Mobius at Colonus
Cast of Characters
Man “A” (the Navigator/Businessman/King) Older, sure of his success and place in the world.
Man “B” (Operations Officer/Vice President/Prince) The son of Man A and Woman A, about to marry Woman B
Woman “A” (First Officer/CEO/Queen)
Woman “B” (Exploration Leader/Negotiator/Princess)
Voice (Computer/Advisor/Oracle)
Chorus (Three or more voices; will take on other roles as needed)
Settings:
On an exploratory ship on the borders of known space, far future.
In the offices of a modern-day multinational
In an ancient court
(The audio ambiance in each should be different. The far future should be antiseptic, with background noises – electronic whirs, a distant rumble from the engines – to set the scene; the office setting should have a touch more warmth in the voices/ambiance, but still a bit unreal; the ancient setting should echo as if they are in a stone building or cavern. You want to “hear” the flickering flames casting deep shadows on the walls.)
The settings will remain discreet for the first half or so, with the bleeding steadily increasing (with scenes shifting in mid-speech between settings) until the final scenes, when characters from different eras will be speaking to each other. The characters and story are essentially the same, but as they come from different places and have been shaped by different events, they should be played as distinct characters by the actors.
Act I
Voice (fades in slowly, the first lines should be inaudible)
Out of love comes heartache. Out of lust comes wreckage. We are all slaves to ourselves – our emotions and destinies. We cannot hope to change, only to control. Out side of the stars, the story will unfold. A man’s hubris will be his downfall, as events of fate have already been set in motion. Not even the gods can save him. No sacrifices, no prayers, no pleas will alter the course.
Chorus:
New course laid in. We are ready to head out to new climbs. What does the Navigator hope to find out in the unreached darkness? All we know is that the eternal abyss is ahead. The Black Abyss makes mainly widows.
Man “B”
None of that, crewman. We are off to make our fortune – and me to make my future. And if you do well and are willing, you could join me on that great endeavor.
Chorus:
Sir, we would be honored to begin a new world with you.
Voice:
Arrival at Barrier, designated C7-44 in five minutes. Damage and Exploration crews to the ready. Navigator to the bridge, please.
Man “B”
Here how polite our brave computer is. There is no need to plead with the Navigator to come to duty. I am surprised he is not here already.
Chorus:
At least we are joined by your father, the Navigator, for this final exploration, sir. He is the finest pilot in all of the outer realms, and has spent nearly as much time out among the dark reaches as at home.
Man “B”:
Yes, that is true.
(Doors open)
Chorus:
Navigator on the Bridge!
Man “A”
Good morning crew. Computer, please release controls of the ship to me. I will guide the Homeward Beacon from now as we reach into the abyss and then explore. Now, Second Officer, is the crew ready?
Man “B”
They have been ready the moment we left our home, Sir. At present, they are all in position if a crisis should arise, or to explore whatever we may find… sir.
Man “A”
None of that “Sir” nonsense, Son. Father is fine.
Man “B”
Yes, si.. father.
(Door opens)
Man “A”
Ah, fair Deedree. Are the Recovery teams ready for their duties?
Woman “B”
Yes, Sir!
(Man “A” laughs)
Oh, my, aren’t the two of you formal this morning! Please, Deedree, you will be part of the family once we return home. You must get used to calling me father. Now, crew, prepare for our breach into the barrier!
Man “B” (low voice, only to Woman “B”)
You will. Call him father, I mean. He is in unusually good spirits this morning. It must be the chance for exploration. How are you today? I went to your cabin, but you must have already been on duty.
Woman “B”
Yes, duty called early this morning, but my teams are truly ready. They’ve been waiting to find something more interesting than a chunk of space debris. It’s been a slow few weeks to this point. And your father must be excited by the chance to set out once more – he always seems so tied down when we are at home.
Man “B”
That’s how we are made – ready to see the spaces between whenever we can.
