"The Stranger"

By Rygar

First draft - 5/3/01
Final draft - 1/1/04

SCENE 1 - OUTER SPACE

	The Righteous Indignation is flying around with no particular 
destination. It has kept a straight path for the past few hours. It 
flies past a planet here, near a star there, but never going out of its 
way to investigate anything.
	Inside, CAPTAIN BUCKY O'HARE and FIRST MATE JENNY are manning the 
controls.

BUCKY
Ugh. I hate patrol. Nothing ever happens on my watch.

JENNY
Well, we're scheduled to turn back for Genus in about half an hour.

BUCKY 
Sounds good to me. I can't believe how boring this is.

JENNY 
Any plans for this evening?

BUCKY 
(pauses)
Not yet. Got anything in ...

	Suddenly, a light flashes on the control panel.

BUCKY
... mind?

JENNY
(taking a look at the control panel)
Looks like we're not going to be bored any longer, Bucky.

BUCKY 
What is it? 
 
JENNY 
This energy pattern is strange. There aren't any immediate matches in 
the Righteous's databanks.

BUCKY 
Really? How powerful is it?

JENNY 
Not that powerful. It just has a bizarre signature.

BUCKY 
Hm. Blinky!

	Below deck, AFC BLINKY hears Bucky call and climbs up the ladder.

BLINKY
Yes, Captain?

BUCKY
Blinky, hook into the control panel and begin analyzing this energy 
pattern.

	Blinky does so. After a few minutes, Blinky disconnects.

BLINKY
Analysis completed. One match found.

BUCKY 
And that match is?

BLINKY
Unknown.

JENNY
Huh?

BLINKY
The matching energy output was recorded approximately thirty years ago. 
Location and cause unknown.

BUCKY 
Thirty years ago? That was before KOMPLEX, at least, so maybe it 
doesn't have to do with the toads.

JENNY
(looking at the panel)
Apparently, the energy came from an unnamed planet that we just flew 
past.

BUCKY
Reverse course, then. We'd better check this out.

SCENE 2 - SURFACE OF THE UNNAMED PLANET

	Bucky and Jenny have traced the energy source as best they can. 
The Righteous has landed next to a cave from which the source 
apparently originated.
	Bucky and Jenny disembark.

JENNY
This is odd. I can't sense anything.

BUCKY
I'm going in. You stay out here; if there's any trouble, radio for 
help.

JENNY
All right.

	Bucky pulls out his maser blaster and heads for the cave.

SCENE 3 - THE CAVE

	Bucky has been searching through the cave for approximately 
fifteen minutes. It's almost pitch black, but he suddenly sees a light 
source around a corner. He sneaks silently toward the corner and peers 
around.
	The light is coming from a small yellow orb floating in the 
center of a small cavern. Bucky sees a ROBED FIGURE chanting in a 
strange language and gesturing toward the orb. The figure's hood is 
down, and Bucky can see that the being is a salamander.

BUCKY
An amphibian. Great.
(beat)
OK.

	Bucky suddenly jumps around the corner and points his blaster at 
the figure.

BUCKY 
Freeze! Step away from the orb!

ROBED FIGURE
(not looking up)
I have no quarrel with you, Captain O'Hare. Leave me be.

BUCKY 
How did you know my ... step back! Put your hands up!

ROBED FIGURE
I pose no threat. Leave me be.

	The figure keeps gesturing and chanting, and the orb gets even 
brighter. Bucky panics and fires a maser shot at the orb. The orb 
blinks and then fizzles out of view.

ROBED FIGURE
Drat.
(looks up with a frown on his face)
Why did you have to go and do that?

BUCKY 
I don't know who you are or what your game is, but you'd better put 
your hands up and do a lot of explaining.

	The figure sighs and sits down.

ROBED FIGURE
I told you I pose no threat, and yet you attack me. Perhaps my decision 
is indeed for the best.

BUCKY
Mister, I'm operating on a short fuse. What decision?

