Episode 504: Ghosts of Jing Jing Bei, Special Features
DIALOGUE TO REWIND FOR
Part 2:
Rina: If he picks Arden, I think another one of us should go.
Kiera: What? To basically the entire time to hold onto his lips? (mimes pinching them shut)
Arden: Whose lips?
Kiera: Yours.
Joshua: I’m looking for somebody, or looking for, I guess, information on somebody. No harm intended. I’m not a bounty hunter. Nothing like that. I’m just … You know anything about a detective agency called Jing Jing Bei? They would have been in business—
Sheriff: Yeah. They were off—they did some of the private security.
Joshua: Yeah.
Sheriff: Rat bastards?
Joshua: Yeah, that fits the description.
Nika: Thank you for your time, Sheriff.
Sheriff: Watch yourselves.
Nika: (low) I hope that’s not what I think it is. Shii… (pissed) Let’s get the hell out of here.
Joshua: I’m not saying that we go in.
Nika: No, all right. This’ll be about when I really want Christian back. Cuz he could just waltz in there an’ make it look real. (drawling) Just so you know? I’m not sure I can walk in there and then walk back out.
Matron: Well … Don’t have many couples come in. Oh, are you separate?
Nika: Yeah.
Matron: Oh. Well … we’ve got a few open-minded gals who might be able to help you out.
Matron: Lookin’ for something special?
Joshua: I don’t know, I, uh … I’ll know when I see it. Um … but, I mean… I might be back but you know I … I don’t know. She’s insistent—(nods to Nika)—but I don’t know if I’m quite ready.
Matron: Well, how ’bout a dance?
Joshua: I ….. I don’t know ….
Nika: If I’m makin’ ya nervous, I c’n leave.
Joshua: Well, I … don’t …. I don’t know about that.
Nika: (into her drink) Performance anxiety …
Joshua: (what?!) … Gosh.
Joshua: Sure. I … I just … Yeah, I’m just lookin’ for somebody who reminds me of my first girlfriend. Like, she was real young and kinda … kinda comely. (cups his hands at his chest)
Joshua: To tell you the truth … I’m looking for a girl that’s gone missing. (off her look) And I don’t got no interest in dispensin’ punishment or justice or whatever you people call it. I’m just curious if she came through here.
Matron: (settling) Lots of girls come through here.
Joshua: Yeah, yeah, yeah. (firmer) Kelly. You know she came through here. What happened to her. Like I said, I’m not interested in doing anything. I just want to know.
Matron: (quietly) She’s not here anymore. (a beat) She’s dead.
Part 3:
Nika: Mind a little company?
Cowboy: I’m not interested in company.
Nika: I’m not exactly interested in the general offerings at the bar, so I wouldn’t mind the extra … protection.
Cowboy: You not one’a Maven’s girls. What are you … ?
Nika: No. My shipmate wanted to come in.
Cowboy: (nodding to the door) That guy?
Nika: (grinning) Ye-aaahhh. That one.
Cowboy: (unimpressed) All right. Well, you might wanna— (hooks a thumb to the door)
Nika: Name’s Nika. Got a name?
Cowboy: Sandy.
Nika: Nice to meet’cha. Thanks for lendin’ a girl a hand.
Sandy: Yeah, you didn’t need it.
Nika: You lemme have a chair and you didn’t try to grab me when you did it. Seems an awful lot in here.
Sandy: (evenly) I’m not here to help you. You understand? My help ain’t no good.
Nika: You lived here long?
Sandy: Uh, yeah. My whole life.
Nika: You know anything ’bout a bunch’a bastards, running by the name of Jing Jing Bei?
Sandy: what do you know about them?
Nika: Gettin’ the suspicion they were gettin’ into somethin’ I’m not real thrilled about.
Sandy: Whatsit matter to you?
Nika: I suppose not that much. Bought a ship. Found a book. Under a bulkhead. Had a list’a names in it. And I’m startin’ to think they were traffickin’ in kids.
Sandy: Pretty harsh ‘Verse. N’fact, that happens more often than you’d expect.
