SECOND TRIUMVIRATE Chapter Four
By The Host
Here's chapter four. I just might be able to get chapter five up tonight; if not, it might not be until tomorrow evening, as I will be gone for most of the day. Anyway, as always, don't forget to comment!
This represents the next seven minutes or so, taking us to the end of the film's first half hour. As you can see, the plot has settled into high gear, and here the final plot thread is set into motion.
EXT. THE UNITED CENTER - DAY
Another parade of vehicles makes its way through the crowded
city towards the United Center; we hear over this the voice
of a REPORTER.
REPORTER (V.O.)
John Wendell Patrick Davies was
confirmed by the Senate today--
INT. THE UNITED CENTER - LATER
Davies sits upon a regal seat at the front of the great room.
He wears flowing white robes. HUNDREDS OF SENATORS in red
robes fill the seats. MILITARY OFFICIALS in full dress
uniform stand at attention along the main entrance and around
the stage. A TALL SENATOR walks to Davies, who stands.
REPORTER (V.O. CONT'D)
-- Six hundred and fourth President
and second Emperor of these United
Star Systems.
The Senate has bestowed upon him
the name 'Valerius'.
NEW ANGLE as the Senator ritually hands Dawson a rolled up
piece of parchment and places a longsword at his feet. The
Senator stands aside and the entire room stands to its feet
in applause. Davies stands stoicly.
DAVIES (V.O.)
(Barely a whisper)
What would I be thinking? What
would be going through my head
right now? Anything?
INT. SHUTTLE - LATER
Davies sits alone in a luxurious shuttle that is slowly
moving throughout the city. THOUSANDS OF WELL-WISHERS line
streets below and balconies and hang out of vehicles all
around, outside the tiny thick windows. Davies notices none
of it; just sits there quietly alone in his white flowing
robes. He looks frightened and sad.
DAVIES (V.O. CONT'D)
I've often wondered about it, you
know, in the past twelve years.
Often, often, and I have no idea.
Maybe I'd think about this, about
thinking, and try so hard to
perfectly capture the thoughts of
those moments that they just turn
out to be empty concentration on
nothing but memories of dreams. How
it must change a man, to go from
being a person to, to, a god. Two
hundred billion people in the
galaxy and their job, their sacred
duty is to worship me. Would I
think about that? Or would I think
about the sound of grasshoppers in
the rain, or about molecular
dynamics and my place in the
universe? Would I think about my
father? Or would I think about my
friend?
INT. GRAND PALACE - DRAWING ROOM - DAY
The Drawing Room of the Grand Palace is resplendent with rich
carpets and wood grains and two stories of couches and desks
and bookshelves.
At the back is a set of three arched windows, the sun dimly
peeping through the semi-translucent curtains that otherwise
obscure the outside world. Before them Davies -- the Emperor
Valerius -- stands at a wide desk, signing a new bill into
law, as FOUR SENATORS and WELSH look on and politely applaud.
REPORTER (V.O.)
The new President has quickly set a
course for change, signing a new
poverty reform act into law earlier
this afternoon, and is vowing to
wage war on barbarous and
traitorous territories that have
broken away from our glorious state
since the first Emperor ascended
the throne.
EXT. PRAEFECTURE - DAY
The Praefecture is a Gothic spire in the center of the city,
wedged uncomfortably between larger and sleeker buildings.
About halfway up its twelve-thousand-foot height there is a
wide curved balcony. Exler Joggins and about a dozen ADVISORS
cross that balcony now and board a waiting shuttle.
REPORTER (V.O. CONT'D)
Consul Joggins, meanwhile, has
brashly refused to recognize the
legitimacy of our illustrious
leader and is now leading a band of
traitors to the edge of the known
universe, there to take up arms
against our state and our people.
INT. SHUTTLE - LATER
Joggins and his advisors quietly discuss the coming battle as
they soar high above Magnapolis, destined for the stars.
DAVIES (V.O. CONT'D)
Will I be a good leader? I'll be
loved or I will be feared. Not
everybody loved me, and I need it.
Sometimes I thought I felt it. I've
waited and watched you for twelve
years and I've known that I could
have done it better at times. I was
afraid to think that, but it's
true. I could be great. I have to
be. I have done too many terrible
things already.
INT. GRAND PALACE - DAWSON'S ROOM - DAY
Jack Davies sits at Dawson's bed on the day the Emperor died.
Dawson, old and wretched, can barely speak as he lies there
gazing at Davies. The room is shrouded in soft shadow.
DAWSON
We have all done things we regret,
Mr. Davies. Terrible things. And I
don't suppose I have much time left
to set things aright: that shall be
left for others. What I can do is
to tell you everything. Perhaps
then you will understand.
DAVIES
Understand what?
DAWSON
How to be a leader. You don't have
to love, just to understand. . .
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. AUDITORIUM - NIGHT
A large, splendid theatre filled with GLITTERATI. A squat man
of fifty-seven speaks energetically and charismatically from
the stage. His name -- ANTONY GRACCHUS -- is magnified on a
massive banner behind him.
