Nucleolab, Downtown, New York, 10:06PM, April
18, 2413
The disk-shaped light installed in the middle ceiling
of the splendid dome-like nucleolab was off. The smell of anti-virus
air conditioning swirled through the air, making the room an extra-clean
feeling. The only source of light was coming from a capsulary chamber
in the center of the lab; either two ends were connected to the ceiling
with scattering wires and cables. Light reflected and shatters into
the darkness as it hit the capsulary. The top half of the chamber
was transparent, and the bottom part was seemed to be solid metal in golden
covering. This magnificent piece of technological invention was known
as the cellular reconstructor.
The walls surrounded the lab were covered with
golden foils to keep the temperature within the room stable, unaffected
from the outside world; they shimmered dimly in the reflection of the yellowish
light came from the reconstructor.
Several technicians in white robes were standing around
the reconstructor, each woked silently yet hastily by themselves, unwillingly.
One lone shadow of a man was holding a lead scientist as a hostage in front
of the reconstructor at the main control station, overseeing the operation.
Behind the control station, was a 2-feet thick, solid metal entrance, and
the only entrance of the lab.
A small alarm went beeping off, breaking through the
silence of the room as the entrance door opened to the side; in walked
a young technician pushing a cart slowly into the lab, the cart carried
the lower portion of a right leg in a transparent plastic-like dome.
Life-support systems could clearly be seen hooked onto the surface of the
leg. The technician took out the leg when approached the reconstructor,
and carefully place the leg inside it; sweat went running down his face,
but he did not care to wipe it out. From the look on his face, one
could tell he is nervous, or was he? He was excited with fear within
the excitement to be exact; but who except the young scientist knew for
sure? He exhaled in relief and closed the glass indestructable glass
sheilding of the reconstructor as he withdrew and joined the others.
Com'on now, nice and slow... McTargartt, the lead scientist
watched closely as the glass shielding moved slowly and closed with no
sound. Okay, don't you dare fail me now. "Cellular Reconstructor
on-line; system ready to proceed. We are ready to start the reconstruct
sequence." I wish I didn't damn say that..., however, my life
is at stake; all of the lives in this room are in stake.
"Proceed." The man in shadow answered
without hestitation and gave the command in a weird voice that sounded
like came from a distance.
McTargartt turned back to the control panel and executed
the command - reconstruct. Forgive me, Lord. I have no choice.
After proceeding, the man of shadow watched as two tube-like
machines inside the reconstructor started doing their job. First
creating some kind of field which levitated the leg, then genetic duplicated
the rest of the body skeleton. The leg was soon cloned and so was
the body skeleton.
McTargartt inhaled deeply and reported, "Ugh..,
the skeleton is complete." He paused to look at his captor,
but he saw nothing except for the darkness. This gives me the creeps.
What does he want with a cloned man? What IS he? He did not
allow himself to think about the question for only one reason, he did not
want to offend his captor, not yet before he figure out WHAT he is.
He continued with the operation without furthur noticing his captor.
"Now for tissue processing."
A ring-like object appeared at the feet of the skeleton,
moving up from the feet to the head slowly, 'casting' the skeleton with
tissues, organs and muscles. After a few moment, this step of recontructing
was complete. McTargartt moved the UV shield over to the reconstructor
with touch of fingers at the control panel, ready to perform the last step.
The step was soon underway, without he informing his captor. The
reconstructor was then bombarding the reconstruct subject with slightly
greasy solar atoms which would cause skins to generate by the body itself.
I damn wish the solar atoms would burn that guy from
the skin to hell. McTargartt remained silent even though his mind
was not. "Finish in 5 seconds, counting down; 4, 3, 2, 1.
The process is complete."
"Good, remove the shild please." The
man of shadow spoke in his distant-voice again, sounding polite yet with
sarcasm. He did senced that McTargartt's blood went cold the minute
he answered, then smiled in satisfactory.
Within seconds, the UV shield was drawn back; a figure
of a naked grown-man could be seen lying inside the reconstructor, his
black hair covered half of his face. Immediately, the Thermal Bandages
were fastened on. The man of shadow walked directly toward the reconstructor.
By inserting a key card taken from McTargartt in the silvery socket
at the small panel aside the reconstructor, the glass shielding was removed
too. The man's body jerked spasmodically in a sudden, then he awoke,
inhaling deeply.
McTargartt was ready to sneak out of the lab since his
work was complete, but when he saw the man lying inside the reconstructor,
he froze. His face, his body and even his mind just froze at that
second; he did not know what to think. In a flash of moment, he eyesight
dropped onto the floor, watching the reflection of of man. Oh, no.
SCENE II
RETURNING
A telephone rang noisily in the empty office where
Zorg used to be. The ring echoed in the silent office as Ms. Smith, the
secretary, picked up the phone on the hall and sat peacefully at her desk.
"Zorg Industries, may I help you?"
Mean while, a man walked cleanly and silently down the
hall, heading for the office. As soon as she saw the man coming, she stood
up. "May I help you with anything, sir?"
The man answered nothing and keep walking; turning at
a corner, he entered the office, Ms. Smith was shouting at him. "Hey,
it's an authorized area, you can't go-" she stopped abruptly, realizing
who the man was. She dropped the phone and fell into her chair; her eyes
stared at nothing, her face went pale in fright.
The man continued in, walking down to the other end
of the office. There, he walked and stopped to stare out of a round window
behind a wide desk. After a few seconds, he reached behind himself for
a chair under the desk behind his back without looking.
A buzzer of an intercom at Ms. Smith desk went off,
interrupting her thinking; she looked at it, terrified. A few seconds after,
she found herself walking into the office to the man, who was then sitting
at the desk, facing the window. She continued walking, shivering slightly
on the way, and stopped a few feet from the man. She brace herself and
asked calmly, "Yes, sir? What do, do you need?"
"If I remember it correctly, you used to call me
something different, didn't you?" "I like that handle, please
use it, Ms. Smith."
"Yes, sir.., I mean Mr. Z--Zorg..." Her voice
shivered when pronouncing "Zorg", showing her fright. She then
paused, inhaling deeply, did not dare to look into Zorg's eyes like. She
used to.
