Buck Rogers in the 26th Century Episode 202x "Crossing Roads" Written by: Erin Weinstock I don't hold any of the copyrights in this story, and this story was made without profit. Teaser: int: Dressing Room: Women who are Human and alien are dressing and undressing here with garb too flashy and too skimpy to wear outside a club meant for male entertainment. This place is very crowded and for a beat the camera stays put... V.O. Dancer One: "I need a new outfit." Then it starts moving forward through the crowd. V.O. Dancer Two: "I hope he comes back tonight." V.O. Dancer Three: "Right after this, the slots are mine." V.O. Dancer Four: "How come she always gets the good outfits?" V.O. Dancer Five: "Turn right, bend down; tease them." V.O. Dancer Six: "I love this eyeliner." Now the camera, while still moving forward, can see a woman putting the finishing touches on her look. This woman is Charisse; she's smiling, nothing about the way she carries herself tells of bad intent. V.O. Dancer Seven: "I hope I get to use the pole tonight." V.O. (male) Boss: "Where is Sandy? I need her on stage in a minute." Charisse, who now is using the name Sandy, waving towards the off-camera Boss: "I'm here; I'll be out in a jip!" Charisse finishes preening herself and with the camera following her she heads to behind the curtain that leads to the stage. V.O. Dancer Eight: "I wish I was that pretty." V.O. Dancer Nine: "It doesn't look that shallow, does it?" Charisse peeks out from the curtain into the area she's to perform in, which we can't see till yet. Cut to: int: Strip Club: All we can see is Charisse's face peeking out from the dividing curtain. V.O Man: "She better be prettier than my wife." Charisse takes on a worried look then backs to being unseen behind the curtain. Cut to: int: Dressing Room: Charisse is standing behind the curtain, just having a moment to herself. V.O Dancer Ten: "She looks like she could break a leg out there." Charisse smiles, then heads through the curtain and out of the shot. Cut to: int: Strip Club: It's a wide shot: the room is dim except for small lights on the walls and the stage which is being spotlighted. We can't see the stage yet but we can see the crowd in the club: Human and alien men sitting at tables. Only half look decent, the rest look like they have arrest warrants out for them. V.O. Man One: "She's hot." V.O. Man Two: "Wish she'd come over here." The camera cuts to behind Charisse dancing with her back to us. The dance matches the mood of the place she's in: sleazy. V.O. Man Three: "I wonder what her cup size is?" V.O. Man Four: "That's it, that's it." V.O. Man Five: "Wonder if she'd dance at my bachelor party." The camera cuts on to Charisse, the part of her we're watching is from above her boobs. Note the camera is following her as she's dancing so we don't see anything we shouldn't. V.O. Man Six: "She's too hot for that stage." V.O. Migel: "So this is where you went off to, Charisse." At hearing that last thought Charisse's mouth drops and her eyes go wide, she stops dancing. Cutting the camera so we can see the full stage. Charisse, her hair covering what shouldn't be viewed on a family show, backs slowly off stage to behind the curtain. V.O. Man Seven: "What's wrong with her?" V.O. Migel: "You're in the wrong place, Charisse." Cut to: int: Dressing Room: With the camera close on Charisse we see that shock may be an understatement for the look on her face. End Teaser: Pre-Credits: Beginning of Act One: ext: Golden Star: It's an alien city that looks very welcoming and tacky, like watch your wallet tacky. The camera is focused on a tall hotel in the center of its view. After looking at this for a beat... Cut to: int: Hotel Lobby: Among many Humans and aliens moving about we catch sight of Buck, Wilma and Twiki with luggage in hand, as they walk towards the check-in desk. Buck: "All work? Come on Wilma, this is Vegas." Wilma: "You can make it look to others like you're just here for fun and games, we're doing this undercover, Buck. The Defense Directorate needs this man brought in, [ beat ] and this isn't New Vegas, it's Sinaloa, Golden Star City." Buck: "New Vegas in space, whatever." Twiki: "Try to loosen up, Wilma we're on vacation." Wilma: "That's just a cover." They reach the check-in desk and a hotel clerk immediately comes over to where they've just placed themselves in front of it. Check-in Clerk: "May I help you?" Buck: "Deering, Rogers [ beat ] and Twiki, here for room 214." The Check-in Clerk leans over the counter to look down at Twiki. Check-in Clerk: "Have you been told all the rules of this fine hotel and casino, Mr. Deering?" Buck: "I'm Rogers." Buck pointing to Wilma, Cont: "She's Deering, is something wrong?" The Check-in Clerk looking to Buck and Wilma: "Your ambuquad [ beat ] they're not guests we [ beat ], it's not welcome in most areas of this establishment, namely its casino area." Buck: "Twiki's good, I assure you he'll do nothing against the hotel's rules the entire time we'll be staying here." Cont: "Twiki?" Buck says looking to the little bot. A beat passes and Twiki acts like he's heard nothing. Cont: "Twiki?" Twiki: "It's cool, I'll obey them." Wilma, smiling, hits Twiki playfully. The Check-in Clerk hands Buck a pad-computer and a pointer to use with it. Check-in Clerk: "I need you and Deering to sign in; the ambuquad doesn't have to." Buck does as he's told, then hands the pad-computer and pointer to Wilma who then also does as she was told by the Check-in Clerk. Wilma hands back the pad-computer and pointer back to the Check-in Clerk. The Check-in Clerk takes a hanging data chip off the wall labeled 214, and hands it to Wilma. Cont: "Do you guys need me now?" Wilma: "Not now, why do you ask?" Twiki: "I want to check out the entertainment." Wilma and Buck look to the Check-in Clerk. Check-in Clerk: "It's OK by the rules." Twiki heads off. Cont: "Just no gambling!" Cut to: int: Strip Club: The place is empty except for Charisse who's walking from table to table, touching all of them. She's acting like she's searching for something and looking at things that aren't there, aren't seen till... After a couple of beats we see what looks like ghost images fill the room: it's the crowd she performed for the night before. They move around and talk but we can't hear them. The camera cuts to being Charisse's POV. She spends a beat looking at one ghost face before moving to another. Among seven faces she looks at, one -not the first of the faces- is a man who's Human but has some Gasheen in him. The camera cuts off to a normal POV and we continue seeing Charisse move from table to table in her search. The only thing that's different is Migel is here; he's a few feet behind Charisse. He's the ghost Charisse saw that was half Human, half Gasheen. Migel: "I'm guessing you haven't been doing too well lately. [ beat ] To end up in a place like this." In a snap Charisse turns around to face Migel. Charisse: "You were here last night." Migel comes closer to Charisse. Migel: "Catching a good show I might add. That is until [ beat ] I noticed something spooked you." Charisse: "Do you know me?" Migel reaches out to brush her. Migel: "Now what kind of question is that?" Charisse notices he's about to touch her hair and moves a little. Migel pulls away his hand. Cont: "You don't know me?" Charisse just stares at him in wonder. Cont: "My god, they got to you, didn't they?" The camera pans around the two of them for the next two lines. Charisse: "Who are they?" Migel: "Rehabilitators, they wipe your mind, make you -." Migel gives a short laugh and turns away from her. Cont: "Make you a law-obeying citizen." Charisse taking this in: "There was no radiation." Migel: ""Radiation"? That's the lie they fed you?" Charisse: "That my ship crashed, that radiation from its engine in the crash caused my memory loss." Migel, in a low voice and drawn out: "Charisse, you were an assassin, one of the best. [ beat ] You were even part of a team of assassins: they were the best in the galaxy. But before you were with them you were with me. [ beat ] We were a team too." Charisse: "I want to know more about who I was." Migel: "Who you are." The camera cuts to the entranceway of the club. Twiki enters through here looking in his movements to be as enthusiastic as can be shown by a robot. Twiki takes notice of Migel and Charisse off camera and stops moving. The camera cuts back on to Charisse and Migel. Charisse: "I want to know you again." Migel takes her hand and kisses it. Migel: "I came here to take care of some business." Cont: "Perhaps you could help me out? Partners again?" Charisse: "Partners again." The camera cuts back to Twiki in the doorway, Twiki is shaking his head "no". Then Twiki runs out of the doorway and away from the club. Cut to: int: Room 214: It looks like a small studio apartment with two queen-size beds