The Film Studio
As you near the coordinates that Bic provided, you find that you still have some unanswered questions.
“Why exactly would this film crew be set-up in space?”
“So, sometimes when you want realistic looking space scenes, it’s just easier to actually film space. As far as doing this out by an asteroid cluster, it has more to do with safety guidelines.”
“Surely there is nothing preventing you from following safety guidelines near a planet.”
“Actually, it’s the opposite problem. Those safety guidelines prevent us from shooting some scenes. It’s the lack of regulations that causes some studios to maintain these kinds of set-ups. Oh, and quit calling me Shirley!”
The comm crackles on, “This is Mother Hen at Outpost 338, identify yourself, incoming space vessel.”
Bic reaches over and slaps on the comm, “Hello Mother Hen this is Bic returning to the nest, authorization lambda lambda beta chi and I’m sending the security encryption now.”
“Welcome back to the Nest Bic. Your authorization checks out. Proceed to the landing port that we’re transmitting to you. See you in the bay.”
“That was more formal than I expected”
“Here in space we have to be cautious. There could be pirates, hostile aliens, or worst of all… the paparazzi!”
– – – –
Upon arriving on set, you can’t help but notice that this looks an awful lot like a military outpost.
As if reading your thoughts, Bic states, “This is a set for our upcoming military flick titled, Cold Vengeance.”
“I thought you and Willy were in some swamp movie.”
“It’s a military action movie, but Willy’s character is from the swamps of Tig.”
While conversing, you, your first officer, and Bic have been walking the whole time. You find that Bic has led you to an equipment room full of various items but in the center on a work table is a device with the name E.D.I.T.H. stenciled on it and various switches and dials. Tethered to charging ports on E.D.I.T.H. are numerous drones that appear to have large projector lenses.
Bic proudly proclaims, “This is what we’re going to use to help us infiltrate an Ilex prison on the planet formerly known as Tig.”
“Wait, you think I’m just going to casually land at an Ilex prison and drop you off like this is your first day of school! Should I pack you a lunch with stale peanut butter crackers and a drink box?”
“Ooh, what flavor will the drink box be?”
Your first officer now decides that this would be a good time to chime in, “How about fruit punch?”
Bic starts to look excited when you throw your hands up in the air, “Nobody is getting a juice box.”
Bic calmly interjects, “Relax mon Capitaine, I’ve got this covered. This device, E.D.I.T.H., that were about abscond with, controls a series of holo projectors that can be used to project images around the outside of your ship’s hull to make it look like a different ship. We use it when filming to limit the number of various ships that we have to buy. In this case, we’ll make your ship look like an Ilex ship.”
“Go on…”
“As E.D.I.T.H. won’t alter your ship’s transponder ID, we’ll have to enter through the shield gate on Ularos X and then activate it before landing at the prison where they have my co-star. Once there you don’t even have to wait around for me. Just drop me off and fly away. I’ll pay you on arrival to Ularos X and I’ll even let you keep the purloined studio tech”
“Purloined?”, you ask.
“Yeah, it means taken, stolen, permanently borrowed without asking”
“I know what it means, but why are we stealing it?”
“You’re not stealing it, I am. Besides, if I asked they might say, ‘No.’.”
You think the situation through for a moment and nod, “OK, but let’s get going before anyone realizes what you’ve liberated from the studio.”
Read/Listen to story 41 when you reach Ularos X to find out how well using your ship as a giant green screen works out for everyone.