Babylon 5 SS - Crusade Read online

  Shooting PAST THEM to the oncoming fighters.

  INT. THUNDERBOLT COCKPIT (STOCK)

  Reacting to this, the pilot’s face unseen behind the dark faceplate.

  PILOT Squad leader to next … Captain, those are our ships out there. Are we supposed to fire on our own side?

  GIDEON (V.O.) Stand by…

  INT. EXCALIBUR - BRIDGE

  As Gideon reacts to Matheson:

  MATHESON Fighters are taking position … five hundred clicks and holding. We’re getting a signal from the planet.

  GIDEON Put it through.

  On the monitor appears an Earthforce officer, MAJOR LEE. And he’s not pleased.

  LEE -- repeat, this is base to intruder. You are ordered to stand down or we will open fire.

  GIDEON This is Captain Matthew Gideon of –

  LEE I know who this is. Now stand down and recall your fighters. Right now.

  Gideon hesitates. It doesn’t go over well.

  LEE (CONT’D) That’s an order, Captain.

  The crew looks to Gideon, who himself isn’t sure what to do, or what the hell’s going on .. but takes a chance.

  GIDEON Stand down. Lieutenant, call back the fighters.

  MATHESON But sir –

  GIDEON Give the recall order.

  MATHESON (reluctantly) Aye, sir.

  Matheson goes to the console. As he does, Gideon approaches the monitor.

  GIDEON You’ll forgive my concern, but according to the charts we don’t have any bases in this part of space. (fishing for name) So I’d appreciate an explanation, Major …

  LEE Not on an open channel.

  GIDEON All right, then I’ll come down there.

  LEE Negative, Captain. You will turn around and leave this sector at once.

  GIDEON I’m afraid I can’t do that. For all I know, this could be a renegade base. You could be impersonating an officer. I have an obligation to follow orders if that order comes from a legitimate source. I can’t take this one without verification.

  LEE Captain –

  GIDEON Protocol in these situations require that I send out a signal to any other Earthforce ships in the area and call home, get some more people in here to help resolve the situation. (beat) I can make it as crowded as you like, Major.

  LEE All right … we’ll clear you for landing. Just you and one pilot, no more.

  GIDEON That’ll be fine. Thanks for your cooperation.

  The Major blips off. Matheson looks to Gideon.

  MATHESON Captain … what the hell’s going on? We were on the trail of that vessel that killed an Earthforce ship. What’s it doing leading to an Earthforce base?

  GIDEON I don’t know … but I’m sure as hell going to find out, and I can’t do that up here.

  MATHESON It may not be safe.

  GIDEON What is?

  With that, Gideon leaves.

  EXT. EXCALIBUR

  A lone shuttle emerges from the ship. It speeds away.

  EXT. SPACE – ANGLE ON ENEMY FIG HTERS

  As they form up on either side of the shuttle and escort it toward the planet.

  EXT. PLANETARY BASE (CGI)

  As a dome over a landing platform opens and the shuttle heads for it.

  INT. PLANETARY BASE (CGI)

  The shuttle lowers on a platform, the dome closing above it.

  INT. OFFICE BUILDING – HALLWAY

  Totally anonymous and undecorated, plain white walls. Gideon is escorted under armed guard to a door, also unmarked. A guard knocks. There’s a BEAT, then:

  LEE (O.S.) Come in.

  The guard opens the door and stands back, allowing Gideon to enter

  INT. OFFICE

  Gideon enters, the door closing behind him. Lee sits at his desk, finishing some papers in a folder, deliberately making Gideon wait. After a moment, Gideon clears his throat, to get his attention. It doesn’t exactly work.

  LEE (without looking up) If you have to clear your throat, there’s a water fountain down the hall.

  GIDEON Yes, sir.

  Finally, Lee closes the folder, looks up.

  LEE What are you doing in this sector, Captain?

  GIDEON I’ve been assigned to the Excalibur to try and find a cure to the –

  LEE (taps file) I know all about your mission, Captain. And you. And your crew. Back to grade school. That doesn’t tell me what you’re doing here.

  GIDEON We’re supposed to explore areas off the beaten track. This qualifies.

  LEE According to the last flight plan you filed with Earthforce, you’re supposed to be in sector 730.