(Doors open)
Chorus:
First Officer on the bridge.
Woman “A”
At ease. Navigator, what is our position?
Man “A”:
Mum, we are at the edge of our territory, about to pass through the designated barrier and into unclaimed space. The crew is ready and the proper teams are prepared for their tasks…. Dear.
Woman “A”
Is that true, Lt? Are you teams prepared? Should you not be with them to run final checks?
Woman “B”
Mum, they are at the ready and prepared. I was on the bridge to brief the command crew on the situation and see if there were any changes in our status.
Man “A”
Please, dear. Let our future daughter have a chance to be here when we breach the barrier. And we will need to brief here once we are on the other side. If my explorations from the past hold true – and we never know if they will – there should be some salvage work to do fairly quickly.
(Man “A” and Woman “A” continue their conversation in the background, talking about telemetry or something; Man “B” and Woman “B” are in the foreground)
Woman “B”
Why does your mother hate me?
Man “B”
It’s not that. She’s always run a tight ship…
Woman “B”
And?
Man “B”
You are “ruining” the family. After all, with you at my side, I have no reason to stay in the home group. Once we are done with this mission, I will have the resources to become my own Navigator. Soon after that, I will be gone.
Woman “B”
She must have realized that a long time ago. You’ve always been designated to lead a new colony.
Man “B”
Man “A”
Come my son, you should be at my side as we breach. It is your future, after all, that we are preserving on this journey. And you too, Deedree.
Woman “B”
I must beg off, Navigator. As the First Officer has noted, it is best that I be with my Teams at this time. I will meet with you to discuss our course and plans for exploration.
Chorus, Man A and Man B
Farewell!
Voice:
Entering barrier in two minutes
Man “A”
A ha. Here we are at the edge of our known realm. We have rarely come this far, and never with the Homeward Beacon. I feel like a child once more. Computer – please connect me to the array. I will guide us through.
Man “B”
Mother, you must not be so hard on Deedree. She does more than a fine job – she is the most capable Recovery Leader we have had in recent years. And we will be married if you approve or not.
Woman “A”
Perhaps you are right, son. But this mission has us all on edge. I do not like being this far out into the void. I have grown used to the comforts of home,.
Man “B”
(laughs). This is our home. All we have done is leave our realm behind – in the capable hands of the stewards and my brothers.
Woman “A”
It’s not that… Oh, I cannot say. I am just being a mother afraid to see her son go. It was the same for your father’s mother. We never want to let go, especially as you are to lead a new ship away from us.
Man “A”
Breach in five… four…three…two…one… and we are there!
(General noise, as if they are passing through, well, a barrier)
Telemetry, please begin investigations. If the have not been found or taken away, the planetoids I observed should be at the bearing indicated.
Chorus:
Sir, I believe we have evidence of what you seek! It is unclear as to the makeup, but it appears to be what you have indicated – and then some. I believe it is what you have come for.
Man “A”
Excellent. Gather the information as it comes in. I will plot our course and then allow our fair computer to do its most excellent job. Do you see, son? Your future is ahead.
(cut to later, Man “A” is briefing Woman “B”
Man “A”
We have identified three previous unexplored planetoids, and more than a dozen pieces of space debris – we will know the exact number within the week, as we come closer to the objects.
Woman “B”
Yes, Father. I have noted the findings for the team leaders to sift through – with several more days of information, we should have a good sense of where to start. It is clear that there are good mineral deposits on the largest planetoid. The mining teams have made ready.
Man “A”
Is that all?
Woman “B”
Yes.
Man “A”
Good. (sound of kissing) We only have a few more weeks, and everyone is watching closely. Still we must make the most of it.
Woman “B”
Yes, my love.
Act II
(Modern day ambiance; general chatter in the background. Maybe the sound of some computers clicking and phones being answered)
Chorus: The boss is back, and says that the negotiations were excellent. We’ll be moving into the Ecuador markets within the month. We’re back in the game everyone. Back in the game.
