ACT I “DAWN”

 

ANDROMEDA I. Shiva-like, the Spirit of Chaos, Destruction and Reinvention comes to spur the rise of intelligent life in the cosmos.  Sweeping through regions of neighboring star systems the Andromeda pulse keeps sentient creatures moving toward full consciousness.  They become overcrowded, restless and agitated and strive to expand their territories under the pressure.

 

MIDNIGHT WORLD.  It’s the end of the Industrial Age.  Climate change has accelerated.   Extreme weather events occur with increasing frequency.  A super storm forms over the U.S., fed by systems from the Pacific, the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic and the North.  It stalls over the Midwest washing out the rustbelt.  Jackie O’Day and his future wife, Rosie, ride the wave of a breaking levy down an industrial river and out into open water. 

 

DAY OF NO RETURN. TOTAL ENVIRONMENTAL COLLAPSE. Safely out on the open water Jackie goes below while Rosie takes the helm.  Jackie falls asleep from exhaustion and dreams of ghosts in a desert where the lower Great Lakes once gleamed.  The Dream Children of the Desert live in a world approaching total environmental collapse. 

 

ENERGY FROM THE SUN. Jackie awakens startled and alarmed.  He goes above to the foredeck.  He sees the sun and instantly understands how it is connected to everything as the source of all energy on earth.  He resolves to understand light and the true nature of the sun as the answer to future energy. 

 

DREAMWALKER I – (Interlude as 17 years pass)  Jackie and Rosie take up a new home in the Iron Mountains at the Western end of the Great Lakes.  Here they establish a holistic society of researchers applying the observational enhancement of meditation to the scientific method in an effort to understand light and the true nature of the sun.

 

Hailing from multiple disciplines they become widely known as the “Quantumonks” – a nickname given to them by the indigenous people of the Iron Mountains. 

 

One of their techniques involves lucid dreaming and the skill of Dream Walking.  In addition to the goals of understanding light and the true nature of the sun, the monks are committed to the preservation of civilization’s scientific and cultural records.  Beyond Iron Mountain the world descends into chaos and confusion in the Dark Age of the New Millennium. The iron ore in the mountains serves as a natural Faraday Cage helping to prevent their detection by electromagnetic means. 

 

HERE IN THE LIGHT. Following several years of research applying meditation techniques to the scientific method they succeed.  From their new understanding of light and the nature of the sun they design and construct a device to “share in the light of every star.”  Gathering one last time at the Iron Mountain Inn, the Quantumonks celebrate their breakthrough with a night of storytelling and libation.

 

COUNTY OF ORION. After the celebration, Jackie closes the Inn and heads home to his wife and son over Iron Mountain.  At the summit, Jackie is approached by a Traveler from the County of Orion.  The Traveler makes him an offer he can’t refuse – an apprenticeship in the Mastery of Superluminal Flight in exchange for Jackie’s assistance in the Traveler’s effort to return to his own place and time via a contraband Time Machine. Together they depart from the mountaintop.

 

Jackie’s disappearance happens shortly before a planned departure of the group to a remote base in the Erie Desert where they intend to apply their new discoveries to the problems of energy, astronomy, communications and spaceflight.  Rosella Spark O’Day is now the group’s director.

 

INTO FIRE.  Finding no trace of his father, Brendan grieves.  While the monks prepare to set sail on the “Spirit of Erie” Brendan builds a fire on the hill over the harbor. He is accompanied by A.T.H.E.N.A. – an Autonomous, Telemetric, Holographic, Energy and Navigation Administrator – his old A.I. friend from childhood, about to begin her own evolutionary path.  Brendan says goodbye to his father and to Iron Mountain.  The monks signal readiness and Brendan departs with Rosie and the crew.

 

TIME MACHINE.  Meanwhile, Jackie and the Traveler are on their way to secure a Time Machine.  The Traveler, aka “Trav,” is from a star system near Orion’s belt as seen from earth.  He tells Jackie his story, why he came to Earth and why he needs a Time Machine.  He has promised Jackie both the Time Machine and his ship if Jackie can help him get back to his own place and time.