  GIDEON Then I’d say we’re considerably off-course. And since this base isn’t on the map, I’d say that applies to both of us. Sir.

  Lee frowns, gets up and walks around the room.

  LEE However important your individual mission, Captain, do you think you are privy to every matter of planetary security affecting Earth?

  GIDEON No, sir.

  LEE Then let me enlighten you, as far as I’m able under the regs. This is a research and development facility, one of half a dozen others, all working on weapons technology vital to the protection of Earth and her colonies. The work is extremely dangerous and highly classified. To protect innocents, and the privacy of our work, we’ve been located well off the beaten track. We’re not on any map. Officially … we don’t even exist. And we intend to keep it that way. (beat) This base is none of your concern, Captain. I’ve told you all I can, and that’s the end of it. Whatever prompted you to come here, you will now turn your ship around and leave the area at once.

  GIDEON I don’t know .. it sounds pretty exciting. Maybe I should stick around for awhile, check it out. After all, at the end of the day, we’re all on the same side. Aren’t we?

  Lee returns to his desk, sitting under:

  LEE We’re all on the side of Earth, Captain. And we’re all responsible to the same chain of command. If you don’t leave the area, I will make sure that someone very high up that chain of command relives you of authority and puts someone more compliant in charge of the Excalibur. Do I make myself clear?

  GIDEON Yes, sir. As crystal.

  LEE Good. Dismissed.

  He’s over his paperwork again, the conversation over. The door opens behind Gideon, and he’s ushered out.

  EXT. EXCALIBUR

  As the shuttle returns to the flight deck.

  INT. EXCALIBUR – HALLWAY

  Outside the flight deck, Matheson is pacing, waiting, as Gideon enters. They fall into place, moving down the hall.

  GIDEON It appears we’re not wanted here, Lieutenant.

  MATHESON I gathered. I finished those other scans you wanted. What are they –

  GIDEON Good. Status of enemy … (catches self) Status of opposition fighters?

  MATHESON They’ve fallen back, waiting to see what we do.

  GIDEON All right, let’s give them what they want. Jump to Hyperspace as soon as we’re clear.

  MATHESON Then what?

  GIDEON Then find me Galen…

  And they disappear around the corner.

  EXT. EXCALIBUR

  The fighters in the distance as the Excalibur jumps to Hyperspace. We DISSOLVE TO:

  INT. GIDEON’S QUARTERS

  Gideon is already there with Galen.

  GALEN I take it then that you don’t believe his story.

  GIDEON I believe it. Up to a point. He’s hiding something.

  GALEN It is a secret base, Matthew.

  GIDEON More than that. There’s a path that leads from the Cerberus right to this base. Could be they’re making preparations to deal with it. Maybe something on the R&D board was stolen and they’re covering it up. Either way, I’m going back. I need someone who can slip me onto the planet, get me past the scanners.

  GALEN And that would be me.

  GIDEON Your ship is invisible to every kind of scanner. And if you have any tricks that can help out once I’m on the ground …

  GALEN I may have one or two. (
beat) But before I agree… think about what you doing, Matthew. There is a point of no return in such things.

  GIDEON I know it’s dangerous –

  GALEN I was not speaking of the physical danger, although that’s part of it. You could be killed if you are found in the wrong place at the wrong time. But more than that, if you go, you may learn things you do not wish to know. See things you should not see. (beat) There is very little innocence left in you .. are you sure you want to sacrifice the last of it?

  GIDEON I have the lives of three hundred and sixty nine officers and crew on my conscience, Galen. When they died, my innocence went with them. I have nothing else to lose.

  GALEN There you are wrong. But you will have to learn that in your own time; I only hope you do not learn it too late. We will go.

  On the weight of this, we

  FADE OUT:

  END OF ACT TWO

  ACT THREE

  FADE IN:

  EXT. EXCALIBUR – HYPERSPACE

  Just to re-establish, then:

  INT. DUREENA’S QUARTERS

  She’s in bed, asleep. She awakes to a sound, a shimmering sound nearby. She gets up, crosses to where she has stored the sword she gets in a later episode (which will be aired before this one). She unwraps it. It is glowing slightly along the edges. She holds it up, considering it, as she’s started by the door beeping. She covers it again.

