**Meanwhile, Aurora and Libby are
heading back to the garage, giggling over their most recent purchase.
Libby turns Carl’s new outfit over in her hands, basking in the
glow of their conspiracy**
AURORA: It’s PERFECT for him, wouldn’t you say?
LIBBY: Mm-hmm, you know it, girl. It’s ‘bout time someone gave that boy some edge, dontcha think?
AURORA: Ha! That’s why I bought it! Man, I can’t wait to see the look on his face when he gets a load of this!
**Aurora and Libby exchange a high five, and in their ensuing giggle-fit, Aurora blunders into a passerby. She stops to apologize, only to be struck speechless by the heartbreakingly beautiful alien before her**
ALIEN: OoOo!
**The alien woman’s sparkling orange eyes light up from within her radiant blue face. Her cheeks flush with an unidentifiable emotion, and for a moment she stands like a statue. When she speaks, her voice is like falling silver**
ALIEN: Is…is it really you? Are you…Aurora Vortex?
AURORA: (crossing her arms) Ya. Who wants to know?
**Her amber dewdrop eyes slowly scan Aurora from top to bottom. With a murmuring sigh, the gorgeous creature falls gently to her knees and tilts her head in a gesture of submission. Her wine colored hair spills over her shoulders and comes to rest on the tiled floor**
ALIEN: Aurora Vortex. Forgive me for blundering into you. Please, I wish to thank you.
AURORA: (snapping to attention) Huh? What?
ALIEN: Please, I wish to thank you, Aurora Vortex. You are solely responsible for my salvation.
AURORA: (taking a step back) Whoa, back up a second. What are you rattling on about? I’ve never…
ALIEN: You might not remember me, Aurora, but I remember you. I believe that on your human calendar the date was June 5th, three years ago. Three years ago, on the fateful day when the dictator attacked Li’liaa Prime, my home world.
**Aurora’s breath catches in her throat, and her whole face freezes in mid-expression. She tilts her head ever so slightly, simmering whirlpools of emotion churning within her acid green eyes**
ALIEN: On that day we were faced with complete destruction, and in the wake of such utter carnage I saw no hope left in living. I teetered on the edge of despair, flames behind me, and the black pit below me. I had nearly abandoned hope entirely, but then I remember...I remember seeing you. I saw you and the other rebels fight him before my very eyes. I shall never forget the dedication and fervor with which you fought.
**Aurora dips her head and her bangs spill forward, plunging her face into blackened shadow as the alien continues on**
ALIEN: I will never forget your courage, your valor…and I will never forget the end.
**With this, she carefully reaches out and touches the tip of Aurora’s boot in a gesture of infinite empathy**
ALIEN: (lowering her voice) I thought that you would surely die, Aurora. When he captured you, I thought all was lost. I was haunted by the memory of that day, but it has saved me as well. Seeing you here now…you survived against all odds, and you have shown me that I, too, can survive. You have given me back my reason for living. For that, I am eternally in your debt.
**She touches her graceful head to the tiles of the floor**
ALIEN: I know I can never truly thank you enough. I hope someday the Gorlocks and my people will be able to join together and learn from one another in the peaceful days ahead. And if you're willing, when all is over and you have killed him, I hope to reunite with you.
**She stands up and breezes away without another word. Libby stares after her for a moment, and upon turning back she barely has time to see the heart-wrenching expression on Aurora's face before she covers it with her silver mask**
LIBBY: Girl...you didn't ever tell me about this. That alien...she said Evil Jimmy captured you. Is that true?
AURORA: (far off) Yes, I remember that day too. June 5th…It was my eighteenth birthday. Eighteen and at war. Eighteen. Eighteen, and HIS prisoner.
**Aurora slumps against the wall as images of the past flicker through her mind: ships streaking across a starry sky…fiery explosions...rubble...people screaming...laughter…the clink of chains…a pair of cold blue eyes and a cruel smile**
LIBBY: (glancing at her with sympathy) Cind? Do you wanna talk about it?
AURORA: (straightening up) No! I am absolutely fine. I don't want to talk about it, so don't you ever bring it up again. And my name is Aurora, not Cindy. Get it? Now let's head back to the ship before I get really angry.
**Aurora is dangerously silent the entire walk back to the garage, and Libby sneaks darting glances at her from time to time**
LIBBY: (to self) Oh, Cind. My girl, where are you hidin’ in there? I saw the real you for a little while today, but I wonder if it’ll happen again.
**Libby heaves a sigh as they enter into the mechanic’s garage, and she barely has time to inhale again before a wrench comes sailing past her. With astounding reflexes, Aurora’s hand shoots up and catches the tool. She turns it over in her hands before speaking in a low, threatening voice**
AURORA: What’s going on, April…
APRIL: (marching over, in a huff) I’ll tell you what’s going on! These mechanics aren’t even worth the oxygen they consume! Jimmy did all the work, and I see no reason why we should pay them!
FLINT: B-but, my esteemed G-Gorlock, w-we did assist him in his…
APRIL: Silence, lowlife!
**She grabs another metal tool from the ground and pitches it at Flint, who ducks and narrowly misses being hit. As he yelps and darts about in a ridiculous display of cowardly flailing, another mechanic lets out a blood-curdling scream**
MECHANIC: Holy $%@*#$!!! Her hand is glowing!