In order to catch a wave in the filament streaming in and out of the sun Trav must accelerate in the direction of the outward flow along the filament and drop in just before the next wave pulses through.  The acceleration is high enough to trigger the distortion of time where every minute on the ship is 2 days on earth.   They drop into the filament beyond Jupiter’s orbit.

 

DREAMWALKER II.  Jackie is anxious to contact his family and does so in a Dream Walk after 10 minutes aboard.  On earth he has been missing for three weeks.  FTL for a minimal time debt – but also at the expense of the grief felt at home for his loss.  Jackie delivers memory quantum to both Brendan and Ro in subsequent Dream Walks.  The packets contain data detailing Trav’s ship including design, function, power, navigation and the physics making it all possible - fragments of which the monks had obtained in their own research.

Brendan and Ro provide the monks with contents for practical application at New Star City.

 

IN THE WIND.  The “Spirit of Erie” has made good time in the prevailing winds over Lake Superior. Their aim is the mouth of the Michuron Straight winding southeast to the Erie Desert.  It is an hour before dawn.  Brendan is sleeping below.  Jackie dream walks to Brendan where they share a lucid dream.  Jackie reassures Brendan showing him how they remain connected by a tether of light. Jackie shows Brendan he is alive and well in the Ether; or, as the monks say, he is “In the Wind.”

 

RISING OF THE SUN I.  Brendan wakes and joins the crew on deck.  He lets the reality sink in.  He’s with his mother and the monks aboard their schooner with a device harnessing the energy of the stars in the cargo bay.  He tells his mother about the dream.  She says, “I know. I was there.” The sun is about to rise.

 

SYNOPSIS

ACT II “EXO”

 

ANDROMEDA II.  Arrival New Star City - Based on a new understanding of the source of the sun’s power, the team exponentially advances clean energy, deep space observation and spaceflight.  Brendan is a test pilot.

 

SOULO. Brendan meets Fiona at a border town club.

 

ORION REPRISE (backstory).  Jackie & Trav prepare to recover a hidden Time Machine.

 

 

KEROSEL. First date - Fiona joins Brendan at New Star City to test-drive a new flying machine.

 

NEW EDEN. A twin earth is discovered and confirmed.  An expedition enters into planning and preparation.

 

JEWEL OF THE SKY. The Monks launch an expedition to the virgin twin earth.  Brendan leads the way as a scout and as the first to arrive. He is to orbit and make observations until the main expedition arrives three weeks later.  Leaving earth he looks back and experiences “The Moment.”  Brendan is accompanied by a crew of monks and A.T.H.E.N.A. – an Autonomous, Telemetric, Holographic, Energy and Navigation Administrator – his old A.I. friend from childhood, now on her own evolutionary path.

 

ORION REPRISE (backstory).  Jackie & Trav with Time Machine in tow flee pirates.

 

WE ARE NOT ALONE:  Meanwhile, back on earth at Star City, deep space observation continues to advance, it is discovered that another civilization on the same evolutionary time line has launched a similar expedition for the new waterhole.  Performed by Q-Trio.

 

DAYS OUT.  Brendan, at first unaware of the inbound alien fleet, approaches Andromeda and marvels at her beauty.  Then his attention turns to the competition.

 

BLACK MAGIC LADY.

Brendan is detected by the rivals who fire a weapon designed to trap a ship and incapacitate the crew through the induction of a holographic hallucinogen.  Out of nowhere Brendan runs aground around a dark island surrounded by a mist from which his greatest fears emerge. Brendan sings a description of what he sees. He sees distant thermonuclear fireballs just over the horizon, sentient tornadoes appear tracking him down with mortal intent.  Finally, a demon of great weight topples him over and sits on his chest.  The creature takes delight in the terror it evokes.  It morphs into a black vulture monkey with ceramic feathers – it’s eyes turned upward at the corners in a curious joy.  Slowly the form changes to a goddess of black coral – her eyes are like two full solar eclipses – pitch-black orbs brightly ringed.  Brendan is being seduced. She engages Brendan’s life force and pulls on it through his solar plexis.  He is being drawn into her. 

