AD ASTRA
Written by
James Gray & Ethan Gross
AD ASTRA
SUPERIMPOSE THE LEGEND:ONE HUNDRED YEARS FROM NOW.
We TILT DOWN to REVEAL:
THE EARTH, AS VIEWED FROM ABOVE.
We HEAR MUSIC: a CHEERFUL PIECE, incongruous with the awesome image of our planet.
A NEWS REPORT on PBS.
The introductory music accompanies the logo for the Public Broadcasting System.
The bright blue sky of EARTH. Then: THE LARGEST ANTENNA WE’VE EVER SEEN. A structure stretching inconceivably high in the sky, into the outer reaches of the atmosphere--around 100,000 feet in the air. A majestic lattice of multi-wire, high-voltage tethers, studded with hardware. Towering from earth, up through and above the cloud formations. Over THIS, an UPBEAT VOICE:
REPORTER’S VOICE If this looks to you like something out of one of your children’s comic book adventures, then you’re not alone!
SERIES OF SHOTS of the ANTENNA UNDER CONSTRUCTION over which the reporter narrates:
REPORTER’S VOICE (CONT’D) But child’s play it isn’t. This represents the beginning of a new era in celestial communications. It’s called the Gravitational Interferometer Space Antenna, or “GISA,” to those of us who can’t remember that mouthful. Its goal?
SERIES OF SHOTS of WORKERS in what look like SPACESUITS.On scaffolding, hanging from wires, etc. OVER THESE IMAGES:
REPORTER’S VOICE (CONT'D) To search throughout the universe for intelligent life. With the recent confirmation of so many planets capable of sustaining life throughout the galaxy, GISA may finally prove, once and for all, that we are not alone.
File footage of ASTRONAUTS on SPACEWALKS.
REPORTER’S VOICE (CONT’D) The antenna will allow us tolisten in, across the galaxy, through gravitational waves--seen as the ultimate means of communication through space.
Now: footage of MACHINES going this way and that, spinning a lattice of tethers. They’re almost like spiders on a web. Or HYDRAS, with CYCLOPS-LIKE BRIGHT LIGHTS in their centers.
REPORTER’S VOICE (CONT’D) Self-replicators are used for its construction. And it’s not just machines; a select few highly- trained folks from the Army Corps of Engineers will have to check every inch of the carbon fiber for flaws. It has proven one of the most demanding jobs on Earth, but these men and women are up to the task. Engineer Major Roy McBride of Las Cruces, New Mexico, says he’s not afraid of the challenge:
IMAGE OF FOUR YOUNG MEN and TWO YOUNG WOMEN, seated on a SOFA, in a nondescript office environment with an Army Corps of Engineers logo/graphic on a screen behind them.
One of them is ROY MCBRIDE.
Roy McBride: forties, handsome. His eyes are light blue, seemingly friendly, but reveal little about the man himself. He is even-tempered, but one would not call him kind; there is an icy quality to him. Still, he is not overtly cruel or petty, and to talk to him, one could never question his intentions or his integrity.
Roy speaks slowly, formally, deliberately, as though he does not want ever to repeat himself. He seems guarded, sincere, precise, competent. His face is blank but prone to the occasional awkward joke, and those jokes are made almost for self-amusement. He does not seem morose.
In fact, he smiles all the time, and his face often lights up with little motivation. He speaks with a very slight Midwestern/Western accent. Think Neil Armstrong.
As he speaks, on the screen appears the title “Maj. Roy C. McBride”.
REPORTER’S VOICE McBride is only the latest in a long line of aerospace pioneers. His father, noted activist and educator H. Clifford McBride, was part of an astronaut colony tragically lost in space eighteen years ago.
It is CLIFFORD MCBRIDE whom we’re LOOKING AT. Looks somewhat like Bill Clinton in that old Georgetown photo--almost like a countercultural figure, a sharp contrast with Roy’s buttoned- down appearance.
ANGLE BACK ON ROY:
REPORTER’S VOICE (cheerful again) That team is always on the go. (MORE)
REPORTER’S VOICE (CONT'D) In the clouds, it’s all about the work, and one gets the sense that Roy would rather be left alone to perform his duties than talk to this reporter:
Roy flashes that smile.
REPORTER’S VOICE With all of the risks, do you ever contemplate the larger meaning of what it is you’re trying to accomplish? How we may be able, for example, to detect intelligent life out there, and find out what they might have to say to us?
ANGLE ON ROY as we:
FADE IN:
The ANTENNA STRETCHES HIGH INTO THE SKY. LOOKS LIKE IT’S ALMOST DONE.
We are inside a crowded, cramped place, where no attention is paid to aesthetics and a lot is paid to practicality. Exposed wires and computers and electronics. A circular logo of “GISA” (The Gravitational Interferometer Space Antenna).
Video monitors are everywhere, but so are signs of recreation: a ping-pong table, board games, cards, etc are mixed with more high-tech gaming equipment.
HANK WILLIAMS’ MUSIC is PLAYING. It’s sort of like a party atmosphere here.
CLOSE ON: MEN AND WOMEN SMILING--and looking into the CAMERA. Waving, gesticulating, clapping, egging us on. But we can’t HEAR them; we HEAR MERELY the Hank Williams and the SOUND of WHIRRING: an AIRPACK, for a spacesuit of some kind.
It is Roy’s POINT-OF-VIEW. He walks in a SPACESUIT and HELMET, in his own world. A RADIO voice breaks in, over the Hank Williams:
Roy waves, gives the thumbs up. Then:
Aided by three men in white jumpsuits (the back of which are stamped by corporate logos for RAYTHEON), Roy is positioned inside a small compartment with a LATCH. To a jumpsuited man named SAL:
Sal STARTS PUNCHING SOMETHING into a NEARBY COMPUTER.Roy REACHES AROUND SAL’S EAR, PULLS a GOLF BALL from behind his EAR.
Roy taps Sal, who smiles at the quite nerdy trick, nodding-- he’s seen it before. Roy GRINS WIDELY. The STEEL DOOR SLIDES OPEN, and SAL GENUFLECTS...
Only now do we realize that we’ve been in a STATION floating inconceivably high in the sky. Not in space, certainly earthbound, but frighteningly high up--higher than any aircraft we’ve ever been inside of.
We move outside, above a small PLATFORM.
We’re in the outer reaches of the atmosphere--around 100 thousand feet in the air. The ground far below is both blue, where the waters are, and tawny, where the land is. The earth’s curvature is beginning to be apparent.
The air is frigid and thin, and the environment hostile.But there is no doubt it is beautiful. We aren’t in space; we are still connected to the earth, as Roy stands at the station’s exterior.
We cannot SEE his face, which is SHIELDED by his helmet’s dark visor. We go with Roy as he steps out of the pod and walks onto--
Roy BEGINS TO CLIMB DOWN a SMALL LADDER. HAIR-RAISING SILENCE. Roy looks UP. The EDGE OF SPACE ABOVE. Back down:
As he MOVES, we SEE, BELOW HIM, the TETHER CORDS, NEVER- ENDING, or so it seems. And, THOUSANDS OF FEET BELOW ROY, THE EARTH. It passes below his FEET, and it’s just the most spectacular vista. The CLOUD FORMATIONS are like Van Gogh’s “Starry Night,” magnificent swirls, vibrant.
Between Roy and the ground is much air activity. About a dozen shuttles (mostly unmanned) crisscross below us, carrying tethers, busses, tether-deployment spools, and other building blocks for modular architecture. Some tethers are dozens of miles long.
SELF-REPLICATING MACHINES, looking like HYDRAS made of GRAPHENE, maneuver up and down the antenna.
With the shuttles below him, and SATELLITES high above him, Roy is sandwiched--with a lot of space--in between.
The project is visually exciting, but for Roy, it's business as usual. We HEAR STATIC. And out of the STATIC, ROY’S RADIO FILTERED VOICE:
Roy floats down perpendicularly alongside a several-mile- long, multi-wire structure.
Roy appears small, like an ant on a tree. We HEAR HIS BREATHING...
He rappels down, rather gracefully. Turns some kind of a wheel that allows two parts of the tether to become attached.
A POWER SURGE has HIT THE TETHER. Roy is STARTLED:
Suddenly: along the entire length of the tether to which Roy is attached, the busses’ ACTIVATION LIGHTS come on, one by one. (The lights are how we tell the structure is active.) The HYDRA MACHINES START UP AGAIN!
Roy can see the tether is becoming active, section after section, at breakneck speed--and he pushes himself away from it at the last second, just as it ACTIVATES.
He REBOUNDS against another, parallel (ACTIVE!) tether, IS SHOCKED, as he RICOCHETS against it--changing directions--and begins to SPIN out of control.
He SPINS SO VERY FAST... Is he DEAD...?
But remarkably, he’s able to speak--rather calmly, given the situation.
As Roy continues to tumble, the radio in his helmet squawks away--though never in a panicked tone:
ROY CONTINUES TO SPIN, CRAZILY, MADLY. VIOLENTLY. He barely avoids hitting more tethers...
NO ANSWER.
Then, as he descends: ROY STRETCHES HIS ARMS and LEGS OUT. In the DENSER AIR, HE STOPS THE SPIN.
At last, Roy straightens himself out. Like a great skydiver.
HE PULLS THE RIPCORD...
A PARACHUTE shoots out from the back of his suit and opens with tremendous force, YANKING HIM UP and AWAY FROM US.
He RIGHTS HIMSELF and begins to float safely to the earth...
Roy sinks to the surface. A WIDE SHOT as we SEE: SCORES of PEOPLE RUNNING TO HELP HIM...
MAN’S VOICE (PRE-LAP) I must say, you seem to be in remarkably good shape, Major.
A ROW of HOSPITAL BEDS. Roy is sitting up, on one of them. Each seat/bed has a SCREEN NEXT TO IT. Large WINDOWS LOOK OUT INTO THE COLORADO WILDERNESS.
A pair of MED TECHS are here, doing CHECKS on Roy.
Roy sits alongside a window as they check his heart, lungs, blood pressure, temperature, etc. Roy looks out the window. Earth, dusk. Beautiful, with cloud formations. He has trouble keeping eye contact with the Medical Officers.A MAN takes ROY’S PHOTOGRAPH.
MED TECH #1 (CONT’D) How d’you feel?
MED TECH #1 (CONT’D) Yeah, you got yanked around pretty good. But you’re in one piece. (beat) Sad to say, some of your fellow engineers weren’t so fortunate.
MED TECH #1 We lost your support crew, on the wire--and four hundred some odd more here on earth, too. Been tragic.
MED TECH #2 Would you like the shades down, Major?
The Med Tech hears this, nods, then TYPES something into a small iPad-type device, except it unscrolls. The CAMERA TILTS UP the ELECTRONIC DOCUMENT TO SEE: “MILD AUTISM”.
As the Med Techs pack up, Med Tech #1 holds an earplug-sized item.
MED TECH #1 (hands Roy the earplug) You might want to put this in your ear, sleep with it overnight. Just to check for any head trauma. And try to stay put, if you can.
MED TECH #1 [If] Your head checks out, you can be cleared to go back as soon as tomorrow.
MED TECH #1 (stares for a beat; then) Of course. Try to rest.
He packs up and leaves.
