flying free of the optical distortion, now in a different region of space. Ahead of the vessel, we see a huge, orange and green planet. Its sun, yellow and blinding against the stars, is behind the ship.
Back in the stasis chamber, Blast and Alley are stirring from their prematurely aborted stasis. Smoke has filled the chamber, and both of them begin to cough.
Blast: HELP!
Alley: Who's that? BLAST?
Blast: Yeah, where are you?
Around them, the sounds from the fire and the engines are very loud, and they can barely hear each other. Both of them crawl across the deck to a door, which slowly slides open. Blast manages to stand and begins to drag Alley out of the stasis chamber. When both are outside, the door slides shut, but only halfway. They can both now hear the warning klaxons that are sounding, and sweat pours from their bodies.
Alley: I feel like I'm on fire! What happened?
Blast: I don't know! We're still onboard the ship, and somethin' went wrong!
Alley looks up and sees Blast, her face glowing in the orange lights that flash in unison with the wailing emergency klaxon. Behind her, he sees a bright yellow disk on the wall. Rows of lights extend radially outward from the disk, and they blink in sequence, from the outer edge, inward to the central disk of light.
Alley: What's that behind you?
Blast turns around and sees the strange light pattern. Below the disk, a small, circular hatch protrudes from the wall. Blast spies a large, metal lever below the hatch. Pulling it, the circular hatch swings outward. She looks through the hatch, into a small chamber, equipped with three seats. Control panels, covered with display screens and lights, are coming to life. At the far end of the chamber, only about ten feet from the hatch, slats are receding from some kind of windshield, and Blast can see into space. She sees the huge planet that they are approaching.
Blast: GET IN! Hurry up, get in!
She drags him toward the hatch, and he climbs through it with her help. A loud explosion rocks the ship, and Blast flies away from the hatch. She regains her footing and follows Alley into the chamber. Once inside, the hatch seals itself behind them. They crawl into two of the seats. The seats are equipped with safety straps, and they both find them easy to secure around themselves.
Suddenly, they hear a deep thud, and they feel an intense acceleration, pushing them to the left. They are facing each other in the seats, the exterior window to their right. Switch to an external view, where we see a cylindrical pod, detaching from the side of the ship. Rocket engines are firing, and the cylinder blazes by the camera and toward the planet below. Behind them, the main ship continues to tumble out of control.
The escape pod hurtles downward, suddenly seeming to explode as it hits the planet's outer atmosphere. It continues to fall, now enveloped in a sheath of brilliant flame. Inside, Blast and Alley are terrified, groaning with fear, their eyes moving back and forth as they realize their inability to control their destiny.
An external scene shows them piercing a huge, white layer of cumulus clouds. Water droplets begin to cool the pod, and steam hisses from its blackened surface as it continues downward. Suddenly, there is an explosion from one end of the pod, and billowy, grey masses eject from the pod. The masses inflate rapidly, and we see that they are parachutes, bizarrely shaped and huge. The two chutes inflate fully, and the pod is now descending slowly, wind whipping its exterior. The pod is now free of the clouds, and we can see the brilliant, foliated land below. The sky is blue, with white clouds, and countless plants, orange, yellow, and red in color, cover the ground. The pod descends to an open area on the ground, and it hits with a deep thud. The chutes drop next to the pod.
Inside, Blast and Alley are breathing heavily, terrified by everything that has happened. The front windshield is sitting on the ground, and only the internal control panel lights provide illumination. Alley unstraps himself and notices the countless scrapes, burns, and bruises on his arms. Above him, next to the hatch, is another metal lever. He shoves it to the side, and the hatch lifts upward. Sunlight and fresh air pour into the pod, and both of them breathe a sigh of relief. Unstrapping themselves, they climb slowly through the hatch. Soon, they are standing amid a brilliant, mossy plant growth, soft and springy beneath their feet. In the distance, huge, tree-like plants grow into the sky, their white branches covered with orange, yellow, and red leaves.
Blast: NOW where the hell are we?
Alley shakes his head and hugs Blast, glad that, against the odds, they have both survived.
****************** ******************
The scene opens with Blast and Alley walking through the strange, moss-covered plain on which their escape pod landed. The sky is bright and sunny, and graceful bird-like creatures soar through the sky.
Blast: I hope we don't get sick again, like on Earth. There might not be anyone on this planet who could help us.
Alley: Yep, let's hope we stay healthy. God knows what kind'a CRAP lives here.
