Stargate Atlantis: Impressions – script extract

This is the pre-titles sequence from my Stargate Atlantis audio play, Impressions, published here by kind permission of Big Finish Productions.

ACT 1

SCENE 1

Neutral, narrating space.

LORNE: Light and shade.

The dappled green of forest leaves. The splashes of white foam on dark grey seas. The pools of light that collect like water in the fissures of a rock face.

Light and shade, colour and form; that’s how I try to see the world. The boundaries between one thing and another. The distinctions.

Anybody who carries a gun in the name of peace needs to be comfortable with shades of grey. I live in no man’s land, surrounded by water and working under fire. Caught between extremes.

This is what I try to capture in paint on canvas. It’s like trying to bottle lightning. But it helps.

Interior, Lorne’s quarters, Atlantis. A window is open so we can hear both the hum of the city and the distant sound of waves lapping against the pier. Door chime.

LORNE: Yes?

Door opens.

GLENNIE: Good morning, Major. May I come in?

LORNE: I’m under arrest, I can hardly stop you, can I.

GLENNIE: True enough, but it never hurts to be courteous.

He enters, the door closes behind him.

Dr David Glennie, pleased to meet you. May I sit?

LORNE: [GRUNTS, NON-COMMITTAL]

GLENNIE: So these are the famous paintings. They’re… remarkable.

LORNE: I’ll take that as a compliment.

GLENNIE: Oh, please do. Best I can manage is stick figures. My art teacher at school said I had two left hands. Your mother taught art, didn’t she?

[BEAT. LORNE WON’T TAKE THE BAIT.]

LORNE: So who are you? Oversight committee? Come to see if I’m insane?

GLENNIE: I have no preconceptions, Major. There are people baying for your blood. Court martial, dishonourable discharge, that kind of thing. I’m here at the request of Colonel Carter. She wants an independent assessment of your mental state. When they brought you back here you were…. confused.

FLASHBACK, slight echo effect.

LORNE: [RAVING] It’s so beautiful, all the colours, the shapes, it’s like, magic and wonder and… sounds, I can see sounds, I can, I can, I can hear light, oh my God, oh my God…

Cut back to the open window and the hum of the city; a moment to register we’re back in Lorne’s quarters. Then:

LORNE: [SIGHS] I’m fine.

GLENNIE: Oh come now, Major. I think you know why we’re concerned.

FLASHBACK, slight echo effect. Alarms in the background. Ops room atmos.

LORNE: [SHOUTING] Everybody move back! NOW! Get away from those controls. You too, Colonel Sheppard, so help me God, I will shoot you!

Cut back to Lorne’s quarters again.

LORNE: All right. So what, you want me to look at Rorschach tests or something? Please tell me you don’t really want to talk about my mother.

GLENNIE: [LAUGHS] Don’t worry, I’m a very literal shrink. I’ve collected statements from all the relevant personnel. They’ve told me their versions of events. Now you tell me yours. Simple as that.

LORNE: That’s it?

GLENNIE: Uh-huh.

LORNE: All right. (MORE CONFIDENT) What have I got to lose?

GLENNIE: Your friends. Your reputation. The rest of your life. Trust me, if you’re not insane now, you will be after twenty years in solitary.

Shall we start?

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