Roy is in bed, sitting up in hospital whites. A GREEN LIGHT and a BUZZ to his left. He PUSHES A BUTTON. PROJECTED in front of him, a very advanced form of FaceTime is showing:
His mother. LEANNE MCBRIDE. Late sixties. Seems older than her age; her face is lined, her mouth slightly downturned.
She SEES him, EXPLODING WITH EMOTION. The sound is worse than the image, for some reason:
TEARS FLOW FORTH from HER:
He PUSHES A BUTTON and it SHUTS OFF the image...
The room is DARK. ROY is prostrate, in bed, asleep. RESTLESS. We HEAR his PULSE, HIS HEART...
Roy’s EYES OPEN, and he is COVERED IN SWEAT. His EYES WIDEN-- like he’s SEEING A GHOST.
AWAKE, he has a VISION. FLASHING:
An image appears to him, and to us: The striking eyes and most of the face of a YOUNG BOY. He seems around 8 years- old, looking off-screen at something. He's smiling and blinking, in EXTREME, STEP-PRINTED, SLOW MOTION.
But the image is very UNCLEAR. It’s BLURRY, almost like a reclaimed moment from the Zapruder footage.
WIDER SHOT -- again, EXTREME SLOW MOTION. A SMALL BOY (probably the same person as the one in the previous image) runs across what might be a wet, cobble-stoned street, on a cloudy day. This time:
A GIRL, an OLDER GIRL, is JOINING HIM. The image is haunting.
The final image: striking, mainly because it's so odd.A MEDIUM SHOT of what looks like a MEDIEVAL CASTLE (!) IRON GATE, COMING DOWN, in the same EXTREME, STEP-PRINTED, SLOW MOTION as in the other image.
ROY’S BREATHING BECOMES LABORED.
CLOSE SHOT on ROY as he then looks out the window. His panic abating somewhat, he allows his head to REST back, ON THE PILLOW. His EYES DART BACK AND FORTH, looking out to the ceiling--and to the heavens...
CUT IN:
A YOUNG WOMAN IN ARMY FATIGUES comes down a hallway.
She approaches ROY, who is dressed and sitting up. Going through a “Scientific American” on-screen magazine.
YOUNG WOMAN IN ARMY FATIGUES Morning, Major. I’m here to take you to SPACECOM Control. For debriefing. Is that okay?
It’s the center of the base. A big “USSPACECOM” SIGN. Roy is being escorted by the woman.
A restaurant, a souvenir stand. MUZAK plays softly. Families are here, excited. There is a TOURISM BOARD desk (A SIGN READS, “READY TO MEET AN ALIEN? GO TO SPACE!”). A LARGE ALIEN CHARACTER, meant to appeal to children, graces the painted board: ”Andy The Alien”. Two YOUNG CHILDREN get their PHOTOS TAKEN in ill-fitting army spacesuits in front of a powder-blue backdrop.
Roy is led down a long, winding CORRIDOR until he reaches a closed door.
YOUNG WOMAN IN ARMY FATIGUES Would you like anything to eat or drink, Major?
YOUNG WOMAN IN ARMY FATIGUES That’s wonderful to hear. We brought in a new caterer last month and I think it’s gotten a lot better.
And a LATCH OPENS:
This is USSPACECOM’s covert ops headquarters. Present are FIVE of Roy’s SUPERIORS. HE SALUTES THEM, mumbles cordial “HELLOS”.
They are: BRIGADIER GENERAL FALLON, LIEUTENANT GENERAL SHARPE, COLONEL EPINGER, and a woman, ADJUTANT GENERAL AMELIA VOGEL, who refers to a PDA-type device.
Among the others here is an older man, seated SILENTLY in the corner. Observing. His name, we will learn, is DR. MARTIN PEDROSA. More on him later.
The DOOR is CLOSED BEHIND THEM. Actually, more SEALED THAN CLOSED. Fallon motions for Roy to sit, and he does as well. As the others sit around him, he’s looking at a file:
The full-wall VIDEO SCREEN behind Roy plays real-time images of Fort Carson. Lieutenant General Sharpe consults his PDA device. Fallon stares at Roy for a moment, then:
On the WALL-SCREEN, A VIDEO begins to play. LOOKS LIKE OUTER SPACE. Through a TELESCOPE.
No stars or anything visible. Until, tiny on the screen, a blue dot. But not the pale blue dot of Earth. CUT TO: CLOSER SHOT. We SEE that this is the magical, mysterious blue of:
NEPTUNE.
This distant planet is almost all blue, with none of the organic brown of Earth.
It's like a shiny marble jewel, its sheen a uniform hypnotic ultramarine, except for a few darker streaks and a few white smudges of elongated clouds. Unearthly, that’s for sure.
Then, our vantage point moves, and we CUT CLOSER, longer focal length. We find our view of Neptune momentarily obscured by a faint, partial RING of dust and ice. An arc of white.
And then, an oblong object comes into view between us and Neptune.
LARISSA.
The small moon is dark against the eighth planet, exhibiting a mild, azure glow, perhaps the reflection of the color of Neptune. It’s heavily cratered.
We gradually perceive that something odd is going on:
The peaceful blue diorama is suddenly invaded by a faint greenish blush that starts small as a pinprick and grows slowly larger. All is not right with Larissa. Its blue complexion is overcome by a green blemish which spreads outwards and seems to utterly transform the moon's very substance, cracking and fissuring it...
The moon formerly known as Larissa becomes a color that alternates between dark green... and dark yellow... and black... and then...
IT EXPLODES. IN DEAFENING SILENCE.
Rock and dust scatter in every direction, as gravity fails to hold together the transformed matter, which now glows green and yellow.
CLOSE ON ROY’S EYES. Then we linger on this unsettling scenario, until we return our focus to the unblinking blue eye that is Neptune...
THE LIGHTS COME UP. Beat.
A TURN. Roy FREEZES for A SLIGHTLY PERCEPTIBLE MILLISECOND:
As everyone takes notes, Adjutant General Vogel slides E- PHOTOS to ROY. THEY ARE OF HIS FATHER, H. CLIFFORD McBRIDE:
Roy lets loose a small laugh(!). An AWKWARD BEAT. He sobers:
The others look at each other.
Roy is BLOWN AWAY; that slight smile disappears. A darkness overcomes his countenance, and he turns inward.
Beat.
About to answer, Roy turns. At that moment, the old man off to the side, Dr. Pedrosa. He speaks with a much kinder tone:
Pedrosa gets up, approaches:
ANGLE ON ROY. Roy looks down again, at the screen. It’s an electronic DOSSIER. (Like an old-fashioned bank file, that opens, but its papery surface is capable of displaying digital information. Such as photos, maps, graphs, etc.) They PUSH THE FILE GENTLY TOWARD ROY. He sees his FATHER’S IMAGE in a photograph. He STARES AT IT. Roy looks back up at the men:
Adjutant General Vogel SLIPS HIM a black leather folder:
The sound FADES OUT as we:
A small, bright room dedicated to preparing for space travel. What looks like black leather Eames chairs, cases, men and women in white pants and shirts helping astronauts get ready. Roy is being fitted with his suit. Roy slides open a kind of foldable iPad and places EARBUDS into his ear. We HEAR a RADIO VOICE:
He is listening to an FILE. We HEAR, with RADIO FILTER:
OVER THIS: ROY’S POV as: men and women prepare for spaceflight, finishing their attire--as Roy LISTENS, an IMAGE of CLIFFORD MCBRIDE comes up on his screen. It is like a Skype call gone wrong; the image is high-quality, but the feed is poor, vacillating between a still frame of Clifford McBride and a sped-up image. The AUDIO is constant.
ROY’S SCREEN now features IMAGES of SPACE, then NEPTUNE’S MOONS and NEPTUNE’S SURFACES as the AUDIO CONTINUES:
The SCREEN GOES BLACK. “PORTION REDACTED.”
A MAN IN WHITE PANTS AND SHIRT then checks with Roy.Roy CLOSES the SCREEN. Referring to his suit:
MAN IN WHITE PANTS AND SHIRT How’s that, Major? Not too snug?
MAN IN WHITE PANTS AND SHIRT The pre-breathe for the moon should take about fifteen minutes.
The Man PLACES a BREATHING APPARATUS over Roy’s mouth and nose. He moves to another passenger.
Roy ascends the narrow scaffolding, with Pedrosa right behind. It’s oddly primitive; the way to the shuttle entrance is a fifty-foot stepladder which goes straight up to where the LUNAR SHUTTLE awaits, nose-up. Harrowing climb for most of us, but there are several people on this ladder, looking surprisingly businesslike and quotidian.
A VOICE through a LOUDSPEAKER:
Roy and Pedrosa, on the shuttle. Both men LOOK into a small SCANNER on the side, near the seats, while stepping on a DEGAUSSING PAD. Then:
VOICE Degauss complete.
The craft seems to be part of a consortium between the Army and a Southwest Airlines-type company. A hi-tech space. Little attempt at aesthetics--most everything is there for practicality, functionality. BANAL.
A dozen or so PASSENGERS are aboard. Roy finds his seat and snaps together his restraints.
ANNOUNCEMENTS are made in English and then in Mandarin and Spanish by a MALE FLIGHT ATTENDANT.
Another FLIGHT ATTENDANT (a stout, warm woman) is giving everybody pills and whispering into certain passengers’ ears. Then, aloud, a recording VOICE:
The passengers APPLAUD as ROY strains to see this Michelle person behind him.
The shuttle takes off and begins its ascent to the moon.
At the moment when gravity is gone, things begin to float-- stray pens, paper, etc. Roy of course has followed the rules, but his NEIGHBOR, of Indian nationality and middle- aged and burly, LAUGHS at his own ineptitude as his things start to float away from him.
Roy SCANS the SCREEN in the SEAT IN FRONT of HIM: MAPS of the LUNAR SURFACE. CLOSE SHOT on HIS EYES as he PROCESSES the CONTOURS OF THE MOON’S VARIOUS CRATERS and other AREAS.
The Flight Attendant hands out packages of nuts. The pilot makes an announcement:
Roy looks out the window, SEES the landmarks. But also lights, signs of mining and human development/habitation. Tracks and angular patterns. Snapping Roy out of his observing, with an accented voice:
Roy turns around. It’s his NEIGHBOR, across the aisle. The NEIGHBOR is of INDIAN DESCENT.
The Neighbor acts like he’s not offended. But he is.
The Flight Attendant then makes her way down the aisle and guides herself via a series of hoops and webbing overhead. She checks to make sure everyone is fastened and happy.She is handing out PILLS. Roy takes a pill and sips a drink she hands him from a straw.
SHUTTLE PILOT’S VOICE (perfunctory) As we begin our approach: in accordance with FASA regulations, we must remind you that many areas of the moon are in a state of extreme lawlessness. The United States government does not recommend travel to certain districts--please check your nearest USSPACECOM Outpost for a complete list. Thank you and safe travels.
Roy SECURES HIMSELF as the FLIGHT ATTENDANT hands out A CUSTOMS FORM CARD to FILL OUT. She HANDS the Neighbor a STYLUS:
Roy LOOKS OUT THE WINDOW to SEE:
As the craft gets closer to the surface: lots of SATELLITES of varying sizes. A tether-type system that may remind us of the GISA.
MINING SITES, GREENHOUSES, SPACE JUNK, DEPOTS, and LIVING QUARTERS that look like they could be housing complexes in Boulder, Colorado. There are also HOUSES OF WORSHIP: a large CHURCH with an open roof (centered by a giant CROSS).
