Lyssa Thorne's
Science Fiction Novels
Double Dragon Ebooks
RAGING VENGEANCE
EPISODE 18 – RETALIATION
BY: LYSSA THORNE
ACT 1
FADE IN:
Sannaro felt the pain blossom in his body again, although it was a lot less, like the terrible energy had stopped coursing through his body. He groaned and tried to move, but he felt resistance. He opened his eyes and looked down at himself. He was sitting in a chair with thick ropes tied around his chest.
More rope tied his hands and feet together.
He stressed his bonds a little and found they were firmly wrapped around his wrists.
He looked around and saw a dim large dirty room with a lot of metal shelves and work tables. Tools were strewn all over the tables.
FILP
Fausa!
SANNARO
Houk, we landed right into a trap. The whole landing pad was electrified.
FILP
That was brutal. Why?
Sannaro extended his telepathy to scan his surroundings. His head reeled and he groaned.
SANNARO
Rage.
FILP
What?
SANANRO
I sense so much rage here.
FILP
Great, and we’re at their mercy. I told you it was useless to try to talk to them.
SANNARO
So why did I get a message to come?
Filp looked across the room to a dark framed door.
FILP
I have a feeling we’re about to find out.
A tall dark human with dark hair stepped into the room.
BOB
My guests are awake.
FILP
This is how you treat your guests?
BOB
Only Astrisi guests. God, Sanna, you've grown a whole lot since I last saw you!
SANNARO
Do I know you?
BOB
Of course you know me, son. I worked with your father. Bob Werner? You’d look just like your father if you’d had his hair and eye colors.
SANNARO
You invited me here for a discussion about the attack twelve years ago. Why do you have me tied up?
BOB
Why are you with the Astrisi? I was shocked when I heard the news from Belvas that they found you with the Astrisi! They attacked our town and burned it to the ground!
SANNARO
I was burned too!
FILP
Your cheating foreman stole our fuel and wouldn't give it to us! We were only trying to survive!
Werner slapped Filp across the face.
BOB
You filthy murderers! Do you know how many people died that day?
FILP
And if we hadn't taken our fuel, our whole ship would've plunged from orbit and crashed across this mudball of a planet! My people and yours would've died!
BOB
You expect me to believe you, you cheating space gypsy? I've been working twelve years to build fighter ships to destroy you for what you did to us!
FILP
So you attacked our ship? Why did you sell us parts to fix our engine?
BOB
So I could take you down and keep you here. That commander of yours will be waiting for her parts to come and she won't expect us to attack again! We'll take that goddamn ship by surprise and blow it apart!
SANNARO
Please, listen to me.
BOB
Why should I? You've been brainwashed by your captors, Sanna.
SANNARO
Then why did you send me a message to come here?
BOB
I just sent it to you to get you here so I could punish you for turning on us! Your father would be disappointed with you, boy.
SANNARO
You don't know how my father would've thought.
BOB
Oh, how disgusting it is for me to see a nice boy I once knew acting like filthy space gypsy.
SANNARO
Like you’re a paragon of virtue, yourself!
A younger man with dark hair entered the room.
SANNARO
Tim?
TIM
Hello, Sanna. You're looking well.
Bob Werner went to the door and stopped beside Tim.
BOB
I'm going to prepare the ships for the next attack now that they can't get their repair supplies.
Bob Werner left the room.
Tim turned dark stormy eyes to Sannaro.
TIM
How can you bear to live with the people who killed your family? I'd hate it.
SANNARO
Tim, you don't understand.
TIM
I don't want to!
Tim pulled up a sleeve of his brown shirt and showed a mess of lumpy scar tissue.
TIM (CONT.)
Look what they did to me!
SANNARO
That's how I looked right after I was healed. I've had extensive reconstructive surgery to repair my burns. I'm sorry you didn't get to have the same treatment.
Tim rushed over to Sannaro with his face a scary mask of hatred.
TIM
You're sorry? You're sorry?!
They did that to us!
SANNARO
And if a kind Astrisi hadn't stowed me on the Kumani and had my burns healed, I would've been another among the dead! Tim, I had third degree burns on my legs and chest! I was told there was no power in Bristol for several days after the fire!
TIM
Then you should have died!
SANNARO
Thanks for the welcome home.
Tim cringed.
Sannaro looked at the ceiling and blinked back the tears.
Tim walked up and pulled up a little of Sannaro's shirt.
SANNARO
The Astrisi healed me and gave me full reconstructive surgery. My scars are concealed, but I still remember them.
Tim scowled and released Sannaro's shirt.
SANNARO'S VISION
He was drawn to his image in the mirror and was alarmed to see that the skin on his neck and lower part of his chin was twisted and lumpy. Sannaro raised his hands up to his lumpy chin.
YOUNG SANNARO
Oh no, I’m ugly! My skin is ruined!
ADARA
It’s okay, Sanna. Look again. Look at your face from the upper lip and above, it’s not ruined and Zhad has promised that he will do surgeries to make your skin look smooth again.
Sannaro looked in the mirror again and saw that Adara was right about the rest of his face, but the scars still bothered him.
BACK TO WERNER'S ENGINEERING SUPPLIES – REGALIS
TIM
Stop sending your mind pictures, Sanna. I don't want to see them. We'll make the Astrisi pay for what they did.
He stormed from the room.
SANNARO
I can never repay Zhad for what he did for me.
FILP
They didn't take the aftermath well. And from what Werner said, he's planning to attack the Kumani again.
Sannaro filled with anger and pulled roughly on his bonds.
FILP
You think you're going to snap these ropes just with raw strength?
SANNARO
We've got to escape! We can't let them attack the Kumani again!
Sannaro looked around the room for anything he could use to cut the ropes.
FILP
What do you think you're doing?
SANNARO
Trying to formulate a plan of escape.
FILP
You? Come on, you're just a kid, what do you know about escaping a kidnapping?
SANNARO
Filp, can't you give me a break sometime? I did free the Kumani from Arlington's pirates, doesn't that count for anything?