Zorg leaned on his desk, still facing the window. "I
want a list of all transactions for Zorg Industries, while I was away;
and a full record of all old customers," be paused to think, then
continued, "and bring me copies of all special personnel files."
spinned around with a satanic smile; the gloomy lights in the room casted
shadows that covered half of his face. " I have some catching up to
do."
After Ms. Smith was gone, Zorg punched some buttons
on the keypad of his desk, immediately, a glass raised and an automatic
dispenser came out and filled it with water. Also, a fruit bowl raised
and Zorg picked a cherry, which was then confirmed by a computer voice-message;
"Cherry" it said. Zorg paused to stare at the small cherry in
his hand and went into some memories. He then bite into the cherry and
swallowed it after chewing satisfactorily. He reached over to the intercom
and spoke in a low, deep voice. "I want a priest, them name is Victor
Cornelious; get me all available information on the subject."
SCENE III
NEW POSITION
The lights in the President's office were bright,
so bright that the president had to squint at a man in uniform coming up
to him. The man stopped before the president’s desk, his blue uniform suited
the light nicely. The president looked at him with doubt. "Yes?"
"Mr. President, a Victor Cornelious is here to
see you."
"Good, send him in, please."
"As ordered, sir." The man bowed slightly
and left the office without making a sound.
A while later, an elderly man in a brown robe walked
in, slightly balded. He walked toward the president and stopped before
the desk. The president stood up as soon as he saw the man came in.
"Father, it is nice to see you again under less
dire circumstances." The president shook hand with Father Cornelious.
"How are you lately?"
"Thank you Mr. President, I am well, and yourself
also I hope."
"I'am well, Father, but the work of a president
is never done. I am glad however, to offer you this position. As the administrator
of Astrological affairs, I am sure the knowledge that was passed down to
you can help the government a great deal." The president motioned
for Father Cornelious to sit down.
"I am sure it will; I will be honored to offer
my service."
"Good, I am glad that you agree, and accept?"
Father Cornelious nodded politely which answered the
president. Mr President stood up and said cheerfully, "Then it is
settled." He gave a short sigh. "You will have to excuse me,
like I said, the work is never done. I still have nineteen more meetings
to attend today."
Father Cornelious stood up and returned the hand shake.
"I understand, Mr. President."
"Thank you, Mr. President, I am glad to service
the government; and thank you for the opportunity."
David was waiting for Father Cornelious outside the
office, when he saw the Father came out, he quickly went up acompanying
him down the long hall. "How did it go, Father? Was the preparation
useful? Was anything went unsettled, or-"
"David, everything went just excellent. You might
as well as relax a little." The Father interrupted, then patted softly
on David's shoulder.
Within a minute, David questioned worrily again, "How
do you think Mr. Dallas and Leeloo are doing, Father?"
"Oh, I am sure they're fine. Leeloo can take care
of herself, and you know Mr. Dallas..." Immediately, images of Korben
Dallas with trouble ahead, appeared in Father Cornelious' mind. He shook
his head abruptly trying to get the images out of his mind. "Ugh,
I better stop linking Mr. Dallas with trouble; what could possibly go wrong?
They have already saved the world!" He murmured under his breath,
trying to convince himself.
"I guess you're right, Father; I guess you're right..."
David looked at Father Cornelious without any doubt.
Father Cornelious glanced at David suspeciously, wondering
if David was criticizing him.
SCENE IV
FLOSTON AGAIN
Soft orange light shone warmly on Korben and Leeloo,
who were sleeping in a small rom; it was so small that only two people
could lay horizontally side by side in it. A tiny beep sounded as Korben
awakened suddenly, slamming his head right into the ceiling. "Ouch!!
Damn it, why do I always have such a luck?!" He dropped back
down and muffled his own cry. "I hate space travel..."
They were onboard a shuttleplane, the same kind he and
Leeloo had taken when going to planet Fhloston in the Angel Constelation
last time around a month ago.
Korben raised himself a little bit, his back touching
the ceiling, then moved slowly to one side until his face was on top of
Leeloo's. He stared at her with a smug kind of affection, realizing Leeloo
was still asleep. He gently reached out his hand to feel her lips, seconds
later, he brought his face down and kissed her passionately. I
think I still have the permission to do this... This awoke her,
and she began kissing Korben back until they were interrupted.
"Oh, sorry to disturb you, Mr. Dallas, but we have
arrived." A flight attenent opened the cabin door and said with a
smile.
"Thank you," Leeloo smiled and replied, still
had teh hint of an accent. She then climbed out.
Beside her, Korben sighed softly, without anyone knowing
it, he licked his lips. "Yeah, thanks a lot. " He said with a
bit of sarcastism, then moved out of the cabin as well. He streched his
arms as he looked around briefly. "Hmm, it's hard to imagine they
sent in another hotel-ship right after the old one blew up!"
The flight attendent turned her head around and answered,
"The company figures they cannot afford to lose no more money, so
they sent out their backup ship to replace the old one."
"A backup ship, uh?"
"Yes sir, this ship is fully equipped with all
the instruments the old one had, and some more new things as well."
Her smile went phony.
They then went walking down the isle along with other
passengers crowded along side them to get out of the shuttleplane. Outside,
the fan fare was not as great as it was the first time, but they were greeted
as well. Soon, two young men in white uniforms guided Korben and Leeloo
all the way up the elevator and down the hall to their destinated room,
carrying their luggages.
In the room, Leeloo was looking at some decorations
on the ceiling as Korben quietly sneaked up behind her and slipped his
arms around her waist. "Now, what did I tell you? A real vacation."
Leeloo turned around and set herself in Korben's arms.
"No mission or pain, just love?" She smiled up at him sweetly.
Korben held her tight, "That's right, just love.
Just you and me and love." He looked warmly down at Leeloo and held
her tighter.
Leeloo said nothing, her lips came right up to Korben
and he replied her action.
Ms. Smith walked wearily into Zor'gs office, carrying
an armload of files and stacked them on top of Zor'gs desk along with the
orhter stacks. She backed one step off, catching a breath.
Zorg sat deeply in his chair, in the shade from the
burning sun, and holding a package of personnel files. he took a
glimpse of Ms. Smith and tossed the package in his hand into a trashcan
beside the desk; then picked up the next package from the stacks, leafing
through the pages.
