Episode 5 Teaser

TIDES OF STARS
A Star Trek: Triangle script

by David Brin

1 INT --- U.S.S. ENTERPRISE BRIDGE – DAY

The access door to the briefing room opens, admitting CAPTAIN KAAJ and some of his bridge crew, brandishing weapons.

KAAJ

To arms, Earthers! Your conquerors have arrived!

TIBBS

That’d be you?

KAAJ

No, not ME, Captain! Why, even now my mutinous crew is cutting through the floor of your turbolift car, and after that – WHY are you not all armed? I thought the ROMULANS were the ones who embraced death!

THARK

I’ve been asking myself that lately, too.

KAAJ

No time! Here they come! Kuvekaasei, stay out of the way of fighting men …

(The elevator doors burst apart in a flash. Klingons leap through, shooting. KAAJ and his men take cover behind the bridge rail and return fire, establishing a gunfight with the Captain’s Chair in the middle.)

AZUNDERKAR

“Kuvekaasei?” (KOO-vay-KAY-zee)

HANNAH

“Uh, slave-hands, more or less. People that don’t have weapons in their hands, so they’re basically tools for whoever wants them.”

AZUNDERKAR

Tools are good. I can work with that.                  

(He reaches up to work his console, but a shot blasts the video monitor and he ducks back down.)

AZUNDERKAR

Ow! Em Cee Square!

THARK

Grenade out!

TIBBS, HANNAH, AZUNDERKAR (together)

ON THE BRIDGE?

(Wham! The elevator explodes, doors slamming outwards. The Klingons in front of it are cut down in a flash of blue light that makes them glow red and crumple.)

THARK

No, in the elevator. WE’RE on the bridge.

KAAJ

Ha, ha! Well struck, purple Earthman! Up Starfleet!

AZUNDERKAR

Aw hell, it’s another shapeshifter. No way a Klingon just said “Up Starfleet.”

HANNAH

Not the way YOU mean …

KAAJ

And as this elevator has no bottom, another grenade wouldn’t go amiss … thank you, Sergeant …

(Wham! The elevator shakes from below.)

TIBBS

You had grenades. On the BRIDGE.

THARK

The Klingons had grenades. I took them.

TIBBS

Outstanding. What do they still hold?

RIVA

Life Support and Port Phaser … no, just Port Phaser. How’s the brig, Hannah?

HANNAH

Messy. Leaper was in there.

RIVA

Oh, my … any survivors?

HANNAH

Sure. Uh, two. I think. One looked iffy.

AZUNDERKAR

Life Support’s blocking the stun gas. But just in that one section, as far as I can tell.

TIBBS

Then we take it back. Major, I believe we have several Marines right here?

RIVA

Oo-rah, sir. On the way.

PELTIER

Shuttlecraft launch! Looks like it damaged the doors.

TIBBS

I thought we cleared the shuttle deck.

AZUNDERKAR

Cleared it of air, yes. Pumped it down. Unless some of the boarders had space suits .. which would have been a good idea, with that sudden jump aboard …

PELTIER

I can take the fighter out after ‘em!

AZUNDERKAR

Suit up first … there’s no atmosphere.

PELTIER

Right!

M’RESS

Mmm, Captain, therrre’s a call from the Brrrig forrr you.

TIBBS

Tibbs. Go.

BRIG (filtered voice-over)

Ah, Captain, this is Lt. Murphy speakin’ … the Klingon pris’ners are all in a moil. Seems someone’s lifted their preciouses an’ they’re swearin’ bloody revenge …

KAAJ

My people? Let me talk to them!

(TIBBS motions)

KAAJ

Mark! Who among the officers is disgracing us in front of the Earthers? If a Klingon’s loot is stolen, can he not just win some more?

MARK (filtered voice-over)

Arr, Cap’n. It truly be so. Only it’s not ours what be taken, ye see. Tis your’n.

KAAJ

The stasis boxes!

MARK (filtered voice-over)

Arr. All but th’one.

AZUNDERKAR

If even one of those has ancient tech from the Slaver era … it could change the balance of power!

PELTIER

Worse than that, Mr. Azunderkar. It could not only start a war … but finish one!

MUSIC UP AND HOLD

HANNAH

Say, where’s that Romulan commander?

MUSIC STING

FADE TO CREDITS

"The Star Hawk" Episode 4 Sneak Preview!

