Episode 12

Street-Surfing Pursuit... Subwoofers, Lasers, and Booze... Rescue Underway... 

Voice Actors: Tara Kempton, James Rand, CJ Cinco, Daniel Sorrick, Josh Mihal, Sam McMorris, and Melissa Jones. 

Written, Narrated, and Produced by Mark Johnston
www.constellationaudio.biz 

Photo Credit: Seth Steward 

Music by Mark Johnston

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:19

Constellation Audio proudly presents Brevity by Mark Johnston. Episode twelve.

SPEAKER_01 1:02

Coral continues racing down the sidewalk. One foot stabilized on the deck, the other ferociously kicking the asphalt away from her. One pump at a time. After reaching an acceptable speed, Coral sets both feet and squats low to reduce the unwanted air resistance. Zipping down the open block, one hand lowers to the ground, and her fingers gently feel the light sandy texture of the concrete sweeping beneath her board. She stands up to carve around a series of slow pedestrians and impending light poles, then back into her lowered position, never letting the targeted taxi out of her sight. When she sees the golden getaway mercifully slow to a red light, she gets relieved at the chance to make up some lost ground. But just as Coral gets close enough to confirm the correct license plate, the traffic light shifts to green and the taxi glides off down the road. It takes all she can muster to keep the vehicle less than four blocks ahead of her. The driver finally turns off of 35th Street and onto 2nd Avenue, directly into the vibrant lights of the famous Fuchsia District. Coral rips her board around the bend and catches a glimpse of the two thugs exiting their pulled over escape vehicle two blocks ahead. With the painting not so hidden under the right lapel of the criminal's ugly jacket, they briskly walk up to the entrance of the infamous Cobalt Club. Coral coasts up to the stoplight and watches as the two men nod to the bouncer before entering the flashing neon signed establishment. Then she picks up her board and pulls out her cell phone.

SPEAKER_02 2:46

Christian! I'm at the Cobalt Club on 2nd and 31st. Come meet me here. I'm going inside.

SPEAKER_01 2:53

Coral hangs up the phone before Christian has a chance to talk her out of it. She hides the longboard behind a bush, catches her breath, and lets down her hair before crossing the street and approaching the dingy disco dance hall. She walks up to the frowning bouncer, shows him her ID, and smiles. Without changing his expression, the enormous human hands the laminated card back to her and kindly opens the heavy door. Coral takes one more deep breath and bravely enters the thunderous watering hole. After adjusting her ears to the pounding beat and her eyes to the cacophony of sweeping lasers, Coral finds a dark corner to survey the crowded room. The multicolored dance floor is full to the brim with scantily clad damsels and smooth-moving jivers swaying their hips in unison to the mathematic rhythm of the hypnotic, sultry subwoofer. Coral can easily see that the comically dressed thieves are not partaking in the sonic disco ritual taking place out there. She shifts her glance toward the bar, where a thirsty, three-layer deep crowd is shuffling for the attention of the hustling and overworked bartenders. A quick examination rules out the hectic firewater frenzy, and Coral continues her search elsewhere, down the row of VIP booths. Passing over the first three booths, her eyes rest on the fourth, where an unmistakable jacket pattern gives away the goofy gangster's location. The two thugs are sitting in a small group, laughing and lighting cigars. As Coral studies each occupant, she is struck by the recognizable mug of the man sitting directly in the middle. It's the bartender from the English pub she was at the other day with Jem.

SPEAKER_02 5:08

Son of a bitch.

SPEAKER_01 5:12

Coral watches the group from her position across the room until noticing the man in the middle point up into the balcony. The flat-capped caper stands up and makes his way to the stairs, while unsuccessfully concealing a wooden frame under his ugly wool coat.

SPEAKER_02 5:31

This might be my only chance.

SPEAKER_01 5:36

She slowly follows him up the stairs, making sure to hide her face from the booth below. When they get to the upper level, the man makes way for a dark door on the far wall. Just before he can reach for the knob, Coral taps the criminal on the shoulder pad. When he turns to look, she plants a squarely aimed strike precisely onto his lower jaw. The man recoils, and the painting is dropped to the floor. Coral bends down to pick it up, but is barreled into by the ugly Uptown Enforcer, sending both combatants to the ground.

unknown 6:20

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_01 6:24

The man crawls toward the frame, grabs it, and begins to stand, but Coral sweeps his leg, bringing him right back down to the floor. With the painting still firm in his grip, she tries for a moment to rip it away from him, but to no avail.

SPEAKER_02 6:40

That's it. You asked for it.

SPEAKER_01 6:43

Coral grabs the man's wrist with both hands and throws her legs over his chest to isolate the arm that won't let go of brevity. With a sharp thrust from her hips, the radius in his forearm snaps under the pressure. Ah! And the painting instantly falls from the weakened hand. You bitch! My arm! Coral leaps to her feet with the frame and runs to the stairs, only to find the rest of his party quickly coming up to get her. She pivots toward the far railing closest to the club exit. When she gets there, she hears her name from below. Coral! Down here! She is beyond delighted to see Christian standing under the railing. Coral tosses him the painting and lifts her body over the barrier. Once on the other side, she lowers her center of gravity as far as possible and leaps to the ground level. With a stylish roll, she's back on her feet. Christian grabs her hand and they burst out of the front door back onto the sidewalk. He hands her the backpack that was left in the alley, and she reinserts the painting while the engine of the motorcycle fires up. After the frame is safely back in the bag, Coral jumps onto the bike, throws her arms around him, and grips with all her strength as the Ducati rockets away down the brightly lit 2nd Avenue. Five hours later, Laszlo and Ephraim are patiently waiting at the base of the gigantic crane around the corner from the Opal Tower Plaza. Through the dense fog, they watch as Christian promptly approaches from the cloudy darkness.