The secretary started walking away, without saying a
word; on the way, she cautiously threw a glance at Zorg, then hurried away.
Zorg gave a sigh after reading the files briefly, then
tossed the files carelessly toward the trashcan again. The package
of files dropped on to the ground a few inches from the trashcan and scattered
across the dark yet shiny floor. Immediately, three small robots
of different kinds came zooming out of a hole in the wall near the floor,
hurrying to clean the files up.
"This is absolutely ridiculous!!" Zorg
mumbled to himself, eyeing the three cleaning robots. He then turned
back to the stacks of files on his desk and sighed. "There has
to be one decent associates from all these...whatever."
Zorg's eye sight landed on a particular package in front
of him, which must had slipped down from one of the stacks lining on the
desk. "Hmm..." he picked it up and rubbed his chin softly
while studying the package. As he leafed through the pages, the expression
on his face changed graduately. "Yes, yes, this will do; if
my memoruy serves me."
He reached out a hand toward the intercom; when he was
about to hit it, he paused suddenly, then instead of hitting the intercom
button, he pushed a stack of files down the desk. The papers scaterrered
messily on the floor, and as Zorg watched the robots came hurrying out
to clean it up again, he grinned, then pushed all the stacks of files down
the desk. "Now, now, now, that's a lot fatster!"
He laughed.
"Look Sandy, I don't have your cash;"
Shouted out a dirty, tough looking guy, he paused and seemed to be thinking
of an excuse of some kind. "this warrior jacked my car this
morning, and I hafta," he continued, pleading. He voice went
from loud and graduately into murmurs. There were a worry on his
plump face, cheeks were slightly burning from the alcohol.
In front of him was a seemly businessman, around 40;
he was a little more respectable, yet still has a hoodlum look. "You
don't have to do a thing, my friend; just pay me what you owe."
The businessman stared the tough-looking guy and stood up from his chair
and drew closer to him.
As the business man drew closer, the tough-looking man
backed off a little, looking around for some help nervously, yet trying
to cover his nervousness in his action. There were no help to get.
"I ain't got no idea what you're talkin'bout."
There was then a moment of silence, both two men came
staring with each other, one with confidence, one with fear. The
tough-looking guy suddenly grabbed a chair beside him and the chair went
sliding off the floor; simultaneously he brought up his gun which had then
been drawn to bear on the businessman he was arguing to. His hands
were shaking briefly, not entirely sure of his actions.
"Look, my friend," he went backed off a little,
and drew a distance between him and the gun pointed at him. He put
his hands in his jacket pockets leisurely and continued, "I tried
to help you out here, but-" he went to pull his own weapon from the
pocket but froze when the barmaid pointed him and the other guy with two
hand-rifles or some kind.
The barmaid, an old, Estelle Getty type of person stared
glanced coldly and spoke in her little old lady voice, "Look you two,
I don't have that kind'a crap going on here; so pay your tabs and get the
hell out." She motioned with her guns.
"Heh, you had better listen to her. She's
not very pretty when she's angry!" Giggled a young and attractive
woman around age of 20, five feet eight in height, dressed in a jumpsuit,
leaning on the door in the shadow, who had walked in a moment ago before
the actions started.
The two guys glanced at each other and tossed some cash
on the bar. The tough-looking guy started walking out a little nervously,
the other one followed him, both pointed their guns at each other.
The two guys walked passed the young woman and threw her a look.
The tough-looking guy sort of stare at her without any fear since she was
a female, but the businessman was stunned when seen her face. He
gave her a polite nod and hurried out with fear he had never shown.
Still smiling, the young woman walked up to the bar
after the two left and took a suspecious yet sweety look on the barmaid,
"Seems like you're more forgiving than you used to be."
The barmaid put down the guns and held up a glass of
blue liquid over the young women and smiled, "Your usual sweetie,
Nicolle." The barmaid examined Nicolle briefly and said, "Hm..,
you seem more beautiful everyday. I wonder why."
Nicolle giggled a little and then shifted her head around,
looking for someone, then answered as she took the glass from the barmaid,
"Ha, that's because you have seen to many ugly creatures everyday.
Any way, thanks, Sarah." She looked around swiftly, sencing
someone staring at her. Her eyesight focussed on a figure in the
shade at a corner and turned back to Sarah. She gave Sarah another
smile and walked gently toward the figure in the corner. As she approached,
she could see the figure was a man, the man she looked for.
Nicolle sat down cross the man and smiled again, "Nicolle
C. Jones, you need my service?" She combed her malt blond hair
gracefully and look at the man in the eye.
The man leaned forward and blew smoke from a cigar at
Nicolle's face. "Well, Ms. Jones, I was hoping to purchase a
little information." He slided a rather large pile of cash across
the table toward Nicolle.
"Well, then you have come to the right person;
what exactly do you have in mind?" Nicolle spoke emotionlessly.
"Well before we work out the arrangement, I want
to know if the information that I am buying is reliable, who is your source?"
He blew another smoke at her.
Nicolle still stayed unfazed, "You know, smoking
will kill you, especially if you just happened to be caught with a few
cigars in your pocket at the wrong place." A wry smil spread
across her face, "and about the source, you're looking at her.
I was inside for about two years."
The man nodded a little, "And you got out, that
is impressive. Okay, I just want to check out something, a reassurance
if you will."
The hell do I care. The smile went away on Nicolle's
face. "I don't have all day, you want to know if some rumors
are true, is that it?"
"Hm, you can say that. Here's what I want
to know. There's a word going around that a certain position has
opened up in your old company," he paused to smoke the cigar in his
hand, then continued despiting the impatience of Nicolle, "a very
important position," he looked disturbed, "I want to know what
Zorg Industries is up too, but the rumor that I have heard is that someone
has taken Zorg's place and is looking for a right hand."
Nicolle stood up and grabbed the cash on the table,
"Zorg is dead, and I don't take much stock in rumors."
She then started to walk away from the stunned man, suddenly, she turned
around and threw him a smile. "Nice working with you."