Voice: OK everyone. Settle down. The board meeting will start in five minutes.
Then we’ll be briefed by the entire group.
Chorus: Now, have you heard some of the talk? The Boss just bamboozled them from beginning to end. And I hear they found something unusual in the ruins. And I don’t just mean his cock. (General laughter)
Man “A”: Hello all and happy Monday to everyone. This is a great day for all of us, but I’ll wait until the meeting starts to fill in all of the details. However, it is a great day for all of us.
(General huzzahs)
Man “B”: Father, shouldn’t we discuss this further. We don’t know what it is we found. Janet and her team tried to work out what it might be for, and they couldn’t find anything out about it, except that it couldn’t have been manufactured today, let alone hundreds of years ago.
Man “A”: Nonsense. This is exactly why we traveled there. The business contract is fine, but it was the artifacts I’d heard about that sealed the deal for me. What we brought back will make us the top of our field, or any field that we want to be in. Don’t you see. What we found is – unlike anything else in the world.
Man “B”: It could be worthless.
Man “A”: Bullshit son. I have every bit of confidence in Janet in this matter. You’re just mad that she might be too busy with this business to pay attention to you.
Voice: Please take your seats. We are ready to begin. Does the chair have anything to say before we begin?
Woman “A”: I think everyone is buzzing about the rumors they’ve heard. I can’t confirm them all – I don’t know what has been said by everyone – but it is something quite amazing. I will let Henry explain.
(In background, Man “A” babbles about the trip. Woman “B” enters, with a team of people pushing a cart)
Man “B”: Are you sure about this? You are sticking your neck out pretty far.
Woman “B”: You worry too much. We had a breakthrough early this morning. I think we can open it.
(Scene shift – the ambiance should of the future, but quieter than the ship. They are on board the dead ship they found in scene 1)
Man “A”: What is it? And what is this place? I’ve never seen anything like this – it doesn’t seem all that practical as a ship. All those windows. And desks and chairs and what look like primitive computers.
Woman “B”: It looks like a safe, with a primitive combination lock. I think I can break it in a few minutes (general bleeps, indicating that a device has been placed on the safe). I don’t understand what this place is. I have seen some ruins similar to it, especially when I’ve been closer to the inner core, where more debris seems to be collected. It’s odd to find something this far into the wilds.
Man “B”: Is it safe, here. I mean… there are windows that seem far too thin to protect us from deep space. How can this exist here?
Woman “B”: It could be the core – we’re millions of miles from the final barriers, and its influence doesn’t seem to drop. I could live to 200 and never understand how it all works.
Man “B”: Which is why we should be cautious, especially with something as unknown as this. There are no accidents from the Dead Sun, we should assume there is a reason for this.
Man “A”: Oh, you Determinists! Always a reason for everything. Look, it’s just some debris. It exists and that’s that. Let us find what we can use and then leave. I see no reason to stay any longer than that.
Woman “B”: The Navigator is right. We can debate the reasons for this place’s existence for hours and not come any closer to what we are looking for.
Man “B”: And what are we looking for? The reports from the other teams show there is plenty of material we can use for the new ships, but we could have found that at home. Father, why are we all the way out here?
Man “A”: There was something… odd the first time I came by this area. It was a pulse of energy, very faint, but also very familiar. And I found it again this time, and I’m pretty sure we are close.
(the footsteps cease and we hear a door opening)
Man “B”: This is… a meeting room of some sort. Shine the light over there, by the table. There’s something there (he trails off)
(A pause, perhaps intake of breath)
Woman “B”: Oh my… that’s…
Man “A”: What I thought.
Man “B”: Mercy. It’s a computer core! Like we have on the ship. That’s more valuable than… the entire empire.
Man “A”: Yes son. And it’s yours.
(scene shift, back to the past)
Woman “A”: So, what is it?