“THE STAR HAWK”

Triangle Episode 4

by Michael Curtiz

1 INT. BRIDGE – USS ENTERPRISE – DAY

PELTIER

There it is again, Captain. A debris field. Moving at Warp One away from the Gamma Vulpis system.

RIVA

Wreckage can’t sustain warp speeds; the ship it came from might have been going much faster.

HANNAH

It’s almost pure gas, Tibbs. Whatever hit that ship vaporized part of the hull, or whatever else it used to be. Photon torpedo, at least, if not something bigger.

CAPTAIN TIBBS

Plot a course through all the debris fields we’ve charted, and extrapolate ahead. Let’s see how this chase finished up.

PELTIER

Course plotted and laid in, Captain.

CAPTAIN TIBBS

Mr. Bader, catch us a battle.

2 EXT. SPACE – STARRY BACKGROUND

The Enterprise banks around a glowing whorl of gas and accelerates away toward another one.

A red fireball flashes into view ahead.

3 INT. BRIDGE – USS ENTERPRISE – CONTINUATION OF (1) ABOVE

CAPTAIN TIBBS

Bader, swing wide of that flash! Sensors, magnify and hold that image.

RAMIREZ

Patching fire control feed to main viewing screen.

4 INSET – MAIN VIEWING SCREEN

The explosion outlines a long neck, leading to a wide manta ray shape as it passes in front of the fireball.

5 INT. BRIDGE – USS ENTERPRISE – CONTINUATION OF (3) ABOVE

RIVA

Klingons.

HANNAH

Just one Klingon. And he’s leaking plasma from both warp engines. Weapons are hot, but … there’s no one to shoot at.

THARK

There’s the Enterprise. If we can see him, he can see us.

PELTIER

He’s turning …

RIVA

He’s heading right for us!

THARK

Shields up, Cap’n?

CAPTAIN TIBBS

What’s that … behind the Klingon?

THARK

I heard a nod. Shields going up.

HANNAH

I don’t detect anything, Tibbs. That plasma leak is messing with our sensors.

RAMIREZ

Missile launch dead ahead!

6 SPACE – STARRY BACKGROUND.

Behind the Klingon ship, a wavering form solidifies into a Romulan warbird, which immediately launches a huge pulsating orange fireball, similar in color to the flash observed earlier.

7 INT. ENTERPRISE BRIDGE – CONTINUATION

RAMIREZ

Plasma torpedo inbound! Impact in twenty seconds.

CAPTAIN TIBBS

Mr. Bader …

BADER

Quite right.

(The bridge tilts 30 degrees. Everyone rolls to port, except Thark and Azunderkar, who are already seated on the port side.)

HANNAH

He’s rolling … oh, but he can’t get out of the way in time!

8 SPACE – CONTINUATION

The Klingon ship rolls to one side, almost evading the plasma torpedo. But instead, it grazes along one warp engine pod, destroying it in a shower of sparks. The plasma torpedo comes apart, catching the Klingon and the Enterprise in rippling waves of plasma.

9 ENTERPRISE BRIDGE – CONTINUATION

(The bridge shakes violently, throwing everyone to starboard, except Hannah and Ramirez, whose stations are on the starboard side.)

THARK

Shields down! Thirty seconds to restore. With more power, maybe twenty …

AZUNDERKAR

You got more power.

BADER

Rolling to expose starboard shield.

CAPTAIN TIBBS

Belay that, Helmsman! Keep our torpedo tubes bearing forward. Mr. Boone?

BOONE

Ready!

CAPTAIN TIBBS

Fire a warning shot at the Romulan. Don’t hit ‘em, but make it clear we could have if we wanted to.

PELTIER

The Klingon ship is matching our course, Captain. He may be trying to ram us.

THARK

Or hide in our wake … using OUR shields to protect himself.

HANNAH

The Klingon’s shields are down, Tibbs. He’s using all his power for speed … no, not for speed. What’s he doing?

(FX: Red flickering Transporter effect near main viewing screen. KLINGONS appear. Two of them are carrying large silver cubes.)

RIVA

Intruders on the bridge!

(The tallest Klingon steps to the bridge rail, his hands thrown wide.)

KAAJ

Peltier! We meet again. The Romulans are on my tail, and now you appear. All my enemies in one place … what more glorious death-song could I want?

RAMIREZ

Two more Romulan ships decloaking, Captain. They’re lining up behind their leader … now advancing, spreading out.

