What did the events leading up to "Supertroopers" mean for Stingray and Darkstar? (Alternating points of view)
Concurrent to "The Bitter End" and "First We Take Manhattan".
Based on the French song "Là Bas" ("Far Away") by Jean-Jacques Goldman.
Thanks to Robyn for beta-reading.
Disclaimer: 'The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers' is copyrighted by Hearst Entertainment, Inc.
This is a work of fanfiction, and I make no profit of it.
Là bas
Tout est neuf et tout est sauvage
Libre continent sans grillage
Ici nos rêves sont étroits
C'est pour ça que j'irai là bas
[There
Everything is new, and everything is wild
Free continent without fences
Here our dreams are narrow
That's why I will go there]
She rides through the open grassland in the late afternoon of a warm summer day; a soft wind plays with her hair, and for a moment, she manages to forget what she is running from. The moment of peace does not last as she approaches the enclosed cattle pastures and runs into three of Laramie's goons. She considers taking a detour, but they have already spotted her and are waving her to come closer. She swears to herself that if they do so much as make one move on her, they will regret it. Not that she thinks convincing Laramie that she is able to do his dirty work for him is a fight worth fighting, but not being taken seriously simply because she is a woman grates on her.
It is true that there is not enough work in this place to keep even one Supertrooper occupied for as much as half the day, and Ray minds doing these kinds of jobs much less than she does; it is also true that the Galaxy Rangers are looking for two smugglers and not a poor cowboy who takes any job and his modest girlfriend. That doesn't change the fact that she hates the place and the company! The inactivity is making her feel like a hen in a crate. At least as smugglers, they could choose their customers.
Laramie's henchmen keep waving. She can hear them talking now.
"The little witch has fine hands. Why not let her handle the doctor's task?"
If this means what she thinks it means, they're dead.
Coming closer and scanning her surroundings carefully, she can see a fourth man in a gray suit now. He is sitting on a large stone partially hidden from view by the horses. She recognizes him as Dr. Winfrey Charleston, a veterinarian whom Bovo Company sent to check on the progress of their cattle. From the way his upper body is bent forward and the way he is favoring his right hand, she concludes he has been hurt. At least, she won't have to patch up an injured farmer.
"Hey, Ms. Darkstar, could you apply your medical skills to poor Doctor Winfrey Charleston here? I think he broke his hand when the cow tried to lie on him," Brutus, the green skinned alien with the unkempt hair and the high-pitched voice, greets her.
Ebla and Paul, two of Laramie's human henchmen, stay back. Ebla is tall and dark haired; Paul is stocky with unruly brown curls. Both are likely to have sinister intentions.
She does not let them out of her peripheral vision as she dismounts. Stingray warned them not to touch her, but she is not sure if it that will hold. Lying low and appearing harmless has its own dangers.
"What happened?" she demands, trying not to show her disgust with the gunmen.
"I was trying to take a blood sample from one of the cows, but it broke its bonds and tried to impale me," Dr. Charleston speaks up. "With my injured hand, I don't know how to get the blood samples I need, and these three gentlemen have professed themselves unable to operate a syringe." He smiles apologetically at her.
Darkstar spares Laramie's men a disparaging glance. It's not as though they have proven shy of blood on other occasions.
"Let me see your hand," she demands. Dr. Charleston looks doubtful at her. "I have basic nurse training," she adds impatiently.
He reluctantly complies. Feeling his bones, she can confirm quickly that nothing is broken even if he winces at her examination.
"It's only sprained," she tells him as she bandages his hand. "Stay away from aggressive cattle, and you'll have recovered in a week or two."
She stands up to face Laramie's goons. This job is not yet finished, and she does not like the idea of Dr. Charleston – or any outsider – staying longer than necessary at Laramie's ranch.
"Tie up the cows we need for the examination," she orders Brutus, Paul and Ebla.
Brutus is startled. "That's not my job."
"It is now, or do you want me to tell Mr. Laramie that you cannot do your work properly?"
"It's not my job," Brutus replies obstinately.
Something in her snaps. She hates incompetence.
"Do it now, or you won't have any job very soon," she retorts.