Blast: Where's yer' romantic side, Alley? You take all those love pills, but it's only yer gonads that feel the effect! LOOK at this place!
Alley: It might look nice, but what're we gonna' do for food? Can we eat anything here? Will the diseases wipe us out by tomorrow morning?
Blast: Maybe whatever those crazy scientists on Earth gave us will protect us on THIS planet.
Alley: Yer' bein' too optimistic. Gotta' get that gloomy look, like I have.
Blast stops and looks toward the western horizon, where the sun is slowly approaching a line of tall hills in the distance. The sky is becoming a little hazy.
Blast: That's a strange lookin' cloud.
Alley stops and looks at Blast, following her glance to the west. We can see a curious circle of grey, shaded darkly on the side opposite the sun. The edge nearest the sun glints with orange light. The grey disk is almost lost in the haze along the horizon.
Alley: Look at the way the one edge is glowing. I don't think that's a CLOUD.
Blast shoots him a worried glance.
Blast: Do ya' suppose it could be somethin' else... somethin' dangerous?
Alley: Bein' a pessimist, I'd say so.
Blast: Then let's get under the cover of the trees.
Both of them turn and look to the wall of trees they are approaching. They still seem to be almost a mile away.
Alley looks back to the west, and we see that the grey disk has gotten larger and more clearly defined. Something long and needlelike is protruding from the center of the disk, and dark lines move outward from the protrusion in a radial fashion. The lines are spaced at equal angular intervals of about ten degrees. Huge, metallic assemblies hang from the lower region of the grey disk.
Blast: That's some kind'a SHIP! Quick, we'd better hide!
Alley: By its speed, it'll be on us before we can reach those trees.
Blast: Can we hide under the moss?
She falls to her knees and tries to tear a large piece of moss from the ground. It's fibrous structure is very tough, and she is unable to free a single stem from the earth.
Alley: Blast.
She continues to struggle on the ground.
Alley: Blast, could ya' look at this?
She stops and looks at Alley. Behind him, she can see the gigantic craft now approaching them. It is now clear from of the haze, and she can see its true color -- tan, similar to khaki. It is shaped like a huge cigar, and a small city appears to be anchored to its underside.
Blast: My GOD! Have ya' ever SEEN such a thing?
Four huge fins become visible at the back of the immense craft. Though Blast and Alley have never seen such a vehicle before, we recognize it as being similar in structure and proportion to a zeppelin, though it is at least a mile long. A rumbling noise becomes audible as the zeppelin blocks out the sun and begins to pass overhead. A shadow, wider than the entire field in which they are standing, blocks out most of the sky. The zeppelin's gondola is long and thin, and it appears to be anchored directly to the balloon itself. Small building-like structures protrude from the sides of the gondola, the bottom of which is covered with torpedo-shaped objects (about a dozen of them). The rumbling noise grows louder, and they now see the huge engines anchored to the sides of the balloon. Giant, chrome propellers spin at the rear of each engine, propelling the craft.
Alley: I wonder if they're bombs, hangin' on the bottom!
Just then, one of the torpedo-like vehicles detaches from the underside of the gondola. It descends softly and gracefully, tracing a spiral path through the air. Very quickly, they see that this is some smaller zeppelin, perhaps used as a shuttlecraft by the main zeppelin. A small gondola is anchored to the bottom of the shuttle, and twin engines are anchored to each side of the balloon. The skin of the zeppelin glows a coppery color in the softening sunlight, and soon they hear the hum of the engines.
Blast: Let's hope they're friendly, unlike those bastard EARTH people!
They are surprised by the size of this shuttle, which soon touches down on the ground, several hundred feet away from Blast and Alley. The shuttle is about two hundred feet long and forty feet wide. A door opens on the side of the coppery-colored gondola, and a humanoid creature appears in the doorway. It steps down to the ground and begins walking toward them. The being is clothed in a dark, navy-blue uniform, tightly secured and covered with shining, brass buttons. The creature draws near, and they see a short, brown beard anchored to its chin. The face is nearly human, though the eyes are larger and more widely spaced. The arms are longer than a human, and the creature's hands dangle down near its knees. It stops in front of them and looks down at them. Blast and Alley are each about five feet tall, and this alien is nearly seven feet tall.
Blast and Alley stand before the creature, their faces showing their fear. The alien raises a hand and speaks, in a very deep voice.
Alien: I am Quanto.
Blast: How do you know our language?
Quanto: We have another of your race, in our city. Her name is Klik.