FILP
You crawled through the access tunnels like a little kid and slipped behind Arlington! Only kids play in the access tunnels!
SANNARO
I was a kid! But I defeated Arlington! I sabotaged the flight decks so they couldn't bring in reinforcements!
FILP
That was a good plan and it was why I gave you your junior pilot sash but you're still inexperienced. Just calm down and let me think.
Sannaro reluctantly settled down. He saw a tool on a table that looked interesting. He hopped his chair toward the table.
FILP
Fausa, why can't you settle down, Sannaro?
SANNARO
I can’t settle down. I’m getting cramps from being tied to this chair. I need to get free.
The inner door opened. Sannaro stopped. Tim was frantically looked around the room to find where Sannaro had moved. Tim rushed over to Sannaro and popped him in the ear.
TIM
Haven't you learned a damned thing? Haven't you learned a damned thing?
Tim pinched the top point of his ear.
Sannaro screamed and arched his neck.
He closed his eyes and shuttered.
TIM
God, Jake was right! Your ears can't stand to be touched!
SANNARO
Damn it, Tim, stop!
Tim heaved Sannaro's chair to topple on its side.
Sannaro banged his head against the floor.
Tim pressed his foot on Sannaro's ribs as he bent over with raw rage on his face.
SANNARO
You used to not be like Jake. I used to sense sympathy from you.
TIM
That was before they burned me! I hate them! Why don't you hate them, too? Why?
Tim kicked his foot into Sannaro's ribs before he brought his foot back down to the floor.
SANNARO
Because Aldinon and Arlington let my father be sick! They let him beat on us! They chased me under your porch and threatened to hurt me unless I promised them I wouldn't tell anyone they were stealing fuel during the night! They stole the Kumani's fuel and tried to accuse the Kumani of stealing the fuel! Arthur Aldinon and Roger Arlington forced the Astrisi to burn our town!
Tim kicked Sannaro in the stomach.
TIM
You goddamn liar!
SANNARO
I don't lie. It's all in the Saili public records on the incident. My father was sick. That's why I have dark blue hair and dark blue eyes. It's a Saili disease called Gonkacha, seranimite poisoning. Tim, research the incident. Read through the testimonials, including those that just happened a few years back on Belvas. You'll see I'm not lying. Arlington and Aldinon disappeared after the fire because they didn't want to be arrested for stealing the fuel.
Sannaro wearily put his head down on the floor.
TIM
The Kumani still caused the fire. Dad and I are going to make sure the Kumani never does anything like that again.
EXIT TIM
FILP
Well, that was interesting. He just pinched your ear and you howled like you were being tortured to death.
SANNARO
The nerves on my ears are very sensitive to pressure. They send and receive telepathic impulses.
FILP
Like antennae?
Sannaro nodded.
FILP
So any disruption on the nerves and it hurts like hell?
SANNARO
Houk.
FILP
So you're telling me when Di'eta put her sash around your ears, and made you fly that sim, you were in pain?
SANNARO
Houk. Fausa, I wish I could get off the floor.
FILP
Sorry, can't help you move. I'm kind of tied up right now.
SANNARO
Ha, ha.
FILP
So was he one of your friends?
SANNARO
Not really. No one was really my friend here. They distrusted my telepathy. Thought their private thoughts would be violated if they got near me like I was some sick mental voyeur. I really don't like to look into people's minds too far. I have my own thoughts and feelings to deal with without getting into theirs, but Tim didn't beat on me and steal my toys like Jake Arlington did. My best friend was actually a stray cat.
FILP
A stray cat?
SANNARO
Yeah, he called himself Nightwalker because he was good at hunting in the night.
FILP
You talked to a cat?
SANNARO
With telepathy, I can do things like that, although he couldn't speak Basic. He could think of images to express what he wanted to tell me.
FILP
Were you really chased under a porch and threatened not to tell about the thefts?
SANNARO
Oh, it's terribly true. You know my claustrophobia?
FILP
Houk, you refused to go into that box I brought to get you unseen back to the Kumani several years ago on Belvas.
SANNARO
When I'm faced with tight dark places, I remember cowering under that porch with Aldinon and Arlington thinking about beating me senseless for seeing them stealing that fuel. Arlington even thought about killing me. I was terrified.
FILP
Your father should've stayed on Sailia. It would've been better for you.
SANNARO
My father was curious about humans. He wanted to see how they lived. The mining company boxed him in quickly to keep him in the mines because our thick muscles make us good heavy laborers.
FILP
That’s beyond argument. You do have some impressive muscles for a kid so young and the gravitational forces you can endure are enviable. Your flight records say you've pulled eight-g dives without loosing consciousness. The reports I get from the engineers that work on your Vizha'i say you stress your equipment almost to maximum.
Loud roaring engines screamed above their heads and faded into the sky.
FILP
They're launching. Fausa, I wish I could warn the Kumani they're coming back.
SANNARO
Maybe I can.
Sannaro closed his eyes and concentrated.
SANNARO (PSI V.O.)
Cherna?
CHERNA (PSI V.O.)
San, is that you? Where are you? You're way overdue to return! Did your discussion last longer than you thought?
SANNARO (PSI V.O.)
Nui, it was a hoax to get me down to Regalis and capture Filp and me so we couldn't get the supplies to fix the engine.
CHERNA (PSI V.O.)
Fausa, we need those repair supplies.
SANNARO (PSI V.O.)
We don’t have much time. The fighters are returning. They're going to try to blow up the Kumani now that she's crippled from the first attack. Warn Lazha and ask her to deploy a larger force this time to combat the Werner Group.
CHERNA (PSI V.O.)
They're coming back? We'll be ready for them this time. I'll tell Lazha.
SANNARO (PSI V.O.)
Fa'arata, ko'ia. Be careful.
CHERNA (PSI V.O.)
I will.
He broke the connection with her and groaned.
SANNARO
I just spoke with Cherna. She's telling Lazha about this attack.
