Date: Wed, 16 Oct 91 19:18:38 -0600
From: Allen Melinda Kay 
Subject: Just a Bit of Light, Part Five

[Terim, the Torbis Field.  Aren is lying on the ground, his sword too
far away for him to grab, while the Dark Knight holds his sword with the
blade positioned inches from Aren's throat.  Dave, hot on the trail of
the two boys, but having trouble seeing because of the accursed veil,
trips over Aren's prostrate form.]

Aren: Ouagh!

[...and tumbles into Stormraven headlong.  The two go down in a tangled
heap onto the ground.]

Quixote: (dazed)  I see windmills...

Stephen: (running onto the field) Aren!  Brother, are you all right?

Aren: (rubbing head)  I will be . . . how did these children get onto
     the field?

Quixote: A thousand pardons, milord.  I meant no intrusion into the
     contest.  I meant merely to preserve its integrity.

Aren: All is forgiven, good knight.  An unfortunate accident of which
     you were not the cause.

[Dave tries to stand up, and falls back down on top of the de-helmeted
knight.  Meanwhile, the other witness is trying desperately to get close
to that same knight, but with all the craziness going on, it is
impossible.  Aren, now standing, reaches his hand out to help Dave up. 
In the midst of pulling Quixote to his feet, he glances at his
competitor's face.  Shocked, he lets go of Dave's hand and Dave falls to
the ground once more, landing not very gently on the fallen knight.]

Quixote: Ougfh.

Knight: Oof!

Aren: (gasp)  Evox?  (he practically falls on Evox, who is barely
     conscious, and begins to shake him up and down.)  What in Shonyo's
     name do you think you were doing?  You almost killed me!

*******************************************************************************
STAR TREK: THE CROUTON GENERATION
Just a Bit of Light, Part Five
By Dave Learn and Melinda K. Allen

Thanks to all the usual people who have been of great help and inspiration from
the beginning:  Christina Marzano, Dave Learn, C.S. Lewis, Miguel de Cervantes,
etc.

Guest starring 

Ian Lamb
Daniel de Loup
Christina Marzano
  

Directed by CLV Marzano
Music by Hawken Symphony Orchestra
Lighting by Lighting Up Xavion, Inc.

********************************************************************************

[Evox, having his head pounded repeatedly against the ground, is quite
unable to answer Aren.  In fact, he loses consciousness again.  Then Stephen
comes over and manages to pull Aren away and calm him down.  At this
point, Evox's witness finally manages to reach him and begins to
minister to him.  Soon, he is awake and sitting up, complaining of a
rather throbby headache.]

Aren: So, Evox.  What explanation do you give for this?

Evox: I would not have killed you, Brother.  But I had to know--some men
     I deemed trustworthy had told me that you had succumbed to the
     Antereans, that you had given your heart and mind to them.  A duel
     was the best way to know for certain--had they truly won you over,
     you would not have hesitated to cheat in order to defeat me.   And,
     well, if you had done that, I would rather have died than to have
     lost my brother again.  I beg you, forgive me.  

[Evox's witness, still veiled, brings him some cold water, which he
gulps down thirstily.  Aren helps him to his feet, but continues to
watch him rather suspiciously.]  

[Stephen approaches.]  

Stephen: Aren, come--shake hands with your old friend.  He may be
     foolish, but at least now we are assured he is alive.    

[Stephen takes hold of Aren's right hand and holds it out.  Evox grasps
it, then enfolds Aren in a powerful bear-hug.] 

Evox: What do you say, Brother?  Am I forgiven?

Aren: (muttering) He would dispatch me to Shonyo's house, he believes
     lies about me, and then he would have my forgiveness...

Evox: (puzzled and rather saddened)  Aren?  This is no worse than the
     practical jokes we pulled when we were younger.  Why your
     hesitation?

Aren: (looking up, wearily)  I...I am sorry, Evox.  Of course  you are
     forgiven.  My...well...my mind is rather preoccupied.

Evox: (concerned)  What ails you, Brother?  

Aren: Eliana.  She is sick with depression and bitterness, and I fear
     she may never recover.

[Hearing this, Evox's witness looks up at Aren, eyes (visible over the
veil) full of shock and concern, and then looks straight ahead again. 
Aren notices this, and he looks as if he has finally understood
something.  Now he addresses himself directly to the witness.] 