Alley: Never heard of her. Is she your prisoner?
Quanto: No, not at all. She is a member of our crew. We monitored your crash-landing, about an hour ago. Welcome to the world of Krillia. Above us, the city of Raja awaits your honored arrival. There are members of many worlds in Raja. This world is very near a white hole, the most active in the known galaxy. Many ships, falling near black stars in this region of the galaxy, appear near our world. Since their ships are usually disabled by the passage through the space warp, they frequently crash-land on this planet. Welcome. You can stay, if you decide to.
Blast and Alley look at each other.
Alley: Do we have much choice?
Blast (shaking her head): Lead the way, Quanto.
Quanto: First, tell me your names.
Alley: I'm Alley, she's Blast.
Quanto smiles and turns, walking toward the gondola. They follow him, and soon, they are walking through a moderate gale, produced by the shuttle's spinning propellers. As they climb into the gondola, a door swings shut behind them, and the engine noise all but disappears. They are inside a small passenger cabin. The walls are made of a polished, white-tan wood, with large, softly upholstered seats lining both sides of the gondola. One row of seats lies on either side of the central, carpeted aisle.
Quanto: Please be seated. We shall arrive at the city within minutes.
Blast and Alley sit down in the huge chairs.
Blast: These are comfortable.
Alley: Yeah.
Alley sighs and leans back, looking out the round porthole next to his seat. Blast is sitting on the opposite side of the gondola. Quanto walks to the front of the cabin and disappears into the cockpit. For a moment, we get a view of the cockpit interior, equipped with several viewscreens and a number of glowing, flashing control panels. Another man, similar in appearance to Quanto, is seated behind a steering wheel. Blast and Alley hear a dull roar rise from the engines, and then they are airborne, quickly climbing into the sky. Around them, thin clouds have formed, and they are now glowing a soft shade of red in the sunset. Blast and Alley sit in their chairs, awestruck at the awesome beauty of the airborne city that they are approaching.
********************* *********************
The scene opens with the massive airship "Raja", climbing high into the sky as the sun sets behind a patch of brilliantly colored clouds. Close-up camera views show the huge ship as it roars overhead. Our view moves in along the side of the gondola, toward a row of metal-walled buildings (about 5-10 stories tall) with many ornately decorated windows. Passing between two such buildings at the outer edge of the gondola, we are now in a small city, complete with streets (dotted with pedestrians), trees, street lamps, and a town square. The buildings are rather victorian in architecture (though the walls are made of lightweight, futuristic metals and composites), and they are brightly colored. Above the city, the huge hull of the airship is visible. This section of the hull is covered with steerable mirrors, which reflect skylight to the town below. Small shuttle buses (powered electrically) move along tracks, ferrying passengers to various points in the town. One of the shuttles stops, the door opens, and Blast and Alley step out, followed by their alien guide, Quanto.
Blast: So, this is where the rich people live? Where they can see the light of day?
Quanto: I would define this area as middle-class. Many of the craftspeople live here with their familes. The twelve enclosed city levels below us are for the lower class. This is the uppermost level in the section we call "the boat". The population of the boat is roughly 100,000, with 90,000 of them being natives of this planet, Krillia.
Alley: So, what's up in that giant gas bag?
Blast looks at him as though he's stupid.
Blast: GAS, what else?
Quanto: Actually, this is not a gas-buoyed airship. "The hull" as we term it, contains all of the manufacturing and power generation facilities, as well as most of the middle-class citizens, about 500,000. We are held up by an antigravity system at the center of the hull.
Alley: What kinda' power source?
Quanto: Hydrogen fusion generation. Atop the hull, the upper class lives, in another town that I can show you briefly.
Blast: I take it we won't be living there.
Quanto: You are correct.
Alley: By the way, where do YOU live?
Quanto: One level below this one. I'm one of the grunts, just like you two will be. The only real difference between the classes is where you live, which is determined by your line of work. Garbage collectors and low-skill technicians and mechanics live below, the general populace lives here, and doctors, lawyers, pilots and power engineers live above.
Blast: What a wierd way to live. Is there fighting between the groups?
Quanto: Not too much. Everyone's standard of living is high, here on Raja. There are more problems on some of the other cities, most notably those which stay to the southern hemisphere.
Alley: You mean there are MORE of these things?