Nicolle walked quickly, wordlessly down the long
metal corridor that led to Zorg's office. She rounded the corner
to his office and saw about seven people waiting to go inside; the secretary
was at her desk, working on some papar work. Very much like information
on the personnels waiting at the office.
A tall lanky guy was leaning against the wall, around
20, dressed in what looked like army surplus clothing, look up when Nicolle
came in. He brushed his white hair back from his eyes and straightened
up.
"Hey, Nicolle, nice to see you!" he paused
and thought for a moement, "I had no idea you were interested in this
job; I had always thought that you had reservations." He paused
again then continued, showing vividness, "Shall we say about this
company-"
Nicolle stared up at at him, said cruely, "Que,
I don't have time for your bull; I want to know what the hell is going
on, and who the hell is in that office." She pointed straight
at the office, then motioned around the room without taking her eyes of
Que.
"Whoa, this is the most emotional I have ever seen
you, Nicolle." Que giggled, trying to act gently, then stopped
abruptly. "Wait, wait, you mean you; no, you haven't heard-"
he stopped again and look at Nicolle's face, "Ah, this is great,"
he laughed loudly.
Nicolle stared at Que, not amused. Suddenly she
pulled out a gun and pointed at the head of Que, "Didn't I say I don't
have time?" She looked at Que's stunned face seriously.
I'll be sorry not to do this, Que; but I am not ready to kill you, not
yet. She lowered the gun and shot Que in the leg.
Nicolle looked around the room, no one was looking at
the crying Que, as if he did not exist, and no one dare to look at her.
She smiled in satisfactory, put the gun back and walked by the secretary
into the office, despiting the shouting of the secretary. She threw
her a cold glare and the secretary quiet down in fear. Yeah, that's
better, you better stay this way. Nicolle turned and kept walking
into the office. Near the entrance, a rough guy stood up from his
seat at the door to stop anyone from coming into the office as Nicolle
approached. Nicolle stared at the back of a man sitting in Zorg's
desk, facing the window, not care for the rough guy. She pulled out
her gun steadily and shot the guy down at the knee, and kept walking toward
the desk. She stopped slowly a few feet from the desk and aimed the
gun to the back of the man.
"I don't know who the hell you think you are, but
you are about to meet your maker." Nicolle spoke in a deep threatening
voice, still not forget to leave a smile on her face.
The man in the chair chuckled a little, politely and
replied, "I already have." He spinned his chair around
to face Nicolle and the gun in her hand. "Why, Nicolle, you
seemed shocked to see me!"
The moment she saw the man, she was shocked, grasped
and then stopped, lowered her gun unknowingly. She stared at him
in disbelieve. Suddenly, she pointed her gun at the man again, focussing
on him. "Zorg! But you're dead, you're toast in Fhloston,
how-" she stuttered on, still could not believe who she was looking
at.
A smile appeared on Zorg's face, "Now, don't tell
me you believed that rumor for a second. Why, Nicolle, you of all
people should have known better." Zorg paused, examined the
beauty of Nicolle, "However, you are right, I was dead, but well?"
He raised his eyebrows.
Zorg stood up and walked around the desk and behind
the motionless figure of Nicolle, smiling all the way. "Any
way, I am back, without the limp, I am sure you have noticed."
He spoke in the ear of Nicolle, who was still holding the gun, aiming at
nowhere, unmoved. He moved back to his seat, and cleared his throat,
"Any way, you're hired." He looked up and inhaled, "Oh,
and get that thing off my face, will ya?" He pulled out a few
papers, "I have expected you almost and hour ago, anyhow, since you
have worked for me before, we won't have to go through all those niceties,
but I want you to start right away; there's a priest-"
Nicolle inhaled deeply, just awoke from unconscious
interrupted Zorg, "Wait, there's no way I am working for you, no chance
in hell!" She held her gun back a little, still ready to shoot
Zorg out of surprise. I'll shoot him later, he is useful right now.
She tried to convince herself a reason that she would not even believe.
Zorg replied innocently, in surprise, "Why?
What's wrong with me?"
"First off the last time I worked for you, you
tried to kill me; then you had me sent to some god awful planet, where
I had to do shit work, and when I finally lost my mind I came here and
tried to kill you." Nicolle spoke weakly at first but grew more
and more grantic, she could then hardly keep herself under control, "then
instead of executing me, like you would have done to anyone else,
which by the way I was looking forward too, you just gave me a raise and
sent me back under more supervision!" Nicolle shouted at Zorg
and she was trembling, having trouble breathing due to the emotions.
A bit annoyed, Zorg laughed sadistically, waving his
arms about, "And you paid me all back by blowing up my factory, killing
my workers and running away." He paused and thought about it
then agreed with Nicolle. "Hm, but sure enough, you're right,
I should kill you, Nicolle."
Zorg brought his arm up swiftly which had been holding
a ZF-1, and pointed at Nicolle's head. He fired, with a smile on
his face, Nicolle went to dive out of the way, but the shot caught her
shoulder, despiting the wound, she rolled out of the way of incoming shots
and gets to Zorg's chair. She brought up her gun against his head
again.
Zorg then stopped firing and laughed, Geez, almost
got her, but yet... "That's what I love about you, my Nicolle.
Now here," he pulled out a silvery envelope about the size of the
palm and some key cards, other equipment along with cash were in it.
Zorg took a glance at Nicolle's undecided face and continued with a grin,
"As I was saying before," Zorg handed her another folder with
the envelope, "Victor Cornelious, I want him here in an hour; try
not to bruise him to badly, and information on your men are in the folder
I gave you." Exhaled softly and continued, "They are waiting
for you at the garage; you will like them, professionals, each one of them,
just like you." He smiled up at Nicolle and saw her wound.
"Oh, and clean yourself up, you look awful with your hair stained
with blood."
It was late afternoon now; in the cold silvery hallway,
orange sunlight shone through the glass-wall on the right onto Nicolle's
frowning face. She was walking her way to the garage; the beautiful
sunset outside the building reminded her how much time she had spent, wasted,
she told herself. She had a bit of troubled expression on her face,
while thumbing through the packages of photos and other information of
the men that she has been given. She paused on one of the information
sheets, and tucked everything else under her left arm and continued down
the silent, empty hallway faster than before.
