"BATTLEFIELD EARTH" (2000)

·;, ~"'-n.,

Screenplayby

Corey Mandell

~.____

The skyglows deep crimsonas the sun starts tosink below the horizon,casting shadowsover •••

A smallgroup of nativepeople, clad in animal skins,congregat outsidea remote cave. Their heads reverentlybowed, while--

Bis gaze sweepsacross the youngsters,drilling into theirheads

Turns a sharpeye back to Jonnie,but still addressingthe child

Bis ruggedframe clothed ina puma hide, a kill-clubhanging frOll his belt. And although onlynineteen, JONNIE, alreadyhas the lookof someone who has alreadyovercome a lifetime'sworth of adversitv. Be immediatelvturns to Chrissv. ·

PARSONSTAFFER

Finisheschanting up to theheavens.

The clanc~oses ~heir eyesin silent prayer. All except for--

cmussy

aer teenage cc~ntenanceoffset by thematurity in her strongdark eyes.

The parson shakeshis head as Jonniesecures an animal-skinsleep roll andextra kill-cl~s to h~ssnow-white horse, WINDSPLI'l'TER.

This is notwhat your motherwanted.

The parson's ancientface burns with religiousfury as he drills his stare into Jonnie.

eewv::r·-··

that hangthere, then givesJonnie a pointed look-- Be lets PARSON STAFFER (cont'd) But allit would take is forone monster to seeyou, and follow youback, and we would allbe struck down.

Jonniemeets his rage withca.l.n,dzter=.ina~ion.

Be turnsto the rest of theclan, challenging--

Jonnieheads down the·hill,turning a bend·,where--

u

CBRISSY

Sitswaiting for him onher horse, which likeWindsplitter, is loadedwith an animal-skinsleeping roll and kill-clubs.

Jonniesmiles, impressedby Chrissy's mettle. But shakes his head. JONNIE tfinishinghll thought) --Ithink you can handleyourself better thanmost men••• Which iswhy·you must stayand look after youryounger brothers. Chrissylooks at him, chagrined. It's hard toargue with that. A toughbeat. Nothing leftbut to say good-bye•••

And finally,struggling tokeep her face a mask,Chrissy removes a shinyMEDALLION hanging fromher neck.

Sheplaces the medallionaround his neck, theirbodies close not touching. So much notbeing said•••

The tribe'schildren race alongsideJonnie, excitedby the adventurehe's going on. Butsecretly terrifiedby the death they'vebeen taught awaits him•••

The youngones obediently stopat the bridge. They willnot crossit. But Jonnie does, leavingthe'tribe behind.

Chrissy'smask starting ~o crackas she watches him disappear The firstof the tears escapingdown her cheeks.

As nightfalls, Jonnie rides acrosswide open plains. Bis eyt t~nse,seai:chingthe gatheringdarkness for the firstsign of

And hesuddenly freezes. Seeinghis first ever •••

STAR

Boveringmajestically overhead. Soon joined by otherstars. Jonniestares up in wondermentat these heavenly lights.

Jonnie stealsthrough the grass,throwing his kil~-clubwith blurrinqspeed at an unsuspectinqANTELOPE.

Jonnierides through a grove ofconifer trees, the stripsof driedmeat now hanging from hissleeping roll, when hesuddenl stops windsplitterand silentlydismounts--

carefulnot to make the slightestsound, Jonnie slipsbehind c

ROCK FORMA1'ION

Pulling hiskill-club, Jonnie carefullypeers out througha th tangle ofbrush,

Jonnie and Windsplittermove through a desertedhousingdevelo passing TREESwhich grow up throughthe sidewalks and streets.

A faded piece ofPAPER flutters by. Jonnie picks it up.

Be can just makeout a picture of a womanin a bra. The first time Jonnie has seena photo, let alonewomen's undergannents.

More paper littersthe ground nearby. Jonnie heads to them, passing a rusted TRAIN abandonedon its tracks.

Windsplitter abruptlystops. Nostrils flaring. Eyes on aBOO The door knocked offits hinges. Windowsshattered. Jonnie pulls his kill-cluband silently shoos Windsplitteraway.

Kill-club at the ready,Jonnie cautiously approachesthe house, when suddenly--

A WU:ZZLY BEAR

Rockets out the frontdoor, barreling after--

Jonnie, .who boltsaway,desperately tryingto outrun his dez pursuer. Seekinghigher ground, Jonnieraces to the--

Train, and scramblesup the side of a railcar, then spinsl

:1 The grizzly has stoppedchasing him andturns back to her ct who scamper out ofthe house to Dlav inthe front yard.

Jonnie whirls aroundwith club raised. Coming face to face\

TWO MEN

The one doing thetalking, CARLO, iswiry and intense-lookin~ In contrast to his 'built-like-a-brick-shithouse'companion, we'll call ROCltforobvious reasons.

But the thing Jonnieprobably notices firstabout the men art SPEARS they bo1mhave ·aimedat his chest. · ·

carlo motions tothe kill-club _inJonnie'shand.

Jonnie slowly lowershis weapon, but remainson gu~.

Rock silently d.irec~shispartner's attentionto--

WINDSPLI'l'TER

Whograzes near the train,waiting for Jonnie. Both men tak1 noteof the antelope-meatWindsplitter carries.

Carloturns a friendlyeye back to Jonnie.

Jonnie hands stripsof dried meat to Carloand Rock, who reverently bow theirheads, holding the foodup to the heaveni

The snow reallycoming down now. Windsplitter followsour trio through a white carpetedparking lot,taking shelter insidea--

A brightly decoratedplastic CHRISTMASTREE stands amongthe rea: trees growing up throughthe floor. A CD of SILENT NIGBTloops endlessly from thefew speakers in themall that stillwork.

Our trio head intoa department store,but Carlo and Rock freeze their tracks withsickened expressions.

Rock silently nods,appalled by the sightof--

MANNEQUXNS lyingbroken on the floor. Many of these •frozen people' missing limbs,not to mentiontheir genitalia. Nearby ••

Jonnie stands, curious,in front of alarge plate-glasswindow tl makes up an entirewall. Outside, he cansee the snow falling,l when he tries totouch it, an 'invisibleforce' keeps stoppingh:

-.I ltABI.AM1

In a suddenflash of light,Carlo is hurledback off his feet. Bisbody crashes hard tothe ground, twitchesonce, then falls deadlystill.

Andout of the shadows behindRock steps a trulynightmarish figure. Like the parson'sdrawing of themonster, but worse •••

overnine feet tall withglowing amber eyes. Razor sharp talons on hisclaws. Thick bone-likestructures foreyebrows and lips. ThePSYCBLO aims his BLAST-GUNdead center onRock and fires--

As Jonnie'sKILL-CLUB fliesthrough the air--

ltnockingintothe firingweapon, causing the shotto go wide.

Jonnieand Rock take offthrough the store,bolting through a maze ofaisles which leadthem through a doorway--

Our guyssprint up the stairs. The sound of deadlypursuit gettinglouder behind them asthey burst outonto--

Theonly way off the two-storybuilding is to jump. And the frozenground below doesn'tmake thi!!too appealingan option.

..-.....-.

But with the Psych.lorushingthroughthe doorway behindthem, Jonnie and Rockthrow themselves offthe side of the building--

Jonniehits the ground,rolling to his feet--

Rock isn't asfortunate and landsat a bad angle, SNAPPINGhis on impact. He tries to climb tohis feet, but the brokenleg buckles, sendinghim collapsingback to the snow.

Jonnie turns back tohelp him--

Be givesa loud whistleand •••

Windsplittergallops outof the mall. ·Booves churningup a fll ofsnow as he races toJonnie--

The Psychlopauses to lookdown at •••

••• Belpmeplease.·I havel.iveda · devotedlife•••

But thetwinkling lights seem indifferentto his plight.

Jonniewatches helplessly as thePsychlo slams down a leveron the sideof the gun, then aims itdown at Rock. KABBLAMJ

A ~apinghole bl~_throu~h Rock's_chest.

.....on-·.. _es~-__-~~............~e-c·~r\_..,r-o_n..........o~•,.-..i...,·""a·..so1;-...-..-e-.,,...e:.:_~;...r:a~,......ygathers ~he =eins, and :enos-~:~ -~e saadl&. ~eady :o ~ide.

Anc ~!1en~.esees•..·nat_ooKs:..:i<e:.;:sect.Thirty:eet:.ongand -:.e:--.:ee~t.:...;:-.,:·,,.;e_·:0:ee1:::de::,side•.!\.ndsrnoo-:.::.3itti.ng

:~ere·san earsp~:tt:~g =oar!

:on~ieg~ances back, ~o where the ~hingrises three feet aoovethe ground. And ~eves :o.:ward.

;o~~:epasses one corner, ~hen another.The thing fAlling behind.

He swervestvindsplitterup a sidestreet,reaches another cornerand again t~r~es. He heads :or theopen country.

He can hear theroaring of the thing somewherebeyond the rubble. He listens,holding his breath.The position of the roar changing.Shifting to the right.

The thing somehow blocksthe street aheadof him and then goes on, planningto come up behindhim.

He is trapped.There is no panic in himnow. He slows the hard poundingof his heart. The thingto do is wait until the monster isright in the street behindhim-then go over that barricade afallen building had become.

He sidlesWindsplitter back to get agood run.

The thingis roaring down the side oathbehind him. Now it is turning.He glances back. There it ls,wisps of smoke corning out of itsnostrils.

Jonnie putthe heel to Windsplitter.~e yanks.on the lead rope.·

And sprintsat the barricade. Rough andfull of loose stones. Dangerous.

Up they scramble.Rubble slides. Butup they go. All the way to the top.One glance back shows ...

But he'sover the barr:cade. ~e ~:-:s~~estreet before him at a run andkeeps ~~n~:~9.

Jonnie swerves-:::roug~~cnE:cKerooard-::>fpaths,edgingtothe open country.

Furtherand further. ~he buildingsthinning. Open country betweentwo structures to his right.He skids down off the embankmentand races for freedom.Windsplitter puffing.

He strainshis eyes, watching.

There itis!

It slidesout ~rornamong the buildingsand starts straight towardhim.

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And suddenly,there's a SHEET OFFLAME. Ahead ~f him the right-handbuilding explodes apart.I~s t~p slides sl~wl¥th down andinto the street anead,blocking it. Spattere wi dust, Jonniehauls up short.

He puts the horse·.:ptoa run.

The thing not onlycloses the distance but startsto pass.

Jonnie swerves atright angles.

The thing banksinto a turn and flashesby him, well ahead, turns andblocks his way.

Jonnie pullsup. He turns around and beganto run away from it.

It let out ablasting roar, scorches byhim and again stops, blocking hisway.

Jennie's facetightens into dete.nnination.

Thong solidon his wrist.

WalkingWindsplitter, he moves up a.headofthe thing. It doesn't.move.He goes about a hundredfeet.in front of the. thing. Itdoesn't move. He carefullyspots the position of a slittedeye.

And whirlsthe kill club. And outsa heel to Windsplitter. They racestraight at the thing.

The killclub, carried with the fullspeed of the run~~ng horse,whooshes down straight at theslitted eye.

The crashof impact is deafening.

Jonnie slowsbeyond the thing. :t hadnot moved.

He trotsWindsolitter back to the originalposition, a hundred feetin front of the thing.He turns and makes ready for a secondrun.

He touchesa heel. ',hndspl:tter?:..unaesforwa::::-d.

And thena great gout of yellowblooms out from between the eyes.

Jonnieis struck a blow likeall the winds of Highpeak rolled intoone.

Windsplittercatches the fullforce of it. Up into the airgo horseand rider. Down theycome with a shuddering crash, againstthe earth.

IN THE DARKNESS:

There's anethereal, almost otherworldlyWAILING. Thena stab of light and--

The shoppingmall falls away belowas we rise higher andhigher above it. Like a soul returningto heaven•••

But for somereason, we're lookingdown through prison-likeBARS.

Jonnie's face.as he starts to come to. Disorientated,he looks around. A handfulof men stareback at him, each one tryingto hide how terrifiedthey are. And PULLING BACKwe can see •••

Jonnie and themen are imprisonedin a cargo cage suspendedfrom the underbellyof a--

Which climbsup vertically intothe sky with engineswailing, then rocketsforward with impressivespeed.

An icy windblasts through the cage. But the cold isthe least c Jannie's concernas he spots Carlolying motionless inthe corneI

A pair ofyoung, scrappy-lookingtwins, MICREY and SAMMY,give Jc a reassuringlook. They shout tobe heard over the howlingwind-

And sure enough,Carlo groggily beginsto stir. Relievedto see Jonnie. Butthen he looks around forRock •••

The Psychlobanks the transportvehicle around a mountain, revealing a massiveTRANSPARENT DOMEcovering a largecity below.

Getting closer,we can see Mile BighStadium. And behindit, the distinctivedesign of Denver InternationalAirport•••.

The vehicle hoversdown, and with thesound of a magneticfield disengaging,deposits the cage intothe back of a flatbedtruck.

The Psychlolumbers inwith box-shaped AIR-FILTRATIONUNITS,eacr witha thin tube attachedto it. Be startsto slide one of these tubesinto Jonnie's nose,but Jonnie knocks thecreature's pawa~

The Psychlogrowls, hurlingJonnie viciouslyacross the cage--

JONNIE

Slamsinto the bars, slidingdown to the floor,where the Psychlc: unceremoniouslyjams thetube up Jennie"s nose.

