A Grain from a Balance: A Trek Screenplay
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About this ebook
Once upon a galaxy, a spaced-out writer launched a script for a starry TV episode set in a universe much like a certain trek we know and love. Here, for the first time, you can experience this adventure of the next generation of trekkers. The names are new, but you might recognize the drama and excitement of an epic encounter aboard the star cruiser Infinitude on the final frontier. When alien lifeforms offer the ultimate exploration of space and time, will the crew discover their deadly secret? Or will the aliens' seductive persuasion change the lives of the crew members forever? Don't miss this exciting lost script by award-winning Star Trek author Robert T. Jeschonek, a master of unique and unexpected science fiction that really packs a punch.
Reviews
"Robert Jeschonek is a towering talent..." – Mike Resnick, Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author
"Jeschonek ́s stories are delightfully insane, a pleasure to read..." – Fabio Fernandes, Fantasy Book Critic
"Robert Jeschonek is the literary love child of Tim Burton and Neil Gaiman—his fiction is cutting edge, original, and pulsing with dark and fantastical life. His stories suck me in and refuse to let me go until the last page..." – Adrian Phoenix, critically acclaimed author of The Maker's Song series and Black Dust Mambo
Contents
TV script plus novel preview
About the Author
Award-winning science fiction author Robert T. Jeschonek has written Star Trek and Doctor Who fiction and futuristic stories for books, magazines, websites, and podcasts around the world. He won the national grand prize in the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds writing contest from Pocket Books. He is one of a handful of authors chosen to write stories in the Star Trek: New Frontier universe. DC Comics, Simon & Schuster, and DAW Books have published his work. He was nominated for the British Fantasy Award for his story, "Fear of Rain." His young adult urban fantasy novel, My Favorite Band Does Not Exist, is now available from Clarion Books/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and was named one of Booklist’s Top Ten First Novels for Youth.
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Book preview
A Grain from a Balance - Robert Jeschonek
A GRAIN FROM A BALANCE: A TREK SCREENPLAY
An Unfilmed Trek Screenplay
ROBERT JESCHONEK
Blastoff BooksCONTENTS
Also by Robert Jeschonek
Cast
TEASER
ACT I
ACT II
ACT III
ACT IV
ACT V
About the Author
Special Preview: Universal Language
A GRAIN FROM A BALANCE: A TREK SCREENPLAY
Copyright © 2023 by Robert Jeschonek
http://bobscribe.com/
Cover Art Copyright © 2023 by Ben Baldwin
www.benbaldwin.co.uk
Published by Pie Press by arrangement with the author. All rights reserved by the author.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
IE Books logoPublished by Blastoff Books
An Imprint of Pie Press
411 Chancellor Street
Johnstown, Pennsylvania 15904
www.piepresspublishing.com
Subscribe to the Blastoff Books Newsletter: http://newsletter.blastoffbooks.net/
Vellum flower icon Created with Vellum
ALSO BY ROBERT JESCHONEK
Sticks and Stones: A Trek Novel
Trek Fail
Trek This
Trek Off!
Trek You
Vendetta: A Trek Screenplay
CAST
(in order of appearance)
SYNTH, an android helmsman aboard the star cruiser WSS Infinitude
RUDY RENEAU, the ship's chief engineer, a blind man wearing a sight-restoring visor
ENSIGN FERRIS, a female friend of Synth and Rudy's
JEAN-CLAUDE MARTINIQUE, captain of the ship
JAMES HARBINGER, the ship's first officer
ERIN MCNALLY, the ship's doctor
TORK, ship's security chief, member of the warlike Gorlack species
MALE VISITOR/ONE
FEMALE VISITOR/TWO
ATHENA, the ship's counselor, an alien Synodd female with empathetic powers
TEASER
INT.: LAST CALL LOUNGE ABOARD THE STAR CRUISER WSS INFINITUDE
SYNTH and RUDY are seated at a table with a drink or two. They are discussing one of the crew’s recent poker games.
RUDY
Synth, I’ve gotta’ stop playing poker with you. It’s just too hard on my ego.
SYNTH
Rudy, I am not sure that I understand. I thought that you enjoyed our poker games.
RUDY
Well, I do. It’s just that lately, I’ve been on this awful losing streak, and you…well, you’ve had an amazing winning streak.
SYNTH
Would you enjoy it more if I did not win as often?
RUDY
No no, Synth. I just wish my luck would improve. I can’t seem to get a decent hand anymore.
SYNTH
(thinking)
I see.
(pauses)
What can be done to improve your luck,
Rudy?
RUDY
Nothing that I know of, Synth. That’s the whole problem.
As SYNTH and RUDY talk, ENSIGN FERRIS approaches. FERRIS is an attractive young woman, a casual acquaintance of SYNTH’s and RUDY’s; she is wearing an outrageous hat, something high and overloaded, like something Carmen Miranda might wear.
FERRIS
(excited, fidgeting with the hat)
Rudy, hi! Look what I got on shore leave on Perlis VII!
RUDY
(awkwardly but politely)
Oh, yeah. That’s really..an interesting hat, Ellen.
FERRIS
I just adore it! The shopkeeper said it’s the latest style in the system, but this particular one is one of a kind!
RUDY
I’ll…bet it is, Ellen.
FERRIS
So, do you really like it? It’s not too much, is it?
RUDY
(after a good, long look)
No, no…I mean, uh, yeah. I like it. It’s very…unique.
FERRIS
You really think so?
RUDY
Yeah. I really do.
FERRIS
(delightedly)
Oh, thank you! Wait…I’ve got to go show it to Lieutenant Bell!
(she hurries off)
RUDY
(to SYNTH, in hushed voice)
Boy, that was some hat, huh? Wow.
SYNTH
It was unique.
RUDY
It was a little TOO unique.
SYNTH
What do you mean, Rudy? Did you not like it?
RUDY
Like’s
a strong word, Synth.
SYNTH
But you told Ensign Ferris that you liked it.
RUDY
Well, I did, Synth…but I guess I sort of told a little white lie.
SYNTH
I did not know that there were different types of lies. What is a little white lie,
Rudy?
RUDY
It’s…it’s a small lie, one that shouldn’t cause anybody any harm. In this case, I used one so I wouldn’t hurt Ensign Ferris’ feelings.
SYNTH
Why would you have hurt her feelings by supplying an accurate assessment of your opinion of the hat?
RUDY
Well, I could see how much she liked it, Synth. She was really enjoying that hat, and if I’d told her what I really thought of it, she might not’ve enjoyed it so much anymore. It might’ve made her self-conscious and unhappy.
SYNTH
I see. So what you are saying is that a little white lie
is socially acceptable, and that it can be beneficial in certain circumstances.
RUDY
(uncomfortable)
I suppose. Sometimes, you just can’t tell someone what you really think. Sometimes, the truth does more harm than good.
SYNTH
How do you know when a little white lie
is
appropriate, though? If you should not always tell the truth, how do you know when to tell the truth and when to lie?
RUDY
(sighs)
It’s pretty complicated, Synth. It all depends on the person, the situation, a lot of factors. I guess it’s just something that you have to learn from experience.
SYNTH
(after a thoughtful pause)
How will I do that, Rudy? Would experimentation be of use? Should I apply a little white lie