FILP
You just talked to Cherna in orbit?
SANNARO
It was a bit of a strain, but I did.
FILP
All the way from here, you used that telepathy of yours and just started speaking to Cherna and she to you and you told her about the second attack?
SANNARO
Houk, I can because we have a permanent link to one another. It's easier to link with her than anyone else.
FILP
Because of that marriage link thing everyone's been talking about since you and Cherna returned from Belvas?
SANNARO
That's it.
FILP
I don't even pretend to understand all that. It's so alien.
SANNARO
It's part of me, part of being Saili. I don't quite understand it all either, but I know it's real. That's enough. I'm tired of laying here!
Sannaro growled then increased to a roar. He yanked his arms out quickly.
The ropes groaned.
SANNARO
I'm tired of this!
He pulled harder.
The rope groaned louder then snapped.
He pulled the ropes from around himself and untied his feet. He staggered to stand and pushed his wet hair behind his ears. Then he staggered over to Filp and untied his bonds.
Filp looked at him with his eyes wide.
FILP
How did you do that?
SANNARO
Like I said, mining companies like Saili for their bulkier muscles because they make good heavy laborers. I'm stronger than a human. The bonds were probably weakened from all the times I pulled on them.
FILP
Let's get to the shuttle and get back to the Kumani.
Sannaro followed Filp outside to the landing tarmac where their shuttle was still parked.
SANNARO
Stop, Filp, the energy field's still around the shuttle. We go in there, we'll be paralyzed with pain again.
Filp looked around near the warehouse.
FILP
We have to shut it off.
Sannaro went to the wall and began to look for some kind of switch. Filp went the other way and met Sannaro at the landing pad again.
FILP (CONT.)
I didn’t see a cut off switch.
SANNARO
Neither did I.
Sannaro went back to the power grid and wandered the perimeter.
FILP
What are you doing?
Sannaro stopped when he felt a throbbing below his feet.
SANNARO
Wait. I feel something.
He moved along the grass, staying centered on the pulsations all the way to the wall.
FILP
What's this, some kind of telepathy trick?
Sannaro stopped at the wall and noticed a wire that ran from the ground into the wall.
SANNARO
There it is.
He grabbed onto the wire and pulled. He shook his fingers to ease the pain.
SANNARO (CONT.)
It's down.
Filp carefully put a foot on the ramp. When nothing happened, he rushed up into the shuttle. Sannaro rushed in after him and leapt into the co-pilot's seat.
END ACT 1
ACT 2
INT – SHUTTLE -AFTERNOON
FILP
That was some strategy, to follow the electrical pulse to the source.
SANNARO
Brain waves are electrical impulses. That's what my ears pick up. It's not that hard to follow an electrical wire if I want to.
FILP
That has some uses.
SANNARO
It can.
Filp grinned impishly as he glanced over to Sannaro.
FILP
Until someone pinches your ear.
Sannaro winced.
FILP (CONT.)
We're breaking from the atmosphere. Shuttle 5 to Kumani, we're returning home.
KI'EL
Houk, shuttle 5, approach with caution. We're in battle alert status.
FILP
I know. I want to get there and take out those bastards. Shuttle 5, out.
As they came closer, they saw the odd randomly shaped fighters locked in battle with the sleeker white and red Vizha'i.
FILP
Hang on, kid. I'm going to have to do some fancy flying to slip through the skirmish line.
SANNARO
I've got the armament ready. I'll shoot anything that gets near us. You just fly us home.
FILP
Houk.
Filp flew the shuttle above the skirmish, hoping to go around.
A fighter saw them and flew out to intercept.
Sannaro opened his batteries on the ship.
It danced to avoid the volleys and closed in on them.
A Vizha'i followed to fight their attacker off.
The attacker opened fire on their shuttle.
Filp banked starboard and avoided the volleys.
Sannaro fired back and clipped the attacker's wing.
It wobbled furiously before it was brought back under control.
The Vizha'i swept toward the attacker and they began the dance.
Filp flew the shuttle through and dove for the retrieval deck of the Kumani.
FILP
Shuttle 5 to Kumani, I'm coming in. I don't care which entry corridor. I'm just coming in fast and furious.
KI'EL (V.O.)
Houk, Shuttle 5.
Filp dove into the entry corridor and slammed on the brakes.
Sannaro braced himself against the reverse energy.
The shuttle managed to stop right above the lighted rectangle, only a few hundred meters away from the crash wall.
Filp lowered it down.
FILP
Shuttle 5 to Kumani. We're on the platform. Lower us down.
FLIGHT CONTROL (V.O.)
Houk.
The platform gave a loud clang and they lowered through the floor.
Sannaro sighed.
FILP
What? You didn’t think I could do it?
SANNARO
Nui, it only shows why you’re the Senior Vizha'e.
The lift clanged into the floor.
Filp raised the shuttle off the lift and hovered it to the parking space.
Filp quickly shut down the system and opened the hatch.
FILP
I'm going to join the fight. You get to your Vizha'i too, kid.
Filp ran down the ramp and sprinted forward to the Vizha'i flight line. Sannaro ran down the ramp to the elevator.
Sannaro was still impatiently waiting for the elevator to take him to the Lower Flight Deck. Finally, the door swept open and he sprinted toward his locker. He pulled on his flight suit and jammed his feet into his boots. He strapped his air tank on his back and clipped his pistol belt around his waist. He threw his dirty clothes into his locker, gulped down two Catowsh tablets for his headache, grabbed up his helmet and slammed the locker closed.
Sannaro ran onto the flight line and skidded to a halt at his Vizha'i.
SANNARO
My Vizha'i ready to fly?
KLES
Houk, San.
Sannaro leapt up the ladder and launched himself into the cockpit. He jammed his helmet on his head and locked it.
The ground crew locked him into the harness and almost didn't withdraw fast enough to be hit by the lowering canopy.
SANNARO
Yellow Five, ready for launch.
