Dreamsongs. Volume II Read online

  SERGEANT

  He was a good man once.

  (shrugs)

  Things’ll be better once we’re moving again. Heading south.

  Behind her, Walsh LAUGHS derisively.

  WALSH

  Yeah? When will that be, sarge? Tomorrow? Day after, you think?

  (beat)

  Face it. We’re never moving south. We been here eighteen months. We’ll die here.

  WOMAN SOLDIER

  The Captain says as soon as the weather breaks…

  WALSH

  Nothing’s going to break around here but us. We’re out of ammo, out of fuel, and sooner or later we’re going to run out of food. We’re all dead men.

  He EXITS the mess tent, followed by two other men who obviously agree. A grim silence settles.

  TOM

  Your vehicles…that tank, the hovercraft…

  SERGEANT

  (wearily)

  The big floater died eighteen months ago. That was the last. We have thousands of miles to go, and no transport.

  CAT

  Walk.

  SERGEANT

  Even if we could make it through the blizzards on foot without freezing to death, there’s no way to carry all the food we’d need.

  No one has the heart to say anything more. The faces in the mess tent reflect resignation and despair. The sergeant gets to her feet.

  SERGEANT

  Lake, you’re on sentry duty tonight.

  TOM

  How do you know I won’t just run off?

  SERGEANT

  (bitter laugh)

  And where the hell do you think you’re going to run to?

  DISSOLVE TO

  EXT.—BASE CAMP—NIGHT

  Tom, huddled up in his ragged clothes, rifle slung over a shoulder, walks his rounds as sentry. Tom’s breath STEAMS in the chill night air. He looks cold, miserable, lonely.

  The night is cold and still. The wind howls through the camp. Tom, gloveless, tries warming his hands in his armpits. It doesn’t work. He fumbles in his pockets, takes out his wallet.

  TIGHT ON TOM’S HAND

  as he opens the wallet to a PHOTO of Laura.

  RESUME

  Tom looks at the photograph for a long time. He has come a long way, and there may be no way back. For the first time, Tom is thinking about that. We see the pain on his face.

  Then we HEAR a noise. The sound of motion.

  TOM

  Hello? Who goes there?

  No answer. Hurriedly, he tucks away the photograph and unslings his rifle.

  TRACKING WITH TOM

  as he moves in the direction of the noise. We HEAR it again. A stealthy footfall, from the direction of the snowbound vehicles. Tom creeps along past the old yellow school bus, stops. We HEAR a MUFFLED THUD, a GROAN.

  Tom screws up his courage, RUNS toward the cab of the big floater. Outside, he finds the quartermaster lying in the snow, out cold. He gapes at the unconscious man for a moment. Cat sticks her head out of the cab.

  CAT

  Quiet now, Toe Mas. Making noise loud. Too much.

  TOM

  (surprised)

  Cat, what are you—

  She opens the door, grabs him, pulls him in.

  CAT

  No talk. Inside now.

  INT.—FLOATER CAB—CONTINUOUS

  It looks like the cab of a semi. Cat slides down under the dash, lights a MATCH. She’s inspecting something.

  TOM

  (whisper)

  What are you doing here?

  CAT

  Looking. Seeing.

  She blows out the match, pulls herself up beside him.

  CAT

  Leaving now.

  Cat pushes up her sleeves, shirt after shirt, opens her hand.

  The HOLOGRAM winks on. The world spins slowly between her fingers; alien symbols squirm across the globe; a light flashes in Montana.

  TOM

  Another door? To where?

  CAT

  Out.

  TOM

  (frustrated)

  Out. Out where? How do you know where it leads?

  CAT

  Go through. Find out.

  TOM

  Cat, is there a door that leads back the way we came? Can I get home again?

  CAT

  Not knowing. Maybe. Maybe this door.

  Tom studies the position of the light.

  TOM

  That’s got to be somewhere in Montana. When does it open?

  She lowers her arm. The holo WINKS OUT.

  CAT

  Two days. Going now.

  TOM

  (disappointed)

  It’s too far, Cat. A hundred miles, at least. We’ll be lucky to make ten miles a day on foot.

  CAT

  Not feet. Taking this.

  She touches the controls of the floater.

  TOM

  There’s no power, remember?

  CAT

  Fixing it.

  TOM

  Who? You?

  CAT

  Knowing how. Thane teaching. Power cells.

  It takes Tom a moment to comprehend. Then it hits him.

  TOM

  Power cells—God, yes!

  (grins)

  Cat, I could kiss you.

  CAT

  Not knowing kiss. Going now, kissing later.

  TOM

  (sudden doubt)

  Wait a minute. The food…

  (beat)

  All the food is on the truck. If we take it, these people will die.

  CAT

  Dying anyway. Fast, slow. No matter.

  TOM

  That’s not what you said back in the cave. Remember? You thought life was worth something then, even if it was only a few more days, a few more hours…

  Cat gets a stubborn look on her face. She doesn’t like having her own words thrown back at her.