Quanto: Why, yes. Right now, I think there are 367 of them, all roughly the same size. This is one of the newer ones, being built 60 years ago. The only ground-dwellers are on the continent of Yttria, where more vehicles like this are being constructed. It is the goal of this world that, someday, everyone will live on an airship. Only about half a million inhabitants still live on the ground, compared to over forty million in the sky.
Blast and Alley look with wonder at the beauty of the town around them.
********************* *********************
The scene opens with Blast, Alley, and Quanto, standing in a large elevator. The elevator is about thirty feet in diameter, circular in cross-section, and covered with multi-paned glass windows. A circular bench lies just inside the elevator's wall, and those sitting on the bench can look out through the windows. Presently, we see a series of well-lit manufacturing decks moving by the elevator windows, from top to bottom.
Quanto: These are some of the manufacturing decks. Right there is textile fabrication, and there is polymer synthesis.
Blast and Alley marvel at the neatness and excellent quality of construction of everything they observe. Then, the elevator is passing through deck after deck of huge, silvery storage tanks.
Quanto: This is where water and food are stock-piled. All food is synthesized within growth tanks. The synthesis yields any type of food that the citizens of Raja could desire.
Suddenly, they emerge from the interior of Raja's hull, and they are staring straight up (through the transparent, domed ceiling of the elevator) into the purple, twilight sky. The elevator stops, and the door on the side slides open. All three exit, and they are now standing on a narrow, paved street. Large green lawns surround them, leading to stately, three-story mansions, of many strange and beautiful architectural styles. Above them, clouds move slowly overhead, and the wind is blowing into their faces.
Quanto: We are now ATOP the ship. At the front, there are windscoops to diminish the air flow, but the winds are always at least twenty miles per hour. At the end of the street, dead ahead, is the Governor's mansion. Just behind it is the Captain's mansion.
Blast: Who's really the boss?
Quanto: The Governor is the elected, political leader. The Captain is the Governor's appointee. The Captain is a technical expert on ship operations, who guides Raja on the courses appointed by the Governor and the ruling council.
Blast: And what decides where the ship goes?
Quanto: The weather, and the scenery.
Alley: The scenery? Doesn't this ship have a job to do?
Quanto: Life onboard is self-sufficient. Occasionally, ships meet to exchange culture, but, otherwise, we're alone. Since the ship is self-refueling and all food is produced onboard, we have no need of land-bound destinations. Therefore, the ship journeys to areas merely for their scenic beauty. Anyway, you two must be tired, so I'll take you to your temporary quarters.
As they return to the elevator, Blast and Alley look at each other.
Alley: (whispering) Hell, do YOU want to leave this place?
Blast shakes her head.
Seating themselves in the elevator, the door closes, and they begin their descent.
Quanto: Very few alien vessels voluntarily visit our world, since we produce nothing of trade-value for them. We produce only what we ourselves require. However, should you ever decide to leave, we can arrange for shuttle travel, though it might be several months until you actually depart.
Alley: I might be a little early in sayin' this, but Blast and I are QUITE at home here. We know a LOT about mechanics, and I'm sure we could learn about the ship here.
Quanto: Excellent. You will begin official cultural education tomorrow.
Swelling orchestral music as the elevator descends from the hull into the space above the "boat", where Blast and Alley see the street lamps coming to life, and an entire community of people strolling along the streets of this airborne city.
********************* *********************
The scene opens with the Raja, flying slowly by the camera. Below, wooded hills, covered with the usual orange, yellow, and red-leafed trees, stretch to the horizon. A meandering river winds its way several thousand feet below the huge, nuclear-powered airship. It is morning, and a brilliant, blue sky stretches above the land. The scene switches to a small, sparsely furnished apartment. We move through a small, cramped kitchen, equipped with what appears to be a stove, a counter, and a storage cabinet. Next, we move into another room, equipped with an overhead light, and several bean-bag-style chairs. Continuing through this room (about 10X10 feet in size), we enter a tiny bedroom. On two separate air mattresses, we see Blast and Alley, soundly asleep. There are no windows in any of the rooms, only dim night-lights to provide illumination. Suddenly, a speaker on the wall hisses to life, and we hear strange music begin to play. Both Blast and Alley jump awake and look around the room. The music continues for several minutes, soon to be replaced by the voice of a native Krillian. They can't understand the language.
Blast: What the HELL is THIS all about?
Alley curses, stands up, and stretches.
A bell rings, and both of them look around with confusion. They hear a muffled voice.
Blast: Maybe it's someone at the door.
