8FOLD: Red Hart # 7, "Their Darkest Hour"

[Tom Russell]

  EIGHTFOLD PROUDLY PRESENTS MR. TOM RUSSELL'S
               HISTORY OF THE

                   ##### /##                 ##
                ######  / ##                  ##
               /#   /  /  ##                  ##
              /    /  /   ##                  ##
                  /  /    /                   ##
                 ## ##   /       /##      ### ##
                 ## ##  /       / ###    #########
                 ## ###/       /   ###  ##   ####
                 ## ##  ###   ##    ### ##    ##
                 ## ##    ##  ########  ##    ##
                 #  ##    ##  #######   ##    ##
                    /     ##  ##        ##    ##
                /##/      ### ####    / ##    /#
               /  ####    ##   ######/   ####/
              /    ##     #     #####     ###
              #
               ##

     #####    ##
  ######  /  #### /
 /#   /  /   ####/                          #
/    /  /    # #                           ##
    /  /     #                             ##
   ## ##     #      /###   ###  /###     ########
   ## ##     #     / ###  / ###/ #### / ########
   ## ########    /   ###/   ##   ###/     ##
   ## ##     #   ##    ##    ##            ##
   ## ##     ##  ##    ##    ##            ##
   #  ##     ##  ##    ##    ##            ##
      /       ## ##    ##    ##            ##
  /##/        ## ##    /#    ##            ##
 /  #####      ## ####/ ##   ###           ##
/     ##           ###   ##   ###           ##
#
 ##         [8F-131] ACT SEVEN [PW-08]
               THEIR DARKEST HOUR


               ~-<>-~

THE ARGUMENT.
Matt Sharp (the human host of the Red Hart) is found floating in space
in the aftermath of the battle with the dragon-king Narok by alien
scientist Jamy Lo. It is revealed that the Rowdar star system was
destroyed as an after-effect of the battle, and that the star itself
is rapidly collapsing into a black hole. Back on Earth, the Red Hart's
allies see this as a way to stop Awides: Red Hart can use the
god-in-the-box, Octonion, to lead the death-moon into the black hole.
But Matt is reticent to allow the Red Hart loose again, and Vanessa
Morrison steals the god-in-the-box to give it to Sedenion, the
Never-Lord. With less than an hour before the arrival of Awides, the
Seven Wonders plan to attack the Never-Lord at his citadel, the Dark
Sleep.

               ~-<>-~

Dramatis Personae.

MATT SHARP, a soldier, human host to Red Hart

JAMY LO, an alien scientist

    Allies of Red Hart:
JULIE ANN JUSTICE, leader of the Seven Wonders
BLUE BOXER, leader of the Daylighters
VANESSA MORRISON, called Van, ex-patriot of Earth,
     now stranded there

               ~-<>-~

SCENE I. Deep space.
[Enter, drifting unconscious through space and protected by a red
aura, MATT SHARP. Enter a spaceship, which draws him inside with a
beam. Exeunt.]


SCENE II. Within the ship.
[Enter, descending, MATT SHARP. He is suspended in air by a beam.
Enter JAMY LO.]

JAMY [dictating]
Subject found floating outside the ruins of the Rowdar system. Subject
appears to be alive but unconscious, physiognomy and radiation
non-native to this system. Miraculously, the radiation appeared to be
keeping the subject alive in space. Scanning indicates... no. No. It's
impossible. But yes. Preliminary scanning indicates that the subject
is a carbon-based life form. Through pure dumb luck, I may have earned
my place in the history of science. ... That's more than a little
disappointing, but I won't be picky. Subject appears to be regaining
consciousness.

MATT
I can understand what you're saying. But you're not speaking English, are you?

JAMY
And you're not speaking Car-lo-lox-gar-car.

MATT
Some kind of universal translator?

JAMY
Not on my end. Thought it'd be on yours. I'm Jamy Lo, scientist
second-class from the planet Lo-lox-gar.

MATT
Matt Sharp. From the planet Earth.

JAMY
That's not in the Rowdar system?

MATT
Not as far as I'm aware. Is that where we are?

JAMY
That's where it was. Everything's dead now. See those asteroids? A few
hours ago, that was the planet Rowdar. Only planet that supported
life, so I guess they got to name the system after themselves.

MATT
What happened?

JAMY
That's... hard to explain. Do you have geological plates on your world?

MATT
There's worlds that don't?

JAMY
Have to check. There are apparently worlds where life is based on
carbon instead of silicone. These plates, do they rub against each
other, release seismic energy?

MATT
Our folks call them earthquakes.

JAMY
So imagine an earthquake, but in space. Somewhere in this system,
there was a tremendous release of immeasurable energy. That's the
epicenter. And all through the system, there were after-shocks. One
destroyed the planet Rowdar, most of the other planets. And
destabilized their star.

MATT
That don't sound good.

JAMY
No, it does not. It's going to collapse on itself soon.

MATT
Like a black hole, and it sucks everything in?

