Author's note: For the people who took my advise and skipped the chase scene of Chapter 1, all that happened was that the crew of the Eureka Maru (Beka, Harper and Rev) were being chased by some police cruisers across the planet Calembour and through the large Blague City. The starboard engine is damaged by police missiles and starts to go critical but Harper keeps it from exploding by venting the exploding plasma out the engine funnel. This accidentaly fries one of the pursuing police cruisers which then crashes into the Maru, creating a large hole and sending the ship crashing into the ocean where it is surrounded by the cops.
And now, the real story starts.
Chapter 2: Outlaws
While we are focussing on Beka's face the background changes from the Maru to a courtroom (but Beka's facial expression remains the same), an ugly old women is the judge. She starts the court by accusing the crew of disturbing the peace, destroying public property, polluting the ocean, fleeing from the police and murdering an officer. The crew argued that they hadn't done anything illegal for a while so the police had no reason to chase them. Also, the only reason the engine went critical was because the police damaged it with their missiles. They were lucky Harper was able to vent the uncontrollable matter-antimatter reaction out the funnel, otherwise the engine would have exploded killing all the cops and the Maru Crew.
The Old Judge dismisses their attempts and starts reading old police records about the Maru and its crew. After the Judge does this she jokes that the Maru should just be retired, instead of all the trouble involved in the court. She calls the 41-year-old ship a bucket of bolts and Beka takes offence at the remark. The Judge laughs at how she was born on the Maru when it was 10 years old and how she inherited it from her father when she was only 25, "despite the fact that the ship was just a moving junk collection," growls the Judge. The Judge ridicules Beka and her dysfunctional family, describing Beka's deceased drug-addict father, her mother who left the Maru when she was only 7, and her older brother Rafe who left the Maru when he turned 18.
Leaving Beka to her anger the Judge addresses Harper. She scoffs at the idea of an uneducated Earth kid being the engineer of a cargo ship. "No wonder it's a wreck," says the Judge as Harper glowers at her. She expresses her amazement of how Beka was desperate enough to hire a 19-year-old to help maintain her ship, Harper points out the fact he was almost 20 at the time but the Judge scoffs and claims it is a miracle the Maru is still spaceworthy 3 years later.
Finally the Old Judge turns to Rev smirking at the fact that it only took a couple months for Beka to go from hiring ignorant teenagers, to recruiting Magog. She is cynical about Rev's Wayist ways and tells him that he is a killer on the inside and sooner or later his true nature will emerge. Rev holds his composure and preaches about the Divine and how it will guide him on his journey and prevent him from his inner evil. The Judge cuts him off; she tells him the Divine is not his god and will not protect him from his true god, the Spirit of the Abyss. Rev however, is adamant about his beliefs in the Divine and will not listen. "Oh well," sighs the Judge leaning back in her chair, "I warned you". She then sentences Beka and Harper to death for murder and nothing the crew says stops her. Rev requests that he be executed along side his friends. The Old Judge says that because he is a monk her government cannot kill him. As she leaves the courtroom the Old Judge tells Rev that if it were up to her, he would already be dead.
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We then clip to the prison; it is dimly lit and watched by security cameras instead of guards. Beka and Harper are in one of the cells discussing their escape plan with Rev (who is free). Rev will free Harper at his execution (Beka and Harper were being executed at different times) and create a distraction so Beka can get out of jail before the guards come to take her to her death. The only problem is that Beka doesn't know how to escape her cell. When she tells the others this, the person who had been sitting in the shadows at the back of the cell steps foreword and offers to help them. She introduces herself as Trance Gemini (played by Laura Bertram), she is about Harper's height, has blond hair tied up in pigtails, purple skin and a long prehensile tail. Beka is unsure about Trance but Rev is immediately inclined to accept her help. Harper is okay with Trance too (because she's cute) and since she has no other option, Beka agrees to let Trance help.
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We then clip to the execution hall as Harper walks in, his hands are tied behind his back and he is flanked by two guards. The executioner waits with his gun as Rev walks in, claiming it is a Harper family tradition that a close friend or relative explains the family member's history before they die. As Rev speaks of the Nietzschean Slavers and of the Magog who made Harper's childhood life miserable, he moves amongst the guards and executioner, making a point to tap each one. When he is just about done his speech, Rev walks over to Harper and slips a small controller into his hands. Rev then moves aside and the executioner prepares to fire. One of the guards shouts out "Ready! Aim!" but as he starts to say 'Fire!' Harper pushes the button on the remote and the guards and executioner are mildly electrocuted by the nano-bots Rev planted on them. The three drop to the floor unconscious and Rev unties Harper's hands. He picks up one of the guard's guns and teases Rev about how his story concerning Harper's family tradition was a bit far-fetched as they run out of the room.