She came to a sharp turn at the end of the hall and
walked into an opened area, still put her mind in the information files.
She suddenly paused when she felt a cold shade landed apon her. She
lifted her head and realized there were two guys standing in front of her,
over by a rough-looking dark-bodied aircraft. Both were in the shade of
the aircraft. ZFX-200-B? What was Zorg thinking, like I
am going to rub a military base? She remained silent.
Just then another guy came out from the entrance beside
Nicolle, that she came through. The man instantly leveled a gun at her.
A small click from the back made Nicolle tensed up as she turned around
to face him.
Into her eyes, a weasel-looking guy stepped out into
the light. He was shorter than she is by inches, and he looked as if he
just had too much of that artificial coffee stuff. He was wearing
a pair of heavy duty boots and a black leather jacket that looked as if
it was some hybrid of a biker jacket, with spikes and chains.
Derbo, the second positio of weapon engineers for Zorg. The thought
crossed her mind when she recognized his dirty face. Nicolle had not seen
this guy before, nor know much about him, but apparently, Derbo knew all
about Nicolle.
Derbo grinned, "Oh, oh oh, this is perfect, I knew
you would come stalking back, just couldn't leave your precious work behind."
Derbo was enjoying himself, "You're finished though. See Zorg, he
is not dead, Nicole, and-" interrupted by his wild giggles, "I
am gonna get a big promotion out of this just by shooting you here, right
now."
Nicolle lifted her head, looking coldy at Derbo, then
suddenly, without Derbo realizing what happened, Nicolle had forced his
own gun against his head with a swift motion. "Derbo, get over
yourself, I am your boss now, so get a grip, and maybe I won't tarnish,"
she paused and gave him a dark look, "at the image of you." She
finished.
Derbo looked surprised, "Oh, you?
Dammit! You tried to kill him for the love of money, I have no idea why
he let you live! I can't believe it, he must be out of his damn mind!
There's no way you're bossing me, I am in charge, I am his right hand,
now, me, me, me! I deserve it!" Derbo was furious,
anguish.
Nicolle could feel Derbo's hand slightly shaking in
anger, and he clutched the gun tight. "You could always take it up
with him, who knows maybe a show of spine might get you some bonus points."
Nicolle smiled bitterly.
"What the hell are you up to, Nicolle? You
hated Zorg, you would just as soon kill him as to hear his name!"
"Business before pleasure, and trust me this is
all business, he pays too good to pass up; besides, I might get close enough
to do a great deed to humanity. Get on board, we have to pick someone
up. So move it, dirt ball." Nicolle motioned for the
aircraft.
Nicolle glared at Derbo and finally loosened her grip
on him. To her surprise, Derbo swiftly grabbed Nicolle's gun from her waist
as well as himself's. By the time when Nicolle tried to get a hold
of Derbo, he moved backward, pointed both guns at Nicolle in the face.
"Now, here, I am not going anywhere with a corpse."
Nicolle froze in frustration, thinking what to do next;
then, she felt her left cheek burned as she felt the deadly white light
blinded her. She closed her eyes, waiting for the sense of nothingness
peacefully.
Nothing happened.
She then opened her eyes with confusion and moved away
unitentionally, and she saw Derbo lying on the ground, eyeing the ceiling
straightly. Several darkened spots were at his chest, still smoking.
She did not need to examine him to know he was killed.
"Sleep well, may you rest in, hmm..., hell."
One of the man in the shadow of the ZFX-200-B walked up to Nicolle from
behind, holding a heavy-blaster in his hand.
Nicolle turned around and saw him. She frowned.
He looked at Nicolle's puzzled face, then introduced
himself, "Cyrez, computer genius, hacker." He rolled his eyes
with a smile, "At least that's what mentioned in my personal information
log, I believe." He smile widened, and put his gun back to where
it belonged.
"You know, he's dead." Nicolle looked
at Cyrez in surprise, yet appreciated. She examined the man stood
in front of her, he was slightly taller than she was, skinny. He
had a head of black hair that smoothly came down his forehead. He
was a young man, yet older than Nicolle herself, and sort-of-handsome looking.
"He met his destiny." Cyrez laughed
nonchalantly. "Don't you worry about me, I'll just make up an
excuse. Hmm, let's say that Derbo wanted to kill you and get your
position. At least that's true, isn't it?"
Nicolle smiled, I like this kind of attitude,
she thought. "What about him?" Motioned for the other
guy leaning on the aircraft.
"Oh, Larry." Cyrez turned his head back and
squinted at the man so-called Larry. Then turned back to Nicolle again.
"Don't mind him, he is with me. He doesn't mind anything as
long as it's not gonna kill him." He got serious, "Should
we get going?" He called up at Larry, who was leaning sleepily
at the aircraft's side, "Hey, Larry, let's move!"
Nicolle went back to Derbo's side, kneeing down to pick
up her gun, then decided to leave it. When she straightened up, she
glanced at Cyrez at her side, "Hmm, nice shots, Cyrez. All in
vital positions." She then added uncomfortably, "I guess I owe
you one."
Cyrez smiled uncomfortably too, and then fixed his hair
briefly as he moved into the aircraft behind Nicolle.
Twilight shone softly into the window, casting into
the interior of a neat restaurant. In the parlor, soft, classical
music played. In the centre, there was a fountain, shooting water
about two stories high. Just beside the fountain, in the soft light
of the restaurant, Korben was sitting in a table, with Leeloo across.
Among the music, Korben's argument with a waitor at one side seemed unsuitable.
"All I want is a little cooperation, can we just
have some menus or something?" Korben stared at the waiter without
blinking his eyes. In front of him, the waitor bended toward him
slightly, he was pale, yet motionless. Turning back to Leeloo in
a stunning white gown, Korben whispered, "Geez, all I want is for
us to have a nice quiet dinner, and some time to ourselves."
Without a word, the waitor silently left his customers.
A few moments later, Korben saw the reflection on the
floor other than his contemperary navy blue suit, and knew the waitor was
coming back. He did. He came back with two glasses of some
blue liquid, and two sets of menus. Korben lifted his eyesight to
the horizon, as the waitor closing in.