"Do what the lady tells you, Brutus," Ebla interjects. "We don't want any trouble," he adds with a sneer that informs her he means the exact opposite of what he is saying. She will have to deal with it later.
The three gunmen busy themselves with the task of catching cows with their lassos and tying them up. She notes that they seem unpracticed but not unfamiliar with it. When five cows are constrained to her satisfaction, she proceeds to draw some blood samples and stores them in a cooling unit provided by Dr. Charleston.
"We have some more work to do," Ebla announces as she is done with her task.
"Why don't you show our doctor back to Frontier where he can catch transportation?" he adds derisively as they ride off.
She can imagine all too well to what type of work Ebla is referring. Laramie has no respect for boundaries, and his cattle regularly knock over the fences 'by accident'.
She hesitates. She does not like going to Frontier. The town people eye her suspiciously; if the Sheriff is around, he follows her like a constant shadow, and the shop keepers charge her three times the normal price.
"I'm afraid I really might not be able to ride alone with one hand," Dr. Charleston says sheepishly. "I'd be indebted to you if you could take me to Frontier."
She sighs inwardly. More trouble.
"Alright, get up behind me," she orders briskly as she makes her mare lie down so that he can mount easily.
The ride is uneventful except for Charleston's annoying tendency to chatter.
"So, ahem, how did an educated woman like you end up in this part of Nebraska?" he asks as they reach the main road back to Frontier. She has to force herself to stay calm.
"I found work here," she replies frostily.
"What do you do in your job?" she asks after a moment. It might be better to get him talking about himself.
"Well, I take blood samples from Bovo cattle wherever they graze."
"Why so much time and effort? Aren't the genetic designs for Bovo cattle stable?"
"Well, the basic design is stable, but of course, we try to continually improve our products… There are too many cheap clones of Bovo cattle, and we always have to stay one step ahead of the competition. Unfortunately, you never know what might interact with the genes of the new designs."
"Have there been any incidents?" she asks, suddenly gripped by a nervousness she cannot explain. Her over-sensitive mare prances, but she quickly reins her in.
"There was one on Prairie when the farmers fed their cattle unlicensed experimental grain, but that was an exception. Otherwise, I assure you that our cattle are quite stable."
She has seen 'stable' when the Bovo-9 cattle stampede a fence.
She changes the conversation to the more harmless topic of cattle diets and diseases.
It is near dusk when they reach the perimeter of Frontier. She does not want to prolong things by riding into town and having to ward off one of Sheriff Ladd's interrogations; besides, she is already late for a meeting with Ray. She hopes they will be able to spend a quiet evening alone.
"I'm afraid I'm in a bit of hurry. Can I let you off here?" she asks as politely as she can.
"Well, yes, I will be able to walk from here on," he says, a bit taken aback by the sudden end of their ride, but he jumps down from the horse graciously enough and unfastens his gelding from her mare's saddle.
"Thank you for the ride, Ms. – was it Darkstar?"
"Dawson. Cora Dawson."
"Well, thank you for your help then, Ms. Dawson. Goodbye."
She decides she doesn't like him. Something about him is just too smooth.
Là bas
Faut du cœur et faut du courage
Mais tout est possible à mon âge
Si tu as la force et la foi
L'or est à portée de tes doigts
C'est pour ça que j'irai là bas
[There
You need heart, and you need courage
But everything is possible at my age
If you have the strength and the faith
Gold is within your reach
That's why I will go there]
No one is there when he enters the common room. He sits down on the shabby couch and switches on the Tri-D set. Today is the day when Killbane and the others wanted to strike. The news anchorman announces a special report about a new settlement development program for the Southern Territory of Nebraska.
He takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. No news is bad news. If there had been a Supertrooper breakout, it would be on every channel. So his decision not to get involved was right. Trust Killbane and Brainchild to screw up even something as simple as an exchange of captives against a container with a lethal virus.
A part of his conscience keeps nagging him that he should have at least told Darkstar, but he silences it. He doesn't want her to get hurt, and she has said that she wants them to be safe.
Occasional noises from outside tell him Paul and Ebla are involved in one of their 'practice fights'.
He is surrounded by imbeciles. He has tried to explain psychological warfare to them, but all they can think about is beating up farmers and their next paycheck.
