Fade in
INT – DAY – Tajemnica’s bridge.
Lag, Helton, Quiritis, Bipasha, Camp XO
Helton: Now we spin up, sound retreat, and get the hell out’a here!
Lag: (thoughtfully, quietly, looking at the AARAS display) … No. Continue reading
Author Archives: Rolf
The Stars Came Back -083- Bug’n out
Fade in
EXT – DAY – open area not far from Tajemnica
Lag and the Camp Col stand next to the body of the tech level compliance officer, looking down at him and Cooper, then around at the destroyed camp around them. The Camp Col seems a bit dazed, looking at it all. Continue reading
Gun Song – Cleaning My Gun – Mark Knopfler
Master guitarist. Another song I wasn’t familiar with until I found it. Thanks for the recommendation, John V.
Mark Knopfler has been playing the six-string for a while, and is generally considered one of the greats of the instrument.
Speaking of serious guitar stuff, a news story just came out that makes the Gibson guitar make raid make sense, in a “Chicago Thug Methods” sort of way.
The Stars Came Back -082- Incoming
Fade in
INT – DAY – Cargo bay
The compliance monitor, a fleshy Caucasian man in his 50s, dressed sharply and looking very official, is walking through the cargo bay with Kwon. Kwon is dressed in a “ship’s uniform” that looks similar to the one Allonia made for herself.
Kwon: It’s a good ship. A few circuits short, but tough and functional. Continue reading
The Stars Came Back -081- Delivery
Fade in
INT – DAY – Tajemnica’s cargo bay, as it sits on pad D9
Ramp is down, main airlock door is open, daylight streaming in. There are seven trucks on board, including three tankers. One cargo truck is being unloaded, and there is a large pile of stuff where another had been unloaded. The rest have been driven on and parked, still loaded. Continue reading
The Stars Came Back -080- Privates
Fade in
EXT – Day – Cab of a heavy military truck
Two soldiers are driving down a road on the outskirts of Adelaide, not far from the port. The morning sun casts sharp shadows, but the dust arising from the truck ahead of them in the small convoy makes things a bit hazy. They are in tan camo uniforms, with no armor other then helmets. Semi-auto rifles are in a gun rack in the back window. Their uniforms are dirty and unkempt, both have not shaved in a few days, one has his shirt buttons misaligned. They look a bit rough – not evil, just lazy and sloppy and poorly disciplined. Continue reading
Gun Song – Marty Robbins – Big Iron
I’m finding all sorts of interesting things in a quest to find a gun-song per week. Here is Marty Robbins song “Big Iron” (on his hip). Simple tune, clear vocals, good story. It sounds like the background guitar player is having fun trying to slip a little fast-n-fancier stuff into the short spaces left in the vocals. What’s not to like? Sort of an antidote to a Beatles take on guns.
Marty Robbins is sort of in the same genre as “Tennessee” Ernie Ford, singing gospel, country, early rock, etc. Good stuff.
If any of you have suggestions, I’d be happy to consider them. Got another seven queued up, keep us in Friday tunes until the 4th of July.
The Stars Came Back -079- Book 2a
INT – DAY – Officers mess
Lag, Stenson, Allonia, Seraphina, sit at the table, with food and settings for six. Helton walks in with the book and sits down to general greetings.
Helton: A bit more readable already. Take a look. Continue reading
The Stars Came Back -078- Book 2
Fade in
EXT – Day – Landing Pad D9
Tajemnica is on the pad, aft ramp down toward the building across the street. Helton sits on the ramp, a long piece of grass between his teeth, looking like he’s waiting. For once, it looks fairly peaceful and quiet. The ship and cargo deck look clean and orderly, with minimal gear or equipment around. The day is overcast, no sharp shadows. Continue reading
The Stars Came Back -077- Who’s who
Fade in
EXT – Day – Cargo Bay ramp
Tajemnica hovers above the landing pad on top of Seymore’s office. Lag and the guard stand, motionlessly, facing each other, waiting, Lag with his rifle still held casually. The door to the building slides open, and Helton and Allonia (a modest trickle of blood coming from the cut on her temple) come trotting out and hop aboard the ramp. Lag looks at her, concerned. As they hop on, Tajemnica lifts and starts moving away.