"Hmm," Korben rubbed his chin softly as he
looked over the menu a few times; he then looked up at Leeloo and asked,
"Do you know what you want?"
Leeloo lowered her menu and smiled up gently, "Chicken
sounds good. I like chicken." She turned her head sideways
and glanced at Korben, waiting for his reply.
"Yeah, chicken sounds pretty good."
Korben smiled in reply and completely lost himself in the sudective eyes
of Leeloo as he stared back.
As the music plays softly, time seemed to fly.
Neither Leeloo nor Korben seemed to care, until around twenty minutes passed,
and the waitor came back with their dinner. Just when they were about
eating, Korben halted to watch Leeloo. He was so in love with her
that everything she did seem beautiful. Then she picked up a spoon
and started to eat, obviously not frained in manners. Korben giggled
softly, politely.
"Heheh. Here, let me help you. You have to
learn to eat with other than a spoon." Korben stood up and went
to her side. Gently taking her hand, Korben showed her how to cut
the meat up with a knife and a fork, "here, like this."
It shouldn't be a problem for her; since she learned English in just a
few hours. He let go of Leeloo's hands and motioned her to try.
She smiled at him and tried to do what Korben showed her, but was unsuccessful.
And, again, I may still be wrong. . . The chicken slipped
out under her fork, and out from the plate, then scattered across the table,
onto the shiny floor.
"Oops, sorry." She looked at the chicken on
the ground.
Korben laughed out loud and reached over to wipe off
some sauce that got on her snow-white arm. "I can't take you
any where; you gonna learn how'ta use one of these." He looked
up into her deep green eyes, and pushed a stray stand of her firy hair
back, then reached in and passionately gave her a kiss. Leeloo looked
into his eyes and kissed him back.
Suddenly, a hyper-active yelling broke into this romantic
moment, "Korben! Korben my man, what are you doing here?"
The guy who dressed in a flashy silver tight body suit, with a bizard neon
green hair, turned around to face his fellows; "Look, look, my man
Korben Dallas is here. You gotta know him, he's a hero, he's super
green! He saved the world with his sweetie, Leeloo!" He
then whispered, "And me, of course. Any way!"
A moment before, Korben had lifted his head to see who
was it, along with other curious customers too. Some had a angry
face, but then turned into a smile of joy and excitement.. Korben
didn't, he recognize that voice. Oh, no. Ruby! What
the heck is he doing here? Then he groaned only loudly enough
for Leeloo to hear; who was seemingly glad to see Ruby. When he took
another look at Ruby, he and his crew were already nearing him.
Ruby preceded to pull up a chair and joined Korben and Leeloo. Korben
looked at him at the corner of his eyes then turned his sight back to his
plate. "Hey, Ruby." He said in a soft sigh. "What
are you doing here?"
There was a moment of silence, a brief moment.
The silence was not as long as Korben would like, but no one can temper
with fate. "Korben my man, I am on location and," Ruby
paused, turning his face to his fellows, "Bhzzz, bhzzz!!!"
The group scattered as Ruby gestured. Turning back to Korben, he
continued, "Okay, I was just here to do my show, and you?"
He looked at Leeloo in realization, "Ohoohoo, ah, I'll leave ya two
love birds alone. Oh, Korben, you must come and do the show with
me! It won't be green without a super hero. Gotta go! M'kay?
Super green?" He started leaving, but suddenly turned around,
wanting to give Leeloo a peck on the cheek. Korben immediately raised
his hand in a no-no gesture, no, akta gamat!
Ruby immediately saw Korben's gesture and understood
smartly. He then started walking away with his head still at Korben and
Leeloo's direction, "Oh, Korben my man. I'll send someone over
to your room tomorrow, so we'll have breakfast together. That's a deal,
k? See you two love birds later!" Without caring for an answer
he walked away.
"Ruby, no wait!" Ruby was already gone.
Korben just had to regret to take Leeloo out to dinner on this day.
"Great, me, and my luck again. . ." Korben murmured to
himself.
Leeloo leaned forward and kissed Korben, "Don't
worry. Remember me? The Fifth Element?" Leeloo joked.
Lifting his head to face Leeloo, Korben sighed, "Yeah,
I remember. You'll protect me." He gave Leeloo a dry smile
and took a big swallow of his drink despite that he and Leeloo were the
hot-spot of other people's attention.
"Father, let's try the speech one more time."
David said. He was helping Father Cornelious with his speech for
the introductory ceremony. The father was standing where the city
lights shone through the wide, rectangular window in the livingroom, dressing
in his formal dress. David was kneeing at one side, trying to get
the right picture for Farther's new identification.
"How does this sound?" Father Cornelious
cleared his throat and began. "Thank you Mr. President, and
honorable guests. I, Victor Conelious, will use this position to
help bringing planets and species alike together in harmony,"
A small knock on the door interrupted with Father's
speech, just as soon as it sounded, David hurried to the door. The
hall was dark, but not dark enough to cover the unfamiliar faces outside
the door. He could tell that the front one was a beautiful young
women, and two men in the back. One seemed Eastern, half a head taller
than the woman, skinny but good-looking. The other man was slightly
taller, a tough looking. "Weddings? One floor down.
Oh, and congratulations." David leaned forward to shook the
woman and the Eastern guy's hands and hurried close the door.
"No, no, no, I am sorry. My name is Nicolle.
I am looking for a," Nicolle had reached out one hand to stop
the door from closing. In the background, Cyrez giggled, then his
sound went from giggling to coughing. Despite him, she looked at
a sheet of paper and presented her sweetest smile. "A Father
Victor Cornelious. I am sorry to disturb you." Then she
added, "It is important, please."
David looked at her and hesitated, "Uh, we're kind
of busy, but....., I believe you won't take long." He moved
aside to let her and the two men in. David slightly nodded to greet
the following guys, the Eastern guy nodded in reply. He turned around,
"Oh, Father, they are here to see you. They say it is important."
Turning around from the windows, Father Cornelious said
surprisingly, "Oh?" Then realized Nicolle was before him.
He bowed his head and watched Nicolle nodded politely in reply, with a
little discomfort.