The Psychlo drivesthe flatbed-.transporttruckwith the cargocagi it through an ENTRYPORT, completewith maDIDOthair-lockchambers Jonnie studies everythingwith the trainedeye of a skilledhunte;

The dome coveringDenver is so enormous,it has its own weather~ And right now, a darkdrizzle falls ontothe city, which looks much like it doestoday, save for twothings... ·

A g:;-imylayerofmining soot covers theplace. And for some reason, most of thebuildings have beenpainted purple.

The Psychlo removes~he tube from his ownnose and leans outthe window, taking a deep,_contentedbreath•••

Jonnie experimentswith removing his own tube •••Buthe immediatel has trouble breathing. Eyes going glassy. Be replaces thetube a fast as he can. Carlogives him a pointedlook.

The sounds of HEAVY INDUSTRYfill the air asthe truck turns down street,passing a shiftof PSYCELO LABORERStrudging off with lune pails to go work in themines and smeltingplants.

The Psychlo backsthe truck up to a loadingdock and BONKS. Several GUARDS headover with a PROCESSINGCLERK as the Psychlo "Buman-Slave Wrangler"swings open thecargo cage.

And now we can seethat while this Psychlois an imposing figure at nine feet tall,he's actually a bitof a runt. The other Psychlos are all agood foot or two taller•••

Including the clerk,who takes one look atJonnie and the others and drills a hard stareinto the undersizedPsychlo "wrangler".

-zee;a&UTET"

Jonnie studies themonsters closely,but from his P,o.v., alll hears is an unintelligiblemachine-likeclicking sound of theiz alien language. Be turns a questioningeye to Carlo•••

And eventhough Jonniedoesn't know what thePsychlos are arguiz about,he knows one thing. They're not payinghim any attentioz So hemoves like a streakout the cage door. Carlo right ·behinc'

Butthe wrangler isn't abou~to lose any moreof his 'cargo' anc whirls,snatching Jonnie,then lunges for Carlo--

ButCarlo manages to twistout of reach of thecreature's talons sprintaway through thewarehouse. The wranglerpulls his gun.

The wranglergives hima snide, 'Bowstupid do youthink I am?', look. Jonnie watches fromthe ground as--

The Psychloslides a leverabove the blast-gun'strigger-guard intoan up position. thentakes aim and FI.RES--

Carlois knocked flat asthe blue-bolt slams intohim. Bis body liesmotionless, but intact,on the ground.

The Psychloholsters hisfire-arm and scoops up Jonnie. Starts to tosshim back into thecaqe but--

Suddenlyrealizes he's no longer inposse~sionof his gun,

Jonnie has the weapon. And is pointing itstraight at him. The wrangler sniggers. The same reaction fromthe other Psychlos•••

It'slike a 'horse' hassomehow picked up agun with its hooves. Only,Jonnie slidesthe weapon's lever intothe down-position.

Thewrangler is no longerlaughing. Be reachesdown, coaxing Jonnieas if he was some kindof errant pet •••

PS~CBLO WRANGLER Come on, boy. . •Gi-.,emethegun•••

ButJonnie doesn't. So thewrc'nglerlunges forit--

JSABLAMJ

The Psychlo Wranglerstares, stunnedat the--

FIST-SIZED BOLE

Blown through hischest. Be collapses,dead before hehits the ground. The otherPsychlos freezein stunned silence. Then •••

Burst out in hystericallaughter. That has got to bethe goddam funniest ~ng they've ever seen.

With the monstersbusy laughing, Jonniemakes a breakfor it. Charging throughthe warehouse complexand out a doorway--

Where he barrelsstraight into--

'l'ERL

Who unlike the Psychlolaborers,wears a senior officer'sunifor adorned with impressivegold epaulets,denoting "Chiefof Securi

Bis ever presentassistant, KER,.can'thelp but snickerat them collision has splatteredover hisboss's perfectlypressed attir

But Terl doesn'tseem to find itamusing. Be shutsKer up with· quick look, thenrips Jonnie offhis feet--

CJ

Bolding the filthy 'man-animal'outat arm"s length,Terl marche inside the warehouse,demandingto·know--

The clerkimmediatelypoints to the deadwrangler.

Theot~er Psychlos nod,backing this up. Terl considersthis, thenpicks the blaster-gunup from theground •••

And caJroJyhands the weaponto Jonnie.

••• Sir?

Rapidly losing patience,Terl snaps--

Knowing he's treaclingon dangerousground,the clerk stares atTe:

Terl returnshis stare withoutblinking.

The clerkswallows hard, thenturns to Jonnie and•••

Lungesfor the gun, tryingto grab it before--

lCABLAKJ

Jonnieblasts a hole throughthe clerk's chest

Terlstares in disbel~ef. But~onnie's not finished. A bigger Psychloleaps up and charges.Roaring.

Jonniestumbles backward.

~-t5-3---

An enormous paw blurs in~he air, coming at him. Talonsrake theside of his face.

Jonnie has the gun inposition, and fires at thehuge chest. He punches blast afterblast into it, driving him back.

Terl jerks the gun from Jonnie'shands, and sends aswipe across his chest that sendshim crumbling to the ground.

A livelyjoint wher~ a bunchof Psychlo laborerslet off steam playingLASER-BASB. Othersconsume libationswhile slapping and pinchingthe asses of thefemale Psychlo wait-staffwho pass by.

Terlplops onto a stool atthe bar, but beforehe can order, he's serveda saucepan fullof !CE.RBANGO,a thickoilybeverage.

Terl'seyes slit in suspicion. The bartender shrugs,keeping his voicecasual as he continues•••

Terl helps himselfto.a shot of kerbango,then explains--

The color drainsfrom the bartender'sface. Terl strollsoff chuckling, quitepleased withhow fun that was .

', \ _)

A PSYCHLO TECHNICIAN,wearing rubbergloves and a germmask over face, uses laser-scissorsto cutthe animal skins offof Jonnie.

The skins gettossed into an INCINERATOR. The technicianthen reaches over and yanksChrissy"s medallion fromJonnie'sneck.

Jonnie triesto grab it back,but the technician swatshim away like he was aninsect, then holdsup the object to seewhat was so damn importantto the 'llan-animal••• .. And we can now seeCh=issy's 'shiny'medallion is aSILVER ooLLA·

Nobody does. So the techniciantosses it into the incinerator.

As Jonniewatches Chrissy's medallionget consumed by theflames something deepand dangerous burnsin his eyes.

~. DENVERMININGSITE -- CONTINUOUS

A long lineof humans, chained tostakes like leasheddogs, hunc a massive conveyorbelt spewingout a const.antdischargeof crue rocks. Thehumans separate outthe OAR, which theyplace into--

Psychlo to carry,but it's back-breakingwork for the~1unnns hauling themacross a large fieldto a...

PsycbloGuards use rod-likedevices to prod theslower slavesal with sinisterblasts of raw electricity.

A GROUNDCART

Glidesby with Ker at thewheel.

Terl isin the rear, gazingat the humans withthe indifference someone mighthave drivingpast a dairy farm fullof cows.

With theplatform loadedwith baskets of ore,an ALARM soundsan thePsychlos immediatelydon protective gogglesand ear-plugs. Thehumans have no such gearto protect themas •••

TheBUM of large generatorsstarts to fillthe air. Growing louderas they work-up tofull power and there"ssuddenly--

AnEAR-SPLITTING explosionof sound and BLINDINGFLASB of light asall the baskets ofore on the platformvanish.

A brief moment of quietrespite. Then thedeafening roarand blazing light happens again. And thistime •••

Bundredsof PSYCBLO LABORERSsuddenly appearon the platform, alongwith--

DISTRICTMANAGER ZETE

Who wears the finestof silk suits andcarries a solid gold briefcase. Terl andKer quickly greet him•••

Butthe District Managerisn't list~ning. Be's staring confused throughthe transparentdome at the IDQW::CAPpedRockYmountains.

DISTRICTMANAGER

I was told thisplanet was ugly •••

Be peers up at a fluffycloud driftingac~oss a clearblue sky.

Be finallymanages to getthe DistrictManager through security, thenseizes the opportunityto introduceKer.

Be takesone last sickenedlook at the humans,declaring--

A pair of Psychloguards hold Jonniedown on a steel tableas an IDENTIFICATIONTECHNICIAN pressesa--

SEARING-BOT IRON

Into Jennie's a.rm,brandinghim withan ID npmher. Jonniestares the technicianin the eye, refusingto acknowledge thepain.

Amused, the techniciandigs the burningiron harder intoJannie's flesh. Jonnie'seyes bulge, but heremains steely silent•••

The guards releaseJonnie and shovehim toward the nextstation, then turn andgrab the next human slavein line, which is--

MICKEY. The guardsdrag tne youngtwin, kicking and screaming,tc the branding tableand pin him down asthe technician lowersthe iron toward thetrembling youngster'sexposed flesh--

Only the iron isno longer in his hands.

Wielding it likea weapon, Jonnie knocksthe stunned guardsaway from Mickey, thenpivots with blurringspeed--

Plunging the glowing-hot ironinto·the technician'schest.

JONNIE

C, Bow Do You LikeIt--

As the technicianhowls in pain, a massof guards swarm Jonnie, viciously clubbinghim to the ground.

The obese PLANETSBIPwaddles over, flankedby his smarmy-looking ASSISTANT. They shakepaws with the DistrictManager, then lead him across the lobby. Terl and Ker follow•

Be motions out a windowat a tree-filled park.

Be ushers evervonP.i-n~"'::a"'""',on...........

--:ifibWBii'ti+-Wf):Jff

And pushes thebutton for the BASEMENT. The elevatorlurches do~ The AssistantPlanetship seizes theopportunity to •••

The AssistantPlanetship,crushed, managesa polite nod. Terl suppressesa smile. Be likes the DistrictManager's style.

Jonnie,bloody and·bruised,but alive, hobblesdowrta·steel hallwaywith the othernow branded slaves,when--

The Psychlosopen up withBIGB POWERED BOSES.

A solid stream ofwater savagely blasts intothe defenseless humansas the Psychloshose down the dirtyman-animals.

Terland the other Psychloexecutives sitsaround a conferenceti ina windowless dungeon.ofa room whichhas been painted purple.

Be turnsand offers Terla friendly smile.

Terlreacts like hewas just given a deathsentence. The DistrictManager leansforward, giving hima knowing look--

Jonnie, Carlo and therest of the new 'abductees'are issued baskets and shoved intoline with the restof the slaves.

Concernedby his friend'sbatte:cedcondftion,~arlo admonishes.;

Inthe background, a groundcart passed by.

Kerchauffeurs at the wheel. In the back seat, Terllowers his voice,so only the DistrictManager can hear.

LeavingTerl with that thought,the District Managerstrides up the platform,relieved to be leavingthis crappy littleplanet.

The placeis packed andloud. The newly arrivedPsychlo workers gettingplastered on kerbangowhile losingmoney paw-over-fist 1 laserbash and other assortedrigged games of 'chance".

Terlstorms up to thebar. The bartender looksup, surprised.

And somethingsuddenly snapsdeep inside Terl. Be grabsKer, pullinghim close, the wordscoming fast and furious--

Psychlo guardspatrol the Denver zoo,keeping·an eye on themasi humans locked-upfor the night. Insideone of the many cages.. .,

:r:NT.CAGE-- CONTINUOUS

Jonnie, Carlo andseveral dozen men crowdaround a small fireaf GAS TRUCK pulls up. A Psychlo guard insertsthe truck's giantr through the bars,but instead of pumping outpetrol•••

The hose dischargesa green sludge-likefood substance intoa trough. Jonnie startsover to the 'dinner',but is stoppedby FLOYD, a hulkingbrute of a man almostas large as a Psychlo.

Bis GANG steps forward. All big and dangerouslooking.

The Psychlo finishesdischarging the food andretracts the hose. From his P.O.V., Jonnieand Floyd's confrontationis unintelligi like animals "talking"to each other in a zoo,as..•

With his gang backinghim up, Floyd explainsto JoMie--

Given how malnourishedthe 'others'look, it doesn'tappear that there's usuallymuch food left.

That'show it~ to work.

Withblinding speed, Jonniescoops up a flaming logfrom the fire,and before Floyd canreact--

JonnieSLAMS the club-likewood, full-force,into Floyd's face, droppinghim hard to theground. Only amoment later•••

Floydis already back up on his feet.

And otherthan a bloodynose, he shows noeffect from the shothe justtook. Jonnie smasheshim again--

dois just piss him off. Be grabs Jonnieby the throat and beginsto choke the lifefrom him.

Jonniedesperately triesto break-free,but Floyd is too strong. ·Be~olds Jonnie out atarm's length, preven~ingJonnie from gettingat him as hecontinues to brutally.strangleJonnie.

And with his attackerfinally closeenough to reach, Jennie's hand rockets out,pulling the breathins-tubefrom Floyd'pnose.

Floyd staggers back,struggling to breath. With his eyes goingg: Floyd releases Jonnieand focuses onreinserting the tube as--

Jonnie locks his handstogether and swingsthem like a baseball bat, delivering atremendous blow toFloyd's jaw.