JAMY
Exactly like a black hole. A single point in space of infinite mass.
Gravity so dense that not even light can escape.

MATT
Rowdar. How many people were there?

JAMY
People? You mean, how many organisms?

MATT
Sure.

JAMY
I don't know. Nine million different species. Each species, most of
them numbered in the billions or trillions.

MATT
And they're all dead. Just from an after-shock.

JAMY
Yes.

MATT
I think I know what caused it. There was a fight. There was this big
dragon, name of Narok. Mean old thing. Ancient. Older than the
universe a dozen times over. Don't ask me how. I'm out of my depth on
that one. And fighting it, there was this other guy, it was me, sort
of. I have some kind of space-god hero-thing living inside of me,
takes over my body when he needs to fight something. He's old, too.
It's like a, a symbiosis.

JAMY
I see it now. That's what kept you alive out there. It's also... I'm
not an expert on carbon-based life-forms, being that I just discovered
them, so I guess I actually am kind of an expert, but: it looks like
it's also tearing your body apart.

MATT
Takes a whammy out of me after, yeah.

JAMY
It's like a parasite. It's killing you.

MATT
All those things that were alive, this whole system, and it just gets
snuffed out. Not even on purpose. Like stepping on ants. Though I
guess everything is like ants to something like him.

JAMY
I don't even know what ants are. But you sound scared, Matt Sharp.

MATT
We got a saying on Earth. Proverb, I guess. About the cure that's
worse than the disease. There's a lot of stuff going down, and the
universe is sick, maybe gonna end, big cosmic stuff, and so that's why
this guy got woke up, to fix it all. But if that's the cure... I'm a
soldier. Part of me hopes that you don't know what that word means,
that you come from someplace where there's no war. But I can see from
your expression that you know it all too well. I did fighting, and
there would be collateral. That's where innocent people who aren't
fighting in the war get hurt, get killed. And you have to accept that
that's going to happen, because that's war. Doesn't mean it sat well
with me when it happened. It didn't. I ain't saying I felt shame,
because I never did anything I was ashamed of. Never meant it to
happen. But there are lives that I took that shouldn't have been took,
and I carry that with me. I always will. And it weighs heavy on a man.
But this... I don't know how a man can carry this. It's too much. Too
big. And knowing that he can do this, just do this in passing... well,
maybe there's a reason he's been asleep for fifteen billion years.
Maybe he should never have woke up.

JAMY
I can't pretend I have answers to that. I can see that you need
medical treatment from someone familiar with your biology. I don't
suppose you know the standard galactic coordinates for this Earth?

MATT
Can't say that I do. We're the third planet from our sun. That's what
we call our star. Blue world. Lots of water. Only one that supports
life, far as we know.

JAMY
That describes most life-supporting planets and most systems. Do you
have names for your other planets?

MATT
Sure.

JAMY
I figure since I'm getting equivalents translated, if there's one we
may have heard of, you'll hear your name for it and I'll hear mine.

MATT
Worth a shot. Uh, there's a big one with a red spot, Jupiter. One of
'em has rings, that's Saturn. Planets get a little smaller as they get
closer to the Earth. Mars is red. Venus is... I'm not sure what color
Venus is, actually...

JAMY
Venus. Say that again. To be sure.

MATT
Venus.

JAMY
That's what I thought you said.

MATT
Why? Is Venus significant?

JAMY
Just stories. Legends. Nothing that bears repeating. But: single star
system, blue planet, neighbor of Venus. We can check it out, and if
it's wrong, you'll let me know.

MATT
Won't that take a while?

JAMY
Um, about ten minutes, I think.

MATT
Ten? Minutes?

JAMY
Maybe twelve. My rip-drive is an older model.

MATT
"Rip-drive"?

JAMY
Creates a tiny pocket universe with two openings, one here and one
where we're going. You don't have those where you're from?

MATT
Not so much.

[Exeunt via a pocket universe.]


SCENE III. The Lighthouse.
[An alarum sounds. Enter JULIE ANN JUSTICE and BLUE BOXER.]

JULIE ANN
It's coming from in orbit. Open hailing frequency.

BLUE BOXER
Ooh, like Star Trek.

[On a large screen appears an image of JAMY.]

JAMY
I am Jamy Lo of Lo-lox-gar, seeking Julie Ann Justice.

JULIE ANN
I am she. Call me Julie Ann.

JAMY
Jamy. I was given your number by Matt Sharp, who I picked up in the
Rowdar system. Permission to beam down?

BLUE BOXER
Like Star Trek!

JULIE ANN
Permission granted.

BLUE BOXER
"Make it so!"

JULIE ANN
You're such a dork.

[Enter via teleportation JAMY and MATT SHARP, the latter vomiting.]

BLUE BOXER
You don't look so hot, Matt.

JAMY
It's the parasite.

BLUE BOXER
Parasite?

JAMY
The Red Hart. I think it's killing him. I don't know your biology...

BLUE BOXER
...It might be. Matt, you said something before. He did. About the
body wearing thin. I'm not sure how much longer you can take it. I'm
sorry.