SPEAKER_03 8:38

There's our guy. Get any sleep, eh, comrade?

SPEAKER_07 8:42

Nearly a wink. Turned out to be a less than casual pre-mission eve. I'll throw you guys in on the way up.

SPEAKER_01 8:49

The three mates waste no time getting started on their ascent. With only an hour till sunrise, the long journey up the crane's interior service ladder would have to be made with haste. Upon reaching the top, they are pleased to be above the fog, and to find that the crane does in fact cover the height of the building by about three meters, with just a small gap to the ledge.

SPEAKER_06 9:14

Looks like a three-foot horizontal jump, which means that it's probably more like six. Yeah, but with the elevated starting point, we shouldn't have a problem.

SPEAKER_05 9:24

Easy for you guys to say. I've got an extra 25 pounds on both of you. No running start, just an awkward broad jump off a slippery bar in the darkness.

SPEAKER_03 9:32

What could go wrong? Come on, you big baby! It'll be fine. The fog below is blocking your view of the height anyway. Out of sight, out of mind.

SPEAKER_01 9:43

Christian throws the team's two bags onto the roof with relative ease, then makes the leap with a loud grunt and roll. Ephraim follows with considerably more style and grace. Laszlo tries to hide his nervousness. He plants his feet, takes a deep breath, and launches his body through the air. Landing on the edge of the giant tower, clinging to life with both elbows. His teammates quickly grab his shoulders and heave their friend over the ledge to safety. After laying on the roof for a brief moment to catch their breath from the excitement, Christian leads the men to a small concrete structure jutting up from the top floor and extending to the roof. It has just a single door leading to the stairwell that runs down through the entire building. The bandmates toss their bags down and take a seat with their backs to the wall and watch the sun begin to creep over the intermittent skyscraper-filled horizon. The glassy buildings filling with luminescent oranges, reds, and yellows. I sure do love this city.

SPEAKER_07 10:59

Happy that you guys are here with me.

SPEAKER_03 11:01

Ain't a thing, chap. You know we're always down for the action.

SPEAKER_07 11:05

Yeah, I know. Couldn't ask for a better team. Now we just wait for the pieces to hopefully fall into place.

SPEAKER_01 11:26

As the morning sun rises and the metropolis comes to life, Coral strolls down 9th Avenue into the bustling heart of the sleek and modern Charcoal City Financial District. She gets an alert on her phone and pulls it out to see a message from Freddy. She is relieved to read that the disgruntled footmen have decided to push their protest up to this morning at the tower, giving them the distraction they desperately needed to get Jem out of there. Before putting the phone away, Coral sends off a quick message to Christian to let him know. Her objective today was to come up with an escape plan for a mission that had already begun, a task for which she could not fail, which brought her to the modest seven-story building that she now stood before. Haroldson and Greenlaw. Coral takes a deep breath and starts her march up the elegantly constructed stairway entry.

SPEAKER_02 12:21

This has got to work.

SPEAKER_01 12:40

Colette enters the elevator at the garage level with the to-go cup of coffee in one hand and her work briefcase in the other. She reaches for the button reading 55, then remembers her first order of duty and presses the indicator for the 56th floor instead. When the doors open, Colette enters the small front room and walks right up to the lone doorway before punching in her passcode and entering the private floor. She walks the distance of the large open corridor to the far corner and passes around a makeshift wall to find their secured prisoner handcuffed to a cot and surrounded by boxes to create a pseudo-cell, blocking her view of the window as well as the rest of the cavernous tower level.

SPEAKER_09 13:30

Good morning. Has anyone brought you food? No. I'll send someone right up with something. I'm sorry that it has to be like this. You could make it much easier if you would just tell us who diabetes is. We know you know who they are. I can hold Lawrence off from the aggressive interrogation only until the time runs out on your friend's deadline to bring us the painting. Please. I don't want it to come to that. Please just cooperate. I've got enough going on right now. I don't need the guilt of conspiratorially torturing a pretentious town from my father's societal ego.

SPEAKER_08 14:10

I'm sorry. Am I making life difficult for you?

SPEAKER_09 14:14

I'm on your side, you little bit. I'm trying to help you.

SPEAKER_08 14:20

It sounds like you want me to enter my best friend. So that you can kill me.

SPEAKER_07 15:01

Alright, I just got a text from Coral. The union protest is on. F. Go ahead and start picking that lock. Last. Any news on my sister?

SPEAKER_05 15:10

Yep. It looks like she's in the building and heading up the elevator. Let me just adjust the axis so I can see where she's going. Looks like the 56th floor.

SPEAKER_07 15:20

56th floor? I don't even know what that level is used for. Everything on 55th is office space, and the entire 57th is my dad's apartment. Well, she's at the northwest corner and not moving for the time being.

SPEAKER_04 15:33

You think that could be it?

SPEAKER_07 15:35

It's the best thing we have to go on.

SPEAKER_04 15:37

Okay. It looks like she's heading back to the elevator shaft. And down to 55.

SPEAKER_07 15:46

Alright, boys, we're gonna go with that. You guys better start suiting up. It's time to move to phase two. Set your radios to channel four. Boom!

SPEAKER_01 15:57

Got the door open. Christian opens his pack to take out his white bandana and ties it firmly around the back of his neck. He turns on his walkie-talkie, flips his ball cap from front facing to backwards, and begins his journey down the tower stairs.

SPEAKER_09 16:40

Sam McMurris.