"Father Cornelius?" She smiled, "I
am Nicolle. He is Cyrez and that is Larry. It is an honor to
meet you." Then continued, "I was wondering if we could
talk in private for a moment? It is about your schedule" She
asked extremely politely.
Father looked over Nicolle's shoulder to see the two
guys, and realized they were from the President's. Yet, he felt a little
familiar with one of the men, but not familiar enough to remember him.
He looked back at Nicolle. "Oh, yes, of course. David,
will you take our guests here into the kitchen and get them something to
drink?" Father then watched David and the two men left the room.
Nicolle turned her head slightly and give Cyrez a look,
You know what to do.
Cyrez nodded slightly and walked in with David.
Without any delay, Nicolle spoke, "Father, now what I would like to
speak with you about is a matter that occurred about three weeks ago,"
paused and waited for a reaction. There was none. She continued,
"I worked, uh, I still work for someone you know." She
stopped to pull out her satchel, as she reached inside, Father Cornelious
finched. "Oh, Father, don't worry, I am not here to hurt you.
You have me all wrong." She smiled again and pulled out a small
silvery box. It was just like the one which used to contain
the wedding rings.
Father seemed to be more relaxed now, he looked at her
and smiled, "Oh, please excuse me; these last few weeks have been
rather stressful."
"No apologies necessary, I completely understand.
Here, this is for you." Nicolle streched out her right hand
and gestured for the Father to take it.
Father Cornelious took the box from Nicolle gently,
with a smile on his face. He then examined the box carefully as he
opened it, when he saw what was inside, he was stunned. A cherry?
A sudden cold feeling was coming up his spanes, yet, he did not know why
a red, plumpy cherry brought him to this end. He stared at it for
a moment, then looked up at Nicolle with puzzlement. "I, I don't
understand," he said stutteringly.
An integible smile shown across Nicolle's face in that
specific moment, then it was gone. "I believe you do.
See, uh, my," she puased on purpose and acted as if she needed to
think. Then continued and smiled slightly as she stared at Father
Cornelious. "you see, my employer has a bit of unfinished business
with you, Father." She rolled her eyes and backed up a little,
feeling the wall comfortably. Just then a loud crash interrupted
the momentary dead-silence.
In a flash, a figure flew out of the kitchen, passing
by Nicolle and Father Cornelious' sides, and crashed into the wide windows.
Then the figure was gone from sight, it had disappeared in the darkness
of night. Even though Father Cornelious didn't see the face, but
he recognize the cloth. "David!!!" Father Cornelious
rushed to the broken windows and looked down with tears in his eyes.
He turned around just in time to see Cyrez and Larry walked out of the
messy kitchen motionlessly. He then turned to see Nicolle, with a
mad, angry face, tears were running down his cheeks slightly. "What
is the meaning of this?!" He groaned, unlike his usual manners.
Nicolle looked at Cyrez with an upbraiding emotion.
"Geez, that was violent alright. Next time, attract less attention."
She, inhaled and watched Cyrez simply shrugged in reply. She then
thought for a moment, "Zorg's not gonna like all this attractions."
She turned back to the shivering Father Cornelious.
"Zor..,Zorg.....,? Another one?"
He said weakly, partly grieving, with a slight sad laugh.
Nicolle looked at him with a can't-stand-you face and
exhaled. Suddenly, out of surprise she moved forward and grabbed
Father by the arm, dragging him to Cyrez's side. "Cyrez, don't
forget Zrog's invitation. You know what to write." Then
turned to Larry and pushed the powerless Father to Larry before Cyrez could
reply, "Would you help me with this? Geez, Zorg just hired whole
bunch of bystanders." She shook her head. When she started
walking out by herself, she noticed Cyrez followed her. She turned
around, "Didn't I tell you to leave a note?"
Lazily, Cyrez stretched his arms and replied, "Has
already been done." He looked at Nicolle's pretty yet doutbful
face and added, "Let's go." He fixed he hair slightly and
smiled up at Nicolle's motionless face. Trying to melt the ice.
In the long hall of Zorg's office, Nicolle led her
fellows through the office door, with Larry holding Father Cornelious.
Zorg was sitting in his chair, facing the window, watching the city lights
glimmered in the night. Larry held Father Cornelious torward, then
threw him into a chair directly in front of the desk. Then Zorg span
around to face the pale face of Father. He was wearing a vest of
the suit which matched the long jacket and a conservative white shirt and
the suit pants. He leaned on his desk and put his hands together.
"Father, it is so nice to see you again." He grinned.
Father Cornelious was stunned, "Zor, Zor, Zorg?"
His eyes were red, "It can't be, you are burned into ashes!"
He spoke in disbelieve, I must be dreaming, it can't be! He gulped
in fright.
Zorg smiled, "Father, don't act so surprised,"
he paused and realized that others were still around. He waved them
off, but turned to Nicolle. "Wait, Nicolle, you might like to
see this. Oh, and where's Derbo?" Cyrez took a few steps
back and stopped at a corner, putting his hands in his back, "I shot
him. He tried to double-cross Nicolle." Zorg looked at
Cyrez for a moment, impressed of his skills to kill a man like Derbo, then
turned back to Farther, letting Cyrez stand at the corner, watching.
Then Nicolle walked back and fount herself a chair a
few feet from where Cyrez stood. She put one leg on top of another,
and looked at Cyrez. He eyed at Nicolle and smiled slightly.
Zorg was now focussing on Father, "Father, the
last time we talked, we left off on a bad foot. Oh, I head about
your new position, congratulations. Too bad you won't be around long
enough to enjoy it." He sat back and laughed. Then pushed
a button on his desk and a small black case popped up.
Father Cornelious tried to stay calm, keeping his voice
down, "Zorg, you are a monster," having trouble keeping his voice
control, "a monster that I thought the world was rid of, but apparently,
I was wrong. However, for all your power and the fear that you cause,
there will always be someone that will challenge you; someone who will
try and defeat you, like Korben and Leeloo. Killing me won't do a
thing to stop it!"
Zorg opened up the case, a hissing sound was then heard.
While still looking at the box, he talked, "Father, I have made a
great number of mistakes in the past, and if one does not learn from one's
mistakes, he is doomed to repeat them. You see, Father, when we talked
last time I was a bit too-" He paused and grinned, "merciful.
