Act 4, Scene 1
Narrator: It starts as an ordinary day for Jack Merrol – check the irrigation ditches, run off any Carr ne’er do wells from his father’s ranch outside Trinity River. His mind couldn’t be further from the fate of the town itself.
[radio blares as truck rumbles through the desert scrub]
[Jack whistles]
[Scans the airwaves on his truck’s radio]
Jack: I like this song, I’ll keep it here.
[loud pops in the direction of the town]
Jack: Eh, it’s probably just another barfight.
[phone type thing rings]
Jack, picking it up: This is Jack.
Elba: Jack.
Jack: Who’s this?
Elba: My name is Elba Ochoa. Listen carefully if you want to survive the next few hours. What you’re hearing…well, it isn’t good. All your questions will be answered when we get you to safety.
Jack: You have my attention, ma’am.
Elba: Good. Go to the south irrigation ditch very quietly. We’ll meet you there.
Jack: Will do.
Elba: Bring the truck.
Narrator: Jack Merrol did as he was told. He backtracked to the south and the sky grew very dark. Jack Merrol was rarely afraid, but something about this darkness was enough to terrify him. It was as though night had fallen when he finally reached the end of the south irrigation ditch.
Elba: Stop. Kill the headlights. Let us in.
Jack: There’s room in the back.
[They enter]
Elba: Pleased to meet you. I’m Elba. This is my colleague, Hanno.
Jack: I can’t see you, but I’m pleased to meet you.
Elba: That’s okay.
Jack: Is the Empire causing this?
Elba: Worse.
Jack: What would be worse than the Empire?
Elba: Someone who wants the Empire and the Rebellion extinguished. Do you know how to get to Sunday?
Jack: Uh, yeah. Two days’ drive to the northeast if ya really push it. Used to run goods up there. Can stop in Adrianople for supplies. Got friends there and a little cash.
Hanno: I know that town. That might actually be a good plan.
Elba: Good, ‘cause I don’t. Let’s hit it.
Act 4, Scene 2
Narrator: Elba, Hanno, and Jack reach Adrianople eight hours later under cover of darkness. There are neither stars nor moon in the sky and visibility is getting worse and worse. The trip that should have taken them four hours took them eight. They arrive to find the city on lockdown. Nobody is out on the dark streets, which are growing colder by the minute. Hanno leads them through the streets seemingly instinctively, looking for…something.
Hanno: Left.
[Truck trundles along]
Hanno: Right.
[more truck sounds]
Hanno: Turn right here on Spenard. Alright, disembark, people. And quick.
[They leave the truck and follow Hanno]
Hanno: Get in here!
Elba: You’re sneaking us into a cellar?
Hanno: Mhmm.
[They go into the cellar]
Narrator: The trio enters the cellar, only to realize that they were interrupting some sort of planning session. Hanno knows the people, though, and they know him.
[clattering]
Elba: Sorry, gentlemen –
Hanno: Shhh. [they fall silent]
Hanno: Tell me about a complicated man.
[boys go quiet]
Hanno: I said, tell me about a complicated man.
One boy, clearing his throat: Muse, tell me how he wandered and was lost, when he had wrecked the holy town of Troy, and where he went, and who he met, the pain that he suffered in the storms of the sea, and how he worked to save his life and bring hDis men back home.
Another boy: He failed to keep them safe; poor fools, they ate the Sun God’s cattle and the god kept them from home.
Third boy: Now, goddess, child of Zeus, tell the old story for our modern times.
All: Find the beginning.
Hanno: Satisfactory.
[Boys groan]
Hanno: It seems that a lot of this is happening. There are a hell of a lot of men, women, and friends here that just want to go home.
[First boy raises his hand]
Hanno: Yes, Klaus?
Klaus: Does that mean the Rebellion made the deep jump?
Hanno: Klaus, if you’re going to get a degree, you’ve gotta be smarter than this. Do any of you pay attention to the outside world? Any of you at all?
[A boy shyly raises his hand]
Hanno: Yes, Aden?
Aden: Um, I know a thing or two about this darkness.
Hanno: Really? Enlighten us.
Aden: Our instruments detected a large anomaly near Sunday, which is rapidly spreading throughout the entire world.
Hanno: And what’s in Sunday?
Aden: He calls himself Nobody.
Hanno: Ah, a man after my own heart.
Aden: He’s in a cave, Professor.
Hanno: Now that’s just not fair. Shouldn’t he be a cyclops, then?
