Writer- Debbie Ray
Screenplay- Debbie Ray
Script Editor- Kevin McCorry
The blips and bleeps of Command Centre didn't distract Maya
at all. Moonbase
Alpha's Science Officer from the extinct planet of Psychon stared
at her
computer console. Tony Verdeschi watched her. His interest in
her had long
been romantic, but on this occasion it was one of concern for
her health. He
knew she wasn't well. Her behavior seemed strange since the incident
days
ago with the Dorcons. Alpha was still being repaired after incurring
heavy
attack by the militaristic Dorcons, Maya having been the Dorcons'
aim. They
wanted her Psychon brain stem, the only means by which their
elderly Archon
could attain immortality. Alpha's strong-willed leader, Commander
John
Koenig, rescued Maya from the Dorcons before the Dorcon medico
could begin
brain stem transfer surgery, and internal power struggles among
the Dorcons
caused the destruction of the Dorcon spaceship that had ravaged
Moonbase
with meson laser energy. The Alphans considered themselves fortunate
that
the toll in their lives and equipment had not been worse. Damage
assessment
of Command Centre was thought to have been thorough, but, alas,
it was not.
Maya's console's circuitry suddenly started to smoke, and sparks
flew
dangerously close to the Psychon's face.
"Maya! Watch out!" Tony cried as he grabbed her and
pulled her away from
her desk. The incident caused looks of astonishment on the rest
of the
Command Centre crew, including Commander Koenig. A rescue team
promptly
arrived and quickly worked to extinguish the fire as Tony decided
to help
Maya to Medical Centre.
"Well, care to tell me what happened?" Dr. Helena Russell
asked after
running a routine check on Maya.
"I don't know." She seemed genuinely baffled.
"Don't know?! How could you not know?! The thing almost
blew up in your
face, and you don't know?!" Tony raved hysterically.
"Tony, please," Helena said firmly in an attempt to
calm him down.
Maya switched her gaze from Tony back to Helena. "A lot
of things
similar to the incident in Command Centre have happened in the
last couple
of days. I can't see myself clearly in my mirror, or I can't
see what I'm
writing in my reports. Everything is so blurry sometimes."
Helena looked at the silent Dr. Ben Vincent and then at the astonished
Tony. Maya knew they thought the same thing that she did. Helena
said,
"Maya, I want to run another test on you." She looked
over at her colleague.
"Ben, get her ready." Then, she soundlessly pronounced
the words, "eye
examination".
Ben took Maya out of the room as Tony approached Dr. Russell.
"What's
going on, Helena? Why another test? What's wrong with her?"
he demanded.
"I'm not sure, Tony. That's why I ordered another test.
I fear something
is dreadfully wrong with her sight," Helena explained.
"You think she's going blind?"
Helena nodded.
"How? What could cause it?" Tony was growing more upset.
"Tony, we don't know just what damage the Dorcons could
have done before
John rescued her."
"Oh, my God!" Tony felt weak as he sank against Dr.
Russell's desk.
Helena put her hand on Tony's shoulder. "We're not sure."
Tony looked at Helena and asked, "When?"
"I'll let you know."
In a trance, Tony walked down a corridor. He didn't even see
Alan Carter
until he bumped into him.
"Hey, brewmaster. What's up?"
"She's going blind," he said, still staring out into
space.
"What? Who?" Alan didn't understand his friend's strange
statement.
"Maya," Tony said.
"Maya!" Alan echoed. "Tony, I think you and I
better have a little
talk." Alan led him off.
"Oh, God. I had hoped my fears wouldn't turn into real-life
nightmare,"
Helena sighed, staring at the computer readout of Maya's eye
exam.
Ben echoed her thoughts. "The part of her brain that controls
her sight
is just too weak. And, that substance is deeply intertwined."
He asked, Will
you try surgery?"
"Certainly not. It would kill her."
Ben's tendency to acknowledge the worst-case scenario was manifest
again. "Perhaps she'd rather be dead than lose her sight."
"I'm going to leave the final decision up to her, if that's
what you're
wondering. I hate giving news like this." Helena paused
as if praying she'd
wake up in bed to find it was all a bad dream. "Call her
in, Ben."
"Helena said she wasn't sure. Maybe it's just eyestrain."
"Alan, for God's sake, she couldn't see her desk blow up
right in front
of her."
"We'll soon know."
"There must be some mistake. It can't be true!"
Tears welled up in
Maya's eyes as she absorbed the news of her examination.
"What choice are you going to take?" Helena asked before
she lost her
nerve.
"What choice do I have?! Die or go blind?!" Maya cried.
"Helena,
I........ I want to live."
Helena hugged her as Tony and Alan entered.
"Oh, no!" Tony cried, realizing the results of the
eye test. He ran to
Maya and held her as tightly as he could.
"Tony, I'm going to be blind!" Maya cried in fright.
"I know, honey." He tried to sound brave through his
tears. "But we'll
all be here with you."
"Helena, are you sure nothing
can be done for her?" Commander John
Koenig asked upon hearing the news.
"John, I don't know a thing about that foreign substance
in her brain.
It could be removed through surgery, but she almost certainly
would die."
"Will this alien substance do any other damage?" John
tried to sound
impartial and professional even though he worried about the beautiful
alien
whose life he had saved first on her home world and again in
the realm of
her race's mortal enemies.
"Ben and I don't believe it will. There doesn't seem to
be enough of it
to do any recognizable harm."
"How did this happen? I don't understand," John inquired.
