"Departure I"
ACT TWO
CUT TO INT. STARFLEET HEADQUARTERS-DAY
Zooming out from the picture to show a dimly lit conference room with a seven member panel of Starfleet and Federation brass sitting around a fancy looking wooden table. The picture is on a view screen wall where important people are pointing at it and examining.
A sixty year old Japanese woman in an admiral’s uniform continues her speech
ADMIRAL 1
…regardless of their reason, I’m not thrilled about the idea of that many Romulan ships mobilizing that close to our border.
CU on a distinguished black admiral with a mustache.
ADMIRAL 2
Our people downstairs are telling me that the Romulans are still trying to get their house in order after Shinzon turned the government inside out. They claim it’s an aid mission and our intelligence seems to confirm that.
ADMIRAL 1
I could write a book on all the things the Romulans have claimed over the years.
A tall, Fifty year old blonde woman, ADMIRAL MOIRA KELLY, stands up from her chair and starts passing around different datapads, she elbows the 1st ADMIRAL as she passes by
ADMIRAL KELLY
Please don’t start your memoirs yet, Joan, I still need you to run fleet deployment next summer.
The table laughs and KELLY switches the view screen to a picture of a one eyed Klingon wearing an eye patch. The picture seems to be taken from some sort of surveillance camera and the Klingon is unaware he’s being photographed.
ADMIRAL KELLY
If no one minds I’d like to move on to a very different kind of Romulan “problem”. (Points to view screen) namely this man: Koloth of House Kor, (looks down at a datapad) AKA “Oathbreaker”.
The picture turns into a slide show with a few action shots of KOLOTH robbing people, stabbing people, and other normal Klingon behaviors.
ADMIRAL KELLY
He has a few more very colorful names but they all basically boil down to “galactic social headache”. He’s been a pirate, a thief, during the war he was a mercenary for the Orions, and now he’s become a terrorist.
Now the slideshow starts adding pictures of destroyed buildings and bleeding civilians. Even in the 24th century, terrorism still looks like terrorism.
ADMIRAL KELLY
Late last year he was responsible for the Romulan Embassy bombing on Krios Prime, The Benezites say he’s probably the one who killed Centurion Selaris, and he may have tried to assassinate the Romulan Praetor during his state visit to Bolarus.
KELLY motions with her hands and the room lights go up, revealing a sea of disinterested faces. The 1st ADMIRAL seems particularly unconcerned.
ADMIRAL 1
I’m sorry to say it, Moria, but how is this man our problem? Let the Tal Shiar worry about him.
ADMIRAL KELLY
He’s our problem because he lives in our backyard; Koloth operates mainly inside the Tars Tavik Nebula.
A soft murmur passes through the room.
ADMIRAL 3
You’re talking about “the Long Night”.
KELLY presses a button and a holographic display of a soft blue nebula appears in the center of the table.
ADMIRAL KELLY
Tars Tavik, the Long Night. A large nebula once located in the Neutral Zone between Klingon, Romulan, and Federation space. Now it’s all ours.
ADMIRAL 3
We gained control of it when the Romulans seceded from their side of the Neutral Zone?
ADMIRAL KELLY
The Nebula and everyone inside of it, yes.
FEDERATION AMBASSADOR
No one lives in the Neutral Zone, that was the whole point of having one.
ADMIRAL KELLY
That’s not entirely correct.
The Hologram zooms in to the Nebula to reveal a dozen or so systems with a hundred planets. Small circles appear around several planets with names like “Pirate’s Moon” or “Smuggler’s Rest” or “Death of Darvin”
ADMIRAL KELLY
The point of the Neutral Zone was that no one patrolled it, no one owned it, and no one fought over it. In places like Tars Tavik, that made it a perfect hiding spot for criminals and refugees. For over a hundred years, the seedier elements of three major galactic powers have used this Nebula as a safe haven. Nobody had jurisdiction over it so no one could touch them there.
Two shot on the 3RD ADMIRAL and KELLY
ADMIRAL 3
Until now.
ADMIRAL KELLY
Exactly. Now it’s our problem.
Tight CU on the 1ST ADMIRAL
ADMIRAL 1
I’m not exactly thrilled about doing the Romulan’s dirty work but you have a point, we can’t let this Koloth person operate inside our space with impunity and we certainly can’t let his friends think they’re above the law.
The 3RD ADMIRAL whispers something to the 2ND ADMIRAL, and then passes a datapad to the AMBASSADOR; he reads it, and then nods.
AMBASSADOR
Do you have an operation in mind, Admiral?
KELLY smiles.
ADMIRAL KELLY
I might have something.
MONTAGE
A shuttle pod warms its engine, and then departs from Starfleet Headquarters. It weaves in and out of
Inside the pod, SARA LYONS watches the sky outside the window go from deep blue, then cloud white, then darker and darker until there is no sky at all, only space. With an excited breath, SARA watches as the pod speeds towards it’s ultimate destination: San Francisco Orbital Shipyards, looking bigger then ever before.
Hundreds of gleaming Federation ships from Akira-class to Sovereign-class are lined up in preparation for a coming deployment. The ships are sleek and imposing. But at the end of the row, are several dozen Defiant-class warships and hundreds of Peregrine-Class attack fighters. An ominous sign of things to come.
The Shuttlepod brushes past without stopping…
…then arrives at a small Constellation-class ship with the words “USS Nelson NCC-1982” painted on the saucer.
SARA stares at it with a look of unmasked awe.
FADE TO INT. USS NELSON ENGINE ROOM-SPACE
The Nelson’s interior rooms are a mess and some of the interior lights are flickering on and off. All of the control consoles are black the hallway lights are only at half power. Even the warp core is dead and cold.
