Journey Through the Impossible (12 page)

Valdemar: That's me! That's me! It's an answer from my darling
Babichok.

Tartelet: What does she say?

Valdemar (reads): "Dear Valdemar. Be happy...." (Speaks) Oh yes, I
am, I am! (Reads) ". . . without me. I have just married...."

Tartelet: What did you say?

Valdemar (reads): "Without me, I have just married...." (Speaks) I
don't understand.

Tartelet: Oh come now!

Anderson: Come along, gentlemen, come along!

Tartelet: We're coming.

Valdemar (angrily): That hussy! Ah! I'll never see her again.

Tartelet: Take my advice, Valdemar. Forget that cheating woman and
come with us.

Valdemar: Well, all right. I'll come. And she'll see, now that she's lost
me, what a hero she's lost.

Anderson: Come along, gentlemen, come along.

(They both get in the boat.)

(The scene changes)

A moonlit night at sea.

Ox (standing alone on the platform): Here it is, under my feet, the
dreadful monster that spread terror among the people of Goa. It's
Captain Nemo's submarine, the man whose fame my rival, my
enemy, hopes to surpass. Be patient, George, be patient. I shall
keep all my promises. I shall make your fondest dreams come true.
And you will not have to pay for my services. She will pay! She
whose image is constantly before my eyes, whose memory fills my
entire soul. Eva! Eva! She is there, close to him. They were thrown
onto this platform, just as I was, by the shock when the two vessels
collided. Let me go and find her. Let me finish my work.

(He kicks the hull of the ship and an opening appears, through which he
descends. The Nautilus disappears, then reappears on stage. It opens
slightly to reveal the interior chamber)

This short scene, with Dr. Ox standing alone on the deck of the Nautilus, was omitted from the
French edition published in 1981. It appears in this edition as Act II, Scene 2.

The interior of the Nautilus, front cutaway view. An interior chamber elegantly furnished, lighted by electricity. Sofas on either side. All the
machinery is upstage. On the outside, the hull of the Nautilus, which is completely submerged, is in contact with the water, which covers it above the platform. Backstage, doors leading to the engine room.

(Enter Eva, George, and Ox)

George: What a strange, mysterious craft this is!

Ox: It can dive at will to the bottom of the ocean or sail on the surface. It travels without sails and without steam, powered by electricity alone.

George: And it's obviously armed with a formidable ram, because
when our ship tried to block its way, it rushed forward violently
and tore a large hole in the Tranquebar's8 hull that nearly sent her
to the bottom.

Eva: That was when we were taken on board here. But what can have
happened to our two fellow passengers?

George: They probably stayed on board.

Eva: Or perhaps they were thrown into the sea.

Ox: In that case, they have nothing to fear. Thanks to my valuable discovery, they can live and breathe under water.

George: But what are we doing here? What ship is this, and who is
its captain?

(Enter Volsius, disguised as Captain Nemo)

Volsius: You are on board the Nautilus, and you are prisoners of Captain Nemo.

George, Eva: Captain Nemo!

Ox (to George): You wanted to make the acquaintance of this hero of
the undersea world. Now you know him.

Volsius: Are you really sure that you know me, gentlemen?

George: We have known you for a long time, by your name and by
your exploits.

Eva: We don't suppose you intend to treat us as enemies.

George: And hold us prisoner aboard your ship.

Volsius: When you are better acquainted with the Nautilus, you may
not want to leave her.

All: Not leave her? Us?

Volsius: Life is a hundred times more peaceful and more independent
on my ship than it is in your world. Here, you have no need to
worry about storms at sea or persecution at the hands of man.
Hurricanes may rage on the surface, but thirty feet down there is
absolute calm. Whatever despots may rule on earth, my Nautilus
goes down into the depths of the ocean and I can defy all the
tyrannies of the world. Liberty9 is still to be found, gentlemen, a
hundred feet below the surface of the sea.