FLIGHT CONTROL
Houk, Yellow Five, engaging pulleys.
Sannaro felt his ship pull forward to the lighted rectangle. The lift was lowered to the launch deck and locked into the catapult.
The cat crews checked his landing gear, saluted him and ran back to the safe area.
Sannaro watched the red light. He was getting impatient when it finally turned green and he was pushed against his seat. He jammed the engine ignition button and he roared out into space. He banked starboard and opened his ship full throttle toward the skirmish.
He focused his eyes on something flashing above him. He checked his scope.
It was a bogy sweeping in toward the Kumani.
A Vizha'i was on its tail, speeding to catch up with the bogy.
He opened his ship at full throttle and leapt toward the bomber. When he was near enough, he opened fire with all his batteries.
He slammed the bomber once.
It wobbled.
He slammed it twice.
It turned to engage him, but it was sluggish.
Sannaro shot it again.
It exploded.
TIM (V.O.)
No!
A bogy broke off from the group and flew toward him.
Sannaro turned toward the bogy and flew toward it.
Just as it opened fire on Sannaro, he banked and did a sideways roll to come in at his attacker's three o'clock.
The bogy followed and they flew side-by-side for a while with Sannaro a little forward. The bogy flew across his contrail and opened fire.
Sannaro dove in an inverted loop and came in below. He fired. Sannaro’s bolt hit a glancing blow across his opponent’s undercarriage.
The fighter rolled around and opened fire on Sannaro.
Sannaro wobbled, but a shot dug a trench across the starboard side of the nose of his ship and sliced off the tip of his wing. His ship lurched into a roll. He fought to regain control as his ship flew toward Regalis.
A short ways away, he saw his bogy was in a similar fight with his own systems and Regalis' gravity was dragging them down.
SANNARO
Yellow Five to Kumani. Mayday, system's damaged. Falling toward Regalis.
FLIGHT CONTROL (V.O.)
Houk, Yellow Five, good luck. We'll send a rescue shuttle as soon as possible. Kumani, out.
Sannaro continued to fight with his controls to level the ship out while he tried to ignore the dizzying view beyond his cockpit. Instead, he concentrated on leveling out his damaged ship. In a barrel roll like this, he didn't dare separate his drive section from his cockpit because the two could collide and he'd explode.
He felt his ship bump the stratosphere and then plunge through.
The resistance slowed the spin.
Sannaro fought his controls and leveled out, but he was plunging toward Regalis at an alarming speed.
He opened a recessed panel and pushed the button.
He was slammed forward as the cockpit pushed away from the drive section. He pushed another button for the engine to explode in the air so it wouldn't destroy anything on the ground.
He pulled up to level with the ground and applied his brakes.
He felt some resistance, but they weren't firing well.
He leveled off to parallel the ground.
Suddenly, he felt a bump from his starboard and heard a screech of metal against metal.
He looked to his starboard side and there was the damaged attack ship locked with his Vizha'i.
Sannaro fought his controls to break away from the ship, but they were locked.
The ground sped up to meet them.
Sannaro pulled his arms into the harness and pressed them into his chest. He pulled his legs against the seat and watched with dread as the ground dominated his view outside the canopy.
They hit the ground.
Sannaro's ship careened away from the attack ship and tumbled fore over aft four times, then slammed to the ground.
He looked around him and saw spider web cracks cover his whole canopy, but it remained intact. He saw the sky through the canopy and sighed with relief.
He popped the canopy and it swung up. He unlocked his harness and pulled it over his head.
He carefully stood up and climbed out of the wreckage. He unlocked his helmet, pulled it off and clipped it to his left side.
A laser bolt flew too close past his head and singed his hair.
Sannaro dove to the ground and low-crawled to an outcropping of rocks.
TIM
Damn you, Sannaro Damirateyak, you killed him! You killed my father!
Sannaro pulled out his laser pistol and returned fire.
SANNARO
Damn it, Tim, don't you understand? There are people on the Kumani I care about! My wife's up there fighting to keep your damned fighters from destroying our home!
TIM
Your wife?! You married a goddamn Astrisi? You're sick!
SANNARO
I'm sick? You've been spending years building shit ships to destroy a ship that's home to five thousand people! The Bristol Camp fire only killed, what, twenty, thirty people and you want to murder five thousand for it? My foster sisters weren't even born when the Bristol Camp fire happened. Why should they die because you're angry at Belso? Belso died six damn years ago!
TIM
The Astrisi murdered people we loved!
SANNARO
I sure didn't love Aldinon and Arlington for chasing me under your porch and threatening to kill me if I didn't promise I wouldn't tell anyone what they were doing the night before the Astrisi came to Regalis! There was corruption in that camp and it killed us, not the Astrisi! Damn it, Tim, words aren't adequate for what I have to tell you!
TIM
You're not merging minds with me, Saili! Keep the hell out of my mind!
SANNARO
Is that all I am to you? Just a goddamn Saili you have to push away? I have feelings too, Tim. I don't want to go deep into your mind! I have problems of my own without reading yours. There's just more to what happened here than you know or want to admit! Don't you see you’re so blinded by hate, Tim? You don't have to be like this!
TIM
But the pain of the burns!
SANNARO
I know the pain of being healed of severe burns. I was burned worse than you were. I can't describe the agony, but I know what you went through. Please, listen, Tim. Listen to the Astrisi side of the story. Listen to my side of the story. I promise I won't use my telepathy and use words.
TIM
Too many people died, Sanna. Too many people I cared about died.
SANNARO
And why were we living in slat-wood houses with no heating or cooling in the age of interstellar space travel? Why were we going without pay weeks at a time, scrambling for money for food? Why couldn't we afford to see a doctor? Why didn't anyone realize my father was insane and that I didn't look like a normal Saili? Why didn't we all own computers and work from computers at school? Why didn't our school have a cafeteria so we didn't have to go home to eat? Was that the right way to live? The mining company kept us in goddamn mud-rolling poverty, Tim! They didn't give a shit about us! They just wanted our fathers to mine their goddamn seranium so they could keep their spaceships flying! We couldn't even afford to have damned hover cars!