Jack, very quietly: What in the name of Old Earth are they talking about?
Elba: You never know with Hanno, but if I had to guess, it’s about going home, saving the world, killing a bunch of people, science, or some mixture of these. Oh, and Earth literature references. That’s what I think this is.
Jack: Oh…okay.
[boys jabber]
Hanno, rubbing hands together: I think we’ve come to a consensus.
Elba: ….what is it?
Hanno: We’re going to Sunday.
Elba: Wasn’t that our plan anyway?
Hanno: Yes, but we’ve put it to a vote to see if we should go into the cave.
Elba: Wasn’t that our plan anyway?
Jack: I knew nothing of this plan.
[Elba sighs in annoyance]
Elba, mockingly: Hey, Elba! What’s the plan, Elba? I don’t like this plan. Can we do this plan that is exactly like the damn plan you just came up with? Damn it. You got any wine in this blasted cellar?
Jack: Could use some of that myself.
Hanno: Just cheese.
Elba: Fine..what kind of cheese?
Hanno: Aden, bring out the cheese.
[Aden leaves and brings out enormous bottle]
Hanno: Cheese Mead.
Elba: Cheese…. Mead?
Hanno: Cheese is the family who made it. Of course it’s normal mead, though.
Jack: I’ve actually had some of that. That family lives a bit away from the ranch.
Hanno: See? Nice mead. Aden, cups, please.
[Cups are set down on the table]
[Cups are filled]
Hanno: Careful –
[Elba knocks her glass back]
Elba: That was good.
Jack: I’ll take some.
[Jack knocks a glass back]
Jack: So good.
Aden: Want some?
Hanno: I can’t drink.
[Elba and Jack pass out cold]
Hanno: Let’s make them comfortable. They’re gonna need the sleep.
Narrator: Jack grew up drinking Cheese Mead and has built up more of a resistance to it than Elba has. He isn’t out for long. He sneaks out of the room where they have been placed and goes back to the main part of the cellar.
Jack: Hey, um, are y’all gonna use my truck to get to Sunday?
[the group nearly jumps out of their skins]
Hanno: Yes.
Jack: Then shouldn’t I be included in the plan since I’m the driver and all?
Hanno: Fair. Sit down with us.
Jack: Alright. [cracks knuckles] What’s the drill?
Act 4, Scene 3
Narrator: Back at the December Base, darkness has fallen. Three days have passed. As it gets colder, they burrow into their tents and create shelters. Kira sits alone in her tent and Theo comes to visit her.
[Kira is twirling fire in one hand and electricity in another.]
Theo: What do you have here? Oh.
Kira: Fire in ice, funny, isn’t it?
Theo: I’ve seen stranger things.
Kira: Like Grandfather?
Theo: Yes.
Kira: Why are you being so nice to me again? You have no idea how long I’ve looked for you. I wanted – still want – you to join me so we can find the jewel fragments and rule together.
Theo: I think you’re wrong.
Kira: What do you mean?
Theo: About what side you’re on. Why don’t you join me? Us?
Kira: Because – because I don’t know how.
Theo: You’ve found me, haven’t you?
Kira: Yeah…
Theo: That’s half the battle. Now you need to find yourself.
Kira: How?
Theo: Look at your hands.
Kira: What about them?
Theo: Fire. Electricity. We’re special people, Kira.
Kira: I’ve spent so long holding these powers in.
Theo: What do you mean?
Kira: You know how they rounded up people in Grandfather’s time and killed them if they had special powers?
Theo: Yeah?
Kira: I had to hold mine in or else I’d look like a hypocrite.
Theo: You cared about looking like a hypocrite?
Kira: I may be hot-tempered and rash, but I am a human being.
Theo, after a long pause: I see. Show me what all you can do.
Kira: I’m still learning, but here’s what I have.
[Kira gets up and goes outside]
[Noise like a flamethrower]
Theo: Kira…you just melted a ton of snow.
Kira: Also, look at this.
[crackling sounds]
[Kira shapeshifts into Theo]
Theo: Damn. Do you sound like me, too?
Kira, in Theo’s voice: Hell, yeah, I do.
[crackling sounds again]
[Kira turns back to Kira]
Kira: I think I can do whatever I see and hear. I heard those aliens talk in their language and then I could understand them. Your dad sounds…
Kira and Theo: Like a library.
Kira: And that’s how I learned to fight. I can be anything I want to be.
Theo: That’s interesting. What do you know about the cave dweller?
