Lunarshock

By Logan Tytus
(Agent Coal and Commissioner Davis are having diner on a train
enroot to the space elevator. The train sits in the middle of stage
and the space elevator is in the background. )
Coal: (Puts down the paper like swatting a fly.) Artemis the
land of the future, give me a break.
Davis: (Takes a quick sip of coffee then clears his throat.) I
cant believe Kennedy even signed to have the thing built. You
know they found uranium inside the moon! (Flails his hands in the
air for effect) Hundreds of private companies tried to get a mine
up there.
Coal: It should have been a strict government affair; now the
whole darn planet wants in on the secret. (Sighs and takes a drink
of water)
Davis: You heard? (Raises his eyebrows)
Coal: Of course, its not every day you find you find E.T.
(extra-terrestrial) right next door.

Davis: I heard it was a derelict ship, nothing special, at least

nothing useful inside.
Coal: (sneers) Well I heard different. I heard they reverse
engineered the technology to build the city and word has it that
isnt even why they let Ryan build it in the first place. (Leans
forward) Did you hear what happened to his brother?
Davis: No, something about the great utopia right?
Coal: An underwater city built in the mid-Atlantic. Ten years
after it was constructed the darn thing destroyed itself. Something
about the population going mad.
Davis: (Leans back in his seat with a frown on his face) I
dont much care for this golden city of the future. What I am
worried about is this Ryan guy. (Leans forward again) I read the
mission report about your apparent blunder in Chicago.
Coal: (Leans back like trying to avoid the statement like a
knife) So?
Davis: So, what if this Ryan has a grudge against you huh?

(The train jolts to a halt. The actors jolt as well. The train starts
elevating toward the moon.)
Coal: Thats strange, arent we ascending a little early?
(The windows go black and a video pops up on the screen. The
auditorium screen.)
Ryan: Hello there, I am Jonathan Ryan. Tell me, have you
ever been denied a right for peace, for justice? If you have youre
not alone. When I first went to Washington, I asked them for these
things. They told me the people would decide. When I asked the
Pope, he said God would decide. When I asked the men at the
Kremlin, they told me they alone would decide. I, rejected their
stubborn answers and I chose my own answer, I chose my own
path, I chose Artemis!
(A massive city looms over the horizon. They were inside the
moon. Backdrop changes.)
Ryan: Isnt it beautiful? Finished building it in 1963, and man
did it sell. Poor people and criminals from all over the world that
wanted a fresh start came!

Coal: What a bunch of hooey. Chicago has better advertising

than this ah!
Davis: Coal whats wrong?
Coal: I feel! (Darkness descends on the stage. All actors and
extras move left off stage and Coal is left alone)
Coal: (suddenly feeling better) Hello?! (A little girl walks on
stage faded by a white light much like looking at a old black and
white movie.)
Girl: (whispers) Why couldnt you save me?
Coal: What? Who are you?
Girl: Your victim! (The light fades and the girl walks off the
right of the stage)
Coal: Ah!
Ryan: (intercom) Ah, Mr. Coal, I had a feeling Washington
wasnt going to send you. Its a pity they didnt send someone
more qualified to take me down. Now on to business Mr. Coal. As
you can see the elevator is paused for the moment, but it wont

be for long. I have a date this evening Mr. Coal, a date with sweet
old revenge.
Coal: What do you mean?
Ryan: You dont remember Chicago? How you failed to stop
the bomb, how you failed to save my family!
Coal: No, no, no it wasnt my fault! (tears)
Ryan: Dont give me that bullcrap! I saw the footage. How
you just stood idly by while they planted the bomb.
Coal: But there was no warning or sign of treachery.
Ryan: But you never looked to your own organization did
you? You know as well as I do that there are no terrorists in
America. There is a reason why they let me build this city after my
family died. They needed a man with conviction, with hatred.
Havent you ever realized that after the incident you were given
fewer missions, looked down upon by your superiors? Your
government always wanted a scapegoat and now they have one.
The U.S. doesnt like faulty agents running the show and soon you
will no longer exist, the product of a tragic train accident.