TIM
But it was our life.
SANNARO
My father wanted to leave Regalis, but he couldn't because we were too in debt to the company. I didn't like living on Regalis because Jake wouldn't stop beating me up. I was planning that when I turned ten and developed my bulkier body, I'd beat the shit out of Jake and a few of the rest of you too for treating me like shit. Little Sanna wasn't going to stay little, and I'm sure as hell not little now! I killed your father and if you continue to shoot at me, I'll kill you too!
TIM
God, Sanna, I didn't know you were that mad at us!
SANNARO
I was mad at every goddamned person in that town for the lying maneuvering fuckers you were. Arlington and Aldinon were stealing fuel to sell on the black market so they could have money for their families to live on while the rest of us went hungry. The Astrisi got me out of that goddamn mud hole. They healed me thoroughly and didn't ask for any money from me for doing it! They gave me a home with loving foster parents who gave me anything I asked for! I had three friends who'd risk anything to stay my friends, even to the point of risking their lives for me. Why shouldn't I love them? I can talk to them telepathically any time I want to and be greeted with love and admiration. You want to take that away from me, Tim, and I won't let you. Have your all consuming hate, but you come after the Astrisi again, I will kill you.
Another laser bolt whizzed past.
Sannaro ducked just as it exploded a chunk of rock near his head.
He pushed away from the rock, feeling nauseous. He dropped to his hands and knees.
Tim stood up and walked to Sannaro.
TIM
Yeah, I heard about that Saili sickness. Seranimite poisoning makes Saili sick to their stomachs.
Sannaro surged from the ground and struck Tim's gun hand with a sucker punch.
The weapon flew through the air and Tim shook the pain from his hand.
Sannaro backhanded Tim across the face.
Tim spun and fell to the ground. He scrambled to his feet and ran.
Sannaro dropped back to the ground and held his pounding head. Something slick trickled across his lips. He touched them and his glove came away covered in slick yellow. He was bleeding from his nose. He wiped his face with his sleeve.
A streak of gold glistened across his arm.
He stood up and staggered away from the broken rock.
SANNARO
I'm going to hunt you down and kill you, Tim!
He scanned the empty terrain around him for Tim's mental signature. He found it and began to follow it.
CHERNA (PSI V.O.)
San, please stop. There's no need to kill Tim.
SANNARO (PSI V.O.)
Nui, he's going to pay for what he did to me! All the beatings in school.
CHERNA (PSI V.O.)
You're graduated from school! It's the Gonkacha! Don't let Gonkacha rule you!
SANNARO (PSI V.O.)
No, Tim's going to pay in blood!
He pulled his laser pistol out of his holster and continued to follow Tim's mental signature across the mostly flat plateau.
SANNARO
Come out, Tim! You're dead meat for exploding seranimite in my face!
TIM
Shit, Sanna, calm down!
SANNARO
You had your chance, Timothy! Now you pissed me off! You still think I'm that harmless little kid? I'm not!
TIM
God, your insane!
SANNARO
I told you seranimite makes Saili insane! You exploded seranimite in my face and now you have an insane Saili with a goddamn laser gun after you. How you like it now?
SANNARO (V.O.)
Insane? I don't want to be insane! Stop this, get back into control!
TIM
Sanna, I did like you! It's just that father told me to be careful around you because of your telepathy!
SANNARO
And you listened to him? I was lonely, you brain-dead idiot! Everyone either beat the shit out of me or left me lonely! Don't you think for yourself or did your dad always tell you how to think?
TIM
I was just a kid.
SANNARO
And so was I - a lonely kid.
Sannaro felt he was getting near Tim. He slipped quietly around an outcropping of rocks and leveled his laser point-blank at Tim's head.
Tim looked up with raw terror in his eyes.
TIM
How did you find me?
SANNARO
I'm a telepath, you idiot. Your mental signature was easy to follow through this wasteland of simple animal minds.
Tim stood up shakily and held up his hands.
TIM
Come on, Sanna. You were a nice kid.
SANNARO
Nice kid, yeah, I was and all I got was beat on. It’s time to pay for every beating I got from everyone on this stinking planet.
TIM
God, I didn't realize seranimite poisoning was so dangerous! Sanna, don't kill me.
SANNARO
Why the hell shouldn't I?
He looked up at Sannaro with terror in his eyes.
Sannaro holstered his pistol and locked it in.
SANNARO
You know what? I think it's time to repay you for every damn beating Jake ever gave to me.
Sannaro crouched into a martial arts stance and waved for Tim to stand up.
Tim shook his head vehemently.
Sannaro closed in and kicked Tim in the ribs.
Tim flipped onto his back.
Sannaro closed in again.
Tim raised his arms before his face.
Sannaro grabbed Tim’s arms, pulled him off the ground and slammed his knee into Tim’s stomach. Sannaro raised Tim into the air and rolled him over his shoulder.
Tim hit the ground hard and remained on the ground as he gasped for air.
CHERNA (PSI V.O.)
San, this isn't the way!
SANNARO
Cheri?
He looked around, but there wasn't anyone but Tim and him.
TIM
Who's Cheri, Sanna? Is that your wife?
Sannaro shook his head.
TIM
Oh God, Sanna, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have exploded the seranimite.
SANNARO
Too late, get up, Timothy.
Tim threw dirt into Sannaro's face.
As Sannaro clawed at his burning eyes, Tim stood up and ran.
Sannaro homed in on Tim's mental signature and sprinted after him. He leapt into the air and tackled Tim's legs. He sat up and cracked Tim across the back.
Tim screamed and reached for his back.
Sannaro felt his nose bleed again. He arched his back and pressed his hands to his face.
SANNARO
You apologize for blowing seranimite in my face then you throw seranimite dirt into my eyes! You asshole!
TIM
You are crazy!
SANNARO
No, I don't want to be insane!