 

What the attackers do not know is that they have engaged a Dream Walker.

BLACK MAGIC LADY morphs into…

 

LUCID DEAMING. (Pedal root) As Jackie slips away into a deep sleep he has a Flashback to the first day of training [like HAL when he was being disconnected] under the Rasputin-like monk Oleg – Mastering Lucid Dreaming. 

[Lucid Dreaming morphs back into Dreamwalker] – “From the grip of” to

DREAMWALKER GROOVE

 

DREAM WALKER. The Black Magic Lady takes delight in her complete dominance over Brendan. The tether of light tugs and Jackie answers whispering in Brendan’s mind to “look at your hands!”  Brendan’s training takes over as he focuses on his hands until he is fully present. The Chorus is sung forte.  Brendan has awakened in the Dream.  He acts out the Chorus.

 

            Dreamwalker!  Turn to face the ones who chase you.

            Dreamwalker!    Have no fear – they will disappear.

 

ORION INTRO REPRISE:  The dark goddess releases him.  They are released just as the ship enters aero-braking in New Eden’s atmosphere. Brendan notices his backup fleet engaging with the inbound alien fleet at LeGrange Point 1.  Arriving at the same time to woo the virgin world the expeditions clash.  The swords of matter and anti-matter cross. The resulting blast rips away the electromagnetic field of New Eden and scatters the rivals destroying much of each fleet while sending the rest tumbling away – some through a rift in the fabric of space to the edge of the galaxy – Brendan and his crew among them.

 

There is a sudden flash arcing across the fleets short-circuiting the electromagnetic connection between the star and New Eden. The double shockwave from the encounter scatters all the ships while the unprotected planet burns in the Ultra Violet light of the star sterilizing 60% of its surface.  The shockwaves reach The Spirit of Erie as they attempt to outrun it.  They are propelled out of the planetary system tumbling into the unknown.  

 

 

SYNOPSIS

ACT III “RETURN”

 

 

MAGICAL THEME.  The is unconscious and wounded.  Some are dying including Brendan.  A.T.H.E.N.A. stabilizes the tumbling ship and tends to the wounds of the crew.  Brendan is in a deep dream sleep.  He is under anesthesia as A.T.H.E.N.A. works to save his life and replace what he has lost with a variety of enhancements.  On earth, Fiona senses Brendan in grave danger.  She drops to her knees at their bed and prays as she was taught as a child.  The intensity of her love reaches Brendan sparking a deep dreamwalk, where they come together in a slow dance in the light.  Brendan is euphoric and beginning to heal. 

 

 

TO GET BACK HOME.  A.T.H.E.N.A. Has stabilized the tumbling craft, repairing all shoe could – craft and crew.  It’s time to wake Brendan from post-op.  She asks him his name, his intention and the last thing he remembers. They are lost.  Navigation and communication are off line.  There are no familiar constellations. Recovering from the shock and assessing the damage, Brendan and the crew learn the fate New Eden.  The shock, heat and light of the blast stripped away her magnetic field leaving her exposed to her mother star’s solar wind sterilizing the newfound paradise.  They also discover the accumulation of a time debt from the acceleration of the blast through the rift.  Though only six weeks out “In the Wind” – nearly ten years have passed on Earth. 

 

AS ABOVE SO BELOW.  Here, the Quantumonks extrapolate their location by identifying three key stars.  They triangulate their position in the galaxy and the location of earth.  They begin the journey home.