Aren: Are you . . . ?

[The witness nods slowly.]

Aren: Please, come with me.  We must go to Eliana now!  (to Captain
     Muirden)  Captain, I request permission to croutonize back  to the
     Melbourne immediately, and to take Evox and his witness with me.

[Muirden is busy flirting with several women.  At the sound of Aren's
voice, he turns bright red and turns to face Aren.]  

Muirden: (uncertain)  You think they can help Eliana?

Aren: I know they can.

Muirden: Very well.  Permission granted.

[Muirden resumes his flirting, only to find that half the women left
when Aren interrupted.  Mildly annoyed, he continues to flirt with the
remainder.]

Quixote: King Richard, may I also return with them?  I fear I have been 
     away from the Lady Eliana too long, though God in His mysterious
     ways chose to move me from her side.

Muirden: (exasperated) Yes, yes, Dave.  Go ahead.

[Aren taps his communicator.]

Aren: Four to croutonize up.

[Aren, Evox, the witness, and Dave disappear.  Muirden turns to resume
his flirting.  Much to his chagrin, all the women have left and he now
stands by himself as everyone else has gone about other business.]

Muirden: #*&#%!

[The scene fades to black.  Gradually, replacing the blackness, is a
view of the Melbourne's croutonizer room, where Aren, Evox, Dave and the
witness have just appeared.  Aren explains Eliana's situation as they
step off the platform and head for her quarters.]

Aren: Eliana has been extremely depressed since we left Anterea.  A mind
     probe there left her blind, and a good friend of hers was killed. 
     She blames herself for that.  Until recently, she has been able to
     hide these feelings from most people, but it has grown steadily
     worse for her--the bitterness built up and began to overwhelm her
     heart.  Now she is holed up in her room and refuses to speak with
     anyone, or even to acknowledge whether she knows when someone is
     with her.  She has even closed her mind to me, which she has never
     done before.  Here--this is  it.

[He turns towards the door, which opens for the four of them, and leads
them inside.  Eliana is in her bed awake, but does not seem to notice
that anyone has entered.]  

[The witness goes to Eliana's bed, while the other three leave the room. 
As the witness removes the veil, a young woman is revealed, who
(surprisingly enough) looks exactly like Eliana.  She takes Eliana's
hand in her own and begins to speak telepathically to her.]    

Witness: Eliana?

[there is no response]

Witness: Eliana?  Please!  Sister, it is me! 

[Eliana tears her hand away and cries out]

Eliana: NO!  (long pause)  This isn't funny.  I don't know who you
     really are, but this is very cruel.  Please stop!

Witness: But I AM Alexis.

Eliana: No.  Alexis is dead.  I watched her die!  I SAW IT!

Witness: No.  You did not see me die.   

Eliana: Then what did I see?

Witness: I can't explain that now.  But it was not me.   Please, Eliana, 
     believe me.  Don't you know my voice any longer?

Eliana: (thinly, voice strained) Just go away.  Please, go away.

[Alexis, for that is indeed who she is, gets up and leaves the room
without saying another word.  Outside, the others are waiting to hear
how the encounter went.] 

Alexis: She spoke with me.  She does not believe I am Alexis, but at
     least she responded.  Perhaps this is more than she can handle
     right now.

Aren: She's calling me.  Wait here.   

[He enters her room and goes to the bedside, where he sits.]

Eliana: (v-o) Aren, is it true?  Was that Alexis?

Aren: Yes.  She is alive.

Eliana: But how?  I saw her die.

Aren: I don't know, but it is she.    

Eliana: I want to believe it.  Really I do, but how can I?  After what I
     saw, how can I be sure of anything?

Aren: What we see is not always what is real.   

Eliana: (sarcastically)  You've been talking with Dave.

Aren: Yes, as a matter of fact, I have, and perhaps you should talk with
     him yourself.  For all his madness, he may be the one to talk some
     sense into you. (pause, then thoughtfully)  Perhaps even because of
     it.

Eliana: No...I...it's just...

Aren: (patiently)  What?

Eliana: I felt so strongly that it was her--I KNOW Alexis, I know her
     voice--but I just don't see how it could be true.  I want it to be
     true, but...

Aren: But it's too overwhelming?  It's too good to be true?  Eliana,
     you've  become so attached to your grief that you don't WANT to
     leave it behind.  Maybe you don't know what you'll do without it
     when it's gone.  Please, talk with Dave.  I'm just too close to
     this right now.  