LIT SIGNS ANNOUNCE CHAINS WE RECOGNIZE: McDonald's, Dunkin' Donuts, etc. MAG-LEV TRAINS link together various bases and neighborhoods, at extreme velocities.
The ship adjusts its gyropscopes and turns over (e.g. in Elon Musk's rocket designs), making a gentle landing near the army’s TYCHO BASE. The base is heavily guarded.
The UNDERGROUND looks almost like New York’s Penn Station, combined with an enormous parking garage and the most banal of AIRPORTS. The SHUTTLE MOVES into position, closer to an entrance.
Dr. Pedrosa leads Roy through the corridor, which is, weirdly, wood-panelled. Or is it fake wood?
There are FOUR MEN and TWO WOMEN who come from the OPPOSITE DIRECTION, all talking amongst themselves. When Roy and Pedrosa walk toward them, they stop talking.
Dogs roam about, smelling them and their belongings. Pedrosa moves to talk to some of the men and women. Roy face brightens at the sight of a dog:
A WOMAN, LESLIE CORTEZ, fifties, steps forward. A MAN stands near, holding a PIECE OF EQUIPMENT that looks like a small EKG machine.
Cortez leads Roy with her hand as we HEAR:
MAN’S VOICE (PRE-LAP) Uplink should be ready to go in just a moment.
Roy and the others are in what looks like a recording studio. A glass of water before him. Roy is seated. Dons a headset.
Outside the booth, TWO TECHNICIANS make adjustments.
Roy looks at a MONITOR before him, which gives him cues, as well as technical info regarding high-rate pulse-position modulation and error-correcting codes. A RED LIGHT goes on.
Dr. Pedrosa approaches:
Interrupting: the CONTROL BOOTH CHIMES IN:
Dr. Pedrosa takes out a PIECE OF PAPER:
Roy takes the piece of paper. He looks it over. Weak joke, but a broad smile nonetheless:
Roy MOVES to DEPRESS the BUTTON. FLICKS ON THE MIC. BEGINS TO SPEAK:
ON THE MONITOR: as he speaks, there’s a voice print analysis.
CLOSE ON ROY. Roy’s emotions are deeply buried as he READS THE PREPARED SCRIPT:
BEAT. NOTHING. These words have unlocked something in Roy.
He flicks off the MIC, stands. Any warmth deserts him:
The PREPARED SPEECH is LIT ON FIRE by a MAN, its ashes placed in a wastebasket.
Roy is standing outside, looks out the large window. OUTSIDE: A NEARBY SIGN WITH A NEON COWBOY, PUMPING a “THUMBS UP” GESTURE--just like the famous Neon Cowboy from Las Vegas’s Fremont Ave. Pedrosa EMERGES from the Communications Center. A grim look:
The men shake hands.
The room’s almost like an economy room in a hotel. With the exception being that, out the window, hangs Earth. The CAMERA DOLLIES OVER TO SEE: a half-eaten meal on a tray.
Roy SITS, near a speaker:
VOICE Reservation confirmed, McBride, Roy C. Number EH77902.
He hangs up.
A beat.
A TV SCREEN is seamlessly embedded into a wall. Some programming (news... sports.... something animated...).
The programming forms a low level of constant noise. And then:
The screen CHANGES--completely BLACK.
SILENCE.
A beat. Roy LOOKS UP.
A light, STATIC NOISE.
FADING IN is the sound of:
A MAN SINGING: “Hello, I must be going./ I cannot stay,/ I came to say/ I must be going./ I'm glad I came/ but just the same/ I must be going...”
Roy looks at the SCREEN as GROUCHO MARX APPEARS. Groucho resumes singing after Margaret Dumont’s part:"I'll stay a week or two,/ I'll stay the summer through,/ but I am telling you,/ I must be going."
BEEP! The SCREEN GOES BLACK. SILENCE.
THEN TEXT, on the SCREEN:
“ARE YOU COMING?”
A SERIES OF NUMBERS AT THE BOTTOM of the SCREEN.
CLOSE SHOT: ROY’S EYES. Then we SEE that the screen GOES BLACK. We HEAR:
Roy stands as Dr. Pedrosa and TWO MEN and LESLIE CORTEZ sit around a conference table, with looseleaf binders in front of them. MOON PHOTOGRAPHS, illuminated from behind, line the walls. Chairs all around. Coffee. Roy is reluctant as he stands at attention. HE STARES STRAIGHT AHEAD, NO EYE CONTACT. The others seem STUNNED INTO SILENCE.
None of them answers. Roy steps forward:
Pedrosa can tell that Roy’s serious, DETERMINED.
ANGLE ON PEDROSA as we:
SECURITY MEN all SURROUND ROY, like he’s the President.A POV SHOT of ROY as he WALKS toward:
AT THE END OF THE CORRIDOR is Dr. Pedrosa. Over this:
Roy is sitting up on a medical table. We STILL HEAR DR. PEDROSA’S VOICE. A MEDIC approaches ROY. CLOSE SHOT on an injection into ROY’S ARM.
Dr. Pedrosa and Roy board a MONORAIL. As they do, we HEAR:
They stop at a GATE.
Several LUNAR ROVERS are lined up, in the distance. They aren’t SLOW, LUMBERING THINGS, however; they are durable and tough and fast and filled with artillery.
The ROVERS WHIR and WHINE with ferocity, their engines warming up and getting ready for the trip ahead.
Roy and Pedrosa enter, joining a host of MILITARY ASTRONAUTS. One of them, a cheerful, burly man named WILLY LEVANT, late forties, pulls up an interactive 3D MAP. It shows the LUNAR TERRITORIES in incredible detail. Roy listens intently as Levant checks his clipboard.
Roy notices that Pedrosa is fiddling with the CRUCIFIX around his neck. Pedrosa SEES Roy looking at him.
Pedrosa eyes Roy for a moment, nods, then starts to pray with Levant and the others as Roy prepares his suit.
MOMENTS LATER
Roy and the others--in full SPACESUITS--board a souped-up and unenclosed LUNAR ROVING VEHICLE (LRV).
This rover is CRAMPED. Pedrosa has a smaller version of his mapping COMPUTER in front of him and he is next to Levant. Levant is driving, and he makes a final consultation of the route. ON THE TOP OF THE WINDSHIELD: photos of NUDE WOMEN. Like old PLAYBOY centerfolds...
Roy is in the back seat:
The LRV departs, bursting forward with ferocity.
NOTE: ALL DIALOG in this sequence will have a “RADIO FILTER” effect unless otherwise noted.
Levant is looking around with hi-tech BINOCULARS. Roy is hunched back, right behind him, watching and listening:
The LRV traverses the lunar surface. Occasionally, the lunar DUST kicks up, obscuring our vision. The SUN is SHINING, and yet the SKY IS JET-BLACK.
Roy turns back as the base recedes into the distance.THE EARTH IS IN THE SKY! PEDROSA POINTS TO IT, then DOWN TO THE SURFACE, FOR ROY. A TALL OBELISK, made of STEEL, in the LUNAR DIRT, near the LEGS OF THE LUNAR MODULE:
SERIES OF SHOTS of LUNAR SURFACE.
A CARAVAN OF ABOUT TEN BLACK, ARMOR-PLATED rovers that we'll call the Russian name of LUNOKHODS appear on the horizon, coming toward our GUYS. The Lunokhods are driven by mysterious ASTRONAUTS in DARK BLUE SPACESUITS and HELMETS with mirrored visors.
AS THEY APPROACH, LEVANT LOOKS THROUGH BINOCULARS. He DARKENS CONSIDERABLY.
Roy STEELS HIMSELF. The Lunokhods are closing in on our LRV.
ROY BRACES HIMSELF. Dr. Pedrosa TURNS AROUND, points to a BOX next to Roy’s FEET. Roy opens the box: WEAPONS.
GRENADES and a GUN which looks ALMOST LIKE a ROCKET LAUNCHER.
(The BLUE ASTRONAUTS in the Lunokhods brandish a weapon called a STILETTO--an electromagnet-propelled jet of liquid metal resembling a solid bar of light.)
(VISUAL NOTE: LUNAR DUST PERIODICALLY OBSCURES the VISION.)
The LRV turns onto a route that runs adjacent to a POWER PLANT.
The Lunokhods open fire on our LRV:
Everyone bounces forward in their seats, restrained by their seatbelts.
ROY ARMS HIMSELF. Ahead of them, he SEES three possible RAMPS: one to the right, one to the center, and one to the left.
A FORK IN THE ROAD--the left side of the fork is closed off, blocked by A BARRICADE. The LRV is headed right for it.
At the last second, LEVANT jerks the rover to the right.The Lunokhod’s driver can’t react in time. SLAMS INTO THE BARRICADE. The blue astronaut is hurled from his Lunokhod, CRASHES through the windshield, flies through the air.The Lunokhod flips over and over--no air resistance, so it seems like it won’t stop...
LEVANT struggles to control the rover, which is in a major SPIN.
OUR LRV stops SPINNING. RESTARTING, they take the left.
A BULLET/SMALL ROCKET hits the back windshield, which CRACKS slightly.
The Lunokhods are out of view now, but they’re out there.A RADIO VOICE pipes in:
Roy is LOOKING BEHIND HIM:
Roy leans out. His jaw jutting forward just a bit, he seems anxious to do DAMAGE, a strangely VIOLENT COLDNESS coming through here. He reaches down, takes out a WEAPON.
He AIMS his WEAPON at the HORIZON. Then it appears. It COMES CLOSER and CLOSER! The Lunokhod is almost upon them--
HE FIRES HIS WEAPON.
An EXPLOSION. Another Lunokhod appears on the horizon. Gains on them. ROY AIMS, FIRES AGAIN. ANOTHER PUFF of DUST.
A DARKNESS OVERTAKES US. It is PERMANENT NIGHT: THE FAR SIDE OF THE MOON.
We now reach the Far Side (i.e. the side always facing away from Earth) and are weaving amongst Chinese thermonuclear REACTORS. ENORMOUS LIGHTS SWITCH ON in front of the ROVER.
ROY LOOKS OVER TO PEDROSA.
ANGLE ON PEDROSA, from ROY’S POV. HE IS SLUMPED FOR A BEAT! HE SITS BACK UP...
Multiple SPACESHIPS DESCEND and DROP ORDINANCE. “Daisy cutter”-esque MOABs do their thing. It’s gruesome, spectacular, and Roy SPOTS IT looking behind him.
It’s a ferocious scene, vicious and unforgiving, made all the more bizarre by the utter LACK OF SOUND. The silence and carnage is astonishing. The EXPLOSIONS are beautiful and ferocious. The sky’s lit up for miles.
MOONBASE VEDA is just ahead--it’s built over a massive crater and is underneath a DOME.
Pedrosa salutes. Levant and the rest of the crew depart, unsentimentally, leaving behind DR. PEDROSA and TWO FACELESS ASTRONAUTS to accompany ROY.
Roy disembarks from the LRV, flanked by the Faceless and Pedrosa. PEDROSA and the TWO MEN BOUND DOWN THE SIDE OF THE CRATER, with Roy.
They reach the bottom, a LAUNCH PAD for the fusion-powered craft, THE CEPHEUS.