  CAT

  Different then. Talking us then. Talking them now.

  Tom stares at her, aghast, realizing maybe for the first time how strong her drive for survival is.

  TOM

  They’re people, Cat. Just like us. There’s a baby in that camp not six hours old. A baby I delivered. I’m not going to sentence her to death.

  Cat does not understand.

  CAT

  Leaving now! Going fast!

  TOM

  Then go.

  CAT

  You too.

  TOM

  I’m not going, Cat.

  Cat is furious. Her mouth is set in a grim line.

  CAT

  Yes!

  TOM

  (quiet but firm)

  No.

  They stare each other down. Finally Cat lowers her eyes.

  CAT

  (surrender)

  Not going too.

  CUT TO

  EXT.—CAPTAIN’S HUTCH—NIGHT

  Tom leads Cat inside the captain’s hutch. The windows are all dark, as if the captain were asleep.

  INT.—CAPTAIN’S HUTCH—CONTINUOUS

  The interior of the hutch is PITCH DARK. We can barely discern the figures of Tom and Cat as they pass the windows. Cat is nervous.

  CAT

  Too dark.

  TOM

  Captain? Are you…

  Behind him, a match FLARES to sudden light. The Captain is not asleep. He is sitting up, behind his desk. He has a service revolver in one hand. He lights a candle with the other. The hutch fills with flickering light.

  THE CAPTAIN

  Stay right there. I promise you, this gun is loaded.

  TOM

  We thought you were asleep.

  THE CAPTAIN

  You thought wrong.

  The Captain leans back in his chair. He keeps the pistol pointed at Tom and Cat. Cat’s hand cannon is on the table in front of him.

  THE CAPTAIN

  You two. Odd. I had rather expected Walsh and his friends.

  TOM

  Expected Walsh to�
��?

  THE CAPTAIN

  To try and kill me, of course. The surest way to promotion.

  TOM

  We’re not here to kill you. We want to talk.

  THE CAPTAIN

  Yes. You strike me as the sort of man who is much better at talking than at killing. Now your girlfriend here…

  CAT

  Not my girlfriend.

  Tom is momentarily bemused by the echo.

  TOM

  Close, Cat. But we need to have a talk about pronouns.

  (to Captain)

  Captain, is it true? About the warm place down south…

  THE CAPTAIN

  I knew a man who knew a man who had seen it with his own eyes.

  (shrugs)

  A man needs hope if he wants to keep on living.

  TOM

  Can I show you something?

  The Captain NODS. Tom crosses to the table, picks up one of the spare cylinders, rips the cap off the end.

  ANGLE ON TOM’S HAND

  as he holds up the magazine for the Captain to see. Inside is the red GLOW of the power cell, PULSING with energy. The Captain leans forward, puzzled and curious.

  THE CAPTAIN

  What is it?

  TOM

  Hope…

  The Captain looks at Tom’s face. He puts down his gun.

  THE CAPTAIN

  I’m listening.

  CUT TO

  EXT.—THE MOUNTAINS—NIGHT

  Black sky over still, silent snows. Nothing moves but the wind. Suddenly we hear a CRACK, as loud as a clap of thunder, as sharp as a sonic boom.

  The darklord’s palanquin is suddenly THERE, where there was nothing an instant before. Three surviving manhounds—Thane, Dyana, and the second woman, JAELE—cling to the battered vehicle. The palanquin is visibly damaged.

  Thane leaps down to the snow, light as a panther. The hunt has resumed.

  FADE OUT

  END OF ACT V

  ACT VI

  FADE IN

  EXT.—BASE CAMP—MORNING

  The camp is feverish with activity. Soldiers are digging out the snowbound bus, securing the load in the floater, cannibalizing parts from the jeep and APC for the bus and the floater. A new animation and energy seems to have taken possession of the Captain’s listless little army.

  TIGHT ON CAT

  Upside down under the raised hood of the floater, face and clothing covered with oil, cables running through her hands, her face as intent as a doctor in surgery. She holds out a hand, wordless. The woman soldier, assisting, puts a power cell in her palm. Cat solders it in place.

  RESUME

  The quartermaster, his head wrapped in a makeshift bandage to match the one on his hand, sticks his face out the driver’s side window. He’s excited.

  QUARTERMASTER

  She’s showing a charge! Mother of God, look at it, the needle’s halfway off the scale.

  Cat climbs out, wipes her hands on a rag, NODS.

  SERGEANT

  Try the fans.

  (shouts)

  Stand clear! We’re going to try and lift…

  Soldiers SCRAMBLE out of the way. The quartermaster takes a deep breath, crosses himself, and turns the ignition. There’s a high-pitched WHINE as the floater’s electric turbines catch hold…and then the ROAR of the great fans under the floater as they start to turn.