Floyd falls to theground. And this timehe stays there,out for the .count. Jonnietakes mercy on the bigman and sticks thetube back into his nose,then heads over tothe trough•••

But realizes evecyoneelse is holding back,respectfully letting him eat first. Jonnieshakes his head,declaring--

The men all rush thetrough•••

The slopmight be disgusting,but at least it's sustenance. And PULLINGBACK, we realize we'rewatching this on •••

A wall fullof MONITORS showinglive feeds from allover the dome< city. On an adjacent wall--

A signreads: YOURCBIEP'OFSECURITYIS •••

Ker despondently removeshis picturefrom under the sign,and with an audible sigh,hammers Terl"spicture back up.

And PULLING BACK yetagain, we realizewe're watching thison •••

A lone monitor perchednext to a bed,where Terl opens a large--

All neatly packed forwhat should havebeen his return home.

Terl almost looks likehe's going to cryas he starts to unpack. Buthe suddenly stops. Sensing it•••

Bis eyes instinctivelygoing to themonitor, which shows--

Ker peering out thewindows, making sureno one is watching, before reaching intohis.• _________...

'!'ERL'SDESK

Deposits the documentat the bottom of an "In.:.Basket•onTerl'sdE

u but suddenly freezesas he can hear someoneapproaching thedoor--

Ker dives across the~oom back to hisown desk, snatching-upa crossword puzzle,which he pretends tobe working on as•••

Terl marches in andheads straight to hisdesk, where he grabs the surveillance photo. Ker tries toplay it cool.

Be sharply jabs atalon toward Ker"ssecret hiding place.Ker's face goes death-white. Bow could Terlpossibly know?

But then Ker suddenlyrealizes. Bis eyesprobing the roomas--

TERI, That'sright. ~ don't. (matter-of-fact)

(re:the photo) Start talking.

Given the lookin Terl's eyes,Ker decides his bestchance is to come clean,and to do it fast--

'l'erlglancesatthe photo, thengives Jeera knowinglook.

TERI, And youwere going to waituntil after I transferredto turn itin, so you couldget all the creditfor it, yourself.

lCER (sheepishnod) I didn'tthink you'dmind.

Be regretsit the moment he saidit. Braces himselffor the punishmenthe kn~ mus~.becomi:ng. But surpri~ingly•••

TERI, I don'tmind. Go ahead-andturn it in. (handsJeerthe photo) But first,pretend you'renot a complete i:mbecileand checkthe compo-gradients.

Ker looksdown, studying a miniaturerow of colorbars at the very bottomof the photo. Bisface falls as he realizes•••

A HAMMER suddenlynails Ker in theback. dropping himto the fl Terl swingsagain. This time harder. Savagely beatingKer--

lCER But It'sWOrthlessl You JustSaid So Yourself!

TERI, Yesl But You Didn'tk.t'~ItWas Worthless--

..~-----·· .....-.es··

-· I

I only Ker manages toscramble out of theway at the lastminute. Be grabsthe hmmner fromTerl and scramblesto his feet--.-

But freezes as Terl·pullshis BLAST-GUN.

ButTerl reaches for thetrigger and••• Stops. Staring at the gun,his mind racing•••

Terl'seyes snap to thesurveillance photo •••Then toa ~nitor showinghumans workingin the mines••• Then backto the gun •••

Andit suddenlyconnects for Terl.

Kermistakes all of thisfor some cruelpause before his inevitableexecution andcontinues to plead--

Terllooks shocked by thevery suggesti~n.

TERI, Shoot you? My mosttrusted collea9"1:1e?

Be holstershis gun and throwsa friendly~ around Ker.

Kerclearly has no ideain hell what Terl'stalking about,but ai longas it involves notgetting shot, he'sall for it.

Tomorrow morning,we have to warn the Planetship about the "mutiny".

The settingsun casts a shadow overCHRISSY,who sits on a rock, keepinga hopeful eye on thefar side of theravine. We get the feelingshe spends a lotof time on that rock,watching and wait:

A Wr1'BEREDBANDgrips her shoulder. She turns aroundto face thi Parson,who gives Chrissy a concernedlook--

Chrissywhirls back tothe ravine witha relieved smile. But there's nothing there. Only now we canhere it•••

The feintsound of GALLOPINGBOOFS. Growinglouder as--

A flash of white is now visibleon thefar side of the canyon. Rocketing up the inclineand over thedrawbridge and •••

Chrissy's smile instantlyevaporates asshe realizes Windsplitter is returning riderless.

The Planetship and hisAssistant are stretched-outon CB.AISE- LOUNGES. But rightnow the Planetshiplooks anything butrelaxec

Across from him, Terland Ker sit on achaise-lounge nextto a sun-lamp. Terl andKer have concernedlooks on their faces.

'l'ERL ••• And ifthisworker revolt takes place, my informantstell me the~irst order of businesswill be to separat~ you from yourhead. ·

Terl nods, so far sogood. Then continues•••

The AssistantPlanetship givesTerl a snide look.

A WAITRESS in ·1ow-cutgarbslinks overwith a tray of drinks, bu1 thePlanetship wavesher off, keeping hisattention on 'l'erl.

The Planetshipand hisAssistant wait for thepunch-line. But thereisn't one. So theyroar with laughter.

And if it does work, I'llbe vaporized. It'sagainst the law totrain an--

The Planetshipchews on this. Be can't argue with thelogic. But shakeshis head anyway, abruptlydeclaring--

And before anyonecan say anything--

The Planetship JUMPSOF!"the third floorrailing. And nobody seems the least bitsurprised by this. Probably because•••

The first two floorshave been turned intoa Psychlo-sizedswi.mm.: pool. But insteadof water, it's filledwith an oily fluid. ThE Planetship rubs thesludge into his fur,squirming in delight.

Underthe glow of first-light,Chrissy ridesWindsplitter downtc

THEDRAWBRIDGE

Whichthe sentries holdin a raised position,preventing her fra leaving. They do thisunder the supervisionof the Parson.

She throws theclub with perfectaim, knocking open--

THE CATCH

On the pulleymechanism allowingthe rope to unwind,lowering the bridge. Andbefore anyone canreact--

Chrissy gallopsWindsplitter likea shot across thebridge, disappearingat full-tilt downth, hillside.

A cold and brutalPsychlo march songplays over loudspeakersas e long line ofexhausted and freezinghumans a.reescortedat gun point out tothe mines. In therear of the procession•••

The young twins,Mickey and Smnmy,work their way overto Jonnie.

A Psychlo thtusts Jonnieforward with thebutt of a gun, keeping himmoving with theparade of human miserypassing by--

TERI.AND KER

Who enjoy their breakfastout on the heatedpatio of the Senior Officer Mess Ball.

Be slaps a pictureof PIONEER ONE onto thetable. Jtershovels yellov meat into hismouth as he eyes thephoto, dubious.

() TERI, '·,...._____/

Becausethey were stupidenough to put a plaqueon it with picturesof themselves. One of ourdeep-space reconspicked it up. And here'sthe kicker•••

Be points to theplaque visible inthe photo.

Ker cracks-up,finding this hysterical. Terl leans forward, giving him a conspiratorialwink.

Terl gets up andheads out. Confused,Ker chases afterhim ••• • I

Catching up toTerl4 Ker shakes hishead.

'l'ERL ---What do youmean~? It'sm plan.

And before Ker canrespond, Terl headsinto--

Dff. SECURITY BE.ADQUARTERS--CONTINUOUS

And settles in behindhis desk. Ker followson his heels.

Terl leans back inhis chai=, rlb'l::>ingatalonoverbislips, pretending to be thinkingthis over. And finally•••

TERL

,~) I don't want topartner-up with an idiot. \,.....__-.,/ (challenges)

Bow do I even know you understandthe plan?

Stillreclining in hischair, Terl discreetlyreaches underhis desk and pushes a GREENBUTTON. Thisisn"t seen by--

Ker, who rising to thetask, holds up thesurveillance photoof themountain range.

TERI, But Some Planetowns this planet. The gold belongs tothem.

Ker nods, eager toprove he understandsthe whole plan.

Be waits for Terl'spraise••• But insteadTer1·1ooks shocked. And in the gravestof voices:

TERI, Putting asidethe serious violations of teaching·miningto an inferiorrace and insultingcorporate superiors, each one in themselvespunishableby death, you justadvocated deliberate theft of companyresources••• (resignedsigh) So my duty requiresme to reportyou, even though you willbe vaporizedand I'll have to traina new assistant.

Ker's jaw is practicallyon the floor. Terl promptly pushesa RED BOTTON under hisdesk before--

ma What are you talkingabout?l We don't have any recordersplanted in here ••• (realizes) Let me guess. !m don't. But ~ do.

'l'erlsauntersoverto a-~

VAULT

Where he carefullypositions hisbody to shield a KEYPADfrom Ker's view, ashe punches in numbers.

TERI, Considerit part of your education.

The vault swingsopen. Terl reachesin past a shelfof Blast-Gu and spare air-tanks,popping a discfrom a RECORDINGMACHINE.

TERI, Never engagein a criminalactivity until you set-upa patsy topin everythingon in case you'refound out.

TERI, So you won'tbe getting any brightideas about gettingrid of 'oleTerl in order to keepall the gold foryourself.

I

~:

But Iwould never double-crossyout·

TERI, Of coursenot. Because I'mgoing to set itup that if any 'unfortunate accident'were to befallme ••• (re:the disc) · This goesstraight to BameOffice.

Be files thedisc away withina collection of othersuch recordings housedwithin thevault, then shuts and locksthe ste door.

~er isn't happyabout this, butwhat can he do? And to make things worse,he realizes•••

1CER (cat.chingon) •••1.:.dbetheonlyqualified candidate to replace him. Good thinking, sirl (rubs his pawstogether) Sohow do we bumpthe bastard off?

Terl andhr enjoy their lunchup in a guardtower overlooking the humansslaving awaybelow. Between mouthfuls,'l'erlmotions down toJONNIE, who struggleswith a heavy loadof ore.

With.almosta aenae ofbegrudging respect,'l'erlexplains•••

'l'ERI, •••Whilethat onedou aeem to be unuauallyintelligentand resourceful, at leut for a man-animal,it alao •eema rather defiant. Which is why we'll need leverageover it.

Ja!:R. Leverage over a man-an.ima.l?

Terlgives him a aharp look. Hasn't he beenpaying attention?

'l'heonlyway it'a goingto be able to operatea miningmachine -isif it can readPaychlo. Whichmeans ve have to educateit on a learningmachine.

br looksat 'l'arllikehe'•off bis rocker.

l:D But if anyonefound out--

Zer stares downat Jonnie, exhaustedby the idea.

TERI, That'• whatmake• it ao muchfun.

Psychlo COOKSmix a disgustinggreen slop in gianttubs.

Ker dejectedlykicks a rock ashe follows Terl up thestreet.

TERI, Man isa primitive species.

Kercan't argue withthat, but still shakeshis head.

Ker barges into the cage,and withoutwarning, throws Jonnie, Carloand Floyd intoa--

TRANSPORTABLE CARGO CAGE.

Mickey and Sammy, tryingto stay close toJonnie, start to scrambleinto the cage,but Ker swats themaway.

Ker secures the cargocage to the back of aflatbed truck and tossesHEAVY JAC!CETStoour guys.

·o-t--.._--:tac··fis··fitrtf:z:lfb:ffln

-~ INT.TRANSPORT TRUCK --DRIVER'S CABIN-- THAT MORNING ' ) \,,,_____/

Ker,wearing a breath-tubenow that he'soutside the dome,drive: theflatbed truck up awindy mountainroad away from Denver •••

ourguys huddle in theirjackets as thecold Colorado air blows throughtl-.ecage. Floydshrugs, guessing•••

Carlolooks to Jonnie forhis take on thesituation. But Jannie'sattention turnsto the cargo cagedoor as--

The truckhits a smallbump, causing thedoor to swing open a crack,betraying thatit's not locked.

Theflatbed truck roundsa bend, carryinga NOW EMPTY cage.

ourguys pick themselvesoff the rQad fromwhere they jumped,an, 1 raceaway in escape, sprintingup a mountainpath.

Terl and Ker, recliningin chairs withtheir feet up ondesks, w! l'RIOOF MONITORSshowing our guys huffingand puffing up themour

our guysmake it up over asmall rise, whereFloyd suddenly casti hopefuleye at a CABIN-LIKEBUILDINGhalf-buried up ahead in the

Cax;-lohatesto takeFloyd's side, but •.•

Jonnie starts to respond,but one look atCarlo and Floyd and it's clear they'reboth on the brink ofexhaustion.

Terl proudly pointsto the monitors, whichshow our guys forcing open a door and headinginto the snow-coveredbuilding.

The buildingis a long-abandonedSKI CHALET,caught frozen in time•.A thick layerof dust covers everything. In the corner••

TheSXELETAL REMAINS ofsome pe9ple are·scatterednear .aCh:ristm Treeslumped over a pileof presents for a holidaynever celebra 1

But Jonnie suddenlyfreezes. Grabs aCHAIR.·

Be launches the chairstraight at the--

CBlUSTMAS TREE

SendingRATS scurryingout from among thepresents. Jonniedive: onto one of the largerrodents. Carlo andFloyd do likewise.

Carloand Floyd rip branchesfrom the Christmastree for kindlin<

realizes what Jonnie'sthinking.

