[Damocles]

Second Act

Act 2; Scene1

Setting; Brig of the Pegasus

[Note to set dresser]

Set the stage as if you were looking through a fourth force-wall from the audience/camera POV.into a box of a prison compartment. It may be possible to have the toilet/sink combination on the back wall of the brig cell, and a pair of steel bunk beds(stage/left) and a bench(stage/right) as furnishings. If you can manage it; have a pull down table next to the toilet, as a common eating/working area, the four prisoners share.

[Note to director]

Block the scene as needed. The Colonials segregate prisoners by gender, but not rank, so this cell contains only men. {Dress the prisoners in single color jump-suits with socks and sandals.} These four have been thrown together, just within the following hour, and they don't really know each other; or why they are together. They are all condemned men.

The condemned men;

Hassel Petry

Ledon Thoma

Tien Thee

Staius Livius

The Brig Detail

Ensign Bartimus(Buster)Crabbe

Marine/technician 1 Thoma

Marine/technician 2 Bellam

Marine/technician 3 Croftus

*****************************************************************

Hassel Petry; Hey you. Ledon Thoma! I know you. You were one of Caman's golden boys. Could not find a Cylon system you could not crack. What did you do? Try to run numbers on the Admiral's daughter?

Ledon Thoma(who is a powerful man for a geek) jumps on Hassel Petrey. It takes the combined efforts, of the other two condemned men, to pull Ledon Thoma off Hassel Petry.

Tien Thee; That is enough! Save your breath! You will need it when they put us out, through the airlock! We know why they have us. We need not satisfy individual curiosities.

(The four of them turn, when they hear a door open[use sound effect of door opening], to see an armed party of one officer and three guards[enter stage/camera left] approach the front of their cell. This party is led by Bartimus(Buster)Crabbe, the ensign, we saw from the command conference in Act 1; Scene 5)

Staius Livius; Well if it isn't ^Buster^ come to see us off! Crashed any Vipers lately, Sir?

Crabbe; No thanks to you, Staius. That number you did on my auto-pilot was cute.

Staius Livius; Well I try to do good works, when I can.

Ensign Bartimus(Buster)Crabbe motions to the guards, and the Guards draw pistols. Marine/technician 2 Bellam moves stage/right to a wall lever outside the ^presumed^ force wall. He pulls the lever down. [use sound effect of eectric generator winding down]. The force-wall is off.

Ensign Bartimus(Buster)Crabbe; You, four, are condemned men. Its out the airlock for the lot of you.

Tien Thee; Yeah.Yeah. Without a pressure suit. We know the jokes. Only thing, Ensign,(said with a sneer); not quite our scheduled time to go. I still have seven ship days, and my appeal to work through.

Ensign Bartimus(Buster)Crabbe; Forget the appeal, Tien. You blew that compartment out, and Admiral Cain knows it. He cannot wait to get rid of you. If you wanted to commit suicide why not cut yourself shaving?

Tien Thee; You would not understand.

Ensign Bartimus(Buster)Crabbe; I do not need to. You, four, are all running out of time. But......

Hassel Petry(perking up); But what? You offering us a way out? I heard a rumor.

Ensign Bartimus(Buster)Crabbe; Yes, a way. Likely you will foul it up, and die; but you could make it; if, you, four want to. It means; you put your selves in my hands; and do what you are told.(Crabbe looks at Hassel Petrey)

Hassel Petrey; I read you loud and clear.

Ensign Bartimus(Buster)Crabbe; Sir.

Hassel Petry, Tien Thee, and Staius Livius say together; Sir.

Ensign Bartimus(Buster)Crabbe; What is the matter with him (pointing to Ledon Thoma)

Marine/technician 1 Thoma; My brother, Sir. He is mute.(Marine/Technician 1 Thoma signs to his brother. Ledon Thoma nods his head once in a firm yes.)

Marine/technician 1 Thoma; He understands, Sir.

Hassel Petry; Uh, Sir, I do not know; if I mentioned this, but my wife......

Ensign Bartimus(Buster)Crabbe: Already selected, Hassel. We needed somebody with BRAINS.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Act 2; Scene 2

Setting; Cain's quarters aboard the Pegasus

[Note to set dresser]

Same set up as previous for Cain's quarters. If there is the plexiglass plotting board, then show the transparency of the planet, Murado, seen from Act 1; Scene 5. The words ^Aero-shell insertion 1^, with arrows indicating the primary, and the secondary drop objectives on the planet, Murado, near the two X's that Gideon Johron drew, should be boldly marked and labelled. There should be a meal laid out for two people.

[Note to the director]

This is the setup for the raid. The two actors should do this scene; as one continuous read, sitting over their dinner. They can improvise the conversation, as they eat. Lara Petry wears the same prison garb, as the condemned men. Cain is in full Colonial dress uniform.

Two extremely dangerous minds at work;

Admiral Cain

Lara Petry

*****************************************************************

Cain; What do you think of the plan?

Lara Petry; Tyro Glen never could plan an operation. You do not want to risk the Peg, on a run like this. You would be better off; using either the Artemus, or the Phoenix. They can jump in danger close, release kinetic ordnance on a flyby, like you meant it, and we can ride the aero-shells in, with the ordnance garbage. The Cylons will think we are the decoys, and ignore us; while they shoot the real stuff out of the sky.

Cain; I thought about that, but won't the toasters assume that we would not risk nuclear warheads, for fear that the radioactives will set off the tylium?

Lara Petry; I am no explosives expert, but does not the Peg, and her escorts; use sandcaster missiles to break up Cylon massed missile attacks? Use sandcasters; as a wide area kinetic munition?

Cain(laughing); You talked to Tien/ Yes, we can do that. A sandcaster, when it hits the ground? It would produce a surface effect, not to dissimilar from rail-gun bombardment. The Cylons would have to engage the missiles.

Lara Petry; Mines. If we are going to make this idiot plan work, the warheads have to be ballistic mines. If the Cylons see missiles' they will shoot at everything incoming!

Cain; You really think so?

Lara Petry; I know so.

(They eat for a brief while.)

Lara Petry; About the aero shells?

Cain: Three of them. Two of them, will contain the raid party, along with the gear you need to survive on the planet. The third will contain the land-ram and the heavy weapons.

Lara Petry; So the Vulcanus is turning out three ^boulders^ that we can fly down to the planet?

Cain; Yes. One, to be flown by Ensign Crabbe. The second, flown by a Lieutenant Charus Hevo. I don't know him. He volunteered from the Phoenix. And the third will be flown by my daughter.

Lara Petry; Aero-shell loadouts are wrong. Have to change that. I know Hevo. There's no Warrior braver or better.

Cain; That is good to know. Tell me, Lara. Why did you ever marry a scoundrel like Hassel Petry?(Cain indicates Lara's prisoner garb)

Lara Petry; I was an idiot, Admiral, and I was in love.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BREAK