  LONG SHOT—THE FLOATER

  The floater ROCKS back and forth for a moment. Snow comes SPRAYING out all around it, sending the spectators running. Then, slowly, majestically, the hovertruck begins to LIFT off the ground.

  The soldiers break into a ragged CHEER.

  CAT

  All of a sudden, she’s surrounded by people. They slap her on the back, grab her hand and pump it. She looks lost at first. Then she gets the idea and slowly begins to smile.

  SERGEANT

  One down. Now let’s see what she can do with the tank.

  CUT TO

  EXT.—SCHOOL BUS—HOURS LATER

  The soldiers are filing aboard the school bus, carrying rifles and duffle bags. A crew is at work chaining the bus to the floater. Cat and Tom wait while the Captain talks to the sergeant.

  THE CAPTAIN

  Take the old interstate as far as you can, but stay well clear of Denver. It’s still too hot for safety.

  THE SERGEANT

  Yes, sir.

  THE CAPTAIN

  I should catch up to you by Sunday at the latest. If I’m not at the rendezvous within the week, go on without me. Is that understood?

  SERGEANT

  Captain, we’d rather…

  THE CAPTAIN

  Is that understood?

  (off her nod)

  You keep on going. No matter what. Those turbines could burn out any time. You get as far south as you can.

  Whitmore is about to board the school bus. Her little girl is cradled in her arms, swathed in layers of clothing. She stops to say good-bye.

  WHITMORE

  Doctor…thank you…for everything.

  TOM

  Take good care of her, you hear?

  She KISSES him lightly. Cat watches, frowning.

  WHITMORE

  You too, Cat. Thank you.

  (to Captain)

  I…I wish you were going with us.

  THE CAPTAIN

  I won’t be long. The sergeant will get you through.

  Whitmore nods. She seems awkward, shy. She turns to board the bus…and the Captain speaks up.

  THE CAPTAIN

  Barbara…

  (she stops)

  Could I…hold her?

  She gives him the baby. The Captain takes the infant tenderly, holds her.

  WHITMORE

  She has your eyes.

  The Captain gives her back the infant, and KISSES her. The kiss is tender and affectionate; it lasts a long time. Cat stares openly, curiously.

  TOM

  That’s a kiss, Cat. They’re kissing.

  Whitmore is crying. Even the Captain’s eyes are damp. They break apart with an effort.

  THE CAPTAIN

  Take her someplace warm, love.

  Choked up, unable to speak, Barbara NODS and boards the bus. Tears are rolling down her face.

  CAT

  Kissing hurts.

  TOM

  (smiling)

  Oh, I don’t know about that.

  CUT TO

  THE TOW CHAINS

  The turbines WHINE. The fans ROAR. The floater lifts off the snow. The chains rattle and clank as the slack is pulled tight.

  THE FLOATER

  starts forward. Hovering a foot above the snow on a cushion of air, it begins the long journey south. The chains grow taut. For a moment, the bus refuses to move.

  THE TIRES

  of the bus are frozen into the snow, rimed in ice.

  THE FLOATER

  The whine of the turbines grows higher and faster as it strains against its load. Nothing. Until finally

  THE ICE ON THE TIRES

  cracks, and the big tires begin to roll.

  TOM AND CAT

  watch as the vehicles start to move, very slowly. A window in the bus opens. Walsh sticks his head out.

  WALSH

  Hey, Cat…

  (off her glare)

  You made a liar out of me, pretty lady. I owe you one.

  He tosses his warm, heavy, fur-collared parka out of the window at Cat. She catches it, astonished.

  WALSH

  Keep it. It’s warm where I’m going.

  And then the bus is past. Cat stares after it.

  TOM

  Let’s go. The Captain is waiting.

  REVERSE ANGLE—OVER TOM’S SHOULDER

  to where the huge, battle-scarred tank waits, its own turbines slowly starting to rev. They walk toward it, Cat shrugging into the parka as she goes.

  MATCH DISSOLVE TO

  EXT.—BASE CAMP—HOURS LATER

  The empty hutches and abandoned vehicles sit forlorn
in the snow. The floater, the school bus, and the tank are all gone. Dyana strides over a rise, to where the darklord waits in its palanquin, looking down over the camp. She bows her head to report. Jaele and a sullen Thane listen.

  DYANA

  A military encampment, my lord. Recently deserted. I found these.

  CLOSE ON DYANA’S HAND

  as she opens her fist. Inside are two black cylinders.

  THANE

  Cylinders from the hand cannon.

  DYANA

  They’ve been stripped of their power cells. Useless.

  THANE

  But they prove she was here.

  RESUME

  Within the shadowed darkfield, the alien STIRS angrily.

  DARKLORD

  And she is gone again!

  DYANA

  One group went north, another south.

  THANE

  The next door is north. Cat will run to it.

  DARKLORD

  Then those who went south are nothing to us. Dyana, take us north.