Carlolooks up in dread ashe

willpower he's gotand ...

Jonniesummons up every ounceof

l:Q;:g~@hims~l.ftQt~kea l2i:teQfr"'w.:~t-

:INT.SECURITYHEADQUARTERS CONTINUOUS

Ker shakeshis head, nauseated.

TERI, Get off your fat ass! We got the info we needed, let's.goround 'em up.

our guys sprintup the road, when theybegin to hear an ominous MECHANICAL ROARbehind them. Gettinglouder as ••.

An armored PsychloMARK II GROUND.CAR hurtlesabove the ground·as it comes screamingup toward--

OUr guys, who char;epast a faded 'Welcome toAspen' sign on their way around a bend--

But as they topthe hill, they ~~n straight intoone of ~er~·s backupvehicles. Psychlos pi:ing out.

Jonnie goes berserk!

The first twoPsychlo guards stood no chance.With one backward stride,Jonnie ~s behind them. He sendsthem slamming togetherlike egg shells.

He catches thegun of one, as that Psychlo goesdown and stamps his heel intothe side of his skull.

He reverses the gunand batters the other Psychlowith shots from a range ofthree inches.

Jonnie drops on oneknee, and blows the two lastPsychlos who have exited the craftto bits.

Five other Psychlosfire in his direction.

Jennie's gun is empty.He throws it down andpicks up the other one. Flips theswitch to kill.

Totally unmindfulof the shots ripping up theground, running low and firing as hegoes, Jonnie races on.The otners scattering around him.

·Hekneels behind a Psychlobody and sends a stormof shots

into the five. Theycrash back.

Jonnie pounds them intorolling balls of dead flesh.Running, firing as he goes.

Wherethey abruptly run out ofground. s~anding atthe brink of a massivechasm where a--

Used tobe. But neglect andrepeated winter stormshave washed it awayinto the bottom of acanyon al.Jllosttoofardownto see.

And tomake matters worse,our guys are surroundedon all sides by sheervertical mountain face,impossible to climb. They're trappe·

This isdirected at the lookin Jonnie's eyes as hestares across the gorge •••

And in fact,the far side of theravine does seem likean awfully long distanceaway. But Jonniebacks up, getting asmuch runnina room aspossible.

The Psychlo GroundCar hurtles aroundthe last bend andcomes screaming out ontothe clearing as--

Jonnie takes offon a dead sprint, goinglike hell for theedge of the cliff. Carlo looksaway, can't bearthe sight.

Jonnie doesn't let-up. In fact, he goesfaster. Everymuscle straining as he racesstraight for theedge and--

A PSYCBLOFIGHTER PLANE =ocketsup from the depthsof the canyon, blockingJonnie from jumping--

NT. COCKPIT-- PSYCBLO FIGHTERPLANE CONTINUOUS

Terl maneuversthe fighterplane to push Jonnie away fromthe edge of thegorge.

Terl locksour guys into therear of the ground caras •.•

Ker stares acrossthe canyonto the other side, tryingto figure somethingout. And then it finallydawns on him.

Terl sighs, unlocksthe cage and grabsFloyd and tosses himover the side of the canyon.

FLOYD

Screams in helplessanguish ash~ plunges to his death.

The remainsof a sizablemeal are scatteredover a giant tablene: to asteel slab, wherethe ASSISTANT PI..ANETSBIPpartakesinanap.

I

A doorbursts open andKer marche_sinside andsalutes.

Be extendsa REQUISITIONFORM, which the stillhalf-asleep AssistantPlan~tship signs,but then snidely instructs--

Ker nods,then trots outwith the signed form. The Assistant Planetshipscratches himself,then returns to hissnooze.

The placeis packed withits usual.drunken debauchery. In the back,Terl and the bartenderengage in a privateconversation--

Ilff.EMPLOYEERECREATIONHALL -- LATERTHAT AFTERNOON

'l'heAssistantPlanetshipfinishesa panof kerbango when a DOZEN more pansof the narcoticroot are placedin front of him.

TheAssistant Planetship,now smashed outof his mind, stumbles intohis room to sleepoff the kerbango •••

Ilff.SECURJ:TYHEADQUARTERS--THAT NIGBT

A recordingof the.AssistantPlanetshipp~ays on.a mon;tor:

ASSISTANTPLANE'l'SBIP(ON MONITOR) You tell Terl,that unlike 'certain individuals', Ihold an important job--

Kerwatches as Terlpauses the recording,then expertly imitates theAssistant Planetship'svoice:

K..::R (genuinely impressed) Bow do you do that,sir? You sound,ilat like him.

Terlhits play again,mimicking the AssistantPlanetship's expressionsand gesture1:1playingon themonitor.

'l'erlmasterfullyappliesprosthetics~.ndmake-upto his face, thickeninghis eye bonesand darkening the furon his cheeks •••

Until ifwe didn't know itwas Terl, we'd swearit was the AssistantPlanetship.

MM MWWbN'

Terl, disguised as theAssistant Planetship,shakes his head.

The RESEARCH CLERK doesn'treally care, butpolitely asks:

Terl's eyes slit, buthe forces himself to stayin character.

The _ResearchClerk shrugs,returning to ~hebusiness at hand.

Terl signs a check-outslip, expertly forging theAssistant Planetship's signature,then •••

Making a big productionof looking around, makingsure no one's listening,Terl leansin with a conspiratorialwhisper •••

Kerbarges in and snapsa LEASH around Jonnie"sneck. Carlo gets same treatment. And asKer reaches out to grabsome more humans-

Mickeyand Sammy, discreetlyslip forward, positioningthemselves to beselected.

Ker handsPsychlo-sized paint-brushesto Carlo, thetwins, and ID.::YWOOD,anolderman witha friendlyface.

Pointing to giantbuckets of purplepaint, Ker barkssomething in Psychlo, whichthe humans obviouslycan't understand.

f\ \, ~-/

Be dips his brushinto a bucket andgoes to work paintinga wall. Carlo and the twinscopy his movements.

Terlroughly depositsJonnie and the chairin the center ofthe roam,then grabs a DISC froma pile and slidesit into--

A LEARNING MACHINE

Which unlike the utilitarian.designofmost Psychlo machinery,is elegantlydesignedwith sleek simplicity.

And once the disc is inserted,the machineemits a holographicilru ofa CBINKO, which bows twiceand puts itssix sets of pawsover sixeyes, then talksin English, albeitwith a strange accent:

The holographicimagebows again, then ..•

An intensebright shaftof BLUE LIGHT shootsout of the machine, strikingJonnie in theeyes...

A somberPsychlo war songplays from speakersas Carlo, Heywood andthe twins paint thewalls a fresh coat ofpurple.

···--

Terlhappily hums alongto the music as he attachessome kind of RED-SQUAREto a choke collar. Ker is camped-outat his own desk, lookingthrough s0100holographicpornography.

·::w:2·:sr:-:ar:a:::===

The blue lightbeaming at Jonnie'seyes clicks off. And staying in Jonnie's P.o.v.:

;,,,-.) '',~,~--~~ Jonnl.·e,speakingveryslowly, extra-enunciatin

Terl leansdown to each syllable••• TERL ,Bello•••There.••Do•••You••• Understand••• What•.••I'm .••Saying? •••

Jonnie can understand, butfeignsa blank expression,pretending hedoesn't. Terl danglesa DEAD RAT in frontof Jennie's eyes.

'!'ERL Are ••• You••.Bungry••• Little••• Guy? ••

ButJonnie keeps up hisblank--faceroutine.

Terlcontinues to 'tease'him with the rodentfor a few beats, thenpulls it away andrestarts the machine,turning to Ker.

Terl and Ker head out~he door. The momentthe·y'regone,Carlo · charges into--

tJI I

•

And tackles Jonnie outof the chair, "saving'him from theblue beam bombarding hiseyes.

Heywood appears in thedoorway with a concernedlook.

Carlo points to the LearningMachine with religiousawe.

m:;;:w:15-1·1t''

±,·f¥"+-¥¥rtfffl¥tM¥¥5

Before Heywoodcan protest, Jonniereassures him--

Beywood is concerned,but moves backto a window, keepinga vigilant eye onthe street outsideas •••

Jonnie insertsa new disc ~nto ~~~Learning Machine. I

l

I In the corner ofthe cage, out of viewof the others, Jonnieuses I' a stick to ferventlywork out mathematicalequations inthe dirt.

Carlo, Heywood andthe twins watch, tryingto make senseof the foreign symbols.

()

language lookslike.

Jonnie shakes hishead, his eyes shiningwith the raptureof pure knowledge as heexplains•••

Ker shrugsbetween mouthfulsof his lunch.

'l'erlslowlysipsa pan ofkerbango as he ~xplains.

&&

Jonnie watchingTerl and Ker on a monitor,while readingthrough a Psychlo FIELDOPERATIONS MANUAL.

In the rearof the room, the restof the guys push andpull at the handleto the massive VAULT.

0:

Carlo gives Jonniea hopeful look.

Jonnie digs throughTerl's desk, comingup with a FORM.

Be returns Carlo'slook with a shrug.

BANK VAUI.T--MOMENTS LATER

Jonniepunches Terl's empl Anentry light blinks redoyee Id~Number intothe vault's keypad. and the door remainslocked.

But the questionis,~ clever? Let's try putting thenumbers in reverseorder

Beinputs Terl's employeeId-Number in reverseorder. A beat,the the.entrylight blinksgreen and the vaultswings open.

our guysenter. Jonnie'sattention is drawnto the RECORDING MACHINE,while Carlo, Heywood andthe twinscheck-out the Blast- Guns andspare Breath-GasTanks.

Terland Ker march pastHeywood, Carloand the twins, who areall busy painting thewalls, and head straightinto•••

This time, Terl dangles.tlfQdeadrats infront Jonnie.

But Jonnie keeps uphis blank-face routine. And is rewarded for it by being picked-upby the head andlaunched out into--

INT•..SECURITYBEADQUARTERS-- CONTINUOUS-

Jonnie skids across·thefloor, slamminginto a wall. Ter"i impatiently marchesover to him, pullin·ghisBlast-Gun.

But Kerisn't willing to give-uphope of the gold andtries to sound convincingas--

Be stormsover and grabs a seriesof surveillancephotos from his desk. Jonnie discreetly signalsacross the room to •••

Carlo,who holds his breath,praying he doesn't getcaught as...

Be slowlyreaches between Terl'slegs and pushes theGREEN BUTTON, recordingas •••

TERI,

', ,/ I can'tkeep hiding the recon-photos

from Bome Office,forever. Plus,at the rate the glacieris melting, thegold's about to fallinto the ravine.

tt'P, ... so,we'llget.it then.

c-------. ,__) TERL

We'd haveto use explosives. Bame Office woulddetect them and senddown a survey team,which means wewouldn't be able to keepthe gold for ourselves.

Be takes one lastforlorn look at thephotos, then lashesout in anger, deliveringa vicious kick toJonnie.

Be points his blast-gundown at Jonnieand--

Terl stares at Jonniein amazement. The man-animal justspoke Psychlo. But tomake sure he 'snot imaginingthis••.•

CARLO. HEYWOOD ANDTHE TWI??SP,o.v

The rest of the guyscan't understandwhat Jonnie's saying,but they're shocked to realize•••

Be's speaking to themonsters in theirmachine-like language,as·

TERL

In an unprecedentedpublic display of joy,hops up and down, pumping his arms invictory.

Terl, more amusedthan anything, clarifies•••

TEm, Oh, really? And howexactly do you plan todo that--

Jonniegives the signal. With a sudden flurryof movement--

Carlo,Heywood, and thetwins pull BLAST-GUNS from behindtheir paintbuckets. Jonnie keepshis attention on Terl.

ButTerl's only reactionis to chuckle.

You sure they evenknow how to use those things--

A COLLECTIVECLia as ourguys slam the leversdown on their gun to killposition. Kerimmediately throws hisarm up in surrende

And Terlis no longer chuckling. Be looks aroundat the guns pointedat him and burieshis head in his paws,and }?egins to •••

Bowlwith laughter. Convulsingso hard, tearsrun down his face

Stilllaughing hysterically,he rears back tosmack Jonnie. But Mickeyjumps forward and FIRES hisgun at Terl--

Only there'snothing but aCLICK. The weapondoesn't fire.

Sarm:nyleapsforwardand fireshis Blaster. CLia. Bis gun doesn'twork either. Carloand Heywood get thesame result.

Tfer;,stilllaughing, followsthrough on his swing,sending Jonn. 1yingacross the roam. Then explains to himwith a smirk.

,N

-

TERI, Ifyou rat-brains knewanything about firearmsafety, you'dknow one doesn't storeloaded weapons.

Then he turnsto take care ofthe others. Goes tosmack Sam:ny--

But Mickey protectivelygrabsa LE'I-tER-OPENERfromadesk, andwl blindingspeed, plunges theblade straight for Terl'schest--

only asfast as Mickey is,Terl is faster, andhe deflects the blow withhis arm, sustaininga small cut in theprocess.

Terl thenpromptly relievesMickey of the letter-openerand seize the tremblingtwin by the throat,holding him firmlyi~ place as-

Be raisesthe sharp blade·highabove Mickey's chest--

Terlpauses to consider this. Then turns and convincinglybluffs·

TERI, Then I'll vaporize youand get s~o~e ~lse to mine the gold--

In thatone moment, Terl'swhole world is turnedupside down. Jonniegives Terl a dangeroussmile.