Kira: Nothing good.
Theo: Tell me more.
Kira: Your cousin and her friend the Prince can smell the future. I picked it up from them. One of us is going to die in exchange for the first jewel fragment. He has it. We have to go.
[pop]
[Loud truck noises]
[muttering]
Elba: Damnit! Now where are we, Merrol?
Jack: Sort of close to December.
Elba: December?! That’s almost to the North Pole! Does your truck have any decency?
Jack: Not really. She goes where she wants. It’s a miracle we got to Adrianople.
Elba: I don’t believe it.
[Elba sighs]
Jack: I guess she wants to be here. Might as well take a look around.
[They get out of the truck and trudge through the snow]
Elba: We didn’t pack our coats. I wish your blasted truck would have given us a warning before sending us headlong into the tundra!
Balasi: Who’s there?
[Points flashlight at the squad]
Balasi: Elba??
Elba: Quit pointing your flashlight in my eyes! I can’t tell who you are.
Balasi: I’m your dad. Your mom is here, too.
Elba: Dad???
Balasi: Yes! Who all is with you?
Elba: Hanno, a guy from Trinity River named Jack, and Jack’s possessed truck..
Balasi: Jack Merrol?
Elba: Yeah?
Balasi: Oh, no.
Act 4, Scene 4
Narrator: A few days before the events that just transpired, the ranches outside Trinity River were in an uproar. Jack Merrol, de facto heir of the Merrol ranch, went missing. The town proper had been destroyed, it was snowing in the middle of the desert, and most of the townsfolk did not own a single winter coat. But most importantly, Jack Merrol was missing. A manhunt ensued.
Mrs. Merrol: I’ll betcha the Carrs took ‘im.
Mr. Merrol. Bring Joseph Carr in here, please.
[men drag Joseph Carr into the room]
Mr. Merrol, polishing his pistol: Mr. Carr, what do you have to say for yourself?
Joseph: All I seen’t were two kids dressed in black at t’ south ditch ‘fore the dark came. I weren’t there after that.
[Mr. Merrol slaps Joseph]
[Footfalls]
Gabby Trin: Mr. John Merrol!
Mr. Merrol: Yes-yes, ma’am?
Gabby Trin: I understand that you hate the Carrs, Mr. Merrol. But they work for me and are my friends. I will not allow anyone to mistreat those in my circle. Leave the room. I’ll handle this myself. Need a hand, Joseph?
Joseph: Yes.
[Gabby Trin helps Joseph up]
Gabby Trin: I see you, John. I said to leave.
Mr. Merrol, cocking pistol: I’ve had enough of your meddlin’ ways, Gabby. Get out of my house.
[pistol fires]
[Mr. Merrol screams]
[pistol falls]
Mr. Merrol: My hand!
[Gabby Trin walks over to Mr. Merrol]
[Gabby steps on his hand and he screams again]
Gabby Trin: May I remind you that this is not your house, Mr. Merrol? You rent from me. I’ve had enough of your cruelty. I have had enough of your bad manners. I have had enough of you, John. If I hear of another incident, it won’t be your hand that I shoot. Am I clear?
Mr. Merrol: Yes, ma’am.
Gabby Trin: Get up, Mr. Merrol. We got a crazy to catch.
Act 4, Scene 5
Narrator: It’s the sixth day of total darkness. Elba has been reunited with her mother and father, Theo and Simon continue to find time for each other, and Kira is learning quickly. Tired of feeling useless, Bel decides to spar with her. He’s been trying to muster up the courage to ask her to spar. They’re outside and winding down after rebuilding the treehouses.
Bel: Um, hey, Commander.
Kira: Yeah, General?
Bel: Wanna..you know…fight?
Kira: I thought you’d never ask.
[they square up]
[Kira punches him so hard that it sends him skidding across the camp]
[He comes running after her and grabs her]
Bel: Got you now.
Kira: Or do you?
[sizzling sounds]
Kira, flatly: You’re on fire, Bel.
Bel: Don’t call me that.
[swats fire away]
[Kira head butts him]
[Bel crumples]
A 13th legion person: Hey, General just got his ego served to him on a silver platter.
2nd legion person: That’s the Supreme Commander, right? Why is she even here?
Chaplain: People change.
[they jump]
Both 13th and 2nd: Chaplain – didn’t see you there –
Chaplain, laughing: She’s changing more than you runts ever will. Beat it. Coal!!
Simon, in the distance: Yes, Chaplain?