Tim scrambled away from him.
Sannaro pulled his gun out again and pointed it at Tim again.
SANNARO
You shouldn't have attacked the Kumani. Belso died six years ago. You hear me? Six years ago! Roger Arlington killed him for killing Jake. He became a goddamn pirate, stealing from anyone to get what he wanted, just like he did when he lived at Bristol. You're all a bunch of goddamn pirates.
Sannaro leveled his laser again.
SANNARO (CONT.)
And I hate pirates.
CHERNA (PSI V.O.)
San, stop. Don't do this.
SANNARO (PSI V.O.)
Cheri, I don't know why I'm doing this. My head hurts so bad it feels like it could explode.
CHERNA (PSI V.O.)
Think through this, lover. The other fighters have been defeated. Tim's been through as much as you have. Does he really deserve to die?
Sannaro shook his head violently.
SANNARO
Your attack group's destroyed, Tim. You've lost.
Tim's eyes teared and he looked around.
TIM
Sanna, you're right, the mining company were bastards. And I guess the rest of us were bastards to you too. I didn't realize you'd become so damned strong. None of us knew.
Sannaro lowered his weapon. He wiped the blood from his nose again.
SANNARO
I wanted a friend just like anybody else. I'm a person, too. I have feelings.
TIM
So that guy, Belso, you said started the fire, he had you healed and reconstructed?
SANNARO
Yeah, he said too many people died that day and he didn't want me to be another one of them. He was sorry for how it went, Tim, he really was, but Astrisi aren't very good at trusting worlder police. I admit that if Belso had just allowed the police to come investigate why his stun bolt killed my father instead of stunned him, maybe the police would've realized Aldinon and Arlington were stealing the fuel. Belso regretted that decision to blow the computer till the day I saw him gunned down by Arlington.
TIM
God, you scared the shit out of me, Sanna.
SANNARO
I scared me too. Is that how my father felt?
Sannaro sank to the ground.
SANNARO (CONT.)
Oh God, no wonder he beat on us. I couldn't control myself! I've got to get off this planet!
Tim backed up.
TIM
Sorry, Sanna, I'm not going to wait around for your Astrisi friends to find you.
Tim turned and ran.
SANNARO
Tim, don't repeat the mistakes of the past! Face what you've done to the police!
Sannaro stood up and followed Tim again.
END ACT 2
ACT 3
EXT – SALT FLATS - DAY
Sannaro walked on for a while more until he felt dizzy. He sat on the ground and held his head.
CHERNA (PSI V.O.)
San, where are you? I'm here on Regalis near your wreckage with Hadah. We need to find you.
SANNARO (PSI V.O.)
I'm looking for Tim.
CHERNA (PSI V.O.)
Don't kill him, San. You don't need his deliberate death on your conscience!
SANNARO (PSI V.O.)
I know, lover. I want to convince Tim to go to the authorities.
CHERNA (PSI V.O.)
Come to us. We'll help you.
SANNARO (PSI V.O.)
Okay.
He doubled back to the wreckage.
He saw Cherna, rushed over and hugged her.
Hadah glared at Sannaro.
HADAH
San, this is a hostile environment for Saili, why do you have your helmet off?
Cherna took his arm and looked at the glossy streaks.
HADAH
San, this is a hostile environment for Saili, why do you have your helmet off?
Cherna took his arm and looked at the glossy streaks.
SANNARO
San, why are there green rings under your eyes and blood on your sleeve?
HADAH
Houk, you don't look well, my friend.
SANNARO
For one thing, it's the Gonkacha, it's coming out of remission and I don't have my helmet on because it's harder to use my ears to sense a mental signature with my ears covered.
HADAH
Gonkacha's out of remission? We need to get you out of here right now!
SANNARO
Not until I talk Tim into going to the authorities. This has got to stop.
CHERNA
You're sick, San!
SANNARO
I know I'm sick! I'm sorry. Let's just find Tim and get this over with.
Hadah pulled his pistol.
Sannaro turned to him as anger swelled in him. He felt energy crackle around him.
HADAH
Are you going to mind-slam me, Sannaro?
Cherna jumped in front of Hadah.
CHERNA
Don’t slam him, San!
Hadah pushed Cherna to the side and leveled his pistol again.
Sannaro dispersed the energy.
SANNARO
Hadah, do you distrust me that much that you'd fire on me?
HADAH
You're sick, San. You need medical help.
SANNARO
I know I do, but no one else can find Tim as fast as I can. Could you give me that much more time?
Hadah continued to target on Sannaro.
SANNARO (CONT.)
Please, Hadah? What happened here has to end! I need this nightmare to end!
Hadah lowered his weapon.
HADAH
Okay, San. I'll let you find Tim, but Cherna and I will be with you in case you lose control again.
SANNARO
I want you with me.
Sannaro reached his telepathy out and scanned for Tim's mind again. He found Tim and walked toward the mental signature.
Cherna walked by his side with worry radiating from her.
He looked at her and gave her a half smile.
CHERNA
I feel your aching head. It's effecting your ability to think. Are you sure you want to do this?
SANNARO
This whole problem with Regalis began when we wouldn't go to the police about the problem. I really think to stop this cycle, we need to stop taking things on ourselves and demand the police do something about the people we have disputes with. Tim needs to turn himself in to the police and admit he and his father were conspiring to destroy the Kumani.
HADAH
What if the police don't think they did anything wrong?
SANNARO
Then why aren't the police attacking the Kumani if they think it's okay to attack the Astrisi? They allow us to stop here for fuel. I think the Astrisi may find they have more support than they think they do.
HADAH
That takes a lot of trust, San.
SANNARO
Since I was a child among the Astrisi, I was told the Astrisi are interdependent with the worlders to buy supplies that can't be made or grown in the limited space of the ship. If we alienate the worlders, who can we buy supplies from?
HADAH
That's a good argument.
SANNARO
Instead of pushing the worlders away, we should work with them for our continued survival. That begins with exercising our rights as visitors to a world to not be attacked by its' citizens.