**The deadweight silence following this remark is broken a moment later by cries of amazement from around the workshop. Libby swings around in confusion, but when she turns to Aurora her half-formed question freezes on her lips. Green light trickles down Aurora’s left arm and pools into a rippling electric cloud around her left hand. Tiny green sparks flicker to life within the bright center of the aura, and the wrench wilts in her hand like a dying flower. Molten metal trickles harmlessly through her fingers and splashes to the ground with a sizzling spatter**
MECHANIC: (breathlessly) What…what in the world ARE you???
AURORA: (softly, without emotion) This suit that I am wearing…do you know where it came from? Do you know how it works? I’ll tell you this much: it’s powered by my emotions. The more I feel, the more energy I unleash. Perhaps you would like to see just what it’s capable of?
**Aurora’s entire body tightens with concentrated rage. Waves of green light spill down her arms and swarm around her clenched fingertips. After a moment the light coalesces into a blinding, glittering fireball. She tightens her fingers around it, and with a shout, she hurls the flaming meteor at the nearest wall**
FLINT: Huh? Waaaaa-E-e-eeeeeekkk!
**Flint flings himself onto the ground just in time to avoid the collision. The bolt sails overhead and smashes into the concrete, and when the dust clears, a gaping hole smokes where the wall once stood**
FLINT: (choking) You…you almost k-killed me!
SKLEEM: (stepping forward) Forgive my rudeness, human with the silver mask. But please, leave here at once. We don’t want you here anymore.
**He helps a shaking and pasty-faced Flint to his feet, then glares at April**
SKLEEM: I’ve had enough of all of you! Take your rebel ship and go, the repair is free. Just never come back here again.
**Aurora tightens her grasp around a second energy bolt when Sheen and Carl stroll mindlessly in on the scene**
CARL: (sneezing) Achoo! Boy, sure is dusty in here.
SHEEN: (scratching his nose) I’ll say. They need one of those swiffer dusters.
**He looks around, then waves at Libby**
SHEEN: Hey babe! Check it out, I got an alien freak to sign me, and it only cost me 5 bucks!
**He lifts up his shirt, and the words “stupid humans will buy anything” are scrawled across his bare chest**
SHEEN: Pretty cool, huh? I can’t read what it says, but I hope it’s good cause this stuff’s permanent!
**There is a moment of silence, and then everyone breathes a sigh of relief. With Sheen and Carl’s arrival, the festering cloud of hate and anger dissipates, and Aurora’s glittering fire flickers and winks out**
AURORA: (huffing in irritation) It’s a good thing you two showed up when you did, or I might have had to show these losers a few other tricks of mine. But since you’re here…
SHEEN: (scratching his head) Wait a minute…was your hand just glowing?
AURORA: (rolling her eyes) Can we discuss this on the ship?
JIMMY: I agree with Aurora. We need leave here as soon as possible…besides, there’s something we need to talk about.
**Cindy throws him a nervous glance, and the group silently plods past the brooding aliens and up the ramp-way into the Desperado. The door clamps shut with a final hiss, and as soon as the outside world is barricaded, Aurora peels off her silver mask and tosses it to the floor. The kids quickly swarm around her**
LIBBY: Girl, how did you do that? That was…
CINDY: …unbelievable! I’ve never anyone so terrified in my life!
JIMMY: I’m more interested in how the suit functions, and how you acquired it. Why haven’t you informed us of this ability before?
CARL: Ya Aurora! If I could do that I’d show everyone!
AURORA: (with a sideways glance) I figured it was on a need-to-know basis.
SHEEN: Need to know? You’re like a walking firecracker! Of course we need to know!
CINDY: Sheen’s right, for once. We DO need to know, so start explaining.
AURORA: Fine, fine, hold your horses.
**She gestures at the silver tubing that crisscrosses her entire body like spiders’ web**
AURORA: As you can see, my suit contains a complex network of organic links that tap into my neural relay system. The links allow me to control the suit with my thoughts and emotions. That little demonstration I just gave didn’t even scratch the surface of its capabilities…it’s designed to be an advanced weapon.
JIMMY: Did you build it?
AURORA: Not exactly…I sort of stole it.
CARL: Gasp! You stole it??
**He swoons dramatically**
CINDY: Oh, c’mon! You could have at least SAID you built it to show up big-brain over here!
**Jimmy glares at her**
JIMMY: Well, if you didn’t create it, who did?
AURORA: …YOU did, Jimmy. Well, your alternate self at any rate. He designed it for his own use, but luckily I got my hands on it before he got a chance to use it.
CINDY: When did this happen?
LIBBY: (softly) It was when you were his prisoner, wasn’t it?
AURORA: (looking away) Yes.
**April looks sharply at Libby, and Cindy’s eyes grow wide**
CINDY: You were his PRISONER? When? How?
AURORA: It’s a long story and since it doesn’t concern you it’s pointless to explain. I will say, though, that I ended up with this suit and a very good understanding of his base and how it functions. I’m considered the expert on his operations thanks to my time there.
**The kids exchange glances**
AURORA: But that’s all in the past. Right now, I’ve got a whole supply of new clothes for everyone, plus a few other surprises. I didn’t spend all that time shopping to have everyone ignore them. So go back to your rooms and try them on…we’ll rendezvous in the cockpit in 10 minutes.