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265. Death of Dreamer - Leslie
- FADE IN:
- The sparse apartment is dark, save for the lights from the city below leaking into the room and spilling over the large dining room table and splashing patches of color onto bits of furniture.
- A hand appears out of the darkness, pushing an object out of the shadows.
- As the object is hit by more light, it can be made out as the barrel of a high-powered rifle and the sharp sound of a bullet being chambered rings off the wood.
- A large stage is set up at the edge of the park, a huge crowd of people waiting around it, their faces washed with the warm park lights.
- Secret Service agents can be spotted around the stage.
- The crowd begins to clap and whistle.
- GOVERNOR STEPHEN DAVID, a short man, bounds onto the stage, grinning, and the cheers grow.
- He stands at the simple podium, waiting for the applause to die down.
- It does, slowly.
- GOVERNOR STEPHEN DAVID
- Hey y'all! My apologies to your great Mayor Swanson; I decided to ditch the introduction.
- MAYOR SWANSON waves from the edge of the stage.
- GOVERNOR STEPHEN DAVID
- I hope you don't mind?
- The crowd roars.
- GOVERNOR STEPHEN DAVID
- It's good to be back here on Earth. But I'm not here as a Luna or as merely a representative of the Lunar states, I'm here firs as an American. We're at the edge of a dangerous time. We stand on the brink of civil war. I'm here to say that if elected, I may not be able to stop it. The forces pulling our nation apart are strong. But I will be a clear voice for our defense and for a change in how this nation works. In this time of great danger, we are presented with great opportunity.
- THE SNIPER walks to the window and surveys the massive crowd that stretches back a mile to where he is.
- Screens hang above the street and the audience watches in rapt attention.
- GOVERNOR STEPHEN DAVID
- I am here, not only to be the first Luna candidate for president, but to say that in the case of war, the Lunar states will stand with our blue sisters.
- The crowd roars.
- GOVERNOR STEPHEN DAVID
- There have been times in our history for working with those who disagree with us and I beg those who would destroy this nation to stop and consider what this nation as a whole means to them. But if they intend to destroy this nation, I have no fear of being partisan. I urge the colonial governors like Governor Amelia Mbeki to stand with us. I am willing to shed blood for this nation and for the dream of America. This is something we understand from the fields of Iowa to the energy farms of the Sea of Tranquility. We will not surrender to the fascists!
- SNIPER
- Enough.
- He moves to the rifle, looking into the scope.
- He takes a deep breath, then holds it.
- The governor pauses, sensing something.
- The Sniper pulls the trigger.
- The bullet exits the barrel of the gun, going supersonic.
- The bullet tears through one of the screens floating above the street, causing a commotion as it crashes to the ground.
- Milliseconds later, there is a loud thump and the governor slams into the ground, his entire chest bloody.
- He gasps as agents swarm.
- He is miraculously still breathing.
- GOVERNOR STEPHEN DAVID
- Up, help me up!
- Mayor Swanson helps pull him to his feet.
- The audience screams as they see him.
- He raises his fist.
- GOVERNOR STEPHEN DAVID
- We will not be afraid, we will fight! Fight, my friends, first with words, then with bullets if you must, but never surrender.
- The governor falls to the ground.
- The cries of the crowd can be heard through the open window of the apartment, but there is no one to hear; it is completely empty, a single bullet casing carefully placed at the center of the table, a warning, a call to war.
- FADE TO BLACK.
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