A mammoth hangar in a covert underground silo. Greenhouses, other life-sustaining structures inside, too. The SILO is IMPREGNABLE, surrounded by a kind of HEAT MOAT which forms a giant RED CIRCLE around the PAD...
ROY MOVES to a STEEL BAR. DR. PEDROSA PUTS HIS FOREARM under a BLUE LIGHT.
The SILO OPENS.
The spacecraft--THE CEPHEUS--is poised on the pad, glowing in the beacon lights. Dr. Pedrosa REMOVES HIS HELMET and GLOVES. Roy does the same.
We PULL BACK to reveal the massive nature of the spacecraft/rocket. A WOMAN, SERGEANT ROMANO, approaches:
Pedrosa INTERRUPTS Roy, pulling him aside. Something is WRONG; he’s sweaty, white as a sheet. Sotto:
He hands Roy a thin silver card. Roy looks at him, bewildered:
Roy SPOTS BLOOD, CASCADING DOWN Dr. Pedrosa’s HAND. Looks around for help--
Roy spins back around. Pedrosa grabs him, SMEARING BLOOD on ROY’S SLEEVE:
PEDROSA CRUMPLES TO THE GROUND. MEDICS COLLAPSE on him as ROY BACKS AWAY. Roy is SURROUNDED by ARMY, among them SERGEANT ROMANO. They pull him away from the dying Pedrosa.
Roy holds the CARD in his hand, POCKETS IT.
The doors open, Roy exits. OVER THIS, we HEAR:
A WOMAN’S VOICE (PRE-LAP) Major McBride?
Sergeant Romano hands a spacesuit to Roy:
Nearby, three men are donning their suits and going through their EXHAUSTIVE CHECKLISTS. They eye Roy with varying degrees of trepidation.
Focus on LAWRENCE BLUNT--early 40s, dark wavy hair, dark eyes, powerful physical presence.
Blunt shakes Roy’s hand.
Blunt nods. He looks through a clipboard, then:
ROY NOTICES PEDROSA’S BLOOD ALL OVER HIS SUIT.
He refers to DONALD SCOBEE--late thirties, brown hair in a comb-over. He’s in excellent physical condition. Looks like old Nixon aide John Dean. He stares at Roy with his piercing eyes as he extends a hand.
A handshake. Scobee is COURTEOUS but tough as NAILS.
And FRANKLIN YOSHIDA. Mid-forties. Totally remote, taciturn, a man of science. Barely makes eye contact with Roy.
Finally, ALAN TANNER. Early-30s. A firm handshake and muttered greeting. Roy responds:
Roy tries to turn his forearm to hide PEDROSA’S BLOOD.
A young CADET walks in with food. Blunt looks down at an illuminated SOLAR SYSTEM MAP.
Roy turns to Sergeant Romano. Sotto:
Roy nods, then turns, looks through GLASS at the ROCKET THAT will TAKE HIM TO THE STARS... THE CEPHEUS... Here, as everywhere, ARMED MEN and WOMEN abound. Looks down at his hand: CLUTCHING THAT DOSSIER CARD.
Roy, in his SPACESUIT, walks with the others holding their airpacks into the top of the rocket.
The cockpit is aglow with instruments and screens. Roy moves past Blunt and Scobee as they are ensconced to perform final preparations and checks.
Roy STRAPS IN.
SpaceCom commences COUNTDOWN.
ENGINES ROAR to life. The ROCKET SHUDDERS from the force.
The LIFTOFF TEAM scrambles to get away. The Cepheus, barely held to the gantry, is ready to go.
A great fire alights beneath The Cepheus.
The Cepheus rises, shaking off its tethers.
It explodes forward, hurtling around the Far Side.
Roy fights the G's.
The Cepheus fires its BOOSTERS and explodes forward, hurtling around the Far Side with increasing velocity. DARKNESS returns to the launch pad.
The group settles in just a bit. The distant sounds of the ENGINE are a soothing, rhythmic lullaby.
Everyone TAKES A PILL which comes ejected from the console-- EXCEPT FOR ROY, who PALMS THE PILL and SLIPS it into his pocket.
Roy looks at his fellow travelers, all engaged in checklist tasks, other mundane activities:
As Roy gets up, we SEE, to his RIGHT: “CAUTION: MANUAL BOOSTER CONTROL”.
Roy floats in to a SECLUDED PART of the ship. He pulls out what Pedrosa gave him. The DOSSIER/AMULET, a thin, silver card. He inserts it into a slot of a small computer that is in his sleeve. Inserts an earbud.
LASERS and OPTICS read his irises. SCREENS on his helmet inside display his biorhythms.
The password and bioscan activate the ELECTRONIC DOSSIER. The dossier opens up on a screen before him--in what looks like MID-AIR.
ON SCREEN: “LIMA TRANSMISSION INTERCEPT: 12/14/16. UNTELEVISED CANADIAN BROADCASTING CHANNEL INTERVIEW: H. CLIFFORD MCBRIDE”
PROFESSOR H. CLIFFORD MCBRIDE, looking into the camera. Unlike videos from today’s astronauts, these are HD, fluid images.
H. Clifford McBride is on a space station, but exactly where is unclear. He looks haggard and unkempt. UNHINGED.
ANGLE ON ROY. His FACE registers that this is his father, addressing him directly--and his father doesn’t look good. Roy looks down, at his SLEEVE. His VITALS. Over this:
ROY’S PULSE STARTS CLIMBING... So he has to stop watching before the computer redflags his bioactivity...
Roy takes the small stick given to him by Pedrosa and puts it in an airlock, adding the PILL they gave him to take. Releases the lever and sends the items into space...lost forever...
A VOICE, through radio earpiece, from another part of Cepheus:
Roy turns, moves to
SCOBEE and YOSHIDA seem to be in some kind of quiet panic. SILENTLY attending to the equipment around them. Then Yoshida comes to ROY/US (the camera is NOW SUBJECTIVE) as ROY settles back into the main area of the craft. Yoshida turns to Roy, with urgency:
Roy moves past Yoshida into:
Roy enters the CONTROL ROOM, sees that the other men have put on their helmets.
The ELECTRONIC BEEPING alert plays, and DATA flashes across the main MONITORS on the bridge. Lawrence Blunt to the radio, with RADIO FILTER:
ROY LOOKS OVER THEIR SHOULDERS TO SEE: on a panel screen: the image of THE VESTA IX. A small, rotating station orbiting of “Earth’s second satellite,” the asteroid called TORO. Roy is agitated:
Roy looks impatient, unsure how to press the case:
Unable to reveal anything, Roy turns away as Tanner looks through flight information:
On another screen: A scan of the Vesta IX appears. And on another SCREEN, ship schematics.
Still nothing. Roy looks at a screen for information.Eyes the SCHEMATICS for the VESTA NINE.
ROY OVERHEARS:
Roy thinks for a moment, then, with thinly-veiled anger, he starts to suit up.
Roy and Blunt strap on equipment and make final suit augmentations for their EVA. Roy SEES Blunt is ARMING A WEAPON, a GUNLIKE object.
Frustrated, Roy turns, looks through GLASS to SEE: the Vesta IX, about the size of the Cepheus, slowly rolling in place. We hear Donald Scobee from the cockpit...
Blunt leads Roy towards the hatch...
Roy and Blunt stand before the airlock doors... which open into space.
Out they go...
A few glittering LIGHTS distinguish the Cepheus from absolute darkness.
Roy and Blunt jet towards the Vesta IX.
They venture away from the Cepheus and frighteningly into deep space. The Vesta is still distressingly far...
And yet, the Vesta gets closer...
And closer...
And then they are upon it! Roy reaches the airlock first. He PUNCHES BUTTONS on the DOORFRAME, to no avail. STATIC NOISE. Blunt motions to Roy, who uses a GATLING GUN to blow open the airlock. In SILENCE.
Roy and Blunt enter the craft, pulse weapons at the ready. No one’s in sight.
Blunt points to Roy, and he and Roy move in different directions...
Roy floats through the craft--it’s vacant, jammed with idle instruments, empty console chairs. It’s quiet, except for an electrical HUM. We HEAR:
The ZERO GRAVITY renders a lot of things floating: PENCILS, NOTEBOOKS, EQUIPMENT, LIT FLASHLIGHTS. They spin in the craft.
Roy floats deeper into the craft. It’s dark. Roy scans his TRACKING DEVICE from side to side. The SPINNING FLASHLIGHTS illuminate spots for brief moments. Roy grabs one as it moves.
By the looks of the LAB EQUIPMENT, it appears the craft performs research on viruses and diseases.
Roy continues...
Roy MOVES towards an OPENING that leads to a DECK. LIGHTS are coming from that area.
Much CLUTTER here, lots of ITEMS floating around.
Roy moves silently. A SCREEN COMES ON. A bearded man, grizzly and haunted. A NORWEGIAN ASTRONAUT:
Then: something weird... CRIMSON ORBS are floating here and there. There must be at least a dozen. Most are baseball- sized, some are larger, some smaller.
ROY touches one. Liquid. He removes his finger, the orb divides into smaller orbs.
Then--
Something else is FLOATING TOWARDS US... A larger MASS... ROY backs up--
AND bumps into a BODY.
A dead body. He is startled. Roy pushes past them.
MORE DEAD bodies ahead.
One body leaks BLOOD, which bubbles out of the man's torn suit, up, down and around, in every direction, forming the crimson orbs.
Roy is in the aft of the ship and is DOWNLOADING information from a central computer shaft. PULLS OUT a BLACK BOX from the console.
A small LIGHT on Roy’s tracker FLASHES.
No ANSWER.
Roy tenses, looks around. Starts to float in that direction.
Roy moves between cramped rows of SHADOWED EQUIPMENT.
There’s MOVEMENT in front of him. He hesitates. Then, another shadowy movement...
Again, no answer! Roy RAISES HIS WEAPON. MOVES FORWARD TO REVEAL:
AROUND THE CORNER:
We SEE a truly GROTESQUE SIGHT: a BABOON DEVOURING CAPTAIN BLUNT’S FACE!
It’s a big one, a Chacma, close to 100 pounds. It’s insane and hungry.
Roy jumps back, beyond startled.
ROY’S P.O.V. -- The baboon SEES ROY, SHRIEKS (LOUDLY--but SILENT TO US because of our helmeted P.O.V.). It knocks over some equipment as it swims toward us in the gravity-free space, floating towards ROY’S jugular.
BANG! ROY KILLS THE PRIMATE WITH HIS WEAPON.
It TUMBLES AWAY, dead.
Roy comes over to help. He looks in what remains of Blunt’s eyes. The pupils are not dilating. Roy PUNCHES a BUTTON on the SIDE OF HIS HELMET. OUT OF BREATH:
Just then: A RUSH OF MONKEYS APPEARS, CHARGING AT ROY.HE PULLS HIMSELF BACK, through an AIRLOCK, YANKING the SMALL BLACK DATA BOX as well as BLUNT inside. Just in time, too, as the MONKEYS SLAM into the AIRLOCK DOOR. Insanity.
Roy pulls out a HELMET from a ROW of them, inside the airlock. Locking it into place on Blunt, placing carefully it over Blunt’s BLOODIED FACE.
Roy and his cord--pulling the black box as well as an inanimate Blunt--move back to the Cepheus.
As Roy approaches, the Cepheus is SPINNING. He gets to the surface of the craft, waits until the AIRLOCK DOOR approaches.