Eliana: Look, Aren.  I just don't want to talk with that nut.  What can
     he do?

Aren: Eliana, please.  

Eliana: (irritated)  If I talk with him, will you leave me alone about
     it?

Aren: (agreeably)  Fine.  I won't say another word.

Eliana: (hesitantly)  Well...all right, then.  Bring him in.

[Aren goes to the door and returns with Dave, who kneels before Eliana]

Quixote: Lady Eliana, I thank you for allowing me to approach you. 
     Please, tell me what is troubling you.

Eliana: (frustrated, still angry)  You know the story.

Quixote: Yes, but you must tell it.  Perhaps you are not even certain
     where the trouble lies.

Eliana: Why do you insist on making me go through all this again?  

Aren: (gently)  Eliana.

Eliana: Fine, then.  I'll tell you about it.  It all started when...when
     (her voice loses its angry tone as she begins to think about this. 
     Her speech becomes progressively more halting and choppy)  I...I
     keep remembering...all my dreams, all my thoughts--all I can see is
     the Anterean attack.  It was horrible...terrifying...they
     destroyed our cities, enslaved our people.  When...when I went for
     Aren, I didn't know what I would find.  Sometimes I wish I had
     never gone searching for him.  If I hadn't, then the drewid might
     still be alive.

Quixote: Milady, there is no point in blaming yourself for the Mistress
     drewid's death.  You are not at fault.

Eliana: But I *am*.  She would never have been on Anterea if it weren't
     for me.

Quixote: Perhaps not.  But she went with you out of love, not out of
     compulsion.  I scarce think she would have changed her mind were
     the situation repeated, and she were to know what we know now.  She
     made a sacrifice willingly, and I think she would not have it
     soiled by your blaming yourself.

Eliana: But I AM to blame.  If she...

Quixote: Milady, that is not so.  You helped the Mistress drewid through
     problems of her own, and from that seed sprang your friendship. 
     Her death was a sacrifice for you, perhaps the price to be paid to
     reunite yourself and the Lord Aren.  She would not scorn such a
     trade, I think.  Jesu once said that, "no greater love has any one
     than this, that a man lay down his life for a friend."  What the
     Mistress drewid did was an unselfish act of love.

Eliana: (tears running down her cheeks)  I...I...you're right, Dave.

Quixote: It is all right to cry, Lady Eliana.  It is said that the Lord
     Jesu Himself shed tears of blood the night before His death.

[Eliana cries, her face hidden in her hands.  Aren puts an arm around
her.]

Quixote: (rising)  I shall leave you with your husband, lady.

Eliana: (crying) No, wait!  Dave, don't go.

Quixote: (sitting again)  As you wish, Lady Eliana.

[There is a long pause.]

Quixote: The pain of the Antereans remains, does it not?

[Eliana nods.]

Quixote: Milady, believe me when I say that I understand.

Eliana: How?  How could you understand what I have been through?  What I
     have seen done to my people?

Quixote: Milady, have you heard of the sea vessel the USS Cervantes?

[Eliana pales and drops her jaw.  The USS Cervantes, captained by Don
Miguel Saavadera, had disappeared on an exploration mission within the
LMC.  Its wreckage was found three years later, and the surviving crew
enslaved on a nearby planet.]

Eliana: You were on that ship?

Quixote: Indeed I was, milady.  Lest you think I make it a habit of
     traveling aboard sailing vessels, this was by strict orders of the
     Emperor himself.  As a knight-errant, I am called by God to serve
     in the countryside where I experience adventure after adventure.  I
     presently serve the Queen of the Subaru in her kingdom.

[Aren smiles at the strange madness which has afflicted only one sense
of this otherwise rational man.]

Eliana: What happened?

Quixote: A fleet of Shih'kurt mercenary vessels attacked our lone ship. 
     Captain Saavadera was wounded badly in his hand and chest.  Many
     good knights in the service of God died that day.  The rest of us
     were taken captive by the Shih'kurt to serve as slaves.

[Ripple back to Quixote's first mission as the Cervantes crew are all
taken captive.  The crew who are still alive and largely intact are
being ferreted out to be taken aboard the Shih'kurt vessels.  Quixote
and Saavadera are on the bridge.]