Luckily, they are both dressed, though they look terrible this early in the morning. Blast leads the way to the apartment door, in the living room area. Opening it, she blinks in the light from the hallway. There is a native Krillian, tall and clothed in pale, green clothing.
Krillian Woman: Good morning (her words are produced by a translating machine that she holds up to her mouth). Time for your lingual implants.
Alley: Who are YOU?
Woman: My name is Marka.
Blast: Do we have to have this done NOW, this early in the mornin'?
Marka: Why, yes. The anthem was just played, meaning that everyone must be at work. Surely you heard it.
Alley: Yeah, for the first time today. Mind if we get cleaned up a bit first?
Marka: There isn't time. Accompany me now.
Blast and Alley follow the woman through a long, dimly lit hallway. At the end of its two hundred foot length, they climb into a small elevator, which begins to ascend.
Marka: I hope your apartment is okay for now. Due to some living space re-allocations, you won't have a permanent apartment for about another five days.
Blast rolls her eyes. She looks up at the woman, who has a goofy, ditzy expression on her face.
Blast: Isn't there someone else on this ship who's from our home planet?
Marka: Really? I had no idea!
Blast: No, I'm asking if there IS. Quanto said so, yesterday.
Marka: Then it must be so. I'll locate this person as soon as we're done. You'll have a lot of catching up to do!
Both of them feel nauseated by her sickeningly sweet attitude. Scene switches to an office, filled with computerized publishing equipment, like computers, monitors, printers, etc. A Krillian man is sitting at a computer as Marka, Blast, and Alley enter the room. They pass through the office and into a small backroom. Inside, they see another man, much older than Marka, with grey hair and beard. He wears a pale, yellow jacket, and a monocle is wedged over his right eye.
Marka: Here is Doctor Jeklin. He will peform the implant.
Jeklin smiles artificially and nods. Blast and Alley sit down on a bench against one wall of the room. The bench has armrests and seatbelts.
Marka: Belt yourselves in!
Blast and Alley obey, just as they see Jeklin remove a curious looking, chromed object from his pocket. It is long and thin, like a pencil, and it holds a circular pad at its narrow tip. Jeklin walks over to Alley and places the pad against his neck. Pressing a button on the end of the device, Alley slowly slumps forward, now deeply asleep. Jeklin repeats this for Blast, and now they are both asleep.
Marka: Aren't those two just ADORABLE?!?
Jeklin: In a way. But soon, they'll be one of us, able to speak our language. This is the first step in the cultural assimilation of these off-worlders.
Sing-songy music as Jeklin begins to prepare for the lingual translator implant.
********************* *********************
The scene opens with Blast and Alley, who suddenly awaken from sleep. They are in the doctor's office, and Marka is standing over them.
Marka: There! How do you feel?
Both Blast and Alley notice that Marka did not use her translator to speak to them. They can understand her words without it.
Blast: I feel a little tired, but, otherwise, no problem.
Alley: I'm okay.
Marka: We can now understand each other completely.
Blast: Where did we get the implant?
Marka: Through a TINY hole at the base of your neck. You have a small bandage to cover the hole, which should heal in a couple days. The transplant will last for your entire life, without need of replacement. Let's go!
Both of them stand and find that they are feeling okay. They follow Marka out of the office and into a hallway. As they walk along, they see numerous people scurrying from one office to the next. They all appear to be working arduously.
Marka: Next, I have to take you to the cultural assimilation office. There, you'll speak with career experts, so we can find out what kind of job best suits you. As I hear, you were both mechanics on your native world?
Alley: Yeah, we worked on the big clunks, tearin' down engines and buildin' 'em up again.
Marka: My, THAT was a change in subject! Why, that's remarkable. What exactly is a ... clunk?
Blast: It's a large vehicle used to move freight.
Marka: Ground-based? Watergoing? Air--
Alley: Oh, ground.
Blast: We were --
Alley: We were (Blast shoots him a nervous, agitated look) abducted by aliens from another world. Their ship was flying along, and something must've went wrong.
Blast: We were placed into some kinda' long-term sleep, for a long journey through space. When we awoke, the ship was comin' apart around us. We made it to a lifeboat, and then crash-landed on this planet.
Marka: My, fate was certainly in YOUR favor! Did any of the other aliens survive?
Alley: Apparently not. We were the only ones to make it out alive. We were --
Marka: Here we are, at the cultural assimilation office.
