Virtual Firefly www.stillflying.net Season 2 Episode 4: Fireworks Written by David Elmer and Katie Fiorino Directed by George W. Krubski Story Consultants: Serge Simard and Matt Engstrom

Teaser from 2x04: Fireworks ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- EXT. PROSPERO – PROSPERO CITY – ESTABLISHING – DAY PROSPERO CITY is larger, shinier, and more cosmopolitan than most of Serenity's stops. Everything looks new... so new, in fact, that much of the city still seems under construction. Small ZEPPELINS fly between the spires rising from the sprawl of buildings below, and everything is so orderly and bright that there's no question the Alliance had a hand in building the place. BLUE SUN TOWER rises from the center of town like a sharp and shiny knife, the tallest building in the city. It is a large metal-and-concrete building that looks like it’d be right at home in some of the major cities on ‘Earth-that-Was’. The building has a large BLUE SUN logo emblazoned on the side, and a series of zeppelin-pads jutting out from the upper levels. EXT. PROSPERO CITY – STREETS – ESTABLISHING – DAY The streets are crowded with CELEBRATING FOLK. It’s a holiday, and the many signs referencing “U-DAY!” and “Unification Day Parade Route” tell us which one. Families are already lining up along the parade route, BARKERS sell food and goods (including Alliance flags and Unification Day banners) and STREET ENTERTAINERS juggle, cavort, spit fire, and play with animals. EXT. PROSPERO CITY STREETS – DAY Three FIGURES wind their way through the crowd, the battered brown coat of the leader – MALCOLM REYNOLDS – drawing curious stares (and more than a few glares) as he plows on, a man with a mission. ZOE and JAYNE trail behind him. JAYNE: Sure we can trust this guy? ZOE: He and Mal are old friends. JAYNE (with emphasis): Sure we can trust this guy? ZOE: Had more than a few good paydays with Tony. Beat, as Jayne puzzles it out. JAYNE: Mal? MAL: I’m sure he’s forgotten all about Silverhold. Mal stops in front of a bar called GOLDEN TICKET TAVERN. Zoe looks up. ZOE: Malcolm Reynolds. In a bar. On U-Day. Imagine that. INT. PROSPERO CITY – GOLDEN TICKET TAVERN – DAY Mal, Zoe and Jayne push their way through the bustling CROWD, ignoring shouts from annoyed patrons, and make their way to a small table in a dimly lit corner. Seated at the table is TONY, a grizzled-looking man with salt-and-pepper hair and a nose that looks like it's been broken and badly set more than once. A large bottle sits on the table, opened and partially empty, along with several shot glasses. He looks up to see Mal, Zoe and Jayne approaching. He slams his shot glass onto the table and gets to his feet. TONY: (slightly slurred) Leo Harbatkin. Always knew we'd cross paths again, and I told myself I'd be prepared when we did. Tony's hand slips into the pocket of his fancy jacket and he pulls out a gun, which he trains on Mal. Mal doesn’t move a muscle. Jayne, seeing this, draws his own gun and aims at Tony. Zoe puts a hand on Jayne's shoulder to keep him from firing. Tony pulls the trigger, shooting Mal in the face… with a STREAM OF LIQUID. It’s a squirt-gun. MAL: Fun little holiday prop you got there… Mal licks his wet lips. MAL (cont’d): Is that whiskey? Tony shoots himself a stream in his own mouth and swallows hard. TONY: How've you been, you ? Last time I saw you, we were headed out of Silverhold on that flying scrapheap you said was a ship! MAL: ? Scrap-heap? Tony, what’s with the insults? TONY: (to Zoe) Still beautiful, my dear. Much too beautiful to be flying with this , I always said. Figured you'd cut your losses and run. (eyeing Jayne) Who's the big lug with the gun who looked like he was gonna shoot my head off first and ask questions later? MAL: That'd be Jayne. Hired him after Silverhold. TONY: (indicates they should head to his table) Come on, Mal, let me set you up with a drink. Man been through what you've been through oughta be drinking on a day like this. Makes U-Day tolerable. Mal follows Tony and they both sit down. Jayne and Zoe move closer, but remain standing. MAL: Well, you’re tolerance always has been high, Tony. Me, I prefer to dull the