Saavadera: Go on, good Knight.  Leave me here.

Quixote: I can never do that, my lord.  We shall both go with these foul
     devils, or neither of us.

Saavadera: (smiling) Such loyalty.  I'm glad to know that you think I've
     earned it after just one mission.

Quixote: We are both men of La Mancha, my lord, and I would never leave
     a countryman behind.  Arise, come with me.

Saavadera: I can't.  The wound is too bad.  I can't walk.

Quixote: Then lean on me and we shall fool these devils.  Sancho, come
     with me.

[Sancho barks as Quixote lifts Saavadera, wincing, to his feet.  The
captain leans on the young ensign in body armour.]

Saavadera: You're going to take your squire with you?

Quixote: Of course.  At the very least, he will devour their stores of
     food.  Sancho was born to eat.

[The two of them make it down to the Shih'kurt officers, who look at the
strange trio.  One of them makes a signal, and the band disappears in an
old-style transporter, then reappear in the Shih'kurt prison.  Our scene
returns to the present]

Eliana: How did you stand it?  Going into slavery for you didn't know
     how long?  How?

Quixote: Captain Saavadera and I had the hope of something better.  We
     knew that even a Shih'kurt slave camp would not last forever, and
     we understood the meaning of true freedom.

Eliana;  Freedom?  You were in a slave camp for three years.  Where's
     the freedom in that?

Quixote: Oh Lady, has the grief of your spirit so overwhelmed you that
     you have forgotten?  Freedom is not an outward thing.  Many are
     those who are "free," as this world sees it, who are in vile
     bondage to their own selfish whims and the demands the world
     unjustly makes on them.  True freedom is the ability to see the
     pains of this cruel world and know that something better is coming. 
     That freedom gave Captain Saavadera and myself the strength to
     endure where others fell, to give up food, clothing, and sleep so
     that those worse off than we could receive help.  That freedom
     enabled me to comfort him, and him to nurture me, when either of us
     suffered in that cruel place.

Eliana: You and Captain Saavadera are close then?

Quixote: Lady, we are as one heart.  (pause)  I know what it is to
     suffer, milady.  Truly, I do.  I held friends in my arms as they
     died.  I saw cruelty and misery beyond belief.  The captain and I
     were often tortured to break our spirits and the spirits of those
     with us.  But I tell you, there is an end to suffering for those
     who can believe in it.

Eliana: I want to believe.  I want so much to believe.

Quixote: Then you can, milady.  

Eliana: No.  I haven't told you everything.  I had a dream earlier, and
     I'm afraid to sleep again for fear it will return.

Quixote: Tell me your dream, milady.

Eliana: Shonyo calls me back to Him, calls me to cross a raging torrent
     to reach Him.  But when I try, the torrent overwhelms me, the
     powerful current sweeps me under and the putrid water fills my
     lungs.  I...I know in my heart that I must cross this river, but I
     don't dare try again.  I simply cannot do it.

Quixote: But you must.  Shonyo will not let you drown.

Eliana: How can I be sure?

Quixote: The Lord himself spoke through His prophet Isaiah and said,
     "When you walk through the waters, you will be mine."  He did not
     mean to say--milady, what is it?

Eliana: (pale) Those are the words Shonyo said in the dream.

Quixote: You see, then!  He is indeed with you, milady, and does not
     mean for you to drown.  He calls you, even now, to return to Him.

Eliana: But there's more.  I can see in that dream, and everything
     around me is darkness and destruction.  The damage done by the
     Antereans is so complete.

Quixote: Milady, can you walk?

Eliana: Of course.

Quixote: Let us go outside, for I must show you something.

[They go out into the hall.]

Aren: Eliana?  Dave?  What--?

Eliana: We're going outside.  Would you like to come?

Evox: Outside?  You'll asphyxiate?  Is he mad?

Aren: Yes.  Let's go with them.

Alexis: Aren?

[Aren takes off after Quixote and Eliana.  With a shrug, Alexis and Evox
follow.  The scene shifts to the surface of Terim as the fivesome 
croutonize to the surface.  Quixote leads Eliana by the arm, and slowly 
moves her about in a circle.] 

Quixote: What do you see, milady?

Aren: Dave, that's unbelievably inconsiderate.  I can't believe you
     would--

Evox: Hush, brother.  I believe I know what this mad knight of yours is
     doing, and if I am right, he is more sane than any of us.