Rage burnsopenly in Terl'seyes, but he lowers theweapon and calmlyturns to Ker.

AMark II Ground Car isparked in front ofthe library. Locked ina cage in the rearof the vehicle--

carlo,Heywood and thetwins watch withconcern as Terl drags Jonnieby a leash acrossthe street and upmarble steps.

'l"'"[j":J/"'-•

Terl's usual deepthroated voice soundseven more ominousas it echoes eerily in thelibrary's expansiveentryway.

Be gives the leasha good hard jerk,yanking Jonnie down a--

Terl moves at his normalgait, forcingJonnie to run tokeep up.

Be snaps the leash,whiplashing Jonnieinto--

The shelves liningthis cavernous tomb ofa room are stackedfull of books. An endlessvariety of subjectsand titles.

Be makes a big productionof lettinggo of the leash, giving Jonnie full runof the place.

Be watches amusedas Jonnie takeshim up on his offer,pulling books from shelves. Terl can't resistcalling afterhim--

Terl cracks-up,finding this particularlyentertaining.

Mickey pensivelyshakes his head,fearing the worst.

A darknesshangs over the cageas everyone continuesto stare u~ at the library,where--

:INT.DENVERLIBRARY -- CENTRALRESEARCH ROOM --CONTINUOUS

Terl is filinghis talons. Across from him, Jonniefinishes lookingthrough a large stackof books.

As Jonnieheads for the door,Terl steals a peekat the book he was justlooking at. It'sthe Declaration of Independence.

But Terlcan't read English. Unconcerned, he.justshrugs, swattingthe book across theroom.

~. DOMED CITY -- EDGEOF A FtELD -- A LITTLELATER

0n·a riseoverlooking thedomed city, a herdof grazing cows cas curiousstares across thefield a.sthe Hark ;IGround Car pulls

Terlemerges from the vehicle,followed by Jonnie.

TERI, You willsoon be relocatedto a new

I

miningsite. And if any ofyou get any brightideas about escaping,keep in mindthat while you rat-brainsmay not knowanything about firearms,I certainlydo. I just happenedto be topmarksman of my graduatingclass. And Ican kill any of you atwell over a thousandpaces ••• (toJonnie) Tell them whatI just said.

Terl waits forJonnie to continue. And when he doesn't•••

Jonnie nods. Terlis surprised; butshrugs and continueswith t subject at hand. Be pulls his Blast-Gun,explaining--

Be turns andFIRES into the middleof the--

GRAZING COWS

Killing severalof the animals.The others take offin a panickec stmnpede of churninghooves. Terlcontinues to calmlyfire-- _

Blasting the legsclean off the fast-movinganimals.Sending them collapsingto the ground,BELLOWING in anguishedtorture.

Terl shows offwith some trickshots. Fram behindthe back. With his eyesclosed. All withthe same horrific result•••

The field litteredwith a bloodysea of suffering animalsthrash.i around helplessly. sensing somethingbehind them. Jonnieturns--

A GRIZZLYBEAR emerges from anabandoned building. Nostrils flaring atthe smell of bloo4. And with a growl, he chargesat--

Terl, whois too busy with hisshooting demonstration,to.notice.

~' Buthe does note thelook in Johnie"s·eyesas Jonnie startsback \"'-__.)' away. And misreadingit as revulsionto the carnage on thefielc

TERI, Don't you knowyour own history? Man- kind was theonly animal on thisplanet that huntedother animals for sport••• (has toadmit) Which means theremight be sOinehopefor your speciesafter all--

The GRIZZLY slams intoTerl from behind--

The fierce impact jarsthe gun fromTerl's grasp as he'sviolent) MAULED down. And withthe grizzly on hisback, pinninghim down, Terl is unable to gethis own talonsup at--

TBE BEAR

Who is starting to dodam.age. Powerfulclaws savagely slashing intoTerl's flesh asTerl remains unableto defend himself.

Jonnie scoops up thegun, switches it tostun position andFIRES. Knocking the grizzlyflat by the shot. Carlo can"t believeit..

Jonnie raises the weapon on Terl,who bloodiedand bruised,sits himself up and givesJonnie a friendlysmile.

:,w·:,:;;·m:::r·::-::::r:::::r:-e..........==·::::r:::=:::::r::==-·=-

Be switches thegun into kill position.

And for the firsttime, there is terrorin Terl' s eyes.Be braci himself, waitingfor the shot. Be doesn'thave to waitlong •••

KABLAMI

'l'erl'seyesopen widein shock.

Be hasn't beenhit. 'I'he shotwas directedatone of thesufferi1 cows behind him,as Jonnie humanelyends the animal'smisery.

BLAMI BLAHJ BLAMJ

Jonnie does the samewith the rest of theherd. Terl hasto smi atthe irony of it••• , I

',

TERI,

Vr You"ve learnedmore Psychlo than'I ever

thought possible.

TERI, 'I'o toywithme likethis before you kill me. I'm impressed••• (genuinely) You honor me.

Be closeshis eyes, bowshis head, ready forhis execution.

Jonniestands there, the gunnow sighted on 'I'erl.Bisfinger achingto pull the trigger. But he doesn't•••

7F6 .,-&:tr#&·+11ww,¾i'3iCFE1'Wtrttt::mt

'l'ERLcan'tunderstandwhat the man-animalsare babbling about. Buthis eyes remain focusedon the gun inJennie's hand,waiting fora chance to grab it--

(J

ButJonnie keeps theweapon leveled onTerl's chest, as he continuesto address theothers•••

Be waits along beat for everyoneto digest this,then •••

Inspired, Mickeyimmediately stepsforward.

Bis voice is abit jmpulsive, but fullof conviction.

Ris brother, Sammy,immediately joinshim. Heywood alsosteps forward in solidarity. But Carlo isn'tso sure •••

A long beat,then with the lookof a man who knowshe's going to regret this,Carlo steps forward,joining the otherswith a sigh

'l'erlwatchesasthe damnedestthing happens •••

Jonnieturns to him, returning the gun tohim.explaining itwit

Inthe blink of an eye,Terl shifts hisdemeanor back to hisold causticself--

Be pointsJonnie to thefar edge of the field.

Terlproudly points downto the domed citybelow.

TERI, Thatentire city doesn'teven equal QM block inone of the hundredsof thousandsof citieson the great Bome Planetof Pf"ychlo.And from there, we controlcountless outpostsall over the universe. Each one much largerthan this. One of those outpostsused to be theChink.o'splanet.

'l'erlstaresJonniestraightin the eye, makingsure he understandi

¥±,+FR,pffi,,aff·'t·&P&Mi&¾·?·t''hYr11 **',m+-e

Be lets Jonnie chew onthat for a beat,then concedes •••

A SECOND Mark IIGround Car pulls up. Ker emerges from the vehicle and opensthe trunk, pulling out--

CJIBlSSY.

Relief floods hereyes when she sees Jonnie. At least he'salive

But as hard as itis to do, Jonnie givesChrissy an emotionless vacant look. Like she meansnothing tob_im.• •

And Chrissy sensesenough to duplicate.thislook. Terl watches Jonnie very closely.

TERI, ••• You don'tknow her?

Be pulls out Cbrisey'scharcoal drawingof Jonnie.

Be doesn't have towait long to find out •••

Terl holds up a CBOKE-COLLARwith a red squareon it.

Be secures the collar to Chrissy'sneck, then pullsa REMOTE CONTROL.

-squared collara.roundHeywood'sneck. Ker secures a secon d red

Terl stares at Jonnie. A long beat. Then he finally relents•••

Terl nonchalantly tossesthe remote to Ker.

'l'ERt As I said,I won't kill him •••

Ker givesJonnie an evil grin, thenslowly pushes thebutton--

JtABLAMJJ

Heywood isno longer among the living.·Terl and Kerlaugh their asses offat the shocked betrayalon Jennie's face.

Returningthe burnecsto their cagefort.he night, Terlstares at Mickey andSammy. Impossible totell the twins apart•••

The two youngbrothers watch withgrowing concern asTerl motions to them,while asking Jonnie somethingin Psychlo.

A look of knowingterror in Mickey'seyes.

Mickeynods, accepting hisfate, whatever itmay be. Be turns--

But Sammyhas already steppedforward. sacrificinghimself to Terl. Mickey, stunned,tries to stop him--

Terlgrabs Sammy and Jonnieand marches away.

Terlstraps Sammy to theteleportation platform,then calmly dragsJonnie down to--

'l'erlpunchescommandsintoa console. over the.humof the generatorscoming to life,Terl explains toJonnie•••

TERI, Now thatyou and I haveour little agreementstraight, Iwant you to watch this,so you can tellthe others· · what'llhappen to themif any of. you everdisobey me.

Be pointsJennie's attentionto a monitor, beamingbacK imageso teleportationplatforms on theBOME PLANET OF PSYCBLOas •••

With aTBUNDER-CLAP of soundand a BLINDING FLASBof light••• sammy disopoears from the platform--

And appearson one of the countlessteleportationplatforms stretchedout under a radiantpurple sky.

Sammy can'tbreath the air. Startingto suffocate.

Panicking,the youngster desperatelyundoes the straptethe~ing him to theplatform and tries torun to safety, but--

The much largerplanet's immensegravitational pullcrushes him to his knees. Bis eyes bulging,he stares out at a--

NIGHTMARISH SKYLINE

Endless rowsof factoriesbelching fire crammedbetween office buildingsthousands of timestaller than theworld Trade Center.

SAMMY

Lets outa gasping plea forhelp as his spinestarts to crack under theatmospheric weight. And the lastthing he sees are•••

PSYCBLOWORXERS

crowdingaround him incurious amusement. As if observing an insectcooking in a microwave. Until•••

Theyoung twin literallyIMPLODES. Bis bodycaving in on itself mercifullyending the suffering.

Jonnierips his eyes awayfrom the abominablescene playing on the monitor. In contrast•••

'l'erlviewsitto its bitterend, clucking thewhole time with enjoyment.

:INT.EMPLOYEERECREATIONHALL:-- CONTINUOUS

A buncho·fPsychlos crowdaro~d the bar,:con~umingkerb~go, includingthe RESEARCHCI.Ellthat Terl checkedout the discs £re

Ker joinsthe group, shakinghis head despondently.

Everyone issurprised by Ker'sun-Psychlo like grief.

The groupnods, now understanding.

The Psychlosgive a collective 'Begot what he hadcoming,' shrug, thenreturn to their kerbangoas .••

The researchclerk leans over toKer, nonchalantly inquiring:

~ Bewas on a remoterim star planet, not unlike this one,where just like here, theysecretly recordand archive All conversations.

(~) This isnews to the researchclerk. \,______~,.,,;'

DtT. DENVER ZOO --CAGE -- THAT NIGHT

A guard tosses Jonnieback into thecage. Mickey tentatively approaches him, afraidto ask thequestion, but bas to •••

Jonnie stares athim. A long, difficultbeat•. Then finally--

Before he can continue,Mickey exhales,relieved.

-MICXEY · . •••Thank god,because I thoughtfor sure he was goingto kill him.

Jonnie continuesto stare at Mickey,his heart breaking. But fox the life of him,he just can't bringhimself to tellhim the rest

nr.t'.DENVERHOTEL-- CONTINUOUS

'l'erlhurriesdowna hallway. A pairof GUARDS snap a saluteand iimnediatelyopena door, allowing him into--

~er and the researchclerk are in theroom with the Planetship.

'l'erldoesan impressivejob of actingshocked by the news.

IN'l'.~SISTAN'l'PLANETSBIP'SLIVINGQUARTERS-- A LI'l"l'LELATER

The Assistant Planetshipdoesn"t haveto act. Be ii shocked.

4,q,,,,a;;

A MfNE

l ASSISTANT PLANETSBIP Why thehell would I want todo that?l

Terl slipsa disc into a machine,playing a recordingof •••

Terl, convincinglydisguised asthe Assistant Planetship,leaning in with a conspiratorialwhisperto the Research Clerk.

RESEARca·CLERK I'd liketo think so.

The AssistantPlanetship shakes hishead, pointing tothe person who looks justlike him on themonitor.

t Be hoids upthe sign-out sheet,bearing Terl'·s perfectforgery.of. C, the AssistantPlanetship's signature. ON TSE MONITOR•••

Terl, in theguise of the AssistantPlanetship, looks around, making sureno one's listening, before 'confiding'•••

The Research Clerkimmediately turns tothe Planetship, insisting•.

The Planetship givesa gruff nod and continuesto watch as~··

ON THE RECORDING,Terl continues•••

(~) ''·~,.-.,,~~'

The Assistant Planetshipstands alone infront of a doorto the Planetship's office. Be nervously callsdown the hall--

Terl,Ker and the Planetshipwatch frombehind a protectiveblast shieldpositioned a safedistance down thecorridor.

TERL

t If you refuseto cooperate withthis

investigation,I"m afraid regulations·

\,~:,I

would requireme to vaporize you for.the charge of hightreason•••

The Assistant Planetshipsighs. Then closeshis eyes andbraces hisbody, as if thatcould somehow protecthim from anexplosion.

And he slowly cracksopen the door. Nothing happens.