with bedside tables and lamps against one wall, a TV projector unit set into the middle of the floor and a couch before it, a tiny kitchen slightly cut off from the rest of the room, a bathroom connecting (but we can't see into it) and a large window that gives a good view to the city outside. As the scene begins Buck is finishing unpacking his things into a drawer that's cut into the table by his bed. Wilma is still unpacking and Twiki enters the room. Buck to Wilma: "Are you sure I can't help you with that?" Wilma: "Everything has its place, Buck, and I know just where to put it." Twiki: "Buck, Wilma, we need to leave right now!" Both Buck and Wilma turn to Twiki. Buck, shutting the drawer he was working on: "Twiki, is something wrong?" Twiki runs up to Buck, Twiki: "The one who we came here to catch and the League of Assassins, they're all here! We need to leave before something bad happens!" Wilma: "We came here to apprehend Migel Loren before he commits a suspected crime, but the League of Assassins, Twiki?" Buck to Twiki: "You must be mistaken, they're gone now, they're not a threat any more." Twiki: "They're still around, Buck. I saw that mind witch Charisse talking with Loren! If she's here then the rest must be here too!" Wilma: "You must be mistaken about this, they're not -." Twiki: "I'm not!! Those people wanted me turned into crystal once and also kidnapped me! I know what they look like! I'm not mistaken!" Buck: "Well Tik, we are here for Loren. Tell me where you saw him and if you're right -." Buck to himself in a low voice, Cont: "Which I highly doubt." Now returning to normal voice, Cont: "Wilma and I will deal with them, OK?" Twiki: "In the hotel's strip club." Wilma makes some noises with her mouth drop-jawed open as if she's not sure what to say. Buck: "I'll check it out, Tik." Wilma: "Buck!" Buck, hitting his chest once: "Wilma, if Loren is there and if there really is a team of assassins there too, it is my job to the Defense Directorate to check out that place and make sure it's safe." Turning to Twiki, Cont: "Lead the way my trusted friend, lead the way." Cut to: int: Hallway: The camera for a beat focuses on a Phasoft-door labeled 324. V.O. Charisse: "I'm not sure about this." Cut to: int: Room 324: This room is smaller than Buck, Wilma and Twiki's room. It has only one bed which Charisse is sitting on, looking very unsure about her predicament. Once more to a side of the bed is a tiny bedside table with drawers in it and on the other side of the bed stands Migel, looking a million times more confident about himself than Charisse. There's no kitchen, just a small refrigerator and the window this place has for looking outside is nowhere near the same size as the one in Buck and Wilma's room. Migel: "Charisse, this will be easy for you, child's play." Charisse: "[ beat ] But what if he doesn't want to give me the code. I mean he has no reason to why he should." Migel: "It will be more than your feminine charms at work here. I'm not really counting on your body to do the work." Charisse glares at Migel, a beat as Migel realizes his mistake. Cont: "Char, it's your mind that will be doing the work." Charisse stands up from the bed. Charisse: "At the least he has to be thinking of the code for the vault." Migel: "That's all you need to do at least now." Charisse turning to Migel sharply: "My mental powers don't always, don't always work as sharply as I want them to. What if I can't read his mind?" Migel slowly walking to Charisse: "Then we'll find another way." V.O. Cont: "Then I'll kill you. Witch, can't be trusted anymore." Charisse: "I'll make sure I get it the first time." Migel: "Good." End of Act One: Beginning of Act Two: int: Entertainment Lounge: It's a massive area that separates from the casino only by its carpeting. There's a good-sized bar in its center, and a few small tables that look like they could only seat one, the reason behind this being that the hotel would rather have its guests sitting in one of the side rooms that are connected to the Entertainment Lounge. For example a concert area, a relaxation area -this would be the sort of place where you could get treated to a spa, a back rub, and so on like that-, an area to drop the kids off (day care), a fancy restaurant that serves food well past the quality of the hotel's room service, and the strip club. Due to the size of the Entertainment Lounge Buck, who has a blaster strapped to