She slides a wooden door to the side, and they follow her inside the office. It is ornately furnished, with all sorts of wooden furniture, wall sculptures, exotic plants, colorful lighting, etc. A long couch lines one of the walls, and a huge window looks out through the side of the Raja's hull. Blast and Alley marvel at the view. Dramatic music as a tiny dwarf walks into the room and introduces himself in a very deep voice as "Nino".
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The scene opens with the well-dressed, chubby dwarf, Nino, sitting at his diminutive desk. Blast and Alley are sitting on the couch across the desk from Nino. Marka is standing next to the couch.
Marka: Well, I'll let you get busy, Nino. Nice meeting you, Alley and Blast!
She waves limply at Blast and Alley, who nod and smile, glad to be rid of this plastic person. Marka exits the office, and Nino removes a pipe from his pocket. It is a large, S-shaped pipe, made of a blackish, gnarled wood. The bowl is stuffed with some type of ground leaves. The dwarf presses a button on the side of the bowl, and the leaves begin to smolder and glow. Soon, he removes the pipe from his mouth and exhales a plume of bluish smoke. His eyes narrow and his face relaxes.
Nino: So, how do you like the Raja so far? And don't lie to me.
Blast: I wish we had a nicer apartment, and we haven't been able to get a decent meal yet, but, other than that, it's great.
Nino: Alley?
Alley: Ditto what Blast said.
Nino: I see. Well, a relo to a new apartment could still take a few days. How would you feel about that?
Blast: I suppose it depends on what kind of place we're sent to.
Nino: That's the other problem. To move you to someplace with an outside view, I would have to dislocate someone already living there. Thus, their dislo would be followed by your relo. Then, once we found you a permanent place with an outside view, we'd relo you THERE, and UNLO the others back to their original apartment.
Alley: I suppose everyone here wants an outside view.
Nino: Of course. It's the way of our world. The main encouragement to achieve in this society is to achieve a move favorable and prestigious location of residence.
Blast: What about money, though?
Nino: The wage ranges on this ship are from 10,000 lenar to 30,000 lenar per year. This ratio of highest to lowest is 3:1, one of the lowest in the galaxy. Note, however, that the range of living quarters is larger. You can live anywhere from a cramped, closet-like apartment, like your own, to a sparkling 12-room mansion on the top deck, complete with resident servants.
Alley: How long does it take for someone like us to reach the top deck?
Nino smiles and exhales a huge puff of smoke.
Nino: About three generations.
Blast: What? We won't LIVE that long!
Nino: That's right. It usually takes several generations to reach the top deck. So, I suppose you'll have to make do with life in the boat. You could reach the top deck of the BOAT, within your lifetime, with little problem, if you work VERY hard and really push yourself.
Blast and Alley look glum. Suddenly, Blast gets an idea.
Blast: What if we were to become servants, in one of the mansions?
Nino: But the servants cannot own their own property, they can't--
Blast: So? We'd be living somewhere that we couldn't reach, otherwise! How's life for them?
Nino: Not too difficult. Assuming, of course, that you don't get stuck with an eccentric, cruel master. Are you sure you'd like to go with that?
Blast: SURE I'm sure! Whadda-ya-say, Alley?
Alley shrugs his shoulders stupidly.
Blast: We can put up with cleaning, and then we'll have free time, right?
Nino: Yes. The servants have a part of the mansion, all to themselves. Usually, they spend their free time together.
Alley: How many servants are there for each house?
Nino: Anywhere from two to ten. The Governor's mansion has ten. Do you want me to check to see if there are any openings? I'm not sure if--
Blast: Yeah, check for us, please.
Nino spins around in his chair to face a computer terminal. After a flourish of keyclicks on a strange, hand-held keypad, he smiles and turns back to them.
Nino: Doctor Theophrastus Bombastus Von Hohenheim requires three servants right now. It looks like you're in luck!
Alley: Who is this guy? What does he do?
Nino: He's in charge of power production, here on Raja. He has QUITE the mansion. He and his sister, Stellaphane, live there. They're both getting up in years, and I know they need new servants. Do you want to sign on?
Alley: What does THAT mean?
Nino: A contract to work as their servants, until further notice?
Blast: Aw, come on Alley! It'll get us on our feet, and outa' that cramped apartment!
Alley: Oh, awright.
Nino: Excellent! Sign here!
He produces a printed contract from a machine (about the size of a breadbox), and Alley and Blast sign their names on the paper contract, using a long, flexible pen.
Dramatic music as we see Nino's computer screen, indicating that these servant positions have been unfilled for three MONTHS.
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