pain by causin’ some, ‘specially if they're Alliance-friendly. TONY: You wouldn't want to be trying anything like that here. Alliance has us pretty much under its thumb. Not that that's such a bad thing, mind. Tony pours a round for the four of them. TONY (cont’d): Alliance and Blue Sun’ve done a lot for Prospero over the years, what with the moon bein’ decimated by the war an’ all. Hell, town was pretty much built by ’em. When it becomes apparent that Mal and his crew aren’t going to drink (despite Jayne’s look of longing), Tony shrugs and downs first his glass, then Mal’s. MAL: Said you had a job for me and mine? TONY: That I did. Y'see, I have a client who works for Blue Sun. He’s having a bit of, uh, internal trouble, you might say. Tony pauses in his tale and drinks Zoe’s glass. MAL: Corporate politics don’t concern me, Tony. TONY: Fair enough. Long story short, there’s a bank near the middle of town has a sealed box stored in one of its vaults. Box contains what you might call sensitive information. That’s where you come in. Tony and Jayne eye the last filled glass. TONY (cont’d): You get me the box, I pay you, and we all have a nice UDay. Mal and Zoe share a look. MAL: Job like this ain't gonna be easy. TONY: That’s why we’re doin’ it today. Staff’ll be a skeleton crew because of the holiday, and once the parade starts, any back-up’ll be delayed ’cause it’ll have to cross the route. You hit it at the exact right time, it’s like . ZOE(to Mal): wake up, sir. MAL: Still, sounds like a fun way to spend the holiday, don’t it? (to Tony) My crew's gonna need schematics of the bank, location of the vault… All the gritty details. TONY: Taken care of. EXT. PROSPERO CITY – LANDING ZONE – ESTABLISHING Prospero City's LANDING ZONE is large, covering several acres, and divided into sections. Because of the Unification Day festivities, the place is bustling with activity, with VISITORS disembarking from PASSENGER VESSELS and CARGO being unloaded from bright and shiny freighters, many with the Blue Sun logo stamped on them. The Blue Sun logo seems to be everywhere. TONY (VO, cont’d): Figured you wouldn’t come all this way not to take the job, so I sent a runner to your ship. We skim over the hustle and bustle of the landing zone to: EXT. SERENITY – SAME TIME Serenity sits at the far end of the landing zone, underneath a large neon sign, airlock doors open to let the planet's summer-like breezes cool the interior. TONY (VO, cont’d): She should be there any minute. INT. SERENITY – CARGO BAY – DAY KAYLEE sits on the HOVER-MULE, tinkering with part of the aft engine. RIVER stands nearby, watching. She points to a part that Kaylee has just taken out and is studying. RIVER: That’s not broken. KAYLEE (brightly): Nope, but the Cap’n don’t know no better. Says she’s been ridin’ rough since Boros, an’ this gives me a chance to tinker. RIVER: Still not broken. Shouldn't be fixing what's not broken. Leads to problems. KAYLEE (slightly uncomfortable): Um, right. Tell, you what, I'll put the mule back together, and we'll go find Wash. He said he was gonna go explore, enjoy the U-Day festivities.

Although she’s still taking to Kaylee, River starts to walk slowly toward the airlock door, an odd sense of anticipation on her face. RIVER: I wish Simon were here. KAYLEE: We’ll see him soon, sweetie. Tomorrow. He’s just takin’ care of vaccinations on Haven. RIVER: He used to take me to the U-Day carnival back home. He'd buy me cotton candy, and I'd dance. There were fireworks. KAYLEE: Sounds like fun. I’m sure we can find cotton— CASEY (OS): Excuse me. Kaylee glances toward the open airlock door and does a double-take. River stands facing CASEY, a young woman in worn and comfortable clothing (not dissimilar from Zoe’s normal attire), with glasses, her hair pulled back into a ponytail. River and Casey are looking at one another curiously, and the reason for this is obvious. Except for their clothing, Casey and River look identical.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Want to read more? Then head to www.stillflying.net to read this episode and more.

Want to give us your opinion? Then head to out forum at www.stillflying.net.