Continue reading
The Stars Came Back -076- Visit
INT – DAY – Tajemnica bridge
Helton, Quiritis, Bipasha, Cooper, Allonia, Lag. Everyone but Lag looks tense and worried. He looks patient. Continue reading
The Stars Came Back -075- Ambush
Fade in
EXT – DAY – Harbin’s mortar pit
The dull rumbling drone of many quiet engines and big wheels dominate the background. It’s full daylight. Sabot is hunkered down in a corner, head down, asleep. Harbin is looking carefully over the edge of the pit. He slowly lowers his head down. He kicks Sabot’s boot gently. Sabot startles, pops his head up, looking around wildly for a moment, then settles down realizing where he is, then perks up at the sound. He looks at Harbin with a question on his face. Harbin nods. Continue reading
Gun Song – Happiness is a warm gun – The Beatles (?!)
I came across a Beatles song I’d never even HEARD of before. A gun song from The BEATLES?! Happiness is a Warm Gun, from the White Album. Hmmm… Looking at the lyrics, it’s clear they were pretty clueless about what they were singing about. Of course, being as it was released in 1968, perhaps not so surprising. There were a LOT of things done then in popular culture that made people say a all kinds of seriously weird and disjointed stuff. Can’t say they are not musically talented, and on a technical basis interesting. Also can’t say it’s a very good song as a song, IMHO, but here it is to you to make your own opinion of.
Hopefully, no-one needs much of an intro to the Beatles, but for the younger crowd, that was who Paul McCartney played with before Wings. For the whipper-snappers who don’t get that joke, never mind, just look them up.
The Stars Came Back -074- Dropping in
Fade in
INT – DAY – Kat’s office in BLDG 1701
She sits at her desk, Councilor Darch on her computer screen. He’s a very thin, almost cadaverous, with intense eyes, perfect hair, and immaculate shirt and jacket. THe office behind him looks lavish and large. Continue reading
The Stars Came Back -073- Unconventional munitions
EXT – DAY – North hill-top
A grassy hill-top with a some scrubby bushes. Hunkered down between and behind some of the bushes are six men in camo uniforms, small packs and equipment around them on the ground. One of the men has binoculars and is watching the refugee center.
Continue reading
The Stars came Back -072- Situation
Fade in
INT – DAY – Kat’s office in BLDG 1701
She sits at her desk, Lag on her computer screen.
Kat: Nothing yet. They said they lost a bunch of surveillance assets about (glances at the clock) fifteen minutes ago. No good real-time in the area right now, but they are moving what they can – soonest is a couple of hours. Wait or risk it?
Continue reading
The Stars Came Back -071- Paying Passenger
Fade in
INT – Day – Officers mess
Helton, Lag, and Trask sit at the table.
Trask: I can’t just get dumped at the refugee center. WE can’t.
Continue reading
The Stars Came Back -070- Setup
Fade in
INT – mid-deck passageway, next to an open cargo bay window
Lag, Helton, Bipasha, and Cooper are looking at the growing crowd on the cargo deck of several hundred refugees. Continue reading
The Stars Came Back -069- Nobody
EXT – Day – Cargo bay ramp
The numbers of refugees has been swelling, and now it’s clear that there may not be enough room for everyone, and they are starting to get louder, less queue-like and more mob-like.
Continue reading
Gun Song – Tchaikovsky – 1812 Overture (with cannons)
No “gun” in the title, but anything that is actually performed with real cannons certainly qualifies as a gun song. The exciting part is near the end, for those not familiar with it. It’s a famously rousing piece, at least the ending. The rest has a narrower appeal.
Tchaikovsky is one of the big names in classical music. He was Russian, born in 1840. If you like classical music, you likely know about him, or at least OF him, and if you don’t, nothing I say will change your mind, most likely. But an interesting factoid was that he made an appearance at the inauguration of Carnegie Hall.