Sannaro crouched down.
Tim was near.
He stopped near a cluster of rocks and scanned around.
Cherna yelped behind them.
Sannaro turned to see her being dragged behind another cluster of rocks.
Hadah leveled his pistol, then shook his head in frustration and lowered it.
Sannaro rushed at the boulders. Just ahead, he saw Cherna's boots being dragged into a cave.
TIM
This cave has raw seranimite in it. You come in after her, you suffer!
SANNARO
No, let her go! Stop this, Tim!
Sannaro stepped toward the mouth of the cave.
HADAH
You're crazy if you go in there!
SANNARO
Hadah, tomorrow's my twentieth birthday! Cherna and I will be allowed to be intimate! I'm so close to having what I ache for. I need her!
HADAH
I know, son. But it won't help if you get so sick, you can't be with her. You can't go in there.
Sannaro freed his helmet from his pistol belt and pulled it on. He locked it and heard the air hiss on.
SANNARO
I can now.
Hadah and Sannaro rushed into the cave.
Sannaro saw Tim with his arm around Cherna's throat.
Cherna was unconscious.
TIM
You come any closer, I'll kill her.
Sannaro pulled his laser out again.
TIM
You come any closer, I'll kill her.
Sannaro pulled his laser out again.
SANNARO
Tim, don't do this. Have you lost all feeling toward anybody? It's over. Turn yourself in to the police.
TIM
The police? Astrisi never go to the police. Kill me, damn it. I know you want to so do it!
SANNARO
Why would I want to kill you, Tim? You can't harm the Kumani any longer.
TIM
I'll kill her!
SANNARO
You can't kill her before I shoot you and I'll only stun you. Give up, Tim.
TIM
No, you killed my father! I have nothing left!
SANNARO
Come on, Tim, we're only in our twenties. There's so much life to look forward to.
TIM
You have something to look forward to, but I don't. Don't you understand, my father's plan for vengeance was everything? It was our whole life!
SANNARO
That's sad. You need help, Tim. If you turn yourself in, you'll get that help and maybe regain some hope for the future. You're holding my future in your hands. I won't let you hurt her, but I'm not going to kill you either.
TIM
You're the last person I ever thought would be in control, the wimpy little Saili.
SANNARO
Am I wimpy now?
TIM
No, god, you're so muscle-bound and strong.
SANNARO
Then let my wife go and surrender.
Tim released Cherna's throat.
Sannaro walked over and picked her up in his arms. He hugged her close to his chest.
Hadah pulled his weapon and trained it on Tim.
SANNARO
Don't attack Hadah, Tim, he's one of my commanders and he's better than I am.
Tim slumped his shoulders, stood up and walked out of the cave.
Sannaro followed Hadah out of the cave and walked behind them to the shuttle. He wished he could take his helmet off. He preferred his head free of containment.
Half way to the shuttle, Cherna stirred in his arms. She opened her eyes and looked up.
CHERNA
San?
SANNARO
Houk, it's me.
CHERNA
I like you better outside of full battle gear.
SANNARO
So do I.
He set her down on her feet again.
HADAH
San, I'd rather you stay fully contained. With all the seranimite around here, I don't want you sicker than you are already.
Cherna took Sannaro's hand.
They walked back to the rescue shuttle and entered it.
Hadah made Tim sit in a seat.
Sannaro pulled off his helmet and clipped it to his side again. He sat down a few seats away and trained his laser at Tim.
Cherna turned Sannaro’s face to look at her and kissed him deeply on the lips before she joined Hadah in the cockpit.
TIM
So this is it. You're handing me over to the police?
SANNARO
That's right. We're entitled to our survival and you threatened our survival.
TIM
Damn, I don't know you anymore, Sanna.
SANNARO
Twelve years is a long time. We're no longer children, Tim. When we do wrong, we have to face the law. You need to learn that. Being angry is all right, but taking your anger out with intent to kill innocents isn't all right. The Astrisi have already paid for attacking Bristol Camp. They aren't entitled to be punished again just because you're angry. My wife was only five when it happened. She didn't do anything to our town. Now you need to learn to contain your anger.
TIM
You kill and it doesn’t seem to bother you.
SANNARO
I’m a trained member of the Astrisi militia, similar to Human Allied Defense Force. If you threaten the existence of the Astrisi, it’s my job to stop you.
They landed again in Saratoga.
Cherna and Hadah led Tim out while Sannaro followed behind.
A crowd of humans gathered around the shuttle, talking among themselves.
HADAH
We need a representative of the police.
MAN #1
What's this? Astrisi asking for the police? I can't believe it.
SANNARO
Believe it.
Another man in a blue uniform stepped through.
SHERIFF
I'm the Sheriff of Saratoga. What do you Astrisi want?
HADAH
We want this man arrested for being a part of a conspiracy to attack and destroy our ship the Kumani.
SHERIFF
Conspiracy takes more than one man.
HADAH
The rest were killed in two skirmishes.
SHERIFF
We've been watching the battles above us. We’ve been waiting for the Defense Force to get here and intervene. I guess you settled it before they got here. How about the ships that crashed?
SANNARO
That was my ship and Tim Werner's.
SHERIFF
So that's what Bob Werner was doing with all those parts and his so-called Survivor's of Bristol Camp group?
HADAH
Yes, they were conspiring to destroy the Kumani. We know Regalis has held some anger toward us for the Bristol Camp fire. We regret what happened. What we did wrong was in not seeking help from the police to resolve our conflict with the Bristol Camp. Sannaro, a survivor of that fire asked me to bring Tim Werner to you so we can ask that the laws of Regalis end the attacks on the Kumani. We don't want to kill anyone, we just want to buy fuel for our ship and live to visit other worlds.
SHERIFF
Well, then I guess I'll take Tim Werner into custody.
The man walked up the ramp and took Tim's arm.
SHERIFF (CONT.)
Thanks for being so cooperative. Uh, you're the leader here?