Quixote: What do you see, milady?

Eliana: (staring emptily with her blind eyes) I see destruction,
     destroyed houses.  There are little children lying in pools of
     blood, whole forests burnt to the ground.  There is death all
     across the countryside.  (tears fall down her face)

Quixote: Milady, do you not feel the warmth of the sun as he races along
     the sky?

Eliana: Yes.

Quixote: The sun brings growth to us all, milady, and healing to the
     land.  The forests grow again, reaching once more toward the sky. 
     The orphans have found new parents, and widows new husbands.  The
     children are playing not far from here, and the birds sing in
     freedom once more.  There is much healing here, in the sunlight.

Eliana: (sadly) That's not fair, Dave.  It's late in the day, and the
     sun will set again soon, and everything will be in darkness again. 
     You helped me to see a bit of light, and I thank you, but even that
     little bit of light is fleeting, and it soon fades away.

[Disappointment and grief show on everyone's faces.]

Eliana: Aren, I am cold.  Will you take me back to the ship?

Aren: We've been on the ship far too long, Eliana.  Let's enjoy Terim
     for a while longer.

[He puts his arm around her shoulder while the sun sets and the shadows
grow long once more.  Fade to black.]

TO BE CONTINUED (and I have no idea how much longer this is going to get,
because I have no idea what Dave has in mind--I am, however, certain it will be
good!)

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


Date: Mon, 21 Oct 91 11:36:24 -0600
From: Allen Melinda Kay 
Subject: Just a Bit of Light, Part Six

[The palace of Melathrion.  King Melathrion is not in as bad health as
we were earlier led to believe and cheerfully presides over a large
banquet at which are gathered the nobility of Terim, the senior staff of
the Melbourne, Aren, the somber Eliana, Evox, Alexis, and Dave Quixote,
somewhat out of place in his rusty, aged armor.  The Melbourne crew sit
at the seat of honor, as do Kabeta and Quixote, who has somehow surmised
that this feast is in his honor for the brave deeds he accomplished
earlier, such as the storming of the castle.  Sancho sits by Quixote's
side, begging the occasional piece of meat.]

Aren: Mm, this is good.  Eliana, try some sheep intestine.  It's
     delicious.
     
Eliana: If I must.
     
Alexis: Sister, what is wrong?
     
Eliana: Nothing.
     
Evox: I don't buy that for a minute.
     
Aren: (v-o, to Eliana) Nor I.
     
Eliana: (v-o)                   Is it my fault you imagine things?
     
Aren: (v-o) What is eating at you?
     
Eliana: (v-o)                       Pity.
     
Aren: (v-o)                                Pity?  For whom?
     
Eliana: (v-o)                                                For Shonyo.
     
Aren: (confused, out loud) Shonyo?
     
Alexis: What was that about Shonyo?
     
Eliana: (v-o)  Aren, it's rude to talk out loud like that.  You know
	   this is private.
     
Aren: (v-o)                                      Why do you pity Shonyo?
     
Eliana: (v-o) Because he isn't worth hating.  He's like the sun--as
     powerful as he is, he's helpless against the night, too.  Try as he
     might, he just can't stop the night from coming.  You were right--
     I'm seeing things much more clearly ever since I talked with Dave.
     
Aren: (v-o) The sun also brings us the morning.
     
Eliana: (v-o) True, and he is helpless to do anything but that, too.
     Shonyo is as much a captive and a victim of his creation as we are.
     
Evox: Aren, are you all right?
     
[Aren nods.]
     
Evox: Have some Denebian blood worm.  It's delicious.
     
Aren: I'm not hungry right now.  Please excuse me.
     
[Aren gets up and leaves the table.  Quixote, puzzled, gets up and goes
after him.  Sancho leaps up to the table, licks both their plates clean,
and then trots after them.]
     
Alexis: (v-o) Sister, what did you say to him?
     
Eliana: (v-o) Nothing.  Try some boiled snail.  I'm told it's delicious.
     