JULIE ANN
I understand your predicament, Mr. Sharp, and I'm sorry for it, and
I'm sorry for what I'm about to say. But Awides is coming. He'll be
here in an hour and some change. We have a plan. Boxer?

BLUE BOXER
More of a holding action than a solution, unfortunately. We think the
death-moon is following the energy trail left by Octonion, by the
god-box. If the Red Hart can take Octonion's essence, and lead Awides
off somewhere... and then... well, like I said, we only got that far.
But that saves the Earth, buys us some time to figure out a way to
deal with him. And we need that time. We need Red Hart.

JULIE ANN
I wish I could say I'm not going to ask you to put yourself in danger,
especially when we don't have a final solution yet, but...

MATT
It's not the dying I'm afraid of. When I was out there, I, he... I...

JAMY
A star system was destroyed in his battle with Narok.

BLUE BOXER
Narok?

JAMY
I'm just telling you what he told me.

BLUE BOXER
A whole system...?

JAMY
I was there. All the planets gone. The star itself should be
collapsing any minute now.

BLUE BOXER
Collapsing, like black hole collapsing?

JAMY
Yes.

BLUE BOXER
There's a black hole, and you know where it is? Like the coordinates?

JAMY
Yes. It's just on the other end of the pocket universe I created to get here.

BLUE BOXER
That's perfect.

MATT
Perfect? Perfect?!

BLUE BOXER
Not the loss of life. That's terrible, of course. But a black hole? An
actual black hole, and we know exactly where it is, and we could take
the god-box and lead Awides to it? Death-moon gets sucked in, crushed
by infinite gravity; we actually solve the problem. But I think we
would need Red Hart to lead him there.

JAMY
Can't you just shove this god-box through my pocket universe? When he
senses it in the Rowdar system, he'll turn around.

BLUE BOXER
Maybe; maybe not. I think he's actually following the trail itself. So
if there's not a new trail to follow, he might just keep heading
towards Earth anyway.

JULIE ANN
Besides, even if he is homing in on the actual box, there's the chance
he'll just make a bee-line for it. Then you have worlds getting wiped
out left and right anyway. But if Red Hart can leave him a deliberate
trail, away from any planets with life on it...

MATT
Like he did with Rowdar? There has to be another way.

JULIE ANN
I'm sorry, Matt, I really am, but we're running out of time.

BLUE BOXER
There's always another way. Jamy, your pocket universe. Could a giant
moon fit through it?

JAMY [dismissively]
Not unless you had a way to increase the power to my rip-drive a thousand-fold.

BLUE BOXER
I think we might. If the god-in-the-box is as powerful as we think, we
could use it to jack up your rip-drive and send Awides into the black
hole.

JULIE ANN
Clever.

JAMY
I think I like the way you think, carbon-based life-form.

[Alarums!]

JULIE ANN
That's the god-box! Someone's broken in!

[Exeunt.]


SCENE IV. The Lighthouse, god-box room.
[Enter JULIE ANN JUSTICE, BLUE BOXER, MATT SHARP, and JAMY; they find
VAN in the room.]

JULIE ANN
What are you doing in here?

VAN
I'm sorry. But I got to do what's best for me.

JULIE ANN
Van? Don't touch that...!

VAN
Take me to the Dark Sleep. To Nox.

[VAN and the glowing god-box exit in a flash of light.]

BLUE BOXER
The what?

MATT [crackling with cosmic power]
The Dark Sleep! Castle of my uncle dread.

JAMY
He's broadcasting the coordinates with his cosmic power!

MATT [crackling with cosmic power]
The evil-heart that beats in time 'gainst good.
The Never-Lord! So now this mortal flesh...
No! No!
I won't let you out again! I can't! I won't let you!

[MATT whirls, and is thrown against the wall by the cosmic struggle.
He goes limp.]

BLUE BOXER
He's alive, but just barely. I don't think Red Hart is used to his
host fighting back. Good space-god can't help us, bad space-god has
the what's-it. Now we have no way to stop the death-moon that's going
to be here in, what, an hour?

JULIE ANN
So we get it back. You said you had the coordinates?

JAMY
Yes.

JULIE ANN
Can you get me there?

JAMY
Shouldn't be a problem. I'll go get the rip-drive ready.

[Exit JAMY.]

BLUE BOXER
"Shouldn't be a problem?" We're, what, going to go fight an evil god?

JULIE ANN
Yes, "we" are, but "we" is me and mine, not you and yours. There's a
reason why we're the Seven Wonders, and the Daylighters are, you know,
MySpace for super-heroes.

BLUE BOXER
MySpace? Oh, c'mon, we're at least LinkedIn. So what are we supposed
to do while you're going on this obvious suicide mission?

JULIE ANN
"There's always another way." You're supposed to be good at finding them.

BLUE BOXER
"Supposed to be"?

JULIE ANN
So find one.

[Exeunt.]


COPYRIGHT (C) 2014 TOM RUSSELL