his side and Twiki tailing him, doesn't notice that among the many people in this place, Charisse is near the entrance to the casino as he makes his way over to the strip club. A hotel guard halts Buck. Buck: "You got a problem?" Hotel Guard: "Your weapon sir, they're not allowed in the hotel." Buck: "It's OK; I work for the Defense Directorate." Hotel Guard: "This isn't Earth, I don't care; hand me your blaster, I need to confiscate it." The Hotel Guard, flat-palmed, puts out a hand to Buck. Buck: "Sir, I'm here on official business. My partner here has told me the man I came here to take down and an assassin I've thought for some time had been rehabilitated are here." Hotel Guard: "Really? And just where do you suspect "these heartless villains" are?" Buck bends his head down and speaking low: "In the hotel's strip club." Hotel Guard: "I'll need your weapon now, unless you want to leave." Twiki: "He's telling the truth." Hotel Guard: "You're not very welcome here yourself; go back to your room." Buck, looking like he's not enjoying it in the least, hands Hotel Guard his blaster. Hotel Guard: "Now you can go to the club," he says with a big smile. Buck to Twiki: "I hope you're wrong about this, Twiki. He has my only blaster." Buck and Twiki continue towards the club. As they do so Buck turns his head for a moment while walking and he quickly takes on a look of shock. The camera cuts to Charisse talking with a man that looks of high ranking with the hotel's casino staff: he doesn't look too happy. Casino Key Holder: "With what you refuse to do for me, why should I tell you? You don't work in the casino." Charisse, who's trying to sound sexy: "I'll give more thought, no make that more of an effort to grant your little request." Casino Key Holder: "You'll even tie me down?" Charisse: "Anything you want, honey." Casino Key Holder: "The code stays with me till after you've done this." V.O. Casino Key Holder: "Strange woman wants the code to the vault when even a broken nail would be too much for her, she couldn't steal or get away with a robbery." V.O. Buck: "It's Charisse, Twiki wasn't joking! Darn it, her working for Loren, her rehabilitation didn't work!" Charisse turns away from Casino Key Holder. Casino Key Holder: "You're still in the mood, right?" Cut camera to Charisse's POV to show Buck making his way through the crowd towards her. V.O. Buck: "If only I had my blaster, I could direct her out of this hotel and in a heartbeat into a jail cell!" The camera cuts off Charisse's POV to normal. Charisse, pointing in the direction of Buck and looking fearful: "That man! That man, he hurt me!" Charisse takes Casino Key Holder into a tight embrace and sheds tears. Cont: "Protect me, protect me from him." The Casino Key Holder shouting away from Charisse and pointing at Buck: "Security get that man, he wants to hurt my muffin!" The camera cuts to Hotel Guard, who heads off camera for Buck. Cut to: int: Casino: Wilma is at a roulette wheel with a group of gamblers, wearing an evening dress, leaning on a man that doesn't look to be of the good sort, in a suggestive manner. The roulette wheel isn't exactly what we're used to thinking of as a roulette wheel. This one for instance doesn't move. How it works is the hotel employee working the wheel presses a button. That action prompts an electronic counter starting at 30 to count down. At the same time a laser starts shooting randomly from the center of the wheel to the numbers lining its rim. When the 30 seconds are over the laser stops moving and stays on the number it hit at the end of the 30 seconds. Thug (the man Wilma is leaning on): "Woman, you're barking up the wrong tree." Wilma: "Why's that?" The Thug turns to her slowly, Thug: "You may not look it but I know you're a cop. I can tell these things like this from a mile away." Wilma: "And what makes you say that about me?" Thug: "Your interest in Migel." Wilma: "I just happen to think very kindly of the man, that's all." Thug: "Then why don't you already know where he is, cop?" Wilma: "Well, I knew where he was last night and this morning. [ beat ] I can't say past that point and that's why I need your help." Thug: "You're that chick he rehired aren't you? The one who's gonna help get us out of here when the deal's done, right?" Wilma: "Right." Wilma's face doesn't portray any acknowledgment he's mistaken her for Charisse. Suddenly there's a ruckus at another game table that