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 "Jim, hop to it! Let's get this party started!." -- Gene Starwind Prologue: We see snapshots from Gene's childhood. Narrator: A boy has the right to dream. There are endless possibilities stretched out before him. What awaits him down the path he will then have to choose. The boy doesn't always know. At some point, the boy then becomes an adult and learns what he was able to become. Joy and sadness forever will accompany this. He is confronted with a choice. When this happens, does he bid his last farewell in his heart? Once a boy becomes and adult, he can no longer go back to being a boy. The boy is now a man. Only one thing can be said: a boy has the right to dream, for those endless possibilities are stretched out before him. All men were once boys. Episode 2: World of Desire Using Tao magic, the Kei pirates locate Gene, Jim, and Hilda. Inside the abandoned agri-plant, Gene and Jim are still clueless as to the identity of the coldsleeping girl. Hilda tells them her name is Melfina as the resuscitation program starts, but refuses to give more details unless Jim fixes her damaged cyberarm. Even though Gene has her at gunpoint, she does hold the cards. If they kill her, they'll be stuck with the pirates after them and Melfina and no information on either. In spite of not trusting her, Gene agrees to her terms, so long as she hands over her gun to him. Jim doesn't trust Gene's tendency to screw up whenever women are involved, but goes along. Jim hides the car and gets ready for the pirates to show up, then sets to work on Hilda's arm, impressed with the quality. While he works, Hilda explains that she's an Outlaw who got into some trouble with the pirates. They're after the same treasure, so she came from space to Sentinel III. Her ship, Horus, is damaged and in orbit, but her dropcraft is on the surface. Hilda doesn't seem to know much about Melfina, except that the pirates want her, so she decided she'd swipe her first. Her history with the pirates goes back before Melfina. She got pushed too far by the guild and took out a guild leader. It cost her, apparently an eye and an arm, but she's got her reasons to hate pirates. Before Gene can force more information out of her, the pirates show up. Hilda is willing to fight them off by herself, but Gene and Jim are in too far already, they're going to have to work together. Melfina can't be moved until resuscitation is complete, though, and it will take 300 seconds longer. Doesn't look like the pirates are going to give them that long.  Gene is limited on Caster ammo, out of #3s and stuck with just a #5 and a #19. Hilda offers to go get her dropship if Gene and Jim hold off the pirates for a few minutes, but they don't trust her. Gene tosses Jim a gun and tells him to go with Hilda and make her regret it if she tries to skip out on them. Gene is left by himself to guard Melfina against a dozen cyborgs and two pirates that don't even flinch from a direct hit from a couple of rockets. Are two Caster shells going to last?    Meanwhile, Jim and Hilda make for the pond where she hid her dropship. Hilda makes some obscure reference to partnership while she raises the ship. Gene meanwhile is faced by a serpentine spell from one of the pirates, a Tao master. The #5 takes care of it, the use of magic against their magic surprising the pirates, but now he's down to his last shell. He loads up the #19 and takes aim at the Tao master, but oh no! It's a dud! The cyborgs get ordered in to kill everyone but Melfina, but Hilda shows up just in time in her dropship, unloading a massive rocket attack on the cyborgs. Talk about overkill. Melfina comes to as the pirates retreat. Melfina stands, seeming to be on autopilot as she says "Headed toward Starspace Calendar year 156, the Keyline Project has been found successfully." When Gene says her name, she snaps out of it, dissolving into tears as she asks why she was born. Jim runs in and tells Gene it's no time to make a lady cry, they've got to get her out back to the dropship where Hilda is waiting. Gene wraps his cloak around the naked girl, wondering about Jim's apparent less hostile relationship with Hilda. Jim explains they've come to an understanding.   Gene, Jim, and Melfina run to the ship as the regrouped pirates come after them again, barely escaping before another serpent spell strikes. The Tao master declares that Hilda will not get away that easily. On board the dropship, Gene seems to be having difficulty. Jim explains to Hilda that Gene's a space cherry, which Gene denies, claiming that his first time he was just way too young. Gene turns down Jim's offer to hold his hand, grabbing Melfina's instead. Melfina looks into Gene's eyes, seeming unsure and anxious herself. Hilda brings the dropship up to Horus and gets them headed on their way to asteroid Blue Heaven, an Outlaw hangout, two jumps away. Sub-ether doesn't seem to work any better for Gene as he tenses even more, Jim telling him to "just pass out already." 