Joshua: I don’t … (breathes) … Damn if I don’t hate this ’Verse sometimes. (a beat) Chews you up and spits you out. I really wish we could have done something for you. I really do.
Joshua: Thirty-nine pairs of names, Nika. Thirty-nine. (a beat) Thirty-nine girls. (shaking now)
Nika: I’m sorry.
Joshua: It’s all right. (stiff arms the sympathy) No, it’s okay. Followin’ to the end.
Nika: Wanna keep tryin’ to find them?
Joshua: (sighs) Yeah.
Nika: Don’t know what the gorram hell it’s gonna do now, but …
Joshua: I don’t know either. I don’t know. But I feel like I…
Nika: Joshua. You know the way this goes.
Joshua: (fed up) I know it does. I know it. I know it. (jabs finger at his chest) I know it here. I—I’m not … gonna … put our ship in some sort of crazy crusade to … try and find…
Nika: It doesn’t mean we can’t look if we happen to be in places that—
Joshua: I know. (a breath) Yeah. If you got an urge to go looking, I’ll give you names.
Nika: Sandy, I’m real sorry.
Sandy: (quiet) If you know how to find these people and you need help, you give me a call.
Nika: If we come across anything I will get back to you.
Sandy: All right.
Nika: Okay, you told me it was a planet, a name, a city, a name, a city. Was it this planet and Kelly on here and then …?
Joshua: And then another name. So this planet, Kelly, Copperhead. Emily, Ft. Jackson. And then there’s another line that was Priam, Marianne, Helena. Kelsey, Trojan Horse. So it’s all mixed up. So some of them may be where they dropped them off, some may be where they took them or picked them up from.
Nika: But there’s no way to keep track of which one’s which.
Joshua: (grudgingly) At least, not that I can … They weren’t exactly the most methodical or logical record keepers.
Rina: So, nineteen girls listed twice.
Joshua: No. Thirty-nine girls. There were thirty-nine girls. Listed twice. Seventy-eight total people.
Rina: Okay. One or seventy-two, it’s one too many.
Joshua: Yeah. No kidding.
Rina: (sincerely) I’m so sorry to have been right.
Joshua: I know.
Joshua: What does it mean?
Arden: I know what it means. I mean, what can we do about it?
Joshua: I don’t know.
Arden: You think the slavers are still in business?
Joshua: I don’t—we got their ship, it seems, so—
Arden: No. We got the people-who-delivered-them’s ship. Someone paid for them to be.
Nika: There is that. I dislike the fact that our ship is known in some quarters as a slaver. That disturbs me.
Kiera: Poor ship. Went from blockade runner and hero to down to vile—
Nika: Yeah. That.
Nika: Ultimately I think we are … either going to have to follow down on each name, if that’s what you want to do—we can’t afford to take a lot of time to do it but—
Joshua: No. I-I’m … um … (a beat) … I’m happy that—I’d be happy just to find one story that, like, we can make a difference in. But while we’re traveling, if we stop on-planet and have time to look, then we have time to look. If not, I’m not sure I’m all that really interested in tryin’ to seek some sort of revenge on people. I’m not sure what that does for us. I mean, stop them if they’re still in business. That’s one thing and maybe that’s a thing worth doing.
Beglan: You’re gonna want to purify the ship too, won’t you?
Joshua: Yes. I do. I knew there was a reason I didn’t like it.
Kiera: Beglan, how would we cleanse the ship?
Rina: (intoning) Salt. Lots and lots of salt.
Joshua: (appalled) No.
Kiera: We’re not walking widdershins, dear.
Beglan: A horrible injustice was done by this ship. I think we owe it to the ship to set things right.
Kiera: Yeah, it started off so bright.
Beglan: I’m not like your … your hairy friend Roskov, but I do believe sometimes that God drops things, gives things to people who can do something with them.
Rina: And I’m not disagreeing with that.
Kiera: And I feel a kindred. It’s a chance for rebirth. Let it have redemption.
