"Guys... it's getting late... the doughnuts are all stale..."
"We can always order more doughnuts. But we need to figure out what to do about a Verdant sequel."
"Can it."
"Oh, Steve, come on--"
"No, I'm serious. I mean, think about it: Verdant was designed to be pretty self-sufficient. With a little belt-tightening, they could conceivably stay out in space for years. Earth is not going to magically recover from the caldera eruption for years... maybe decades. And no one on Earth knows how to recreate the Verdant drive, much less find Verdant. If Verdant doesn't need to go back, there is no story."
"But... but what, what if... what if..."
"What? What?"
...
"I got nothin'."
"Me neither."
"I'm dry..."
"See? There is no story."
"Man, that
sucks. I mean, there's gotta be
someone who doesn't live happily ever after up there. Why can't they get a story out of it?"
"Hey, you can't always get what you--"
"Hold on... say again?"
"I said you can't--"
"No, not that!
Blake! What'd you say?"
"Uh... I said there's gotta be
someone who doesn't live happily ever after up there..."
"Yeah! Someone who doesn't like it up there... probably for some
stupid reason. There's
always disgruntled people! Why can't we tell a story around them?"
"Yeah, but who?"
"You're kidding, right? I can think of about a half-dozen people
right off-- and a few hundred thousand we've never met--"
"By George, I think you've got something there. Steve, what about it?"
...
"...Maybe..."
"That's all I need to hear. Blake, close the door. Donna--"
"I know. More doughnuts."
"Aces. Let's storm some brains."
Verdant Skies II
Coming, I dunno, maybe before late Fall.