"Apparently, the beam they concentrated on her to remove
the brain stem
contained a substance which is absorbed into the brain, weakening
and
finally eliminating the rest of the brain, leaving the stem,"
Helena
explained to the best of her limited knowledge of Psychons and
Dorcons and
what made them tick.
"Incredible!" John exclaimed.
"You got to her in time to save everything but her eyes"
"Why is it affecting her sight?"
"We probably won't know that until later, if ever."
"I don't know anyone who could replace her. I don't even
know how to
tell her she must resign."
"She knows, John. I'm sure," Helena sighed. "I
just wish someone around
here knew brail and had some way of converting her computer keys.
She could
learn the language fast enough. She's a quick study."
"That would mean changing nearly every computer on the base,
which would
take months. No one knows brail. And Maya would still be unable
to see the
print-outs."
"Our computers have audio."
"Yeah, but we can't have them speaking every readout. Not
in Command
Centre while everyone else is doing their job. It's too distracting.
Besides, the mathematical symbols Maya uses have no aural equivalent."
"Only an idea, John."
John put his arm around her. "I know you're trying to help
her adapt to
the situation, but that's something she'll have to do on her
own when she's
ready. Right now, she's still in shock, as we all are."
Helena left John's quarters, feeling helpless.
Nightfall came. And Maya rested as comfortably as possible,
with Tony
keeping a vigil just outside Medical Centre.
"Tony, depriving yourself of sleep won't make the results
happen any
faster." John attempted to pull Tony from his position in
front of Medical
Centre.
"John, I told Maya I'd be close by. I just wish they'd let
me in there."
"Are you kidding? Maya'd never get any sleep with you staring
at her all
night." John touched his shoulder. "You need sleep
just like she does. Come
on. I'll get you back here before she wakes up."
Tony finally agreed with John's suggestion and started to leave
with
him.
Inside, Maya had become very thirsty as a result of her nervous
state.
She cautiously peered around the room as if afraid something
were about to
jump her. The room appeared extremely dark. Had it already happened?
On
second thought, she probably imagined it. She would turn on the
light, and
everything would be there. Dim, but there. She clicked the lamp.
Why didn't
the darkness lift? Perhaps the lamp was malfunctioning. But she
felt some
warmth. "Helena! Tony!" Maya shrieked.
Helena flew out of her office as Tony and John burst in after
hearing
the Psychon scream. Helena held her, trying to convince her everything
was a
all right.
"It's so dark! It's so dark! I'm all alone in the dark!"
Maya cried,
gripping at air as Helena held her.
"You're not alone," came a familiar voice. A second
later, Maya felt the
strong arms of Tony Verdeschi enfold her. She clung to him, believing
it
would keep her from falling further into the black hole into
which she had
fallen.
"Has there been any change?" Tony asked Helena somberly
when she entered
Command Centre.
"No. She still refuses to see anyone but Ben and I,"
Helena answered.
She turned to John. "Have you been able to find anything
she might be able
to do?"
"Helena, finding a worthwhile job for a blind person to
do around the
base is just impossible."
"Then look for something that's not worthwhile. Maya won't
care, as long
as there's something for her to do."
"Did she say that?" Tony demanded.
"I was only a couple of words off quoting her, if that tells
you
anything." Helena's voice contained a harsh tone.
"She's right," Maya said. They turned to see her being
escorted in. Tony
rushed to her side and helped her down into her chair. Maya looked
in the
direction of John and Helena and said, "The Dorcons only
use the brain
neutralizing substance when doing brain stem transfers. It weakens
the rest
of the brain and slowly eats it away. The deterioration is slow
but
painless. They think of it as a humane process. Usually, it's
meant to first
block the part of the brain that controls our transformation
powers, to make
doubly sure they're neutralized. The light beam that Varda used
to stop my
transformations was a temporary inhibitor. Rather than leave
the beam on
through the whole procedure, they preferred to have the neutralizing
substance block our powers. But since the Dorcons hadn't used
the technique
for a long time, the substance must have been released at random,
and it
affected the part of my brain that controls sight. You reached
me in time,
Commander, to prevent it from spreading."
"That's Helena's theory." John said.
"She's right." Maya managed a stoic, good natured smile.
"As always."
"Oh, God. Helena, you've got to do the surgery," Tony
pleaded. "You've
worked with Maya on surgical techniques."
"Tony," Maya quietly spoke. "I understand Helena's
unwillingness to
perform that kind of surgery. I haven't the knowledge to prepare
her to do
this operation. Nothing can be done. Face it, Tony. I have."
Later that night, in Medical Centre, as Helena wrote her report
in her
log book, Maya began to dream. She was in her quarters on Alpha
but was
aware of a presence
from her past, from before she arrived on Moonbase. She turned
and saw Mentor, her father, standing at the door. He was saying
something. He was instructing her to use her Psychon power of
molecular metamorphosis! If she were to successfully transform
herself, it would
dissolve the foreign substance that impeded her sight. It seemed
too facile a solution. But Mentor insisted. Transform. She summoned
all of her power, and when she awoke from the dream, she found
herself standing, actually
seeing Medical Centre. Helena turned around when she heard footsteps,
and
she was greeted by a six-foot-tall alien monster.
"Maya?"
Right before Helena Russell's eyes, the huge monster became Maya,
the
beautiful Psychon. "Helena, I can see! I can see you! I
can see everything!"
She ran to the doctor, and they embraced. In their excitement,
they didn't
notice John and Tony walk in.
"Hey, what's this?" John asked.
"Tony! I can see!" Maya ran into the arms of an elated
Tony Verdeschi.
"It's a miracle!" Tony cried. John and Helena looked
at each other, then
back at the happy, embracing couple. |