The airlock doors whoosh open, and Roy rockets in with the
equipment and Blunt’s body on a tether cord. The doors close behind him. He takes off his helmet. Yoshida helps him/them through the airlock; PULLING OFF BLUNT’S HELMET, he’s horrified to see what’s become of his Commander. Yoshida begins immediately to work on Blunt. Roy is out of breath.
Yoshida goes back to work on the unresponsive Blunt. Leaning his HEAD IN through the corrugated arch, ALAN TANNER reaches for the BLACK BOX. He pulls it toward him. Then, sotto:
Yoshida SIMPLY SHAKES HIS HEAD. The CAPTAIN WON’T MAKE IT.
As Tanner PULLS the black box, Roy follows him into:
Tanner begins to draw on the BLACK BOX data. Scobee is going through his checklist, comparing it the BLACK BOX DATA that is coming in on the computer. Roy moves closer.
The RADIO INTERRRUPTS:
Sotto, to Scobee, Roy grabs Scobee’s arm:
Roy HEARS something. Turns back to SEE:
The life is leaving Blunt. ROY can SEE the BODY, ENTOMBED inside his SPACESUIT. Yoshida finishes reading LAST RITES:
The AIRLOCK opens. A WHOOOSH!
THE CEPHEUS RELEASES BLUNT’S BODY into the VOID...
Their fallen commander tumbles away, into the darkness.The Cepheus’ BOOSTER ROCKETS FIRE, and the CRAFT speeds away-- leaving Blunt’s body to tumble. Forever...
The RED PLANET, floating in space. A space elevator with a SPINNING DOCKING STATION is tethered to the planet.
The Cepheus ARRIVES into view, its retros thrusting.
The men speak:
It slows to a stop as it DOCKS with THE DOCKING BAY connected to MARS.
As Roy, Tanner, Scobee, and Yoshida ready themselves to leave: A DOWNLOAD COMMENCES.
The FILE DOWNLOADS. Roy takes the chip and:
Roy downloads the chip:
ROY FOCUSES. On a SCREEN comes: THE IMAGES OF THE MEDIEVAL CASTLE THAT ROY has OBSESSED OVER! The MUSIC is odd, a strange “easy listening” tune...
ROY MOVES CLOSE TO THE SCREEN. Then, the IMAGERY CUTS OUT, leaving a TEXT SENTENCE, white TEXT on BLACK SCREEN:
“ARE YOU COMING?”
NEW LINE of TEXT:
“06:10:00”
ANGLE ON ROY as we:
Roy SHAKES the hands of Scobee and Yoshida and Tanner:
The HATCH OPENS for ROY, and he glides through.
Roy is in the shuttle to Helios South.
He enters the docking bay of the space station. Nobody’s here to greet him, although there are cameras and active screens. BEEEEP! ROY SPEAKS:
Steps forward and puts his eye in the scanner.
A moment, then a WHOOSH! A LARGE DOOR OPENS TO:
The CREW, entering in the elevator. Roy looks out, SEEING THE RED PLANET’S SURFACE APPROACHING as the thing descends.
The ELEVATOR “lands” on MARS. The LARGE STEEL DOOR UNLOCKS AUTOMATICALLY. ROY steps out.
We don’t see any people here yet. But several SIBERIAN HUSKIES walk up and down the halls of the installation.A couple of them come up to our men and sniff around.
A weird SCREECHING sound pervades--as if something large deep inside the station needs repair...or, at the very least, WD40.
THEN: A FEW SCIENTISTS staggering down the hall, too--SINGING some unknown song badly, somewhat drunkenly. A GUY IN ROLLER- SKATES speeds past in the background.
A SEEMINGLY INSANE MARS OFFICER, a woman of fifty, charges to Roy:
Roy looks past her. It’s MADNESS. More passersby, more revelry... and the return of the Roller-Skater.
Next comes an unctuous officer named SERGEANT PETER BELLO (fiftysomething, strangely tan) greets our man. He may not be drunk, but it’s unclear if he has his wits about him.
ROY INTERRUPTS him.
An enormous dark space, almost like the Whale Room in New York’s American Museum of Natural History. It’s lit only by black light.
PROJECTED ALL OVER, we SEE...several physically perfect STRIPPERS (holographic--but also totally lifelike).
ROY joins the throng of SCIENTISTS & MILITARY. EVERYONE is SMOKING POT and doing a lot of other stuff.
Roy walks through some of the strippers.
Roy looks around him at a couple of gorgeous (fake) women, GYRATING IN UNISON to “TALKIN’ LOUD AND SAYIN’ NOTHING”.
Roy SEES a LARGE BUFFET TABLE with PROCESSED FOOD.
The virtual HOLO WOMEN move around Roy like ghosts.
It’s James Brown night, evidently. The Godfather of Soul is actually here in person, “on stage”--a perfect, life-like hologram.
Roy's sort of pushing the Holo Women away, like swatting flies. His hand just goes through them. Roy and the rest of the crew encounter:
Sitting on a cushion, smoking a BONG and working on God-knows- what with old-fashioned pencil and paper, is astrophysicist SAMIR MALIK--bearded, thirtysomething, bespectacled, hippyish. A shit-eating grin. HIS WIFE, CHERYL, is next to him. Projected around them is a WARM SPACE, almost like a high-end LOG CABIN. STANDING NEARBY: COLONEL LIPSET, a grizzled man, about forty-five years old. Lined face, gaunt. He STARES AT ROY...
Malik smiles broadly, holds out a hand to shake Roy’s. COMPLETELY STONED. His hand is robotic, a metallic gold (for no explained reason).
Awkward pause, the MEN LOOK AROUND at the surroundings. COLONEL LIPSET is still staring. Then:
The OFFICER REACHES DOWN to a METAL PLANK below his feet and FLIPS a SWITCH. OFF GOES the HOLOGRAPHIC ROOM AROUND THEM, that “HIGH-END LOG CABIN”, revealing the real space around them. Stepping forward is Colonel Lipset:
As COLONEL LIPSET MOVES to shake Roy’s hand, he LEANS IN, softly into Roy’s EAR:
Straightening up, and louder:
Roy turns, HANDS LIPSET A PRINTOUT.
MALIK LOOKS AT IT, then UP AT THEM, LIKE ROY’S NUTS. Grows DEADLY SERIOUS. Turns to his wife:
ROY, SAMIR MALIK in a SPEEDING MONORAIL. A LIT MAP IS IN FRONT OF THEM. With Malik is his right-hand, a woman named KATHRYN COLLINS. COLONEL LIPSET is with them, SILENT.
He looks to Collins:
Roy TURNS TO THE MAP IN FRONT OF THEM as it scrolls up to the northern hemisphere, then stops. Like Google Maps’ “Street View”--a remote camera has captured the exterior of a Martian REACTOR. Roy studies the location.
Collins points to the map, which shows a “skeleton” of the reactor’s innards.
Roy is studying images of a large TELESCOPE ARRAY near the reactor in Valles Marineris.
Everyone falls silent. Lipset’s interjection is odd. Then:
As Roy sifts through the reactor scans:
A TENSE BEAT. Then:
Colonel Lipset looks to Roy, who responds “properly”:
Malik purses his lips. Not the most encouraging answer.
What was once solely a chapel has been converted to a lab mixed with a weird version of a 1960’s hippy ashram. Blankets, lamps, etc. A WOMAN whose back is to us.
A CLOSE SHOT on FRANCESCA DESANCTIS, early forties, as she turns around to us. Lovely but also fragile. Not physically delicate, but somehow, we can tell she’s emotionally vulnerable. She is whiter than white--as if her skin has never seen sunlight. Veins are visible beneath her temples.
She looks into the camera, then STANDS UP, walks toward us as ROY ENTERS.
ROY IS STUNNED.
Roy and Colonel Lipset are huddling. Lipset looks at DATA PAPERS. In medias res:
Lipset looks up. A beat. Then:
Lipset begins to BURN the DATA PAPERS.
Roy LOOKS TROUBLED. DOES NOT SPEAK UP.
ANGLE ON ROY as we:
Francesca is getting a SPACESUIT put on her. She’s rarely had one on before; it looks awkward, almost preposterous, on her. She’s older than Roy; she is lovely in her vulnerability. Incredibly aware and sensitive eyes--as well as a seemingly easygoing manner:
She accepts that. Roy REACHES for a SMALL ELECTRONIC FLAT SCREEN, which he unfolds:
Unexpectedly, she stops speaking. Looks at Roy. Her EYES WELL UP:
A beat. She seems to get an idea:
ROY IS MOMENTARILY CONFUSED:
DeSanctis looks at her suit. Then:
A BUTTON on Francesca’s SUIT is PUSHED and it COLLAPSES AROUND HER, SNUG. She looks uncomfortable--but ready. Roy SMILES at her; he’s comfortable. There’s even a level of sexual attraction, maybe. Maybe. Roy talks to his sleeve:
ANGLE ON ROY as he LOOKS UP. THROUGH GLASS, we SEE: SAMIR MALIK and COLONEL LIPSET looking at them.
A maze-like installation. A ROVER about to depart.
In the ROVER are Roy and Francesca. With KATHRYN COLLINS driving.
The ground opens up and the rover emerges onto the strikingly bright Martian terrain.
The rover drives alongside one of Mars's monumental canyons, VALLES MARINERIS. It's amazing.
A wonder to behold. ALL DIALOG IS RADIO FILTER:
Francesca DeSanctis gestures to a large structure that they’re about to pass.
Collins pulls the rover over to the side of the road, near a WHITE STEEL CIRCLE TUBE in the dirt--about 10 feet in diameter. Roy leans forward. To Collins:
The rover’s doors open. Roy steps out.
Roy and Francesca are left all alone as the Rover leaves behind a trail of dust.
It’s silent. The landscape is mostly barren--the greenhouse, the radio telescope, and a few other structures are in the distance.
A purple DUST STORM materializes, gathers, grows, approaches.
The atmosphere is obscured.
Luckily, the atmosphere is so thin that these twisters are harmless--they just leave a RED/VIOLET HUE over Roy’s and Francesca’s spacesuit and helmet.
Francesca finds a HATCH, covered in dust and dirt. POINTS TO ROY. Roy bends down, shoves the dirt away and find a metal protuberance. After removing more dirt, he is ABLE TO LIFT UP THE HATCH.
DOWN THEY GO, INTO AN UNDERGROUND CHAMBER.
A CONCRETE SARCOPHAGUS. A WALL. With a CIRCULAR WHEEL, leading DOWNWARD. FRANCESCA GESTURES.
ROY TURNS THE WHEEL. It opens, and they descend into the DARK WATER:
THEY ARE NOW SWIMMING in a TUNNEL of DARKNESS. Roy and Francesca have HELMET LIGHTS which illuminate a few feet in front of them.
They PULL THEMSELVES ALONG by the GUIDE ROPE.
ROY’S SLEEVE BLINKS: “EXCESSIVE RADIATION”
They are dark.
Only a few feet in front of Roy is illuminated.
THE TWO PULL THEMSELVES ALONG THE ROPE SLOWLY and CAREFULLY. INTO THE DARKNESS.
But then we see the movement of particulate in the air. Something is causing dust to disperse in that DARK TUNNEL...
The breaths quicken.
TERROR on her face. He looks down the pipeway; he can focus on nothing else...