So in order for me to rectify my mistakes, I must tie up all loose ends."
He took out a small shiny seringe. "Nicolle, will you hold down
the Father for me?" Nicolle moved over without an argument.
Zorg turned his attention back to the Father. "Now, Father,
this won't hurt a bit." He stood up and walked over to Father's
side.
Father Cornelious lifted up his dead and glanced at
Nicolle, who was holding him down. "How can you serve a mad
man like this?"
"I do what I am paid to do,"
"Zorg, you can kill me, but someone who is not
afraid of you will come looking for me."
Zorg cut him off, "Father, Father, Father, I am
not going to kill you now, that comes later. And as for someone who
would come looking for you, I am assuming Korben Dallas and Leeloo, I am
counting on it." He smiled and injected the needle of the seringe
into Father's arm. "You see, you are a bait. For my revenge
for what they did to me." His smile gew more evil. As
the Father began to pass out, he pulled out the needle and nodded at Nicolle.
He turned back his attention to the Father. "Now, let's discuss the
location of your Sacred Stones again. Shall we?"
Time passed like a blink of an eye. Soon, Zorg's
was over witht the Father, "Take him down to a cell, and make sure
he is safe enough. Then wait for our guests to arrive,"
He smiled demonicly, yet satisfactorily. He then started walking
back to his seat as Nicolle gestured for Cyrez to help her. Zorg
suddenly stopped, "Oh, I forgot to ask you, did you leave a note to
explain why we invited Father Cornelious to be our honoured guest?"
Zorg smiled in satisfactory as Cyrez nodded in reply. Zorg did not
noticed a weird emotion floated across Cyrez's face. He continued back
to his chair as he began to laugh, the laughing grew louder and louder
which echoed around the building, echoed around the lonely night.
It was morning, the sun was hanging in the middle
of the blue sky, shooting its warmth down at earth. The light shone
onto the sleeping face of David, in Father Cornelious' apartment.
As he felt the warmth on his face, he slowly awoke, wondering what had
happened. Then it hit him. He opened his eyes wide in horror,
"No! Father!" He tried to stand up, as he felt the
leash on his hands and feet, as he remembered he was tied. Oh, no.
I am doomed; the Father's doomed! While tears began to fill his eyes,
he felt something cold, something metal and sharp in his tied hands.
A knife?!?!
David was trudging worrily around the room, did not
know what to do. He had managed to untie himslef with the knife in
his hands, which he was not sure about its origin. He can tell it
was a military knife, smooth and comfortable holding, with the sharp titanium-metal
blade. On one surface of the blade, a line of words were carved.
Perhaps a name, a message; it was too small to read, and was coded.
He had given the blade to two police morning patrols. The blade was
to be taken to their commanding officers, perhaps the President, and they
would do everything in their power to find Father Cornelious.
David was completely overwhelmed by horror and fright
that affected his thinking. He knew he was suppose to relax, and
let the government handle this problem, but he cannot let go. He
tried to think about he whole event but was too unfocussed to think; he
knew from the heart the only way to think was for him to calm down.
"Calm down, David, calm down. You got to find help. Calm
down and think, David. Father is counting on you. Calm down,
calm down...." David was mumbling to himself, trying to calm
himself down. It was not apprently working.
He stopped in a sudden, taking a deep breath, then let
it out. Took another breath, then let it out again. He had
begun to feel better. He tried to bring his mind to focus as he noticed
the broken window. They threw the Father down! They killed
him! He began to cry, and kneed down on the shattered glasses
of the window in grieve. Wait, if they killed Father, they had
no reason to let me live! What IS going on here? "There
gotta be someone who can solve this puzzle and save Father!"
He rose in a second as an idea came to his mind, and was determinded to
solve the puzzle, not by himeslef, no, but from a courageous ex-soldier
and a perfect human being. Korben Dallas and Leeloo.
On the other side of the gallaxy, at the hotel, in
the orbit of the planet of Fhloston, Korben and Leeloo stayed. It
was late in this region of star system, everyone on board had gone to sleep,
except for Korben and Leeloo. They were just on their way back to
their room, ready to enjoy a nice and quiet evening.
Korben put his hands around Leeloo's waist and she acompanied
him down the well-decorated long hallway, down the furry red carpet they
walked. They stopped at a door, Korben kissed Leeloo and tore himself
away just long enough to open the door. As they walk through the
door, the lights automatically came on as Korben tossed his navy-blue coat
on a chair. Leeloo walked in right after Korben, toward mirror she
went, then began playing her firy hair. At this moment, Korben came
up behind her and put both of his hands around her. Leeloo smiled
in vividness as Korben kissed her bare shoulders and arms, then her neck
all the way up to her lips. He started drawing Leeloo over to the
bed; he was walking backward, and he tripped over the bed and fell onto
it with a gasp. Leeloo turned around and laughed at him, then after
a short moment, Korben began laughing too. Leeloo walked over to
one side of the bed and sat down gently, staring at Korben with a smile.
Korben suddenly sat up and pulled Leeloo down into the
bed, she gasped then giggled. Finally, a little time alone.
Korben smiled in silent joy and was ready to enjoy his life of the night.
Then the telephone aside the bed rang.
"AHHH!!! Why can't we just have a little
time alone with ourselves?" Korben shouted furiously, Leeloo
just simply sighed. They both sat up and was unable to decide whether
to answer the phone or not. Korben lifted one hand and was going
to motion for Leeloo to ignore it when Leeloo reached over the phone, "I'll
get it." Korben put down his hand slowly and sighed deeply,
which was meant for the beauty in a silvery gown beside him to hear.
Leeloo gave Korben and smile then turned to the phone.
"Apipoulai, David!" Leeloo was surprised to hear from her
friend, gradually, her attractive smiled faded. She turned to Korben
and looked at him seriously while still talking to David on the phone.
"Stay calm. We're on our way."
Korben laid down on the bed, stared at the ceiling and
sighed, "Yet another mission. . ." he murmured. He closed
his eyes for a moment then sat up lazily. He look at Leeloo's beautiful
yet concerned face and gave her a phony happy smile, "So, we
won't be sharing our breakfirst with Ruby after all."