catches the Thug's and Wilma's attention. There's some poor soul trying to collect winnings that aren't his. Unlucky Man: "No no, you can't take it all from me! I won't let you! It's mine, it's all mine!" Thug: "Some just don't know when to stop," he says to Wilma. The dealer at the Unlucky Man's table: "I'm sorry sir, house rules are house rules. You need to give back those credit-chips to the man who won them." Unlucky Man stops in his tracks about stealing the chips before him and looks at the dealer with a crazy look on his face. Unlucky Man: "What are you, some kind of unfeeling quad?!" Dealer: "I'm going to need you to calm down sir; the scene you're making is very unpleasant to the other guests here." In a snap the Unlucky Man draws out a once concealed blaster from a jacket he's wearing. Unlucky Man: "The hell I will!" The Unlucky Man takes a shot in the arm that's in the better foreground of the camera's view, then he makes a sharp noise of pain. Then the camera quickly pans onto the Thug and Wilma. Thug: "Unexpected, but I like it." Wilma is putting down her arm with the blaster from having just shot the Unlucky Man. V.O. Hotel Guard One: "Hold it right there!" Both Wilma and the Thug turn their heads in opposite directions. A montage begins of from different areas of the casino we see hotel security guards moving towards where Wilma and the Thug are. The camera cuts on to Wilma and the Thug. Thug: "But maybe not the best of ideas." Thug takes one of Wilma's wrists and starting to run, Cont: "I know a safe place we can go!" As the Thug, pulling Wilma, in a run rushes out from the casino the hotel security guards fire blasters at them, missing them but making the hotel guests in this scene panic, some even scream. Cut to: int: Holding Cell: The camera is Buck's POV: he's staring up at the ceiling, which is gray stucco. V.O. Charisse: "How do you know me?" Buck's head / camera turns to face Charisse standing beyond the force field of Buck's cell. The camera cuts off Buck's POV to a normal one. Buck is now getting up from having been on his back on the floor. Buck: "You and your pals wanting me dead, that's how I know you." Charisse: "Did you deserve it?" Buck: "No." Buck cocking his head, Cont: "[ beat ] Do you remember me, [ beat ] before meeting up here?" Charisse looks down. After a beat, Cont: "Why are you working with Loren?" Now Charisse stares at Buck. Cont: "Could you tell me what you two are up to?" Charisse: "[ beat ] Why do you want to know this?" V.O. Cont: "She sure isn't acting the way she used to, but she is working with Loren, I'm still going to have to turn her in." Charisse for a beat takes this in, then turning to someone off camera: "I don't think he's going to harm me again, you can let him go." Cut to: int: Hotel Basement: Large and made of cement with support columns reaching up in many places. Not much is in this place, just a corner filled with cleaning supplies, the hotel's circuit breaker and an elevator that leads to the floors above. Migel and a good friend of his, a Saurian with deep purple into black on his scales with nearly no boney ridges, named Deppkey, are in front of the 26th century's idea of a laptop. But right now we can't see all that, we can only see the computer and Deppkey's fingers sitting on the keyboard. The image on the computer's screen is a planet named Whiesu, which looks like Mars if large random areas of it were covered in white. Deppkey: "Why this planet? It's worthless, I'll admit that." V.O. Migel: "Zoom in to max on its southern pole." Deppkey presses a few keys on the keyboard and the image of the whole planet snaps off screen to a new image of a massive grouping of very old dull-colored buildings. V.O. Cont: "You see that?" Deppkey: "A relic Defense Directorate base that hasn't been used in over 20 years? Ya, I see it. That's why I bought the planet." The camera cuts back so we can see this scene better. Migel points at the computer screen. Migel: "Everybody knows Earth won the war against Sanopp, but what most buyers I'm betting won't know as they're buying Defense Directorate technology is its age." Deppkey: "You want to sell it off because it's like a brand name owning that base's equipment and weapons. I just bought it as a trophy. [ beat ] You're going to give the Defense Directorate a bad name with this, you know?" Migel: "I don't care if I give them a black eye or not. I just care how much of the