We clip to the interior of a dark room only illuminated by the open door across from us. We here a 'bang' outside the room and a guard falls over in-front of the doorway in the hall. Rev and Harper step over the guard and turn on a light in the room. Harper puts his gun down on the counter and takes out a small metal rod connected to a long wire. He plugs the wire into the nearest computer and sticks the rod into his Data Port. As his mind enters Calembour Drift's Virtual Reality his body goes rigid, his head snaps back and his eyes roll back into his head (before his eyelids close).
Rev watches as Harper brings up the live security footage of Beka and Trance's cell on one of the monitors and on the other, the schematics of Calembour Drift (the space station in orbit around the planet Calembour that they are currently onboard). The plans show the docking bay the cops brought the Maru into, and all the guard stations around the drift. Harper exits VR, opens his eyes and takes the rod out of his Data Port. He reminds Rev that they need to make a distraction to lure the guards away from the prison cells so Beka and Trance can get out. "I suppose this is what this steak is for," says Rev pulling a large package out from beneath his orange Wayist cloak.
We then clip to Beka and Trance's cell; they are waiting patiently for something when a nearby monitor flashes on showing an image of Harper. He has blood all over his face (which is all that can be seen on the screen), he is babbling about a Magog attack and looking around in a panic when in the background Beka and Trance hear a Magog snarl. Suddenly Harper is yanked away from the screen by a large clawed paw and a few moments later his screaming is cut short. There is more Magog snarling and Rev's face appears on the monitor, he is growling fiercely and has a large hunk of fresh meat in his mouth. He lashes out at the camera and the screen turns to snow (static).
Outside the cell area people are screaming. Beka tells Trance to break them out but Trance wont act until Beka closes her eyes and turns around. When Beka does, Trance steps up to the metal cell bars and holds up her hands. They start to glow golden-yellow and the bars melt away. Trance then tells Beka that they can leave, Beka turns around and is dumbstruck. She asks Trance how she melted the bars, but all Trance does is smile enigmatically, shrug and skip away towards the door, her tail waving merrily behind her.
Back in the observation room Rev wipes off some of the blood from his face as Harper gets up from the floor. Around them monitors are displaying how people are panicking about the 'Magog attack'. As they run out of the room to get to the Maru, Harper jokes that if he and Rev weren't cargo runners they could be great actors.
We clip to Beka and Trance sprinting past rioting crowds. Trance asks Beka how she was going to get into the Maru's hanger bay, Beka says she was going to let Harper hack into the system to get the door open. Trance thinks for a moment and runs off in a different direction from Beka. She wonders where Trance went but continues running towards the hangars.
We then follow Trance as she runs onto an elevated platform at the edge of a large market place. She stops and scans the milling mass of panicked people around her for a guard. She spots one and sees a cardkey hanging off his belt. "Yee-hah," says Trance under her breath as she prepares to run towards the guard. Trance quickly sprints to the edge of the platform and jumps into the air; she grabs some low-hanging pipes with her hands and swings herself foreword. The guard turns around just in time to be knocked unconscious by Trance's foot. As he falls, Trance's tail loops around the keyring and pulls it into the air. Trance jumps down from the pipe and holds the cardkey up with her tail; "All right!" she cheers before running off again.
We then switch to Harper and Rev as they reach the airlock leading to the Maru's hangar bay. Harper tries to open the door by hacking into the system with his Data Port, but he is having trouble. Beka shows up hotly pursued by guards. She shoots at them with Harper's gun as he continues his attempts at penetrating the door's security systems. Trance appears around the corner as if by magic and Beka tells her about their airlock problems. "Would these help?" asks Trance, tossing the keys to Harper with her tail. He opens the door and they run into the hangar. The first thing they see is a gaping hole on the Maru's side near the engine room and large scorch marks at the end of the starboard engine.
As they board the Maru, Beka tells Trance that if she wanted, she could join the crew. Trance happily agrees. Harper goes to the engine room as the others run to the cockpit. When they turn on the Maru's systems Harper reports that the explosion caused by the police aircraft crashing into the Maru destroyed many of the starboard engine's key systems, some of which were already damaged from the overload. They would need a new engine before trying any high-speed flying. Beka is not happy about this, fortunately Harper has some good news. Since the Maru keeled over to its portside, most of the damaged areas weren't flooded with water, and since the Maru's corridors are airtight and pressurized, it didn't sink.