Repair crews in white environment suits are making upgrades to plasma conduits while uniformed technicians are putting blue gel bags where wires used to be. Engineers are everywhere, yanking out wires and replacing interior wall panels.
PAUL FROST, now wearing a yellow Lieutenant Commander’s shirt and bars, in the hallway, leaning against an exposed support column. He’s chatting into a personal communicator (a cross between an ipod, a watch, and a cell phone) and seems completely oblivious to the chaos around him.
FROST (into comm.)
Yeah. No. Look, I got the design and I do agree it’s better but I’m not spending my retirement in a post-Georgian hell just because you think it looks a little better. (pauses for response) Honey, what happened to the first designs we had? The-what? No. Yes.
CHIEF DANNY RAND, red headed guy in his thirties, is supervising the refit with a data padd in one hand and a plastic stylus in the other. He looks over his shoulder at his oldest friend and sees him screwing around.
“Starfleet: leading the galaxy by example.”
FROST (holds hand over comm. headset)
You say something Dan?
Nope. Just complimenting you on your impeccable management skills.
FROST isn’t listening, he’s still arguing with his wife over the comm.
LIEUTENANT JUNIOR GRADE BELAR MUKET, a pudgy Cardassian with a big friendly smile and naïve manner about him strolls up to RAND holding a couple of frayed wires and some glowing space age cable in his hand.
Morning, sir, any chance your guys can get this thing ready to depart in time?
MUKET
I’ve got six Drydock crews pulling cable and replacing it with biogel packs, I can’t make any promises at this point but you can tell your CO that I’ll have it ready in about forty eight hours.
Can you cut that in half?
MUKET
No.
Can you at least try to cut that in half?
MUKET
No. (looks around the hallway, amazed) I still can’t believe they dug this thing out of mothballs. She’s beautiful, isn’t she?
It’s a hunk of 23rd century junk, sir.
MUKET (ignoring him, enraptured with the ship)
I mean this was the way to travel! No holodecks, no perks, (taps metal floor) no carpeting. Just you, some titanium alloy, and open space.
I suppose.
MUKET
Why are they re-commissioning her?
Necessity. Most of the fleet was lost in the war so anything that was decommissioned less then ten years ago is going back into service.
MUKET sighs, and then runs his hands along the walls.
MUKET
I really envy you guys.
If you say so, sir.
CU on MUKET taking one long look around
MUKET
This is a great ship.
MUKET walks down the hallway and off camera.
CUT TO INT. SICKBAY-SPACE
CU on DR. NERI NUNNOA, an attractive Orion woman with emerald skin and dark hair.
NERI (whispering)
This ship is a hell hole.
Widen out. NERI is standing in a half stocked, dust covered Sickbay that’s barely functioning. Her nurses are struggling to get the bay in some working order.
Next to her, one of the Drydock engineers is sitting on a bio bed, holding his wrist in pain.
MACHO CREWMAN
Come on here, doc, this is starting to sting. Can’t you give me something?
NERI
I already told you, I don’t have anything to give you. We’re transferring you to the sickbay on dry dock. Walk yourself down to-
MACHO CREWMAN
Walk? I’m in real pain here!
NERI
It’s a sprained wrist; unless you walk on your hands, and I wouldn’t put it past you, you’ll be fine.
One of the nurses sets down a container of medicine and NERI bends over to dig through it. It gives the CREWMAN a good view of her rear end.
CU on MACHO CREWMAN smiles and tilts his head to fully appreciate the view.
MACHO CREWMAN
Say Doc, you guys don’t ship out for another two days and I couldn’t help but notice that you’re all alone here until the rest of the crew gets in.
NERI rolls her eyes.
MACHO CREWMAN
Me and some of the boys are gonna go to this nice little dive down on the planet-
NERI
No.
MACHO CREWMAN
But I was just-
NERI
Not a chance.
CUT TO INT. SHUTTLEBAY-SPACE
ENSIGN MARTIN DECKER jumps out of his shuttle and tosses his black duffel bag on to the deck in front of him. Around him dozens of other uniformed crewman wander around, unloading their gear from shuttles. Suddenly, somebody in the shuttlebay blows a whistle and nearly everyone snaps to attention except Decker and a few other commissioned officers.
YEOMAN (off screen)
Commander on deck!
SARA LYONS steps out of her own shuttle, flanked by two yeomen carrying her personal effects.
Three shot on DECKER and his fellow ensigns watching
ENSIGN 1
Is that the Skipper?
DECKER
She’s kind of a looker.
ENSIGN 2
And a hard ass. That’s Sara Lyons; she used to teach Battlefield Tactics at the academy.
The shuttlebay doors slide open and SARA steps into the hallway where FROST and RAND are waiting to introduce themselves.
Back to DECKER and his buddies watching their new commanding officer.
DECKER
What’s a professor doing on a starship?
CUT TO INT. HALLWAY-SPACE
RAND and FROST are following SARA and her yeoman through the ship. Neither one of them looks all that thrilled to be there but SARA doesn’t seem to notice.
SARA
Good morning gentlemen, how is the refit going?
I’ve got Space Dock crews converting the power distribution system on every deck and my people are putting in a new warp core.
SARA
How long, Mr. Rand?
Forty-eight hours, sir.
SARA
Not good enough. Try to cut it in half.
CU, RAND rolls his eyes.
SARA (cont.)
(to Frost) Mr. Frost?
FROST
Most department personnel are aboard, except for security. Their shuttle hasn’t arrived yet.
SARA
We have to beam them in from
Tight on
Excuse me, sir; Starfleet doesn’t have a deployment facility in
The group rounds a corner in the hallway and walk right off camera.
SARA
I know.
Continue on to ACT THREE...