stuff I can sell off on people." Deppkey, turning from the computer to face Migel: "Before I sell you this planet, I'd like to ask you two things." End of Act Two: Beginning of Act Three: int: Hotel Basement: The scene here picks up where Act Two left off, with Migel and Deppkey holding his computer. Migel: "Shoot." Deppkey: "How do you plan on making it there? There are no passenger or freight ships that go out that way. [ beat ] Too dangerous due to the fact it's nested on the edge of very hostile space. You don't have a ship anymore." Migel: "[ beat ] I'm not here alone, some friends of mine, one which I haven't worked with for a long time have returned and are helping me get the 82 bill. needed to buy a good ship and I should note, a fast ship." Deppkey: "Second: your opinion over Sanopp and its forces?" Migel: "You guys lost, I don't give a crap about selling off your military relics if that's what you're asking?" Deppkey: "90 billion." Migel: "What?!" Deppkey: "It's my planet; I couldn't care less about that old Defense Directorate base sitting on it except for show. But I do care about what non-Saurians think of my home world. 90 billion, no less." Migel: "I can't pay that!" Deppkey: "[ beat ] Then instead of stealing the money to buy a new ship you should be thinking of stealing it to buy the planet and then work out how to get there." Migel is enraged and isn't sure how to react properly to Deppkey. Cont: "Is there something you'd like to say to me?" Migel: "I'll find a way! You'll get your money!" And at that having been said, Migel storms off for the elevator. Cut to: int: Room 324: Migel storms inside and doesn't notice the Thug and Wilma until... Thug: "We had to come here; it wouldn't have been a good idea for us to go back to my room because of the hotel's security." Migel stares at Wilma. Cont: "Migel?" Migel still looking towards Wilma: "What, on Sinaloa?!" Thug: "Charisse and I had some trouble in the casino, that's why we had to come here." Migel smoothly moves over to Wilma in an aggressive fashion. Migel: "Is that so, Charisse?" Wilma: "[ beat ] To stop a disruption, [ beat ] I kinda created one myself." Migel: "Well isn't that interesting, Char." Migel speaking to Thug: "Could you do me a favor?" Thug: "Whatever you ask." Migel motioning to Wilma: "Good, I'd like you to kill Charisse here." Thug: "Sir?!" Migel looking to Wilma: "I'm a very busy man and I don't have the time to find out what this woman's real motives are for being here. I want her out of the picture." Thug: "But I thought you wanted her back?" Migel: "She's not Charisse." To Wilma, Cont: "Who are you?" Wilma: "My name is Wilma. You don't have to worry about my intentions, none of them are foul." Migel: "Then why did you decide to pose as Char?" Wilma: "He assumed I was Charisse. I wanted to see you and due to a false assumption he had placed on me even earlier I figured I'd go with the one I knew, I thought no one would want to kill me for." Migel to the Thug: "Which was what?" Wilma: "That I was a member of the police force, a cop, whatever you want to call it." Migel: "I sent Charisse off on a job a while ago and haven't seen her since. Find her, ask her if she's done her job and which has or hasn't been done, bring her to me, force her if you have to. If you can't do this then I'll quickly make you regret ever having met me, understood?" Wilma: "Locating her and finding you? I don't have a problem with that." Migel to Thug: "Come with me." Migel heads to the door and Thug follows him. Turning to Wilma: at the door, Cont: "Ladies first." Wilma walking towards the door: "Where are you two headed off for?" Migel: "Due to an unforeseen complication I need to find another way to get off this rock than buying a ship. [ beat ] You'll be able to find us in the hotel's shuttle garage when you're ready with Charisse." Cut to: int: Hotel Lobby: Charisse is running towards the entrance and Buck is chasing her. Buck: "If you'd just explain to me what's going on here I might stop bothering you!" The camera follows Charisse now as she heads for the entrance. In a snap she halts a few feet from it and fear starts to grow on her face. Buck catching up to her, Cont: "Just what is going on with you here?" Charisse: "I can't go." The camera swiftly pans to the entrance and we notice the hotel's security is standing outside it. Then the camera swiftly pans back to Charisse and Buck, Cont: "I can't stay, I