  DUREENA Yes?

  The door opens, and Gideon enters, in his leather planet jacket. She notes it.

  DUREENA (CONT’D) You’re up late. Going somewhere?

  GIDEON I have .. things to do. I need a favor. I’m about to break just about every regulation in Earthforce, and if things go wring, I need to get some information to Lt. Matheson. If I leave it for him directly, it’ll look as if he was in on it, when I’ve deliberately kept him out. He’s got a great career ahead of him. I don’t want my mistakes to be his mistakes.

  DUREENA What do you want me to do?

  GIDEON My personal logs are kept in six datacrystals hidden in my quarters. They have all the information I’ve been able to gather about the ship that destroyed the Cerberus. If this doesn’t go well … I want you to break into my quarters and get the datacrystals.

  DUREENA Where are they?

  GIDEON (rueful smile) If I wanted them found that easily, I wouldn’t come to a thief. Mess up the place, don’t be subtle about it. The more they look stolen, the better. When the time’s right, give them to John. Tell them to hold onto them until after a cure has been found. Then ask him … to finish what I couldn’t.

  DUREENA Consider it done.

  He nods. There’s really nothing else to say. Finally:

  GIDEON Goodnight, Dureena.

  DUREENA Goodnight, Matthew

  He exits.

  EXT. EXCALIBUR – HYPERSPACE

  As Galen’s ship emerges, then soars back in the direction the Excalibur came from.

  INT. GALEN’S FLYER – LIMBO SET

  Gideon is unpacking and examining a breather as Galen appears behind him.

  GALEN We’ll be there soon.

  GIDEON Good. I had Matheson scope out the area, didn’t tell him why. According to the scanners that place is twice as big below ground as it is above, so that’s probably where they’re hiding the really interesting stuff. He also found a network of maintenance tunnels leading away from the base. Since there’s no other population, and anyone coming in would usually be seen, my guess is the tunnels aren’t heavily guarded.

  GALEN And if you’re wrong?

  GIDEON Then it’ll be a very short trip, followed by a very long stay in a jail cell somewhere. (realization) Galen… if you’re in here, who’s flying the ship?

  GALEN The ship flies itself. It also protects itself against anyone who does not have the proper wards and passwords. Since it would take forever to disarm them all, I suggest you not wander about until we land. To do otherwise could be quite … messy.

  With that, he heads away. Gideon takes a beat, looks around warily, then continues to check his gear.

  EXT. PLANETARY BASE (CGI)

  As Galen’s ship descends into the atmosphere.

  EXT. SURFACE (CGI)

  Galen’s ship swoops in and hovers just above the surface, and through the dust and the wind we can barely SEE Gideon jumping the five or six feet down from the ship. Galen’s ship instantly takes off again, and Gideon starts walking as we PAN ACROSS to an access duct set into a hillside.

  INT. ACCESS TUNNEL

  Narrow, cramped, the opening visible behind him. Gideon, still in breather, armed with a flashlight, makes his way through the tunnel cut into the stone around him. (Double up the shooting in here … first wide, then backing him up and bringing him in again in close, to make the walk seem longer than it is. Also have a plug to drop in place of the opening, for the same reason.) The only sounds are of his breathing, and the hum of massive machines, which grown louder as he continues onward.

  After a bit, he comes to an airlock set into the walls of the tunnel. He touches a panel, and it opens. He steps through. The airlock seals behind him. He removes the breather, gingerly takes a breath, decides it’s okay, and moves on, concealing the breather behind some crates.

  INT. ENTRACE TO CAVERN (COMP)

  Start with Gideon moving into a lighter part of the tunnel. He continues forward, seeing a way in. He PASSES CAMERA and we follow now, behind him .. as he steps through an entrance to an inner cavern. (CGI COMP similar to the Starfire temple entrance in B5-414.) Then we’re fully into

  INT. CAVERN – RESEARCH FACILITY (CGI)

  Huge, a mile or more across. A great open pit where high tech structures have been built into the walls of the cavern. Catwalks and other support structures ribbon the area above, almost (but not quite) like spiderwebs. Pinpoints of light and spotlights. Large machines on rails move back and forth, carrying pieces of shadow-style ship parts to assembly lines. Give this a good long moment. This has to be our best, most detailed and realistic CGI to date. Possibly use multiple shots. We can make out movement in the darkness, human forms, but they’re in darkness and we can’t make out details yet.