Beka is less then thrilled about Harper's damage report, however she doesn't get much time to think about it. They hastily fly out of the hangar (after blasting the doors open) and as they move away from the drift, police cruisers designed like Slipfighters shoot at them. Since the Maru is only using its third engine (the bottom engine), it can not outrun nor outfly the cops. Unfortunately for the police the Maru opens a slipstream portal and disappears before they catch up with it.
We pull back from where we watched the Maru enter slipstream and discover we had been watching it through a window back on Calembour Drift. We continue to back up until we see the Old Judge looking out the window. She turns around and starts talking to someone or something behind us. "The plan was a success," reports the Judge, "the Maru is on its way." We turn around and discover that she was talking into a communications device. On the screen is the Spirit of the Abyss, it looks like a humanoid figure made of glowing red light (played by Robert Saunders). The Abyss does not say a word but slowly waves its arms around.
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We then clip to a different star-system as the Maru exits slipstream. Onboard Beka and the others discuss their situation. The Maru is in desperate need of repairs, but in order to make those repairs Harper needs supplies. Unfortunately they don't have all the parts he requires and the only way they can obtain the money for the supplies is by getting a job. However there are more complications. Since the members of the Maru Crew are wanted criminals, the only people who will readily hire them will also be criminals. Although Beka frequently works for felons she knows that getting a gig soon will be a problem, after all, criminals don't make a habit of hiring crippled salvage ships. The only way the Maru Crew will get a job is if their employer is willing to pay for the Maru's repairs before they even begin to move the cargo, and such an employer is virtually impossible to find.
Trance suggests they go to the Sydney System, according to her there is a large smuggler outpost on one of Sydney-4's moons. Harper also knows about the smuggler outpost, it supposedly is a great spot to get ship supplies. Rev has no objections to going to the Sydney System so Beka decides that they will start their job-hunting amongst their fellow smugglers. We cut to outside the Maru as it enters slipstream and follow it as it twists and turns along the tendrils of energy. After a couple moments the Maru exits slipstream into the Sydney System and flies towards the moon of a large, orange gas planet (Sydney-4).
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We then clip to the interior of the smuggler outpost, it is mostly rocky caves with scaffolding and lights stung up on the walls and ceiling. Beka is talking to a group of smugglers about the Maru possibly helping them with their cargo. However when she mentions the Maru's engine problems they walk away. She returns to the rest of the crew who also have been having no luck and are now standing around cautiously (or in Trance's case, curiously) eyeing the shifty looking smugglers shuffling around the cave. Then an old man approaches them, he is about Beka's height, has shoulder length white hair and scars all over his face and hands. He introduces himself as Dr. Henry Mastiff; he asks the crew if they would be willing to transport a couple of experiments to the Septentrional System for him. He is willing to pay an enormous amount of money for their services including a preliminary payment enough to fix up the Maru before they deliver his cargo. It seems like a dream come true and Beka quickly agrees.
Dr. Mastiff leads them over to a bunch of large crates, he explains that he had been conducting various experiments over the past few years and needed a reliable, non-governmental way to transport his test results from all over the Tri-Galaxies to the Sept. System where his employers reside. Harper scans the crates and is concerned about some of the radiation levels some of them are emitting. Mastiff assures the crew that the radiation is necessary for the experiments to function and that they will not pose a threat to the Maru or its crew.
Rev inquires on the nature of Dr. Mastiff's tests, saying he will not assist the smuggling of any weapons of mass destruction. Mastiff claims that the purpose of his experiments is to discover new types of radiation and to research new medical procedures. Rev and Harper both ask to see the experiments but Mastiff won't allow them to, he says that the experiments are to be kept secret until his employers release the test results to all the Known Worlds. Mastiff then informs the Maru Crew that he has to go to the Septentrional System and inform his employers that the experiments will be arriving shortly. He tells the crew that the experiments have to arrive in the Sept. System within a week or their final payment will start to decrease, he then leaves, disappearing into the maze-like tunnels.
Trance tells Beka that she has a bad feeling about Dr. Mastiff and his employers, but Beka is so overjoyed about finally getting the 'big score' she will not listen. Beka then has Trance and Harper take some of the crates to the Maru while she and Rev guard the rest of the experiments from the smugglers. Harper and Trance obey her and walk away towards the Maru. Trance is still uneasy but Harper takes no notice as he enthusiastically muses over what he will buy with his share of the profit from this gig.
From the shadows a cloaked figure watches them, ducking around a corner when Trance looks their way. When Harper and Trance have walked by the figure pulls out a small communications device. She then lowers her hood, she is very pretty and has black hair streaked with green. Her name is Rommie (played by Lexa Doig), and she is the avatar of the Andromeda Ascendant, a war ship that has come back in time from the future. The Andromeda of the present time is currently frozen beside the event horizon of the Hephaistos Black Hole.