The farmers will sell their land if they are intimidated enough, but it has to be done in secret. Pets that go missing, wives or children who feel constantly watched, a few casual encounters at night, barns that burn down mysteriously – that would work. Open attack would just create resistance.
He could easily mix up a blasting agent that would be undetectable after the explosion, but all that Laramie's underlings understand is brute force.
He longs for Darkstar. She will understand. He wonders what is keeping her. He doubts she has ridden into town; she dislikes the town people's stares and the insolent remarks behind her back. He could easily threaten the shop keepers into giving her a good price, but that's something else she doesn't want him to do besides playing poker for money.
The news anchorman is droning on about increases in Earth's military budget. To think that now they have billions of gold equivalent units available to fortify their borders all the way to Crown Space and take on the defense of Kirwin and Andor as a side task, but two years ago they didn't have the funding for the three months it would have taken to complete the Wolf Den project on schedule!
Paul enters the room. He is apparently done being beaten up and looking for different entertainment.
"Stingray, are you coming with us to play poker at the 'Blue Horse'? I heard they have some new strippers visiting," the hired thug interrupts his bitter thoughts.
"I don't need to pay women to look at me or let me look at them," he retorts. The brute is grating on his nerves like a fork screeching on porcelain. The term 'thinking with one's hormones and muscles' is too kind to describe Paul since that would still have presupposed a certain mental capacity. Stingray would act to intimidate people if they stood in the way of his and Darkstar's goals, but he would not do it out of boredom.
"Well, seems to me your girlfriend is looking at other men free of charge too. She patched up our vet nicely and even took him into town to his hotel."
"Get lost before you lose something," he snaps.
Paul shrugs and collects his hat and overcoat from the rack.
"I'm sure you know her better than I do," he adds, snickering slightly as he leaves.
Stingray almost storms after him to rearrange his teeth. Paul has been lucky he is not in the mood for a fight, even though the prospect is becoming more and more enticing as the news speakers discuss inflation, a new hyperspace route to Andor, and the explosion of a planet called C-40.
He knows Darkstar better than to believe she could be interested in any of Laramie's men or the townsfolk. A small sting remains. She has promised to meet him at 1900, yet she is late because of a minor medical problem. If she has to take the vet to his hotel and not the hospital or the morgue, his injury cannot be that bad. He tries to swallow the bitterness. Darkstar is loyal to him. She would never choose someone else.
A commercial about scented candles does nothing to soothe his worries.
He remembers all too clearly how she would readily break curfew to look after sick or injured teammates, but he could not convince her once to bend the rules so that they could spend the night together in the barracks.
The news report closes with another contribution about Nebraska. Apparently, the government is paying ranchers a premium if they breed traditional cattle because that is what tourists expect. He wonders if anyone would pay him a premium if he worked in a petting zoo as one of the 'tamed' wild animals. He cannot contain the hysteric laughter that seizes him and nearly knocks over the Tri-D set. If he breaks it, it will cost him two months' salary to replace it, and the thought alone is almost enough to make him smash the appliance. He's a dog on a leash, but he's doing it for Darkstar. He wants her to be happy, and she wants them to be safe.
The news magazine is followed by a ludicrous western that has about as much to do with real life on the frontier than a lap dog with a wolf.
He cannot help but ask himself: if they had gone to Earth with the other Supertroopers, would they have been able to make a difference? Brainchild and Killbane are apt to botch even the most solid plan, and yet the 'what if' keeps nagging him.
What if…
Every lousy job he took on Mars, he accepted for her sake.
When they were working as smugglers, Darkstar would choose their customers, and while they might argue about which risks to take and which to avoid, at least they were working together then.
Darkstar is a formidable fighter, fast and efficient as lightning, but she only fights if she has to, so he has taken over the brawls and the posturing and the blackmail. It hasn't won him any praise by her.
He is tired of hiding, and he is sick of running. The senators from the ex Supertrooper committee are probably laughing their asses off at the thought of what has become of their prized falcons.
For her sake, he has accepted a job with a fifth-rate cattle breeder who doesn't even know how to hire qualified bouncers!
At 2011, he finally hears her footsteps in the hall.