  ANGLE – ON ENTRANCE

  We’re on a ledge overlooking all this. We INTERCUT the above with close-ups of Gideon, taking it all in, until finally …

  GIDEON … my god….

  Then he hears a sound. Someone has come up nearby. He turns.

  And sees something terrible… and impossible. It’s a human, or more properly what was once a human female. But its skin is covered with black, hard matter, similar to a shadow vessel carapace. (Prosthetic is similar in some ways to Delenn’s shell in “Revelations.”) They both freeze for a BEAT, each looking at the other in surprise…

  Then she points at him, eyes widening, and lets out an inhuman HOWL (use some shadow-scream sounds in this).

  INT. CAVERN – RESEARCH FACILITY (CGI)

  Other figures start to attention at the sound … and we SEE now that there are others here, just like her, toiling in the cavern, on the machines … and they pick up the HOWL, pointing in his direction. (Possible also: big composite plus multiple single shots.)

  ANGLE – GIDEON

  He starts to turn, to go back the way he came .. but a DOOR slides down, blocking the way. He races past her, knocking her aside and running down

  EXT. LEDGE (BLUE-SCREEN COMP)

  He’s running for all he’s worth, SPOTLIGHTS starting to lock onto him. He shoulders another one of them again. GUNFIRE starts to hit rapid-fire, slamming into the wall above his head. To avoid being hit he leaps onto

  EXT. CATWALK

  Coming up in a tuck-and-roll … and looking right into the business end of a heavy-duty rifle held by an Earthforce security marine in full flack gear and looking big as death and twice as mean. Knowing that there is a time and a place for fighting … and this ain’t it … Gideon raises his hands. From the other end of the catwalk other marines rush in, pin his arms behind his back, and rush him of
f the catwalk.

  INT. BRIG

  A standard cell. Gideon is alone, pacing. Waiting. We give it a BEAT, then the door opens and Major Lee enters, with several well-armed marines standing guard at the door.

  GIDEON Major. Long time no see.

  LEE Captain … I want you to understand something very important. At this precise moment in time, the only thing standing between you and a firing squad …. Is me. It is therefore in your best interests not to piss me off more than you already have. And that is considerable. Am I clear?

  GIDEON Yes, sir.

  LEE The others said you were a stubborn man, that you wouldn’t just take no for an answer and leave. I made the mistake of assuming you were stubborn but smart. Apparently I was wrong. (beat) It will take exactly one call back home to have you listed as missing in action. As far as anyone will ever know, you left your ship alone, and never made it here. It’ll be written off as an accident in Hyperspace. What happens in the next two minutes will determine whether or not I make that call.

  GIDEON Are we talking a deal here? Why?

  LEE From time to time, others have tried to find out about our little operation. You’re the first one to have gotten this far. That indicates a highly evolved degree of intelligence, ability and tenacity. You could be a valuable resource. Or you could be a short lived threat to our security. By the end of this conversation, we will establish which of those possibilities we’re dealing with here.

  GIDEON All right .. then let’s talk. I’ll start. What is this place? What were you doing down there?

  Lee approaches, sits across from Gideon as he speaks. LEE Your ship is a combination of Minbari and Vorlon technologies, highly advanced, reverse-engineered so that we could incorporate them into our own designs. Did you think she was the only one of her kind … or that we weren’t looking at other possibilities? (beat) There was another race, just as old as the Vorlons, and just as advanced.

  GIDEON The Shadows.

  LEE They were known by many names. That’s one of them. They were a million years ahead of everybody else. (beat) A little over ten years ago, during the last war, we came across some of their artifacts. Once we realized what we had, we were authorized to conduct covert research and development on these artifacts. We wanted to see if we could adapt that technology and make it work for us. When the Drakh used some of this same left-over Shadow tech to hit Earth with a plague, our work gained even more importance. Hell, it’s altogether possible that we could find a cure here a hell of a lot faster than you could by wandering around the galaxy digging holes.