In a flashback, we see a teenaged Gene in a starship with his father, telling him that he's learned all the controls already. The ship is attacked by a Grappler ship, and Gene's badly wounded father forces his son into an escape pod and launches him against his will to save his life. Young Gene tumbles through space, helpless to do anything to save his father. Gene comes back to the present, gasping for air and shaky, alone in the cockpit. Hilda, watching from the door, smirks as she walks in, having witnessed Gene's lack of cool, but Gene is quick to patch his attitude back in place. They've entered Blue Heaven space, and Hilda sets a course for dock 8. Hilda asks if Gene is scared of space, but Gene claims it's just bad memories. He then asks her if she's been in space a long time, but Hilda plays her usual dodging game when it comes to questions. Jim comes in with Melfina, who's managed to at least get some sort of clothing in the form of a flight suit. Jim can't help teasing Gene about his space phobia, getting a rise out of his partner. When they dock and exit the ship, Jim's tone has turned more to worry. Gene assures him he's fine, although he's happy to be on solid ground again. Jim turns back to teasing about Gene's cherry finally having been popped, to which Gene replies that if he doesn't drop it, he'll pop Jim's mouth. Two mechanics approach, apparently good friends of Hilda, one of them a Corbonite named Swanzo, but she evades his questions about her new companions in the same slick manner she uses with Gene. Swanzo delivers a couple of messages. Apparently someone named McCoy won't be able to make it, he's backed out of the deal, and the MacDougall brothers have been asking about Hilda. Gene is fed up with not knowing what's going on and starts demanding that Swanzo start making sense. Swanzo brushes Gene off, calling him a kid, which prompts Gene's usual reaction of drawing his blaster. Swanzo advises Gene that the use of blasters is prohibited in Blue Heaven. A shot in the wrong spot could easily destroy the atmosphere shield and wipe out the entire population. Gene backs off, saying he was only bluffing. Swanzo chides them, saying that morons who can't follow the rules have no right to go on living, to which Gene replies that maybe only morons who follow the rules live here. Feeling the need to set the newcomers straight about Outlaws, Swanzo explains to them that there's three powers in the galaxy, the Pirates, the Space Forces, and the Outlaws. The difference is what motivates them. What motivates an Outlaw varies from person to person, good or bad don't figure into a sense of solidarity and duty. Swanzo's human partner reminds him that they've got work to do fixing Horus, so Hilda and the others take off for town.   Melfina needs to get some clothes, and Hilda has things to do elsewhere, so she wants Gene to take Melfina shopping. Gene is not interested in the least, so he proposes that he'll go with Hilda and let Jim handle the girl-sitting duties, since that way the shopping will actually get done. Hilda agrees and they split up, agreeing to meet back at the hotel when they're all done. Melfina apologizes to Jim for making him miss all the fun, but Jim doesn't mind. Melfina finds an outfit that suits her and gets Jim's approval. Elsewhere in town, Gene and Hilda are kicking back at a more adult venue, Hilda looking for more hands and Gene still wanting to know what's going on and what the job is now. Hilda tells him she's looking for a certain special ship, a Grappler ship with enough power to dive into an Ether Sargasso. Seeing how the thought of a Grappler ship disturbs Gene, Hilda cautions him to think about it before he decides to come along since he seems to be a space-hater. Gene tells her to mind her own business. McCoy and his cronies butt in, having overheard that Hilda was shorthanded. She turns them down, which spawns some hostile reaction. Hilda puts all three down with a taser and tells them to turn tail and run. Gene isn't too impressed with Outlaws by their example. Hilda points out that it's just like it is with the stars. There's bright ones and ones that are dim. Gene wonders which of the two she is, and she invites him to find out.   Back at the hotel, Jim and Melfina discover that they're expected to room together. Guess that means Gene and Hilda have plans on the other room. Jim is not pleased by this development at all, furthered by Melfina's innocent misunderstanding that they're supposed to share a bed as well. Jim gets it sorted out in a panic, directing her to the other twin bed. During the night, McCoy's cronies break into the hotel, armed with stunsticks and after Gene and Hilda. They're duped by a bed full of pillows, though, letting Hilda and Gene get the jump on them. Gene's a little put off by the interruption. Hilda tells him to stay sharp as McCoy is heard over the two-way radio asking one of the cronies if they got them. Getting no response, McCoy is quickly on his way up to the room. Gene and Hilda run out to the hall in time to see McCoy in a personal tank type of armor breaking through into the hall. Hilda reminds Gene of the ban on blasters and tells him he won't be able to use his because McCoy isn't using one.  To be continued! Next Episode: Yeah! I lost my space cherry! Now those space pirates don't stand a chance. Or so I thought when I was alone. Now a new menace appears before our trusty space heroes creating all sorts of trouble. Yet there's one thing that I don't understand. Why did it have to be those brutal Ctarl-Ctarl? It's appears hopeless! Next time on Outlaw Star, Into Burning Space. So you better get ready! |