SFX

Knock! Knock! Knock!

Narrator:

The commander reached over in the darkness from the comfort of his bed for the light switch on his night stand. The lights turned on to a low dim. He sat up in his bed and coughed to himself, trying to clear his throat.

Knock! Knock! Knock! The knocking on the door continued.

Commander:

“One minute!”

Narrator:

shouted the commander at the door. He reached down and picked his pants up off the floor and began to slip them on. He looked over at his clock. It was two twenty-nine in the morning by standard station time. He huffed with disgust.

SFX

Knock! Knock! Knock!

Commander:

“I said give me a minute! Whoever you are.”

Narrator:

The commander grabbed his glasses from off the nightstand and shuffled over to the door. He pressed his hand on the door button, watching it slide open and reveal who had disturbed his sleep.

Russell:

“Commander, I’m so sorry for waking you,” 

Narrator:

said the newest employee, Russell, sounding rather distressed and urgent.

Commander:

“Russell, I’ve told you everything you need to know. You're a bright kid, and I’m sure whatever the problem is, you’ll figure it out. Life will go on,” 

Narrator:

replied the commander. He started to walk away from the door.

Russell:

“No, sir. It’s not that. We just…” 

Narrator:

replied Russell fumbling through his words. Russell’s ability in taking initiative wasn’t his strong suit.  His first two stressful weeks as the newest station operator were about to become even more stressful.

Commander:

“It’s just what, Russell?”

Narrator:

the commander replied with a sigh.

Russell:

“We… I mean there’s-”

Commander:

“I’m not going to play twenty questions with you, Russell. You either tell me what’s wrong, or I’m going back to sleep.”

Russell:

“There’s a ship coming in, sir!”

Commander:

“Yes, this is a docking station, Russell. There are always ships coming in,” 

Narrator:

the commander replied with a sarcastic tone.

Russell:

“No, the ship, it’s not responding, sir!”

Commander:

“What do you mean? Did you hail it?” 

Narrator:

replied the commander now looking rather concerned.

Russell:

“Yes, sir. But there is no response. We’ve been trying to get into contact with them for the past fifteen minutes.”

Patrick:

“I’d be extremely careful putting my hand into that lion's den,”

Narrator:

said Patrick over to Artie.

Artie stepped inside, approaching the two men arguing, ready to defuse the situation.

Pindrazi:

(Italian Accent)

“They do not stack! I specifically requested this on my forms!”

Narrator:

shouted the man in his sharp Italian accent.

Dock Worker:

“And I’m trying to tell you, if we don’t stack them, we’ll never fit all of them! If you just left half of them here, we would gladly put them on the next ship!”

Narrator:

shouted the dock worker back to the other man gesturing to all the crates around them.

Pindrazi:

“That’s unacceptable! My team and I require the full twenty-six days with each of our collected samples!”

Artie put his hands out ahead of him, ready to arrange a peace treaty between the two men.

Artie:

“Excuse me. What seems to be the problem here?”

Dock Worker:

“I have no time for this,”

Narrator:

said the dock worker turning his back on the argument.

Pindrazi:

“And who might I ask are you to be taking charge over this Neanderthal?”

Narrator:

asked the man in a rather unmannerly tone.

Artie turned toward him, with one eyebrow raised.

Artie:

“I’m Captain Artie Glenn. I’m the owner of this ship.”

Narrator:

The man gave a brief sigh of relief.

Pindrazi:

“I do apologize for my rudeness in that case. I’m Dr. Pino Pindrazi, project director for AB265 through 278,”

Narrator:

replied Pindrazi extending a handshake.

Artie:

“Pleasure,”

Narrator:

said Artie shaking his hand, feeling less than pleasured.