A flash of light anda deafening blastas a CATACLYSMICEXPLOSION blows the AssistantPlanetship and much ofthe hall intooblivion.

Psychloworkers hosedown the last of thefire from the explosion Kerfollows behind as thePlanetship strollsby with Terl,who is adamantlyshaking his head,pretending tobe distraught.

' Terland Ker share a secretlook of victory.

,,,.-...,,\ l Jonniesits alone in thecorner, For thefirst time, he looks -.,,,__.,,.,,~i

defeated. Be doesn't evenbother to lookup as .••

Terlcheerfully stridesup, snaps a leasharound Jennie's neck andyanks,him to his feet.

Be danglesa handful ofdead rats in frontof Jennie's face.

Then after lunch, it'son to drilling and flying simulators.

Jonnienods numbly.. There'sno more fightleft in him.

Ker,in his new office,struggles througha crossword puzzle.___Bt quicklyhides it as thePlanetship stickshis head into theroom

lCER Thanks, sir, butI'm going to stay and get some more work done.

The Ple.netshipnods,bothsurprised and impressed•••

And headingdown the hall,the Planetshipmutters to himself.

Be headsinto an elevatorand the doors closewith a J;u.ng--

As soon asKer hears the noise,he immediately stealsinto the adjoining office--

And goes towork, snooping throughthe Planetship'spersonal files

ia

Jonnie half-heartedlypushesbuttons on controlpanel to a

0 BOLOGRAPBJ:CFIGHTSIMULA.TOR.But all he managesto do is •••

Crash into asimulated mountain.

Be holdsup the REMOTE to Chrissy"sexplosive collar,then restartsthe simulator.

Jonnie isback to sitting alonewith a despondentlook.

Carlo and Mickeyslowly approach. Nothing is a.aidforthe longesttime. And finally,Jonnie looks up atCarlo.

Jonniegives him a hauntedlook--

Carlo shakes hishead, trying to holdback the anger.

CA:RLO This isn't justabout~- Rememberwhat Heywood said. It's about all ofus •••

Jonnie looks aroundat the others inthe cage, who are now-staring at him. And hesees something on theirfaces he's never seen before. ~- The longest of beats,then ...

Everyone hasto know. If ,..,e· dothis, there's a goodchance that not oneof us will be aliveby the time it's over.

But not oneperson is deterred. Carlogives Jennie's words back to him--

This voice belongsto on~ of the human slavespressed against the bars of the nextcage over, listening towhat's going on in Jonnie's cage. And from the next cage overfrom that•••

ANO'l'BERVOICE(O.S.) What's goingon?

The human slav~ turnsand calls to the secondvoice--

Someone from the next cageasks what's going on •••

And ~he news is met with thesame ardent reaction. We PULL BACK t

The messagepassing from cageto cage, until the whole zooerupts· a DEAFENINGROAR. The battle-cryresounding defiantly inthe nigh

It's a whole differentJonnie. Attentive and focusedas his fingers fly overthe simulator'scontrol panel.

Terl watches, impressed. Then holdsup the remote toChrissy's explosive c9llar,gloating•••

'l'ERL Never underestimatewhat a little leveragecan do, rat-brain.

Jonnie nods, lettingTerl believewhat he wants to.

Everyone inJonnie's cage crowdsaround him as he drawsletters in the dirt,teaching the othersto.read and WJ::ite.Jonnie passes the stickto Carlo, whocarefully starts towrite letters , of his own.

The Planetshipstrolls into hisoffice, but.fr~zes in his trac;k What the hellare Terl and Ker·doing·inhis inner-sanctum••~

But then hesees the files allneatly laid out on hisdesk. Be looks at them,the life drainingfrom his eyes.

TERI, . Isn't itinteresting you'vebeen keeping two setsof books.• • And whileyou've told theworkers that this planet'soperating at a loss,it's actually quiteprofitable.

The Planetshipshakes hishead, feebly tryingto explain•••

'l'ERL Of courseyou did ••• (knowingsmile) And ithad nothing todo with how it allowsyou to cut everyone'spay, so you keep allthe extra creditsfor yourself.

But Terl dropsa heavy tome or.tothedesk with a resoundingclang

TERI, And it's notin any of our interestsfor you to stopbeing the Planetship•••But it may beprudent for you tostart sharing some ofyour authority.

Ker hands the Planetshipa huge sheafof requisitionand order foI:mS,along witha pen to sign them.

'l'ERI, --If you don'twant to do itthis way, we could alwaysdo it by the book.

Be pats hisBlast-Gun, underscoringthe threat.

A SUPPLY CLERK staresincredulously ata requisition form.

TERI, That's noteven the crazy part. (holds upan order form) Be's orderedme to take a groupof man- animals withthe equipment out toa remote area tosee if they can be trained tomine. Can you imaginethat?l

'l'ERL Tell me about it. But what can Ido ••• (helpless shrug) An order"s an order.

ABOWLING h"INDcuts througha large steel cagecontaining Carlo, Mickey, and some twentyother men, along withan assortment of mining machines and equipment. The cage is suspendedfrom the underbellyof a--

PSYCBLOCARGO-TYPE AIRCRAFT

Whichhurtles over themajestic Rocky Mountains. Following behind,Ker is at the helmof a smaller fighter-plane.

Terl keeps a careful eyeon Jonnie, who ispiloting the aircraft. An .ALARMsuddenly blaresthrough-out the cockpit--

Blue sparks are startingto pop throughout thecockpit.

For the first time, thereis genuine fear inTerl's eyes. Be immediately points to a meadow visible.below--

~, TERL ~,_/'I What are you waitingfor?J Land.the.

damn cra!t. Thisis as far as I can go.

Jonnie punches buttons.~nthe control panel,landing the aircraft.

Terl motions Jonnieto the cargo cage asKer lands th~ fighterin the meadow nearby.

As the threathangs there, Terl checkshis time-piece.

The men have been assembledout on the meadow,when there's an e~hereal, almost otherworldlyWAILING from aboveas--

A PSYCBLO RECONDRONE

Hurtles overhead. One ofthe drone's high-techCAMERA-LENS rotates to stare down atour guys.

---,,,_m=·==,,.,,.-,...,, '*

I I A 'I'RANSMISSIONRECEIVERspitsouta SURVEILLANCEPHOTO takenf rc ' the recondrone, depictingJonnie and theothers starin9 up intc the sky. Ker hands it to--

'l'erl,who givesthesurveillancephoto toJonnie.

TERI, Tell them that eventhough I won't be atthe mining site,I'll be able to keep an eye on you ••• (admonishes) And anyonewho isn't workingbard will be 'replaced',if you knowwhat I mean.

Be pats his blast-gun,making sureJonnie understands,then turn and climbs intothe fighter asKer pilots it up andaway.

Jonnie and themen start backto the cargo aircraft,but Jonnie instantly whirls. Eyes scanningthe underbrush inthe tree line

Be grabs a PICJC-AXfromthe miningequipment, holdingit up as a weapon. Followinghis lead, therest of themen do likewise as.

The bush moves. And out frombehind it steps--

A wild-eyedfigure with the lookof someone who hassurvived a long time alonein ·thewilderness·.Ignoring the·array·of~eapori pointed athim, the ROGOE staresat Jonnie incomplete awe.

Jonnie giveshim a friendly smile.

The rogue sizesup Jonnie andthe rest of themen, then nods as he's reachedsome important decision,and returnsJonnie's smile

Jonnie lands thecargo-aircraft at themining site, and ourguys now including MASON,begin hauling theequipment into the shelte of a cave.

Carlo looks up fromthe list he's been studyingwith a worried expression-- CARLO If we work aroundthe clock, we'llbe lucky to mineenough gold to fillhalf that cage •••There'sno way we're going to be able todo that ,smgget all this stuff donewe need for the revolt. JONNIE I'vegot worse news. There's onlygonna beabout half of you digging. (offtheir looks) I'mgonna be looking somewhereelse for it.

The cargo aircraft landson top of the shoppingmall where Jenni, and Carlo were firstcaptured by the Psychlowrangler.

Jonnie and a smallgroup of men emerge andrace inside the build

Jonnie and a groupof his men move throughthe store, scavenging WA.I.KIE-TALKIESandRECBARGEABLE.BATI'ERIES,while-··

Mickey and Sammy lead.aseparate team througha gun shop, collecting weapons,and--

Carlo and a third squadscrounge up supplies,including SPOOLS O TBIN WIRE.

Jonnie shows his groupbasic engine mechanics ashe rebuilds the motor on a small, gas-poweredgenerator. Nearby•••

Mickey and Sammy's team assemblecrude, but effective-looking homemade bombs from themining equipment.

With the generator,now reassembled,Jonnie fires it tolife.

The men burstout in applause as electricityflows to aline of battery rechargers.

Jonnie pilots theaircraft. Carlois in the navigator'sseat. Behind him, ~ckey shakes his head--

() MIClCEY

••• Bey,what's.:thA:t,?

Jonniebanks the aircraftaround. And now,staring at them throughthe cockpit window is •••

TBES'l'ATOEOFLIBERTY

Watchingover a completelyempty harbor.

EX'!'.MANHATTAN--CONTINUOUS

Thesame with the cityof Manhattan. The entireisland is a literalghost town. Nothing moves. Hoveringoverhead--

nrr. AIRCRAFT -- CONTINUOUS

Jonnie studies themap, realizing.

A wailing soundgrows louderas the RECON DRONEpasses overhead, camerasspying down on themining site, where •••

Biddenfrom view in thecave, two of Jannie'smen have stayed behind andnow pull on a seriesof thin wires,which run through a pulleysystem and out to •••

Twenty DEPARTMENTSTORE MANNEQUINS,all deckedout in mining gear and holdingshovels and pick-axes. As the wiresare pulled•••

The mannequinsmove like marionettes,looking likethey're hard at workmining the gold.

Terl grabs thesurveillance photoas soon as it spitsout from the transmissionreceiver. Be givesa satisfied nod.

'!'ERL Bribe my way offthis god-forsakenplanet and get assigneda real position that's worthy of my talentsand training.

Thathas got to be thestupidest thingJeerhas ever heard.·

TERI, Not a job •••Respect.

Thefierce desire ispalpable in hisvoice.

The cargo aircraft isparked next to theLibrary of Congress.

Books on uranium arespread across a tableas Jonnie unfoldsa

I ~I to·a mountain in Coloradowhich bearsthe radiation symbolof·a \__j' triangle inside a circle... ·

MI~Y ••• Ithasthe same symbol.

Jonnie finds Los Alamosand Three MileIsland on the map. And sureenough, they bothhave the radiationsymbol.

Carlo and Mickey don'tunderstand. Jonnieexplains•••

Mickey nods, realizingthis is good news.

Be staresat them, ~ng sure they understand.

The aircraft land~ nextto FORT KNOX. Our guys emerge, carrying largePsychlo equipmentcases, and headinto the building•••

¥@ ¥¥9 4;μ n;; 4 4

-

D'l'.FOitTmox -- GOLDDEPOSITORY -- A LI'l"I'LB~

our guys stand in frontof an imposing vault.

Jonnie and Mickeyfire-up a Psychlo LASER-DRILL.

They attack the vaultwith the high-tech drill.

It cuts through,like a hot knife through butter.

~ As the screamingbit, is pulled smoking from th~ hole, a·gol~ l,J' ~ight streamsout.

HIGH ANGLE

Jonnie andthe others descend over the mine area. But it looks verydifferent.

..

There are looks'ofconcern on their faces.

A light shines down from the present edgeand confirms it. The fissure,thirty feet back from the oldedge, had simply opened and fallen into the gorge.

Jonnie races back to the hundred feet deep shaftedge. He looksaround, flashing his light. •

Jonnieapproaches the hole more closely.Until hesees the slide~arks of the cross timbers that had supportedthe hoist cage over the hole.

A light shines down from thepresent edge and confirms it. The fissure, thirty feet backfrom the old edge, had simply 0 opened and fallen into the gorge.

Jonnie races back to the hundredfeet deep shaft edge. He looksaround, flashing his light.

Jonnie approaches the holemore closely. Until he sees the slide marks of the cross timbersthat had supported thehoist cage over the hole.

LATER

The place is broadly litnOW'with lamps the relief crewhad put on poles. Carlo and theothers pay out the line of a bucket rigged to crane cable•••

••• Jonnieand three othersare lowered to the bottomof the hole.

They swing picks at therocks, filling buckets thatare instantly shot aloft tobe replac~d by empty ones.

LATER

u - The crew has been changed.Twice. But Jonnie is stilldown there.

They work in a blur ofspeed.

Another crew arrives.Jonnie stays.

Finally, he hears a distantwhisper of sound. He holdsup his hand for silence.

VOICE (very faintly) ••• airhole .••

Jonnie grabs a LONGMINE DRILL. He socks the rock drillpoint into it, and signals theman on the drill motor.

They buck the drill intoit with the pressure handles.And with a high scream the drillgoes through.

-;;-;;;;:;;;,;;;;V

LATER

The placeis broadly lit now with lampsthe relief crew had put onpoles. Carlo and the others payout the line of a bucket riggedto crane cable•••

••• Jonnieandthree others are loweredto the bottom of the hole.

They swingpicks at the rocks, fillingbuckets that are instantlyshot aloft to be replaced byempty ones.

LATER

The crewhas been changed. Twice.But Jonnie is still down there.