SOMETHING begins to appear in the darkness...
SLOWLY BUT SURELY we begin to make it out...
It is a creaturelike SELF-REPLICATING MACHINE.
We’ve SEEN SOMETHING LIKE IT before; they were working on the tether, in the beginning of our story. But this one is larger, somehow more unforgiving. Its HEAD is ONE HEADLIGHT; the head looks like Odilon Redon’s portrait of the CYCLOPS...
It charges at them in silence, through the dense water.It appears to be WELDING--it has TENDRILS, like a HYDRA, which it uses to push itself down the TUNNEL.
It gets CLOSER AND CLOSER!
She is typing into her sleeve. A TENDRIL REACHES OUT about to GRAB FRANCESCA.
AND THEN IT STOPS. STOPS PROCEEDING.
Roy steps forward. Approaches the enormous hydra, which seems frozen and no longer threatening.
AT INCREDIBLE SPEED, he withdraws his PULSE WEAPON, FIRES AT IT. DIRECT HIT!
It moves spasmodically for a moment after it is hit--almost as if in physical pain.
ROY APPROACHES IT, CLOSE, FIRING THE PULSE WEAPON to the CENTER of the EYE of the HEAD...
THE HYDRA JERKS SPASMODICALLY AGAIN.
ROY then GRABS FRANCESCA’S ARM; REACHES OVER and PULLS on what LOOKS LIKE A RIPCORD of sorts from his MMU.
THE MMU on ROY’S BACK RELEASES ALL THE NITROGEN in the PACK, YANKING HER and ROY with TREMENDOUS SPEED PAST THE DESTROYED HYDRA; they TUMBLE THROUGH THE WATER, BLOWING away from the HYDRA and toward relative safety.
ROY finds the CABLE, and, holding onto FRANCESCA, he uses her own MMU for power.
The TWO ENTER:
Francesca leads him.
The two enter a long, BLUE-LIGHT TUNNEL. After a few steps, Roy stops. Something’s wrong:
A beat.
They MOVE THROUGH the corridor to:
A massive chamber. Roy and Francesca come ACROSS THE ENORMOUS BASE of the REACTOR. A FLICKERING SERIES of FLUORESCENT LIGHTS illuminate HALF the ROOM. It looks almost lived-in, frozen in time. Like there should be half-drunk cups of coffee on the consoles.
Francesca DeSanctis’s back is to ROY.
She LIFTS THE HELMET OFF HER HEAD. We STARE FOR A BEAT at the BACK OF HER HEAD. Then:
FRANCESCA REACHES OVER, HITS a LARGE KEY on a console.A RECTANGULAR MONITOR begins to PLAY IMAGES WE’VE SEEN, of the boy and girl at THE CLOISTERS!
THIS TIME, we SEE the ENTIRE SET OF IMAGES. A LARGE FAMILY, at THE CLOISTERS. THE YOUNG BOY is DRAWING for a somewhat older GIRL. A SMALL PICNIC, or PARTY... AND the GIRL MOVES to SIT ON...
H. CLIFFORD McBRIDE’S LAP. The BOY HANDS A DRAWING TO THE GIRL.
ROY IS FLUSTERED. FOR THE FIRST TIME in our STORY, HE IS TRULY THROWN.
The RADIO begins to SOUND in ROY’S HEAD:
She TURNS TOWARD HIM and US, HOLDING a BLACK FOLDER in HER HANDS. She takes a step toward him. He reaches down, toward his PULSE WEAPON.
She smiles to him, gently--a genuine though somehow melancholy smile.
FRANCESCA DESANCTIS then PUSHES THE BLACK FOLDER toward ROY. She FLIPS IT OPEN.
IT IS THE DRAWING THAT THE BOY GAVE THE GIRL in the VIDEO.
ROY LOOKS AT THE DRAWING. It’s incontrovertible. HE REALIZES. It’s TRUE.
HE APPROACHES the SCREEN. NOW IT IS FOOTAGE OF ROY through the YEARS, beyond the IMAGES we’ve seen. HIM AS A TODDLER, AS A TEEN, AS A CADET. FRANCESCA is NOW BEHIND HIM AGAIN.
HIS EYES BEGIN TO WATER. YES, WE ARE SEEING TEARS BEGIN TO FORM IN HIS EYES!
Now Francesca, emotional as well, her back to us again:
Roy STARES AT HER for a MOMENT. Lost, almost as if he’s short circuited:
She approaches him:
HE IS SHAKING. A BEEPING BEGINS; it’s his VITALS, on his SLEEVE. THEY’RE OUT OF CONTROL!
She touches his arm with tenderness.
ALL OF A SUDDEN:
The DUCTS SLIDE OPEN. STEPPING IN: TANNER and YOSHIDA, in their suits. POINTING WEAPONS RIGHT AT HER. The THREAT is clear. FRANCESCA is startled. To her:
Roy begins to approach Francesca. The others intervene. A CHAOS BUILDS. AS TANNER PULLS OUT a STRANGE CORD:
AS TANNER ATTACHES IT TO HER:
TANNER PULLS HER AWAY. SHE IS YANKED OUT OF THE SPACE, and as she IS, SHE STARES AT ROY as the two EXIT. Yoshida remains, with Roy.
Roy MOVES to the CONSOLE, where his FAMILY HISTORY CONTINUES TO PLAY OUT IN FRONT OF HIM:
Roy does not move. LIKE A SHORT CIRCUIT.
YOSHIDA DEPARTS. ROY MOVES TO THE CONSOLE and BEGINS TO REMOVE THE DATA CARD FROM THE BOARD, UNSCREWING THE CARDS.
THE IMAGES OF HIM DISAPPEAR FROM THE SCREEN as he TAKES ALL THE INTEL HE CAN.
ROY EMERGES, boards the automated, driverless GPS-guided ROVER THAT IS WAITING FOR HIM.
CLOSE ON ROY...in the silent elevator car as it lifts up, away from Mars.
Roy ENTERS/FLOATS INTO the DECK, returning from the elevator. Roy retreats inward at the sight of Colonel Lipset:
A WARNING LIGHT GOES OFF on the console.
Roy ATTACHES the DATA BOX to the Cepheus. DATA BEGINS TO FLOW from it into the craft’s computer.
Yoshida tries to hand Roy a pill and a cup of water.
Roy PUSHES THEM AWAY. Alan Tanner looks to Donald Scobee.
Scobee moves to speak into the console as the Cepheus DECOUPLES FROM the elevator’s docking platform:
ANGLE ON ROY as he is turned inward. No eye contact with the rest of the crew.
The men have no reaction at first.
Then, without a word, LIPSET REACHES OVER and PRESSES a BUTTON ON the CRAFT’S CONSOLE MONITOR. He types in something, and on comes a SURVEILLANCE CAMERA IMAGE:
THE SURVEILLANCE IMAGE is of Francesca DeSanctis, seated, in what looks like a small white room with a dropped ceiling and fluorescent light. We hear some MURMURING, which is UNINTELLIGIBLE from her, and from the others who surround her.
ROY WATCHES, IN TURMOIL.
The MEN who surround her are our team: Lipset, Tanner, Scobee, Yoshida. They are at moments on, and offscreen, their backs to us. They appear to be interrogating her. We HEAR SNIPPETS.
“What were you doing there...?”
“You are sitting there, without any...”
She isn’t looking at them. Entering the FRAME is LIPSET:
After a BEAT:
She stares at Lipset.
She STANDS UP. TANNER MOVES BEHIND HER with INCREDIBLE SPEED. As this is happening--
LIPSET THROWS her BACK, to the CHAIR. VIOLENTLY. But she still TRIES TO GET UP, so LIPSET SLAPS HER, HARD, ACROSS THE FACE.
She FLAILS. The MEN CHARGE AT HER, and TANNER PUTS her in a CHOKEHOLD. Francesca starts to GASP. And SHAKE.
Francesca SHAKES VIOLENTLY NOW. Is it a SEIZURE...?
SHE CRUMPLES TO THE GROUND, her body VIBRATING with uncontrollable force. WEIRDLY QUIET, FAST...
TANNER PUTS HIS KNEE ON HER BACK. We HEAR the men through MUFFLED SOUND:
Where the men are now ominously surrounding Roy. Tanner at the controls, initiating STAGE-1 liftoff away from the dock:
ROY’S RAGE is building.
The ship’s STAGE-1 thrusters (minor, low-velocity) are FIRING, powering the ship away from the Helios’s upper station (the top of the space elevator).
Roy stops himself. He sees them surrounding him. Scobee is in front of a control panel.
The Cepheus has reached a safe radius, about a mile away... So the STAGE-2, high-power rocket thrusters now have room to fire safely. Tanner initiates Stage-2 procedure, a COUNTDOWN begins.
The suspense intensifies, and it’s eerie, as everyone’s just floating, suspended, waiting...
Roy’s FACE GOES WHITE.
Yoshida moves towards Roy.
Yoshida continues forward, towards Roy--Roy’s eyes burn with intensity. Tanner GRASPS his PULSE WEAPON.
It’s clear they do want him DEAD. Scobee APPROACHES Roy, too. Lipset stays back. Just as Scobee is near Roy--
Roy IGNITES his MMU's BOOT JETS, which blow Scobee back against the opposite wall with such force that Scobee’s KILLED instantly, and he CRUSHES AND KILLS Lipset--behind him- -as well by the force of his body.
The OTHERS MOVE TO ROY, who--PULLS DOWN on a THRUSTER on the CONSOLE of the CRAFT.
The ENTIRE CRAFT BEGINS TO REVOLVE, MAKING A FULL REVOLUTION every SECOND.
The CENTRIFUGAL FORCE PUSHES EVERYTHING to the SIDES of the craft--all the CLIPBOARDS, FLIGHT PLANS, PENS, PROCEDURE BOARDS, etc. STICK TO THE WALLS.
The MEN are all SHAKEN up. Completely DISORIENTED for a moment.
Tanner is shaken loose and hit hard, but he’s only stunned.
By this point, Yoshida ATTACKS Roy with vicious BLOWS.
Roy LURCHES TOWARD the WALL of the CAPSULE; HE PULLS a small, metal CANNISTER that is strapped to the wall near him.
He swings the cannister at Yoshida and connects with Yoshida’s skull. Yoshida tumbles away.
Now, it's just Roy and Tanner. Roy is bleeding. Tanner is holding a PULSE WEAPON. All Roy has is the cannister. But with the CRAFT SPINNING, it’s virtually impossible to AIM.
Tanner pulls the trigger--the weapon BLASTS.
Roy manages to twist out of the way of what was bad aim due to the spinning. The BLAST barely misses him.
ROY GRABS a PEN from the SIDE OF THE CRAFT.
He STABS YOSHIDA in the NECK. YOSHIDA’S BLOOD BLOOMS. This FORMS GLOBULES of BLOOD in the WEIGHTLESSNESS!
Roy uses the moment to EVADE Tanner. Utilizing the NETTING/WIRING along the side of the ship, Roy scrambles away.
The SUNLIGHT COMES THROUGH the WINDOWS FLASHES AS FAST AS A STROBE LIGHT...
Roy moves around a CORNER, disappearing into a DARKER area of the ship...
Tanner PULLS the REENTRY LEVER over his head. The CRAFT STOPS SPINNING. HE wraps YOSHIDA’S WOUND with a TOWEL, to stop the blood. He TURNS BACK AROUND to FOLLOW/KILL ROY.