 

INSTRUMENTAL [From ORION’s Bridge] Jackie and Trav find a TM.  Ten years pass.  Brendan and the crew journey home and eventually arrive at the edge of humanity’s new reach – an outpost on a rocky world orbiting a star in the neighborhood of earth. The earthbound Quantumonks have done their job making the new technology available to everyone, including mining companies.  Across the earth people now have access to clean energy in excess of the entire output of what remains in the fossil fuels of earth.  Nevertheless, a Type I Civilization has not yet been established. From the breakdown of the Old World the political and cultural instabilities go deep.  The new energy will restore the life of a civilization to type I only if the people are united.

 

BRENDAN THE NAVIGATOR.  Knowing that he must be presumed dead, sly Brendan finds news of earth and learns that, although the technology of the new era has been universally distributed, the recipients remain in conflict with each other and, divided, are unable to meet the challenge of a total environmental collapse.  He also hears a description of the state of affairs at New Star City – their home base in the Great Desert Erie.  Powerful interests, bent on gaining control of the remarkable research facility, have made themselves comfortable in and around the once hidden House of O’Day.  Most distressing is the idea that Brendan’s wife and son are subject to the unrelenting intrusion of men motivated by greed and a lust for power.  Brendan hears all of this in a miner’s pub while minstrels sing a song about him unaware of the “hero” among them.  Brendan leaves the pub.

 

INTO FIRE.  Brendan walks the outskirts of the camp.  He lights a fire and  collapses in grief and despair.  He calls out for his father.  Stealthy ATHENA appears and sings him a song from his childhood.  Brendan sings along burning away the “scattered pieces of grief” until his path is clear.  He resolves to return and put things in order. 

 

BUCKET OF SUNSHINE.  Brendan is in a low mood. A trio of the crew attempt to cheer him up.

 

TIMELESS.  Jackie sends off Trav in the Time Machine and is suddenly completely alone. 

 

ELEVATOR.  Brendan, accompanied by stealthy ATHENA, descends to earth as a drifter on a space elevator designed for the transport of cargo and labor to mine the asteroids.  He returns to the House of O’Day in the style of Odysseus, reunites with his son Elliott (Telly), and together they purge New Star City of the corporate barbarians.

 

SPACE RIFF:  Instrumental where Brendan and Athena, with the help of Telemetrus and the Swineherd, survey the situation and prepare for the purge of the hall – sequestering the suitors weapons, locking all exits and selecting the manner and place of execution.  Brendan walks among the crowd as a beggar -  he is received with scorn and abuse. 

 

BEGGARMAN: He reveals himself before the purge:

 

HOME AGAIN:  Brendan rounds up and terrorizes the pretenders and the local women who gave them aid and comfort.  He is about to slay them when…

 

MASTER:  A white light fills the hall as a lightning ball / an orb descends from the rafters. It takes the shape of a dove and hovers before them.  “ATHENA, what is this?” whispers Brendan. “Unknown, yet familiar,” she replies. The dove takes the form of Jack O’Day.  The patriarch stands tall and says, “I have returned from my apprenticeship - as a Master of Superluminal Flight. On my way home I came across three civilizations.  Each one unique, vast, majestic – all dead.  They had one thing in common: They killed their own.  If you kill these people you will keep US on the same course

LONG ASS PAUSE…………………………….

BRENDAN:  (Turns to the Pretenders) 

“You will be held here until exiled.

Where?  To the frontier – to never return…  to take this second chance… and make us proud.”

 

MAGICAL.  Brendan approaches Fiona in a cautious and gentle reunion. 

 

ANDROMEDA II. The Spirit of Chaos, Destruction and Reinvention has swept through the galaxy and moves on.

 

EPILOGUE:

 

RISING OF THE SUN II.  In the following weeks, other ships scattered in the Exo-Planet Conflict return one-by-one.  As the returning crews share the data collected from the brief encounter with the alien fleet, they learn humanity’s rival has an edge on the effort to control the energetic output of their mother star. Whoever can accomplish this first will rule the other as a Type II Civilization.  A new space race has begun