They workin a blur of speed •

Finally,he hears a distant whisperof sound. He holds up his hand forsilence.

VOICE (veryfaintly) ••• airhole •••

Jonniegrabs a LONGMINE DRILL. He socksthe rock drill point intoit, and signals the man onthe drill motor.

Theybuck the drill into it withthe pressure ·handles•.And with a high scream the drill goe·s.through.

Theyfeed the hose through thedrill hole and turn the air compressoron. Air from the driftsqueals ~ack past the sides ofthe hose and into the rescuecrew's faces.

LATER

They have managed to clear thetop of the rockfall anddrag men out.

Passing them to the top, silentlyin the hoist buckets.

A dust- and sweat-covered Jonnieis the last one up.

The salvages crew are bundledup, sitting in the snow,most of them drinking something hot.

Jonnie yanks the cover fromthe stacks of gold bars, harvested at Fort Knox.

Jonniestands next to a cargocage half-fullof GOLD BARSas he waitsfor Terl to landhis aircraft andclimb out.

'l'erlisimpress~d,butalso instantly suspicious.

TERI, Why is it in 12.A.:I.?

Terldoesn't look convinceduntil he runsa hand-held COMPOSITION ANALYZERover the gold. It checks out asthe real thing.

Bidinghis glee, Terlturns back and growlsat Jonnie--

TERI, I obviously needto adjust the schedule. Sinceyou rat-brains had enough extra timeto smelt the gold into bricks, Iwill now expect the rest of the gold in sevendays .•

Not botheringto wait fora response, Terlloads the glorious goldinto his aircraft.

J~nnieand the rest ofthe men have reassembledback at the cave.

But Jonniedoesn't look theleast bit concerned.

The groupnods, trying tomatch Jonnie•s confidenceas Jonnie gets downto business, openinga MAP of Denver. Be points to the zoo in themiddle of the city.

No one seems toohappy about the comparison. But Jonnienods ••.

Mickey excitedly jumps inagain, beatingJonnie to thepunch-lir

Ali eyes spinto Carlo, who givesa confide'n~thumbs-up~

Piece-of-cake!

Bis eyes sweep thegroup as he explains•••

Excitement spreadsthrough the group. The plan actuallyhas a chance of working. But then Jonnieadds •••

The group's excitementinstantly turnsto confusion.

Everyone stares athim. Be must be joking. But he isn't.

Jonnie and a handfulof men emerge froma Strategic Weapons Vault carrying out cratesof conventionalexplosives, as wellas ••.

A Cruise-Missile N'QCIT&RWHEN?~

Mickey restlessly pokesaround, exploringthe classroom asJonnie and Carlo huddle overa tech-manual.

The nuclear warhead sitson a table in frontof them.

In theback of the room,Mickey points toan old PBOTOof a BATTALIONOF CADETS,all with their handsto their foreheads.

JONN:IE Nothing•s wrong. They're saluting. It's a sign of respect.

Be salutes,showing Mickey,then gets backto the business at hand,continuing to readfrom the manual--

Jonnieand Carlo bothtake deep breaths,then pick up toolsand gingerlygo to work on thewarhead--

Terlrips the lid offof a coffin andyanks out the deadPsychlo dumpingthe corpse tothe ground and kickingit out of hisway.

Be repeatsthe processwith another coffin,unceremoniously flingingthe corpseto the ground, thenfires up a LASER DRILL andblasts away, carvingFALSE BOTTOMSinto·the caskets.

Withthe nuclear warheadnow partiallydismantled, Jonnie and Carlocareful_lyremovea lead plate withsurgical precision.

Still whistlinghis war song,Terl begins fillingthe false bottoms in thecoffins with hisbeloved gold.

Everyone congregatesaround themap of Denver onelast time as Jonnie finalizesthe battleplan •••

Be pointsto a section of thecity away from thepark.

Mason pointsto the nuclearwarhead.

Ml-\SON ••• And you'resurethatthing will be enoughto take-out theirentire planet?

Mickey slowlyraises his head. A darkness in hisvoice.

MICK£Y --Youdon't understand. I~ to go. (determined) So,I can see my brotheragain.

Jonniestares at Mickey,his heart breaking. But this time, Jonniebas no choice. Be hasto tell him.

Mickey returnsJonnie's lookwithout blinking.

A longbeat. Then Jonnie finallynods, givingMickey his wish.

·EX'l'.DENVER--EMPLOYEE RECREATION·BALL-- THATNIGHT

Ker comes strollingout ofthe bar, when a figuresuddenly steps out ofthe shadows in frontof him.- It's JONNIE--

Ker"s eyes light-upat his suddengood fortune. Be pullshis blast-gun and orders--

As Jonnie leadsKer to the cage,Chrissy holds up theDISC.

Ker, chucklingat Jennie's stupidi~y,re-pulls h~sBlast-Gun.

1CER I don'tthink so, crap-brain! Because if you don'tgive me the disc,I'll--

At JoMie's signal--

CHRISSY imnediatelyhands thedisc to someone in hercage, who in turns hands itoff to another person,this continue3until•••

-. -

The disc reachessomeone at theedge of the cage,who pitches it through thebars into--

Ker tries topoint his gun at thehumans in warning,but the process isrepeated too fast forhim to follow as.••

A human chainmoves the disc fromhand to hand, cageto cage, until before Ker knowsit, the disc disappearsfrom view arounda corner.

Ker turns backto Jonnie with a friendlysmile.

"*

Xer uses a specialtool to remove theexplosivecollar from Chrissy•s neck,then trade.sthecollar for thedisc.

Xer doesn'thave to think aboutit. Be imnediatelytrades the zoo key forthe second disc. As soon as X~r.isgone... • . _

Chrissy givesJonnie a confusedlook.

JONNn: (handsher the key) Aftertonight, it won'tmatter much eitherway.

There's anunspoken tensionbetween them. The firsttime they've alone sincehe left their village. Chrissy triesto cover itwith

of beats. And finally, Jonnie strugglesto find theright words.

JONNIE (cont'd)

(~ Andwe need to do thisnot only for our

own freedom,but forthe possibility ofa lifefor the children.

Chrissy looksat him and startsto ask something,but doesn't. Be returnsher look, clarifying•••

They embrace. Each of them knowingit might bethe last time.

Terl-comesstrolling intothe office, but suddenlystops in his tracks.EVERY MONITOR in theroom is playing·arecording of--.. CJ

Ker smugly pausesthe disc,FREEZING the guiltyevidence.

Terl staresat him. And withouthesitation:

Ker remains onguard. Be's not aboutto fall for any traps. But Terl seemsgenuinely happy, ifnot downright ecstatic.

TERL (cont'd)

()

Which meansI haven't wastedmy time trying totrain youl

Ker can't believeit. This is goingmuch better thanhe thought.

TERI, Don't be crazy! You don't knowhow long I've beenwaiting for thisday. And I know justthe perfect way tocelebrate--

Be pulls his Blast-Gunand slidesit into kill position--

A frozen beat. Then Terl has tolower the ~ witha sigh.·

TERI, Well, thenhow the hell am Isupposed to know who itis. I mean, itcould be anyoneon this damn planet•••It could be oneof the mechanics. Itcould be a concubine. It could be someonein the communicationsoffice. Bell,it could even be •••

Terl opens hisdesk drawer and calmlypulls out--

THE BARTENDER'SSEVERED BEAD

Ker's face immediatelygoes death-white. Terl tossesthe head to K

xer looksfrom the head tothe desk drawer toTerl,·realizing 'l'erlhadthi~planned all along. Bis body slumpsin defeat.

Terl raiseshis blast gun.

Be fumblesa disc out of hispocket and hands itto Terl.

As K~r chewson this, Terlreminds~--

And whileyou're thinking,remember all the hardwork we put intogetting leverageon the Planetship. A process, I mightadd, that youwere quite resourcefulin helpingwith.

The lifedrains from Ker as•••

lCABLAMl Terlshoots a fist-sizedhole through Ker'sface.

Ker is dead longbefore he hitsthe ground.

A pair of sentriesmake theirusual nightly rounds,when they hear a strangenoise. Turning,they catch a glimpseof--

'ALONE BOMANSLAVE

Racing awayup a path and disappearingaround a corner.

The other guardshrugs, unconcerned. After all,man-animals aren't that fast. So they calmlywalk-jog after theescapee--

With theescapee now in tow,the guards head backto the zoo. One of themshakes his headin amusement--

The wordsfreeze in his throatas they turn abend and •••

Eyery single cage isempty. Not a human in sight. The only sound the eeriecreaking of opencage doors swayinggently-in the night.

RI.AXONBORNScrank-up, wailinginto the darkness.

TERL finishesloading the coffinsfull of his preciousgold onto

a cart as hebarks into his rad.io--

The 'l'ELEPORTATIONSUPERVISORhangsupfran a radiocall--

fr5i5753F75}tl,'*

The selectedguards grumbleabout havingto go, and•••

Jointhe steady flow ofother Psychlos respondingto the call. Butno one's in too bigof a rush. It's justa man-animalescape.

Chrissyand the escapedhumans watch as thePsychlos move inon them withROPES, ELECTRICPROO-STICKS, andNETS•.

The supervisorinstructsone of the.two remainingguards> u

The guardsshare a knowingchuckle.

Still chuckling,he shufflesoff to a SQUATBUILDING.

:arr.NATORALHISTORY MUSEUM-- CONTINUOUS

Keeping acareful eye out thewindow, Mickey keysa RADIO.

MICJ\EY(INTORADIO) There'sthree monstersremaining••• Two arestaying at the platform. One is headinginto a building tothe east-- (checkshis map) Which isthe latrine.

- ;; g4r;m;:a;;;;;g

-

Across from theteleportationplatform, Jonnie whispersto Mason.

Mason nods and theysilently divideup, slipping throughthe night like shadows.

The guard headsinside the latrine,hollering to theoccupied stall

'l'ELEPORTATIONGUARD Time to earnyour pay--

One of the stalldoors opens anda Psychlo stumblesout, pulling up his pants. Be looks more thana little green.

A second Psychloemerges from anotherstall, not lookingany better. They trail.aftertheguar9, who heads backfor t~e door. a

The supervisorshakes hi~ head,complaining to theremaining guard.

'l'ELEPORTATIONSUPERVISOR ••• Ifanyof the man-animalsget broken in theround-up, you justknow the brass will useit as an excuse tojustify cuttingour pay again--

A Kn,I,CLUB fliesthrough the air,smashing into hishead.

The fierce impactjars the Psychloforward, but doesn'tkill him. Be spins aroundto see what thehell just hit him asa--

PICK-AX

Slama blade-firstbetween his eyes. Instant death. And before the first guardcan react, Jonniepulls a--

BON'llNGDIFE

And slits histhroat.

Err. 'l'OPOFTBEDOM! -- CONTINUOUS

Carlo lands theaircraft on the apex ofthe dome and jumps out with an armful ofEXPLOSIVES.

The second guardcomes strolling out of thelatrine as a--

PI:C!tAX-BLADE

Slams deep intohis chest. Mason pulls his knifeto finish the monster off, but freezesat the unexpectedsight of--

TWO Oim:R PYSCBLOS

Beading out of thebuilding. One of the Psychl~simmediately pulls his blast-gun andFIRES at--

Mason, who tries to leapout of the way. But the shot blows off h~ of his leg. Sendinghim crumpled helpless tothe ground as .••

The Psychlo aims hisgun dead center betweenMason's eyes and--

JONNIE'S RN:IFE

screams through the air,1rnJ?edd1nqdeepin·thePsyehlo's throat•

•

An enormouspaw blurs in the·air·,.comingat h~ •.·Talons·rake: the side ofhis face. CJ

Jonnie has the gun inposition, and fires at a huge chest.He punches blast afterblast into it, driving him back.

The firstguard, pick-ax still buriedin his chest, clingsto lifeas he manages pulls his radio•••

PSYCBLO(INTO RADIO) We're underattack. !"remman-animals with weapons. They've already killed--

Jonnie flashesinside, knocking away the radio.then slits the Psychlo'sthroat.

nrr. COMMONJ:CATIONEEADQOAR~I -- CONTINUOUS

..

An ALARM suddenly goesoff on a long console.A COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER checks it, thenspins to his SUPERVISOR--

I~, COMMUNICATIONSOFFICER ' l \' ,'. '~---~~"" Sir, I haveunconfirmed reportsof a

·man-animal'revolt. And motionsensors have justbeen set-off on topthe dome--

The supervisorhurries over.

From his look-outposition, Mickeyspots a group ofa.Dned Psychlos sprintingtoward the teleportationplatform.

Jqnnie hurriesto apply a make-shiftfield tournique~to Mason's leg, then dragshim behind therelative safety of--

Jonnie,pullshis blast-gun,waiting for the Psychlosto come into_. 0 range. As theydo, he OPENSUP FIRE--

one of thePsychlos goes down. And another. Theremaining three scramble forcover, returning fire--

Err. CONTBOLBUNKER

BLASTER-FIREscreams all aroundJonnie, pinning him downas Carlo's voicesuddenly comes overthe radio--

Carlo finishesplanting five setsof explosives in aDIAMOND- SHAPE aroundthe dome's apex,when he whirls as--

A PSYCBLO CRAF'l'lLandson thedome behindhim.

