Duke Elric - Michael Moorcock [92]
BUGGERLY: “The best we've thrown against the Insect and still it munches its way to our extinction and its own …What hope have we, Rose? Bloody thing's tone deaf!!!Spammer's our Grail! Save her for us, Rose!”
ROSE: “Don't worry, Captain. I'm sure she'll turn up …”
At the Terminal Cafe, there was no time for talk—
Are we engaged with the table or are we engaged with it! Everything's happening—cards consulted, tossed in, stakes piled high—while the winds of limbo continue to blow. While down there deep in the table we see Elric passing through the portal, sharp and tiny, while all around him rise up what could be demons, every one of them himself. The audience leans forward. All attention is on that tiny figure.
—only for song …
Inset of our z-band (or just singer): “Skin of silver,
Skin so thin
Bones to dust
Blood to rust
The stigma of eternal sin.”
SINGER (continues): “Who to lose
Who to win
Who can save
Poor Silverskin?”
The scene in the table has changed. Now we see the Rose, Buggerly Otherly, a bit of the advancing Insect.
Rose, Buggerly, Insect…
BUGGERLY: “We've seven squadrons left! Goodman's, Van Zant's and Costello's are holding Havercall Brian Eno Quadrant. But how long can sophisticated song-writing resist all that noisy greed? Wi'out tha help, lass, we're t'Insect's last supper …!”
Head swings to follow her—?
Rose walks towards her plane (see issue 1). Everyone's gearing up for battle. They're astonished to see her leaving.
ROSE: “Sorry, Cap. I have to be in Biloxi. I'd hate to miss the Saturday night game.”
MAMA: “All this waiting—and now you fail us, our Rose?”
FATHER FRY (triumphant): “I'm right—those time gamblers serve only their own cause …She's betrayed the trust you invested …and doomed us all to the Grand Consumer.”
Plane takes off into the Second Ether. Buggerly grimly continues preparations.
BUGGERLY: “Aye, so it seems.
But our minds are sharp
Our wits are keen—
We'll make the moves
Wi'out our queen.”
Private moment with Buggerly:
BUGGERLY: “Poor lass.
I guess we all have our cracking points …
Well, let's not go gentle into that good night…”
The Final Quarter—Rose's plane comes out of the Biloxi Fault and sights the Terminal Cafe …
ROSE: “Should be starting any moment…”
Rose walks into the Terminal Cafe.
She finds Quelch in his seat and starts to move towards him. He looks discon -certed, places his hand protectively around his box.
ROSE: “I thought you'd be here, Horace.”
Rose looks in the box and sees a goldfish bowl with fish in it. She grins.
ROSE: “Attractive pets …”
ROSE: “Easy to maintain, are they?”
QUELCH: “Oh, they get plenty of attention, Rosie.”
General Force reacts furiously to Professor Pop's interference …
Watched urgently by the Oldreg and the Mrs. Oldreg, General Force directs millions of Straight Arrow ships at the buckyball. They are all pointed at it, heading rapidly towards it…
FORCE: “They'll not thwart the Singularity! My Straight Arrows will obliterate 'em!”
The Insect seen on screen as it approaches the Grey Fees.
FORCE: “The Insect shall be unhindered in her moral devouring of a chaotic multiverse!”
MRS. o: “Clean! Clean! Let the great void gleam with the joys of ultimate neatness!”
OLDREG: “And the multiverse will be one vast sphere of well-regulated profit!”
MRS. o: “The ultimate free lunch!”
FORCE: “NOW, my Arrows! Now! Crush the whole failed experiment to nothing …”
The Straight Arrows begin their advance.
FORCE: “… my final weapon'll provide a fitting end! Drown 'em in disco syrup!”
MRS. o: “Disinfect the untidy sphere and all within it!”
OLDREG: “An exemplary execution!”
FORCE: “Executed in exemplary fashion! Sweet… and cosmically neat!”
While within the buckyball—
A screen reveals the approaching Straight Arrows outside.
Professor Pop discards his abacus and blackboard and flings his hand to where Little Rupoldo holds two huge power cables