Tanner pursues Roy.
Tanner presses a BUTTON to OPEN the fairing door, and leans into that section, when...
Suddenly, Roy emerges from the tangle of WIRES AND OTHER MATERIAL against the wall where he’d been hiding, and SHOVES Tanner deep into the fairing section.
And Roy presses the button to CLOSE the fairing section door. He’s trapped Tanner in this part of the ship.
The Stage-2 COUNTDOWN approaches liftoff, and Roy hurries to the safety of a harness just in time. He holds onto the harness as the Cepheus EXPLODES FORWARD.
As the STAGING occurs, and the INTER-STAGE FAIRING SECTION and ROCKET ENGINE beneath it can be seen through the window below Roy, falling away into the void.
NOTE: The physical environment in the ship is now especially CHAOTIC and MESSY: Wiring, equipment, debris, balls of blood and sweat... all criss-crossing this way and that in the zero- g...
Roy moves into the cockpit.
He check’s Yoshida’s pulse. Nothing. Yoshida is now DEAD. Roy eyes the floating CORPSES of former crewmates Scobee and Yoshida.
Roy prepares the two bodies with none of the ceremony or religion that were afforded to Blunt. He leaves them in the airlock and steps out, back into--
He presses a button to open the airlock to the void.
THE SHIP RELEASES THE TWO BODIES as the Cepheus speeds away...
Roy grabs a fresh helmet and moves into the cockpit. A man ALONE. He PAUSES FOR A MOMENT; his HANDS are BLOTCHY and BLEEDING...
The spaceship is moving at such a terrific velocity that there’s PERCEPTIBLE MOVEMENT in the surrounding field of stars: APPROACHING STARS appear blue, RECEDING STARS become amber. (This is the “red shift” effect.)
Roy is seated at the fore of the ship. He’s still BLEEDING PROFUSELY. He goes through a MEDICAL KIT, applies GELS to his wound. He’s trying to stem the seeping tide of blood.
He is ghostly and alone in the ship’s DARKNESS. And outside of the ship’s darkness: INFINITE PITCH BLACK.
But... finally... a slight GLOW appears from the COCKPIT MONITOR...
Roy HOOKS HIMSELF UP to a FEED TUBE, into his arm. He BUCKLES HIMSELF IN, and straps start sending ELECTRICAL PULSES to his body, to keep his muscles in some sort of tone.
Roy SETTLES IN, and the ROCKETS ALIGHT... He is on his way...
The craft PASSES an UNMANNED SPACE PROBE...
A distant ASTEROID FIELD... JUPITER, distant...
Roy examines the view outside his window. He grows AGITATED.
ALL OF A SUDDEN, BLOOD STARTS POURING INTO THE CRAFT, from EVERY WALL!
It FILLS THE CAPSULE!
YOSHIDA and SCOBEE are BACK, INSIDE. They ARE ASSAULTING ROY!
THE CAPSULE BEGINS SPINNING AGAIN!
WHAT IS HAPPENING?
And then--
THROUGH THE SPINNING--he REACHES over to the console and injects something into his arm.
Within moments, the craft is no longer spinning. THE ASTRONAUTS ARE GONE.
HE WAS HALLUCINATING...
The giant gas planet SATURN looms magnificently against the black backdrop. Its RINGS look like thin ribbons encircling the planet. So perfect is this gas giant, so symmetrical and flawless in its geometry... it almost looks UNREAL.
We TILT DOWN to SEE the Cepheus PASS US BY.
Roy’s EYES ARE HALF-MAST. His P.O.V.: A WATERY surface over his eyes causes a slight oblong, double-vision VIEW of the CAPSULE CONSOLE.
ROY CLOSES HIS EYES.
The planet, in the distance. Roy’s spacecraft passes it...
SOUNDS. It’s a 1930’s RADIO SHOW that somehow his craft has picked up. ROY’S EYES OPEN.
A STRANGE and NATURAL and UNEXPLAINED SPACE PHENOMENON OCCURS.
What looks like FIREFLIES FLOWS through the CAPSULE. It’s HALLUCINATORY and ROY SEES THEM through SEDATED EYES.
He REACHES UP to TOUCH THEM; the SPARKS SEEM TO FLOAT RIGHT THROUGH his HANDS. (These unexplained phenomena do exist.)
His BODY BEGINS TO LIFT UP, OUT OF THE SEAT. He STAYS in PLACE because of the seatbelts.
His BREATHING BECOMES HEAVIER. Close to some kind of panic.
Roy starts to HYPERVENTILATE, STRUGGLING. He INJECTS something into his arm. As we:
The BLUE PLANET. STILL. EERIE.
A CHIME:
ROY UNBUCKLES HIMSELF.
MOVES back to the PILOT’S SEAT.
Now: Roy’s spaceship, the Cepheus, comes into view, its RETRO- THRUSTERS firing on full blast (in utter silence) to slow its velocity.
NEW ANGLE
More prominently now, THE RINGS OF NEPTUNE.
CLOSER ANGLE
On one of the OUTER RINGS. The Cepheus is tiny against the magnificent vista.
Roy PILOTS the CRAFT as it nears the EDGE of the rings, and keeps pace with the speed of the rings’ orbit.
Roy LOOKS DOWN at the CONSOLE. BLINKING:
“CRAFT OXYGEN LEVEL: 12 PERCENT”
He LOOKS OUT HIS WINDOW and is momentarily energized by Neptune’s BLUE GLOW. The rings are more visible now. They are magnificent, comprised of various-sized ROCKS of dirt and ice that circle around us, almost like cars on a racetrack.
Roy looks at the control panels, the monitors.
He PULLS a LARGE SWITCH.
The cockpit board flashes: “AUTOPILOT ENGAGED”.
ROY PUNCHES THE GALATEA COORDINATES into his SPACESUIT SLEEVE.
A BLINKING RED LIGHT on the CONSOLE.
He REACHES OVER, TOGGLES THE SWITCH:
Roy EMERGES from the craft, in his suit. He REMAINS TETHERED TO THE CRAFT. The CRAFT, moving along with the orbiting rings of detritus, begins to move closer to the rings...
CLOSER TO THE RINGS
He maneuvers his way BEHIND THE COCKPIT SECTION of the craft, so he is protected FROM the DETRITUS of NEPTUNE’S RINGS by the CRAFT’S BODY ITSELF.
He REMOVES a SMALL SOLAR PANEL--ABOUT FIVE FEET IN LENGTH, and about THREE FEET IN WIDTH--from the SIDE OF THE CEPHEUS.
He CLIMBS to the ROTATING ARTIFICIAL GRAVITY WHEEL.
He GRABS ONTO ONE OF THE SPINNING WINDMILL-LIKE BLADES.
HE UNHOOKS HIS TETHER.
HE HOLDS ON.
SPINNING AND SPINNING. DIZZYING.
HE LOOKS AT HIS SLEEVE. A COMPASS NUMBER KEEPS SCANNING different DIRECTIONAL COORDINATES.
AND THEN--at JUST THE RIGHT MOMENT--
HE LETS GO.
HE IS PROPELLED THROUGH SPACE, without his TETHER.
He enters the rings. Miniscule particles begin to hit the SOLAR PANEL that ROY USES AS HIS SHIELD.
Some come insanely close to ROY, to his HEAD, to puncturing his SUIT.
The SOLAR PANEL is GETTING NICKED and DAMAGED by the PARTICULATE, but it protects Roy.
He TUMBLES FURTHER, now ENTERING THE CLOUDS OF NEPTUNE.
The CLOUDS are DENSE, like bad CLOUD COVER during an airplane flight. EXCEPT--THEY ARE A RICH, INTENSE BLUE.
As Roy TUMBLES, the SHADE OF THE CLOUDS goes from that BLUE to a BEAUTIFUL and BEYOND-THIS-EARTH PINK, then to a DEEP MAGENTA.
AND THEN IT BEGINS TO APPEAR, EVER SO FAINTLY.
A SPACECRAFT.
It is TETHERED to the slowly ROTATING MOON CALLED GALATEA which orbits NEPTUNE inside Neptune’s atmosphere.
It is THE LIMA PROJECT.
CLOSER AND CLOSER it comes to us. ROY SEEMS SPINNING TOWARD IT, OUT OF CONTROL.
And then he THROWS the THRUSTER in his PACK. His tumbling GRADUALLY GETS UNDER CONTROL.
He STOPS. OUTSIDE THE LIMA PROJECT STATION. IN the DISTANCE: a SYMMETRICAL SERIES of SCANNING MIRROR TELESCOPES. In a LATTICE.
NEW ANGLE OF ROY - behind him, in the deep distance, is Earth, a tiny pinprick of light 900 million miles away.(See recent Cassini photograph.) Then, CUT TO WHAT HE SEES:
Hovering over the station, still far away from Roy, are:
ASTRONAUTS. Appearing as figures on the dark blue horizon, levitating over NEPTUNE.
THE LINE OF ASTRONAUTS FLOATS, STILL.
ROY PUSHES a BUTTON on his WRIST. We HEAR STATIC.
Static. No movement.
NO RESPONSE.
ROY TURNS his RIGHT WRIST OVER.
“MMU OXYGEN LEVEL: 21 PERCENT”
“THRUST LEVEL: 39 PERCENT”
HE MOVES toward the SURFACE of the LIMA PROJECT STATION.As HE DOES, he LOOKS to his RIGHT to SEE, maybe a mile away (hard to tell relative direction here), the very BEGINNINGS of a graphene arc.
Roy “floats” inside. The Craft/Station has a kind of LARGE A- FRAME.
Roy VENTURES through the CENTER of the STATION.
HUGE SPACES filled with SELF-REPLICATORS that do not resemble anything anthropormorphic, but rather look like the kind of machines which make AUTOMOBILES. WE HEAR Roy’s BREATHING.
ROY’S P.O.V. - The robots are in repose, ready to be awakened. WE CONTINUE TO HEAR Roy’s BREATHING...
He passes the anthropoid robots, and enters another, even larger, area.
ROY’S P.O.V. - A flurry of automated activity, as we pass EVERY SPECIES OF ROBOT, from giant vehicles to small, squat machines, gliding to and fro. Some are fitted with grabs and manipulators and cutting/welding equipment.
Again, no sign of humans. The robots move slowly, with secret purpose, WARNING LIGHTS whirling for the benefit of the unseen humans.
ROY now ventures to SEE, on both sides:
WINDOWS, through which we can spot the INTERIOR of the LIMA PROJECT.
As Roy makes some final adjustments to his equipment, we notice one of the very small robots on the side of the A- Frame. A CAMERA mounted on it silently ROTATES towards Roy, and a RED LIGHT blinks on next to the camera. It knows Roy is here. Roy LOOKS RIGHT INTO IT:
AGAIN, no ANSWER. ROY PLACES EXPLOSIVE CHARGES on the DOORFRAME of the LIMA STATION.
They BLOW.
Just then, an APERTURE on the station opens up. ROY VENTURES INSIDE. LIKE HE IS ENTERING A DREAM.
HUMAN BODIES are FLOATING, gravity-free. The FLUORESCENT LIGHTS FLICKER.
We STILL HEAR ONLY ROY’S BREATHING. LOUD, PRESENT. We ARE COMPLETELY INSIDE HIS HEAD.