Thethree Psychlo Guardsrun from coverto cover, workingtheir wayto set-up a cross-fireon Jonnie. From one of their radios--

Oneof the Psychlo'spulls his radio torespond--

Jonnietries to draw abead on him, butthe shot is obstructed. soJonnie grabs a ROCKand throws it behind--

The Psychlo,who keyshis radio--

Be instinctivelyturnstoward the suddenNOISE of the rock landingbehind him,inadvertently steppingout of his cover--

Whichis all Jonnie needs. KABLAMl Be dropsthe Psychlo. Theother two monstersopen up fire on--

Jonnie,who returns theirfire, but his gunsuddenly runs dry witha revealing·CLICK•••CLICK•••CLICK•••

Bearingthis, the two Psychlosinmediatelycharge the bunker.

Jonnie desperatelysearchesfor another weapon. But all he has is hisknife. Which won'tdo much good against•••

The twoPsychlos storminginto the bunker, turningtheir blast- guns onhim at point-blank-range-

e a ?9¥iW

Tpe Psychlos FREEZE. Not so much atwhat Jonnie said. But because--

Jonnie nods, speakinga little slowerthan usual.

The two Psychlosexchange a look,then pull theirradios.

KABLAMJI One Psychlogoes down ina ·bloody..heapas--. LJ Jonnie bas stalledthem long enoughfor MICKEY to sneakdown into position. Theremaining Psychloturns his gun on theyoung twin--

But Jonnie jumpsthe Psychlo frombehind, slashingits throat with his huntingknife.

Jonnie and Mickeyload the NUCLEARWARHEAD onto theplatform, then--

Jonnie races overand enters the activationsequenceinto the console. The high-pitchedBUM fillsthe air as the generator-

A heavily armed PSYCBLOSECtJRI'l'YRESPONSETEAMhasdeployed£ram the aircraft and is firingat--

......,;;;;;;::z;·=::m::::r:r:::z .,,..

Carlo, who isforced to dive backinto his own-- ()

And take off. one hand grippinga DETONATOR, Carlowatches as the Psychlos move toinvestigate theexplosives set aroundthe dome's apex below.

The drumming ofthe generators reverberatesthroughthe air as the automatedvoice finishes thecountdown to teleportation.••

Jonnie turns, double-checkingthatMickey, the nucleardetonator in hand, is on theplatform alongwith the warhead.

CARLO'SVOICE fFROM~IO) Thought You'dNever Ask--

And before Jonniecan react--

~ presses a Blast-Gunagainst theside of his head.

An eerie stillnessas the generator-dynamosslowly fallsilent.

The Psychlos on thedome have alreadydisarmed one setof the explosives surroundingthe apex, and areremoving anotheras--

carlohits the detonator--

KABBOOHMlll The Psychlosare blown tobits. But withonly three of thefive explosivepackages in place,the dame SPIDER-WEBS•••

But doesn"tcollapse.

Keepinghis gun trainedon Jonnie and Mickey,Terl keys hisradio.

Terllocks eyes withJonnie as he calmlyresponds--

Jonniereturns the starein helpless anguish·as--

A collectiveroar of enthusiasmgoes up fromthe Psychlos asthe ordersare relayed. They toss down theirnets and ropes anddraw theirblasters, settingthem into KILL-POSITION,then--

fireon the unarmed humans. Chrissy urgentlypulls her radio.

Carlopilots the aircraft,sending it screamingfull-speed right for thespider-web of crackedglass surroundingthe dome's apex--

The aircraft BLASTSstraight into thedome. The jarringimpact causing the high-techglass to BUCKLE•••

But the dame's structuralintegrity remainsintact.

The blood bath continuesas the Psychlosblast down theunarmed humans like targetsin some amusement parkgame.

Chrissy desperatelygrabs a BRANCH from theground and throwsit like a kill-club--

The impact knocksthe Blaster-Gun outof the paw of a Psychlo, who is surpriseda man-animal was ableto do that•••

Let alone a femaleman~animal. Chrissyand the Psychloboth dive f o.r theweapon.

Chris~y's the one who comes up withit,blasting a holethrough th~ monsters chest,then spins, firingon another Psychlo.

C One of Jonnie'strained men springsfoi:wardout of thecrowd; grabbin the weapon fromthe fallen Psychlos,then joins Chrissyin firing on-

The other Psychlos,who realizing they"re·underattack,aggressively return fire, catchingthe rebel fighterin a cross-fire,tearing him to shreds. The Psychlosthen turn theirweapons on Chrissy.as--

IN'l'.AIRCRAFT --CONTINUOUS

Carlo tries to reversethe aircraft,but the engine impotently grinds, mortallydamaged in the collision.

The TORTURED SCREAMSof people dyingbelow can be heardover the radio. And Carloknows he has no choice •••

Be reaches behindhim to an impressivecollection ofEXPLOSIVE DEVICES and grabsa GRENADE, pull;ngthe pin.

Be tossesthe grenadeback with the otherexplosives andstares aheadwith grim determination,continuingthe countdown tohis own death.

The grenadeDETONATES. setting-offthe rest of theexplosives-

Theaircraft EXPLODINGin aMASSIVE FIREBALL. The powerfulblast isfinally enoughto completely shatterthe weakeneddome--

EX'l'.CIVICCENTERPARK-- CONTDruOOS

Chrissyis underintense firefrom all directions. She'sforced backagainst a sideof the building,trappedas the Psychlos movein for thekill, firingrelentlessly ather, when fromabove•••

A sky-full of snowflake-sizedpiecesof glassrain down, shililneringlikeetherealspiritsdancinginthe night air.

But as beautifulas it is, theresult is deadlyto the Psychlos. Without breath-masks,they dropto the ground,convulsing--

Incontrast toTERL, who calJDlypullsa breath-maskfromhis pocket. As he securesthe mask, he explainsto Jonniewith a smirk--

TERL . : If I wereyou, and thank-PsychloI'm not, blowingup the dome wouldhavebeen my moveas well •••

The restof Jonnie'smen grabthe weapons fromthe now deadmonsters andjoin Chrissyin takingposition to ambushthe secondwave--

Terlkeeps his gun trainedon Jonnieand Mickey,while calJDly keyinghis radio--

Terlplucks the NUCLEARWARHEADoff the teleporterand nonchalantly --· tossesit into thefield behindhim•••

Then loadsthecoffins full ofhis preciousgold onto the platform.

ThecommunicationsSupervisorfinishes punchingan authorizationcod, intothe consoleand slams aKEY CARD intoa slot and turnsit-

Undera perpetualpurple sky,the Bame Planet'sautomatedresponse systemirmnediatelygoesto work. ToweringROBOTIC ARMS load-

MASSIVEGAS DRONES

Ontoa teleportationplatformas--

THOUSANDSOF SBOCKTROOPS

All in full-onbattle gear, swarm ontotheplatform.

Terl finishes loadinghis goldonto the platform,then keepingthe gunon Jonnie •••

TERI, Even thoughyou're justa rat-brain, I must admityou gave me quitea sporting challenge. And you'llmake a hell ofan interestingconversationpiece once you're stuffedand hangingon the wall at the AcademyAlumni Club.

With the weapontrained on Jonnie,Terl backsup to the control bunker. Mickeycan't keep thepanic from hisvoice.

EX'l'.CON'l'ROLBONKER-CON'I'INOOOS

The high-pitchedSOMof the generatorsstart tofill the airu--

+ 1M

Terl punchesin the last ofthe commandsfor teleportation. ()

Jonnie chargesoff the platform.Terl spinsand PIRESat him--

But Jonniemanages to diveclear of theshot, then pivotswith blurring speedand throwshis--

BUNTING JCNIFE

Through the air,sending itstraight at--

Who tries totwist out ofthe way, butthe knife slamsdeep into his shoulder. Terl pullsit out as--

JONNIE

Launches himselflike a possesseddemon straightintohim.

Fueled by primalrage, Jonnieis able to.knockthemuch-bigger Psychlo tothe ground, jarringthe gun fromTerl's grip.

But Terl isbigger and stronger. Be pinsJonnie downand savagely tearsinto himwith his razor-likeclaws--

Jonnie lungesup and grabsTerl's woundedshoulderwith both hands. Squeezingand twistingas hard ashe can, Jonniewrenches Terl off ofhim. But thevictory is shortlived as •••

Terl rollsover and is nowable to getback onto his feet.

But Jonnie hangson and staysfocused on themonster'sweak .spot. Digging o.nehandinto Terl•swounded shoulder,whilePOMMELING at it in a madblur with theother, inflictingwhat damagehe can--

Hissing inpain, Terl swatsJonnie backto the groundthen grabs his blast-gunand stands,towering over--

Jonnie, whocan see behindTerl, where •••

Mickey struggleswith all hismight, justmanaging to boostthe nuclear warheadback onto theplatform.

WP 11£MWMS

Jonnie lockseyes with Terl,trying to keephim from noticing Mickey scramblingonto theplatform withthe nuclearweapon.

Terl aims thegun straightdown betweenJonnie's eyes.

TERI, I'm afraidyou're inno position tobe makingrequests-

C, (quietly)

She was tobe my wife.

Terl can't believeJonnie'sstupidity. Chuckleswith glee.

TERI, Thanks forremindingme, rat-brain. (pullsthe REMOTE toChrissy's collar) Beforeyou die, you shouldhave the pleasureof knowing whathappens toyour little •wife•to be.

Terl raises theremote withone paw, the otherpointingthe blast-gun downat Jonnie,who stares him straightin theeye.

Terlplunges theremote's button. Obviouslynot realizingthat--

WhenJonnie grabbedhis shoulder,he had claspedthe explosive collarfrom Chrissyunder oneof the gold epaulettesand--

QBOOM

Terl blowsoff his own ann. Blood gushingfrom hisshoulder

where it usedto be connectedto an arm.

Terl is toostunned to reactas--

Jonnie divesto the ground,grabbing theblaster-gunstill connectedto.what's leftof Terl's arm.

The humming ofthe generatorsgrows louder.

Keeping theblast-gun,on Terl,Jonnieturns to .checkon--

Mickey pullsout the nucleardetonator. A sense ofdeep pride at the .missionheisabout toperform. As thecountdownfinishes--

Mickey turnsand gives hisfriend Jonniea SALUTE·.

Jonnie salutesMickey backwith eyes fullof respect. The field

suddenly rockedby a DEAFENINGROAR and BLINDINGLIGHT,and--

Mickey. the warhead.andcoffins disappear fromtbeplatfo;:m.

With the GASDRONES and shocktroops allloaded forearth, the

countdown forteleportationis at •••

At the farend of a seeminglyendless rowof platforms--

MICKEY appears,along withTerl's coffinsand the nuclearweapon.

The Psychloworkers in thevicinity laughat Mickey's fate. But Mickey staresat them withoutblinking--

q;;,.,

ThePsychlos obviouslydon't speakEnglish andhave no ideawhat be' ssaying. Butthey crowd aroundin morbidcuriosity as •••

Theplanet's overwhelminggravitycrushes Mickeyt.othe ground. Theyoung twin'seyes bulging,he announcesto the crowd--

Thiscracks up theothers. With hisfinalmoment of life, Mickey pushesthedetonator button•••

As the countdownto earth'.s destructionfinishes--

AU'l'OMA'I'EDVOICE(FROMCONSOLE) In two•••In one--

KKXAAABBBBBLLLLLAAAAAAAMMMMMMM111111l 11111

The GAS DRONES andSBOClCTROOPSvapo;ized intoobliyion~-

Along.with everythingelse inthe ·pathofthe.JZJUs~oom_cloud slannningthroughthecity likea tidal wave.ofpure destructio·n.

Blasting apartcountless Psychlosand theirbuildings. And after the initial blastsubsides, the radiationreactswith theair-

causingthe AIRTO EXPLODE inan instantaneouschain-reaction spreadingout fasterthan theeye can see,as •••

The atmosphere isliterally burnt awayfrom theplanet.

A blinding whitefla=neexpandingout until itsurrounds the mammoth planet.·Burning withsearing intensityuntil--

THE ENTIRE PLANET-EXPLODESINTONOTBmGNEss111

SLOW FADE~

EX'!'.FORTKNOX--DAY

Anaircraft landsat the fort, andJonnie andChrissy emerge. Mason,sporting a finely-craftedwooden leg,stepsup to greetthem.

..

Jonnienods asthey head intothe fort.

Drr.FORT --LOWER LEVEL --MOMENTS LATER

Masonleads Jonnieand Chrissydown a long&DDOred hallwayand througha thickvault door,to where--

Drr.INNER VAULT-- CONTINUOUS

Terl,a stump wherehis armused to be, downs ashot ofkerbango inhis new 'livingquarters',which havebeen painted purplefor him. Be staresat Jonnie throughthe steelbars.

'l'ERL What kindof barbaricspecies are you rat-brains? Eitherput me to workas a slave orhave the decencyto vaporizeme. (withrevulsion) But to imprisonme--

'l'erlstaresatherin amazement,then eyesJonnie.

'l'ERL She speaksPsychlo.

TERI, One couldonly hope.

0 CHRISSY

So youmust have some understandingof Psychlobattle tacticsand strategy.

Terl stops laughing. Biseyes narrowinginto slitsas Jonnie holds up aDISC.

on Terl's lookof completeanq utter defeat,we•••

FADETO