Chaplain: Bring your Hero over here. I’ve got an idea.
[Simon and Theo appear]
Theo: What’s up, Chaplain?
Chaplain: You and Kira seem evenly matched. She took Jason down in three moves. Why don’t the two of you have a fight?
Theo: I don’t really wanna fight right now –
[rock buzzes Theo’s head and Theo narrowly avoids getting hit with it]
Kira: Hey, Theo! Let’s fight!
Theo: Okay, fine. But don’t ever throw a rock at me ever again. Si, hold my jacket.
Simon: Sure, love.
[Running sounds]
[sonic boom as they take off]
Chaplain: Somebody get a light on them!
[Light is moved into place]
Chaplain: Wow, they’re really far up there.
[Crowd oohs and ahhs]
[boom as Theo comes crashing down into the ground]
[crowd falls silent]
[Kira touches down]
[Crowd is still silent]
[Theo coughs]
Theo: I’m good, I’m good.
[Kira lifts Theo up]
[crowd goes nuts]
Act 4, Scene 6
Narrator: The cheers and fun last for hours and Kira manages to slip away. She’s craving a drink and asks around for one. By some miracle, she gets ahold of wine and has a glass. Bel finds her on a treehouse platform high in a tree dancing. Ballroom dancing.
Bel: Excuse me? Am I interrupting something?
Kira: No, I was just dancing.
Bel: By yourself? With no music? Where’s the fun in that?
Kira: Who else would I dance with?
Bel: Wouldn’t you have your pick of any soldier in your Imperial army?
Kira: None of them knew how to dance. Nobody would dare to dance with me anyway. None of them are here in any case.
Bel: Ahem, I can dance.
Kira: Oh, can you?
Bel: Yes, Commander. I was a big fan of it in my day.
Kira: Call me Kira, please.
Bel: Then I insist that you call me Jason.
Kira: Fine…Jason..that does not sit well on my tongue.
Bel: Then, if you must, call me Bel.
Kira: That sounds alright enough.
Bel: What kind of music do you like to listen to, Kira?
Kira, embarrassed: Orchestral music from Earth. Musicals, also from Earth. I told one of my aides to make the Tunnel City “shine like the Chrysler Building” and she had no idea what I was talking about. I only know the translations, of course…
Bel: Isn’t that from Annie?
Kira: You know about Annie? That’s my favorite musical!
Bel: Of course I know about Annie. I learned your language by watching that same translation.
Kira: And let me guess, you only had to see it once to know the language, but you liked it enough to watch it 6 times?
Bel: Um…yes.
Kira: I knew it!
Bel: Cheater! It doesn’t count as knowledge if you steal it from someone else’s head.
Kira: That’s called using my resources, Bel.
Bel: Well, I’m a terrible resource.
Kira: I wouldn’t say that.
Bel: Really? Your sister –
Kira: I’m not my sister. Let me make that clear.
Bel: Okay –
Kira: I’m not your wife, either. I’m me.
Bel: Thank you. I appreciate that. My point stands, though.
Kira: Maybe. Let’s see how well you dance. May I have this dance…Jason?
Bel: Absolutely, Kira. How about a little music?
[Bel taps pin]
[Bel whispers something]
[waltz fades in]
Kira: Oh, Originals, is that…?
Bel: Yes. Shall we?
[Kira and Bel dance to romantic waltz]
Bel: How did I do? Was I satisfactory?
Kira: More than. Come sit, have a drink with me.
[Kira pours two glasses of wine]
Bel: You had a glass for me?
Kira: I knew you’d come up here.
Bel: Thank you. Wow, this is delicious.
Kira: Yeah, I agree. Want more?
Bel: Sure. Cheers.
Kira: Cheers.
[They clink glasses together]
Kira: What’s your…homeworld like?
Bel: War-torn. There’s been fighting there for centuries, but Alpha Sun rising over the Outlying Islands with Beta Sun right behind it is…amazing.
Kira: Wow. I want to go there someday.
Bel: I’m sure you will.
Kira, yawning: I’m tired.
[She leans onto Bel, who is very surprised]
Bel: So am I..
[Kira snores softly]
Bel, to himself: I can’t just leave her here – she’ll freeze – would it be appropriate to take her with me? – Ah, to hell with it, up you get.
[he scoops sleeping Kira up and carries her to his tent]
Act 4, Scene 7
Narrator: Kira is dreaming. She’s at the High Keep in the south of the world where she has spent most of her life. Her father is still alive and her mother is still there. Kira herself is a small child. This is a recurring nightmare she’s had for years.
