Quoted By:
“<span class="mu-i">Great Expectations</span>.”
Indifference gives way to confusion. “Hmmm?”
“Another Charles Dickens novel,” you elaborate in the hopes of getting your foot out of your mouth. “It got however many adaptations, but I saw a restored copy of the movie that had Ioan Gruffudd as Pip and-”
“Hornblower!” she suddenly interrupts with a smile.
“I…beg your pardon?”
Any trace of her prior annoyance is gone, as she energetically explains: “Gruffudd was Midshipman, Lieutenant and eventually Captain Horatio Hornblower in an old TV show. I never had a chance to read the books it was made from, but the show was wonderful to watch!”
Huh. Guess she has more emotions than deadpan, indifferent, sardonic or mildly annoyed.
It’s…endearing, to say the least.
“Sounds…okay, I’ll add it to the list,” you say, “Do you know when it’ll be shown next at the theater?”
Frustration creases her brow. “Unfortunately, no. A Terran Remnant trader brokered a deal with the curator to screen movies off his tablet to make some money while he was in harbor. I don’t know when he’ll be back. Stingy bastard would’ve charged two thousand ducats per file.”
Ah, well that’s a damned shame. Understandable, given the scarcity of electronic file formats, and you can appreciate the side hustle. But very much a dick move.
“But <span class="mu-i">Great Expectations</span>?” Gully leans in closer, pressing for answers. “What’s that one about?”
Checking your journal, you’re relatively satisfied with what you’ve drawn so far of the Polaroid. It shouldn’t take you another day to finish everything and jot down the instructions. Setting down your pen and returning the part to the table, you give Gully your full and undivided attention.
“See, there’s this kid named Pip,” you begin, “It’s not his actual name, his full name’s Philip…something. But he’s this young boy out in Kent who lives with his sister and her husband…”
Last time you checked, the Babylonia Book Club should still have a copy of <span class="mu-i">Great Expectations</span> on a preciously guarded USB stick. 32-gigabytes of all things Charles Dickens, courtesy of a member who’s grandfather ran a local library. Even if they’ll fight over all the other adaptations of Victorian literature, they’ll hold the 1999 film as the definitive hallmark of Pip and Estella’s romantic misadventures.
…maybe you could arrange for a special screening. This is the most animated you’d ever seen Gully, even if only by proxy via Ioan Gruffudd.
<span class="mu-s">END OF ACT ONE</span>
<span class="mu-s">ACT TWO – THE ENCOUNTER</span>
>>Day 6 of Expedition to [???]
>>Summer, 76 A.C.
>>Belt of Dreams, Territory of Babyloina
The <span class="mu-i">Calypso’s</span> stateroom is large enough to comfortably accommodate fifteen, maybe thirty if you get rid of the furniture and have everyone stand. But as it is, only the heads of each respective departments are here, with their aides and an escort of marines at the door.
(cont.)
