TRIUMVIRATE SE Chapter Four
By The Host
EXT. STARBASE ONE ONE FOUR - LATER
The remnants of the fleet, led by the Glory, arrive at
Starbase One One Four. It is a massive station, a veritable
city twinkling like a diamond in the vast vacuum of space.
The vessels slow down as they reach the station, which is
already buzzing with transports and freighters and patrols
going hither and thither.
INT. STARBASE ONE ONE FOUR - QUARTERS - BRIGHT
The door noiselessly opens and Robert Johnson and Jack
Davies stare in from the busy corridor, each holding a small
duffel bag; Davies’s forehead is bandaged. The surroundings
are spartan: bunk beds and tucked linen, a desk by each bunk
with a lamp and computer monitor, and a small sitting area
at the far end, near a larger desk and monitor. Only two of
the sixteen bunks look lived in.
Johnson takes a halting step forward.
JOHNSON
Creepy...
DAVIES
They’ve been dead, what, a few
hours now? And it’s like they
never existed.
The two walk into the room and the door closes behind them.
They each go to their own bunk and begin unloading their
duffel bags. Davies is folding a uniform as he speaks.
DAVIES (CONT'D)
So what now?
JOHNSON
I dunno. We haven’t got a flight
group anymore. I guess we live
here ‘til we’re reassigned.
DAVIES
And how long do you think that’ll
take?
JOHNSON
I’m sure a couple of days, no
more.
DAVIES
Hmm.
Davies stops folding, continues to stare down at his bunk,
considering, as Robert finishes with his duffel bag and
takes it over to his locker at the far end of the room.
Davies starts to fold again as Johnson closes his locker and
takes a seat nearby. He flicks on the large monitor next to
him; a holographic image of a revolving cartoonish sealed
envelope appears in front of it. Splayed across it are the
words, ‘You’ve got mail!’ An ANNOYING VOICE speaks.
ANNOUNCER (V.O.)
You’ve got mail!
JOHNSON
(Smiling)
We’ve got mail, Jack.
Davies comes to a quick decision, puts his uniform down, and
speaks, still looking at his bunk.
DAVIES
Robert, can we talk?
Robert Johnson shuts off the monitor and leans forward
masking the concern in his voice.
JOHNSON
Yeah, sure. We’re talking now.
DAVIES
You know that weapons facility we
attacked?
JOHNSON
Weapons facility? Oh, yeah, that
weapons facility. I remember now.
DAVIES
It wasn’t a weapons facility at
all.
(Looking up)
It was a medical research lab.
Johnson looks surprised. He meets an instant’s hesitation
before he speaks.
JOHNSON
What?
Jack takes a seat at the table across from Johnson.
DAVIES
You know that plague that’s been
spreading around, killing all
those people on Al T’Har?
JOHNSON
They don’t bathe properly.
DAVIES
Well, this facility just
discovered a cure.
Another pause. Then Johnson laughs.
JOHNSON
Jack, come on, the United Star
Systems wouldn’t— Why would they
want to attack a research lab?
DAVIES
I don’t know.
JOHNSON
And, anyway, how do you know?
DAVIES
They captured me after we ejected.
Their station commander showed me
the people dying. He showed me the
labs. He gave me this.
Davies withdraws from his left breast pocket a small vial
containing a purple serum.
JOHNSON
What’s that?
(Beat)
The cure?
DAVIES
Yeah.
A momentary silence. Johnson shakes his head, leans back.
JOHNSON
I don’t believe it. It’s probably
a placebo, maybe sugar and water—
DAVIES
I’ve seen it work. They showed me.
Takes five, maybe six minutes.
It’s miraculous, Robert. And I’m
sure that this is the last of it.
Davies replaces the vial into his pocket.
JOHNSON
Well, what are you going to do
with it?
DAVIES
I don’t know. Wait and see what
happens.
JOHNSON
Shouldn’t you tell someone?
DAVIES
Yeah. I just told you.
JOHNSON
I mean somebody in charge. Admiral
Copley should know. Under the
terms of the Covenant, the USS is
required to aid even Al T’Har—
DAVIES
After what I saw today I don’t put
much faith in the Human Covenant
of the United Star Systems and its
Allies.
JOHNSON
Then what will you put your faith
into?
Davies scratches his nose and runs his finger across his
lips before answering.
DAVIES
I don’t know.
AUTOR'S COMMENTARY:
I don’t know what to think of this scene. I like some of the
dialogue, and I feel it’s probably the single most important
scene for character development. Nonetheless, it feels like
nothing actually happens in the scene beyond the revelation
that Davies has the cure. Much of it is just Jack telling
Robert what the audience and readers already know. That
said, I hardly have the heart to cut much of it out or
really rework it, as I discovered in editing. One of the
biggest changes between this story and Gemini’s Redemption
is that in Triumvirate Davies and Johnson fundamentally
disagree. In earlier versions of the story the two are
either torn apart by chance or by necessity. In an attempt
(hopefully successful) to make this story more character-
driven, I force the characters soon to choose whether they
will fight together or part ways. In order to cast the
difficulty of this choice into clear relief I first have to
do two important things: establish that these two are close
friends, and furthermore establish that they see the world
in very different ways. At this point it seems that Johnson
is far too trusting of the USS than his friend. On the
contrary, however, I feel that Johnson is just more
realistic and more mature than Davies. Jack has a naïve good
versus evil view of the world. Johnson realizes, I think,
that sometimes good people do very evil things. Johnson is
also more in control of his feelings, as I’m sure you’ve
seen. This is not to say that he’s cold and emotionless. No,
indeed, he’s pretty assertive and lets his feelings be
known. Davies, on the other hand, is rather passive-
aggressive. This will become increasingly clear.
One last thing I’ll note: the cure was introduced in this
version as a MacGuffin. I could never really justify in
earlier versions of the story why so damn much attention is
focused on Davies and his knowledge – so this time I armed
him with something more than knowledge. It needn’t be a
cure, necessarily; what’s important is that it’s something
people want and will do almost anything to get. Quest and
conflict flow from that.
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