Joshua: To be honest, I’m not necessarily worried about the pattern. When we land somewhere, there’s really only two possibilities, right? They either dropped someone off to be sold into the … the thing … or they picked somebody up. If we stop in a town and we say we’re looking for the results of a bunch of rat bastards named Jing Jing Bei, you know, we’re looking for the person to see if they’re still alive … I think we’re going to get some answers one way or another about that.
Arden: Or it could be missile up our aft tubes.
Joshua: Or it could be that.
Joshua: What? (off her look) If you’ve got something to say to me, Captain, say it. If you’ve got something to say to me, Nika, say it. Because you’re going to explode if you don’t say it.
Nika: Between Joshua and Nika, all right? It’s got nothing to do with Captain. Get your head out of your ass.
Joshua: I said I was fine—
Nika: No. No, you’re giving me shit.
Joshua: I was not giving you sh—
Nika: You’re giving me cow manure every time I turn around. Stop playin’ head games. On yourself and everybody else. Quit it.
Nika: I need you to figure out what the heck’s going on. In your own head.
Joshua: Yes, ma’am.
Nika: Or we’re gonna have to—.
Joshua: Dump me?
Joshua: I’m joking, I’m joking—
Nika: NO. That’s not a joke. That’s not funny. Because I think that’s what you’re actually thinking.
HOW TO SPEAK CHINESE
Part 2:
Gāisǐ = 該死 = Guy - suh = Damn Sound clip
UNANSWERED QUESTIONS
Part 1
- What was the real mission of the Eir? Why did they need all the medical supplies? Were they part of the 'trouble' that caused the Alliance to move in and bomb the shipyards on Aesir last year? (see the news articles posted in the Season Four Timeline) Are these supplies being laid in for a retaliatory move against the Alliance by the New Kalmar?
Part 2
- What happened to June Barrett? Why wasn't her name paried up further down the list with another place? Does this mean she's dead? Or is she still with Jing Jing Bei, wherever they are?
- Who is Director Ah? Why was she in charge of Jing Jing Bei?
- The townfolk in Alkali Flats seem suspicious of Arden's offer of certain medicines. Why? What happened to the people in the past to erode their trust in those medicines? Is this evidence that the people have been tricked before into accepting bad or fake medicines? How often does this happen on the Border and the Rim?
- Paul's daughter Mary is taking care of June Barrett's father, reputedly driven insane by grief over his wife and child. Yet when Joshua offers to leave something to help support the man's upkeep, his offer is received with suspicion and trepidation. Why?
- Joshua seems driven to help the people harmed by Jing Jing Bei's depredations. Why? Is he trying to atone for Jing Jing Bei's actions? Or actions of his own while still an agent for Blue Sun? Or does he feel a need to lay the ghosts of the girls on Equinox to rest, so that he can be at peace when he's on the ship? Is this a valid reason to try to make amends to the people harmed by Jing Jing Bei even after all these years?
- The Sheriff in copperhead told Joshua that Jing Jing Bei were called Peacekeepers after the war and Amnesty had been given, and hinted that they had powers like Marshals. He also mentioned that the folk of Alkali Flats were 'independent-minded'. Was this the Capital-I independent, or the self-reliant kind of independent and what was Jing Jing Bei supposed to do with the former?
- Was Jing Jing Bei's agenda to root out Independent malcontents after the Amnesty? Why? Who or what were they looking for?
- What kind of people would steal children and sell them into slavery as a law-enforcement tactic? Was this done with the Alliance's tacit permission? Or was this a side business of Jing Jing Bei's? Do we even have evidence that money changed hands?
- Does the Alliance have the equivalent to today's Mann Act and if so, how is it enforced? (Maybe Di Lan Jeun can answer that one for us).
- Why can't the campaign archivist find a translation for Shiny in Chinese that sounds/looks like Jahn? TPO Arden, please help.
Go back to: Old Secrets, New Chances | Go Foward to Stand and Deliver
Back to Season Five: Realignment
Back to EPISODES or TIMELINE