Falcon: Johana!
[Johana shushes Kira]
Kira, very quietly: Yes, Mommy.
[Footfalls as Johana comes out]
Falcon: Johana, I am very…disappointed in you. You know, I cut your tongue out for a reason..
[Johana breathes heavily]
Falcon: Did you hear me? I said I cut it out for a reason. This man you seem to like…you know he can’t understand someone as foolish as you, right? It’s your fault you can’t speak. It’s your fault you spoke out of turn. And now the child you carry…is it mine? Or the burned man’s?
[Johana’s breathing quiets]
Falcon: ANSWER ME!
[Falcon slaps Johana]
[Johana falls to the floor]
Kira, to herself: ENOUGH.
[Kira screams]
[Lights start popping out]
[Ground rumbles]
[Kira cries and screams]
[things settle after a time]
Kira: You. Do. Not. Get. To. Hurt. Mommy. Anymore.
Falcon: This is where you’re wrong. [laughs]
[Falcon picks Kira up and starts to drag her out of the room]
[sizzling sounds]
[Falcon screams in terror and tries to drop her, but Kira hangs on]
Falcon: Let go of me, you….you monster!
[Kira sobs as she clings on, engulfing her father in flames]
[Falcon screams and cries in pain]
[Johana runs]
Act 4, Scene 8
Narrator: Kira Eistros wakes in Jason Belisarius’ bed. The darkness still hasn’t lifted, so she has no idea what time it is. Bel himself is humming outside his tent.
Kira, frightened: Wh-Where am I?
[Bel hums]
Bel, smile in his voice: Kira!
Kira: Bel, where am I? What time is it?
Bel: You’re…well, in my bed. It’s 11.
Kira: AM or PM?
Bel: AM.
Kira: Still no sign of the sun?
Bel: No, ma’am. You slept through the night. Are you comfortable?
Kira: Yes…had a nightmare.
Bel: Tell me about it?
Kira: It’s the reason…the reason I hate myself. The reason I held everything I had in for so long.
Bel: What’s the reason? You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to…
Kira: You know how when you’re little, you believe what you’re told?
Bel: Yeah…?
Kira: I saved my mom when I was about 5. She was pregnant with Theo, actually… My father was hitting her and saying all sorts of things…so I kinda lit him on fire for it.
Bel: You…wow.
Kira: What?
Bel: That’s…that’s impressive, is all.
Kira: It gave her time to escape, it gave me a life sentence. I was groomed to be my dad’s heir, but was also taught that my powers were…bad. I heard it enough times to start to believe it for myself. I started to relate to my Grandfather..very powerful himself, but intent on destroying all else in his path in order to make a better world…a better world. What a concept.. I think he tried to cope with his own fragility by taking his anger out on an entire world and calling it the “greater good”. Why else would you do such a thing? People who hurt others are always in pain themselves. I would know. [deep breath] Coming here has really changed my perspective. I want to fix what I’ve broken…
Bel: As long as you’re willing to change, there’s still time. There’s still hope.
Kira: I am.
Theo, distantly: I need Marsh!
Chaplain, also distantly: He died in December.
Theo: Marsh doesn’t die. He can’t.
Cormand: On the contrary, he can. But he respawns.
Theo: Where?
Cormand: The Cavern of the Gods. We don’t know exactly where it is.
Kira: I’ll be right back, Bel. Thanks for listening. [louder] Hey! I do!
Theo: Wait. Tell me more.
Kira: Where Grandfather dethroned Etchea the twin. I know all about that.
Theo: Where is it?
Kira: It’s near Sunday.
Theo: What do you mean it’s near Sunday?
Kira: Exactly what I said.
Theo: Why didn’t you tell us before?
Kira: Because you didn’t ask?
[Theo sighs]
Theo: What’s the quickest way you know to get us to Sunday?
Kira, to herself: Master of the Blackness and she doesn’t know how to teleport…
Kira, louder: A’ight, folks, I can take five people to scope out the cave. I’m not taking more because I don’t want a…well, never mind. Who volunteers?
Theo: Me, of course.
Terra: Me.
Simon: Where she goes, I go.
Johana: I’m coming with.
Basil: Me.
Kira: That’s six passengers. I said five.
[All of them glare]
Kira: Fine. You have an hour to grab your weapons and then we head out. Am I clear?
All in party: Yes, ma’am.
Kira: Good. [sighs]