HADAH
I am.
SHERIFF
Would you come to the station to fill out the paperwork?
Hadah stepped down from the ramp.
HADAH
I will. San, will you and Cheri be all right here?
SANNARO
We'll be fine.
Hadah went with the Sheriff.
A young man stepped up.
KEN
Sanna Damirateyak? I thought you died.
SANNARO
Kenny Togahashi?
KEN
Hey, that's right, but it's Ken now. You're looking remarkable for being splashed by a laser hitting the ground.
SANNARO
You're looking good, too and I'm San now.
KEN
Did you know your sister Varanani lived?
SANNARO
I know. I met her again a few years ago.
KEN
You should see Bristol Camp now, it's nothing like it was back before the fire.
SANNARO
Thanks, Ken, but my life isn't here anymore.
KEN
Yeah, you're looking as sick as your old man. I know just what you need. By the way, I'm a medical doctor now. Can I get that injection for you? It will take away your symptoms and put your Gonkacha back into remission.
Sannaro sank down onto the ramp wearily.
SANNARO
I would appreciate that.
Ken rushed back through the crowd.
Cherna sat down beside him and laid her head on his shoulder.
Sannaro groaned and held his head.
CHERNA
Maybe you should lay down in the shuttle?
SANNARO
Ugh, I just want to lay down and die.
Ken rushed back through the crowd.
KEN
Sanna, I mean San, I need you to take your shirt off so I can get to your shoulder. That jumpsuit looks quite tough and I'm afraid it will compromise the medicine.
SANNARO
Cherna, help me get my air tank off?
Cherna released his pectoral straps and helped him slide the tank off his back.
He took the neck of his suit and pulled it out to his shoulders.
Cherna helped him pull the stretchy fabric down to his waist.
Ken walked up the ramp plunged the injector into his arm.
Sannaro hissed at the burning fluid that entered his muscle.
SANNARO
Thanks, Ken, I'm already feeling better.
KEN
Wow, San, you sure have become quite a fit man. Even for a Saili, you have quite an athletic body. Not that a lot of Saili come around here anymore after discovering Gonkacha. Oh, and look at all that skin grafting! You're a walking work of art! Your surgeon was brilliant! Only a trained eye would see it!
Ken looked at Sannaro's back, then at his front again.
KEN
I can barely see where the grafting was begun. Beautiful work.
Sannaro blushed.
Cherna brushed her hand down his arm.
CHERNA
He looks beautiful to me, too.
Sannaro flipped his hair into his face and pulled his flight suit back on again.
KEN
Ah, she likes you.
SANNARO
Uh, Ken, meet my wife Cherna.
KEN
Nice to meet you, Cherna.
SANNARO
So if you knew how to do skin grafts, why didn't you offer to help Tim Werner?
KEN
I offered, but his anger was too deep and his father said he couldn't afford the procedures.
SANNARO
A shame, he didn't have to live with the scar tissue.
KEN
I became a medical surgeon to help those from Bristol who were still scarred from the fire. The company doesn't get away with keeping their miners in abject poverty any longer and are willing to pay for some reconstructive surgery on burns sustained from that fire. The Werners only wanted to keep the scars to fuel the fires of their hatred.
SANNARO
I'm sorry Tim lost himself in that hatred.
KEN
You fared better than many of us, yet you had the most reason to be angry at us with the poverty, the beatings, your illness no one thought to wonder about.
SANNARO
So you read all the reports?
KEN
Yes, even the ones that came out several years ago about you and the Astrisi. I have looked for the answers for many years to explain that fire. The reasons are many and dreadful. The mining company was shameful for how they treated their workers. Aldinon and Arlington turned to criminal behavior because of the poverty and caused the Astrisi to turn on the camp and spark that dreadful fire that burned our badly made homes rapidly. My father was a big voice against the company during the investigation on the fire, but very little had to be said when the forensic scientists came and studied the fire. Their reports were scathing about the poor quality of the housing we'd lived in. What really upset those of us who survived was that lonely Saili girl who cowered in the corner, wailed your name and no one answered. No one knew how you disappeared, but they knew you were critically injured.
SANNARO
I was on the Kumani being healed. A lonely widow took me as her own because she had no children. I grew up as an Astrisi then years ago, I was discovered by the Saili and taken to my uncle's house. We fought because I was too strange. Then a Saili social worker tried to wipe my memory. I barely escaped him and his serum nearly killed me. To protect me from further harm, my uncle told me to run away and return to the Kumani. So I stay with the Kumani to protect myself from my own people.
KEN
That is very sad. I've heard Gonkacha are having trouble being accepted by the normal Saili.
SANNARO
Hadah's returning. We have to go. Thank you for treating my Gonkacha and returning it to remission.
Sannaro stood up again as Hadah stepped up the ramp.
HADAH
San, you're looking a whole lot better.
SANNARO
Thanks to this doctor, he had a Saili medicine to treat my Gonkacha and return it to remission.
HADAH
Thank you My friend was suffering badly.
KEN
I know how much he was suffering. I couldn't leave him untreated. Good luck, Sannaro Damirateyak.
SANNARO
Good luck to you, Doctor Kenneth Togahashi. Please continue to spread the truth on Regalis. The Astrisi mean no one harm as long as they don't attack us.
Sannaro walked up the ramp into the shuttle, sat down and harnessed himself.
Hadah and Cherna walked into the cockpit.
SANNARO (PSI V.O.)
Cheri the days almost over! Zero one sixteen, come soon! Oh, I can't wait to love you!
CHERNA (PSI V.O.)
Contain yourself, San! We still have the evening to get through and you've been through hell today!
HADAH
Are you two talking telepathically again?
CHERNA
San can't wait until his birthday tomorrow.
HADAH
Really, San, your birthday's tomorrow? Well, ha tana ateakili!
SANNARO
Fa'arata, Hadah.
Hadah piloted the shuttle off Regalis to return to the Kumani.
FADE OUT.
THE END.