Ghost Signals, Episode 2: Part 2.3
CUT TO:
The big screen which shows a bearded aqua blue-green humanoid in their own bridge named Rigo. He's dressed like a cowboy crossed with a 19th century English rogue.
RIGO (Southern accent) This is Rigo Rog'hers, of the Yartican Deep Space Unit. You're trespassing or sovereign Yartican territory. Are you friend or foe?
RAIVEN Friend or f--? (chuckles) I mean no ill will. The name's Raiven O'Ozahl. I'm here with a crew purely on a scientific expedition.
RIGO For what purpose is this expedition?
RAIVEN Exploration, the basic bits of discovery. I'm not looking to attack you or anything--we're looking for the origin spot of Signals--
RIGO (interjecting) If you're an exploratory mission, what the hells are you doing with a full weapons compliment?
RAIVEN (nervous chuckle, into defiant) We have to keep ourselves safe in case we encounter hostile forces on the way. Ya know- like I'm being subjected to now...
RIGO Was that lip I'm hearing? (Raiven says yes with a shrug) Thought so. Prepare for boarding and incarceration.
The picture flicks off, leaving Raiven and the rest of her crew to figure out what had just happened.
RAIVEN (to Pilot) ...Punch it!
PILOT (contending) Will do, ma'am. But can I ask why you insulted him just now? Our weaponry is nowhere close to being sufficient for the job.
RAIVEN A thin tolerance for the pompous. That and a skill for ill-timed statements. Now- punch it!
PILOT Fair enough, mum...
The Pilot presses a few buttons, and shifts into a higher gear; the Yartican ship following a short bit later. We see the ship jerk forward at the same moment to coincide with the higher speed, unsettling the crew members on the bridge.
Through the roller coaster-like twists and turns taking place, we see Raiven making her way (through slow and stumbly steps) to the Pilot.
RAIVEN Any...better...so far?
PILOT Well, we're not particulate matter. But they're still tailing us hard. So- somewhat better.
RAIVEN Switch to...Z-Fac 4. Now!
Before the Pilot could finish the command, a massive explosion violently shakes the interior of the bridge that sends the good Doctor tumbling to the floor; sparks flying from multiple sections of the bridge including the Comm section.
PILOT (weak) ZPack's down...reg engines are operational, albeit barely.
COMM Comms are down...
RAIVEN (pained, struggling to get back to her feet) I thought the shielding on this rig was top shelf.
RADAR Not when who we're up against is sporting an arsenal equivalent to an A-Class Cutter.
RAIVEN Which is important how...? (sighs, shakes it off) Never mind! So we're target practice basically? Grand! (gets a brainstorm as she stands back up) Wait a tic...
She turns her attention to the Pilot.
RAIVEN (Cont., to the Pilot) Can we detach the ZPack somehow, even with the damage it's had?
PILOT It'd be extremely dangerous, but- doable. (to Raiven a beat later, realizing the question's hidden meaning) At best, it'd leave us stranded in the middle of nowhere once the engines flatline. At worst...we'd be dead.
RAIVEN Not great either way. But I'd rather die heroically than in a bett'n jail cell.
PILOT (nods) Okay, then...initiating detach now.
With as much strength and energy as he can muster, the young Pilot presses the necessary buttons on the console to detach the engines.
PILOT (Cont.) Engine's away...
A five-count is spent as the surviving crew people, including Raiven, wait on baited breath for the response. At the six count, Radar glances over at the screen upon hearing a high-pitched screech coming from there.
RADAR (scared) Oh shite! Massive energy surge from one of the ship's coming--
The bridge explodes in a big ball of white, enveloping everyone inside it. We hear the screams faintly for a fraction of a second before it's seemingly paused by the sound of a commanding voice off-screen.
GEE_AHM (V.O.) Halt test...
CUT TO:
Lieutenant Gee_Ahm appearing from a hidden door seemingly cut from the entirely bright white scene; the entrance closing immediately behind her as she speaks. It's at this same moment that you can see the holographic simulation return to its original office configuration bit by bit.
GEE_AHM (Cont.) That was an- interesting tactic, Doctor.
RAIVEN (stuck in a frozen pose, save for her mouth; to Gee_Ahm) "Interesting." My experience, that word's rarely followed up by anything good.
We move to a side shot of the Lieutenant speaking on her way to Ms. O'Ozahl, following the rest of her corrective thought; the scene around her following the same transformation as before, including some of the "crew members."
GEE_AHM (explanatory and correcting) No, it's good in this context. I've rarely seen an applicant engage in such a...cavalier maneuever during their test. It was quite humorous!
She chuckles a little over a second and a half, stopping just in front of the good Doctor; the setting now primarily returned to the prior office layout, except for the section where Raiven is frozen in.