Firefly: Perception

By Sam Dunham

Copyright© 2007

EXT. SPACE

A small ship, Perception, floats by.

INT. ENGINE ROOM

GULLY, a swarthy looking hairball, bangs on some gears with a large wrench.

GULLY

Gorram it! Ruttin’ pile of bolts!

The bolts respond with a loud crack and puff of smoke in his face.

RAY, an exasperated, compromising man, enters.

RAY

Gulliver Herbert Shicklegruber! What would your mother say if I told her you were busting up my boat?

GULLY

(Repentant)

Sorry cap’n, just frustrated is all. Something’s draggin’ her fuel effiency down to half what it ought be. We ain’t leakin’ and we ain’t burnin’ hot. Hell if I can figure what vexin’ her.

RAY

Can we still get to Whitefall?

GULLY

Ha! Bain’t no [Chinese words] way we’re reachin’ no core worlds. Way she’s runnin’ we be lucky to get back to Beaumont for proper repairs before we’re outta gas complete.

RAY

Going back is not an option. Local police gonna be combing every inch of the planet by now. You just suck every ounce of fuel you can and get us as must distance as possible. Me and Ming’ll do the rest.

We follow Ray out, down a corridor with four doors, a very small bay, and into the cockpit.

INT. COCKPIT

MING, an Asian looking girl of around 16, is at the controls.

RAY

Ming?

MING

Still following us Ray.

RAY looks at a screen showing two blobs and a stream of numbers

RAY

That certain?

MING

(Gestures)

You see that asteroid?

We see a large space rock, with a medium-sized ship coming out from behind it.

RAY

Yeah.

MING

I just flew two circles around it, they did the same thing exactly three clicks behind me.

RAY

Oh, so just a hunch. Let’s see: too small to be corporate, too slow to be really dangerous, and too dumb to hide the fact that he’s tailing us. Young bounty hunters, my guess.

MING

Nothing to worry about?

RAY

Didn’t say that. If they’re new to the game they’ll be out to make a name for themselves, and what they lack in wisdom they’ll make up