Coal: And when the U.N. learns of this, they will take your
head
Ryan: When they learn? (Chuckles) Fool, they ordered me to
do it.
(The train suddenly plummeted down and promptly exploded.
Coal rolls off center stage. A white void envelops Coal and the girl
reappears)
Coal: What happened, where am I?
Girl: Time, were in time
Coal: What? That doesnt make any sense!
Girl: I cant explain it right now. Everything is about to
change.
Coal: Wait what? Ah!
(Scene changes, he is in a baseball stadium. Chicago is playing
the Yanks and they are in the lead. The girl still stands beside him,
but this time she is real)
Girl: Come on Daddy come on were going to miss the game.

Coal: (unwittingly) Ok dear, wheres your mother at?

Wife: (all enthusiastic) Hi John, how was the trip to the
bathroom?
Coal: (all cheerful) Uneventful.
Wife: Well why dont you get some hotdogs? I am starving.
Coal: But I just got back.
Wife: We will be right here dear.
Coal: Ok (walks off to the food stand which appears at the
left of the stage, and security cameras are watching.)
Coal: (to the cashier) Two please.
(All of a sudden a loud bang and the crushing of concrete hits.
Screams are heard everywhere and Coal immediately runs to his
family.)
Coal: No! No!
Wife: Ah!
(His wife and daughter fall into the pit of rumble. Coal lies
there whimpering in the aftermath and the girl reappears)

Girl: You couldnt save me.

Coal: It wasnt my fault though. It was the security guards,
the FBI not mine! They will pay for this failure!
(Another flash and Coal is sitting in the Supreme Court. All
sets are moved and a light effect warps the view of the stage to
give it a ghostly feel.)
Coal: I am merely asking you to make a small investment
thats all.
Congresswoman: No, we will not make an investment on a
construction project of this size. (She sighs) Mr. Coal you know it
is impossible to get to the moon. The Russians will win the space
race for sure. I cant just ask NASA to make a city the size of
Manhattan inside the moon.
Coal: (Irritated) So certain are you huh?! I bet you just gave
up on us back in Chicago too. You just let us die off and then you
cleaned up the mess.
Congresswomen: Mr. Coal please.

Coal: You abandoned us, my family! (Security guards grab

him and take him away) No! Give me my daughter back! I know
you took her!
(The scene flashes again and Coal lays on the a hard metal floor
of a city inside the moon.)
Girl: The city of gold waits for its king. An alternate
dimension conceived by all who know the truth, and all who
witness the insanity of time unfolding.
Coal: Wait, I created Artemis?
Girl: Here yes, this is where you must make a choice. You can
continue on your current course, avenge your family and be left to
a happy life ,or you can stop now and find peace, but it seems we
have an unwelcomed guest.
Coal: (with conviction rises and goes to the window to see
Agent Ryan sitting in an abandoned elevator. Coal turns on the
intercom) Agent Ryan, what a pity your government couldnt send
someone more qualified to try and stop me, but no matter. I have
a date with vengeance tonight Mr. Ryan, and you are the main
course.

Ryan: But why?

Coal: I watched the security footage. How you stood there
like an idiot flirting with girls while the government planted their
own bomb on the stadium.
Ryan: Dont you see, theyre playing us! Just watch, as soon
as you kill me it will give them a reason to destroy your city!
Coal: What makes you think I care about this city? I want
your head Ryan, I dont care if you werent there or not. It doesnt
justify what you have done to me. And now youre going to know
what it is like to free-fall.
Ryan: No Coal!
(Coal presses the button and sends him plummeting down until
he explodes on the surface. Suddenly though, a missile from out
of nowhere hits the city and destroys part of it. Another white
screen appears and Coal is lying on a beach staring at the sunset
crying. Time has once again moved to a future that should not
have existed.)

Girl: Why do you cry, you have avenged your family, your
enemy is dead and now you live happily on this beach.
Coal: But there is so much pain, so much sacrifice. I cannot
be happy knowing that what I have done cannot be justified. Make
it go away; tell me there is a better path than this.
Girl: You have seen both paths but you have not seen the
truth. You have lived two lives: Coal, and both you and Ryan chose
vengeance over peace. Dont you see it? You are Jonathan Ryan
and he is you, and I will heed your plead for peace and for justice.
Coal you will be reborn anew and this cycle will be broken.
Coal: Wait, what are you doing?
Girl: Cleansing you of your sins.
(And she casually drowned Coal in the water.)