KAAJ

The better to get out of the way of their own torpedoes, Captain. We have not met: I am Kaaj, commanding the Stardragon. Under the Organian Peace Treaty, I claim asylum from my pursuers. And as you know, Captain … the Romulans do not cease pursuit simply because their quarry takes refuge on an enemy vessel.

Destroy them … or allow yourself to be destroyed. Either way, Captain, I welcome you to the winning side … of the Second Romulan War!

CLOSEUP on TIBBS, squinting angrily.

CLOSEUP on KAAJ, smiling wickedly.
REACTION SHOTS of other officers, concerned or excited.

MUSIC UP, HOLD, and PEAK

CUT TO CREDITS

Episode 3 Summary

Captain's Log, Stardate 8188.3. Planet Iota Nine has a culture which appears to have been heavily influenced by William Shakespeare. The natives may be trapped in a never-ending cycle of boredom, incomprehensible soliloquies, and labored, unfunny puns.

Prime Team sent to investigate in native clothing and makeup. We should have expected preparing them like actors for a Shakespeare planet wouldn't end well.

Three witches foretold Peltier becoming captain of the Enterprise and then Commanding Admiral of Star Fleet. Shortly thereafter, Peltier and Hannah were attacked by a black knight, who died. He looked exactly like Captain Tibbs of the Enterprise; if he had been, that would have made Peltier the captain, validating the prophecy.

But witches don't control Star Fleet assignments. Hannah beamed up and once and Dr. Mitchell established the "black knight" was a cellular foam model, shaped to look like Captain Tibbs but not actually alive. A small battery was found, but no computers, suggesting his lifelike actions were directed remotely.

Meanwhile, the landing party split up and encountered natives who spoke in iambic pentameter. Forcing themselves to speak in this unaccustomed fashion, Riva and Peltier established the whereabouts of the culture's leaders and attempted to head in that direction. But swordsmen attacked them, and the other party, slashing Ramirez badly but doing no other damage.

After the fights, the parties reunited and determined the swordsmen were identical copies of each other.

I beamed down on Hannah's insistence, dressed in the Black Knight's armor.

Azunderkar scanned everyone in the landing party and discovered T'Pon was an imitation. He passed the word to Riva quietly, but they decided to play along and see where she led.

Four assassins accosted Peltier. They looked like Admiral Kirk, Admiral Patterson, Admiral Kinnison and Admiral Nogura, the four faces in my chain of command. Three were killed, but Peltier managed to take Admiral Kirk alive after a difficult hand-to-hand struggle. Admiral Kirk's unarmed fighting skills are well-known.

T'Pon advised Peltier, in response to his questions, that the witches were attempting to make the prophecy come true by having him kill first his captain, then his admirals. Clearly the author of these phantasms did not understand Star Fleet operations, but had a medieval mindset. They could read Peltier's mind, but only the simplest of concepts, like hunger for advancement and the visual appearance of his commanders. They knew nothing of deeper matters.

Peltier therefore imagined himself being led by a parade to the leader of the world. A parade duly arrived. A small blue man in a red robe led the procession, and in complex but barely comprehensible English decided that Peltier and his team were neither Klingons nor Romulans, but something else. He explained the Federation. Thuvis, the alien, said he had improved the native culture by reducing war, crime and hunger with his machines. Riva pointed out that without those stresses, they would never advance, and would always be spectators, never on the level of Shakespeare himself. Thuvis agreed, and said he would let each native choose whether to live in Thuvis' own managed culture, or in a country free from his interference.

Legally, our orders did not permit blowing Thuvis' cover and showing the natives how they had been manipulated, so I agreed with Thuvis' proposal, subject to Star Fleet review. Planet Iota Nine will be placed under Amber Zone quarantine, only to be contacted under Federation supervision for the benefit of the inhabitants.

Be it noted that LT Azunderkar improvised an anti-jamming transmitter out of two communicators, which could be very useful on future missions.  SGT Boone successfully defended Star Fleet personnel with a musket, which is harder than it sounds.

I awarded SGT Carlos Ramirez the Purple Heart for injuries sustained in the line of duty and recommend MAJ Riva Tavor for the Diplomatic Star for her dealings with Thuvis. No sign so far of a mascot adopted by LCDR Hannah Westin, but it's probably around somewhere.

Tibbs, LJ, COL UFMC reports.