can't go back." V.O. Buck: "Something is seriously wrong here. Can't believe it, I actually want to help this woman." Cont: "Please, tell me what it is?" Charisse: "I've been told my life used to be different, better. But I'm not sure if I can truly believe that. [ beat ] The one who says he wants to help me also wants to kill me. You want me in jail but you also want to help me." Charisse pointing towards outside, Cont: "And if I go out there I might lose everything again." Buck: "Is Loren, Migel Loren the one who wants you dead?" Charisse: "Yes, how did you know that, [ beat ] are you a telepath too?" Buck: "I'm not, I was told about you and Loren. Could you tell me how? Why you're working with him?" Charisse: "He wants to make me back into the person I used to be and he wants me to work with him in order to do that. If I don't help him, he'll kill me." Buck takes Charisse into a hug, then after a beat, Cont: "Why are you doing that?" Rubbing her back, Buck: "I felt you could use it. Let me guess, why you're afraid to go out there is because your afraid those guards will turn you in right? Have your mind vanish again?" Charisse: "I don't know what to do." Buck, looking Charisse in the eye: "My friends and I are here because of Loren. Help us in getting him and I promise you I'll do what I can to help you, OK?" Charisse gives him an odd look, Cont: "What is it?" Charisse: "You really do want to help me." Buck: "I have a job to do here and I don't want to see you falling back in with a bad crowd and returning to your old ways. Tell me what is he up to?" They stop hugging. Charisse: "I don't know a whole lot about that. I just know he wants the money out of the casino's master safe for something." After a beat, Cont: "How are we going to get revenge on Migel? I'm not a killer any more." Buck: "I never said we were going to get revenge on him, we're just going to get him behind bars where he belongs. Charisse, justice doesn't have to have violence in it." Cut to: int: Entertainment Lounge: Twiki is standing right on the line between the room he's in and the casino. He's looking off into the casino. Guest One comes up to Twiki, Guest One: "Table 21, the odds on -?" Twiki: "18 black." Guest one: "How much do you want if -?" Twiki: "10 percent." Rubbing Twiki's head and going back into the casino, Guest One: "You're a saint." Immediately another guest comes up to Twiki. Guest Two: "Is table 7 rigged?" Twiki: "Its software is malfunctioning." Guest Two walks away. Buck approaching Twiki from behind with Charisse, Buck: "Twiki." Twiki: "Oh no." Twiki turns around to face Buck and Charisse, Cont: "Oh no!" Buck: "She's not going to do anything, Tik." Twiki running a small distance: "Keep her away from me!" Buck: "The rest of them aren't here, she doesn't even remember you." Twiki stops running and turns around to face Buck. Twiki: "But I still remember her." Buck: "Have you ever had a psychic reimaging?" Twiki: "No." Twiki walks up to Charisse who bends down to him. Cont: "You better not hurt him!" Charisse: "I'm not here to hurt him, Twiki or you." Buck: "If you see Wilma, tell her we have a direct lead on Loren's location, we're going to take care of things." Twiki: "You got it boss." Buck and Charisse walk away to off camera and Twiki recontinues looking into the casino. Another guest walks up to Twiki, Guest Three: "I want my money back." Twiki: "Sorry, I lost it." Guest three: "How could you do that?! You ambuquads remember everything! How could we lose it?!" Twiki: "You see any pockets on me, bub?" Guest three: "You owe me!" Twiki: "Fat chance." Wilma walks up behind Twiki. Wilma: "About what?" Twiki quickly turns around to Wilma. Twiki: "Hee hee, hi there Wilma." Wilma: "You look like the cat who swallowed the canary. What are you up to?" Twiki: "Nothing, not a thing. Um, there's something -" Wilma walking away: "Go back to the room; I don't think the hotel's staff wants to see you hanging around its casino. If you happen to see Buck tell him I know where Loren is, I just need to find Charisse now." Twiki: "Oh no." End of Act Three: Beginning of Act Four: int: Entertainment Lounge: Twiki is chasing after Wilma who's at a fast walk. Twiki: "Wait! Wait up!" Wilma stops and turns towards Twiki. Twiki catches up to Wilma, Wilma: "Twiki?" Twiki: "Buck and the mind witch, I've seen them." Wilma: "Why didn't you tell me back there?" Twiki: "I tried, but you wouldn't listen." Wilma: "I'm sorry, is there something I should know?" Twiki: "You betcha." Cut to: ext: Hotel: The camera is focused on a level of the hotel that is a shuttle park only unlike other shuttle parks we've seen before; this one has a roof over it. This one is nested midway through the hotel's stories: a garage meant to be flown into. V.O. Thug: "I don't think it's worth it." Cut to: int: Hotel Shuttle Garage: Thug is standing as Migel is circling around the Defense Directorate ship we've seen used in Episodes 5 and 15: the one that doesn't look like a Defense Directorate ship. Migel: "I bet it belongs to that Wilma person from earlier." Thug: "Why would you think it's her's; that she works for the Defense Directorate?" Migel stops walking and looks at Thug. Migel: "They use these ships when they want no one to know it's them. You even said you wondered if she was a cop. Her interest in me, come on." Buck and Charisse walk into view and Migel notices them immediately. Migel addressing Buck: "Did you and Charisse have a good talk?" Buck: "Excuse me?" Migel: "You are a member of this great hotel and casino's staff correct?" Buck: "No." Migel motioning this at the same time: "Then get out of here, get." Buck walking away and winks at Charisse without Migel or the Thug noticing. Migel to Charisse: "It belongs to the Defense Directorate and I think I know who the owner is." Cut to: int: Outside Hotel Shuttle Garage: Buck has just come in here and Wilma is approaching him from the opposite direction. Wilma: "Twiki told me Charisse is OK now, Migel?" Buck stopping Wilma in her tracks from entering the shuttle garage: "Is about to be taken care of." Wilma tries to continue moving more towards the door, but Buck stops her gently again. Wilma turning to Buck: "You called for help? Buck, why are you stopping me?" Buck: "We're getting our help right now, we can't be out there with those two while it's happening." Wilma: "What have you done?" Buck: "I need to concentrate right now." He says in a low voice. Cut to: int: Hotel Shuttle Garage: Thug is standing by the entrance to the Defense Directorate and Migel and Charisse are nowhere to be seen. Cut to: int: Shuttle: It looks cramped and Migel and Charisse are having a hard time moving around. V.O. Buck: "I don't want to ship going anywhere; go to its controls and push its brake further back than it already is, as you're doing this press the button underneath the controls, it's the one directly under the brake." Charisse heads for the ship's controls, Migel following her. Migel: "These ships have traps in them in case of intruders; you seem to know you way around it pretty well, tell me -?" Charisse now at the controls and doing what Buck told her to do: "I read her mind, the one you suspected owned this ship." Migel: "What are you doing?" Charisse: "Just shutting down its engines completely. We don't need them right now, right?" Migel: "In another minute, when we take full claim of this ship. [ beat ] Did you get from her how to disable all of its little tricks for people like us?" Charisse looks across the controls, Cont: "Well?" V.O. Wilma: "She may be good now but I can't believe he's letting her do this." V.O. Buck: "This ship only has heat seeker glav-bolts, Charisse you'll have to somehow get out of there before they trap you as well; it's right by the main ignition switch." The camera cuts to being Charisse's POV: she's staring at the steering grips; in between them are the labeled ignition switch and an unlabeled switch. This is the one Buck just spoke of. The camera focuses in tighter on what we've been looking at to only the two switches. Migel: "Answer me woman." Cutting the camera off Charisse's POV we see her look away from the controls to out of the ship's main window, out of the hotel's shuttle garage to the cityscape. Cont: "It's that switch beside the ignition, isn't it?" After a beat has past of Migel looking more impatient with Charisse, Cont: "I'll get it." Migel flips the switch for the glav-bolts. Suddenly they start getting lifted from the ground. Migel in shock, Cont: "Glav-bolts." In a snap they fly to the ceiling. Migel angrily to Charisse, Cont: "You knew! You tricked me!" Charisse: "I didn't say anything." She says smiling. V.O. Buck: "I'm going to be coming back to the ship soon with Wilma; I can only hope you were successful." Migel: "Why did you do it?!" Charisse: "Touch?." End Of Act Four. The End. Roll Credits.