Woman “B”: The function is unclear, but it appears to be some kind of computer. We haven’t been able to work out exactly how it works, but it seems to have memory far beyond anything we could put into a space of this size.
Woman “A”: And it was buried, by whom?
Woman “B”: Not so much a who, but a what. There was evidence of an impact and considering this object’s nature, it’s pretty clear it didn’t come from this earth. We’re working to date the impact, but it is at least 10,000 years ago. There’s no way this could have been made by our ancestors, they weren’t even living in South America at the time. That’s not the real question.
Woman “A”: No, the real question is how are we going to use it? This technology is so alien to our own that I cannot fathom what to do. We’ll need to call another meeting. Let everyone see it, talk about what to do.
Woman “B”: Yes… (shift again to the future) Navigator. It is clearly a ship’s core, just like the one on board.
Man “A”: We don’t know where they come from – much like everything else in this blighted area of space, but we can use it.
Woman “B”: Oh definitely.
(Sound of kissing)
Man “A”: I told you I would give a gift greater than a living, burning sun.
Woman “B”: True, but we cannot go on, you know that.
Man “A”: Please, we will be here excavating and collecting for several weeks, and then there is the return journey, and them the building…
Woman “B”: No, we cannot go on.
(Pause)
Woman “B”: You know it is true. This is far too dangerous now. My husband-to-be is coming into his own, and now he can shrive himself of your influence – he will not take kindly to this betrayal.
Man “A”: I can handle my son.
Woman “B”: And your wife? Can you handle her?
Man “A”: That is more of an issue, but I believe I can. We are safe my love. I will never let (shift back to the past) anything happen to you.
Woman “B”: It’s just that your wife is vindictive, what did you tell me about the nanny? That she didn’t just fire her for some imagined slight, but hounded her until she couldn’t work again?
Man “A”: My son burned his hand on the stove. It was inexcusable.
Woman “B”: But she drove the woman to suicide! How do you think she would take our…
Man “A”: dalliances?
Woman “B”: If you wish to call them that. Come on, it’s time for the meeting. Put your clothes on.
(Shift to the board room, the Chorus and Voice chatter in the background).
Woman “A”: Thank you ladies and gentlemen. We need to begin. As you know, we have made a great discovery on the last trip, one that will… well, change everything, I think. I will let my son explain.
Man “B”: We found the object buried deep in the earth in the foot of the Andes. We know that it must have been buried there for thousands of years, certainly before humans arrived in the area (general ruckus). No, please, that is not the most amazing thing that we did find. In the excavation, there were a number of artifacts of obvious non-terrestrial origin. These included metal fragments that we believe came from a ship. None were larger than a few inches across. Except for one piece. Please bring it in.
(general gasps).
We do not know it’s complete function, but we surmise it is a computer of some sort. A very powerful computer, if our preliminary analysis is correct. It is made of a material that survived crashing into the earth and then at least 10,000 years buried – and there isn’t a scratch on it. And that’s just the material on the casing. We don’t know what’s inside, but if the core computer is as amazing as the exterior… then we may be on the edge of a true new age.
Man “A”: And we will be the leaders of that age.
(general huzzahs)
Voice: No! This is death!
Man “A”: Margaret, what’s wrong?
Voice: (as Margaret) I.. am not sure… but (as Oracle) We cannot exist with this here. Betrayals are already set in motion. The world will soon turn without any of us, and it is all the fault of the Navigator. He has brought ruin upon us all. He will bring the stars down around our heads. He will defy all for that which he cannot have.
Man “B”: Margaret, calm down. Everyone, we need to clear the room, there may be something from the artifact that is affecting her.
(general rustling as people start leaving in a near panic)
Voice: We are the end. The Beginning. The all. We must..
(Long pause).
Voice: It is too late (shift to computer; same sense of panic on board the ship). Mr. Chambers has brought it to the boardroom. The Navigator has brought it to the ship. The king is in his court, with his wife and his son and his lover, and all will be revealed. All will be revealed.
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