N'y va pas
Y a des tempêtes et des naufrages
Le feu, les diables et les mirages
Je te sais si fragile parfois
Reste au creux de moi
[Don't go
There are storms and wreckages
Fire, devils and mirages
I know that sometimes you are so fragile
Stay close to me]
He wants to hug her when she enters the room, but her worried face stalls him.
"Is something wrong, Star?" he asks apprehensively. If someone has so much as threatened her, they will curse the day they were born.
She looks shaken.
"We should leave, Ray. I'm not sure it's safe here any longer."
On a tant d'amour à faire
Tant de bonheur à venir
Je te veux mari et père
Mais toi, tu rêves de partir
[We have so much love to experience
So much happiness yet to come
I want you as a husband and father
But you are dreaming of leaving]
Something in him snaps.
He's putting up with the bad food, the awful company, the dreadfully boring dirty work in this place, but it's never enough for her.
"Why? Because you can't handle a few bandits? Or did that doctor confuse you with his fancy speech about Bovidae Bovinae Bos taurus Bovicus-9?" he retorts.
She seems slightly taken aback but catches herself quickly. The expressive green eyes that he used to sink into when they were making love focus on him as though he were a willful child.
"I understood him all too well, Ray. These gene-engineered cattle aren't stable, and Bovo is keeping an eye on them. If there is an incident, that could well attract the Galaxy Rangers for an investigation. Laramie would sell out any of us to save his own skin or simply if he could make a profit from it. We would be better off elsewhere where no one looks into gene modifications and what they can do."
Ici tout est joué d'avance
Et l'on n'y peut rien changer
Tout dépend de ta naissance
Et moi je ne suis pas bien né
[Here the game is already decided
And one cannot change anything about that
Everything depends on where and who you were born
And I am not well-off by birth]
Anger rises in him, a tiny flame that is growing into a fire. Can't she ever be content with what he tries to give her?
"And where else would we go? I thought you had enough of running?!?"
Her eyes are downcast, and he wants to shake her so that she looks at him fully.
"This isn't life, Ray," she says barely above a whisper.
Là bas
Loin de nos vies, de nos villages
J'oublierai ta voix, ton visage
J'ai beau te serrer dans mes bras
Tu m'échappes déjà là bas
[There
Far from our lives, our villages
I will forget your voice and your face
In vain I'm embracing you
You're already withdrawing from me there]
She stares at the carpet. It is worn and dirty as is almost anything in this place. It is hard for her to admit it, but maybe she has been wrong in urging him to come here and lie low. They are Supertroopers, bred and trained to fight, not to hide as timid prey does.
Smuggling was difficult. If they took easy jobs, those did not pay much, and their customers tried more than once to swindle them out of their payment by threatening to alert the Space Navy to their dealings. She actually started collecting information on their clientèle and the fences they used just so she would have enough blackmail to diffuse difficult situations without a shoot-out. Their other option was to go for the very risky jobs, which paid well – if they and their cargo survived until delivery. They did not have the right connections for any jobs between those two extremes.
"Ray, maybe coming here was a mistake. Maybe we should just leave."
"No!"
Startled by his outburst, she looks up. He is blazing with fury, and she has to force herself not to recoil. She doesn't understand his ire, nor why it is directed at her. They have argued before, but never has she had a feeling like now that she doesn't even know the man in front of her.
J'aurai ma chance le jour et mes droits
[I will have my chance one day and my rights]
"There isn't _any_ place for us in this universe, Darkstar. Not unless we _make_ it. That's what I keep telling you!"
He wants to blast the furniture, but that will not solve their problem. Blasting those farmers' barns might. Of course, that would draw attention, but he's willing to handle that.
N'y va pas
[Don't go]
"Ray…"
Et la fierté qu'ici je n'ai pas
Là bas
Tout ce que tu mérites est à toi
[And the pride that here I don't have
There
Everything you deserve belongs to you]
She sounds almost pleading, and he wonders what has become of the strong woman who would stand in Gravestone's way or challenge Killbane to protect her friends. If they stop fighting, they die – long before they are dead.
"I have had enough of wearing my head low, and saying thanks for alms. _You_ wanted to stop smuggling, Darkstar! Now let's face the odds here!" he screams.
N'y va pas
She is trying to be reasonable, but she has the sickening feeling that she is losing the battle.