Roy finds himself inside a KITCHEN-TYPE area, which is housed somewhere within a laboratory. There are machines and equipment and tables and sinks, but no people besides Roy.
There’s ZERO GRAVITY here.
ROY’S POINT-OF-VIEW:
A DOOR IS OPEN, revealing a dark PASSAGEWAY lit only by BLUE LIGHT.
Roy enters/floats into it. ALL OF A SUDDEN, ALL THE MONITORS on each side--and there are several--switch on. THE LIGHTS BRIGHTEN. ON THE SCREENS: ROY’S FATHER! DR. H. CLIFFORD MCBRIDE. Roy HALTS:
ROY MOVES CLOSER TO THE SCREEN. It is his FATHER, virtually seeming to speak from the dead:
CLOSE ANGLE ON ROY MCBRIDE.
Roy CLIMBS the STEPS. We STILL HEAR, CONTINUING:
Roy FLOATS TOWARD the Control Center. Like the Control Tower of a large airport, it’s somewhat dark--but everything is ON. Multiple MONITORS, SCREENS, GAUGES, etc., all like a symphony of blinking, fluttering color and light.
Roy looks around at the many screens in front of him; they are like SECURITY CAMERAS, constantly cutting from one angle to another. ONE ANGLE REVEALS:
A SPACECRAFT, with a GANTRY. MODEST SIZE. CLOSE SHOT ON ROY. THEN CLOSE SHOT ON IMAGE OF SPACECRAFT. THEN:
ROY SCANS THROUGH BASIC BLUEPRINT PLANS of the LIMA PROJECT’s CRAFT.
It is ROWS of DATA, stored. A CLOUD for all the information collected by the Project.
Roy FLOATS THROUGH IT, approaching TWO LARGE ORANGE STEEL CANNISTERS: “VOYAGE DATA RECORDER” He PULLS THEM OUT FROM THE FRAME. Over this, we STILL HEAR:
CLOSE SHOT: “DR. CLIFF MCBRIDE”. A PAPER TAB, HANDWRITTEN. On the DOOR of his LIVING QUARTERS.
Roy FLOATS INTO/ENTERS the LIVING QUARTERS.
HE LOOKS AROUND. He SEES the SPACE. It is MODEST, with SCIENCE BOOKS, and DIARIES, and FAMILY PHOTOS everywhere, pinned on the WALLS. Then we HEAR Francesca’s VOICE, more PRESENT than CLIFFORD McBRIDE’S had been:
FRANCESCA’S VOICE “The brain is wider than the sky, for, put them side by side, the other will include, with ease, and you beside...” (beat) It’s so beautiful... Do you want to hear another one...?
Then, APPEARING: FRANCESCA! SEATED, SOMEHOW STILL OBEYING GRAVITY as ROY FLOATS! She STARES, saying nothing.
Roy doesn’t know what to do, or say. He STOPS HIS MOVEMENT. He lifts his ARM toward her...
She GETS UP, begins to WALK TOWARD ROY!!
NEAR HIM NOW, HE REACHES OUT, and...
HIS HAND AND ARM GO RIGHT THROUGH HER!!!! SHE WALKS RIGHT THROUGH HIM, sits down at the other end.
Roy LOOKS AROUND THE SPACE and SEES NOW that it’s like his home where he grew up, his home from pictures. PROJECTED.
IT’S ALL HOLOGRAMS.
He SEES: HIMSELF, as a CHILD, on the FLOOR, PLAYING WITH TRUCKS. And his MOTHER, LEANNE, YOUNGER. His HAND can go right through them, too.
(As ROY FLOATS, these HOLOGRAMS remain “earthbound”; that is, they seem to have “gravity”.)
Roy TURNS BACK to LOOK AT FRANCESCA. She is in conversation with someone “offscreen,” smiling, looking lovely and warm and everything an idealized version of her would be.
CLOSE ANGLE ON ROY.
We HEAR the PITTER-PATTER of RAIN. RAIN? ALL OTHER SOUND DROPS OUT. And we:
A lowered gray sky. Deserted. A monastery on the UPPER WEST SIDE of NEW YORK’S MANHATTAN ISLAND. A PORTCULLIS. COBBLESTONES. The VIDEO we saw, yes, but now we are “here,” in the space.
A GROUP of children PLAY. ADULTS speak to each other, standing behind the children, watching them play, making small talk. The scene has a strange, dare we say, unearthly quality to it. There is a distance to it; not an emotional distance, but a visual distance. A haze, almost. A dreamlike quality.
A SMALLER GROUP of adults, and two children, are here, too. They are nearby and yet somehow apart.
We SEE: ROY’S MOTHER, LEANNE. Much YOUNGER. She seems PREOCCUPIED, though she smiles a lot as she attends to the children. Also here is some other woman we don’t know, about Leanne’s age. She is completely quiet, almost nervous, as she watches the children play.
Then there is H. CLIFFORD MCBRIDE, who is involved with the children, making hats for them, drawing for them, joking with them.
AMONG THE CHILDREN: the young ROY. And the young FRANCESCA (though she is older than Roy--she seems around 16 or 17, he around 8). She has a grin from ear to ear; Roy does not, instead dedicated to whatever he seems to be DRAWING.
H. Clifford McBride stops clowning with another child and moves to Roy’s side. Warmly:
Roy finally looks up--for just a brief beat.
Roy keeps drawing--AND THEN TURNS HIS BACK TO HER A BIT.
Clifford approaches Roy. Not unsympathetically, he touches his son and attempts to communicate an important lesson about human interaction:
Roy REACTS IMMEDIATELY. He starts to get teary out of embarrassment and awkwardness. Sensing this, she moves to comfort him:
Roy then eyes her directly, and without a word. She looks at his drawing. Warmly:
UNEXPECTEDLY, responding to her kindness to such a degree he can overcome his shyness, he hands his drawing to her. Francesca looks at the drawing and she is very moved.TEARS OF HAPPINESS come to her eyes. Roy STARES at the tears as though they are foreign objects. The SWELL OF EMOTION from her is as strange as anything he has seen.
She gives him a BIG, TENDER HUG. Roy ALLOWS HIMSELF to be “crushed” by the hug.
Roy’s FATHER BEAMS...
A chamber that appears almost like an old “Iron Lung” machine. Roy APPROACHES IT.
CLOSE SHOT: “MCBRIDE, CLIFFORD, 788919-0323”
It’s a small, illuminated medical identification card.WIDEN TO REVEAL:
ROY, COMING UPON his FATHER’S BODY, inside what looks like a kind of ELECTRONIC SARCOPHAGUS.
Dr. H. Clifford McBride exists in a vegetative state, resting in a large silver CASE. Through glass, we can SEE that his EYES ARE slightly OPEN, his BODY HOOKED UP to LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEMS.
MONITORS around the case MEASURE his PULSE and other VITAL SIGNS. He is KEPT COLD.
ROY moves to it, OPENS THE SARCOPHAGUS. STARES AT HIS FATHER’S LOBOTOMIZED FACE.
He LIFTS his FATHER’S STIFF, LIFELESS BODY out of its electronic SARCOPHAGUS, pulling off the DIODES and IVs which keep him “alive”.
When the body EMERGES from the SARCOPHAGUS, it seems almost to FLOAT STANDING STIFFLY UPRIGHT. It starts SPINNING IN THE WEIGHTLESSNESS.
ROY GRABS the SPINNING BODY, in a way that becomes an EMBRACE. PULLING THE BODY WITH HIM, he FLOATS BACK OUT...
ROY releases his FATHER’S BODY INTO SPACE, PUSHING IT TOWARD the SURFACE of NEPTUNE.
IN the DISTANCE, WE SEE H. CLIFFORD McBRIDE’S BODY drift TOWARD a RING AROUND NEPTUNE.
The BODY comes in contact with a SMALL ICE ROCK. It SHATTERS INTO A MILLION PIECES. LIKE BROKEN WINDSHIELD GLASS.
Almost at the VERY INSTANT that H. CLIFFORD McBRIDE’s BODY is destroyed, LIGHTS COME ON in a formerly DARKENED SECTION of the LIMA CRAFT.
A spacecraft which remains DOCKED. It has been constructed for Dr. Clifford McBride’s return, presumably. It NOW HUMS WITH LIFE.
Roy enters the cockpit, HOLDING the ORANGE VDR (”VOYAGE DATA RECORDER”) CANNISTERS.
Examining the craft’s SYSTEMS, he and we recognize that it is astonishingly similar to the Cepheus. (The spacecraft are all constructed by 3-D PRINTER, and there is a uniformity to their design and construction.)
The entire SYSTEM of the CRAFT COMES TO LIFE, ONLINE.
AS DOES: RADIO STATIC FROM THE EARTH! Communication has been restored:
ROY PRESSES THE RADIO BUTTON, TURNS DIALS FOR A CERTAIN CODE:
He FLIPS OFF THE RADIO.
He PULLS DOWN on a LARGE LEVER which looks almost like the kind of control switch for a 747 airplane.
He moves around the CAPSULE, OBSERVING a PRINTED CHECKLIST. Adjusts SEVERAL SWITCHES.
MOMENTS LATER
Roy is SETTLING IN to his COCKPIT SEAT. He is about to PUT an OXYGEN MASK ON. He activates the CRAFT’s GYROSCOPES and CONTROL STICK.
Then:
He SEES an IMAGE of HIS MOTHER. It’s a photo of her, with him as a little boy. A little ANIMATED BEE flies around the picture, making a PUTT-PUTT SOUND.
After a BEEP--Roy begins to record his message. As we know, he’s not much one for communicating--especially when emotions are concerned. But here...
THE CAMERA SLOWLY--almost imperceptively so--PUSHES INTO HIM:
He stops. TEARS WELL UP AGAIN. He CLOSES HIS EYES and BOWS HIS HEAD. Then begins to speak again:
He SHUTS OFF the RECORDER. ANGLE ON THE FROZEN IMAGE of ROY’S MOTHER.
The Craft’s GANTRY RELEASES the ship. Slowly.
The CRAFT begins to move, its ROCKETS FIRING.
Almost at the same time: A BEAM, HIGH-INTENSITY, HITS A PART OF THE STATION.
It EXPLODES! In SILENCE. The colors of the explosion, set against the DEEP BLACKNESS of SPACE.
Then another SILENT and COLORFUL EXPLOSION.
Roy looks through his windows to SEE:
A SERIES OF LASERS HITTING VARIOUS PARTS of the STATION and TELESCOPE.
In SILENCE, the EXPLOSIONS ARE VAST, FEROCIOUS, and somehow oddly BEAUTIFUL.
They ILLUMINATE the dead BLACKNESS of SPACE even as they are utterly destructive, devastatingly so.
Roy’s ROCKET starts to STAGE, AFTER its initial BURST.It leaves the CONTINUED DEVASTATION of the LIMA PROJECT in its wake as it PROPELS FORWARD.
Roy’s HEAD SHAKES TO AND FRO; the ROCKET’S FORCE is ASTONISHING.
The CRAFT FIRES a NEW SET OF ROCKETS. It moves on, deeper and deeper and deeper toward the earth. The RADIO PIPES UP, and it’s in the most straightforward, almost banal, tone imaginable:
Finally, Roy’s ROCKET disappears from our view, hurtling back toward the EARTH.
The End