     
************************************************************************
"Just a Bit of Light"
     
By Melinda K. Allen and Dave Learn
     
Part MCMXCIX
     
     
Guest-Starring
   Bob Dylan
   Rex Cars
   I M Outtacontrol
   Speed Racer
and Theo Ward as the Beaver
   
   also, Daniel de Loup as Evox
	 Christina Marzano as Alexis
	 Ian Lamb as King Stephen

Directed by: Nicholas Meyer
Music by: Michael Card and Bob Hartman
Lighting by: The Moose that Bit My Sister, Inc.
Insanity by:  our very own DAVE LEARN!
************************************************************************
     
[Out in the courtyard of Melathrion's castle, Quixote runs around,
looking for Aren.]
     
Quixote: Lord Aren!
     
[There is no answer as Quixote continues to run through the courtyard.]
     
Quixote: Lord Aren!
     
[At last he sees a figure, kneeling in a corner of the courtyard.  He
approaches quietly.]
     
Aren: (weeping bitterly) Please, Shonyo, end this farce!  It is too
     cruel to be reunited with her, only to find the serpent's heart in
     her!  Shonyo, hear me please!
     
[Quixote is no fool, and realizes the importance of silence.  He kneels
down next to Aren and places his arm across Aren's back.  The two sit
there for some time on the ground, praying.]
     
Quixote: My lord, it is not well for you to be out here in the damp air.
     You will fall sick.
     
Aren: I am sick in my heart already, good Knight.  What difference will
     being sick in the body make?  But you go back inside.  You can
     catch cold just as easily.
     
Quixote: Nay, my lord, no knight would ever complain of pain, though his
     very bowels were dropping out.  How could I leave you?  Your wife's
     heavy spirit ails you.
     
[Aren nods.]
     
Quixote: It ails me as well.  Yet I know that Jesu will not abandon her
     forever.  She will come around again, I swear.  But she will not do
     so without the steadfast love of her good husband.  Good sir, I
     beseech you, return to her.
     
Aren: You amaze me, Dave.  You make too much sense.  Will you return to
     dinner with me?
     
Quixote: No, my lord.  I must hold vigil here to guard this castle from
     attack.
     
Aren: Attack?  Dave, Terim has no foes.  There will be no attack on this
     castle.
     
Quixote: (gives Aren a strange look) So you say.  But I tell you, the
     air is thick with danger.  God gives sight to his servants when the
     need arises, and I see many foes of the land of Terim preparing for
     some dastardly deed this night.  (pause)  Dear God, so many.
     
Aren: Dave?  Dave what is it?
     
Quixote: (staring off into the night) I see black knights by the
     thousand, descending upon this sweet land.  They rape the
     countryside, and none can stop them.  They move as one man,
     swarming over all that God has made.  They will be defeated, thanks
     be to God for his mercy, but even after victory, there is much
     death and destruction.  Many will die in the years to come, and
     many who live will wish for death.  (with great clarity)  My lord,
     you and the Lady Eliana will lead the nation of Xavion one day
     soon, and it will be you who will ultimately decide its path.  Draw
     what comfort you may from this, for the Lady Eliana will return to
     Shonyo, and it will be soon.  You and she have been tested so that
     the two of you may be prepared for this coming crisis to lead your
     people to glory.  (pause)  I can say no more.
     
Aren: (concerned) Dave?  Are you all right?
     
[Quixote shakes his head.]
     
Quixote: Forgive me, my lord.  But I must stand guard here, and will not
     return to the table.
     
[Aren turns and walks away, bewildered.  What was that all about?  Cut
to the banquet: we see the faces of many laughing nobles and Muirden,
flirting with several women.  Hours later, the moon has risen on high
and gazes down at Dave Quixote as he alertly keeps guard of the
castle.]
     
Quixote: Now I must consider how poets of future years will describe
     this historic night.  "Long after the lords and ladies of the
     Kingdom of Terim had retired for the night, Dave Quixote de La
     Mancha kept watch in the fortress of a mighty castle."
     
[Tosses down sword angrily.  Kabeta appears in the courtyard for a
stroll, and stops to listen to Dave's soliloquy.]
     
Quixote: Oh, maker of empty boasts!  On this, of all nights, to give way
     to vanity.  Dave Quixote, take a deep breath of reality and
     remember life as it is meant to be lived:
     
     Call nothing yours, except your soul.
     Do not seek pleasure, for you may have the misfortune to overtake it.
     Remember that in last year's nests, there are no birds this year.
     Be just to all men, and courteous to all women.
     Above all, remember she for whom all great deeds are done: the Lady
     Dulcinea.
     