"Our ship was destroyed, Ray, and the Galaxy Rangers nearly tracked us twice. We couldn't continue as independent smugglers without answering to a gang."
Ici les autres imposent leurs lois
Là bas
[Here the others dictate their laws
There]
She's sounding calm and controlled, as she always tries to be in a fight. Oh how he wishes he could crack the ice that she uses to shield herself from her emotions. He knows how to get her angry, but he can never make her see his side.
"You still follow orders from them! You still run when they say 'run'. I want to be free! And I want you to come with me!"
He's holding out a hand to her. She's looking at him as though he has gone mad.
Je te perdrai peut-être là bas
N'y va pas
[I will perhaps lose you there
Don't go]
"Ray..."
When did she lose him, and why is he cracking now when they are relatively safe and not when they were surrounded by enemies? Something has gone terribly wrong, but she doesn't know what it is. Ice starts to grip her heart.
Mais je me perds si je reste là
Là bas
La vie ne m'a pas laissé le choix
[But I lose myself if I stay here
There
Life hasn't given me a choice]
He was trained to blow up dams and not leave a trace; sabotage ships so that no one would ever suspect why the went off the radar; be a living bomb where weapon controls would prevent any other arms. And here he was, practicing to look intimidating to farmers – stupid farmers who wouldn't give up their land even though they were offered money for it.
"Ray, did anything happen with the farmers today or with Laramie? Was there a fight?"
She sounds so concerned. He doesn't care, not any more. He can't believe she is asking how his job went as though they were a normal couple, as though he had an ordinary job.
"How do you think my day was, honey? I smiled nicely, asked the farmers politely to leave their land, and offered them a free ride to the railway station if they sold by the end of the month, but they wouldn't listen!"
N'y va pas
[Don't go]
She's starting to lose her patience, but she can't afford to break now.
"Ray, we could go elsewhere."
Toi et moi ce sera là bas ou pas
Là bas
Tout est neuf et tout est sauvage
[You and I will be there or not at all
There
Everything is new, and everything is wild]
"You say you'll never leave me, but that only seems to apply when we go where you want to go! Will you stand with me if we fight against these farmers and their ill-advised sheriff?!?"
He slams his hands onto the table, glaring at her, forcing her to make a decision.
N'y va pas
[Don't go]
"They're not our enemies, Stingray!" she answers coldly.
Libre continent sans grillage
Là bas
Beau comme on imagine pas
[Free continent without fences
There
More beautiful than one can imagine]
"Everyone is our enemy, and I can't understand why you can't see it. You've always been so smart, but now you don't want to face reality."
The fury is fading, and cold determination is starting to take its place.
N'y va pas
"And you think luring the Space Navy here is going to give us freedom?" she shouts back.
Ici nos rêves sont étroits
Là bas
C'est pour ça que j'irai là bas
[Here our dreams are narrow
There
That's why I will go there]
"They won't send the Navy, Star. Not when they have a single weapon that is much more precise."
His plan is starting to take shape. They will never be free unless they eliminate the hunter.
N'y va pas
[Don't go]
"You can't mean that." She feels as though he has slapped her.
She understands what he means – whom he means– and it scares her more than she can say.
On ne m'a pas laissé le choix
Là bas
Je me perds si je reste là
[They haven't given me a choice
There
I lose myself if I stay here]
"O yes, I mean it, and if you won't stand with me, leave now."
Things have suddenly become clear. He grabs his jacket and heads outside, walking slowly and deliberately. She won't stop him, not when he finally knows what he has to do. He is doing it for her too. They will be free.
N'y va pas
[Don't go]
Stunned, she looks after him. Her worst nightmares are coming to pass.
She sits down slowly. As much as she hates it, in the end, they are still Supertroopers, and Supertroopers can't escape the fight.
Ever since they have come to Nebraska, they haven't seen any sign of the Space Navy, the Galaxy Rangers, or another Supertrooper, but that is about to change.
She doesn't know what she will do.
C'est pour ça que j'irai là bas
[That's why I will go there]
He jumps onto his horse. He doesn't need a gun. It is time to show these farmers and to stop the pretense of lying low. He is a Supertrooper, and he will fight and face the hunter.