GRACCHUS
For close to a thousand years man
has ruled the stars. He has
stretched out his great wings
across the vast expanses of space
and penetrated the deepest
mysteries of time. And man has
discovered after centuries of
ceaseless searching that he is,
indeed, alone. But this thought
need not be dismaying. The
boundless worlds are ours to for
the taking; their fruits our fruits
to taste of; an entire universe of
endless riches laid before us. Yet
man is poor. Man has not explored
his own dark conscience. And man
has not ruled himself.
As a race we have searched so long
for somebody else that we have
somewhere along the way forgotten
ourselves. We have forgotten what
it is to be a state, what it is to
be a people. We focus on the petty
politics of the day and lose sight
of the simple fact that we are all
human beings, we all share the same
interest in furthering the human
race. What is a nation? Is it an
amorphous metaphysical construct?
Arbitrary zones of control on a
star chart? Is it only a
government? No. A state is nothing
more or less than a group of people
that share the same basic
interests. People living and
working together, and they don't
all know each other but they all
work for each other. If a child,
dying of starvation, were to happen
upon the rich man's farm the rich
man would surely give the child
some bread to eat. But starving
children do not stumble on the rich
men's farms precisely because the
rich men prefer to live far away
from starving children that could
impinge upon their land's value.
And that is why government exists:
to take the rich man's bread and
give some of it to the child on his
behalf. And there are some who
don't believe the state has a right
to do that; but these very same
people would be the first to offer
the starving child bread. So bound
up in petty politics it is often
hard to remember that that's what a
state is -- a group of people
living and working together -- and
that that's what a government is --
a way to help those people live and
work together. Well, I say it's
time to forget about petty
politics; it's time to remember the
starving children; and time to give
freely this our daily bread. I see
a new vision for government that
is, in fact, very old. And I
sincerely hope that you all share
this same vision as citizens of one
great nation.
The audience explodes in cheers and applause. Gracchus looks
completely gratified.
ANOTHER ANGLE shows a thirty-year-old DAWSON in the audience,
grinning broadly and clapping with the others.
INT. AUDITORIUM - LATER
Dawson approaches Gracchus, who is shaking hands with a few
SUPPORTERS who surround him while crews in the background
remove his banners. When Dawson draws near, Gracchus pats one
of the men nearby on the shoulder and smiles.
GRACCHUS
Commander Dawson! I'm glad you
could make it.
DAWSON
Wouldn't miss it, Senator.
They clasp hands.
INT. BABBAT'S DINER - NIGHT
Dawson and Gracchus sit across from each other in a greasy
spoon, eating some sort of brown goop that they both seem to
find quite pleasing. The place is almost empty and it must be
late, but they speak with caffeinated vitality.
DAWSON
That was an excellent speech.
GRACCHUS
Yes, thank you. I've used it
before. You know, gets the money
rolling in. Elections are expensive
as hell. Speaking of which -- when
are you going to enter into the
arena?
Dawson blushes slightly.
DAWSON
I don't know about that, Uncle
Antony.
GRACCHUS
You have great potential.
DAWSON
Everybody tells me that.
GRACCHUS
Well, I can understand why you
don't want to waste it on politics!
He guffaws.
GRACCHUS (CONT'D)
Seriously, though. I won't be
around forever. You could carry on
the family name.
DAWSON
I don't have the family name.
GRACCHUS
Close enough. You have the family's
smarts, and our intuition, and our
thirst for competition, and our
overwhelming desire to win at all
costs.
DAWSON
I've never lost an argument yet.
GRACCHUS
You couldn't have argued with me.
DAWSON
Only when you're drunk.
GRACCHUS
I'm best when I'm drunk. Seriously,
Will, you could be great someday.
You are great, but you can hold no
real power in the fleets.
DAWSON
What are you talking about? I'm the
youngest commander in forty years.
GRACCHUS
Yes, yes, but it's not the same.
Ball-licking and boot-kissing,
that's what gets you power there.
Politics, that's the great game.
It's a thrill, I tell you! Your
first win. It's a thrill.
DAWSON
You told me to join the fleets.
GRACCHUS
A war record will get you elected
without having to lose first.
Dawson smiles.
DAWSON
You're the last true patriot,
Antony.
Gracchus smiles and digs into his food.
DAWSON (V.O.)
I shipped off the next day.
EXT. SPACE
The USS Majesty floats through space, a certain grace to its
curves and contours.
DAWSON (V.O. CONT'D)
It wasn't the first time, of
course. But it was the most
important time. It's when this all
started.
INT. GRAND PALACE - DAWSON'S ROOM - DAY
Davies still sits at Dawson's side as the old man speaks.
DAWSON (CONT'D)
It's a long story.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this. Please don't forget to comment!
Thanks,
The Host
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8/22/2004 1:28:46 AM
(Updated: 8/22/2004 1:39:37 AM)
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