ROBED FIGURE
(gestures for Bucky to sit) 
My story will take a few minutes. Perhaps you wish to relax?

	Bucky stands fast.

ROBED FIGURE
Very well. My name is Sorfis, and I am not of this dimension.

BUCKY 
What do you mean?

SORFIS
Come now, Captain. Your engineer is not from this dimension. What makes 
the fact that I am not either confusing to you?
(beat)
I am not from this dimension, or from William's dimension. There are 
thousands of dimensions in existence, and I am merely from one of them.

BUCKY
(pauses)
Why are you here?

SORFIS
I am here randomly. The question is why I am not at my home.

BUCKY
(impatiently)
Fine. Why aren't you at home?

SORFIS
For the same reason I intended to leave this dimension. Conquest.

BUCKY
(re-steadies his maser)
Woah! You're not going to conquer anything, buddy.

SORFIS
I did not mean that *I* conquered anything, Captain. Rather, my world 
was conquered.
(beat)
Decades ago, a race in my dimension decided that they were the most fit 
to rule over the entire world. They achieved this goal through extreme 
violence and bloodshed. None were spared. I, and a few others, barely 
managed to escape, though the rest of my race is lost.

BUCKY 
Escape? How?

SORFIS
Through my photon portal. You just destroyed my most recent one.
(beat)
After the tigers invaded ...

BUCKY
(interrupting) 
Tigers?

SORFIS
Yes, tigers. Amphibians aren't the only animals capable of malice, 
Captain.

BUCKY
(after a beat, eyeing Sorfis warily)
So you came here. Why?

SORFIS
As I said, it was random. I cannot choose my destination. The others of 
my race that escaped also entered other dimensions randomly.
(beat)
That was thirty years ago. And, as I assume you realized, I am leaving 
this dimension because of the toads. I have no desire to watch another 
world be overrun.

BUCKY 
You're lying.

SORFIS
(chuckling) 
Come now, Captain. Do you expect me to be in league with the toads or 
something, just because I am an amphibian as well?

	Bucky says nothing.

SORFIS
I pity you for that.
(beat)
Rest assured, Captain, if I meant you any ill will, I would have acted 
accordingly. You are the aggressor here, not I. Now if you will excuse 
me, it takes a week to prepare a portal. I must begin now.

BUCKY
Wait. Why leave now?

SORFIS
I have been observing the Toad Wars for some time now, Captain. At one 
point, I believed that the mammals would certainly emerge victorious.
(beat)
Now, I no longer hold such beliefs. I do not wish to run the risk of 
remaining here in case the toads do win the conflict, and therefore, I 
choose to depart.

BUCKY
So you're just going to keep running, huh?

SORFIS
(with a hint of anger in his voice)
Do not question me, Captain. Would you think me cowardly for deserting 
a sinking ship? I am merely deserting a sinking dimension. Perhaps my 
destination will be a dimension in more dire straits. More likely, it 
will not.

BUCKY
(thinks) 
But if you have all this power, you could help us fight the toads.

SORFIS
(chuckles)
Now I'm on your side, is it?
(beat) 
I have no taste for war. Nor do I feel obligated to justify my actions 
any further. Good day, Captain. Please do not make me forcibly eject 
you.

	Bucky pauses and thinks for a moment. Finally, he lowers his gun. 
He starts to speak, but no words come to his lips. He turns around and 
walks out. Behind him, he can hear Sorfis begin to chant again.

SCENE 4 - SURFACE OF THE UNNAMED PLANET

	Bucky emerges from the cave and approaches the Righteous.

JENNY 
What happened in there, Bucky? I couldn't sense anything.

BUCKY
Nothing.
(beat)
Nothing happened.
(beat)
Now come on. We have a job to do.

JENNY 
Job?

BUCKY
There are a lot of toads out there, Jenny. And they're not going to 
defeat us.

	Bucky silently climbs aboard the Righteous. Jenny lingers for a 
moment and then follows.

THE END