Kabeta: Get up!  Get up from there!  (Quixote rises) This is ridiculous.
     Why do all the strange men I meet want to marry me or worse?  First
     Bloocheez, then Torbog, and now you, a lieutenant I never even met
     before.  What do you want from me, Dave?
     
Quixote: Nothing.
     
Kabeta: Ha!
     
Quixote: I deserve the rebuke.  I ask of my lady--
     
Kabeta: I knew it!  What is it?
     
Quixote: --that, whatever I do, wherever I go,  I may carry her
     colors into battle, and do all great and noble things for the glory
     of her name.
     
Kabeta: (a long pause) Lieutenant, if you persist in this madness of yours,
     one of these days your head will become a stranger to your shoulders.
     
Quixote: (earnestly) That doesn't matter.
     
Kabeta: Doesn't matter?  Then what does matter?
     
Quixote: Only that I am true to the quest.
     
Kabeta: (confused) Your quest?  What is your quest?
     
[That confounded symphony begins again.  Kabeta looks around for it as
Quixote speaks.]
     
Quixote: The duty of every true knight-errant.  Nay, his privilege.
     (sings)
     To dream the impossible dream,
     To fight the unbeatable foe,
     To bear with unbearable sorrow,
     To run where the brave dare not go.
     
     To right the unrightable wrong,
     To love pure and chaste from afar,
     To try, when your arms are too weary,
     To reach the unreachable star!
     
     This is my quest:
     To follow that star,
     No matter how distant,
     No matter how hard;
     To fight for the right
     Without question or pause,
     To be willing to march into
     Hell for a Heavenly cause.
     
     And I know if I'll only be true
     To this glorious quest,
     Then my heart will lie peaceful and still
     When I'm laid to my rest.
     And the world will be better for this:
     That one man, scorned and covered with scars
     Still strove with his last ounce of courage
     To reach the unreachable star!
     
[Glass everywhere shatters as Quixote manages to reach the last note.]
     
Kabeta: (her eyes fill with tears) You're a madman.
     
Quixote: Perhaps I am.  But many say that madmen are the children of
     God.
     
Kabeta: (a few tears fall) Go away, will you?  Take your dreams and your 
     madness, and rave about nobility where no one can hear you.  This  
     is no golden age we live in, you lunatic.  Your ideas are outdated
     --people kill one another these days for anything, or even nothing.
     Sometimes, just for knowing someone.  (bites her lip to avoid crying)
     
Quixote: Lady, you must not let this grief rule you so!
     
Kabeta: (voice trembling a bit, otherwise under control once more)  Just leave 
	me alone!
     
[Kabeta departs from him, not wanting to deal with what this lunatic
stirs in her.  Yet even as she walks away, she turns her head 
to look back wistfully at this knight.  She continues on by herself
some fifteen feet outside the main entrance to the courtyard, when we
see Sylvester and a group of his rebels from the fulling mill appear and
rush at her.]
     
Kabeta: What?
     
Sylvester: Don't let her get away!
     
[One of the rebels rushes at Kabeta.  She effortlessly lifts him over
her head, allowing his momentum to carry him some five feet, where he
lands rather painfully.  A second rebel charges her at the same time, so
he is too close to be picked up in the same manner as the first one was.
She chops him in the neck as hard as she can, knocking him down.  The
rebels are all around, and it fast becoming obvious that she will lose
(which isn't to say that she doesn't do her best).  She slams a third
rebel in the face with the palm of her hand, breaking his nose and 
stopping him short.  She takes out two more rebels, but the others
ultimately manage to grab her arms and hold her a bit more still.
Matthew, another rebel, advances, and she holds on to two rebels' arms
to swing herself up and give him a rather nasty kick to the gut.]
     
Sylvester: Feisty one, aren't you, Captain?
     
Kabeta: What do you want with me?  If you think Star Fleet will sit
     still for this, you're out of your minds.
     
Sylvester: Actually, we're counting on their getting involved.  Don't
     worry--we won't hurt you.
     
Kabeta: Star Fleet does not negotiate with terrorists.
     
Sylvester: Terrorists?  Who, us?  We're freedom fighters, Captain, and I
     think we will find our cause greatly aided by a Star Fleet
     investigation into your disappearance.
     
FADE TO BLACK.  TO BE CONTINUED.

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